Return of the Frozen Player

t time dealing with a troll like this.

‘Especially those eyes…’

Oh Dae-Sik looked into the eyes of the mutant troll.
It was an eye that gave a feeling closer to a person than a monster.

“I'm in front, you're behind.”

“It's always the same thing.
Aren't you tired of it?”

Choi Kyung-Hoon got in position even as he complained.

‘At most, three times…’

Oh Dae-Sik clenched his sword as immense pain burned throughout his body.
He could at most swing his sword three times.
Even now, he was barely holding on with his mental strength.

‘After that, I can only leave it to heaven…’

Oh Dae-Sik and Choi Kyung-Hoon kicked off the floor and ran forward.

'It feels good.’

Oh Dae-Sik’s sword shone yellow.
It was the essence of his 15 years as a Player.
It was a neat and clear sword ki produced by a middle-aged man with ordinary talent.

‘It's light.’

Was this the surge of energy one would feel when they were right before death? His body felt lighter than ever.
The sword in his hand moved more freely than anything.

“…!”

It was to the extent that Choi Kyung-Hoon, who was watching the sword strike from behind, was surprised for a moment.

‘Did he get enlightenment right at the brink of death?’

It was both impressive and unfortunate.
One more day… No, half a day sooner, and things would have been very different.

Swoosh!

A lightly extended sword quickly sliced at the mutant troll.

'It couldn't block it.
It was so fast that it couldn't even react!’

Running close to being parallel to the ground, Choi Kyung-Hoon moved up.
Being right behind Oh Dae-Sik, he was perfectly in the troll’s blind spot.

Crack!

An unexpected and strong spear strike pierced the mutant troll’s heart.
Choi Kyung-Hoon had a feeling that it went in properly.

“It’s ove—”

But he couldn’t finish his words…

Boooom!

The mutant troll’s fist struck him.
He hurriedly raised his guard, but his arms bent as easily as straw.

‘This crazy monster bastard…!’

Choi Kyung-Hoon was sent flying through the air before colliding against a tree.
He found himself stuck in a tree before vomiting blood.
As his eyes became increasingly blurry, he could see the mutant troll casually pulling out the spear in its heart.

Thud.

After dropping the spear, the mutant troll’s wound healed rather quickly.
Trolls were famous for their excellent regenerative power, but it was certainly not to that extent.

‘It's truly…
a mutant…’

The moment Choi Kyung-Hoon lost consciousness, Oh Dae-Sik sword was about to send his second sword strike.

'You can't kill it just by stabbing the heart…’

You had to decapitate it.
Only by separating its head from its body could you say that you killed it.

“Heup!”

It was a faster, more powerful move than any sword strike he had ever used in his life.

Claaaaang!

However, it wasn’t enough.
The sword and the creature's neck collided, but only the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard.

‘It’s shallow…!’

His sword managed to dig into the mutant troll’s neck, but it was only about 5 millimeters.

“…”

His fierce eyes focused on the mutant troll’s calm figure.
The next moment, the world turned upside down.

“Uwaaaack!”

His whole body shook.
The broken sword that had fallen right next to him seemed as if it was bidding him farewell.

“Master! Vice Master!”

Then, a familiar voice rang amidst his dimming consciousness.

‘Finn…! Did he not meet with the main group?’

He knew that the Guild members would run into Finn as they went down.
But the heavens were indifferent, and it seemed that Finn didn’t manage to come across the main group.

“Five…? Not four people?”

There were a total of five people in his sight.
Oh Dae-Sik thought of something.

‘Come to think of it…
You said you'd bring reinforcements.’

But no matter how much he looked around, there were only five people in sight.
Oh Dae-Sik closed his eyes.

‘The reinforcement’s only one person?’

It was a meaningless number against this monster.
At least 50…
No, 100 people should be brought over in order to properly fight, not hunt this monster.

“Illusion Field!”

When Finn's cry reverberated, the mutant troll’s eyes became murky.
It had fallen into an illusion barrier created by his Illusion Field skill.

‘But it won't last long…’

It was all because he didn’t use it properly.
Instead of hiding before using it, he used it right in front of the monster.
Unless the mutant troll was a fool, it would easily deduce that it had fallen into an illusion.

“Master! Are you okay?”

“Where did all the other Guild members go?”

While Finn was sweating in an effort to maintain his skill, the three Guild members rushed up and took care of Oh Dae-Sik.

“Cough…
How’s Kyung-Hoon…?”

“His arms are broken.
It’ll be difficult to set his bones back together, but he’s fine.
He just fainted.”

He was relieved when he heard that Choi Kyung-Hoon didn’t suffer any severe injury.
Oh Dae-Sik ordered the three Guild members.

“Finn's skill… will be released soon.
Take Finn and Kyung-Hoon down the mountain.”

“What about you, Master?”

“Someone needs to hold it back.
You'll be safe if you can at least get to the village.”

He didn't know why, but that mutant troll had always stayed on this mountain.

“Uh… But we brought one person as reinforcement.”

“He's really strong.”

“The mutant troll’s not an ordinary monster, you brats.”

Oh Dae-Sik frowned in frustration.
Of course, he had the same thought as them until this morning.
However, he realized the moment he faced it himself that the mutant troll wasn’t a monster a normal Player could touch.

“And there's only one person you brought in as reinforcement.
With that number…”

“But he's Player Seo Jun-Ho.”

“…What?”

Oh Dae-Sik's expression turned sour.
Player Seo Jun-Ho?

“Isn’t he the person I told you to stop from coming up the mountain?”

Seo Jun-Ho was Specter’s proxy and a promising rookie.
Oh Dae-Sik even heard rumors about Seo Jun-Ho’s great feats in the Kobold Hunting Competition held in Gilleon.

'You brats…
What are you trying to do… I told you to keep an eye on him, but you brought him up instead!'

This meant that they had also put Player Seo Jun-Ho in danger.
As far as Oh Dae-Sik knew, Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t even level 100 and was just a chick who had debuted two years ago.

Boom!

At that moment, the mutant troll stomped its feet out of the blue.

“Damn it!”

Finn let out a scream.
The mutant troll had smashed his Illusion Field apart in the same way as Seo Jun-Ho had done.

“What… what a monster!”

“Even though I used it openly, still…”

“It shattered it quicker than Player Seo Jun-Ho?”

“…”

The mutant troll looked around.
After escaping the illusion, it noticed the increased number of humans.
But its gaze stopped at one person—the one who smelled the most dangerous.

“This is a little unexpected…”

Seo Jun-Ho spoke as he saw the wary mutant troll.
The energy coming from the mutant troll was stronger than any other monster he had ever encountered since coming up to Frontier.