Episode 201
1.
He honestly hadn't expected this.
He had been sure Fly would never accept the offer. No, it wasn't even an offer. It was just a show, a performance designed to give himself a reason to refuse.
"Wow. Did he really take that bait without reading the room?"
A dumbfounded sigh slipped out. He couldn't help it.
"It's like saying, Give ten million dollars and I'll do your mandatory military service for you, and then soone just goes, Sure."
Even that analogy didn't fully capture the absurdity of his demand. Anyone could see it was just sothing he said because he didn't want to go. People often used that kind of phrasing to turn sothing down indirectly.
If you do X, then I'll do it too!
If you pay Y, I'll do it!
Naturally, the condition was so outrageous that anyone listening would think, 'Oh, so you really don't want to do it.'
People were free to point fingers. And he'd just have to endure the criticism. What almost never crossed anyone's mind was that such a ridiculous condition might actually be t.
—Wow, he accepted that?
—Does a 5-star status immunity item even exist?
—If it's Fly, I kinda figured he might have one.
—He's joking, right?
Either way, for things to wrap up, one of two things had to happen: either Kim Buja would back out, or Fly would say he had just been joking.
Neither happened.
Fly willingly revealed the item.
[Tear of the Glacier]
▶ Grade: Legendary
▶ Level: ★★★★
▶ Grants immunity to (★★★★★) Freeze
▶ Water-attribute attack power 20%
▷ A ring crafted from a single tear that blood in the cold that freezes all things.
It was exactly what Kim Buja had asked for.
Exactly what people wanted to see.
"I was moved by your willingness to volunteer for sothing I myself cannot do," Fly announced. "I had been saving this item to use when I attacked the Ice Castle, but I will gladly support you with it. Please, for the sake of humanity, uncover everything there is to know about the Ice Castle."
His determined expression held not a trace of playfulness, so much so that viewers tilted their heads in confusion.
—He's really giving that away?
—The fact that sothing like that even exists is what blows my mind.
—A 4-star Legendary item with 5-star immunity… I guess it's possible since it's specific to Freeze, but that effect is insane.
—What if he just runs off with it?
—Who the hell would steal Fly's item and run?
—Why not? If he's giving it away, you just wear it, pretend to try, and that's a perfectly legal dine-and-dash.
On top of that, everyone's focus was locked on the item's value. The feasibility of the whole endeavor and Kim Buja's original intentions were buried entirely.
"Ha."
There was no way Fly didn't know. He had to have understood what Kim Buja was really thinking. Even if he assud Buja had done this to sell him out and land a blow, that scenario had already been factored into Buja's calculations.
'I never imagined he'd just hand over sothing this expensive. Guess I still don't have the mindset of a true tycoon.'
Whatever the reason—whether it was pride or hurt feelings—the condition he had nad had turned out to be an item whose value couldn't be asured in re money. As Fly had said, with an item of this caliber, he could have taken his ti and drawn up a long-term plan to attack the Ice Castle; it was the perfect preparatory tool.
And he was just giving it away.
Just to have soone bring back information.
It had to be one of two things.
'Either he has another one, or he has sothing of similar value ready.'
Or perhaps he had a skill that could counter it.
Whatever it was, Kim Buja had ended up taking the bait he himself had thrown.
"Hmmm."
He fell into a brief contemplation. People were laughing at him and praising Fly, but from his perspective, was this really sothing to be sad or angry about?
'How much would that go for?'
If you only looked at the Freeze immunity, it wasn't actually that expensive. Status immunity items only had real value under specific conditions or in certain dungeons. Freeze, Burn, Stun—those common status ailnts would fetch above-average prices, but the real core of this item was the additional 20% water-attribute attack power.
'Mages would lose their minds over this.'
It was a 4-star Legendary accessory that boosted water-attribute magic attack power by 20% while incidentally providing status protection. Now, factor in the speculative bubble from a special dungeon like the Ice Castle appearing.
'And the Ice Castle isn't going to disappear anyti soon, either.'
Even if soone managed to kill the Ice Lord, the castle wouldn't vanish. It would simply beco the property of the player who defeated her, and countless other players would challenge the Ice Castle to hunt the hordes of monsters that had appeared in the Arctic. The fear of 5-star Freeze might fade once the Ice Lord was dead, but if that power belonged to the Ice Castle itself and not just the Ice Lord…
Anything with a Freeze-related effect wouldn't be dropping in price for a long ti.
After a quick calculation, Kim Buja reached a simple conclusion.
"Let's go."
Was this a loss? In the end, there was only one thing that translated into a direct loss for a player: dying, or having part of your body damaged beyond recovery.
'I'm not going to die.'
With that, Kim Buja gladly took the hand Fly had extended.
* * *
The second recon unit was ford.
After the Ice Lord's overwhelming presence had crushed the first, the countless guilds that had entered the area—not only within the nineteen-mile radius around the Ice Castle but even beyond it—had all withdrawn.
Standing alone in that vast, empty space, Kim Buja took a deep breath.
"Whew. Crisp and cool."
The Arctic air was cold enough to cut to the bone, but Kim Buja, dressed lightly, didn't feel the chill at all. The ring with Freeze immunity naturally prevented his body temperature from dropping to a dangerous level. It was a useful ring in many ways. If not for this, he would never have co this far.
"Let's go."
He hadn't even brought Hwangdo. He had no intention of fighting at all.
'Because this is recon.'
The mission of a recon unit was simply to scout properly. In so ways, it was the easiest job, yet at the sa ti, the hardest.
He stepped forward cautiously. There were no visible defenses, and no holograms appeared, yet the nineteen-mile boundary still emanated an intimidating aura.
Even so, he didn't stop. Kim Buja trusted in his preparations.
The live stream let countless people see the Arctic through his eyes. The sky was just as clear and cloudless as in the previous footage. A vast expanse of glaciers stretched out before him. The thick ice sheets and occasional glimpses of the sea made one wonder if this was really the sa Arctic that had been lting and raising alarms about global warming. It was pure, untad nature, a view of the Arctic that humans rarely got to see.
—There are penguins too?
—Are those monsters?
—Doesn't look like it.
A few Arctic animals appeared in the natural landscape. Seeing creatures they had only ever witnessed on TV right in front of them, viewers couldn't hide their amazent.
—Wow. Insane. I've literally only ever seen those on TV.
—You know you're still just watching this on a screen, right? Are you dumb?
Either way, it was a peaceful land with no monsters in sight.
Ti passed, and instead of tension, a drawn-out suspense began to build. Thirty minutes, then an hour. For those who had been on edge at first, the endless walking could quickly grow boring.
However, Kim Buja didn't care.
"Feels like I'm on a field trip. Kinda nice."
He was nervous, too. He had watched the footage and experienced the Ice Lord's power, even if only through a screen. He had prepared for everything that had appeared in the video, but if that wasn't all she had, then this was still a danger zone where he could easily die. The only reason he could afford to act relaxed was that being tense wouldn't change a thing.
He sat down on a convenient chunk of ice and ate a hamburger. He tossed a few fries to an approaching flock of penguins, filled his stomach, and started walking again.
Nineteen miles. It didn't sound like much, but on foot it took quite a while.
And then he arrived.
The Ice Castle.
The mysterious castle, whose silhouette had only been vaguely visible before, was now being fild by Kim Buja and broadcast to the entire world. Slowly, as if he had co just to shoot a travel vlog, he panned his view across the beautifully carved walls. The design seed to prioritize aesthetics over defensive function, yet it still looked solid, thanks to the ice's sheen and the sheer height and thickness of the walls.
"I'm not actually supposed to break through that to get in, right?"
He had sohow made it this far. It was only natural, since nothing had tried to stop him, but the real problem started here.
'I want to go back.'
For a recon unit, this much should be enough. If he had run into a few random monsters on the way, he might have turned back without hesitation. But since that hadn't happened, he hesitated.
Was it really okay to return with nothing to show for it?
It didn't really matter. Who was going to complain? Anyone who did, he could just offer to drag them along next ti, and they wouldn't be able to say a word.
It was just that he felt unsatisfied.
'I ca all this way; I want to at least get sothing out of it.'
Fly had taken the bait, and this was a chance to get a 5-star Freeze immunity ring for free. Not to ntion, it was a rare mont where the entire world's attention was focused on him again. Beyond all that, the reason he had co this far was because he was genuinely interested in the Ice Castle. He had also co to gather information he would need soday if he ever decided to clear it, even if not right now.
And he was just going to go back like this?
"I should head back. Yeah."
Regret washed over him, but what could he do? Going inside the castle would be insane. In the movies, a scout who safely reaches the enemy's periter doesn't then decide to stroll right into the heart of their base. From that mont on, it would stop being recon and beco an infiltration mission.
His instincts tempted him, but he made a cool-headed judgnt and turned his back. An 8-star dungeon. The first thed dungeon ever to appear on Earth. It was tempting, but not more precious than his life.
As he started to head back, sothing began to drift down in front of his eyes.
Snowflakes.
In an instant, a blizzard swept in and swallowed his vision.
'Here it cos!'
The dulled tension snapped taut, and he slipped a hand into his coat. If the plan went off-script at any mont, he had to respond imdiately.
Vwoom—
World Tree's Protection raised a magical shield around his body, securing at least a minimal field of view. Just like with the first recon unit, it didn't have any real effect, but having a private space of his own gave him a sense of security.
Soon, his field of view widened. A pocket of calm ford within the blizzard.
A silhouette ca into view.
"A new guest has arrived?" the Ice Lord said, approaching with her usual regal manner.
She glanced around, confird that he was alone, and then looked him over with an intrigued expression, but that was all. There was no warning from her either.
Snap!
A chill ran down his spine.
But that was it.
[You are immune to the status ailnt.]
"Oh?"
A smile curled at the corner of her lips.
"You are a human who possesses the qualifications. I did not expect you to arrive so soon."
[You have been granted the right to enter the Ice Castle.]
At the sa ti, the blizzard surrounding him and the Ice Lord vanished as if wiped away.
Instinctively, Kim Buja understood. He grasped the mood. He knew what he had to do.
"Wait, what—?"
[Live streaming has ended.]
The screen went dark in an instant. The stream had been cut.
* * *
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