Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 166

Dungeon Journal – Episode 167

# 167

Dungeon Journal

– Korea Explorer Association

Kim Jin-woo harbored doubts. Even after learning that Down Jam, stripped of its beneficial components, was being distributed to the public under the association’s name, he didn’t immediately connect Angela’s investigation into Down Jam’s whereabouts with the association itself.

He’d always considered the association a supplier of Down Jam, not a recipient of scrutiny.

But seeing the prominent letters ‘Explorer Association’ emblazoned on the building Angela led him to, he couldn’t help but frown.

“These damn bastards…”

The boldly displayed sign was utterly repulsive. He needed to delve deeper to uncover the full extent of their activities, but witnessing them scamming ordinary people confirmed his suspicions: nothing about this operation was legitimate.

After glaring at the sign for a moment, Kim Jin-woo’s expression turned icy. He sensed the presence of watchers both inside and outside the building.

“If we get any closer, we’ll be spotted by the watchers,” Angela whispered, seemingly aware of the hidden observers’ capabilities, stopping a considerable distance away.

Kim Jin-woo, slightly ahead of Angela, nodded in agreement. He could force his way in, but there was no need for such brute force.

“Master?”

Angela’s eyes widened as Kim Jin-woo abruptly dropped his concealment and revealed himself.

“Go back first.”

Without a backward glance, he uttered those brief words and strode towards the Explorer Association office. His resolve intensified with each step he took out of the shadows, and as he stepped under the streetlight, he seemed like a completely different person.

***

Lee Cheol-ho, the explorer guarding the entrance of the Explorer Association, narrowed his eyes at the sudden appearance of the man.

“Did we receive any notice about a guest arriving today?”

“What time do you think it is, you idiot? Even if we had, would they arrive at this hour?”

“Then who is that guy?”

“How should I know? Isn’t it your job to ask?”

He inquired about the man’s identity in a low voice to his colleague beside him, only to be rebuked.

He blocked the man’s path with a surly expression. Or, at least, he attempted to.

But the moment he met the man’s black eyes, shining brightly under the moonlight, he was rendered speechless.

Outwardly, the man was unremarkable. Just an ordinary appearance that could be seen anywhere. He was probably an explorer, given that he was approaching the association, but he possessed no particularly distinguishing features.

Yet, despite this, Lee Cheol-ho couldn’t utter a word the moment he saw the man.

He was frozen like prey before a predator, unable to speak or even breathe.

Step, step.

The man indifferently looked at him and approached slowly.

“Hey, hey.”

“Ah!”

If his colleague hadn’t tapped him on the shoulder, he would have forgotten his duty and simply stared blankly.

“Wh-who are you?”

Lee Cheol-ho, his voice hoarse, barely managed to ask his business and swallowed hard.

“I’ve come to see Song Jong-cheol.”

The moment he heard the man’s purpose, he felt the tension dissipate and unknowingly let out a sigh of relief.

He was so relieved that the man had answered his question completely.

Perhaps, without realizing it, he was relieved that the man was not an enemy.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Not really, but it’s not as if we can’t meet just because I don’t have an appointment.”

The man seemed to be quite a figure, judging by his demeanor.

He mentioned the association president, who had regained his former power after a period of decline, so casually that Lee Cheol-ho was glad he had been polite.

“If you tell me your name, I’ll inform him right away.”

It was a calculated move, assuming that he would have heard the name of someone who exuded such an aura.

“Kim Jin-woo.”

He flinched inwardly when the man’s indifferent gaze briefly touched him, but quickly dismissed it and revealed his surprise.

“Are you perhaps the one who came up from the 12th floor…?” (Referring to a high-level achievement in a dungeon)

The man didn’t answer. But from his confident attitude, neither confirming nor denying, Lee Cheol-ho knew that the man was the only 12-level Dungeon Baby [term for a powerful dungeon explorer] in Korea.

“Ah, please wait a moment.”

Hurriedly telling the man, Kim Jin-woo, to wait, he stepped back a few paces and contacted the inside.

“They say he’s the highest level in our country, but he doesn’t look like much in person.”

While waiting for a reply after informing them of Kim Jin-woo’s visit, his colleague made a careless remark. Lee Cheol-ho looked at him with an expression that conveyed he had seen all kinds of crazy people.

“I thought someone with a level 5 higher than us would be special.”

He lowered his voice, considering the abnormal hearing of Dungeon Babies, but Lee Cheol-ho forgot about the communication and scolded his colleague.

“Are you crazy? Does that guy look like an ordinary person to you?”

“If he’s not ordinary, does he look extraordinarily ordinary?”

His colleague retorted with a nonsensical pun. Lee Cheol-ho shook his head, horrified, and subtly glanced at Kim Jin-woo.

He wondered if he had overheard them or if there was anything that might offend him.

Kim Jin-woo didn’t seem to care about their conversation at all, and Lee Cheol-ho froze.

Wait, why am I so concerned about this guy?

Before he could answer the sudden question, the communicator rang.

「Hey! Jung Chan-sik went down! Stop that bastard from doing anything stupid!」

“What?”

「Jung Chan-sik went! And he’s carrying a weapon!」

Jung Chan-sik was a Dungeon Baby who had joined the association about a year or half a year ago.

He had been leading one of the small exploration teams that opposed the association before suddenly joining, and he hadn’t shown any particular traits since then, so Lee Cheol-ho hadn’t paid much attention to him.

“Why is that guy suddenly…? Explain it so I can understand…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. The door behind him burst open, and someone suddenly jumped out and rushed towards Kim Jin-woo.

「I don’t know, he’s suddenly agitated as if he has a grudge against Kim Jin-woo…」

“You bastard!”

The flustered voice from the communicator was belated, and Lee Cheol-ho saw the shadow rushing out of the office, probably Jung Chan-sik, shouting fiercely at Kim Jin-woo and swinging his fist.

“Tell me that sooner!”

Lee Cheol-ho cursed at the sudden situation. Before he could finish his sentence, Jung Chan-sik’s fist reached Kim Jin-woo.

“Explain!”

Almost simultaneously, Kim Jin-woo’s hand moved.

“Cough!”

And when he regained his senses, Jung Chan-sik was struggling, his neck gripped by Kim Jin-woo’s hand, despite having initiated a surprise attack.

“I’ll have to give it to you…”

「Stop him from doing anything! Jong-cheol hyung [term of endearment for older brother/male friend], no, the association president is coming down too!」

The belated request came from the communicator, but Lee Cheol-ho couldn’t respond.

He froze at the sight of Kim Jin-woo’s indifferent gaze as he lifted Jung Chan-sik by the neck. And the moment he saw those emotionless eyes, he realized.

Why he had been so concerned about Kim Jin-woo.

His eyes were frighteningly similar to those of the master of the labyrinth, whom he had once feared so much.

“Jung Chan-sik!”

At that moment, several men burst out of the building’s entrance. They had rushed out with great momentum, but they were soon dumbfounded by the scene before them.

“That’s quite a violent way to say hello.”

Kim Jin-woo’s words, ignoring the surrounding reactions, froze the surrounding air with the chill contained within them.

***

Kim Jin-woo, who had been idly listening to the whispering of the watchers in front, tilted his head at Jung Chan-sik, who suddenly appeared and rushed at him.

But only for a moment. If he remained still, he would be struck by a useless punch, so he reached out his left hand to block Jung Chan-sik’s fist and grabbed his neck with the other hand.

“What does this mean?”

“Kuh.”

He seemed quite agitated, so there must be a reason, but Kim Jin-woo didn’t release his grip. One of those who belatedly rushed out of the building casually intervened and greeted him.

“Whoa, whoa. Let’s put him down and talk. It seems like there was a misunderstanding.”

The man who nonchalantly said that and gently pressed Kim Jin-woo’s hand was Song Jong-cheol.

“Misunderstanding? There shouldn’t be any misunderstanding between this guy and me.”

Jung Chan-sik was the one who addicted Lee Jun-young to Down Jam. He was the one who had taken Lee Jun-young away from him. There was no way a misunderstanding could have arisen.

“Let’s talk after you put him down. Why are you fighting to the death among ourselves? Unless you’re going to hold his funeral here, let’s stop now.”

At Song Jong-cheol’s words, Kim Jin-woo slightly loosened his grip.

“Cough!”

Kim Jin-woo, glaring coldly at Jung Chan-sik, who was sitting on the floor coughing, asked Song Jong-cheol.

“Misunderstanding. What misunderstanding are you talking about?”

The person himself didn’t seem to want to talk, nor did he have the strength, so he had no choice but to ask Song Jong-cheol.

“Let’s go inside and talk. It’s embarrassing in front of the kids. They’re some of the best in Korea.”

After saying that, Song Jong-cheol cleared the surroundings.

“What are you looking at? Everyone go up, you bastards!”

Kim Jin-woo, watching the men scatter and disappear to their places, looked at Jung Chan-sik once more.

-Rage. Frustration. Jealousy.

The unique status window of the Eye of Truth floated above Jung Chan-sik’s head. He couldn’t understand the reason for those emotions at all.

***

“It’s been a while, but this greeting has been a mess.”

Song Jong-cheol, whom he had met after almost a year, was the same as ever. His slick, affable face, pretending to be friendly, was no different from before.

“Before the greeting, let’s hear the reason why that guy made such a fuss.”

It was a voice that sent a chill down to the bones, unlike Song Jong-cheol’s voice full of laughter.

Song Jong-cheol replied with a sullen face to the cold voice that made Jung Chan-sik, who was still holding his neck and panting, freeze.

“It’s really nothing. It’s embarrassing to even say it.”

“Say it. The really embarrassing thing hasn’t even started yet.”

With subtle pressure, Song Jong-cheol couldn’t avoid the topic any longer due to Kim Jin-woo’s changed atmosphere in just one year and opened his mouth.

“I made a slip of the tongue.”