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Chapter 28
With that in mind, I continued to keep an eye on Jade.
“Lord Jade, good morning!”
“How about a freshly baked apple pie? The crust is super crispy and it glistens—just try one bite!”
“What do you think of today’s tea? You seemed to like bergamot-flavored black tea…”
Surprisingly, the servants of the main estate genuinely respected Jade.
“He personally went to His Grace to plead on our behalf?”
“He even exposed that the necklace was a fake in front of His Grace for the master’s sake.”
“Goodness, wasn’t that also for the good of House Godwin?”
“That young man may look gentle, but he’s got depth.”
Contrary to Harris’s assumption that Jade would be underestimated, Jade’s actions led to completely unexpected outcomes.
Whenever laughter rang out in the bleak estate, you could be sure Jade was there—even without looking.
It was fascinating.
It was strange.
Why was that? If you show kindness, people take advantage. If you appear weak, you get trampled. That’s the nature of people.
Then why was Jade…
“Lord Harris.”
It was at that moment that Jade suddenly peeked his head out.
“Ah~!”
Harris, instinctively mimicking him, frowned at the unfamiliar sweetness spreading through his mouth.
“…What is this?”
“Chocolate. Isn’t it delicious?”
“….”
Jade cheerfully pushed another piece of chocolate into Harris’s mouth.
He chattered on—how the maids gave it to him, how he tasted it first and it was good, and how high-calorie sweets like these were perfect for situations like this.
Ah, it was only then that Harris realized it.
He’d been too tense.
And that Jade was trying to ease him.
“Say ‘Ah’ again.”
“I’ll give you more.” Jade smiled brightly. Without even thinking whether it was medicine or poison, Harris opened his mouth.
“…Jade.”
But he couldn’t say more.
A sharp scream pierced the air.
“Kyaaaaah—!”
On the way to the dungeon.
‘So scary.’
Anella, who had been staring at the back of Jade’s head, quickly bowed when Harris’s red eyes met hers.
Of course, Anella didn’t know much about Harris.
The Duke of Godwin wasn’t stupid enough to openly say “my son’s a cripple, so I locked him in the dungeon.” Officially, Harris had only stepped down from being heir due to “poor health.”
How would someone like Anella, merely a merchant leader, know about someone that even the empire’s top three noble houses had deliberately buried?
But the Harris Godwin she encountered was…
‘Sick, my foot. That gaze alone could kill someone.’
And to think—he was an ability user like her.
As dungeon outbreaks became frequent and new resources spread, so did the emergence of ability users and guides.
‘He’s even an offensive type.’
The threatening aura alone gave it away.
She wanted to avoid him at all costs—getting involved was unthinkable.
So why had she volunteered to go with Harris to the dungeon?
‘Lord… Lord Jade…’
After being driven out of the late duke’s office, Anella’s mind raced. Her survival instincts eventually pushed her to take a desperate gamble.
“I’ll do anything. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
She had gone straight to Jade, knelt, and begged.
‘There’s no way someone who knows Duke Eindelta’s secrets would tell me everything for no reason.’
It was a gamble with her life on the line.
Jade stared silently at the unexpected visitor, then smiled gently.
“Anything?”
A clear voice and a fresh smile.
It was the look of someone who wanted something. Anella believed she had succeeded.
‘And then he tells me to go into an Unknown Dungeon?’
Dungeons had ranks.
The dungeon that had appeared in the Godwin territory—one the former duke was keeping secret—was a textbook Unknown Dungeon.
No known rank. Unknown number or type of monsters. Even the Godwin Knights had failed there.
And now she was being dragged into such a place!
It made her anxious. She wanted to ask Jade if he was trying to get her killed—except, Jade came with them.
‘This isn’t some suicide squad, right…?’
Still, she felt uneasy thinking about the supplies Jade had requested.
A wooden box full of liquor bottles. Cloth scraps tied to them.
Molotov cocktails.
‘…Could he possibly know what kind of monsters are inside?’
Then how would he know? As she pondered that, Anella’s eyes widened.
“…!”
It felt like they were climbing a high mountain—the air became thin, and each step heavier.
‘This is the dungeon.’
They had unknowingly entered it. Then—
“Kyaaaaah!”
A scream ripped through the air. Anella instinctively turned toward the sound.
And then—
“Uwaaah?!”
She was sucked in.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Is this what it feels like to be dust in front of a vacuum cleaner?
‘It’s like my whole body is being sucked in…’
This was awful. I held my dizzy head and tried to think.
‘How did this happen?’
The scream.
Right, there was a desperate scream. I looked up in surprise, and Anella and everyone else reacted at the same time…
‘But Harris didn’t move.’
His narrowed crimson eyes stared straight at me. As if he had muted even the scream.
Looking into his beautiful, transparent ruby-like eyes, what flashed through my mind was:
‘Am I allowed to do this?’
Like I’d taken a wrong step.
Something was off. Somewhere, it felt like a warning siren was blaring—beeeeeep—
‘I was dragged in at that moment.’
Was it because I’d entered the dungeon? Even the air felt different. They said dungeons had an overabundance of mana—was that it?
As I blinked blankly—
[!♠＆☜→※?]
Strange characters appeared before my eyes.
‘What the heck?’
It was a bizarre sensation.
In the middle of my vision, glowing—no, unfamiliar—characters began to become legible, to my disbelief.
[…Optimizing management system.]
[Automatic maintenance function activated…]
[Identifying…]
It was strange, yes, but not unfamiliar.
Thinking back, it was the same when I first entered this world. Though everything—language, surroundings—was foreign, I could understand it.
Just like then, this strange script soaked into me like a sponge.
[Identification complete.]
[Legal name: An (Yi) Jade (Jade Lian).]
[Welcome, Lord Jade. Activation complete.]
[If this is correct, please confirm.]
How did it know my real name—one I had changed from my father’s to my mother’s surname? What was it welcoming me for? What activation?
Before I could even ask, more text scrolled down.
That’s when I realized—
‘A system, a status window!’
The classic fantasy setup!
It was my first time seeing one “in person,” but I’d seen it often in games.
‘Right, in Sicheongwi, the system only activated after entering a dungeon!’
This was one of the reasons I insisted on going into the dungeon.
I knew too little about myself—about “Jade.”
‘I thought I could learn something through the status window… and it really appeared.’
In Sicheongwi, only ability users and guides who cleared dungeons could access the system.
And it had appeared for me.
“Thank goodness~!”
I let out a long sigh of relief.
I had told Harris several times that I wasn’t a guide, but honestly, I had doubts too.
‘What if I am a guide? There has to be a reason Harris insists so strongly.’
Maybe I do have something?
Sure, the “resonance” felt more like it was with Adrian.
And the “guiding”… probably Adrian again.
And the intended guide partner… was definitely supposed to be Adrian.
‘Still, maybe I could be a low-grade Guide 1!’
Not impressive, but strangely compatible with Harris, who had guide resistance.
Maybe that much was possible.
And the status window confirmed that hope—
“Wait, why are there so many question marks?”
I frowned.
When I checked my personal stats, everything was garbled or marked as “???”
‘Adrian had a case like this too.’
Some stats were locked unless conditions were met.
‘But Adrian’s title as a Guide and Regressor was visible from the start.’
So why wasn’t mine?
Not only was my guide status unclear, but even my age wasn’t listed.
A status window was supposed to give you information—yet I couldn’t learn anything from it.
‘Something’s weird.’
And it wasn’t just a feeling—suddenly, I found myself in a completely unfamiliar place.
Lush jungle-like vegetation. Bright sunlight casting shadows everywhere.
And—
“P-please help! Someone, anyone—please—!”
A nearly naked woman sobbing in disarray.
Definitely a bizarre place—
‘Wait, what?!’
I shot up. Why was there a naked lady here?!
What flashed through my mind was the rumor about those who’d gone missing in the dungeon.
‘Time flows differently inside a dungeon.’
A month inside could be less than a day outside—or the reverse.
Dungeons violated and distorted every natural law of this world.
‘In other words, she might be a survivor.’
Someone who had entered before, but never made it out—someone who was being consumed.
And I wasn’t the only one who thought of that.
“It’s o-okay. Calm down.”
Anella’s voice.
That’s when I realized—I wasn’t alone.
There were others lying around: Anella’s group. Supplies we’d brought.
“…Lord Harris?”
But Harris—was nowhere to be seen.
