Chapter 500: Frost and Jun-Sik

“Huh? Huuuh?”

Seo Jun-Sik whipped around upon hearing the Frost Queen’s muttering.

“What’s wrong—”

Shoop.

The Frost Queen lost strength, and she suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Stop it. It’s not funny at all,” he said, pretending to be mad.

He walked over to the Frost Queen and put his hand on her forehead.

“...!”

He found that she was as hot as fire.

Seo Jun-Sik’s face fell. He picked her up and ran to the infirmary.

***

It had already been a few days since the Frost Quen collapsed.

“What did Overflow say?” Seo Jun-Sik asked Yeon.

- They informed me that they would send me their entire inventory of items that are good for a Spirit’s health. On top of that, they are also in the midst of researching the potential side effects of Fire’s Whisper.

“Good…”

They had already brought in doctors and healers. However, they couldn’t give a proper diagnosis.

‘It’s probably because they’re dealing with a Spirit.’

Seo Jun-Sik himself had gone down to the lower Floors to dig through books and documents regarding Spirits. Still, he couldn't find any records of a Spirit falling ill in the past few decades.

‘Not just in the past few decades. Frontier has records about spirits that date back centuries ago, but I couldn’t find anything there, either.’

At their core, Spirits were a part of nature itself.

In other words, they shouldn’t fall ill like living organisms.

“...Our little princess always manages to find trouble no matter where she goes,” he muttered. They could always count on her to make them feel worried. After all, she was the best in that field.

Seo Jun-Sik sighed and glanced at his watch.

“It’s today?” he asked.

- Yes. His Majesty will awaken today.

“Good. She might start feeling better once Original wakes up.”

A few hours later, Seo Jun-Ho woke up as expected.

[Absorption rate 99.9999%...]

[Absorption rate 100%.]

[Congratulations. You have completely absorbed the Modified Tepes’ Nucleus.]

[You have obtained the new skill Wheel of Time (S).]

Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

He rolled his stiff neck a few times.

Then, he saw the concern plastered all over Seo Jun-Sik’s face. “You’re acting like I caught a disease or something. What’s up with that look?”

“...Original, there’s something you need to know.”

Seo Jun-Sik explained the situation.

Seo Jun-Ho leaped out of bed and headed over to the Frost Queen’s room.

She was as still and quiet as a mouse.

Seo Jun-Ho looked at her closely and asked, “You’re saying that she just collapsed?”

“At first, I thought it was because she pushed herself too hard while fighting,” Seo Jun-Sik said. However, it wasn’t possible. If anything, Seo Jun-Ho would have been the one who should have fallen ill, not the Frost Queen.

“So there’s only one possible answer…” Seo Jun-Ho pointed out.

“Yeah, it’s because of the Fire’s Whisper.”

So, it was because of an item that boosts a Spirit’s power by a large amount.

Seo Jun-Ho sat by the bed. “Sigh. In that case, she’s probably fighting it off right now.”

“...Fighting what?”

“That’s just how it is with these types of items. Just because you take them doesn’t mean that that they’ll help you readily,” he explained.

Sometimes, they weren’t compatible with the consumer.

It was likely the same with the Frost Queen and the Fire’s Whisper.

“It’s pretty obvious once you think about it,” Seo Jun-Ho added.

“I didn’t think that far. She just gobbled it up…” Seo Jun-Sik grew glum. He was definitely thinking that the Frost Queen fell ill because he gave Fire’s Whisper to her. “Just send me away.”

“You just want to disappear? Is that it?”

“I just gave it to her without even thinking, you know?”

Seo Jun-Ho chuckled. Surprisingly, Seo Jun-Sik was pretty spineless. However, he remembered that Seo Jun-Sik was his clone and pursed his lips.

“Well, I would have done the same, so don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault that your original is like this.”

“...”

“Stop worrying, you little twerp. She’s stronger than you think, so she’ll be all better in a few days,” Seo Jun-Ho reassured. In fact, it was likely that she would become even more energetic and cause even more trouble.

Seo Jun-Sik looked at him with vacant eyes and muttered, “...You may be right.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s nothing.”

They were technically the same person, but Seo Jun-Ho would always make him feel reassured at times like this—like he was an older brother.

“All right, then. We’ll leave Frost here for now, but I heard that there’s another thing we have to handle,” Jun-Ho said.

Seo Jun-Sik realized what he was saying and nodded. “Follow me.”

***

The room was completely empty aside from a single chair.

A man was sitting on a chain—tight magic chains were binding him.

“Is this the guy?”

“Yeah. He’s the Spirit user at the Star Destruction Stage. He was working under Hak-Do.”

The man was none other than Gilburt—the Contractor of the Flame Drake. He was still alive. More precisely, he couldn’t be killed.

Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t kill him.

“Ooh, are you twin brothers?” Gilburt snorted as he stared alternatingly between Seo Jun-Ho and Seo Jun-Sik. Gilburt was tied up, but he looked like he didn’t care. “Just because there are two of you doesn’t mean you can kill me, you know…”

“Tsk. It pisses me off, but he’s right,” Seo Jun-Sik muttered.

A few days ago, the Frost Queen and Seo Jun-Sik had tried to kill Gilburt after taking care of Geum Hak-Do. However, they failed. The Flame Drake avoided fighting, but it didn’t leave its contractor to die.

“There’s a spell covering his entire body,” Jun-Sik explained.

“And you couldn’t break through it?”

“Couldn’t even make a dent...”

“My Elemental Shield can’t be broken by the likes of you. Now that you know that, how about you let me go?” Gilburt said coolly while staring at Seo Jun-Ho.

“...We have a few questions we want to ask you regarding the Fire’s Whisper that Hak-Do was carrying with him,” Seo Jun-Sik said.

“I’ll tell you if you let me go.”

“Answer me first.”

“If you don’t want to let me go first, then just break through my shield. I have all the time in the world, you see. I’m unemployed now, and it’s all because of you.”

“God, you little…” Seo Jun-Sik scowled at the audacity.

He looked at Original with helpless eyes. “What are we gonna do?”

“Well, I’d like some answers first.”

[Dignity of an Emperor (S) has been activated.]

The air around Seo Jun-Ho abruptly changed.

Seo Jun-Ho made a chair of ice and sat in front of Gilburt.

‘What is he doing…?’

Had he been using an ability to hide his power? He was actually at a higher Stage than his brother.

Alarm bells went off inside Gilburt’s head. ‘If he’s that strong…’

Then, he could easily break the Elemental Shield whenever he wanted.

Gilburt gulped. In the meantime, he decided to uncross his legs and sit properly.

“Are you ready to talk now? If not, I could always just break your shield, just as you wanted,” Seo Jun-Ho bluffed. Even though he could intimidate Gilburt with Dignity of an Emperor (S), breaking an Elemental Shield was a different story.

Fortunately, it worked.

“...Well, I was starting to get lonely out here. I suppose it’ll be nice to have someone to talk to,” Gilburt said. He decided to give in. “I think you said you wanted to know about the Fire’s Whisper, right?”

“Tell me everything you know.”

“It’s a really valuable item. I became Hak-Do’s escort because I wanted it.”

If Gilburt had to save Geum Hak-Do’s life, then Geum Hak-Do would give him the Fire’s Whisper in exchange. That was their agreement.

“It’s a dream item for a fire spirit user like me. If Flame Drake had taken it, I bet he would have become an Arch spirit instantly,” he said.

“Does it have any side effects?” Seo Jun-Ho pressed.

“I don’t know…I guess it’ll take a while to absorb it because of how powerful it is...”

Seo Jun-Ho thought the same. He nodded and moved on to the next question. “I heard that your Flame Drake refused to fight with my Spirit. Why?”

“Hell, if I know.” Gilburt scowled, but he quickly composed himself and continued. “...I swear, I’m more curious than you are.”

“Bring him here,” he said tersely as he undid the magic bindings.

Seo Jun-Sik grew shocked as he watched.

“Hey, are you sure it’s okay to do that?” he whispered.

“It’s fine.”

Gilburt gulped under Seo Jun-Ho’s emotionless gaze.

He thought for a moment and sighed.

“Come, Flame Drake.”

The fiery dinosaur was summoned.

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the spirit.

“I heard you refused to fight Frost. Why is that?” he asked.

- ...You are referring to the Frostbringer of Worlds. Then, I have a question for you. What are your real intentions for asking that?’

“Answer me first.”

- Hm. Must I need a reason for avoiding her? I simply do not wish to die.

“She’s not that strong. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?

- Ha!

Flame Drake snorted.

- I do not know if you are mocking me or if you are the one being mocked.

“What do you mean by that?” Jun-Ho asked.

- Are you blind? My eyes will never fool me. I definitely saw the ruler of Niflheim, the Frostbringer of Worlds. Of course, I would fear for my life.

“...”

Indeed, the Frost Queen was the ruler of Niflheim, and she did freeze worlds. She had been bragging about it herself, and several Administrators had verified her identity as well.

‘But I didn’t expect that even a powerful High spirit would be afraid of her...’ The Frost Queen was only a Common spirit at the moment. She claimed that she was a Grade 3 Arch Spirit, but it was a ridiculous claim—

Seo Jun-Ho ended his train of thought and asked quickly, “Is there a Grade 3 Arch ranking for Spirits, by any chance?”

- What foolishness is that?

“...”

Yeah, there wasn’t…

Seo Jun-Ho hid his bright red face and stood up. “Fuck off.”

“Y-You’re sparing me?”

“I can kill you as well if that’s what you want.”

Of course, he wouldn’t be able to kill Gilburt.

However, there was no way Gilburt would know. He bowed slightly and said, “...I, Gilburt—the Wanderer of Roads—will remember your mercy. I will repay your generosity, I swear it.”

With that, he left Neo City with his tail between his legs.

Seo Jun-Sik finally let out the breath that he had been holding back and started scolding Seo Jun-Ho. “You idiot. What were you gonna do if he decided to fight once you untied him?”

“If that happened, I was planning on testing out my new skill.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Seo Jun-Ho had to find another way to test it.

“Oh, Wheel of Time? What does it do?” Seo Jun-Sik asked carefully.

“Well…”

Seo Jun-Ho grinned.

***

The Frost Queen’s long lashes slowly opened.

She blinked and stared at the ceiling before turning her head.

“You’re finally awake.”

“...Jun-Sik. How many days was I asleep for?”

“Many days….”

“Eugh.” The Frost Queen looked like she wanted to cry as she muttered, “Do not tell Contractor. I do not wish to cause him unnecessary worry,”

“Wow.” Who’s worried about who now? Seo Jun-Ho scoffed and said, “You’ve been out for ten days. I woke up a long time ago.”

“...!” The Frost Queen was stupefied. She looked like she had woken up in another world as she exclaimed, “Y-You’re Contractor?!”

“Yes. Your Contractor.”

“...”

The Frost Queen hurriedly pulled the covers up to her nose and muttered, “Let me tell you now. Cough, cough. Ah, I feel sick.”

“Can Spirits catch a cold nowadays? Even the great Frost Queen?”

“Who knows? I feel ill.”

“Well, get better soon. We haven’t been able to go up to the 7th Floor because of you…”

“...Is that all that matters to you?”

Was he too harsh? Seo Jun-Ho held up the plastic bag he was holding and said, “Ahem. I went all the way to the 1st Floor to get you medicine because I was worried, you know. Are you hungry? I bought some congee, too…”

“I have no appetite because I feel sick. I do not know where it went.”

“Then, just take this.”

However, Seo Jun-Ho hesitated once he had taken out the medicine he had bought from the pharmacy downstairs.

‘Wait. Do they even work on Spirits?’

They were probably made with humans in mind.

He thought for a moment and checked the description on the back.

- For ages 7 to 18.

Oops. He had bought medicine for children. The Frost Queen had been growing steadily, but she was still acting like a child, so he kept on treating her as a kid.

Seo Jun-Ho blinked and asked, “Hey, how old are you?”

“One hundred and f—”

One hundred and what?

Seo Jun-Ho whipped around and stared at her.

She made a hm sound, looking all groggy.

However, her eyes abruptly grew wide as she jerked her head toward him and exclaimed, “W-What did I say just now?”

“H-Huh? I asked how old you were, and you said one hundred and… something. A hundred and five? Wait... Are you actually a hundred and fifty… ma’am?”

“No!” The Frost Queen turned beet red and hurriedly improvised. “O-One hundred horses! I simply meant to say that I am so hungry I could eat one hundred horses!”

“You just said you weren’t going to eat because you feel sick. I’m sure you said you didn’t have an appetite…”

“Ugh, whatever! I’m hungry now, so bring me the congee!”

The Frost Queen then quickly chased Seo Jun-Ho out of her room.

Seo Jun-Ho scratched his head outside the room.

“She definitely said one hundred and fi—something.”

“Tsk, tsk. You should be ashamed of yourself, Original.” Seo Jun-Sik leaned on the wall and clicked his tongue. “Don’t you know that it’s rude to ask a woman her age?”

“A woman? Does Frost look like a woman to you?”

“Then, is she a man?” Seo Jun-Sik said flatly. Then, he fell deep into thought. “Wait. Since she’s a Spirit, does she even have a gender?”

“I guess not.”

“Then, I suppose it wouldn’t be rude to ask her for her age.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, I take back what I said about how you should be ashamed of yourself,” Seo Jun-Sik quickly apologized.

“Okay, I take back what I said about you eating dinner tonight.”

“Oh, come onnnnnn! I have meal coupons!” exclaimed Seo Jun-Sik. He proceeded to cling to Seo Jun-Ho’s leg and begged for forgiveness. However, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t even spare him a glance as he heated up the Frost Queen’s congee.

The idiot should have known better than to insult his great Original.