Reverse Dungeon

“Lord Ian!”

“Huh?”

“Look behind you.”

Keith forcefully turned Ian around. Ian was just about to snap at him when the words died in his throat.

Something was there.

It resembled the viewing lens of an old submarine—the kind used to look outside from underwater.

Of course, Ian had never actually seen an old submarine before, so he wasn’t entirely sure the comparison made sense. Still, the moment he saw it, he instinctively understood what it was for.

It protruded from the ground among the bushes, silently staring at him.

The camouflage was meticulous enough that only someone with exceptional physical abilities like Keith—or someone like Ian, whose Archery buffs granted vision sharp enough to rival a hawk’s—could have noticed it.

Ian froze in disbelief.

“What... is that?”

“It’s you, Lord Ian! I knew it was you!”

“Lord Ian! Please take off your mask! It’s me, Sema! You haven’t forgotten me, right?”

“Lord Ian, it’s Louise.”

Voices echoed from a pipe attached to the lens. Looking closer, Ian noticed small holes drilled along the pipe—probably for sound transmission.

“What exactly are you all doing?”

“Just a moment! We’ll open the door!”

Sema’s excited voice rang out, followed by a faint tremor beneath the ground.

A circular outline appeared amid the ruined earth where nothing had been moments earlier.

Then a round hatch popped open like the lid of a jar.

Pop!

Sema stuck his head out.

“Lord Ian! Hurry and get inside!”

“What’s with this door?”

“There’s a reason for it! Honestly, I didn’t even want to build it like this! I was planning to create a magnificent entrance worthy of welcoming you back, Lord Ian, but—”

“Forget it.”

A grand dungeon entrance in the middle of the forest would only attract more mamool.

Ignoring Sema’s complaints, Ian frowned.

“Did someone attack? Or are they planning to? Is that why you’re hiding? This doesn’t feel like your idea. Louise or Momisia came up with it, didn’t they?”

“Momisia designed it.”

Sema’s face crumpled pitifully.

“Aah, Lord Ian... why did you take so long? We were desperately waiting for you!”

“Why?”

“A weird elf occupied the dungeon!”

“What?”

At the words weird elf, the first person Ian thought of was the five-star elf merchant he had encountered before.

But that elf had separated from the party in the desert and headed in the complete opposite direction from the dungeon.

There was no way it could be him.

And it wasn’t.

The elf “occupying the dungeon” was someone else entirely.

More specifically—

A woman.

Contrary to the word occupied, however, she looked less like an invader and more like a hostage.

A black cloth covered her eyes.

Her arms were tied behind her back.

Her legs were bound as well.

Ian immediately broke into a cold sweat.

And with good reason.

He recognized her.

She was a playable character.

Not just any playable character, either, but one of the game’s most popular—constantly fighting for first or second place in popularity rankings thanks to her cold, ethereal beauty.

Genea.

Bound at the waist, she bowed politely toward Ian.

“It is an honor to meet the infamous Tyrant of the Continent, Lord Ian. I am Genea, currently a prisoner.”

Ding!

[Character]

‘Prisoner’ Genea (★★★★☆)

Reputation

Prisoner, Guardian of the World Tree, Cold, Quirky

Skills

Spirit Affinity: LV.3

Spirit Magic: LV.7

Martial Arts: LV.5

Ding!

[‘Prisoner’ Genea is a criminal.]

Ding!

[‘Prisoner’ Genea is currently an escaped convict.]

The status window informed Ian of something painfully obvious.

‘Yeah, I can already tell from the prison uniform.’

What exactly was supposed to appeal to players about an eccentric elf beauty dressed in prison clothes?

Her popularity had apparently been overwhelming enough to make the developers create another elf character afterward.

Still, would a male elf really sell as well?

Ian doubted the developers had thought that through properly.

Then again, if they had released another female elf instead, Ian probably would’ve sent them a furious ten-thousand-character complaint.

Ian turned toward Sema.

“You said she occupied the dungeon?”

“She did! It was complete tyranny! Having one tyrant in my life is already enough, Lord Ian, but this elf barged in and started ordering us to shut the dungeon down—”

“What?”

Ian had already been preparing to smack Sema upside the head for casually calling him a tyrant again, but apparently the dungeon shutdown idea had come from Genea.

As the crowd that had gathered to welcome Ian gradually dispersed and returned to their duties, only the core members remained.

Ian pointed toward the one person most likely to explain things calmly.

“Louise. What happened?”

“Yes, Lord Ian. My apologies for burdening you with this immediately upon your return.”

Louise lowered her head slightly before continuing.

“This elf disguised herself as a human and infiltrated the dungeon. She took Sema hostage and demanded an audience with you. When she learned you weren’t here, she insisted that the dungeon be shut down.”

“Who told her I wasn’t here?”

Even in the middle of all this chaos, Ian’s curiosity surfaced first.

Everyone’s gaze slowly shifted toward one person.

The culprit awkwardly raised a hand.

“M-me...” Sema confessed.

‘I knew it.’

“Well... good effort. Next time, try not to reveal critical information while being held hostage. Anyway, why did she want the dungeon shut down? And why is she tied up like this? If you managed to subdue her, there was no reason to obey her demands, right?”

“Well...”

Louise started to explain, but Genea raised her head first.

Silky green hair slipped gently over her shoulders with the movement.

“May I explain personally, Tyrant Lord Ian?”

“Yeah, but drop the Tyrant part.”

At this point, Ian was beginning to wonder whether clinging to the Tyrant title just to avoid becoming a Savior was really worth it.

Surely there had to be a better option.

Genea nodded obediently.

“Understood. Just Lord Ian, then.”

Her expression remained calm.

“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am a prisoner from an elf village.”

“Yeah. I gathered that much.”

“I escaped from prison.”

“Also obvious.”

“As expected of Lord Ian. I knew someone as perceptive as you would understand immediately.”

“...”

The elf in prison clothes nodded to herself in satisfaction.

Ian decided not to comment further.

Normally, he would’ve thrown in some sarcastic remark, but Genea was a difficult opponent in an entirely different sense.

Genea spoke earnestly.

“The reason I became a prisoner is simple. As the Guardian of the World Tree, I failed in my duty. I caused the sacred tree—the World Tree, as humans call it—to wither.”

“What...?!”

“I’ve heard of that,” someone murmured quietly. “Each elf village possesses a World Tree that serves as its sacred guardian.”

The remaining dungeon members stirred uneasily, whispering among themselves.

Ian, however, wasn’t surprised.

He already knew this from Genea’s tutorial storyline.

And more importantly—

The World Tree’s withering was not Genea’s fault.

Not even remotely.

Genea continued speaking.

“I became a prisoner, but I could not simply rot away in a cell. I had ruined everything, yet I didn’t even know the cause. I couldn’t endure it. So I escaped.”

“...”

“Uh... are you actually allowed to do that?” Sema asked cautiously.

“Of course not. That is why the village’s tracking party is currently pursuing me.”

Despite being blindfolded and restrained, Genea answered with complete composure.

“Hold on a second! So the reason you wanted the dungeon shut down was because of that?!”

“Yes. I could not bear the thought of innocent people here being endangered because of me. Likewise, I did not wish for members of the tracking party to become victims of the dungeon’s traps.”

“What...?!”

“Didn’t you swear that a great enemy was coming? You swore upon your soul, your name, and the World Tree itself. We trusted those words.”

Contacca’s deep voice cut in quietly.

“I did not lie. I swear upon my soul that the village’s tracking party will indeed be formidable enemies.”

“They’re enemies chasing you! What does that have to do with us?!” Sema shouted.

For once, he actually had a valid point.

Genea tilted her head slightly.

“I never said they were your enemies.”

‘What kind of logic is that...?’

“...Lord Ian!”

Sema looked desperately toward Ian for help.

Surely only Ian could handle someone this absurd.

Unfortunately, Ian had no idea what to do either.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

This was Genea, after all.

She was difficult in ways completely unlike ordinary people.

“Please help me, Lord Ian.”

Genea lowered her head.

“...”

“After escaping, this was not the first place I visited. I went to the temple first. I knew ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ that a branch from a World Tree not affiliated with any village existed there.”

Her voice remained calm and unwavering.

“When I was chosen as the next Guardian, I personally heard the prophecy from the previous one.”

‘If the World Tree ever withers, go there.’

“But when I arrived at the temple...”

Genea paused briefly.

“There was nothing left.”

‘Huh?’

Ian’s chest tightened instantly.

This story sounded far too familiar.

Sema, who had been arguing moments earlier, abruptly fell silent.

Louise quietly glanced toward Ian.

Everyone here knew.

They had all entered the Temple of the Elf Goddess alongside Ian.

And they had all seen what he took from there.

Ian’s eyes shook.

‘That World Tree branch... I took it, didn’t I?’

So this was how karma finally came back around.