Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 174

Dungeon Chronicle – Episode 175

# 175

Dungeon Chronicle

Episode 175

Kim Jin-woo’s expression hardened. When he initially decided to get information about the Association from her, he had anticipated Lee Jun-young’s request.

However, she was a surface dweller not bound by the underground system, unlike Yoon-hee, who had no particular ties to the surface and was close to being an underground being.

If she wanted, she could easily spread stories about the Great Labyrinth outside.

“I won’t tell anyone what I saw here. I promise.”

She pleaded once more, fully aware of the situation.

Seeing her, usually so strong-willed, pleading with such desperation, it seemed that breaking free from her addiction had, ironically, become a burden.

Indeed, enduring alone in this damp underground with a sound mind would not be easy.

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t easy to keep refusing the desperate request of a woman who had once expressed affection for him. However, being swayed by past emotions and creating trouble was not in his nature.

“What can I do to make you believe me?”

Lee Jun-young’s gestures now seemed pathetic. Eventually, Kim Jin-woo made a decision after much deliberation.

**

“Master.”

Dominique looked worried as she saw Kim Jin-woo return from the Great Labyrinth. She seemed concerned that her master, who had a history of being affected by the Great Labyrinth’s malice, might be affected again.

“Don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.”

Kim Jin-woo reassured the anxious Dominique with a smile and turned back to the portal.

“Ah…”

Lee Jun-young appeared behind him. She was flushed with emotion, overwhelmed by the fact that she had escaped the damp underground and finally returned to the surface.

“The promise…”

“I will keep it.”

She replied, still lost in her emotions. Just a moment ago, it seemed impossible that he would bring Lee Jun-young to the surface, but for some reason, he hadn’t stopped her with that simple word.

“Master?”

Dominique looked at Lee Jun-young with wary eyes, waiting for him to explain the situation.

Kim Jin-woo gestured for her to wait and stepped back through the portal.

“Ugh, I was just about to leave anyway!”

Morrigan was being dragged back by his hand.

“Although it’s the surface, this place is still my labyrinth. There’s no need to be so scared.”

Morrigan, with a pale complexion, bristled at his words.

“I’m not scared, it’s just that the air on the surface feels terrible…”

Knowing that her excuse was lame, she shut her mouth. However, judging by how she was still cautiously looking around, the surface, which she was stepping on for the first time, seemed quite unfamiliar.

Kim Jin-woo found it amusing to see the usually confident and fearless crow being so cautious, but he also felt complicated, imagining the arduous journey it would take to help her adapt to the surface.

“Dominique, take care of Morrigan.”

After briefly explaining the situation and passing the troublesome burden to Dominique, he nodded to Lee Jun-young and turned away. As if they had discussed it in advance, she immediately followed him.

They headed not to the small party hall or Mandragora’s labyrinth, but to a small clearing between the labyrinths; that dark passage was Kim Jin-woo’s destination.

Arriving at the clearing, Kim Jin-woo rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a Supreme Grade Down Gem. [A Down Gem is a crystallized form of dungeon energy, used for various purposes.]

However, the color of that Supreme Grade Down Gem was unusual.

Unlike ordinary Down Gems, it had a radiance that seemed like something would burst out of it at any moment. Lee Jun-young swallowed hard and looked nervous.

“I’ll say it again, once you choose, there’s no turning back.”

At his words, Lee Jun-young silently reached out her hand. He looked at her pale face for a moment and handed over the Down Gem.

“Anyway.”

Her dark eyes looked at the Down Gem for a moment before turning to him.

“I’m prepared.”

The hand gripping the Down Gem was raised high and then plunged into the ground as if striking down.

[An active core has been installed.]

Lee Jun-young’s eyes followed the empty air.

The narrow space was enveloped in a flurry of light and began to tremble finely. In the white world surrounded by flashes, she spoke again.

“And there are no choices in this world that can be undone.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the Supreme Grade Down Gem expanded and expanded, finally becoming the core of the labyrinth.

[Labyrinth, Blood Lion’s Fortress has been created.]

[It will take some time for the core to fully settle.]

The Blood Lion’s Labyrinth was the core that Kim Jin-woo obtained by killing Marcus, the owner, when he went up to the 8th floor in search of the Under Elves.

Perhaps because the actively operating core was moved as is, it didn’t take long for the labyrinth to settle again.

The core of the Blood Lion’s Labyrinth, with a blood-red light befitting its name, quickly settled and began to synchronize with Lee Jun-young.

“Am I now a member of the underground?”

Lee Jun-young asked, looking at the faintly shining core of the Blood Lion’s Labyrinth with complicated eyes.

“No, there’s still the imprinting process left.”

She sighed at his answer.

“Once the imprinting is complete…”

“Ms. Jun-young will become the master of the underground, the labyrinth.”

It was the labyrinth’s core that she couldn’t get enough of on the surface. But she wasn’t very happy even though she had obtained such a core, the infamous Blood Lion’s Labyrinth that existed on the 8th floor.

Well, it was understandable. She didn’t become the master of the labyrinth by her own will.

Kim Jin-woo made her a member of the underground to control her. Lee Jun-young, who became the master of the labyrinth, would not be able to fully return to the surface.

She had witnessed the tragedy of the Black Tiger’s Labyrinth right before her eyes, and she had heard all the explanations of what would happen to the master of the labyrinth if the core was destroyed.

The party hall and Mandragora’s labyrinth surrounding the Blood Lion’s Labyrinth, as if pressing down, were like daggers aimed at her chin. If she did anything foolish, that cold-hearted man would destroy the core without hesitation.

That was how Kim Jin-woo, the man she had been watching, lived.

“I see.”

She accepted her situation calmly, even though she might have resented Kim Jin-woo for not trusting her until the end and finally putting shackles on her.

It was something he couldn’t understand from his point of view, but he didn’t want to know the reason separately. Instead of answering her, he sent her back to the Great Labyrinth.

“I’ll pick you up again at this time tomorrow.”

“When we meet again, Jin-woo and I will be on the same side, right?”

Kim Jin-woo could only nod insincerely at Lee Jun-young’s attitude, which desperately craved his trust. She smiled brightly at his perfunctory answer and disappeared beyond the portal.

“Morrigan, guard the entrance.”

Kim Jin-woo left Morrigan, who was still dazed and unable to adapt to the surface, as a guard and waited for Lee Jun-young to be completely bound to the labyrinth after a day.

In the meantime, he received several calls from Teacher Baek and heard the news that the Explorer Association was completely turned upside down and was looking for the attacker. Whether it was effective to set up the Mirror Wraith as a decoy, there was no sign that the Association was targeting him and plotting something.

「Is it really not you?」

“I was at home then.”

He brazenly retorted and ended the call with Teacher Baek, then gave off a cold look.

Teacher Baek said that the Association was in ruins and the atmosphere was terrible, but he hadn’t even started properly yet.

The real start was now. He was planning to completely destroy not only those involved in his father’s disappearance but also the Explorer Association that condoned it.

Teacher Baek said that the Explorer Association would not be attacked twice. Well, since they had allowed the attack so easily, they would be thoroughly prepared by now.

Maybe they were preparing an inescapable trap and waiting for the attacker to come again.

However, Kim Jin-woo did not foolishly attack the Association’s main building, which had finished its defenses, again.

While he was tied to the Great Labyrinth, Kim Jin-woo moved secretly, following the Down Gem’s route that Angela had identified.

In the process, he thoroughly destroyed any facilities that seemed to be related to the Association and stole all the Down Gems that were being secretly stored.

Naturally, the Association was completely in chaos, and numerous Dungeon Babies [Individuals born within dungeons, often possessing unique abilities] and Explorers flocked to the attacked branch.

But by the time they arrived, Kim Jin-woo had already finished his business and moved on to the next location.

He destroyed three branches of the Association in one night.

Although he didn’t get as many Down Gems as when he attacked the main office, getting Down Gems from the branch was just a side income anyway.

The real purpose was the Association, not trivial Down Gems.

“How many times do I have to say it’s not me?”

Teacher Baek called several times in the meantime, but he pretended not to know. Later, he even got annoyed, so Teacher Baek reacted as if he didn’t know how things were going at all.

「So, is there really someone other than you who has a grudge against the Association, and that person is shaking the Association now? That’s quite a coincidence.」

Although a full day had passed, the commotion of the night before had not subsided.

The Association was rummaging through all sorts of places and was desperately trying to find the culprit, and an unofficial bounty was placed on the attacker of the night before on the emergency contact network between Explorers.

Explorers, who had no decent income lately, were turning their eyes to the bounty and making a fuss to find the attacker they didn’t even know.

The process was so noisy that even a short news article about Explorers was covered.

However, Kim Jin-woo, who could be said to be the culprit of all this, was not concerned about the outside world and was preparing to welcome Lee Jun-young.

Finally, after 24 hours, the Blood Lion’s Labyrinth accepted her as its master and began to operate.

And Lee Jun-young visited the surface again.

“I’ve really become the master of the labyrinth.”

She said with a complicated face, perhaps reminded of her colleague who died in the ambush when the Black Tiger’s Labyrinth was attacked.

“It’s amazing. Nothing has changed for me, but if this core is destroyed, I’ll die too.”

“The core will not be destroyed. No, I hope it won’t be.”

Kim Jin-woo said quietly, with the core of the Blood Lion’s Labyrinth, which had fully synchronized and started operating in earnest, between them.

“I hope so too.”

Lee Jun-young nodded without showing any resentment at the subtle pressure. After finishing her short impressions of the labyrinth, she opened her mouth.

“I don’t know if the information I have is worth the price Jin-woo paid.”

The Association’s information that she had agreed to pay for the price of freedom. Now it was time for her to keep her promise.