I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 220: Episode 46_The Ice Castle Lord (2)

2.

He knew they were short on time, but that didn’t mean they could just charge straight into the Ice Castle without a plan. Seeing a glimmer of possibility was not the same thing as having certainty.

They needed time to prepare.

Both Kim Buja and Fly did.

And so, two weeks passed.

It was a long time, yet for those waiting, it went by in a flash, partly because other incidents kept blowing up every single day.

—At this rate, the world really might end.

—How is there some kind of disaster or incident every single day?

—Even without the Ice Castle, the dungeon break levels keep going up.

People went about their daily lives, and before they knew it, news broke that Fly was setting out to tackle the Ice Castle dungeon.

Expectations exploded.

—What is he so confident about, exactly?

—Let’s see what he’s got.

—He must’ve leveled up a ton, huh?

Most of the public’s interest was focused squarely on Kim Buja.

* * *

The path leading to the Ice Castle, which had been more crowded than ever when they were selling ‘tickets’ for entry, was now empty again, exuding a bleak, desolate atmosphere.

Scattered belongings and traces of what had once been there lay all over the place.

The sheer emptiness of it all, the utter lack of human presence, created a scene that sent a chill down the spines of anyone who saw it.

’Can we really pull this off?’

’Are we just going to follow in the footsteps of the ones who vanished first?’

However, there was no one in the Fly Guild who was trembling with that kind of fear.

They simply held a strategy meeting.

Then they advanced.

They marched forward without hesitation, their confident strides showing they were prepared for any threat that might pop out at any time.

If they ran into the Ice Castle Lord in this state, it felt like the fight might be decided right then and there.

But the blizzard did not blow.

The ‘Random Inspection’ that had swept away players without warning had come and gone, but the Ice Castle itself had not changed since then.

No, maybe nothing had changed from the very beginning.

It was a trial given to the first players. If you passed it, you were allowed to enter the Ice Castle, and once inside, you were given the chance to challenge the Ice Castle Lord.

While you were in the Ice Castle, another ‘Random Inspection’ would occasionally occur if you met certain conditions—or sometimes with no conditions at all.

If that was one of the rules of the Ice Castle, then in truth, the other players had no reason to be scared and leave. As long as they complied with the entry conditions, they would suffer no harm.

In fact, when they entered the Ice Castle, they saw that a few players were hunting inside, though not many.

The world was acting like just stepping into the Ice Castle was a death sentence, and the mood was grim. But seeing rankers using the situation as an opportunity to hunt made it clear that top players really were built differently.

Of course, the Fly Guild was no different.

“We’ll set up camp and get started.”

The Ice Castle Lord.

They began their wait to meet her again, just as the other players had.

3.

—Why are they just hunting after going in to raid the Ice Castle Lord?

People watching the live broadcast in real time couldn’t help but be confused.

It had been two whole weeks.

In a situation where no one knew what was happening to the players captured by the Ice Castle Lord, they had already spent two weeks just preparing. Now, instead of going straight to fight the Ice Castle Lord—or even heading near her room—they were only hunting in the Ice Castle. Of course people were going to react that way.

—They’re probably all dead by now.

—Even if they kill the Ice Castle Lord, what’s the point if everyone she captured is already dead?

Naturally, those who were worried about the players whose fates were unknown couldn’t help but grow impatient.

Even so, the Fly Guild continued to hunt steadily.

The viewers’ anxiety was drowned out, not by any direct answer, but by other viewers pushing back.

—They went there to raid the Ice Castle Lord. Did they say they were going to rescue other players?

—They must have a plan if they’re doing it this way.

—If you want to save them so badly, you go. You should be grateful they’re even saving those freeloaders on the side.

Most people understood.

An 8-star dungeon.

The time needed to clear a place like that could easily be more than a few months.

The fact that they even had the chance to gather information in advance and then go back to prepare was a blessing in itself.

That was the why, even though it was a dungeon of a higher level, people couldn’t help thinking that if anyone could actually clear it, it would be Fly.

And they were watching that dungeon raid in real time.

If it had been an instanced dungeon where the party disappeared inside, this situation would have been unimaginable.

People slept, ate, and breathed alongside the Fly Guild.

A day passed, then two.

Time flowed on.

Among the many theories floating around, a fairly convincing guess about what the Fly Guild was aiming for emerged among the viewers.

—Are they waiting for the ‘Random Inspection’?

—Since they announced they’d attempt the raid after the next one, I think that’s where they found their answer.

—Is it even going to show up?

—Who knows? Nobody actually knows the exact conditions.

—It’s probably one of three things: a certain number of players below the entry requirement, a certain amount of time, or literally just random.

—Isn’t this too reckless of a wait?

—Whatever it is, they’re not really losing anything. Sure, the players waiting to be rescued must be losing their minds, but what can you do? It’s not like they can just sprint straight to the Ice Castle Lord’s room.

There was no official statement, but in reality, Fly’s strategy prioritized the ‘Random Inspection.’

“What if it doesn’t show up?”

Kim Buja had asked Fly that once, when Fly was explaining the plan.

If it didn’t appear.

They could come up with another plan, but at the end of the day, Kim Buja was just along for the ride. He could offer his opinion, but this was Fly’s raid, and Fly’s plan was what mattered most.

At the time, Fly had answered like this:

“We wait. Until it does.”

It was the simplest, dumbest, and most reliable method.

You could call it thoughtless stupidity, but in practice, it was the cleanest and safest option.

The waiting continued.

Before long, that patience paid off.

Whoooosh!

A howling blizzard began, and they braced themselves against the pure white storm that signaled the start of the main event.

It was the second ‘Random Inspection.’

Once again, no one knew what conditions had triggered it.

The important thing, however, was that it had appeared.

Fly had spoken about it calmly, but if it hadn’t shown up, he might have been agonizing over what to do next. Personal fame aside, it would have meant that everything he had prepared had gone to waste.

“Group up!”

At Fly’s shout, every guild member clustered tightly around him.

They packed in close, shoulder to shoulder, minimizing their overall footprint.

At the same time, a flame flared to life.

In this polar region of nothing but ice and frigid water, no one knew how that tiny spark had first taken root, but it quickly swelled into a massive fire that stood against the blizzard, trying to freeze everything.

It pushed back, wrapped around, and protected its master.

The blizzard hurled itself into the flames, desperate to defend its pride, but the fire did not go out.

This was a blizzard that had snuffed out and frozen countless other fires, yet it could not extinguish Fly’s flames, which burned like the infernal fires of hell itself.

Naturally, no one inside froze, even though they weren’t wearing any protective clothing.

’That’s insane.’

It was the first time Kim Buja had seen it from the inside, and even he was impressed.

Even with everyone huddled together, this was a spell that covered more than a hundred people. The mana consumption couldn’t possibly be low, and on top of that, it was a high-level skill that blocked a level 5 status effect spell.

Despite casting such a spell, Fly’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

The fact that he was planning to go on and raid the Ice Castle Lord after this meant that this was not even close to his full power.

He couldn’t help but be impressed.

It made sense that more than a hundred guild members would be willing to sacrifice themselves while looking only to him.

Kim Buja began his own preparations to fulfill the role assigned to him.

Everything would start once the target was in sight.

After about thirty seconds, the blizzard eased for a moment, and at last, the voice they had been waiting for rang out.

“Foolish humans. Even after my warning, you come here to die. Those without the qualifications have no right to enter the Ice Castle.”

The Ice Castle Lord spoke, not to them, but to somewhere else.

Her words, cast into the air as if they encompassed everything, were arrogant and brimming with confidence.

Crack!

A harsh sound rang out at the same time.

“You will receive only one warning. I already have enough challenges to keep me busy. The rest of you can die.”

Everyone knew what that meant.

Something had frozen, and the Ice Castle Lord had shattered it.

Despite the chaos, some players had accepted the one-time entry condition and came in. Judging by how many cracks they heard, it wasn’t just one or two.

Kim Buja glanced sideways at Fly.

Fly’s expression was calm, as if he had expected this. He showed no reaction at all, only watching for a single opening.

It made Kim Buja wonder, ’Could it be...?’

However, he didn’t voice his curiosity.

What mattered was what came next.

“Now.”

The low word he murmured was the signal for Kim Buja, who was standing right beside him.

Whoom!

Just as the blizzard surged violently once more, right before the Ice Castle Lord could vanish, a storm of mana was driven into the fray like a wedge.

The slender back of the Ice Castle Lord stiffened as she flinched at the mana storm, which was so fierce it even startled her.

When would she ever have felt this before?

The fear of a power strong enough to threaten her.

By the time she reacted, it was already too late.

When she turned her head, a blazing torrent of flame hot enough to burn everything to ash was already crashing down on her back.

No matter how powerful the Ice Castle Lord was, if she took that head-on, she would not walk away unscathed.

Foooosh!

The flames swallowed the Ice Castle Lord whole.

The blizzard thrashed wildly for a moment, but it didn’t feel threatening.

Anyone could see it, anyone could feel it: this was the sensation of something collapsing.

“We got her!”

“Everyone, attack!”

The Fly Guild members didn’t just cheer.

They were not extras standing around next to Fly.

Besides, the Ice Castle Lord was a boss monster in the high 80s. They had to be prepared for any and all contingencies, and it would not be too late to celebrate after they saw her corpse.

All kinds of attacks poured in through the wall of flame, striking the Ice Castle Lord.

Even when it felt like it should be enough, they didn’t stop.

Not until the flames died down naturally.

Not until Fly’s mana was completely spent.

They poured everything they had into that single chance, that glimpse of hope.

Fly fell silent, his brow furrowing.

“Once again, it’s you.”

Her hair was a tangled mess, and her dress was burned.

Anyone could see she had taken heavy damage, but she was not dead.

Her eyes were full of curiosity, but there was even more rage in them, and the blizzard that surged around her again made her mood crystal clear.

“Damn.”

It might have looked like a game, but this world was reality.

The Ice Castle Lord was not an AI; she was an intelligent lifeform.

Just as Fly had taken note of the opening he had seen last time, the Ice Castle Lord had also become wary.

“You’re quite something. I accept your challenge.”

A blizzard far more violent than before crashed down over where Fly stood.

He hurriedly summoned his flames again, but they didn’t burn as fiercely as they had at first.

His mana was running low.

The blizzard had grown stronger.

Within the dying fire, Fly and the Ice Castle Lord locked eyes.

And the Ice Castle Lord saw it.

A smile that only deepened as the flames went out.

Yet mixed into that smile was a hint of bitterness.

She couldn’t hear the words he muttered under his breath, but she could read them on his lips.

“Tch, lost again, huh?”

’What does he mean by that?’

The moment she wondered—

Thud!

A sharp, icy chill pierced her heart.

* * *