Chapter 0

Prologue

There is a novel called <The Chronicles of the Seven-Colored World>.

Just by looking at the title, you might think it's a first-generation, authentic fantasy novel that ushered in the golden age of fantasy novels, but in reality, it was a story of a high school student from another world who was criticized dozens of times from all sides.

Power inflation was the basic problem, with balance completely abandoned.

A secret society appears out of nowhere and tries to destroy the world.

Psychotic heroines who try to kill the protagonist at every opportunity.

Even when they should be united, there are friendly forces trying to stab their own allies in the back...

However, surprisingly, despite external criticism, <The. Chro. Seven.>, gained considerable popularity, continuing its long-term serialization for over 800 episodes.

Readers liked the ridiculous setup that made them laugh, and the development that didn't take power inflation into account was well-received as refreshing.

But.

'Someone once said, life is a comedy when seen from a distance, but a tragedy when seen up close.'

What would happen if this terrible situation, where destruction is certain, existed around you?

No, what would happen if you were a character in that world?

Even then, could I still dismiss this story as a funny comedy?

***

It has already been three years since Kim Seong-jun began living as Rudian.

At first, everything was unfamiliar.

No, it was strange, beyond unfamiliar.When he opened his eyes, he found himself a fourteen-year-old orphan living as a beggar at the village chief's house, surrounded by foreigners he had never seen before without a single black-haired person in sight.

In the worst situation where everyone around him was a complete stranger, the only silver lining was that the memories of Rudian, the owner of this body, were passed on to Seong-jun.

Another fortunate thing was that conversation was possible between Seong-jun, who only knew phrases like 'How do you do, I'm fine, thank you and you?' and these Westerners.

For the first month or so, Seong-jun made all sorts of desperate attempts to return to Korea.

But that month was enough time to realize that these desperate attempts were literally just futile nonsense.

The second life that began without knowing anything and having lost everything was pure suffering.

He endured countless suicidal impulses each day and gradually adapted to his current situation.

But the misfortune didn't end there.

The point at which the despair tormenting Seong-jun reached its peak was exactly one year later.

It was when he realized that this world was a fantasy world where magic and spirits existed, and that it was the world of <The. Chro. Seven.>. that he had been reading.

<<The Chronicles of the Seven-Colored World> is written as <The. Chro. Seven.>>

***

"Rudian! Bring me a spare sword!"

"Yes, sir! Coming right now!"

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Seong-jun... No, Rudian ran towards his destination while avoiding the attacks of the giant golem blocking his path.

'AAAAAH!'

As the golem's heavy arm struck the ground, a slight earthquake shook the surrounding area.

Of course, that arm was like a giant boulder, and a direct hit would definitely result in death, spurting blood everywhere.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Rudian used his loach-like flexibility to jump around and break through the golem's barrier.

"Sir Edos! Here is your spare sword!"

"You're slow! Can't you hurry up?"

The knight who received the sword scolded him once before charging at the golem again.

'You damn bastard!'

Well, he wasn't expecting praise, but no matter how urgent the situation, he hoped not to be scolded for being late.

But seeing the brilliant blue magic sword emanating from the replacement blade, his impudent thoughts quickly disappeared.

After all, these knights held his lifeline here.

'PHEW!'

While the knights at the front fought against the golems, Rudian quickly retreated to safety, avoiding debris flying everywhere.

And then, when he arrived back there, there was a man who suddenly started laughing arrogantly.

"Hahahaha! Knights of House Iskar! The holy sword and treasure await us inside! I believe we won't be held back by such shabby creatures!"

It's quite a feat to raise the blood pressure of knights fighting for their lives by 50 points with just one sentence.

This guy doesn't even participate in the fight, yet acts like a cheerleader behind the knights' backs.

If you ask who this bastard is, the answer is the master of 'Rudian' and the lord of the Iskar border territory, who trapped nearly thirty knights in this dungeon - Calline von Iskar.

"M-Master! It's dangerous to shout ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that!"

"What can a mere monster do to this Calline! Hahahaha!"

...I'll say it again, this guy is just swinging his sword around from behind and cheering.

'OH MY, MY FATE.'

Rudian felt a headache coming on and pressed his forehead.

It's already been three years since he fell into this world of <The Chronicles of the Seven-Colored World>, without any abilities.

He would have been happier if the story had gone like 'I became the scoundrel of such-and-such family.'

Scoundrel, my ass.

The second life that Kim Seong-jun was forced to live was the worst possible environment - a commoner and orphan with nothing.

'Yeah, it would be better to just be a regular commoner or orphan.'

Whether you're a commoner or an orphan, you can somehow continue living in a 'normal world'.

But.

"Why the hell <The. Chro. Seven.>, DAMN IT!"

"WHOA! You startled me!"

The shoulders of Calline, who had been laughing proudly next to him, jumped considerably.

The others glanced at him as if looking at a madman, but Rudian paid no attention and clutched his hair, cursing the reality before his eyes.

The world of the novel <The. Chro. Seven.>, which Rudian now inhabited, was by no means ordinary.

The author created eighty-three bad endings under the name of IF world lines, and the world is scheduled to be destroyed three times as the story progresses.

And it's a world where even a random suddenly appearing extra can easily destroy an entire city or country without any consideration for power balance.

'AH, I FEEL LIKE COMMITTING SUICIDE.'

Rudian looked at the hordes of monsters rushing in from all around him and thought this sincerely.

Chapter 1

Squire. No, Slave

What is a knight's squire?

A knight's squire is commonly treated as an apprentice knight under the name "Squire," but in reality, it's an extremely arduous profession where one takes care of all manner of chores and dirty work for the knight they serve.

Basically, from maintaining the master's equipment to managing horses, running errands, assisting with training, accompanying on expeditions, and so on...

Until reaching adulthood or being acknowledged by the knight as capable of fulfilling a full person's role, the squire risks their life to accompany the knight and build up their skills.

Well, from the description so far, it might be considered just another name for a slave.

But unlike slaves, squires accompany their knight masters into battle and also get opportunities to improve their skills under their master's protection.

If a squire gains the master's favor, they might learn a few sword techniques, and if lucky, there's a possibility of being taught parts of secret arts.

Ah, of course, the above story was about the squire profession in general.

In my case, Rudian, the story is a bit different.

***

SLAP!

Along with a burning pain on my left cheek, I felt slight dizziness.

"How on earth did you handle this matter that it reached the Count's ears?"

"......"

The lady of the Iskar family, Countess Louisa, glared at Rudian with a twisted expression like an evil spirit.

"Didn't I hire a commoner like you as Calline's squire to prevent such things?"

"...I'm sorry."

"If anything happens to Calline, I will surely grind you up and drink you!"

One might find the dramatic speech pattern amusing, but if things go wrong, Rudian will truly be made to take all the blame by Louisa.

Rudian quietly turned his head to look at the root cause of this situation.

FLINCH!

A young man about his age, turning his head away and pretending not to know.

He wanted to give that detestable face a knee kick, but if he did, this second life he had fought so hard to survive would immediately come to an end.

'Sigh, should I just quit?'

Usually, knights' squires don't experience such things.

But the knight Rudian was serving now was not an "ordinary knight."

Calline Iskar.

He is the eldest son of Count Iskar, the young master, and the man who would rule this frontier territory in the future.

And he was also a notorious good-for-nothing, known to everyone around here.

***

It had already been three years since Rudian fell into the world of <The. Chro. Seven.>

Though he started his second life without any foundation, surprisingly, Rudian was thriving as Calline's squire, being called a dragon risen from a small stream.

There were three reasons why Rudian, who had absolutely nothing, could become the squire of the Count's heir.

First was that Rudian's age was similar to Calline's.

Second was that Rudian, despite being a commoner, could skillfully write "letters."

And lastly, all the senior squires had quit without exception, not lasting more than three months.

Rudian was proud that if he were to compile all the hardships he had experienced into a book, it would be as long as the total number of chapters in <The. Chro. Seven.>.

What those hardships mainly consisted of were...

"Young master, a letter has arrived from Baron Hamar's house. They say that you and your friends have stolen three of the Baron’s finest horses….”

“Take care of it.”

"Young master, Lord Theor is pleading for the return of his family's treasured sword."

“Take care of it.”

"Young master, the heir of the Bolton family is at the front of the castle with a sword. He says he'll make you pay for messing with his younger sibling..."

“Take care of it.”

"Young master, the Count is furious about your recent contact with those underworld figures."

"Handle it you wish... W-what did you say!"

The main content was cleaning up after a master who kept causing trouble like this.

Well, in reality, the master caused trouble every other day, but usually, it was at a level that could somehow be handled.

'That was the usual level, but...'

Today, the situation was a bit different.

"Ah, damn. This is big trouble."

Today, Calline was fidgeting and watching Rudian nervously.

"Looks like they found out, huh?"

"...Of course, don't you think?"

Rudian covered his face with both hands and muttered dejectedly.

Just this month, it was already the fifth time.

Of course, this number five refers to the number of incidents Calline had caused.

"What did I tell you? I said nothing good would come from getting involved with those guys. But while I was away handling business... You caused trouble during that time?"

"Ah, no. That's..."

Normally, he would have answered with something like "what are you going to do about it," but today was different.

While he was away resolving trouble his master had caused, the guy couldn't wait and caused another major incident.

Rudian let out a hollow sigh.

"Not content with mingling with underworld figures, you had to..."

The imperial nobleman and heir to the frontier territory had a wild time with criminal gang members who were no different from the empire's cancer.

Actually, this itself wasn't such a big problem.

This is Iskar, and Calline is like the king's son here.

The real big problem was that the scene had been spotted by an outside nobleman staying at the Iskar main castle, and rumors had spread all the way to the capital.

Calline hesitated and then mumbled an awkward excuse in a crawling voice.

"But aren't I the young master? If I mingle with them directly..."

"If you mingle with them?"

"I, I thought... Maybe the body, not just the tail, would emerge..."

"...Were you thinking of achieving merit with that?"

"......"

Calline's gaze avoided Rudian and turned sideways.

Recently, the appearance of those who made illegal slavery, drugs, and usury their business had been gradually increasing in this border area.

Naturally, the central government demanded that Count Iskar strictly manage his territory, and Count Iskar had dismissed the central government's interference, saying not to worry.

"And in that situation, you had to give them a pretext!"

"......"

"Now the central government will surely interfere with this and that, right?"

"Ugh...!"

Calline shrank his shoulders and turned his head away.

It wasn't the first or second time this good-for-nothing had caused trouble, but this time he had clearly crossed the line.

Calline, who usually showed a "who cares" attitude while causing all sorts of trouble, was now as docile as someone rejected by a new bride—wasn't that proof enough?

Rudian held his still-tingling left cheek and sighed.

The wound left by Louisa still stung.

'Damn woman.'

In truth, to become the squire of a Count-level heir like Calline, one should at least be from a noble family that received a fief.

But how long could those who receive princely treatment in their own territories endure this environment where both their master and his mother were causing trouble like tandem?

Of course, they couldn't endure for long and resigned one after another, and finally, the turn came to Rudian, a commoner.

'...What should I do?'

Honestly, I could endure Louisa's abuses as much as needed.

This was a world where one couldn't survive if they insisted on concepts of human rights.

I could easily endure the physical abuse from a non-knight commoner.

But the real problem was that if something happened to Calline, there was a high possibility that Rudian would be ground up along with him.

'Absolutely not! How have I endured until now!'

It had already been three years since he was incarnated as a commoner who couldn't even be an extra.

Out of those three years, he had been employed as Calline's squire for about two years.

During that time, he had been frugally saving money to prepare for the end times that would unfold in the main story...!

'To think that the crisis I would have faced after the main story starts is already here...!'

Rudian sighed and mentioned the future that awaited Calline.

"Since having your position as young master revoked is a certainty, you should prepare to enter some religious order."

"Ru, Rudian? W-wait...!"

"I'll at least provide you with personal food out of old friendship."

"UWAAA!"

Calline clutched his head and rolled around on the bed.

Well, he said this, but the possibility of Calline actually losing his position as young master was low.

After all, he was an only child who received plenty of love from the Count, and he had at least caused trouble within his own territory.

'If he had been caught in the capital, his head would have been lost without fail.'

If he had caused such trouble in the capital where the Emperor's influence was 100% effective, the basic punishment would be beheading, and in the worst case, the entire Count Iskar family could be destroyed.

In that case, Rudian, as his squire, would have had his neck cut off too, so it was a bit regrettable that he couldn't be purely happy about it.

'Hmm....'

Rudian pondered.

Despite appearances, over the past two years, he had accumulated all sorts of know-how from cleaning up after Calline and had become a veteran.

From such a Rudian's perspective, there was almost no way for Calline to safely overcome this crisis.

A way to resolve both the anger of the Imperial family and Count Iskar.

'It's not that there's absolutely no way.'

The problem was that one had to risk their life, but still.

'Even if I tell him the method, would Calline be willing to do it?'

He felt deep skepticism about this point.

***

KNOCK KNOCK!

"Enter."

A mature, dignified voice came from inside the door.

Calline gulped and pulled the handle of the office door.

"......"

"Have you come?"

In the room was a long-haired middle-aged man with neatly trimmed beard down to his earlobes, and beside him stood a middle-aged knight with three streaks of scars on his face as a guard.

The middle-aged man was Rickart von Iskar, the Count of the Border, the owner of this vast Iskar territory, and Rudian's employer.

And the knight was Sir Derrick Winhousen, the captain of the Lion Hearts, the private knight order under the Count.

The moment he stepped into the lord's office, Rudian briefly made eye contact with Sir Derrick.

'You've been through a lot.'

'Thank you for understanding.'

Derrick was one of those who knew well how much Rudian was suffering.

'Still, this mistake is a big one.'

'The bastard caused trouble when I wasn't watching, what could I do?'

'You should have done better.'

Rudian avoided Derrick's gaze, which contained both sympathy and reproach, and turned his attention to Margrave Rickart sitting at the end of the office.

As expected, the Count's mood seemed quite displeased.

"I heard from the head butler that you caused quite a stir this time?"

"Ah, Father. That wasn't a mistake but..."

"The guys you made contact with were part of one of the organizations that the Imperial direct 5th Knight Order has personally set out to eradicate. Of course, all eyes and ears were focused here."

"Th-that is..."

Both Calline and Rudian's expressions suddenly stiffened.

The situation seems to have grown bigger than expected.

If the Imperial Knight Order had directly intervened, it meant that the scale of the men Calline had contacted was beyond Rudian's imagination.

Even if the central government didn't raise an issue about this, the Iskar family would still owe a huge debt to the Imperial family just from that alone.

Count Rickart seemed to have already made up his mind and passed a judgment on Calline that was as good as a death sentence.

"Prepare to enter a religious order."

"...F-Father!"

"It won't be for life. But you should be thinking about at least 5 years of self-reflection."

The Count's expression was serious.

Calline's expression distorted to the point of becoming tearful.

"I'll assign Rudian to you, so you won't have any particular inconveniences in your daily life."

'...As expected.'

Rudian sighed inwardly.

After 5 years.

According to calculations, that's when the main story of <The. Chro. Seven.> begins.

By then, the continent would be engulfed in the flames of war with much blood flowing, and Rudian would be swept away like a fallen leaf to meet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a miserable future.

"F-Father! Just a moment!"

At that moment, Calline desperately interrupted the Count's words, waving his hands.

"Do you have something to say?"

"I'll, I'll earn merit! I will definitely earn merit that can offset this situation and raise the name of our family!"

Count Rickart seemed momentarily intrigued by Calline's exclamation, but soon returned to his original attitude.

"But in the current situation, even if you earn merit, it won't prevent the Imperial family's interference. Unless it's an extraordinary achievement..."

"The Holy Sword Daylight!"

JOLT!

The moment the word 'Daylight' was mentioned, for the first time, the expression of Count Iskar changed drastically.

And Rudian's expression, who was listening beside him, also distorted.

'Is he serious?'

The method Rudian had thought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of for Calline to avoid responsibility was military merit.

But this bastard was going one step further, declaring that he would voluntarily enter the gates of hell.

"Wasn't the reason those guys were lurking around the border area because information about the dungeon had leaked! If I reclaim the holy sword Daylight of the Delphione Duchy, I can surely receive the Duke's assistance!"

While it's unlikely that underworld figures would come all the way here for dungeon exploration, Calline was somehow twisting the facts to survive.

"Daylight...?"

Count Rickart pondered for a moment but eventually shook his head.

"That's a dungeon with unconfirmed difficulty. Even though it was discovered in our territory, we can't divert significant forces while the Kingdom of Rohans' movements are suspicious."

Obviously, Calline going on a dungeon expedition alone would be suicide, so if the exploration begins, knights and magicians under the Iskar family would be deployed for the dungeon exploration.

But Calline's expression, having grasped the last lifeline, was resolute.

"I will definitely accomplish it! Please believe in me, Father!"

Faced with his child's unprecedented show of determination, Rickart's expression wavered briefly.

"...Hmm!"

Calline is just a figurehead expedition leader, a puppet executive. The real hard work falls on the vassals deployed below.

Rudian sneered and mocked Calline.

'There's no way the Count will accept that.'

Usually, when a dungeon is discovered, the Adventurer's Guild or Information Guild first dispatches an expedition team to determine the danger level before proceeding.

In a situation where proper investigation hasn't even been conducted yet, who would take such a gamble where there's a possibility of losing the entire deployed force, including the heir?

Calline's proposal was difficult to accept, and shouldn't be accepted.

But...

"Fine. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Just this once, I'll believe in you."

'What?'

Regardless of Rudian's astonishment next to him, Count Rickart continued to pour out words like a bolt from the blue.

"I'll assign thirty knights including Derrick and three magicians. Since you promised so confidently, risk your life on it. Don't even dream of returning before retrieving Daylight."

"Y-Your Excellency...!"

Before Rudian could say anything, Count Rickart spoke to him first.

"Rudian, I entrust Calline to you. If you do as you have been doing, all will go well."

'Oh, no!'

The Count turned his gaze to Calline with a sturdy look.

"I believe in you. I believe that, just this once, you won't disappoint your father!"

He wanted to say that the number of disappointments so far was close to three digits, but if he uttered those words in the current situation, his head would fly off by Derrick's sword right there.

'Are you really determined to die?'

Dungeon.

Although a dungeon itself is fundamentally designed with a difficulty that ordinary people cannot overcome.

In this messed-up world of <The. Chro. Seven.>, dungeons were equated with the word hell.

Because in this world, dungeons were places of inhuman terror where classic powerhouses like gods and demon kings, as well as planet-killer level munchkins from outer space, could appear without warning!