Reverse Dungeon

Ian had three skills, and in most cases a character’s unique skill was listed first. Which meant this brat’s signature ability was .

Didn’t that sound impressive? And to be fair, it was useful.

Later.

The problem was surviving the garbage-tier opening difficulty with a skill that didn’t become useful until the midgame.

What, exactly, was this game expecting beginners to do?

The other two skills, and , were tied to his [Extravagant] reputation. In plain terms, he was a spoiled little noble who spent his days hunting and fooling around.

Fine. So the guy ignored orders, and his skills were practically worthless, but—

There was still a way to make even trash like this obey.

The [Forced Command] function.

Using it instantly raised your Tyrant reputation points, but honestly, how much worse could Ian’s reputation get?

Bit by bit, Jeong Yiwon was being drawn deeper into the dreamscape of . Dreams were supposed to be places where anything could happen, and their crises were often absurdly vivid—almost as vivid as reality.

Like the efficiency-minded Korean gamer he was, Yiwon didn’t hesitate to pull up .

Nothing happened.

“...?”

All he could see were the status window, the dungeon management window, and the quest window.

Was this a joke?

Maybe he had to issue the commands himself. Yiwon tried opening the command menu again, but the result was the same.

Apparently that was how this dream worked. Poorly made, but trying very hard to be immersive. He glared at the empty air for a moment before turning to the people huddled on the ground in tears.

“Hey. Stop crying and get up. Are you planning to die here?”

“We’re doomed!”

“We were abandoned here with this bastard!”

“...”

Unbelievable.

No matter how bad things were, wasn’t this man still a prince? Were they really calling him a bastard to his face? Their lives must have been so miserable they no longer cared.

Yiwon turned to the only one among them who looked remotely capable of holding a conversation: a robed man watching Ian with a deeply troubled expression.

“No one seems willing to move on their own,” the man said. “But if you give the order, I’ll do my best to rally them.”

“Who are you?”

There was only one character who spoke to Ian at this stage of the route. Yiwon was pretty sure this had to be him, but he asked anyway.

The man flinched. Fear twisted across his face as he answered.

“Lord Ian. Why are you speaking so formally? I’m the mage, Sema. I introduced myself yesterday.”

His expression practically screamed, Has this bastard finally gone insane?

Yiwon didn’t care. There was something he needed to confirm.

Ding!

“At least this still works.”

The mage had barely finished introducing himself before the status window appeared.

Just like in the game. To inspect someone’s status, you first had to hear them introduce themselves.

Apparently that part hadn’t changed.

The mage’s status window read:

[Character]

‘Incompetent’ Sema (★★★☆☆)

[Reputation]

Incompetent, Mage, Clumsy, Weak-hearted

[Skills]

Water Ball: LV.2

Liquid Property Manipulation: LV.2

This was the mage the king had assigned to Ian.

Well. “Assigned” was being generous. “Thrown away” was closer to the truth.

When you were fleeing with a large group, resources mattered. Every extra mouth burned through supplies faster, and every extra body slowed you down.

The king had clearly intended to abandon his useless bastard son here, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) along with a few expendable people, and use them all as bait while he lightened the load.

This entire situation was the perfect Ian tutorial.

A flood of bitter beginner reviews suddenly came back to Yiwon—players complaining that they died here over and over again.

Idiotic developers.

Jeong Yiwon turned to Sema.

“How exactly were you planning to get them moving?”

“Well, I-I’m on somewhat friendly terms with them, so they might listen to me more readily than they would to Lord Ian...”

Sure they would, Yiwon thought, immediately abandoning the last shred of hope he’d had.

“Forget it. Just splash them with water.”

“Huh?”

“Hit them with a Water Ball. Snap them out of it. They’re all sitting there with their minds gone blank.”

“B-but it’ll hurt if they’re hit!”

Sema looked appalled.

But his spell completion rate was barely fifty percent. A level 2 with output like that would have its force practically cut in half.

Would it even hurt?

Yiwon frowned. “Will they die if it hits them?”

“Well, no, but...”

“If your magic were strong enough to hurt people, the king would have kept you with him.”

“W-what?!”

Yiwon realized Sema had completely misunderstood.

“I mean His Majesty would have kept you.”

Even then, Sema didn’t look reassured.

“But, Lord Ian! No matter how angry you are, I can’t obey an order to attack an ally!”

It looked like he had summoned every ounce of courage in his body just to say that.

How highly did this idiot think of his own magic? At his level, it barely qualified as an attack.

Then—

Piiiiiing!

Something sliced through the air again, followed by a sharp crack as red light flared across the sky.

The enemy was closing in.

And much closer than before.

There was no time to wait for this fool to work through his moral objections. Without a second thought, Jeong Yiwon nocked an arrow and aimed it at Sema’s throat.

Can I even nock an arrow properly?

He had wondered that as he moved, but Ian’s skill seemed to guide his hands, correcting his posture and grip the way a passive stat bonus would in-game.

The arrow came to rest directly against Sema’s Adam’s apple.

Perfect.

“...!”

Friendly, huh?

Threaten one life and everyone suddenly started paying attention.

Sure enough, the weeping crowd froze where they were and turned to stare at Yiwon in horror.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Move to the front. That’s an order.”

As the arrowhead pressed closer to Sema’s throat, gasps and shrill cries broke out all around them.

Sema himself didn’t even dare breathe.

Jeong Yiwon drove them all toward the cave directly ahead—

the ideal defensive position on Ian’s route.

A dungeon.

—

[The people are afraid of you.]

[The people think of you as a tyrant!]

—

Ding, ding!

The status messages popped up one after another. Yiwon pretended not to notice.

This is insane.

He let out a long sigh.

This was exactly why Ian’s route was hopeless. No matter what you did, his reputation only got worse.

Even if you managed to survive the immediate defense, a reputation like this would kill you in the long run. People would rather flee than live under a tyrant.

But that wasn’t the problem right now.

—

[You have discovered an unclaimed dungeon.]

[Would you like to become the dungeon’s owner?]

[Yes / No]

—

Obviously: Yes.

“Eek!”

“Oh.”

Yiwon, making the selection in midair, nearly drove the arrow into Sema’s neck for real.

[The people are terrified of you.]

[The people are now certain that you are a tyrant!]

[Title Change: ‘Bastard’ has been changed to ‘Tyrant.’]

[Character] ‘Tyrant’ Ian (★★★★☆)

Ah, damn it...

Did he need to care about that? Probably not.

Still, was [Tyrant] actually worse than [Bastard]? At least people reacted to a tyrant. A bastard just got ignored.

The thought crossed Yiwon’s mind despite himself.

“Split into groups of ten. We don’t have much time, so listen carefully. I’m going to explain what happens next.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

They answered exactly the way peasants answered a tyrant.

Which made sense, since they were peasants.

...

Anyway, Jeong Yiwon started issuing orders.

Not long after the groups scattered to carry out their assigned tasks, only Yiwon and Sema remained at the cave entrance.

“Sema.”

“Y-yes?!”

“Sorry. I wasn’t actually going to stab you.”

Yiwon reached out awkwardly and rubbed the mage’s neck, trying his best to look sincerely apologetic.

He could not afford to turn the mage into an enemy. Even if everyone else ran, keeping this one man by his side was essential.

Low spell completion rate or not, weak casting or not, Sema possessed one skill that was genuinely valuable.

On Ian’s route, this mage was indispensable in the early game.

And Sema had one defining trait Yiwon could not ignore.

Wasn’t it right there in the status window?

‘Weak-hearted’ Sema.

The man was a pushover, exactly as advertised.

Sema blinked his wide eyes and, to Yiwon’s surprise, said, “Oh, really?! I-I thought you were definitely going to skewer me. I mean, I’m so useless... it wouldn’t have been surprising. Haha...”

Yiwon stared at him blankly, unsure what to do with that level of self-esteem. Had this man spent his entire life being insulted? Why was he smiling at someone who had nearly killed him?

Still, since it wasn’t exactly a disadvantage, Yiwon decided to make use of it.

“What are you talking about? You’re the precious mage His Majesty left to protect me. All our lives depend on you.”

“W-what?! Me?!”

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

“Wh-what do I have to do? Can I even do it?!”

Yiwon had not explained a single thing yet, and Sema was already panicking. Someone had definitely been gaslighting this man on a daily basis.

In the game, Sema simply obeyed orders without all this extra conversation. But without [Forced Command], Yiwon had no choice but to put up with it.

“Of course you can. You’re the only one who can do this.”

“M-me?!”

“Yeah. Lower your voice.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Sema immediately lowered his voice and squeezed his eyes shut. He clutched at his robe as if bracing for cardiac arrest, and for a moment Yiwon honestly wondered whether the man might collapse on the spot.

Then Sema opened his eyes again and said with grave determination, “I-I’m ready now. Please tell me what I need to do.”

Did this guy really need mental preparation just to hear instructions?

Yiwon swallowed the comment and went on.

“You’re a water mage, right?” 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“Yes. But my water magic isn’t offensive! I couldn’t even kill a fly with it!”

Was that supposed to be a point of pride?

“Good. We don’t need to kill flies. I already know what your magic can do.”

“H-how do you know that?! You didn’t even remember my name earlier! Oh—has my name become famous already? Actually, Lord Ian, I’m the most incompetent mage in the royal palace, as I’m sure you already know!”

“Yes, I know. Say one more word and we’ll test exactly how incompetent you are.”

Sema snapped his mouth shut.

“You don’t need to attack with water. Look around. We’re in a cave.”

“...?”

When Sema continued staring at him blankly, Yiwon pointed upward.

“What do you see up there?”

“Stalactites?”

“What’s dripping from them?”

“Water droplets?”

“And what’s running along the ground?”

“Water...?”

Exactly.

What Yiwon needed was not offensive water magic.

The skill Sema had to use was .