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“Hm?” Kim Woo-Joong realized that the other man was staring at his left arm.

“Is there something on my arm?” he asked quizzically.

“No, nothing like that…” Seo Jun-Ho shook his head at the question. Why was he staring at it again? He couldn’t understand it himself as he replied, “I guess it just drew my gaze. I don’t know why, though.”

“You have an unexpectedly wishy-washy side. -Yo.” Kim Woo-Joong shrugged and looked up at the dark sky.

“The cockroaches in the area retreated when Erebo died. Shall we go rest at the hotel and depart tomorrow morning?” he asked.

“No. Let’s go right away.”

Seo Jun-Ho led the way and explained the effects of his Exterminator Title.

“Insects are afraid of you? What an interesting Title. Did you happen to—”

“Yes, I obtained it after I killed Janabi from the 2nd floor.”

“It seems that all the Floor Masters are quite homogenous. I received something similar, too.”

Now that he thought about it, Kim Woo-Joong was part of Silent Moon, which was the Guild that killed the 3rd Floor Master. Seo Jun-Ho had heard that Woo-Joong had dealt the final blow to the boss.

“Are you talking about Phanactos?” he asked.

“Yes. I received a Title called Cutter of Flames. It has a fire resistance effect.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho stared blankly at his profile.

Kim Woo-Joong sensed his gaze and awkwardly rubbed his chin before asking, “Did I happen to draw your gaze again?”

“No… I’m just impressed.” Most Players were very stingy about sharing their skills with others. It wasn’t rare for today’s ally to be tomorrow’s enemy, so they would naturally avoid sharing information about themselves. “Are you sure you can just tell me like that?”

“...Oh.” Kim Woo-Joong kept walking, staring ahead. He looked like he understood. “Well, wouldn’t it be unfair if you were the only one who shared?”

In Kim Woo-Joong’s opinion, what he shared wasn’t all that sensitive anyway. Though, of course, if he were talking to someone other than Seo Jun-Ho, he wouldn’t have shared any information, even if it was less relevant than what he had just shared.

‘Wow, he’s so honest.’

Usually, those who were honest and kind wouldn’t survive long in this field of work. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t exceptions.

‘I’m here, too.’

His hubae was just like him. Seo Jun-Ho looked at him, eyes full of pride.

***

The two of them arrived at the second city just around daybreak.

“Specter and the Sword Saint are here!”

“Two more of the Heavens are joining us? Is this a dream?”

“Wait. Does that mean there are four Heavens just in this small city?”

“This really is humanity’s strongest fighting force.”

“At this rate, don’t you think killing the 4th Floor Master is going to be a piece of cake now?”

The city was so bustling it felt like there was a festival. The 5 Heroes had recently joined them, yet their fighting power had already increased by a lot, even though Specter wasn’t with the other Heroes.

“Welcome back…”

“You’ve worked hard.”

His party members welcomed him back. Just then, he spotted a familiar face.

“Uncle!”

“Arthur.” Seo Jun-Ho spread his arms wide, but Arthur shook his head firmly.

“Oh, um. On the outside, we don’t have much of an age difference, so…”

“...”

In the past, Arthur used to crawl into his arms and hug him tight.

‘Well, I suppose he was in for a shock, too.’ He hadn’t known that Seo Jun-Ho and Specter were the same person, just like everyone else. Even when Specter trained him last time, the Hero always wore a mask, so he was even more in the dark.

“It’s good to see you too, River,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“How have you been? I was shocked when I heard the news.” River’s eyes sparkled when he looked up at him.

In the back, the other Watchguards whispered to each other.

“Hey, hand over the money. You said you were sure he was going to be ugly.”

“Dammit. With that face, why did he go around wearing that silly mask?”

“Yeah, I don’t really understand either.”

“...”

The mask was cool though…

Feeling offended, Seo Jun-Ho became gloomy again.

“Let me show you your place for now. You should unpack first,” Cha Si-Eun suggested.

“Shall I?” He headed over to his new place, escorted by his former secretary. The apartment was around 2000 square feet, and it was much nicer than he had expected. Moreover, he liked that all his neighbors were his friends.

“Oh, and do you happen to have records about the battles and casualties?” he asked her.

“I prepared them ahead of time,” Cha SI-Eun said.

Seo Jun-Ho was once again impressed with her meticulousness.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. You must be tired, so rest up.”

Once she left, the Frost Queen headed off to the room she claimed for herself to watch dramas. Seo Jun-Ho was then left alone in the living room, and he read through the documents intently.

‘There aren’t many casualties.’

The situation was looking good, based on the recent zero percent death rate.

“Let’s see…” Seo Jun-Ho dug through his memories.

‘I only know the future up until a month from now on.’

The longest he had stayed at the first city was two months. Thanks to that, he had a basic idea of what would happen here.

‘There are some things people had asked me to fix if I happen to go back to the past.’

The peace in the city would shatter sooner or later. If he were correct, it would only take three weeks for it to crumble.

‘A large-scale attack will begin, with very powerful special entities accompanying the cockroaches.’

Dozens of people would die each day, and distrust amongst the Players would surge.

They would need all hands on deck to clear the 4th Floor. If possible, Seo Jun-Ho wanted to drag this positive atmosphere out.

‘And to do that…’

He peeled off the last page in the pile of documents.

***

[Cockroach Cave Expedition Team Recruitment]

“I can’t ignore the cockroach cave.”

It was a giant cave that had been discovered about a day’s journey away from the second city. It was assumed to be one of the cockroaches’ spawning grounds.

‘Every Player who goes to scout that place dies. No one has come back alive so far.’

Actually, this was one of the reasons why the Players started to get suspicious of each other. Most of the Players who died there were either unaffiliated with any group or were from Guilds without much influence.

‘After an exploration team of 80 Players was annihilated, deserters started to appear…’

The situation should improve, even if they only prevented the future deserters from deserting.

“Seems like they’re leaving in two days.”

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the recruitment ad and stood up.

***

“Um, Master…”

At Jang Kyung-Hoon’s words, Shin Sung-Hyun waved him over with resignation.

“Sigh. Bring it here…”

Bam!

Another mountain of documents was piled onto his desk.

He hadn’t even gone through all the previous documents.

‘I didn’t expect this.’

Right now, he was no different from the city’s administrator. He hadn’t formally received the title, but secretly, everyone agreed that he was the city’s administrator. He had the glory of one of the Six Masters, and he was also a Heaven. Moreover, there was no one else more suitable to be an administrator in this city.

“Jang Kyung-Hoon...”

“Yes, Master.”

Shin Sung-Hyun glanced at the documents before closing his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why is there so much to do in such a small city?”

“That’s because though the city is small, the population is not,” replied Jang Kyung-Hoon. There were currently more than 30,000 Players living in the second city. This was because the ones who returned to Earth had started to come back to raise their levels. “I suppose the good thing is that they are still prohibiting new Players from entering the 4th floor.”

“Yes, indeed.”

The city was overcrowded, and everyone’s main concern was food. Even though the city would initialize every morning, they still had to thoroughly plan things out to feed 30,000 people three meals a day. Unfortunately, the truth was that there had been frequent spats over food before Shin Sung-Hyun took the reins.

“Have you brought the list of recruits for the cockroach cave expedition?” asked Shin Sung-Hyun.

“Oh, about that… We closed applications yesterday, but we received an additional applicant.”

“Reject them. If we make an exception once, people will expect it the next time.” Shin Sung-Hyun held up his hand. His biggest concern was such precedents would end up becoming prevalent. He was already annoyed enough by how much he had to clean up after the others, so he didn’t have the time to listen to those kinds of complaints.

“But, um… The applicant is Specter.”

Shin Sung-Hyun froze. He thought for a moment before gesturing with his hand again.

“The list.”

“Yes. Here you go.”

His eyes furrowed when he looked at the list of the expedition recruits. “What a mess.”

“They may not live up to your standards, Master, but they are all veterans. As you can see—”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about.”

To him, the list of Players looked more like a mob. Jang Kyung-Hoon was right, they were all strong individuals, but that was all.

‘There’s a big possibility that they will all be annihilated if they unexpectedly come across a dangerous situation.’

“Does anyone in the Guild have spare some time on their hands?” he asked.

“Um… The Vice Captain of the 2nd team, Ha In-Ho.”

‘Indeed, Ha In-Ho has the skills to lead them properly. But the problem is…’

It was very likely that these Players would have their own different thoughts. Even if they accepted Ha In-Ho, they would think that the Goblin Guild was trying to steal their glory.

“You’re saying that Specter applied?”

“Yes.”

“Accept him.”

Specter was currently affiliated with the Korean Player Association. He was fair, unlike all these self-motivated Guilds.

‘Above all, no fool would refuse to let Specter lead them.’

The Hero was still a star whom countless Players respected. On top of that, he had already revealed a few months ago back on Earth that he was Seo Jun-Ho.

‘That caused a ruckus on the 4th Floor for some time as well.’

Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t been a Player for so long, but he was still a rising star that left a deep impression on everyone. Additionally, his abundant experience made him a trustworthy candidate. If Shin Sung-Hyun selected him as the expedition leader, there shouldn’t be any complaints.

“Ask him to meet me in the evening.”

***

“A favor?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Yes. Before then, could you take a look at the expedition team members?”

Shin Sung-Hyun handed him a list of names. Seo Jun-Ho looked through them, and he immediately realized what was missing, so he nodded. “They have no leader.”

Shin Sung-Hyun’s lip curled up. “Would you be willing to lead them?”

“I have no reason to refuse.” Seo Jun-Ho had no intention of going through some meaningless back-and-forth. The reason he had applied to be in the expedition force in the first place was to protect the Players. Having the authority to control them as a group would actually make it much easier for him to do what he wanted.

“I’m relieved. If you had refused, I would have assigned this to Mr. In-Ho instead.”

“I see.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded as if he had no idea, but he knew the truth. He knew that the expedition team wouldn’t accept Ha In-Ho as their leader.

‘Actually, with his level of skill, the team wouldn’t fall apart.’

Even though the team was called an expedition team, these Players were from all different groups. If no one gave them orders in a moment of crisis, they would become nothing but a ragtag group.

“And this could be pointless, but you do not have to hold back,” Shin Sung-Hyun said.

“What do you mean?”

Shin Sung-Hyun revealed a soft smile. “Humans are surprisingly intelligent. They tend to not believe things unless they see it with their own eyes.”

This was even more true for the Players who had come up to the 4th Floor. They had great pride in themselves, but they also had the strength to back it up.

Seo Jun-Ho realized what Shin Sung-Hyun meant and snorted.

“...I’m Specter, you know.”

“Of course, I believe that. However, I do not know about the others.”

In short, Shin Sung-Hyun was saying that not all the expedition team members would respect him, even though he was Specter.

“Somehow, I feel as if I’ve been trying to prove myself my whole life...”

“I have only ever read about it, but it seems that such is the lonely life of a hero.” Shin Sung-Hyun chuckled and gently bowed his head. “And lastly, I sincerely congratulate you on your return.”

This was the biggest gesture of respect the head of a Big 6 Guild could show.