Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 172

Dungeon Journal-172

# 172

Dungeon Journal

Episode 173

Kim Jin-woo already knew about the piles of Down Jam [a valuable resource or material] through the parasitic monster’s detection ability.

But even so, he was surprised to see it pouring out of the vault.

That’s because all the Down Jam in the vault were high-grade or higher; there wasn’t even a mid-grade Down Jam mixed in.

He stared blankly at the piles of Down Jam for a moment, then belatedly came to his senses and swept it into the backpack he had prepared in advance.

*There’s no rush to admire it. It’s important to safely take the Down Jam and get out of here now.*

Kim Jin-woo’s hands moved faster.

Having finished his business, he immediately got up. He took a step towards the entrance of the office, then stopped and looked back.

Not everything was over yet. The mastermind behind his father’s disappearance, which had driven him to act, had not yet been properly investigated.

*Now, now is the real beginning.*

Kim Jin-woo stared at the messy office with cold eyes, then turned and left the building.

“Hmm?”

But as he was about to leave the building, he felt a strange sensation and stopped.
A strange feeling that someone was staring at him, so he maximized the parasitic monster’s abilities and his five senses to look around.

But he couldn’t see anything suspicious.

He tilted his head for a moment, then frowned at the inescapable feeling of unease. *It seemed he should avoid returning to the safe house right away.*

Kim Jin-woo stared into the darkness for a while, then left the scene as if fleeing.

***

Song Jong-chul, who had rushed over after hearing the news, was dumbfounded when he saw the Association’s office completely destroyed.

“Did you contact me long after it happened? Are you saying I was contacted too late?”

“Ah, no. We contacted you immediately after it happened.”

One of the Association’s executives, who had arrived a little earlier than the completely wrecked Watchers [a group within the Association], replied.

“Really? So, the intruder appeared about 30 minutes ago?”

“That’s right.”

“And there was only one intruder.”

“That’s…”

Before the answer could be finished, Song Jong-chul shouted.

“Have you ever seen such idiots! How many bastards were in the building, and they couldn’t stop just one intruder and made such a mess!”

Song Jong-chul, who had lost it after a long time, was a far cry from the generous figure he usually showed, and was now a violent figure.

“You, you bastards, do you still go around with your shoulders puffed up because you’re high-level? You’re nothing but halfwits!”

Song Jong-chul’s eyes rolled back as he raged. Several Watchers who were still unable to pull themselves together were brutally kicked.

“You bastards. You’ve been comfortable, haven’t you? You don’t go into the dungeon and you eat well, so you’ve become very complacent, haven’t you? Should I give you a proper wake-up call this time!”

The executives made a fuss trying to stop him as his eyes rolled back.

“Haa.”

Only after raging for a while did Song Jong-chul finally calm down, exhaling a long breath and shaking off the executives’ hands.

“What’s the damage?”

“There are thirty people with broken arms and legs who will need to recuperate for several months, and some of them are so badly injured that it’s uncertain whether they will recover.”

He frowned at the executive’s words, who was shrinking his shoulders, worried that another scolding would befall him.

“You’ve been thoroughly beaten, by one bastard.”

Song Jong-chul’s face contorted as if he would yell again right away, but this time, instead of getting angry, he quietly pondered.

Although he couldn’t control his anger and caused a commotion, the Watchers gathered here were not ordinary people.

They were elites carefully selected, all strong individuals consisting of level 6 or higher Dungeon Babies [individuals who gain abilities from dungeons].

Those people were completely crushed in less than 30 minutes without even being able to put up a proper fight. It was clear that the enemy was too strong to simply attribute it to the lack of ability of his subordinates.

His mind raced. A list of people who could do this was narrowed down in his head.

If someone had done this, it was definitely the work of a high-level Dungeon Baby that level 6 could not stop. As far as he knew, there were not many strong people in Korea who could do this.

And among them, there were even fewer people who would sneak into the Association and cause a ruckus.

“Check what Kim Jin-woo was doing at that time.”

“Even if he’s level 12, he can’t take on all these guys alone…”

“Then, do you think an ordinary Explorer did it instead of a level 12? Shut up and contact the guys you have watching him to check.”

At Song Jong-chul’s words, several executives took out their cell phones. Meanwhile, Song Jong-chul, who had examined the scene, belatedly headed to his office.

“Well, it would be strange if only this place was left intact after all that mess.”

He gritted his teeth as he discovered the completely smashed door and the empty vault.

“We’ve contacted the surveillance team!”

“What do they say? It’s Kim Jin-woo, right?”

Although others didn’t know, the key figures of the Association knew.

That one of the executives was working on Kim Jin-woo’s parents. Perhaps that’s why some of them were already cursing Kim Jin-woo even before hearing the answer.

But the executive’s answer was completely different from their expectations.

“Well, at that time, Kim Jin-woo was fooling around with his girlfriends at the construction site.”

“What, what are you saying? Are you sure? Are you mistaken?”

“Although we confirmed from quite a distance, it’s 100 percent reliable information.”

With those words, the executive held out his cell phone and showed a photo. Although it was a photo taken from quite a distance, it was not difficult to recognize who the men and women in it were.

“If Kim Jin-woo did it, he wouldn’t have arrived at his house yet. The Watchers say that he left the building just 15 minutes ago, and it takes at least 30 minutes to get from here to Paju [a city in South Korea].”

The executive’s answer was quite logical. Song Jong-chul, who was convinced that Kim Jin-woo was the culprit, was completely confused by this.

“Then who the hell…”

He pondered for a long time, but no other suitable person came to mind.

A strong person who could single-handedly crush level 6 or higher Dungeon Babies, and someone who had a motive to attack the Association, no one came to mind other than Kim Jin-woo.

Others also couldn’t come up with an answer, and were just groaning and clutching their heads.

“The police are here!”

Song Jong-chul, who had been lost in thought, frowned at the mention of the police.

“They should have come sooner.”

“What should we do?”

“Make up an excuse and send them away.”

“Shouldn’t we report it? If the culprit isn’t Kim Jin-woo, we could borrow the power of the police…”

“No, just send them back. We’ll handle this ourselves. If the police get involved, it will be complicated to deal with things later when we find the culprit.”

Looking at Song Jong-chul’s face with a sinister smile, it seemed that he had no intention of resolving this incident within the bounds of the law. The people of the Association, who belatedly understood his intentions, left the office.

“They completely destroyed it.”

Song Jong-chul muttered, grimacing as he roughly propped up the fallen door.

“I should have installed CCTV [closed-circuit television].”

He regretted not installing any surveillance equipment because he was worried that problems might arise in reverse, as there were issues he had been doing lately that were not above board.

“Damn it, I’ll have to postpone the tribute schedule.”

A troubled look crossed Song Jong-chul’s face, who seemed to have nothing to fear in the world, as to where he was paying tribute.

“I’ll get an earful from the old men again, damn it.”

“That’s too bad.”

The voice that suddenly popped out of the darkness was abrupt. But instead of being surprised, Song Jong-chul nonchalantly responded to the unidentified voice.

“Were you just watching?”

He seemed to know that someone was there from the beginning.

“Should I have protected your vault for you?”

Even at Song Jong-chul’s resentful words, the voice asked back shamelessly.

“Damn it! You know the situation and you could have stopped it!”

At the brazen attitude, Song Jong-chul slammed the vault. The already tattered vault was completely destroyed.

“That’s your situation, not mine.”

“You unlucky bastard.”

The unidentified person continued to spout shamelessly without revealing his appearance. But since Song Jong-chul didn’t expect anything in the first place, he soon calmed down and asked.

“Still, you can tell me what you saw, right? Business partners can give and take that much help.”

Song Jong-chul, who quickly regained his usual appearance, urged him to answer with a sly attitude. But for some reason, the owner of the voice, who had been naturally talking, did not answer.

“I can’t tell you anything.”

“Why? You saw everything, didn’t you? If you want a price, I’ll make sure to pay you properly.”

“No, it’s not a matter of price.”

The voice that said that was somehow suppressed.

“What, are you scared? Was he that great?”

When Song Jong-chul spoke as if he was surprised, the usual voice replied.

“If there’s one thing I can tell you…”

“If there is?”

He frowned and urged at the eerie voice.

“It seems that your future will be full of misfortune.”

Song Jong-chul got angry at the incomprehensible sound.

“Damn bastard. You’re saying things I can’t understand again.”

The voice, not caring about the curse, said.

“I have to go back to the underground.”

“Isn’t it too early? Your boss must be wanting you to bring back the results of this.”

“Something more important has come up.”

As if it wasn’t just words, the other party’s presence completely disappeared after leaving a short greeting.

Song Jong-chul, left alone in the office, looked around and frowned.

“A monster from the underground…”

***

It was a long time later that Kim Jin-woo arrived at the safe house. The feeling he felt when leaving the Association’s building was unsettling, so he couldn’t come straight home and had to go a considerable distance.

Even after doing so, his expression was not good because he couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease.

“Did things not go well?”

At Dominique’s words, who had come out to greet him, Kim Jin-woo shook his head and tapped the bag he was carrying on his back.

She made a puzzled face at the rattling sound.

“But why the expression…”

“There’s something bothering me. More than that, how did things go?”

She smiled brightly and replied.

“As the master said, there were those who tried to confirm the master’s whereabouts.”

“And?”

She smiled brightly and replied.

“The Watchers believed in Espesto as the master and retreated.”

If something happened to the Association, the first person to be suspected would be Kim Jin-woo.

Regardless of the motive, there were not many people in Korea who could handle things this thoroughly, so Song Jong-chul would naturally suspect him.

So, Kim Jin-woo summoned the King of the Mirror Specters to act as a substitute just before starting the job.

A perfect alibi. The Association will see Espesto’s appearance and be completely fooled into thinking that he has nothing to do with this.

Kim Jin-woo’s expression changed as he organized his thoughts. The color returned to his face, which had been uneasy until just now.

“I’ve returned at the right time.”

As he said that, a message appeared in front of his eyes.

[The Labyrinth upgrade is complete.]