Chapter 120 – Battle (2)

<You have bet the minimum points of 10,000.>

He wanted to bet only 10%, but the minimum he could bet was 10,000.

<The opponent has bet his Dungeon. Would you like to include ‘Seoul Station’s 1st Exit’ to the bet?>

“No.”

He couldn’t put his Dungeon on the line in an uncertain battle. When Woojin refused that bet, his opponent tried to make several more bets. The opponent tried to bet for other items, equipments, even main buildings in his Domain. However, he rejected them all.

<The Dimensional Battle with 10,000 points on the line is starting.>

In the end, the battle started with the most basic 10,000 points on the line.

Woojin sat on his throne. He was laid back as he viewed the Dimensional Battle.

He only had a brief amount of time but he was able to build military facilities and supply depots inside his Domain. Thus, it was possible to use those building inside the Dimensional Battle.

Bibi had studied as best as she could with the book. She substantially increased the size of her camp and expanded the troops under her. However, the control she had over the battle was where she was lacking compared to her opponent. She was holding on for now, but defeat seemed inevitable.

He felt sorry for Bibi, but he had seen enough. Woojin pulled up the information regarding the opposing lord.

“He’s a Troll.”

One could watch the opposing lord’s stratagem to get a general feel for his tendencies. However, one couldn’t get any information regarding the lord’s personal power or combat power.

The Dimensional Battle wasn’t about the lord’s strength. It was about the power of one’s Domain, and the Domain was competing against each other.

The only information known was the opponent’s race, name, and ranking.

Woojin knew this lord was 1 ranking below him. However, the difference of several points could change one’s ranking by several dozen spots, therefore the lower ranking didn’t mean much in actuality.

Woojin’s personal powers were on par with the 72 Thrones. Still, powerful lords might exist below the top 3,000 ranking. He wouldn’t know it until he faced them.

<You’ve lost the Dimensional Battle.>

<You lost 10,000 points.>

<Comode will start the Victor’s Claim. The Domain’s Storage Room is being looted.>

<You’ve lost a Reinforcement Stone. You’ve lost Ranick’s Leather….>

“Huh. Would you look at this son of a bitch?”

This was the Victor’s Claim that occurred when one won the Dimensional Battle.

Comode didn’t know what he was looting, but he continued to loot the Domain’s Storage Room.

The Domain’s Storage Room was like Woojin’s Inventory. He lost several ingredients, and several worthless items was included in the loot as well. It seemed the loot was chosen at random.

If he was unlucky, he might have lost a rare item.

“I’ll have to take it out beforehand.”

If he lost something like the Dragon’s Heart, how much regret would he have felt? Woojin had stolen it from Rashmode, of course, but he would still have felt the loss.

“I’ll loot two times what I lost.”

While he was checking the looted items, Bibi regained her senses. She had been sitting on the Commander’s Seat and her unfocused eyes came into focus. Then her eyes started to moisten, followed by tears.

“Ooh-ahhhng, master.”

Bibi suddenly stood up and hugged Woojin.

It wasn’t as bad as experiencing death where she felt futility among other terrible things. Still, it didn’t feel good to lose. Woojin didn’t want to feel the dirty feeling of losing, so Bibi had substituted for Woojin in the Dimensional Battle.

“It’s all right.”

“Hoo-ehhng.”

Bibi really wanted to win, yet she had lost. Her tears kept falling from the indignation. Woojin mussed up her hair.

“Stop crying.”

“Hoo-oohk, hook.”

Bibi sniffed as she stopped her tears. She then spoke quietly.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to win….”

“It’s all right if you lose.”

“Heeeng. Still…”

“Anyways, I plan on getting my revenge.”

At Woojin’s word, Bibi wiped her tears with her sleeve and pouted.

“Please beat that bastard for me.”

“I will.”

Woojin pinched Bibi’s cheek and sat down on his Throne.

<You have requested a Duel with Comode.>

<The Loser’s Revenge will be initiated.>

Woojin’s body disappeared as he was summoned to the battlefield.

***

“Goo-haha.”

Comode broke out into an uproarious laughter.

“At least, he has some knowledge about this.”

Alandal’s lord Kahng-woojin had put forth a poor strategist to substitute for him. He probably thought he was using someone proficient at the Dimensional Battle, but the strategist wasn’t a match for Comode.

Those who were great at Dimensional Battles were expensive to hire.

The high rank lords all kept a strategist, but they were low ranking lords in the 4 digits. Of course, low ranking lords didn’t have good strategists.

Either the strategist was a swindler or the being probably had a mediocre winning rate.

Since Kahng-woojin had sent forth a useless strategist, he won the Dimensional Battle easily.

“Goo-hoohoo. This is why I like beginners.”

The chance of winning against beginners was always good. It was too bad that Kahng-woojin was a lord with a timid personality. He had bet the lowest amount of points possible. The 10 thousand points was less than the reward for the victory.

On top of it all, the items he looted weren’t that rare. It was unfortunate, but he didn’t particularly care right now. It had been awhile since he had won, so he was in a good mood. Moreover, one happy event happened after another.

<Kahng-woojin has requested a Duel.>

“Huh? Goo-hahaha. This is why I love beginners.”

Since he had lost, he should have just accepted the loss. He should have pulled himself together inside his Domain for the next 12 days. This human was attacking him out of pure ignorance. Comode was thankful.

“You dare to go up against Comode-nim. Koo-koo-koohk.”

Every lord’s personality was different.

There were those who had weak personal powers but were great at stratagem. This allowed them to occupy the high ranks through the Dimensional Battle. However, there were also those who were the opposite of the former.

Commode was more confident in his own power than his skill in the Dimensional Battle. He was a great chief who had been in competition to become the Troll King. His combat power was naturally not low.

If he was able to acquire a decent strategist, Comode was confident he would be able reach the three digit number in ranking.

Normally, lords didn’t like to duel. There were too many variables. The benefit was large, but at the same time, the risk was large too.

If the Dimensional Battle was a chess match, the Duel was basically a wrestling match.

There were some lords who liked Duels more than the Dimensional Battle, but they were few in number.

“Goo-hoohoo. This time I’ll take him for all he is worth.”

It seemed Kahng-woojin wanted his revenge. He probably requested the Duel through sheer ignorance. Of course, this was a mistake.

Comode’s body suddenly disappeared and he was summoned to the battlefield.

***

Woojin was summoned to a land covered with ice.

<If victorious, you can carry out the the Victor’s Claim and the Revenger’s Punishment.>

<If you lose, you will experience death. You will be revived after 12 days.>

If one listened to the Announcement, one could understand why Dimensional lords preferred Dimensional Battles over Duels.

“This is why they don’t like doing this.”

If one loses a Duel, one experiences death. If one was revived after 12 days, one would lose the time needed to prepare one’s Domain for the next Dimensional Battle. After revival, one would have to immediately accept another Dimensional Battle.

One’s life was on the line, so it was easy to see why they were hesitant to do this. This was why they insisted on using their underlings through the Dimensional Battle.

“This is laughable.”

Woojin had killed Rashmode and Juliel, but they were revived.

Did those bastards also lose sleep trying to decide if they should put their life on the Dimensional Battles?

They probably did.

If they were all on the same side, Alphen would have been taken over in an instant. The planet was merely being used as a hunting ground to gather Energy.

Now that he was a Dimensional lord he was able to feel it.

He realized how frustrating these rules were.

There must be something at the end of the rank. He didn’t know what it was, but it was something all the lords wanted.

If he diligently progressed in his Dimensional Battle, would he then raise his rank?

“The board was very poorly made.”

He had fought desperately for his survival, but now he felt as if he was a fish in a bowl.

He was angry.

This was an elaborate and frustrating league setup only for them…

Moreover, it felt as if he was on the starting line. It didn’t feel great for him.

“I’ll fuck it up.”

His personality didn’t allow him to meekly follow the rule.

He’ll break it all into pieces.

He was the god of destruction’s champion.

Woojin stepped onto a land surrounded by glaciers, after which the Troll chief Comode appeared in front of him.

“Goo-hoohoo. I’ll make an offer, new lord.”

“……?”

Woojin tilted his head in puzzlement when he saw the unusually happy Troll.

“It would suck if treasure wasn’t included in a bloody fight. Since this is a fight between males, how about we bet a Dungeon on this?”

What the hell? What was up with this pushover?

When Woojin didn’t answer him, Comode started intentionally provoking him.

“Woah. Are you perhaps worried about losing? You can’t reach the high ranks with that kind of mentality.”

Woojin smirked as he opened his mouth.

“All right. I’ll bet my Dungeon. In fact, let’s increase the stakes.”

“Huh? Really? Goo-hahaha. You are quite open-minded. How about we bet an additional 20 thousand points?”

“All right.”

When Woojin easily accepted the deal, Comode let out a wicked laugh inside. This idiot’s brave spirit would cause him to lose his Domain soon. It was obvious he would become a refugee soon.

‘Goo-hoohoo. I’ve come across the right pushover.’

Comode was filled with anticipation as he bet his Dungeon.

<You have bet Planet Earth’s ‘Seoul Station’s 1st Exit’.>

<You have bet Planet Jaku’s ‘Necia’s Pillar’.>

‘It would have been great if the Dungeon was located on Planet Alphen.’

Woojin soothed his frustration inside.

It wouldn’t be an easy task to meet a lord with a Dungeon on Planet Alphen. It might be faster to earn a Dimensional Fragment and purchase an empty Dungeon on Alphen.

“Goo-haha. You rookie bastard! Shall we start the Duel?”

Comode mocked Kahng-woojin who had fallen for Comode’s provocations and bet his Dungeon. He grabbed the empty air, bringing out a club with long thorns attached to it.

Boohng, boohng.

He was a weak being from the human race.

He was an evolved Troll. The noob lord’s height only reached his waist and he probably didn’t have much experience in fighting.

“Stupid noob bastard. It is too late to regret this. Goo-haha.”

Koohng, koohng.

The frozen land let out a cry each time Comode’s foot landed, and fragments of ice was thrown into the surrounding.

Woojin let out a bloody smile as he watched Comode brainlessly run straight at him.

“I’m guessing there aren’t many pushovers like him.”

<Lv 54 Comode, Lord of the Swamps>

If all lords was like Comode, he would easily reach the upper ranks.

Woojin took out his Steel Staff. As soon as it was summoned, he changed it into a hammer. Then he swung it towards Comode’s club.

Kwahhhng!

“Goo-oohk.”

The human’s height reached Comode’s waist, but he was surprisingly strong.

‘This human from earth has great combat powers.’

However, Comode used to be a chief who had led a tribe!

His strength couldn’t be compared to a normal human.

Booooohng, kwahng!

Unfortunately, it was an overreach to call Woojin a normal human.

“Goo-uh-uhk.”

Woojin dodged the club and swung his hammer at Comode’s knee. The large being swayed. As Comode fell to the floor, the shape of the weapon immediately morphed into an axe, with which Woojini brought down.

Kwah-jeek!

“Gwuhhhhhng!”

Even through his pain, Comode swung his club towards Woojin, but the Spirit Armor formed near his head. The club bounced off.

Too-ahng!

The club was sent flying by the recoil and Woojin’s axe came down on Comode’s shoulder.

“Goo-uhhhhk! W…wait a moment.”

Comode’s eyes were rolled back as if he was already losing consciousness. He yelled out but Woojin’s axe strike didn’t slow at all as it struck Comode’s neck.

Kwah-jahk!

“Trolls are a bit tenacious.”

When fighting a troll, one shouldn’t even think about a protracted battle. They had monstrous amount of stamina and regeneration ability…

Trolls could recover from critical wounds in moments. It was best to kill it as fast as possible.

<Level Up!>

Comode’s corpse disappeared as it changed into gray light. Woojin let out a bitter laugh.

“I’m really happy with the amount of EXP.”

Was it because he was a Dimensional Lord? The Troll’s level was pathetic, but it gave him a lot of EXP.

<You’ve won in the Duel against Comode.>

<You’ve succeeded in your revenge.>

“Shall I loot now?”

It had been a long while since Woojin had reverted to being the Immortal.