‘...What a relief.’
As soon as Seo Jun-Ho saw the others gathered at the sky lounge, he felt at ease. Kim Woo-Joong had died just a moment ago, covered in blood, but now, he was looking out the window with his signature chic expression.
“Every day at 6 am, the city neatly initializes itself like that.”
Once Wei Chun-Hak finished explaining, everyone went to their rooms. However, Seo Jun-Ho remained in the restaurant to sort out his own thoughts.
‘Now that I know that there’s no point in killing Erebo, I have to clear the Quests. So I can kill that bastard waiting in the final city.’
However, Jun-Ho wasn’t in a situation where he could hunt as he pleased. If Erebo happened to discover the effects of Exterminator, the events of the 1st and 2nd regressions would repeat.
But did that mean he should just stand by and do nothing? No, he had to find a solution somehow.
“..tor—Contractor!”
After sorting his thoughts out for a long while, the Frost Queen tugged on his sleeve, trying to catch his attention.
“Brew me a cup of tea.”
“Huh?” Seo Jun-Ho paused. In his previous regressions, she had never directly asked him to brew a single cup of tea.
‘Makes sense. She does like to drink tea as she looks down at the city.’
This change had probably occurred because he didn’t directly go to his room.
‘Skaya did say the Butterfly Effect will occur if I do something different... Well, whatever. It probably doesn’t matter.’
All he had to do was brew her a cup of tea, so there should be no drastic change.
Seo Jun-Ho told her to wait for a moment before he went to the kitchen.
‘It would be better to tell the party about my regression, right?’
Originally, he had tried to minimize the changes to learn what the hivemind was, but now that he knew about the hivemind as well as some information about Erebo’s real body, it would be more convenient to get the others’ help.
Splash!
“...Oh.” Seo Jun-Ho paused. He had been distracted by his thoughts while brewing the tea that he had accidentally poured all the Spirit Crystal powder he had in possession into it.
‘Shoot, this is all I had left.’
Maybe he should just regress again.
He was seriously considering it when the Frost Queen called from the other room.
“Tea!” The Frost Queen demanded.
“...I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. It would be a waste to regress for just a Spirit Crystal.
“One cup of tea, coming up.”
“Thank you greatly.” She smiled softly and sipped the tea. But then, she suddenly revealed a look of surprise. “Oh? It tastes very good today!”
“Oh... Maybe it’s because I used different tea leaves.” He couldn’t afford to tell her that he had accidentally put in a ton of Spirit Crystal shavings, so he lied to her.
Not knowing any better, the Frost Queen brightly smiled. “From now on, use these tea leaves every day.”
“Sorry. That was the last of it. We can’t get more of it here.”
“Awww...” The Frost Queen’s face instantly fell, and she started to take small sips of the tea to make it last as long as possible.
“Come to my room when you’re done drinking,” Seo Jun-Ho said.
He went back first to take a shower and change.
Knock knock.
A very shy knock could be heard from the door.
‘Looks like Frost is here.’
He opened the door without hesitation, but his eyes went wide because of what he saw. The person standing in the hallway wasn’t Frost, but a silver-haired girl who looked like was in eighth grade or so. She was wearing the uniform of a hotel employee, but it was too big for her that it looked like she had borrowed her older sister’s clothing.
“...Who are you?” Seo Jun-Ho growled in a low voice. There was no one else in the hotel except for the party members, and this had been consistently true in his previous regressions.
‘Is this some new situation? Is she an enemy?’
He kept his guard up high. However, just as he started to stir his magic power, the uniformed girl’s face turned helpless, and she spoke with a familiar voice that sounded as fine as jade.
“A-after I drank the tea, I suddenly grew...”
“...”
Grew? What grew?
When he frowned, the Frost Queen looked hurt. “...You do not recognize me anymore simply because I grew a little?”
“I?”
He only knew one person who referred to herself with such a haughty title. When Seo Jun-Ho looked at her with disbelief, she turned her head.
“...I hate you.”
Was it really...
“Um, excuse me...Are you the Frost Queen?” he asked doubtfully.
She nodded with her small face.
‘Holy shit.’ He almost cursed out loud. ‘Wait, is this the Butterfly Effect?’
He knew that any small actions could create unexpected changes, but wasn’t this too much of a change?
‘Yeah, I suppose it has been a while since she evolved into a Low Spirit...’
However, he had never imagined that she would evolve like this just because of one random mistake.
“Just come in first...”
The Frost Queen entered the room and quietly sat on the chair. Amazingly, her feet could completely touch the ground.
“Contractor. My feet can touch the ground now, even when I am sitting on a chair.”
“Yeah... That’s good.” He looked at her for a moment. “Anything else? Has anything changed now that you have become a Common Spirit? Like getting your memories back or something.”
“W-what nonsense is that? I have ascended t-to become a Grade 3 Arch Spirit.”
So she was still going with that concept? Seo Jun-Ho just nodded along. “Anyway, did anything change?”
“Um... Hm...” The Frost Queen tilted her head, seemingly uncertain. “I am not certain about my memories, but I do feel as if I have grown a little stronger.”
Well, yeah. It would be weirder if she hadn’t grown stronger. After all, she had gone from being a Low Spirit to a Common Spirit.
“Oh!” Just then, a thought crossed his mind.
‘That means she can’t wear the clothes I bought her.’
He still had a lot of pretty, brand-new clothes from the summer collection...
Just as he was wallowing in his disappointment, a message he had never seen before appeared before his eyes.
[The Manager of the 4th Floor Administrative Team is requesting a meeting with you.]
‘...Not an Administrator, but the Manager of the Administrative Team? What’s with that?’
From the Frost Queen’s evolution to the Manager’s invitation—things were starting to get complicated as incidents he hadn’t encountered in his previous regressions happened one after another.
‘I’ll just check it out for now. If something goes wrong, I can just return to the past anyway.’
He made up his mind and nodded. “I accept.”
The area around him changed, and he found himself in a nice-looking reception area.
“Oh, you’re here!” A man stood up from his seat. He was wearing a suit, and he looked like a normal office worker. He gave Seo Jun-Ho his signature business smile and held out a business card.
[4th Floor Administrative Team, Manager Han Jun-Min.]
“Han Jun-Min? Are you Korean?” Seo Jun-Ho had to ask after reading it.
“Huh? Hahaha! Of course not. I am from the Aeon Empire.”
“The Aeon Empire...?”
“You can simply think of me as an alien,” he said, bringing his hands together as if he was asking for Seo Jun-Ho’s understanding. “I have anxiously been waiting for you ever since you entered the 4th Floor, Mr. Jun-Ho.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I have been sending requests to meet you face-to-face, but the higher-ups wouldn’t give me permission. It was frustrating.” Manager Han looked at Frost. “But the Frost Queen’s evolution was a good pretext. It’s belated, but congratulations.”
“Thank you,” the Frost Queen responded before the two of them sat down.
“Would you like something to drink? Perhaps an orange juice for you and her favorite Spirit Crystal for the queen?” Manager Han asked.
“...I do not eat such things.”
“Ahem! I’m fine, too.” Seo Jun-Ho cleared his throat. “To be honest, I have never been in a situation like this, so I’m a bit flustered.”
“I understand. Very much so,” Manager Han said, looking a little apologetic. “But the reason I brought you here like this is that I have something to give you.”
“Something to give me?” Seo Jun-Ho looked puzzled. Someone working for the System wanted to give something to a Player? This had never happened up until the 3rd Floor.
“Yes. It’s because a major problem has occurred on Another World, which is the Floor you Players are currently on.”
“And that would mean...?”
“I’ll be straightforward. Currently, we cannot administer the System on the 4th Floor.”
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes widened.
‘Now that I think about it, I got a message saying that there was a system error in my previous regression.’ He remembered seeing the letters getting all jumbled up, and there was an error with Confession of the Dead as well.
“Why is that?”
“The Administrator has gone missing?”
“What?” Seo Jun-Ho gave him a look. Then, who was this Han Jun-Min?
“I am—Right. In Earth's terms, I am a low-level government worker. I have neither authority nor responsibilities because the Floor Administrator usually manages everything."
“Then, when will they return?”
“...” Manager Han shook his head. “She cannot return with her own power, and it is possible that... she will soon cease to exist.”
“What?” Seo Jun-Ho’s jaw dropped. He was shocked. He had never imagined that even Administrators could die despite their almighty power. “Wait, then shouldn’t you at least bring in a new Administrator?”
“Indeed. The higher-ups know the gravity of the situation as well, so they’re looking into instating a new Administrator.”
“There’s no problem, then.”
“The issue is that the passage of time is very different for them compared to the people of Earth.”
The passage of time?
When Seo Jun-Ho blinked, Manager Han let out a heavy sigh.
“In other words, it may be decades or centuries until a new Administrator is brought in.”
“...What?” Seo Jun-Ho was taken over by feelings of shock, disbelief, and rage.
“Then, what would become of us?” he demanded. They had climbed over mountains of corpses and endured so much suffering just to get here. What was the point of all that, then?
Manager Han saw the rage in Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes, so he hurriedly said, “That’s why I brought you here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Right before the Administrator disappeared, she left something behind for you.”
“...For me?”
“Yes. We’re hoping that it is some drastic measure that will help us overcome this.”
Seo Jun-Ho looked perplexed. Why did it have to be him?
‘Some Heavens came up here before me.’
Why had she chosen to give the item to him, specifically?
“What kind of item is it?” he asked.
“I don’t know. The only one who can see it is you.” Manager Han reached into his breast pocket and carefully pulled out a marble.
‘This is...’
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom It was one of the marbles from the first city. He had been collecting them until he grew sick of it.
Seo Jun-Ho held out his hand and grabbed it. As soon as he did, a message appeared before him.
[Checking authorization...]
[Identification for Player Seo Jun-Ho complete]
[You have received permission to open the message.]
[Open?]
“Yes.”
When he gave the word, he started hearing a voice in his head. It was a gentle, motherly voice. His tired mind and body seemed to relax just from hearing it.
- ...I am sorry, child.
She said, sounding woeful.
Why were her first words an apology?
Despite his confusion, tears prickled his eyes. The voice sounded so sorrowful because the apology was so ardent.
‘Why am I...’
Seo Jun-Ho was hit with a wave of emotions he couldn’t describe, and his heart grew turbulent. However, the voice continued.
- This is something only you can do.
- You are the only one who can do this, the only one who will not break.
- I am sorry. I am so, so sorry.
The voice stopped there. Before Seo Jun-Ho could even ask anything, a dizzying number of alerts appeared before him.
[The 1st Quest has changed.]
[The 2nd Quest has changed.]
[The 3rd Quest has changed.]
...
...
Every Player would receive the same quest chain upon entering the 4th floor, and Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t an exception. However, his quests suddenly changed. When he read the description, his face grew pale.
“W-what is...” Flustered, Seo Jun-Ho turned to Manager Han.
“What is this? Just who left this message?!” he demanded.
“H-huh? I told you, did I not? It is from the currently missing Administrator of Another World.” Manager Han made a ‘calm down’ gesture with his hands before saying, “The message is from the tree of wisdom that watches over all things—The World Tree.”
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