Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 202

Dungeon Journal – Episode 203

75. Different Dreams

“About this auction…”

The black marketeer started, glancing around before lowering his voice.

“An item will be put up for auction. You must win that item.”

“Is something important coming up?”

Kim Jin-woo asked, taken aback by the sudden remark, and the black marketeer’s face turned serious.

“I cannot tell you now.”

“Hmm.”

It was absurd to promise a bid right away when he didn’t even know what item would be up for auction. So, Kim Jin-woo wore a troubled expression at the black marketeer’s words.

“When will that item be available?”

“I cannot tell you that either right now. I will let you know when the time comes.”

The black marketeer’s attitude of not being able to say this or that made it hard to tell if he really wanted him to win the bid.

However, the fact that he was saying this much made it clear that something important was going to be auctioned off.

“I’ll try my best.”

“Trying is not enough. You must win the bid.”

Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes at the black marketeer’s unusually firm attitude. The black marketeer, with a rare serious expression, met his gaze without looking away.

“It’s a must.”

As if he had received his confirmation, the black marketeer repeated the same words to him several times.

***

The auction continued.

As the Black Merchant had promised on the first day, the noble’s seal was put up for auction on the second day as well.

Unlike the first day when only one seal was on sale, a whopping three baron’s seals were released on the second day.

Because the participants who had failed to win the seal in the previous auction desperately raised the auction price, the three seals were each sold for a whopping 60,000 gems.

The imp host declared the end of the second day’s auction with a proud face, and another day passed.

The third day, a similar situation was repeated.

The only difference was that this time, an even greater number of seals, five in total, were put up for auction than the day before.

As before, the seals were sold at high prices, and the participants were divided between joy and sorrow.

As such, the atmosphere of the auction house became more and more heated as the days went by.

However, from Kim Jin-woo’s point of view, the auction was boring, unlike what he had expected.

“He’s wasting his energy on trivial things, not knowing that his own feet are about to catch fire. Both sides, those low-level guys are stupid.”

Kim Jin-woo was not at all shaken by the sudden voice. He simply took his eyes off the stage and looked back for a moment.

“Heh, you’re not even surprised anymore?”

The Lord of Grief looked at him and pouted, seemingly disappointed for some reason.

“Whatever, do as you please.”

“How boring.”

Since she had been practically living in his VIP room except for the first day, it was absurd to suddenly show a sharp attitude now.

Besides, her visits, where she told him about the various situations in the underground world, were quite informative, so there was no reason to kick her out.

Today, she seemed to have something to talk about as she subtly set the mood.

As if sensing that something serious was about to be discussed, the Myoin woman quickly got up from her seat.

“I will step out, so please call me separately if you need anything.”

“You can just stay here? Why bother leaving?”

A playful voice stopped her.

“I thought I might be disturbing the important people’s conversation.”

“I don’t care; it’s not like it’s an important conversation anyway.”

The Lord of Grief smiled at her with a sly face. But she couldn’t take those words at face value.

If she sat there blankly and overheard something she shouldn’t, she would be killed without anyone knowing; such was the fate of a lowly slave, so she couldn’t do this or that and trembled with a pale face.

“Tsk.”

Although she was smiling brightly, the blue eyes occasionally revealed a terribly sadistic cruelty. Kim Jin-woo, who had been watching quietly, clicked his tongue and gestured.

“I’ll call you if I need anything. You can leave.”

“Yes!”

The Myoin woman left the VIP room as if fleeing as soon as he finished speaking. Her steps were as if she was flying, fearing that the Lord of Grief might grab her again.

“Stop with the unnecessary spitefulness.”

If they were enemies, he could do even more than that, but at least he didn’t harass just anyone like the Lord of Grief.

Honestly, he didn’t care much about what happened to the Myoin woman, but the madness and cruelty that occasionally showed behind her friendly attitude made him uncomfortable, so he ended up saying something.

“You’ve only learned bad things.”

After saying it, he ended up saying something childish as if scolding a child, but honestly, it wasn’t wrong.

Her actions were not much different from the attitude of the supervisors who used to harass the tunnel workers in the past.

“Our Jin-woo is so kind?”

The Lord of Grief, instead of feeling embarrassed, acted even more friendly towards him.

“Don’t call me by that name anymore.”

But the more she did that, the colder Kim Jin-woo’s expression became.

To a High Lord, a name was not just a title. He himself had realized the true name of the One-Eyed Lord and reached awakening, and knowing the name of the Labyrinth of Greed alone had changed many things.

In that situation, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the Lord of Grief, who was not clearly an ally or enemy, constantly calling his name.

“I call Jin-woo Jin-woo, then what should I call you?”

“Ugh.”

It would have been different if she hadn’t known his name from the beginning. It was unreasonable to ask her to call him by a different name when she already knew his name.

But despite that, he didn’t hide his displeasure.

“It’s annoying that you’re acting too friendly when we haven’t even properly introduced ourselves.”

He revealed his honest feelings, to the point where it sounded like a complaint. But the meaning behind it was clear.

*If you’re an ally, tell me your name. There’s no greater trust than revealing your true name.*

“Would you trust me a little more if I told you my name?”

She said that, but she wouldn’t give out her name carelessly. So he scoffed. But as if to mock his reaction, she suddenly told him her true name.

“Catherine. That’s my name.”

[You have learned the true name of the Lord of Grief, which you did not know until now.]

[The Lord of Grief was once one of the ten lords who ruled the underground world. All that remained in the places she passed was sorrow, grief, and screams, so everyone feared her.]

[Although she is not the terrifying lord of the past, it is certain that she has fully inherited that name and power.]

[You have obtained a clue about the power of the Lord of Grief, Catherine.]

[The sages of the underground world, the mistletoe trees, may know something about her.]

Kim Jin-woo, who unexpectedly learned her true name, looked somewhat dumbfounded.

“It’s not special, is it? Well, like you, I don’t have a name that someone put a lot of effort into.”

The names of most dungeon babies were borrowed from the names of tunnel workers who died in the underground world, and she was no different.

“Can you trust me a little more now?”

“Um……”

Just because he learned her name didn’t mean that trust suddenly sprouted. But despite that, it was certain that her telling him her true name was a pretty big decision.

Thanks to that, he couldn’t answer coldly anymore and just pretended to be nonchalant.

The Lord of Grief, Catherine, seemed to understand his inner thoughts and changed the subject without pressing him further.

“Leaving the name aside.”

She brought up the story that had been put on hold because the conversation had gone off track.

“Today, without fail, the highlight of the auction! The noble’s seal has been put up as the last auction item!”

While they were talking, the fourth auction was coming to an end.

***

Four days passed and four auctions came to an end. In the meantime, the number of those who obtained seals and became new underground nobles was as many as fourteen, but it didn’t matter to Kim Jin-woo.

He had been secretly expecting it since it was an auction ambitiously prepared by the Black Merchant, but he didn’t see any items that particularly caught his eye.

Rather, what caught his attention were the nobles who visited the auction house.

On the day the fourth auction ended, Anatolius came to visit. He told him about the situation in the deep layers, and in the process, Kim Jin-woo heard the news that Parthenon and Dinarion were staying out of sight.

He also heard that counts, including Brunthes, had begun to move, and that the atmosphere was unusual.

“Now that we’ve driven out the wraiths, we’re going to properly set the stage. I hope you don’t forget my dedicated assistance and goodwill over the years.”

Anatolius, whose expressionless iron mask was still the same, but who somehow had an anxious atmosphere, mentioned the cooperative relationship several times and asked for assistance before returning.

“Hoo.”

In the past, it would have been a pretty complicated situation, but to Kim Jin-woo now, the affairs of the 11th floor counts were of no importance.

After reuniting with the hateful Spider Duke and meeting the Dragon Emperor, the power struggles of the counts somehow felt trivial.

In fact, Anatolius, whom he met again, was not as threatening as before, and no longer seemed great.

Besides, since he himself had risen to High Lord and stepped away from the nobles’ power struggles, Kim Jin-woo’s interest was only limited to the count’s seal.

Of course, that didn’t mean that he had immediately brought the 11th floor count to his knees and plundered the seal, or gained enough power to conquer the 11th floor.

No matter what his personal power was, the power of the counts, which had been built up over countless years, was by no means easy to deal with.

But he also had helpers: the Dragon Emperor and the Lord of Grief.

The Dragon Emperor decided to pay a huge price to save his bloodline, whose body was rotting away from the curse.

In the process, he promised to obtain the count’s seal that he needed most.

“I cannot sacrifice the counts who have sworn allegiance to me, so please wait a little longer.”

Agripptus was about to start a war in the deep layers instead of taking the easy way to get rid of one of his counts and plunder the seal.

As expected of a proud Drakon [a member of the Dragon race], his inflexibility in solving problems was rather frustrating.

From Kim Jin-woo’s point of view, it was a proposal that he had nothing to lose. It was a pretty good reward for accepting a half-baked Drakon.

The assistance of the Lord of Grief, Catherine, was even more immediate than that of the Dragon Emperor.

“Those who possess the Life Stone cannot reject the authority of the High Lord.”

He had never imagined that such a measure would be taken with the Life Stone, which she had presented as the answer to predicting the disaster in the underground world the day before.

She confidently said that the Life Stone played the biggest role in the process of conquering the underground world to which she belonged.

She seemed confident that although the number of people who had received the Life Stone was only a small number right now, it would soon cover the entire underground world.

As he was moving busily behind the stage of the auction house, time passed, and the fifth auction began.

And not long after the fifth auction began, the black marketeer appeared.

“The time I told you about before is now.”

At the black marketeer’s words, he reflexively looked at the stage.

“I would like to once again congratulate the participant who won the bid, and we will now begin the auction for the next item!”

The host, who had just finished one auction, announced the start of the auction for the new item in a cheerful voice.