Seo Jun-Ho returned to his room and laid down on his back.
And when his eyes closed, countless scenes passed through his head.
‘Erebo, Erebo, and Erebo again. I see that bastard’s face whenever I closed my eyes.’
One might think he was deeply in love with Erebo.
“Fuwah.” Then, the Frost Queen flopped onto the bed with a tired face, looking like the whole weight of the world was on her shoulders.
Seo Jun-Ho glanced at her and said, “Hey, I just realized something.”
“...And that would be?”
He had gone through 50 more regressions after the 50th one. And he succeeded 0 times.
The nagging feeling that he would be able to do it after going just a little longer didn’t go away, yet he never actually managed to do it.
‘I should’ve known from the beginning.’
With every regression, all his stats were reset, too. If he kept failing on the same task despite being in peak condition, that meant it was an impossible endeavor to begin with.
‘I have no other choice but to let go.’
He let out a small sigh and acknowledged his defeat.
“...You were right; I guess I can’t kill his clone without anyone’s help,” Seo Jun-Ho admitted.
He didn’t want to watch his loved ones die. It was difficult. That was why he wanted to do this by himself. If he failed, he could just brush himself off and get back up. He wouldn’t have to carry the guilt of playing a part in someone’s death.
“Have you at least realized your stubbornness in doing this alone?” The Frost Queen rolled over and narrowed her eyes at him. “You have fine friends, do you not? Let them carry some of the weight.”
“I’m sorry.”
The Frost Queen had told him over and over—there was a limit to what he could do on his own, so they should try asking someone for help in the next regression. However, Seo Jun-Ho kept telling her that he would try just one more time, like a gambling addict.
And now, here he was...
“Let them carry some of the weight when you still have people to support you. If you continue to be so stubborn, you will eventually end up alone. No matter how much you cry then, it will not matter.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“I am not sure. I do not remember...” she muttered, looking away. “But more importantly, do you really believe you killed Erebo in the 106th regression? I am very curious.”
“...”
She was obviously trying to change the subject, but to be honest, Seo Jun-Ho wondered about that too. Just what had he done in the 106th regression?
“It’s actually possible that I didn’t kill his clone. Maybe I just went crazy and ripped out the pages.”
“Indeed, that is also a possibility.” The Frost Queen side-eyed him and said, “Recently, you have been—how shall I put this... I am worried about you for a different reason than before.”
“What? What about me?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, surprised. Recently, he had been feeling really good. He was perfectly fine.
‘I don’t even feel impatient even though I keep failing.’
Before the 105th regression, the repeating deaths and failures had completely drained his soul. Every time he failed, he grew more and more depressed to the point that even he got worried about himself.
But recently, he started to feel more relaxed. He was sure that he had done something to fix himself in the 106th regression.
The Frost Queen wrinkled her nose. “You cry too often these days. Are you a child?”
“...” Seo Jun-Ho bit his lower lip. She was right. “I’m worried about that too. It’s like my emotions just overtake me sometimes. Most of the time, I can’t control them very well.”
He hadn’t been like this before. As the strongest Player, he was very skilled at regulating his emotions.
‘But I can’t seem to do that these days.’
He was extremely sensitive and seemed as pitifully fragile as a flower that would crumble with just one touch.
- You often have difficulty controlling your emotions.
Seeing how Keen Intuition was speaking up despite being quiet most of the time, he really had to be in poor condition.
“Still, I must admit that this is better than your previous self,” the Frost Queen added.
“Previous self?”
“I am referring to the time before your 105th regression. Truthfully, I felt as if I were walking on eggshells every day.” She let out a sigh of relief. “Back then, you seemed like you were broken somewhere.”
“I did?”
“Yes. Compared to back then, you seem far more human right now, so it is nice to see. Though, it’s annoying that you keep crying.”
Just what had the Seo Jun-Ho of the 105th and 106th regressions done to himself?
- You should pay more heed to how you control your emotions.
“Why’s that?”
- I am your sixth sense, partner. Needless to say, I am influenced by your emotions. If you continue to let your emotions run astray like this, it will become more difficult for me to relay information in a clear, cool-headed manner.
“So... You’re saying that you’re having trouble these days because I’m too emotional? Something like that?”
Hearing Keen Intuition say it like that, Seo Jun-Ho was starting to get sad again. His eyes grew teary, and the Frost Queen skillfully pulled out a tissue and held it out to him.
“Don’t cry, Contractor.”
“...Yeah.” He wiped his eyes. Now that he thought about it, something was definitely weird about this. He sat right up. “This is too much. I have to talk to someone.”
Who should he talk to, then? He had already decided.
The Frost Queen and Seo Jun-Ho looked at each other seriously and nodded.
***
“Hey, I heard you’re going to feed Deok-Gu a youthening potion and have a second, beautiful romance with him, you lovebird.”
“What, wha—what?” Skaya’s face grew beet red. She tried to cover his mouth, but Seo Jun-Ho dodged her skillfully.
“Help me out,” he said. He explained the situation to her in a hushed voice.
“So you’re telling me you can’t regulate your emotions right now?” Skaya asked.
“Yeah. More accurately, my emotions are shooting up too easily.” He grew teary at trivial things, and if he grew even a little mad, he would feel like breaking something.
“Hm. Unfortunately, I can’t really help you with that.”
“Because I have Hero’s Mind?”
“Yup, yup. That skill is much stronger than most spells that can meddle with emotions.”
Seo Jun-Ho felt sad again hearing that he couldn’t do anything. His face grew glum. “It can’t be helped. Then, there was something else I wanted to talk about...”
“You have another favor to ask?”
“Yeah.” He wiped the gloominess off of his face and spoke, “Let’s start making a spell starting today.”
“Yeah, that’s doable. How big’s the scope?”
Seo Jun-Ho tapped on the desk.
“This whole city.”
***
Everything was finally ready. Seo Jun-Ho reached a hundred percent Overclocking output in three weeks, and the rest of the party headed to the next city. The spell that could cover the whole city was also ready.
“Truthfully, I was surprised. Yo.”
After everyone else left, only two Players remained. One of them was Kim Woo-Joong, who was staring straight at Seo Jun-Ho with a look of amusement.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know you would ask me for a favor like this, you see.”
The Seo Jun-Ho, whom Kim Woo-Joong knew, always did everything by himself. This was the case with Janabi, as well as with the Heavenly Demon. It was completely understandable to ask for help, but he always tried to carry everything alone.
‘But recently, something about him changed.’
He would suddenly tear up when eating, saying that the food tasted too good. There were also other things that would make Seo Jun-Ho show a shabby side of him Kim Woo-Joong had never seen before.
‘It may be a side effect of the regressions.’
He had heard that Seo Jun-Ho had already gone through 155 regressions. In other words, he had already died 155 times and was on his 156th try.
Kim Woo-Joong looked at the hero with pity.
‘I see. Perhaps he is exaggerating his emotions on purpose so that his ego will not collapse.’
He was impressed. Kim Woo-Joong wondered if he would be able to handle it so nonchalantly like that if he died over a hundred times.
“I promise you. I won’t fail the duty you’ve assigned me today.”
“I’ll be counting on you.”
Seo Jun-Ho smiled brightly.
***
Erebo appeared as planned. After all, Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t be able to kill Erebo if the latter didn’t appear at all.
“What is...!” The hexagram lit up in the night sky and released a downpour of magic. It was a destructive spell that brought ruin to the whole city, let alone the cockroaches.
‘He must have gone mad.’
Erebo stepped off of the crumbling buildings and watched the man kill the cockroaches while gnashing his teeth. No human had ever drawn his attention so elegantly.
‘And his skills are dangerous.’
The man was a disciple of the sword, and he easily cut through thousands of cockroaches all by himself. He gave off a clearly dangerous aura.
“Autumn Wind.”
The autumn wind cut through their souls.
Slice!
The wall of cockroaches was instantly shattered into thousands of pieces.
pαndα noνɐ1,сoМ Erebo thought quietly to himself as he watched.
‘...If I interfere now, there is more to lose than to gain.’
He would stand back until his opponent’s physical, mental, and magical energy were completely drained. Having made his decision, he started sinking deep into the river.
But just as he did, Seo Jun-Ho smiled silently from the large bridge.
‘Only two... Only two people helped me.’
Skaya supported him with magic, and he had left the cockroach army to the Sword Saint. With that said, this endless battle with Erebo finally seemed to be coming to an end.
‘I have no other choice but to admit it, then.’
He had to admit that his attitude was outdated, stubborn, and arrogant.
Seo Jun-Ho slowly closed his eyes and gathered his magic power.
‘This is a garden for smaller things.’
Eight flowers floated down to the surface of the river. And then, Erebo shot out of the water like a frog jumping out of boiling water.
“Guaaah!”
“Inventory.” Seo Jun-Ho gripped a glowing white spear in his hands. It was made of cold steel and was giving off a vicious aura.
And then, just as his Overclocking output reached a hundred percent, his body flashed forward, leaving an afterimage.
“...!”
Erebo’s felt something wrong. He could feel it in his chest. He looked down, and his face distorted.
‘There was... another one!’
Erebo’s mind was screaming at him to run away, but the spear in his chest expanded like a pufferfish, releasing spikes of ice.
“Haaa.” Seo Jun-Ho let out a small sigh. The main reason he hadn’t been able to defeat Erebo so far was that Erebo would always run away.
‘If I happened to miss him, he wouldn’t fight me one-on-one again.’
However, today was different.
Because he wouldn’t miss...
Slice!
He swung his sword without mercy and severed Erebo’s head. And then, Watchguard of Darkness devoured every part of Erebo, from his exoskeleton to his wings.
And lastly, Night Walking...
[You have completed the third Quest.]
[A new Save Point has been created.]
[The 4th Quest has been revealed.]
[The 5th Quest has been revealed.]
“...Phew.”
He had done it. The satisfaction of victory washed over him. This was undeniably the best result.
Seo Jun-Ho suddenly thought. ‘Did I also succeed in the 106th regression because I used a method like this?’
No one could tell him the answer. However, Keen Intuition commented on it.
- In the end, you found your own path.
No one was hurt and no one was sacrificed. Seo Jun-Ho realized that he had chosen the correct path, so he laughed like a maniac. It had been a long time since he did that.
“Whether you laugh or cry, please just choose one.” The Frost Queen busied herself with handing him tissues.
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