Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 107

Dungeon Journal – Episode 108

A scream, like a death rattle, erupted, and the worker standing right beside him gripped his pickaxe tightly.

“Jinwoo, you have to survive.”

The dugout was thoroughly soaked to prevent dust, but it still couldn’t completely stop the rising dust. Based on the collapsed earthen wall, dust spread like fog. Coughing broke out here and there.

Kuaaaang!

Before the coughing could subside and before the hazy dust could clear, the battle began.

The first to burst onto the battlefield was the striped spider, which had been fiercely growling for some time.

As soon as the tunnel was breached, the striped spider tore through the dust, and one of the workers who couldn’t dodge was crushed under its merciless charge, his head shattered.

The other workers, horrified by the death of the worker who couldn’t even scream, hurriedly pressed themselves against the wall, but they were soon swept away by the wave of creatures that densely filled the dugout.

“Aaaagh!”

“Save me!”

Kim Jinwoo watched the whole scene with wide eyes.

Despite everyone’s earnest pleas for him to hide, he, still immature, could only gape, seemingly *넋이 나간* [넋이 나간 (neoksi nagan) is a Korean expression meaning ‘넋이 나가다’ which translates to ‘넋 (soul) is gone’]. He was stunned by the horrific sight unfolding before him.

“Ah, ah, aaaaaah.”

Seeing his seemingly distraught state, the worker beside him, a former soldier and long-term prisoner, gritted his teeth.

His emaciated but sturdy muscular arms wrapped around the pitiful Kim Jinwoo.

He knew that there was no escape from the madness of the battlefield, even pressed tightly against the wall and holding his breath. He felt a wave of nausea rising. To think that he, a proud Republic of Korea Special Forces soldier who feared nothing with a rifle in his hand, was now trembling with a pickaxe. But the huge monsters flashing before his eyes were the kind that humans could not possibly handle.

The striped spider, which had rushed out at the forefront, was already a disaster for humans, but even that creature was instantly torn in half by an enemy that came out to counter it.

He was disgusted by his own helplessness, but the presence of Kim Jinwoo, trembling in his arms, kept him grounded.

The battlefield was as gruesome as the creatures on it. Giant spiders screamed, and an unknown creature with dangling tentacles tore them apart.

And then another creature, appearing from somewhere, shattered that creature into pieces.

There was no place for humans anywhere on that gruesome battlefield. To make matters worse, a huge monster running from behind caught his eye.

A spider with a house-sized body covered in ominous stains. As the spider swept through the dugout wall, Hoyoung warned with a scream.

“Run forward! You’ll get trampled if you stay there!”

Even as he warned, he hugged Kim Jinwoo and started running like crazy. Beyond the collapsed earthen wall, the horrific sight of the battlefield came into view.

The corpses of creatures were already piled up like mountains, and foul-smelling blue blood filled the area.

“Jinwoo! Run!”

Fortunately, the enemy creatures seemed too busy fighting the creatures on this side to pay attention. The workers, including Lee Jiseok, ran past them. Hoyoung, who was following them from the rear, was shocked.

Others didn’t seem to see it properly, but all those collapsing and spitting blood were allied creatures.

The giant enemy creature, whose identity was unknown, was tearing the spiders apart with ease.

The house-sized spider, roaring as it ran, was immediately bitten in the neck by a beast-type creature less than half its size as soon as it emerged from the dugout, and it screamed.

The long-term prisoner was momentarily *넋이 나간* [넋이 나간 (neoksi nagan) is a Korean expression meaning ‘넋이 나가다’ which translates to ‘넋 (soul) is gone’] by the overwhelming sight, but he snapped out of it at the scream of another worker.

Park Hyungtae, a singer who used to boast that he had been everywhere before being dragged here and would sing songs whenever he had the chance, was caught in the creatures’ gruesome battle and his entire body exploded.

He was trampled by an allied creature that was pushed back by the enemy creature’s attack.

The terrible screams pierced their ears, but the workers didn’t stop. They were still at the starting point of the battlefield.

The enemy creatures, trusting in their overwhelming power, fought the allied creatures without any formation, causing the front line to form a long line. In a chaotic battle, several allied creatures were clinging to one enemy creature, fighting desperately.

The workers, including Lee Jiseok, were crossing such a battlefield.

The smallest creature was over 3 meters tall. It was impossible for the workers passing through the battlefield where these enormous creatures were fighting not to be in danger.

“Ack!”

In a moment of carelessness, another worker was melted by a stray poisonous fog.

It was baker Jung Taesu, who had once promised to get ingredients and treat his colleagues to the most delicious bread in the world. The workers had no time to grieve and changed direction.

They twisted and turned to avoid the poisonous fog sweeping through the front and dodged the giant creatures, but they were still in the middle of the battlefield.

The workers, who were in an even more dangerous situation because the allied creatures had pushed in, desperately searched for a way out.

“Damn it! We’re all going to die if we keep going like this!”

Lee Jiseok, who had been considering becoming a non-commissioned officer because he thought the military suited him before coming here, exclaimed like a scream.

As he said, many workers had already died while being swept away in the battlefield. There were only five workers left beside Kim Jinwoo.

Lee Jiseok, a sergeant from the Republic of Korea Army, a long-term prisoner who was an officer, Oh Hyunil, a chef, Lee Jiwoong, a technician, and Jung Youngtae, a reporter.

They gathered in one place with despairing expressions. They despaired at their helplessness, forced to die without the creatures even paying attention to them.

“There’s no way. It seems like we can’t all survive.”

Chef Oh Hyunil muttered bitterly. Lee Jiwoong was about to say something to him, but he closed his mouth when he pointed to his badly damaged leg.

His right leg was melting hideously from the poisonous fog, but the look on his face was more determined than painful, even though it must have been excruciating.

“I’ll lure them away, so you guys run straight ahead.”

Without waiting for the others to answer, Oh Hyunil said that and ran forward with a limping gait.

“Hey, you monster bastards! I’m Chef Oh Hyunil, who will one day prepare the best feast with your flesh!”

He ran out making ridiculous noises, but none of the workers laughed at him. The long-term prisoner shouted at them with a grim expression.

“What are you doing! Run! Are you going to make Hyunil’s sacrifice in vain!”

With those words, he hugged Kim Jinwoo and ran straight ahead.

It was in a slightly different direction from Oh Hyunil, who had run ahead, and the creatures on that side were hesitating and moving after hearing Oh Hyunil’s shout.

The long-term prisoner ran through the small gap that appeared in between. And Lee Jiwoong began to take the lead, overtaking him.

“Please take care of Kim Jinwoo!”

It was as if he had already accepted his death as a foregone conclusion, but no one questioned it.

It was because they knew too well what it meant to be at the forefront in this chaotic battlefield.

As expected, Lee Jiwoong, who had stepped forward, was torn into dozens of pieces by a suddenly *솟구친* [솟구친 (sotguchin) means ‘솟구치다 (sotguchida)’ which translates to ‘spring up; spurt’] blade. It seemed to be a trap set up in one side of the maze.

There was not even a trace of the trap left in the place where he was scattered into dozens of pieces.

Only hideous blood and flesh were scattered messily.

“Damn it!”

The long-term prisoner spat out a curse. Although they came from different backgrounds and had different personalities, he couldn’t bear to see his colleagues, who had been together in this hellish place, falling one by one.

He looked at Kim Jinwoo in his arms for a moment and said to Lee Jiseok, who was beside him.

“Give me the pickaxe!”

Lee Jiseok didn’t hear him because he was running so hard, and he ran on for a long time.

When he shouted again, Lee Jiseok turned his head and saw the long-term prisoner’s expression, and he gritted his teeth.

“Shut up! You’re higher rank than me on the ground, but I’m more senior here! Stop talking nonsense and protect Jinwoo!”

Lee Jiseok shouted fiercely and shot forward. Whether Oh Hyunil’s sacrifice was entirely in vain or not, there was a path through the creatures. Lee Jiseok, who was running through it without hesitation, discovered a small dugout at the end of the plaza and shouted.

“We can survive if we get to that side!”

But their hope was short-lived. One of the enemy creatures was blocking the passage, wriggling its huge body.

It didn’t seem to be aware of them, and it didn’t even glance at them. The long-term prisoner and the others cursed at the terrible coincidence.

“Damn it, I wanted to live.”

Lee Jiseok, who was running at the forefront, looked back for a moment and then jumped out. It was before the long-term prisoner could stop him.

He followed Oh Hyunil, who had sacrificed himself earlier, shouting loudly to attract the creatures’ attention.

And soon, he was crushed by the creatures’ massive bodies, becoming a piece of meat that couldn’t even be recognized.

The surviving long-term prisoner and Jung Youngtae gritted their teeth and ran towards the path he had opened with his sacrifice.

Looking at the passage with its black mouth open, they rushed in without hesitation.

“Huff! Huff!”

They slumped down, panting with breath that had reached the tip of their chins. The passage was quiet, belying the ferocity of the battlefield they had just passed through.

“Hah, hah! Creatures won’t be able to enter such a narrow passage.”

Jung Youngtae muttered, catching his breath. The long-term prisoner also agreed with those words and put down Kim Jinwoo, who he had been holding in his arms.

Unable to withstand the excessive shock, Kim Jinwoo had long fainted, and now he was only breathing regularly.

***

When Kim Jinwoo regained consciousness, only Jung Youngtae remained. The faces of everyone who had looked at him with faint eyes were still vivid in his mind, but now only Jung Youngtae was left.

Kim Jinwoo had a blank expression, not knowing what was going on.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can protect you anymore.”

Even Jung Youngtae, the last one left, was dying with his stomach pierced by an unknown skewer.

The dark red thing was glossy and smooth, but the surface was rough, and it had pierced through the very center of his abdomen.

Kim Jinwoo, who had a blank expression, didn’t even know what death was, but he felt a tightness in his chest because the emotion in Jung Youngtae’s voice was so pitiful.

Even with death imminent, his expression was full of pity, as if he was more worried about Kim Jinwoo than his own pain.

“Poor Jinwoo, who will take care of you now.”

Jung Youngtae tried to stroke Kim Jinwoo’s face with his blood-stained hand, but he lowered his hand in surprise. Kim Jinwoo, feeling an unknown pity, grabbed his limp hand and pressed it against his cheek.

“Ah……”

Then, he let out a meaningless sound, and Jung Youngtae shed tears at the clumsy sight.

He was desperately holding his blood-stained hand and rubbing it against his cheek, and he was so pitiful that he couldn’t even feel the pain despite suffering a severe injury with his intestines spilling out.

“Our Jinwoo, our brother.”

In the darkening vision, Jung Youngtae called out to Kim Jinwoo. Soon, when Kim Jinwoo answered with even clumsy pronunciation, he gritted his teeth and continued.

“You must survive. You alone must survive in this hellish place.”

In a world where even sounds could not be heard properly, he desperately continued to speak.

“Even if you have to tear off the creatures’ disgusting flesh and drink their foul-smelling blood, you must survive.”

His voice gradually faded.

“You must never die until you leave this damn hell and know the outside world.”

At the end, Kim Jinwoo pressed his ear close to the barely audible voice. He listened for a long time, but when he couldn’t hear anything, he tilted his head.

“Youngtae hyung [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to address older male friends or brothers]?”

He called out his name, but there was no way he would answer. The pupils hidden behind the eyelids that had already closed tightly had long lost their vitality, and the body that had turned cold was colder than the dark rocks of the underworld.

But Kim Jinwoo, who didn’t realize what death was, thought that Jung Youngtae was sleeping and lay down beside him. He himself had slept soundly when he was beaten by the violent guard.

He thought that the long-term prisoner lying beside him in a miserable state was also sleeping.

But when Kim Jinwoo woke up again, they didn’t open their eyes. Kim Jinwoo was just puzzled by their appearance, as they still didn’t open their eyes even after he had tried to sleep several times.

After a long time, Kim Jinwoo was hungry.

‘Even if you have to tear off the creatures’ disgusting flesh and drink their foul-smelling blood, you must survive.’

Jung Youngtae’s last words came to his mind, and he looked around. Fortunately, a creature that had collapsed in a miserable state was nearby.

The creature with the same material as the skewer that had pierced Jung Youngtae’s stomach had an insect-like appearance, and it looked quite hideous.

Even the nauseating appearance was so badly damaged that he couldn’t bear to look at it, but Kim Jinwoo didn’t care.

He didn’t even feel the vomit-inducing stench, and he patted the hideous creature’s corpse, looking for a soft spot.

Instinctively realizing that the creature’s belly was the softest part, he pressed his teeth against it.

He chewed on the creature’s abdomen, which was quite tough despite its soft texture, for a long time, and then he collapsed beside the creature, seemingly full.

But soon, he thought of Jung Youngtae and the long-term prisoner, tore off the creature’s tough flesh, and staggered back to his original spot.

It seemed that he thought they would be hungry like him when they woke up.

Kim Jinwoo carefully placed the creature’s disgusting flesh beside them and fell asleep again in Jung Youngtae’s arms.

How much time had passed like that? When Kim Jinwoo had eaten almost all of the insect-type creature’s flesh that was nearby, he began to feel uneasy.

He was terrified that Jung Youngtae and the long-term prisoner, who still didn’t open their eyes, might be sleeping forever.

But he tried to soothe himself by saying that they must be very sick and needed a lot of sleep, and he stayed by their side for several more days.

There was no flesh left on the creature’s body, which was now dried up, and only the hard skin remained.

Kim Jinwoo, who had been suppressing his fear for days, shed tears. He grabbed the corpses of the long-term prisoner and Jung Youngtae, who he thought would wake up soon, and shook them wildly.

Thud!

The head fell off from Jung Youngtae’s half-rotted body.

The head that fell to the ground was crushed hideously, and Kim Jinwoo burst into tears as if he was the one who had done it.

After crying for a long time, he fell asleep from exhaustion. After waking up again and crying at the sight of the torso with its head fallen off several times, he looked at the ceiling of the dark dugout with blank eyes, as if he didn’t even have the energy to cry anymore.

His body turned red. To make matters worse, Kim Jinwoo started to get a fever and became sick. After a long time, he was able to get up.

And the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a giant spider looking down at him with clear eyes.

Kim Jinwoo was collected again by the spiders.

Kim Jinwoo, who was dragged back to Duke’s Maze, was finally able to know. The workers, including the long-term prisoner, were one of the many slaves dragged in during the war, and he was their descendant. And he learned that there were countless children in this underworld in a similar situation to him.

***

“Hmm……”

Kim Jinwoo frowned. He was strangely aware that he was dreaming.

No, it was more like a long journey going back through past memories than a dream.

His face was a mess, distorted by the memory of his most miserable days as a dugout worker. But for a moment, he hardened his expression at the strange feeling and flashed his eyes.

It’s different from a normal dream. It wasn’t just a nightmare.

He set a sword in his heart at the strange sensation that was like a dream and reality.

The lowly and weak dugout worker disappeared, and the conqueror Kim Jinwoo took his place.

The eyes with blue light flowing down in streaks swept around and caught a strangely damp darkness.

“Come out.”

A savage growl, as if vibrating his throat. Kim Jinwoo stared straight at the darkness.

“I’m in a very bad mood right now. So come out when I’m asking nicely.”

As if it wasn’t just words, the light flashing in his eyes was fierce. Perhaps that’s why the darkness, which had been lurking ominously, suddenly changed its appearance.

“Nice to meet you, Commander of the Inheritance and the one and only conqueror of the floor in the underworld.”

The being that appeared was a man with ordinary features. But the blue skin and the ram horns sprouting from his head were terribly foreign. But Kim Jinwoo frowned because the man’s face was somehow familiar.

“You are……”