Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 158

Dungeon Journal-158

# 158

Dungeon Journal

Episode 159

Kim Jin-woo didn’t answer. But Lee Jun-young, as if understanding his silence, nodded agreeably.

“I see, so I’ll be stuck here for the rest of my life.”

Kim Jin-woo, seeing her resigned expression, didn’t offer any words of comfort.

Though it started as an effort to save her from her Down’s Jam addiction, he ultimately confined her remaining life to the underground for his own safety, so what comfort could he offer now?

It was all hypocrisy and deceit.

So, he chose silence over clumsy consolation.

“Well, it’s what I expected.”

But Lee Jun-young seemed quite calm, contrary to his expectations. She even urged him to give her something to do, now that things had turned out this way.

“What’s with that look? Did you think I’d resent you forever and stay cooped up in that awful room?”

He hadn’t thought that far, but considering her history of being a shut-in, he hadn’t anticipated this reaction at all.

“I may have looked like a mess, but I’m Lee Jun-young, you know? If it weren’t for you, I’d still be scouring the underground like a stray dog, trying to get my hands on Down’s Jam powder until my nose bled. You saved me from that shut-in life, so did you think I’d just resent you without being grateful?”

It was better than falling into despair and becoming a shut-in again, but her current state wasn’t exactly normal either.

At this point, he wondered if the shock was too much for her to fully grasp reality.

The life in the underground was just a bleak existence of struggle. He couldn’t say she truly understood the full situation.

But Kim Jin-woo had no intention of persuading her and telling her how miserable reality was.

Whether she accepted it or not, he didn’t want to shake her up again after she had barely come to her senses.

“I don’t resent you.”

Her words were not a lie. Her psychological state, as seen through the Eye of Truth, showed no resentment whatsoever. Rather, she seemed to be aware of her ambiguous position and was contemplating various things.

“Let’s think about what Jun-young can do here later. For now, just focus on recovering.”

Down’s Jam was almost depleted in the underground, but fortunately, she wasn’t a native of the underground. Just eating regular food properly would allow her to regain her past strength.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

“Rest well.”

Lee Jun-young, who was about to leave the owner’s room with faltering steps, asked as if something had just occurred to her.

“Should I call you ‘Master’ when we meet next time?”

Kim Jin-woo was taken aback by the unexpected question.

***

Lee Jun-young’s situation was resolved smoothly enough. Thanks to an old colleague who ruled the Black Tiger Labyrinth, her aversion to the labyrinth had been greatly alleviated, which was fortunate.

However, the problem was her ambiguous position, neither belonging to the labyrinth nor not belonging to it. But even she herself was aware of the problem, so it would be resolved in some way soon.

The Great Labyrinth had locked its doors and entered a period of maintenance, but there were those who could freely enter and exit the Great Labyrinth: the Under Elf patrols, including Rickshasha.

The Under Elves constantly crossed the boundaries of the Great Labyrinth, continuously adding the expanded boundaries to the map.

They also didn’t neglect to monitor the outside world.

Some of them ventured out on long-range explorations to carry out missions to survey other floors beyond the 9th floor. In the process, news came that the Party Hall, which had been quite successful, had completely disappeared.

“Judging from the traces of battle, it seems something has happened.”

Kim Jin-woo frowned at Rickshasha’s report.

The Party Hall was on the verge of moving to the 9th floor. But as the labyrinth transformed into the Great Labyrinth, the entire 9th floor became a forbidden zone, disrupting the plan.

The Party Hall had been struggling to fend off the attacks of the Moai [giant stone statues with combat abilities], so the possibility of them being attacked in isolation could not be ignored.

“However, considering that the core of the labyrinth has completely disappeared, the possibility that they fled cannot be ruled out either.”

“Well, if the Moai had swept through, it wouldn’t have disappeared so cleanly.”

According to the patrols’ report, the owner’s room of the Party Hall was well-preserved even in the midst of the battle.

If it had been completely destroyed by the Moai, there should have been traces of the destroyed core remaining.

“The problem is whether she will return to me… that’s the problem.”

Now that it had been revealed that Ariane, the Queen of Dreams, had approached him at the behest of Dinarion, Yoon-hee could not be completely trusted either. No, it was more plausible to assume that she, too, had acted according to Dinarion’s intentions.

“If you give the order, I will track her down.”

“If possible, do so. However, since we are in a situation where every bit of strength is precious, handle it without overdoing it.”

At his command, Rickshasha bowed her head and left the owner’s room.

“Hmm… but I feel like I’m missing something.”

Sitting still and looking in the direction she had disappeared, Kim Jin-woo frowned, feeling like he was forgetting something important. But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out the reason, and the wrinkles on his furrowed face only deepened.

“Ah! Woosher!”

After a long while, he finally realized the source of his unease and called several Under Elves to patrol the outskirts of the labyrinth.

“Do not allow anyone other than Woosher into the labyrinth.”

At his words, the Under Elves bowed their heads and scattered into the darkness.

***

At the same time, as Kim Jin-woo was struggling to recall something he couldn’t remember, a fierce battle was taking place near the Great Labyrinth.

“Damn it! Stop swarming me!”

Incongruous with the terrifying sight of hundreds of Moai occupying a wide open space and rushing towards him, was a frivolous curse. The voice belonged to none other than Woosher.

Woosher, who had guessed the cause of the anomaly earlier than anyone else and left the labyrinth, had only now arrived in the vicinity of the Great Labyrinth for some reason.

“Stop dawdling and get over here! Hurry!”

Normally, he would have passed through the Moai horde using his unique ability to blend in with his surroundings, but now that the labyrinth had been destroyed, he had brought all the Gluttonous Masses [Woosher’s slime subordinates] with him, making it difficult even for him.

“Oh no! Those precious ones!”

Woosher kept talking non-stop. He screamed as he watched the Gluttonous Masses he had carefully collected being crushed and dismantled by the Moai.

“I must have been crazy. What glory was I expecting!”

A voice full of regret echoed once again in the underground. Whether he said it or not, the Moai were busy grabbing the sticky Gluttonous Masses and stuffing them into their mouths.

“Ugh! My precious ones!”

Woosher was startled and rushed towards a Moai that had swallowed a Gluttonous Mass whole with its large maw.

The giant Moai, which was sucking in the Gluttonous Mass as if drinking an egg yolk, screamed at Woosher’s attack.

“Spit it out!”

Woosher stretched his viscous body and strangled the Moai’s neck. Eventually, the giant Moai coughed and spat out the Gluttonous Mass it had half-swallowed. The Gluttonous Mass, which had narrowly escaped death, stuck to Woosher’s waist with a thud.

“That’s right!”

Woosher, who had been busy collecting the scattered Gluttonous Masses, cheered at the sight. He had finally come up with a way to overcome this crisis.

“Everyone gather!”

The Gluttonous Masses, who had been in the midst of battle, shook off the Moai and flocked to his side.

In the process, many Gluttonous Masses were caught by the tail and swallowed by the Moai, but Woosher eventually succeeded in gathering his subordinates in one place.

“Everyone stick together!”

Woosher, who spread his body wide to push away the Moai, shouted loudly. But the viscous masses just stared blankly at him.

“Stick to my body! You stupid bastards!”

The Gluttonous Masses, who had followed him well without being told when the labyrinth was there, were now even dull-eared, which was frustrating.

Despite repeated shouts, the Gluttonous Masses were still sluggish. Eventually, Woosher, unable to watch any longer, grabbed one of the closest masses and stuck it to his waist with a thud.

“Stick like this!”

Only then did the Gluttonous Masses slowly cling to him.

“I should have done this sooner!”

Perhaps it was because he had been separated from the core for too long, but his head didn’t seem to be working properly.

Woosher, who had Gluttonous Masses plastered all over his body, momentarily stretched his body taut.

His body, bent like a bow, seemed ready to spring out at any moment, and then he shot forward like an arrow.

With an amazing leap that advanced more than ten meters at once, but there were too many Moai to escape, and he lacked strength.

Eventually, Woosher, who had fallen into the middle of the Moai, managed to reach the boundary of the Great Labyrinth after leaping several more times.

“This side is a bit more relaxed.”

Woosher, who let out a sigh of relief as if he had barely survived, grimaced as he saw the Moai rushing towards him.

But only for a moment, Woosher started running again. The Gluttonous Masses hanging all over his body dangled as if they would fall off soon, but he didn’t look back.

Although the Moai, whose bodies were half-collapsed, were not agile, the Gluttonous Masses were several times slower than them. Naturally, he had to create distance when the opportunity arose.

“Damn it!”

Woosher, who was bouncing off, cursed as he saw the dead end. He had relied on his memory to find his way, but it seemed that he had gone astray in the middle, and instead of a wide-open passage, a solid wall blocked his path.

Kuuuuuuuu.

Woosher, hearing the groans of the Moai who had followed him right behind, wondered.

“Ugh, half of my body will disappear.”

Now that he had lost the labyrinth, even a single mass of slime was precious in this emergency situation. But he couldn’t be happy about having to expend his energy on the Moai, who had no nutritional value.

“I must have been really crazy. I should have just gone straight, but what glory was I expecting.”

Woosher, who grumbled like that, regretted his actions immediately after leaving the labyrinth, pounding the ground.

But soon, seeing the Moai rushing towards him, he braced his body firmly. Now that things had come to this, he decided to break out of the encirclement as quickly as possible.

Kugugugung.

But at that moment, the entire underground began to vibrate.

“What now!”

He had already lost the labyrinth once after a major tremor. So Woosher was terrified.

But this time, the vibration saved him. The blocked path had been opened at the end of the vibration.

“Woosher-nim, the King is waiting for you.”

Woosher, who was about to take his first step towards the newly opened passage, turned his head at the quiet voice.

“Oh, you are!”

Woosher, confirming the place where the voice came from, said with a delighted expression as he found an Under Elf who had half-buried his body in the darkness.

“Did the King send you!”

The Under Elf nodded his head at Woosher’s fuss and immediately turned his body to guide him.

“But why are you alone? Where are the others?”

Woosher, worried about the Moai who had already approached right behind him, asked that question, and the Under Elf replied with a blank face.

“You don’t have to worry about the back, so please follow me for now.”

At those words, Woosher jumped into the depths of the labyrinth without a moment’s hesitation.

Kuaaaa!

As Woosher disappeared following the Under Elf guide, the Moai roared fiercely and followed behind him. It was a fierce momentum as if they would immediately tear apart the disappeared Woosher and Under Elf.

But they had unknowingly stepped into the gateway to hell. The corridor they thought was an empty passage was actually the entrance to the Great Labyrinth.

And the Great Labyrinth was a secretly and cunning predator that they couldn’t notice.

Instead of fiercely swallowing the Moai from the beginning, the Great Labyrinth waited for the Moai to come deep enough into the labyrinth.

And when the last Moai crossed the boundary of the labyrinth, it finally revealed its dark intentions.

Thus, hundreds of Moai were swallowed into the belly of the Great Labyrinth before they could even recognize what was happening to them.