RD | Chapter 1

The mysterious thing about life is that you can never predict what’s coming next.

In that sense, Jeong Yiwon had quite a special day, starting with waking up in a place he absolutely didn’t expect to be when he fell asleep the night before.

To be precise, when he woke up, he found himself on a horse.

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“Huh?”

For reference, he had never ridden a horse in his life. In fact, he wasn’t particularly fond of physical activities in general. Jeong Yiwon’s hobby was sitting quietly in front of his computer. Not to brag, but he had once gamed for 24 hours straight without taking a break.

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So it was only natural that he nearly fell off when he realized he had his butt and thighs stuck to a living, breathing animal while gripping the reins in one hand. The fact that he didn’t was purely thanks to his survival instincts kicking in.

Instead, he swayed wildly on the horse. A man sprinted next to him yelled in frustration, like a parent reprimanding a child.

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“What are you doing? At such a critical moment! Were you dozing off or something?”

He wasn’t dozing off; he had been straight-up asleep until just now.

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Jeong Yiwon didn’t say that out loud, though. For one, the man was a stranger. And on top of that, he was clearly a foreigner. Like some Koreans, Yiwon had a slight case of xenophobia, probably due to being forced to learn English for over ten years of his life.

Instead of responding to the foreigner’s words, he thought of asking, “Who are you?” But before he could, something suddenly erupted behind him.

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Bang!

It was like someone had set off a firecracker. A burst of red light shot up into the sky and scattered in mid-air. It looked almost like fireworks. However, that feeling seemed to be his alone, as screams erupted from the people around him.

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“They’ve chased us this far!”

“Kyaaaah!”

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“Your Majesty! What should we do?”

The last question was from the man who had been scolding Jeong Yiwon moments earlier. The cloaked old man running ahead of him, presumably the one addressed as Your Majesty, glanced behind with a terrified expression. His eyes locked with Yiwon’s, and in that instant, Yiwon felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

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“Ian, my brave son!” the old man shouted.

‘Me?’

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Jeong Yiwon frowned in confusion.

“I entrust you with twenty soldiers to hold the rear!” commanded the old man.

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“What?”

“How dare you question His Majesty’s orders? Ian, answer properly!” The man who’d been griping earlier snapped at him again.

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“Huh?” Yiwon responded, now addressing the irritable man. What the heck was he supposed to do here?

Slowly, it began to dawn on him—this had to be a dream. It had to be. But for a dream, the chill of the wind was biting, the sensation of the horse’s mane slapping against him was incredibly vivid, and there was even the distinct stench of manure wafting in the air. Still… there was no way this could actually be reality, right?

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Jeong Yiwon remembered falling asleep on the bus after spending hours playing a game—a defense game, to be specific. Not one with great character balance, either.

The most ridiculous thing about that game was how badly the difficulty patch was done. Most typical mobile games, they’d give players a single default character to start with, while the rest of the characters need to be purchased to unlock. The performance of the default character, however? Utter garbage.

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Why is the default character the hardest one to use?

The question, “Why is the default character the hardest one to use?” had become so popular it was posted monthly on the official game cafe’s leaderboard. Considering there were barely a hundred people playing the game, including Jeong Yiwon, and even fewer actively participating in the forums, it was safe to say the poster of that question was none other than Yiwon himself.

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This wasn’t a joke. If the developers wanted to make money, they should at least provide a reasonably beginner-friendly character to attract new players. Jeong Yiwon often wondered what went on in the minds of those developers and wanted to crack open their heads for a peek.

In place of the unmotivated developers, Yiwon had been diligently writing strategy guides for the character. Titles like “Beginner-Friendly Ian Guide” or “Success with Ian for Anyone Who Can Use Their Hands” were all shining examples of his work on the strategy board.

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Despite his efforts, it didn’t seem like any new players were joining the game. Even for Yiwon, Ian was a character he had to attempt numerous times before he could succeed. That’s how challenging the character was.

Out of frustration, Jeong Yiwon had written a sincere review, even going so far as to email the developers a detailed five-thousand-character rant. The developers remained unbothered, and there was no reply. Before falling asleep, Yiwon had been cursing them while working on a new guide for Ian’s route.

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Wait a minute, Ian?

“Of course, I’m not expecting you to perfectly fend them off with just twenty soldiers. Do you think I’d burden you with such a task? Naturally, I’ll assign a mage to assist you. Ian, our warrior, we’re counting on you! Show this father of yours your resolve!”

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“What?”

“Go! Hurry!”

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…Wait a second.

The old king urged him onward, leaving Yiwon staring at him in disbelief. There was something eerily familiar about that line.

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No sane person would have the hobby of replaying a game’s tutorial hundreds of times. But Jeong Yiwon had rewatched Ian’s tutorial dozens of times—not because he was a weirdo, but because he thought there might be some Easter egg or critical hint for strategies hidden in it.

There wasn’t. If the players couldn’t find it, that was the developers’ fault. Even if something existed, as far as Yiwon was concerned, it might as well not.

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But that wasn’t the point here.

If his guess was correct, the next line should be—

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“Wait, Ian! Stop!” The man who had been complaining about him all along suddenly shouted.

Yiwon hadn’t even started moving in the first place.

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“You’re not taking the horse with you, are you? You won’t need a horse anymore. Why would someone setting up a defensive line need to ride off on a horse?”

“Oh, Eric, you’re absolutely right. Ian, leave the horse behind,” the king chimed in enthusiastically.

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The man, apparently named Eric, snatched the reins from Yiwon’s hand and promptly shoved him off the horse. Yiwon tumbled to the ground, surprisingly landing without breaking his neck. Since there was no way his body had the reflexes for that, he could only chalk it up to some external force.

Something like the game mechanics where a character couldn’t die before the “tutorial” even began…

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Ians’ Character…

The starting character abandoned by the king, left to fight the pre-tutorial battle without any faction or resources.

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This… this was <Reverse Dungeon>, wasn’t it?!

“I’m counting on you to hold the rear, my son!”

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“Show me you’re worth something for once!”

The king and “Ian’s” brother, Eric, shouted their “encouragement” as they rode off into the distance.

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Once the royal entourage had disappeared, only Jeong Yiwon and twenty-one ragged individuals remained. The king had promised soldiers, but these people didn’t look anything like soldiers. They could be refugees at most.

“We’re doomed. We’re all going to die!”

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“Oh, gods, help us.”

One person began sobbing, and the tears spread like a virus. Amidst the wailing and despair, the only person who wasn’t crying approached Jeong Yiwon.

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“Lord Ian, what should we do? This area is a plain, so we’ll easily catch the monsters’ attention.”

The man didn’t exactly exude confidence. He was trembling as he spoke, his voice shaking. Just as those words left his mouth, a translucent window popped up in front of Jeong Yiwon’s eyes.

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Ding!
[Tutorial is starting.]
[Create a dungeon to defend against monsters.]

[Character]
‘Bastard’ Ian (★★★★☆)

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[Reputation]
Bastard, Playboy, Extravagant, Hedonist

[Skills]
Purification: LV.1
Horseback Riding: LV.1
Archery: LV.1
⋮
(Expand)

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Jeong Yiwon had transmigrated into the game <Reverse Dungeon>.

As the most useless character, Ian.

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Or maybe he was just dreaming.

–

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To explain what kind of game <Reverse Dungeon> is—well, it’s a failed game.

Here’s the basic outline of the story: In a world where the human race has been nearly wiped out and demons rule supreme, the surviving humans retreat into dungeons to hold off the demon forces in a desperate game of defense.

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Normally, it’s humans who storm dungeons to hunt monsters, right? In this game, the roles are reversed, hence the name <Reverse Dungeon>.

The game itself is well-made, and the illustrations are gorgeous. So why did it flop? Obviously, because the developers were idiots. If you can’t manage a game properly, even the best concept won’t save it.

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Jeong Yiwon was a three-year veteran of the game. Not that he was some superfan—he just stuck around because it had been around for three years.

In that time, he’d completed every ending with every character and experienced all the events. The only things left unknown to him were the elements the developers hadn’t disclosed. For example, why they decided to ruin the game by making the default character so terrible. That remains a mystery.

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Anyway, this game features a [Reputation] system. It reflects what the characters are known for within the game’s world. The most famous reputation becomes a [Title] displayed in front of the character’s name.

And Ian’s title? It’s [Bastard].

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That means he’s the most notorious bastard in existence. Every NPC who meets him exclaims, “Oh no, it’s Bastard Ian!” It’s ridiculous, but true.

Why on earth would anyone make this guy the default character? Beats me.

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Ian’s second most infamous reputation? Playboy. Just hearing that makes you not want to deal with him.

People’s opinions are pretty straightforward: no one wants to associate with this guy. And that includes the so-called troops assigned to Ian in the tutorial. None of them have any intention of following his orders. You can tell just by listening to them wail, “We’re all going to die.”

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“……”

That’s enough about his reputation.

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The next problem is his skills.