Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 80

Dungeon Journal – Episode 81

# 81

Dungeon Journal

“Why does it have to be high-level?”

“Because there hasn’t been anyone born below the 8th floor who became the master of a Labyrinth.”

It felt like a missing puzzle piece clicking into place. It meant that Yoonhee and I being chosen by the Labyrinth was not a coincidence. So, Kim Jin-woo kept thinking while listening to Professor Baek’s explanation.

“Keep in mind that this is uncertain information. There’s a rumor that the higher the level, the higher the probability of becoming the master of a Labyrinth. In fact, those who have become masters of Labyrinths in other countries are almost always those with the highest levels.”

“I heard that the master of the 4th floor Labyrinth who was murdered last time wasn’t very high level.”

“That’s why I said it’s uncertain information. And it’s a matter of probability, not an absolute answer.”

Although he was nitpicking, Kim Jin-woo also agreed with Professor Baek’s speculation. But one question arose.

“But if I become the master of a Labyrinth, what’s in it for you, Professor Baek?”

Professor Baek was a cold-hearted person. Professor Baek, who once threatened him with his family to control him, would never do something good for someone else now.

*There must be something he wants from me if I become the master of a Labyrinth.* But I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Well, let’s talk about that later. Anyway, we don’t even know if you’ll become the master of a Labyrinth or not.”

“Hmm…”

Leaving Professor Baek, who didn’t seem willing to answer, Kim Jin-woo left the appraisal office.

“Be sure to visit it sometime. If you become the master of a Labyrinth, your life will bloom! Don’t regret it later!”

Professor Baek shouted from behind, perhaps noticing his indifferent attitude. But Kim Jin-woo himself wasn’t very interested.

He already had his own Labyrinth on the 9th floor, which could be said to be the deepest in the lower levels.

Neither the grade of the Labyrinth nor the quality of the core was lacking, and he had accepted as many as five Labyrinth territories under his command.

Among them, three territories were practically under his direct control as regencies.

In addition, when Boreas awakened, even the 10th floor, which belonged to the deep levels, would belong to his territory.

So why would he, of all people, be interested in a mere 5th floor Labyrinth now? Generally, the deeper the location, the better the quality of the core, so the 5th floor Labyrinth must be insignificant.

Besides, he could create Labyrinths at will if he wanted to.

He had as many as nine unactivated Labyrinth cores in his hands, so there was no reason to go through the trouble of working with the government.

Click.

[Kim Joo-hyuk, Deputy Director of the Underground Development Bureau]

So Kim Jin-woo didn’t answer the phone from the Underground Development Bureau, which had called several times. As a result, someone from the Underground Development Bureau came directly, looking anxious.

“I apologize for suddenly visiting like this because I couldn’t reach you.”

Kim Joo-hyuk, the deputy director who came to his house, brought up the main point with an unusually earnest face.

“Mr. Kim Jin-woo, the Republic of Korea needs you right now.”

Kim Jin-woo’s face was indifferent even to Kim Joo-hyuk’s grand statement that the Republic of Korea needed him from the start.

That’s because, for him, who had lived more than half of his life underground, the cause of serving the country didn’t resonate with him at all.

“If you cooperate, we promise to provide the maximum support. That includes enough money to last a lifetime.”

Perhaps noticing the annoyance on his face, Kim Joo-hyuk changed his method of persuasion. He must have misunderstood that his situation was not good after seeing his house, which had been converted from a warehouse.

In reality, he didn’t care about his house because he spent most of his time underground, but it seemed he was misunderstood as not having a comfortable life.

It was understandable, since it was known that the reason he had returned to the underground after more than five years was because of his younger sister Hyun-ji’s wedding gift expenses.

He didn’t bother to correct such misunderstandings.

“If you want, we can immediately put a luxury house in the middle of Seoul under Mr. Kim Jin-woo’s name. You just need to take one test. It’s not a difficult task.”

Kim Jin-woo had already grasped the general situation through Professor Baek, but the other party didn’t seem to know that at all.

Since he had heard it through Professor Baek’s abnormal intelligence, the Underground Development Bureau would never dream that information had been leaked.

So he pondered. Should he play along and get information, or should he refuse at this point? The time to ponder didn’t take long.

“I refuse.”

“You haven’t even heard the whole story…”

“I’ve learned something recently: there’s absolutely no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

A firm refusal. He judged that getting involved with the government would cost him far more than he would gain. All they could offer was money.

And with money, he could earn enough to live comfortably until he died just by exchanging some of the Down Gems he had obtained through the recent war with the 10th floor.

Also, the position of Labyrinth Master was not very appealing to him. As long as he had the Naga’s fortress, which reigned as the ruler of the 9th floor, he didn’t need such a Labyrinth.

“So I refuse. I feel like everything Deputy Director Kim Joo-hyuk has offered is just bait.”

Kim Joo-hyuk seemed quite embarrassed by his straightforward expression, which didn’t beat around the bush.

“Ah, I understand. It’s a pity, but I guess we have to give up since Kim Jin-woo’s aversion to the underground is already well-known. From Mr. Kim Jin-woo’s point of view, I fully understand that you don’t want to be involved in our Development Bureau’s work.”

But after a moment, Kim Joo-hyuk composed himself and quickly agreed.

Anyway, there were plenty of Dungeon Babies [Explorers raised from childhood in the dungeons] besides Kim Jin-woo. Although he had the title of the highest level, what they wanted was not a strong explorer but a kind of figurehead to play the role of Labyrinth Master.

“Ah, but…”

“Yes? Please speak.”

Kim Joo-hyuk, who was about to leave the house, looked expectant, wondering if he had changed his mind.

“That Harimau Labyrinth…”

Kim Joo-hyuk’s eyes narrowed at the sudden mention of Harimau [Malay for “tiger”, often used to denote strength and ferocity].

The name Harimau itself had already been made public, so it wasn’t a big deal, but it seemed like he was going to say something important.

“I heard it leads directly to the 5th floor.”

“That’s right, but…”

“Can I use it sometime?”

***

Kim Joo-hyuk went back.

*Hmm. Harimau… What kind of Labyrinth is it?*

Although he didn’t get a definite answer, he would easily accept his request since there was already an explorer team that had entered the lower levels directly through Harimau.

And as he expected, Kim Joo-hyuk soon gave a positive answer.

However, even if he was the highest-level explorer in the Republic of Korea, he couldn’t act alone, so he had to accompany the designated explorer team.

In the end, it was no different from putting a supervisor on him, but he didn’t refuse.

Since his purpose was to look around the Harimau Labyrinth anyway, he didn’t care whether he was supervised or followed.

“It’s been a while, Jin-woo.”

It happened that the Dungeon Babies who came as that supervisor were familiar faces.

“Jun-young?”

Lee Jun-young, wearing reinforced clothing with the Taegeukgi (Korean flag) on it, smiled at him.

***

“So, the big deal you proposed to me back then was this?”

“Yes. I couldn’t say it because of security. I’m sorry. It would have been nice if we had acted together.”

Lee Jun-young answered with a sincere face, as if she had enjoyed quite a few benefits in the meantime. But Kim Jin-woo shook his head.

“But I heard that the Development Bureau made some kind of offer, but Jin-woo refused…”

Lee Jun-young subtly changed the subject.

“Think about it again. Maybe Jin-woo’s life could change.”

She kept starting to talk and then stopping, as if she wanted to give him even a little information. In the meantime, she stopped the car as if she had arrived at her destination.

“Ah…”

“Isn’t it amazing? They say this is what they call a portal. You can enter the 5th floor at once through this.”

Inside the safe house, which was covered with all kinds of security equipment, a door to space with its mouth wide open was waiting.

“I almost fainted when I saw it for the first time.”

“I see.”

It wasn’t a lie. Kim Jin-woo was also so surprised when he first crossed the portal to his Labyrinth that he felt like he was going to faint.

Now, he was just pretending to be surprised at the situation, which was exactly as he had expected.

“Once you cross this door, you’re immediately underground. It’s not dangerous, but you might feel nauseous and dizzy for a while, so don’t be surprised.”

He nodded appropriately at Lee Jun-young’s explanation as she took his hand and led him. His gaze was fixed on the Harimau’s owner room visible beyond the portal.

“Let’s go.”

Following her guidance, Kim Jin-woo crossed the portal, as if she was proud of it.

“Ugh!”

“It’s okay. It’ll subside soon. You’ll get used to it if you keep going, but it’ll be a little severe for Jin-woo because it’s your first time.”

Leaving his body to Lee Jun-young’s hand patting his back, he secretly looked around the owner room.

The owner room, which was covered with all kinds of modern equipment, was equipped with various cameras and electronic devices, as if it were an operator room.

It was a scene showing how the Labyrinth was defended and operated in peacetime, although all the screens were turned off to match Kim Jin-woo’s visit.

Unfortunately, the core of the Labyrinth was not visible due to the partition wall that divided the owner room in half. But he could immediately guess the overall grade of the Labyrinth by looking at the other facilities.

*Maximum grade 4, minimum grade 3. Well, they may have plenty of Down Gems, but upgrading the Labyrinth takes time.*

At this rate, it could be said that they have been constantly upgrading the Labyrinth since they discovered it.

“Are you okay now? But what’s beyond that?”

“Um. I can’t explain it in detail because of security, but I can tell you that there’s something very important.”

“If it’s important…”

“That’s…”

Lee Jun-young made a troubled face, as if avoiding questions repeatedly didn’t suit her personality.

“It’s been a while.”

At that time, there was a voice that subtly intervened. A voice familiar to Kim Jin-woo, it was Jung Chan-sik.

“Yes, we meet again like this.”

Anyway, it wasn’t strange that he was here now, since he was originally working as a team with Lee Jun-young. So Kim Jin-woo casually accepted the greeting.

“More than that, I was surprised. Until recently, the Development Bureau said that there would be no more permission to visit Harimau.”

“No matter what anyone says, Jin-woo is the highest level Dungeon Baby in the Republic of Korea.”

When Lee Jun-young answered that way with a proud face even though it wasn’t her business, Jung Chan-sik shook his head.

“Anyone who sees it will think Jin-woo is your boyfriend?”

“Well, that’s just what it is.”

Kim Jin-woo coughed, feeling that the story was flowing strangely. Jung Chan-sik and Lee Jun-young were embarrassed when they belatedly realized that it wasn’t something to talk about in front of the person involved.

“More than that, I’d like to look around a bit, is that okay?”

“Yes. But you must not leave the Labyrinth.”

The Underground Development Bureau seemed to be thoroughly preventing the location of the Labyrinth from being revealed.

It was a reasonable method in its own way, since explorers with a lot of experience could check the terrain and creatures outside the Labyrinth and estimate the location.

The only problem was that the other party was Kim Jin-woo.

[The map of the 5th floor has been updated by the Guide ability.]

Looking at the message and map that appeared in front of him, he could see that the Harimau Labyrinth was located in a fairly remote area.

Seeing that it overlapped appropriately with the area updated due to the map that Lee Jun-young had given him, the Harimau Labyrinth was located in the area with the most abandoned Labyrinths even on the 5th floor.

“Hmm.”

He pretended to be distracted, looking at the afterimage of the message and map that disappeared.

“Let’s go. First, take this card.”

Come to think of it, the entrance to the owner room was reinforced with a thick iron door and various electronic devices.

*At this rate, it’s hard to tell whether this place is a Labyrinth or a secret research lab.*

“Let’s go.”

Kim Jin-woo, who was about to move his steps following Lee Jun-young’s guidance, suddenly stopped walking.

“Jin-woo?”

A man who popped out from beyond the partition wall was seen in his gaze.

“Ah, you saw him when we moved together last time, right? He’s the youngest of our team.”

“Ah, it’s been a while.”

Kim Jin-woo smiled and held out his hand. But his gaze was somehow staying a little higher than the man.

[You have met the rightful owner who rules the Black Tiger’s Labyrinth, a fierce hunter under the ground.]

[The unique ability of the Underground Aristocrat, the Dignity of the Lower Aristocrat, has been activated.]