When the magical item evolved, it became the Shrewmouse's Cry.
Information popped up as he lightly examined the magical item.
Name: Shrewmouse's Cry
Rank: D
Classification: Continuous
Effect: Inflicts surrounding shrewmice with a 'fear' status.
Although it could not be used to physically damage their enemies, it was much more useful.
Just possessing this magical item would affect the shrewmice near him.
Because of the 'fear' status, the shrewmice's movements became sluggish. Unlike before, they weren't able to act as a group and were scattered.
When the shrewmice flinched, Muyoung started the massacre.
'…Incredible.'
Taehwan was absent-mindedly staring at the scene which was unfolding before his eyes.
Out of all the members gathered today, Muyoung was the only one who was truly 'hunting'.
It was a scene that made others tremble,
If it wasn't for Muyoung, they would have been annihilated in seconds.
'I have to get stronger.'
Overwhelmingly.
That is what Taehwan felt as he watched Muyoung fight.
If he doesn't get stronger, he would never be able to survive in this place.
Like the man in front of him, he had to persistently strive to survive.
"After we clean up, we will move out," said Muyoung after he had massacred all the shrewmice except for the few that had fled.
His body was caked with a mixture of his own blood and the blood of the shrewmice.
'There should be a den nearby.'
Looking towards the direction the shrewmice fled to, it seemed like their destination wasn't far away.
His stamina was almost completely used up, but he couldn't stop.
There was no guarantee that it would still be there tomorrow.
"We, we aren't going back?"
There were no casualties on their side, but everyone had some light scratches.
They were also extremely exhausted.
It was too much to expect them to continue.
Swish.
Instead of answering, Muyoung opened his gathering bag and took out a few leaves.
The leaves on the Sacred Tree could disinfect wounds and had excellent treatment capabilities.
After inattentively crushing the leaves into a paste, he rubbed it on his wounds.
Not long after, the bleeding stopped.
"Those that want to leave, leave. If you leave now, you can get back by retracing our steps."
Muyoung was completely calm.
The reason why he dragged all these people out here was simple.
Luggage, sleep and for unlikely circumstances.
It was also to select the few who would fight with their life on the line.
Something like exploring the outskirts of the temple could only be done by those who were desperate.
'For the boss battle, I need people with at least a bit of experience.'
Bosses were strong. It was hard for him to overwhelm them alone.
The ones that only improved inside the temple weren't of any use.
Only those who experienced the outskirts of the temple for a few days would be able to cope with the boss.
It was foolish for him to try to force them.
That was why he only accepted the people who volunteered.
At the same time, the person, who asked the question, became dumbfounded.
Even if they tried to return to the temple, if they were attacked by monsters along the way, without Muyoung, they would be in danger either way.
In fact, they felt that they would be safer with Muyoung after watching the previous scene.
"I will follow you."
The first one to speak was Taehwan.
Muyoung who was examining his wounds next to a tree looked at him.
"We're not going out to play."
"…I didn't volunteer so I could fool around."
Muyoung got up.
'I guess he figured something out.'
He wasn't simply a meddlesome fellow.
On the other hand, Suzy held a small dagger in her hand. Looking at the blood stained on the dagger, it seemed like she didn't simply run away when they encountered the shrewmice. She probably wielded her dagger to protect her father.
Even so, she was only out of breath, he didn't see any apparent signs of agitation in her.
'As expected, my agility went up.'
After the fight, his agility went up by 1.
The more he pushed himself towards the boundary between life and death, the faster his attributes would rise.
He looked at the carcasses of the shrewmice around him.
The smell of shrewmouse blood was pungent.
This was not a good place to stay.
Even if it was the territory of the three-clawed shrewmice, this much blood could attract other predators.
If, in the unlikely chance, a giant leo appeared, he would have no choice, but to use the others as bait and escape.
"Crush these herbs and rub them on your wounds. We leave in 5 minutes."
He took out some herbs from his storage bag and distributed a small portion to everyone.
*
After following several leads, they arrived at the shrewmice's den.
It was a huge cave.
Clomp.
The sound of their footsteps echoed out.
There was no way to figure out how deep the cave was.
"Raise your torches and step lightly. I will lead. Taehwan, you bring up the back."
"Wouldn't it be better if I was at the front?"
"Don't question my orders."
"… Okay."
Before they left the temple, Muyoung told everyone to follow his orders unconditionally.
No matter what, they had to return by midnight.
There was no time for him to explain each and every detail.
After arranging everyone in a line, he headed into the cave.
Squeak. Squeaak!
Not long after, they were able to hear the cries of the shrewmice.
Muyoung took out the 'Shrewmouse's Cry'.
The rushing shrewmice slowed down and paced back and forth hesitantly.
When he shed the torchlight around him, they were able to see approximately 300 Shrewmice scattered around every corner.
In any case, he wasn't after the Shrewmice, he was after what was behind them.
It was wise to pass through the hoard of mice while they were still under the 'Fear' status.
"Gasp!"
Everyone was frothing at their mouth as they rushed to follow Muyoung.
He wasn't running at an especially fast pace, but the pressure felt from the surrounding monsters was no joke.
*
They ran for a while.
As the pathway slowly expanded, they arrived at an enormous cavern.
From the floor to the ceiling, it seemed to be 50 meters tall and there was a multitude of holes on the walls.
'These are the tunnels the shrewmice use to move around.'
This was the center where all the tunnels led to.
"A shrine?"
Taehwan softly spoke out.
His eyes fell on a certain place.
At the end of the cavern, there was a shrine.
There was a hexagram drawn in the center and statues of a goddess were spread out around it.
Although it looked old and rusted, everyone was captivated by its magnificence.
'A hexagram and statues of a goddess, huh.'
Muyoung looked at the Status Viewer on his left wrist.
There was a pentagram on its face.
On the other hand, the symbol drawn in the center of the shrine was a hexagram.
It looked like two overlapping triangles.
However, Muyoung had definitely seen the symbol and the statue before.
"The Star of David…"
"What?"
Taehwan tilted his head as he looked towards Muyoung.
But Muyoung's expression was extremely solemn.
'Why would the Star of David be here?'
His whole body was shaking.
The Star of Dave.
The symbol only appeared in places where the 72 Demon Gods were summoned into the Underworld after being unsealed from Lemegeton.
That meant that one of the 72 Demon Gods was summoned here and that the shrine was just a consequence of the summoning.
And that statue of the goddess was…
'Gremory.'
As one of the 72 Demon Gods, Gremory held the 56th seat.
It was the statue of Gremory.
'What do I do.'
Muyoung motionlessly stared at the shrine.
A place where the Star of Dave appeared.
There would be treasures in every place Demon Gods were summoned.
For example, in the place where the 7th seat, Amon, was summoned, there was a book. The book overflowed with knowledge of all kinds of magic.
Magicians who have read the Book of Amon gained 10 years worth of training from simply reading the book.
Those who rigorously studied the book became Grand Magicians… The owner of the book's class was changed to the secret class 'Arch Mage' and constructed the Tower of Wisdom which allowed him to confidently place in the top 10 among humans.
Unfortunately, no one could ever find the summoning location of Gremory.
He couldn't understand why Gremory was summoned so close the Blue Temple where beginners stayed.
Of course, he expected that this place would be as risky as the retrieval the Book of Amon, where more than 500 people lost their lives…
'There is only one chance.'
If he failed, that was it.
After a month, the gate will open and they will all be sent to the Underworld.
Once they arrived in the Underworld, they will not be able to return to the temple. Also, there was no guarantee that they would be able to come back to the shrine within a month.
He was at a crossroad.
If they were successful in investigating the shrine, Muyoung will have an unbelievable advantage over others. On the other hand, if he failed, he will die.
"We will go inside."
He made his decision.
The Underworld was a place where nothing could be gained without risk.
The rewards were too tempting to just let this opportunity pass by.
*
Rumble!
As soon as they stepped into the shrine, the ground below them shook and words appeared in front of their eyes.
Four doors appeared at the time.
A few words were etched on each door.
What's this all of a sudden…"
"I think it's telling us to choose a door and enter?"
Two members of the party discussed as they examined the four doors.
'You can only choose once.'
Four doors.
Only one person could enter a room and these kinds of trials could not be repeated.
Once someone enters a room, the door will lose its effect.
It was also impossible for one to pass a trial and attempt another.
Until this time, no one has ever reached the shrine so the four trials were still intact.
Muyoung rubbed his chin.
'The trials are chosen by the specific characteristics of each of the 72 Demon Gods.'
There were always treasures to be found in places where the Star of Dave appears.
However, the methods of attaining these treasures were different.
The method would usually depend on the specific characteristics of the Demon God.
The trial to obtain the Book of Amon was a conflict between human malice and selfishness.
In the end, there were more than 500 casualties as people ended up killing each other.
On the other hand…
What about Gremory?
'Gremory never revealed herself, even until the very end.'
There were only rumors that she was the only female Demon Goddess, besides that, there was no other information.
Even after the Great Calamity, when the Demon Gods were destroying mankind, she never showed herself.
There were a few Demon Gods who never showed up either, but even among them, Gremory was especially hidden under a veil.
He would have no choice, but to make a decision depending on the commonly known characteristics of Gremory.
'Fidelity, honesty, generosity and anguish.'
The first things that come to mind were those four.
There were a few characteristics included that didn't match with the typical image of Demon Gods, but since he had never seen Gremory, there was nothing he could do.
Anyhow, these were the characteristics used to describe Gremory in literature, he had to assume that the trials had something to do with them.
'Will there be rewards in every trial or after the completion of all four trials or if not those, will the reward be hidden in just a single trial?"
There was no way to know right now.
"Somehow, I feel uneasy. I, I'm not going in."
Eventually, a man raised a white flag.
Wooooo.
The sounds and the aura emitted from the doors were without a doubt able to stimulate fear in humans.
Unless you were quite courageous, you wouldn't even think about opening a door.
Since Muyoung was used to these situations, he wasn't heavily affected, but to those whose lives were the most precious to them, it was an obvious choice.
"Mister, can I go in there?"
Suzy broke the brief silence.
Muyoung looked at her indifferently.
'How unexpected.'
She was the youngest and physically the weakest.
She was only able to survive because of her quick wits and decisiveness.
Since she was with her father, he didn't expect her to take risks.
The door she chose was .
"No one knows what's waiting for you inside the door. Is there a reason why you chose this door?"
"Just…"
"Just?"
"I don't know. I just think that I should enter that door."
She bowed her head deeply.
It looked like she didn't know how to explain herself.
'A feeling. Or a trap.'
It was hard to conclude the reason why only Suzy felt that way.
But it felt like it wasn't just a fluke.
'It's not a trap.'
If it was, there was no way they would target Suzy.
It is natural they would try to separate the most powerful one here, Muyoung.
Even if they targeted Suzy, it wasn't like she would influence others.
He recalled Suzy's past actions.
As he thought about it, he realized that, although she wouldn't always be doing the best thing to survive, she would at least take the next best action.
Like the time she survived the attack of the three-clawed shrewmice.
The others would try their best to close their distance between Muyoung, but only she would keep her distance and secretly look for a place to avoid the fight.
She wasn't taking actions consciously, her instincts and senses took over.
"Which door do you think I will have to enter?"
So he asked.
No matter how hard he thought, there was no definite answer.
On the other hand, Suzy acted with 'confidence'.
The more surprising fact was her father's reaction.
Normally parents would try to stop their children from getting in danger.
Yet, as if it was natural, he didn't even try to stop her.
Most likely, he knew about her 'feeling'.
"Ummm…"
As she looked back and forth between the four doors and Muyoung, she pointed at a door.
"This one."
Muyoung followed her finger and looked towards the door.
'The difficult and long path.'
He shook his head.
He then stood in front of the door with the phrase .
"All of you enter the door Suzy chooses for you."
"What?"
Taehwan stared at him in surprise as if inquiring what he meant.
It was abnormal to let a child make a choice that could decide their fate.
However, Muyoung thought it was the right choice.
Although he could only explain it as a 'feeling', since he had experienced life in the Underworld, he able to accept it rather easily.
It wasn't like there was no one with foresight in the Underworld.
"Suzy, who are the people who will attempt the remaining two doors?"
"Taehwan oppa and that person."
She didn't hesitate as she picked out those two people.
And so it was decided that Taehwan was to attempt the while the other man was to attempt the .
"The-then are you telling me to stay out here with this person?"
The man, who was the first to say that he wouldn't enter the trials, trembled.
It was because if he was to stay with the armless cripple, there was no doubt they would die if the monsters attacked.
"As long as you're in the shrine, the shrewmice won't attack."
It wasn't a place where beasts like shrewmice could enter whenever they wanted.
And there really were no traces of shrewmice around the shrine.
'We have to finish as fast as possible.'
It will be midnight in nine hours.
They need at least one hour to return back to the temple.
If they weren't able to get out of the trials by then, then the topography of the forest will change.
If that happens, it will become much harder to return to the temple.
"Then… let's see each other on the other side."
Muyoung was the first to open the door.
The inside of the room was pitch black like a black hole.
Slam!
As soon as he stepped into the room, the door slammed shut behind him.
*
He looked around his surroundings.
An endlessly desolate desert.
There was absolutely nothing in this place.
'My bag and magical items disappeared.'
On top of that, his food and water were gone as well.
Thin clothes and a scimitar were all he had.
It seemed like the items unnecessary for the trial were removed.
'If I keep walking, I guess something will pop up.'
Didn't the name already suggest it would be a 'difficult and long path'?
There was no way that as soon as he stepped into the room, he would see his objective.
He pushed through the rough sand and walked forward.
How long had he been walking?
It felt like it had been at least a day.
If it was him in the past, he would have been fine after walking continuously without rest for a week. However, in his current state, he was slowly approaching his limit.
The lack of food and water was the problem.
It was incredibly taxing to walk without rest towards an unknown destination.
If it was any normal person, they would have already exhausted their mind and body.
However, Muyoung wasn't normal.
'I can still endure a bit longer.'
He dragged his feet.
After walking like that for a few hours, he came across an oasis.
'Poison.'
But the water in the oasis gave off a purple hue.
He sniffed the water and dipped his tongue in the water.
Spit!
He spat out the water immediately and turned his body away.
Poison was mixed in.
It wasn't a strong poison, but if he was to drink it, it would only momentarily relieve his thirst.
It wasn't wise to try to distill the water without the proper tools either.
The fourth day.
The next thing to appear was a rabbit.
He tried to hunt down the rabbit, but the rabbit was always slightly faster than him.
So close, yet so far.
The distance between the two wouldn't shrink no matter what he tried.
'So it's like this.'
After walking for four days, a man who has lost all sense of reason will do whatever it takes to catch the rabbit.
But Muyoung realized that it was a trick.
He gave up on the rabbit and forced his feet to move.
He walked a few more hours like that.
Thump!
Muyoung had eventually collapsed on the floor.
'I can't fall here.'
The mind controlled the body.
Muyoung was successful in getting his body back up with extreme concentration.
Compared to the beginning, his pace was very slow, but he didn't give up and continued to walk.
To make up for his loss of energy, his body started to burn away his muscles.
This was the most optimal choice his body could make in this situation where there wasn't even water to drink.
Not long after, his body was only skin and bones and his hair started falling out quite quickly.
It was because he was Muyoung, he was able to stay alive in that state and continue walking.
For 40 years, there was not a single moment when he lived his own life.
He wanted to live his own life.
A life of some significance.
However, that was impossible.
But then, he was given a chance.
There was no way he was going to waste this chance as soon as he got it.
Even though there were tens, even hundreds of times he could have given up, he didn't.
Along the way, food and water did appear, but since he knew that the trial was simply tempting him, he didn't even bother to look at them.
As his stamina and mentality reached their limits, someone blocked his path.
"Why did you destroy the Forest of Death? Didn't we have a good relationship the past 40 years?"
Was it a mirage?
The man in front of him was the owner of the Forest of Death, the chief.
Muyoung waved his hands, however, the chief didn't disappear.
"It… wasn't… my life."
"Didn't you kill all your companions that have been with you for years? The ones who you laughed and played with!"
"We… never… laughed."
Muyoung took out the scimitar from his chest.
"Just wait. This time, I will certainly erase you."
Once he returns to the Underworld, his first target will be the Forest of Death.
It would be difficult to do this right away, but he will strengthen himself and annihilate them as fast as possible.
Splash!
As he slashed out with his scimitar, the chief's blood sprayed out.
Gulp!
And then, approximately 300 members of the Forest of Death appeared.
Specters.
Their eyes were blank.
It looked as if they were asking why he killed them and to take responsibility for their deaths.
However, Muyoung looked at the sight and laughed brightly.
"I don't regret my decision."
He used the last of his strength and performed a deadly sword dance