After Victoria and Silvia’s figures completely vanished down the end of the passage, silence returned to the cave, broken only by the soft, steady crackle of the campfire.
Greg let out a long breath—not out of relief, but to temporarily suppress his chaotic thoughts and make sense of his current situation.
“Dammit, is this some kind of trash game or what...?”
He couldn't help but mutter under his breath. “I just took on a main quest, so why did it trigger a whole chain reaction of side quests?”
The problems laid out before him were so clear they gave him a headache:
1. Conquer the first layer of the dungeon before the end of Act One.
2. Find a way to get the current Saintess of the Holy Church of Light to lift his curse before she steps down.
3. Go see his suicidal idiot maid within a one-week deadline.
4. Figure out how he had inexplicably become a believer of the Goddess of Night.
Greg felt somewhat helpless.
The only thing certain for now was that he couldn't just stay hidden here and grind quietly forever. At the right time, he would have to risk his life and head to the surface.
“Whatever. Things have already come to this, so I might as well check my status panel first.”
Greg opened his status panel:
[Name: Greg Sass]
[Race: Human]
[Level: LV16]
[Constitution: 3]
[Agility: 3]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Charisma: 10 (?)]
[Willpower: 6]
[Luck: 10 (Black)]
[Dungeon Explorer (Upgradeable): Increases damage dealt to any existence by 20% while inside a dungeon.]
[Praise the Dungeon (Upgradeable): Your actual Luck value will not fall below 0 while inside a dungeon.]
[Dungeon's Charity (Upgradeable): Experience gained is slightly increased while inside a dungeon.]
[Digestive Bacteria (Fixed): When killing an enemy in a dungeon, there is a chance to acquire a random skill or skill fragment from the enemy.]
[Redemption of the Villainous Noble: Conquer the first layer of the dungeon before the end of Act One of the story.]
[Acquired Skills: Whimpering LV3, Blunt Resistance LV2, Burrow LV1, Earth Magic Resistance LV2, Earth Magic Affinity LV1, Underwater Adaptation LV3, Water Magic Resistance LV2, Water Magic Affinity LV1, Freeze Resistance LV1, Tentacle Entanglement LV1]
“Hmm, none of these have changed, but...”
Greg looked over to the page showing his personal skill panel.
[Personal Skills: Ancient Language LV1, Fireball LV1, Water Gun LV2, Dark Magic Affinity LV10 (New), Bracers of Darkness LV1 (New), Dark Pulse LV1 (New)]
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Dark Magic Affinity LV10?!
What the hell is this?
He remembered that not even Victoria, who possessed the Hero's Protection, nor Silvia, who had the Goddess's blessing, reached LV10 affinity with any elemental magic.
And dark-attribute magic never even appeared in the original game!
As a hardcore player who had cleared the game through 81 playthroughs, he was one hundred percent certain: dark-attribute magic did not exist at all in the original game, "Do You Like a World Where You Can Happily Party Up Even as a Girl?"!
The magic system in the game revolved around four primary elements—Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—supplemented by a few rare variants like Light and Lightning.
The dark attribute had only been vaguely mentioned in the lore of ancient texts, tied to the long-dead faith of the Goddess of Night. It was purely historical background lore, with no character actually able to use it.
But now...
This Dark Magic Affinity LV10 that had appeared out of thin air, along with the two basic dark skills derived from it, completely overturned his understanding.
“Could it be...”
An absurd yet unavoidable thought surfaced in his mind. “Does the Goddess of Night, who was only mentioned once in the lore, actually exist in this world?”
“And have I unwittingly become the recipient of Her favor?”
“What is Her goal? And why me?”
Countless questions swirled violently in Greg's head like a whirlpool.
Rather than bringing him a sense of security, this sudden gift felt like a thicker fog settling over his already danger-ridden road to survival.
“Meow~”
A soft meow echoed unexpectedly through the quiet cave.
Greg was snapped out of his deep thoughts and looked toward the sound.
A cat—pitch-black except for its glowing, eerie green eyes—sat gracefully on a rock not far from him, its tail swaying gently as it stared at him in silence.
“A cat? How could a cat be in—”
Just as Greg began to question the black cat's sudden appearance, his attention was drawn toward the underground river where a splash had just sounded.
“Wait, is the drop rate seriously this high today?!”
...
“Hmph~ Those girls actually dared to say this princess isn't strong enough to enter the dungeon?”
A figure walked briskly across a narrow, damp stone bridge.
Her appearance seemed somewhat ordinary, her slender frame brimming with energy. Though her bust was not quite as voluptuous as certain mature women, it filled out the curves of her academy uniform nicely.
And she was none other than Lilith Kahn, Second Princess of the kingdom and a genius who had shocked the entire academy upon enrollment, currently using a disguise item.
At merely LV10, relying on her astounding talent and the tilt of royal resources, she had already mastered Flame Burst LV1.
Hailed as a prodigy since childhood and raised amidst praise and awe, a firm belief had long taken root in Lilith's heart: there was nothing Lilith Kahn couldn't do.
Originally, she had eagerly planned to go see two other freshwomen who were said to be quite remarkable today.
Victoria, who came from a commoner background, and Silvia, who was closely connected to the Holy Church of Light.
She didn't care about background; she was interested only in strength.
But unfortunately, she had made a wasted trip.
Neither of them was in their dormitory.
Bored, Her Highness Princess rolled her eyes and made a bold decision:
Sneak directly into the dungeon and bring back some loot to thoroughly shock those three maids who were always nagging her!
That was why she was here right now.
“What gives? It doesn't seem as dangerous as they made it out to be...”
Lilith stepped onto the middle of the stone bridge and looked around.
This was still the shallow layers of the dungeon's first layer. Though the lighting was dim, there were no monster roars or strange sounds—it was quiet to the point of being... boring.
“There isn't even a decent monster in sight. How dull—yaaah?!”
Before her words even finished!
A slick, cold black tentacle shot out from the underground river below the bridge without warning, wrapping around Lilith's ankle with the precision of a hunting python!
An immense pulling force hit instantly!
“Wh—?!”
Before she could react, Lilith's world spun, and she was yanked off the bridge by that tremendous force!
Splash—!!
The freezing water swallowed her in an instant.
“Guh...!”
Water pressure squeezed her from all directions as pitch darkness completely enveloped her vision.
Lilith struggled desperately, trying to channel her mana and cast the fire magic she was so proud of.
However, underwater was vastly different from dry land.
The current disrupted the gathering of mana, panic from the lack of oxygen made it hard to concentrate, and the freezing water was the natural enemy of fire magic.
After several attempts, as soon as sparks flickered on her fingertips, they were mercilessly snuffed out by the water.
“It's no use... I can't use it at all...”
Despair, like cold seaweed, began to entwine her heart.
A burning pain throbbed in her lungs, and her consciousness grew blurry.
“Am I really... going to die in a place like this...?”
“And die... so pathetically...”
Resentment and fear intertwined.
Just as her vision was about to be completely consumed by darkness—
A warm, powerful hand suddenly broke through the freezing water, tightly grasping her wrist.
Rate on N.U.
