Chapter 206: Forever Land (5)

The tent was dark inside. As their eyes adjusted, an announcement was played.

[Please take your seat.]

"We should sit down," Seo Jun-Ho said.

"I don't think they're telling us to sit on the ground. We should sit there, don't you think?" Gong Ju-Ha pointed to the rows of blue, cheap-looking plastic chairs.

"Let's do as they say for now. That's the only way we can progress."

Gong Ju-Ha sat in the very front row. He couldn't tell if she truly wasn't scared, or if she was pretending.

"Doesn't this make you think of the old days?" she asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Back in Las Vegas."

"Ah." Back then, they sat in luxurious couches that couldn't even compare to these hard, uncomfortable chairs.

[The show will begin shortly.]

With the next announcement, noises started to come from behind them.

"Huh? Isn't this attraction for two people?" Gong Ju-Ha said. Her face fell when she turned around. Seo Jun-Ho's eyes widened as he did the same.

'This is bad.'

The empty seats were now completely filled, without a single empty chair. The stuffed animals in the audience started at them ominously.

"I-isn't this a little scary... No, a little creepy?"

"Just a little." Seo Jun-Ho looked calmly back at the stage, but Gong Ju-Ha couldn't do that.

"L-Let's watch them together! What if they ambush us from behind while we're both looking at the stage?"

"If they were gonna ambush us, they would've done it already. The non-originals are weak anyway," he said.

Funnily enough, the Dungeon's announcements were always honest.

'It's as if they genuinely want us to enjoy the amusement park.'

Click.

The faint yellow light switched off and the curtains on the stage opened just as the ground started to vibrate.

"...Mr. Jun-Ho."

"Yes, I understand now why it's called Traveling Troupe of the Sky."

The seats and the stage started to lift up into the sky like they were riding a drop tower. The tent's flaps disappeared into the wind, and they could see all of Forever Land as the theater was lifted 80 meters off the ground.

"Hmmm, it's too high. We won't be able to run away," Seo Jun-Ho observed.

"Is this really the time to be saying that?!" Gong Ju-Ha sounded like she was about to cry. Her fingers were twitching. If she saw any suspicious movements, she would burn everything.

[The show has begun.]

Oriental music started to play with instruments that sounded like geomungos and gayageums.[1]

"Hup!" The first one that stepped onto the stage was a face-changing performer. They made silly movements and every time they shook their head, their face somehow changed.[2]

"Wow, they must've practiced a lot."

"Yeah... No, wait! Get it together! This is the highest difficulty attraction!"

After that came a strongman, and then a performer that juggled knives with their eyes closed. They really were like a traveling troupe, and both Seo Jun-Ho and Gong Ju-Ha watched a slew of fun performances.

"Guh..."

"Guoh..."

Suddenly, the stuffed animals went wild and started waving their hands.

[The most popular performance in the Traveling Troupe of the Sky, Beary's Execution, is about to begin.]

The one they were waiting for stepped onto the stage.

'...It really is big.'

The Frost Queen had said as much, but up close, Beary was impossibly huge. Their arm was thrice as thick as Seo Jun-Ho's entire body.

"..."

Beary stepped onto the stage and looked around the audience as if looking for something.

[Beary is looking for someone to execute.]

"...Yikes, I have a bad feeling about this," Gong Ju-Ha said, frowning.

She disappeared like a ghost. Her hunch had been right.

"Miss Ju-Ha?"

She reappeared on the stage.

"Huh? Huh?" Startled, Gong Ju-Ha instinctively tried to get back to Seo Jun-Ho, but there was a transparent wall between the stage and the audience.

"...!" Seo Jun-Ho sprung up, but the hundreds of stuffed animals followed as if warning him of what would happen if he interrupted the show.

'We were planning to fight together, but now, it's a one-on-one match.'

Seo Jun-Ho bit his lip. This wasn't good. He didn't think Gong Ju-Ha could defeat Beary on her own. Even Gong Ju-Ha herself seemed to have realized that.

'...It's dangerous.'

She realized that from the moment she faced Beary on the stage. That giant, fluffy animal was stronger than her.

"Haa, haa." She leaned against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. Beary just stood there, staring at her with curiosity, as if studying an ant trapped in a cage.

'Don't be scared, Gong Ju-Ha. You're the girl who killed Cheetey.'

Wasn't this a better situation than before? She hadn't been able to see Cheetey's movements at all, but the bear obviously looked slow.

'My skill was strong enough to kill Cheetey with one hit.'

So as long as her attack landed, she would probably win. Gong Ju-Ha swallowed and watched for an opportunity. The moment Beary made an opening, she would release all her magic power and burn Beary down.

'Now, hurry up and move. Show me an opening.'

They stared each other down for about fifteen seconds.

Bam!

"...?!"

There was a loud slam from the stage, and Gong Ju-Ha's face twisted. She spat blood and doubled over, hugging her stomach in pain.

'I got hit? When...?'

The bear looked slow, but it was even faster than Cheetey.

"Miss Ju-Ha!"

"Urk, I-I'm okay..." She stepped hard on the ground, forcing her trembling legs to stand. It hurt so much that she wanted to just lay down, but if she gave up here, she would die.

'And if I die...'

The next victim would be the man behind the transparent wall, Seo Jun-Ho.

"Don't. Worry." She slowly held up her hand.

Thankfully, the location was good.

'We're floating off of the ground, and there's nowhere to dodge.'

If her opponent was so fast she couldn't see it, then...

"I just need to burn everything down."

Gong Ju-Ha gestured with her finger. An enormous amount of magic power poured out of her and filled the night sky. It was so bright that it looked like it was daytime for a moment.

Fwooooosh!

Beary couldn't dodge the flames that filled every inch of the air.

"I-I did it." Gong Ju-Ha chuckled as blood dripped down her lips. Ruler of Flames had carried her to her current status, and now, it was burning more beautifully and powerfully than it ever had.

"..."

But as she watched, the Frost Queen closed her eyes and hung her head low. She didn't want to watch what was about to happen.

"Huh?" A short mutter emerged from Gong Ju-Ha's lips as a giant paw pierced through the sea of flames.

At that moment, she only had one thought.

'Wait, I... Am I gonna die?'

She usually boasted of her intelligence, but her mind faltered at this question. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't think of a way out.

'This is kinda pathetic...'

If she had known that she would die so helplessly, she wouldn't have tried so hard. Why had she put in such grueling effort if it was going to end like this?

Her eyes brimmed with tears of frustration, reflecting the bear's magnified paw. It inched forward like it was in slow-motion.

"..."

As she accepted her fate, she looked back at the last moment. She gave Seo Jun-Ho an apologetic smile as her last goodbye.

"I'm sorry. I lost."

Slam!

A bone-shattering crash sounded from the stage.

"Guoooh!"

"Uooooh!"

The stuffed animals cheered, applauding the powerful executioner's masterpiece.

"..."

But when Beary looked down at their arm, it was twisted several times around like a pretzel.

How? Did that girl have some kind of hidden trump card?

"..."

No, it wasn't the girl. It was the man.

"...Huh?" Gong Ju-Ha slowly opened her eyes when the pain she expected didn't follow. "Mr...Jun-Ho?" she asked meekly.

The man in front of her seemed nothing like the Seo Jun-Ho she had seen several times before. It almost felt like she was looking at a different person.

"Are you sure you won't regret this?" the Frost Queen asked.

"I won't..." Seo Jun-Ho grinned. He didn't mean to, but he laughed. "Regret it."

Actually, he should have done this earlier.

He hated seeing the way Gong Ju-Ha's face paled and the bright red blood on her lips. He hated how the bear unfairly tried to make this into a 1v1 fight.

But what he hated most was his stupid self and the way he hadn't acted until the last moment because he was afraid of revealing his abilities.

'You idiot. You idiot.'

He had forgotten the most important thing because everyone had always praised him as a hero.

'A hero must take action.'

Even if ten thousand people; a million people, or even the whole world were frozen with fear, a hero would still move. Seo Jun-Ho believed in this.

'If I had stepped in just a moment later, I would've regretted it for the rest of my life.'

He was immensely relieved that he hadn't lost Gong Ju-Ha or himself.

"Interesting..." Beary looked at Seo Jun-Ho with curiosity. They tapped on the wall in front of them to make sure it was still there. It was in perfect shape, so how did he manage to go through it?

"Booo!"

"Guooh!"

The mascots stood up from their seats and started to shout, booing Seo Jun-Ho for interrupting the sacred execution.

"All of you, shut up," he said with a cold, icy voice. Using a powerful Frost Breath, he froze all the stuffed animals at once. This was the power of his EX-grade skill, which surpassed what was thought to be the most powerful grade, the S-grade.

"...I knew this would happen eventually," he said. But he hadn't expected it to happen here and now. According to his plans, it was supposed to be a long way off.

'I thought this would happen at Port Lane at the earliest...'

He instantly felt the frustration of his plans crumbling. But fortunately, the person in front of him could take full responsibility for it.

***

'What...What am I looking at?'

Gong Ju-Ha was confused. Was this a dream?

'That's the same bear as before, right?'

It was indeed the bear that she couldn't even lay a hand on. So how was Seo Jun-Ho fighting it on equal footing?

'No, he actually has the upper hand.'

She had always thought of him as a mysterious person. Ever since she first met him, something about him had pulled her in, but she dismissed it and thought that it was simply because of his potential.

'But it wasn't...'

It was because he was strong—unimaginably strong. Players were attracted to powerful people, after all.

"And..." Above all, it was beautiful. The ice crystals that reflected the moonlight were more beautiful than any jewel.

Crackle!

Every time Seo Jun-Ho moved his hand, Beary would lose their balance. This wasn't a technique that could be performed simply by having a good skill.

'He has a scarily good fighting sense.'

He kept doing things that annoyed them. That wasn't something that could simply be taught.

Craaaack!

Five minutes after the battle began, Beary could no longer move. All their limbs were frozen.

"I-Is it over?"

"No," Seo Jun-Ho said flatly, disappointed.

'The thick muscles and hide are natural armor.'

Instead of poking at it with small attacks, he had to land a big hit.

'Will it work?'

He glanced at Gong Ju-Ha. If just for a second...

Beary broke out of the ice prison and struck the ground. Their overwhelming strength made the entire theater tilt.

"Kyaaa!" The entire theater was frozen at this point, and Gong Ju-Ha started to slide toward Beary.

Seo Jun-Ho's eyes flashed.

'Perfect timing...'

He ran down the slanted ground and stretched his hand out toward her. "Grab on!"

"O-Okay!"

He pulled her in and hugged her close to his chest so that she wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Winter Fangs."

Crackle!

Dozens of icicles shot up from the ground. Having been poked by them before, Beary ignored the icicles, but it was a mistake.

'Darkness pierces through everything.'

Their muscles and hide were nothing for an element as violent and stubborn as darkness. This time, the icicles were covered with darkness.

Beary slowly looked down at their body. Dozens of spikes emerged from their chest as if they had become a hedgehog.

"M-M-M-Mr. Jun-Ho. This is a bit...We're not that close yet..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was too focused on the battle." Seo Jun-Ho instantly let her go and gestured with his finger.

Paaak!

The ice exploded, and Beary shattered into thousands of ice shards, scattering on the stage.

Gong Ju-Ha fanned her face. "B-Besides, my parents are a little conservative..."

"It's over."

"Oh, come on, are you really saying that after just one hug?"

"Huh? What have you been talking about? I'm saying that the battle's over." He pointed to the shards that had been Beary just a moment ago, and Gong Ju-Ha flushed red.

"I'm sorry, but can you hit my head really hard? I want to forget what just happened."

She knew that this would haunt her for the years to come.

1. Traditional Korean zithers. ☜

2. Also known as bian lian, this is a performing art in Chinese opera. ☜