Chapter 113: Vs. Yang Dongju

Episode 113

Hong Yeonseok glanced at Baek Jun, who was still on the phone, and the other Colosseum staff before whispering very softly into Yong Hangil’s ear.

Yong Hangil, listening quietly, nodded.

“Hmm… Not bad.”

Then he continued, sounding somewhat regretful.

“It would have been better if we could have deployed the failures, but…”

“……!”

“This is the best alternative available.”

Hong Yeonseok flinched involuntarily at Yong Hangil’s words.

Not just Hong Yeonseok, but any executive of the Daehan Clan would have reacted the same way if they had heard the word ‘failures’ in this situation.

The ‘failures’ remained a deep wound for the Daehan Clan.

“And.”

Yong Hangil continued speaking to Hong Yeonseok.

“As soon as the rift near the exit is created, bring all the reserve forces remaining at the airfield.”

“All of them?”

“Because…”

This time, Yong Hangil looked around cautiously before whispering into Hong Yeonseok’s ear.

Hong Yeonseok nodded after hearing Yong Hangil’s words.

“Understood. I’ll issue those orders.”

Hong Yeonseok immediately turned and left.

Yong Hangil returned his gaze to the smartphone screen he was holding.

Watching Kim Jinsung walking leisurely, Yong Hangil thought to himself,

‘Normally, he shouldn’t be able to overcome ‘that rift’ placed at the final exit, but…’

He couldn’t shake off an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

He shook his head slightly, trying to erase the image of the black wave of dark energy that had engulfed the Void from his mind.

* * *

“……”

In a silent corridor devoid of people.

Kim Jinsung stood with his eyes closed, deeply concentrating.

After standing like that for a while, he finally opened his eyes with a small sigh.

‘…It’s certain that the exit portal is right ahead.’

He had been maintaining a state of resonance to sense the overall flow of dark energy in the labyrinth.

He had maintained the resonance state until he could locate the dungeon exit portal, and had finally released it.

[Did you find the location I mentioned?]

Kim Jinsung nodded at Dantalian’s question.

‘Exactly in front, there’s an area where mana is mixed in more than dark energy, causing fluctuations.’

It matched what Dantalian had explained earlier.

He had said that the exit portal of the Demon World Dungeon would be most affected by the external environment of the middle world, so it would have more mana mixed in than dark energy.

And indeed, he had detected an area in the Demon World Dungeon where more mana was mixed in.

‘It’s roughly within a distance I can move in one go, but…’

Kim Jinsung immediately used his Shadow Concealment skill and created a Warp Hole.

15 seconds later, Kim Jinsung entered the Warp Hole, emerged from the created exit, and revealed himself from the shadow.

Dantalian asked him curiously,

[Why didn’t you move directly to the exit portal?]

As he said, Kim Jinsung had created the Warp Hole exit not right at the exit portal, but at a location slightly distant from it.

Specifically, it was at the edge of the range where Kim Jinsung could directly control dark energy.

‘I might fall into another trap if I carelessly create it right at the exit.’

He was now wary of encountering another rift that would be difficult to deal with without specific knowledge, like when he encountered the Void.

Kim Jinsung judged that it was better to act as safely as possible, even if it took a bit more time, rather than taking risks to escape quickly.

[Huh… You’re quite cautious for your age, brat.]

‘There’s nothing wrong with being careful. A person only has one life.’

[I do know a way to increase the number of lives…]

‘…Does such a thing really exist?’

[Of course! I, Demon God Dantalian, never lie. However, this method can only be used by beings bound to the demon world, so in your current state…]

‘I still won’t make a contract.’

[……]

While Dantalian was momentarily speechless, Kim Jinsung carefully walked towards where he sensed the exit portal.

As he turned the corner of the corridor, he finally reached the area where the exit portal was located.

[Damn brat! You can’t do anything without my help…]

‘…What’s this, another rift?’

Kim Jinsung squinted, looking ahead.

A gray rift was rapidly expanding in front of him.

Soon, an enormous amount of gray smoke began to pour out from the widening rift.

‘…This doesn’t feel good.’

The area ahead was instantly engulfed in smoke. Kim Jinsung felt an inexplicable sense of unease at the sight.

Above all, the alien feeling emanating from the smoke-covered space was not much different from when he first saw the ‘Void space’.

[This also seems to be the work of those humans you mentioned belonging to the Daehan Clan.]

Dantalian’s voice echoed in his mind.

‘Really?’

[This isn’t the kind of rift that should occur in this dungeon. It’s a rift that would only form in dungeons of the same level as ‘Void’, or even higher.]

‘…It must be very dangerous then.’

Kim Jinsung was certain as he looked at the gray rift.

The rifts he had encountered so far were definitely not created by the Colosseum production team.

The Colosseum production team Kim Jinsung knew was famous for being very sensitive about balance.

They weren’t the type to place such an impossibly difficult obstacle right in front of the exit.

‘What on earth was the Daehan Clan thinking when they set up these things?’

As Kim Jinsung pondered this question, Dantalian’s nonchalant voice echoed in his mind.

[But you can consider the difficulty level to be similar to the Void. For you now, it might even be easier.]

‘Hmm…’

Kim Jinsung fell into thought at Dantalian’s words.

‘The exit portal is just a bit further…’

Kim Jinsung looked beyond the rift.

He could see a large portal shimmering in black.

It looked exactly like the dungeon entrance portal they had fallen through when arriving on Ambages Island, so it seemed to be the exit portal for sure.

‘The problem is that the entire area around the portal is covered in that gray smoke.’

To reach the portal, he would have to enter the smoke created by the gray rift one way or another.

And once inside, he would have to face another crisis of similar difficulty to the ‘Void’.

‘Damn it. This makes all my careful approach pointless.’

[No, thanks to that, you have one more option.]

Dantalian responded to Kim Jinsung’s internal grumbling.

[You can wait for another human to arrive and then push them into that gray space.]

‘…You mean use someone else as a test subject?’

[Yes. It doesn’t matter to you if other humans live or die, right? As long as you pass through safely.]

‘That’s true, but…’

Kim Jinsung scratched his head.

It wasn’t that he felt any ethical guilt about forcibly making a participant an experimental subject.

He had experienced too much harsh reality since his underground arena days to feel that way.

‘But I’d have to wait for another participant to arrive, right? There’s no one around to kidnap.’

On his way here, apart from Lee Jiseong’s party, no other participants had been detected by his ‘Position Sensing’.

At first, he thought they might all have been swept away and killed by the Void, but that wasn’t the case.

When he sensed the flow of dark energy in the resonance state, he realized that this labyrinth itself was just incredibly vast.

‘The labyrinth is so big that searching for someone would take a long time…’

[Then the only option is for you to enter directly.]

‘Hmm…’

[Let me ask you one thing.]

Dantalian questioned.

[Do you want to become stronger in the future?]

‘Of course.’

Kim Jinsung answered without hesitation.

The reason he was able to escape being bullied.

The reason he could be recognized and cheered by so many people, from the fight club to the Colosseum program.

The reason famous VIP guests, whom he had only seen in the media, were rushing to recruit him.

It was all because Kim Jinsung was exceptionally stronger than any other participant.

He was well aware that if he wasn’t as strong as he was now, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy all of this.

‘Isn’t it obvious if I want to survive in the New Continent?’

Moreover, this was the New Continent. It was an environment where he couldn’t guarantee how effective his abilities, which had been called monstrous until now, would be.

Kim Jinsung was already aware that his current level wouldn’t be enough to receive the same treatment in the New Continent as he did now.

Hearing Kim Jinsung’s determined answer, Dantalian immediately offered his opinion.

[Then it might not be bad to experience it directly. You’ll encounter rifts like this frequently when you enter higher-level dungeons anyway.]

At those words, Kim Jinsung looked at the gray rift, pondering for a moment.

Then, with a determined expression, he nodded.

Kim Jinsung began to walk confidently towards the area shrouded in gray smoke.

[Kukukuku! That’s right, this is how a human I’ve chosen should act! I like it!]

‘I still won’t make a contract though.’

[This guy, really! What do you take me for?! Huh?!]

Kim Jinsung chuckled at Dantalian’s angry outburst.

He knew that despite their bickering, Dantalian would provide serious information in important situations like this.

‘Well, if I don’t like your explanation, I can always summon another Demon God.’

[You impudent brat, until the very end…!]

Ignoring Dantalian’s grumbling voice, Kim Jinsung entered the gray smoke, and his surroundings instantly changed.

Just like when everything was covered in purple due to the ‘Void space’, this time everything around him was tinged gray.

However, it felt slightly different from the Void.

‘Somehow, the surroundings feel more blurry.’

There was a strong sense that his overall vision had become hazy, as if a thick fog had settled.

‘It also feels like I’ve entered a dream… What kind of place is this exactly?’

[I could answer, but it would be better for you to experience it directly. That will help increase your skills more.]

‘Hmm…’

[You’ll probably realize it soon enough.]

Just then, an unexpected voice was heard.

“Hey, slave!”

Kim Jinsung froze at the voice coming from behind him.

It felt as if his brain had stopped.

A voice so familiar that it was deeply etched in his mind, one he never wanted to hear again.

Kim Jinsung slowly turned his head.

He saw a large man in a school uniform approaching him with a swaggering gait.

“I heard you’ve been doing well lately? Think you can escape from under me just because of that? Huh?”

Kim Jinsung stared incredulously at the face of the man speaking in a threatening voice.

‘Yang Dongju…!’

Yang Dongju, who had made his school life a living hell, had appeared before his eyes.

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