Return of the Frozen Player

Las Vegas was called the most beautiful city in the world. Performance, pleasure, and gambling existed 24/7 in the so-called City of Sin. 

“Phew…”

Seo Jun-ho had been traveling for 12 hours—or 14 if you included the security checks—when he finally stepped into Las Vegas. 

Skaya… I really miss you. She could teleport anywhere in the world in one second. He really missed her at times like these.

He let out a light sigh, stretching out his stiff body before going to check in at the hotel. As soon as he entered the room, he tossed aside his suitcase and opened the curtains wide to look at the city below. 

“It really is an amazing city.”

Las Vegas was famous for having barely any monsters. All the hotels were owned by rich heirs, and they hired players to protect their assets whenever monsters showed up. 

“Capitalism is the best here.” 

He’d heard on the street that a huge auction would open in a few days. There were already tons of people on the streets. 

“Well, that’s not what I’m here for…” 

Seo Jun-ho tapped on his Vita and opened the map app. 

“It’s close.”

The laundromat from the Shadow Brothers’ memories was in the outskirts of the city. If he ran, he could get there in half an hour. 

Let’s not linger. I should wrap this up quickly. He put on a baseball cap with a narrow visor from his bag and left his room. 

* * *

The inside of the laundromat was hot because of the steam coming from the iron presses. 

“Ugh, I feel like I’m dying from the heat.” 

It was also because Las Vegas was in the middle of the desert.

“Goddamn! When is the electrician coming?” The man banged on the broken remote before throwing it in frustration. “Nothing’s working out these days.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t be this frustrated if just one thing went well. The Shadow Brothers became dragon food, the weather’s fucking hot, the AC’s broken, and…”

The bald man that was listening to his friend’s complaint trembled as he seemed to realize something. A shiver went down his spine. 

“…Dammit, I didn’t think we would have to see the Watchdogs again, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Watchdogs? Oh, they’re going instead of the twins?”

“Yeah, those lunatics.”

The Watchdogs were famous among the fiends on the 1st floor for their skill and were respected by many. But the bald man was only scared of them. 

“Lunatics? Have you met them before?”

“Yeah. They’re actually crazy.” He’d come to own the laundromat because the Watchdogs had killed his former boss for no apparent reason. 

“They said that it had been too long since they’d smelled blood…”

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing.” The bald man shook his head and sighed. 

Ring! The door opened and three people walked in. His face fell and he stood up immediately. 

“W-w-welcome.”

“…The fuck. Why’s it so hot in here? Wanna die?” 

The woman looked at him hysterically, chewing loudly on gum. If it were anyone else, he would’ve told them to try him, but the bald man shivered and bowed his head. 

“I apologize!”

“Tsk. Just bring the orders.”

The bald man went to the supply room and back at a speed unfitting for his size, carrying an envelope.

The woman snatched it from his hands and read over the documents. She spat her gum on the floor and her eyes narrowed. 

“Look at this. The rumors were true.”

“So we’re really not going to the 2nd floor?”

“See for yourself.” 

The skinny man next to her looked over the documents and gritted his teeth. He looked at the cold-looking man behind him. 

“Boss, don’t you think we should send a formal complaint to the higher-ups? Heaven’s Breath, of all things.”

“I agree with Bones here for once. Kal Signer isn’t even our direct superior.”

The boss listened quietly and held out his hand, and the skinny man quickly straightened the documents he’d crumpled before giving it to him. 

“……”

Fwoosh! The document burned to ashes in an instant. He looked at the bald man.

“Were there any other orders?”

“N-no.”

“…Let’s go.”

As he left the store, the skinny man and the delinquent woman followed him. 

“H-haah…” The bald man’s legs buckled, making him fall to the floor. He was covered in sweat.

His co-worker had read the room and had stayed silent the whole time. “Were they… the Watchdogs?” He asked carefully. 

“Yeah. I thought I was gonna die.”

“The lady and the man were pretty scary. But the boss seemed like a decent person?”

“Decent?”The bald man looked at him like he was a discarded cigarette butt. “Are your eyes just there for decoration?”

“The fuck? Why are you taking it out on me?” The bald man held his tongue as he stood up. 

“Didn’t you see how the so-called scary guys were intimidated by their own boss?”

“…Yeah, they were. I don’t know why, though.” To him, those two seemed much stronger than their quiet boss. 

“I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.” He looked around to double-check that no one else was in the store. “The Watchdogs’ boss is the third disciple of the Nine Heaven’s Nazad Hallow.”

“What? Wait, if he’s Hallow-nim’s student…” His co-worker’s eyes went wide. He lowered his voice. “Then is that man the one who caused the massacre in Turkey six months ago… Skeleton Mage Arma?”

“Right. He has a huge international bounty on his head because of it, but no one’s ever come close.”

“That’s crazy…” He’d looked down on such a man? 

A chill went up his neck and he unconsciously touched his throat. 

“There’s also a rumor that the Watchdogs was originally comprised of five members, but two of them became Arma’s skeletons.”

“He really is a lunatic.”

“Right? He’s a nutjob.” One of the most enjoyable things in the world is gossiping behind your superior’s back. The two men whispered to each other. Suddenly, the door opened. 

The two men’s faces went pale, thinking that the Watchdogs had come back. They quickly looked toward the door. 

“…Phew.”

“Geez, that timing. I got scared.” The two fiends sighed in relief. 

The person who’d come in was not one of the Watchdogs, but an Asian man wearing a baseball cap. Annoyed by the sudden entrance, the bald man looked at him in disgust. 

“Are you here to fix the air conditioner?”

“…It’s broken?” The man spoke in fluent English. But that wasn’t strange in America, which was a multiethnic state. The bald man nodded. 

“I’m about to die from the heat.”

“I think I can help with that.”

“You can? How?” At that, the man held up one hand. The temperature of the store quickly began to fall. 

“Oooh. It’s cool!”

“Ah, finally.” The two fiends laughed and clapped their hands like seals. 

“You’re amazing!”

“You were a player?”

The man nodded lightly. And the temperature continued to fall.

Shiver. The two fiends felt cold all over their bodies and started to rub at their arms. 

“Hey, that’s enough.”

“Thanks for helping, but the temperature’s too low now. It’s cold.”

But the man didn’t stop. And the cold only got more intense. 

The cold started to seep into their bones, and their teeth started to chatter. They scowled. 

“Hey, we said it’s cold! There’s no need to make it even colder!”

“If this is your idea of a joke, stop it while we’re being nice.” 

Seo Jun-ho chuckled as he lowered his cap’s visor even more. 

“You’re stupid, even for fiends.”

“…What?”

“Th-this bastard, he knows something!” 

They realized what was going on and reached for their weapons, but their bodies wouldn’t listen. Seo Jun-ho easily defeated them and changed the sign of the front door to say ‘CLOSED’. He looked back at the two frozen fiends and muttered to himself. 

“It’s kind of like boiling frogs.”

If you put a frog in a pan of boiling water, it would be startled by the heat and leap out right away. But if you made the water lukewarm and slowly boiled it, it wouldn’t try to escape. 

Thanks to that, I was able to wrap it up quietly. 

The two fiends were around level 30 each. Seo Jun-ho would still have won easily in direct combat, but he was in a city, and the sandwich store next door was also open for business.

“There’s nothing good about causing a ruckus.” He hadn’t expected the air conditioner to be broken, but Seo Jun-ho had been able to use his wits. 

“Hey, what do you want from us?”

“We’ll cooperate. We’ll tell you everything we know.”

Their eyes had gone red at some point. Seo Jun-ho shook his head. The fiends started to panic and spoke sharply. 

“You won’t be able to find anything in this store if you kill us.”

“You need our help. Dead men don’t speak.”

“…Really? I disagree.”

Clack. Seo Jun-ho turned off the lights and laughed coldly as he approached the two men. 

“Actually, the dead have a lot to say.”

* * *

“……” Seo Jun-ho finished using his skill as he sat on a chair in the supply room. He’d plucked all the memories he’d needed from the two dead fiends and started to sort his thoughts. 

They really were just small fries. But that didn’t mean that they were weak players. The laundromat was a front to deliver orders to fiends on the 1st floor. The Fiend Association wouldn’t leave it to just anyone. 

Crunch, crunch! Dark canines emerged from the floor and chewed on the fiends’ corpses. A moment later, the floor of the supply room didn’t have a single drop of blood. 

“The Watchdogs…” Seo Jun-ho suddenly remembered something and quickly tapped on his Vita. 

– “Ugh… Hello…”

“Deok-gu?”

– “Hey, you crazy bastard… It’s 2:30 AM here…”

“Sorry I woke you, but I have a favor to ask.”

– “…Why? Are you in danger?”

His voice suddenly became clear, as if he’d woken up completely. 

“No, but do you know anything about this year’s Las Vegas auction?”

– “Of course. Why are you asking?”

“I can’t go in without an invitation. Can you get one for me?”

– “…Hah, who do you think I am?”

Shim Deok-gu sounded slightly offended. 

– “You need an invitation? Just let me know the name of the hotel and the room you’re staying in.” 

He really was reliable.