Return of the Frozen Player

“Hmm…”

The Lord of Cologion, Viscount Astol, was visibly displeased. The city’s profits had plummeted because the Cannell Merchant Group had taken away the players of the city’s Colosseum.

‘At this rate, I’m going to have an issue with the tribute for Count Lavue this month.’

Cologio was one of the largest cities not only in the East but also in the entire Underworld. For such a reason, it was only natural for Cologio to have an enormous amount of demonic stones compared to other cities. In other words, their demonic stones tribute to Count Lavue was significantly higher compared to the other cities.

“Tsk.”

The city’s profits were rock bottom over the past few days due to the lack of demons in the Colosseum. The news about how there were no games worth watching in Cologio was starting to circulate throughout the Underworld, which caused a decline in the number of tourists visiting Cologio.

‘I wish there was a way to make a huge amount of money in a short amount of time…’

“My lord, why don’t you try provoking the demons’ desires?” said Monchi—Viscount Astol’s confidant.

“What do you mean?”

“Please take a look at this,” said Monchi as he handed over a report.

The report contained an interesting rumor that had been circulating in the city.

The public enemy of the Underworld is a member of the Liberation Army. He is planning on liberating the slaves using the Cannell Merchant Group.

Surprised by the unexpected news, Viscount Astol asked, “Is this true? The public enemy of the Underworld is a member of the Liberation Army?”

“I’m not too sure. I think it’s just a rumor made by the enemies of Cannell Merchant Group using the public enemy of the Underworld.”

It was nothing more than a tiny rumor.

Astol wouldn’t have been interested in such a rumor.

‘But what if I spread this rumor?’

“...It will take only two days at most for all the nearby demons to hear about this rumor.”

“Yes, my lord. The demons thirsty for the bounty will flock to our city like bees to get as much information as they can get.”

The public enemy of the Underworld had the largest bounty in the history of the demon race on his head, which was a whopping one hundred thousand demonic stones. Any demon would covet such an amount.

However, Viscount Astol shook his head. “Oh, come on. It’s true that demons are a lump of desires, but I highly doubt that they would come here because of a mere rumor. The target is also none other than the public enemy of the Underworld.”

The public enemy of the Underworld had killed Count Gorgon and survived despite the deed, so any demon would be fearful of him.

“Who is crazy enough to try and take the head of a monster even Count Gorgon couldn’t handle?”

“The reporting system exists, my lord.”

“...You’re right. Why did I not think of that?”

The reporting system was simple. It paid five percent of the total bounty to the reporter if the report was credible with concrete evidence.

“Five of the best demonic stones would be more than enough for me to rest and go on a vacation for at least a few years.”

“That’s right, my lord. We have to include that in the rumors as well.”

Viscount Astol grinned and nodded. Viscount Astol understood the desires of demons better than anyone else, so he could already see demons flocking to the city like moths to a bonfire.

“Monchi,” said Viscount Astol. “Spread the rumor as quickly as you can.”

“Yes, my lord.”

***

Cologio’s atmosphere changed dramatically in just two days. The desolate city had regained its former vitality.

- Partner. Don’t you think this is strange?

“...Definitely.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded and muttered, “The rumor has spread far too fast than I thought.”

Seo Jun-Ho was the one who had spread the rumor that the public enemy of the Underworld was a member of the Liberation Army and that he was planning on taking advantage of the Cannell Merchant Group to liberate the slaves.

‘I spread that rumor to direct the lord’s interest to the Cannell Merchant Group, but…’

Seo Jun-Ho was caught off guard by the speed at which the rumor had spread.

However, it wasn’t bad news at all.

“It’s great news.”

Things were developing better than Seo Jun-Ho had expected.

***

The demonic stones of Cologio were primarily kept in two places: the private safe of the lord and beneath the Colosseum.

“Tsk. This is getting boring. No one’s really visiting the Colosseum.” grumbled the safekeeper of the Colosseum. His job was boring, but he used to have fun counting and holding money in his hands. However, he hadn’t been able to have fun for the past few days because the rowdy Colosseum had inexplicably gone quiet.

‘I can’t even pilfer a few demonic stones because the earnings are so small…’

Pilfering a few demonic stones wasn’t that big of a deal when they were earning thousands of demonic stones every day, but he had to be careful during this special day.

He had to take his job seriously today because they would move the demonic stones beneath the Colosseum to the safe in the lord’s castle today. Fortunately, he had long gotten used to it because the move was usually done every month without fail.

“Hmm?” The safekeeper was startled to see a familiar face walking toward him. ‘Monchi? What is he doing here?’

Rank 102 Arch demon—Monchi was Viscount Astol’s confidant, so he rarely left the lord’s castle. Monchi’s face was indifferent as he approached the safekeeper.

“Open it,” he said blandly.

“I-If you don’t mind me asking, sir. Is there something going on?”

“Rumor has it that the public enemy of the Underworld is lurking in the city. The Viscount is worried, so he left the transportation of the demonic stones to me.”

“Ah, I see…”

The safekeeper nodded. He had heard of the rumor as well.

“He’s apparently going to use the Cannell Merchant Group.”

“That’s what the rumor says, yes. However, we cannot really say for sure because the waters are muddy. In addition, we’re talking about the public enemy of the Underworld here.”

“Ugh, I’m terrified just imagining it. I can’t believe he managed to kill Count Gorgon—ah, my bad. I’ll get to work.”

The safekeeper held a key in each of his six hands, and he inserted them at once. He turned the keys one by one in a certain order.

Click!

A crisp noise echoed as the huge safe was finally open.

“Wait here.”

Monchi walked into the safe and came out just a few seconds later.

“I-Is there something wrong?” the safekeeper asked, sounding scared.

“Not really. I’m delivering everything to the lord right away,” said Monchi before walking away.

The safekeeper’s eyes widened upon entering the safe.

“Goodness!” he exclaimed.

The safe was definitely full of demonic stones, but now, not even a single grain of dust could be seen.

“So an Arch demon is that strong—wait…” The safekeeper tilted his head in wonder. He thought that it would be much more efficient for Monchi to move the demonic stones by himself rather than leaving them to low-ranking demons.

‘Well, what the superiors do is none of my business. I just have to enjoy my life here, pilfering a few demonic stones every day.’

The safekeeper got ready to call it a day. The safe no longer had any demonic stones, so it didn’t make sense for him to stay here.

The settlement day was the most important and the busiest day of the month, but he actually looked forward to it, as it meant that he could call it a day earlier than usual.

“Hm?” the safekeeper raised an eyebrow. Dozens of demons carrying huge boxes were approaching him from the other side of the hallway.

The man at the helm bowed slightly toward the safekeeper.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Sirok. We’re here to move the demonic stones to the lord’s castle.”

“What do you mean? You haven’t heard yet?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Mr. Monchi came here and took the demonic stones away with him. He said he’d move the demonic stones himself today because the public enemy of the Underworld is lurking in the city.”

“Oh, is that so?” The man sighed, seemingly annoyed by how he had walked all the way here for nothing. He shook his head and said, “All right, I just need to check with the lord’s castle, then. Give me a moment, please.”

“All right.” The safekeeper sat down again. He seemed at peace as he thought about what to eat for dinner, but his peace soon collapsed.

Monchi appeared once again

“Mr. Monchi.”

The safekeeper and the porters bowed politely toward Monchi.

Monchi glanced at them before staring at the safekeeper.

“You said I took the demonic stones away?”

“Pardon me? You… definitely took the demonic stones from the safe.”

“How could that be? I’ve been in the lord’s castle all day today.”

“...?” The safekeeper was baffled. He hurriedly pointed in one direction upon realizing that he was in big trouble. “T-the crystal ball! There’s a crystal ball right there!”

The safekeeper pointed to the crystal ball installed at the corner of one ceiling. “Every visitor is bound to be recorded in that crystal ball. There’s also another crystal ball in the safe.”

“Bring them both.”

The safekeeper hurriedly brought the two crystal balls over.

Monchi quietly infused his demonic energy into the crystal ball.

- Open it.

- I-If you don’t mind me asking, sir. Is there something going on?

- Rumor has it that the public enemy of the Underworld is lurking in the city. The Viscount is worried, so he left the transportation of the demonic stones to me.

The culprit had the same face, the same voice, and the same accent as Monchi.

The culprit entered the safe briefly and brazenly walked away.

Monchi asked with a frown, “Wait. Was there a cut in the middle of this video?”

“Pardon? No, sir. There are no cuts.”

“Then, why did he come out of the safe in 3.14 seconds?”

“Why don’t we watch the video recorded in the crystal ball inside the safe?”

The second crystal ball depicted the inside of the safe. Monchi waved his hand lightly upon entering the safe, and the demonic stones disappeared in the blink of an eye as if they had been sucked away somewhere.

Then, Monchi left the safe without looking back.

“Damn it!”

‘I don’t know who that is, but we’ve been had.’

Monchi glared at the safekeeper and growled. “You better pray that the lord will have mercy on you. You won’t be able to pay back what you’ve lost us today even if you work for the rest of your life.”

While Monchi was taking his anger out on the innocent safekeeper, Monchi had already returned to the lord’s castle.

***

“Monchi!” shouted Viscount Astol upon seeing Monchi. He had been nervously pacing about the room. He had been waiting so desperately that a sense of longing could be felt in his voice.

“What happened? Where are the demonic stones?!”

“I’ve brought them back.”

Clank!

Monchi poured out all of the demonic stones to one corner of the room and reported, “It turns out that the safekeeper and some Arch demons from outside the city were planning to steal the demonic stones.”

“Those filthy bastards!”

“I wasn’t able to chase them down to the end because I thought returning with the demonic stones was the priority, my lord.”

“Well done. You’ve made the right decision!”

Viscount Astol called in his men and roared, “Send all the Arch demons of the castle to the safe in the Colosseum! Follow those bastards’ tracks and bring them in front of me as soon as possible. Don’t let even a single rat escape!”

Soon, the owners of the powerful demonic energies in the castle departed for the Colosseum.

Monchi was staring outside the window.

“Sigh. It’s a good thing that there’s nothing wrong with the demonic stones’ quality.”

“I’m glad you’re relieved, my lord.”

“Huh?”

Viscount Astol’s expression changed upon being struck by a sharp pain in his spine.

Drip, drip, drip.

Viscount Astol looked down at his own blood falling onto the expensive carpet.

He looked up and stammered, “M-Monchi. W-w-why? You…”

“The Monchi that you know is probably on his way back to the castle.”

Crack, crack!

Monchi’s figure twisted and turned along with a grotesque noise until he soon became someone else. The man created a dagger made out of ice and pierced Viscount Astol’s heart.

“Ah! Argh…” exclaimed Viscount Astol. He was terrified to see his demonic energy draining away somewhere. Viscount Astol was Rank 19 among the demons, and he was a peak Liberation Stage demon.

His strength was the exact reason he couldn’t believe that he was about to die without being able to raise his sword against his enemy.

“Don’t be so upset. I would have still won even if I hadn’t ambushed you. I just didn’t want to make a fuss.”

Crack, crack!

The man’s body contorted once more, and he soon took on Viscount Astol’s appearance.

“Y-y-you bastard… who are you? What do you… want?” Viscount Astol collapsed to the floor while staring at the man holding a dagger made out of fice.

“I am what you call the public enemy of the Underworld, and what I want is…” Viscount Astol stared into Viscount Astol’s eyes and said blandly, “....the extinction of all evil and demons.”

It had only been two days since the Cannell Merchant Group departed Cologio, but Cologio already had a new lord.