Becoming the Dark Lord [LitRPG]

By this point, Luke had abandoned all hope of joining this year's official Tutorial. He didn't know the exact time limit the system allowed before the portal closed, but he estimated something between two weeks and a month. That was the usual window for someone to level up and move on.

But now, it didn't matter anymore. His priority wasn't advancement, it was survival. Over the past few days, he had explored the entire cavern. He discovered it was circular in shape, and he had already covered half the territory. The other half was covered in a dense, dark forest.

Luke had never entered it. Not once. Not even the monsters got close to it. That told him everything. The boss was in there. He opened his system interface again, scrolling until he found the notification about the sealed doors at the northern edge of the cave.

[Notice]: This is the final floor of the Dungeon and houses the Forgotten Temple. These doors can only be opened from the inside if you possess the Statue Key, currently guarded by a Boss.

There was something about that message. Luke reread it carefully. Just like the words spoken by the statue, the System played with language—giving hints. And there it was, his first clue: he didn't need to kill the boss. He just needed the key. Risky. Insane. But it was a plan. Level up as much as possible. Enter the forest. Steal the key. Escape. His eyes drifted to the old leather pouch left behind by the dungeon's last occupant.

"You… cleared the entire floor before heading in, didn't you?" he muttered. "To level up. To give yourself a chance..."

He pictured the scene: someone like him, trying to grow stronger before the final confrontation, someone who had the exact same idea and died for it. Now, Luke stared at the silent forest, half-lit by the violet shimmer of the crystals. He was about to repeat that same madness. He could've chosen the slow route: kill one monster a week, stretch out his life, delay the inevitable.

But that's all it would've been, delaying death. Because soon, the monsters would be gone, and what would follow was starvation, weakness, a miserable end. Or he could bet everything: slay all remaining creatures now, level up as far as possible, and face fate head-on. He looked once more at the forest. At the pouch resting on the table.

He remembered the statue. That solemn voice: "Death awaits you on both paths."

"The only question is whether it will be quick or slow."

Luke closed his holster with purpose, picked up the pouch, and turned toward the darkness. He was decided; he'd take the quick method and face death head-on.

***

One week. That's how long it had been since Luke decided to face the boss. And now—arrows sliced through the air as he ran.

"Shit!" he growled, weaving between trees.

Three kobolds, mounted on giant rats, were right behind him... and unfortunately for him, they knew how to shoot. Arrows ripped past, striking bark and branches. Luke didn't retreat—he circled, climbed trees, leapt from branch to branch. He didn't just feel faster now—he was. He could calculate the weight of his body with every step, feel the strength of each branch beneath his hands, know in a split-second whether it could handle his movement.

His brain was faster. His memory sharper. He could recall the scent of moss, the taste of blood, every moment of the past few days with painful clarity. More arrows. Luke dropped between the enemies, rolling on impact. He threw a knife—it split mid-air. A kobold dropped, its throat pierced clean.

Before he could move, a rat slammed into him. He smashed into a tree. Pain lit up his back, then his shoulders. The creature bit down hard. He screamed, but his mind stayed calm. Still. Like a lake. He punched the rat's snout. It reeled back. His shoulder bled, but his focus... was ice. He threw another knife—dead on. The second kobold collapsed with a choking sound.

[You have slain Cave Kobold – Lvl 4]

No time to rest. He sprinted again, dodging more arrows between trees. Two kobolds. Three rats. Luke burst from a thicket, sliding across the ground. He deflected an arrow with his blade, then threw. Direct hit. The knife buried itself in the kobold's eye. It screamed, fell backward.

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Luke spun, grabbed a fallen blade, rolled, and lunged at the final kobold. He drove the knife deep into its neck. Clean. Silent. Deadly.

**Your class [Assassin] has reached Level 4! (Class Bonus Points Acquired)**

The moment he leveled up, he felt it—his body responded instantly. Strength surged through his limbs, reflexes sharpened, and his balance adjusted on instinct. One of the rats charged. Luke twisted midair and kicked its snout. It staggered back, dazed. Three still alive. Nearby, the fallen kobold groaned in pain, half-conscious.

A second rat lunged with a snarl. Luke rolled to the side, drew four blades, and threw them in a fluid motion. Mid-flight, each one split with a shimmer of Twin Blade—eight knives flew. The creature was impaled in multiple spots and crumpled mid-charge.

[You have slain Cave Rat – Lvl 4]

The next came right after. Luke hurled a knife straight into its face. It shrieked. Without pause, he sprinted forward, grabbed a branch with both hands, swung his body up and forward, and slammed into the rat with a brutal flying kick. The impact drove the embedded blade deeper into its skull.

[You have slain Cave Rat – Lvl 4]

The last one didn't wait. Its tail whipped toward him—but Luke, no longer the weak boy who had first fallen into this place, caught it midair, twisted with explosive force, and threw the creature into a tree. It hit hard, howling in pain. Before it could recover, he was already on it. One clean motion—knife to the neck. Smooth. Precise. Final.

[You have slain Cave Rat – Lvl 4]

The kobold rose, limping, two knives clutched in its hands. Luke didn't wait; he acted before it could steady itself. He threw one knife buried in the creature's foot, a second pierced its shin, and a third lodged in its arm. The kobold staggered, lost its footing, and fell. Luke ran in, kicked the monster hard in the face, then without hesitation leapt onto it, sinking his blade deep into its neck.

[You have slain Cave Kobold – Lvl 4]

[You've reached Level 2! Human (Rank F)] (+1 bonus point to all attributes, +1 free point gained)

Luke leaned against a tree, breathing deeply, but he wasn't tired. His body had been restored, cuts, bruises, muscle strain all gone. The total regeneration from his race-level increase had cleared everything. His biggest fear in this place had always been injury; a broken leg here meant death, which was why he never hesitated in combat. If you falter, you die.

He climbed the nearest tree and settled onto a thick branch. This was the boss's forest. A few creatures wandered through, but rarely. For days, he had found none. The humid breeze slid between the leaves.

Luke looked down at himself: his shirt was shredded, his pants torn to the knee, and the sole of one shoe ripped halfway off. He'd tied it down with a cord made from plant fibers. He was a walking rag. Ignoring the state of his gear, he opened the system interface.

Name: Luke
Level: 2
Rank: F
Class: Assassin (Lvl 4)
Race: Human
Profession: —
Titles: —
Health Points (HP): 170/170
Mana Points (MP): 100/100
Stamina: 90/90

Stats:
Strength: 14
Agility: 21
Endurance: 9

Vitality: 17
Perception: 15
Intelligence: 10
Free Points: 2

"Looks like… nothing new." No race skill. No new class skill. "Are they getting rarer now?" he wondered, staring at the tree ahead.

I need more skills. Like that one that split the blades…

He sighed. Without overthinking it, he spent the last two points. One in Vitality, one in Intelligence.

Updated Stats:
Strength: 14
Agility: 21
Endurance: 9
Vitality: 17 -> 18
Perception: 15
Intelligence: 10 -> 11
Free Points: 2 -> 0
[Health Points (HP): 170/170 -> 180/180]
[Mana Points (MP): 100/100 -> 110/110]

Luke gave a small nod to himself.

That's two more knives I can create. Or three more Twin Blade throws. And ten extra HP might save me from a fatal hit.

He knew that, as an assassin, he should prioritize Agility and Perception. But here, in this place? Staying alive was more important than any stat build. The more health he had, the better.

He climbed down from the tree. He'd been walking through this forest for four days without food or water. He hadn't been able to start a fire since leaving the gazebo; the only reliable flames had been the enchanted torches fixed there. Even if he'd tried to build one manually, the ground was too damp, and worse, fire could attract attention.

The waterfall's lake was his only clean water source, but it was too far now. Thankfully, his racial level-up had restored his body, even hunger and thirst. That alone had bought him extra days of survival. But he knew he couldn't rely on that forever. He was alone, and the deeper he ventured into this territory, the quieter the world became.

Luke spotted a glow ahead, filtering through the trees. He stopped. It wasn't the cold shimmer of violet cave crystals above. This was different—warmer, flickering.

Fire!

Instantly, he dropped to a crouch, two knives in hand. He moved in silence, step by step, then began to crawl across the damp forest floor. Tension coiled in his chest like a knot. With every meter, his heartbeat pounded harder. With every second, his body screamed at him to turn back. But he kept going, pushing away low branches and sliding beneath hanging leaves.

And then... he saw it. A golden-orange blaze lit the clearing ahead. The source of the glow was real—flames. Alive, careless, sacred. Luke's eyes widened. His entire body locked up. He had found the boss's domain. He swallowed hard.

The scene before him looked torn from a ritualistic nightmare, but that wasn't what made his blood run cold. His eyes locked onto a creature standing at the center of it all, and in that moment, all the air vanished from his lungs—frozen, breathless, thoughtless.

Only one word echoed in his mind:

It's a demon.