Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 102

Dungeon Journal – Episode 103

# 103

Dungeon Journal

“Are you talking about me?”

Kim Jin-woo’s expression was complicated as he asked back.

“Yes. Based on what we’ve gathered so far, the ones who invaded the labyrinth possess power at least equivalent to a deep-level creature. The heavy weaponry deployed in the labyrinth has been verified to have sufficient stopping power against creatures from the 5th and 6th floors.”

[What should we do?]

A strange echo cut into Chief Kim Joo-hyuk’s explanation. At Angela’s voice, Kim Jin-woo glanced towards the portal.

[Do as planned. Propose first, and if they don’t accept.]

[Understood.]

He frowned at her voice, which sounded strangely excited. Angela’s presence disappeared beyond the portal and soon became completely undetectable.

“Mr. Kim Jin-woo?”

“Ah, yes. I’m listening.”

“In any case, even if support troops enter, it will be very difficult to turn the tide of the battle. But this labyrinth is more important to the Republic of Korea than anything else.”

From the perspective of the ambitious Underworld Development Bureau, an already activated labyrinth was naturally more important than a labyrinth that might never find an owner. But when he thought about whether that was more important than the lives of countless Dungeon Babies [newly spawned monsters] and explorers, Kim Jin-woo’s answer was skeptical.

“You said there are a hundred deep-level creatures?”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right. We have nearly 100 people with level 7 or higher ready for that.”

Chief Kim Joo-hyuk seemed to want Kim Jin-woo, the only level 12 explorer in Korea, to symbolically lead the support team.

But from his point of view, it was an unacceptable proposal. With the Black Merchant already watching him, siding with the Harimau Labyrinth would mean becoming enemies with the black marketeer.

So he rejected Chief Kim Joo-hyuk’s proposal.

“Pardon?”

Chief Kim Joo-hyuk seemed to think he had misheard him. Kim Jin-woo mercilessly cut off Chief Kim Joo-hyuk, who was trying to continue his explanation.

“I will not go in.”

“Why?”

Chief Kim Joo-hyuk looked dumbfounded, as if he had never imagined that he would refuse.

“The sense of duty and patriotism that Chief Kim Joo-hyuk is talking about feel distant to me. And above all, I don’t want to die.”

If his guess was correct and the ones attacking the Harimau Labyrinth were mercenaries of the Black Merchant, there was nothing he could do.

The number of hero-grade mercenaries was a hundred. Even if he brought all the Nagas waiting in the fortress, there was no chance they could exert their proper strength with a four-layer floor penalty.

Nevertheless, the reason he came to this place was to check something. He also wanted to save Lee Joon-young if possible.

“But!”

“I won’t stop you from deploying the support troops that have already been summoned. But I will not go in.”

With those words, he crossed his arms and took a step back from the portal.

[Master.]

[What happened?]

As Kim Jin-woo watched Chief Kim Joo-hyuk making a fuss, he focused on Angela’s telepathy.

[The proposal was not accepted. He doesn’t trust me.]

[Foolish…]

The person himself had kicked away the last chance to save the people remaining in the labyrinth.

[There isn’t much time. I can already hear the sounds of fighting reaching this far.]

Angela seemed to be enjoying the current situation, as she was in high spirits. Perhaps this grumpy vampire was enjoying her master’s deepening worries.

[What should we do?]

At the question full of anticipation, Kim Jin-woo closed his eyes tightly and answered.

[Extract the core.]

[A wise decision.]

Before the telepathy could even end, the surface of the portal fluctuated and completely disappeared.

“Huh? Huh?”

Chief Kim Joo-hyuk made a bewildered sound as he looked at the spot where the portal had been until just now.

“It seems we’re too late.”

The wave of energy felt just before the portal disappeared was something Kim Jin-woo had clearly felt many times.

It was the wave he had felt countless times when the masters of the labyrinths killed by his hand and the labyrinths were completely separated.

***

The Underworld Development Bureau was in complete chaos. The connection with the labyrinth had been completely severed. The portal disappeared and the connection was cut off without any reports that the enemies had passed through the central passage, so it was no wonder they were in chaos.

Kim Jin-woo, who had been completely sidelined, watched Chief Kim Joo-hyuk reorganize the support team that had been waiting into an exploration team and left the scene.

Then he headed straight home. As soon as he arrived home, Angela appeared from the shadows.

“I’ve taken care of everything as you ordered.”

Kim Jin-woo frowned at her appearance, as if she was asking for praise.

“Why don’t you wipe off the blood first?”

The red liquid completely soaked her lower jaw. It was clear that she hadn’t wiped it off on purpose. Otherwise, there was no way she would still have bloodstains all over her hands.

Despite his rebuke, she only gave him a satisfied smile like a full cat.

“You should start by saying ‘good job.’ I’ve been working so hard for Master.”

Kim Jin-woo couldn’t bring himself to say ‘good job’ to her. He knew very well whose blood was on her lips and hands.

After staring at him with sparkling eyes for a long time, she finally pouted and reported.

“Attempted to persuade the target, but failed. Eliminated. And extracted the core.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“No. Not among the living.”

Watching her give a dangerous smile, Kim Jin-woo realized once again. She had such a beautiful and lovely appearance, but he felt to the bone how sinister and ferocious her true nature was.

“What about the enemies who attacked the labyrinth?”

“They were pulling out right away.”

That was a relief. If the invaders’ goal was the annihilation of humans rather than the removal of the labyrinth, there was no way to stop them.

But fortunately, the invaders turned around and left as they had no business with a labyrinth whose core had been removed.

If Jung Chan-sik and his party had been alive until then, Lee Joon-young would probably have survived as well. Perhaps Angela had seen into his heart, as she said with a smile.

“It won’t be easy for the survivors to survive. With that level of energy wave, even the nearby creatures probably felt that the master of the labyrinth had disappeared. By now, they’re probably drooling and rushing towards the labyrinth to eat even the scraps.”

It was a morbid taste. She was now devouring the master’s worries about the safety of Lee Joon-young and his party.

Her appearance, constantly stimulating and eventually devouring all the negative emotions that grew within him, was terribly alien.

“Don’t overdo it? It’s getting hard to watch anymore.”

Kim Jin-woo became serious, as she seemed ready to climb all the way to the top of his head if he left her alone.

She had been looking at him with a playful expression, but she closed her mouth when his demeanor suddenly changed.

She knew that if she joked any further, he would really get angry.

Her master had a kind and benevolent personality, befitting a surface dweller, but the occasional appearance he showed was colder and more brutal than any underworld noble.

So she decided to stay within the lines and acted coy.

“More than that, here’s the core I extracted. It’s a bit of a waste to have it on the 5th floor. But it’s all the same there.”

The blue Down Gem [a gem containing underworld energy] she took out of her arms was completely red, soaked in someone’s blood.

Really morbid.

This time, he couldn’t get angry, so Kim Jin-woo finally sighed and accepted the blood-stained top-grade Down Gem.

***

Not only South Korea but also many countries lost labyrinths in this incident.

The news was constantly reporting breaking news about the labyrinths, and the presence of the underworld began to raise its head again among people who had forgotten about explorers and the underworld.

But not many people were reminded of the war 10 years ago and felt uneasy. After all, people remembered the winner of the last war as humanity.

They didn’t think that the defeated forces of the underworld would dare to covet the surface again.

And Kim Jin-woo sought the underworld as if running away from his problems with his parents. He needed time to think, even if only for a while.

Sitting on the throne and lost in thought, he jumped up from his seat at the Black Merchant’s visit.

“I have some interesting news, so I stopped by on the way.”

The Black Merchant, who seemed somehow cheerful, chattered nonchalantly.

“You know that Black Tiger Labyrinth we visited together last time? That labyrinth was attacked recently.”

Even with his clear eyes as if looking into his heart, Kim Jin-woo’s expression didn’t change at all as he replied.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. To be exact, only the core was stolen.”

The moment he heard that story, Kim Jin-woo knew instinctively. The Black Merchant and the Black Mercenaries clearly knew of his involvement. So he mixed in some facts and replied.

“I heard it was attacked by an unidentified group.”

“Oh! Did you know?”

“There’s something called news on the surface. Most information spreads quickly.”

The Black Merchant excitedly chimed in.

“But I heard that the invaders were so powerful that you couldn’t see them on the lower floors.”

“Is that so? That’s a strange thing. The Guardian couldn’t have stepped in, and there’s no way there would be such guys on the 5th floor.”

“That’s what I’m saying. But the appearance of the invaders coincidentally resembled a certain group I know.”

A conversation hiding their true intentions kept circling around the edges. In the tedious conversation where they were exploring each other, it was the Black Merchant who revealed his true intentions first.

“Well, to be honest, we did use our hands.”

Without knowing what he was thinking, the Black Merchant honestly admitted the Black Mercenaries’ involvement.

“Why? Didn’t the Black Merchant recognize the Black Tiger Labyrinth’s existence?”

“Well.”

The Black Merchant, who dragged out the end of his words, narrowed his eyes and replied.

“Rather than recognizing it, we were just putting it on hold. Just like the Lord was putting his choice on hold, we were also putting our choice on hold.”

Kim Jin-woo tried his best to maintain a calm face at the Black Merchant’s quick change of subject. The Black Merchant stared intently at that face and smiled.

“Isn’t the Lord also harboring other thoughts?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Unlike the Black Merchant, Kim Jin-woo couldn’t admit the truth.

He would be caught in some way, so it was best to deny it as much as possible now.

He didn’t know how they had found out about his involvement, but that didn’t mean they were looking into all the circumstances.

If that were the case, there wouldn’t be this long and tedious conversation now.

“Well, that’s fine. In fact, this kind of thing is a common occurrence in the underworld.”

Kim Jin-woo felt rather uncomfortable at the Black Merchant’s unexpectedly easy retreat. Seeing him, the Black Merchant said.

“Isn’t this kind of thing the most underworld-like event?”

“An underworld-like event?”

He asked back because it was a word with a strange resonance, and the Black Merchant looked at him with those clear eyes.

“If the culprit who stole the core is in front of me, I would like to tell him.”

The Black Merchant said he was talking to an unidentified someone, but it was obvious that the target was Kim Jin-woo, and the moment he felt that, Kim Jin-woo knew.

The Black Tiger Labyrinth was a decoy from the beginning.

Their rise and fall were never in the Black Merchant’s mind from the beginning. He talked about the intentions of the surface dwellers, but in the end, it didn’t matter.

The Black Merchant’s screening targets were not the Black Tiger Labyrinth and the surface dwellers, but Kim Jin-woo and the Nagas.

“It was a way of handling things that was more like an underworld being than anyone else.”

And fortunately, he seemed to have passed the screening.