How to Survive as a Dungeon Manager in Another World

Episode 11 – Became the Mastermind (2)

“Luke Richter, you are invited to the Main Assembly.”

“…”

Speechless before the vast bewilderment.

For the man in the black robe had suddenly invited me to the Main Assembly.

‘Is he mad?’

He must be out of his senses.

Humans at odds with the Imperial Family inviting me, a member of the Imperial Family, to their Main Assembly?

Impossible, unless one were quite mad.

‘…Is it because of that ridiculous rumor?’

Could they truly believe I assassinated the Shadow Lord?

If so, they have barked up the wrong damned tree.

The Lord’s death has not the slightest connection to me.

…But even if I were to declare my innocence, would those fellows change their minds?

I don’t know how to even begin persuading them, nor do I have evidence to support my claims.

‘Even I wouldn’t believe it if I were them.’

He apparently murmured my name before dying in an explosion?

Not only the Shadow Lord, but also several executives of that organization, all at once.

Under such circumstances, to blithely declare “I know nothing about this?” would only serve to further agitate them.

Furthermore, they are inviting me to the Main Assembly itself.

If revenge were their goal, they wouldn’t bother inviting me to their base, but rather send assassins.

To send even an executive, inviting me as a ‘guest,’ means they have no immediate intention of harming me.

‘Let’s just remain still.’

I did my best to manage my expression, closely observing the shifts in his own.

As fate would have it, he was also scrutinizing me, and our eyes met.

I didn’t want to be the first to look away, so I simply entertained other thoughts while maintaining eye contact.

And then.

“Luke.”

Ludine took a step forward.

And then, invariably, she asked.

“Enemy?”

A chilling silence descended in that instant.

The corner of the man who introduced himself as Cheong’s lips curled upward.

Intrigued by Ludine’s raw, untamed bloodlust.

“A guest.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so simmer down.”

Don’t needlessly stir things up.

I barely managed to swallow the unspoken words that had risen to the tip of my tongue.

“The reason for inviting me?”

“Our Lord desires it.”

“That’s all?”

“Indeed.”

The Main Assembly.

He wants me to crawl right into the heart of that dreadful den?

“And if I refuse?”

Cheong’s expression subtly hardened at my question.

But he quickly recovered his gentle smile.

“Of course, the choice is yours to make, but…”

Cheong paused, glancing around.

His gaze swept past Ludine.

There was no way I could misunderstand his meaning.

It was a blatant threat.

“Is that a threat?”

“It is.”

Daring to threaten me, with your extra-level status?

With all my heart, I wanted to repay him tenfold…

‘But the aftermath would be impossible to manage.’

Even if I somehow managed to take down this one, the aftermath would be impossible to handle.

And it’s not like I’m in a position to leave Blackmoore, so there’s effectively no choice.

‘No choice, then.’

Putting out the immediate fire is the priority.

If they want to invite me, I just need to go along with it.

But there’s no point in looking like a witless fool.

The Arkan Lords’ Council is a mad bunch that worships only strength, after all.

I need to flaunt myself appropriately here.

Because they only follow the logic of power.

“Intriguing,”

I chuckled and tossed out a word.

Sensing a strange dissonance, Qing’s hand moved towards his scabbard.

He was likely trying to draw his weapon.

“Accelerate(加速).”

The moment I uttered the fixed activation phrase, the ki condensed at my fingertips scattered.

The ki, dispersed in the form of fine particles, rippled like waves, passing through Qing at that moment.

“Reverse(逆).”

He stopped.

No, to be precise, Qing’s time stopped.

His fingers, reaching for the scabbard, were frozen in mid-air.

In that place where everything had stopped, the only movement permitted was in his eyes.

Qing’s eyes, shaking violently, scanned me up and down.

His lips, parted to form some sort of reply, trembled.

I looked at him and raised the corner of my mouth.

Stopping Qing’s movements didn’t mean I could do anything.

But in that brief moment, it was enough to leave a powerful impression.

“…”

Thud, thud.

I slowly moved my foot.

One step.

Two footsteps.

Passing by Chung, crushed under the weight of time, I tapped the back of his neck twice with the flat of my dagger.

An ordinary touch, devoid of any murderous intent, yet Chung’s complexion soured noticeably.

So, I whispered in his ear.

Mimicking the most merciful voice I could muster, I uttered, in a chilling whisper:

“Consider this a debt owed.”

Utter nonsense, truly.

Chung was perplexed.

For good reason, as he couldn’t sense even the faintest trace of energy emanating from the man before him.

‘Did I come to the wrong place?’

No, that couldn’t be.

The man before him was indeed Luke Richter.

The infamous individual who had assassinated the Dark Shadow Society’s executives in a single breath.

‘The b*stard of the Richter family.’

His appearance, his location, everything matched.

Moreover, there was no possibility of the organization’s intelligence being incorrect.

He had undoubtedly come to the right place.

‘What is this?’

Chung, the direct inheritor of the Arkan Grand Warlord, perceived the world through color.

His eyes, which saw everything as color, could, naturally, visually confirm the magical power that humans were innately born with.

That was why this was so strange.

The man before him did not have a low amount of magical power. It didn’t exist at all.

‘…Could someone really have so little magical power?’

He was puzzled.

What kind of skill could a man devoid of magic possibly possess to have decimated the Dark Shadow Society?

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’

But that was all.

His purpose in coming here was to invite him, and he only needed to fulfill that one task.

And yet.

“And if I refuse?”

Convincing him wouldn’t be easy, it seemed.

So I lightly prodded at his temper.

Hoping, if possible, that he would rashly cross the line.

Subduing him with force was more comfortable for me than persuasion.

But then.

“Amusing.”

The man was visible in Qing’s eyes, which perceived everything as color.

A describable energy was rising, wriggling, centered around the man with a lip stretched as if about to tear.

The color of that dreadful, ominous energy…

‘Pitch black, the color…?’

More than anything, it was dark, deep, and chilling.

That was absolutely not the color of ordinary magic.

The moment I realized that, I felt a cold sweat trickling down my forehead.

The instant my hand unknowingly reached for my sword hilt.

“—”

He opened his mouth.

Mumbling something, and at that moment, a wave of pitch-black energy washed over Qing.

It was not a speed I could react to.

And.

Qing’s eyes widened in shock at the scene that followed.

“!!!”

I couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Just stopped there, frozen.

As if embalmed in the world.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

My heart beats.

I can still breathe.

But that was all.

Qing, desperately rolling his eyes, still couldn’t grasp what had happened.

“…What…?”

Was it Dragon Tongue?

A Word of Power? Or some form of sorcery?

How could such an impossible ability exist in this world?

In that instant, the fine hairs on his skin bristled.

For already, the man was approaching.

Cheong could only watch him draw nearer, immobile.

Reason faltered under the weight of the immense chaos brewing within.

“…”

The man stood nigh, and in his right hand he held a wickedly honed dagger.

It traced a playful dance across Cheong’s nape, twice.

The chilling, bone-deep cold of its touch sent every nerve screaming.

This was a moment poised on a knife’s edge.

His life hung solely on the man’s capricious whim.

Before the stark clarity of that terror, reason shattered.

The bitter bloom of regret – he’d stirred something he shouldn’t have – began to unfurl.

“I’ll mark this down as debt.”

With those words, the oppressive, pitch-black aura that had held him captive dispersed.

It was a mercy, undoubtedly.

‘…I live.’

The tension drained away with the realization.

But he couldn’t return like this.

He *had* to carry out the order to bring back Luke Richter.

But how?

By what means could he subdue that monster?

He had to avoid a pointless death.

And so, with lingering reluctance, he began to turn away when…

“Guide me.”

“…Pardon?”

“Didn’t you say you were inviting me?”

*Gulp.*

“…Will you accept the invitation?”

“It’s not like you’d give up if I refused, would you?”

Indeed.

His lord never relinquished something he’d set his sights on.

The man, sensing his hesitation, clicked his tongue and spoke.

“You brought the scroll, didn’t you?”

“…How did you know about that?”

“There are… ways of knowing.”

To even know about the scroll.

Truly, he was no ordinary individual.

Cheong let out a small, suppressed sigh before unfurling the scroll.

“Place your hand upon the incantation.”

“Rudine, put your hand here.”

“…Okay.”

Space itself began to warp.

No, to be precise, the scroll’s magic began to tear at the fabric of space.

Soon, a shower of luminous particles erupted, opening a gateway.

The passageway of light, as if possessing a will of its own, reached out and swallowed them whole.

*Whoosh.*

The passageway vanished.

Several minutes passed thus.

A lone figure approached the empty office.

The identity of the approaching figure was Adina, dragging a log tied to a rope behind her.

“Luke? Rudine?”

She searched for her companions with a desperate plea.

But, naturally, no answer came.

“Where did everyone go…?”

She had only been in the forest, rough-shaping lumber at Luke’s request.

Returning to the office, she found no one remained.

“W-What…! Don’t play games with me…!”

I was alone.

Adina wanted to weep.