Becoming the Dark Lord [LitRPG]

Standing in front of Luke was a woman. Gorgeous. Shirtless. Pale skin, long golden hair, delicate features—and a body so absurdly sculpted it made his brain short-circuit.

One word flashed through Luke's mind: Perfect.

His eyes involuntarily wandered to the two very prominent, very round reasons he was forgetting how to breathe.

Focus, Luke. Look away. Look away. For the love of all that's sacred—Look. Away.

"G-give me the necklace, Luke!" Her voice was sharp—urgent. And so was the katana pointed at his chest.

Luke instinctively raised his kukri, ready to deflect. But his mind was in shambles.

Look? Don't look? Look? Don't look.

A civil war raged in his head.

The blade in her hand was dangerous. But the other weapon… Those hypnotic breasts…

"Damn it!" Luke tossed the necklace toward her and spun around like his life depended on it.

"D-don't turn around!" she snapped, diving for the pendant.

Luke exhaled slowly.

Guess that was it. My entire life's worth of luck—gone. All because I just saw the most beautiful boobs in existence.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" The voice was masculine again.

Luke turned slowly. Allison was back. The male version.

He blinked. "I think I just ran out of luck and cursed myself with eternal misfortune."

"What?!"

Allison still had his katana raised, flushed with panic.

Luke stared at him—at her—for a long moment.

"Wait... so you're a girl?"

Allison sighed, sheathing the sword. He pulled a shirt from his bag and began dressing.

"My system gear was damaged. It'll take a while to repair. Good thing I grabbed spare clothes in the village."

Luke still looked like someone had hit him in the head with a frying pan.

"Wait... when you're a guy, do you… y'know… have—?"

Allison's face turned bright red.

"No! I don't have a dick when I'm in male form!"

Luke's eyes widened.

"That's why you always went to the bathroom so far from me...?"

Allison didn't answer. He just marched up and grabbed Luke by the collar.

"Don't tell anyone."

His voice was low—dead serious.

"No one can know I'm a girl. Got it?"

Luke was silent for a second... then nodded.

"There's no one here to tell anyway—except Charlie. But she saw it all already." He crossed his arms. "I won't tell a soul, as long as you keep quiet about Charlie being my skeleton."

Allison released him. "I'd never say anything about your skeleton, your bloodline, or anything else. I have standards."

Luke smiled. "So do I."

A beat of silence passed.

Then Allison murmured, just above a whisper: "I ran away from home."

Luke shrugged. "It's fine. I don't care about your past."

Allison looked... relieved. Like she'd expected a wave of questions. But Luke didn't ask.

Don't care? Damn it. I care a lot! Why did she run away? Why disguise herself as a man? And that item…?

He took a deep breath, trying to keep it together.

"Let me ask you something," he said casually. "That item—the one that changes your appearance. Is it hard to get?"

Allison narrowed her eyes. "Why? Planning to disguise yourself as a woman?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Luke snapped, a little too quickly.

She gave him a suspicious look, raising one brow.

"I just need to be prepared. Now that I know items like that exist, it means anyone could use one to impersonate someone I know. Gender, face, anything. I need to keep my guard up."

Allison folded her arms. "Fair point."

She glanced at the sealed door behind them. And for a moment, both of them were just... quiet. A shared secret hanging in the air. And behind it—a small, strange trust.

Allison crossed her arms again.

"Items like that are extremely rare. Not just on Earth—anywhere."

"That rare?" Luke asked, brow furrowed.

"An artifact that completely alters appearance? That's overpowered. I doubt you'll ever find another like it. Maybe there are some skills that mimic the effect, but actual items like this?" She shook her head. "They're basically extinct."

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Luke frowned.

That kind of item… must be worth a fortune. Maybe even illegal.

Before he could press further, Allison sighed.

"I don't want to talk about myself."

Luke nodded. "Fair."

He brushed past her, heading toward a half-open door at the end of the hall. But inside, his mind was chaos.

I really spent days next to a woman? Sharing food... fighting side by side... and I never knew?

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that thing you said about my body." Allison's voice came low, almost a whisper, tinged with embarrassment.

"I'm embarrassed. You're the first person who's ever seen me naked since I was a baby."

Luke swallowed hard.

The first person…? Since she was a baby? I'm cursed! Absolutely, irreversibly cursed.

"It's fine. It's over." He tried to sound serious. "Let's just focus on what matters—getting out of this creepy dungeon."

FOCUS, DAMMIT!

His brain refused to listen. He'd only ever seen boobs in videos. In real life? Way better.

He shook his head like he could rattle the thoughts loose.

Life or death, Luke. Get your head straight!

He took a deep breath and peeked through the door.

The corridor ahead stretched long and silent. Nothing like the sewer they came from.

The stone walls were engraved with detailed patterns, elegant and deliberate. Ornate rugs lined the floor, and antique paintings hung between golden sconces. The torches burned steadily in crafted holders, casting a soft, warm light.

This wasn't some damp underground passage. This looked like a floor straight out of the Forgotten Temple dungeon.

Luke gripped his kukri tightly. "No other way forward. We move."

Charlie and Allison both nodded.

But… Luke noticed something strange.

Charlie looked tense. More than tense—annoyed. And not just in general. She kept glaring at Allison.

Why?

Luke narrowed his eyes.

What's her problem?

Now wasn't the time to dig into it. They had to move. They had to figure out what the hell this place was.

***

They walked for over an hour. The path didn't twist. Didn't branch. Just stretched forward. Occasionally, they came across empty rooms. Tables. Chairs. Single beds.

Bedrooms?

Then—footsteps. Heavy ones. Metal boots echoing on stone. Luke raised a fist. They slipped into one of the side rooms silently. A shadow passed by in the corridor.

Luke activated [Identify].

[Dead Watchman - Lvl 10]

A knight in full armor. Undead.

Luke smelled the rot immediately. He peeked again. No other enemies in sight. He moved.

[Basic Dark Dash] activated.

He vanished in a blur—and reappeared behind the undead knight.

One arm wrapped around its throat. The kukri plunged through the visor. Steel met flesh. The blade drove deep. The armored body went limp instantly.

Luke caught it before it collapsed. Silent kill.

Luke dragged the corpse carefully, laying it out on the bed like a grotesque mannequin.

"What do you think the odds are there's more of these things around?" Allison murmured behind him.

Luke eyed the armor, fused into rotting flesh. "Pretty damn high, I'd bet."

He grabbed the dead Watchman's helmet, trying to twist it loose. No use. The steel was melded with decayed meat and blackened bone, as if the armor had grown into the corpse.

"You wanna try it on?" Luke asked.

Allison gagged. "Not a chance in hell."

Luke glanced at Charlie. The armor wouldn't fit her—too bulky, too grotesque. But even if it did, he knew without a doubt she wouldn't wear something like this.

He tried peeling off one of the gauntlets. Still nothing. The metal refused to come off, sunken deep into what was left of the creature's flesh.

So they kept moving. Same rhythm. Same routine. Eyes sharp. Weapons ready.

Every time they heard footsteps echo down the corridor… they slipped into a room. Waited. Then, when the enemy passed by—Luke struck. Silent. Efficient. No sound. No trace.

Another body, another bed. Another clean kill.

As Luke dragged the latest corpse into a side room, he spoke without looking back.

"Mind if I ask you something?"

Allison raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You've got a powerful disguise item. But you were thrown into the Training Grounds before this tutorial, right?"

Allison sighed. "Are you still on that?"

Luke grinned. "Naturally. I'm curious."

He turned and met Allison's gaze.

"No way that item came from the Training Grounds. And you… you already knew how to use it."

He paused, thinking it through.

"That means you had the item before the Training Grounds. But that shouldn't be possible. No one's supposed to have access to system-bound items before accepting Integration. You'd need an inventory first."

Allison blinked, confused. "What are you even talking about? Of course I had it in my inventory before Integration. Same as you."

Luke froze.

"…Wait. You had the system before the Training Grounds?"

Allison tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.

"Yeah? Didn't you? You got your kukris, that crocodile chestplate, and those crypt gloves before the tutorial. Items you can't get in the Training Grounds."

Luke didn't respond.

There was something in the way she said it. Like it was obvious. Like he'd missed something crucial.

"You… didn't know that was possible?" Allison asked slowly. "I thought you were like me."

Luke scratched the back of his head. "I don't get it."

He turned to face her directly.

"A person can only be born with the system if both parents already have it. But in that case, they don't even receive an Integration invite. So… how did you end up in the tutorial?"

Allison paused, thoughtful.

"I thought you were like me." She drew in a slow breath. "My father has the system. My mother doesn't."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"I was born with the system," she continued. "But it came with limits."

Pieces started falling into place in Luke's mind.

"It was like being in a permanent version of the Training Grounds. I could awaken skills, but there was a hard cap — my class was locked."

Luke was starting to understand.

"And the only way to remove that lock…"

"Was by accepting the Integration and coming into the tutorial." Her tone was calm, but resolute.

"That's why you already had the necklace in your inventory."

She gave a slight nod, and Luke let out a breath. It made sense now.

But then… Allison's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You didn't know any of that."

Luke didn't answer.

Which told her everything.

"That means neither of your parents had the system." Her voice was different now. Heavier. "So how did you get your items?"

Luke's jaw tensed.

Allison folded her arms, her tone cool and inquisitive.

"Monsters in the Training Grounds almost never drop items." She tilted her head slightly. "And your kukris… they're too strong to come from there."

For a moment, the roles flipped. Allison was the one asking the questions. Pressing. Reading him.

"I figured it was some kind of family heirloom," she added. "Or something from a guild."

Luke's thoughts turned inward.

If Allison had the system from birth… then that meant her bloodline had been with her long before the tutorial.

Unlike him.

He met her eyes again.

"You got your bloodline before this place… or a long time ago?"

Silence.

She looked away.

"I…" Her voice faltered. "I got my bloodline when I was a kid."

Luke's breath caught.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly.

Something shifted in her tone. It wasn't a refusal. It was a wall.

Then she looked at him again. Clear. Direct.

"I won't ask how you got yours either."

When she said it like that, Luke understood. She could've asked. But she didn't.

He looked away.

She got her bloodline as a child. Had she gone into a dungeon? Met something outside of one?

Luke had questions. Too many. But he let it go. He didn't want to explain his own, either.

The three of them continued walking in silence, their boots echoing softly down the corridor. Now that they were inside the wall, it was only a matter of time before they reached the other side.

But something hung heavy in the air. They all knew it. This tutorial was far from normal. And it was only going to get worse.