Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 6
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 6: Is That You?
I stood gazing up at the moon, letting the wind wash over me.
《S-Rank Labyrinth – Nightmare Dungeon》
A labyrinth with difficulty as nightmarish as its name suggests.
Clear it, and I could see the ending.
Whether that still held true now that the game had become reality, I couldn’t say—but one thing hadn’t changed: I would have to enter it eventually.
If I left it uncleared, it would become the cause of the world’s destruction.
‘In the end, my goal going forward is the same as it was in the game.’
Steady labyrinth exploration to build renown, gathering Mysteries, equipment, and Artifacts to grow stronger.
But I had no intention of pursuing a balanced diet of all growth methods.
The only growth category I would collect was whatever involved physical stamina.
A Faith Follower with weak physical specs couldn’t dodge enemy attacks easily, nor defend effectively—so the build had been born from a simple idea: take everything on the body instead.
The so-called Immortal Faith Follower.
Not a worshiper of a fire demon—but Immortality in the truest sense.
‘There’s no real reason to switch to another build.’
Foreign players had even marveled at it, and for a time they’d fallen completely under the spell of this Korean Faith Follower archetype—there wasn’t much to improve.
If I simply collected the necessary Mysteries and Artifacts according to plan, I would develop a tenacious vitality that would make even zombies recoil and shake their heads.
So far, this was identical to the game, but there was another dimension to it now.
‘Should I try forming an expedition party?’
Active talent development.
Since I could now venture into fields forbidden to Faith Followers, I intended to work forward as an explorer-cultivation specialist.
The first talent I would nurture was a certain tiger-kin sibling pair—if done right, their ceiling could pierce the heavens.
《Your body is weak, and you’ll catch a cold if exposed to the chill wind. Unless you’re someone with a twisted preference who finds joy in the suffering caused by mild fever, cough, and runny nose, I recommend staying away from the window.》
I obediently closed the window and was rubbing the corner of my right eye when Marlin quietly approached.
“Mister.”
“What is it?”
“Thank you for saving Abel and me. I don’t know how I could ever repay such kindness….”
“Never mind that. I’m satisfied just knowing I protected the dreams and hopes of young children.”
“…Could you please tell jokes with a bright smile?”
“It wasn’t a joke.”
“Of course not.”
The tiger-kin girl tilted her head, her tail flicking against the floor.
“But what’s your name, Mister? I can’t keep calling you ‘Mister’ forever.”
“Right. What is my name?”
“Uh, wait!”
“I’m not joking this time. Most of my memories are gone. I don’t even remember my parents’ faces anymore.”
“…Really?”
It wasn’t a lie.
Memory loss was the key setting for a Faith Follower player, and besides, I genuinely didn’t know what my parents looked like.
“If you don’t even know your own name, how do you know so much about labyrinths?”
“Didn’t I mention it? Lidni knows everything.”
“So that demon god taught you all of this?”
“Something like that.”
In reality, he just took my tribute and complained—but still….
The fact that by trading my name, I could openly flaunt my game knowledge meant our demon god had at least some utility.
Only now did Marlin’s eyes soften with what looked like sympathy.
“Then shall I give you a temporary name to use until you recover your memories?”
“Do you have one in mind?”
“Hmm, what about ‘Gold Eye’? Your golden eyes are the most striking feature!”
I smiled and placed a hand on Marlin’s shoulder, impressed by her creativity.
“Never open a naming shop, no matter what path you take in life.”
…….
“Wait a moment. You should have an Identification Badge.”
I pulled out a round metal medallion from my pocket that resembled a pendant.
The sacred shield emblem, bearing the mark of the Harmony Church’s issuance, was engraved on the lower edge, and a name was stamped in the center.
[Kar]
[Faith Follower of Distorted Truth]
“Kar….”
Returning to the table with Marlin, who murmured the two characters inscribed on the badge, I found that the staff member who had been asleep was now awake.
“Welcome, Adventurer. I see you’ve returned safely.”
A man dressed in formal attire of expertly blended black and white lowered his head with both hands clasped together.
《Lucius, an ordinary priest of the Lamp of Inquiry, a division of the Harmony Church (human, 23 years old). Lazy as he may be, his devotion to the hypocrite goddess is beyond reproach. With such an unassuming nature, he seems easy to befriend and exploit.》
A priest of the Harmony Church who serves Artein, the goddess of protection and wisdom.
Whether his faith ran deep or not, he’d clearly neglected to cultivate any professional discipline—his entire face was plastered with the unmistakable grogginess of someone mid-shift who desperately needed sleep.
“By the way, where are Tunnack and Bans?”
It was a question that couldn’t help but invite solemnity.
I rubbed my chest with my fist as I answered.
“The stalwart orc warrior Tunnack and the seasoned mercenary Bans have embarked on a journey from which they shall never return. Priest, might I impose upon you to offer a prayer of mourning in honor of their souls?”
……
“Why are you staring at me like that, Marlin?”
Marlin, who’d been gazing at me in a daze, muttered as if bewildered.
“Why are you speaking so normally? When you talk to me, you act like someone who’s lost their mind….”
“Marlin, do you perhaps have a hobby of slandering your benefactor?”
……
Marlin retreated quietly, her expression twisted into something resembling constipation.
“Though I didn’t see to the very end in my haste to flee, those two stood their ground against the ghouls until the bitter end, buying us time. Truly, a noble sacrifice.”
“O Artein….”
Priest Lucius murmured softly and tidied the hair tangled only on his left side while scanning us with his eyes.
There was something puzzled in his expression.
“But how on earth did you manage to evade the ghoul horde’s notice and hide away?”
It would naturally pique his curiosity, the secret of their survival.
A Faith Follower and a child.
In terms of pure combat ability, a combination far inferior to Tunnack, the novice orc who’d died first—yet they’d survived in a Labyrinth where ghouls pursued at the slightest breath.
“Should you happen to have discovered a Hidden Clear Condition, I would appreciate you sharing it. I’ll purchase the information at a fair price.”
《Labyrinth conquest begins with information and ends with information.》
《And your conquest of the Hidden Ghoul Horde Lair has been accomplished in a manner never before seen in this world. Were you to sell this related information to that hypocrite goddess’s priest, you would surely receive appropriate compensation!》
Exploration information trading.
It was a lucrative means of profit primarily utilized when one discovered hidden pieces.
“That was my intention anyway.”
I provided Priest Lucius with detailed information regarding the Hidden Clear Condition that rendered all the ghouls unable to engage in combat.
However, I made no mention whatsoever of the Secret Tome, which was the hidden reward.
It only appeared on the first attempt, so there was no point in mentioning it.
“Thank you for the information.”
Lucius, who’d meticulously transcribed everything I said into his notebook, stepped into an adjacent room connected to the kitchen and returned.
He held a weighty pouch of coins in one hand, and the siblings’ eyes widened at what was clearly a considerable sum.
“This is 50 gold as an advance. Once all verification procedures are complete, I’ll remit the remainder. It should be settled within a few days. However, since this is only the lowest-tier Labyrinth, I’d advise against holding high expectations.”
“Honestly, isn’t it rather excessive for a ghoul-infested dungeon to be rated E-class?”
“Well, it’s because the clear condition was simple….”
At those words, Marlin’s tail, which had been drooping, suddenly shot upright.
“Simple? That?”
“You could clear it just by surviving eight hours without dying. That’s an incredibly easy condition.”
“Then what’s a difficult condition?”
“There’s a Labyrinth where you have to survive drifting across an endless sea for an entire year.”
……
The tiger-eared girl opened her mouth wide, evidently worn down by the absurdly vast scale of Labyrinths.
It was still too early to be truly shocked.
I decided not to elaborate further, as I feared she’d be devastated if I mentioned that the condition I’d just described was merely an example from an A-class Labyrinth, not even the highest tier.
“Is there anything else you require of me?”
“Would you mind if we took a meal?”
“Of course. Given the late hour, I’m afraid all I have is hardened bread and cold stew—would that suffice?”
“For me, that alone is surely the providence of Artein.”
Mental and physical exhaustion had been so severe that I craved food, anything at all.
The young siblings’ ears perked up simultaneously, indicating they shared the sentiment.
Noticing their eager expressions, I stopped the priest as he headed toward the kitchen and ordered portions for all three of us.
“How shameless of me, imposing upon your kindness time and again….”
“At least you’re aware of it.”
“Abel, go on and say thank you.”
The boy, unable to resist his sister’s urging, gave a cursory bow to the side.
Marlin tried to scold Abel, so I stopped her.
He was at that age where manners could be rough—what did it matter.
“Your meal has arrived.”
Presently, bread and stew were set before us.
Bread with a firmness akin to brick, and stew warmed to a lukewarm temperature.
It had no flavor whatsoever, yet it went down easily enough.
The ancient sage’s testimony that hunger is the best seasoning gained vivid credibility in that moment.
Once I’d finished eating, I spoke to Lucius, who’d been waiting nearby.
“I’d like to stay the night. Do you have any vacant rooms?”
“By fortunate timing, we have exactly two left.”
“Then I’d like to book one room each for myself and these two siblings. If you could bring us a change of clothes, I’d be grateful.”
Marlin, growing visibly flustered, waved both hands in protest, but I pressed forward anyway.
Left to her own devices, she’d end up sleeping rough, and as an adult, I couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to that.
The true reason for helping wasn’t some secondary consideration—that the explorer who’d abandoned these siblings in the slums would become a good-natured tiger-kin if befriended, or that they possessed stat allocations worth cultivating if properly raised.
I handed over three gold coins, a generous sum that covered the meal, lodging, clothes, and the tip that American games apparently demanded, then climbed to the second floor.
My room was at the far end of the corridor.
The siblings were given the room directly next door.
“I really can’t thank you enough, in so many ways… See you tomorrow, Kar.”
“Sleep well. You too, Abel.”
Creak.
I pushed open the old door, entered the room, and immediately collapsed face-first onto the bed.
Fatigue and drowsiness.
Two fairies of sleep, arriving from different worlds, shimmered at the edges of my vision.
If I simply closed my eyes, wouldn’t I drift off blissfully?
《Proper sleep shall restore thy depleted mental reserves. I grant thee permission to be a slugabed, if only for this one day!》
But before sleep, there was something I wanted to verify.
Perhaps because I finally had the leisure.
Inside the Labyrinth where my life had hung by a thread, I hadn’t had the mind to consider the questions that now began, one by one, to infiltrate my thoughts.
Chief among them was the fundamental question that cut through every problem.
Who was I?
Philosophical brooding would yield no answers even with a full day’s contemplation, so I simply checked my reflection in the small, dainty mirror mounted beside the bed.
‘Not bad.’
Hair luminous as molten gold and eyes like liquid amber, skin so pale it seemed nearly white.
A figure that bore the drawbacks of both human and elf, yet belonged to some race blessed with an exceptional charm stat.
The text from the Eye That Sees Through Truth, which came to mind next, confirmed my suspicion.
《A Faith Follower of Twisted Truth—Kar ???(Half-Elf, 22 years old).》
The surname of a Faith Follower Player appears as a question mark in the original game as well.
What matters now isn’t a name.
A half-elf Faith Follower.
One of the hardest ways to enjoy the Nightmare Dungeon had been realized in this world.
Even with a straightforward playthrough, chaos and incident never cease, so to experience such an entertaining combination firsthand was something I never expected.
‘…Who made me this way?’
Gratefully.
– Thou, seeker walking the path toward Twisted Truth. That One was moved by thy earnest devotion.
Considering the words that had appeared on my monitor before I’d lost consciousness, it wasn’t difficult to deduce who had summoned me into this world.
“Lidni… was it you…!”
Our dark god had called me forth into this realm.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————