There was an idiom that originated from King Zhuang, one of the Five Hegemons of the ancient Spring and Autumn period in China: ‘A bird does not fly nor sing for three years’.[1]

King Zhuang spent three years indulging in pleasure, neglecting his governmental duties. A loyal subject sought and admonished him, asking what use there was in a bird that did not fly nor sing for three years.

To this, King Zhuang answered: ‘Because it spent three years gathering its strength, it will cut through the sky with a single flight, and in the same way, it will shake the world with a single song.’

The very next day, King Zhuang decided it was time and purged every single disloyal subject that he had been keeping tabs on for the past three years. Through this, he brought peace to the land, and he was known as a wise king for the days to come.[2]

Keen Intuition was a skill that liked to procrastinate and do as it pleased, but now, it was a dignified S-grade skill. In other words, it stood on the same level as Watchguard of Darkness and Weapons Mastery, so Seo Jun-Ho trusted it.

‘My kid is lazy, but he’s good at it when he puts his mind to it.’ 

Swooooosh! 

As a sharp noise pierced through the air around him, Seo Jun-Ho quickly leaped into action.

However, he couldn’t dodge every single attack when he couldn’t see any of them. Small cuts started to appear all over his body.

‘It’s taking more time to warm up than I expected.’ 

Thanks to his Cellular Regeneration skill, the cuts closed easily after some time passed. However, he couldn’t keep on dodging these attacks forever.

‘If you don’t get started soon, I’m going to be mad.’ 

Just as Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed, a feeling came to him.

Vrrr.

“There we go.”

He turned his body just like that and ducked his head.

‘...Nice.’

This was the first time he had dodged the blades of wind flawlessly. Just then, he started to get a peculiar feeling.

‘Can I really call this intuition?’

Up until this point, Keen Intuition’s mechanisms were simple. At most, all it did was warn him that something dangerous might be coming his way from a certain direction. However, the Intuition just now…

‘I’ve never had one myself, but I think this is what foresight must feel like.’ 

There was a certainty to his predictions about the direction, trajectory, and timing of each attack. It was on a different level from the one-dimensional A-grade Keen Intuition, which only told him the direction where something was coming from. He felt strangely excited about his new toy.

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. He couldn’t sense the enemies’ attacks with his five senses anyway.

‘I see…’ 

His surroundings were already dim, and closing his eyes plunged him into complete darkness. However, Seo Jun-Ho actually felt an even greater freedom than when his eyes were open.

‘...I can see it.’ 

He could clearly see and sense the attacks coming from all four directions as if he were astral-projecting. Seo Jun-Ho slowly started to move as if he was going on a stroll. Just that was enough to prevent the blades of wind from grazing even his clothing.

‘I feel like I’ve become a god in this space.’ 

A dangerous thought came to him. He arrogantly wondered if he would be virtually invincible if he used Freeze on top of this.

Vrrr. 

Keen Intuition rang loudly.

‘Is it telling me not to get full of myself?’ 

Seo Jun-Ho snickered. It seemed to be giving him a scathing criticism.

As he dodged hundreds of attacks by the dark riverside, the assassins started to scowl.

“That bastard’s dodging our attacks. Completely flawlessly, at that.”

“...I don’t believe it.” The wind elemental user shook his head. He was one of five special-class assassins even in Rock Blood. He possessed the S-grade skill ‘Blades of Wind’.

“No one has ever managed to dodge our combined attacks before.”

“Up until now, that is.”

His partner, whom he went around with as a duo, also had an extraordinary ability. He could erase all traces, appearances, and even the smells of everything he covered with his magic power. Disappearing Existence (A) was the best possible support skill.

“But the Blood Lord always tells us to believe what we see, no matter how hard it is to take in.”

“...Shit.” The wind elemental user’s face contorted as he swore. “You’re telling me that’s a small fence?”

If that were the case, most High Rankers wouldn’t even be considered sandcastles. He fell into thought for a second before speaking, “Still, it would be a waste to give up like this.”

“Just accept it. He has already dodged hundreds of our attacks. This isn’t just luck, it’s an impressive level of skill.”

“No, what I’m saying is that we don’t necessarily need to fight that guy. Let’s just kill Cha Si-Eun and scram.”

“...That’s not a bad choice.”

The two assassins felt that there was no need for them to risk dealing with Seo Jun-Ho. After all, he was a monster who could easily dodge their combined attack that no one had ever been able to escape from before.

“Let’s make it a big one and make a break for it.”

“I’ll get ready.”

As a great amount of magic energy started to pour out of the wind elemental user’s body, his partner placed his hand on his shoulder, making all traces of his magic disappear.

“...Hm.” Just then, Seo Jun-Ho started to feel a strange sense of unease from where he stood on the river.

‘Their attacks stopped?’

His opponents’ skills had the power to push him back in one direction. They should be trying to take advantage of that and propel the battle forward, but their attacks suddenly stopped as if their battle just now was a lie.

‘That means…’

Seo Jun-Ho kicked off of the ice and mounted the fishing boat. But when he did, the boat didn’t even move at all, let alone wobble. It was as if he were a speck of dust.

“Why are you suddenly…” Cha Si-Eun’s eyes went wide.

She was about to ask him why he came here when a giant whirlpool appeared in the pitch-black water and began to pull in everything close by.

Including the fishing boat where they stood….

“Hold on tight!” Seo Jun-Ho wrapped his arm around Cha Si-Eun’s waist and leaped into the air.

Crackle! 

At the same time, the boat shattered like a piece of toffee, and he watched as it was sucked into the whirlpool.

‘It would’ve been dangerous if I was just a second too late.’ 

He froze the moisture in the air and used them as footholds. He looked down.

“They! Might! Be! Hiding! Underwater! They! Did that! Before!” Cha Si-Eun called out punctually.

‘Underwater? I see...’ 

If a wind elemental skill were trained to its peak, breathing underwater wouldn’t be hard at all.

Seo Jun-Ho summoned his magic power. It raged like an ocean, incomparable to the overflowing river beneath his feet.

“That’s good, then.”

Vrrr!

Keen Intuition rang just in time. Seo Jun-Ho still couldn’t see his enemies, but he could sense their location with confidence.

‘They might be able to dodge a half-assed attack.’ 

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t let that happen because he had to protect Cha Si-Eun while fighting.

‘I’ll end it in one go.’ 

The temperature around them dropped as Frost’s energy raged. If his enemies were hiding beneath the river, it would actually be easier for him to take care of them.

‘I can just freeze it all the way through.’ 

Shwaaa! 

The magic asleep inside of him was unleashed into the world. And his cold eyes ordered the energy.

‘Freeze it all.’ 

Crackle! 

The whirlpool raging in the river froze, retaining its spiral shape.

There was no need to say what happened below the surface.

“...Phew.” Freezing a part of a river all the way to the riverbed was no easy task, even for Seo Jun-Ho. He stumbled when the dizziness hit him, and he quickly stepped down onto the frozen surface of the river.

“A-are you okay?” Cha Si-Eun asked. When she saw his haggard face, she immediately activated Breath of Restoration. As soon as the mystical light blanketed his body, Seo Jun-Ho unconsciously closed his eyes.

‘Ah…This feels so nice.’ 

His magic circuits were shocked by the way he suddenly pulled out a massive amount of magic, but they became silent soon enough. Seo Jun-Ho left his body to the comfortable sensation and slowly opened his eyes.

“You were the one who healed me when I passed out after killing the Cinder Wolf, right?”

“...You looked like you were suffering.”

“Even though it’s late, thank you for healing me back then.” He smiled brightly and slowly pulled himself up.

The length and width of the area he froze were around thirty meters. But because he had frozen the water all the way to the riverbed, he only had about thirty percent of his magic energy left.

“You’re… truly amazing,” Cha Si-Eun said with genuine admiration. She knew he had an ice elemental skill.

‘But…’

The sight before her made her eyes flutter. The frozen whirlpool was so beautiful, it seemed like a large piece of art.

The man who had created this great spectacle stared at the sight instead of acting haughty. “They’re dead, just like that.”

He couldn’t see his enemies this time around either, but he knew that they were dead.

“How do you know that when you can’t even see them?” Cha Si-Eun asked.

“Well… It was a cheap trick.”

- That is rude.

“Haha, really?”

Cha Si-Eun blinked at his remark. “Pardon? What were you referring to?”

“Well, you just… Oh, wait…” He looked down at the Frost Queen, but she was admiring the frozen whirlpool with a pleased look on her face and her hands clasped behind her back. She seemed a little proud as if she were looking at something her child had made.

‘Wait, Frost wasn’t the one who said that? Then who was it?’ 

Just as the confusion settled in, the voice rang again, along with a familiar vibration in his temples.

Vrrr.

- You speak so flippantly. Let us speak again in the future.

Seo Jun-Ho’s jaw dropped when he realized where the voice was coming from.

“Oh my god…”

Keen Intuition had gained a voice.

***

When they returned to the estate, the two Players found people looking for them everywhere.

“I found Seo Jun-Ho-nim and Cha Si-Eun-nim!”

“Immediately inform milord that the two are safe.”

The knights let out a sigh of relief. They had been searching the estate thoroughly, worried that something might have happened to the two of them.

Count Evian had called for Seo Jun-Ho because he had something to tell him, but he was shockled to discover that all the Players in his estate had suddenly disappeared.

“Haaa… Huff… I thought you all had packed up and left without a word because you cured my daughter,” the Count said.

“We would never do that,” Seo Jun-Ho said with a bashful smile. “But why were looking for me in the middle of the night?”

“Well… Listen to me, and save your surprise.” Count Evian swallowed and looked him straight in the eye. “The Sun of the Empire himself has summoned you.”

“The Sun…of the Empire?” Seo Jun-Ho blinked, and his eyebrows furrowed. “If I am correct, there is only one person in the whole of the vast Empire that uses such a grandiose name… Is that right?”

“Indeed.” Count Evian nodded heavily. “His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you.”

Everything was so sudden. First, Keen Intuition’s dignified voice in the middle of battle, and now, a summon from the Emperor? He kept getting hit with these things one after another. Seo Jun-Ho let out a small sigh.

“When should I go to the palace?”

“In four days’ time. You were ordered to go to the imperial palace at noon.”

‘Four days, the palace… That’s not bad.’ 

Once he went down to Earth after visiting the palace, it would be just about time to wake Mio up.

“Understood…”

“Rest well, then.”

Once Count Evian left, Cha Si-Eun spoke cautiously, “Is there something wrong? To think that the Emperor would summon a Player. As far as I know, this is the first time this has happened.”

“I’m not sure what it’s about either… But I don’t recall ever doing something wrong, so I’ll be okay,” he replied.

Seo Jun-Ho escorted her back to her room. “You worked really hard today. You must have been in shock, so rest up.”

“I did nothing. Like always, you—” Cha Si-Eun trailed off and bowed her head. “I’ll be in your care from now on.”

“Likewise. Seems like we ended up scouting each other, in a way…I’ll be in your care as well.”

They shook hands. They laughed as they met each other’s eyes. They weren’t worried about their future. Though they would be playing different roles, they had fought alongside each other before, and their combined power was great.

“I-I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Cha Si-Eun gave him another small bow even as she closed her door.

Seo Jun-Ho returned to his room. He sat down on a chair instead of going to his bed.

“Contractor, are you not going to sleep?” the Frost Queen asked.

“I need some time to talk.”

“Oh… But I am starting to grow weary… Can we talk tomorrow instead…?”

“You can go to sleep.”

Frost rubbed her eyes at his words. “If I go to sleep, who will you be speaking to?”

Seo Jun-Ho tapped on his temple. “With this guy.”

“...I am very concerned for you, Contractor. You must have received some mental damage.” She looked at him with pity when he indicated that he would be talking to himself, then left.

Seo Jun-Ho was left alone, but he didn’t care. He slowly closed his eyes.

‘Are you sleeping?’ 

1. Basically means that to do something great, you must spend a long time preparing for it. ☜

2. This is a legend in Records of the Great Historian (Shiji). ☜