After that, the Frost Queen looked forward to eating her cake and drinking her tea every day. 

But even then…

“Frost, do you want to try the Spirit Crystal?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Ha… How many times must I tell you, Contractor, that I do not want to? I refuse to eat it, no matter what!” she exclaimed.

“That can’t be helped, then. Do you want cake and tea again today?”

“Mhm. You finally understand me.”

She was still an idiot. One day, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t add the Spirit Crystal to her snacks, just to see what would happen. 

“...”

“Why aren’t you eating it?” He asked.

“Some… Something is a little different. What is it?” She started to sulk a bit as she stirred her tea with her teaspoon. She stared into her cup and started to ponder what had changed. “How shall I describe it? A delicious aftertaste no longer stimulates my tastebuds.”

“I see. Do you want to try the Spirit Crystal then?” he asked.

“Stop it. I told you, I will not eat it.” It was ironic, considering that her body was craving the crystal so badly. 

‘I shouldn’t tell her that I’ve been shaving it in, just in case...’ 

It would take some time for her to finish it, but there was no need to make it harder for himself when she was so compliant. If he told her, she might start sulking and refuse to eat anything at all. 

On the contrary, he thought to himself that he would need to get more Spirit Crystals in the future. When he peeked at the crystal, he saw that it had shrunk in size when compared to before.

‘Well… I’ve already fed her a tenth of it.’ 

The only problem was that Spirit Crystals were rare, even in Frontier. 

“Hm, I wonder where I can get more Spirit Crystals?”

“Contractor, why do you say that when I am not going to eat them?”

“...You don’t need to know.” 

Just what would he do with the childish queen? He felt like an exasperated parent.

During his four days of rest, Seo Jun-Ho looked through the community forums. The first thing he searched for was any mention of monsters that could use demonic energy… 

‘There’s nothing…’ 

Demonic energy, injection, life force… None of the keywords he tried returned any relevant information. He did, however, find something important. 

“What the heck, there’s a separate forum for information and another for news?”

The problem was that they were both locked. He looked through the open forum to look for the reason.

“Ah… I need PP, Player Points, to unlock them.” 

You could earn PP by posting on the community and getting likes and views. It was also possible to sponsor points to another Player. 

‘But why do I need them?’ 

He quickly found an answer when he looked for it. 

“An Administrator? So the 2nd floor has one too.”

Apparently, the Administrator of the 2nd floor would open a ‘shop’ from time to time where users could spend PP. Perhaps the reason Players wanted PP so badly was because the shop had good items. 

“Hm, but I can’t just spend all day in the community forums because I want to get PP.” He couldn’t neglect his level. Seo Jun-Ho thought for a second and made a decision. At times like these, it would be the fastest to ask someone else. 

“Alright, let’s find iluvac.”

***

“Iced tea is so cold, so refreshing!” 

Ha In-Ho stared at his boss and let out a sigh. She was laying down on the office sofa in broad daylight, singing and praising iced tea. 

“Princess, aren’t you going to work?” he said.

Gong Ju-Ha gave a thumbs-up from behind the sofa, like the scene from The Terminator. 

“Don’t worry about it, In-ho. I have a talented subordinate, you see,” she said.

“And that subordinate is tired of it,” he complained.

The rest of the world thought that Gong Ju-Ha was a hard-working, disciplined person, but in reality, she rarely came to the office to work. 

“You know what? I want to find the best water to tea ratio today.”

She would do things like these instead of working. After she had fulfilled all her duties as a Captain, she gave the rest of the work to Ha In-Ho and lazed around. 

“Hm?” She suddenly sat up on the sofa, and Ha In-Ho tilted his head. He knew that she would never get up, no matter how he nagged her to work. 

“Did you receive an emergency mission from Master or something?”

“No, nothing that gross.” She quickly opened the community forums window, and her face brightened. “Fufu…Of course. I knew you’d need assistance from my esteemed self.”

“...What are you saying?” Ha In-Ho shook his head and turned his attention away. It wasn’t uncommon for his eccentric boss to act like this. 

On the opposite side of the room, Gong Ju-Ha grinned as she whispered the message out loud. 

[Sonny: Hello, this is Seo Jun-Ho. Could I speak to you for a second?]

Finally, the message she had been waiting for had arrived. 

[iluvac: My my, if it isn’t Mr. Snake Head. I’m busy with Guild business right now… But it’s okay, I guess.]

[Sonny: I’m sorry for bothering you in the middle of work. I was just wondering if I could ask you something.]

[iluvac: Of course. What is it? ]

[Sonny: I want to get more PP. Is there another way for me to do that other than making posts or leaving comments in the forum?]

[iluvac: Ah, right. You should start building your stash of PP soon.]

She paused for a second before sending another message. 

[iluvac: Well…I think you’d have a good time posting on the video forum, Mr. Snake Head.]

[Sonny: Video forum?]

[iluvac: Yes. Hunting videos or boss monster raid videos would always have a lot of views. Knowing how to hunt monsters is useful information, after all. The obvious downside is that you have to reveal your skills to an extent, but selling videos for PP is your best bet.]

[Sonny: That doesn’t sound bad. I can get PP while I level up too… Thank you.]

[iluvac: Is there anything else you want to know?] 

[Sonny: Yes, there’s one more thing. Have you ever heard about monsters that could use demonic energy?] 

[iluvac: Monsters that could use demonic energy?] 

She lifted her head and looked at Ha In-ho. “In-ho! Have you ever heard anything about monsters that can use demonic energy?” she shouted. 

“Monsters that can use demonic energy? That’s the first time I’ve heard of that...”

“Right? Hm, I wonder why Mr. Snake Head asked me about it.” She scratched her head and tapped on the keyboard. 

[iluvac: I’m sorry. I haven’t heard of anything like that.] 

[Sonny: It’s no problem. I was just curious, which is why I asked. Thank you for your help today.]

[iluvac: Of course. You can always message me for things like this.] 

Gong Ju-Ha left him with a warm reply and closed the community forums window with a satisfied smile on her face. She looked at Ha In-Ho, who was looking at her with a suspicious expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“...Princess, are you dating someone?”

“D-dating?! Don’t give me that nonsense.” Her face flushed red, and she started to wave a fan on her cheeks. “Ugh, it’s so hot. It feels hotter now because of the weird thing you said!”

***

“Hm, seems like Captain Gong doesn’t know anything.” Seo Jun-Ho stroked his chin. He thought that she might know something. After all, she was a Team Captain in Goblin, one of the Big 6 Guilds. 

“Contractor, she may be feigning ignorance whilst hiding information,” the Frost Queen said.

“She could be, of course. I trust her, but she’s still a Player, so it’s still possible.”

He considered the situation. “The first possibility is that the Big 6 has information on such  monsters, but they’re keeping it from me on purpose.”

“Then, there would be nothing that you can do,” the Frost Queen answered.

“...Right.” Just as she said, he couldn’t do anything about the information he didn’t have. As such, he could only hope that the latter was true. “There’s also a possibility that none of the Big 6, Goblin included, have any information about such monsters at all.”

“The chance is small… But if it is true, the rest of the story is simple.”

“That’s right…” 

Frontier had already been unlocked for 25 years. Countless Players and Guilds had already set their feet in the Empire. 

“So the fact that there is no information on monsters that can use demonic energy means…”

“...That it hadn’t been long since the experiment succeeded,” the Frost Queen finished. Not even the Fiend Association could completely escape the eyes of the Empire and the Guilds.

“So that means that information on monsters who can use demonic energy will soon start to come out,” Seo Jun-Ho concluded. The Blood Kobold Champion’s strength was completely disproportionate to its level. He didn’t know what the Fiend Association wanted, but he knew that they had succeeded in something. 

“I suppose there will soon be more monsters like the one from last time,” The Frost Queen said. 

“This could just be the beginning of something huge.” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes started to sparkle. If he tracked monsters who had demonic energy injected into them, he could find clues about the Fiend Association. 

“You must get stronger,” the Frost Queen commented.

“That’s a given.” 

There were countless monsters in the world that were stronger than the Blood Kobold Champion. What would happen if they were injected with demonic energy and if they could also use life force on top of that?

“I don’t even want to think about it.” Seo Jun-Ho shivered and stood up. “Sitting around like this is a waste of time. Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Where do you think?” He tapped the window. Gilleon’s walls were visible. “Let’s go hunting.”

***

Seo Jun-Ho went to receive a Quest from the Adventurer Guild. It was a relatively simple Quest—all he needed to do was to catch some swamp slimes and bring their cores over to the Adventurer Guild. Though, since he needed a hundred of them, it was a Quest that would usually be carried out by a party. 

“I told you last time, didn’t I? I want to try hunting together,” he said. 

“Yes. I am looking forward to it.” She nodded excitedly.

The Frost Queen hadn’t used her powers in a while, and she usually just watched from the sidelines. 

“In order to train our teamwork, I first have to understand your powers in detail. Let’s see how long you can fight alone today.” 

Seo Jun-Ho wanted to see what she could do on her own. As long as his mental state stayed intact, she would be able to do more than her own share of fighting.

‘She almost defeated me before, after all.’ 

The Frost Queen had already been nerfed back then, so he didn’t have big expectations now that she had become even weaker as a Spirit.

“So all I need to do is to catch those swamp slimes on my own?”

“Yeah. Do you need anything else?”

“Hm…” She seemed to have considered this for a second. Afterward, she grinned as she turned to Seo Jun-Ho. “Since my power is derived from your mental and emotional state, pull yourself together.”

“Leave it to me.” 

Just as the name implied, swamp slimes resided in swamps. They were eerie monsters that were much stickier than normal slimes, and they would drag people into the swamp as soon as they let their guards down.

“Show me your power.” He commanded.

“My power?” Her lip curled. “Contractor, I have realized that this is the first time that you are watching me hunt.”

“You’re right.” The only time when he saw her fight was when she helped him fight the illusion of his friends in the Cave of Trials.

Shlop. Shlop. 

The swamp slimes sensed their presence and started to emerge, one by one. 

“Prepare yourself, and prepare to be impressed.” 

She stayed seated on his shoulder with her legs crossed. She moved her finger. 

The temperature quickly began to fall.