Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

I woke up in the morning, and I was on my bed.

It seems I was somehow moved to my house in a daze.

“Ugh.”

My head felt fuzzy and throbbed.

Knock knock.

Of course, it was Chris.

“Please come in!”

I groggily permitted Chris to enter.

Chris sighed heavily and brought something on a tray.

“Sigh, are you okay? Why did you drink so much yesterday?”

“Drink…?”

Chris sat down on my bed with a silly smile and patted my head.

“You don’t remember anything from yesterday?”

“Hmm…”

I had a vague memory of finding a sweet juice to sip on in the hall, but after that, everything was a blur.

“After drinking something like juice… I don’t remember anything else.”

“Hehe, it was quite the mess, you know?”

Chris giggled while saying that.

I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Did I do something rude yesterday? I’m sorry.”

“Ah, no! Rude? Not at all!”

Chris waved her hands. Then she hugged her face with her hands, turning slightly pink.

What’s up with this sister?

“You enjoyed it, right?”

“……?”

Chris, who said that with a shy girl’s expression, quickly looked away and cleared her throat.

“Ahem! Anyway, drinking is off-limits from now on! …Well, not completely off-limits! If I allow it, you can drink only in front of me!”

“Okay.”

I wasn’t sure, but it seemed that what I drank yesterday thinking it was juice was actually alcohol.

In short, I was tipsy.

I didn’t think I had drunk that much. I guess my body just gets drunken easily.

Chris slipped her hand behind my back and helped me sit up.

“Now, your head hurts, right? I prepared a breakfast that should help with your hangover.”

“Oh.”

Rice, a bit of side dishes, and clear soup with bean sprouts and beef.

I tilted my head in confusion.

“I don’t really know, but isn’t hangover soup usually spicy?”

“Hmm~ That’s a common misconception. Actually, clear soup is better for hangovers.”

With a grin, Chris scooped a spoonful of soup and fed it to me.

Ah~

Today is Sunday. But Chris said she has to work over the weekend.

While others get to rest, Chris is often busy even on weekends.

“Take care of yourself, and don’t push yourself.”

“Yes. Have a good day.”

I kept my head out of the blankets and waved to Chris.

Chris looked at me with a hint of sadness before leaving the room.

Now it was just me.

After rolling around in bed for a bit, I rummaged through my smartphone.

After fumbling for several minutes, I finally let out a sigh and sat up.

“Sigh.”

I just can’t stay still these days.

I felt energetic, having eaten well and taken care of myself.

My body was just a bit sluggish from the hangover, but not enough to keep me from doing anything.

Vroom.

I stepped out to the living room for a moment and turned on the hologram TV installed on the wall.

“Hmm….”

I wasn’t really feeling the entertainment of this era. I didn’t quite get the humor either.

Animation? I think I have some memories of watching those.

While flipping through the TV channels, I stopped on one.

“Oh, baseball.”

A baseball game was in full swing on the sports channel.

It’s not really baseball season in the morning, is it? Is this a rerun?

I’ve heard that various virtual reality sports have become popular these days.

But even in this age, baseball still had professional leagues going in reality.

I even had a team I supported in my past life.
Where was it again? Some Eagles?

It’d be nice if there was something I could get interested in in this world.

Maybe I could go on trips here and there with Sister Chris and even catch a live sports game together.

While rummaging through the fragments of memory, I found myself staring at the baseball game for a moment before eventually heading back to my room.

“Hup!”

Then, I reclined back into the capsule.

Honestly, I still think the Continent of Astria is the best.

*

Feeling refreshed after doing a round of daily quests, I opened the messenger window.

“Today… is everyone taking a break?”

I licked my lips.

I wanted to run a bus, but so many guild members were offline.

“Oh.”

While searching for someone who could join me for the bus, I smiled.

Fortunately, Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken, two female guild members, were online.

I called out to them.

Today, the Ice Castle bus was going to be with them.

The front line was the warrior Rain, and the rear was the spirit user Dal Borom and the wizard Red Hot Chicken. A great trio for a bus.

The spirit user’s spirit had excellent utility. I could summon the earth spirit ‘Gnome’ to tank or use the water spirit ‘Undine’ to restrain the Named Enemy’s movements or inflict various status effects.

Essentially, spirit users are favored in 3-person buses because they can perform multiple roles at once. Of course, the ‘Hong Baek’ guild, composed solely of elite members, could manage just fine without a spirit user.

Crash!

Dal Borom led the Gnome, using the Salamander’s fire skill to pummel the ‘Shield Soldier’. Meanwhile, the firepower of the wizard Red Hot Chicken, who was launching magic from the side, was impressive as well.

For sure, the more times you face the same Named Enemy and practice repeatedly, the higher your damage output gets.

At first, even if I widen the gap due to my adaptability compared to other users, as they become more skilled, they’ll gradually start to catch up.

I glanced at the combat situation across the cliff and increased my damage tempo against the ‘Spear Soldier’.

Boom boom!

Starry lights danced around me as the ‘Spear Soldier’s HP rapidly declined.

Even with such a quick drop, they should be able to keep up.

It’s always a joy to see users grow.
Especially if they are members of our guild.

Today’s bus client was a quiet and dignified middle-aged fighter. He coolly requested a continuous ten runs.

Initially, Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken, who were chatting next to him, began to read the room and eventually started chatting beside me.

I told Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken to speak freely. After all, on the surface and on the registry, I’m the younger sibling.

“I heard everyone drank a lot until dawn, huh? At least Hopkins and Seob Seop Yi probably won’t log in at all today,” I said.

“Hehe, who’s drinking ‘more’ than anyone else? I was so embarrassed doing a drinking contest in a fancy hotel hall. I thought I was going to die of shame. …By the way, is Rain okay?”

While laughing at the guild member topic, Dal Borom subtly asked me.

I tilted my head at that, recalling that yesterday Lee Seulbi had been tipsy.

“Yeah. My head was a bit sore in the morning, but I’m fine now.”

“Ahem. That’s a relief.”

Suddenly, Dal Borom turned red and cleared her throat. Red Hot Chicken showed a similar reaction as she avoided my gaze.

It was as if the two of them had made a pact to blush together.

I began to feel a bit anxious.

Did tipsy Lee Seulbi embarrass herself in front of the sisters yesterday?

“Did I do something wrong yesterday…?”

“Ah, no! Wrong? It was really nice…. Ah, I mean, completely smooth…. Ahhh!”

“This girl!”

Dal Borom poked Red Hot Chicken in the side as she rambled. Then she suddenly clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

“By the way, you said you don’t remember much from yesterday? ….Did you perhaps not remember going up to the hotel room with the guild master?”

“Huh?”

Yesterday? Going up to the hotel room?

Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken turned even redder. Then they clasped their hands and started imagining something.

“Since Rain is an adult, you know everything, right? Hah…! How frustrating, but the guild master is a perfect woman, so…!”

“Bu-but still, would they take a drunk girl and…?”

I shook my head.

“I just slept. That part I definitely remember.”

It felt strongly necessary to say that for Chris’s reputation.

Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken made disappointed expressions as they licked their lips.

I heard that, in the end, Lee Seulbi was the only one among the guild members who managed to get proper sleep yesterday.

Dal Borom and Red Hot Chicken were just as tired. By afternoon, they mentioned feeling tired and logged off.

After seeing them off, I started planning my next area exploration.

“It’s time to level up a bit.”

In reality, we were still at the early stage of farming in the Ice Castle. The bus fee was still quite high.

However, I had to make the most of the time without anyone to run a bus with.

Even soloing a bus can earn money, but I’m a good little brother who listens to my sister. As Chris said, if there are no guild members to join me, I need to hold back.

Three clients and just me. That setup is lacking in manpower. It was also hard dealing with overly enthusiastic users captivated by my appearance. I couldn’t keep calling the administrator every time.

And the temperature in this area had slightly risen.

After defeating the owner of the ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land,’ the cold air emanating from there had disappeared.

Other users probably wouldn’t notice this. I was the only one who sensed this, as I was sensitive to temperature changes.

This region would gradually find a temperature suited to its latitude.

Although the snow might not completely melt, at least it would regain a livable environment.

During my exploration of this area, I learned something.

Apparently, about a hundred years ago, there were quite a few villages in this area.

In fact, I could see ruins of villages that had actual signs of human habitation.

But currently, the only village where people live in this area is ‘Balos.’ They were the only ones who didn’t abandon their hometown in the harsh environment.

The source of the cold isn’t just the ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land.’

There’s coldness that permeates the entire snowy mountain region. Or rather, there’s magical energy in the form of coldness.

How many more elite dungeons will I have to cross to fully erase this magical energy?

And here, can I also discover traces of my companions?

Step step.

I left small footprints in the snow as I set off toward the second phase of the ‘Frozen Land’ adventure.

---