Reverse Dungeon

Ian genuinely questioned whether he had heard correctly.

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

Keith’s eyes widened slightly, as though he had immediately realized what Ian misunderstood.

“It’s not like that. I merely wished to show my respect. But I thought you might feel uncomfortable if I touched you without permission...”

‘Ah. That.’

Only then did Ian understand.

It was that sort of scene often shown in historical Western dramas—the formal gesture of kissing the back of someone’s hand.

Ian wasn’t particularly interested in culture or romance, but he had seen enough game trailers and cinematics to recognize it.

Still, the part about Ian supposedly getting embarrassed by being touched made no sense to him.

There was nothing between them.

Ian cut him off immediately.

“In that case, of course you can. Show all the respect you want.”

He extended his hand without hesitation.

Though inwardly, he remained confused.

Why was Keith suddenly acting respectful in the first place?

Keith carefully lifted Ian’s hand toward himself.

Then he pressed a kiss against the back of Ian’s gloved hand.

And stayed there.

For several long seconds, his lips never moved away.

Ian’s breathing caught.

For some reason, it felt as though even the slightest movement would betray something strange inside him.

Like his body might twitch if he breathed too hard.

‘No. I’m not nervous.’

Ian immediately corrected himself.

There was absolutely no reason to feel tense over something this trivial.

Keith was simply a fanatical holy knight obsessed with the whole Agent of God nonsense.

A subordinate kissing the hand of someone he revered wasn’t unusual.

Now that he thought about it, Ian wondered why Keith had never shown this sort of reverence before.

‘Did he finally start respecting me for real?’

Oddly enough, that thought made him more uncomfortable than the kiss itself.

Still, if this was connected to Keith’s loyalty increasing, Ian wanted to understand the trigger properly.

Trying to sound casual, he asked,

“So why did you suddenly start respecting me this much?”

Keith parted his lips slightly.

Still kneeling beside the bed, he lifted only his eyes to meet Ian’s gaze.

His expression was painfully sincere.

“I have respected you from the very beginning, Lord Ian.”

‘You literally tried to strangle me the first time we met, you little psychopath.’

Ian briefly wondered whether holy knights were allowed to lie this blatantly.

“Sure. Let’s say that’s true. But there must’ve been some specific reason your respect suddenly deepened.”

“Lord Ian forgave the ungrateful merfolk and treated them with compassion.”

Keith’s voice softened.

“You practiced the mercy taught by the heavens themselves. How could I not respect someone like that?”

‘Ah. So pretending to be kind really was the correct option.’

Despite openly despising non-humans, Keith apparently considered forgiveness toward them admirable.

Ian genuinely could not understand the standards operating inside Keith’s head.

Still, one thing had become clear:

Continuing to act kind while steering Keith into the role of humanity’s righteous protector was definitely the correct strategy.

That realization finally put Ian somewhat at ease.

“But Lord Ian,” Keith continued quietly, “what should be done if they repay your kindness with malice?”

“What do you mean?”

“The mermaid soldiers stationed outside may attempt to harm you. They have confined you here and placed guards around the room. It would not be strange if they intended something further.”

‘No, that’s not part of the event.’

Ian answered casually.

“Then we’ll leave. We’re more than capable of escaping.”

“And if we leave, will they not simply comfort themselves by resenting you?”

“Then let them.”

Ian shrugged.

“If hating me makes them feel better, who cares?”

Keith stared at him blankly.

“Does a good deed still hold meaning if nobody acknowledges it?”

Had they even performed a good deed in the first place?

It honestly felt like Keith had completely forgotten why they had come here.

Then Ian suddenly realized—

‘Wait. He probably thinks destroying the Life Vessel is some noble act done for the world.’

Well.

Technically, that was the narrative Ian had been feeding him.

“You and I know what we did.”

Ian smiled lightly, as if reassuring him that their actions still mattered.

That alone was enough for Keith.

The holy knight who continued doing good despite receiving resentment in return looked visibly reassured.

Keith blinked slowly.

“...Yes.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“You and I know.”

Ian found himself thinking that Keith should smile more often.

With that youthful expression softening his features, he finally looked closer to his actual age.

Though honestly, Ian wasn’t entirely sure how much comfort there really was in the two of them knowing.

Still, the conversation had clearly produced results.

Ding!

[‘Agent of God’ Keith considers you his Savior!]

Ding!

[‘????’ ??? stands in awe of your mental fortitude!]

“...?”

Ian immediately turned his head.

The elf merchant was sitting cross-legged on the opposite bed, grinning from ear to ear.

“When did you get there?”

Ian couldn’t believe he had completely forgotten about the elf’s existence after dragging him all the way here.

Then again, Keith’s presence was overwhelming enough to erase awareness of everyone else nearby.

But now that he thought about it—

Keith had kissed his hand.

They had stared into each other’s eyes.

And exchanged deeply questionable dialogue.

Even now, Keith was still kneeling beside Ian’s bed.

Ian’s ears turned red instantly.

“Why are you still down there? Get up already.”

“Yes, Lord Ian.”

Keith accepted the hand Ian offered to pull him up.

For a brief moment, his # Nоvеlight # gaze lingered on Ian’s hand.

Then his fingers curled slightly, as though carefully holding onto something precious.

Ian failed to notice.

He had buried himself halfway into the blankets, mortified by the realization that he had just spent who-knew-how-long rambling about kindness and righteousness.

Worse, exhaustion was finally crashing down on him all at once.

After the battle with Kyarakus, the mermaid princess event, and the emotional labor of keeping Keith mentally stable, Ian could barely keep his eyes open.

His final coherent thought before drifting off was:

Isn’t this room kind of cold?

The underwater city really doesn’t care about details like temperature control, huh?

Though what bothered him more was the fact that—

Weren’t there only two beds in this room?

Ian shivered slightly, hugging his shoulders.

Cold seeped beneath his clothes.

Then warmth suddenly wrapped around him.

—

In his dream, Yiwon was wearing his middle school uniform again.

The orphanage where he grew up hadn’t been a terrible place.

At the very least, he had never starved.

Of course, he had never possessed abundance either. Nobody there got everything they wanted.

The teachers genuinely tried to care for every child equally.

But no one’s heart was large enough to truly embrace everyone.

Especially not a troublesome child like Jeong Yiwon.

The orphanage director bowed repeatedly in apology.

He forced Yiwon’s head down too, demanding that he apologize.

Yiwon thought:

I didn’t do anything wrong.

But nobody acknowledged that.

Yiwon had done something bad.

Because that was the sort of thing a parentless orphan inevitably did.

No one stood on his side.

The child Yiwon had protected avoided his gaze entirely.

They lowered their head and never looked at him again.

Cold crept through him.

He was freezing.

Lonely.

Yiwon clenched his teeth, swearing to himself that he would not cry.

He refused to become pathetic.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

Then someone answered him.

No. You didn’t.

...I only did what I had to do.

And you did the right thing.

Well done.

Even if no one else knows—

I know.

The voice sounded impossibly close.

And impossibly far away at the same time.

Someone embraced him.

The trembling stopped.

Warmth slowly spread through his frozen hands and feet.

It felt like being wrapped inside a thick blanket.

Like being held safely in someone’s arms.

Yiwon had never known this kind of kindness before.

He cried a little.

Then sank into deeper sleep.

—

When morning came, he remembered none of it.

Only the vague sensation that he had slept unusually well.

Ian stretched instinctively—

And immediately realized he couldn’t move.

His entire body was trapped beneath crushing weight.

Turning his head with difficulty, he found Keith’s perfectly composed sleeping face inches away.

“...What is this?”

More than confusion, Ian felt suffocated.

Arms and legs surrounded him from every direction.

Objectively speaking, Keith was merely hugging him.

Subjectively, however, it felt identical to being pinned beneath prison bars.

Apparently, the two of them sharing one narrow bed had forced Keith to improvise.

His solution had been to hold Ian like an oversized doll.

Ian’s breath hitched.

There was nothing violent about the embrace, but Keith’s body felt less like flesh and more like forged steel pressing down on him from all sides.

The sheer weight was terrifying.

“Keith. Wake up.”

His voice emerged muffled beneath Keith’s arm.

Keith didn’t move at all.

“....”

Wasn’t he supposed to be the strongest knight in the world?

Shouldn’t someone like that wake instantly at the slightest disturbance?

How was he sleeping this deeply?

Ian stared blankly at him.

When exactly did this lunatic even crawl into bed?

“Move your arm. Or your leg. Keith?”

“You are walking the proper path...”

Keith muttered sleepily.

“...?”

Well, Ian certainly hoped he was taking the optimal route.

‘Could I kick him without breaking my foot?’

Ian glanced cautiously toward Keith’s shin.

Then immediately lost confidence.

‘...No. My foot would definitely lose.’

And honestly—

Looking at Keith’s peaceful sleeping face, beautiful enough to seem unreal, Ian couldn’t bring himself to hit him anyway.

Though technically, that face was unreal.

Someone literally had designed it.

Keith’s calm breathing brushed against Ian rhythmically.

Every breath somehow made Ian feel even more trapped beneath the unbearable weight.

How exactly was he supposed to escape this situation without causing a disaster?

While Ian was desperately thinking, the elf merchant’s cheerful voice suddenly rang out nearby.

“Did you sleep well? Since we’re still safely locked in here, I guess they still haven’t decided what to do with us.”

‘Ah.’

Right.

This guy was here too.

At that moment, Ian finally abandoned any lingering belief that he had chosen the optimal route.

Everything had been perfectly planned.

Then this unpredictable variable had appeared and ruined his experience gains.

Honestly, Kyarakus waking up early was probably this idiot’s fault too.

Bringing along an uncollected five-star character clearly had to be causing system errors.

Yes.

That explanation made perfect sense.

Having successfully blamed all his suffering on someone else, Ian slowly lifted his head.

‘If not for him, everything would’ve gone exactly according to plan.’

The elf merchant—the uncollected five-star character Ian had already intended to recruit eventually—sat smiling brightly from the opposite bed.

Perfect.

Ian had been planning to target him sooner or later anyway.