CH 248

The Hypocrite’s Mask, an object personally used by a Highlord, held infinite value just by having inherited his name.

Right now, even Gungnir, that had once been used by the One-Eyed Lord, was unique in its powers and utility; there was no doubt that the Hypocrite’s Mask would prove to be equally powerful.

Or at least, that was what Kim Jin-Woo hoped. From his point of view, the Hypocrite’s Mask was merely a fancy artifact that held no practical purpose. Perhaps it held the Highlord’s spirit inside of it as it lay in wait for a new body, but the item felt more dangerous than attractive in his eyes.

He was certain of his thoughts on the mask, and decided to follow Mimir’s advice without any second thoughts. However, his hand didn’t let the Mask go.

“Urgh.” He tried countless times to hand over the mask as soon as possible, but his hand refused to follow his will, as it continued to clutch the Mask tightly. He muttered, “Something’s wrong.”

Only then did Mimir finally realize something was awry as he belatedly read the situation and shouted, startled, “Quickly! Quickly let it go!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to!” Kim Jin-Woo tried so hard to take his hand off the Mask that it was trembling violently, but his hand refused to let go of it, as if it had a mind of its own.

“Since it’s come to this, we should consider cutting off the hand…” Mimir began. His eyes were strangely red hot, and he looked as if he were about to cut off Kim Jin-Woo’s arm at any moment. 

“Nonsense!” Kim Jin-Woo growled wildly and looked at Mimir.

“Urgh, I think we’re too late.” Grabbing his head and rubbing it furiously as he groaned, Mimir eventually gave up and said, “It looks like the Mask has already decided on a new master.”

***

Mimir continued to suggest cutting off Kim Jin-Woo’s arm, which only irritated him even further. Kim Jin-Woo didn’t want to become the new master of the feisty mask, but he was even more reluctant to lose one of his arms.

“Isn’t it better than having your entire body taken over?” Mimir insisted.

Mimir tried so hard to persuade Kim Jin-Woo that he was almost convinced toward the end. However, having found his own voice of reason, he immediately rejected Mimir’s proposal, saying, “We still don’t know if the Mask is truly as sinister as you make it out to be.”

“How can you say that considering the current situation? There’s no way that something that is capable of coercing the body of a being as mighty as a Highlord is an ordinary artifact,” Mimir replied.

“It really looks like I’ll have to cut off my arm to get rid of it,” Kim Jin-Woo snapped back at Mimir while frowning heavily.

Mimir replied softly, “If there’s no other way…”

“Fuck, everyone wants this body of mine,” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. It was astonishing how many beings were trying to make his body their home.

“Mm.” Thinking of the many beings who were aiming for his body, he suddenly thought of the one entity that had succeeded in parasitizing his body.

The Mystic Parasite. Even if it had been out of necessity, it was the first foreign entity he had accepted into his body. And, coincidentally or not, the trembling hand that held the Mask was the same right hand that hosted the Mystic Parasite.

“No way…” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. He noticed that something was off. If the Mask really had chosen him as its new master, there was no way a system message wouldn’t have appeared.

“Milord, please don’t make the mistake of losing the bigger picture by not willing to sacrifice something smaller,” Mimir said.

“Wait.” Kim Jin-Woo cut off Mimir’s stubborn attempt to convince him and swung his right arm back and forth, attempting to do something. “It seems you had the wrong idea.”

“Are you still holding onto the hope that this can be fixed? The fact that the Mask forced a part of my Lord’s body to bend to its will shows what the original master of this ominous object intended to do with it…” Mimir began.

“No. It’s not my hand that was taken over by the Mask,” Kim Jin-Woo explained.

Mimir looked puzzled, unable to understand what Kim Jin-Woo was saying. “What do you mean…?”

“The thing the Mask took over…” Kim Jin-Woo looked at Mimir and raised his right hand abruptly, continuing, “...wasn’t my right arm, but this Mystic Parasite.”

A message window popped up moments later, as if to confirm his suspicions.

[Even if they have not revealed their presence, the remnants of power left in the artifacts once used by a Highlord remain unsatisfied.]

[Although the parasite evolved into a Mystic Parasite and surpassed the limits of its species to some extent, it was unable to withstand the intense seduction of the Hypocrite’s Mask.]

[The Mystic Parasite has defied its master’s will for the first time. That is how much the Mystic Parasite’s greed for the Hypocrite’s Mask has grown.]

***

Seemingly afraid of leaving the Eternal Treasury, the Hypocrite’s Mask returned to Kim Jin-Woo’s possession, as if the last few minutes had all been a lie. It was almost as if the Mask knew it would never be abandoned.

“No, is it the Mystic Parasite that has found relief from all this?” Kim Jin-Woo muttered. It was just his guess, but the fact that no further messages appeared confirmed his suspicions. He remarked, “Anyway, looks like I’ve got yet another troublesome bastard to deal with.”

Whether it was the Mystic Parasite or himself who was possessed by the Hypocrite’s Mask, it was certain that the Mask had no intention of letting them go, whichever of the two it may be.

“Milord, please don’t take His traces lightly. I’m terrified of what that wicked man, who ditched his most glorious days, was thinking of by leaving behind such a relic.” Mimir repeated himself over and over again, to the point where he came off as being desperate.

“I just have a bad feeling about this. It’s already a bad enough coincidence that traces of him are now in the hands of Milord, but for it to come from the Eternal Treasury…” Surprisingly, Mimir had begun doubting the intentions of his former master, the One-Eyed Lord.

“But it seems that it wasn't all lies,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The Black Merchant’s image, as a member of the Black Merchants seemingly dedicated to the prosperity of the Underworld, didn’t appear to be deliberately falsified, as the little imp seemed genuinely concerned about what might happen to the Underworld over his loyalty to his former master. He said, “I don’t know what this evil, bad-tempered monster is, but I’ll look into it. So please, bear my words in mind and don’t even think about trying on the Mask.”

Recalling Mimir’s desperate demeanor, Kim Jin-Woo responded, almost as if he were talking to himself, “Don’t worry. I also have no intention of fooling around without any certainty.”

Although the question about the Hypocrite’s Mask was unresolved, he was able to gain some certainty about the change in the message window’s attitude, which had been questionable throughout the incident.

Because he had forgotten about the existence of the Mystic Parasite at that moment, it was obvious how the situation would have gone if the message window had appeared any later.

He was a Highlord, and his confidence was greater than ever after defeating Duke Luyang. However, that heightened confidence must have clouded his judgment.

It was Greed. He might have been overconfident in his power, and his Greed might have grown so big that it even ate away at the ominous energies that were contained within the Mask.

At that point, he had no choice but to be convinced that the message window, which had supported him for so long in the name of the Mysteries of the Underworld, had completely turned its back on him.

Otherwise, there was no way it would have forced the ominous artifact called the Hypocrite’s Mask on him.

“Why do you keep on trying to shake me up?” Kim Jin-Woo muttered.

Even though the message window that covered the goings-on of the entire Underworld had turned its back on him, he had a more dignified expression now.

It was because he knew better than anyone else that he, after hovering on the edge for a long time, was certain to have come closer to the heart of the Underworld than he had ever been.

“That just means you’re conscious and wary of me,” Kim Jin-Woo whispered softly as he stared at the darkness that had settled in a corner of the Grand Labyrinth. “But things won’t be going according to your will.”

As he whispered with strong-willed intent, the darkness itself seemed to answer his words, crying and howling.

***

The day after Kim Jin-Woo found out about the secret behind the Hypocrite’s Mask, its original owner, and the Underworld, the 9th Floor began to change rapidly.

The labyrinths of the north, south, and east, which had been in defensive positions as they tried to recover from the earthquake, started to become more active, and various battles occurred across the Floor.

The Ursus and Taurus were engaged in battle everyday, and the summoned beasts of the east labyrinth, who had never shown themselves outside the Grand Labyrinth, had also snuck up to its vicinity.

“Such chaos.” After receiving all the reports, Kim Jin-Woo expressed his honest opinion.

As a former tunnel digger, he knew better than anyone how much the Dukes advocated and longed for never-ending wars. Nevertheless, the war between the Ursus and the Taurus was needlessly excessive.

They seemed completely unaware of the existence of a third labyrinth, which was waiting for its moment to fish in troubled waters[1], and seemed to be satisfied with the opportunity to tear their enemy to shreds.

“Still, it was beneficial to deal with the Satyrs first. Even those ignorant white bears and bulls are wary of the Grand Labyrinth, and are avoiding fighting in our vicinity,” Angela remarked.

Kim Jin-Woo nodded in agreement, remarking, “From their point of view, they’d be stressed out from wondering who I’m going to support.”

Although they had already allied with the Ursus, promises were nothing but mere words in the Underworld. There was no way that the white bears, who called themselves Sages, couldn’t have known that. In addition, the Taurus, unaware of his alliance with the Ursus, were doing everything in their power to somehow draw him into their messy fight.

Messengers from both sides visited the Grand Labyrinth several times, as the Ursus tried their best to prevent Kim Jin-Woo from changing his mind, while the Taurus attempted their best to win his favor.

Seeing how the Deep Floor Dukes were bending over to win his favor it deeply surprised Kim Jin-Woo, who was aware of how powerful and violent they could be if they wanted to.

“But we can’t sit back like this forever,” he muttered.

The war between the Dukes was heating up. The number of white bears and bulls fighting across the battlefield increased as the days passed, and the stench of their spilled blood became heavier. The combination of their fighting spirit and killing intention merged into one as it spread across the Floor, signaling a greater war to come.

“Which side will you pick?” Angela asked.

“Spouting nonsense as usual, even though you know we’re allied with the Ursus,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

Angela didn’t succumb to her master’s cold response and retorted, “What’s the value of a promise that’s nothing but mere words?”

“Do you think I’ll break my promise to them?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

Mimir had once spoken about how the white bears were a kind, gentle, and trustworthy species, which was rare in the Underworld.

“That, I don’t know. Who knows what Master really thinks on the inside?” Angela grinned as she replied. She seemed to be expecting him to break his promise. “And no matter whose side you choose, aren’t you the one who’s going to be left standing in the end anyway?”

She was well aware that her greedy master would never choose to coexist with the Dukes, and she was sure that the Dukes wouldn’t be able to withstand her master. Thus, she seemed more interested in how her master would execute his plan than the direction of the war.

The war continued to intensify, as if to satisfy her curiosity. Thousands of white bears and bulls met in an open plain, far from the Grand Labyrinth.

And as if it had been planned ahead, both labyrinths sent messengers to the Grand Labyrinth at the exact same time.

1. To wait for an opportunity to strike and take advantage of an existing conflict. ☜