Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 95

Dungeon Journal- Episode 96

# 96

Dungeon Journal

#39. The Birth of a New Race

“Who are those spaced-out guys?”

Morigan, who appeared out of nowhere, folded her unique black wings and spoke.

“Refugees from the 6th floor.”

At Kim Jin-woo’s words, Nortos, the King of the Canine race, and the other labyrinth owners, who had instantly become refugees, frowned but didn’t dare to talk back.

Morigan frowned as she watched them quickly lower their heads to hide their expressions, avoiding eye contact.

“Judging by their looks, they’re labyrinth owners…”

She scanned Nortos up and down before clicking her tongue and saying,

“They’re too weak, aren’t they?”

At the blatant remark, Nortos flared up and raised his head, but froze when he saw Morigan’s eerily glowing red eyes.

He seemed to instinctively realize that she was a powerful being he couldn’t handle.

No, even if it wasn’t the raven woman in front of him, there wasn’t a single person around Kim Jin-woo who was weaker than them.

The moment they realized that fact, Nortos and the other labyrinth owners hung their heads and didn’t raise them again.

“Putting on airs, tsk.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been watching Morigan’s actions, belatedly stopped her.

“It’s safe here, so let’s hear what’s going on.”

Looking at the arrogant king sitting on the throne, the Canine King stepped forward to explain the situation.

“Suddenly, surface dwellers flooded in, and the 6th floor’s territory became a mess…”

“I know that much, so start from what happened next.”

“The next part?”

Kim Jin-woo said to the Canine King, who was rolling his eyes.

“Why were you pushed back so pathetically? I can understand the 5th floor, but the 6th floor fell too easily.”

That was the most puzzling part for him as he went through the 6th floor. He could understand the 5th floor, but he couldn’t understand why the 6th floor had been pushed back so easily.

At his question, Nortos said in a bitter voice.

“It’s been 10 years since the war ended, and the Underworld has become too weak.”

“Keep going.”

“To be precise, it’s the labyrinths closer to the surface that have weakened.”

Nortos, who started the story that way, didn’t hide his consistently gloomy face.

“Surface dwellers have been going in and out of the Underworld as if it were their own backyard, and they have mercilessly plundered the source of life that allows the Underworld to exist as the Underworld. That’s been going on for 10 years. It’s like having blood drawn steadily for 10 years.”

Creatures eat Down Jams [a type of energy source in the Underworld], and predators eat the prey that has eaten those Down Jams.

And the labyrinths swallow these beings again and grow in size. Down Jams were the very foundation of the Underworld.

However, over the past 10 years, the number of surface dwellers who have visited the entrance and lower levels of the Underworld has been enormous. They hunted creatures and swept away Down Jams indiscriminately before they were ripe.

At first, it wasn’t very noticeable. But as time passed, the creatures that couldn’t consume Down Jams gradually weakened.

Both predators and prey became weakened, and the labyrinths were no different.

Instead of recovering from the damage caused by the war, it became difficult to even obtain the Down Jams needed to maintain the labyrinths as time went on.

“Unable to afford the maintenance costs of the soldiers, elite soldiers deserted the labyrinths, and the labyrinths, which were not supplied with dungeon energy, continued to weaken. As a result, we have reached the point where we are giving up labyrinths even to barbaric creatures.”

Nortos said bitterly, with a face that looked like he was shedding tears of blood.

“Is the situation the same on the other floors?”

He wondered why it was different from the Underworld he knew, but it seemed that this was the reason. Kim Jin-woo asked with a serious face, and Nortos shook his head.

“That’s probably not the case. Surface dwellers didn’t try to go below the 6th floor.”

As far as he knew, explorers didn’t try to go below the 6th floor, where the danger level rose sharply.

In fact, the map that Lee Jun-young had saved him with before didn’t have anything marked below the 6th floor.

“But I don’t know now. As the Underworld has weakened, the surface dwellers have become stronger. If the surface dwellers decide to push in, I don’t think they can stop them with just the 7th floor, let alone the 8th floor.”

“Is that so?”

The leaders of the fortress, including Morigan, were frowning at the story they were hearing for the first time.

Even though they were in a competitive relationship, they couldn’t be happy that the existence of the Underworld was being pushed back by the surface dwellers.

And Kim Jin-woo was looking around at his subordinates with an ambiguous face.

Should he be happy that the surface dwellers were prospering, or should he be sad about the decline of the Underworld, which had now become his home? He sighed, unable to grasp his feelings.

But only for a moment, he hardened his expression. There was no time to indulge in useless sentimentality.

Now that he had the strength to advance to the deeper levels, the chaotic situation in the lower levels was holding him back.

At this rate, he would have to worry about his rear instead of advancing to the deeper levels. In the worst case, he had to be prepared to fight against the same humans.

Of course, whether he could draw his sword against his own people without hesitation at that time was a later problem.

Considering his situation of being bound to the labyrinth, he would have to fight to survive, but he didn’t want to think that far right now, to be honest.

“What are you going to do now? I’ll grant your requests as much as possible.”

Kim Jin-woo gave the owners of the 6th floor, who had already been bound by the vassal contract before coming here, a choice with a complicated face.

It wasn’t because he respected them, but because he couldn’t think of where to place them with their weak power, which didn’t seem like that of labyrinth owners.

“Excuse me, but I would like to ask the King one thing.”

“Ask.”

Nortos, who was watching carefully, said cautiously at his permission.

“Are all the owners of the 9th floor this strong?”

Nortos’s gaze was directed at Morigan as he said that.

“I don’t know if they’re strong, but it’s certain that you’re weak.”

Morigan answered, strutting her stuff before Kim Jin-woo could step in.

“Morigan is not a labyrinth owner. She is a bit of a special being.”

He corrected the fact, as it was clear that they were overestimating the power of the 9th floor by looking at Morigan and himself.

However, he also admitted that the power of the 6th floor owners, including Nortos, was somewhat lacking to survive on the 9th floor.

“Then I will give up the labyrinth.”

[The Canine King Nortos is giving up and transferring ownership of the labyrinth. If you accept his offer, you can fully acquire the new labyrinth ownership.]

[Nortos, who has stepped down from the position of labyrinth owner, will be able to stay in Naga’s Fortress as a Hero-grade summon.]

[Nortos will have the opportunity to grow just like other summons. But as a former labyrinth owner, he has the potential to grow into a Hero-grade being or higher.]

[Would you like to accept the ownership of Nortos’s labyrinth?]

Kim Jin-woo frowned as he looked at the message that appeared in front of him, and Nortos expressed his honest feelings.

“To be honest, I’m not confident in surviving on the 9th floor. Right now, I just hope that I will have the opportunity to regain my former strength under the King’s shadow.”

It seemed that the pressure of the 9th floor, which was three floors away from the 6th floor where he was, was beyond imagination.

Nortos wanted to take care of his body in a safe fortress instead of becoming the owner of the labyrinth.

“Do as you wish.”

[You have acquired ownership of the Nortos Labyrinth.]

[Nortos’s labyrinth, contained in a High-grade Down Jam rather than a Top-grade Down Jam, is actually uncertain whether it can be properly reactivated. Even if it succeeds in activating, the instability of the core has the potential to cause problems at any time.]

As soon as he accepted Nortos’s offer, the other labyrinth owners, who had been watching carefully, rushed to give up ownership of their labyrinths.

***

[The labyrinth activation process has been completed.]

[The labyrinth core is activated, and the existing passage is reconfigured as part of the labyrinth.]

[The core created by synthesizing the existing cores is a completely new labyrinth that did not exist before.]

[You are now witnessing the birth of a new labyrinth.]

[The mystery of the Underworld blesses the birth of the new labyrinth.]

[The labyrinth core finally begins to operate.]

As he was frantically wandering around the Underworld, the creation of the labyrinth that had been planted as a satellite labyrinth near the fortress was completed.

The labyrinth core, which had been made impossible to know what was inside due to the independent actions of the High-grade Naga wizards, finally revealed its appearance.

[A new race is born.]

A flash of light, several times more brilliant than the flashes he had seen before, enveloped the entire Underworld.

Morigan, Dominic, and Angela, who had come to see the bizarre creation created by the Naga wizards, felt the enormous energy contained within and admired it.

“It looks like something amazing is going to come out?”

Angela said, squinting in the flash of light, and her voice was full of excitement.

“I wish it would.”

Contrary to the warning message he saw at the time of the core synthesis, the entire Underworld was filled with vitality and energy. Kim Jin-woo was also excited and waited for the flash to subside, wondering if he could expect something good.

And when the flash finally subsided, a new message appeared in front of Kim Jin-woo.

[The Silken Frog Clan has been born.]

Unlike what he had expected, the labyrinth core revealed after the flash was smaller and more shabby than any labyrinth core he had ever seen.

Even considering that it was only Grade 1, Kim Jin-woo frowned without realizing it because its dull color and size were below expectations.

[No one knows how the Silken Frog Clan will grow.]

[The mystery of the Underworld blesses the birth of the Silken Frog Clan.]

The color of the core became somewhat more lustrous at the end of the message, but the shabbiness still did not disappear.

“Master?”

Angela spoke to Kim Jin-woo, not giving up her expectations even with a sullen face. He stared blankly at the core and the air for a while before frowning.

“I think it’s ruined.”

***

The second activated synthetic core also produced an ambiguous race called ‘Big-Headed Dwarves’.

The color and size of the core were as small and shabby as the one in the Silken Frog’s labyrinth, and Kim Jin-woo was very disappointed.

“I wasted two perfectly good cores and two Top-grade Down Jams.”

He gritted his teeth as he looked at the labyrinth core that was about to be activated for the last time with a grim face.

“Damn wizards.”

“But watch it for now, Master. Maybe something useful will come out.”

Dominic comforted him, but Kim Jin-woo’s expression did not improve. The faces of the High-grade Naga wizards, who were congratulating themselves on this as a research achievement, came to his mind, and he was furious inside.

“That’s true, but this is infuriating. I feel sick to my stomach because I made it like this, leaving the good labyrinths alone.”

As he honestly revealed his feelings, even the taciturn Morigan stepped forward to comfort him.

“There’s still one left, so it’s too early to be disappointed. Anyway, to be frank, even the cores before they were synthesized weren’t very useful.”

Kim Jin-woo nodded, clutching his aching stomach, as it was a reasonable thing to say in its own way. While they were talking, the core began to activate.

[A new race is born.]

He had already experienced it twice, so he didn’t feel much emotion even with the abundant vitality and energy. Kim Jin-woo, who was waiting for the flash to subside with a nonchalant face, widened his eyes when he saw the scene that finally appeared after the light disappeared.

“Huh?”

A brilliant labyrinth core that could not even be compared to the previous two synthetic cores was in front of his eyes. He was looking at the core that was scattering iridescent light when a message appeared in front of him.