Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 171

Dungeon Journal – 172

# 172

Dungeon Journal

Episode 173

The supervisor initially thought the first attacker would be dealt with swiftly. Even though one of his colleagues had fallen, he attributed it to mere carelessness. That was his initial assessment.

However, it didn’t take long for him to realize how wrong he was.

“Kghack!”

The first scream came from a colleague who had attempted a stealthy approach from behind. The unfortunate fellow, who likely believed his cover was perfect, was now writhing on the floor with shattered knees, the result of a brutal kick to both legs. The colleagues who followed suffered similar fates.

The supervisor felt a chill run down his spine as he watched his colleagues crawl on the floor, each with at least two broken limbs.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch?”

The man, who had effortlessly subdued ten ‘dungeon babies’ [elite, carefully selected individuals], spoke with a voice that didn’t even betray a hint of exertion.

Instead of challenging the terribly arrogant tone, the supervisor lowered his head, avoiding eye contact.

“If you don’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

The moment the man finished speaking, the sound of fabric rustling filled the air. The supervisor, already paralyzed with fear, squeezed his eyes shut.

“Argh!”

“Block him!”

But the expected pain never came. Instead, he was met with deafening screams. Cautiously opening his eyes, the supervisor realized the man’s attack wasn’t directed at him.

“How can we possibly block this!”

The colleagues inside the building, alerted by the commotion, had rushed out, only to be met with the man’s indiscriminate assault. Flesh tore with each touch, and limbs snapped with every kick.

As expected, the colleagues were no match for the man. In less than ten minutes, everyone was sprawled on the floor, defeated.

“Damn it… if only the executives were here.”

Someone lamented, but the supervisor knew that even if all the association’s executives were gathered, they wouldn’t be able to stop the man before him.

“What are you doing! Stop that bastard!”

The enraged colleagues shouted. Only then did the supervisor belatedly realize he was the only one still standing.

“Eek…”

Pushed forward by his colleagues’ angry shouts, the supervisor hesitantly approached the man.

“If you draw that, you’ll die.”

Only after hearing the man’s words did the supervisor realize he was reaching for a blade instead of his baton. Startled by this realization, he immediately withdrew his hand from the hilt.

It felt as if the man’s gaze alone could tear him apart and kill him if he disobeyed.

“Good choice.”

The man’s indifferent gaze swept over him.

“Ugh…”

Suppressing a groan, the supervisor avoided the man’s piercing stare.

Thud, thud.

The man walked away and soon disappeared from sight. Only then did the supervisor’s legs buckle, and he collapsed to the ground.

The man’s gaze still vividly lingered in his mind. Just thinking about it made his whole body tremble.

Not since escaping from the underground had he felt so powerless.

He felt as weak and helpless as he had been in his days as a ‘tunnel rat’ [someone who lives in underground tunnels]. And the man seemed like one of the absolute beings who had looked down on him endlessly.

“Monster…”

The word that escaped his lips was filled with fear.

***

The man who had dealt with all the association’s supervisors, Kim Jin-woo, was quite surprised by his own strength. He knew he had become incomparably stronger than before, but facing a number of dungeon babies made him realize his growth in power far exceeded his expectations.

Even without activating any amplification effects, he was able to overwhelm dozens of dungeon babies, those carefully selected by the association, with just his inherent abilities.

“Hoo.”

At this rate, it was almost anticlimactic.

[The Parasite has detected a hidden enemy.]

But only for a moment. He sensed the presence of a supervisor caught in the Parasite’s detection range and grinned.

“Now, this is more like it.”

Kim Jin-woo’s eyes began to glow with a faint blue light once more.

***

The supervisors inside the building were several times more secretive and cunning than those outside. They seemed to be aware of the situation outside, only looking for opportunities and rarely exposing themselves.

They skirted the edge of the Parasite’s detection range, constantly provoking him.

“Playing cute.”

He could roughly pinpoint their locations with the Parasite’s ability, but dealing with enemies that quickly appeared and disappeared was proving troublesome. So, he decided to simply ignore them.

Sensing another presence moving away, Kim Jin-woo lowered his body, scanned the ceiling, and then leaped straight up.

Bang!

With a deafening crash, the ceiling collapsed, and Kim Jin-woo burst through to the floor above.

“That crazy bastard!”

Ignoring the curses from below, he jumped again.

“Block him!”

Only after he had ascended two more floors did the supervisors reveal themselves. They must have been desperate, as they rushed out, even deactivating their stealth abilities, to block his path.

“You ignorant fools.”

Kim Jin-woo chuckled at the supervisor’s words.

They probably intended to use the narrow passage to their advantage, attacking him from blind spots. It was a reasonably logical plan. If the opponent hadn’t been Kim Jin-woo, their ambush might have been quite effective.

But unfortunately, this opponent was at least one level above them in this type of combat. Using a narrow passage as a shield against a strong enemy was a tactic mainly employed by him and the Nagas [a race known for their cunning and use of terrain].

Naturally, he knew the weaknesses of this method very well.

All he had to do was avoid going where they were waiting. With that simple action, the enemies’ plans would be rendered useless. If this were the underground, where the inter-floor boundaries were thick and there was only one path, he would have had to engage in a wasteful battle even knowing this, but this was not the underground, but the surface.

So, without hesitation, he chose to break through the ceiling and ascend to the upper floors instead of fighting them head-on.

The plan worked perfectly, and the supervisors found themselves caught in the trap they had set.

The tables had turned.

The supervisors who had been digging a trap and waiting were now in a position where they had to preemptively attack, fearing when he might jump up again, and the geographical advantage they had enjoyed was now his.

In fact, the enemies were visibly horrified at the mere sight of him slightly bending his knees as if he were about to jump.

“Attack!”

The battle began with someone’s frantic shout.

***

“Kuh-erk!”

The first supervisor to rush in was struck squarely in the jaw. The supervisor’s body collapsed as if it were crumbling, his completely shattered jaw hanging limply.

From behind the fallen supervisor, another emerged.

“You bastard!”

Perhaps it was witnessing his colleague’s brutal attack that fueled his rage. The attacking supervisor, gritting his teeth with determination, was quite imposing.

Even though he wielded a baton without a blade, the force of his attack was undeniable.

However, Kim Jin-woo nonchalantly intercepted the attack and brutally twisted the joint. Another scream pierced the air, and another enemy was neutralized.

“Attack all at once! You idiots!”

A slightly delayed command. Only after losing two colleagues did the enemies form a proper encirclement and charge.

All sorts of brutal attacks flew from the front and back of the narrow passage. Among the attacks whistling through the air, every single one aimed for a vital spot.

Even a glancing blow from one of those could be enough to break an arm.

However, that was only if the attack landed.

Bang!

With a deafening roar, the floor caved in, and Kim Jin-woo disappeared. Some of the supervisors caught in the shockwave lost their balance and tumbled to the floor below.

The supervisors who fell were met by Kim Jin-woo, who had been waiting, and were pathetically slammed into the floor.

“Eek!”

The supervisors who witnessed the scene through the hole in the floor gritted their teeth. But they couldn’t recklessly jump down and only looked for opportunities.

Kim Jin-woo wasn’t going to let them wait. He disappeared into a blind spot where the hole connecting the upper and lower floors didn’t provide a view.

Then, with a bang, the floor the supervisors were standing on collapsed once again.

“Scatter!”

They weren’t stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice. Like nimble locusts, they leaped up and avoided being swept away by the collapse.

And that was exactly what Kim Jin-woo had been hoping for.

“Hmph!”

Kim Jin-woo, taking a short breath, kicked off the floor and flew up, knocking down the scattered supervisors one by one.

“Have you ever seen such a damn bastard!”

The supervisors, belatedly realizing his intention, gathered again and swung their batons.

Thwack, thwack!

“Huh?”

With a dull sound and a heavy sensation transmitted to their fingertips, the supervisors stared wide-eyed at the ends of their batons, as if they hadn’t expected to hit so easily.

“Kehk.”

It wasn’t Kim Jin-woo who had been severely hit, but their colleague. The colleague, struck in various places by the determined attacks, turned white in the eyes and slumped down.

“What a vicious bastard!”

The supervisors, who had unintentionally attacked their ally, gnashed their teeth and charged at Kim Jin-woo again instead of shrinking back.

“You rat-like bastard!”

A supervisor spat out curses and swung his baton, annoyed by the opponent who was dodging around and knocking down his colleagues one by one.

But this time, the opponent, who they thought would definitely dodge, stood still for some reason and took the fierce baton strike head-on.

“Huh?”

The supervisor let out a dumbfounded sound, quite surprised. Kim Jin-woo turned towards him.

Even though he had been hit by an attack that seemed capable of shattering even a strong skeleton in one blow, he didn’t seem to be in any pain.

He was frowning, but it was clear he wasn’t frowning because he was enduring pain. Otherwise, his black eyes wouldn’t be so full of annoyance.

“Your mouth is too loose.”

“Kehk!”

The supervisor who had cursed was struck in the jaw, spitting out broken and shattered white teeth, and collapsed. Looking at the fragments of teeth scattered on the floor, it seemed he would never be able to eat solid food again.

The supervisors who witnessed their colleague drooling and clutching his jaw showed a disgusted expression. Come to think of it, they realized that the colleagues who had cursed had all been struck in the jaw.

Perhaps because of that, the supervisors pressed their lips tightly instead of cursing, exchanged glances, and then threw away their batons.

“Have they given up? No. There’s no way.”

Kim Jin-woo, seeing the supervisors taking out daggers and other weapons from their waists instead of throwing away the round-ended batons, raised the corners of his mouth under his hood.

He seemed to be enjoying this moment more than ever.

***

The supervisors who had confidently drawn their blades were now lying on the cold floor.

Judging from their rising and falling chests, they didn’t seem to be dead, but they looked as if they could stop breathing at any moment.

“How boring.”

Kim Jin-woo indifferently looked at them and then turned around. The exhilaration unique to battle made his whole body feel excited, but the association’s supervisors were too weak to satisfy that fighting spirit.

So, the feeling that had been so excited plummeted.

Belatedly realizing he had spent more time than he had thought, he headed straight to the association’s top floor, Song Jong-chul’s office.

He wondered why he hadn’t shown himself during the commotion, but Song Jong-chul was absent. He was probably on his way after hearing the news.

The office was empty. Kim Jin-woo, after forcefully tearing off the locked door and entering, headed straight to the wall where the safe was hidden.

After tearing off the cleverly hidden plywood, a thick steel safe appeared.

He punched it without hesitation. The solid steel safe was dented and tattered with that one punch.

With a bang, another punch was added, and after hammering the safe a few times, the solid steel door fell off.

Beyond the opened door, a colorful light spilled out.