Chapter 606. Winter Song (5)

Seo Jun-Ho looked at Kis with a complicated gaze, concerned that he might have to fight the latter.

‘I had zero knowledge about him when we fought back then, but now…’

However, Seo Jun-Ho had been experiencing the world through Kis’ eyes, ears, and skin until just a few minutes ago. His thoughts and emotions were vividly shared with Seo Jun-Ho.

Seo Jun-Ho was aware of Kis’ desperate and determined loyalty better than anyone else. He found it difficult to raise his sword against Kis Bremen.

“Relax. You and I won’t be fighting.”

Kis lightly shook his head. He slowly stepped forward and walked past Seo Jun-Ho.

“Why don’t we take a walk?”

“...”

An awkward atmosphere filled the cold corridor as the two silently walked next to each other. The awkwardness was palpable, and Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t take it anymore.

“What do you mean when you said that you’ve been wanting to meet me?”

“It is exactly as I said. I’ve wanted to meet you at least once.”

“Haven’t we met before?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

Kis shook his head. “The Kis Bremen you met… he was like an illusion made on the day I died.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho pondered over Kis’ words for a moment and asked. “Is she like that, too?”

There was a Frost Queen Spirit, and there was another Frost Queen on the 8th Floor.

In other words, one of them had to be like the Kis that Seo Jun-Ho had encountered at the Winter Castle Gate.

However, Kis shook his head. “No. Her Majesty’s case is a little special.”

Kis came to a halt upon arriving at their destination.

He watched the snow falling down on the training ground filled with weapons.

“It seems like you have many questions.”

“I do.”

“Feel free to ask me one by one.”

With that, Seo Jun-Ho asked, “If you say so, then I’ll ask. First of all, where am I?”

“You’re in my mind sea.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho fell silent for quite a while before asking, “I thought people who died bravely and valiantly go to the Knights’ Corridor?”

“You’re right.” Kis nodded. “Warriors of Niflheim who died bravely and valiantly go to the Knights’ Corridor of Niflheim.”

Seo Jun-Ho pondered while looking around.

The desolate and lonely space was far from the warm space of the Knights’ Corridor.

Seo Jun-Ho made a sidelong glance at Kis.

Kis seemed hesitant, but he eventually admitted. “...I gave up the right to enter the Knights’ Corridor.”

“What? Why did you do that?”

It was the honor and goal of all warriors and knights to set foot in a glorious place after death. There were many people who had decided to hang on to their weapons for their entire lives just to go to the Knights’ Corridor after death.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Hmm.”

‘He doesn’t want to talk about it.’ Seo Jun-Ho nodded and asked, “As far as I know, one can only drag someone else into their mind sea if they have a strong bond between them. Of course, a Transcendent is an exception.”

Seo Jun-Ho vaguely recalled Hart’s words. In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was asking how Kis managed to invite him into Kis’ mind sea when they weren’t close to each other.

Tap, tap.

Kis tapped his finger on the emblem on his cape.

“Do you still remember this?”

“...?” Seo Jun-Ho stared at the emblem that Kis had pointed out and blinked. “Ah!”

‘I remember that emblem in the shape of mist.’ [1]

Seo Jun-Ho searched his Inventory and whipped out an emblem that looked exactly like the emblem on Kis’ cape.

“Are you talking about this?” he asked.

The emblem was one of the rewards that Seo Jun-Ho had gotten after proving his knighthood at the Winter Castle Gate.

Kis nodded. “That’s the biggest reason I managed to call you here.”

“Makes sense.”

Seo Jun-Ho could still remember Captain Horun telling him that a knight who had proven their knighthood could meet the Lord of the Winter Castle.

“Next question. Why did you call me here?”

“...” Kis shut his mouth at Seo Jun-Ho’s question.

He slowly turned toward Seo Jun-Ho.

“Did you take a good look at the memory I showed you?” he asked.

“I knew it, you willingly showed me your memories.”

‘It was strange how the point of view was Kis rather than Frost.’

“Do you mind me asking how you felt after seeing my memories?”

“What do you mean how did I feel…”

Seo Jun-Ho looked down as sadness flashed in his eyes.

Kis turned to look at the training ground again.

“I see.”

“Wait. I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Your face said everything.”

Kis fell silent for quite a while.

Eventually, he glanced at Seo Jun-Ho and said, “...Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For making that expression for Her Majesty’s sake.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s face flushed, and he looked at the training ground before changing the topic.

“I’m not really the type to beat around the bush.”

“I don’t like beating around the bush as well.”

“In that case, I’d like you to tell me the true reason you called me here.”

Kis arranged his thoughts for a moment before saying, “...I have served Her Majesty all my life right beside her, but it was the first time I saw Her Majesty shed tears.”

Kis had perished, but his soul saw the Frost Queen cry in anguish as she sat by herself next to his corpse in the middle of the frozen and desolate battlefield.

“I’m dead, so I can’t serve Her Majesty even if I want to do so.”

The light was beckoning at him to come.

However, Kis couldn’t bear to leave Her Majesty crying by herself, surrounded by the corpses of Niflheim’s people.

“Wait, don’t tell me…” Seo Jun-Ho’s expression turned serious. “Is that why you gave up the right to enter the Knights’ Corridor?”

“...” Kis didn’t say anything in response.

However, Kis’ expression was a good enough answer in Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes, just like his own had been for Kis.

“She’ll be mad at you once she finds out what you’ve done.”

“I know.”

There was no way the Frost Queen would be happy to hear that her precious subordinate had given up what every knight had been dreaming of reaching in the afterlife just for her sake.

Kis was no longer the soul of a glorious knight.

He had become nothing but an unnamed soul wandering between the Nine Heavens.

“I have no regrets. I managed to take care of Her Majesty, after all, even though I’ve become nothing but a soul.”

However, a soul couldn’t have done anything else other than silently watch over the Frost Queen.

Seo Jun-Ho asked, “What did she do after the battle?”

“The moment she came to her senses, she went out to look for a certain being.”

“Who?”

“Chaos.”

Gray had told Seo Jun-Ho that Chaos was the ruler of the universe. Chaos was also the one responsible for locking up the Archduke in the Floors.

“Why did she do that?”

“To get a chance.”

“A chance…?” Seo Jun-Ho turned, and he met eyes with Kis. Kis’ eyes were so sincere and transparent that Seo Jun-Ho felt like he was looking right through Kis’ mind.

“Yes, a chance. A chance to turn everything back.”

“That’s silly… that’s impossible.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled bitterly. He had turned back time many times before, and he had thought that what he had been doing was turning everything back, but he couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Now, he knew better than anyone that turning everything back was impossible.

“You’re right. Chaos made it very clear that it was impossible, but Her Majesty’s visit to Chaos wasn’t necessarily a waste of time.”

“Are you saying that she gained something?”

“Yes. Her Majesty was the one who suggested the creation of the Floors that you are climbing at the moment.”

“...Huh? What did you just say?” Seo Jun-Ho muttered blankly. His brain briefly stopped operating. Seo Jun-Ho tried his best to understand what Kis said by assembling the words inside his head.

“Frost… suggested the creation of the Floors?”

“To be exact, Her Majesty wanted to get a chance to turn everything back, so Chaos made the Floors at her suggestion.”

Seo Jun-Ho felt dizzy, and his lips went dry for some reason.

“Are you saying that Frost… she has been deceiving me all this while?”

“Pffft!” Kis chuckled and smiled.

“What’s funny?” asked Seo Jun-Ho with a glare.

“Oh, pardon me. It’s just that… it seems that I know Her Majesty better than you do.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Her Majesty cannot deceive someone for an extended period of time, and she’s only capable of deceiving herself,” said Kis in a bitter-sounding voice. He picked up a wooden stick and placed it in a corner of the training ground.

Squeak, squeak.

Kis drew something on the snow.

“This is Her Majesty.”

“...You suck at drawing.”

“This is Her Majesty.”

“Okay, fine.”

Kis drew something else next to the so-called Frost Queen.

“Her Majesty begged Chaos to leave the 8th Floor to her.”

“For what reason?”

“If she can’t turn everything back, then she wanted to make sure that the same tragedy that happened to her wouldn’t happen to someone else.”

Kis drew another image. The drawing was still terrible, but it was slightly better than before.

“Floors? Are these the Floors?”

“They sure are. The Floors were made to nurture a powerful Player that would become something like a counterweight to bring balance to the universe’s scales.”

Squeak, squeak.

Kis drew something strange once again.

“This is the Archduke.”

“...If you say so. What about him?”

“The Archduke waited leisurely at first. He was confident that no one could possibly harm him by any means, no matter how many people climbed up the Floors.”

Seo Jun-Ho agreed with Kis’ words. He also didn’t think that he would become strong enough to deal with the Archduke, even if he had cleared all ten Floors.

“But the Archduke soon realized that something was wrong.”

“...What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if you know, but Her Majesty can be as stubborn as a bull.”

Kis pointed at the 1st Floor and said, “Her Majesty realized that it was impossible for people to clear the Floors, so she boldly decided to freeze every Floor.”

“...What?” Seo Jun-Ho stared wide-eyed at Kis, bewildered. “I’m sorry, but do you even know what you’re talking about? She froze every Floor? I don’t think that has happened before.”

“Of course, it still hasn’t happened.” Kis made a sidelong glance at Seo Jun-Ho and said, “It still hasn’t happened in your world, I mean.”

“...!”

“However, Her Majesty has already frozen 13,729 worlds.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s expression fell.

“It was a serious issue for the Archduke. The Players had to climb up the Floors for his release, but Her Majesty had frozen every Floor.”

“...What happens if a Floor is frozen?”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“That’s it. It’s impossible to clear a Floor where even time is frozen.”

Eventually, the Archduke made a decision.

“The Archduke didn’t want to live in a place where even time is frozen.”

Therefore, the Archduke would create a parallel world every time the Frost Queen froze every Floor and resumed the quests for the sake of his release.

“In a way, the Archduke gave us a chance, and I think Her Majesty knew that the Archduke would make such a decision.”

Otherwise, the Archduke would have gotten stuck in a world where even time was frozen.

However, the creation of the parallel words meant that the Players could try again after failing over and over.

Seo Jun-Ho clicked his tongue. “That’s vicious…”

“I’d say it’s smart, wise, and intelligent.” Kis continued. “The process was repeated hundreds or perhaps even thousands of times. Her Majesty thought that what she had been doing was meaningless.”

“Did she give up?”

“No, it’s the opposite. She actively intervened with the Floors.”

Tap, tap.

Kis tapped the drawing of the 1st Floor using the wooden stick.

“Her Majesty decided to divide herself into two. She sent the other down to become the Floor Master of the 1st Floor for the sake of picking a human with enough potential. The human would eventually deal with the Archduke with her.”

“...No way.”

“Yes.” Kis pointed at Seo Jun-Ho using the wooden stick. “That’s you, Player Seo Jun-Ho.”

1. The raws really say “fog/mist-shaped emblem.” What’s the shape of mist, you ask? Who knows, not me. It refers back to ch 85, Knight of the Mist ☜