The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 523: Prison Dungeon

“Mistress…. “ A young maid entered the crimson neon-lit study, then bowed quickly toward her mistress, who sat in front of her 5 monitor computer setup, keeping track of many things at once while sipping a cold, non-alcoholic drink.

“Oh… Blacky, what’s wrong?” Margret asked as she pondered whether she should buy stocks from a certain company.

“Two things... The first is that 3 new girls have been rescued by Fragrant Shadow, and they should be sent here by tonight... Their background is clean according to Kai!”

“Prepare some wine test for them, then proceed with the on-boarding... Anything else?” Margret casually nodded. Fragrant Shadow, who started operating a few brothels around the world, had been tasked to send gifted young girls who were sold to them straight here for now.

“Yes, the girls noticed that one of the warehouses was open, and it seemed like that golden jackhammer that was delivered last week was missing, along with the tanks… There is no entry in the log, so…” Blackie explained as he took a look at the screen. Who the fuck calls his company MILF? Wait… It is MLF! Was that ok? 

“Nah, Victor took those before leaving, but he was in a hurry to catch that bachelor party, and probably forgot to register it!” Margret interrupted. “He was the one who asked me to order it for him a while back, but manufacturing that thing took a while!” She nodded to herself. Finding an artisan who could secretly do it was a challenge in itself. Thankfully, all the gold was sourced locally thanks to a certain goose that had been working its ass off.

“Eh… Mistress…”

“Don’t let your dirty little imagination go wild! It is not a sex toy but related to Dungeons and Chemistry… You are still too young to understand such things!” Margret chuckled, reading the little girls’ mind. Maybe it’s her influence, but the little girls, especially those around her, began to develop some unhealthy mindset. Well, letting them know who dirty society was would not be bad in the long run.

“Oh…” Blackie sighed in relief. She had been wondering what a golden Jackhammer should be used for, and the only possible things she could think of were very disturbing.

“By the way, were the air tanks filled?” Margret asked, although Victor also had some manual airpumps as an emergency, it would be a little troublesome. She wondered whether those elf girls, whom he refused to show her, would be able to do all that manual pumping.

“Yes! Although not full for safety reasons, they are at 70%....” Blacky responded. Hilda taught them to study equipment manuals before using them.

“That should be sufficient… I doubt he would need to break more than a few walls!” Margret replied casually before taking another sip of her drink. It was lemon-flavored, not her favorite, but she had been cutting off on artificial coloring and such to protect her pregnancy. If her guess was right, Victor was destined to be one of the greatest in the entire world, and her son or daughter should be the main heir; this would be their main power, as unlike Victor’s other women and potential future harem, she lacked the deep background!

“...” 

“How is Mary adapting?” Margret asked again as she threw the now-empty can toward the trash bin next to the door.

“She should be fine, after breakfast, she took off with Mistress Aria, who planned to show her around the company!” Blakie explained. “She is still resisting asking too many questions, but it is only a matter of time…”

“Keep an eye on her for now, and tell the girls monitoring her phone to keep vigilant… I don’t mind you girls reading comics, but never slack off with your assignment!”

“I understand!” Blackie nodded.

“… If there is nothing else, you can go!” Margret said dismissively as she turned to look at the screen again.

The price of the MLF Automobile’s stock is still plummeting after its CEO was arrested after getting caught with an underage piglet. Yeah… She laughed her ass off, too, hearing about this in her past life, but not in this one.

According to her knowledge, after leaving prison, the CEO would push the barely bankrupt company to very great heights, especially after the release of the MLF 69s and the MLF 69x models in two years. They would revolutionize the car industry with their duo Sport to Van switching mechanism. And the stock price would soar!

She had been planning to buy into this a while back, but after seeing Jimʼs name on Victor’s naughty list, she didn’t, as she knew her husband would crush him! However, things had changed. Last night, Victor contacted her using their Dragon Wife connection and told her what happened with him and that Jim was a Scion.

Even though she was sure Victor, with his petty personality, would definitely make that guy pay a very heavy price, he wouldn’t be able to destroy him… This put her in a very tight spot as she was considering her options. If she wanted to buy, now would be the perfect time!

Wait…. Since when was she the kind to let others decide her destiny!

Margret pondered for a moment, then quickly contacted Elise through their Dragon Wives connection. That little girl was going to meet Harvey soon with Alpha, so if they played their cards right, she might be able to set something up, both for her and for Victor’s future plan!

Although things might get dangerous with a Scion included, it might also provide them with a chance!

***

“Victor!” Harvey greeted Victor with a broad smile as he watched Victor push Elize in her wheelchair into his study early in the morning.

“Grandpa in law!” Victor said as he stepped forward and shook hands with Harvey. “It’s been a while!”

“Yes, it has been…” Harvey frowned a bit. He couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong about Victor, but he couldn’t tell what, as even his inspection skill was telling him that everything was perfect. “Elise, how have you….” Harvey paused as he watched his young granddaughter slowly put away her shades, then stand up and walk toward him to hug him.

He was startled. His first thought was that she might have been some suicide bomber… Yeah, he was that kind of a man. He just had too many enemies. But on second look, she was really his granddaughter, so he let her hug him.

“You… You were healed?” he asked in shock.

“Yeah, husband’s master had a way!” she said. Since Victor had already created that mysterious, all-powerful master, it became a little more convenient to stick things on him. “It turned out it was all my bloodline ability making me see through illusions and stopping me from reading the system prompt… ” she pouted. “Once I knew what the prompt was, I solved it and became a player!” she smiled.

“Oh…” Harvey raised one eyebrow. He really wanted to ask what class she got, but since she became Victor’s wife, she was no longer a part of the Gledstadt family, and it would be a little rude. “So you went out of your way to make it a surprise…” he chuckled as he looked at the wheelchair.

“No, it is to fool others… I want to just keep it a secret for now!” She stuck her little tongue out.

“... Oh!” Harvey sighed, shaking his head. “Well, it’s your own choice… I am just glad you told me!” he said as he turned toward Victor, who casually took a seat as if the study was his own. Yeah, this guy was definitely Victor. “You have a master now?”

“I only met him recently… He took a fancy to me!” Victor said as he grabbed Elise and let her rest on his lap right in front of her grandfather!

“Oh, took a fancy to you?!” Harvey secretly cursed at him for using such ambiguous words. 

“Yeah…” Victor nodded proudly as he puffed his chest like a woman.

“What’s his name? What power is he from?” Harvey frowned.

“I canʼt divulge that, but I have some news for you….” Victor hesitated as he began brushing Elise’s hair from behind. 

“What?” Harvey took a seat and asked as he secretly wondered how far Victor and Elise’s relationship progressed. Did they go all the way? From the way Elise was not blushing as he teased her, it was probably that… Damn this pervert! She is a minor! 

Well… In the old days, it wouldn’t have mattered, and he was a very traditional man… but still…. Damn it! Harvey couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed. Not because this entire situation was his fault, but because he couldn’t ask directly… It would be very rude!

“Well…. It is secret stuff, so…” Victor made a sigh with his hand.

“I see…” Harvey waved his hand with a talisman, and in the next moment, a strange, dim light shone around the room, tracing a strange array before vanishing. “This place is now secure! What is this about?” he said.

“The current Gary might be a fake,” Victor said directly.

“Wait what! What do you mean… What makes you say that?” Harvey considered this possibility before, but he inspected Gary himself last night and didn’t find anything wrong.

“I am not sure, but I saw him get taken with Yullain right in front of my eyes!” Victor said as his hand reached around Elise’s waist and headed down, then stopped as the latter pinched him hard.  “So I was super shocked when I was told he was saved, but Yulian was not…”

“Taken… Wait, what were the three of you doing in the restroom together?” Harvey asked in a hurry. “No… You weren’t there…. You must have managed to escape, then coated yourself in shit on purpose to fake your location, didn’t you!” he asked, and couldn’t help but notice the annoyed look that flashed on Victor’s face for a moment there when he mentioned it.

“I had no other choice, as enemies were around…” Victor spat with annoyance as he tried to twirl a nonexistent lock of his hair, before quickly letting go. “If… If it were not for my first brother being there to save me, I would have been taken too!”

“First brother?” Harvey frowned.

“He is my master’s eldest disciple… Master felt something was wrong with me, so he sent him to check, and it just happened on his watch, so he saved me in time!” Victor said seriously. “According to him, Gary and Yulian were dragged into some kind of an inescapable dungeon using a Talisman,”

“Wait… What… inescapable dungeon…” Harvey was taken aback. An inescapable dungeon? He heard about such a thing a long time ago… shit…. Could it be that one… Impossible, that thing was long lost! But still…  “Did he tell you the dungeon’s name?” Harvey crossed his fingers.

“ICONIC’S EXPERIMENT MAZE or something….”

“Hsssssssss….. It’s EONIC’S EXPERIMENT MAZE…” Harvey gasped, then corrected him with a very serious frown. Damn it… It was really that nasty place.  Only three powers had the original jade stamps to make the talismans leading to that place: The von Eins, the Von Trie, and the Von Richter, and all of them perished…  Knowing the one behind this was not going to be easy! DAMN IT!

“Is it that serious?” Victor asked as he pinched Elize’s butt, making her yelp a bit before hitting his hand bashfully. Secretly, she was thankful, though. She almost showed a worried expression!

“Very… ” Harvey didn’t elaborate as he asked, silently cursing at Victor for being so dismissive about such serious matters. Seriously… Didn’t he have any shame messing with his granddaughter right in front of him… DAMN IT!  Couldn’t they just go get a room! “Where is your First brother now…”

“He is in the dungeon, of course, he used a trick to take my place when he got sucked in… how could he know its name otherwise….” Victor said that this was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait…. He can communicate from the inside?” Harvey frowned. him?

“Oh… Is it the kind of dungeon that blocks external communication?” Victor asked as if he didn’t know.

“It should…” Harvey paused, not sure if Victor really didn’t know or was just acting. He might also be scamming him… Damn this guy, making him lose his rhythm.

“Oh, no wonder he sounded annoyed, cursing that he shouldn’t have chosen to take my place… Anyways, he did say that he would only be able to contact me once every three days!“ Victor pondered as if he didn’t care what Harvey was saying. “Well, he also said that if nothing goes wrong, he should be able to conquer it by tonight!” 

“WHAT? Conquer it….” Harvey paused there, wondering if he should tell Victor about that place. No, this bastard probably already knew. “How strong is that big brother of yours exactly?” he asked. As far as he knew, no one could leave that place without the world emperor’s power to traverse dungeons. If Victor was telling the truth, Gary might really be a lost cause!

“No idea as I only met him yesterday, but Master usually bragged about him, telling me that although he is not strong in the normal sense, his class was one of the craziest ones out there,…. My master doesn’t take useless people as disciples, he only chooses the best!” Victor said proudly. “And even if he failed, my master can travel across worlds, so I donʼt think he would just leave First brother to rot there ....” Victor shrugged.

“Travel across worlds?” Harvey’s eyes shone in the strange light, catching that word. If this were true, many things would make sense.

“Ah....” Victor looked away as if he realized that he said something that he shouldn’t have. “Forget I said that…”

“...” Elise also looked away nervously.

“...” Harvey frowned. They wanted him to hear that, but didn’t want to elaborate! Fine by him. “Did your First brother say anything about Gary or Yulian?” he asked, deciding to not dig any deeper and just give Victor a chance to prove himself. He could only act passively in this matter!

“When he contacted me, he said that he didn’t see a sign of them as he was dragged into some kind of an underwater cave and had just finished fighting them… ” Victor shrugged. “But since you also believe Gary is alive, his Life Jade you keep in your ancestral base should still be intact…”

“…” Harvey snorted as he inspected Victor. He didn’t expect him to know about this, as only elite heirs in their clan had access to that knowledge. 

This guy was getting more and more mysterious. His first impression of him was not wrong at all! Maybe he should have really thrown Valery at him… That girl had been clamoring all about Caspian lately, and although he didn’t mind before, after watching the latter’s performance at Victor’s wedding, he no longer found him suitable.

“...”

“Then, what do you suggest we do now?” Harvey asked, deciding to see what Victor could do for him for now.

“Well, we have to confirm if Gary is fake or not!” Victor said directly. “Since you are probably pondering whether I am the fake one or not at the moment…” he added with a ‘Victor’ traditional smirk.

“...” Harvey squinted his eyes. “Not bad… Then, what is your plan?” he asked as he watched Elise pinch Victor’s dishonest hands again. The little girl being here meant that she must know quite a bit of her husband’s secrets, which indicated that he really trusted her. This also meant that her life at Victor’s mansion was good! 

“We can first try a blood test, but if my guess is correct, whoever is behind this wouldn’t be fool enough to leave such  an obvious giveaway, especially after Aria’s case that made all the family begin routinely testing their heirs’ DNA…”

“True…” Harvey nodded. When Gary was rescued, his blood was tested. “Then…”

“I have a way!” Victor smirked, “But…” he added as he began rubbing his fingers.

“What do you want now?” Harvey asked, rolling his eyes. This guy was as materialistic as ever. Damn it… He knew he couldnʼt count on him to help him for free.

“Just some lousy company that was recently acquired by your family’s trust fund… And I am only asking for such a low price because we are family!” Victor smirked.

***

“So… This dungeon, is it some kind of prison?” Yulian, who sat in front of the old man at a table in his hut, asked. Beside him, a sullen Gary sat brooding as he glared hatefully at the old man. He was clearly in shock, but that little bit of drugs seemed to help clear his mind a little.

“Not bad, lad!” the old man, Zer, nodded. “I don’t know if it was created originally to be a prison or not, but this place is old, very old. It was first discovered by the Lord Empress, and after finding that it was bugged and couldn’t be conquered, she created a few jade talismans that would send people straight here to use this place as a jail!” he sighed. “After that, the different emperors also began to use it as such…”

“... The lord empress? World Emperors?”

“Ah, right… I forgot that you guys don’t know about that!’ the old man said. “To tell the truth, I find the situation outside a bit bizarre. Ever since 200 years ago, the quality of the people who were sent changed overnight from criminals to heirs and important people from the different clans… Also, they were totally oblivious about many things... Damn, they didn’t even know why they ended up here! Someone must have taken hold of the talismans and had been abusing them to get rid of their enemies!” he said to himself. “Anyways, I thought a Von Krone would know a few things, but apparently not,” the old man said with a frown as he inspected Yulian again.

“...Sorry…” Yulian said.

“Did your family have some sort of crisis in the last 200 years or something?”

“Not sure…” Yulian frowned.

“You should have just returned to your clan after your family’s traditional ‘Tribulation’, right?” Zer asked.

“Yeah!” Yulian nodded. “I only know that about 50 years ago or so, my clan withdrew from public life…”

“Oh…” Zer frowned. 

“You guys will have time to have all the random talk you want later…” Gary interrupted. “Can you explain this dungeon to us?”

“Lad…  I can understand your agitation, but it is rude to interrupt your elders!” Zer scolded as he released his bloodline power, creating a strange pressure.

“Ah…” Yulian’s head bowed down by itself, hitting the table.

“...” Gary’s situation was way worse as he fell from his chair to his knees, but still, he kept glaring at the old man while clenching his fist, barely resisting the feeling of wanting to grovel on the ground. Damn it! He didn’t like the feeling of being powerless at all!

KNOCK KNOCK…

Someone knocked on the table as if telling Zer to stop bullying the kid. It was Anastasia, who, after resting a bit, just walked in with a dish full of dried meat and some kind of herbal tea to serve them like a good wife. Yeah, despite being in this place, like many of the aristocratic familiesʼ heirs, she also had a very traditional upbringing!

“Fine… I will spare you this once…” Zer sighed, removing the pressure. “ I too, know what it feels like to lose a loved one…” he mumbled, looking at his daughter with kind eyes.

Gary slowly climbed up to his seat, shooting Ana a grateful look as he watched her take a seat on the surprised Yulian’s lap. The poor guy didn’t even know where to put his hands. Unlike a certain Victor, he felt some shame cuddling a girl in front of her father!

“....” Zer shook his head, looking at his bashful daughter and her fidgety new husband before turning to Gary. “Listen then…. I will tell you what you want, and let you understand how hopeless your situation is… As I said before, this dungeon is basically a Maze, with this central place acting as its one and only safe space where humans can live… All surroundings are a very dangerous 3-dimensional maze that extends for many levels, probably more than 20...”

“The waterfall…” Gary asked as he began to focus on the old man’s words. He was not going to give up on leaving this place. April must be waiting for him!

“Stop interrupting me….  I swear, young people these days….” Zer scolded. “Yes, you fell from that waterfall, it descended from high up, about 300 feet up, just beyond the fog… It just appears out of thin air, at the same place where people appear when they get sent here. You can’t climb up to exit… There is nothing up there but solid rock with an INDESTRUCTIBLE system Tag, like the rest of this dungeon’s walls,” Zer explained. ”And down below, there are those dangerous things I told you about... If I didnʼt save you...” he shook his head.

“Oh… So, you usually keep an eye on that waterfall?” Yulian asked as Ana rested her head on his shoulder. Damn it… What’s wrong with this girl? Why did she choose to sleep with him…  Yeah, he was good-looking, but not THAT good-looking. Was it to use his family? No… His family was outside and would have no influence here. Then why… He had many questions.

“Like hell I would wait in that place … It is just that ‘Ana’ seemed to have perceived that her future husband would arrive, and sent me to keep guard… Ouch…” Zer said with a smirk before his daughter bashfully kicked his leg under the table.

This made both Yulian and Gary look at the girl. 

“You knew we were coming?” Yulian asked.

“...” the girl looked away.

“Well, let me explain this to you… “Zer sighed. Despite his daughterʼs protest, such things couldnʼt be hidden. They had to know this sooner or later. “Ana has the Oracle class that allows her sometimes to dream of possible futures… In one of them, she saw that her destined husband would come today, so she sent me to stand guard next to the waterfall!” he chuckled, bending the truth. What Ana saw was that some new commuters were arriving, and they would not stay for long! And that if she were to marry any one of the guys who were coming today, it would be a great win and there would be even a chance to revive their family outside! One of them might even be able to push her family to great heights. However, for some reason, she couldn’t make out which one of the newcomers held that chance, and had to gamble…. Naturally, she chose Yulian, who seemed to fit quite a bit of her ideal man criteria, and her power told her that he was a man of honor. Since she planned to sacrifice her body for her family, she might as well sacrifice it to someone she liked! 

“Oh…” Yulian said, looking at the girl who sat in his embrace. Was she his destined one? Then what about Alice? Well… If Victor could create a harem, what was stopping him…”Ouch….”

Ana pinched his arm as she glared at him, then humphed and rested her head on his shoulder with a heavy blush and a small smile. She just saw herself in a grand manor, fighting with some other girl over sleeping rights with Yulian. Although it made her a bit annoyed, this meant one thing… He really had the power to get them out of here!

“So… There is really no exit?” Gary asked again in a dismayed voice, turning the conversation back to dungeon matters.

“None… and stop trying to activate that storage ring of yours… Such things don’t function here!” the old man said. “For many years, people searched for ways to exit or even communicate with the outside, but in the end, none succeeded. They didnʼt even manage to locate the Bossʼs room! Whoever brought you here wanted you to never appear ever again!” the old man stated.

Gary frowned as one name surfaced in his mind. Jim! Could it be him?

“How far did you try to conquer this place? Mnn…” Yulian asked as Ana grabbed some dried meat and put it in his mouth. 

“I swear, whenever new guys come, they always think the same…” Zer sighed, shaking his head. “You see the people in this village… All of them except me were born and raised here… the ones who come from the outside usually all have the same mindset, and go to try to conquer this place, but no one returns… What we know about this place after all these years is less than 40%,” the old man said. 

“Oh…” Gary frowned. “Can you explain what you know then?”

“... Fine…” the old man sighed, deciding to enlighten this stubborn young man. Since his daughter did say they might bring them out, he might as well explain things just in case! “Beyond gates, that one and the other three that border the other villages extend an endless maze. Inside, the environment grew dark almost immediately. The only light source you can use is torches made out of insect grease, and those tend to make a smell that brings trouble, so unless you have a nightvision skill, you are screwed…. Anyways,  the further you head away from this place, the colder and more dangerous it becomes… Usually, hunters only go 3 levels max as the things there are relatively weak…”

“Hunters?”

“Yes… This place has three types of enemies… The first are the insects, those are the least dangerous if you know how to avoid their poison… In fact, besides the algae, they are the only nutrient source in this godforsaken place!” the old man said, pointing to the dish of dried meat that was on the table. “But still, even experienced hunters usually die if swarmed or caught in a trap, so one must not underestimate them!” the old man said.

“Oh…” Yulian slowly felt nervous, wanting to spit the meat Ana was feeding him, but on second thought, he decided not to. He was a man, and would never spit food his wife fed him, even if it were poison!

“Anyways, after the third level, it begins to be dangerous as you encounter Miasma pits… It is a poisonous gas that originates in the lower levels, making exploring them a very dangerous task. That stuff, although not lethal, has some strange hallucinogenic effects, making people do all kinds of stupid things… And it doesn’t affect insects, so…”

“If you enter that place, you end up as insect food!” Yulian analyzed.

“Exactly, as expected of my son-in-law…” the old man chuckled with a smirk as she looked at his daughter, then at Gary. “Those two are still manageable with caution, but the  sentinels that begin to appear at the fifth level aren’t!”

“Sentiels?” Yulian asked.

“They are the real enemies of this dungeon. Some kind of Automated Machine built out of an INDESTRUCTIBLE material, so they can’t be defeated. If you see one, you run!”

“Wait… Robots?”

“Ro what?”

“Robots… It means automated machines… On the outside, they began to make such things for entertainment…” Yulian explained with a frown. This was a bit unbelievable. Wasn’t the dungeon created to ward off otherworldly invaders? Why would it give those things indestructibility?

“Entertainment?… Many things sure have changed outside…” the old man sighed. He could immediately understand what kind of entertainment Yulian was talking about. He was a man, too! “Anyway, those things down there were not built for entertainment, I can tell you that… We lost no less than 100 fine warriors trying to search for those things’ weak points, as some theorized that, like Golems, they might have some energy stone, but it was futile, as they seem to receive their energy from the dungeon itself… We can only escape when facing one…”

“...” Yulian frowned.

“...”

“You didn’t answer my question, though… Have there been any serious attempts to conquer this place?” Gary asked again.

“Well, there have been many, but the serious ones with any sort of good players were 8, the last one 30 years ago where more than 500 players tried to do it led by a Von Reichter chick who had one of the banishment talismans and mistakenly thought that running here from her enemies to this place was a good idea!” the old man sighed. “Anyway, her team managed to reach the 13th floor, but that’s when they encountered a three-faced Sentinel and got annihilated!” he explained, shaking his head.

“Three-faced?” Gary asked.

“Sentinels are divided into normal, 2 faced, three-faced, and four-faced… The more faces, the more powerful they become!” the old man said seriously. “Their power grows exponentially!”

“Wait… Old man, how did you know that they reached the 13th floor and faced that guy since none returned?” Yulian asked, noticing something.

“Simply because I have already reached the 20th floor! And was secretly following them!” the old man said with a smirk.

“What…”

“Do you think I am the kind who wants to waste my life away in this place?” the old man said quickly, answering Yulian’s question before he could ask it. “I have been searching for an exit for years myself… Using my Class’s unique skills, I can dodge most of the sentinels, but my power falls short on the four-faced sentinels, as those guys can detect even X-ranked illusions, let alone a feeble disguise skill like mine!”

“Oh…”

“If it were not for them, I wouldn’t mind facing the 10-wing cockroaches who dwell deep below, but that kind of fight makes too much noise…”

“What…”

“Elder… Elder!” someone came running all of a sudden.

“What now?” the old man asked as he looked back toward the door where a burly bald young man barged in, then stopped in his tracks when he saw the unbelievable sense of his Goddess, sitting in the lap of some sissy young man.

“YOU…. WHO THE HELL…” he gasped.

PAM!

Zer threw his clay dish at the other man, hitting him square in the face. “Idiot! Why are you bothering me!” he asked in an authoritarian voice.

“Ah…. Sorry…. Yeah… The Von Zwei guys from the Northern Village… They are here again…” the young man quickly said, not daring to complain as he held his face, “They are saying they will not leave without taking Lady Anastasia with them this time!”