Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 154

Dungeon Journal-Episode 155

# 155

Dungeon Journal

60. First Come, First Served

The closest labyrinth, excluding the satellite labyrinths installed for the defense and boundaries of the Great Labyrinth, was Uther’s Labyrinth.

Uther, who regained consciousness at the same time as the birth of the Great Labyrinth, blankly stared into the air before abruptly rising to his feet.

“What is this!”

The Labyrinth of Gluttony had become desolate. The Dual Core, which he had obtained after much hardship, was cracked and left unattended.

Fifteen days had passed in terms of time, but for Uther, whose flow of consciousness had been stopped, it was as if the labyrinth that had been perfectly fine until just now had suddenly gone bankrupt.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

Uther, shocked, thrashed about wildly in place. As a result, the already precarious two cores were completely shattered and turned to dust.

“Huh? This is a disaster!”

Uther, clutching the remnants of the labyrinth that had turned to dust and scattered, screamed. Uther, who usually seemed frivolous and thoughtless, had ambitions to introduce even a Dual Core, following Naga’s Fortress.

But the foundation that would fulfill that ambition had vanished overnight, so it was no wonder he was going crazy.

“Uheoheoeo.”

Eventually, Uther, as if he had lost his mind, made a foolish sound and staggered to his feet.

But that was only for a moment. After examining the labyrinth, Uther found only traces of the labyrinth that had no possibility of recovery and went on a rampage again.

This time, he seemed truly angry, as several of the surrounding slime masses were caught up in the commotion and disappeared.

“Hoo…”

After thrashing about for a while, Uther took a long breath. It seemed like he had finally calmed down, but looking at his stiffened slime skin, that didn’t seem to be the case.

In fact, Uther’s usually frivolous appearance was nowhere to be seen, and he looked sharp.

Uther, who had been sharply flashing his eyes, began to move sluggishly.

He looked depressed again when he saw that his once lovely labyrinth, surrounded by slime, was now parched.

But he soon began to move sluggishly again, heading somewhere.

Uther disappeared, and even the Gluttony masses followed him.

All that remained in the desolate labyrinth were the parched caves and the eerie traces that indicated that a labyrinth had once been there.

The long trail of slime that stretched between them was slowly, slowly heading towards the Great Labyrinth in the distance.

And those who lost their labyrinths and were driven into caves all headed to the Great Labyrinth.

The common opinion of everyone was that the King of Nagas had caused all the abnormalities on the 9th floor so far, so they thought that he must have been involved in this incident as well.

Even if it wasn’t his doing, they had a vague belief that he might have a solution.

However, among those heading to the Great Labyrinth, there were also those who had lost their minds due to shock and anger.

They were hostile to everyone they met while moving, and some of them, who were overly excited or had violent temperaments, even attacked those who were moving.

The closer they got to the Great Labyrinth, the more the group engulfed in anger grew. Eventually, those who had lost their minds formed groups and even attacked others on a large scale.

“We lost our labyrinths too!”

“Shut up! I don’t trust anyone! How do we know you guys didn’t do something!”

Endless anger; they wanted to be compensated for their sense of loss and anger from an unspecified number of people, and others who were despondent and moving helplessly were good prey.

The prey was more despondent than angry, and as much as they lost, they were helpless.

Of course, that didn’t mean that everyone was helplessly being attacked by the rioters.

Malakus, the King of Hammers and Anvils, who was famous for his fierce temperament, and Ariane and Hecarim, who still had reason, repelled several groups of rioters.

But the situation continued to worsen.

The labyrinth and its core were the source that made the residents of the underground follow reason rather than barbarism and instinct. Without a labyrinth, they were no different from wild creatures or beasts roaming the underground.

Since they had lost the foundation of their existence, it was only natural that more and more people were being consumed by anger and instinct as time went by.

Some of them had already lost their language and reason and returned to their wild forms.

Every day, a colleague from yesterday would turn into a ferocious beast and rush at them. Naturally, those who still had reason began to divide into small groups and exclude other groups.

The shallow alliance that had been established under the banner of the King of Nagas was shattered in an instant, and the 9th floor became more chaotic than ever before.

To make matters worse, the number of Moais [giant monolithic human figures carved on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island] crossing the passage, taking advantage of the weakened defenses, was also increasing. The road to the Great Labyrinth became hell.

And that hell only ended after arriving at the Great Labyrinth, so less than half of the more than ten thousand refugees and rioters remained.

***

“Your Majesty!”

Those who arrived at the border of the Great Labyrinth cried out for the king. The contract of vassalage [a system where someone becomes a subordinate to a lord or ruler] had long been broken, but they still called Kim Jin-woo the king.

Even though the relationship between lord and vassal had been broken, there was no one crazy enough to dare to confront the Commander of Inheritance now.

Even the rioters stopped attacking others and quietly watched the movements of the Great Labyrinth when they arrived at the border of the labyrinth.

But the rioters’ patience was not long. When the King of Nagas did not appear despite repeated calls, they slowly began to reveal their true colors.

“All the labyrinths on the 9th floor have collapsed, but this place alone is fine, so the King of Nagas must have done something!”

“Not only is it fine! Now that I see it, it has become even more splendid than before, so he must be the culprit of all this!”

Malakus clicked his tongue as he watched some of them talking like that.

“They’ll say anything if they want to die. They’re not in their right minds.”

“They lost their labyrinths and lost their reason,” Ariane said, taking Malakus’s words. Her complexion was still not good, perhaps because the injuries from the last war had not yet recovered.

“What are you going to do when the king comes later?”

Malakus was eager to stop them, but he was wary of starting the barely stopped strife again.

“I just hope I don’t get caught in the crossfire because of those guys.”

The King of Nagas that Malakus remembered was by no means an easy person.

If you are deceived by his small and insignificant appearance and recklessly confront him, you will not be able to maintain even your own life, let alone your labyrinth. There were countless labyrinths that had been destroyed in the 9th floor and its vicinity.

He truly hoped that the King of Nagas would not be angered by them. The angry King of Nagas was an existence that they could not handle. He just hoped that he would not be caught up in unnecessary things and suffer losses.

“I don’t want to join their arrogance, but I can’t shake the suspicion that this situation is related to the king.”

“That’s a big deal!”

Malakus was horrified by Ariane’s words. He turned pale and blocked Ariane’s mouth and looked at the entrance of the Great Labyrinth.

After waiting for a while and seeing no sign of anything, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Everyone will know in time anyway, so there’s no need to volunteer to be punished. So let’s not say unnecessary things.”

“But think about it. Isn’t it strange? It’s strange that our labyrinths suddenly disappeared, but his labyrinth has become even bigger than before.”

Malakus did not answer Ariane’s words this time. It was because he was thinking the same thing as her.

He nodded his head at her words without realizing it, but soon realized that many people were listening to his and Ariane’s conversation and had a look of regret.

How rough was the road he had to walk to get here? He barely managed to lead his clan to this place, holding on to his fading consciousness.

Now everyone seemed to have regained their reason thanks to the energy flowing out of Naga’s labyrinth, but this could change at any time.

In fact, not only the rioters but also many people’s eyes were flickering with impatient anger and madness. Surely he himself must have the same face as them.

“No, no. No matter what, I think it’s better for us to step back. I’ve never seen a guy who has stood his ground in the underground by antagonizing the king…….”

By reminding them of the power of Naga and his king, they seemed to be holding on to their reason.

But his influence only reached those who had maintained their reason while coming here.

The rioters, as the King of Nagas did not appear, began to talk more and more arrogantly.

“Surely that thief must have done something! Such growth in the underground where even Down Gem has dried up is impossible!”

“Maybe he’s the culprit who destroyed our labyrinths. I’ve never been able to figure out what he’s thinking.”

The rioters were now even calling the king they once served a thief.

“Why are we wasting time here! If he’s done something wrong, we can just meet him and hear it!”

“If he’s plotting something inside, the evidence will be inside too. We’ll check it ourselves before he gets rid of the evidence!”

Confusion about the inexplicable situation, and the madness of the battles and killings they had waged while coming here had not yet subsided, so they began to become more and more violent.

Moreover, the labyrinth in front of them looked so abundant that it could fill all their sense of loss.

So they did something they would never have done before.

“After all, there are less than 1,000 Nagas!”

“If he’s confident, he wouldn’t have appeared yet! Surely he has realized his mistake and is planning to run away!”

“The Nagas must be afraid of us!”

Following someone who was spouting nonsense, the rioters began to move towards the Great Labyrinth one by one.

Even among those who were not part of the rioters, there were those who were swept away by this absurd incitement and subtly joined the ranks.

“Why is the king still silent!”

Malakus shouted in frustration. He stomped his feet and watched the rioters invade the border of the labyrinth.

“The one who seizes the core first gets the biggest share!”

The rioters were a sight to behold, already talking as if they had taken over the Nagas’ labyrinth. They showed the audacity to cross the border of the labyrinth without even a hint of caution in order to get ahead even a little bit.

“Up to there.”

Just as the vanguard of the rioters had invaded the border of the labyrinth, a low voice, as if whispering, called them to a halt.

“Anyone who moves even one step from there will be cut in half.”

Noisy footsteps, hasty cheers, nothing could cover this quiet whisper.

“Anyone who wants to check can try it. It will surely be an interesting experience to guess whether your body will be split horizontally or vertically.”

A strangely deep voice. Kim Jin-woo was standing crookedly on the outskirts of the labyrinth, looking at the rioters.

“Ugh…….”

The rioters, who had been rampant with arrogance, froze at the indifferent gaze. And then they realized the fact they had forgotten.

They realized what kind of existence the owner of the labyrinth they had invaded was, and how he had crushed countless enemies. The rioters turned pale at the belated thought.