Chapter 69 - Dungeon!
The word originates from the French term Donjon, which refers to the highest part of a castle's central tower.
After all, the higher a building's floors, the harder it is to escape.
Wow, the top of the central tower?
If you lock someone up there, they'll never be able to escape.
Should we try using it as a prison?
This medieval way of thinking is the foundation of the dungeon as we know it today.
Of course, this is only half true.
Because real prisoners were never actually confined in towers.
Think about it.
Anyone important enough to be imprisoned in a castle was, without exception, of high status.
Even while confined, they were treated well and lacked nothing, so calling it a prison is a bit misleading.
The real prison, the one for true criminals, wasn't in the tower—it was underground.
A place called Oubliette.
A terrifying solitary confinement cell where prisoners would die of dehydration within days!
Any intention of retrieving them?
None.
Any intention of checking on them?
Absolutely not.
They were thrown in with the express purpose of being left to perish, so the guards likely made bets on how long they would last.
Thus, the term 'dungeon' carries a rather grim meaning.
And yet, for kids back in Jin's hometown, it's better known as a thrilling action-packed adventure!
Not that Jin was any different.
The word dungeon naturally brings to mind a place crawling with monsters.
So when such a thing loomed in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but flinch for a moment.
And what was with the experience points?
18,000 XP?
Jin wasn't particularly fond of numbers, but he at least understood that experience points and hardship were directly proportional.
That much, he had learned firsthand.
And now, it had suddenly jumped from 14,000 to 18,000?
If this much had changed in a single day, then something must have happened inside.
Considering that the underground ruins were discovered three weeks ago, it wouldn't be surprising if something had.
Jin frowned mid-thought.
[Turn back!]
The words scrawled on the wall instantly soured his mood.
Couldn't they have just used a marker?
Why was it written in blood—no, a bloody handprint, of all things?
Seriously, this was just unpleasant.
Humans have an innate fear of the unknown.
Jin was no exception.
Logically, he knew that people were the most terrifying beings, yet he still shuddered at the thought of ghosts or unseen specters.
It would have been great if he were the fearless type.
For reference, whenever his ex-girlfriend suggested watching a horror movie, he flat-out refused, proudly arguing that it was no different from her avoiding UFC matches.
A man with strong personal preferences, through and through.
Gulp.
He swallowed down the saliva pooling in his mouth.
This wasn't fear.
Just dislike.
Like being picky about food.
That's what he told himself.
At that moment—
"…What a ridiculously outdated way to try and scare people. There must really be something down there."
Natasha had come up beside him, sweeping her flashlight up and down the walls, examining the bloodstains splattered across them.
Not far away, Maximo waved his arm.
"Over here. Looks like this is the way."
With the flashlight clamped between his teeth, he casually kicked aside chunks of a collapsed pillar as he moved forward.
Wait, didn't he just say this place was creepy?
Was that a lie?
What a jerk.
"Let's go, Jin."
As Natasha started walking, Jin instinctively called out to her.
"Natasha."
"Hmm?"
"You can still turn back. If you're worried about owing me, just buy me a meal later."
Jin could never be truly cold-hearted.
He appreciated that she had come to help, but he couldn't help worrying that something might happen to her.
Unlike him, who had rewards like experience points and other potential gains, or Maximo, who was after artifacts, Natasha was just here to lend a hand.
And it wasn't like he could just say, Hey, this is a dungeon!
So he carefully asked for her opinion instead.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Are you drawing a line?"
"No, that's not what I meant—"
"Then it's fine."
She raised her eyebrows briefly before turning away.
Jin sighed and quickened his pace to follow her.
Whatever.
From now on, whatever happens, happens.
The first underground floor resembled a typical underground passage.
Like the scenery before descending onto a subway platform.
A vast space, supported by evenly spaced marble columns.
Originally, the UnderHeart crew would have been stationed here, but now, a thick darkness hung over the area like a silent curtain.
How long had they been walking, shining their lights around?
In the distance, a blinking light revealed a ticket gate.
What was interesting was the makeshift guard post next to it, enclosed by plastic walls.
Which meant there had been sentries posted here.
A ticket gate, with guards?
That sounded ridiculous.
But when he saw the scrawled writing on the wall, it all started to make sense.
[UnderHeart Kingdom]
"So this must be the entrance."
Maximo muttered, striding forward with his short legs and passing through the gate, followed by Natasha and Jin.
Beyond it, a staircase leading further underground.
Jin shone his flashlight down.
Yeah.
He saw absolutely nothing.
A shiver ran down his spine, and he found himself thinking—at this point, it would be better if something just jumped out at them.
"Wait a moment."
Maximo asked for a moment and took off his bag.
Then, he untied the tightly bound straps and reached deep inside.
Huh?
He went in deeper than the bag's actual depth.
"…Huh?"
Jin, doubting his own eyes, shone his flashlight inside.
And he saw it.
A pair of stubby legs kicking frantically outside the bag.
At the same time, a desperate cry echoed from within.
"Get me out of here!"
The voice sounded as if it was coming from deep inside a cave, making Jin's eyes widen.
"What the—?!"
Good heavens, the bag is swallowing its owner!
Startled, he grabbed Maximo by the ankle and yanked him backward.
Immediately, an upside-down torso emerged from the bag.
Like pulling up a sweet potato, several things dangled along with it.
Seeing Maximo now clutching a load of items in both arms, Natasha quickly reached out.
"Why did you pack so much?"
"I was taking out your stuff too… But anyway, can you put me down now?"
Maximo, who had been forcibly held upside down, gave a dangling glare.
Jin loosened his grip.
"Ugh!"
With a thud, Maximo landed headfirst and groaned, grabbing the back of his head.
"Ow, couldn't you have put me down gently?"
But Jin just jutted his chin forward as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"All of that came out of the bag?"
Bulletproof vests, protective gear for joints, sleek goggles…
Even a rifle.
As his gaze naturally drifted back to the bag, Natasha, now donning a vest, commented,
"Jin, you seem fascinated. Want to explain?"
"I'll do it."
Having gotten back on his feet, Maximo handed Jin a vest and protective gear one by one as he explained.
"This bag is a family heirloom. It's an artifact with weight reduction and expansion enchantments. That's why I can store a ton of stuff in it—always ready for anything."
"Oh?"
Jin's eyes glimmered with interest.
It was understandable—this was the first time he had seen an artifact with his own eyes.
A relic from the Age of Light and Roses, no less.
Technically, magic hadn't completely disappeared, and artifacts were still being made today.
The problem was that nothing as extraordinary as those from that era had been produced since.
This was due to the loss of craftsmanship after the great artisans of the past vanished.
In other words, artifacts were now considered a form of lost technology.
Of course, Jin didn't know any of that—he just found the whole situation fascinating.
A bag that could hold an absurd amount of stuff?
It was basically an inventory system in real life.
No wonder Maximo clung to it so tightly.
So, Jin asked with curiosity,
"Mind if I try holding it?"
"Go ahead."
With Maximo's easy approval, Jin lifted the bag with one hand… and his expression turned strange.
"…Are you sure this thing is weight-reduced? Feels like a pile of rocks."
It was beyond just heavy.
If even Jin thought so, then it must have been seriously weighty.
Maximo shrugged.
"It is weight-reduced. But there's just too much stuff in it. My height didn't turn out like this for no reason—wait a sec, how are you holding it with one hand…?"
Ignoring the now-stammering, round-headed Maximo, Jin set the bag down and put on the goggles.
A familiar yet always uncanny sight unfolded before him.
Night vision, but with extra enhancements.
It detected infrared wavelengths and applied artificial colorization—a thermal imaging device.
"Oh. This is expensive."
"It's not free. It's an infrared-equipped, high-end piece of gear. If you break it, I'll bill you, just so you know."
"Got it."
Jin raised an eyebrow before slipping his flashlight into his pocket.
Then, he boldly took the lead down the stairs.
And so, they reached the second basement level.
…Except something felt off.
At some point, without realizing it, he had walked through an invisible, sticky barrier—not a door, but as if his body had pierced through it.
A sensation like crossing an irreversible boundary.
And Jin wasn't the only one who noticed it.
"What the…?"
"Huh?"
The two following behind him instinctively patted themselves down and reflexively turned their heads—
"Where did the stairs go?"
Maximo voiced what everyone was thinking.
The staircase they had just descended was nowhere to be seen.
In its place stood a solid wall.
As if it had been there all along.
A real, tangible wall that, despite their stunned expressions, refused to acknowledge their confusion.
"Damn it. I knew something like this would happen."
So, this is why it was called a dungeon.
The entrance had vanished.
Jin squeezed his eyes shut, accepting reality first.
Meanwhile, his companions were still dumbfounded.
Their hands roamed the wall, groping it as if trying to harass it into giving them an answer—faces full of disbelief.
"This explains why no one was on the first floor."
"…This place really is a hellhole."
Still, being veterans meant they processed the situation fairly quickly.
And so, what greeted them was a massive catacomb, labeled a lift chamber.
Hundreds of stone chambers tangled together in a labyrinthine mess.
Realizing their predicament, the three cautiously pressed forward.
How many identical stone chambers had they passed through?
With no clear direction, only wandering wherever their feet led, they walked for over an hour.
And finally, something entered Jin's sight.
Amidst the overwhelming green, a faint red glow wavered, forming a vague shape.
Its outline resembled a person slumped against the wall.
Motionless, head drooping as if lifeless, the unfamiliar figure made Jin raise a palm behind his back—a universal hand signal to halt.
Peeking forward slightly to assess the situation, he noticed more figures sprawled around.
Unlike the lone figure against the wall, they weren't red.
Blended seamlessly into the green background, they were unmistakably cooling corpses, their deaths evident without needing closer inspection.
Jin turned his head slightly and murmured in a hushed voice, keeping his tone low.
"There are bodies everywhere. Looks like the squad that entered before us. One survivor. Leaning against the wall."
"What's their armament status?"
"No idea. I'll check."
With that, Jin pushed himself off the wall and strode toward the fallen figure.
Truthfully, he hadn't said anything, but the oppressive atmosphere had been gnawing at him—like something was lurking just out of sight, waiting to pounce.
So when something finally materialized before his eyes, he almost felt relieved.
Now standing right before the survivor, Jin lifted his goggles to his forehead.
Not for any tactical reason.
The survivor had sensed his presence and shone a flashlight in his direction.
Even though the brightness shift didn't affect his vision, there was no reason to keep using the night optics.
"…Who… who are you?"
The man's face was deathly pale as he stammered, and Jin knelt down on one knee.
Trembling pupils, lips turning cold, a weak pulse.
The man was clearly on borrowed time.
"Mercenary?"
"Y-Yeah."
The man gave a weak nod.
Mercenaries, by nature, were trained to avoid unnecessary conversation during operations.
Yet, perhaps it was the sheer length of time he'd been steeped in darkness that made him disregard that rule.
His hollow eyes darted desperately as if he could collapse at any moment, his head bobbing with urgency.
"A-Are you reinforcements? Is that it? We—we gave up because comms were down…"
His voice carried such raw desperation that it was clear he wasn't entirely lucid.
He just wanted to believe his rescuers had arrived.
Jin didn't correct him.
There were more pressing questions.
"What happened here?"
The mercenary immediately clutched his head and started trembling violently.
Drool dribbled from his lips, and his bloodshot eyes lost focus.
"…Sh-Shit! That—that thing! We weren't supposed to wake it! It's not treasure! IT'S NOT TREASURE!"
As he convulsed, Natasha knelt beside him and searched her vest.
She pulled out a syringe from his combat gear, checked the label, and immediately injected him.
A sedative, most likely.
The convulsions gradually subsided.
The man wiped his drool-streaked lips with the back of his hand, though anxiety still flickered in his eyes as they darted around.
"We need to leave. Where did you come in from? What floor is this? Third? Second?"
Natasha pressed a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down. Finish what you were saying earlier."
Taking a shaky breath, he swallowed dryly before speaking.
"We… we woke something that should've stayed buried. A monster… over a thousand years old. We should've just left it alone. But those goddamn mole bastards—"
He never finished his sentence.
His jaw suddenly went slack.
Following his frozen gaze, the group turned in unison.
And their faces twisted in horror.
The bodies that had been sprawled lifeless just moments ago—
Were rising in grotesque, unnatural postures.