Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 116

Dungeon Journal – Episode 117

# 117

Dungeon Journal

All his life, Kim Jin-woo had lived without thinking about his biological parents. As a child, he didn’t understand the concept of family, and after coming to the surface, his adoptive parents filled that void.

Thanks to them, he had never once thought about his biological parents.

So, he thought he didn’t care about his biological parents. But that wasn’t the case.

The first news he heard about his biological parents completely messed up his mind.

‘What happened to those first explorers?’

When he spat out the question he couldn’t bring himself to swallow, he unknowingly gasped for air. Fortunately, Mr. Baek didn’t seem to notice his expression properly.

‘I can’t know the details. However, when the war ended, none of them remained on the surface. I guess they were attacked by the creatures of the underground. Well, from the underground’s point of view, they would have wanted to punish them at all costs.’

Did he think that because he grew up like a beast in the underground, he wouldn’t even have affection for his parents? Mr. Baek carelessly rattled on.

‘Anyway, that’s how the war started and ended. And the commotion in the deep levels now reminds me of something similar that happened before. I’ll find out the exact details and tell you.’

After that, he didn’t remember what Mr. Baek was saying. He just came to his senses and found himself on the road, and when he came to his senses again, he was already home.

Even though it hadn’t been a day since he came to the surface, Kim Jin-woo felt extremely tired. As soon as he buried himself in bed, his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

***

Kim Jin-woo had a dream. In his dream, he was small, weak, and insignificant. And he was curling his small body even smaller.

A spider as big as a house appeared before him, looking down at him with cold eyes.

The fear that his whole body would be torn apart by that hideous mouth at any moment, but instead of screaming, the giant spider spoke politely.

“You are free.”

The giant spider, the Spider Duke, left only those words and disappeared into the darkness. And he and the other surviving troglodytes stood there for a long time with bewildered faces.

The life they had lived was too harsh to know what freedom was.

But as time passed, they finally came to know what freedom was.

Freedom meant that no one would give them food or tell them what to do anymore.

Holding their hungry stomachs, they began to move, one by one, to leave the labyrinth. Kim Jin-woo was one of them.

“Jin-woo, let’s go.”

There was a small, white hand holding his hand as he trudged along. He turned his head and saw a girl with a pure white smile that didn’t suit the gloomy underground.

He couldn’t help but smile at her innocent smile.

“Never let go of this hand.”

He nodded at the girl’s request. And then, with a more confident step, he headed into the darkness.

***

Waking up from his dream, he stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

He felt like he had a dream, but he couldn’t remember it at all. A blurry face flickered before his eyes and disappeared.

But somehow, he felt sorry for something that had scattered like that. He unknowingly curled up and hugged his tingling heart.

He felt like he had missed something.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. So, he decided to do something more productive instead of clinging to the end of a dream he couldn’t remember.

[Who is it?]

Kim Jin-woo replied in a deeply hoarse voice to the thick voice coming from the other side of the phone.

“It’s Kim Jin-woo. We’ve met a couple of times before. Do you remember?”

[Ah, I was wondering who it was. Your voice sounds very husky over the phone, my friend.]

At the answer of the man, Song Jong-cheol, who was quickly changing his tone and making a fuss, he immediately brought up the matter at hand.

“I have something to ask you.”

[I thought you’d never contact me, but you’re more flexible than I thought. Okay, ask me. I’ll listen for now.]

“The deep levels, I need information about the situation in the deep levels right now.”

Song Jong-cheol, who had been talking as if he would answer anything, closed his mouth at the mention of needing information about the deep levels.

“It’s not free. If you give me the information I want, I’ll pay you a reasonable price.”

[Wait a minute. It’s not about the price, I need to know why you’re doing this.]

“I have business in the deep levels. I can’t tell you more than that.”

He needed to know how the situation on the 11th floor was going in order to respond. Participating in the war on the 11th floor without knowing anything was not a good idea, no matter how he thought about it.

However, he couldn’t shake the thought that the current chaos might be an opportunity.

[The deep levels, the deep levels… Which floor exactly do you need information about?]

He hesitated for a moment, but as he expected, Song Jong-cheol seemed to have information about the deep levels.

Well, the plan to secure the labyrinth had gone awry, and he was somewhat shunned among the explorers, but he was still an executive of the Explorer’s Association, wielding great influence.

He was sure to be more knowledgeable about the situation in the underground than Mr. Baek, who was crouching on the surface, only pricking up his ears to the stories he heard.

“The 11th floor.”

At the short answer, Song Jong-cheol made a suggestion.

[It’s hard to say over the phone, let’s meet and talk.]

“Do you have the information?”

[Do you think I’d ask a busy person to grab a coffee if I didn’t? Let’s meet first. We need to talk face to face, whatever it is.]

“Okay, where should we meet?”

[I’ll text you the address, come there.]

“I’ll say it again……”

[Hey! Have you only been cheated in your life?]

Kim Jin-woo, who had no choice but to answer that he understood at the somewhat frivolous answer, hurried to get ready to go out. After checking the text message that arrived while he was changing his clothes, he immediately took a taxi to the meeting place.

The address Song Jong-cheol gave him was a basement bar with a shabby exterior located in a quiet suburb.

“How did you come?”

“I have an appointment with Song Jong-cheol.”

A man in a suit stood in front of the stairs and stopped him. But he opened the way, perhaps because he had been told in advance.

“Go down and it’s the innermost room.”

Kim Jin-woo nodded roughly at the man’s guidance and headed inside through the narrow passage.

Unlike the shabby entrance, the interior inside the stairs was quite luxurious. Perhaps because it was still early evening, there were no customers or even working people in the hallway.

“You’ve arrived.”

Song Jong-cheol waved his hand as if welcoming an old friend.

“Why are you standing there like a dummy if you’ve come in? Sit down.”

Kim Jin-woo perched on the edge of a chair, feeling awkward with the unnecessarily large table and sofa, as is usually the case with such establishments.

“Can you even talk from that far away? Come over here and sit down. I won’t bite you.”

Looking at him, Song Jong-cheol chuckled, pointing to a glass placed opposite him.

“Let’s have a drink first……”

“The deep levels, I need information about the deep levels.”

Kim Jin-woo cut off Song Jong-cheol’s words appropriately, as he was about to become a drinking partner.

“Geez, what a temper.”

Song Jong-cheol, who smacked his lips with an embarrassed face, quickly changed his expression.

“It’s not difficult to give information, but let’s know the reason.”

“I told you, I have to go to the deep levels.”

“Why are you going to the deep levels? Down Jam [a valuable resource found in dungeons]? Well, what else would you go to the underground for? What, do you need some top-notch Down Jam?”

Kim Jin-woo silently took out a bundle from his arms and showed it to Song Jong-cheol, who was answering his own questions.

“I ask the questions, you just answer.”

Song Jong-cheol whistled as he looked at the few Down Jams that had spilled onto the table.

“Whew, at the current market price, that’s worth a few thousand. But why this? What, do you want to show off? Okay, I saw it. So what are you going to do?”

“Information fee.”

Kim Jin-woo frowned at the unexpected reaction.

“Geez, what an unsociable friend. Look, I clearly said that it’s not difficult to give information. But do you think I’m an errand center employee? Do you think I’m doing this to get this petty money?”

Perhaps thinking that his kindness had been ignored, Song Jong-cheol did not hide his uncomfortable feelings.

He looked at Song Jong-cheol with an incomprehensible expression. It was bewildering that Song Jong-cheol was showing such kindness in a situation where they could not even be said to have a good relationship, even as a joke.

“Maybe you’re, what, that kind of person? A personality that can’t live by owing others. If that’s the case, I can understand with a broad mind.”

Saying that, Song Jong-cheol slid the Down Jam away.

“Um. Okay, you need information about the deep levels? Unfortunately, now is not the time to enter the deep levels. Even if you have to go in, it’s better to postpone it a little.”

“I know the general situation.”

“You’re still going to go in? You’re completely crazy. Unless you’re dying to die.”

Kim Jin-woo was not offended by Song Jong-cheol’s nagging. No, rather, he was pleased with this reaction. The more Song Jong-cheol made a fuss like this, the more reliable the information would be, so how could he not be happy?

“Since you need it, I’ll tell you anyway. The deep levels are at war right now. How do I know? A crazy bastard who crawled up to the 11th floor to get Down Jam barely survived and was kicked out a while ago. That crazy bastard is a little close to me.”

“To be exact, it’s not the deep levels, it’s the 11th floor.”

“You know it well. But what else are you going to listen to?”

“The war on the 11th floor, I know this isn’t the first time. I just want to hear information about that.”

He had already learned from Mr. Baek that this war had happened in the past.

If there had been such wars several times, there must be a reason. The exact reason was something that humans on the surface could not know, but if he heard the detailed circumstances, he would realize something himself.

So, he asked Song Jong-cheol to tell him the information as he knew it.

“But why me? The last time we met, you almost ran away from me?”

“Because I need it. And there’s no one else to ask but you.”

He was not so shameless as to stab Kim Jin-tae in the back and stand in front of Lee Jun-yeong, who was grieving over his death, and say something regrettable.

“Are you completely broken up with Lee Jun-yeong’s group? Well, good. Thinking of it as making a good relationship, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Song Jong-cheol, who smacked his lips like that, began to speak.

“Actually, I was a successful explorer. Until about 5 or 6 years ago, Song Jong-cheol was well-known in this field. Ah, don’t make that face. I’m not saying this to brag about myself.”

Song Jong-cheol waved his hand as Kim Jin-woo frowned openly at his absurd self-praise.

“But you know, why am I making an association or something and loafing around on the surface like this now? Why do you think?”

Song Jong-cheol, who paused for a moment, rolled up his top. There was no place on the bare skin revealed under the rolled-up shirt that was not covered in scars.

Song Jong-cheol, who tapped the deepest and most terrible scar that ran across his chest, grinned.

“I got caught up in that damn war and my body became a rag.”