Chapter 142. Overclocking (1)
Another week pa.s.sed. In the meantime, the number of views for the video steadily increased to 850,000 views. His ranking dropped quickly after hitting a high of 41st place, but he earned a total of 42,520 PP.
"Congratulations. You achieved your goal by a hair"s breadth,” mentioned Seo Jun-Ho.
"Ha, were you worried? Well, I knew this would happen," the Frost Queen answered.
That was funny considering how she asked him several times a day with an anxious expression about what they would do if they didn’t get more than 40,000 PP. And just as the Frost Queen’s mind relaxed, Seo Jun-Ho"s Overclocking was also going smoothly. He was now able to maintain Overclocking for at least 30 minutes.
"Whew!"
He scattered his magic as he exhaled a hot breath and shook his head when he checked his watch. "It"s 42 minutes. 46% isn"t enough to control the overheating caused by Overclocking.”
"Hey, if it lasts 42 minutes, won"t it be enough?"
"But there"s still more potential for growth, so there"s no reason to give up.”
The only drawback was that stabilizing the Overclock took longer than expected.
"But wouldn"t it be better than exploding one day?" asked the Frost Queen.
"…That’s true, but…”
It was not someone else’s body, but his own. It was a professional’s mindset to always stay in top shape.
“...!”
Then, the Frost Queen became stiff as if lightning had struck the top of her head.
"What"s wrong?"
"Oh, I have a very bad feeling."
"Again?"
Seo Jun-Ho had seen this reaction from her three times already. At first, he was nervous as well because he thought that a powerful fiend or a monster had appeared.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was only one instance in which she would react like this. Seo Jun-Ho spoke toward the door of the training room, "It"s open, so come in.”
"Hi~"
It meant that the Skaya radar, which would send a signal if Skaya appeared around her, was working normally. Recently, she visited him every few days, and the reason was simple.
"Can you read this guy"s memory? He was pretty strong."
"Let"s see...”
It was to make Seo Jun-Ho read the memory of the fiends she had hunted. Seo Jun-Ho quickly used the ‘Confession of the Dead’ and shook his head. "…It’s a shame but it’s a bust. He"s also at the bottom of the rung."
"Really? I was looking forward to it because he was pretty strong."
"He must be strong because his level’s 120."
"He"s level 120 too? How can there be so many high-level fiends in this world?”
"It has been a long time. It"s normal that there are so many of them."
She flopped down on a bed in a corner, seemingly shocked. Then, she looked around.
"But how come I don’t ever see the Frost Queen-nim whenever I come?"
"...Because she has good instincts."
"Hmm?"
"It"s nothing. Maybe she’s busy in the Spirit World."
"Hmm..."
At this point, Skaya seemed to have caught on, but what could she do? The Frost Queen made herself transparent in the corner of the room and didn’t even dare to breathe.
"By the way, how are you?" asked Skaya.
"I"m working on the stabilization. I think it"ll be over 50% soon... I hope it stabilizes at that level."
"Take it easy. It has only been about two weeks.”
"I know…"
Skaya’s complexion became much better in the last two weeks. It seemed that she was eating well as her skinny body had gained some weight. The first thing Seo Jun-Ho felt was relief when he saw that.
"...What, you look like a father looking at his grown-up daughter. It"s disgusting."
"You don"t have to know…"
Seo Jun-Ho finally understood why Shim Deok-Gu looked so pleased when the latter looked at him after he had gained some weight and became relatively healthy.
"What? I’m leaving, then."
"All right, take care as always."
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Smirking, Skaya waved lightly and disappeared. The timid Frost Queen would probably stay transparent for another hour even though Skaya had already left.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door again. Based on the presence, it wasn’t Skaya.
"This is a messenger from Baron Vashti. I"m here to invite Player Seo Jun-Ho-nim."
"Me? Skaya-nim is not here right now...”
"Oh, please do not misunderstand. He only invited Player Seo Jun-Ho-nim. He wanted to pay you the reward for the kobold hunting compet.i.tion, which had been forgotten since you treated the young master.”
"Oh."
He originally thought that the Circuit Strengthening skill book was his reward, but it seemed that it wasn’t the case. Seo Jun-Ho dressed up and followed him out. When he arrived at the lord"s mansion, there were four people gathered in the living room, Baron Vashti, his wife, Helena, Simus, and Commander Phivir.
"Welcome."
"Please come in…"
Following the couple"s welcome with a bright expression, Simus rose from his seat and bowed deeply.
"Greetings to my savior."
Simus had become healthier than the last time Seo Jun-Ho saw him. But as expected, the magic that Seo Jun-Ho could feel from him was very faint.
"How are you feeling?"
"Thanks to you, I have gotten a lot better."
Simus even showed off, lifting his muscleless arm.
"I have a new dream. I will succeed my father as a great lord."
"...Young Master, you will be a great lord."
Simus was young but very kind. He would certainly be a good lord who would take good care of the people in his territory.
"Sit over here."
At the baron"s suggestion, Seo Jun-Ho sat down in a chair, and the baron spoke again, "I don"t know about you, but I was trying to refrain from contacting you because I heard you were trying to stay in seclusion.”
"I was training by myself."
"Oh, in that small room?" Baron Vashti asked, his eyes wide open.
"I should have called you earlier. You can always use the training room in the mansion.”
"…It’s all right."
The training room would be crowded with soldiers and knights. It was not a good place to quietly stabilize Overclock. Then, the Knight Commander Phivir, who had been standing still in the back, opened his mouth. "If you do not mind, I would like to lend you my private training room.”
"Hmm? Why is that?" the baron asked.
"I heard that Players are reluctant to reveal their skills to others. Player Seo Jun-Ho will also probably prefer closed-off places to train in."
"Oh, I did not think that far.”
There was no reason to refuse, so Seo Jun-Ho bowed his head quickly.
"Thank you for your kindness. I"ll use it with care."
"Huh-huh, I am glad you like it. I don"t know if you heard, but I called you today to pay your reward for your partic.i.p.ation in the kobold hunting compet.i.tion.”
"To be honest, I thought I had received all the rewards last time."
"What are you saying? That was the reward for treating Simus."
Baron Vashti beckoned and a servant brought something on a tray. It was a small wooden box.
"Take a look inside."
When Seo Jun-Ho carefully opened the wooden box, a pure and sweet scent filled the living room in an instant. Inside the wooden box was a fruit that looked like a white pomegranate.
"Baron, this is...?”
"It is a Snow Pomegranate that is said to be formed once every 100 years from old trees within the northern snowy area."
It was obviously an elixir. It was also the first elixir Seo Jun-Ho had seen since he awakened from the ice.
"And if the scent is this pure and sweet…’
They said that someone who had experience knew better than an amateur. Having taken a lot of elixirs before, Seo Jun-Ho instinctively knew that this fruit’s efficacy was definitely not low.
"Is it really all right for you to give this to me?"
"Of course. Actually, I did not have any intention to give that away, no matter how good someone’s result from the compet.i.tion was...”
But Seo Jun-Ho had been too outstanding…
"If it wasn’t for you, I would have been branded as someone incompetent who lost two knights and led hundreds of people to their deaths."
It was a terrible nightmare for an image-conscious n.o.ble. In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was a lucky charm who even cured the baron’s son.
"I thought it would not be a waste to give you the Snow Pomegranate.”
"…Thank you."
To be honest, rather than a reward, Seo Jun-Ho felt like he had received a random gift. However, he did not refuse their kindness because getting stronger right now was his number one goal.
* * *
"This is the place."
After dinner together, Phivir led Seo Jun-Ho to his private training room.
‘It"s similar in size to the place I used to use in Korea.’
Of course, it did not have built-in state-of-the-art devices like his personal training room. But it was completely isolated from the outside, and the walls and floors also looked st.u.r.dy.
"Use it as much as you want. I"ll be training with the new knights."
"Thank you."
As Phivir patted Seo Jun-Ho’s shoulder and disappeared, the latter was left alone in the large training room.
"I"m worried that this is going too smoothly...”
“Contractor, you tend to take things too pessimistically. Just enjoy it."
Seo Jun-Ho shrugged at the Frost Queen’s advice.
"I"d love to, but my path hasn"t been very smooth."
He felt as if fate was controlling him. Whenever he obtained strength, a situation where he needed to use it would appear.
‘I hope not this time…’’
He didn’t know why he always felt his d.a.m.ned intense intuition in such situations.
"Huuu, I’m so nervous. I should quickly stabilize Overclock."
Seo Jun-Ho sat cross-legged and took out the wooden box he had put in the inventory. When he opened the lid, the training room, which smelled of stale sweat, was quickly covered with a pure and sweet scent.
"Oh my, it would be perfect to use as an air freshener," noted the Frost Queen.
"I can"t do that. It"s usually different for each elixir, but fruits, roots, and leaves become less effective over time, so you have to use them quickly.”
Seo Jun-Ho deliberately didn’t eat dessert at the meal just before because he had planned to eat this fruit as soon as he got to the training room.
Crunch!
When he took a big bite of the fruit, the juices flowed out like water. He ate the Snow Pomegranate meticulously without spilling a drop of its juice.
"You ate everything except for the seeds."
"It was delicious."
A new wave of energy was already in the midst of fluctuating in his stomach. Seo Jun-Ho quickly closed his eyes. As the name suggested, Snow Pomegranate was a medicine found in cold places. Naturally, a strong chill stirred throughout his body.
"I"m glad it"s not yang qi.’[1]
Thanks to the Frost skill, Seo Jun-Ho was already good at dealing with yin qi and cold. [2] He did not miss a strand of magic and began to absorb it all into himself. Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes after four hours of absorbing the Snow Pomegranate’s magic. A bright light emerged from his eyes, which illuminated the training room before gradually subsiding.
"Whew, as expected, elixirs are the best.”
All of his stats had increased by ten, and magic alone increased by fifteen. It was so effective that he considered it a superior elixir even among the ones he had taken so far.
"Are all Frontier"s elixirs this effective?’
The Frost Queen approached as Seo Jun-Ho was smacking his lips.
"You have definitely gotten stronger."
"Really? Status window."
[Seo Jun-Ho]
Level: 60
t.i.tle: Bringer of Spring (+2)
Strength: 208 (-99)
Stamina: 197 (-94)
Speed: 194 (-92)
Magic: 169 (-75)
Fame: 2,720
After another two weeks or so, the Curse of Bitter Cold would be lifted.
"My fame has risen greatly... All my stats are also high."
There was only one thing that was a shame. His magic, which had been over 200, was reduced to 169.
‘But seeing what Skaya"s been doing lately...’
He did not regret it at all. He would still not regret it even if she was just messing around in the room next door.
"47%, attempting to stabilize," Seo Jun-Ho murmured with his eyes closed.
Ten days after that, he finally succeeded in stabilizing Overclock.
1. Yang qi is the warm energy usually present in males. ☜
2. Yin qi is the opposite of yang qi and is cold and is usually present in females. ☜