“Please take care of me,” Seo Jun-Ho said seriously. Both he and Skaya were currently inside their room. 

It took a lot out of him to say that, but Skaya only understood the surface meaning of it. As such, she looked at him in disgust. 

“You’re a grown adult. What are you saying?”

“I’ve thought about what I can do during the five days before the full moon,” he explained. There were three possible options: hunting monsters, training Overclocking, and lastly, training with the ice golems. “And I think getting used to Overclocking will be the most efficient choice.”

Out of the three, it would allow him to be most prepared for battle. Being able to use Overclocking on a whim would completely change the level of his power. Sadly, hunting while training would make things less efficient. 

“So, you should hunt for me. While you do that, I’ll work on getting used to Overclocking.” He had spent a good amount of time pondering this over. 

Skaya squinted at him. “...In other words, you want me to carry you?”

“Yeah. Carry me.”

‘Carrying’ referred to the practice of a high-level Player fighting monsters for lower-level Players. Obviously, it was a good way to level up quickly, but it carried dangerous risks. 

‘Players who level up so easily won’t be able to hold their own.’ 

But Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t like that. He had already reached level 80 before. Even if that wasn’t the case, he was still confident in his abilities. 

“Hm…” Skaya stroked her chin, thinking. 

Seo Jun-Ho’s face fell. “Wait, why do you even need to think about it? Are you not going to help me?”

“Wait a second. I need to think about it.” She held up her hand, trying to calm him down before closing her eyes. She opened them a moment later and spoke softly, “Sorry. I don’t think I can.”

“...”

When Seo Jun-Ho asked her why—her answer was simple. “Don’t you remember? When we first planned to come here, we didn’t really think much of it. But things are different now.”

They had originally planned to come here once they saw from the old fiend’s memories that there was a Fiend Association branch in the area. Seo Jun-Ho understood as much and nodded. Even a few hours ago, he hadn’t really thought much of the Canal Mountains. 

‘I thought that this would be a small branch… Like a little more than ten fiends.’ 

This was why Seo Jun-Ho had thought that they would make good training targets for him to hunt alone. After all, that was what they had seen in the old fiend’s memories. 

But when they opened the box, they discovered that things were much bigger than they thought. 

“We won’t be able to face them head-on like we originally planned,” Skaya said. She stretched out her arm and pointed at Seo Jun-Ho. “So I have to make preparations for your disguise.”

“...Disguise?” His expression changed. “Wait, so the reason you told me to take Gouf’s clothing…”

“A mage is always prepared. We always have a plan B and plan C,” she said, shrugging. Skaya’s face turned serious. “We don’t know how strong they are yet. If we just barge in and they end up being stronger than us, it’s over. Besides, both of us are weakened right now.”

There were still three days until the Curse of Bitter Cold was released… It was a little unnerving. 

“It won’t matter if the full moon rises in five days…”

“But if it rises in four, we’ll have to wait two more months,” Seo Jun-Ho finished. 

They were also relying on the fact that the meeting point would still be the same two months from now. 

‘It has been less than a year since Gouf came here.’ 

But the meticulous Fiend Association shouldn’t keep using the same meeting points. There was probably a set schedule for changing them. In other words, this could be their last opportunity to follow a lead. 

“...We don’t have any other choice,” Seo Jun-Ho said. 

“That’s what I’m saying. So, we’ll try using a disguise first,” Skaya concluded.

Skaya was quite good at making disguises. She would be able to replicate Gouf’s exact body shape, face, and voice. 

“I just need to be good at acting,” Seo Jun-Ho remarked.

“Your main goal will be to assess the fiends’ abilities. If you think we can take them on together…”

“I should give you a signal. Right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be watching you the whole time, and I’ll put a tracker on you too.”

After Seo Jun-Ho gave her the signal, it would only take Skaya a second to join him in battle. 

“So I guess you’ll need four days to make all the potions for my disguise.”

“Bingo. That’s why I can’t hunt with you,” Skaya explained. It was a logical choice. 

“It can’t be helped. I’ll just train Overclocking.”

“Personally, I would recommend that you still go hunting,” she spoke up.

“Why? Wouldn’t it be better to practice Overclocking?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“With your skills, can’t you do it while hunting?”

She was right, but only to an extent. 

“So you’re saying I should raise my level and stats while hunting… All while adjusting to Overclocking?”

“Even if you spend the whole time focusing on Overclocking, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to master it in five days. So it’s better to take the safer route.” 

Again, it was the logical choice. Seo Jun-Ho let out a light sigh and nodded. 

“I’ll leave early tomorrow morning then. And… I’ll return on the evening of the full moon.”

“Good luck.” Skaya grinned and released the magic covering the room. It was a technique to block out sound, like the one that Gong Ju-Ha had once used. Thanks to that, no one had been able to hear a single word of their conversation. 

“Good night.”

“I won’t go far,” Skaya said. She was in the room next door, after all. Seo Jun-Ho nodded and waved her away

***

The sun hadn’t risen yet. Seo Jun-Ho breathed in the cold, early morning air as he left Denver. His goal for today was to hunt steel bears, a common type of monster in the Canal Mountains.

“Mmm…” The Frost Queen sat on his shoulders, nodding off. She still wasn’t fully awake. 

‘I’m level 60 right now, so if I really push myself for the next five days…’ 

He could reach level 70. But since he would be hunting while training Overclocking, he couldn’t guarantee it. 

After leaving at dawn, Seo Jun-Ho finally arrived at the Canal Mountains by 10 AM, the sun was already soaring high in the sky. 

“...Let’s try to hunt as far as possible from the meeting point.”

He didn’t want to accidentally end up running into fiends. Still, there were some Players dotting the edge of the mountains. Some of them watched as he approached. 

‘It’s a good thing I’m hiding my face.’ 

He was wearing a mask and a hat with a long visor covering his face. It would be hard to recognize him. The watchers quickly lost interest when there was nothing to find. 

“Contractor, are steel bears strong?” the Frost Queen asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen them before.” But considering that they were made of steel, they would probably be tedious to handle. He reckoned that a sword aura was the minimum requirement to be able to injure them.

‘But I should hold back from taking the easy route and using a sword aura.’ 

His current level of Overclocking had a clear weakness. 

‘…I can’t control it.’ 

With a single step, he would cross hundreds of meters. It would be nice to use it to run away from a battle, but it wasn’t exactly a fighting skill. 

‘If I can’t fix it, I might not be able to use Overclocking in the upcoming fight.’ 

A Player who couldn’t control their abilities was the same as a Player without any abilities—this was the belief Seo Jun-Ho had held ever since his days as Specter. 

“Control the speed. Control the speed,” Seo Jun-Ho chanted under his breath. 

His ear twitched. At the same time, the Frost Queen looked up like a meerkat. “A bear.”

“A steel bear, you mean.”

It had a peculiar appearance. The bear bounded over on all fours and stood as it discovered Seo Jun-Ho. 

“Grrrrrr!” It let out a thunderous roar. It was easily 3 meters tall on its hind legs, and it already had a huge frame like other bears. The biggest problem was that its giant body was made entirely of steel. 

“It looks like a boss monster,” Seo Jun-Ho commented. Actually, if a monster like that appeared in a Gate on Earth, he was sure that it would become an Uncleared Gate. In addition, there weren’t many Players on Earth who could use a sword aura in the first place. As such, Players on Earth would find it difficult to land a good blow on it. 

The ground shook as the steel bear dashed over, waving its paws. Despite its size, it was shockingly fast. 

‘So this is what the monsters in the Canal Mountains are like…’ 

Seo Jun-Ho started to understand why Players were reluctant to hunt here. Even the five claws on each paw were made out of sharp steel. 

‘Its entire body is a weapon.’ 

Seo Jun-Ho quickly unsheathed Black Dragon Fang and blocked it. 

Clang! 

The leaves shook as the sound of weapons clashing filled the air. 

“It’s so strong…!” He gnashed his teeth. Even though he had planted his feet firmly in the ground, he was being pushed back. 

‘I can’t win with pure strength. It’s not like I’m Rahmadat. I don’t need to meet it with the same power.’ 

One lap, two laps, three laps… As the magic energy quickly flowed across his entire body, it started to create an explosive power, making all his physical abilities at least twice as strong as before.

‘As slow as possible. As slow as possible.’ 

Seo Jun-Ho poured all his focus into swinging Black Dragon Fang slowly. But despite his efforts, the steel bear’s enormous upper body was sliced off with a single slash. 

“Wait, it’s already dead?”

“So you failed to control your power…” the Frost Queen muttered. She didn’t seem to like riding on his shoulders during battle, so she had been watching from a distance. She had been carefully observing with her arms crossed from start to finish. And then she suggested a solution, “I believe that you are not yet prepared for battle.”

“...Then what should I do? I don’t have enough time to hunt monsters and train Overclocking to an acceptable level.”

“If you know that, why are you wasting your time like this?” The Frost Queen gestured with her finger, ordering him to come over. 

“What?” As he approached. She flew upward until she was looking down at him. She crossed her legs in the air and spoke. 

“Will you try using my method?”

“Huh? Wait. Keen Intuition just went off. I’m nervous.”

“It will be hard, but it will be just as effective. I swear on my honor.”

“...Let’s hear it. What should I do?” he asked.

“Do not be shocked.” The Frost Queen flew closer and whispered something in his ear. When she finished, Seo Jun-Ho squinted. 

“You’re joking, right?” he gasped. 

“I do not joke.”

“Still, that’s…” He trailed off. Her suggestion was to maintain Overclocking at all times except during battle. It was insane. 

“Your first priority is to adjust to your new power. If you use Overclocking in normal situations, you will remember the motions to control it. And once you release it when you start hunting the steel bears, you’ll be forced to do more.”

It sounded incredibly difficult. But despite this… Seo Jun-Ho was intrigued. The Frost Queen’s logic was perfect. 

‘The only problem is that it’ll be hard as hell.’ 

But in order to become strong, he was willing to do this a hundred, even a thousand times over. 

“Man, this feels like a scam…”

“Have faith in me. It sounds perfect in theory.”

He couldn’t help but buy into it.