The Frozen Player Returns

guilds.’

The only reason this was possible was because of Chef’s existence.
He forced the fiends to eat the so-called strengthening treatment. In other words, the skill he had created.

‘Survival rate of 10%.’

9 out of 10 die from tasting it, but if one survived, they would obtain a stronger skill.
Of course, compared to the other squads whose skills were trained from scratch, their skills were bound to be worse off.

“So this is why the members of the Gluttony Squadron were weaker than Jang Seon-Ho…’

The Gluttony Squadron dealt with the Fiend Association’s troublesome matters using their overwhelming numbers.
In short, they had the role of a cleaner who took care of jobs that were too vague for other members to come forward.

’

‘The leader’s name is Guladin.’

All Seo Jun-Ho knew about him was his appearance and name.
No one had ever seen the leader’s skills based on what Seo Jun-Ho had seen from the memories of the Gluttony Squadron members.

‘Still, I thought that a squadron member would be a key member of the Fiend Association…’

No, maybe the Gluttony Squadron was just a special case.

“Hmm.”

The memory projections were naturally saved, and now, there was only one fiend left whose memories Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t read just yet.

“Jang Seon-Ho.”

He was the best among the fiends here, and he belonged to the Pride Squadron.
When Seo Jun-Ho made him confess, the corners of Seo Jun-Ho’s mouth slightly rose.

‘Yeah, this is what I wanted.’

Thanks to his unique skill, Jang Seon-Ho was highly regarded in the Fiend Association.
He had even once witnessed Pride’s skills, the leader of the Pride Squadron.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho clenched his fist and opened it without saying anything.
To be honest, he was a little shocked.
The strength of a leader was higher than he had thought.

‘If the leader is at that level, the executives will be much stronger, right?’

If that was true, then an executive was a tower that was still too much for Seo Jun-Ho to climb.
From the memory projection, the skills of the leader of the Pride Squadron, Pride, were one step higher than the current Seo Jun-Ho.

‘…I’m also certain that there will be a gap in skills even among the leaders.’

If Seo Jun-Ho was unlucky, Pride’s abilities may be at the bottom among the leaders.
When the memory projection ended, the light in Seo Jun-Ho's eyes became calm.
He knew from experience that…

'…The scariest enemy is the one whose power cannot be measured.’

But now, he knew some of the enemy's power.
Of course, what he had done could only be considered scratching at the surface, after all, there were still the leaders of the other Squadrons, the executives commanding them, and the Heavenly Demon himself.

'It's still not enough.’

Seo Jun-Ho couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
His mind was constantly asking, ‘why?’

‘If Deok-Gu's data is correct…
The Fiend Association is a force that can confront even the world right now.’

But the Fiend Association remained low profile for decades now.
Many Players even started to think that their existence wasn’t that important anymore.

Whoooong.

Seo Jun-Ho looked up at the sky, feeling the chilly desolate wind that could only be felt in the mountains.

'Those guys…
How have they been suppressing their desires all this time?’

Seo Jun-Ho was familiar with the fiends.
He was confident that he knew them better than anyone else in the world.
But… Now, they were unfamiliar.
The only fiends he knew in his generation were those faithful to their desires.

’

“…”

The peaceful times… Seo Jun-Ho began to feel uneasy about the current peace.
After all, there would always be a calm before the storm.

* * *

“Oh, he’s here.”

When Seo Jun-Ho returned, the party welcomed him.
In particular, River and Arthur looked at Seo Jun-Ho with a different look compared to before after they had come to their senses.

“H-Hello.
My name is R-River.”

“Nice to meet you.”

It had been very difficult for him to greet Seo Jun-Ho.
As such, River looked ecstatic as if he had heard the best compliment in the world when Seo Jun-Ho replied.

“It's because everyone is your fan,” Skaya said as she approached and pouted.
“What's up with the name of this group? Watchguards? Descendants of the Archmage… Isn’t something like this better?”

“I like it.
The Watchguards.”

“Tsk, anyway, I'm going to see Arthur's comrades.
Apparently, they’re held in restraints.”

“By Arthur's comrades…”

They were the Watchguards.
Seo Jun-Ho turned his head toward Arthur and asked, “Arthur, what's the level of the Watchguards?”

“Uh, um…”

Arthur looked slightly apologetic.
“There are a lot of non-combatants.
There are only nine combatants, including me and I'm the best among them.”

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho fiddled with his mask and thought for a while.
The reason why he asked this question was simple.

‘The power of the Fiend Association is beyond imagination.
It might be hard to deal with them even if I wake up Mio and Rahmadat.’

It was because he needed a strong ally.
Of course, he did have a powerful ally, albeit perfunctorily, in the form of the Big 6.
They had made a pledge to cooperate with him, after all.

‘But using me politically is a stronger goal for them.
I don't know how they'll react when put in front of danger.'

In other words, Shim Deok-Gu was the only ally who would help him without questions or complaints.

‘If I don’t have any, I have to make them…’

Seo Jun-Ho's eyes hidden in the mask began to shine.
The Watchguards were worth raising as long as their abilities weren’t too bad.

‘And it's a group of people who are hostile to the fiends…’

Most importantly, it was an organization where Arthur, his nephew, was the leader.
In other words, even if he worked them hard, there would be no way for them to refuse.

“Arthur, I want to see your comrades too,” Seo Jun-Ho said in a honey-coated voice.