Return of the Frozen Player

acity as before, his body had also become even hotter.

“Haa!” He couldn’t handle it any longer and released Booster.
His body was drenched in sweat as if he had just come out of a sauna. 

“Are you alright?” the Frost Queen asked. 

“I am, but… Wow… I definitely won’t be able to use this on the field until I can handle the heat.
Actually, it’ll be dangerous even when I’m training.”

The heat erupted way too fast.
Before, he had been able to use Booster for about 5 minutes, but now, it would be hard to maintain it for even 1 minute. 

“I think 10 percent is way too little to handle it.”

“Hmmm… Then raise it to 15, and increase it by increments of 1 after that.”

“Increments of 1? Isn’t that too little? If we do 5 percent at a time…”

“No,” the Frost Queen said firmly.
She was uncharacteristically serious.
“Be warned, Contractor.
My power is poisonous.
You would not have been able to infuse your magic into your circuits if it was in its previous state.
If the Frost energy stops the heat but freezes your circuits on the way… You may never be able to use magic again.”

Seo Jun-Ho swallowed and nodded.
For a Player, not being able to use magic was the same thing as a death sentence.

“I’ll raise it 1 percent at a time.
I promise.”

“Good.” The Frost Queen nodded, finally satisfied.

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“I think I’ve got the hang of it now, so you can go edit,” Seo Jun-Ho said. 

“…May I?”

“Yeah…”

“Ahem. Well, you are not a child, so I trust that you will do well.
If something happens, call me.
I shall come immediately.” She quickly turned around and left as if she was afraid that he would change his mind. 

This was why he sometimes thought that she was useless…

“Phew…” Now, the real race would begin.
Every time he ran a test, he would have to rest for at least an hour to restore his body to its normal temperature and recover his magic. 

Overclocking was a race against time.
Seo Jun-Ho recalled Skaya’s advice and waited. 

***

The Frost Queen stretched her arms into the air, fists clenched.
She looked up at the ceiling and let out a victorious cry.
“Yes!”

The long hours, hard labor, artistic anguish, and the compromises between marketability and quality were finally over.
In other words, she was done editing the video. 

‘It has been five days since Contractor started training.’ 

She had been checking on him at least twice a day to make sure that he was still alive.
She felt a bit of pity whenever she saw his gaunt face, but training wasn’t supposed to be easy.

“I must tell him this good news.” She flew over to the training room, hologram window in hand. 

As soon as she opened the door, she was hit with an unpleasant heat. 

“Ugh…” Seo Jun-Ho groaned. 

“Did you fail again?” the Frost Queen asked, looking down at her Contractor.
He was twitching as he lay on the ground. 

His voice sounded as tired as his body felt.
“Yeah… This is so much harder than I thought…”

“Then.
let me tell you two pieces of good news.”

“Two?” Seo Jun-Ho sat up instantly.
“What is it?”

“The first is that I have finally finished editing.”

“Wow, this one took really long.
Congratulations.
And thanks…” He had expected her to say this.
“What’s the next one?”

“The second piece of good news is that I have used all the PP.”

“Wow! Huh?” Seo Jun-Ho squinted.
“Wait.
You used up all the PP?”

“Yes…”

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“So you’re telling me you used more than 4,000 points to make this single video?”

His first video, ‘Test,’ had been steadily earning PP after the day it was uploaded.
So, he had earned over 4,000 PP in total so far.

“Yes, I did.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s face went pale.
Sure, he expected this one to do better than ‘Test,’ but was it really worth 4,000 points?

He opened his mouth to tell her off, but the Frost Queen held out her hand and shook her head.
“Think about it, Contractor.
Would it really be right to scold me right now?”

“…Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.”

“I-if the video does not earn ten times as much PP as I spent, then I will leave this industry.”

“What industry are you talking about…?” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.
He let out a long sigh and nodded slowly.
“Fine.
Show me the video first.
I’ll judge it when I see it.”

The Frost Queen nervously moved over the window like a child showing their parent a report card. 

“…Wait, it’s only 35 minutes? That’s a lot shorter than I expected.
I thought it would be at least an hour long.”

“You know nothing, Contractor.
Experts say that 35-minute videos are the most popular.”

“…” Well, he couldn’t contradict an expert's opinion. 

‘This better be good…’ 

 

Seo Jun-Ho evaluated the video as an objective critic.
When 35 minutes passed, he replayed the video, his expression still heavy.
The Frost Queen wasn’t sure what that meant, and she kept watching him nervously.
Once 35 more minutes had passed, Seo Jun-Ho spoke.

“Frost Queen,” he said seriously. 

She swallowed.
“W-what is it…Mr.
Contractor…” 

Seo Jun-Ho looked at her and broke into a grin.
He patted her head.
“Be honest.
You spent all your time in Niflheim watching plays instead of doing governmental work, right?”

“No.
I excelled at my duties.”

“Then, why are you so good at video editing? I couldn’t even tell how much time had passed because it was so good.”

All he could think after watching her video was that it was entertaining.
“With this, you’ll definitely gain ten…No, twenty times as much PP than you spent.”

“Ahem!” She shrugged off the high praise and her confidence was instantly restored.
“I am a genius, after all.”

 

30 minutes later, her self-proclaimed debut piece, ‘Salmon in the mountain,’ was uploaded into the video forum.