Chapter 368: Teacher Darkness (2)

Chapter 368. Teacher Darkness (2)

Seo Jun-Ho returned to the artificial island in the pacific a few hours later and boarded the Dimensional Elevator. He pressed the button for the 4th Floor, Another World. When the door opened, the sight of a familiar forest welcomed him.

"Uh."

He thought he would arrive at the first city, but a forest appeared out of nowhere. However, he knew where he was.

'Forest of the World Tree.'

Walking along the road, a huge tree appeared.

- Player Seo Jun Ho. This is an early reunion.

The lush leaves swayed cheerfully.

"Have you been well?"

- Thanks to you. What brings you here today?

"That's..." Seo Jun-Ho asked, scratching his cheek. "Is there a way for me to meet the Players challenging the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty level?"

- You mean you want to interfere with their challenge?

"Should it be called interference? I just want to deliver something."

The World Tree was silent for a moment as if she was pondering something deeply.

- If you perhaps clear it for them or...

"No, I definitely won't do that," Seo Jun-Ho said firmly.

His friends, who were currently challenging the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty level, wanted to grow and become even stronger. Seo Jun-Ho had no intention of ruining their path to growth.

"I just have a few things to deliver to my friends, and I want to be a proper talking partner to them."

When he was clearing the 4th Floor, solitude was what he found the most painful. Above all, repeating the same conversation with someone over and over again didn't feel nice at all.

- That much is not a problem.

"Oh, really?"

- Yes. Think of it as a reward for being the first person to clear the floor.

Tens of thousands of cards manifested in front of Seo Jun-Ho's eyes. Each card had a Player's name and picture attached to it.

- Who do you want to meet?

"Oh, first of all, Gilberto and Skaya. Rahmadat and Mio... Miss Cha Si-Eun. Oh, while I'm at it, should I meet Mr. Kim Woo-Joong?"

He plucked the cards depicting the images of the people he wanted to meet at least once. In the end, he ended up with dozens of cards in his hands.

- Player Seo Jun-Ho, are you going to meet them all?

"It ended up being quite a lot."

- You're a very affectionate person.

Seo Jun-Ho felt embarrassed for no reason as he said, "It won't take too long."

- Go ahead.

He tapped on Gilberto's card.

***

Seo Jun-Ho left for Another World, leaving his clone with a task to go to a fortune teller.

"..."

Shim Deok-Gu sat while looking at someone warily. It was the Frost Queen. He had no idea why, but even though her contractor had already left, she didn't go out with him. She decided to stay here. She was even making a snowman on the expensive mahogany table.

"Come over here."

"Y-yes?"

"I am feeling peckish."

Ah. Only then did Shim Deok-Gu realize that she was looking for a butler to buy her a snack. He tried his best to stifle his laughter after finding the Frost Queen cute.

"What do you want to eat, my queen?" he asked.

"Recommend me something."

"What's famous around here—oh! Do you like ice cream?"

"Yes. But the Contractor told me not to eat ice cream when he isn't around."

One could easily get a stomachache by carelessly eating ice cream.

"I think he said that because he was afraid you would get a stomachache from eating too much, but it's okay since I'm here," Shim Deok-Gu made a perfect deduction.

"Hmm."

The Frost Queen had only been looking at the snowman, but she finally turned her head and looked at Shim Deok-Gu.

"How admirable."

"T-thank you."

After receiving the Frost Queen's praise, Shim Deok-Gu tapped on his Vita.

"I would like to treat you to something you haven't eaten before. Have you tried fried ice cream before?"

"What? Fried ice cream?" Frost Queen frowned and harshly rebuked. "Setting the contractor aside, but are you also treating me as a fool?"

"What?"

"Ice cream is a cold snack, and aren't fried dishes hot food you boil in oil and blow whoo, whoo on it to eat? I know what fried dishes are!"

The Frost Queen thought that Shim Deok-Gu was making fun of her. In her common sense, fried ice cream was a snack that couldn't possibly exist.

"You know... I finally know that fried dinosaurs aren't actually fried dinosaurs."

"No, but there really is a snack called fried ice cream."

"What nonsense! If you put ice cream in boiling oil, it will melt!"

The furious Frost Queen folded her arms and crossed her legs. She even turned her head away. Shim Deok-Gu started sweating amidst the awkwardness.

'Jun-Ho, what kind of battle have you been fighting?'

He urgently tapped on his Vita and connected the phone somewhere.

"I-I'm sorry to ask while you're working, but could you buy me a snack? I have to treat an important guest."

Eventually, he managed to bring the snack after asking a Teleporter for a favor.

"Frost Queen-nim, This is a dessert called fried ice cream."

"..."

Glance.

Frost Queen looked at the plate on the table.

"It just looks like a fried dish."

"But if you use a knife to split it and look inside—I will show it to you myself."

"No, I will cut it myself!"

The Frost Queen raised her hand and took a knife and fork before splitting the fried ice cream with sparkling eyes. Her eyes sparkled like jewels when she saw the cross-section of vanilla ice cream stuffed inside.

"Wow, it's really fried ice cream."

"Try it. You will like it."

"Hmmm."

Elegantly cutting the fried ice cream into small pieces with a fork and knife, the Frost Queen placed a piece into her mouth and quivered.

"Yum, it's delicious."

"Eat slowly. You won't get a stomachache that way."

"I will do that."

The Frost Queen enjoyed the snack, and Shim Deok-Gu smiled softly at that. He couldn't help but think that he had just gotten a glimpse of how Seo Jun-Ho usually felt when dealing with the Frost Queen.

***

[Myeongdong Fortune Teller]

Seo Jun-Ho's clone looked at the sign and tapped Cold Spear wrapped in cloth.

"Let's go."

An elderly fortune teller greeted him as he entered.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm here to get a name for me and this one."

"Hmm, do you want a change of name? Then, the date of birth over here, hmm? Wait a minute, aren't you Specter-nim?"

"I often hear that we look alike."

"You look exactly like him..."

Tilting his head, the fortune teller received several pieces of information. Then, he wrote two letters on a white drawing paper.

"Excellent Jun, seed Sik. How about Jun-Sik?"

"It's a bit old-fashioned. What does it mean?"

"It refers to a person with the ability to plant a small seedling and make it grow."

"Huh? The meaning is strangely good."

Since the Original was Seo, his name would then be Seo Jun-Sik. Seo Jun-Sik. Seo Jun-Sik. Muttering it to himself, the clone revealed an ugly look.

'It's so damn tacky.'

Fortunately, only the Original would call him using such a name, so it didn't really matter to him.

"Let's just go with that. What about him?"

"Is it for the spear's name? There are certainly many Players who come here to name their favorite weapons."

"This isn't really my favorite weapon, but please name it anyway."

The fortune teller pondered for a long time before saying, "The Rae for the sound of singing, Ang for Black-Naped oriole, and spear. How about the Raeang Spear?"

"Do you ever refresh your stock of names by any chance? The names are so bad."

Wooong!

The Cold Spear didn't like it either.

"Please make another one."

"Then, Moun for frost, in Korean Frosty—"

"Something else."

"Then Spear of Clean Soul. What about Spear of Clean Soul?"

"Mister, be honest with me. You don't want to name it, right?"

The fortune teller gave dozens of names, but the Cold Spear remained unmoved.

"Phew, composing is truly troublesome. Let's take a break."

While the exhausted fortune teller was in the bathroom, Seo Jun-Sik warned the Cold Spear.

"Hey, I think he's a quack."

Wooong.

"But I don't want to go anywhere else because it's annoying..."

Woong?

"So if you don't like the next name, just give up and be Cold Spear."

Wooong...

It seemed Cold Spear had also calmly accepted its fate as if it felt that it would be bad to remain stubborn.

Bang!

However, the fortune teller suddenly flung the door open and exclaimed excitedly, "Hey! I came up with a really great name while I was peeing!"

"What the hell, gross. What is it?"

"It has the power to freeze everything, and its thin body is reminiscent of a dragon, so its name should be White Dragon!"

"Wow, that sounds great. Are its eyes blue as well?"[1]

Even elementary students could come up with such a name.

However, it seemed that Cold Spear had a different opinion.

Wooong!

It reacted differently from before.

Seo Jun-Sik's expression stiffened. "Did you perhaps... like that name?"

Wooong!

"Look at that! Isn't your spear saying that it likes it, too?"

"How ridiculous."

Cold Spear or White Dragon... Weren't they roughly the same?

If they knew this would happen, they should have just named it Icy Spear and ended the quest for a name right there and then.

'Well, it's fine since it likes it...'

Seo Jun-Sik shrugged and got up while holding White Dragon. He felt like he had finally finished his homework, so his steps were light on the way back.

***

Gilberto Green quietly opened his diary.

[#148]

I have no idea how much time had passed outside, but I already died 147 times. The system protected my mind whenever I died, but I could already feel my mind slowly falling to the bottom.

"What should I do?"

He had already read the guide the Frost Queen had made thousands of times. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get past the 'million thorns'.

'I took care of Erebo's clone in the first city with the Repeating Covenant Revolver.'

The second city's cockroach cave wasn't that difficult either. It was all because the Seo Jun-Ho difficulty level matched the Player's level. However, it wasn't the case for the skill of Erebo's main body, a million thorns.

'It didn't take my level into account at all.'

This was the same as what Seo Jun-Ho had experienced. It felt like the skill was saying that he should feel the same despair Seo Jun-Ho had to go through. Suddenly, he wondered how far his friends had gone through the difficulty level by now.

'Everyone must be working hard on figuring out how to get past these thorns.'

He was sure he was the only pathetic one sprawled out without even looking for a method to win. As a deep sense of shame enveloped his body, the accumulated fatigue weighed on his shoulders. In the end, Gilberto closed his eyes.

"It's hard."

'Should I just give up and leave even if it means throwing away one of the three chances?'

The Seo Jun-Ho difficulty was so hard that such thoughts crossed his mind.

"Yeah, it looks like it's really hard."

"...!"

It was a familiar voice. Gilberto's eyes fluttered open at the voice that shouldn't be here. The revolver, which he gripped reflexively, immediately aimed at the other person's forehead.

"How mean. Are you going to shoot me?"

"..."

Gilberto's eyes quivered violently. Had he finally gone crazy? Should he abandon his foolishness and leave?

Seo Jun-Ho shrugged while looking at Gilberto.

"I asked the World Tree to come in for a while. I thought I'd be your talking buddy."

"That means..."

"I'm not a ghost, and you're not crazy." Seo Jun-Ho sat next to Gilberto and looked outside. "It has been a long time since I sat on these walls and saw this scenery."

"I didn't expect that you spent so much time here."

"At some point, I actually stopped sitting here."

Perhaps he stopped sitting here when he started frantically looking for a solution to beat Erebo's million thorns.

"It's hard, isn't it? Getting past the thorns, I mean."

"I can't really say. I'm..." Gilberto thought for a while before confessing his feelings. "I don't think I'll ever be able to get past this section for the rest of my life."

"Why do you think so?"

"There are a million thorns—a million."

He created magic bullets and shot them out as fast as a machine gun, but he ran out of magic before he could destroy all one million thorns. He even used his most powerful skill with the Repeating Covenant Revolver, but he only managed to destroy 400,000 thorns.

"I tried everything I could, but I failed."

"It's bound to fail." Seo Jun-Ho smiled bitterly. "Those thorns aren't something that can be overcome just by pouring in everything you have."

They were thorns only those who had overcome their limitations and achieved something new could overcome.

"The Repeating Covenant Revolver... What's the highest number of bounces you've done with it so far?"

"My record's 300 bounces, but I only managed to pierce 400,000 thorns."

"Wow, 300 bounces? But it didn't work?"

Although he said 300 bounces, the revolver's bullet couldn't be controlled after it was fired. In other words, Gilberto managed to keep track of the bullet's trajectory until it bounced 300 times.

"Then bounce it 500 times," Seo Jun-Ho said coolly, "If that's not enough? Then bounce it a thousand times."

"Is that a joke..."

"Of course, I'm not just talking in vain."

Seo Jun-Ho calmly looked at Gilberto. Gilberto could see the trust and encouragement contained within Seo Jun-Ho's eyes, forcing him to close his mouth.

"Do it for real. I still need a sniper who will watch my back."

"..."

Gilberto was silent for a while. In the end, he lightly sighed and pressed his sheriff's hat down.

"You bastard."

"It's all for you."

Seo Jun-Ho chuckled and handed over a small wooden box.

"This is an elixir I bought at the Administrator's Store. It's a gift."

Gilberto opened it and saw a cold ginseng inside. Gilberto chewed it without hesitation and said, "Thanks. I'll pay you back."

"Sure."

It was a dry reply appropriate for a dry thanks.

1. Referencing the Blue Eyes White Dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh.