CH 228

#82. Mask

“Yes, Mother. Don’t worry. I’ll give him a good talk and we’ll head over together. Yes, yes. I’ll call you before we head out, Mother,” Angela said on the phone.

Things were getting progressively worse. Angela’s voice was so tender that Kim Jin-Woo was getting goosebumps from listening to her.

“Yes, Mother. Rest well.” As Angela ended the call with a smile on her face, her gaze met Kim Jin-Woo’s, and she shrugged.

“What are you up to?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“What do you think? I’m helping Mother alleviate her worries about her son, because her son hasn’t even shown himself in months due to how insensitive he is,” Angela responded.

Even the way Angela responded to Kim Jin-Woo had become way too natural. If a stranger had seen the way she was behaving, they might have assumed she was a perfect, good-natured daughter-in-law.

“No, I mean, why are you…” Kim Jin-Woo began.

From his point of view, this was an absurd turn of events. She had been sent to keep her distance and protect his family, but now, she was about to take on the role of the daughter-in-law. No, in fact, she was already doing that.

“She’s just a nice and sweet girl. She must have suffered a lot of hardship abroad, but she’s so pretty and has no wrinkles on her at all. So don’t think otherwise and treat her well.”

Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but have a massive headache after hearing the way his mother talked about her.

“Also, I don’t mean to intervene in the relationship between you two, since that’s your own personal matter. However, when others are around, you should reconsider how you address each other…”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think that her calling you ‘Master’ is a bit odd?”

At this point, the two of them might as well be bullying him openly.

“How can I survive on the surface without at least this kind of pleasure when there’s no one else I can depend on?” Angela retorted. She seemed to almost resent Kim Jin-Woo for leaving her alone on the surface.

In hindsight, Kim Jin-Woo realized that rather than protecting his family secretly from a distance, it might have been better for her to be openly by their side, so he couldn’t really punish her for what she had done.

Moreover, as she said, leaving a vampire who needed her master by her side all alone on the surface for so long was his mistake after all. Thus, he simply sighed and no longer questioned her.

“Sigh, I get it, so let’s talk about this later,” he said. He was worried what would happen next, but for now, there was something he had to deal with first.

Kim Jin-Woo looked at Angela, who was smiling cheekily at him, and spoke. “Angela, there’s been a change in the Underworld.” He succinctly explained everything that had happened in the Underworld. Angela initially listened to him intently, but she froze up as he went on.

“Due to that, the Underworld has now become chaos itself. The Deep Floors and Middle Floors have combined, and the Lesser Floors have turned into a complete mess,” he continued, before explaining that the 9th Floor now had to confront an unknown Duke.

Angela’s expression turned even more serious. She asked, “Does that mean our labyrinth is in danger right now?”

“No, I can’t say that we’re fully out of the woods, but as long as we have the Grand Labyrinth, it will never be captured overnight,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

If there was only one Duke-level labyrinth, they would be able to deal with it somehow on their own. Kim Jin-Woo wasn’t sure how far his powers would take him, but the Highlord’s power was definitely not weak. Unfortunately, more than one labyrinth had appeared on the 9th Floor. North, South, East, West. There were enemies on all sides.

Even if Valicius and Daedalus both successfully completed their research, he could never rest assured. He wanted to make sure of everything. Unlike before, he was very aware that variables never worked in his favor.

“In the meantime, we caught these few funny fellows,” he continued.

Among the many variables, the biggest one was the existence of the Chinese dungeon babies. Not just one, but as many as twenty Underworld Nobles were hiding among the Chinese explorers, which made it highly important for Kim Jin-Woo to clearly figure out what was going on.

“They may look like this, but even so, they’re still Underworld Nobles. Although I’ve taken their Seals, so they’re now half the beings they were.” Kim Jin-Woo kicked one of the men lying at his feet, pushing him toward Angela.

“Actually, he has some pretty strong foundations. Master aside, he’s the strongest of the Terrans I’ve seen,” remarked Angela, who usually didn’t even acknowledge any Terran besides her own master, with a hint of admiration.

“Probably. Even without the Viscount title, he was born on the Deep Floors,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. He may have belittled the man, but the other dungeon baby wasn’t some lowly being.

Although they were limited in some aspects by the Floor they had been born on, the South Korean dungeon babies were extremely brave warriors. Despite that fact, the Chinese explorer was able to subdue the commander dispatched by the Association and overwhelm a large number of explorers with just his presence alone. If Kim Jin-Woo hadn’t appeared in time, the man would still have been in charge of the situation.

“What would you like me to do?” Angela asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

The conversation had gone on longer than expected, but there was only one reason for Kim Jin-Woo to have called Angela.

“I need the vampire’s power,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“I didn’t inherit the True Blood. I can’t guarantee that my abilities will work,” Angela replied.

There weren’t any more vampires that had inherited the True Blood left in the Underworld. Kim Jin-Woo knew that much, so he wasn’t disappointed. He said, “This isn’t the person you’ll use your abilities on.”

***

Kim Jin-Woo was able to learn a lot through the interpreter dispatched by the Association.

It turned out that the Chinese Deep Floor dungeon baby was called Liu Zhifeng, and that he was in charge of the Underworld operations in South Korea. In addition, countless Deep Floor dungeon babies, including him, had the ranks of Underworld Nobles, and some of them had even risen to the title of Duke.

“He says that if the Chinese find out that he’s been captured, Luyang won’t be happy.” The interpreter trembled as he finished speaking. It was to be expected, as what he was witnessing was too much for an ordinary Terran. He continued to look away, unable to face the man called Liu Zhifeng, who was drenched in blood as he struggled on the ground, vomiting blood each time he spoke.

But no one was concerned with the interpreter.

“It seems that this ‘Luyang’ is the one who has risen to the title of Duke,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

“He’s a dungeon baby born on the 13th Floor. A truly terrifying man, the master of the Duke-level labyrinth. Zhifeng says that if you let him go now, he’ll pretend that none of this happened. He says that if you know of the existence of the Nobles’ Seals, you’ll do so…” The interpreter now had his eyes closed as he spoke. There were many unfamiliar terms to him, such as ‘Duke’, ‘Viscount’, and other dangerous-sounding terms, being thrown around. He looked as if he had been caught in an espionage meeting he shouldn’t have been involved in in the first place.

“Is this ‘Luyang’ really that great? I can’t believe him until I see it for myself,” Kim Jin-Woo said with a firm expression, pretending to be scared.

It was such an obvious fake-out that even a three-year-old could tell that it was a forced expression. However, Liu Zhifeng had been beaten so badly that his vision was blurred and wasn’t functioning properly. As he saw Kim Jin-Woo’s face, he thought that his threat had worked, and he started speaking with elation.

“Zhifeng says that Luyang is incomparable to a Viscount like himself, and that wherever Luyang’s army goes, all that remains is ruins,” the interpreter said.

“Incredible. If he’s in charge of a Duke-level labyrinth, that’s the least he should be able to do,” Kim Jin-Woo replied. While the interpreter translated his words to Liu Zhifeng, he was silently immersed in his own thoughts. Eventually, he asked, “Is his army composed of monsters with eagle heads and half-man, half-goat bodies?”

“He asks where you’ve seen the Satyrs,” the interpreter said.

Kim Jin-Woo’s eyes lit up. He had had his suspicions when he found out that the Chinese Underworld had connected with his Underworld’s 2nd Floor, and now it had been confirmed that the Duke-level labyrinth that had appeared on the 9th Floor was Luyang’s. And he now knew that the monsters were called Satyrs; thus, he considered himself quite lucky due to the new development.

“Alright, I get the rough idea. You don’t have to interpret anymore,” he said.

“Sorry? Oh, okay.” The interpreter’s eyes widened as he looked alternately between Liu Zhifeng, who was talking loudly, and Kim Jin-Woo. It seemed that Liu Zhifeng was asking for something.

But one side was stoic, while the other was lying on the floor in a miserable state, so it was as if it had already been decided who he should listen to.

“Urgh!” As expected, Liu Zhifeng screamed from Kim Jin-Woo’s single punch and fell silent once more.

“I-If there’s nothing else for me, may I head back?” The interpreter’s voice was filled with despair rather than hope. But surprisingly, Kim Jin-Woo kindly sent him back.

“T-Thank you! I’ll never speak of what I’ve seen or heard today.” The terrified interpreter added on something that didn’t need to be said.

“Do whatever you like. Whether you post it on the Internet or spread it in your neighborhood, it doesn’t matter. If you can do so,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Perhaps Kim Jin-Woo’s response sounded like a threat, as if to say, ‘dead men tell no tales’. The interpreter tried to scream in fear. “Sorry? Eeek!”

However, Angela was faster. She said, “Look at me.”

The interpreter, looking as if he were about to have a seizure, turned around as if he had been possessed by something. That was the end of it. His scream was stuck in his throat, and instead, saliva flowed from his mouth. His hazy eyes went out of focus, as if he had been knocked out.

“My dear, you look so tired. You should head to a sauna right now and rest up. All your fatigue will be relieved when you wake up,” Angela said.

The interpreter slowly nodded, completely overcome by the vampire’s hypnotic abilities. He slowly walked away and whispered repeatedly to himself, “Why am I so tired? I should warm myself up and give myself a break.” By the time he was done at the sauna, he would have forgotten everything that had transpired today.

“What about that guy? We can’t send him back, and my abilities won’t work on him,” Angela said.

Kim Jin-Woo nodded and answered, “We’ve heard what we needed to hear, so let’s wrap things up.”

“Are you going to kill him?” Angela smacked her lips. It was obvious that she was eyeing Liu Zhifeng’s blood. That was the fastest way for a vampire to gain her powers, after all, and none could be more delectable to her than the blood of a Deep Floor dungeon baby.

“No, we’re going to let him live for now,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“If he’s a Viscount, then he’s sure to have his own labyrinth. What if he opens a portal and escapes?” Angela asked.

The captive definitely wouldn’t want to expose his master room right now, but given that it was a life or death situation for him, he might be desperate enough to open a portal in an attempt to escape.

“If he could open a portal, he would surely attempt to run away,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

“Huh?” Angela couldn’t comprehend what her master was trying to say, and she looked blankly at Kim Jin-Woo.

At that moment, Kim Jin-Woo’s presence changed, and he said, “You cannot return to the Underworld without my permission.”

The power and spirit of the Highlord transcended the language barrier and ingrained itself into Liu Zhifeng’s mind.

***

“If you had such a power, why didn’t you use it in the first place?” Angela asked.

“It’s the domain of my will to implant orders into the minds of others, but in order to obtain information from them, we would first have to talk.” Kim Jin-Woo shrugged as he explained.

“More than that, my Lord, you’ve become very powerful.” After facing the true presence of the Lord for the first time, Angela must have been very excited, as her face was still flushed. “Because of you, I now have a goal.”

“A goal?” Kim Jin-Woo asked. Seeing as Angela had revealed her inner thoughts to him, when she would normally never reveal what she was thinking, he couldn’t help but take her seriously.

“I want the True Blood.” Angela, who had constantly brought up the fact that she was a vampire without the True Blood, had gleaming eyes as she continued, “If it’s Master’s blood, you can make me into a real vampire.”