Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 132

Dungeon Journal-133

# 133

Dungeon Journal

Kim Jin-woo had been to the 11th floor, and for almost half a year afterward, the enemies’ attacks continued.

The Nagas, after untold hardships, finally managed to find the enemy’s invasion route and succeeded in blocking it. However, the enemies still wouldn’t give up on the 9th floor.

The blind madness that didn’t even feel pain persisted even after the defense line had completely solidified, and Kim Jin-woo became increasingly fatigued as time passed.

The masters of the 9th floor labyrinth, who had readily followed his commands in times of crisis, began to subtly pursue their own desires again, becoming uncooperative.

After the front line, which had barely been formed, was pushed back several times, Kim Jin-woo was no longer gentle in dealing with his vassals.

He didn’t hesitate to make harsh decisions, even using an entire labyrinth as bait if necessary.

Only then did his vassals cautiously watch his expression, subtly bowing their heads and pretending to be obedient.

Even as he was losing strength due to internal problems, the enemies continued to pour in.

The creatures and unidentified forces that squeezed through the narrow passages were strangely desperate. They advanced, stepping on piles of corpses that grabbed at their ankles, as if someone were pushing them from behind.

The ominousness of the dead, which made shoulders shrink,

The cold air of the Nagas, which froze the whole body,

The secrecy of the Under Elf assassins, which made one look back at their shadow,

Couldn’t stop them.

The creatures of other underground levels and the masters of the labyrinths never looked back, advancing as if what was in front of them was the whole world.

At that time, he couldn’t know why they were so desperate. It was only recently, a year later, that he was finally able to figure out the reason.

A famine had struck the underground levels they belonged to.

The foundation of the underground levels, which made creatures creature-like and allowed labyrinths to exist, had been completely shaken. For some reason, the Down Jem [a magical energy source] in their underground levels had completely dried up.

Whether it was because of the numerous explorers who frequented the underground levels like eating meals and carried Down Jem to the surface, or whether it was due to internal factors, he couldn’t know.

However, one thing was certain: if things continued this way, not only the upper levels but also the lower and deeper levels would run out of Down Jem.

Although they had managed to block the forces of other underground levels with difficulty, once a passage was opened, it didn’t close its hideous mouth again.

Even at this moment, creatures he had never seen before were steadily crawling out of the passage.

“This is a big problem. At this rate, the 9th floor won’t be able to hold out either.”

“We’re already feeling the effects. As Master knows, the number of labyrinths on the 9th floor has actually increased since before the war.”

In the almost year-long war, Kim Jin-woo’s forces had experienced the strange phenomenon of actually increasing in number.

Now, more than 100 labyrinths claimed to be his vassals, which was incomprehensible considering that many labyrinths had been destroyed during the war.

However, this was also a predictable event.

The labyrinths of the 7th and 8th floors, unable to withstand the invasion of other underground levels, had largely moved to the 9th floor.

At first glance, it seemed like a good thing, but looking closely, it wasn’t all good just because the number of vassals had increased.

The ecosystem of the 9th floor was completely ruined due to the explosively increased number of labyrinths. The balance between the labyrinths and the wild creatures, which had been exquisitely maintained, was completely broken.

The situation that the Dark Merchant and Black Merchant had been so worried about had come to pass.

And as a result, the 9th floor, which had been busy killing off all the wild creatures in preparation for the war, was also suffering from a severe shortage of Down Jem.

Naturally, the existing forces did not welcome the newly established labyrinth masters. They constantly clashed with the newly established labyrinths and continued to antagonize each other, subtly, in places where Kim Jin-woo and the fortress’s eyes couldn’t reach.

In a situation of endless decline, he also looked for a way out. However, the 11th floor was still in chaos because the war was not over, and the 12th floor was still a forbidden area that he and the fortress could not yet attempt to conquer.

“More than that, the biggest problem is that an underground level where Down Jem no longer appears has no merit for the surface dwellers.”

The only reason why the greedy humans didn’t pour their terrible weapons into the underground levels was the existence of Down Jem and other items. They were the kind of people who had the patience to at least not cut open the belly of the goose that laid the golden eggs.

But if they were to find out that there were no more golden eggs in the goose’s belly, would these brutal butchers try to keep the goose alive? Absolutely not.

They would twist the goose’s neck and peel off its skin to extract the last remaining flesh and bones.

And at this moment, Kim Jin-woo was not only on the side of the butchers but also the head of many geese, and another goose himself.

At least until he achieved his goal, he couldn’t give up the labyrinth.

“Still, there’s still time. Because the war has intensified, the explorers don’t know the situation in the underground levels yet.”

Fortunately, the explorers hadn’t paid much attention to the current state of the underground levels, where the creatures were running wild.

They were just waiting for the chaos to subside, without trying to figure out the reason.

“But that won’t last forever. If the creatures of the upper levels keep coming up to the surface and causing trouble like this, this side will inevitably become noisy. And the rulers of the surface will pretend to find out the truth, even if it’s just to quell the commotion.”

And the current dilapidated underground level would reveal its flaws to the surface dwellers without exaggeration. The rulers, seeing the Down Jem that had dried up and the creatures that were weakening day by day, might make an extreme choice.

“I’m looking for a way, so don’t be too impatient, Master. You’ve been doing well so far. No one would have thought that Master and the fortress would grow this much.”

Kim Jin-woo composed himself at Dominique’s words of comfort.

“More than that, shouldn’t we be going back soon? You don’t look well.”

Dominique’s complexion had noticeably worsened while they were talking.

Well, it was understandable. The place where they were talking now was not the 9th floor underground level but the surface.

It was the surface labyrinth that Kim Jin-woo had prepared as a last resort in the midst of the desperate war.

Although he was suppressing the growth of the labyrinth to avoid the eyes of the explorers, this place was also a proud territory belonging to him.

However, the ungrown core was not providing enough energy for the beings of the underground level to live on.

Because of that, Dominique was trembling with a noticeably pale complexion.

“I was about to go back anyway.”

“Then why did you come up?”

“Because I didn’t want Master to come home to an empty house.”

Dominique was saying things well even though she was suffering herself. But even if that seemed foolish, there was no way he wouldn’t feel affection for her. It was because he desperately felt her devotion, living only for him from one to ten.

Kim Jin-woo, who had been quietly looking at Dominique, hugged her tightly.

“Go back quickly. My home is not here but right down there.”

Dominique, who smiled brightly even with her pale complexion at his answer, returned to the fortress through the portal installed in the basement.

Click.

Kim Jin-woo, who had seen Dominique off, checked the screen of his trembling cell phone. Seeing the name ‘Teacher Baek’ on the screen, he got up again and prepared to go out.

“I’m about to leave now.”

He said only what he had to say and hung up the phone, then immediately left the house.

“How can you hang up the phone like that?”

“Didn’t I come here like this?”

Teacher Baek was furious as soon as he saw him, as if he was upset that he had hung up the phone like that. But even with such scolding, he only retorted without showing any signs of apology.

“At first, you were unsociable, but you did well, but you’ve changed a lot.”

Teacher Baek sighed, realizing that there was no use in getting angry alone.

“I haven’t changed. Only the situation has changed.”

Teacher Baek sighed once again at his answer.

When Kim Jin-woo first came to this appraisal office, he had many things he lacked. He didn’t have a reliable source to exchange Down Jem right away, and he lacked information about the underground levels and explorers.

Naturally, he had no choice but to accommodate Teacher Baek’s temper to some extent.

But now, more than a year later, it was Teacher Baek who was lacking instead.

It had become difficult to secure quantity because the Down Jem had dried up, and naturally, he was unable to meet the demands of his customers, and his credibility was hitting rock bottom.

In such a situation, Kim Jin-woo was the only one who occasionally brought Down Jem, so from Teacher Baek’s point of view, he had no choice but to accommodate his temper even if he didn’t like it.

“More than that, did you find out what I asked you to do?”

He said it was a request, but there was no tone of asking anywhere in his tone. Knowing that fact, Teacher Baek only clicked his tongue once and didn’t scold him.

“You were right. It seems that other countries have been having creatures causing chaos on the surface for a long time. Since the land is large and the government is trying hard to stop it, the story hasn’t spread widely, but that side has been in chaos for a long time. Most of the explorers are being mobilized to defend the gate rather than exploring the underground levels, so I’ve said it all.”

As expected, it was as expected. The depletion of Down Jem was first in the underground levels of other continents. That’s why the creatures of other underground levels were pouring out so desperately, struggling to get through the passage.

At least the underground level where Naga’s fortress existed did not lack Down Jem.

But that was already an old story. The creatures that had passed through the passage had consumed Down Jem indiscriminately, so the Down Jem in this underground level was also being depleted.

If a way is not found, the underground level will lose its foundation and self-destruct.

It’s funny.

His position of having to worry about the underground level even while desiring the destruction of the underground level and underground level forces was ironic. So Kim Jin-woo smiled wryly without even realizing it.

“Are you, what are you unhappy about?”

“Ah, no. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

Teacher Baek, with a pale face, tried to accept it, as if the smile was so eerie to see.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Teacher Baek couldn’t treat him carelessly like before was this dangerous atmosphere that was revealed from time to time.

“But there’s a strange rumor.”

“What rumor are you talking about?”

There were hardly any reliable rumors among the rumors floating around in this world. Perhaps that’s why his tone was so indifferent when he asked back.

“There’s a rumor that there’s a labyrinth on the surface.”

But when he heard Teacher Baek’s words, he couldn’t just sit still. That’s because the core of the labyrinth hidden in the Paju safe house immediately came to mind.

“Don’t make that expression. That’s why I said it was a rumor. I just told you because it was such a preposterous and absurd rumor.”

“Is that so?”

Kim Jin-woo, who had barely composed his expression, tried to accept the words as if he was nonchalant.

“Yes, just don’t worry about it. A labyrinth on the surface, you have to say something that makes sense.”

Teacher Baek, who was flustered, stammered the words with a flushed face, as if he was embarrassed himself, then began to demand Down Jem to supply. [Teacher Baek is trying to change the subject and get some Down Jem from Kim Jin-woo.]

Kim Jin-woo, who had been thinking of providing a few low-grade Down Jem as an information fee anyway, took out Down Jem while making a show of it.

Teacher Baek, who saw the low-grade Down Jem that he wouldn’t have even glanced at if it was before, had a satisfied face.

“Anyway, I’ll let you know if I get more information.”

Teacher Baek, who was gleeful after receiving Down Jem, subtly pressured him to leave now. Since there was nothing to gain from staying any longer, he left the appraisal office without regret.

“Yes, I’m leaving. This time, Down Jem has newly entered, so I’m especially contacting the chairman first…….”

Looking at Teacher Baek’s voice coming from beyond the door, it seemed that he was doing business even with the Down Jem he had acquired after a long time.

“Yes, yes. It’s low-grade, but the quality of the jam itself is not bad.”

Perhaps the story was going well, Kim Jin-woo returned to his residence, leaving behind Teacher Baek’s voice, which had become brightened to the fullest.

***

“As expected, the prediction was correct. It seems that Down Jem has been depleted in other areas since long ago.”

Based on the information he heard from Teacher Baek, he pieced together the reasoning he had made in the meantime. Dominique also nodded her head and expressed her agreement after listening to his story.

“Perhaps this is why the counts of the deep levels were helplessly defeated.”

It was only natural that they would suffer great damage because one side was rushing in desperately with their lives on the line, while the defending side was approaching the war cautiously.

Perhaps they were recalling the wars that had been happening from time to time and were more concerned about the power dynamics that would change after the war.

Now that they realized that the war would not end easily, they were driving out the enemy with all their might, but the situation that had once tilted was not easily reversed.

Among the forces that had passed through the passage, there were even those who had boldly moved the labyrinth to this side.

“I can’t understand. Down Jem is a necessary item for us. But it’s not for the surface dwellers.”

Dominique, who had come to know the surface in her own way thanks to going back and forth to the surface from time to time, said with a face that she couldn’t understand.

“Where do the surface dwellers use Down Jem that they consume more than us?”

The number of Down Jem that the explorers had leaked alone was enough for all the labyrinths in the entire underground to live abundantly for several years.

However, the actions of the surface dwellers, who still endlessly want and want Down Jem, are not understandable to her, who is a being of the underground level.

“Can’t you live without Down Jem?”

“That can’t be true.”

Kim Jin-woo shook his head at Dominique’s words. The surface had existed even before the war with the underground level, and there was no problem for people to live then.

So even now, the surface will not suddenly perish just because there is no Down Jem.

But nevertheless, the surface dwellers had a greater greed and longing for Down Jem than the underground level beings.

He who has Down Jem lives long and does not easily get sick. He who is sick is cured by grinding and drinking Down Jem. Down Jem has a mysterious power and shares that power to its owner.

It was as if the medicine peddler in the market was babbling, but this was the efficacy of Down Jem known to the world.

Of course, there were some cases where the disease was cured through Down Jem. And in reality, many people who carry Down Jem like accessories also saw the effect of feeling lighter and not feeling tired easily.

But Kim Jin-woo knew. He already knew that the reason why people were so desperate for Down Jem was not this far-fetched reason.

If Down Jem really had the efficacy of a panacea that completely cured diseases, the numerous incurable patients who were struggling with illness would not still be lying on their sickbeds.

The amount of Down Jem that had been released on the surface in the meantime was so much that it was enough to go around one by one to all the incurable patients in the world.

Nevertheless, the world was still overflowing with those who were groaning in disease.

It was natural. The real effect of Down Jem was not the miracle of completely curing the disease, but the amnesiac effect of ‘forgetting’ the disease.

Down Jem was a drug.

Down Jem itself was so expensive and not an item that could be obtained with money, so its use had not yet been widely known to the world, but Down Jem was definitely a drug. It was also a new kind of drug that was harmless to the human body.

But just because it was harmless to the human body did not mean that it was not addictive. The drug based on Down Jem was more addictive than any other drug.

When he accidentally learned the fact, before his eyes was Lee Joon-young, who was completely intoxicated by the addiction of Down Jem.

***

Lee Joon-young, whom he had met after a long time, was covered in wounds. She, who was not intact in any of her limbs, was dripping blood and suddenly emerged from the darkness.

In the depths of her hollowed-out eye sockets, her eyes were shaking 불안하게, she looked as if she was being chased by something.

“Joon-young?”

Her cloudy, unfocused eyes were towards the Down Jem that he had just found through the detection ability of the parasite. [Kim Jin-woo is using a skill to find Down Jem.]

“Jin-woo, that’s Down Jem, right? Right?”

Her first words, which omitted even greetings, showed such a blind obsession for Down Jem. It was not like her, who had always shown detachment from material things, so he involuntarily shielded the Down Jem in his arms and had to step back hesitantly.

“Why is Joon-young here…….”

She shouldn’t be here now. This was the 7th floor of the underground level, which could not be explored even by a dungeon baby alone.

Lee Joon-young stared at his chest as if to pierce through it instead of answering. And then she disappeared.

Kim Jin-woo, who had searched the surface, met Jung Chan-sik. And then he learned that when humans ingest Down Jem, it would have the same effect as a drug, and that Lee Joon-young was addicted to such a drug.

“I couldn’t help it. Joon-young is really upright in personality to the point that it’s amazing that she lived in the underground level. It seems that she herself could not accept the fact that she had run away with her comrades. She kept trying to do unreasonable things, saying that she would take revenge, so I meant to have her forget her sorrows even for a while…….”

Jung Chan-sik mumbled excuses, saying that he didn’t know that the addiction would be so strong.