Chapter 103: The Demon World Dungeon

Episode 103

[Greetings to all the viewers around the world who love Colosseum Survival! Today is finally the day of the Season 12 finals!]

The caster began the live broadcast with a bright voice.

[And as always, commentator Kim Jincheol joins me here today. Hello!]

[Hello.]

[We’ve finally reached the finals after a long journey! The final survivors will be decided once today’s matches conclude!]

[Indeed. However, there’s a chance we might not have any final survivors today.]

[Oh? What makes you say that?]

[Because the finals are being held in the New Continent.]

The caster and commentator exchanged scripted lines, laughing cheerfully.

[That’s right! Today’s matches will unfold on an island in the New Continent, beyond the Cascara barrier!]

[I still can’t believe it, the New Continent…. As a viewer myself, I’m eager to see the final competition.]

[But first, we have formalities to take care of. Let’s go over the detailed rules of the finals.]

The screen switched to a brief description of the finals.

Finals Location: Inside the ‘Demon World Dungeon’, on Ambages Island in the New Continent.

Finals Rules: Reach the exit of the dungeon and escape.

Maximum number of survivors: 5

※ The dungeon is a labyrinth, and the monsters are, on average, weaker than those found on the main island of the New Continent, Sselepoh.

[Those are the rules. Any thoughts on them?]

[The labyrinth element is interesting. No matter how skilled you are, if you get lost in a labyrinth, it’s difficult to escape, right?]

[Indeed! And I hear the production team has been hard at work for the past six months, transforming this dungeon into a labyrinth.]

[A labyrinth designed by the production team…it might be even more difficult to navigate than a naturally-occurring one.]

Given the notoriously difficult challenges the Colosseum production team devised, there was no way the labyrinth for these finals would be easy to escape.

[And I also heard that the Daehan Clan was instrumental in arranging this location and constructing the dungeon.]

[That’s correct! In fact, the live broadcast you’re watching now wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Daehan Clan. Now let’s see why that is.]

The broadcast screen changed again.

The image of the ‘Cascara’ barrier, the boundary between the New Continent and other continents, filled the screen.

The barrier continued deep into the ocean, broken only by a small hole in the center.

A submarine with a large Taegeuk symbol emblazoned on its side was floating in the middle of the Cascara barrier, covered in a thick blue protective shield.

Submarine cables were connected to its front and rear, the cables extending through the hole created by the shield, reaching towards Ambages Island.

[As you can see, a special submarine owned by the Daehan Clan is pushing back the ‘Cascara’ barrier, allowing submarine cables to pass through and maintain a stable connection!]

[Wow…. To withstand the Cascara barrier like that…technology has really advanced. This method is likely only possible because Ambages Island is so close to Cascara, right? Laying cables to the distant Sselepoh mainland would be incredibly difficult due to interference from giant sea monsters.]

The biggest reason communication between the New Continent and the other continents was impossible was because of the giant leviathans inhabiting the deep sea near the Sselepoh mainland.

Even if they managed to drill through the ‘Cascara’ and lay the cables, giant sea monsters would immediately attack and sever them.

Giant sea monsters, with their notoriously bad tempers, were more numerous closer to the Sselepoh mainland. They also became progressively rarer the further away you traveled.

None had been spotted near the ‘Cascara’ barrier, the farthest point from the mainland. And Ambages Island was situated right next to the ‘Cascara’ barrier.

[Thanks to the support of the Daehan Clan, we’re able to broadcast the finals, held in the New Continent, live!]

– Wow!

– The world’s first live broadcast from the New Continent ㄷㄷ

– Is it really the first?

– It is ㅋㅋㅋ

– King God Seum, the world’s greatest program ㄷㄷ

– Colosseum is, invincible and legendary….

The chat was overflowing with enthusiastic responses to the caster’s powerful declaration.

Baek Jun and Jang Seungwook watched the reactions on monitors from the makeshift studio built on the Ambages Island landing strip.

“How are the viewership ratings?”

Jang Seungwook asked through the microphone connected to his earpiece.

The main PD, who was stationed at the broadcasting station in Korea, responded immediately.

[The opening viewership numbers smashed the previous record. Concurrent viewers on Gongsin Internet Broadcasting also reached an all-time high.]

“Oh~! “

[It seems the anticipation for the finals being held in the New Continent was quite significant.]

“Of course it is. It’s the world’s first live broadcast from the New Continent.”

Up until now, they could only glean information about the New Continent through recorded footage due to the ‘Cascara’ barrier and giant sea monsters.

Therefore, news that the finals would be broadcast live from an island in the New Continent had garnered immense global attention. It was only natural that such interest would translate into record-breaking viewership numbers for the opening. The production team had expected this.

“The government must be watching the live broadcast as well, right?”

Jang Seungwook, turning his head, asked. Baek Jun, checking his smartphone, responded,

“The Minister just messaged me, saying he’s watching.”

This live broadcast in the New Continent wouldn’t have been possible without Tak Namgyu’s support.

Baek Jun had personally persuaded him, arguing that a live broadcast from the New Continent would guarantee record-breaking viewership numbers, advertisement revenue, and betting profits.

He succeeded in convincing him, and Tak Namgyu had immediately reached out to Yong Hangil for support with the final competition. Yong Hangil agreed.

For the Daehan Clan, which was receiving substantial support from the Korean government, there was no justifiable reason to refuse.

“He asked us to focus the broadcast on Kim Jinsung.”

“Ah~. He didn’t need to even ask. There’s really no other contestant worth focusing on, is there?”

Baek Jun chuckled, not bothering to reply.

He saw Kim Jinsung on his monitor, who was being featured prominently in the broadcast.

[…So we’ve seen the current locations of the participants. But it seems Kim Jinsung is the only one who’s alone?]

[Now that you mention it, all the other contestants were transported to the same location in groups of at least three.]

Immediately after the commentators’ remark, the screen changed.

The map of the labyrinth showed a single point by itself in the eastern corner.

It was where Kim Jinsung was currently located. Jang Seungwook, looking at the map, said,

“They’re positioned as planned. I was worried the warp coordinates on the shackles might have gotten mixed up, but everything seems to be in order.”

Just as he said, the current positions of the participants were according to the production crew’s pre-determined plan.

They had strategically positioned them, taking into consideration the overall balance of the competition. Kim Jinsung’s isolated position was a part of that strategy.

[Ah, it appears Kim Jinsung is moving now!]

Hearing this, Baek Jun and Jang Seungwook focused their attention back on the screen.

Kim Jinsung, who had unlocked the shackles on his wrists and ankles with a key from his backpack, was walking towards the passage, cracking his neck.

* * *

As soon as he started walking,

**Thud!**

He encountered a trap.

The ceiling suddenly collapsed right on top of him.

With a heavy thud, it crashed to the floor and slowly rose again.

But Kim Jinsung was nowhere to be seen.

He had teleported out of the trap’s range the moment it activated.

He continued down the passage, encountering trap after trap, with barely any time to breathe.

**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Mana bullets suddenly rained down from gun ports that had appeared on the walls.

**Whoosh!**

Flames erupted from the walls and rushed towards him.

**Boom!**

He even encountered a trap that caused sections of the passage to explode.

But Kim Jinsung easily blocked them all with his dark energy shield.

He continued down the passage, unfazed, facing no real threat.

‘This is strange…Using dark energy is much easier here.’

He quickly scanned the notification that appeared before him.

—

▶ Your surroundings are saturated with dark energy.

▶ Activating dark energy slightly increases all stats.

▶ Beast Karma point consumption reduced when activating dark energy.

—

As the notification explained, the entire maze was saturated with dark energy.

It explained why he’d felt such a sense of comfort when he first arrived.

‘Is it because it’s a Demon World Dungeon? This is perfect for my demonic constitution.’

He continued down the passage with a lightness in his steps, enjoying the feeling.

Suddenly, his keen senses picked up a familiar energy.

‘This is…dark energy?’

Multiple beings with dark energy signatures similar to his own were rapidly approaching.

He saw their forms, tilting his head in curiosity.

‘…It’s like their entire body is made of dark energy.’

As expected, monsters appeared.

Swathed in flickering black mana, they strangely seemed familiar.

They rushed towards him at high speed.

Kim Jinsung, ready for them, drew his sword, sweeping it in a wide arc.

A single swipe cleanly severed the waists of all the approaching monsters.

But…

‘…What?’

He was startled to see the black monsters still approaching, seemingly unharmed.

‘Did they regenerate? That quickly?’

He swung his sword again, unsure if he had seen correctly.

But he had been right.

He saw the cleanly severed torso reattach itself as his blade passed through.

‘I cut them with my Union of Body and Demon strength, but it’s doing no damage…’

As he stood there, momentarily stunned, the black monsters reached him and launched their attack.

Black lasers fired from their torsos, hurtling toward him at incredible speed.

‘Yikes!’

He nimbly dodged the blasts.

He then attempted to counterattack.

‘If sword attacks don’t work…’

This time, he shot condensed spheres and arrows of dark energy.

**Thud! Thud! Thud!**

They hit the black monsters with his signature explosive impact.

But they were useless.

‘…They seem bigger now?’

The black monsters, after being hit by his attacks, looked larger.

Not only had they increased in size, but their speed, both movement and attack, had also increased significantly.

He had to move even faster to avoid their laser beams.

‘Why are they getting stronger? …Could it be that they absorbed my dark energy?’

It was the only explanation that made sense.

‘One thing’s for sure, dark energy attacks aren’t working.’

Dark energy attacks ineffective?

It was the first time since his awakening he encountered such a situation.

—