After Victoria and Silvia’s figures completely vanished at the end of the tunnel, silence returned to the cave, save for the faint crackling of the campfire.
Greg let out a long breath, not out of relaxation, but to push aside his chaotic thoughts and begin assessing the current situation.
"Shit, is this some kind of trash game?"
He couldn't help but grumble under his breath. "I just accepted a main quest, so why is it triggering a whole chain of side quests too?"
The problems laid out before him were headache-inducing in their clarity:
Clear the first floor of the dungeon before the end of Act One.
Find a way to get the current Saintess of the Holy Church of Light to lift his curse before she steps down.
Go see his suicidal idiot maid within a week.
Figure out how he had somehow become a believer of the Goddess of Night.
Greg felt a sense of helplessness.
The only thing certain for now was that he couldn't just stay here and grind in peace. When the time was right, he would have to risk his life and head back to the surface.
"Forget it. Now that things have come to this, I should check my status panel first."
Greg opened his interface:
[Name: Greg Sass]
[Race: Human]
[Level: LV16]
[Constitution: 3]
[Agility: 3]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Charisma: 10 (?)]
[Willpower: 6]
[Luck: 10 (Black)]
[Dungeon Explorer (Evolvable): When inside a dungeon, damage dealt to any entity is increased by 20%]
[Praise the Dungeon (Evolvable): When inside a dungeon, your actual Luck value will not fall below 0]
[Dungeon's Charity (Evolvable): When inside a dungeon, experience gained is slightly increased]
[Digestive Bacteria (Fixed): When killing an enemy inside a dungeon, there is a chance to obtain a random skill or skill fragment from the enemy]
[Redemption of the Villainous Noble: Clear the first floor of the dungeon before the end of Act One.]
[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, nothing much has changed here, but..."
Greg looked at the page for his basic 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 was this?
He remembered that not even Victoria, who had the Hero’s Protection, or Silvia, who had the Goddess's Blessing, had reached LV10 in affinity for any magic element.
Furthermore, in the original work, dark attribute magic had never appeared at all!
As a hardcore player who had completed eighty-one playthroughs, he could be one hundred percent certain: in the game 《Do You Like a World Where You Can Happily Party Up Even as a Girl?》, dark attribute magic simply did not exist!
The magic system in the game revolved around the four basic elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, supplemented by a few rare variants like Light and Lightning.
As for the dark attribute, it was only vaguely mentioned in the lore of some ancient texts, tied to the long-extinct faith of the Goddess of Night. It was purely historical background and no character could actually use it.
But now...
This LV10 Dark Magic Affinity that appeared out of thin air, along with the two basic dark skills derived from it, completely overturned his understanding.
"Could it be..."
An absurd but unignorable thought surfaced. "Does the Goddess of Night, who only ever appeared once in a text description, still exist in this world?"
"And have I unknowingly received Her favor?"
"But what is Her purpose? And why me?"
Countless questions swirled in Greg's mind like a vortex.
Instead of bringing a sense of security, this sudden gift felt like a deeper fog shrouding his already perilous path to survival.
"Meow~"
A soft meow rang out without warning in the silent cave.
Greg snapped out of his deep thought and looked toward the sound.
A cat that was entirely black, save for its eyes which glowed with a faint green luster, was sitting elegantly on a rock not far from him. Its tail swayed gently as it watched him quietly.
"A cat? Why would it appear—"
Just as Greg began to doubt the black cat's presence, he turned toward the dark river where a loud splash had just echoed.
"Seriously? Is the drop rate really this high today!?"
...
"Hmph~ those guys actually dared to say this Princess isn't strong enough to enter the dungeon?"
A figure was walking lightly across a narrow, damp stone bridge.
Her appearance seemed somewhat ordinary, her figure slender yet full of vitality. Though her chest wasn't as full as some mature women, it filled out the curves of her academy uniform perfectly.
This was Lilith Kahn, the Second Princess of the kingdom, a genius who had caused a sensation across the entire academy upon her enrollment, currently using a disguise item.
At only Level 10, she had mastered Flame Burst LV1 through her staggering talent and the support of royal resources.
Having been hailed as a genius since childhood and growing up amidst praise and awe, a belief was deeply rooted in Lilith's heart: there was nothing she, Lilith Kahn, could not do.
Originally, she had intended to meet the other two prominent figures among the freshmen today.
The commoner-born Victoria and Silvia, who was closely connected to the Holy Church of Light.
She didn't care about background; she was only interested in strength.
But unfortunately, she had missed them.
Neither of them was in their dormitory.
Feeling bored, the Princess’s eyes darted around as she made a bold decision:
She would sneak directly into the dungeon, bring back some spoils of war, and give those three nagging maids a good shock!
That was why she was here now.
"What's the big deal? It doesn't feel as dangerous as they said..."
Lilith stepped onto the middle of the stone bridge and looked around.
This was still part of the shallow area of the dungeon's first floor. Although the light was dim, there were no monsters roaring or eerie sounds. It was so quiet that it was almost... boring.
"There isn't even a decent monster. How dull—Aaah?!"
Before she could finish her sentence!
A slimy, cold, pitch-black tentacle shot out without warning from the dark river beneath the bridge. Like a hunting giant python, it precisely coiled around Lilith's ankle!
A powerful pulling force struck instantly!
"Wha—?!"
Before she could even react, Lilith felt the world spin. She was violently dragged off the bridge by that massive force!
Splash!!
The icy river water instantly swallowed her.
"Gurgle...!"
Water pressure squeezed in from all directions, and darkness completely shrouded her vision.
Lilith struggled desperately, trying to mobilize her mana to cast her proud fire magic.
But the underwater environment was completely different from land.
The current interfered with the gathering of mana, the panic from oxygen deprivation made it difficult to concentrate, and the cold river water was the natural nemesis of fire magic.
After several attempts, sparks would barely flicker at her fingertips before being ruthlessly extinguished by the water.
"It's no use... I can't use it at all..."
Despair began to coil around her heart like cold seaweed.
A burning pain radiated from her lungs, and her consciousness gradually blurred.
"Am I... really going to... die in a place like this..."
"And die... so pathetically..."
Regret and fear intertwined.
At the very last moment before her vision was completely swallowed by darkness—
A warm and powerful hand suddenly pierced through the cold river water and firmly grasped her wrist.
Rate on N.U.
