CH 265

Kim Jin-Woo broke out into a cold sweat. Since when did the air in the Underworld feel so heavy? For the first time ever, he felt a sense of pressure from being alone with Dominique.

“Mm-hm.” He coughed dryly, but the mood didn’t change one bit.

Meanwhile, the look on Dominique’s face continued to change. Every time she started to blush bright red, she quickly put on a stern expression. Whenever certain thoughts seemed to run through her mind, she quickly covered her cheeks and bowed her head deeply.

But soon, she no longer showed any signs of anxiety. And when she finally looked more relaxed and carefree, it was Kim Jin-Woo’s turn to become anxious. He stole glances at her because he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact, but that was only because Dominique’s gaze somehow looked more ferocious than usual.

With the cool nature of the Nagas adding to the mood, he felt like a prey animal standing in front of a hungry predator.

“Dominique?” With his shoulders slumped for some reason, Kim Jin-Woo called out her name.

Dominique looked toward him and replied, “Yes, Master.” The ferocity in her eyes subsided in an instant, and Kim Jin-Woo belatedly breathed a sigh of relief.

[The Naga Queen is an infinitely gentle yet strong entity. She has been looking for a way to break this awkward atmosphere, and she has finally found a way.]

However, it seemed too early to be reassured. Dominique had yet to give up. From beyond the messages flashing in front of his eyes, Kim Jin-Woo could see her face slowly moving closer to his.

[The Queen is determined to help her indecisive master come to a decision. As expected of the wise Naga, she understands that it is only the first time that is difficult, not the second time.]

‘What is this now?’ Kim Jin-Woo wondered to himself, looking at the Naga’s seductive eyes while slowly backing away without even realizing it.

[The Queen with qualifications worthy of a companion has made up her mind and activated her ability.]

[The ‘Courtship’ ability has been activated toward her king. Her every gesture will melt her man’s heart and win his affection. There is no man in this world who can withstand her innocent yet sultry gestures. No, even if there were such a man, that person is absolutely not you.]

[Her seduction, which has arrived after watching over her king for a long time and understanding the king’s taste better than anyone else, is a special courtship act solely for you.]

In the midst of his mind wandering, Kim Jin-Woo felt a calming sensation within him.

[The Highlord’s mighty spirit resists her fatal seduction.]

[You have resisted successfully. The Queen’s Courtship can no longer affect you.]

Kim Jin-Woo’s eyes lit up as his mind returned to normalcy. However, he didn’t push her away, as beyond her soft and warm touch, he saw the shyness of a woman trembling in fear of being rejected.

[You, who have successfully resisted her seduction, can completely stop the Queen’s Courtship if you wish.]

Kim Jin-Woo smiled bitterly when he saw the message in front of him. This Underworld system was quite the unromantic one. With his woman trembling so pitifully in front of him, how could he bear to push her away?

He shook his head lightly, clearing the message in front of him. Then, he gave Dominique a gentle hug. Their lips met, and lustful moans escaped their lips.

“Ah…” An exhilarating sense of pleasure and a dizzying sensation ran through Kim Jin-Woo’s head.

His kiss with the Vampire had been savage and decadent. The ecstatic experience of their tongues intertwining had given him an inexplicable amount of pleasure, but at the same time, he had felt his very existence being threatened with collapse. But this time, it was different. It was a simple kiss, and yet warmth spread through his body; he couldn’t help but feel pleasantly drowsy. Rather than pleasure, it was a sense of fullness. He was truly moved, and was able to completely erase the last of his hesitations.

Dominique opened her eyes slightly upon experiencing the rapturous kiss, wrapping her arms around Kim Jin-Woo’s waist. The feeling of her cold scales on his skin couldn’t be more pleasant. He subconsciously caressed her shimmering scales. At his touch, Dominique lifted her chin and tightened her tail, which was wrapped around his waist.

“Wait, tail?” Instantly, Kim Jin-Woo noticed the existence of something that shouldn't have existed at that moment, and spit out a stupid comment.

It was only on the deepest of nights that the Naga Queen would take on her human form, and unfortunately, now was not that night. From the corner of his eye, Kim Jin-Woo could see the Naga’s tail rustling slyly.

***

“Urgh.”

It seemed that once a fire had started, it wasn’t easy to put it out completely. But Kim Jin-Woo had to put it out no matter what. He frowned as he watched the tail waving in front of him.

In the meantime, Dominique, guessing why Kim Jin-Woo suddenly looked sad, quickly apologized uncharacteristically. “I’m sorry, Master. Angela suddenly appeared and pushed me to…”

Kim Jin-Woo tried to defuse the situation by gently stroking her hair. However, Dominique asked hesitantly,  “S… Should I return at night?”

Kim Jin-Woo didn’t answer. But there were times when an answer didn’t need to be said, and right now was one of those times.

The awkward atmosphere from just before soon faded, and both Kim Jin-Woo and Dominique began conversing seriously.

“Mimir’s talk about the Underworld being destroyed doesn’t sound like a lie,” Dominique said.

“Why do you think so?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

Dominique answered his question without hesitation. “With the exception of a few, most Underworld beings have already forgotten how to reproduce naturally.”

It was an unexpected comment. After all, from Kim Jin-Woo’s point of view, as someone who wasn’t an Underworld being in the first place, the summons were simply beings that could be summoned through the Labyrinth Core. Naturally, the reproduction or survival of a species had never been his concern. But now that the topic had come to that, he couldn’t feign ignorance about the issue.

“With no end in sight to the war, so many Underworld beings are perishing because of it. Among them, there are only a few who are able to reproduce naturally, as well as a few labyrinth masters who are able to repopulate their clan through the power of their Labyrinth Cores,” Dominique explained.

It was only then that Kim Jin-Woo realized what Dominique was truly worried about. The extinction of a labyrinth meant the extinction of an entire race. As time went on, more and more labyrinths would disappear due to the constant war, and eventually, the Underworld would find itself completely devoid of life.

“Then, what about the Wish Stone?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“If my guess is correct, the Wish Stone should be something with a special power that governs the creation and death of a clan,” Dominique replied. Her guess seemed rather plausible.

“Even if that isn’t the case, it must be a key to unlocking a power of that scale,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

“If the Underworld were to truly perish, the only reason I could think of for it happening would be self-destruction and nothing else. That’s because those born and raised in the Underworld don’t understand the concept of coexistence.” Dominique repeatedly emphasized that the Underworld was slowly dying.

“Urgh, doesn’t that mean I brought forward that deadline?” Kim Jin-Woo grumbled.

While dealing with the mob that had attempted to overthrow the Grand Labyrinth, he had destroyed countless labyrinths, and he had even recently destroyed three Duke-level labyrinths. If the destruction of the Underworld was imminent, that meant he himself was one of the main culprits in accelerating that destruction.

“Self-destruction, huh…” he muttered.

To him, who only had one Floor under his control, the destruction of the Underworld sounded like a far-fetched story. No, to be honest, even if the Underworld were to be destroyed, he didn’t particularly care. As long as he and the Nagas were safe, what happened to the Underworld was none of his business.

“But why would that cunning Mimir commit so much to prevent the destruction of the Underworld?” he mused. It simply didn’t make sense. At the very least, the Mimir he knew wasn’t this committed, nor was he this ambitious.

“If this Wish Stone truly is an object that carries the power of creation and destruction in the Underworld inside it, that power must be truly extraordinary. Maybe he’s aiming for that power. No, maybe both.” Thinking of the sly imp, Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t help but entertain the possibility of the worst case scenario.

Kim Jin-Woo wondered how he would look in Mimir’s eyes, when the imp was trying to prevent the destruction of the Underworld. He probably looked like someone the imp would desperately want to kill, or worse. After all, he was one of the main culprits who was accelerating the death of the Underworld, when it had already been dying on its own in the first place.

If Mimir truly had even the slightest bit of conviction in his cause, he would eventually be forced to reveal it to Kim Jin-Woo. That was because Kim Jin-Woo was the Lord of Greed, who devoured everything in its path, and was the best representative of the Underworld as a ruthless being who knew not of coexistence.

“It’s clear we can’t coexist until the end,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The question now was whether he would continue to rely on Mimir and the Black Merchants’ information and connect with the Ancient Underworld first, or whether Mimir would use him to get what he wanted first. It was a matter of who would prove to be worthless first.

“For now, let’s put the matter of the Wish Stone aside. It’s cumbersome, but the issue we need to be concerned about right now isn’t the future destruction of the Underworld or Mimir’s dark, grand plan,” Kim Jin-Woo said while looking at Dominique. “In the end, what matters is power. Obtaining a treasure requires some help from Lady Luck, but protecting one’s treasure depends solely on one’s strength.”

Whether that treasure was the Wish Stone, the Underworld, himself, or anything else, what he needed now was power.

“Summon Uther and Rikshasha. There’s something I need them to do,” he commanded. He knew exactly what he had to do, and there was no hesitation in his voice. In the meantime, it was inevitable that the act between him and Dominique had to be delayed for another day.

***

The first thing Kim Jin-Woo did was to consolidate the entirety of the 9th Floor under his command.

Now that the Dukes who had ruled the east, west, south, and north had all fallen, there was no one else who could stand up to him, but that didn’t mean he had cleared out the entire 9th Floor completely.

Thus, he ripped out two-thirds of Uther’s body and scattered his Greed Slimes everywhere, and worked hard to restore the information network by deploying Rikshasha and the Under-Elves.

There were no more dreadful Dukes left, and even the wild creatures had completely disappeared, leaving no one else to shackle him. As such, everything went smoothly, and soon, he had the entire 9th Floor under his watch without much difficulty.

While maintaining surveillance on the exterior of the Grand Labyrinth, he continued to strengthen his labyrinth with his spoils of war. The astronomical amount of loot he had obtained from killing the three Dukes, as well as the incredible amount of tribute sent by Mimir, was used continuously to strengthen and reinforce the Grand Labyrinth.

The Nagas now numbered ten thousand, and surprisingly, all the summoned Nagas had been upgraded to Hero-Grade.

With enough power to face anyone in the Underworld, he slowly devised a plan to externalize his expanded power and put it to use.

“Before we eat, we should make sure our meals are ready,” he remarked.

Recalling the fake Grand Labyrinths of the Counts that he had once seen, he dispatched his Rangers to the Deep Floors. If they had yet to imprint on their labyrinths until now, it was probably a great time to harvest them.

He could hold out a little longer, but in the Underworld where it was difficult to predict the future, Kim Jin-Woo saw no need to take the unnecessary risk. After all, wasn’t there a proverb that went something like ‘cherish something too long, and something bad will happen’[1]?

He was ready to head to the 11th Floor at any time, based on what the Rangers reported. However, the Rangers he had been waiting for did not return, and instead, a totally different person returned in search of the labyrinth.

1. Literal translation of a Korean idiom. ☜