Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 286

Dungeon Journal-286

# 286

Dungeon Journal

287. Regression to the Past

“How did you find it already?”

It was too fast. Finding the treasure that they couldn’t even locate during the war with the surface in such a short amount of time was unnaturally absurd.

So, Kim Jin-woo couldn’t understand Mimir’s words and couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“I’m also at a loss for words, you know. I never imagined that the treasure of the underground, which we’ve been searching for so desperately, would reveal itself so easily.”

Mimir seemed genuinely surprised by his sharp questioning, looking bewildered.

“It’s more like it revealed itself rather than me finding it.”

The timing was coincidental, but it was a somewhat plausible answer. After all, the mysteries of the underground always seemed to work in this way, so he had come to accept it.

But despite that, he continued to press Mimir.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I have no idea why these things have been happening so frequently lately.”

Mimir looked visibly flustered, having come to deliver good news only to be met with harsh questioning.

“Hmm.”

Kim Jin-woo belatedly realized that he was being overly sensitive, but he couldn’t shake off his suspicion.

Why now, of all times? Why did the treasure of the underground, which the nobles of the underground had been searching for with such fervor, reveal itself now? And Mimir’s visit, which had stopped him just as he was about to leave for the deepest depths, didn’t feel entirely natural either.

But whether he was suspicious or not, Mimir quickly began to spill his information.

He seemed afraid of being struck by lightning if he delayed even a little.

“The Wish Stone will return to the underground on its own if you wait.”

It was getting worse and worse. This was exactly the situation.

“I heard that Count Nightmare, Dinarion, has acquired the Wish Stone and is preparing to transport it to the underground.”

“Dinarion, you say.”

“That’s right. He is undoubtedly one of the main figures who incited the war between the underground and the surface. Perhaps he feigned surrender to find the Wish Stone.”

It was impossible. If Dinarion’s only goal was to retrieve the Wish Stone, there would have been no reason to heighten the sense of crisis between the underground and the surface, giving rise to the pretext for war.

“But how did you find out about that?”

Leaving aside Dinarion’s intentions, he asked, unable to understand how Mimir had grasped his movements. Mimir replied,

“Thanks to you, my lord, Dinarion has completely lost his foundation. Because of that, he, who would have entered the deepest depths in an instant, now has to sweep through from the upper levels.”

Indeed, if his labyrinth had been intact, Dinarion could have entered the deepest depths at once through the portal.

“And the method he chose to enter the underground was to go through someone in the underground.”

“Who is it this time?”

Mimir hesitated for a long time as if there was something unpleasant, and when his eyes turned fierce, he squeezed his eyes shut and said,

“The Queen of Corruption, Brunhild, has received Dinarion’s contact.”

Brunhild was a skilled woman who had secretly built a solid foundation on the surface, enough to manipulate the Korea Explorers Association from behind.

She was also a cunning woman who had spent a long time in the deepest depths. When all the other counts in the deepest depths lost their foundations to the facade of the Great Labyrinth, she was the only survivor who took the core and ran away.

“You, don’t tell me…….”

Kim Jin-woo belatedly realized the reason for Mimir’s hesitation and glared at him fiercely.

“I, I’m sorry! I thought there would be a useful place to use the Queen of Corruption in the future… I have committed a crime worthy of death!”

As expected, it seemed that Mimir had helped her, wondering where she had run away to. No, perhaps this cunning imp had given him information in advance when he set out to clean up the 11th floor.

“Haa, it’s tiring. Your constant misdeeds of hiding your schemes. And me, for keeping you alive until now.”

He was rather dumbfounded by Mimir’s attitude, who was always busy plotting something behind his back, but always ended up revealing the truth with his own mouth.

“Maybe you’re telling me this because there’s something in it for both of us.”

But despite that, he withheld punishment this time as well, instead of striking the hateful imp to death in one blow.

“That’s right, you know. The Queen of Corruption seems to be planning to deceive Dinarion and take the Wish Stone. And she’s probably thinking of trying to negotiate with you with it.”

It seemed that the Queen of Corruption wanted to offer the Wish Stone to him and be saved, so that she could once again establish a base in the underground.

“Haa.”

It would be a huge gain if he could get the Wish Stone in exchange for saving a lowly count and giving up a corner of the underground.

But even if he were to gain such a profit, he couldn’t just let go of the imp’s actions of constantly stabbing him in the back.

“I’m moving the warehouse tomorrow.”

“Keueung…….”

He completed his petty revenge by kicking out the warehouse keeper, who would jump out of bed even in his sleep at the mention of treasure. He vowed to punish the remaining sins again on the day he obtained the Wish Stone.

Without knowing such a thing, Mimir breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had overcome the immediate crisis, so it was obvious that the future would be difficult.

***

“It seems that the time is approaching.”

All the events that had occurred recently were pointing in one direction.

Regression to the past.

The fact that the High Lords, whose lineage had been cut off for a long time, had now been resurrected, the restoration that had occurred in time, and the appearance of the Wish Stone all had something to do with the complete regression of the underground.

Kim Jin-woo was keenly aware of this fact, and he also knew that he was the key to perfectly accomplishing or reversing this entire process.

“Everything will accelerate. The Lord of Depravity and the monster called the Mystery of the Underground will not miss the ripe time.”

Therefore, he was not at all surprised even though a great earthquake had struck the underground once again.

Kuo oooo oooo.

The third earthquake that struck the underground was more intense than ever before. But it was also short. It stopped completely in just a few hours.

“Report the damage!”

Kim Jin-woo shouted loudly, and the leaders of the labyrinth, including Dominique, reported the situation one after another.

“We barely managed to hold on!”

“The warehouse has been slightly damaged, but there is no other damage.”

“No casualties among the Nagas [snake-like humanoids] and other races! Everyone is safe!”

Perhaps because the vibration was short, there was no damage to the labyrinth. Valhalla also stood firm despite the terrible earthquake, and the towering spires and walls did not develop even the slightest crack.

“That’s a relief. If the same disaster as before had struck again, it would have been quite troublesome.”

“I’ll send out the patrols just in case something else has changed.”

At his words, Dominique nodded and quickly sent out the Under Elves to check the situation outside.

“It seems like it will take some time, so let’s take care of the pending work first.”

Kim Jin-woo called Daedalus, intending to take care of the warehouse relocation that he had been putting off.

“Preparations have already been completed. Since the Eternal Warehouse is essentially an independent space except for the entrance, there was not much need to do much.”

Daedalus guided him, saying that he had prepared several places to relocate the warehouse in the depths of the Great Labyrinth, which was easy to defend.

“In fact, the fact that an enemy has entered this far means that a formidable enemy has appeared that cannot be intercepted by any trap, so we have eliminated all sorts of 잡스러운 [miscellaneous/unnecessary] traps and decided to close the space itself in case of emergency.”

There was some truth to his words. The fact that an enemy had entered this far, which could be said to be the depths of the Great Labyrinth, was synonymous with the meaning that the defeat was imminent, so it was useless to prepare for defense belatedly.

“That’s not a bad idea. In that situation, it would be right to protect the labyrinth, not just a warehouse.”

However, that was only the case if the Eternal Warehouse was like a typical warehouse.

“The Eternal Warehouse is not just a secure vault. It is a greedy monster that thinks for itself, tempts, and eventually devours intruders. We don’t need to worry about defense.”

Among the spaces prepared by Daedalus, he decided to relocate to the place that was closest to the owner’s room and the most exposed.

“There’s no need to drag it out. Let’s start the relocation right now.”

[You have decided on a place to relocate the Eternal Warehouse.]

[Relocating the Eternal Warehouse to the Labyrinth of Greed, not Valhalla, is somewhat inefficient. No matter how strong the defenses of the Great Labyrinth are, they cannot match the defense power of Valhalla.]

[Would you still like to relocate the Eternal Warehouse here?]

The journey from a small and shabby Naga nest to a Naga fortress and then to the Great Labyrinth was the path he had walked in the underground itself.

He had no intention of moving his main base now, relying on small advantages. Moreover, unlike the message’s disparagement, the power of greed possessed by the Great Labyrinth was not absurdly lacking compared to Valhalla.

“I’ll decide here.”

[Please decide carefully. It is not easy to relocate a warehouse once it has been relocated.]

[Would you like to relocate the Eternal Warehouse here?]

The repeated messages disappeared only after he waved his hand irritably.

[The Eternal Warehouse is being relocated.]

[All items stored in the warehouse will also be relocated.]

[It will take some time for the Eternal Warehouse to be fully activated.]

[You will not be able to take out items from the warehouse until it is fully activated. However, it is possible to put in new items as much as you want.]

[There are 71 hours, 49 minutes, and 47 seconds left until the warehouse is activated.]

As he was watching the small clusters of light dancing around, an additional message popped up.

[The Eternal Warehouse has been relocated.]

[The space where the warehouse was originally located is completely erased from the world.]

[Unfortunately, the Black Merchant’s base, which was created relying on the power of the Eternal Warehouse, has disappeared. It seems that the quick-witted Mimir has taken out most of the items and facilities, but the Black Merchant can no longer show the secret events of the past.]

[Rumors about the newly relocated Black Merchant’s base are spreading throughout the underground.]

[Since the Black Merchant has had so many grudges, it is obvious that quite a few difficult things will happen in the future.]