What Do I Do?

'What do I do?'

Han Seol-ah's mind spun frantically as death loomed before her. Her focus was so intense that time itself seemed to slow.

"6."

The Apostle's indifferent countdown stabbed like a dagger.

Han Seol-ah wasn't the type to just stamp her feet in frustration before a problem. This 'what do I do' was a koan, a spark to ignite the solution to this crisis.

[Calm down.]

The response came from Frozen.

'Frozen!'

Relief flooded Han Seol-ah's heart. Frozen's knowledge of frost mana surpassed her own understanding. Surely, it could help with this disaster.

'What do I do? Quick!'

[No. Finding the answer is your role.]

Frozen drew a firm line.

[I'll only support you, keeping you from breaking until you find it.]

'Huh?'

[That's the role the Great One assigned me.]

"Gasp!"

In that instant, a bone-chilling cold surged from the Ice Dragon's Eye in her hand, rushing back through her mana circuits.

Han Seol-ah realized it then. The reason the Apostle had handed her Eternal Winter!

'You knew about this danger!'

[Stay calm.]

Frozen wrapped tightly around her internals. It averted the worst—her mana circuits freezing and bursting—but the cold creeping up her arm persisted.

[Do your part.]

'What is my part...'

[Protecting people. Isn't that what you've always done?]

'...!'

[Think. How can you protect everyone?]

The problem was simple. A nuclear bomb on the verge of detonation was clutched in her hand. So... prevent it from blowing!

Instinctively, Han Seol-ah poured mana fiercely into the Ice Dragon's Eye, that tiny ice orb. Like dousing flames with water, overwhelming the cold with even greater cold. A method she'd honed over ten years.

But.

"Ugh...!"

The moment she infused mana, the orb resisted violently. A fierce chill backlashed, invading her mana circuits. Pain like thousands of ice needles piercing her veins.

[Endure it.]

'Stronger!'

Han Seol-ah gritted her teeth and ramped up her mana output. She sharpened the mana probing the orb's interior. An ethereal agony, like navigating a blizzard on a single thread of mana, bare-bodied.

"5."

Undeterred by her bone-shattering struggle, the Apostle's countdown dwindled mercilessly, honestly.

'Not enough?'

Han Seol-ah focused on the encroaching chill infiltrating her core. So cold... her mana circuits freezing solid...

'Ah.'

She recalled a spell from the otherworld. There, she'd learned frost awakeners could freeze to death.

'White Snow Fog.'

She remembered the approaching 'death.' It took the form of pure white mist.

—She remembered that terror. Ice arrows fired in check halting mid-air. Even permafrost crystals shattering on contact, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rolling uselessly as ice orbs. The mist approaching slowly but surely, enveloping her. Mana drying at her fingertips. Her scream freezing cold in her throat. That experience of succumbing to the chill.

The terror of 'freezing solid,' death creeping coldly!

'Aah...'

Han Seol-ah's eyes trembled. She knew now how stupid and stubborn her approach had been. Just brute-forcing against the onslaught with more chill... a mindless contest of strength.

Releasing her aggressively gripped mana, the cold backlashed like a burst dam.

[...!]

Even Frozen radiated shock at Han Seol-ah's near-suicidal choice.

'It's fine.'

Han Seol-ah simply... inverted her mana's nature. Colder. Even colder. Like that death crawling slowly.

'...I'll freeze it.'

Her blue mana began tinting white. Like frost creeping over glass, from the tip of her mana threads... slowly whitening. Frost mana froze pure white.

As Han Seol-ah advanced unhesitatingly, the cold spilling from the Ice Dragon's Eye clung to her mana... and froze.

'Frost... yes. Freezing.'

Why did frost mana have such a cold nature? She'd thought the Tower decreed it. That was correct.

Why was frost magic so finicky? She'd assumed the Tower's rule again. Wrong.

Frost wasn't about hurling ice. It was mana clinging cold, freezing things solid. A power closer to stasis than projection!

Fwaaah!

—Freeze it.

With that realization, mana extended smoothly, astonishingly. No vessel-tearing pain like before. Instead... refreshing. A clarity cooling even her mind.

Crack!

In the slowed world, the trembling, madly glowing red orb was instantly shrouded in white snow crystals.

'...Done! I did good, right?'

The words didn't escape her lips. All focus poured into maintaining the newfound frost sensation, controlling mana.

As if reading her mind.

"Well done."

The Apostle's voice rang clear.

"You don't plan to stop at freezing that little orb, do you?"

"..."

"Think. Where are we right now?"

This place... Pyongyang. Above the coordinates where the boss gate would open.

"Freeze it. Those coordinates—and everything nearby."

"...!"

Han Seol-ah's senses, confined to the tiny orb, expanded.

She felt the ground beneath her feet. A deathly land frozen white.

The air. Immense, pure frost mana density, suffocatingly thick, permeating the atmosphere.

This wasn't just cold earth. The site where a single strike felled the disaster Ice Dragon. Where vast Pyongyang became a white hell via transcendent grand magic, Absolute Zero!

Pyongyang was now Earth's richest font of frost mana. Like a massive battery deliberately filled.

'No way the Apostle... calculated even this?'

Plus, the Ice Dragon's Eye brimmed with transcendent chill. All conditions perfect.

'It's possible!'

[Yes. You can do it. Right here, right now.]

Han Seol-ah inhaled, focusing.

Crack.

She awakened the Ice Dragon's Eye. Gripped the dormant chill within.

One image: The slow-approaching death from the otherworld. White snow fog.

[I'll assist.]

Gripping the cold, she drew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a magic circle. This time, externally.

A pure white magic circle materialized before her eyes.

Fwaaah—!

White mana lines raced like flames, sketching a complex mandala. Thousands, tens of thousands of geometric patterns overlapping, rotating. Equations beyond human computation.

But Frozen backed her.

Han Seol-ah channeled mana at full throttle per Frozen's guidance.

'Ugh...!'

Her head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠throbbed midway. From sustaining peak focus too long. Without Frozen, failure inevitable.

Not being alone felt so reassuring. The thought 'Thank goodness you're here' flashed, met by Frozen's flat wave.

[...Good you know. Now, activate!]

Han Seol-ah's lips moved.

"—Frost Mist."

Her first spell embodying frost enlightenment. Born from the otherworld's freezing terror.

Shoooo—!

With a wave-like roar, the circle flashed, spewing white mist.

'Done!'

The billowing mist began freezing everything around.

'But...'

Different from the otherworld spell. Wider range, but weaker frost potency.

Still, Han Seol-ah rejoiced. The moment she perfectly recreated Transcendent Nebula's frost with her own hands.

'Wow...'

"Finally acting like a frost mage."

The Apostle's assessment swelled her pride further.

"Now you get it. The core of frost mana is..."

"Freezing cold."

"Right. That's Bingjeong."

"Yes."

But the Apostle was firm.

"One step left."

"...?"

"System message."

"...Ah! None appeared!"

Han Seol-ah grasped the 'shortfall.'

"If this delayed the boss gate, it'd notify 'time extended'!"

"Freeze the gate's origin."

The Apostle said gravely.

Han Seol-ah's eyes widened. Freeze a gate not yet open?

"...Not sure how. How do I find the gate's core?"

"This place is under perfect frost mana dominion."

The Apostle's eyes gleamed coldly.

"Focus your mind. In this frozen world, seek the anomaly pulsing alone."

Anomaly.

Han Seol-ah closed her eyes, expanding senses. Through Frost Mist, all Pyongyang felt tangible. Everything chilled, halted, silent. All frozen solid.

Yet.

'......Huh?'

Her brow furrowed. On a white canvas, a tiny speck like a flaw. High in the sky. Only there, not cold. Mana not still, swirling, boiling. Like hot ink about to drop into a serene lake.

'Found it.'

That was the gate's seed.

The instant her gaze locked on that aerial point, the Apostle commanded.

"Freeze it."

Han Seol-ah drew up the Frost Mist blanketing the ground. White fog surged skyward inversely.

'Not shatter it.'

The point of alien mana vortex. Envelop it in mist.

"Freeze it solid."

Wooong—!

The moment mist enveloped the point, space warped bizarrely.

'Ah.'

Instinct struck. Power insufficient! Even scraping every drop of EX mana, far short of freezing that 'singularity.'

As daze hit Han Seol-ah.

[You have an excellent tool.]

Frozen's advice snapped her back.

'...Right. Of course.'

She gazed at the orb in her hand. The Apostle's first introduction. Nuclear bomb. Befittingly immense chill—frost mana—slumbered within.

Ice Dragon's Eye.

Without hesitation, Han Seol-ah shattered it.

Crack!

Shaaaa—!

Immense cold erupted.

Han Seol-ah focused every nerve, controlling mana. Pouring into the mist encasing the singularity.

No brute force like her initial clash. This was fuel. To freeze every component of that singularity.

Channeling 'frost' magic... mana control felt effortless, natural.

Zzzzt... Zzzzt!

Invisible sparks flew in the void.

Finally.

Crack!

'...Done.'

The instant she perfectly 'froze' that invisible point.

Like a glitching TV, the sky's scenery distorted.

Simultaneously.