Rustle~
When arriving at the stairways that lead to the boss room, everyone of my guild members had taken their first steps onto the stairs before a message popped up very late.
[Stage #19's rewards will be distributed to the accomplishers.]
Receiving a good amount of coins and 10 Glacious Snowballs, I didn't feel the need to look over the other rewards since the most important thing was..
Ding~ Ding~
The absence of sound while climbing up the stairs resonated with the melody to beautifully fill its silence to that of a berceuse.
The reason for such a soothing musical melody to be played, was because of the item I was hanging onto and acquired from the stage's reward.
"The Bell of Lullaby. This will prove to be useful." I mumbled to myself.
As my mind was in its deepest line of thinking, I was considering what I would do when I enter the next stage.
Without a doubt, I did have plans that I wanted to use, but there were a lot of problems I needed to reconsider.
'How will I save Noelle? I wonder..' I thought.
..The first problem would be the players.
If I were to kill all of those players, then it would be easy not to be alarmed whenever a player gets close to Noelle.
However, if I kept murdering players, there would be less players to participate in the future stages.
I murmured. "And that would make things hard for the next world."
To be honest, the only reason I couldn't kill those players was because I had teammates that wouldn't want me to dirty my hands again.
'Mya, HwanGi and the others naturally don't like seeing me kill humans.' I sighed.
Last time, it was Asher who was doing all the killing secretly when we were in the stage #15, so I didn't have to worry about the players much.
"Seriously.." I let out a sigh again as I grumbled. 'This is hurting my brain. Was I always this mentally weak when planning something?'
'Ha.. It's the result of being resurrected and immediately moving my body a lot.'
Eventually, Lucifer advised me. 'Master, you need to get some rest.'
'Indeed, I'll rest when all this ends. Hm?'
Chattering…
While I was wondering, I overheard a conversation starting from behind me and the one to speak was none other than Alaine.
With curiosity that rose to no end, Alaine mentioned. "Y'know, the nature dragon appeared in stage #10, and since we will be entering stage #20 soon.."
"Don't tell me we're gonna have a boss fight again?" Alaine asked while walking up the stairs.
Casually, I gave her an answer. "Yes, just like stage #10, there will be a boss related to this 'Arctic' world."
"Oh dear… Gonna prepare myself for that."
"Yeah, it's going to be tough since it is the second boss." Louis commented.
By then, Mya joined in. "How powerful was the first boss, brother Louis?"
"Sad to say, but I didn't get the chance to see much since I was focused on killing the beasts that the dragon had summoned."
Seeing how Louis couldn't answer Mya's question, HwanGi answered for her instead. "It was strong, very strong that if the dragon didn't disappear, we would have died."
"Then wouldn't this next boss be more challenging, uncle HwanGi?"
"I'm not sure, but it may be too hard. Oh, you can call me Ahjussi if you want, Mya."
"Ahjussi..? What is Ahjussi?"
"It would be easier to say Ahjussi than saying Uncle HwanGi, wouldn't it?"
"Then does that mean I have to call Uncle JoonChul and Uncle Raiden, Ahjussi?"
"If they're okay with it, probably yes."
Chatter~
'These guys really do love talking.' I grunted and annoyed by what HwanGi just told Mya.
'I mean calling me Ahjussi..'
'Yes, I am Korean, but my personality and my behavior wouldn't fit a Korean, would it?'
'Honestly, I'm more confused.'
Whoosh~
Opening up my inventory to sort my items and equipment, I narrowed my eyes by what I just thought.
'..It's a side-effect of having to live in different nations with different rules, different basic knowledge and more.'
'But one thing for sure..' I clenched my fist after closing and finishing up on rearranging my inventory.
"I am still.."
'Satan..' I muttered before saying inwardly since I didn't want my identity to be revealed to the 'Helpers' watching this.
'No one can make me forget who I am that easily just because of the multiple lives and the failed attempts that I had made..'
'Damn, it's discouraging when I realize that failure always follows me.'
'Pfft.. Hilarious.' I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders as if my lives and failures were all just a joke.
'Master, that's enough.' Lucifer warned me before I might go down the path of depression.
I scowled. 'Ho.. Did you think I would be depressed over something like that?'
In any case, I exhaled a long sigh from pondering about those trivial thoughts instead of planning a strategy.
I mused, smacking my cheeks. 'What am I even saying? I keep getting distracted for a while now.'
As I ruffled up my hair to erase those pointless thoughts outta my head, I heard a call from behind me.
"Ahjussi!"
..Did Mya actually listen to HwanGi?
"What is it?" I asked.
At that moment, Mya's face glowed from having to see me reply to her call before she suddenly gave me a good question.
"Ahjussi, is there a plan for the next stage?"
'Darn.. I didn't plan anything yet.' I sweat a little.
Bit my lips inwardly, I responded to her with a lie. "Yes, there is."
"JoonChul-ssi, it looks like we have arrived." HwanGi told me as I already knew what was in front of me.
Swish..
A massive glacious gate with the throne room on the other side halted us from entering the room.
As expected, this gate looked firm as to not let anyone in until Players received the system message.
[Stage #20 will commence in 1 hour.]
..Speak of the devil.
All of the sudden, I had an idea popping up in my head like a flash of a lightbulb. 'That strategy would work..'
"Everyone, before we enter, I'm going to tell you all the plans right now." I informed everyone here.
After that, Crystal said what she wanted while being held by Noel's arms. "Can't we go into the boss room now and speak there?"
Alaine commented as well. "Huff.. Can we? I don't wanna stand on a stair since I feel like I'm gonna fall to my doom at any second. And I'm tired after climbing up all those stairs.."
Needless to say, I could tell how exhausted everybody was from having to take countless steps on the stairways to reach the gate.
'Then again..'
I am even a little tired and would gladly want to sit down and relax. 'As if I can relax, ha.'
Either way, I shouldn't be wasting time when I should be getting a move on with our strategy discussion.
Eventually, I told them my reason for not entering the throne room. "Once we enter that room, we might not have a chance to speak privately because there could be more players than we thought."
"I get it. Are you saying we'll be targeted again like last time when we were trying to enter this world?" Louis asked even though he looked to already know the answer to that.
Not wanting to answer, I just nodded.
Not long after, Alaine groaned before speaking. "Ugh.. It's going to be harder to stay alive this time, and that's why we have you, JoonChul! So what's the strategy?"
"In that case, listen well." I responded with a smirk.
———
After a short period of time, someone had to step in as the overseer of the stages since that is a duty a 'Helper' must do.
..Yet in view of the fact that the angel who was supposed to be observing this stage, wasn't the one everyone was familiar with…
"Greeting to all the players who have reached stage #20!"
The nerve-wracking voice of an angel that no one knows yet, was floating above every player in the boss room.
Rustling!
Soaring around to gaze upon the players until she landed her glance on an individual, she halted as she floated with a glare to this one person.
"As you can see, Pearl is a sister of mine and I can't fathom the thought of watching her observing you all when she's unwell."
She smiled before introducing herself. "I am Alexandrite, the temporary 'Helper' who will be watching you all."
When players were staring at her, the glance of Alexandrite remained on the same person who she was looking at earlier.
It was obvious the players would notice her fixated gaze, wondering why this angel was staring at that person.
Once the players became aware of where gaze was directed on, they knew already who that person was at one glance.
..Yes, it was in JoonChul's direction.
'So this was the human who tried to seduce my sister. How bold of him to dirty my sister's mind!' Alexandrite's sisterly overprotectiveness instinct kicked in.
'Don't worry, Pearl! I'll definitely avenge you!' She chanted proudly without knowing that Pearl would likely be yelling 'I'm not dead!' to Alex.
Swoosh~
Alexandrite burned with sisterly love as she grasped her fists and flapped her wings to show her passion.
'For my sister! Thank you for allowing me to step in! Trust me, my sweet Pearl!'
To be frank, Pearl didn't even ask for Alexandrite's help, in addition to that, even Pearl gave up when Alexandrite begged or more accurately bothered Pearl to let her oversee this stage.
Even Pearl's expression when Alexandrite was leaving, showed how exhausted and powerless Pearl was.
Clattering…
"Players, have you all prepared for this stage?" Alexandrite said as she shifted her glance elsewhere.
No response was sent to Alexandrite's way, not knowing that her petrifying presence was making it difficult for players to even talk.
'No reply?' She tilted her head.
In no time, Alexandrite noticed the silence and just exhaled a sigh. 'I was just asking nicely and this was what I got? Did my sister receive this terrible treatment too?!'
'How dare they do such a thing to my adorable sister!?'
Shortly after, Alexandrite was reminded of her purpose before she told herself. 'Ah, calm yourself, Alex. I must punish the last player for his crude behavior, not the players.'
"Ahem.."
She coughed to clear her throat before turning around to observe the giant ice in the middle of this room.
Shaa..
Surrounded by ice chains completely, these shackles were chaining onto an oversized object.
An object that was monstrous enough to cover the entirety of the throne room, was actually a titanic iceberg.
With its substantial size and a menace feel, there was something, or more accurately a person within that enormous iceberg.
..In there, a girl in slumber was resting inside, seeming as though her hands and legs were chained like the iceberg.
…That wasn't all…
For the players and Alexandrite who had taken a glimpse at JoonChul's guild members earlier, they could make out a resemblance when viewing the sleeping beauty.
Without a doubt, she looked exactly like Noel Absolute to the point of saying that they could be the same person..
..She was no doubt the twin sister of Noel Absolute, Noelle Absolute.
'Noelle, I'm here.. I'll make sure to rescue you with the help of our father and his friends..'
Noel's saddened expression and gaze were directed on his beautiful twin sister, Noelle. 'So please just wait a little longer.'
Trembling lips as he said his sister's name, toned in a way that felt slightly heartbreaking, but filled to the brim with determination.
"Noelle..!"
———
In the meantime…
"Hey, Ash. Did you remember our plan?"
Asher, looking at that person with a glare, grumbled. "You think I'm that dumb?"
"Of course not." That guy laughed it out as a joke.
"Just to be sure, I'm not fighting against 'him'. I don't think I'll be able to win in that situation."
"What about us two together? Would it be possible to fight that person?"
"Are you kidding me? He is literally a one-man army, something about him feels so off but I don't know why."
"Haha, as expected. He's the one who took down the Nature Dragon with his mates."
"JoonChul.. Who the hell is he?" Asher mumbled a complicated question.
When seeing Asher being this wayz that guy crossed his arms and spoke. "We won't fight him as long as we get the final kill and take the boss's drops."
Asher commented. "Greedy dude."
"Sinful murderer."
"..I hate you, dude." Asher frowned before shifting her eyes elsewhere.
Again, the guy chuckled when he sneered menacingly, knowing his guild members who were behind him, were quite plentiful in terms of sizes and powers.
"Won't this be fun?"