Records of Dungeon Travel

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In the depths of the underground world lived the descendants who were born and raised by feeding on the teats of beasts.

These individuals with special abilities and enhanced physical abilities were known as dungeon babies.

Amongst them, Kim Jin-Woo was born in the labyrinth on the lowest floor.

“I’ve never tried to become strong. I just wanted to survive.”

This is a story of a lowly tunnel digger who ascends the throne to become the king of a labyrinth.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Dungeon Odyssey
던전 견문록
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
N/A
Recommendation Lists
  1. Um Actually, I Read the Manhwa
  2. System Manhwa
  3. Non BL
  4. My Ouroboros 0.2
  5. Male Lead Novel KR

Latest Release

Date Group Release
08/05/21 Wuxiaworld c5
08/04/21 Wuxiaworld c4
08/03/21 Wuxiaworld c3
08/02/21 Wuxiaworld c2
08/01/21 Wuxiaworld c1
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Review
6 Reviews


Higira
Higira
Aug 21, 2021
Status: c25
So far this aint good. I'll make it short and simple.

... more>>
Spoiler

MC established that guns were useless. First floor, barely did anything and got his team killed. Now chapter 24, MC pulls up shot guns in a lower floor and it bloody drops the under monsters. Like WHAT?! drops SOME of them. Brah, author. You gotta be consistent with your writing. This is literally what you call plot armor. You get attacked by a 32 under monster army and you got out easily because of GUNS? when you established early on that GUNS are USELESS??? You can't establish something as useless and when you're suddenly in danger its something useful. That's bad story telling, that's bad consistency. I am disappointed. I love his other novel, dragon poor, but this... this is a big disappointment.

I'm dropping this at ch 25. they recruited the draken, but his character is too annoying. This feels more like a crappy chinese wuxia then anything. 1. start off crappy and useless or with some restriction 2. become super good and have everyone admire you 3. add some random annoying guy to the mix to show some difference. Seriously disappointed with this novel, i'll keep reading dragon poor instead.

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bloggbigg
bloggbigg
Mar 02, 2022
Status: c200
I'm barely giving this 3 stars because of the stuff it tried to do right- even though it doesn't do it well.

The GOOD:

  • Characterization and character development are given some attention. Some.
  • MC is somewhat likeable- sometimes more than other times.
  • Some secondary characters are interesting/likable.
The Bad:

  • So much unneeded 'intrigue'. All the political maneuvering and back-stab-by nonsense are not done well, nor do they add to the story except to make things messy. It's not horribly done- just doesn't 'make the story work'. In fact a few points of 'revealed history' are silly/dumb
  • Fight scenes? Very flimsy. Yeah- apparently the author at least knows he can't- so doesn't really try (I guess?)
  • Plot is pretty formulaic. Many rehashed cliches abused.
  • Villains are all cliche, 'fake' clever, and 'needlessly sneaky'.
  • Another 'turns bad into good' theme story where the MCs source of power is 'bad'. I have no idea why this is so popular in Asian writing (often 'demonic' stuff is portrayed as 'most powerful' and embraced without pause despite being 'evil').
    Spoiler

    In this case one of the 7 deadly sins (greed) is embraced.)

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  • Conflicts/challenges are very prop-up, 'this would be a challenge'-- that frequently is convenient/nonsense in the context of the surrounding situation/world.
  • Faux Harem story- All the girls grow to want the MC- but in the most 'lazy writing' way.
  • Too much 's*upid on purpose' driving the plot in bad ways.
  • I just broke 200 chapters and finally realized what bugs me most about this novel. Almost everyone does something shitty, and the MC is unresponsive to most shit. That's when he doesn't over-react, or do something shitty himself (often unprovoked- though he'll paint it as shitty).
  • Another 'look, it's serious- I'm making people die to prove it' story, where professionals and experts die for dumb reasons and in ways an idiot could see coming all for effect.
  • Too much casual/callous killing where no parties involved benefit or learn...
  • Tons of bias/'explain-away' for MC motivation/justification- especially in regards to MC motivation/justification/lack of conscience/regret.
    Spoiler

    When he kills people on the 9th floor because they weren't 'loyal' to him- remember they don't even know him and are just trying to survive there- they have no option but to be wary. Somehow them not jumping to risking their lives (and the lives of their followers) blindly following him deserves death? Sure. Whatever. He on the other hand can relocate to the surface whenever he wants- and (if he listened to his parents) he shouldn't be there anyway...

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  • The MC beating a women to try and change their behavior is another low- especially when she's stuck between two bullies- himself and the other even stronger guy.
    Spoiler

    I guess it's better than killing her, (which he almost did except he has magical, truth seeing power now).

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  • The MCs ever increasing arrogance/bravado despite him being weaker/less experienced than literally everyone else (until plot needs to prove otherwise) is laughable. So much unfounded confidence...
    Spoiler

    well, he is the MC. The story will 'wrap around' his needs- and this one does spectacularly under the 'excuse' of 'intrigue' (though it will obviously backfire- you can see it a mile away).

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  • So much plot armor and 'deus ex machina' saves/lucky breaks...
  • No proper 'world cannon'- the rules of 'the world' are more used as 'setting' for the current chapter story dynamics- and may change as needed to fit.
  • All relationships are a mess (him and anyone else), or 'when the author feels like it (min & his family)
  • MC is pretty dumb/pretty clever (as told) depending on current need.
MC has no integrity/personality.
Spoiler
    • Not even going to get into all the crap he's too lazy to do despite his power.
    • 'Revenge'? Put on back-burner till the author feels like mentioning it.
    • 'Promise to family'? Yeah- not gonna let that stop 'the plot' from happening.
    • 'Distrust/dislike of others'? Not as important as 'doing things'.
    • 'Being a basic human'? Nope- people have to die for trivial/force justified reasons.
    • 'Being loyal to others'? Nope- sh*t to do. Turn back on/ignore people easily.
    • 'Forgiving people 'disloyal' to him'? Nope- people gotta die.
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The different:

  • Nothing really. The author's inconsistent story tone?
Overall, I don't recommend this. Despite all the negative points- It's not bad- but it has a lot of issues. If you're bored enough 'go ahead'- but don't expect too much.

At it's core it could be quite an interesting/enjoyable work- but as executed, it's got a lot of false starts and forced plotting. Quite a few things could go somewhere great, and quickly become mediocre instead.

I do find a part of it here and there to be enjoyable- then the author will wingnut in some nonsense to make me regret giving him a chance. This is pretty common actually with a lot of stories- so I shouldn't 'blame' this guy- it's just tiring to see so much 'build up' to be rewarded with 'half-a$$ed'.
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Kergonan
Kergonan
Mar 31, 2023
Status: c320
Records of Dungeon Travel

I came to this novel by the manhwa it was adapted into. Given that, as rule, the source novel is better than the adaptation, I was certain to have a good time.

Sadly, it seems Geulump’s tale is one of the necessary exception confirming the rule, and it’s a shame. A lot of characters are good (like the ruthless protagonist Kim Jin-Woo, Dominique, Angela...) even most don’t have much depth and the plot is quite complex and gritty, a good departure from other classic « dungeon stories ».

So... more>> why Did it disappointed me ? Because of all the rest. The setting is confusing and has huge holes and illogisms excusable in more « childlish » tales, but which don’t suit well with the dark, mature mood the author tries to set.

The power system is rough and unclear (especially when it comes to interactions with items from the surface and the underworld).

The combats are a true weak spot of the novel and the author appears to know it, as he skips a lot of fights that would be epic if told well (something the manhwa adaptation does with virtuoso).

Finally, the pacing of the story is bad, same with the writting. As a result, I was never really into the story and the action. So the rushed and botched ending was to me both a frustration and a relief.

The translation is good, as expected of the usual Wuxiaworld quality.

In the end, Records of Dungeon Travel is a good idea turned barely average thanks to bad storytelling. My final verdict is a weak 5 out of 10. The manhwa adaptation has more potential, as the artist seems to compensate for the source’s flaws, especially with good fights and comedy. Kergonan out.

P.S : Thanks to Geulump for writing this novel and to Kona for translating it. <<less
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MasterY
MasterY
Oct 01, 2022
Status: Completed
This series was enjoyable at beginning few chapters as I started this novel after reading the manga.

However there's minor conflicting statement such as the gun being redundant yet why is it being use and enemy that claimed to be smart when they are stronger than the MC only to make s*upid decision when the MC is as strong if not stronger than them. However things did not improve only to get worst later on as the story feels quite rush. While the ending was ok, there's a lot of unanswered... more>> question at the ending.

I don't like the later chapter in the novel as it derail from the initial reason why I liked this series [Dungeon Master VS Dungeon Master]

Harem

Spoiler

There's only 2 girls he became companion with many of their interaction.

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Ixcez
Ixcez
Jan 17, 2024
Status: Completed
This is one of those stories that is sort of okey to good at some parts but is x10 better as the manhwa. To make an example in the novel for some reason the author thought it would be interesting I guess if the lamia maid that is pretty much the MC's love interest can't talk but she can communicate through a telepathic link however we as the readers aren't allowed for most of the story to know what she say's and instead a large part is just the MC... more>> responding to her and seemingly talking to himself since for some reason as the readers we can only "hear" things that are said outloud, except for the system or the demonic worm that's inside his body and pretty much anything else.

To give an example (Dominique is the lamia maid)

Spoiler

Kim Jin-Woo frowned upon exiting the portal.

Dominique called out as if she had been waiting for him for an eternity.

"I know! How's the situation?" he asked as he dashed towards the gate with a rattling bundle in his hands.


Dominique slithered diligently alongside him and explained,

Kim Jin-Woo replied with a grim expression, "The naga soldiers won't return."

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So instead when the MC talks to pretty much the 2nd most present character outside of the MC we only get the MC's response to whatever she's saying. Which the author in the manhwa pointed at then directly changed it to her being able to talk as well since so many complained about it in the novel. There are also other stuff that just makes stuff not seem thought out as if the author just made up settings and then changed them all.

Like for instance humans won the war against the underworld with guns and bombs but then we are told guns are useless and can barely hurt the fairly strong monsters but then guns are strong again because humans have made guns specificly against monsters that are stronger but for some reason the people who went to the underworld just brought regular guns even though everyone knows they don't work and then the author just pulls monster specific guns out of nowhere?

Then we are also told that the only reason humans won the war against the underworld is that the strong one's never came to the surface because the underworld is divided into floors and the deeper you go the stronger they are but monsters born on a floor grows weaker and weaker the more floors they travel away from their birth floor as an example they lose 20% of their strength by just going one floor away. Of course the MC being a human isn't affected, but then we are told that the previous statement isn't true because the monsters are tied to the floor their labyrinth is on and labyrinths can move so the strong monsters could have easily moved their labyrinths to a higher floor and wiped the floor with humans but for whatever reason they never did.

So in short a lot of stuff is stated in the early part of the novel and then all of it is just thrown out the window because it was never true in the first place which just makes it weird in these kind of stories since if your gonna present something as "fact" and spend time explaining how stuff work don't just throw that out the window a while later because you didn't actually think ahead how the story would develop in the first place.

There is also pretty much 0 character development, as an example even though early on the MC get's warned that his minions can rebel and turn against him of course that never happens and lamia maid and so on just instantly falls in love with him and are fanatically loyal for no reason outside of him summoning them. Which again is much better in the manhwa but just overall the story at times just feels like a massive info dump that sounds like the diary of some RTS player. <<less
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yeagerxd
yeagerxd
Oct 23, 2022
Status: c170
It was good at the beginning but I can no longer continue reading around chapter 170.

The reason, 1st is the contradiction about guns that everyone is talking about.

Next is my own opinion, the "skip" kills the mood this happens not once but every major event, it always skip when the MC fought against a boss battle or major event in the story.

... more>> Everytime it built up the mood and get enjoying the result "skip" the MC wins.

An example, strongest being in floor #, finally clash with MC in a heated battle. Skip MC win. <<less
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