Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 4

#4

Dungeon Expedition Log

Episode 5

#2. Dungeon Owner

Explorers hadn’t secured every passage. Completely converting the intricate underground labyrinth into human territory was nearly impossible.

Even in passages with lighting and paved paths, Under Beasts frequently appeared.

Kim Jin-woo was currently walking through one of these passages that humans hadn’t yet cleared.

A pitch-black tunnel with not a single ray of light, where even taking a step was difficult, but he moved without hesitation.

After all, the world he had lived in had been closer to darkness than light.

Thud, thud!

Only the sound of footsteps echoed in the quiet passage. He occasionally glanced back at Jang Yun-ju, who followed him with a blue glint in her eyes.

Perhaps feeling responsible for the deaths of her companions, she hadn’t spoken since stopping her tears. She simply clutched her camera tightly, feeling her way through the darkness.

“Let’s rest.”

The monsters that had been chasing them had vanished. It was strange, as they rarely gave up on their prey, but it was a welcome reprieve.

He found a hollow gap in the tunnel wall and gently guided Jang Yun-ju into it. Then, he squeezed in beside her.

How much time had passed? Time in the underground world flowed terribly slowly. He hadn’t realized this before. Having grown accustomed to the surface world’s 24-hour day and night cycle, he felt a strange sense of confinement.

However, his expression was surprisingly calm. He seemed unconcerned about the monsters that might still be chasing them, showing no signs of impatience.

*One doesn’t readily reach for food that might cause indigestion.*

The underground world was harsh for both him and the Under Beasts. If they were injured while trying to catch prey, they could be eaten by their own kind. In a worst-case scenario, even with superior numbers, a fight to the death wouldn’t guarantee their escape.

Nevertheless, he intended to postpone the fight until the very end. He was tired of fighting like a beast to survive.

Besides, if a battle broke out, he wouldn’t have the *yoyu* [余裕 – Japanese for leeway or margin] to protect Jang Yun-ju. She had to survive to pay the remaining balance on the surface.

They remained hidden in the gap for half a day, but the monsters didn’t pursue them. It was as he expected. Five years after leaving the labyrinth, something had changed.

No, perhaps it was still changing at this very moment.

The manager of the Labyrinth Management Office had called this job easy and safe. If creatures that usually lived on the 5th floor or lower were casually appearing on the 1st floor, he wouldn’t have spouted such nonsense.

Was he just unlucky?

His fate, to be caught up in this timing, was truly cruel.

There was no end to self-pity and anger, so he soon began to move again.

He headed in the direction where the faint energy flowing through the underground world, that unpleasant air, felt slightly thinner. That was the only way to escape the underground world without a guide.

“Huh?”

While wandering through the darkness, he was startled by a flickering light behind him.

He strained his eyes to see that the camera in Jang Yun-ju’s hand, who was following him like a zombie, was glowing.

Fearing that the light might attract Under Beasts, he grabbed her wrist.

“Ahhh!”

She let out a suppressed sound and struggled, but he roughly snatched the camera away.

As he was about to press the power button on the side of the camera, he sensed something was wrong and played the recorded video.

The screen was filled with green light, as if the infrared mode was on. It was an unremarkable scene, with glimpses of his back occasionally appearing amidst the swaying view of the passage.

Just as he was about to close the screen, finding nothing special, he froze.

He had noticed strange writing on the earthen wall of the tunnel they had passed.

A snake with its triangular head sharply raised was drawn geometrically. It was a design that could be mistaken for a stylish man’s tattoo if seen from the outside, and he felt his heart sink.

Dungeon Emblem.

The symbol of the labyrinth, it meant only one thing.

He had entered a labyrinth without realizing it.

Beep, beep, beep.

The camera emitted beeping sounds and turned off, as if the battery had run out at the worst possible moment. He stared blankly at the black screen for a long time before his face contorted in frustration.

“Damn it!”

At first glance, one might think that the underground world itself is one giant labyrinth. However, the underground world and the labyrinth were distinctly different worlds.

If the underground world was merely a complex and dark tunnel, the labyrinth was literally a maze.

It was a bizarre world full of deadly traps, ferocious monsters, and a loss of both direction and time.

As a Dungeon Baby [a person born and raised in a dungeon] who had grown up in the labyrinth, Kim Jin-woo knew how dangerous the labyrinth was.

And he had set foot in such a brutal place.

However, contrary to his worries, the labyrinth was quiet. There were no monsters breathing strangely and roaming the passages, nor were there any thorn traps pricking his feet.

Could it be because it was a labyrinth located on the 1st floor? That couldn’t be. Even though it was the 1st floor, this was clearly one of the places once ruled by the owners of the labyrinth.

There was no way such a labyrinth would be so quiet just because it was located on the 1st floor.

Tap, tap.

Anxious, Kim Jin-woo tapped the ground with his toe as he pondered. Dungeon Babies were only valued in the underground world when dealing with Under Beasts.

Under Creatures, who could be considered the real monsters of the labyrinth, were formidable opponents even for Dungeon Babies.

“Damn it.”

He felt frustrated as situations kept arising that made him want to curse. Why did he have to enter a labyrinth of all places?

He hoped and prayed that this labyrinth was abandoned.

Perhaps his wish had been granted. He hadn’t encountered any creatures or traps while wandering around for a long time.

He was now convinced that this was an abandoned labyrinth. Otherwise, there was no way they would have left intruders like themselves alone.

“Is this a stroke of good luck in misfortune?”

He relaxed a little. That must have been why. The sharp blade of his mind had become dull.

And the moment his vigilance crumbled, he felt the floor give way and his body float in the air.

***

He groaned, feeling nauseous, and blinked his eyes repeatedly in a daze. The cold sensation of the floor gradually cleared his mind.

He jumped up.

Only then did he remember his situation, and he shot up as if he had been flung.

“Ugh… !”

A sudden pain made him open his mouth involuntarily. A burning sensation; it seemed his arm had broken when he fell.

He sat back down as quickly as he had stood up, clutching his swollen wrist. Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed that only his left arm was injured.

He gritted his teeth at the pain and looked up at the ceiling from which he had fallen. The height was so great that he couldn’t even see the ceiling; it was a miracle that only his arm was injured.

After waiting for the pain to subside, he caught his breath and looked around.

He was sitting alone in a small space of about 10 meters square. Jang Yun-ju, whom he had been holding onto until the moment he fell, was nowhere to be seen.

“Yun-ju!”

He called out loudly, but only the narrow space echoed back. He frowned at the sight of Jang Yun-ju nowhere to be found.

Funnily enough, the only thing he could think of at this moment was the thought that he might not be able to receive the remaining balance, rather than worrying about her safety.

However, perhaps due to the shock of the fall, his mind wasn’t working properly, and even that thought disappeared from his head. He sat there blankly for a long time.

Only after Kim Jin-woo regained his senses and a considerable amount of time had passed did the surrounding scenery gradually come into view.

The space, about 10 meters square, was truly bizarre. The floor was paved with smooth stones that he had never seen in any labyrinth, and the walls were covered with unknown patterns.

And in the center, there was a small altar with a luxurious and antique appearance, which was out of place in a labyrinth.

In the middle of the altar, a narrow stone rose up, barely reaching his chest. The slanted upper part was flat, making it perfect for placing something on.

While wincing at the pain, he climbed onto the altar as if possessed. Then, he headed towards the stone table in the center.

Up close, he saw that the Dungeon Emblem he had seen through the camera was engraved on the top of the stone table.

The pattern of a snake with its head raised sharply and its tongue flicking, was so well drawn that it looked as if the snake was alive and staring at him.

Shh, shh.

He flinched at the sound of the wind, like a snake flicking its tongue. Perhaps it was his imagination, but it felt as if the snake’s tongue had moved.

Shhh-it.

At first, he thought it was his imagination. But when the snake’s eyes engraved on the stone table rolled and turned towards him, he was able to grasp the situation even with his confused mind.

“Eek!”

The reflexes he had developed through numerous crises kicked in, and this time his actions were faster than his thoughts. The moment he thought the black snake pattern was wriggling, he grabbed his dangling arm and threw himself backward.

But it was already too late.

The snake that had popped out of the table like a hologram bit his broken arm. A burning pain, as if his skin was being burned away with fire, made him open his mouth wide.

At that moment, a strange sound echoed in his head.

‘Eighteen thousand two hundred and thirty, Liberator of the Snake, Successor of the damp underground, the one who will sit on the throne of the Nagas [a race of mythical serpent beings].’