Chapter 433: Once Upon a Time (2)

Seo Jun-Ho crashed to the floor.

"Ugh…"

Seo Jun-Ho covered his forehead with his palm. His head hurt as if he had been drinking the day before, but he couldn't afford to wait for the pain to subside.

"Aaaah!"

"Monsters, monsters are coming!"

"It's an Open Gate! Run as far as you can!"

The trembling ground and screams full of fear woke him up. Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes shone sharply as he looked around.

‘Open Gate? Monsters?’

Upon taking in the scene around him, he quickly recalled a few pieces of information.

There was a stone wall with a panoramic view of Seoul, a well-decorated walkway, and a tall tower in front of it.

‘I’m in Namsan Park, Seoul...’

He was definitely talking to the Sage in Frontier just a few moments ago, but he was suddenly in Seoul? He couldn’t quite grasp what was going on, but he set aside the questions in the interim.

“What is the association doing? Why did they let things escalate to this point?”

Seo Jun-Ho set his burning questions aside because his priority had always been to save people.

"Inventory, Cruel Executioner."

A man was running toward Seo Jun-Ho.

Seo Jun-Ho retrieved a halberd without hesitation.

"S-save me!"

Sniff, sniff!

The man was being chased by a wolf covered in red fur.

‘Red Wolf. A monster stronger than a goblin but weaker than an orc.’

Personally, it was his least favorite monster.

"Who are you trying to hurt in front of me?"

Seo Jun-Ho coldly swung his halberd. His attack went past the man to cut the wolf down.

Crack!

"Argh!" However, the man was bitten on the neck by the charging wolf, and he collapsed while screaming. Seo Jun-Ho froze at the sight.

"…What?"

"Argh! Help me! Ack! Ugh. Uggh."

The man’s screams turned into sobbing and then silence. Seo Jun-Ho remained unmoving.

'It clearly went through...’

His attack passed through the Red Wolf. The man also went right through him as if he were a ghost.

"What the hell is going on?"

Seo Jun-Ho looked around with a frown. Eventually, he found a shining object on the floor.

"It's a smartphone?"

Wasn't that a relic of the past that could only be seen in textbooks or museums nowadays? He stared at the smartphone screen and saw the numbers 2019-03-06 on the screen.

'...Oh, is it like that?’

He finally understood what was going on.

“Ask yourself…”

Rather than a parable, the Sage had told him to literally ask himself for an answer.

“This is a bit too much.” Seo Jun-Ho grumbled. The Sage’s skill definitely allowed him to see the past for himself and let others see the past. In that case, there had to be only one reason why the Sage brought him here.

Seo Jun-Ho scoured his memories and started running somewhere.

As expected, there were many ambulances and association Players.

"Bring more stretchers here!"

"Call for additional Player support and for an ambulance! Damn it! Why did a perfectly normal Gate suddenly explode!"

"Immediately search the top and rescue the survivors. You! Come with me!"

There was a mountain of Red Wolf corpses on the side. However, Seo Jun-Ho's eyes landed on the young man on the ground.

"…Mom? Dad?"

The young man’s face was as pale as a sheet of paper. The young man, who just turned twenty, blankly stared at his parents covered in white cloth.

While staring at the young man, the Players muttered to themselves in sympathy for the young man.

"At first, I thought that they were all dead because the three of them were on top of each other. I think they died protecting their son.”

"Wheeew…"

"How pitiful. The conditions of the corpses aren’t that great as well, so I’m sure he’s in shock right now."

The young man clenched the white cloth with a trembling hand and said, "Please… I'll listen to you well from now on. I won't drink late at night, and I won’t need any pocket money anymore. You don't have to do anything for me, so please...”

“Please stay by my side…”

The young man’s tears fell like a waterfall, and his deep voice was trembling. Staring at the young man whose world seemed to have fallen apart, Seo Jun-Ho silently closed his eyes.

***

Once again, he felt like his mind was going somewhere. Seo Jun-Ho opened his eyes and looked around.

'The location has changed.’

The scenery of Seoul and Namsan Mountain was nowhere to be seen. He was standing in a dark forest. He could see plants that weren’t definitely endemic to Earth, and thick mana was also floating in the air. The leaves of the gigantic trees in this forest blocked every ray of sunlight.

“I think I’m inside a Gate. Wait, no way…!” Seo Jun-Ho stiffened. As he passed a shoddy camp that wasn’t even worth mentioning, he saw ten men and women huddled together while hiding.

"Well, then, night shift people, please."

"Wake us up right away when it’s time for a shift change. You should get some sleep as well."

"I know, so stop nagging and go to sleep."

The young man, who had lost his parents and was in constant despair, had already become a Player. His eyes were lively, and his physique was robust.

A few moments later, the camp became filled with not a single noise other than the even breathing of the others.

"They really fall asleep the moment their heads land on a pillow.”

"They're forcing themselves to act like everything’s fine, but I’m sure they’re getting tired.”

"Yeah. It has been a week since we’ve been on the move."

The young man and the young woman on the night watch with him smiled lightly. It had already been a week since they came here. Their food provisions had long vanished, their mental strength was declining, and their stamina wouldn’t return even after sleeping.

“I hope we can get out of this disgusting Gate by tomorrow.”

"Will it be possible?"

"I think we just need to find the boss monster. The boss monster is too wicked, it’s actually hiding even at this point."

The night deepened as the three conversed with each other. The temperature quickly fell, and it became frighteningly cold.

"Ugh, it's cold."

"Achoo! Achoo!" The bitter cold enveloped the party, and the comrades in the sleeping bag started trembling. The young woman bit her lips as she stared at her trembling comrades.

"What do we do? They’re cold."

"It’s only natural that they’re cold. It’s already cold for us even though we’re awake and we keep on moving, so how could it be warm for them?"

"What if they catch a cold and can't hunt tomorrow?"

In that case, what would they do? It was hard to find medicine inside a Gate, and if one of them got sick, it would take them longer to clear the Gate. The young man thought.

There was a moment of silence. The young man slowly looked around before suggesting. “What if we create a campfire for an hour? Let’s make it small.”

"Are you sure that it’s going to be okay?"

"W-wouldn't it be dangerous?”

"We built a camp and set up various traps around us... It shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

- No, please don’t… You’ll regret this choice for the rest of your life.

- Please don’t do it, you idiot…!

Seo Jun-Ho reached out and grabbed at the young man's shoulder. However, his hand passed through the young man as if he were a ghost. He couldn’t do anything else here other than watch.

- This idiot…

One could sometimes bring about the worst-case scenario by making a choice based on kindness and thoughtfulness. Seo Jun-Ho—the young man learned that lesson the hard way in this Gate.

Crackle!

Eventually, a fire was made.

"Mmm."

"Oh, I’m sure they’re warm now."

"Yeah, they aren’t coughing anymore as well."

"That's a relief."

The three chatted and laughed happily, but the worried young man spoke, "Just in case, I'll go and look around.”

"All right. But be careful."

"Jun-Ho, don't forget that you're the ace of this party. We’ll be in trouble if you get hurt."

“Yes, yes, I know…” The young man smirked as he left his comrade for reconnaissance.

Seo Jun-Ho shut his eyes tightly at the scene.

‘First, they made a fire in a Gate—in a forest where not even a single ray of sunlight could pass through the canopies of the trees.’

Second, they believed in their sloppy traps that couldn’t possibly catch even the weakest monster in daylight. Third, he left to scout the surrounding area, which reduced their overall firepower.

They had committed such dumb mistakes as novice Players.

‘If we didn’t make even one of those mistakes…’

If they had gotten lucky and there weren’t a bunch of monsters wandering around when they started the fire. What could have happened?

Ding! Diing! Ding!

"…Huh?"

“W-what was that?”

The trap they set was triggered, and the bell they set as an alarm started ringing frantically. Surprised, the man pulled out his weapon and shouted, "Shit! Choi Eun-Rang! Go and find Jun-Ho right now!"

"What? But I also need to fight…”

"A magician isn't very helpful in this kind of battle! We need him!"

"G-got it!"

The woman nodded and ran out of the camp as fast as she could.

"Get up! It's an ambush! It's a monster! Mons—”

Crack!

The man's head was shattered by a goblin's club as it jumped out of the bushes.

After that, everything went smoothly for the monsters.

“Huh? What was that?”

"Ambush? Did you say an ambush?"

"Everyone get up and get your wea—Argh!"

Stab! Stab! Stab!

The goblins climbed on top of the half-asleep Players and pierced their hearts with crude stone daggers. The eight Players died in just a minute.

- Damn it…!

Seo Jun-Ho covered his face with his hands as guilt surged in his heart like a deluge.

"Y-you bastards…!"

The young man quickly returned and slaughtered the goblins. He was strong—yes, but there was no way he could resurrect the dead.

"Ahh, ahhhh…!"

The woman who fetched him hugged a corpse and cried in despair. The corpse belonged to her lover.

“…”

There was no need for him to see any more of this because there was no way he could ever forget this scene and the following scene.

‘She kills herself, and I fall into despair.’

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the young man. He had changed from when he lost his parents. Back then, he couldn’t even kill a single wolf. He had grown up and had become strong enough to hunt most monsters on his own.

The young man had definitely become stronger, but he was still afraid.

***

"I was wondering why it wasn’t coming out…" Seo Jun-Ho muttered. He looked exhausted. It couldn’t be helped because he had relived two of the most tragic events of his life, and right now, he could already deduce what scenes he was about to see.

“Please don’t rush because of us. Lie in wait until you’re sure you can kill her.”

“Mio’s right. It’s impossible to kill her in two minutes. If you rush in just like that, you’ll actually give her the upper hand.” Rahmadat and Skaya chimed in.

“You hear that? Don’t be impatient, and kill her properly. That is what you have to do as the one who will go up.”

“I don’t know about the rest of us, but you can definitely do it.”

The young man was no longer a novice Player. He had become a really great Player.

“...I’ll see you again. I promise.”

The young man then ran up the stairs, skipping multiple steps at a time.

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t follow the young man. He remained unmoving as he watched his comrades freeze.

"Ha, I guess this is the end of the line for me.”

"What? You’re such a big guy, so why are you being such a wimp about dying?”

"What? Hey, gunman, isn’t my reaction normal?"

"…Don't know. I miss Arthur.”

"Please cheer up, Jun-Ho."

They had always been a bunch of people who couldn’t get along. Seo Jun-Ho suppressed a smile of sadness before going up the stairs.

'I was eaten up by anger at this time.’

He was furious to the extent that all his hair stood on end. The adrenaline that erupted was more than enough to quell his fear of the Frost Queen.

"You really don’t know anything about this world."

"I’m only here to kill you, so why would I need to know such things?"

As Seo Jun-Ho stared at the two figures, his eyes quivered when he discovered something. The Seo Jun-Ho facing the Frost Queen was definitely engulfed in an all-encompassing rage that he even lost his reasoning, but…

Tremble.

Seo Jun-Ho—the so-called Hero—was actually trembling in fear.

'I... was like that?’

He couldn’t remember it. At the time, all he thought about was getting rid of her as fast as he could, so he could save his comrades.

"I just have to kill you and end this game."

Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen clashed, and he could feel his mind going somewhere once again.

However, this time, he didn’t feel any pain.

Whooo.

Seo Jun-Ho sighed lightly and said, "You're more odious than you look."

"You wanted to get an answer, and that was the only thing I could do for you.” The Sage tapped his shoulder with eyes shining in understanding before asking, “So, did you find the answer you wanted?"

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho stared down at his hands. They were still trembling. He was still scared of the existence he had seen in Mellis' memory. The existence that he would inevitably face one day was so strong that he was scared, and he wanted to hide and run away.

‘But…’

Seo Jun-Ho clenched his fists. It couldn’t be helped. He realized that he had always been living in fear of something.

"I had no idea until now, but I must have been a coward all this time."

When he faced his past, he finally became certain of it. However, it wasn’t strange that he had always been afraid. It was a perfectly natural reaction.

"It seems that you have found the answer."

The Sage smiled contentedly.

Denying fear was only a fleeting escape from reality. If one really wanted to overcome fear, one had to start by accepting it.

"Yes, I found it. And it’s all thanks to you."

The moment his present self acknowledged his cowardice all this time, his hands stopped trembling like a lie.