“…”

Skaya didn’t speak a word.

Her large eyes with thick and long eyelashes had been staring at the ceiling of the morgue, but they turned to Seo Jun-Ho now.

"H-hi?"

After 26 years, Seo Jun-Ho finally greeted her foolishly. He heard the voice he had been yearning for a response from. 

"Hello..."

“...”

He hadn’t dreamt of such a dreary reunion, so what?

‘Ah.’

Seo Jun-Ho silently exclaimed.

Come to think of it, she probably wouldn't know that this was 26 years in the future.

'I didn't know either.’

After looking at various articles of the future, at his body with muscle atrophy, and at the city's scenery…

"...What? All the muscles in my body are gone. My abilities too... ridiculous. Just how long has it been?"

“…”

Right, she was an archmage. Basically, it meant that her brain worked better than his.

Seo Jun-Ho muttered in a voice that seemed to have come from the deepest recesses of his body.

"26 years."

"…26 years?”

She had to be shocked. Skaya's lips trembled amidst her stiff look. She looked up at him with clear light blue eyes that were reminiscent of the English sea. She slowly parted her tightly closed lips and spoke with a clear voice.

"Cool."

"…Hmm?"

"It's cool! Has it really been 26 years? Then I... What? What, did I get cryogenically frozen? I wanted to try that at least once!”

What on earth was wrong with her? 

Skaya was so excited that she sat up. She had lost most of her muscles, but she was still energetic.

"So this must be a part of the future too? Magic has improved too, right? The level of Players too...”

She looked around excitedly but paused when she found her colleagues still frozen.

"…Jun-Ho. Now that I think about it, how did I wake up?”

"It's a long story. Let's go elsewhere first."

Seo Jun-Ho helped her up and stood up.

"Oh, before that, a request."

You had to do what you must before moving on.

***

After finishing some business, the two went straight to the 77th floor of the Korean Player Association building. In other words, they moved to Seo Jun-Ho's house. Skaya had been very excited to see the self-driving taxis on the way.

"Is this your house? Wow..."

Skaya looked around the house and muttered, "Jun-Ho, you really have fallen… Living in such a small house...”

"...Hey, it's because I didn't reveal that I'm Specter.”

"Oh my, you didn't reveal it? Why not?"

She must have gotten tired from walking because she sat down on the sofa and whined, asking for future food.

‘Oh, I'm already tired.’

Seo Jun-Ho called the building’s restaurant and asked for room service before sighing lightly.

Skaya had always been like this. When he first met her, she had been a haughty lady exuding a ton of cold air...

‘But since we became teammates and opened up with each other, she became like this.’

Skaya was only one year older than him, but she would only sometimes feel like an older sister. Usually, she would be like an immature younger sister—just like now.

‘...Was it 3 years?’

He had only actually known her for about three years, but… She felt like an old childhood friend.

There were people just like that—people whom you could rely on and get along with even if it hadn’t been long since you met them.

For Seo Jun-Ho, his comrades were like that.

"Jun-Ho! Give me food!"

"I just ordered it, you have to wait."

Seo Jun-Ho poured a cup of hot tea and approached her.

Skaya couldn’t even wait that short moment and had gotten up from the sofa to look down at the panoramic view of Seoul through the glass walls.

Seo Jun-Ho handed her the teacup and asked, "What do you think?"

“...”

Having received the warm cup, she was silent for a moment.

Seo Jun-Ho sipped the tea, smiling silently. He could fully understand her feelings. He had been like that too when he first opened his eyes and looked down at Seoul from above.

"…I don’t see any Gate."

"It's the scenery we made. You, me, Rahmadat, Gilberto, and Mio together."

"People are just walking on the sidewalk. Without fear."

"Since there's no threat from monsters anymore."

“...”

Briefly caught in sentimentality, a deep smile appeared on Skaya's lips. The source of that smile must be both pride and joy.

‘Oh, is she crying?’

When he saw that her eyes were moist, he slightly ducked his head and looked up.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

A fist flew in and thumped his chest, but because it was a punch without any muscles behind it, it didn’t hurt that much. "Hmm. Ahem." 

Turning her back and sorting her feelings, she sat on the sofa again.

"So... 26 years have passed?"

"Yeah. I woke up last year."

"…What? Then, are you now...”

Surprised, Skaya hurriedly trailed off but he knew what she wanted to say.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled wickedly and nodded. "That’s right, you are no longer my older sister. We're the same age."

"This! How could that be? You have to count from the year of birth.”

"I lived another year.”

"This noona doesn't acknowledge something like that!"

Skaya stubbornly refused to be the same age as him.

"We normally talked casually to each other. Do you hate it that much?”

"Of course. If you become the same age as me, then I can’t say things like ‘Jun-Ho~ Noona says~’”

"...I'm saying this because I don't want to hear that."

"I'm saying this because I want to do that."

She was so stubborn…

Seo Jun-Ho shrugged his shoulders before asking, "Do you remember the Frost Queen?”

"Do you think I'm a fool? My memory is fine."

"...We fought three days and nights. I was late and couldn't keep my promise with you guys.”

"You did a good job."

“...”

Skaya gave a compliment out of the blue. He thought that she would scold him for being late, but she reached out and stroked Seo Jun-Ho's head instead.

"You did a good job. We might not have defeated her if it wasn't for you. So don't feel guilty."

"Uh, uhhh...”

This was the part. This part of her sometimes made her seem like an older sister. Sometimes she would read his thoughts and feelings and act like an adult.

"So how did you defrost? Is it thanks to a new technology they developed?”

"Maybe it's faster to see it with your eyes.”

Seo Jun-Ho injected Frost’s magic into the tea cup he was holding. The steaming teacup cooled in an instant, creating droplets on its surface.

“...”

Skaya muttered as she looked at it while frowning. "It's not… magic. What is it? A new skill?”

"Yea, Frost. It's EX-grade."

"EX-grade?!"

Skaya put on a startled face. "A grade like that exists now?”

"Rather than it exists now, I’m probably the first one to have a skill at that grade," Seo Jun-Ho boasted.

"Damn, you hog all the good things for yourself. You're so damn cheap." She continued to grumble. "Then you must have also earned a title. Like the first EX-grade skill holder."

"…What?"

Seo Jun-Ho asked back with a stiff expression without realizing it. How come he had never thought of that before?

"What? Based on your expression, I don't think you have any... Then did someone else get the first EX-grade skill before you?"

"…I had always thought that I was the first ever EX-grade skill holder.”

"I don't think so. I've told you before. If you’re the first to do something achievement worthy, you'll get a title."

After succeeding in creating magic for the first time amongst humanity, she earned the title of ‘The First Step of Magic.’

"I know. I received a title when I killed the Frost Queen. Also when I cleared level 10 in the Cave of Trials...”

"Huh? The Cave of Trials? Level 10? What are you talking about all of a sudden?” asked Skaya, with her eyes widened. "Didn’t you only get up to level 9?”

"I went back in and did it again."

"Whaaat? Wasn't the Cave of Trials a place where you could go only if your level is under 30? Has it been patched during our 26 years of absence?"

"…What are you talking about? Check the status window. You’re probably level 1 right now.”

"Really? Status window."

She shook her head while checking her status window.

"Huh? It's not? The Curse of Bitter Cold has reduced my abilities, but it says it will recover naturally in about a month? My level’s still 80."

"…You're at level 80 right now?"

"Yeah..."

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the Frost Queen without realizing it. She was currently sitting next to him without showing herself to Skaya.

"What’s going on?” he questioned her. 

"…Maybe it's because you touched my core directly? My breath does not lower the level of the target. It just freezes it."

"Then that means… I'm the only one whose level has been reset out of the five?"

"…I do not know.”

The Frost Queen turned her head lightly.

That being answered, Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes tightly.

'Wow, seriously...’

He had been so happy that he raised nine levels to level 60 during the kobold hunting competition. But Skaya was level 80? If she recuperated for a month, she would be stronger than he was right now.

"Some people just have all the luck…”

"Jun-Ho, who are you talking to?”

Skaya asked, looking at the empty seat next to Seo Jun-Ho.

"Oh, that's...”

‘Can I show her?’

Seo Jun-Ho, who was agonizing for a while, nodded. 

‘Let's show her…’

"Frost."

“...”

Frost raised her head as if to ask ‘really?’ with her eyes and Seo Jun-Ho nodded heavily in response.

Even if no one else knew, his comrades had the right to know of her existence.

"Mmmm."

The Frost Queen had an awkward expression before appearing

From Skaya's point of view, she appeared from out of nowhere.

"Huh? What’s that?"

Immediately afterward, Skaya’s eyes went round.

"Haaa, that? I am..."

The Frost Queen wavered and struggled to open her mouth.

"Whaaat~ is this cute kid~?"

Seo Jun-Ho had no idea where she got the energy from, but Skaya quickly ran over and hugged the Frost Queen.

"Ah, uaah! Contractor! Contractooorrr! Help! Help me!"

Skaya rubbed the Frost Queen's soft cheeks against her cheeks. She acted like an aunt who met her cute niece on a holiday.

‘Since you’ve sinned, just endure it.’

Whilst Seo Jun-Ho paid her a silent tribute, the Frost Queen looked forlorn, as if she had lost everything. She had the expression of someone that had been betrayed, so Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.

Skaya, who had conquered the Frost Queen's cheeks to her heart's content, slowly raised her head. "Who's this? You said you woke up last year, so it wouldn't be your child… Is she Deok-Gu's kid?”

"No. Sadly, Deok-Gu is single. Frost is...”

‘How should I explain this? Let's just scratch my head...’

Tat!

The Frost Queen, who had escaped from Skaya's arms, sat on the sofa in a haughty manner with her legs crossed. But since her legs were short, her feet didn't even touch the floor.

Skaya found it cute and giggled.

"Try to be quiet.”

When the Frost Queen spoke in a solemn voice, Skaya squatted down in front of her with her eyes shining brightly.

"Yes, yes. What is it?"

"I am... the queen of the ice kingdom of Niflheim and one who freezes the world. And..."

Fidget fidget.

As if she had never apologized in her entire life, she kept looking at Seo Jun-Ho.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Ugh..."

Eventually, with her head down, she concluded her words in a way befitting a queen.

"The aggressor who attacked your planet, the Frost Queen."

"…You're the Frost Queen?"

Skaya's expression hardened.

Seo Jun-Ho thought that she would be angry, but Skaya turned her head toward him.

"Jun-Ho, did you fight with such a cute little girl for 76 hours?"

"It's a misunderstanding. She was tall when she was human. She’s in a Spirit state right now. A Low-grade Spirit."

"Grade 2 Arch..."

"…Yes, a grade 2 Arch Spirit..."

"The level of spirits must have been reorganized while I was asleep...” Skaya thought about something for a moment and asked Seo Jun-Ho. "To sum it up, you have inherited the power of the Frost Queen, right?"

"Right, as soon as I won the battle with the Frost Queen and touched her core, I began to inherit the skill of Frost. 25 years passed as I absorbed it, and when I woke up, my level was reset.”

"…You've suffered a lot. What about your meeting with the Frost Queen?”

"It was a coincidence. I got an egg from a Las Vegas auction house, and when I hatched it, she came out."

"Huh? A coincidence? Did Frost say that?"

Skaya looked at Frost with a meaningful smile.

The smile was a bit creepy since it was on such a gaunt face.

Flinch. 

The Frost Queen turned her head slightly.

"Are you saying it’s the string of fate...” Skaya muttered quietly before speaking to the Frost Queen. "Okay, then don't you have something to tell me?”

“...”

The Frost Queen, who had been silent for a while, uncrossed her legs, got up from her seat, and bowed her head slightly. "I am sorry. I… My greed has done you a great deal of damage…"

It was a clumsy apology.

But Skaya smiled as she reached out and lifted up the timid Frost Queen.

"I'm a cool woman, so I'll accept Frost Queen-nim’s apology. Instead, can you fulfill my desire for research later?”

"Well... As a monarch, I am responsible for my own mistakes. I will cooperate as much as I can." The Frost Queen nodded.

Seo Jun-Ho let out a soft sigh as he looked at Skaya with her bright smile and the Frost Queen’s awkward expression.

‘She really got cornered…’

He didn't know why, but the Frost Queen began to seem pitiful.