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Chapter 175

Kim Jin-Woo’s expression froze. He hadn’t expected Lee Jun-Young to make such a request when he first approached her to get information about the Association.

But Lee Jun-Young was a Terran not bound by the Underworld system, so she was different from Yoon-Hee, who had less of a tie to the surface and was more of an Underworld being. If she wanted to, Lee Jun-Young could tell anyone as many stories of the Grand Labyrinth as she wanted once she returned to the surface.

“I won’t tell anyone what I saw here. I promise.” Lee Jun-Young repeated her request, obviously aware of the position she was in. Seeing such a temperamental woman ask with such a sad look on her face, one would almost think that getting her out of her addiction had itself been a poison instead.

But to be honest, it couldn’t have been easy for a normal person like her to endure the gloominess of the Underworld all alone and still have a sound mind.

“Mm…” It wasn’t easy for Kim Jin-Woo to turn down the constant requests of a woman who had once had a crush on him. But it also wasn’t like him to be easily swayed by such emotions.

“What must I do to earn your trust?” Lee Jun-Young reiterated.

Lee Jun-Young’s constant appeals started to make her look pitiful. Finally, Kim Jin-Woo came to a decision after much deliberation.

***

“Master.” Dominique had a worried expression as she looked at Kim Jin-Woo, who had just returned from the Grand Labyrinth. She seemed worried that her master might have been influenced by the evil of the Grand Labyrinth once more.

“Don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.” Kim Jin-Woo assuaged Dominique’s doubts with a smile as he looked back at the portal.

“Ah…” Dominique exclaimed. Following closely behind Kim Jin-Woo was Lee Jun-Young. She seemed utterly relieved that she had finally escaped the dreary Underworld and returned to the surface.

“Regarding your promise…” Kim Jin-Woo began.

“I’ll definitely stick to it,” Lee Jun-Young answered, deeply immersed in emotions from having returned to the surface. Kim Jin-Woo had still been against bringing Lee Jun-Young back to the surface, but with that one response, he felt relieved for some reason and didn’t see the need to question her any further.

“Master?” Dominique watched Lee Jun-Young warily, waiting for Kim Jin-Woo to explain the situation.

But Kim Jin-Woo simply ordered her to wait with a single look before jumping back into the portal.

“Urgh, I was just about to leave!” came a voice. When Kim Jin-Woo returned, he was leading Morrigan by the hand.

“Although this is the surface, this is my labyrinth as well. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Morrigan seemed furious at Kim Jin-Woo’s words as she snapped back, despite her pale complexion, “It’s not that I’m scared, it’s just that the air on the surface feels terrible…”

But Morrigan seemed to understand how ridiculous her excuse sounded, as she quickly turned silent. However, as she looked around without lowering her vigilance, it seemed that her first-ever visit to the surface was still rather unfamiliar to her.

Kim Jin-Woo found it hilarious to see the dignified and fearless crow being so intimidated by the surface, but at the same time, realized that it might take longer than expected to get her used to it, leaving him feeling rather complicated about the whole situation.

“Dominique, take care of Morrigan,” he said after roughly explaining the situation, handing over the burdensome crow over to Dominique. He glanced at Lee Jun-Young before turning around. As if they had already had a discussion prior, she quickly followed him.

The place they were headed to was neither the small Party Hall nor the Labyrinth of Mandragoras. It was a small, empty space between the two labyrinths where a dark tunnel existed.

When Kim Jin-Woo reached his destination, he took out one highest-grade down gem from his possession. However, the color radiating from it was rather unusual. Unlike an ordinary down gem, something seemed to almost be piercing out of the highest-grade down gem, and Lee Jun-Young nervously gulped at the sight of it.

“I’ll repeat myself, but once you’ve made your decision, there’s no turning back,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

In response, Lee Jun-Young held out her hand without saying a word. Kim Jin-Woo looked at her pale face for a moment before handing over the down gem.

“I’ve already…” Lee Jun-Young began, staring at the down gem briefly with her black eyes before looking at him. She finished, “…prepared myself.”

She raised the hand carrying the down gem up high before slamming it down hard onto the floor.

[The activated Labyrinth Core has been installed.]

Lee Jun-Young stared into a blank space in the air. The narrow space was engulfed in light as it began to tremble. As the world around her turned white from the flashes of pure white light, she spoke again. “And besides, there’s no such thing as a revocable choice.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the highest quality down gem expanded until it finally became a Labyrinth Core.

[The labyrinth ‘Castle of the Blood Lion’ has been created.]

[It will take some time for the Labyrinth Core to fully settle.]

The Labyrinth of the Blood Lion was the Labyrinth Core that Kim Jin-Woo had obtained by killing its master, Marcus, when he went up to the 8th Floor in search of Rikshasha.

Its Labyrinth Core didn’t take long to settle down, as it hadn’t been long since it was last activated before its transfer. With a Labyrinth Core colored blood-red, just as the name ‘Blood Lion’ would suggest, it quickly settled down as it began to synchronize with Lee Jun-Young.

“Am I now part of the Underworld as well?” Lee Jun-Young had a conflicted look in her eyes as she stared at the faintly shining Labyrinth Core.

“No, there’s still the engraving process that remains,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

Lee Jun-Young let out a sigh. “And when the engraving is done…”

“Then you, Jun-Young, will become a labyrinth master,” Kim Jin-Woo concluded.

A Labyrinth Core was something no one on the surface could obtain, even if they wanted to. However, for someone who had received a Labyrinth Core, and the Labyrinth Core of a ferocious being from the 8th Floor no less, Lee Jun-Young didn’t look too happy.

But it was to be expected. She hadn’t become a labyrinth master on her own free will. Kim Jin-Woo had forced her to become a labyrinth master so he could control her. And Lee Jun-Young, who was now a labyrinth master, would never be able to fully return to the surface.

That was because she had seen for herself the tragedy that befell upon the Labyrinth of the Black Tiger. She knew personally what would happen to a labyrinth master if the Labyrinth Core under their control were destroyed.

The Party Hall and the Labyrinth of Mandragoras were like daggers aimed at her throat, placed to keep her in check. Any wrong move and the cold-hearted man would destroy her Labyrinth Core without hesitation.

Because that was exactly how Kim Jin-Woo, the man she’d had her eyes on for the longest time, had survived thus far.

“I see.” She was resentful toward Kim Jin-Woo, who couldn’t believe in her to the end and had to resort to putting shackles on her, but nevertheless, she calmly accepted her situation. From Kim Jin-Woo’s point of view, it would have seemed like an incomprehensible decision, but Lee Jun-Young was no longer interested in finding out his reasoning.

Instead of replying, Kim Jin-Woo sent her back to the Grand Labyrinth, saying, “I’ll pick you up at the same time tomorrow.”

“When we meet again, you and I will be on the same side, won’t we?” Lee Jun-Young asked.

In response to Lee Jun-Young’s longing for his trust, Kim Jin-Woo had no choice but to nod nonchalantly. Lee Jun-Young smiled brightly at his silent answer and disappeared into the portal.

“Morrigan, guard the entrance.” Kim Jin-Woo assigned Morrigan, who had still yet to adjust fully to the surface and was still anxious, to watch over Lee Jun-Young, as he waited for a day to pass for Lee Jun-Young to be fully bound to the labyrinth.

In the meantime, he received countless calls from Mr. Baek, and heard that the Association was in a complete mess over trying to find the intruder. Setting up the Mirror Wraith as a decoy seemed to have worked, as the Association showed no signs of suspecting him to be a target.

[Wasn’t it really you?]

“I was at home at that time.” With that brazen response, Kim Jin-Woo hung up the call with Mr. Baek, staring coldly into empty space.

Mr. Baek had said that the Association had turned into a huge mess, but Kim Jin-Woo had yet to even fully begin executing his plan. The real plan was just beginning. He intended to utterly destroy not only the parties involved in his father’s disappearance, but also the Explorers’ Association that had condoned it.

Mr. Baek had mentioned that the Explorers’ Association had vowed not to be attacked twice. Since the first attack had been dealt with so terribly, they must have put up all sorts of fierce defensive measures by now. They might even be waiting for the intruder to attack again, but this time leaving no room for the intruder to escape.

However, Kim Jin-Woo never foolishly attacked the heavily fortified Association building again.

While Kim Jin-Woo was tied up with matters related to the Grand Labyrinth, Angela sought out all the other down gems she had already identified on the surface and acted accordingly.

In the process, any facilities or branches that seemed to even remotely be related to the Association were thoroughly destroyed, and any down gems that had been secretly hidden away were taken.

Naturally, the Association was left in shambles, and countless dungeon babies and explorers were sent out to the attacked branches. But by the time they had arrived, Kim Jin-Woo had already cleaned up all the loose ends and moved on to the next location.

He managed to destroy three branches of the Association in a single night. Although he didn’t obtain as many down gems as he had when he invaded the Association’s main headquarters, getting extra down gems from the branches was all extra profit that he wouldn’t turn down. The real target was the Association itself, after all, not the handful of down gems.

“How many times did I tell you? It wasn’t me.”

In the meantime, Mr. Baek called him several times, but Kim Jin-Woo continued to feign ignorance. And when he took it a step further and started to pretend that he was angry by throwing a tantrum, Mr. Baek confessed that he was clueless about the recent happenings.

[That means there really is someone out there that has a grudge against the Association other than you. That person has really shaken up the Association. That’s so commendable.]

A full day passed, but the commotion from the previous night didn’t subside. The Association busily scurried around in their feeble attempt to find the culprit, and an unofficial bounty was even placed on the intruder on the emergency contact network between explorers. With the job economy looking bad for explorers over the past few years, they were all blindsided in their search for the unknown intruder and the reward that came along with his capture.

The whole situation blew out of proportion and grew so chaotic that there were even various articles and news outlets covering the incident.

However, Kim Jin-Woo, the real culprit behind the whole situation, paid no attention to the ongoing events on the surface as he prepared to meet Lee Jun-Young.

24 hours passed. The Labyrinth of Blood Lions accepted her as its labyrinth master and was activated. Lee Jun-Young then returned to the surface.

“I’ve really become a labyrinth master.” The sight of her colleague dying during the invasion of the Labyrinth of Black Tigers must have resurfaced in Lee Jun-Young’s mind, as she spoke with a conflicted expression. “How fascinating. Nothing has changed for me, but now, if that Labyrinth Core is destroyed, I’ll die as well.”

“There’s no way the Labyrinth Core will be destroyed. No, I hope it won’t be destroyed.” Kim Jin-Woo spoke gently, with the newly activated and fully synchronized Labyrinth Core standing between them.

“I hope so as well.” Despite the subtle pressure, Lee Jun-Young nodded without a sign of regret. After a brief moment of appreciation toward her labyrinth, she spoke again. “I don’t know if the information I have for you will match the price you’ve paid, Jin-Woo.”

Information on the Association was what they had both agreed on in exchange for her freedom. And now, it was time for her to keep her promise.