Reverse Dungeon

The misunderstanding was cleared up surprisingly quickly.

After waking inside the chief’s house, Ian’s group had considered searching the entire village, yet none of them had thought to search the chief’s own home.

Which, in hindsight, made perfect sense.

If Lily had truly been there, how could she possibly not respond while everyone was shouting her name loud enough for the entire village to hear?

None of them knew that Lily had taken a full dose of medicine the previous night and fallen into such a deep sleep that she never woke up.

Because illness had left her so small and thin, she was almost completely hidden beneath the blanket draped over her. The sofa itself had been tucked beside the hallway wall, and Lily had sunk so deeply into it that only the edge of the blanket could even be seen from outside.

In the end, the villagers had simply become sinners trailing behind Ian’s group.

They were too frightened to ask directly, yet every one of them desperately hoped Ian would save the people trapped within the sand pillars.

And Ian had done exactly that without being asked.

The rescued villagers were weak and exhausted, so their families helped support them back to the village. Because of that, Ian’s party slowed their pace to match the others.

‘These people...’

The chief felt both fear and awe twisting together inside him.

What had they possibly done to deserve the intervention of people like this?

Seeing the farming tools and weapons the villagers carried, Ian and the others had surely guessed why they were being followed.

They must have assumed the villagers were bandits.

So why show them mercy?

Ian destroyed the final sand pillar.

A young man emerged from within it—tall now, though traces of boyishness still lingered on his face.

“Peter!”

Lily rushed toward him just as he stumbled forward and nearly collapsed. Supporting him awkwardly, she brushed sand from his face before hurriedly pushing a waterskin into his hands.

The motions were so practiced they seemed instinctive.

Peter, still barely conscious, initially managed only a dazed “Uh... uh...” before giving in to the temptation of the sweet water.

He drank greedily.

Then he blinked and looked around.

The sun was already setting. The desert was quiet.

Sand clung to his eyelashes as he stared blankly at the people surrounding him.

“...Is this heaven?” he asked weakly. “Did I die?”

“Idiot!”

Lily burst into tears and threw her arms around him.

It seemed she could not stop crying now that she had finally recovered from dehydration.

“L-Lily?!”

“I told you not to go!” she sobbed. “Why didn’t you listen to me? You almost died!”

“...I’m alive?”

“Would a dead person complain like this?”

Lily grabbed the back of his neck and shook him.

“Ow!”

Peter teared up slightly at the pain, finally accepting that this probably was not heaven after all.

“But Uncle Tori and Auntie Bizie disappeared over three years ago...”

He pointed off into the distance with a stunned expression, as though seeing ghosts.

Everything since waking up had felt unreal.

His final memory was of the sandstorm swallowing him whole while he desperately thought:

‘What will Lily do? She doesn’t have any friends besides me.’

Yet when he opened his eyes, Lily herself was standing right there.

And not only Lily.

The entire village seemed to be surrounding him.

Among them were villagers long believed dead—people reported missing years ago—and even strangers Peter couldn’t remember ever meeting.

His mind could barely process it.

Lily, however, didn’t bother explaining much.

There would be time for stories later.

Tonight, they would return to the village. Tomorrow, they would properly honor the people who had saved them.

Once evening settled over the Oasis and the desert air cooled, the villagers would gather together and finally speak of everything they had buried in silence.

For now, Lily simply laughed and cried at the same time while trying to help Peter walk despite the difference in their height.

“Lily. Let me carry him.”

“Father.”

The chief stepped forward and lifted Peter himself.

Then he turned toward Ian and bowed deeply.

“Please... allow us the chance to apologize for our wrongs and repay the kindness you’ve shown us.”

“It’s only natural to repay kindness,” Ian replied with an easy smile.

The casual way the young man spoke should have offended the chief.

Instead, it felt strangely appropriate.

As though the balance between them had finally been corrected.

The chief felt only gratitude toward the divine being standing before him.

Meanwhile, Ian was thinking something entirely different.

‘Yeah, there should definitely be a reward for finishing a quest.’

By the time they returned to the village, night had fully fallen. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The people rescued from the sand pillars were still too weak to move properly, so the villagers decided to hold the celebration for their benefactors the following day instead.

Once again, the chief hosted Ian’s group inside his home.

This time, he served them a precious meal seasoned with dried mamool meat reserved for important occasions.

And unlike before, there was no medicine mixed into it.

To prove it, the chief personally tasted the food first before setting down his utensils.

“I apologize for not offering anything more luxurious,” he said. “Tomorrow, everyone in the village will contribute what they can. Please look forward to it.”

“A festival?” the elf asked brightly. “It’s been a while. I like festivals.”

Ian personally had no interest in attending, but since the elf seemed happy about it, he left the matter alone.

The three quietly began eating.

Even Ian, usually oblivious to such things, could feel the chief staring at him with visible hesitation.

It was obvious the man wanted to ask something.

Ian already knew what it was.

“...Are you a messenger sent by God?”

‘Yep. Knew it.’

Ding!

[Chief Otto thinks you are a messenger of God!]

Ding!

[Chief Otto feels reverence toward you!]

Keith nodded to himself with an oddly satisfied look.

‘Why are you nodding?’

“I’m just an ordinary traveler,” Ian answered.

“Please... speak more modestly,” Otto said earnestly. “It’s difficult for us to endure otherwise.”

What was actually difficult to endure was the possibility of the ‘Savior’ reputation overtaking the ‘Tyrant’ title.

“Uh, no, really. Just a traveler. This here is Sir Keith. Even though the villagers had hostile intentions, he said they hadn’t committed a sin beyond forgiveness.”

“......?”

Keith slowly turned to look at Ian.

How could someone lie so naturally without changing expression even slightly?

It was honestly impressive.

Still, if Ian wanted it that way—

“I did say that,” Keith replied smoothly.

“I see... But even so, the one who dispersed the sandstorm and saved the villagers was still—”

Ian cut him off.

“Speaking of that. Tell everyone to prepare for a water shortage tomorrow.”

“...What?”

“The Oasis is drying up. By now it’s probably already scorching hot. After all, the village’s Oasis was created through the tower’s [N O V E L I G H T] ‘wish-granting magic.’”

Otto’s face stiffened.

“What...?”

“The tower’s magic and the sandstorm curse are connected. The storm devours life force and despair from living beings, then converts that energy into power for the ‘Book of Wishes.’”

Otto fell silent.

Being an intelligent man, he understood immediately.

“...Then you mean... our home will disappear?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why remove the sandstorm?” Otto blurted out before he could stop himself.

Keith’s fingers twitched slightly.

‘Ungrateful.’

Humans like Otto were nothing new to him.

Long ago, resentment like this might have disappointed him.

Now, however, Keith found himself worrying more about Ian instead.

Keith had already seen too much ugliness in people.

Why should Ian have to experience the same thing?

But Ian had his own reasons for speaking this way.

‘Let’s lower the Savior reputation a bit more.’

When playing the Ian route solo, naturally you aimed for the Savior ending.

But balancing reputations like this was strangely fun.

So Ian deliberately chose his next words while watching both the reputation window and Otto’s favorability meter.

“We removed it because it was in our way.”

“....”

“It interfered with climbing the tower. That’s all. We didn’t do it to save anyone.”

Ding!

[Chief Otto feels betrayed by you.]

Ding!

[Chief Otto is deeply disappointed in you!]

The Savior reputation dropped sharply.

Meanwhile, the Tyrant reputation remained perfectly stable.

‘...Was that really necessary?’

Ian briefly questioned himself before deciding the title issue could be dealt with later.

“The best option is to gather water and abandon the village tomorrow,” he continued. “Move somewhere else.”

“Move where?” Otto snapped, suddenly rising to his feet. “This is a desert! Do you think no one has searched for other water sources before? To the west is mamool territory, to the north lies the western Grand Duke’s land, the south is blocked by thornbrush, and the east—”

“Then go east,” Ian said casually. “The tower that blocked the way is gone now. And there won’t be any more sandstorms.”

“It’s not that simple!” Otto shouted.

“Crossing the desert itself is dangerous! Mamools hunt at night, the cold freezes people alive, and during the day the heat feels hot enough to melt the earth itself! Maybe a few people could survive it, but what about the elderly? How are they supposed to endure that journey?”

‘So the title really is working properly.’

Oddly enough, Ian found Otto’s reaction refreshing.

The people serving under him were all affected by the ‘Tyrant’ title. They obeyed him almost unconditionally.

But Otto was different.

Otto was not his subordinate.

Come to think of it, the title probably wasn’t inspiring enough fear yet.

Generously, Ian decided to remind him.

“This makes three times now.”

“...What?”

“The number of times I’ve saved your life.”

The moment those words fell, fear returned to Otto’s face.

And at the same time, a shiver ran down his spine.