Author's note:

  Hi! Y'all so awesome, thank you for your support!

  We ehe dungeon without dey, with Don immediately taking the lead. As we passed through the bck hole-like boundary, the jungle’s swelteri and humidity vanished, repced by a cool breeze brushing against our skin. Instead of the rocky cave I half-expected, we found ourselves in a grand hall lined with cold, gray stohe air carried an almal weight, as though we had stepped into a fotten pace—Irwen’s pace.

  “Where are we?” Don asked, brandishing his sword.

  Oep in, I kept silent. Two steps, and something soft brushed against my shoes. Instinctively, I almost struck the ground with my whip before realizing—there lush red rug beh us. I see. “It makes sense! We’re visiting Queen Irwen, Don. Were you expeg her to be ed up in some damp cave?” Truthfully, I had thought exactly about that.

  We tinued onward, undisturbed, without a single enemy ambushing us—a strange ge from the norm. Usually, dungeons were crawling with foes lurking around ers uarding treasure chests. Here? Nothing. Just an impossibly long hall stretg endlessly ahead.

  Our careful footsteps echoed through the stillness, the only sound this dungeon had probably heard in decades. The walls were lit by magical torches casting dim, flickering red light, and the hall’s eerie sileretched on for at least ten minutes until it cut off. A wooden door stood before us—not ordinary wood, but intricately adorned with gold, jade, and straals I couldn’t seemed to tell an a elven story, sprawling across the massive door like a tapestry, capturing every detail of the thirteeaments.

  Don, unimpressed, pushed against the door with all his might.

  Though the dungeon had been structed turies ago, the hinges gave way soundlessly. Wait! I wao yell, but it was too te. A tidal wave of mana washed over me, the normally invisible energy maing as a golden mist. It pressed me to the ground, so heavy I couldn’t even lift my head to see what y beyond the now-open door.

  Strangely, the mist seemed to leave Don untouched. How was he walking? Wait. When I pyed as a warrior, I used strength to ter magic effects, mostly to smash things. Maybe this dungeon worked the same erhaps it was so sed nature to Lucy she hadn’t thought to mention it, just like I never bragged about hurling sto trolls. But how could I ter this?

  Oh! That trick the old pervert taught me—cirg mana within my core! I focused, imagining the mana inside me burning brighter, hotter.

  And it worked for a ge.

  A strange blue fire erupted around me, repelling the golden mist. It wasn’t actual fire, just pure mana taking form in this enviro, but it did the job.

  Scrambling to my feet, I gnced around. Where are we? Only one word fit: throne room. The vast chamber stretched out before me, tered on a golden throne. Sitting upon it was an elven woman, encased within a degrading golden barrier. Huge ks of it dissolved into the mist that had attacked me earlier.

  I was so focused on her, I barely noticed the intricate frescoes on the walls. Her gaze pierced me, sharp and knowing, and I almost tripped over the smooth floor—no, it wasn’t the fault of my heels.

  Her almond-shaped, star-like blue eyes seemed to analyze every fragment of my existence. Her silver hair, tied into a long, intricate braid, gleamed uhe dim light. She wore her Elven-made battle uniform, its sharp lines a stark trast to her poised elegance. Unsciously, I stepped back. It was her. Queen Irwen, the rebel leader.

  “Brother and sister, returning to their mother,” she said, her gaze log onto me. “But only one es back as an ally.”

  robably some story reted nonsense. Wait. This wasn’t like Star Wars. The rebellion against the empire hadn’t started yet.

  Don, unfazed, strode toward the barrier. The golden mist greeted him almost lovingly, but the closest he could approach was two hundred feet. There, he stopped and kneeled.

  “My queen,” he said, his head bowed. “I await your orders.”

  No way. Hey, hey, this wasn’t part of the deal! Irwen only nodded, and in that instant, the mist surged into Don.

  That was bad. No, it was terrible. I bolted forward, desperate to stop whatever was happening. “Don! No!” But I was too te. His tag ged.

  [Prince Don Lv.15]Type: 5-epic | HP: 350/350

  “My child, wele.” Her icy voice sliced through the barrier mist with ease. “But you, bearer of the name Princess, are not wele here. You return as an imperial noble, and such people have no p our kingdom.” Her gre pinned me in pce, and I felt my khreatening to give out.

  “Miss Irwen.” I struggled to hold her gaze, but my ce faltered. L my eyes felt safer thaing fear seize my heart. “Your kingdom is now a suzerain of the empire, ruled by another dynasty. Every noble is imperial.”

  Daring a gnce upward, I caught the flicker of emotion in Irwen’s eyes. The surrounding air shimmered with mana, tangible proof of her legendary status. My voice wavered, but she finished my sentene, her tone vicious. “Human usurper.”

  My blood boiled. She hasn’t ged at all. Her army robably still somewhere in this pace, ready to rise. Mai alert—this has to lead to insane rewards. But first, I pushed back. “It’s beehree hundred years!”

  “What is that, if not insignifit?” she snapped, her voice dripping with disdain. “You died defending me, left for another world, and I have waited, and my time shall e. My army will rise, and every proud citizen will recim what is rightfully ours. You won’t stand in my way—you’re nothing but a shadow of the girl I knew.”

  Her pierg gaze shifted to Don, and she gave him a sharp nod. “Prince, if you may. Remove your sister.”

  What? Fight a level fifteen prince? Was this quest impossible or what? “Wait! Before you do that, I have a proposition for you.”

  Irwen’s stoic expressiourned as she shook her head. “You ot stop your impendih. You have nothing of value to offer me anymore. My quest takes prece over family.”

  She was right. I was The Exploiter, but even I had nothing substantial to sway her. Fighting Don in this golden mist? Out of the question. But there was ohing—o—that could rewrite history. In a way, that worked for me.

  “Uhm… Mother?” I tried. If she thinks I am her daughter, let’s py into that. “Not even the name of the demon of darkness? The servant of rules ah?”

  Her brow furrowed, and she raised her hand. In an instant, the mist surged, ing around my throat and yankio the air. It dragged me closer to the throne—closer than the barrier should’ve allowed—chokihe entire way. I filed helplessly, my strength utterly meaningless before her.

  “What do you know about him?” Her icy voice chilled the air itself, though I noticed with a flicker of relief that I wasn’t cold. Wait… I remembered: I carried a legendary bloodline. Not i like hers, but I was still a hero. Id blood magic didn’t affect me. Wonderful. Everything else still could.

  “Undead army. O-only one servant is f-foolish enough,” I croaked, struggling against the grip at my throat. Stop, you stupid bitch! My vision blurred, and in the er of my sight, a timer materialized. It ticked away the seds until my death. Five minutes. Do I really have to heal myself? I even?

  Her pierg blue eyes locked onto mine again before she finally released me. I dropped like a stone, pain shooting through my left foot as I nded awkwardly. Wing, I rolled on the ground. At least I’m alive.

  “If you know his name,” she said, her tone sharp and anding, “I will trade it for your safe passage back. Warn that traitor. Warn your foolish uncle.”

  Safe passage? That’s it? I grinned, massaging my neck as I caught my breath. “Do you think this is a fair trade? I’m immortal. Kill me, mother, and I’ll just revive.” I paused for effect, grinning wider.

  “At least throw in a tiara. Would you let your daughter go around with a tiara like this?” I poi the pitiful tiara I was wearing. “Maybe one of your jewels, too.” Haggling with Queen Irwen—if anyone could see me now…

  Her lips tightened, but she ceded. “A and safe passage. You may be immortal, daughter, but if I harm your soul, at least the part you still carry, it will take you at least two weeks to reform your mortal body. By then, it will be too te to act.”

  Nonsense. Nothing like this exists. But… “Deal.” There was no point in waiting. A tiara wasn’t just a tri was the symbol of her kingdom and one of the rarest rewards iire game. Only three s—or tiaras—could exist, each tied to a lengthy, limited questlihanks, mai. I’m about to snag one for free.

  “Imperial. No, daughter,” she said, her voice cutting through my thoughts. “Tell us his his instant.”

  Well, ly free.

  Limping on my injured foot, I hobbled toward the ter of the room, finding enough space for the summoning. With a g Don, still kneeling obediently, I poi him. “What about him?”

  Irwen flicked her hand, and the golden mist enveloped his head. Well, if you think that’s enough, Your Majesty. You’re the queen.

  Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and began. “Duwin Ianlee, I call thee.”

  Darkness fell over the room in an instant. Every light extinguished, and even Irwen’s mist couldn’t hold back the encroag bck fog that filled the air. Before me rose an enormous figure, an eerie fusion of human ah, its immense form shifting and morphing with every blink of my eyes. It ayed in one shape, eaore uling tha.

  “You dare, a mere mortal?” The voice thundered in my head, resonating with the same power as my god’s.

  “I beg your pardon,” I said, f my voice to stay steady. “I know your name; I’m immortal, and I’m a hero. Not a mere mortal.”

  I wao ta something snarky, but before I could, my body froze. A sudden blue s fshed in the er of my vision, coldly inf me of exactly why I couldn’t move.

  [You were caught by the anti-cheat system. Please remain still. Iigation is in progress…]Once again, the pleasant voice of a young man echoed in my mind: “Not possible to know the has not beeioned yet—different from beta. Reason for knowledge: unknown. Solution: a warning. Princess, please do not cheat.”

  In the instant, trol of my body returned—or at least in theory.

  [Duwin Ianlee aura is affeg your mind, moving is not possible.]A deep smile spread across Irwen's face, finally showing some emotion for the first time today. Something about her smiling like that wasn’t natural. It wasn’t a warm smile like Katherine’s or Lisa’s. It redatory smile, along with a feeling like seds before a wolf desds on your exposed throat, killing you.

  She rose from her throne and basked in the darkness - yes, she somehow sucked the bck mist in. “Duwin Ianlee. We have an opportunity to reexamine our traow.” Duwin withdrawn his deadly aura ba, but it was too te; Irwen knew his name. “As for you, Imperial, we may be enemies, but you are still my daughter. May my serve you well, Princess Princess. We shall meet again on a battlefield.”

  Her golden mist hugged me, but this time it focused on my tiara, ging it. When I woke up today, I hadn’t expected this. Thanks to this still geing , perhaps I could py a big role in the uping rebellion.

  Or not.

  That was the right of The Exploiter!