Seo Jun-ho sat on a folding chair in the training room. The Frost Queen was staring down at him. 

“Carve the sight of my power into your mind.”

“Gladly.” 

As she summoned her power, the temperature of the room dropped. She spread her small hands. 

Crackle! Dozens of ice spears shot up from the ground. 

Seo Jun-ho couldn’t even dream of doing that with his current level of magic. But he only watched more attentively. 

This won’t be all. 

He was right. Dozens of ice arrows formed in the air, and a shield formed near the ceiling. As it fell to the ground, walls were raised. 

“You could wage a war all by yourself.” With this, she could have easily killed a hundred dark elves. But his judgement was anticlimactic. 

“Not bad.”

“Wh-what? Are you suggesting that this is merely ‘not bad’?” She started to throw a fit, complaining that she was greatly weakened because she was a spirit. 

“That’s none of my concern. It’s a little sloppy, and even I can make all this.”

“Nonsense! Watch carefully.” As she raised her hand, the weapons appeared in front of him. Seo Jun-ho inspected them carefully. 

The quality is a lot better than what I can make. 

The ice spears and arrows he made were rough imitations, but the Frost Queen’s were masterfully crafted to be as dangerous as possible. 

Each arrow and speartip have three edges. If you were hit with one of them, it would be dangerous to pull it out because doing so would give another injury. 

The same was true for the shields; they were designed to disperse impacts as much as possible. 

“The quality of your weapons is much better than mine, but mine are lethal too.” It would be nice to create weapons of her designs, but he was fine even without them. “And if I focus on improving my designs, I’ll get better eventually.”

He went straight to the point. “What I want from you is something that I can’t do.”

“…Something you can’t do, you say.” The Frost Queen stroked her chin for a moment drawing out her power again. “Perhaps something like this will do.”

“What is it? Show me.” 

Seo Jun-ho didn’t expect much, but the spectacle made him knock his chair over. He started to clap. 

“Th-this is it! Yes, this is what I wanted!”

* * *

Shim Deok-gu finished his business and went to his office. He greeted the man who was using his office like it was his own room. 

“I’m so busy these days.”

“What did you think a President did?” Shim Deok-gu raised an eyebrow at Seo Jun-ho’s unenthusiastic answer. 

“And whose fault is it that I’m busy?”

“The heck. You’re not gonna say it’s because of me, are you?”

“So you’re aware! It is because of you!”

If an Association Player was doing well, it was only natural that the rest of the Association got busy. Commissioners from all over the world would send emails, call in, or come in person. And when something as important as this happened, Deok-gu sometimes had to go on business trips. These days, he often thought that it would be nice if he had ten bodies. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry. I’ll try my best not to stand out from now on.”

“Bastard…”

“Alright. I’ll stop joking.” Seo Jun-ho quickly changed the subject. “Let me ask you something. Do you know what the Frost Queen looks like?”

“What? Why would I?” Shim Deok-gu placed his briefcase down on his desk and hung up his coat. He looked at Seo Jun-ho with a strange look in his eyes. “Only the Five Heroes saw her. Actually, you were the only one that went up to the 2nd floor of the Nest.”

“…Really? I see.” Seo Jun-ho stroked his chin and looked to the side. “Then I suppose it won’t be a huge problem.”

“Problem? What problem?” 

Seo Jun-ho looked at the air at his side. “You can show yourself now.”

“Who are you talking—Ahhhhhh!” Shim Deok-gu let out a sudden scream. He had always been scared of ghosts as a child. He shrank away to his wall, pointing a trembling finger.

“Hey! N-next to you…”

“What’s next to me?”

“A-a girl. A tiny girl…” 

The little ghost girl spoke with pity. “Is that shaking human your friend?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“……??”

“Isn’t that… a ghost?”

“Ghost, my ass. You look a lot scarier than her, you know?” To be honest, the Frost Queen was beautiful and elegant. 

Deok-gu carefully took a seat, still wary. He belatedly realized his predicament and blushed. 

“Hey, anyone would be scared if something like that appeared all of a sudden.”

“‘Something like that’? Contractor. Did that human just call me a ‘something’?”

“I think so.”

“How bold.” She spoke with a chilling voice as she forced the temperature to drop. 

“Stop.” Seo Jun-ho cut her off. “Don’t bother my friend. You remember the conditions of our contract, right?” He warned. 

“…Hmph, if he addresses me like that again, I will not forgive him even if he’s your friend.”

“Hear that? This is the Queen, and everything is beneath her. Be careful when you speak.”

“Queen? What kind of queen…” Deok-gu trailed off, his eyes widening. He remembered what Seo Jun-ho had just asked him. “The… Frost Queen?”

“Bingo. I knew you’d catch on.” As Seo Jun-ho replied casually, Shim Deok-gu stood up from his seat again. He loosened his necktie and pushed his hair back, pacing around the room while rubbing his forehead. The Frost Queen watched quietly. 

“Contractor, what is that human doing? He looks unstable.”

“I dunno, he’s probably trying to process your existence.”

“I see… You did not talk to me for the first two days either.” She seemed to understand and crossed her legs haughtily. Seo Jun-ho glanced at her. 

“But why do you keep sitting on my shoulder?”

“I like the view from here. The chair is firm, yet soft and comfortable.”

“It’s not a chair, it’s my shoulder.”

“If I see it as a chair, then it is a chair.”

“Ugh.” Seo Jun-ho knew better than to argue with her and shut his mouth. 

“Fine. Fine. Fine.” Deok-gu took a seat. He looked at the tiny Frost Queen. “So let me get this straight. That’s… the Frost Queen.”

“Yes. All the cold in this world—”

“Simply put, she’s the queen of some well-to-do ice kingdom. That’s what she’s saying.” He cut her off. 

“……” The Frost Queen looked at her contractor with distaste. 

“Then, can you explain how this happened?”

“It’s simple.” 

He’d won the Egg at the Las Vegas auction. Then Rodomir had helped him hatch it after he had been defeated. Then, ta-dah! The Frost Queen had emerged from the Egg. 

“Hm… Well, alright.” After listening to the story, Deok-gu was taking it surprisingly well. “You have the biggest grudge toward her, and you’re fine with it. I’m in no place to say anything.”

“She’ll be a big help in battle. She’s really strong.”

“Strong? What’s her spirit class?”

“…Class?” Seo Jun-ho’s eyes went wide. Deok-gu looked at him like he should’ve known this. 

“Lesser, Low, Common, High, Arch. That’s how spirits are classified based on strength.”

“How do I figure out her class then?”

“Only she herself knows…” They both looked at the Frost Queen. She slowly looked up. Seo Jun-ho jostled his shoulder. 

“Hey, what’s your class?”

“Ah—Do not move the chair around!”

Seo Jun-ho ignored her and she eventually flew into the air, pouting. She crossed her arms and looked down on the two men. 

“Listen closely! I was a high and noble being from the moment I was born.”

“So you’re an Arch spirit?”

“Y-yes…”

“I don’t think so.” Her voice trembled under the lie. As Seo Jun-ho sent a knowing look to Deok-gu, she created a snowball and threw it at them. 

“It’s extremely rude to ask about my class!” 

It was the first time they’d heard of such a rule. The two exchanged glances and nodded. 

She’s a Lesser spirit, isn’t she?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s the lowest one. 

“I know you’re thinking disrespectful things!”

She was smart. Seo Jun-ho waved her off and changed the subject. 

“Anyways, she’s strong, so I want my next Gate to be super hard.”

“Super hard? You’ve only ever done Uncleared Gates and Gates with powerful boss monsters…” Deok-gu’s face fell. “Wait, are you talking about a 1-star Gate?”

“You know I never insist on doing something that I can’t do.”

“…That’s true.”

Seo Jun-ho wasn’t greedy when it came to Gates. He only ever attempted those that he knew he could clear. The only exception had been the Frost Queen’s Nest.

“I did see the report. They said that the Wild Forest was at the level of a 1-star.”

“I got a lot stronger after fighting that guy. I can clear a 1-star Gate on my own.”

“Well, if you say so. There are only three 1-star Gates in the world right now though.”

“I’ve already decided where I’m going.” Seo Jun-ho tapped on his Vita, and a world map popped up in front of them. “There’s one in South America, one in China…”

Deok-gu pointed at the bottom of the map and Seo Jun-ho zoomed in. Deok-gu glanced at him. 

“Will you… be alright?”

“Is there a reason I wouldn’t be?”

“Well, you know. Trauma exists…”

“Nah. Even if I were traumatized, the one who caused it will be right next to me.” He tapped on the map. “I already failed once, so this time I’ll succeed,” he said confidently. 

It was an Uncleared Gate near the King Sejong Station.

(TN: A Korean research base in Antarctica.)

The Winter Castle.