Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 28

Dungeon Journal – Episode 29

# 29

Dungeon Journal

Episode 29

Before Kim Jin-woo could even register the red flashing message window, he threw himself to the side again. As if expecting it, crossbow bolts flew with every step he took.

He tried kicking off the walls at odd angles and rolling on the floor, but the arrows chased him like shadows, never losing his trail.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Three arrows struck the ground behind him in quick succession.

It felt like being trapped in a dense net. Kim Jin-woo twisted his body, trying to escape the constricting feeling, and scanned the hunters.

Watching them accurately track his evasive maneuvers, which were hard even to follow with the naked eye, he confirmed that not a single one of them was a regular explorer.

Considering what they were hunting, it was no surprise. They were underground monsters who hunted humans, not other creatures.

It was impossible for them to mingle with other Dungeon Babies [Dungeon Babies are creatures born inside the dungeon].

Having easily hunted their own kind for profit several times, they would never face ferocious creatures when they could hunt easier prey.

And unfortunately, Kim Jin-woo had been singled out as the new prey for these monsters.

“This bastard, he’s at least level 8?”

One of the hunters, grinding his teeth, spoke as the arrows repeatedly missed.

“Forget about levels, just rush him! He’s going to escape!”

Worried that Kim Jin-woo might escape, one of the hunters threw down his crossbow, drew his sword, and charged.

“Kill him!”

The distance closed in an instant, and the sharp blade rushed toward Kim Jin-woo.

Thud!

The arrow barrage completely stopped. The remaining hunters seemed to think it would be difficult to catch him with crossbows alone, so they all charged at once.

And at that moment, Kim Jin-woo’s movements changed drastically.

“What? Run away?”

A savage snarl, like scraping his throat. A blue light exploded from his eyes.

Kim Jin-woo knew how foolish it was to let his guard down in the underground.

So, he had only been tense for a moment, never truly frightened and trying to run away.

He would roll on the floor and cover himself in filth to survive if necessary, but not now.

Seeing the hunter recklessly charging at him, presuming to judge his strength and devise a countermeasure, Kim Jin-woo glared with eyes emitting a fierce blue light.

“Uh, uh?”

The hunter who had charged first was caught off guard by the sudden change, unable to even think about pulling out his sword, only uttering “Uh, uh.”

Kim Jin-woo’s hand, curved sharply like the talons of a bird of prey, struck toward him.

“Cough!”

The hunter’s neck was seized in an instant. Kim Jin-woo brutally tore out his Adam’s apple. A strange, air-leaking sound echoed as blood spurted out. The hunter, dropping his sword and clutching his neck, could only cough. Kim Jin-woo roughly pulled him closer.

Then, he immediately reached out and flipped open the lips of the blood-foaming hunter.

The yellow teeth revealed between the scarlet gums were strangely sharp. They were jagged and sharp, like the teeth of a savage beast rather than human teeth.

“You sons of bitches, worse than dogs.”

Kim Jin-woo’s expression turned even more savage as he saw the hunter’s sharp teeth. As it was, the pointed teeth, as if sharpened, were the mark of the worst kind of hunters, the ‘human hunters,’ the symbol of those who craved human flesh.

The blue light flowing from Kim Jin-woo’s eyes began to shine even more fiercely.

“This crazy!”

“This bastard is not normal! Attack him all at once!”

In the meantime, the hunters surrounding him were horrified to see their comrade’s neck torn apart in a flash and charged at him simultaneously.

“Die!”

Attacks aimed at the philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip], neck, chest, and groin. It was such a vicious coordinated attack that there was no attack that didn’t target a vital spot.

Moreover, with the blue blades accurately cutting off his escape routes, an ordinary Dungeon Baby would have had its entire body torn apart by this single attack.

Human hunters were truly like natural enemies, optimized for hunting Dungeon Babies.

While ordinary Dungeon Babies specialized in hunting creatures and facing monsters, the human hunters’ unique cunning, honed by hunting their own kind, filled the area.

But Kim Jin-woo was not flustered. The monsters he had faced during his hellish journey were not just creatures. And he was a strongman who had overcome all those hardships and finally ascended to the surface.

Kim Jin-woo thrust forward the hunter he was holding by the collar with one hand.

“Kuh-uh-uhk!”

The hunter, who had been groaning intermittently while held in Kim Jin-woo’s hand, was stabbed several times in an instant and screamed.

The hunter instantly became a lump of flesh and slumped down, but the remaining hunters did not care about their comrade’s death. Their blood-soaked body was torn to shreds by their wildly swinging blades.

“You idiots! Stop!”

Blood spurted out, creating a thick red mist in an instant. One of the hunters, caught off guard as his vision was obscured, cursed.

At that moment, Kim Jin-woo, who had been crouching behind the blood mist, swung his sword. Several hunters, with blood in their eyes or their vision obscured by the red mist, had their eyes torn out and their necks ripped apart by Kim Jin-woo’s attack in an instant.

“This fucking! This bastard was born in the depths!”

In the blink of an eye, four of the fifteen hunters were bleeding and collapsed on the floor. Naturally, the hunters couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong.

But it was already too late; the distance between them was too close to retreat.

And Kim Jin-woo had no intention of letting these underground monsters live.

“Kkyaaaaak!”

“Ack! My eyes!”

Five more hunters fell in the blink of an eye. Now, there were only six hunters left. The terrified men began to slowly back away.

“Ack!”

Another scream erupted, and the hunters who had been watching for an opening scattered and ran away in an instant.

Three hunters retraced their steps, and two hunters ran past him. After hesitating for a moment, Kim Jin-woo moved his lips.

***

“Hah, hah!”

Although their breath was reaching their limits, the hunters did not stop. They felt that if they stopped, they would have their necks torn out by the blue-eyed monster.

“Hey, they must have followed the others! I can’t see them!”

“What? Why didn’t you say so sooner! We wasted our time for nothing!”

At the words of his comrade, whose direction matched, the hunter stopped. He looked back for a moment, and when there was no sign of anything, he finally breathed a sigh of relief with a relieved expression.

“Damn it!”

To meet a Dungeon Baby from the depths, of all people, he was unlucky as hell.

“Shit, they’re all dead, right?”

“Are you even asking? Did you see that bastard’s face earlier? He was a complete monster.”

“Ugh, we’re so unlucky. That bastard must be at least level 10.”

The two hunters chuckled, relieved that he hadn’t followed them.

“Ugh. We’ll have to lie low for a while.”

“What can we do? Let’s lay low for a while and then find another team later. If we’re lucky and meet some clueless guys, we can devour them all.”

The hunters, cursing that they wouldn’t be able to have fun for a while, were the very image of inhumanity.

“But where is this?”

“I don’t know. I ran without looking back, so I don’t even know where I am.”

But they soon realized the cold reality and frowned.

“Hey, we’re screwed.”

“What, man? Are we screwed or did we hit the jackpot?”

“It’s not that…….”

The hunter, frowning at his comrade’s retort, said,

“This place seems like a maze?”

Only then did the hunter, who had noticed the strangely shiny passage, turn pale.

“You bastard, then we should get out of here right away. What are you doing here…….”

The terrified hunter was horrified when suddenly, he heard the sound of something cutting through the air.

“What are you doing? You said let’s go!”

The hunter cursed as his comrade suddenly stopped talking and froze.

He nervously tapped his comrade’s shoulder, trying to turn back, when he heard something fall with a thud and hot liquid poured down his back.

“Huh?”

Feeling like he shouldn’t look back, the hunter turned around with a stiff neck, sweating profusely, and widened his eyes. A flash of blue light grazed the neck of the hunter who had frozen like that.

“Kkeueueueuk.”

He clutched his neck, spitting out phlegm mixed with blood, and soon collapsed.

***

“I have taken care of everything, my lord.”

It hadn’t been long, but Rikshasha, who had already returned and was prostrating himself, reeked of thick blood.

As expected of a born assassin and scout, Dominic’s words were not an exaggeration. It was amazing that he had dealt with two hunters who seemed to be over level 5 so quickly.

“Good work.”

Kim Jin-woo was quite surprised, but he didn’t show it. He checked the bodies of the hunters lying on the floor one by one.

All of them were human hunters with sharp teeth, and his face, which had been somewhat uneasy, turned completely cold.

Having come all the way to the surface, wouldn’t he have gotten human blood on his hands? There was no reason to waver now.

Moreover, the opponents were the vicious monsters of the underground who approached with smiling faces and cut throats while they slept. It was doubtful whether they, addicted to human flesh, could even be called human.

‘My lord, I have collected everything.’

Dominic, who had approached unnoticed while he was lost in thought, politely held out both hands. About twenty Down Jams [currency used in the dungeon] sparkled and shone on her palms.

“You’ve collected quite a lot.”

The fact that the hunters had many Down Jams meant that the number of explorers who had been sacrificed was not small. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but even the radiant red light of the Down Jams seemed eerie.

He frowned without realizing it and said briefly.

“Let’s go back.”

Now that the portal was open, there was no need to linger in the underground any longer. Dominic asked him as he took a step toward the portal.

‘What should we do with the bodies?’

Kim Jin-woo, who looked back for a moment, said indifferently.

“Leave them. Either creatures or beasts will come and devour them without leaving a trace.”

Just as the hunters had done, the darkness of the underground would dispose of their bodies. That was the law of the underground, which swallowed everything without leaving anything behind.