Records of Dungeon Travel

“By the way.” Kim Jin-Woo asked, “What are you getting out of this?”

The problem was that all the stories that had followed one after another were too grandiose to connect with Kim Jin-Woo.

Those who babbled on with pleasant-sounding stories, and those who wrapped themselves up in hidden agendas, were destined to be bitter deep inside. That was the truth Kim Jin-Woo had carved into his bones after he had suffered and nearly died in the Underworld.

“I should be the last person to say this, but these ‘Highlords’ aren’t all that altruistic,” he continued.

In the first place, the Underworld was a place where one couldn’t survive unless they killed someone else and took their possessions. In such a place, it was foolish to believe that a Highlord, an apex being of the Underworld, would be altruistic.

And Kim Jin-Woo was no fool. The path he had walked had drowned in blood and death wherever he went; that was the identity of a Lord. That was a fact Kim Jin-Woo had never forgotten.

“The destruction of the Underworld and all that? Fuck that story. What are you getting out of this?” he asked the Usurper.

He was neither sarcastic or accusatory. It was a simple question. At that moment, his resentment from the past didn’t exist at all.

“What I mean is, let’s stop reminiscing about the meaningless past,” he concluded.

For the first time since their reunion, the Usurper stayed silent. But that didn’t mean she was taken aback. Her expression was just as relaxed as when they had first met, and she still had the same smile on her face as she remarked, “You’re no longer young and pure.”

“You made me this way,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

If he had remained an ordinary dungeon baby, he wouldn’t have been this way. Perhaps he would have been satisfied with paying for his sister’s wedding and wouldn’t have visited the Underworld ever again.

The reason he was now so deeply involved in the secrets of the Underworld was that he had something to protect within it.

“So, let’s stop beating about the bush, and let’s be honest to ourselves and each other,” he said. He no longer sounded worried or confused about the past as he continued, “As a Highlord to another Highlord.” With that, he calmly waited for the Usurper to speak again.

However, the Usurper looked down on the ground and remained quiet. At first glance, it seemed as if she had been hurt, and was left speechless as she tried to decide on her next words. She shrugged a little, and it appeared as if sadness was rising within her. If it had been anyone else, they would have forgotten everything about their past and rushed forward to hug her.

However, Kim Jin-Woo was wary of the unfathomable expression on the Usurper’s face, hidden in thick shadows. He was well aware that the silent droop of her shoulders wasn’t because she was feeling sentimental. The unusual air that began to gather around her was proof of that.

“How amazing,” the Usurper said as she finally lifted her head.

She was smiling, and yet that smile was completely different from before. All that had changed was that the corners of her mouth were raised just a little higher, and yet that alone made her look like a completely different person. The warmth that had been present in her clear eyes and smile was completely gone, and it was replaced by a sense of apathy Kim Jin-Woo had never seen before.

“You made it all your own before I realized it.”

The Usurper’s forced smile and low-pitched voice was void of life. As if her very soul had been eroded, her emotionless smile was nothing but eerie.

“No, in this case, I’ll have to phrase it differently.”

The rustling wind rose anew, like blades that scythed outward in all directions, and the hem of her white robe fluttered unusually. Her ears were barely visible against her pale face.

“Because Night consumed the Wandering Lord and you consumed Night, there’s no way you can be said to have the identity of the Earth Dragon. You’re no longer the Wandering Lord, the Earth Dragon, or even Night.”

The smile on her face, once so familiar to Kim Jin-Woo, had turned into something twisted that he seemed to be seeing for the first time.

“You’re the first new Highlord to be born in the Underworld since ancient times,” the Immoral Lord declared. “The promised, prophesied Lord. The eleventh Lord.”

The moment the Usurper talked about the ‘prophecy’ the True Blood Lord had mentioned before, Kim Jin-Woo knew that the real story had just begun. And just as he had expected, she no longer employed the hypocritical method of appealing to his emotions.

“What is this prophecy?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“Just as the Mysteries of the Underworld encompass the Underworld, there were laws that encompassed the surface as well. Their laws didn’t tolerate our existence, which was why the previous attempt to unify the Underworld and surface was unsuccessful,” the Usurper explained.

In short, that meant there had been a need to cheat the laws of the surface.

“You’re talking about me, no, the Subterraneans who were born and raised in the Underworld?” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

The Usurper shook her head and said, “If they were all capable, I wouldn’t have had to persuade you like this.”

“Then, why me?” Kim Jin-Woo asked. He couldn’t understand why the prophecy was only limited to him.

According to the Usurper’s own words, what the Ancient Lords had needed was a Terran who was also an Underworld being, but that applied not only to him, but also to Catherine the Wailing Lord, the Beastfolk King.

“Those vessels were too small and insignificant. Although they’ve realized the power of the Lords, that’s the most their bodies could bear,” the Usurper replied.

“It sounds as if what you’re saying is that my body, which has consumed the Earth Dragon, the Wandering Lord, and so on, is more valuable than the others,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“That way of putting it is a little extreme, but that is the main gist of what I’m saying,” the Usurper corrected him.

Kim Jin-Woo snorted in response and asked, “So what is it that I have to do now?”

“Take possession of the Wish Stone. Then you’ll know for yourself,” the Usurper replied.

“How laughable. I have no intention of participating in that delusion of yours in the slightest,” Kim Jin-Woo retorted. The Immoral Lord merely laughed.

Much had been said between the two of them, but it had done little to erase Kim Jin-Woo’s doubts. No, he wasn’t even sure whether he could trust the Usurper in the first place.

“The truth will be revealed when the time comes, and that time will come sooner than you think,” the Usurper said.

“Let me ask you one more thing,” Kim Jin-Woo added, still staring at her with a look of disgust. He asked, “Why did you appear in front of me now? It’s not as if you told me anything directly in the first place. It’s not as if we’re close enough to talk and reminisce about the past while making merry, no?”

“Do you resent me?” the Usurper asked. The warmth that appeared on her face was illusory, like a mirage, and yet Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t understand why he couldn’t see the emptiness behind her smile at that moment.

“Of course not.” Kim Jin-Woo shook his head coldly. He spat, “That’s right. I’m just like you.”

The Usurper replied, her face expressionless, “The affection I showed you back then wasn’t a lie. I truly cared for you, and that was entirely the truth.”

“Don’t start talking bullshit to me ri—” Kim Jin-Woo ground his teeth and spat, angered by the Usurper’s audacity. But before he could even finish his sentence, she spoke again.

“But nevertheless, I’m not sorry at all.” The tone of the Usurper’s voice was as expressionless as the look on her face. “If I were a human… No, if I were an Underworld Noble, I would have been a little uncomfortable facing you today.”

She looked at him with her empty eyes and continued, “Maybe having lost my name along the way made me this way. I was alone for far too long, and for too long, I had to endure many days of deprivation on my own.”

The name she had lost was ‘Charity’, a name that seemingly suited the girl called ‘So-Hee’ perfectly, at least before one learned the truth about her.

“Maybe that was it. When I look at you now, my heart doesn’t beat at all,” she concluded.

In the past, such a brazen statement would have left Kim Jin-Woo’s blood boiling. But instead of voicing his resentment, he responded coldly, “Cut the crap.”

He looked at her the same way she was looking at him, and replied, “Stop it with your stupid complaints. Countless dungeon babies and Nobles who died because of you are crying now. You were simply born that way in the first place.” The coldness of his voice didn’t waver one bit.

“Well, the same goes for you.” The Immoral Lord smiled as she looked at Kim Jin-Woo. “Someday, when the time comes for you to make a choice, you’ll make a choice that’s not so different from mine.”

“Bullshit. I’m not like…” Kim Jin-Woo protested.

“Don’t deny it,” the Usurper said, cutting him off in a stern tone as if she were taunting a sullen child. She continued, “You said it yourself; being a Lord means being like that.” She sounded just as confident as he had, and for some reason, Kim Jin-Woo found himself unable to deny her statement.

“I’ve yet to hear an answer to my question.” Kim Jin-Woo, feeling slightly cornered, changed the topic, but the Usurper didn’t point that out. He asked, “Why are you blocking my way now?”

If what the One-Eyed Lord had said was true, there was a secret hidden deep within the Deep Floors. And the Immoral Lord had shown herself as soon as he reached the depths of the Underworld. The timing was too suspicious to be dismissed as mere coincidence.

“I was simply trying to tell you what your priorities should be,” the Usurper said.

“You sound as if you know why I’m here,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

The Immoral Lord nodded without any hesitation and said, “The reason you’re here is because the One-Eyed Lord said something. He was always a bit loose-lipped. He lost one of his eyes because of his useless sense of curiosity, and despite that, he still couldn’t change his habits.”

She wasn’t wrong. It was true that Kim Jin-Woo was here because of the message left behind by the One-Eyed Lord through the White Raven.

“Go back. You’re not ready to meet the Underworld Tree,” the Usurper warned him.

“Underworld Tree?” Kim Jin-Woo frowned upon hearing that name for the first time.

The Usurper replied, sounding concerned, “As I suspected, it seems not only the Wardens’ mission was forgotten.” She smiled as if to say there was nothing to be surprised about, and continued, “It’s not the Underworld that the Wardens are protecting.”

Mimir had once said that the Wardens were the true guardians of the Underworld. But now, the Usurper was saying that wasn’t the truth either.

“Mm.” Unable to overlook that discrepancy, Kim Jin-Woo let out a low groan.

Seeing that, the Usurper continued, “What they guard is the only link between the Underworld and the surface. The executor of the Mysteries that preside over this dark world—the Underworld Tree.”