Even after Kim Jin-Woo returned from his visit to the 11th Floor, the monsters’ offensive continued for over half a year. After many struggles, the Nagas finally found the enemy’s invasion route and succeeded in blocking off that passage.

But the enemy still didn’t relent. The monsters that were immune to pain continued to attack the front line despite the reinforcements that had arrived, blinded by their sheer thirst for battle.

Kim Jin-Woo started to grow weary as time passed. Even the 9th Floor labyrinth masters who had previously obeyed him well during times of crisis started to reveal their true greedy nature, as they began to act uncooperatively and look out only for themselves.

The barely-formed front line was pushed back several times, and Kim Jin-Woo started to become tougher on his vassals in response. He didn’t hesitate to make even the harshest of decisions, sometimes even using entire labyrinths as bait if necessary. Only then did his vassals begin to be wary of him once more, pretending to be obedient.

The enemy continued to attack, even as Kim Jin-Woo’s power was being drained away by internal conflict. Various creatures and unknown forces appeared through narrow passageways scattered across the 9th Floor, looking strangely desperate.

They charged through the piles of corpses as if someone, or something, were forcing them to fight. Neither the ominousness of the Dead, the freezing cold of the Nagas, nor the uneasy stealthiness of the Under-Elf Assassins could stop their advance.

The creatures and labyrinth masters of the Other Underworld marched forward without ever looking back, focusing all their attention on what was ahead of them. At first, Kim Jin-Woo didn’t know why they were so desperate. Only after nearly a year had passed since the first attack did he come to understand why.

The enemy forces had suffered from a famine. Their entire ecosystem had collapsed,...