Trial of the Mountain Lord

"What's going on?"

Seo Yu-ri came running up to Dohyeon's side.

Without answering, Dohyeon headed toward the passage where the scream had come from. Judging by the faint light seeping out from the far end of the corridor, the first trial appeared to have been cleared.

"I'll go check it out."

He sprinted down the passage, and at its end stood the small stone chamber where Dohyeon had first appeared. When he stepped inside, marks of lightning spread across the floor like a spiderweb. Part of the stone wall had melted away, scorched pitch black, and the air carried the smell of seared flesh.

Scanning the room, he found Kwon Na-yeong slumped against one wall, with what was presumably Kim Ju-hyeok's body sprawled in front of her.

"Master Instructor?"

Dohyeon called out on the off chance of a response, but none came.

Kim Ju-hyeok's body looked far too intact to have been struck by lightning. Only a few small scorch marks remained on his clothes. But both eyes were open wide, their focus gone, and black blood was streaming from his nose and mouth.

Dohyeon crouched down and pressed two fingers to the man's neck.

There's no pulse at all.

What kind of spell could have left traces like this?

"What exactly happened here?"

Dohyeon looked at Kwon Na-yeong. She still couldn't tear her eyes away from the corpse, and her face—usually so guarded, betraying almost nothing—had gone deathly pale.

"A problem came up, and when the Master Instructor tried to solve it by taking out and using a spell bead, suddenly…"

Dohyeon's gaze shifted to Kim Ju-hyeok's right hand. Clutched in it was a small spell bead, about two knuckles in size. Its surface was covered in unfamiliar script, and when he leaned down to look at the back, he found a sun painted in red.

What is this thing?

Of course, a far more sophisticated spell would surely be designed within it, but Dohyeon couldn't even read the outer layer. It clearly took the form of a spell, yet its structure was utterly alien—nothing like the Korean system at all.

The voice had definitely used the phrase "underling of King Yeomra."

Did that mean hell existed in this world, and that beings belonging to it exerted influence on reality as well? But the fact that Dohyeon couldn't read the spell made no sense. Every spell he had ever learned belonged to a system, and that system closely resembled coding. What lay before his eyes now—though whether it even qualified as a spell was questionable—looked like a jumble of an extraterrestrial language.

Hm. That voice seemed intelligent, though.

The thought circled endlessly through his head—that from King Yeomra down to whatever managed these ruins, they might never make it out of here alive.

"Let's move to the central chamber for now."

Dohyeon took a storage bead from his backpack and sealed Kim Ju-hyeok's body inside it. Then, supporting Kwon Na-yeong—whose legs had seemingly given out beneath her—he escorted her back to the central chamber.

"Kwon Na-yeong!"

Seo Yu-ri helped settle Kwon Na-yeong in front of the fox statue. Dohyeon pulled calming and energy-restoring pills from his backpack and handed them over. Then he looked at the two of them.

"As of now, Master Instructor Kim Ju-hyeok is dead, and Student Kurahashi Shion is unconscious. But in order to get out of this place, we need to push through the ruins."

"The Master Instructor…"

Shocked, Seo Yu-ri clapped a hand over her mouth.

"But why are you the one taking charge here?"

Whether it was the pill, Kwon Na-yeong's eyes had sharpened considerably compared to moments ago.

Of course it rubs her the wrong way that someone who's just a laborer is making the calls.

"Our Sabu is the best at Dosul in this place, Kwon Na-yeong!"

"…Sabu?"

Ugh. So it finally comes to this.

Still, Kwon Na-yeong was nearly an outsider herself, so even if it got out that he was teaching Seo Yu-ri, there shouldn't be much of an uproar. They had to get out of here alive first, after all.

"Yes, it just sort of… happened."

"Our Sabu can cast 3rd-tier Dosul, and, um… he's really smart!"

"I beg your pardon?"

Kwon Na-yeong's expression hardened in sheer disbelief.

Fair enough. She's probably wondering why someone who can cast 3rd-tier Dosul is doing menial labor.

When Kwon Na-yeong started staring at Seo Yu-ri as though suspecting she'd sustained a head injury, Dohyeon quickly cut in.

"Looking back now, the first trial announced my elapsed time. It occurred to me that time might be significant in clearing the trials of these ruins."

"Oh, now that you mention it, it told me my time too!"

"Hm."

"I have dozens of barrier charms in my backpack. For now, let's try the next trial. If it's truly hopeless, we come back here—or deploy the barriers and wait for the rescue team."

"Wouldn't waiting for rescue be the better option?"

"There's a chance entry to the ruins has been restricted. If that's the case, we'd only be wasting time."

"Oh! I think I remember hearing that some ruins seal their entrances whenever people are in the middle of taking their trials!"

"Hmph… fine. Let's do as the laborer says, for now."

Whether she'd decided to trust Dohyeon's claim about being able to cast 3rd-tier Dosul, Kwon Na-yeong agreed to cooperate—though it seemed to be less about trusting him and more about having no other options.

"Then what do we do about Kurahashi Shion?"

Seo Yu-ri looked at the still-unconscious Shion.

"Taking her along would be more dangerous. We leave her here and move on. We should judge after seeing the next trial."

Most ruins send everyone outside the moment the trials are cleared, anyway.

Just in case she woke up alone, he left a single note beside her summarizing their situation.

The three of them, preparations complete, headed behind the fox statue. The door that had been sealed only moments ago now stood open, revealing a long staircase descending into darkness beyond.

"Let's go."

Dohyeon stepped through first. Seo Yu-ri followed immediately behind, and Kwon Na-yeong, after one last glance back, descended the stairs last of all.

At the bottom of the stairs, an enormous cavern opened up before them. The ceiling was lost in darkness, and at its center rose three pillars, spaced evenly apart. A sun was carved into the left pillar, a moon into the center, and stars into the right. On the sun pillar, five black discs were stacked, growing smaller toward the top.

"What do you suppose this is?"

Seo Yu-ri examined the discs closely, and the moment she laid a hand on one, letters appeared in the empty air.

Kwon Na-yeong read the inscription aloud. "It seems this trial is in problem form as well. Shouldn't be too hard—just do it, right?"

Three pillars. Discs of varying sizes.

The Tower of Hanoi.

Every coding student solves it at least once. His memory was hazy from so long ago, but…

"Nnngh!"

Seo Yu-ri tried to lift a disc by hand, but it wouldn't budge.

"Looks like we have to inscribe a spell on that stone tablet."

Kwon Na-yeong had spotted a tablet set to the right of the pillars. Connected to a massive spirit stone, the tablet seemed designed so that any spell inscribed upon it would activate automatically.

"Hold on. I don't think this was made to be solved."

After examining it further, Kwon Na-yeong spoke with a frown. "The tablet is far too small. With space this limited, there's no way to move all those discs. Inscribing the spell alone won't be easy—and to think they've added this constraint on top of it…"

The tablet was barely the size of a person's torso. It was hard enough just working out the answer to the puzzle; fitting the entire spell into that confined space would demand an extraordinary approach.

Not that any of that applied to Dohyeon.

Took me a second—guess I'm rusty.

Having assembled the spell in an instant, Dohyeon began transcribing it onto the tablet. Still, a puzzle at this scale required an understanding of recursive functions to solve properly.

Come to think of it, Jeon Woo-chi might be someone from another world like him—or a genius capable of this kind of insight without any developed mathematics. He'd like to see her face someday.

"Wait, if you scribble on it like that without thinking—!"

"Done."

Kugugung.

The moment he carved the final stroke, blue light burst from the spirit stone connected to the tablet, and the sealing discs began to move. The spell called upon itself, nesting inward layer upon layer. It looked deceptively short on the surface, but measured by its depth, it was more than sufficient.

Kwon Na-yeong, who had been trying to stop him, stared down at the tablet with her eyes wide open. "What in the world is this…"

And Seo Yu-ri was looking up at him with an expression of pure, glowing pride.

Huh? Why is she doing that?

Pale white letters floated into the air.

Light began to pour from the first sun pillar, newly emptied of its discs. Cracks spread across the pillar—then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it exploded.

Kwakwang!

The three of them hastily threw up barrier charms.

So that's what the sealing discs were for.

Shrapnel hammered against the translucent shields, and black smoke engulfed the entire cavern. In the thick darkness that blinded them entirely, two red eyes floated into view.

At first, it was no bigger than a person's head. But as the eyes rose higher, the creature's true scale revealed itself.

Kuuung.

A colossal forepaw came down on the cavern floor. Jet-black fur, crisscrossed with snow-white stripes. The black Mountain Lord emerged from the smoke.

Krrrrrr.

"We're supposed to beat that?!"

Seo Yu-ri swallowed hard.

The Mountain Lord roared.

Keuaaang!

It was more than a mere cry—black spiritual energy swept through the cavern like a shockwave.

"Me" in the first person—so it really is Jeon Woo-chi herself?

Setting aside how she could still be alive—if even Jeon Woo-chi had only barely sealed this thing in her youth, just how powerful a monster was it?

The Mountain Lord's body was unlike that of any ordinary creature. What he'd mistaken for white stripes were actually hundreds of thousands of tiny spell gates swirling around the beast.

The massive forepaw came crashing down on Kwon Na-yeong's position. Her reaction was late, but thanks to Dohyeon shoving her aside in time, she escaped unharmed.

"It's not a living being! The spells hovering around its body are absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to sustain its form!"

That too seemed connected to Jeon Woo-chi's clone technique. But it meant that by reading the spell gates closely, he could predict the Mountain Lord's movements.

2nd-Tier Manifestation Dosul — Revised

Dokkaebi Fire.

Six blue flames rose around Dohyeon, then streaked ahead to wherever the Mountain Lord was about to move.

Peobeobeong!

"Is this not enough?!"

Ugh, once I cast this, I won't be able to move for a while.

Dohyeon clamped the potions he'd prepared in advance into his mouth, several at once, and activated the spell.

3rd-Tier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Manifestation Dosul — Revised

Fire Lotus Explosion.

Throughout the casting, Dohyeon barely kept his spiritual energy replenished through the potions—energy that would otherwise vanish in an instant. He'd downed five emergency elixirs meant for spiritual exhaustion all at once, so side effects were certain to follow. It wasn't even what they were made for.

But this was the strongest attack he had.

Centered on the lingering echoes of the dokkaebi fire he'd unleashed moments before, a massive chain of explosions erupted. As luck would have it, the Mountain Lord's position was near the epicenter, making it difficult to dodge the direct hits. On top of that, Seo Yu-ri and Kwon Na-yeong lent supporting fire from behind, and explosions of every color lit up the cavern.

Keuaaaang!

And then, in that instant, the Mountain Lord slipped through the inferno and swung its paw.

In a strange illusion of time slowing to a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crawl, Dohyeon knew with absolute certainty that this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attack could not be avoided.

How the hell am I supposed to beat this thing?