Demon King

[If you don’t enter within three days, you will be automatically sent to the Rookie’s Battlefield.]

I looked over to Lee Chan-yu, surrounded by three hellhounds, and currently in the middle of crushing a ghoul’s head with his claws. No more enemies were in our immediate area.

“Did you level up? Congrats. Level 100 is mid-level for some of the large guilds out there.”

“Who is the strongest?”

“What are you, a chairman? They don’t tell people their skills, so there’s no real way to know. Purely level wise, though, I want to say it’s around 200.” My eyes felt like they would pop right out of my skull. ‘200?’ I had invested a whole week into going just from 99 to 100, fighting and devouring all sorts of monsters to do so. Lee Chan-yu could easily read my frustration.

“They’ve been that strong since the Great Fusion. Their levels haven’t changed much since then.”

“…I started at level 1….”

“I was 45…” He spoke inadvertently, looking away. He didn’t intend to get on my case, no point kicking me while I was down.

“They’ve had to pay the price too.”

“This is nothing new.” From the moment the Great Fusion happened until now, even if you put it all in a book, it wouldn’t be more than maybe two books. Not such a great stretch of time. But what had these people done? ‘Did they really pay the price, enough of one to be able to look down upon me from such a lofty perch?’ I didn’t know. I couldn’t judge it. ‘So don’t. Hold back from making a judgment call for now.’ I just had to do what I could.

“Do you know what the Rookie’s Battlefield is?”

“Hm…no.”

“Alright.” No information related to the Battlefield was available in my quest. The quest was about evolution, so I suppose it probably had nothing to do with this Rookie’s Battlefield. The danger of Jinma’s Tower and Nak’s Garden couldn’t be ignored, but at least they were being kept under control by my so-called helpers. However, Rookie’s Battlefield was different. I had no information on it, and neither did Lee Chan-yu. It all had a weird, unusual feeling to it. I didn’t have time to wait for him to reach level 100.

“Captain, is it a new place?”

“I think I need to do some scouting first. I’m going to go hunt alone for a bit.”

“Alright. Be careful, boss.” He smiled and nodded at me, waving for the hellhounds to spread out.

‘Alright, so I have one option.’ I went ahead and opened the door to the dedicated store.

“You’re back, Fate.” Rain greeted me with a comforting look as always; however, the interior of the store was not the same. An empty glass stood in front of him, and the chair was pulled back a little. Someone else was here recently.

“Are there other customers here?”

“Haha, no. The only customer of this exclusive store is you, Fate. One of my old acquaintances recently wanted to stop by for a drink.” An acquaintance of Rain. ‘Is it someone other than A and L?’ I was curious but decided it wasn’t that important. I went ahead and sat in the chair that was pulled back. Out of nowhere, a reverberation filled my body for a brief moment. L had been here.

“In the garden of Nak, it must have been a soul there…”

“It was the same for Fate, no? Like you, she also has a proper body.”

“I thought there must be some special circumstances; that’s why she was in that form.”

“That was just to help with your training.” Rain’s explanation relieved me quite a bit, although I kicked myself once it occurred to me why I was relieved. ‘I keep getting too distracted.’ I needed not to be so shaken.

“It was depressing.”

“Yes?”

“She was, L.” Rain said, picking up the empty cup and began to clean it.

“I did not doubt in my mind because I believed that Fate would come to see me a couple of times a day.”

“You need 100 gold to enter the Garden of Nak. I can’t spend that much money just to meet with her, and time is short.” My voice was terse and hardened, but Rain simply smiled cheerfully.

“It’s probably because she wasn’t waiting for you here.”

“She left this here for me?”

“Cute, isn’t it?” I had to admit it was. A bitter smile crossed my lips as her face came to mind. L. A woman who was so beautiful it hurt and, for some reason, likes me. It felt wrong. I couldn’t help but question if it was right for her to like me. But that feeling, like she understood me… it scares me sometimes, but it also felt kind of good. I tried to shake off these thoughts and looked back at Rain.

“Rain, I have something to ask of you.”

“Is it about L?”

“I’ll meet with her and talk to her in person. What I need to ask you about is… the Rookie’s Battlefield.”

“…Hmm…” Rain’s expression immediately hardened as he put down the glass. “Alright, so you’ve evolved into an elf.”

“A Crimson Elf to be specific. Does this Battlefield have something to do with elves?”

“…I didn’t think this would happen. Is this my fault for meddling in your training?” He let out the words with a faint sigh, taking a moment to think.

“Alright. I’ll tell you what I know, but it’ll cost you 5,000 gold.” I went ahead and paid the sum. It was enough money for me to eat a thousand bowls of jajangmyeon noodles, but it wasn’t worth the price of my life.

“Rookie is such an unassuming title. Long ago, some creatures among all those above and below ground called themselves as such because they most resembled God.”

“Those were the elves?”

“Yes, or sometimes called Elyos. Either way, it is a title of pride and arrogance.”

Elyos. When I heard that name, it somehow felt right. In Earth’s past, some had claimed to be partners to demons. This seemed like it was similar. ‘Then…Rain…?’ I had thought about it before, but at that moment, I felt he must have been a demon.

“They are a tribe that rejects all but themselves. They bore some similarity to humans, of course, divided amongst themselves, much like humans. Some of them even walked alongside demons.”

“So, the Crimson Elves are similar to demons?”

“You’re correct. In a strict sense, demons refer to several races that evolved and developed over tens of thousands of years in the dark underground. Crimson Elves are listed amongst those numbers. However, they had fought many battles with other elves in the past, eventually perishing without a single descendant. For elves, the Crimson Elves were a stain that had to be erased.”

“Then, what about the Rookie’s Battlefield?”

“So, there’s the problem.” With a bitter smile, he poured me a glass of pinkish liquor. It was fragrant, and both sweet and hot. It reminded me so much of L. As I emptied the glass, Rain continued to stare at me.

“Fate. Was the fusion of Hater and Earth a disaster only for the people of Earth?”

“…” My head was filled with white. ‘I’ve never thought about it…honestly.’

“For now, let’s set aside why or how the Great Fusion happened. Instead, let’s focus on the catastrophes it caused. Specifically, the elves who were connected to Earth.”

“Why only elves?”

“Because they were the only ones who knew ahead of time that the Great Fusion would happen.” Rain’s tone was calm on the surface, but I could tell anger was boiling inside him. I raised my head to face him.

“Rain…”

“I didn’t have a partner, and after the Great Fusion, I was able to maintain myself. The same goes for A and L.”

“How is that even possible?”

“We are all bound to exist as individuals.” He said this anger and conviction as he explained their partnership to Earth.

“You may think you understand your partner, but no.”

“…If I’m wrong, that’s good.”

“I’ll explain it more later. The elves knew when and how the Great Fusion would occur. It started with Earth, and they knew that their souls would be transferred, and only their bodies would remain. But then they learned that they would remain with their partner on Earth.” From the start, a connection to a partner was key to transferring a Haterling’s body to an Earthling. Personally, my partner was only a farmer, so I didn’t see much use in it, but there were those who could use that connection to become stronger. They were the harbingers of the Great Fusion.

“So they arrived at a means to stop this from happening, the Rookie’s Battlefield.”

“Please explain it to me.”

“It is a magical space that is created by the elves neither in Hater nor Earth.” The elves had used their magic to pull their people into this space. It was a small world unto itself. Then the Great Fusion occurred. Naturally, the elves’ souls had to be destroyed, and their bodies fused with their Earthling partner. But this space was created so that those held inside it wouldn’t lose their soul or body. Therefore, the souls of the elves were not separated from them. No one other than the elves could enter the Rookie’s Battlefield. It was a name that conveyed the elves’ will to deny their destiny.

When an elf’s body was no longer able to return to Earth, the opposite had happened. The bodies of their partners on Earth were destroyed, and their souls went to the Rookie’s Battlefield. But they couldn’t enter, as only those with both a body and a soul could.

“What happened to their souls?”

“Well, fun fact…” Rain laughed as if he were trying to find humor in the situation. “While the elves had succeeded in protecting themselves, there was one thing they didn’t expect. The Earthlings’ souls that were rejected entrance eventually transformed and wormed their way inside. Every single one of them.”

“Then…?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t able to see what was happening in there, but since then, some elves have left one by one. It must have become a real battlefield in there.” Those who had completely destroyed their partner’s soul and came to Earth with limited freedom were called ‘Natives.’

Only

“I can imagine why you can enter that place. They took in a wide range of elves, and there was no way the Crimson Elves they had decimated in the olden days had survived.” Rain also assumed it was possible to enter at level 100, that was the minimum level needed for a newcomer to enter. It was fortunate that I hadn’t been drawn there immediately when I became a Crimson Elf.

“It’s a dangerous place, but I don’t know if you can avoid it.”

“I can’t.” Was this the price of a special evolution? For gaining power? A grim chuckle left me at the realization. I wasn’t afraid. If it was just death, then I was already used to that hanging over me. It had just changed forms a little.

“Fate, they are enemies of the Fallen, of humans, of Crimson Elves, of the demons….and of you. Throw away any thoughts you have of fighting all of them; it is too dangerous. That place is not your battlefield.”

“What do you mean?”

“You will have to face strong individuals. But fortunately, this store has wares that may be of service to you!” Rain laughed happily as I checked out the money I had in my inventory: 32,691 gold, 94 silver, and 17 bronze.

“I’ll take all of them.”

“Thank you for your patronage!” I prepared the best I could. With only 178 gold, 27 silver, and 38 bronze, I headed out to face the Rookie’s Battlefield.