The next day, Seo Jun-Ho ‘guided’ Skaya to the president's office of the Association.

"This is the president’s office of the Association," Seo Jun-Ho spoke as he escorted her.

"You're a pretty good guide, Player Seo Jun-Ho."

"...Thank you for your compliment."

Seo Jun-Ho looked very much like a subordinate as he guided Skaya. 

The secretaries tilted their heads when they saw him.

"Oh my, isn’t that Player Seo Jun-Ho? When did he come down?”

"I heard he ordered room service yesterday. But I wonder who the beauty next to him is?”

"Isn’t she a celebrity? I think I've seen her somewhere…”

"Come on, there's no reason for Player Seo Jun-Ho to be so obsequious to a celebrity.”

"If it’s sky blue hair that comes down to her waist and light blue eyes...”

"That's precisely Skaya Killiland-nim… That can't be true, right?”

"Hohoho, that’s a good joke.”

The secretaries recalled the characteristics of the archmage and shook their heads as they smiled.

Arriving in front of the Association president's office, Skaya asked in a slightly nervous voice, "Jun-Ho, how do I look?"

"You look very thin."

"Hey..."

Skaya frowned heavily and Seo Jun-Ho narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you asking me that all of a sudden? Do you happen to...?”

"Don't imagine anything weird. It's not like that."

As far as he knew, Skaya and Shim Deok-Gu had dated for a while in the past. He didn’t know why, but one day, things had gotten cold between the two. It was probably because they broke up.

Knock, knock, knock.

- Come in.

As always, Shim Deok-Gu welcomed Seo Jun-Ho with a bright smile when they entered the president of the Player Association’s office. He soon turned his head and looked at Skaya.

"... It has been a long time. Welcome back."

"Yes."

Skaya ignored Shim Deok-Gu's smile and answered dryly as she sat on the sofa.

Seo Jun-Ho watched this scene with hawk eyes and closed the door while thinking…

‘Is she still mad?’

Well, if the two had really fought in the past, it would be almost 27 years ago for Shim Deok-Gu, but it would have been very recent for Skaya.

Skaya crossed her legs, stared at the shelf where various plaques were displayed, and said, "I heard you became the president of the Korean Player Association? Congratulations, you've got the career you've been hoping for. That's great."

"…Yeah, thank you."

It was obviously a sarcastic tone, but Shim Deok-Gu smiled casually. He then prepared tea and placed it in front of them.

"Skaya returning alone means… There must have been circumstances for that, right?” asked Deok-Gu.

"Oh, what happened was...”

Seo Jun-Ho told him about the Curse of Bitter Cold and of Skaya’s situation in a quick and detailed manner.

"Penalty, it's worse than I thought,” Shim Deok-Gu commented.

"Of course, it’s a shame to lose 70 magic stats, but if that can save my comrades, I won't hesitate to do so.”

"Hmmm, I also think that judgment is right." Shim Deok-Gu nodded slowly before saying, "Realistically, I think this will be able to relieve your burden even more."

"Realistically... You've always liked that. That word," Skaya smirked as she muttered.

Shim Deok-Gu pretended not to hear her and continued, "You said 70 magic stats and 50 percent reduction in all stats for a month, right?"

"Yeah."

Seo Jun-Ho told him to wait for a moment and then pulled up his status window.

[Seo Jun-Ho]

Level: 60

Title: Bringer of Spring (+2)

Strength: 198(-99)         Stamina: 187(-94)

Speed: 184(-92)            Magic: 149(-75)

Fame: 1,220

He only managed to enjoy being level 60 for a moment. In the end, all his stats had fallen below 100 again.

'Haaa, although it says it'll be restored in a month...’

It also meant that he had to stay put for a month.

When Seo Jun-Ho explained his stats, Shim Deok-Gu nodded, “I think the 2nd floor is too difficult for those stats. Why don't you come back down after treating Simus?"

"...Hmm, so stay on Earth?"

"Isn't it safer than the Frontier? Plus, you can go into a Gate if you want, since the max level limit for Earth’s gates is 80.”

“Won’t there be a lot of rumors, though?”

Seo Jun-Ho was a player who had gone up to the Frontier with the highest expectations. In fact, he had played an amazing role there. But what if he suddenly came down to the 1st floor and went into Gates?

"It's too dangerous. Anyone with good intuition will find a link between me and Skaya because the timing is similar."

"...Well, come to think of it, that's possible.”

Shim Deok-Gu thought for a while and suggested another way. “Then, why don't you be a teacher in the Nest for about a month? I can put you in."

"Oh, the place you talked about last time?"

The Nest was a place that trained Players who had awakened at an early age. It was a world-class Player training academy located in the Pacific Ocean.

"Well, it'd be fun to teach kids, but I don’t feel it right now." Seo Jun-Ho shook his head.

Even if he had reduced stats for a month, he couldn’t just take his hands off and play around. In that time, he had to catch even a single monster, so he could melt the other friends even a minute faster.

"Tsk, that's too bad. Then, what are you going to do?" asked Shim Deok-Gu.

"I’ll just have to stay in Gilleon. To be exact, I’ll raise my fame by doing Quests near Gilleon.”

"That's not bad…”

Shim Deok-Gu turned his head toward Skaya and asked, "Skaya, what are you going to do?”

"What do you mean?"

"You said your level is still the same which means you can go up to Frontier right now.”

He was asking whether she wanted to retire. Skaya immediately understood what he was hinting at, and quickly put an end to it.

"Of course, I'm going to go up. I heard there's a place called a magic tower in Frontier. It'll be very interesting to see new magic."

He knew it. Just as greedy people couldn’t pass up profit, Skaya also couldn’t pass up Frontier.

Seo Jun-Ho muttered as he sighed, "I think this is also good, too. The original plan was to bring her to level 30 within a month and then go up together."

"...What? Is reaching level 30 in a month possible?"

"Your situation is different from mine." Seo Jun-Ho shrugged.

He worked as hard as he could while keeping in mind that the fiends were after him. Naturally, there were many restrictions on his actions, and he couldn’t use 100% of his ability in public Gates. But she was different…

'Because I'm here…’

Assuming that he would closely guard her, she would be able to reach level 30 in a month if she went to uncleared Gates day and night.

"Well, we don't have to do that anymore." Seo Jun-Ho pointed out.

"Then, when are you going to announce that she's back? If you're going to be active anyway, you can't possibly hide this for long," said Shim Deok-Gu.

"Is there a need to drag it out? We can do it today,” said Skaya.

Shim Deok-Gu nodded. "All right, then let’s move the ice statues of the other Heroes in the museum in advance just in case...”

"I've already done that," Seo Jun-Ho immediately answered and continued, "The moment we announced that another one has woken up, the fiends will think that we can also wake the other Heroes up. There's no way that they’ll just wait and see. As such, I told Skaya about it as soon as I woke her up."

"It was so hard. I had just woken up from sleeping for 26 years, but without even a break, I immediately got taken advantage of…”

Currently, the ice statues of the other Heroes were in a secret place called Skaya’s Lair.

Tak. 

Seo Jun-Ho took out Specter’s mask from the inventory and said, "Change of plans. Let's put off Specter’s advance to the Frontier a little bit."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"We can have a suppressive effect on the Fiends."

If two of the 5 Heroes went up to the 2nd floor at once, it would be easier for the fiends to act on Earth. Of course, Seo Jun-Ho would go up to the 2nd floor with her, but the important thing was perception.

"Specter is on Earth. The Archmage is at the Frontier."

Just that perception could bring a sense of stability to the citizens and pressure to the fiends.

"That's a good idea. Then, I'll schedule the press conference for the afternoon.”

"Mmhm..."

Seo Jun-Ho looked curiously at Skaya. To be honest, her thin face looked far from healthy.

"Is it okay to look so thin? The fiends might look down on you.”

"Don't worry about that, Jun-Ho. If I go to the 2nd floor and tear up a few of them, they won't be able to look down on me."

She was really scary. He was really glad that they were friends.

Seo Jun-Ho trembled and nodded slowly. "All right, then let's have a press conference right away this afternoon. And..."

Seo Jun-Ho sent a photo to Shim Deok-Gu through his Vita. It was a picture of a morgue at the Seoul History Museum, and from the picture, it could be seen that there were only three ice statues remaining. 

"Let's also spread this picture."

"...You're trying to lure the fiends, aren't you?”

"You have to take advantage of these opportunities to kill them little by little since they don't usually show themselves."

Shim Deok-Gu was struck speechless. It was very like Specter to pay close attention to the details and take all the benefits in this way.

"Then, I'll put some Players near the museum so they don’t get suspicious."

"That's good..."

After a rough plan had been created in an instant, Seo Jun-Ho got up from his seat. He planned to leave the room in case the two of them wanted to talk about personal things.

"Oh, right."

At that moment, Shim Deok-Gu approached the desk and handed over a Vita.

"From classic masterpieces to the latest movies, there are tens of thousands of them."

"Tens of thousands? When can I watch them all?" Seo Jun-Ho was shocked.

"When I am free..." The Frost Queen popped up and snapped up the Vita, hugging it tightly and jubilantly. There was no TV in the Frontier, so she made snowmen for fun. But now, she could watch her favorite movies and dramas anywhere and whenever.

"But you know you can't watch it anywhere and anytime, right?”

"Contractor, aren't you treating me too much like a child recently? I am older than…”

"Are you old? How old are you?"

The Frost Queen simply struck his calf with the Vita.

"I am wiser than you. I will only watch when I'm in the room after finishing all the work, so do not worry."

"Aigoo, you’re wise~? She’s really driving me crazy," said Skaya as she looked at the Frost Queen, finding her very cute.

"Ugh..."

The Frost Queen frowned and quickly hid behind Seo Jun-Ho's leg. After spending the day together yesterday, the phenomenon of Frost avoiding Skaya had already begun to appear.

‘It's so chaotic, it’s killing me...’

He only woke up one person, but he couldn’t handle it anymore. When he woke up three more people in the future...

'Well, it had always been loud and chaotic back in the day.’

Even the usually quiet Gilberto and Mio often chattered when they were all together.

"It’d be nice if we can get together as soon as possible."

Hearing Seo Jun-Ho murmuring, Shim Deok-Gu and Skaya paused. Then, they smiled.

"It'll happen in the near future."

"This noona will help you from now on, so don't worry too much."

"...Yeah. I've been through a lot over the past year, so let's see what you got from now on."

In the afternoon, a press conference was held with the pretext of an important announcement from Specter.