Dokkaebis were monsters ranked somewhere in between low and mid rank.
Although they weren’t generally strong, there were certain tribes that definitely stood out among them.
This was especially true for dokkaebis with horns who were known as ‘kings’.
And depending on their characteristic, their appearance differed.
You could differentiate them simply by looking at their hair color, for example, ice dokkaebis had white hair like Muyoung.
Muyoung found the area where the ice dokkaebis were gathered.
‘The numbers are small.’
At most, maybe 5,000 dokkaebis?
They only had half the numbers of others.
“A-oom! A-hoom! A-oom! A-hoom!”
As if they had already practiced the chant, all the dokkaebis were shouting in unison.
When Muyoung approached them, unlike before, no one stopped him.
Except, there were some groups that looked at him in wonder.
“Why did he come alone?”
“Is he a wandering king?”
Usually, dokkaebi kings had few tens to few hundreds of dokkaebis in their group.
Muyoung couldn’t help but stand out as he was alone.
However, there were no enemies. If anything, it was the opposite.
Since the number of ice dokkaebis was small in number, they would be glad to increase their number even by one.
Muyoung pondered for a moment.
‘Advent of Oom. Advent meant that he would return. There was a high possibility that Oom was a dokkaebi with an important status.’
First, he needed to understand this ceremony.
That way it would be possible to search for Hedley’s Kow at this place without raising any suspicions.
“Have you seen Oom before?”
The horned dokkaebi right next to him gave him a questioning look and spoke.
“Oom’s position was vacant for 1,000 years.”
Ahh.
Muyoung inwardly nodded his head.
Oom didn’t mean a figure but a position.
But for 1,000 years.
It seemed like they were planning to decide their true leader at this place.
He dug a bit deeper.
“Then… who do you think will take this Oom’s position from this ceremony?”
“Well, of course, it’s going to be ‘Seohan’. He’s the true ruler who rules over 3,000 ice dokkaebis. Did you come here after living near the border?”
Seohan.
Muyoung slightly turned his gaze.
There was a dokkaebi who stood out more than the rest.
A dokkaebi whose skin was completely blue was receiving many gazes of confidence from others.
‘He looks more like a yaksa than a dokkaebi.’
Yaksa. They were species known as duaxini which were, in reality, evolved dokkaebis.
Muyoung only heard of them before, this was his first time seeing one.
And there were at least 5 more duaxini present.
Muyoung retracted his gaze and answered coolly.
“You’re right. That’s why I don’t know much about this ceremony.”
The dokkaebi clicked his tongue.
Fortunately, he wasn’t suspicious any longer and continued to speak.
“A black star ‘Hoom’ will fall from the sky and a trial will start and every dokkaebi will be able to challenge the position of ‘Oom’. However, this time, things are going to be difficult as there is Seohan.”
A completely boastful expression.
That meant that he had that much confidence in Seohan.
‘A black star was going to fall from the sky?’
He couldn’t imagine it very well.
However, it seemed like they were being non-aggressive until the black star fell.
He was now able to understand why the fire dokkaebi was completely furious.
“Thank you for your explanation. My name is Muyoung.”
“I’m Gaon. Gaon, the one that leads the ‘Freezing Land’ tribe. It seems like you’re just a wandering king, don’t do anything pointless and it would best for you to help Seohan.”
The two held hands.
However, Muyoung didn’t really pay attention to Gaon’s words.
‘If it’s a duaxini, he would have already led many tribes for a long time. So, Hedley’s Kow wouldn’t have turned into a duaxini. It must be one of the dokkaebis who had just joined.’
First, he removed Seohan and other duaxini from his radar.
However, he couldn’t easily ask this part.
If he was unlucky, Hedley’s Kow might become aware that someone was searching for it. The worst conclusion.
‘A dokkaebi who joined recently. A duaxini would know.’
Muyoung’s eyes clouded.
Although duaxinis were now removed from his list of suspicions, on the other hand, duaxinis would know.
Which dokkaebis recently joined and followed them.
The most certain way was to ask them.
However, he couldn’t do that now.
He stood out too much and if he made the wrong move, he could seem suspicious.
After the trial starts.
It seemed better to approach them at a better timing.
The ceremony continued for few days.
The energy within the Soul Mountains became thicker each day and during this time, everyone focused on singing the ‘A-oom! A-oom!’ song.
Exactly after seven days since Muyoung joined them.
Thump-!
From the sky, the ‘Hoom’ fell.
Hoom. The black star which brought the trial. A device to find out who the true Oom was!
However, there wasn’t just one Hoom.
There were two black stars that fell from the sky.
“It’s strange. It said in the prophecy that only one would fall.”
Gaon tilted his head.
“A prophecy can’t always be completely correct.”
Muyoung was certain.
There were many times when these things called prophecies were very vague.
No, there were more times when they were wrong.
This was because prophecies were received through ‘Descent of G.o.d’.
It literally meant that G.o.d came down upon a living being and it was impossible for that living being to listen properly.
There was a high chance that through this process, information became distorted or bloated up.
“Either way… It has now started.”
Gaon led his 50 tribe members and joined them.
Of course, Seohan the duaxini stood in the very front.
It was the same for other types of dokkaebis.
Two stars that fell in the middle of the mountains.
However, it was more precise to call it a meteor than a star.
Although it was interesting that there was no real impact from the meteors, the two meteors were gathered at the top of a mountain.
And there was a large gap between the two meteors.
“Muyoung, what are you going to do? To be honest, wandering kings are free. We can’t force you.”
Since he had no group to lead, he also had no responsibilities.
However, Muyoung looked a bit confident.
“Let’s follow.”
“Good, Muyoung. Then, follow me. You are a guest of our Freezing Land tribe.”
Even though he said to follow him, it was the same as following Seohan.
At the very front, leaders including Seohan discussed.
And depending on their choice, they entered through the gap of the ‘Hooms’.
It was the same for Muyoung and messages appeared right as he entered.
‘Endless Battlefield?’
Muyoung’s eyebrows twitched.
There weren’t many entrances to the Endless Battlefield. It hadn’t been long but it was the second time he had entered.
First, it was through the huge marble the fire tars had.
And now it was through the black stars the dokkaebis called ‘Hooms’.
‘Ha.’
He looked at his left shoulder.
The number 18 was written on it.
It meant that he had cleared the 18th wave before and the number would change when he produced a new record.
‘So the trial of Hoom meant the Endless Battlefield.’
He couldn’t be certain.
Two Hooms had fallen onto the ground.
The other one could be an entirely different trial.
‘But was it possible for this many people to enter the Endless Battlefield?’
Muyoung looked around.
A number a bit over 30,000.
It was the final number of dokkaebis who decided to enter here.
It was small compared to the total number but a number that couldn’t be considered small were gathered here.
However, from Muyoung’s understanding, normal Endless Battlefields could only be entered by one person at a time.
‘Even though it’s different, the content is the same.’
He never heard of an Endless Battlefield where a great number could enter at once.
It seemed to be a special version of the Endless Battlefield.
However, the very context of the Endless Battlefield didn’t change.
“Though I have heard that this was a place where you fight until you die. Just what is this place?”
As Gaon mumbled to himself in confusion, Muyoung replied in a pa.s.sing tone.
“Soon, they will come out.”
“…? Muyoung, do you know something?”
“They’re out.”
<2,500 goblins.="">
A vast plain.
From a distance, 2,500 goblins were approaching.
And Seohan was the first to run towards the 2,500 goblins.
Clash!
He jumped up high and charged towards the middle of the group of goblins.
Afterwards, the ground started to shake as he struck the ground.
Duaxini. It was the strength only an evolved dokkaebi would have.
“For the Trial of Hoom to be merely killing goblins.”
Gaon spoke as if he was greatly disappointed.
It seemed like he had some kind of fantasy about the black star, Hoom.
But, as he wasn’t a human with a Status Viewer, he wasn’t able to read the messages.
All the dokkaebis were unable to see the information about the trial that Muyoung had seen.
Therefore, Muyoung gave them advice.
“This is not the end.”
Since he had already entered, he needed to see it to the end.
If it was 30,000 dokkaebis, he should be able to pa.s.s the 18th wave.
To do this, he couldn’t let his guard down.
“Hmph, even if you say so, they are mere goblins. Even if more appeared, they are no match for us. Either way, let’s move Muyoung. We can’t let Seohan clear them all.”
In number and strength, dokkaebis completely overpowered them.
2,500 goblins died in less than 20 minutes.
At the same time, the next wave started.
<2.000 war="" ants.="">
“This isn’t the end?”
Gaon who was intoxicated with a feeling of victory blinked his eyes.
Not just Gaon.
Even if it was lousy, a battlefield was still a battlefield.
Most of the dokkaebis were intoxicated with the feeling of victory.
Then, they were dumbfounded as they noticed other monsters approaching.
“It didn’t end.”
“What?”
“This battlefield doesn’t end.”
How many waves they clear, that wasn’t important.
Muyoung remembered the words that appeared when he first entered this place.
‘Only 350 can leave here alive.’
It was about 1% of the total number of dokkaebis who entered.
That meant, they had to continue to battle until there were only 350 left.
Muyoung looked towards the front.
They entered with the fire dokkaebis and they numbered around 10,000.
Like Seohan, the one leading them was also a duaxini.
Unless they were simply clearing the battlefield…
‘They will have to b.u.mp into each other.’
When they realized the nature of this battlefield, they would inevitably b.u.mp into each other.
The ice dokkaebis and the fire dokkaebis were on bad terms.
Even more, since they were greater in numbers, it was obvious who was going to attack first.
‘I need to prepare.’
Muyoung had strong suspicions that Hedley’s Kow would be with the fire dokkaebis.
Even the one who took the position as Oom a 1,000 years ago was also a fire dokkaebi.
The first time was hard, but the second time would be easier.
They would have more information than others.
In reality, unlike the other dokkaebis, the fire dokkaebis weren’t greatly swayed.
It meant that they were expecting this to a certain degree.
If it was aiming for something, it would obviously side with the fire dokkaebis.
That was why… Muyoung decided to silently prepare.
Either way, this battlefield wouldn’t end in just a few days.
There was enough time to slowly set traps.
Muyoung quietly walked towards a dead dokkaebi.
‘All goblins start off as spirits.’
Dokkaebis were normally monsters who started off as spirits.
This could be seen by how they normally followed the Five Elements and used powers of the land.
And the relationship with spirits and specters were quiet close. Since there were times you called corrupted spirits, specters.
Then he could definitely turn them into specters and use them.
‘Get up.’
Six Paths.
Among them, he opened Asura path and extracted the spirit.
Spirits started to float above the corpses of the dead dokkaebis and were sucked in Asura Path, one after the other.
And when Muyoung saw this, the tips of his lips started to wiggle.