Chapter 556: Blooming Flower (1)

“Your lightning was great. If it weren’t for it, we wouldn’t have caught that punk who can turn into slime.”

“Physical attacks were certainly ineffective against that guy, but we wouldn’t have defeated the other guy if it weren’t for your attacks.”

“Hm, I think we should just talk casually.”

“I’m a little older than I look...”

“Hehe, does that even matter? We’re friends after fighting shoulder-to-shoulder.”

Rahmadat and Baek Geon-Woo were enjoying their victory.

“Hm, indeed...” The Frost Queen decided to join their conversation. “You two did a great job today. Well done.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Huh? It’s unlike you to compliment me.”

“...”

The two smiled softly at the Frost Queen’s unexpected comment.

The Frost Queen stared at the two for a few seconds and asked, “That’s it?”

“Hmm? I’m sorry, but I don’t carry around a lollipop or a slice of cake with me. You should go find Jun-Ho if that’s what you’re looking for,” said Rahmadat.

The Frost Queen puffed her cheeks.

‘Contractor is a liar. He told me that give and take is important in this world. Didn’t he say that if I say nice things, the other party will return the gesture in kind? I complimented them, but why aren’t they complimenting me back?’

The Frost Queen revealed an uncomfortable look upon recalling the number of enemies she had to fight today.

‘I trapped a thousand Overminds!’

“Hmph! You guys are still a long way off. I would have spanked both of you if I had met you guys in my prime,” said the Frost Queen before turning around to leave and look for someone.

‘Where is he? He’ll definitely compliment me.’

If there was a World Compliment Competition, the Frost Queen was sure that Seo Jun-Ho would win.

‘There he is...’ the Frost Queen hurriedly walked over to Seo Jun-Ho. “Contractor! What did you think of my performance—”

The Frost Queen immediately grew perplexed upon seeing Seo Jun-Ho’s face.

“Huh? Why are you crying?”

“...”

‘Jun-Sik was crying earlier, and now it’s Contractor’s turn?’

The Frost Queen quickly rummaged through her pockets.

“Oh, no.”

She couldn’t find any candy or chocolate in her pockets.

The Frost Queen was flustered, and she stammered, “P-please stop crying...”

“Sniff...!”

“Are you hurt? I can put a bandage on it...” the Frost Queen muttered. She truly had no idea how to deal with a crying adult.

Seo Jun-Ho cried for quite a while before he eventually wiped away his tears.

“I’m sorry. I showed you an embarrassing side of me.”

“Don’t say that. You can cry as much as you want and—ah!” The Frost Queen suddenly covered her mouth with both of her hands, and she stared at Seo Jun-Ho as if he were the most pitiful person in the world.

“This is bad, Contractor. Santa Claus won’t give you a present this year...”

“He doesn’t give presents to adults...”

“What? W-what about to an Arch Spirit? Does that mean that I won’t get any presents from him this year as well?”

“You... you’ll get a present.”

The Frost Queen’s eyes shone with the ambition to capture Santa and hog all the gifts.

Sung-Jun and Seo Jun-Ho had been trying particularly hard to protect the Frost Queen’s innocence despite the numerous regressions they had gone through together.

‘...So what did he mean when he said that I shouldn’t give up on her...’

Seo Jun-Ho had never thought about abandoning the Frost Queen—not even once. It was said that parting ways with a pet was extremely hard, but Seo Jun-Ho loved the Frost Queen more than any pet lover would love their pet.

The Frost Queen asked carefully, “Contractor, can you tell me why you were crying? Jun-Sik was crying earlier as well.”

“...I’m sorry,” Seo Jun-Ho said and shook his head.

The Frost Queen was the last person he could tell why he cried.

‘I can’t tell her.’

The Frost Queen would definitely cry much harder than he did, and she might even refuse to eat anything, including her favorite cake.

‘If she finds out the truth behind the regressions and if she finds out that Sung-Jun ended up failing after climbing up the Floors by himself...’

Seo Jun-Ho could already feel his head throb just imagining it alone.

“I’ll tell you in the future.”

“...You can be super mean at times, you know. You and Jun-Sik don’t share your secrets with me. I hate you guys.”

Seo Jun-Ho smiled helplessly.

He couldn’t do anything because he wanted to protect her.

Seo Jun-Ho gently patted the Frost Queen’s head and said, “Frost. I’m sorry, but can you take care of Rahmadat and Senior Brother?”

“Huh? Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes. Just for a moment.”

Seo Jun-Ho looked down at the pair of gloves in his hand.

“I have to go somewhere.”

***

The Heavenly Demon frowned and asked, “The emperor refused?”

“Yes, my liege.”

Isaac Dvor kneeled in front of the Heavenly Demon with his head drooping, looking like he was ashamed of himself. He didn’t expect that the emperor would refuse to meet them, even though they had already mentioned the Archduke.

“That’s a surprise.”

“The emperor seemed to be on edge, and the palace looked very busy as well. I wonder if something happened.”

“He seemed to be on edge, huh?”

“He was fine the last time I told him where the thunder sleeps.”

‘Something must have happened, and it made the emperor nervous...’ The Heavenly Demon nodded and said, “Well, it’s not too difficult to guess. It’s definitely because of Specter.”

Specter was the only one capable of making the emperor feel nervous.

The Heavenly Demon paced around with his hands behind his back.

“My plans are ruined...”

The Heavenly Demon’s original plan was to borrow the emperor’s army by talking to the emperor using the Archduke’s name.

‘My plan is to attack the Players’ headquarters with his army, but...’

The emperor had refused to meet him. In other words, the Heavenly Demon had no choice but to come up with a new plan.

“What a shame. I could have finally stopped the Players from clearing the Floors here.”

“What shall we do, my lord?”

“...Hm.”

Kim Woo-Joong would definitely stumble upon the Players soon.

The Heavenly Demon had to prepare a new plan before that.

“Where is the owl right now?”

“It is chasing after Tenmei Mio and Mr. Shoot.”

‘Tenmei Mio and Mr. Shoot, huh?’

Tenmei Mio wasn’t as strong as the emperor’s army, but she was still a decent card to play because she was capable of shaking Seo Jun-Ho better than Kim Woo-Joong.

“I shouldn’t have killed Fahm Vert.” The Heavenly Demon started regretting killing Fahm Vert. Unfortunately, he had too much trust in his plan, so now he was paying the price for its failure.

“Isaac, Citrin.”

The two bowed even deeper.

The Heavenly Demon said, “Go toward the owl and bring Tenmei Mio before me.”

The Heavenly Demon didn’t mention anything about what they would do about Mr. Shoot, which only meant one thing.

“Yes, my liege.”

They were allowed to kill him.

***

Gilberto looked around the gray space.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

However, he could only hear his own voice.

Gilberto’s expression turned serious.

‘No, it can’t be...’

The last thing Gilberto could remember was being handed over the technique that the failures had created over a thousand years.

“Did I fail?”

Gilberto recalled being told that he had to stay conscious at all costs.

However, he seemed to have fainted due to the unbearable pain.

‘Does that mean that I’m in my afterlife?’

Gilberto fell into a daze. Eventually, he decided to pinch his thigh.

“Ah!”

It was painful, so it meant that his senses were still alive.

‘I guess I have to figure out how to deal with hunger and thirst.’

Gilberto checked his Inventory and sighed. “Oh, no.”

‘Right. I left all my food and water to Arthur just in case.’

His Inventory contained nothing but a bag of biscuits and a 500mL bottle of water.

Brrr!

All of a sudden, a hazy image appeared in front of Gilberto.

“Gil... berto, human...”

Gilberto stared intently at the image with narrow eyes, and he soon realized that the image was depicting the face of the turtle-looking village chief.

“Chief, what is going on? Why did this happen?”

“We had no idea... the emperor... safety device...”

“What?”

“Get rid of... only way... survive...”

The chief’s image disappeared.

Gilberto quickly organized his thoughts. ‘Safety device... does that mean that the emperor hid a safety device out of concern that someone will mutate with the Force?’

In that case, Gilberto had to get rid of the safety device to survive.

‘But what is the safety device, and where is it?’

“...Damn it.”

His questions were answered by a four-legged monster running toward him.

Click!

Gilberto quickly pulled a gun out of his Inventory.

“I can’t die here.”

Gilberto had a promise to keep with his son.

***

Rustle.

Gilberto’s fingers dug into the bag of biscuits, but he found nothing but crumbs.

He poured the crumbs into his mouth.

“...Sigh.” Gilberto let out a deep sigh.

‘All I have left is a sip of water.’

Gilberto drank the final sip of water after much thought and contemplation. He licked even the last drop of water running down the water bottle, but his thirst was yet to be quenched.

“...”

It had already been twenty-four days since Gilberto arrived at this unknown gray space.

He had long reached his limits physically, but his hunger and thirst were driving him into a corner as well.

The footprints left by his stumbling steps resembled those of a drunkard.

“Grrrr.”

The beast that had been struggling against Gilberto for weeks maintained a certain distance for several days and didn’t come near him anymore. Perhaps it had realized that Gilberto would die soon.

Gilberto’s magic and bullets couldn’t leave much damage to the beast.

The most the Repeating Covenant Revolver could do was leave a scratch on its skin.

‘I’m about to die.’ Gilberto slumped to the ground. ‘I’m about to die a death that is very different from what I had imagined.’

Gilberto had always thought that he would die by sacrificing his life for his friends.

‘Hah. I was arrogant.’

Death was just around the corner, so Gilberto’s mind suddenly cleared up.

His senses sharpened and heightened as well.

‘This is interesting.’

Gilberto could feel absolutely everything as he lay on the ground. He could vividly feel the blood flowing through his blood vessels and the shape of his heart that was struggling to beat just to keep him alive.

Gilberto felt like each detail about him had been laid out in extreme detail in his mind.

‘This feels nostalgic.’

His industry referred to this sensation as Bullet Time. Bullet Time was a state that allowed snipers to perceive every minute changes in time. It was difficult to achieve, and most snipers would never experience Bullet Time even once in their lifetime.

‘This is my third time entering Bullet Time.’

Gilberto had entered Bullet Time twice in his lifetime, and he had done something heroic that he would never forget, even in his afterlife. However, he had never entered Bullet Time again since he woke up from the ice until today.

‘I thought I’ll never be able to enter it again, but I didn’t expect to enter it just as I’m about to die...’

However, Gilberto felt hope rather than despair.

“...I’m going to beat those who told me that knowledge is power. Ignorance is certainly bliss.” Gilberto could feel an enormous energy brewing in him.

‘This must be the fruit of the failures’ research, but what’s the point? I can’t even use it.’

The fruit of the failures’ research was a power that was extremely difficult to use compared to magic. The power wouldn’t budge no matter how hard Gilberto tried to make it move.

“Grrrr...”

The beast approached Gilberto upon sensing the latter’s imminent death. The monster lowered its posture as much as possible to hunt the prey that it had been wanting to consume over the past few weeks.

“Roarrr!”

The monster charged at Gilberto.

Gilberto aimed his gun at the monster’s glabella, but there was no way a naked bullet could pierce the monster’s skin, not to mention kill it.

‘Arthur...’

Gilberto felt like he would break his promise to his son for the very first time.

Gilberto smiled bitterly.

Crackleee!

A pair of white gloves suddenly enveloped his hand holding the revolver.