Specter’s press conference was held at 7 PM Korean time. It was 10 PM when the world heard and was excited by the story regarding Specter and the Archmage. At dusk, ten Players of the Association stood around the Seoul History Museum. Their mission was to guard the Seoul History Museum.

"I thought I got demoted because I suddenly got told to stand on guard at the museum this afternoon… But it must have been because of the other Heroes, right?”

"Would it be for anything else? Rather, it’s an honor."

"That's right. We're protecting the Heroes who will wake up later, like Archmage-nim.”

"Kuku, we’ll forever be able to use it as a drinking story."

The ten Players patrolled around the huge museum in pairs.

"When the three Hero-nims wake up later, I'm going to proudly say that I protected them.”

"That's funny… What’s this about protecting when it’s just a seven-hour shift…”

Rustle.

At that moment, they heard rustling in the garden around the museum. The aura of the two joking players changed in an instant, and one person shone a light into the bushes while the other put the Vita by his mouth. And in the next second, both of their eyes rolled back and fainted. The transparent space fluctuated, and the two men… were dragged into the bushes.

"Whew, that's annoying. If we were in the Frontier, we could’ve just killed them."

"Be patient. Players from the Guilds or the Association send out information if they’re killed or if their Vitas are removed."

Of course, it was a function that didn’t work in the Frontier. However, it was a different story in the middle of Seoul. As soon as the news of the two Players’ deaths came out, other Players around them would flock over here. Moreover, thinking of the swarm of reinforcements they would ask for was just troublesome.

"Just retrieve the information..."

"Yes."

The young fiend put his hand on the foreheads of the two Players.

Bump, bump.

The veins on the Players' foreheads rose up. The young fiend pricked a vein with a needle and dipped the blood on his tongue.

"That's a relief. There are only eight Players of the Association around here right now and their levels are low."

"Any other information?”

"There’s nothing much. These guys were ordered to stand guard since this afternoon… And apparently the ice sculptures of the Heroes are still inside.”

"And the locations of Specter and the Archmage?"

"I don't think they know that much either and is there really a need to know? If we go into the morgue, we can finish our business in 30 seconds and run away."

"…If our opponents are Specter and the Archmage, then there’s no harm in being careful. Do you have a method to enter the museum?”

"These guys are small fries. I don't have one. We'll just have to use force to break through."

"Tsk, put them away."

The young fiend responded pleasantly to the old fiend’s command with a “yes,” and threw the two Players roughly into the bushes.

Sssss.[1]

At the same time, the bodies of the two fiends turned transparent. It was the ability of the young fiend’s Cloaking Field (B).

"I've told you again and again, but if you leave my side…” spoke the young fiend.

"It’ll be 12 times, and if I hear it one more time… Shut up before I rip off your mouth," interrupted the old fiend.

"Yes..."

Unlike the sturdy young man, the old man was short and skinny, but the young man was obedient to him. The two quickly climbed up the museum wall to the ceiling.

"Where's the morgue?" asked the old fiend.

"According to a map provided by the Fiend Association… It's over there."

There were also two Players on guard on the ceiling.

"Shall we also put them to sleep?” suggested the young fiend.

"Go ahead."

"Yes, then excuse me for a moment...”

As the young man ran forward, the cloaking was dispelled and the old man's figure was revealed.

"Ah! Intruder!"

"I'll take care of it, so you call first!"

The Players from the Association calmly moved according to the procedure, but as a result, both men failed in their missions.

While their gazes were on the old fiend, the young fiend had struck their chins and easily knocked them out.

"These guys are idiots." The young fiend sneered.

"That’s because only nobodies are on the 1st floor and the Association is where only nobodies join," replied the old fiend.

"Tsk, if we were in the Frontier, I would have killed and tasted their blood. It’s a shame, but shall I at least read some memories?”

"What for? The information that small fries know is limited. Just pave the way."

"Yes…"

Arriving at the spot where the morgue was located, the young fiend stomped his feet lightly.

Booooom!

The single stomp destroyed the ceiling they were standing on.

"It's over there.”

While falling, the young fiend pointed to one side and flew away. The old fiend followed him, stepping in the air with his hands behind his back.

"Uh… F**k. The morgue door is made of mithril,” noted the young fiend, seemingly embarrassed while looking at the entrance to the morgue.

In response, the old fiend stopped holding his hands behind his back and raised his left hand in front of his chest.

"Get out of the way."

He clenched his tiny, wrinkled hands and hit the mithril door.

Craaaaash!

Along with a loud roar, the mithril door collapsed.

"Wow! As expected of a wave master! You're amazing. If we just pick up a little bit of this, how many gold pieces...” the young fiend exclaimed.

"We don't have time. Let's get the ice statues first."

"Oh, yes," replied the young fiend before entering the morgue with a look of regret.

At the same time, his teeth began to chatter…

‘It, it’s freaking cold.’

It was very cold inside the morgue. A Player active on the 2nd floor could ignore most pain, cold, and heat. Furthermore, was he not a level 107 Player with great achievements even among the fiends? But, it was still too cold for him. It was not an exaggeration. It was so cold that it was hard to even take a step.

"Ugh... Cold...”

If the temperature rose and the ice melted, would all the Heroes wake up? The moment those thoughts crossed his mind, the young fiend touched one of the three ice statues.

"Toy, Toys in the… Hand."

Toys in the Hand (B). It was a very useful skill to turn things he touched into objects that were small enough to fit in his pocket.

"…Uggghhhh, I'm going to freeze to… death?”

The trembling young fiend frowned. The ice statue wasn’t getting smaller.

"What are you doing? Stop procrastinating and hurry up!"

'F**king bastard, he never does anything, but keeps giving orders...’

But he held it in because the older fiend was stronger than him.

"I, I'll finish it soon! Hehe."

Swallowing his frustration, the young fiend gently replied and touched the ice statue several times. But despite doing it over and over again, Toys in the Hand (B) did not work.

"Really, why is it not working…?”

The ability was so effective that it could even be applied to ‘sleeping creatures.’ Of course, it had to be applicable to the ice statues of the Heroes.

"So, why isn’t it working?" The moment he got annoyed and struck the ice statue with his palms, a clear sound reverberated.

Crackle!

His hands began to freeze.

"What…?!"

"Damn it, it's a trap!" The old fiend cried out.

Rumble!

The ice statue turned toward him in an instant. No, rather than an ice statue, it was an ice golem. Meanwhile, the two other ice golems jumped at the young fiend.

'Ice golem? Did the Association have a Player with this ability?’

Alarm bells rang in his head. 

Crunch!

The young fiend gathered demonic energy, stretched out his fist, and blew the upper body of an ice golem apart.

"How dare a mere golem...”

"Oh, impressive."

"It's nothing, hehe."

Perhaps it had become a habit for the young fiend to flatter the old man because he groveled without realizing it. But immediately afterward, he frowned. 

‘Wait, why did his voice sound young just now?’

He turned his head to the corner of the morgue.

There, a man and a woman were squatting under a blanket.

"Should I take care of it?"

"No, it has only been two days since you woke up. Don't push yourself. Besides…"

The man who got up slowly stretched and warmed up.

"I have to see how weak I have become.”

"... Specter!" the young fiend shouted with a pale face when he saw the black mask.

He looked back in a hurry and shouted, "Help, help me! Hey, where did that damn old man go?!”

He had been subservient this whole time, but the old man had already abandoned him and fled.

"One of them ran away. Should I go after him?” asked Skaya.

"It’s fine. I'll take care of this one and go after him.”

The current temperature in the morgue was negative 50 degrees. This was the lowest temperature that Seo Jun-Ho could produce using his Frost skill.

Skaya was an expert at magic so she had preemptively cast a spell on herself to block the cold, but their opponents couldn't do the same. As evidence, the young fiend’s body was shaking, and his movements had obviously become very slow.

'The effect is insanely good… But it also consumes mana like crazy.’

If his magic stat had been over 200, it would have been different, but now, it was not a skill he could use recklessly. Seo Jun-Ho rushed to his opponent, drawing Black Dragon Fang from its sheath.

Slice!

It was a single clean sword strike.

With his movements slowed down, the young fiend could not avoid the diagonal sword cut.

"Damn… Fu…”

Clack, clack, clack!

A deep and long sword mark was engraved on the fiend’s chest as his teeth chattered from the cold. Hot blood flowed through it, but it froze in an instant and sealed the wound.

Skaya got up, shaking out the blanket. 

"That's weak. Is this the level of the fiends these days? It's not that different from our time.”

"The situation is too favorable to us this time. He's probably a little upset, too."

After a short conversation, Seo Jun-Ho lightly shook his hand.

Rumble.

The ice golems collapsed and covered the fiend’s body.

'From what I can tell, the old man who ran away is higher in rank.’

He had also been giving orders to this young man. He had stood far away without entering the morgue and watched the situation with his heightened perception.

'He’s a very proper fiend. He’s got a talent for being underhanded and dishonorable, which are the characteristics of fiends.’

It could be possible to find something valuable if Seo Jun-Ho read his memory.

***

Leaving the museum in a hurry, the old fiend hid between the forest of buildings.

‘Damn it, no wonder the security was so lax.’

He had expected traps. However, he had never imagined that it would be Specter and the Archmage themselves. The old fiend felt a chill down his back and shuddered.

'I could feel the extreme cold even outside the morgue. That must be the magic of the Archmage, right?’

With no way to know that it was Seo Jun-Ho's Frost skill, he bit his lips tightly at the strength of the Archmage.

‘This needs to be reported. The Archmage hasn't weakened at all. On the contrary, she has retained her strength from her prime.’

There had been a clear basis for the old fiend to conclude so.

'... It reminded me of a hellish nightmare.’

He had experienced it himself. He had been a Player and a fiend for 28 years. Of course, he had experienced the hellish times ruled by the 5 Heroes. He had watched the history of the Fiend Association from its inception to the present up close.

"Second round? Are we going for a second round?"

"Assistant Manager Kim, when you drink, it's definitely coin karaoke, coin karaoke~"

"Ayyy, Director-nim, when did you go to a coin karaoke? Virtual reality karaoke is the best these days. Have you ever sung in Antarctica?”

After passing by drunk office workers, the old fiend entered the men's restroom in a nearby building. He entered the far end stall, locked the door, sat on the toilet, and tapped on his Vita.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The old fiend began to write a report with his two busy fingers.

[Archmage Skaya Killiland has retained her power from her prime. She’s at a level that doesn't lose out to Specter...]

He quickly wrote the report and sent it to the Fiend Association branch on the 1st floor.

Squeeeak.

Someone opened the restroom door and came in.

“…”

He couldn't hear the sound of hands being washed or someone going inside a stall.

Step, step. Squeak, squeak.

He was opening the stall doors one by one and was slowly approaching him.

Gulp!

The old fiend swallowed his saliva, rose from his seat silently and clenched his fist. The person’s footsteps stopped outside the stall.

‘Now, right outside this stall...’

There was Specter.

1. A disappearing sound. ☜