Return of the Frozen Player

"Ueup! Ueup!"

Geum Hak-Do ran out of the great hall with his frozen mouth, and no one stopped him.

Yeon couldn’t help but speak.

- You were a bit heavy-handed. Geum Hak-Do is rumored to be petty, so there’s a chance that he’ll hold a grudge.

"Well, I’m sure that my competent Prime Minister will take care of it."

- Is there perhaps someone like me in Your Majesty’s world?

Yeon asked with squinted eyes.

"Someone like you, what do you mean?"

- Someone who cleans after your mess.

Shim Deok-Gu's face came to Seo Jun Ho’s mind, and Seo Jun-Ho didn’t know what to say. At the sight, Yeon smirked.

- No wonder. I knew that your habit of creating trouble without cleaning up after yourself couldn’t be a habit that you developed in just a day or two.

"…Ahem." Seo Jun-Ho looked at Aslan to change the subject. "Aslan."

"Yes? Yes, Your Majesty."

"I was so disgusted with him that I ended up handing over the exclusive rights to you, but will you be fine with it?"

"I do not understand what Your Majesty means..."

"Hm." Seo Jun-Ho felt a bit awkward, so he glanced at Yeon.

Yeon instantly saw through his thoughts.

- I’m sure you have already seen it on the way here, but this land does not have many natural resources. In addition, our useful land is just Neo City and its periphery.

The Players were still diligently clearing the caves, so the gas was slowly getting pushed back.

'But their efforts probably aren’t enough...’

The planet was invaded by demons in the distant past, and the planet was now ninety-nine percent enveloped in poison gas. What value could a barren land provide?

Seo Jun-Ho was worried about that.

'I might have to take my personal assets from Earth and Frontier to trade with Neo City.’

He had an astronomical amount of money, jewelry, and items both on Earth and Frontier.

"Uh, um..." Aslan seemed flustered. He fell into deep contemplation before sighing and saying, "It seems that we should pretend that the deal did not happen.”

"...Let’s do that, then."

"Young Master!" Commander Seol shouted; he seemed to have forgotten that he was in the presence of Neo City’s Emperor.

However, Aslan shook his head. "Calling me stupid is useless—it appears that His Majesty does not know anything, so we cannot take advantage of His Majesty."

"Wait." Seo Jun-Ho chimed in. "If my ears aren’t broken, you sounded like this planet is worth a fortune.”

- I heard the same, Your Majesty.

Aslan replied, "I apologize. I didn’t expect that Your Majesty is unaware of this planet’s specialty product.”

"…Specialty product?"

This barren land had a specialty product?

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at Yeon, but he shook his head.

- Why are you looking at me? I am unaware as well.

Why was he unaware? He was the previous Emperor of Neo City.

Seo Jun-Ho and Yeon stared blankly at Aslan.

"Aslan, what is the specialty product of this planet?”

“It’s Star’s Scream.”

“Star’s Scream…?”

“Yes. By any chance, how much does Your Majesty know about the green gas surrounding this planet?”

Seo Jun-Ho knew that the gas was made by the demons, and it started spreading hundreds of years ago upon the demons’ invasion. Eventually, the entire planet became enveloped in the poison gas.

"A poison that kills living creatures if you breathe it in long enough. That is the limit of my knowledge."

"Your Majesty is correct. The green gas is poison."

However, it wasn’t really that toxic for powerful beings. In fact, Seo Jun-Ho managed to survive for quite a while in the green gas using the Black Moon Heart Method of the Black Moon Martial Arts.

“There are many different alchemy techniques throughout the universe, and the same is true for crafting.”

“Crafting?” Seo Jun-Ho had a hunch. He had heard that scientists on Earth used methane gas to create diamonds for their research.

“Are you saying that the gas Star’s Scream can be compressed until it becomes a jewel?”

“Yes, the resulting jewel is a jade-colored jewel known as the Star’s Voice throughout the vast expanse of the universe.”

"I see…”

It was his first time hearing such a secret behind this planet.

Yeon finally spoke.

- The terms of the deal now look a bit better after hearing that, Your Majesty.

Yeon was ignorant of the planet’s specialty product, so he thought that the Flower Willow Merchants’ conditions were much better than the conditions that Overflow had offered. However, it seemed that the Flower Willow Merchants’ terms were only valuable in the short term.

- A rare treasure like Star’s Voice must be expensive.

Overflow had stated that they would only take ten percent, while the Flower Willow Merchants had stated that they would take sixty percent. In the bigger picture, it was clear which of the two offered a sweeter deal.

- In other words, they had intended to pay a huge amount of money in advance so that they could bathe in money later down the road.

Overflow wanted to live in harmony with Neo City by choosing to propose terms tantamount to symbiosis. However, the Flower Willow Merchants wanted to monopolize Neo City’s resources for the sake of reaping massive profits.

‘Well, I guess there are people who’ll prefer the Flower Willow Merchants’ terms.’

Someone in dire need of money would most likely accept the Flower Willow Merchants’ offer. Overflow’s terms didn’t allow immediate profits. However, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t really need anything right now, so Overflow’s conditions were much more attractive to him.

- Geum Hak-Do is famous for being a man of wisdom, so I thought it was odd that he was so rude.

"I guess he was nervous about losing the business rights."

Seo Jun-Ho looked at Aslan in a new light.

Seo Jun-Ho had already said that he would hand over the exclusive business rights to him. In other words, Aslan could have pretended that nothing was wrong and absconded with most of the profits.

Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t be able to complain because he had no idea that Neo City had an expensive specialty product.

‘But he willingly offered to cancel the contract...’

The corner of Seo Jun-Ho's mouth curled up.

For Seo Jun-Ho, Aslan was an admirable and cool individual. After all, it was very difficult to decisively let go of the treasure one was already holding in their hand.

"Then, Your Majesty, shall we go?"

"Well, isn’t it a bit too early for that?” Seo Jun-Ho said after checking the time. "If we want to work together in the future, then we have to get to know each other more. Let’s have lunch together today."

"Your Majesty, are you saying…” Seol stammered.

Aslan’s eyes widened as he stood there, frozen.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled at their looks of disbelief and nodded. "I declare once again—Neo City’s business rights will belong exclusively to the Overflow Merchant Group in the next three years."

***

There were no issues in the contract signing.

"I will hire mercenaries and send them here right away. It is a bit difficult to collect the poison gas."

"Oh, by the way, can you let us take care of that?"

“Yes?” Aslan seemed dumbfounded. His Majesty of Neo City was basically saying that he wanted to use his own money and manpower to collect the gas, even though he could easily save money by letting Aslan collect the gas.

“We will take Your Majesty’s offer if you are willing, but may I ask why?”

"Well, there are many unemployed people who need work.”

Seo Jun-Ho was talking about the Players. If Seo Jun-Ho had to answer what lesson he had learned on the 5th Floor and 6th Floor, he would say that he learned how to rely on more and more Players rather than just the other Heroes.

‘I used to think that everyone else wasn’t that helpful aside from my four friends, but…’

His excursion on the 5th Floor and 6th Floor made him realize that there were many talented Players in this era.

‘If it hadn’t been for them, we would have had a harder time clearing the 5th Floor and the 6th Floor.’

In other words, Seo Jun-Ho wanted them to become even stronger.

The thought led Seo Jun-Ho to create an event dedicated to collecting Star’s Scream.

‘The event will give the Players a strong enough reason to stay here and hunt.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s plan didn’t end there.

He was planning on giving points to Players for collecting Star’s Scream.

‘We’ll create a system that will allow them to purchase martial arts using their points.’

The Sect Record Chip contained every martial art that had ever existed throughout Neo City’s long history. In other words, he could take advantage of the chip to lure Players into working in exchange for martial arts.

This plan could even lead to the rapid development of Neo City.

‘Of course, the Players won’t suffer a loss.’

They would be able to collect more points the more talented they were. They could then use those points to become more powerful by purchasing whatever martial art they liked. Basically, it was a win-win situation for both sides.

- That's a pretty good plan, Your Majesty.

Yeon saw through Seo Jun-Ho's intentions and chuckled.

"I think it's pretty good, too. I think I’m starting to become a wise monarch…”

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Anyway, Aslan..."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"By any chance, do you...” Seo Jun-Ho suddenly remembered a particular individual. He scratched his cheek, and he sounded very embarrassed as he asked, "Do you perhaps know any medicine for hair loss? If you know some, can you get me some?"

“…”

Aslan's eyes instinctively turned to the crown on Seo Jun-Ho’s head.

"Where are you looking at? It’s not for me. It’s a gift for a friend.”

"Oh, yes… I see…” Aslan seemed to have been enlightened. It couldn’t be helped because the words for my friend usually meant that the item was actually for the speaker. It had always been like that since time immemorial.

Aslan nodded heavily with a renewed sense of duty.

"I will find the medicine and offer it to you as soon as possible, Your Majesty."

***

The rumor from the 5th Floor quickly spread to Earth in the form of news articles.

[The Mysterious Emperor of Neo City Turned Out to Be Specter.]

[The Imperial Family of Neo City Announces a Player-Only Event.]

[You Can Purchase a Strong Martial Art Depending on the Number of Points You Possess? More and More Players Are Visiting Neo City Every Day.]

[Our True Hero Specter Sympathizes with the Growth of Other Players.]

…

"Deok-Gu’s doing it again…" Seo Jun-Ho was furious.

The cringy article about sympathizing with the growth of other Players was published by a media company that belonged to Shim Deok-Gu's friend.

Seo Jun-Ho had long noticed a pattern—whenever there was a cringy article about him, the publisher would always be that company.

"Will it be fine, Contractor?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your friends were the only ones who knew that you’re Neo City’s Emperor until now.”

"Ah."

After becoming the Emperor of Neo City, Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t really been visiting the 5th Floor, and he also didn’t actively spread any rumors. Therefore, there were some speculations about how Neo City didn’t have an emperor.

‘And I decided to announce that I was the Emperor of Neo City all this while…’

The effect was great. The media pounced on the news as if they were hungry wolves, and the Internet became filled with nothing but stories involving Neo City and Seo Jun-Ho’s status as the emperor.

"It’s great. The number of Players in Neo City has increased by several folds. They'll probably go around collecting Star’s Scream.”

"Um… I think some people will go there with a different motive in mind…"

The Frost Queen glanced at the tablet in her hands.

- The emperor on the 5th Floor is Specter-nim? Am I the only one who didn't know?

└I didn't know either. There was no comment on the fan cafe, either T-T.

└I suppose that’s why he has never shown his face despite the rumors about how there’s a new emperor on the 5th Floor.

└Wait. If I go up to the 5th Floor right now, will be able to film Specter-nim wearing imperial attire?

└LOL, you are very smart, and your IQ is ten million. Anyway, I'm packing up right now.

Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t sure how he should describe it. It seemed that not every Player had gone up to the 5th Floor to participate in the event.

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the tablet for a moment before clapping his hands.

“Yes, that’s it! Great job! You actually found it!” If those Players really wanted to see him in imperial garb, couldn’t he just satisfy their desires?

Seo Jun-Ho immediately summoned Seo Jun-Sik.

“Nope, I don’t want to,” said Seo Jun-Sik upon being summoned. He immediately ran away as if he were a scared cat.

Seo Jun-Ho revealed a gentle smile and coaxed the wild cat—Seo Jun-Sik.

"What’s wrong? Don’t you want to get summoned?”

"I do want to get summoned, but I want to play around. I don’t want to work for the rest of my life,” replied Seo Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Ho stared at Seo Jun-Sik for a moment before saying, "Anyway, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Walk around the city during those times and then come back. I'll give you a meal coupon every time as a reward.”

"…What can I eat with that meal coupon?"

"Everything."

He could eat whatever he wanted…

"Pfft! Do you really think that you can buy my heart with food?!”

However, it was too tempting to refuse, and the contract was quickly signed.