Trait Hoarder

In Search of Legends — Part 2

“Kim West is here?”

“Where, where?”

“It’s Kim West!”

“How long has it been!”

Dokkaebis came rushing out.

Small Dokkaebis, tall Dokkaebis, lanky Dokkaebis, stocky Dokkaebis.

All of them wore white hanbok robes with cowboy hats.

Cigars in their mouths. Revolvers at their waists.

I politely bowed.

“Greetings. I am Warrior Kim.”

“Greetings!”

“Welcome!”

The Dokkaebis surrounded me and Seo Woojin.

Seo Woojin was flustered, but he followed my lead and bowed.

“Greetings. I am Seo Woojin.”

“Oh, well now! A fine-looking Kim West!”

“This second Kim West looks just like us, doesn’t he?”

“Sniff! Sniff! I smell something familiar.”

Was it because Seo Woojin’s ancestor had a connection with Dokkaebis?

Since they were magical beings, they could sense ties of fate.

I deliberately took off my Iron Fist gloves and rolled up my tracksuit sleeves.

“You there, big guy. How about a wrestling match?”

With Dokkaebis, striking first was always best.

I issued a challenge to the largest Dokkaebi, who looked to be over three meters tall.

The Dokkaebi threw his head back and laughed.

“Wahaha! Sounds good! I won’t go easy, so keep your mouth shut and hold on tight!”

We gripped each other’s waistbands firmly.

As I prepared myself, I shot a look at Seo Woojin.

Telling him to challenge another Dokkaebi now.

Seo Woojin swallowed hard and stepped up to the smallest Dokkaebi.

“Dokkaebi sir! How about a wrestling match with me?”

“Yahoo! Now, this is promising! These Kim Wests have good manners! Hey, Fatso! Go easy on this Kim West, he looks weak.”

“Shut it, Dango-ma. I’m ending this in one move.”

“No way, I’m going first!”

The grip was heavy.

It felt like a steel tower was pressing down on me.

Dokkaebis had no levels or stats.

When wrestling, their physical strength was automatically adjusted to match their opponent’s level and stats.

Making it nearly impossible to win through ordinary means.

But I had my own method.

“Begin!”

The moment the signal rang out, I yanked his waist toward me.

[Giant’s Strength] [Mana Soul] [Vajra Body]

[Undying] [Sixth Sense] [Combat Mastery]

A perfect combination of double power build and trinity build.

And attacking exactly as my Sixth Sense guided me.

With Combat Mastery kicking in, the Dokkaebi was dragged forward without resistance.

I hooked his left leg at the last moment.

Boom!

The steel tower collapsed.

As he crashed into the sand, a brief silence followed.

“Wooooah!”

“Look at Kim West!”

“Fatso went down in one move!”

“Impressive!”

“I’m next! Me!”

The Dokkaebis surged forward.

“Get in line! Get in line!”

The next Dokkaebi fell. The one after him as well.

Each time, I grabbed their waists without traits.

But the moment the match started, I equipped the optimal traits.

And the Dokkaebis dropped like autumn leaves in a storm.

Of course, they caught on.

But not a single one complained.

Instead, they got even more fired up and charged at me with excitement.

“This guy’s no ordinary Kim West!”

“Hey! Get back up!”

“No thanks. Go practice wrestling with King’s Rock over in the East Sea and come back.”

“Damn it, that pisses me off!”

“Dango-ma! You’re our last hope!”

A complete rampage.

I had defeated dozens of Dokkaebis in a row.

Only one remained—the smallest Dokkaebi.

The one Seo Woojin had challenged and lost to in a single second.

Now, he was standing in front of me, rolling his shoulders.

“I’m the village champion. Come at me. Your weird tricks won’t work on me.”

There was always one like this.

In the game, it was a forced-loss event.

No matter what SSR character you brought or which traits you equipped Warrior Kim with, you couldn’t win.

There was only one way to beat him.

I casually equipped some traits and grabbed the Dokkaebi’s waistband.

“Begin!”

The moment the signal was given, I looked past the Dokkaebi and shouted.

“Huh? The sun is rising!”

“What? Where?!”

These Dokkaebis were night Dokkaebis.

At sunrise, they turned into broomsticks.

Naturally, he panicked and turned his head.

His grip loosened just slightly.

Now was the time.

I gave him a light pull.

And hooked his left leg.

His balance collapsed instantly, and his face turned pale.

“Kim West! That was a dirty trick!”

He wasn’t going down easily.

The Dokkaebi twisted his body, trying to flip midair and slam me down instead.

Pointless.

I had already switched to traits that gave me the stability of Trinity Build and the strength of Double Power Build.

The Dokkaebi was completely overpowered.

Boom!

Despite his small size, his dense body crashed into the sand.

Because of his last-minute struggle, he landed face-first.

“Guek!”

He let out a groan and passed out.

But the other Dokkaebis were loving it.

“Dango-ma got wrecked!”

“Puhahaha!”

“Look at his face! It’s all squished like a rice cake!”

“Now I want some rice cakes.”

“Kim West is the new champion of our village!”

They hoisted me up and started tossing me into the air in celebration.

I quickly shot a look at Seo Woojin.

Telling him not to rest.

While they were distracted with me, he should be wrestling more Dokkaebis.

“Huff… Haah… Dokkaebi sir, one more match…”

“Excuse me? Dokkaebi sir? Wrestling…”

“Please wrestle with me…”

Seo Woojin had guts.

After being thrown around a few times, he had figured out the trick.

He steadily racked up wins, increasing his win rate.

Even though he couldn’t switch traits like me, he had Mana Core and First Sword.

His stats were lacking, but by concentrating his mana at the right moment, he could win.

Every single match probably drained his soul, though.

Seo Woojin continued wrestling.

Meanwhile, I drank with the Dokkaebis.

They set up drinking tables, placing one in front of each of them—and one in front of me.

A traditional Joseon-style private drinking table.

“This is pretty good.”

The alcohol was makgeolli.

The side dishes were boiled pork slices and freshly seasoned kimchi.

The combination was excellent—except for one problem.

The Dokkaebi I had last defeated, Dango-ma, scratched his head sheepishly.

“Sorry ’bout that. This is all we got…”

The makgeolli was fine.

It was fermented just right, going down smooth.

The problem was the food.

The boiled pork wasn’t properly cleaned, with bristles still sticking out here and there.

On top of that, it had a strong gamey smell and was so tough it was hard to chew.

And the seasoned kimchi?

It was just a cabbage leaf covered in red pepper powder.

It was so salty, I had no idea how much salt they had dumped in.

“Ahem!”

“Hrm!”

“Hmm! Eat plenty!”

The Dokkaebis glanced at me before scooping portions from their own plates.

As they piled it onto my plate, a tower of boiled pork and kimchi formed before me—like a miniature Lotte Tower.

They expected me to eat all of this?

Me, who had become a gourmet after eating only delicious food lately?

The Dokkaebis grinned mischievously.

“Champion Kim West! You can eat it all, right?”

“A guest must never waste food!”

“Come on, eat up!”

“We can’t have anyone saying we don’t treat our guests properly!”

Ah, so this was phase two.

I smacked my lips a few times.

In the game, the food had been decent.

Why was it like this here?

No helping it.

[Vajra Body] [Indomitable] [Undying]

[Thor Cultivation Technique] [Mana Soul] [Holy Power]

A second bet with the Dokkaebis—

A food challenge.

Technically, it was more of a who-can-eat-more contest.

Originally, it was supposed to be a competition against the Dokkaebis, but…

They didn’t seem interested in eating at all.

I shoved the pork and kimchi into my mouth.

Then, I grabbed a whole bowl of makgeolli and chugged it down.

A roar erupted.

“Wow!”

“He wrestles well and eats well too!”

“If he sings well, he’ll be a triple champion!”

“I don’t see his singing pouch, though.”

“Get Hokppuri! Hokppuri!”

The towering piles of pork and kimchi quickly disappeared.

“Buuurrrp!”

I let out a long belch, and the Dokkaebis cheered wildly.

“Aaagh…”

Seo Woojin, having finally finished his wrestling matches, slumped down beside me.

His face was pale as he sprawled on the ground.

“Ugh… I feel like I’m dying…”

“But you can feel yourself getting stronger, right?”

“Yesss…”

The Onslaught trait I had passed on to him through training—

Now, it had evolved into [One-Man Army], glowing brilliantly.

The rest, Seo Woojin would handle on his own.

“Kim West, eat some meat!”

“And drink! You need to eat heartily like the first Kim West, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. But I’m Seo Woojin, not Kim West. I’m not even married yet.”

“Huh? What was that?”

“Kim West is Kim West!”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

“Sigh… Fine.”

Seo Woojin also received his own private table.

Completely drained of both sweat and mana.

He looked like he had no appetite, but he still picked up his first bite.

Neatly wrapping some kimchi around a piece of pork, he took a careful bite.

And…

His face contorted in pure agony.

“Ugh! Mmmph!”

I stopped him before he could spit it out.

“Never spit it out. Dokkaebis take that as an insult.”

“Mmrrph! Hrmph!” (Teacher! How do I—)

“Wash it down with makgeolli. That’s the best part of Korea.”

Seo Woojin grabbed the bowl and downed the makgeolli in one go.

His expression instantly changed to one of bliss.

“This is amazing.”

He gave the Dokkaebis a double thumbs-up.

The Dokkaebis, who had been watching anxiously, beamed with joy.

“Good, good!”

“Our makgeolli is the best!”

“The Earth Mother Cult? Gaia’s Cult? They can all come at us! There’s no better makgeolli than ours!”

“The second Kim West knows what’s good!”

“Eat more, eat more! There’s plenty! You have to finish it all! That’s the only way we’ll let you go home!”

The makgeolli had gotten the praise, but the pork and kimchi towers were what kept growing.

The Dokkaebis laughed heartily while Seo Woojin’s face visibly darkened.

No way around it.

Consider it the price of One-Man Army.

You consumed a high-tier trait, so now you had to suffer through some punishment.

“Now that we’re drinking, we need some singing!”

One Dokkaebi stepped forward, wiggling his hips.

Was this Hokppuri?

Large lumps swelled on both sides of his neck.

Clapping his hands to draw attention, he began singing.

“Gashiri! Gashiriitgo! Nanan!”

“Oooh!”

“What a great voice!”

“Such powerful lungs!”

“As expected of Hokppuri! Blow them all away!”

There was no melody.

No rhythm.

Just loud, ear-piercing screeches.

And his voice was so loud, my ears rang.

Seo Woojin, mid-bite into kimchi and pork, winced.

“Dokkaebis sing like this? Anyone could out-sing them.”

“No. Here, volume is all that matters. Even if Korea’s best opera singer came, if he couldn’t be louder, the Dokkaebis would say he can’t sing.”

“That’s a weird standard.”

“To Dokkaebis, we probably seem weirder.”

The song ended.

Bang! Bang! Bang-bang!

The Dokkaebis fired their revolvers into the air.

A Dokkaebi’s way of showing respect.

Hokppuri, having finished his song, turned to me and gestured.

“Kim West! Your turn!”

“Sure.”

I got up and walked to the center.

The Dokkaebis stared at me with interest.

“Will this Kim West achieve the triple crown?”

“I hope so…”

“Ugh. I just want to stop eating this awful pork.”

“I want buckwheat jelly!”

“Gasp! Buckwheat jelly!”

“Rice cakes too!”

“Rice cakes!”

“And properly cooked pork!”

“Hnngh! Just hearing that makes my tongue melt!”

“Damn it, I just want to get married!”

“Me too! Me toooo!”

The wails of the bachelor Dokkaebis echoed through the night…

I cleared my throat.

Equipping Dragon’s Roar and a few appropriate traits, I tensed my abdomen.

Taking in deep, massive breaths, my chest and stomach swelled as if they were about to burst.

I had already signaled Seo Woojin in advance—cover your ears.

As for the Dokkaebis? Whether their eardrums ruptured or not wasn’t my problem.

And then, I roared with all my might.

“[Gashiri!] [Gashiriitgo!] [Nanan!]”

Lightning exploded.

Thunder rumbled like a mad beast.

The shockwave from my voice surged into the sky.

Baaa! Baaa!

The sheep-clouds screamed as they were struck by the sound, tumbling away in a panic.

The ground itself quaked and flipped over.

Clatter! Boom! Boom!

Makgeolli barrels shattered.

Trays of food splintered into pieces.

“Urk!”

“Gwaaah!”

And the Dokkaebis? They were no exception.

One clutched his head and collapsed.

Another foamed at the mouth and passed out.

One even flickered in and out of existence, his entire form becoming unstable.

Seo Woojin’s face turned pale.

If not for One-Man Army, he probably would’ve suffered internal injuries.

“Oho… Ohhohoho…”

It took the Dokkaebis a long time to recover.

Eventually, with great effort, they raised their hands and fired their revolvers.

Bang!

A magical firework shot into the sky.

It burst just below the sheep-clouds, forming a massive glowing hand.

A clenched fist with a raised thumb.

A giant thumbs-up.

Boom! Bang! Bang-bang!

And it wasn’t just one.

Every single Dokkaebi fired their enchanted bullets.

Red, blue, yellow, white, green—

A sky full of colorful thumbs-ups, glowing against the dark night.

“I lost! Kim West, you win!”

“We lost, fair and square!”

“A complete, overwhelming defeat!”

“Here, take this as a prize!”

One Dokkaebi removed his cowboy hat and handed it to me.

Not bad.

This wasn’t just any hat.

It was a Dokkaebi Cap.

Everyone knew what that meant.

Dokkaebi Caps had the [Invisibility] trait.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t extract or replicate it, even with Diamonds.

Like the Holy Sword or Mjolnir, it was a unique trait.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t make full use of it.

Especially since gathering all the Dokkaebi Series items would make it even stronger.

I extended my hand.

“I’ll take the club too.”

“Huh? The club?”

“Yes. The cap and the club come as a set, don’t they? A matching set.”

“Uh, well, about that…”

The Dokkaebis exchanged uneasy glances.

“To be honest, we don’t have the club.”

“…What?”

“If you Dokkaebis don’t have the Dokkaebi club, then who does?”

Of course, I already knew the answer.

And as expected, the Dokkaebis gave me the same response I was expecting.

“Our brides have it.”

“…Brides?”

“Yeah. The lady Dokkaebis. That’s why we can’t even cook properly these days.”

“In the past, we could just go ‘Meat, appear!’ and it would. But now? We have to go hunt pigs and boil them ourselves.”

“I just want to eat delicious meat again!”

“Kim West, could you set us up with some brides?”

“In the old days, Kim Wests always played matchmaker for Dokkaebis!”

“It’s tradition! Absolutely!”

“If you set us up—if you get us married—we’ll give you everything. The Dokkaebi club, the Dokkaebi cap, whatever you want!”

There it was.

The words I had been waiting for.

Dokkaebi Cap? Dokkaebi Club? Dokkaebi Flight Suit?

They were all as good as mine now.

–TL Notes–

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