Episode 31 : Absolute Zero (3)

A few hours later, unknowing of the unbelievable future that might occur later on…

In the process of finding the next stage, I ran with everyone in search of the stairways that led to the upper floor of this crystal temple.

Whoosh~

At that moment, I exclaimed to let them know. "Save your energies! If you fall behind, tell one of us immediately!"

"Father! Look over there!"

In an instance when I heard Noel call out to me, I turned my gaze to where he was, I then spotted him pointing his finger at a place.

Slightly surprised, I muttered and felt strangely proud of Noel. "The stairways.."

..He did well in finding it.

"Good job, son." I uttered to him, watching him smile from receiving my response.

I chuckled. 'He must really like it, doesn't he?'

Now, the only problem is to change our direction while mobs underneath us gather up in a large quantity.

[Imitation of 'Thin Ice' Lv. 3 has activated.]

The floor of ice that was created by Frostina and I, had immediately changed its course toward the stairways.

Sooner or later, a path opened up before us as we obviously opted to go in that direction, and thanks to that, we were switching our course to the stairways.

It was going smoothly while we were sprinting on the thin ice floor, excluding the creatures underneath us that wouldn't reach us until…

CRACK!!

"Damn.."

Grunting when I saw how the ice was breaking quickly by the claws of the mobs below, I was starting to wonder..

'For there to be so many mobs despite the tree of life being dead.. How did the 'Helpers' require this many?!'

I gritted my teeth a little. 'Unless.. someone is spending their time mostly on developing the mobs, then that's another story.'

In due course, I clenched my fists before I summoned forth my sword within my grasp. "Damnit. No time for that."

Crackle!

As time went by, my guild members raced to the stairway, and I was letting them pass me with my pace purposely slowing down little by little.

The reason why I wasn't speeding up was because..

There was no doubt that we would be able to reach the stairways soon, but what happened after we arrived there?

"JoonChul-ssi! Hurry up!"

HwanGi, looking out for me as he always does for anyone, called out to me while I was standing a few feet away from the stairways.

[Imitation of 'Impending Doom' Lv. 1 has been activated.]

Swoosh!

In a blink of an eye, the creatures beneath the thin ice soon froze in one place as though they were all threatened by my villainous appearance.

"Go! I'll catch up later!" I shouted toward HwanGi and the others.

From what I saw when I averted my glance toward HwanGi for a second, he looked hesitant to leave me here with Behemoth, nevertheless, he had proceeded to climb the stairs.

'Seriously.. How heroic can he be? It's starting to get on my nerves.' Frowning upon such a thought, I scowled.

The moment I became aware that HwanGi had started to move, I speedily did what I could while the mobs were stunned by 'Impending Doom'.

"I'm ready, Master!" Behemoth uttered.

[Imitation of 'Silk Threads' Lv. 3 has been activated.]

In a flash, threads began to wrap around Behemoth's body straight away whereas Lucifer, who was in my grip, morphed to a slingshot.

Somehow, this felt like Deja Vu as if this situation happened before..

'Yes, this is just how we did it before.' I smirked as I placed Behemoth on the slingshot and instantly shot him further back.

Behemoth who was tossed toward the mobs, was flinging above them as he was getting ready for his attack.

"Mrow!!"

Once Behemoth reached the preferable height, he soon noticed my signal and began to do his best.

Since we were going to the next floor anyways, it wouldn't be bad if Behemoth were to unleash his power, right?

Just in case, I yelled at him. "Don't overdo it!"

[Player '13' has activated the Hidden Skill, 'Detonation' Lv. ???.]

…

BOOM!!!!!

In a flick of a second, an explosion arose under Behemoth, blasting a big bang onto the unlucky creatures in the spur of the moment.

It was clear that plenty of mobs were sent flying into the air with parts of its body devastated by the explosion, along with its cries in agony and astoundment resounding the vicinity.

With an explosive sight like this, I sneered nervously at such a scene. "...What a big one."

Even though I had expected an explosion, I didn't expect Behemoth's luck to be good enough for his skill to be set this high.

BANG! BANG!

"..."

"...Ha.. Isn't this too much?"

In no time at all, I became aware that Behemoth's luck was way too high at this moment, because the range of the explosion was getting wider and wider, almost expanding to my direction.

[You have activated the Skill, 'Discharge' Lv. 2.]

"Gonna bail."

On the spot without fail, I pulled the threads to yank Behemoth back to me when I was climbing up the stairs slightly out of breath.

"How was that, Master?! Wasn't I awesome?" Behemoth popping out from behind me after being pulled, was swift to wish for me to praise him.

I scolded him. "Now's not the time, Behemoth."

Out of the blue, the gust of smoke from the explosion eventually caught up to me, filling up my nostrils with such a ghastly scent made from the deaths of the mobs.

..Fortunately for me, I am used to this.

But the others might not, so..

[Imitation of 'Wall of Thorns' Lv. 1 has been activated.]

[Imitation of 'Wall of Thorns' Lv. 1 has been activated.]

[Imitation of 'Wall of Thorns' Lv. 1 has been activated.]

Rumbling!!

The walls of thorn that belonged to Mya, were now blocking the stairways from the hall as well as preventing most of the smoke and guts from getting further ahead.

'Mya need some work on leveling up that skill though, but that matter is for later.' I thought, breathing a bit heavily to catch my breath after arriving on the next floor.

'The next floor..'

When I had arrived on the upper floor, I didn't expect the person who I didn't want to be greeted with, appearing before me.

This pretentious 'Helper', Pearl emerged in my sight as she stuttered. "H-How was the stage?"

"Troublesome." I spoke quickly before walking past her to go regroup with my guild.

..There is no way I would want to stay close to someone like Pearl who acted with a shy mask while her true intentions are hidden behind it.

'Angels like Pearl are the hard ones to figure out unlike the other angels.' I groaned.

Anyways, since I had set foot on this floor, the stage should be completed..

[Stage #16 has ended.]

[Stage #16's rewards will be distributed to the accomplishers.]

"Speak of the devil." I smirked.

Once I received my 1200 coins, including 3 large HP and MP potions emerging right ahead of me, I was met with another panel which contained a list of normal skills.

'Since I can imitate 'Ice Resistance' from my comrades as usual, I don't have to pick that skill as my reward..'

'...'

As I was putting my mind in planning out my plans, I finally came into a decision and picked the most important skill for myself.

[You have obtained the Skil—

Out of the sudden, the message was overshadowed by Behemoth's face and voice when he jumped in front of me and asked me.

"Master! What should I pick? Should I pick whatever I want or pick what you instructed me?"

"Hold on a minute." I replied as I closed the panel to ignore that skill message.

That reminds me, I must also inform the others to choose this skill before they accidentally pick the wrong ones.

I shifted my glance and told HwanGi and his friends.

"Remember to pick 'Ice Resistance' as your skill reward, and while you're at it, put on the Yeti's coat and the Unfreezing bracelet from the reward of Stage #15."

"Noel and Crystal, I want you to pick 'Fire Resistance' since you don't need a resistance for ice."

Curious and puzzled, Crystal asked me with her tilted head. "Why do I get to pick a skill?"

"You're Noelle's familiar, thus you're going to pick that skill on her behalf. If we want to save Noelle, we will need fire resistance."

"Yes, father." Noel responded.

"Frostina, Raiden, Mirai and Behemoth. I would like to talk to you privately for a moment."

Needless to say, my comrades nodded their heads as we moved to a place where no one would hear us, leaving behind the other half of the guild for the time being.

'This will be the most important part of my plan, and I must not use the free skills incorrectly.. But will there even be the right skills within the normal and limited skills list?'

I grumbled to myself when I realized that my plans were starting to produce a few holes in it.

'No, I must focus. This is for the sake of my future and my comrades'. I must do it right like every other life of mine.'

———

Meanwhile, as JoonChul and his comrades' discussed, HwanGi and the others talked amongst themselves.

Louis questioned while checking his status. "JoonChul really knows a lot, doesn't he?"

While he was doing that, Alaine who was running in one spot to try out her new shoes, thrillingly replied to Louis.

"Aren't my shoes great?!"

"Yes, Alaine. We all know that."

"I'm happy too!" Mya giggled as she beamed a delightful smile.

As Louis took notice of Mya wanting to touch the right side of her hair sometimes, he found her blushing a little when her hand touched her flower bow.

"So cute.." Grinning, Louis mumbled to himself.

[Stage #17 will begin in a few minutes.]

"That is quick."

A little caught off guard by the message, HwanGi uttered before sneaking a glance at Pearl.

"I have a bad feeling about this." HwanGi narrowed his eyes.

Agreeing with him, Alaine said. "Everything always turns out bad whenever they're here.."

At that point, Louis mentioned as he helped Mya put on her coat made out of the Yeti's fur. "Gotta say, don't you think this angel is too shy and that it is suspicious?"

"Erm.. Mya was also shy at first, wasn't she? But now, she can talk with us easily without stuttering now!"

"You can't compare Mya with those angels!"

"Heheh, look at you being flustered for Mya."

"Shh! The 'Helper' is coming this way!"

Upon warning Alaine, Louis speedily summoned his javelins and hid them behind him, just in case Pearl tried to do something to everybody.

"H-Hello, the first player!" Pearl spoke in admiration after standing in front of HwanGi.

Startled by the sudden reverence, HwanGi's face was soon sweating under this strange situation while he pondered what this angel was trying to do by talking to him.

He thought. 'This has never happened before..'

Slow and steady, he asked Pearl a question. "Hello.. Is there something wrong, 'Helper'?"

In this type of dilemma, HwanGi knew he shouldn't make a bad move in front of an angel who could demolish everybody inside this temple with just a snap of a finger.

Without a doubt, he must think things through before he could even respond to Pearl.

Sooner or later, Pearl gave a reply to HwanGi's question. "S-Since you're my number one idol.. I-I want to give y-you a hint for the next stage..!"

"...!?!"

Got startled by Pearl's words, HwanGi fazed as he stared in disbelief at Pearl. "Is that possible?"

"O-Of course! Anything f-for my idol!"

'A human being an idol for an angel? But aren't angels who I have seen, see humans as worse than insec—Ahem.'

While HwanGi was pondering, he saw Mirai and suddenly stopped thinking of 'insect' when he realized that Mirai is also an insect.

In any case, HwanGi continued on wondering while keeping his eyes on Pearl's expression to make sure he wouldn't be fooled.

'From what I have seen, angels thought of humans as weaklings, didn't they? I was called a mere human so much that I can't recall how many times I have to bear that insult.'

'Even the way angels look at us, they looked disgusted or were underestimating us as if we were nothing.'

'..And I dislike that kind of look.' HwanGi glared with slight annoyance.

In spite of being suspicious of Pearl's words…

'However.. It wouldn't hurt to hear the hint, would it? I can accept whether or not this hint will be useful once stage #17 starts.'

'So… should I?'

Thinking hard about it, HwanGi finally came to a decision and accepted Pearl's hint by nodding to her. "Sure, I'll hear what you say, 'Helper'."

"A-Alright..! But m-may you lend me y-your ear for a second?" Pearl grinned nervously while saying.

By then, the cautious HwanGi lowered his head down to Pearl's level as his ear was close to Pearl's lips.

At that moment, Pearl went ahead and whispered the hint into HwanGi's ear with her enchanting voice.

..As he could feel her breath tickling his ear, HwanGi's face was turning extremely red to the point of being mistaken for a fever.

..It was his disadvantage when it comes to ladies because he's never been on a date nor gotten this close to a lady.

'This.. is a bit.. embarrassing.'

As his face got redder or redder, Pearl's words got more astonishing by the seconds.

Pearl sneered eerily..

…Unknowing to HwanGi, she had done something to him while he was being flustered.

Whatever could she had done, only time will tell..

'..What?!'

After hearing the hint, HwanGi obviously became bewildered by that unprecedented and shocking hint.

In spite of having already reminded himself not to believe the words of the angel, he was wondering if that hint was true.

'Putting the angels' personalities and the stages'. I have a feeling that the hint is somehow true…'

Struggling to find truth or false, HwanGi stood there deep in his thoughts until he was snapped out of it by Pearl.

"T-That's all~! I hope I was a l-little of help to my idol!" Pearl smiled and chuckled in a carefree manner even after what she had whispered to HwanGi's ear.

"Oh, thank you for the hint, miss." HwanGi responded normally as he inwardly felt complicated.

'What should I do? Should I speak with JoonChul-ssi first and see if this was true?'

Did HwanGi not expect that he was doing what Pearl was hoping for? Foolishly falling for it as per her plan..

'I cannot wait for stage 17 to begin.' Pearl smiled wickedly, stepping back from HwanGi as she could see her power working slowly.

"Hehe." She giggled quietly.

Not long after, a daunting grin formed yet again on her face because she was thinking of something that would pose as an entertainment for her.

'Wouldn't it be enjoyable to watch one of them die? Pfft.. Haha!'

Her playful yet creepy face that seemed frightening, was being masked away by her pigtails.

'Truly, I am patient enough to watch as the last player's face changes to gloomy. And to see Sapphire getting mad as I destroy this player first, oh I can't wait.' She giggled creepily.