Return of the Frozen Player
chapter-118

Chapter 118. The Black Knight Returns (4)

“Huh?” Ha In-Ho tilted his head.

Like usual, he had been working in his office. As the Vice-Captain of Goblin’s Team 2, he had a lot of reports to go over. There were many different kinds of reports he had to lay his eyes on, but he was currently going over documents about new recruits.

“‘It’s fun… So just watch it?’” He read aloud the message from a recruiter. They had attached the title of a video.

[We probably can’t recruit him, but it’s fun so just watch it lolol it’s dope.]

He blinked once and opened the video forum.

‘It’s just called ‘Test’... That’s a pretty lukewarm title.’

He was going to type it into the search bar, but Ha In-Ho quickly realized that there was no need for that. Next to the search bar was the aforementioned video.

“It’s ranked 8 right now?”

He clicked on it as if he were possessed and saw that the views and likes were multiplying by the second.

‘The uploader’s name is… Sonny? I’ve never seen that username before.”

It was rare for a no-name Player to blow up instantly on the video forum and yet, it had happened. Just how great was the video?

Ha In-Ho reached for the play button with interest.

“In-Ho, what are you doing?”

Crunch. Crunch.

Gong Ju-Ha entered the room, munching on a bag of spicy potato chips.

“...I’m working, of course. I’m on the clock,” he said dryly. His current business with potential recruits was originally Gong Ju-Ha’s job.

‘...But Master pushed it onto me because of Princess’s personality.’

They had been assigned to bring in new members, but Gong Ju-Ha had refused to pick a single one, listing a variety of reasons.

- That person sucks at controlling their magic circuits, that one has a scary look in their eyes, that one doesn’t pay enough attention during combat…

In all his years of working with her, Ha In-Ho had only ever seen her acknowledge one rookie.

Just one…

‘Seo Jun-Ho.’

He was the only one that had ever met her standards.

Of course, even Ha In-Ho had to admit that Gong Ju-Ha had a great eye for people. After all, Seo Jun-Ho seemed to get even stronger by the day.

‘But the Guild doesn’t want someone as perfect as him…’

Of course, it would be great if someone perfect joined the Guild but they were rare and came with a lot of competition. Their Guild preferred to pick recruits that were a bit lacking, and then they would train them according to a curriculum.

‘In the end, Master couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to entrust this to me instead…’

It was another instance of how the fact that if she worked a little too hard at her job would be disadvantageous to them all.

“Princess, I’m busy. I have to watch a video.”

“...A video? What video?” That piqued her interest. Gong Ju-Ha walked over and tapped his shoulder. “Share your screen with me. I can’t see it.”

“Ugh.” Ha In-Ho adjusted the settings so that she could see his window. “A recruiter sent me this. I think it’s just a funny video or something. It’s ranked 8… Huh? When did it go up to 6?”

“...” Gong Ju-Ha’s face turned curious as she listened. It was because she had seen the uploader’s name—Sonny.

‘That’s Mr. Snake Head’s username…’

She tapped on Ha In-Ho’s shoulder, impatient. “Hurry up and play it, number 1 servant.”[1]

“I am not a servant,” Ha In-Ho said flatly. Truthfully, he wasn’t expecting much. Even if it was a comedic video, he would quickly forget it after watching it.

“...?”

However, the beginning of the video was strange. It was from a first-person point of view and was showing someone running through a dark forest. He could tell that they were moving very fast based on how the landscape flashed by. And through it all, the person managed to dodge trees and rocks as swiftly as a shadow.

Ha In-Ho turned to Gong Ju-Ha. “Princess. I don’t think this is a funny video…”

“Shhh.” She held a finger to her lips. Her eyes were glued to the screen. Ha In-Ho gave in and shut his mouth.

Tatata.

A moonlit forest path came into view, and the person finally stopped.

“Are those…thunder bears?” Ha In-Ho said, shocked. It wasn’t because of the thunder bears, but because of the dire situation. One of the bears was about to crush the skull of a defenseless Player.

‘And not only that…’

To the side, four more thunder bears were charging over.

‘But there are only four Players… Five, including the person who made this video.’

Considering that most Players who hunted thunder bears were around level 70, they would need a miracle to survive. The man in the back was about to have his head caved in by a thunder bear’s paw.

“...?”

But then, a miracle happened. The uploader rushed in and blocked the thunder bear’s paw. The bear whipped around as its attack was blocked.

“Grrrrooooh!” It roared in frustration, unhinging its jaw.

Woosh!

A jet-black blade stabbed upward into its mouth. The sword burrowed into the thunder bear’s skull and pierced through the crown of its head. It took only one second to make the clean assault.

‘...He’s fast.’

Ha In-Ho unclasped his hands and held his chin.

‘Sonny, was it? He’s super fast. Not only that, the blade never wavered, and he also has good accuracy.’

The camera slowly panned from the first-person point of view to third-person.

“Huh?” Ha In-Ho slammed the table as he shot up from his seat.

The moonlight forest. The four despairing Players and the four angry thunder bears. Between them stood a single man, covered in jet-black full-body armor.

“That armor…”

He was very familiar with it. After all, it belonged to the Black Knight, otherwise known as Seo Jun-Ho. Ha In-Ho was able to recognize it instantly because he was also familiar with the man himself.

At the same moment, he realized why Gong Ju-Ha had been watching so intently the whole time.

‘Of course… The Princess knows his username.’

After getting over his initial shock, Ha In-Ho sat back down.

Then, he stood up again. “Why are you taking out a dagger?”

Seo Jun-Ho was wielding a dagger instead of his signature sword to fight thunder bears.

‘Not only that, but his level is…’

No matter how fast he leveled up after coming to Frontier, he couldn’t have passed level 50 yet. Ha In-Ho watched in stunned silence, but his concern ended up being unfounded.

“...”

Even if all he had was a measly dagger, Seo Jun-Ho was still Seo Jun-Ho. He ripped apart two thunder bears as if to prove his status. Not only that but he also used two completely different fighting styles.

‘So he’s showing off both his speed and strength.’

Ha In-Ho sensed what Jun-Ho was trying to convey through the video, and he was truly impressed.

“He’s truly amazing. I think I understand why Sir Specter chose him as a proxy.”

“...”

Gong Ju-Ha didn’t say anything. She scrunched her nose.

Ha In-Ho looked over at her. “Why are you so quiet? I thought you’d be jumping around and saying ‘I told you so.’”

“...I just. I’m a little sad. I don’t think I can call him Mr. Snake Head anymore, you see.”

She no longer saw Seo Jun-Ho as a ‘rookie.’ He was now a proper Player, just like her. The video was proof of that. “I wonder if Mr. Sn—I mean, if Mr. Jun-Ho received guidance from Sir Specter.”

“Huh? Why do you say that?” Ha In-Ho asked.

“I’ve watched all of Specter’s recordings. The way they handle the dagger is really similar.”

“Oh, come on. Even if Specter taught Seo Jun-Ho some things, why would he teach him the dagger? Shouldn’t he train him in the sword instead?”

“...Now that I think about it, you’re right?” She shrugged and started to giggle. “It has only been a few days since he asked me how he can earn PP… But I suppose he won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

The video titled ‘Test’ was now ranked number 4.

***

Woosh!

Seo Jun-Ho grabbed the collar of a thunder bear. He swung it around, slamming it down. The spikes of ice on the ground pierced right through its heart.

Seo Jun-Ho wiped his sweat and complimented the Frost Queen. “Phew, good job.”

“You do not need to tell me so. I always do a good job.”

Four days had already passed since they entered the forest of thunder bears, and they had managed to reach their goals.

“Out of the three objectives I set…”

They had completed two so far. He had reached level 50 and learned how to fight alongside the Frost Queen. The last thing he needed to do was earn PP, and he was already halfway there.

‘I already got 400 PP from Pompeii’s party.’

However, he hadn’t checked the performance of the ‘Test’ video just yet. He had promised the Frost Queen that they would only check it once they were done hunting.

“Do you want to eat your snacks first, or do you want to check the results first?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Hm…” She looked up at the sky, considering this for a second before she spoke, “Let us check the result. I am very curious about it.”

As she fluttered over and settled on his shoulder, Seo Jun-Ho opened the community forums and entered the video forum.

‘The rankings… Not there, of course.’

It had only been a few days since they uploaded it. He touched the hologram window to open his video.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Both the Spirit and the human had the same reaction. Seo Jun-Ho blinked, and the Frost Queen chewed her lip.

[Test]

Views: 175,985

Likes: 4,870

“Uh… I’m not sure what this means. Is this a lot, or a little?” he asked.

“I-I am not quite sure either. The other videos in the forum usually only had a few hundred views…”

Seo Jun-Ho’s heart started to pound with anticipation. It reminded him of back when he sat in front of the monitor, waiting to hear back from the colleges he had applied for.

“Let’s see how much PP it earned…”

Their eyes slowly turned downward.

PP earned: 1,760

PP donated: 1,153

2,913 PP combined. Adding the PP he already had, he now had 3,313 PP in total.

“Is 3,313 a lot?”

“Based on the video’s fine performance, I do not think that this is a small amount.”

Intrigued, Seo Jun-Ho checked the comments. Surprisingly, the video had several thousands of comments.

“Why are there so many?”

He couldn’t quell his curiosity and quickly opened the comment section.