Records of Dungeon Travel

“Master!”

In the past, Dominique would have rushed over to greet her master, but now, she was curled up on the floor for some reason, and only looked up at her master’s arrival. The reason for the change in her behavior was because, under her dazzling tail, there was a large egg.

“What do you think? Do you think it’ll finally hatch today?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

Despite having transcended the title of ‘Tyrant’ and practically becoming the god of the Underworld, Kim Jin-Woo looked no different from an ordinary man in the way he looked at Dominique.

After all, who could remain stoic in the face of the birth of his own child, who had inherited his blood?

“I can feel it moving desperately, but I don’t think it intends to come out,” Dominique replied.

“Maybe it’d be better if I tried to wake it up?” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“No, never. If something went wrong…” Dominique replied firmly.

Even her decisiveness in rejecting his suggestion was something unprecedented. With her softer expression, her fuller breasts, and her surprising femininity manifesting despite the brutality of the final battle, Dominique had perfectly embraced the persona of a mother.

“What kind of kid will it be, to be this fussy already?” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. He seemed to be complaining out of dissatisfaction, but in reality, he had a wide grin on his face.

“Master. That aside…” Dominique trailed off as she gently lifted her tail off the egg she was carefully embracing and glanced at him.

“Ah, I was just about to do it,” Kim Jin-Woo said. He bent forward slightly and gently placed his hand on the egg. He said, “Whether you’ll be born today or tomorrow, please come into this world in good health.”

They sounded like the words of any father wishing for their child to have a healthy birth, but what Kim Jin-Woo had said weren’t merely ordinary words.

[The Mysteries of the Underworld grant their blessing.]

[The effect of the blessing has become stronger, due to being stacked everyday without a single day having been missed.]

[The child who will awaken from this egg will be healthier than the Giant King himself, and will never suffer from any disease or pestilence.]

Kim Jin-Woo was like a god who ruled over the Mysteries of the Underworld, and every word he spoke embodied its laws and blessings.

“Dominique, I have to trouble you for a little longer. You must be healthy until our child is born,” he said.

Having been given his blessing as well, all the exhaustion Dominique had accumulated from caring for the egg the whole day was gone in an instant. Feeling a lot better than before, she nodded with a gentle smile on her face.

“Man, I can’t stand this anymore. I’m so jealous! For real, a childless woman like myself will probably die of loneliness,” Angela suddenly cut in.

Despite her having poured cold water on his time with Dominique, Kim Jin-Woo, who had been aware of Angela’s presence from the very beginning, greeted her back with a smile. He asked, “Have you finished disciplining him?”

“Well, he thought he could get the better of me, but lucky for him, he’s quite the sharp one, so I think he’ll get the message sooner or later,” Angela replied.

The way Angela was treating the Demon King, who had once been called the epitome of fear itself, like a naughty, misbehaving child was truly a ridiculous sight to behold, but nobody rebuked her.

That was because, despite the world having undergone a massive change and the Underworld having gained a new master, the natural order of things where the weak remained beneath the strong would never change.

After all, Angela was much stronger than Dantalion, and she was under the protection of the mighty Kim Jin-Woo. Thus, even if she treated someone mightier than the Demon King in the same manner, no one would be able to rebuke her.

“Ah, that aside, I’ve heard something interesting,” Angela said, adding she had heard from Dantalion about the existence of gods. She continued, “It seems that unlike the other world, the gods in this world don’t reveal themselves in different forms. Rather, they use saints like the one Master released just now, or certain people who have received their favor, to exert influence through.”

She frowned, adding that it was possible something bothersome might happen; based on her expression, however, she didn’t seem to be taking it too seriously.

Her reaction was to be expected, given who her master was. Her master was the one and only ruler of the great Underworld and the master of the Mysteries. Even if there were gods in this world, they wouldn’t dare to invade the Underworld.

And if it were an apostle of a god that Kim Jin-Woo would have to face, rather than the gods themselves, that apostle would be no match for the ruler of the Underworld.

“I think this world could be rather interesting. Unlike our previous world, these gods don’t seem hesitant to draw blood,” Angela remarked.

She had gotten bored after her master took complete and absolute control over the previous realm, and was more than excited at the prospect of something new and interesting.

“And on the way back, I met Rikshasha. She asked whether she could take a look around the surface,” she added.

“Why didn’t she come and find me personally?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

Rikshasha had become the Fairy Lord. Having obtained the Mysteries of the Underworld, Kim Jin-Woo saw no need for the Fairy Lord’s powers and had imparted them to Rikshasha. From his point of view, it made no difference whether he had the Fairy Lord’s powers or not; thus, it had been an easy decision to make.

“With that uptight personality of hers, do you think she would dare to interrupt Master’s private time?” Angela replied. Having said that, she went on to say that Rikshasha seemed to have found traces of fairies in this world, and wanted to head to the surface to explore the possibility of being able to increase the population of her clan, which had been declining by the day.

“I’ll allow it. After all, Rikshasha isn’t the old Rikshasha we once knew anymore,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

The same could be said for the others. From the day he had obtained the Mysteries of the Underworld, every summon had been reborn as a new Lord or Underworld Noble.

Morrigan had become the dignified Empress of the Crow clan, and Uther had taken the title of Duke and was having the time of his life.

According to passing stories Kim Jin-Woo heard from time to time, Uther was said to have been making use of his name to expand his influence and power, rather than increasing his own strength; that was as expected from Uther and his sleazy attitude.

“Then I’ll convey that message to her.” Angela wrapped up that subject before moving on to the next. She continued, “Looks like it’s time. We should head back, shouldn’t we?”

“Ah, is it time already?” Kim Jin-Woo asked. He looked at Dominique with a somewhat disappointed expression.

Dominique responded by gently smiling with her eyes closed and nodding, saying, “Don’t worry about me. As long as we have Master’s blessing, nothing will happen to me or our child.”

“Of course. What kind of madman would dare to mess with Master’s companion?” Angela remarked.

Dominique smiled gently and replied, “Behave yourself and be nice to Mother, alright? After all, Mother thinks you’re her daughter-in-law.”

“Ahh, I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you! Argh, so annoying!” Angela whined playfully. In response, Dominique simply smiled without a word.

“Then I’ll be off. If anything happens, call for me right away. I’ll drop everything and come over in an instant,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

With that gentle goodbye, he immediately jumped into the other realm together with Angela.

***

The world might have lost its link to the Underworld, but it hadn’t changed much.

After all, the Underworld had only been important to a small number of explorers and officials, but to the general public, it had been a burden and a thorn in humanity’s side. It was likely a huge relief for the Underworld to have disappeared, from the general public’s perspective.

“Mother! I’m here!” Kim Jin-Woo called out, announcing his arrival at his parents’ home.

Angela ran toward Kim Jin-Woo’s mother and gave her a tight hug, and Kim Jin-Woo simply shook his head. Who could possibly imagine that this was the same insidious Vampire he knew her to be?

“Oh, my baby is here! Oh my, what did you bring all this for? You’re so much better than Jin-Woo, my sweet child!” Mother exclaimed.

Angela handed over a few bags of presents she had prepared Kim Jin-Woo had no idea when, and Mother gleefully accepted them with gratitude. Father returned late from work empty-handed and received some nagging from Mother, and soon after, Kim Jin-Woo’s sister arrived with his nephew.

“My husband’s working overtime today; he’s too busy to make it today.”

“An honest man should focus hard at work and not on domestic matters. Otherwise, he won’t make it big in the corporate world. Plus the economy isn’t looking great now, so tell him to buck up at work and not get kicked out of his lucrative job.”

The house was filled with Father’s nagging, his sister’s irresistible aegyo, and Mother and Angela’s loud laughter. Suddenly, Kim Jin-Woo’s nephew, who had grown up considerably in the past few years, snuck up and latched onto him.

“You’re gotten a lot heavier! Grow up healthy and become a great person, alright?” Kim Jin-Woo exclaimed with a smile as he held up his nephew.

Although his nephew might not receive the blessings of the Mysteries of the Underworld on the surface, he still felt certain that his words would have a positive impact on his dear nephew.

As if to reinforce his belief, his sister proudly claimed that her son, who had suffered from many ailments in the past, had recently gained improved health and even his face looked healthier.

“Now, since everyone’s gathered, let’s eat.”

“We should sing before that!”

Seeing Angela take good care of his mother, Kim Jin-Woo smiled a little before taking his smartphone out of his pocket. On it was a text message from Lee Jun-Young.

[Yoon-Hee seems to have completely adjusted to life on the surface. I think it’s time I head back as well.]

Surprisingly, Yoon-Hee had abandoned the Underworld and decided to live a normal life on the surface. Lee Jun-Young was the one who had been helping her to adjust to her new life. In contrast, Lee Jun-Young had chosen to live in the Underworld, and requested that Kim Jin-Woo take her back to the Underworld once she was done with her work.

Kim Jin-Woo replied in the affirmative and looked up from his phone screen.

In the brief moment he had been preoccupied, his family had brought out a cake with a candle on top of it. Mother smiled brightly and blew out the candle, bringing smiles and laughter to the rest of the family.

It was a special kind of warmth that he had once thought he had lost when he was corrupted by Night. Recalling that fact, he belatedly joined in with the rest of his family.

Through all the joy and laughter, dinner was over before he knew it. Kim Jin-Woo started to make preparations to leave when Father quickly stopped him.

“You two should know each other well enough by now, so don’t drag it out anymore and hold the wedding.”

It was a topic Kim Jin-Woo had wanted to avoid quite a bit, but his family was quick enough to sneak in the topic before he could leave.

“That’s right. With someone like her, you should be grateful! Why are you dragging this out? If you let her go, you’re going to regret it, you know?”

“Don’t just think about yourself; think of your future child. When a woman gets older, it’s going to be much more difficult for her to have a child.”

Kim Jin-Woo broke out into a sweat at his family’s waves of interrogation and nagging, and annoyingly, Angela even chimed in.

“Ah, sister, I’m not going anywhere! I can’t live without him anymore.”

“Oh, come on, brother. If you really let her go, I’m going to hate you for life, you hear me!”

Kim Jin-Woo felt so helpless in the situation he was in that he would have much preferred to face the Underworld Tree once again. However, the special warmth of his family touched his heart, and he couldn’t help but let out a small smile from the corners of his lips.

He had been reborn once again as the sole King of the vast Underworld, and yet he was also ‘Kim Jin-Woo, the human.’

“Ah, mother, father. I really have to get going now. I have unfinished business I have to attend to. I’ll head off first.”

“Look at that brat. One mention of a wedding and he uses work as an excuse to escape us.”

“That’s not it, I really have something urgent to attend to, so forgive us, Father.”

Angela noticed the seriousness on her master’s face and quickly backed him up, consoling the rest of the family. Eventually, with a promise that they would meet again soon, Kim Jin-Woo was finally able to leave his parents’ house.

“Let’s go. It looks like something has happened,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

“Yes, Master,” Angela replied.

Break time was over. It was time for him to be ‘Kim Jin-Woo, ruler of the Underworld’ instead of ‘Kim Jin-Woo, the human’ once more. He jumped back into his realm and headed to the Underworld, where Dominique was waiting for his return.

“Looks like those ‘gods’ are moving faster than we anticipated,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

It seemed that Dantalion using the words ‘Demon God” to boost Kim Jin-Woo’s self-esteem was the cause. According to Dominique, the gods had been surprised by the summoning of the Demon God and sent their apostles down to the surface, and the closest one had approached the Underworld with an army.

“I-I’m sorry,” Dantalion stuttered warily out of fear.

Kim Jin-Woo glanced at him and replied, “No, it’s not your fault. I’m certain they must have sensed my existence anyway, so they must be using this opportunity to see whether I’m someone they can deal with.”

Angela asked, “What are you going to do?”

“What do you think?” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

There was a certain excitement in Angela’s voice. It wasn’t just Angela, either; rather, every summon and being gathered around him seemed to share the same subtle excitement rising inside them. After all, they were all his proud warriors who had proven their worth through every struggle and battle, and Kim Jin-Woo was their leader.

“I’m going to make sure that they learn, once and for all, who rules the Underworld.” Kim Jin-Woo grinned widely as he concluded, “Just as I’ve always done.”

End.