The Frozen Player Returns

d themselves until death, all they were able to do was breathe quietly.

‘Let’s see…’ 

Specter finally looked back and scanned each Wachguard with sharp eyes, checking every detail down to their breathing and the tension of their muscles.

’

‘Is this it for the supporters and mages? It’s just as I expected…’ 

It wouldn’t be fair to expect rearguard mages and those with non-combat roles to have the same level of stamina as frontline fighters.
Even among the 5 Heroes, Skaya had the least stamina.

‘I should split the group into two now.’ 

He stopped in a clearing.
“Halt.”

Once their legs stopped after moving solely thanks to inertia, all the Watchguards could think about was sitting down.

‘Keep it together…’

‘I came this far, I can’t collapse now…’ 

The supporters and mages gnashed their teeth as they tried to endure, but willpower alone wasn’t enough to keep their bodies upright.
They fell to the ground, one by one.
Their bodies felt very comfortable as if they were in heaven.
And once they sat, they wanted to lay down, and once they laid down, they would want to sleep.

‘N-no…’

‘I have to get up…’ 

But even as they pounded on their legs with their fists, they showed no sign of moving.
It was the first time their bodies refused to listen to them, and they started to panic as Specter approached them.

“Are you so exhausted you want to collapse?” he asked.

“N-no!”

“We can get up.
I-if you just give us a moment…”

No matter how much they strained, the Watchguards couldn’t move their legs.
They even started to wonder if they would be able to move their legs ever again.

“No.
You’ve reached your limits.” Specter declared as he scanned them.
There were twenty-four non-combatants and mages.

“Then… Did we fail?”

“Will you not teach us anymore?”

They were angry.
It was so unfair.
Specter could see their feelings in their faces.
They had a burning desire to keep going, but their bodies wouldn’t listen.

‘How cute.’ 

Of course, Specter knew about this.
After all, he had already estimated their limits to about six hours of continuous running.
“Congratulations.
You’ve all reached your limit and surpassed it.”

“…?”

They had already reached their limits thirty minutes beforehand.
After that, they had been running on willpower alone.

‘To be honest, I thought a few of them would give up…’ 

But this was surprising.
They all followed through; not a single one had dropped out.

“Rest.
Tomorrow, we will be busy again,” he said kindly.
He asked River to open the Moving House, and personally helped move each Watchguard inside.
Now, there were ten people left in the Wailing Mountains.

“The non-combatants went on for six hours, so fighters should be able to go for at least twice that long, no?”

’

“…Yes, sir.” Their voices were low.
Twice as long meant they had to run for at least six more hours.
It was a ridiculous expectation.
Even if the non-combatants and the mages didn’t have as much stamina, the frontline fighters’ stamina wasn’t so high that it was double the non-combatants and mages’ stamina.

‘It’ll probably be too much for them…’ 

Specter thought.
But they had to do it.
In his short 26 years of life, the world hadn’t always been kind.

‘Whether they like it or not, there will come a time when they have to move.’ 

In order to prepare for that, they had to oil their gears ahead of time.
There was a saying that stated that regret is the fastest motivator, but Players knew that this was nonsense.

“Let’s go.”

With Specter at the lead, nine Watchguards started to follow him with glum faces.

***

After ten hours, Specter stopped in the middle of the dark hill.
Arthur’s head lolled like a zombie’s and bumped against his back.
He had been staring at the ground, so he didn’t even realize that they had come to a stop.
He fell to the ground with a crash, feeling the same bliss that the non-combatants had experienced earlier.

“Does it feel nice?” Specter asked the collapsed Watchguards, sitting on a nearby rock.

“Yes… It does.
It’s impossibly nice…”

“That’s the feeling of surpassing your limits.” Today, each Watchguard had reached the limits of their stamina and surpassed it.
It was a tough exercise to digest from the very first day.

‘Sorry.
But we don’t have much time…’ 

Training the Watchguards was important, but Specter himself also needed time to train.
He had already decided before all this began that he would only spend two weeks on them.

“Since we came all the way here today…” He pointed, and their eyes followed his hand.
“Next time, we should be able to get to the peak of that mountain over there.”

“…”

The Watchguards realized something.
They already knew it, but it hit them once more.

“Your skill will stack like stairs.
You’re not gonna reach the top of the mountain in one day or one session.”

They tried to catch their breath as they listened.
Their bodies were heavy, but they also somehow felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

“Whether you have natural talent, good skills, good skill books, or good equipment… It’s still the same.
Even though it might help you get stronger even faster, no one is born that way.” Players heard this all the time, but the Watchguards had never understood it as much as they did today.
“Time is on the side of those who work hard.”

With that, today’s lesson ended.
If the Watchguards learned anything from today’s march, they would start to grow even faster.

‘There’s no point in just breaking a sweat or quitting once it gets a little tiring…’ 

Even though Specter’s case was special, he hunted and trained until he wanted to die.
He hadn’t gone that far after his return, but he never slacked on his training.
He had tried his hardest when training with Booster, and when he had fought the knights at the Winter Castle.
Even now, he was still trying to maintain Overclocking for 24 hours straight.

‘We should stop by a nearby city tonight.’ 

Tomorrow, everyone would be bedridden from muscle soreness.
They probably wouldn’t even be able to stand.
Of course, that meant they wouldn’t be able to train either.

‘We can’t have that…’ 

He needed to buy potions so that the Watchguards wouldn’t be incapacitated when the next day arrived.
After such a hard training session, he had to take care of his students.