Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 32

Dungeon Journal-32nd Entry (32/319)

#32

Dungeon Journal

33. Premonition of War

After the battle with Bloodmark, the Naga Maze was steadily preparing for war.

Quantus ascended to Hero rank, and other Naga warriors became elite warriors. Naga mages and priests also reached the intermediate level, significantly improving the quality of the forces.

In addition, all sorts of traps from the surface and underground were laid beyond the gate, so even if the Kyorong suddenly attacked, they wouldn’t collapse so easily.

“It’s still not enough.”

But even so, Kim Jin-woo couldn’t relax.

It had only been half a year since he sat on the throne of the maze. During that time, the Naga Maze had made remarkable progress.

However, he couldn’t even guess how much power the Kyorong King’s maze, which had reigned over the underground for much longer, was hiding.

With an anxious heart, he checked the maze’s upgrade completion time several times a day.

[The Rank 4 Naga Maze is being upgraded to Rank 5. Currently, 122:14:59 seconds remain until the upgrade is complete.]

With only about 5 days left, the situation would improve if he could just hold out until then.

The problem was that there was no guarantee that the Kyorong King’s forces wouldn’t move until then.

“The Kyorong King Anaxstus’s maze has been quite noisy lately. Large and small Kyorong are frequently moving in and out of the outskirts, which is unusual.”

In fact, Rickshasha’s report signaled the signs of war.

The bluff led by Ortea seemed to be reaching its limit. The suspicious Kyorong King seemed to have decided on war.

The absolute inferiority in troop strength, but he had to overcome it. The only consolation was that the number of beings seeking the maze had increased significantly since the battle with Bloodmark.

‘Master, at the tavern…….’

Today, too, there was a guest who had come to the maze. Kim Jin-woo rose before Dominic could finish speaking and asked.

“What kind of guys are they this time? Are they useful?”

‘Even if it’s Dominic, he doesn’t know all the races of the underground, so when guests come, he has to check it himself.’

“I hope they’re not trash like last time.”

Having already experienced several underground mercenaries who were only flashy on the outside, Kim Jin-woo’s expression was ambiguous, neither expecting nor not expecting.

‘But this time, they looked quite plausible.’

“I’ll look forward to it. Rickshasha, if you have nothing to do, let’s go together. Dominic may not know, but you’ve wandered the underground for a long time, so you might know.”

Rickshasha, who was standing there blankly after finishing the report, immediately followed him at his words. Dominic briefly looked displeased, but since Rickshasha had already been granted access to the owner’s room, he respected his decision and said no more.

The Naga Maze wasn’t very large from the start, so the tavern wasn’t far away. The first thing that caught his eye when he opened the tavern door was bizarre beings that were neither human nor beast.

Men and women who looked like they were half wolf and half cat mixed with humans prostrated themselves on the floor when they saw him.

“Master, they are beastmen.”

While he was quietly examining the visitors, Rickshasha somehow recognized the identity of the other party and whispered in his ear.

“Ah, are they useful friends?”

“Unfortunately, apart from that wolfkin man, the catkin woman is useless.”

Even Kim Jin-woo, who was used to harsh words, was taken aback by the blatant insults. But only for a moment, his expression changed at the words that the wolfkin man was quite useful.

“So, did we salvage one?”

“I am Inu of the wolfkin. If you accept me, I will pledge my loyalty.”

The wolfkin man, who had heard the conversation, crawled forward on his knees and bowed his head at his feet.

“Good, Dominic. Take him to Quantus and have him check his skills. Pay him appropriately.”

Kim Jin-woo readily accepted the wolfkin man because he was short of hands. The wolfkin man, who had repeatedly slammed his head on the floor, promising to do his best, disappeared following Dominic.

“Hmm…….”

He stroked his chin as he looked at the catkin woman, who was still prostrate and motionless, even though she must have heard the story.

“Catkin are not very talented at fighting.”

At Rickshasha’s words, Kim Jin-woo briefly examined the catkin woman.

Indeed, as she explained, the catkin woman didn’t seem to have much talent for combat.

Unlike the sturdy, muscular wolfkin man, the catkin woman’s body looked slender and delicate at first glance.

He wondered how she had survived in the dangerous underground with that body.

“The only thing they are good at is pleasing their masters, and all they can do is lie at their master’s feet and purr.”

At those words, Kim Jin-woo finally made up his mind, clicked his tongue, and was about to leave the tavern when the catkin woman raised her head.

Unlike Inu of the wolfkin, who had the face of a wolf, she looked completely like a human woman except for her large ears, and he was startled.

The woman hesitated as if she had something to say, and when she lowered her head again, her gaze lingered in his mind, and he hesitated for a long time before leaving the tavern.

“It would be nice if the black market merchant would visit again at times like this.”

Kim Jin-woo grumbled in disappointment because the only thing he had salvaged from the numerous visitors was a wolfkin warrior.

Before, he had almost chased away the black market merchant who was trying to seize collateral because he didn’t have any Down Gem [currency in the underground], but now he had more than enough ability to pay for the goods.

“My King, the black market merchant has arrived.”

As if his words had come true, Quantus, who was guarding the gate, ran to inform him of the black market merchant’s visit.

Kim Jin-woo, looking embarrassed at the coincidental timing, soon moved towards the gate.

“How have you been? The maze has changed so much that I almost thought I had come to the wrong place and was about to turn back.”

Despite the previous meeting not being very pleasant, the black market merchant had a carefree face as if it was their first time meeting.

“What did you come to sell today?”

Inwardly, he wanted to plunder the black market merchant’s bundle right away, but Kim Jin-woo held back. The one who was desperate was the weaker one, and he didn’t know what would happen if he showed a desperate appearance.

“Ah, I didn’t come to sell goods today. Of course, I can prepare them if you want, but I came to sell something else.”

Kim Jin-woo frowned at the black market merchant’s absurd words. Seeing him, the black market merchant smiled obsequiously.

“I came to sell information today.”

“Information?”

At the sudden suggestion, his wariness of the black market merchant grew more than his delight at the information.

He didn’t know when that light mouth, which was chattering to him at this moment, would go to Anaxstus.

But this time, the situation was not favorable for refusing like before. The war, which had been vague before, was now right in front of his nose.

The Kyorong were rushing their war preparations, but he still lacked strength, so he had to obtain information about the opponent.

“What’s the price?”

“The price for information is information.”

“Are you going to sell this information to the Kyorong King too?”

When he asked sharply with his eyes raised, the black market merchant jumped up and waved his hands.

“That’s not true. What do you think of the Black Merchant? And to be honest, Anaxstus isn’t a very good customer, so why would I do that?”

‘Who knows what he’s saying,’ Kim Jin-woo thought, turning his head with a suspicious expression at the black market merchant’s words. The black market merchant sighed and said.

“I don’t know where you heard the story, but our Black Merchant is not that shallow. Even though we are wandering around the underground doing bundle business, the Black Merchant’s vision is much higher and farther away than that.”

The black market merchant, who glared at Dominic for a moment, brought up the main point again.

“I promise you. I will not ask for information about the maze in exchange for information.”

He couldn’t refuse if he yielded to this extent. So Kim Jin-woo cautiously accepted the black market merchant’s offer.

“Good. Knowing that you have accepted, I will give you the information.”

Saying that, the black market merchant rummaged through his arms and took out a document of unknown material. Dominic quickly approached and snatched the document as if to grab it.

She received the document and quickly scanned it, then showed a shocked face. Seeing her, the black market merchant smiled slyly.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

‘Ah, no. It’s just that there’s a slightly surprising story written here.’

“Really? It doesn’t seem like there’s anything strange written there.”

‘Yes. I don’t know if what’s written here is true, but it’s information about Anaxstus.’

The black market merchant, who was listening to their conversation, suddenly interjected.

“Then will you pay the price now?”

Kim Jin-woo, who was looking at Dominic, who couldn’t take her eyes off the document the black market merchant had given her, nodded. The black market merchant approached him closely, lowered his voice, and said.

“The information I want to know is…….”

He gestured to Quantus and Rickshasha, who were blocking the black market merchant’s approach, to step back, and waited for the black market merchant’s next words.

“It’s information about the surface.”

***

After the black market merchant left, Kim Jin-woo was lost in thought.

‘If you give me information about the surface, our Black Merchant will be willing to continuously provide you with the necessary information in the future.’

After saying that, the information he asked for was all trivial stories.

What’s the weather like on the surface now, what’s in fashion, and all the useless questions were so absurd that he was rather dumbfounded.

Thanks to that, it was good to be able to obtain information about the Kyorong King without any special expenses, but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

He even wondered if the Black Merchant was planning to invade the surface again.

But with just that much information, it was impossible to know the situation on the surface. Moreover, the underground had already been defeated by humanity once. War would not break out so easily.

‘Don’t worry too much. Maybe the Black Merchant is hoping to trade with the surface. The things from the surface that the master brought have a mystery that doesn’t exist in the underground.’

Dominic comforted him as she saw him lost in thought.

Her words made some sense, so Kim Jin-woo stopped trying to figure out the Black Merchant’s intentions and raised his head.

‘Shall I read you the Kyorong King’s information now?’

At Dominic’s words, Kim Jin-woo realized what was most important now and straightened his expression.

‘The Kyorong King’s weakness is…….’