Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 81

Dungeon Chronicles – Episode 82

#35. Lost Item

[The opponent is overwhelmed by your majesty. Due to the vast difference in power, they are unaware of what has happened to them.]

[Unless they forcibly move or cause harm, they will instinctively follow your commands.]

[A strong shock may break them free from this effect.]

As the man trembled and bowed his head, Lee Joon-young and Jung Chan-sik shouted in surprise.

“Jin-tae, what’s wrong, you idiot?”

“Contact the Development Bureau! Something’s wrong with Jin-tae!”

Kim Jin-woo said quietly, watching Jin-tae convulse and become unresponsive despite their attempts to grab and shake him.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. Just act normal.”

He spoke so softly that Jung Chan-sik and Lee Joon-young, who were making a fuss, wondering if their colleague was experiencing a side effect of being chosen as the labyrinth’s master, couldn’t hear him.

As if by magic, Jin-tae’s body stabilized with that one word.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. Suddenly, I felt a bit….”

Jung Chan-sik glared at him, watching him cautiously looking at Kim Jin-woo.

He seemed to have misunderstood the situation, thinking Jin-tae was wary of him.

“Have you been in the underground for too long? I’m worried you might have hurt yourself. The labyrinth is colder and harsher than other underground areas.”

Kim Jin-woo said nonchalantly, feigning ignorance.

“That’s it, I’ll talk to Deputy Manager Kim Joo-hyuk this time and tell him to send you to the surface for a while.”

“Will that be enough? I think something’s wrong….”

“Lee Joon-young!”

Jung Chan-sik cut off Lee Joon-young, who was so startled that he almost said something he shouldn’t have.

“Um. Jin-woo, I’m sorry, but today doesn’t seem like the right day. I’ll talk to the Development Bureau separately and set another day, so it would be best if you went back today.”

Jung Chan-sik said with a complex expression, half apologetic and half wary.

“No, I’m really okay.”

It was no use for Jin-tae to repeatedly say he was okay.

After all, a perfectly healthy person, a Dungeon Baby [a person born and raised in a dungeon, granting them innate resistance and abilities related to the dungeon environment] with an incredibly strong body, was trembling all over, so his colleagues had no reason to believe him.

“I’ll guide you.”

Lee Joon-young, who had been looking back at his colleague several times, grabbed Kim Jin-woo’s hand and was about to cross the portal again when Jung Chan-sik subtly warned him.

“Joon-young, watch your mouth.”

“Sorry.”

Kim Jin-woo pretended not to hear the quiet voice behind him and crossed the portal.

“See you next time. I’ll give you a proper tour of the labyrinth then. Sorry for today.”

“No, your colleague comes first. I’m sorry for making things confusing. Go ahead, I can go alone from here.”

Lee Joon-young apologized several times, even though he said it was okay, and eventually left. His expression turned cold as he stood alone in the place where he first met Lee Joon-young.

“So, the labyrinth’s master has abilities that work on humans as well.”

He wasn’t entirely happy about it, as he had almost been overwhelmed by Anatolius’s ability before, so he felt uneasy.

Even the chieftain of the Great Tusk Boar tribe, who was quite powerful, couldn’t completely resist the ‘Nobleman’s Majesty’ ability.

But Jin-tae, a mere master of the 5th floor, couldn’t possibly resist the pressure effect that had been upgraded from ‘Low-Ranking Noble’s Majesty’ to ‘Lower-Ranking Noble’s Majesty.’

Thinking about it that way, the labyrinths held by various countries that were talked about in the news were nothing special.

It would be impossible for the masters of labyrinths, who were only on the 6th floor, to resist his abilities.

“They’re all food for me.”

He had no intention of doing anything to the labyrinths, which were unremarkable in terms of rank and location, but Kim Jin-woo felt strangely pleased to see that they were beneath him.

***

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Is Jin-tae doing better now?”

Lee Joon-young, whom he met again, still looked apologetic. It would be better if she were a little more brazen, but this woman could never forget a debt she owed to someone, whether it was gratitude or something else.

“Yes. As you said, he must have been staying in the underground for too long and his body deteriorated. He’s fine now.”

Originally, before they knew that there was another world in the underground, it was generally accepted that the temperature increased as they went deeper underground.

However, whether it was because of the labyrinth or for some other reason, the underground, which they revisited after the war, had become extremely cold.

Because of that, explorers, unless they were Dungeon Babies born and raised in the underground, were visiting the underground at intervals.

“After all, the underground is too harsh for humans to stay in.”

Kim Jin-woo stopped speaking, feeling strangely chilly.

Come to think of it, he could now stay in the underground without feeling any discomfort.

The darkness and dampness of the underground didn’t bother him at all, so the underground was just another world to him.

That somehow tightened his heart, and his expression hardened.

Am I still human?

He wasn’t sure if he, who was born and raised in the underground and had now become the master of a labyrinth, a noble of the underground, was still the same being as before.

“It’s not the time to worry about others. You should take it easy when you go into the underground. Look at you sweating.”

Kim Jin-woo, realizing belatedly that his body was covered in cold sweat as if he had encountered a chill, thanks to Lee Joon-young’s words, tried to shake off the thoughts that came to his mind.

***

Kim Jin-woo revisited the Harimau Labyrinth. The master of the labyrinth, Jin-tae, was nowhere to be seen. He heard that he was undergoing various tests at a hospital designated by the Development Bureau.

“Well, it’s good to take a break and get a checkup. I should get one too.”

The people of the Underground Development Bureau would try to do as many tests as possible in case anything happened to the labyrinth’s master, whom they had obtained with difficulty, so it would be a long time before Jin-tae returned to his labyrinth.

“This is the passage that divides the center of the Harimau Labyrinth. Anyone who enters the labyrinth must pass through here.”

Kim Jin-woo looked somewhat disgusted at Lee Joon-young’s explanation.

That was because the entire passage was decorated with state-of-the-art weaponry. It seemed they had supplemented the labyrinth’s lacking power in this way.

“This is a secret, but I’ll only tell you, Jin-woo. We can’t pass through that side either. It’s full of landmines.”

He was speechless that they had even installed explosives. No wonder the framework and reinforcements added to the passage were unusual; there was a reason for it.

However, the Harimau Labyrinth was an ordinary labyrinth with no other special features.

It was talked about as if it were a big deal in the news, but the reality was that it was a weak labyrinth that had to be decorated with weaponry that didn’t even work properly.

Lee Joon-young shook her head when he subtly hinted at that fact.

“The defense facilities there aren’t for creatures.”

“Ah….”

Belatedly, Kim Jin-woo remembered that the Harimau Labyrinth was located on the 5th floor, a relatively accessible labyrinth, and groaned.

“Anyway, there are many more things to see, but unfortunately, this is all you’re allowed to see, Jin-woo.”

Kim Jin-woo wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t seen the labyrinth’s summons, core, or facilities yet.

He didn’t think he would be interested in seeing the labyrinth’s facilities, which wouldn’t be anything special anyway.

“But are you really not going to accept the Development Bureau’s offer?”

Seeing Lee Joon-young subtly bringing up the previous topic, it seemed she had received a hint from Deputy Manager Kim Joo-hyuk.

“The conditions are good, but there must be a lot of strings attached. I hate being tied down to something more than anything else.”

She gave a blunt answer that drew a line, and she looked embarrassed before speaking to him again in a friendly manner.

“Then how about working with us? The pay is good and the work is relatively easy. The only downside is that you have to stay in the underground for a long time.”

“What kind of work do you do, Joon-young?”

Lee Joon-young didn’t hide it anymore since Kim Jin-woo, who hadn’t been able to reveal it before, had already been allowed to enter the Harimau Labyrinth.

“Defending the labyrinth and exploring new labyrinths, that’s what we do.”

***

After visiting the Harimau Labyrinth, Kim Jin-woo completely lost interest in the labyrinths held by various countries. Instead of paying attention to the insignificant labyrinths that weren’t even a match for his power, he focused on other things.

‘There are still many things in the underground that humans don’t know. That’s true even for us, who have lived half our lives in the underground. And that includes labyrinths that haven’t found their masters yet.’

Her actions of sticking close and whispering in his ear, even though there was no one around, made it seem like she wanted Kim Jin-woo to become the master of a labyrinth.

It seemed she thought that becoming the master of a labyrinth was the way to escape the tedious explorer life.

But she wouldn’t know.

Becoming the master of a labyrinth meant plunging even deeper into the underground. The appearance of the Harimau Labyrinth, which had awkwardly accepted modern civilization and become a mess, was proof that they were still beings of the surface.

“Hmm?”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been lost in thought, frowned at the suddenly appearing notification window.

[There is a visitor to Naga’s Fortress.]

He had decided to rest more on the surface for the time being, but he couldn’t delay since he had a guest.

“Portal.”

With his quiet words, the air cracked open and a door to the underground appeared.

“What’s going on?”

‘Master!’

Dominic’s face, who was welcoming him, looked more anxious than usual.

“Where is the guest?”

‘The master was absent, so they are still waiting at the border of the territory.’

His tone was somehow cautious, so he asked.

“Who is it?”

‘The Invincible Mercenary Krasto has come to find the master with his mercenary group [团 (tuán): a Chinese term for group or band].’

“The Invincible Mercenary?”

Kim Jin-woo frowned and expressed his displeasure at the grandiose name.

‘Originally, they were active on the 10th floor, but when the war disappeared from the 10th floor, they moved their base to the 11th floor.’

His expression hardened at the mention of a mercenary group that was active on the 11th floor, not the 10th floor.

“Are they here to cause trouble?”

‘No. Krasto is a person who abandoned his labyrinth and even his noble title to wander as a mercenary. There’s no reason for him to pick a fight with a 9th-floor labyrinth now.’

“What a weirdo.”

He tilted his head at the story of a mercenary who had abandoned even his labyrinth and wandered the underground, although his title was understandable.

“Why did those guys come all the way here?”

He knew they were great beings, but he couldn’t understand the purpose of their visit.

‘That’s….’

Ortega, who was crouching at the gate and looking beyond, came into their sight as they were moving.

“Why is that guy like that again?”

Kim Jin-woo asked, looking at Ortega, who was trembling with fear, despite his massive size and the name of Drakon. Ortega, who found him, rushed over in a flurry.

“Lord, Baron, save me!”

Kim Jin-woo stepped back in horror, afraid that he would hug him with his massive arms if he left him alone.

‘Krasto’s purpose in visiting the labyrinth is….’

She glanced at Ortega and continued.

‘He has come to find that rude Drakon.’

“What?”

His expression soured at the unexpected purpose of the visit.

‘Apparently, that Drakon stole Krasto’s treasure and ran away from the mercenary group.’

“That’s not true! I didn’t steal it! I just borrowed it for a while!”

Kim Jin-woo urged Ortega, feeling that things were getting complicated.

“What is that treasure? And where is that treasure now?”

“I, I lost it!”

In the end, Kim Jin-woo’s face crumpled.