Chapter 118 - Mock Battle

Zzahhng.

Woojin grabbed the back of Melody's neck after she passed through the Return Portal.

“Ooh-oohk.”

She felt her neck being choked. The sudden change in her situation made Melody look back at Woojin with trembling eyes. He was glaring at her with indifferent eyes.

“Whose vassal are you?”

“P...Please Immortal...”

Melody looked at Woojin with frightened eyes. His indifferent and emotionless eyes was the gaze of the Immortal, whom she knew well. She couldn't read a single iota of emotion from his eyes. She couldn't look into his eyes.

“Speak.”

Melody’s neck was being squeeze, so it was hard for her to even breathe.

“It...it isn't like that. I'm also a Dimensional lord.”

Woojin let go of her neck.

“Huh-ook. Huhk.”

Melody was breathing hard. The Immortal has shown his killing intent for a brief, but the mental pressure she felt left her exhausted.

“So you aren't a vassal of some other Dimensional Lord?”

“Yes.”

“Then how did you come through the Dungeon?”

Melody was from the Planet Alphen. She had used a Dungeon that acted as a tunnel connecting the planet to the Dimensional Domain.

She had been inside a Dungeon, yet she hadn't been harmed by the monsters.

This was why Woojin guessed that she was a vassal of the Dungeon's owner.

“I used to have a Dimensional Domain.”

“Used to? How about now?”

“It was taken away from me.”

Woojin's forehead furrowed. It seemed this story will be long. Woojin sat on his throne.

“Tell me everything.”

“I came to earth...”

The alliance forces of Planet Alphen was able to acquire 3 Dimensional Fragments after numerous warrior's sacrifices. After the Dimensional Fragments combined to form the Dimensional Proof, Melody received divine word from her goddess and she had headed towards a Dungeon.

It was an ownerless Dungeon, and the Synchronization Rate was a match with her. She became a Dimensional Lord.

At that point, she needed one more Dimensional Fragment to gain access to a Dungeon on Earth. However, during the 30 day Protection Period, she wasn't able to prepare her Domain properly. She was overwhelmed by the continuous Dimensional Battles that followed.

The cost of defeat was huge.

The Dungeon entrance into Alphen was snatched away from her.

Melody was trapped in her Dimensional Domain. She could either continue the Dimensional Battle to take back her Dungeon or she needed to gain another Dimensional Fragment. Those were the only two choices.

However, she wasn't talented at managing her Domain. Her Dimensional Domain started to deteriorate and her Ranking plummeted.

If events continued as it had, she wouldn't be able to return to her homeland of Alphen. She was in danger of becoming a Dimensional refugee, so she once again asked for divine guidance.

‘There is a savior on earth.’

Melody put her full trust in the divine guidance, so she broke apart the Dimensional Proof. She voluntarily gave up her role as the Dimensional lord. It took 3 to create the Dimensional Proof, but only two were returned when dismantled.

Melody used one Fragment to buy a Dungeon in the Dimensional Store.

She wasn't a Dimensional lord any more, but she joined the ranks of the Dungeon owners. She had thrown away her Dimensional Domain to be able to come to a earth, which was in a different dimension.

Her purchase of the Dungeon had reset the subway station in the US, and the first one to find her was the Titan Guild.

“Hmm.”

After listening to her words, Woojin nudged his Dimensional Proof.

<If destroyed, you can earn (2) Dimensional Fragments.>

<Your rank will be demoted from ‘Lord’ to ‘Free Citizen’.>

Melody had kept her head down respectfully after she had concluded her words.

He looked at her. At the very least, the story meant she wasn't a vassal of a different Dimensional lord.

“All right. I'll withdraw my suspicion.”

“I'm thankful that you inquired about the truth.”

Woojin found out something new. It was about the first Boss monster that showed up when the Dungeon Reset happened.

‘So they are the Dungeon owners.’

If they were able to defend the Dungeon for 30 days, they were allowed to come out to the qualified Dimension. This was what the people of earth had called Dungeon Break.

The scary thing about the Dimensional lords was that they could ignore the 30 day wait period. They could send out the monsters at any time.

To be more precise, the Dimensional lord could allow the beings living in the Domain to hunt. It wasn’t always monsters being sent out.

“With all due respect… The Domain's defense has to be strong, my king.”

“Kiba is here, and I have the Undead army. It should be enough.”

Woojin had the confidence that he could repel any invading force. However, Melody shook her head with a worried expression on her face.

“After the Protection period passess, you will be bombarded with requests for Dimensional Battle... When that happens, you won't be able to use your Undead army.”

“……?”

Woojin looked at her with a face full of questions. Melody continued to speak.

“The current defense you have is only for the visitors.”

When fighting against other lords, the battle happened in a different Domain. The normal defense of the Domain couldn’t be used.

When fighting enemies who passed through the Dungeon, the lord could use every single force available to him. Moreover, the lord's personal abilities could be used. However, the rules were a little bit different in a Dimensional Battle.

“It is like chess.”

In the beginning, Melody also didn't realize what was going on. In her confusion, she had lost her domain and Domain Energy bit by bit. Melody was worried Woojin would experience the same fate as her.

A new lord had a Protection period of 30 days, and one had to do one's best to build up the defense as much as possible.

“You have to gather all of your chess pieces.”

“Hmm. Tell me everything you know.”

“For the lords, the Dimensional Battle is a game and a predatory war...”

Only the lords could participate in the Dimensional Battle. It was like a chess tournament, where the lords could use the resources of the Domain to play at war.

“Would you like to participate in a mock battle?”

“A mock battle?”

When Woojin thought about the mock battle, a menu popped up.

<You can practice doing a mock Dimensional battle.>

“All right. Let's try it once.”

<Please select how much Energy you will bet. Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand….>

He was able to bet at an increment of 10 thousand Dungeon Energy. When Woojin chose 10 thousand, a screen popped up.

<We are searching for a potential enemy. You were matched with Count Liton of the human race.>

A noble with a striking white beard appeared inside the window in front of him. A brief summary of information about the man was shown, and Woojin's vision started to zoom out.

It was similar to the time when he was constructing the buildings. His vision encompassed his entire domain as if he was looking down from the sky.

<Searching for a battlefield. The plains of Letria was chosen.>

A wasteland about the size of Woojin's Domain was chosen. It was spacious, but the terrain had numerous sinkholes in various locations.

<The Energy is being assigned to the plains of Letria.>

Ten thousand Energy was taken each from Woojin and Count Lition. A total of twenty thousand Energy transformed into Blood Plants and Blood Stones. They were assigned to various locations.

<Your mock battle with the Count Liton has started.>

<You will not lose the Energy used in the Mock Battle.>

<The winner of the mock battle will not be able to claim the other's rights.>

Woojin cleared the jam-packed messages that kept popping up and surveyed the battlefield.

He was only able to look down at the entire field for a brief moment. He felt a falling sensation, and his vision narrowed to be fixed a single being.

“Please give us our orders, lord.”

In front of Woojin, Soo-soonahk and 4 other Ho-in were in a line. Woojin raised both his hands, and he saw yellow furs. It was the arms of a being from the Ho-in race.

‘Possession?’

Woojin tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the 4 Ho-in in front of him. When he thought about possessing one of the other Ho-in, his point of view changed.

“Oohk.”

Woojin looked at the being he had been only a moment ago.

“Please give us our orders, lord.”

Woojin's brows furrowed at their words.

‘I think I know what's going on.’

There were 5 Ho-in including the one Woojin was possessing. With his will, he could take over and control any one of the Ho-in. Fortunately, he was used to changing souls with Ggaebi, so he quickly adjusted to this situation.

Woojin looked around his surrounding and spotted a shabby building nearby. It was hard to call it a castle, but it had a single 3 story tower. The small castle was about the size of a villa.

When Woojin stared at the building, he felt another sensation of dizziness as his soul moved. He was inside the castle, sitting on top of the throne. He was inside the building but he could see what was going on in his surrounding at a glance.

He looked at the 5 from the Ho-in race standing ready in front of the castle. Familiar yet unfamiliar numbers was fixed at the corner of his vision.

[Bloodstone 100 Population 5/10]

Woojin vaguely understood the situation.

‘Chaos?’

Wasn't this like the game he used to enjoy during his high school days? No, it was a different genre.

‘Isn't this like a Strategy Simulation?’

There were buildings that was considered to be bases. One had to use the workers to gather the ingredients, so one could construct more buildings. Then one had to fight the enemy and win...

“Go gather the Blood Plants.”

“We will carry out your order.”

Woojin's sight remained at the castle, but he could hear the Ho-in workers outside as if they were speaking right next to him. As he sat on the throne, he found out that it was possible for him to construct other types of buildings.

[Hut, Farm, Tree of Temptation, Orc Training Facility, Wyvern's Nest….]

Woojin nodded his head as he looked at the buildings he could build. He now understood why she had called this a chess game.

The units and buildings one could use in the Dimensional Battle was all the things he possessed in his Dimensional Domain.

One couldn't use the Dimensional Store during a battle, so one needed to possess the buildings beforehand.

The Energy was spread all across the plains, but Woojin wasn't able to build a Bloodstone mine. Moreover, the military buildings he could build was only the Orc Training Facility and Wyvern's nest. The Orc Training facility didn't require a lot of Bloodstones to build, but the Wyvern's nest required an enormous amount of Bloodstones.

‘It won't be efficient to build the nest.’

While he was saving up enough bloodstones to build a Wyvern's nest, he might be attacked, and he might lose the Dimensional battle.

Woojin decided to produce workers(50) that could be created by the castle. It didn't take long before two workers filed out from the castle, and they stood ready outside.

Woojin added two more to the group to make a group of seven members. He ordered them to gather the Blood plants. They diligently gathered the Blood plants in the surrounding, and he was able to reach 500 Bloodstones. He instructed the workers to create the Orc Training facility.

Two from the Ho-in race was deployed to build an Orc Training facility near the castle.

During all of this, the 5 workers were still busily gathering the Blood plants. As the training facility was being built, he created 3 more workers.

<You've exceeded the population limit. Please build a hut.>

“Jeez… It's been awhile since I've done this, but this is quite frustrating.”

Woojin felt frustration wash over him. He had tens of thousand Undead troops and Death Knights, but he wasn't able to use them.

“What the hell are they doing?”

Why were the Dimensional lords playing these games? Why were they betting Energy to increase their Rankings?

While Woojin cooled the anger that was rising within him, the additional hut was built.

The limit to his population increased by 20, and the construction of the Orc training facility was finished.

<Orc Soldier : 50, Orc Warrior 150>

The forces he could train was the same as the one in Woojin's Dimensional Domain. He ordered the production of two soldiers. An Orc opened the door to the newly built hut and headed inside the training facility.

The waiting period was 5 times longer as creating a worker. Around 10 minutes had passed.

Woojin frowned as he waited for the Orc Soldier to come out.

‘It'll be hard to prepare everything during the Protection Period.’

In the real Dimensional battle, he wouldn't be able to go to war with just the Orc Training Facility and the Wyvern's Nest. Moreover, the Bloodstone mines were a must.

There were a lot of basic buildings a Domain needed.

One had to have acquire a lot of ingredients in the Dimensional Domain to use it in the Dimensional Battle.

His troop's Skill Tree or Combination wasn't available in the Dimensional Battle, since it didn't exist in his Dimensional Domain. He would also have to research into the Defensive buildings he couldn't build right now.

He only had 6 days left.

He wasn't sure if he would be able to have the basic war capabilities by then…….

After 10 minutes, the Orc sauntered out of the training facility. The orc was equipped with a spear, and he came out as a burly soldier.

When he had three Orc Soldiers, he could see 7 foot soldiers of Count Liton approaching from the distance. They were equipped with sword, shield and leather armor. They looked quite formidable.

“This is really frustrating.”

It felt as if his hands and legs had been tied.

He had only 3 Orc Soldiers he could use.