Episode 114
114. The City of Ice
“This place is… Prelia?”
golden hand muttered blankly.
prelia, the northern trade city.
Living up to its reputation, the entire city was adorned with transparent ice and blue crystals. The buildings looked as if they had been carved from massive gemstones—intricate and flawless—and even each streetlamp bore signs of meticulous craftsmanship.
Bathed in sunlight, the city sparkled brilliantly, like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
But that beauty didn’t last long.
Figures wandering throughout the streets of the city disrupted golden hand admiration.
Grrrrr…
Kieeeeek…
Kikekekek!
Corpses staggered about, flesh torn away to reveal bare bones. Ghosts floated through the air, their blue eyes glowing ominously.
The beautiful crystal city had become a playground for the dead.
‘So it’s… not a safe zone.’
In Lepion, cities were supposed to be safe zones by default.
But prelia was different.
Just like an ordinary field—
It had become a combat-enabled area.
“Ugh… look at that! It’s disgusting! This is exactly why I didn’t want to come here!”
Lepion prided itself on extreme realism.
Unfortunately, that realism extended to monsters whose bodies were rotting, crawling with maggots, rendered with horrifying accuracy.
It was only natural that Ma Jincheol recoiled in disgust.
Golden Hand’s, however, reacted differently.
He simply surveyed the city with an indifferent expression.
To someone who had lived through the Age of Ruin, this level of horror was hardly surprising.
In fact, he had witnessed hells far worse than this.
‘Compared to back then… this is pretty tame.’
Back then, entire cities burned, the stench of rotting corpses filled the air, and even the sky itself was dyed blood-red.
Compared to that, this place almost looked clean.
golden hand calmly activated a skill.
‘Perception of Vigilance.’
Paat—
A translucent map unfolded before Geumson’s eyes.
Red dots blanketed the entire city.
It was reminiscent of the monster waves that had once engulfed Airtoss’s.
‘There are… more than I expected.’
An undead force that rivaled the city’s original population.
But more than the sheer number of red dots, something else caught golden hand’s attention.
“…What is this?”
Amid the sea of red dots—
Faint, but unmistakable, blue dots flickered into view.
Their meaning was obvious.
‘Don’t tell me… there are survivors?’
Golden Hand’s heart began to pound.
Blue dots indicated non-hostile targets—NPCs or players.
Despite the city having fallen long ago, it meant there were still people alive.
‘We have to… save them.’
Memories from the past flashed through Geumson’s mind.
People trapped beneath collapsed rubble, trembling in fear, desperately waiting for rescue.
Eyes filled with longing.
Voices crying out—please, someone, anyone…
Back then, he hadn’t been able to save them.
Too weak. Too late. Too many excuses.
In the end, countless lives had slipped through his fingers.
The bitterness and regret resurfaced naturally.
This wasn’t the Age of Ruin.
But to golden hand—
To him alone—
Those blue dots meant something more.
“Mr. Jincheol, we need to save them.”
“People? What people? Look around! You think there’s anyone left here—”
“There are. So we need to move, now.”
golden hand words were clipped, as if dragged out of old memories.
Ma Jincheol, however, was focused on stopping him, clutching at his clothes.
“Hey, hey! You’re really going in there? Into that? You don’t see all those undead?”
“Exactly why we have to go.”
“With just the two of us? Are you insane? Call the Crown Prince! Look at those numbers! How are we supposed to get through that?”
Ma Jincheol wasn’t a fighter.
But even a veteran warrior would’ve said the same.
It was a hopeless battle. A pointless death.
He wanted to turn back immediately.
But Geumson knew the easiest way to persuade him.
“Uncle, don’t you want a skill?”
“A-a skill? Of course I do, but—”
“If the Crown Prince interferes, the quest fails. You want that?”
Ma Jinchul hesitated.
golden hand drove the point home.
“You do what you’re best at. I’ll do what I’m best at.”
“What I’m… best at?”
“Put up ice walls. Strong enough that those undead can’t interfere.”
Ma Jincheol’s jaw dropped.
Was this kid out of his mind?
Building ice walls in the middle of an undead army was the same as isolating themselves.
But Geumson trusted him.
No—he trusted the power Ma Jincheol had displayed during the Age of Ruin.
More than Ma Jincheol trusted himself.
“We can’t fight them all at once. So we make sure they can’t come all at once.”
“H-how exactly…?”
“Block everything except one spot. Like a gourd—narrow entrance, wide inside. I’ll wipe out everything that squeezes through.”
Ma Jincheol froze.
Bottlenecking.
Restricting enemy movement, forcing collisions, causing self-destruction.
It was the core principle of maze design—his specialty.
‘That’s… the core of my designs. There’s no way he knows this by coincidence.’
A chill ran down his spine.
“Ha… seriously, you little monster…”
He sighed deeply.
There was no backing out now.
Designing mazes was what he did best.
This was a matter of pride.
And more than that—
He didn’t want to disappoint someone who trusted him so completely.
“Fine! Fine! If we die, we die! I’ll trust you just this once!”
“You won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“That confidence won’t last long. Don’t underestimate tireless undead.”
As if finally finding some peace of mind, Geumson nodded.
Ma Jincheol pulled out his blueprints and scanned the city terrain.
“Alright… block there and there… this side becomes the funnel…”
His eyes changed.
The cowardly Ma Jincheol vanished.
In his place stood the genius labyrinth architect.
He raised his hand.
Icy cold burst from his fingertips.
Rumble—
Craaaash—
The ground shook as massive pillars of ice erupted throughout Frelia.
BOOOOM!
The pillars linked together, forming colossal walls that sealed off the city—
Leaving behind only one narrow passage, exactly as golden hand had specified.
“Grrr?”
“Kieeek!”
The undead wavered in confusion.
But as creatures under the witch’s control, they quickly identified the intruders and charged like an army.
“Th-they’re coming! What are you doing? Get ready to fight—!”
Unlike the panicking Ma Jincheol, Geumson didn’t prepare for battle.
Instead, he pulled a small vial from his chest.
“What’s that—”
Drip.
A thick, dark-red liquid fell onto the ground.
Then another drop.
Drip.
In that instant, every red dot on golden hand’s map surged toward the ice walls.
“Are you insane?! That’s Beast Lure Incense!”
As the undead went berserk, Ma Jincheol recognized it.
The item had become infamous after the Airtoss defense.
But Geumson remained calm.
“Beast Lure Incense wasn’t made for stupid tricks like Airtoss.”
“This is how it’s supposed to be used.”
The undead changed.
No longer moving like a disciplined army, they reverted to raw instinct.
They tore into one another in blind frenzy, friend and foe indistinguishable.
“Oh? Then this means—”
Golden Hand’s first step:
Break the witch’s control.
And it worked.
But this was only the beginning.
“You warned me about tireless undead, right, Uncle?”
Geumson smiled faintly.
“I have one too. A tireless weapon of war.”
Thump—thump—thump—
The Iron Walker charged forward, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
It blocked the narrow ice corridor completely with its massive frame.
“Walker, wipe them out.”
“WOOOORKER! BUUURN! BUUURN! DESTROOOOY!”
Fwoooooosh—!
The Iron Walker’s flamethrower roared to life.
