After discussing the details of the press conference tomorrow with Shim Deok-Gu, Seo Jun-Ho went back to his apartment on the 77th floor. He grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and a snack before flopping down on his sofa.
“Are you not hungry?” he asked the Frost Queen, glancing at her.
“I am a spirit. Unlike humans, we are higher beings that do not require sustenance,” she boasted.
“Really? Then I guess I won’t have to spend money on food for you.” He took a long swig of beer and started to ask about the things he’d been wondering about.
“Tell me everything you know about the Dimension Elevator.” Seo Jun-Ho intended to find out all he could about the cause for this horrible game from his former enemy.
“I do not know anything.” She shook her head as she curtly cut him off.
“Hey, don’t be difficult…”
“I really do not know. I swear on my own being.”
‘An Oath of Existence…’
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you kidding me? You had been a Floor Master. How do you not know anything?”
“Once I forfeited the role, I lost all memories regarding it.”
“Your memories were erased?”
“I remember knowing certain things, but my mind goes blank when I try to call upon those memories.”
“Mm.?That’s a waste.” It would’ve been nice if she knew why the world changed or had information about the other floors.
‘The System is more thorough than I thought.’
Who knew that it would go so far as to erase her memories. Of course, it had already done the impossible by connecting Earth to other dimensions. Considering that, it could probably erase memories with the flick of a wrist.
Seo Jun-Ho drained the last of his beer and tried to ease his frustration.
“Do not be so disappointed. Though the memories you desire have disappeared, my intelligence is so great that it is known throughout other lands. It will be helpful in the days to come.”
“I sure hope so. Oh, and I heard that spirits don’t use the magic of their contractors. Is that true?”
“You speak the obvious.”
“Then how the heck do you use your powers? I don’t sense any magic from you.”
“Do you really not know?” The Frost Queen looked at him like he was being absurd. “Contractor, do you really not feel anything when I use my powers?”
“Not really?”
“Haa,?you really are quite insensitive…” She shook her head. “When a spirit draws power from their contractor, it is from their contractor’s mental strength.”
“What if I’m mentally drained?”
“Then I am unable to use the same amount of power as usual. If your mental state is extremely weakened, the contract may even get dissolved.”
“I see… There’s a penalty, after all.” It turned out that spirits weren’t as all-powerful as he previously thought.
‘Well, if they were able to use that much power without a cost, they would practically be gods.’
Most of his questions had been answered, but Seo Jun-Ho felt like his homework had increased instead.
“Then the things you showed me before used up my mental strength?”
“Of course. You will have to practice a lot before using it in real battle.”
“Practice… Sounds fun.” He’d been looking forward to doing some special training with his new skills. “Look forward to it. You’ll see why people call me a tough cookie.”
“Do not be so hasty. No matter how extraordinary of a human you are, it will take at least a month.”
A month? The Frost Queen was underestimating him. He grinned.
‘Half a month.’
He’d change her mind within that time.
***
Click clack click clack.
The clicking of heels echoed across the hall on the 77th floor of the Player Association headquarters. Cha Si-Eun walked past the arts being displayed and knocked on the door.
‘The door’s open.’
Cha Si-Eun entered and looked around the room.
‘Whenever I come here, I feel like it would be awkward for me to live here.’
Not only would it be hard to clean, but it was also hard to get to and had an unnecessary number of rooms. She suppressed her thoughts and walked over to Seo Jun-Ho’s bedroom.
“You’re here?”
The door was open. Seo Jun-Ho was standing in front of a full-length mirror. Cha Si-Eun was shocked when she saw him. “…Yes.”
‘He wore his pajamas last time.’ 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐥．𝐜𝐨𝗺
Thinking of that, she brought a suit over for this very reason, but now, she saw that she had done something unnecessary.
“You’re not wearing pajamas today.”
“It’s only fun when you do it once.”
Seo Jun-Ho looked like a model or actor in his light blue suit. His hair which was usually flat was slicked to the side, making him look livelier.
‘When did his body get so good?’
Cha Si-Eun blinked. When she first met him, he was concerningly skinny, but now, his muscles had become visible and well-defined.
“I’m done getting ready. What do you think?”
“Hmmm.” She spun him around, then gave two thumbs-up. “Perfect.”
***
This was the second time Seo Jun-Ho was having an official press conference in Korea. Last time, they used a small conference hall that could only hold about 100 people, but it was different this time. It was a large-scale press conference attended by 500 people.
The doors of the large conference hall hadn’t been opened in a long time, but now, they finally opened.
“Wow, look at all these people.”
“There are some big leagues here too.”
“Well, it’s Seo Jun-Ho after all. You can’t exactly compare him to other rookies. He’s too famous now.”
“Damn. The editor-in-chief for the Players magazine is here.”
“And that’s the BBC…They already got the scoop from him two days ago, but they’re here again.”
The press conference hadn’t even started yet, but the room was already filled with flashing cameras and the sound of typing. One could write an entire article just about the different people and groups that were attending.
“Haaa, he really is something else. The press conference three months ago wasn’t like this.”
“What?! You went to Seo Jun-Ho’s first press conference?”
“My department head sent me to write something up…But when I laid my eyes on Seo Jun-Ho, I felt it instantly.”
“Felt what?”
At some point, other reporters had started to gather around them. The reporter noticed this and cleared their throat before speaking. “He was wearing pajamas, slippers, and his hair was a rat’s nest. At first, I thought he was just some lunatic, but I was wrong.” They pointed two fingers at their eyes. “The look in his eyes. He was yawning and all, but the piercing look he had was unforgettable.”
“Really? He just looked sleepy in the pictures.”
“No. It was a vigor that you could only feel in person. Like with Kim Woo-Joong or Shin Sung-Hyun.”
“Ahh.” They understood. Even when Shin Sung-Hyun or Kim Woo-Joong were just sitting around, they commanded a powerful presence.
“So I’ve personally been looking forward to this a lot.” The reporter adjusted their glasses. “I won’t be surprised if Seo Jun-Ho announces that he’s going to a 1-star Gate.”
“What? Nah, that’s too much.” Someone waved him off. “Even if he’s a super rookie, he’s still a rookie. A newbie.”
“He only debuted 3 months ago. If he goes in alone, that’s suicide.”
“I’m just saying.” The reporter laughed, embarrassed.
“I know what you’re saying, but there’s no way he’ll do that if he isn’t insane.”
***
“Hey, it’s almost time,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered. He was sitting in the waiting room, snacking on crackers.
Shim Deok-Gu looked at him in amazement. “You really… Aren’t you nervous?”
“Not really? It’s not like it’s my first time.”
Crunch, crunch.
Seo Jun-Ho spoke as he continued to eat. “We’re announcing two things today, right?”
“Yes. We’ll do as we discussed last night.” Shim Deok-Gu gulped and adjusted his tie. “Let’s go.”
Cha Si-Eun escorted the two of them out. When they entered the conference room, they were covered in camera flashes. Seo Jun-Ho casually took a seat.
“The press conference will begin now and will last for 40 minutes.”
Unlike last time, he wasn’t taking questions from reporters who raised their hands. Reporters had signed up beforehand on a first-come first-serve basis. Most of them were ones the Association had expected. As such, a question he had been waiting for came up.
“Will you be going to the Cave of Trials?”
Seo Jun-Ho quickly grabbed the mic. “Of course. I’m trying to set a date.”
“Ooh…!”
“Yeah. It’s a rite of passage for all new Players.”
“You can only go there once in your life. It’s a waste if you miss it.”
The reporters nodded in understanding and typed on their keyboards. They had found something good. The Cave of Trials was a Gate in the alpine regions of Tibet. Its rules were different from other Gates.
‘It’s a Gate that can’t be cleared and you can leave without clearing it.’’
It had first appeared when the world became similar to a game and had been around for close to 30 years now.
“I’m looking forward to how much Player Seo Jun-Ho will grow after going to the Cave of Trials.”
“Are you thinking that you’ll reach the 5th level, at the least?”
“I dunno. We’ll have to see when I get there.”
The Cave of Trials gave the Player a choice to ‘go’ or ‘stop’ whenever they cleared a level. They could leave the Gate if they were satisfied with their rewards, or they could proceed to the next level for a chance at a better reward and the risk of losing everything.
‘I got to the 9th level last time.’
He had been level 30 at the time and barely survived the excursion. Still, the things he won had been a huge help in his journey as a Player.
“Then have you thought about what Gate you’ll be going to after the Cave of Trials?”
“Of course.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded without hesitation.
All eyes were on him. The reporters raised their hands from their hologram keyboards so they could write down what he was about to say.
“I will be going to the Winter Castle,” he said shortly.
With those two words, the bustling conference room fell silent.
“…”
“…”
The reporters couldn’t even type. They weren’t even sure if they heard him right. Even though there was only one Gate in the world called the Winter Castle. It was one of three Uncleared Gates in the world whose difficulty was labeled as ‘Brutal.’
“…The Gate in Antarctica.”
25 years after the Frost Queen’s defeat, the Players experienced the horrors of Antarctica once more in this 1-star Gate.