Build-Up to Enter the Family Dungeon (1)

"What?" The moment the crown prince's face twisted with rage at such insolence, Lucian was already issuing commands to the Magic Sword in his mind.

'Hey. Max output, fire sword energy straight at that wall. We're punching an escape route.'

'Skip.'

The Magic Sword’s will, which had been about to add a warning, was mercilessly silenced by Lucian’s blade-like word. Bound by their contract, the sword trembled with humiliation and carried out its master’s command. The blade embedded in the altar shot into the air and hurtled toward the wall.

-KWAaaaaaaaang!!!

The sword energy erupting from the charging blade slammed into the thick wall. The wall shattered to pieces. Having poured out its maximum output, the Magic Sword lost the strength to maintain physical form. It collapsed into black energy and settled inside Lucian’s heart.

"See ya."

With that short farewell, Lucian leaped into the open air beyond the wall without the slightest hesitation. It was the moment the Elixir’s buff and his ridiculous speed truly shone.

While writing the post, he registered the speedrun to the gallery.

He began racing through the darkness toward the family estate. From far behind came the sound of knights in pursuit. As he kept running—

"Huh?"

Lucian’s feet, which had been lightly bounding across city rooftops, stumbled. He regained his balance and continued the thought.

‘Updated? It updated already?’

A notification about the speedrun list. Lucian’s eyes narrowed.

‘It was a perfect 59-minute-13-second build, though?’

‘Don’t tell me… again this time?’

Something clicked. Even while running, Lucian waved through the air and activated the gallery window. The Speedrun Registration feature recreated his experienced runs as a kind of virtual world. In the gallery, users could challenge speedruns registered under the same character and conditions.

"Those bastards again!"

Whenever Lucian registered a run, those two would immediately follow up as if to mock him, proving their superiority. They were demonic guys who either t-bagged him by a single second or created bizarre records with bugged plays.

"What the hell are these people?"

He was dying to know their identities. But he didn’t have time to hunt those monsters down in the gallery right now. He had reached the family mansion in secret. Holding his breath, Lucian looked down from the roof.

"Your Grace the Duke! Please grant permission!"

A man in ornate uniform was kneeling on one knee. It was the Male Lead. He was shouting at Lucian’s father, the Duke, as if vomiting blood.

"Please allow me to marry the young lady!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

His voice, dramatic beyond desperation, rang through the garden. Even the world’s strongest powerhouse Lucian had been wary of—the Imperial Knight Commander—stood with a solemn expression.

‘In the original it was only mentioned as background setting, right?’

This scene. In the original novel it had only been referenced in passing while explaining the Male Lead’s backstory.

‘But when did he even see her? He’s already begging like this?’

For reference, it hadn’t even been a full day since the Male Lead first saw their sister.

"Step back."

The Duke’s voice was cold and majestic. The aura that once commanded the continent crushed the entire garden.

"I cannot betroth my daughter so soon."

The resolute image of a family head who would never permit it. The conversation seemed ready to continue, but—

‘Alright, this dialogue is way too damn long.’

‘Perfect blind spot.’

While every human below was immersed in the emotional scene and completely focused, a little kid wearing nothing but a single pair of panties cut across the air.

-Swish.

Lucian nimbly vaulted over the balcony railing and dove through the open ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window of his own room, landing cleanly.

"Whew. Safe!"

Thanks to the event drawing all the aggro, not a single encounter triggered. Lucian yanked off the helmet, kicked it under the bed, and headed straight for the closet.

"Here it is."

He picked out a set of pajamas—the exact same design as the ones he had mercilessly ripped apart earlier that night when launching the speedrun. It was the outfit required for this build.

-Whoosh whoosh!

He changed in the blink of an eye. The Magic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sword’s will, which had been watching the rapid action in real time from inside his heart, spoke up.

"Yeah. Why?"

Lucian cleanly ignored the Magic Sword’s muttering will. After buttoning the pajamas all the way up, he turned his gaze out the window. The event in the garden was still in full swing.

"Hey."

But Lucian’s eyes went past the garden, all the way to the darkness beyond the mansion’s main gate.

-Clank! Clatter!

Breaking through the darkness, the imperial knights chasing SpeedMaster began to appear in the distance.

Lucian’s lips curved slightly as he added to the will inside his heart.

"The full-blown RoFan story hasn’t even started yet, right?"

The Magic Sword’s will floundered at the sudden unknown terms, but Lucian kept monologuing as if he didn’t need a reply.

"This engagement uproar,"

"In the original it was only mentioned as setting to explain the Male Lead’s background and that was it."

"So there’s no problem with the story progression even if I exploit it a little, right?"

The Magic Sword’s will could not comprehend this absurd human’s thought process at all. Regardless, Lucian’s mind was spinning at full speed.

"Huh? The story won’t collapse, right?"

"It’s still before episode one even starts, isn’t it?"

"It’s just setting, right?"

"Don’t you think? Right?!"

As if the Magic Sword’s opinion was irrelevant, the barrage of half-question, half-demand monologues poured out. Lucian had fallen deep into his own world.

The desire to preserve the RoFan narrative that was supposed to flow naturally.

The speedrunner’s obsession with shaving off even 0.01 seconds through perfect builds.

The two clashed violently inside him. And three seconds later, the clear victor was, of course, the speedrunner.

"Well."

Lucian mercilessly lifted the entire lit candelabra from the room.

"It should be fine."

He then dropped every single flame in the room—candle and all—onto the carpet and curtains.

-Fwoooooosh!

Flames surged up in an instant, covering the room in bright red fire.

The Magic Sword screamed at the sight of its contractor committing self-arson. Yet Lucian’s expression remained perfectly calm.

"Hey. My sisters will be here any second, you know?"

Amid flames licking every direction and acrid smoke rising, Lucian lay comfortably on the bed.

"So I’m turning off speedrunner mode for a bit and switching to the family’s beloved youngest child mode."

"This is how I get to enter the family dungeon."

The Magic Sword’s common-sense retort made Lucian click his tongue in disdain.

"That wouldn’t be entering as a speedrunner."

"Way too damn slow."

"This is the fastest way."

In the middle of the burning room, Lucian calmly closed his eyes.

The will fell silent, at a complete loss for words. Whether it was speedrunning or whatever else, it was the moment the sword accepted that its master—who kept spewing incomprehensible terms—was utterly, thoroughly insane.

While savoring the smoke like dessert and enjoying the distant haze as his consciousness grew foggy, Lucian thought.

"So then."

Around that time, chaos had erupted in front of the mansion’s main gate because of the imperial knights who had chased him there.

"A small boy wearing only panties stole the Magic Sword and fled here?"

A low, heavy voice pressed down on the air. The Knight Commander was staring down at his subordinates with cold eyes.

"Y-Yes! It’s certain, Commander!"

The knight who had run over panting nodded desperately, cold sweat pouring down his face. Chasing the legendary thief who had robbed the imperial palace had been fine, but the report itself was so absurd that his voice kept shrinking.

The Knight Commander’s brow furrowed.

"Do you honestly think I’ll believe that, Sir Lance?"

"B-But it’s true! He was wearing a maid uniform and pretending to be dead, then suddenly got up, entered the treasury, smashed through the wall…"

The more the knight spoke, the more the Knight Commander’s face twisted into a scowl. He began to speak to the knights who were uttering complete nonsense.

"Enough. What kind of ridiculous—"

It was exactly then.

"Fire!!"

Beyond their line of sight, fierce flames began roaring out from one of the windows of the ducal mansion.

"That fire! It’s the same! It’s him! SpeedMaster!!!"

"SpeedMaster?"

As the Knight Commander’s eyes filled with doubt, the existence that should not exist in this world—SpeedMaster—began carving itself into the strongest man’s mind.

The event in the garden was interrupted as well.

"Lucian!!"

The burning room belonged to the family’s most beloved youngest member.

"Isn’t that the youngest’s room?"

The younger sister asked in confusion. The eldest sister began running in panic.

"Lucian!! It’s Lucian’s room!!"

A scream echoed across the garden.

"Calm yourself, Elysia!"

Flames of this level would be extinguished quickly with the Valentine family’s power. The Duke thought so and tried to restrain his eldest daughter, but it was useless.

"Let go! Lucian is in danger!"

With a resolute cry, Elysia shook off the Duke’s hand and ran. She who always valued family rules paid no attention to the Duke’s authority when her youngest brother’s safety was at stake.

"Sister, wait!"

Rosalyn followed right behind her eldest sister.

"Rosalyn! It’s dangerous!"

The Male Lead was flustered by the sudden turn of events. He had no idea what was happening, but when the RoFan female lead ran toward the flames, he had no choice but to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chase after her like a string of connected candies.

By the time they reached Lucian’s room, he had slightly opened his eyes. Even amid the choking smoke, the old gamer’s senses had perfectly timed the moment.

‘From now on, I—’

‘—am a pitiful, miserable boy victimized by the legendary villain SpeedMaster.’

Lucian began infinite self-hypnosis.

‘I, cute Lucian, am the most harmless and pitiable youngest in the world.’

Mind control that erased the madness from his eyes and laundered the old gamer’s wickedness into pure innocence.

The will watching his inner thoughts from inside his heart could not hide its shock. In all of history, there had never been a human who so shamelessly and meticulously rebuilt his own personality.

Lucian paid the Magic Sword’s jabs no mind. Everything was for the speedrun. Everything was for his dopamine. Speedrun. My life. Speedrun. My everything. Speedrun. Me.

‘Acting, start.’

The fierce inner conflict resolved perfectly. SpeedMaster was not here. There was only a weak, pure boy. Only the adorable Lucian.

"Cough!"

The doorknob broke and the door burst open. Lucian’s eyes became those of an innocent, adorable boy who saw the world as pure. Tears welled up as he began coughing violently, as if in terrible pain.

"Cough… Sister…… cough!"

This was the Lucian that the family had always seen. He had been acting even in daily life in front of his family to maintain his double life as a speedrunner.