True Permafrost's One-Shot
[Kuuoooo-!!!]
A roar capable of tearing the Incheon seafront apart shook the city to its core. The street trees caught in the wake of that mana-infused pressure split with cracks, and the asphalt buckled with grinding snaps.
Emerging from the gate alongside that overwhelming pressure was a massive ogre that looked at least ten meters tall.
"Mutant? It's way different from the ogres I know."
Probably gigantified. And for an ogre, that's Tower 80th floor boss tier. Without Han Seol-ah, even throwing every Hunter in South Korea at it would end in total annihilation—a walking disaster.
Standing alone before that embodiment of violence was just me, perched on the rooftop railing.
I casually raised my palm toward the ogre.
"Permafrost."
In an instant, a sphere of deep blue chill condensed above my palm. Like the eye of a storm crammed into a ping-pong ball, it glowed an inky azure, with frost mana swirling violently inside.
This was fundamentally different from the 'safe mode' I'd used in my room. This was the real Permafrost.
"Go."
I flicked my finger.
Pop—not even the sound of air tearing. The moment I felt the blue flash pierce the ogre's brow.
Fwaaaah—!!!
The world turned blinding white. A chain of cracking sounds erupted as the air along the flash's path froze solid.
The monster that had been roaring moments ago was gone, replaced by a building-sized iceberg.
An absolute-zero statue that had frozen the ogre's hide, bones, and every drop of blood in its veins without mercy.
Crack!
And in the next instant, the iceberg shattered into fine ice powder along with the corpse.
"...Damn, that's strong."
A clean instant kill, not even a scream.
* * *
-Beep.
"...Huh?"
An unbelievable alert came through Kim Jin-cheol's headset.
Gate Clear
"...Clear, you say?"
"What did you say?"
"H-Hold on. The gate's been cleared."
"...A Rank-1 gate, cleared by you alone? No way! Check it! Now!"
"Y-Yes, sir!!!"
Kim Jin-cheol hurriedly sat and tapped away at his keyboard.
"Wha—huh? I-It checks out. G-Gate signal vanished. It's cleared!"
"Who the hell did it? Weren't all Incheon Hunters mobilized?"
"Yes, full mobilization. They were. Definitely..."
"Run a mana scan. Right now!"
"Yes, scan activating!"
Beep—beep—
"...Nothing? No one? Impossible!"
"N-No error. Mana scan reliability is still at 99.9%."
"What the...?"
So who killed the ogre big boss?
"Measure the density. And the properties."
"Yes!"
Kim Jin-cheol switched the mana scan from 'search mode' to 'measurement mode' and swept the gate area.
"...Fr-Frost mana."
"What? Frost... type?"
'Han Seol-ah?'
In that instant, the name of guardian Han Seol-ah flashed through everyone's minds. Frost magic, and strong enough to take down an ogre big boss? In South Korea, that could only be her.
"I-It must be Han Seol-ah! She must've sensed the crisis in Incheon and rushed out alone...!"
"We're saved... Incheon's saved!"
The despondent staffers hugged and cheered her name.
"Mana density?"
"Unmeasurable... Meaning, EX-rank!"
"Woooah!!! Seol-ah must've hit EX-rank!!!"
"Han Seol-ah! Han Seol-ah!"
"We wondered where she went—must've had some fateful encounter!"
Cheers swept the conference room.
But.
Min Ji-hee knew better.
'No. Not Seol-ah.'
Han Seol-ah reaching EX-rank was something that would never happen.
'...Then who?'
* * *
It's that strong, so let me say it again. One shot.
The Permafrost I fired killed the ogre in a single hit. Not your average ogre, either—a gigantified one. The kind even Han Seol-ah couldn't drop in one shot, tough as hell.
But I did it in one.
Proof positive: my Permafrost is stronger than hers.
'Must be 'cause it guzzles 50,000 MP.'
"Fear my power."
The ogre's corpse dissolved into yellow light particles. The lost particles swirled aimlessly in the air.
The gate that had spat out the ogre was shrinking steadily, if slowly.
Once it got small enough for the particles to slip back in, the gate would seal completely. Done.
Until then, I stayed vigilant. No slacking.
There's a saying: 'Even a closed gate can reopen.' Meaning another monster could pop out.
That's why I one-shot the ogre. This was real combat, not practice.
In the real deal, you eliminate variables. Overwhelming firepower leaves no room for surprises. Otherwise? Regrets.
Personal experience.
'Don't wanna know firsthand.'
I decided to keep guard until the sync wore off on its own.
And so.
Leaning against the rooftop railing, I pondered seriously.
'So, what's next?'
The fake ice dragon—Frost Dragon—squatting in Pyongyang, driving South Korea to ruin? Han Seol-ah's got it handled.
I'd boosted her to EX-rank, and handed her the genesis staff Eternal Winter.
That spec was plenty to fend off repeated boss breaks until the Tower's cleared, saving the country from doom.
Worst-case extinction? Averted.
"Hm."
But was that enough?
No.
"Just not dying yet."
South Korea's situation was dire. Clothing, food, shelter—the basics for human survival—all fucked.
Clothing. Even top tanks weren't at 100% gear supply. Conscripted low-rank tanks were scraping together armor out of pocket, like medieval levies.
...No need to spell out the rest of the Hunters' gear situation.
'Insane.'
Food. Most survivors scraping by on calorie sticks worse than bug-meal nutrition bars—starvation crisis.
Shelter. Livable zones? Just three: Incheon, Seoul, southern Gyeonggi. And even those were barely habitable... soil contaminated by erosion, no crops growing.
'At least the water's drinkable. Small mercies.'
This wasn't living—it was a patient on death's door.
'Only holding on by threads thanks to Hunter Association President Jin Cheon-jin and VP Min Ji-hee's brilliance.'
External threats blocked by Han Seol-ah. Internals propped up by two heroes. Precarious balance.
No hope for improvement ahead. Couldn't raid the Tower.
So.
One answer.
Solve the root cause.
"Gotta climb the Tower."
Yeah. The Tower was the issue.
Clearing the 94th wasn't enough. Had to conquer it to the end.
I calculated coldly in my head.
Experience sparring Han Seol-ah in Lost Honor. Strengths and weaknesses of her unique spells like Ice Arrow and Permafrost. The insane buffs from Eternal Winter.
Factoring it all... odds of her clearing the Tower fully?
"Zero."
Answer: 0.
I admit it. Han Seol-ah, you're way stronger now.
But if one Hunter's power alone could do it...
South Korea wouldn't be suffering like this.
Still.
"..."
I looked down at my hand.
Memories of the arena flooded back. The long hall. At its end, on the highest dais—the absolute ruler.
Void Knight, Nebula.
My masterpiece, everything on the line.
'...With Nebula's power.'
It might be possible.
No, I was certain.
'It is.'
I dug deep into my pocket.
A crinkling paper touched my fingers.
White paper. Simple design: a few clumsy star doodles like a kid drew. Gold lettering stood out.
◈ White paper with childish star drawings
◈ Gold-embossed text
◈ Elongated blank space { } below for target input
One of the rewards for completing the epic quest to make Han Seol-ah EX-rank.
Below the ticket, an elongated blank like it was waiting for a target name.
{ }
I stared holes into that blank.
The answer was there.
'But.'
I pocketed the paper again.
'...Gotta use it once to figure out how it works.'
Judging from just the Han Seol-ah case... too little info.
'Take it slow.'
No rush.
I'd waited 10 years since becoming unawakened.
A little delay wouldn't doom the country.
Rushing and screwing up? That would trigger real extinction.
'Already bought us time to hold out.'
I trust you, Han Seol-ah.
Shh—
The moment I sorted my thoughts, the frost mana melted away like snow.
'Over.'
Another issue to fix. My sync time: 10 minutes. Using mana shortens it fast.
Say I enter the Tower. Gotta zip to Seoul quick. Clear it start to finish.
In 10 minutes?
'...No way. Impossible.'
First steps as a Hunter, and the to-do list's endless.
'Heh.'
Happy problems.
By the way.
'When's that thing closing?'
The gate was still there.
'...Gotta head back to my room first.'
Sync off, and I'm subhuman. Another monster pops out meanwhile? Disaster.
'Resync and come back up...'
The moment I turned to leave.
"...!"
Excruciating agony ripped through my body.
"Gah... fuck."
Pain so bad I could barely scream.
I collapsed to the floor.
"Hurk. Hngh. Hek. Cough."
Drool spilling. Between heaving breaths, bloody phlegm bubbled.
'Block the airway and I'm done.'
Feels like guts twisting—I hacked out the tiniest cough to clear it.
"Shit... fuck."
Mind stayed ice-cold despite the wreck of a body.
—Aftereffects.
Price of wielding mana in this pathetic old-human shell.
Fine while mana was inside. Gone now, backlash hits.
'Practice was fine!'
Yeah, it was.
Real combat hits different?
Even amid gut-wrenching hell, my brain raced, pinpointing the error.
Difference between room practice—generate and hold—and combat: intent to kill, exploding mana at max.
'Load on the body’s different, fuck.'
Got it quick.
"Kek. Kekeh."
Practice flicks vs. max-output monster-slaying. Worlds apart.
'...Still, won't kill me.'
Cold assessment. No big worry.
I know my body inside out. Not fatal.
Just major internal damage—gonna hurt like hell. And keep hurting till it heals.
'Hngh... hngh.'
Vision blacking. Mind fading. Pain → shock → blackout incoming.
But.
Through narrowing sight, golden light particles shimmered clear as day.
'...Why're those here?'
Should've vanished into the gate—the ex-ogre particles.
Now flying straight at me.
'N-No, stay away.'
Couldn't yell "Stop!" loud enough?
The particles hit fast and—
Swoosh.
...Seeped right into me.
"Gahk!"
I jolted up like a flopping carp.
"Huh?"
Then I realized.
...My body, that'd felt like it was dying, was fine.
"???"
What the hell?