Out of all people, why am I the ntred protagonist

The darkness was suffocating, wrapping around us like a living thing. Cipher let out a nervous chuckle.

"Man, it's pitch black in here."

I sighed. "Hey, System, do you have a torch or something?"

[System]: Apparently, I don't have a tool, but I got a trait that can see through darkness~ (╹▽╹)

I frowned. "How much?"

[System]: Around 500 shop points...

I scoffed. "Seriously? That's a rip-off." But I literally had no choice. A sigh escaped my lips. "System, purchase it."

A familiar chime rang in my head.

Ding! New trait acquired!

[Night Vision (Uncommon)]

— See through the darkness.

My vision flickered, and suddenly, the cave around me shifted from total blackness to shades of gray and blue. The walls stretched wider than I expected, jagged rock formations lining the cavern like rows of broken teeth.

But what really caught my attention were the strange, cryptic drawings covering the walls—symbols and unknown language scribbled onto the rocks, pulsating faintly as if whispering some ancient secret.

Meanwhile, in Cipher's chat...

— Yo, dude just activated wall hacks?!

— Nah, he turned on brightness settings lmao.

— Bro just unlocked Ultra HD vision.

— Is he in a dungeon or a Skyrim ruin?

— Those symbols look kinda sus... anyone else getting bad vibes?

— Bro bout to read an ancient curse and unlock the endgame boss.

— Y'all ever seen horror movies? This is how they start.

As I scanned the cave, my eyes locked onto something else—a flickering torchlight in the distance. Three shadows danced against the walls.

Humanoid.

I crouched low, creeping forward without making a sound.

Peeking from behind a boulder, my suspicion was confirmed. Goblins.

Their grotesque, twisted faces made "ugly" feel like a compliment. Their skin, a sickly green, glistened with grime. Their jagged teeth gnashed as they whispered to each other in a guttural, raspy language.

Most rookie raiders underestimated goblins, dismissing them as weak. That was a mistake.

The real danger wasn't their strength. It was their intelligence.

Goblins were meticulous, their cunning only rivaled by their cruelty. They set traps, lured in overconfident hunters, and picked them off like scavengers. Many raiders had fallen victim to their ambushes, their arrogance leading them straight into death's hands.

And right now, Cipher and I were intruding on their territory.

The goblins chattered in their guttural, rasping tongue, their jagged teeth flashing as they spoke.

"Grik-tak, vrash nog brukk tar!"

"Graaak... Niz'ak grob! Takk'tar gresh, dakk'nar..."

"Hrrek! Vrosh'ka brik'nog!"

Each of them carried crude wooden clubs, the rough grain of the wood splintered from years of use. Their only clothing was a ragged cloth tied around their waists, scrawled with eerie, unknown symbols—likely some kind of tribal markings.

Meanwhile, Cipher's chat was buzzing.

— YO, THEY SPEAKING ENCHANTMENT TABLE.

— Somebody get Google Translate.

— Bro, why do they sound like they're casting a hex?

— What if they're just talking about what to eat for dinner?

— Nah, they plotting to cook our boy Cipher instead.

— That one in the back looks like he's onto something...

Suddenly, one of the goblins sniffed the air.

Sniff. Sniff.

A cold chill ran down my spine.

I instinctively signaled Cipher—Don't. Move.

"Grek! Vrak-nish! Smrakk'tor noz'ka brishk!"

"Vrokk?"

"Drek'tar! Grizz'vog rok'nash!"

The other goblin began sniffing aggressively, their slitted nostrils flaring.

"Sniff sniff... Krakk… no'grash. Vash'ka nog, vrik'tor noz!"

And then—

"Kekekekekekeke!"

Two of them burst into laughter, their shrill cackling echoing through the cavern.

"Hrrk! Niz'ak vrosh! Brikk'naak!"

One of them started moving—toward us.

Shit.

We were seconds away from being discovered. My mind raced. The only thing around us was rock—just bare, cold rock.

Wait… Rocks.

If I could create a distraction...

I grabbed a smooth, medium-sized pebble, aimed carefully, and flicked it into the darkness.

[System]: Lukas chooses deception! Let's see his luck on the dice roll...

[System]: No way... Nat 20?!

The pebble bounced off the cave wall.

Thud. Thud.

The sound echoed, bouncing unnaturally in the cavern.

The goblins immediately tensed.

"Grrak? Vrosh'nak?"

"Brik'tar! Grosh'ka vrik!"

"Hrk?! Vrak-nish'ka?"

"Grush'nak! Vrak'tor noz brikk-lak!"

Their beady yellow eyes darted toward the source of the noise, gripping their clubs tightly. One of them hesitated, its gnarled fingers twitching in uncertainty.

And then—

"Kekekekekekeke!"

More laughter.

They relaxed again, thinking nothing of it.

But one goblin—the one closest to us—didn't move. It stayed frozen, standing just behind the rock we were using as cover, as if sensing something was still off.

This was my chance.

I crept forward, keeping my footsteps light. The dim torchlight flickered against the steel of my sword as I raised it, steadying my breathing.

The goblin's nose twitched. Its ear flicked.

It knew.

Its body tensed, beginning to turn—

But it was too late.

With a fluid motion, I slashed.

Like a hot knife through butter, my blade carved through the goblin's neck.

Its head left its shoulders in a clean arc, eyes still wide in shock as it tumbled to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Krieek?"

The remaining goblins barely had time to process what had happened.

I didn't give them the chance.

With a sharp inhale, I pushed forward.

Stratos Cleave!

A swift, arcing slash tore through the space between us, slicing into their scrawny bodies. They recoiled, staggering back as dark green blood splattered against the cave floor.

I didn't stop.

Stepping in, I twisted my wrist and followed up with two precise slashes.

The first goblin barely let out a gasp before its torso split open. The second fared no better—its body twitched before collapsing in a heap.

Cipher's stream erupted.

— BRO COOKING.

— THREE KILLS, CLEAN AF.

— NAH, THAT WAS PERSONAL.

— RIP BOZOS, THEY DIDN'T EVEN GET TO FIGHT BACK.

— Bro got in a dungeon and went full anime protagonist.

— Unknown suicide boi go brrrr.

— This dude is a lowkey raid boss, I swear.

— Goblins thought they were in a fantasy adventure, turns out they were in a horror movie.

— LMFAO, imagine just vibing with your goblin homies and suddenly you get deleted.

Cipher exhaled beside me.

"...Okay, not gonna lie, that was kinda badass."

I flicked the blood off my blade. "Stay close and try not to get in the way."

Cipher gulped. "...Noted."

"But not gonna lie… who are you?" Cipher asked, still catching his breath. "And what the hell are you doing in this dungeon?"

I didn't answer.

Just kept walking, flicking the last remnants of goblin blood off my blade.

Cipher huffed. "Alright, I get it—mysterious guy vibes. Just say you don't wanna talk."

I glanced at him for a brief second.

"Exactly."

Cipher groaned. "Bro, I swear… I literally followed you in here, and I don't even get a name?"

I kept moving.

"...Damn, alright. Guess I'll just call you Batman or some sh—"

I shot him a look.

Cipher immediately shut up.

The chat, however, had zero chill.

— LMFAOOOO HE REALLY HIT HIM WITH THE SILENT TREATMENT.

— This guy acting like he's in a shonen anime.

— Nah, he's that one OP NPC that doesn't talk unless it's a cutscene.

— "Just say you don't wanna talk." "Exactly." BRO??

— Cipher really followed a dude with zero background info. Survival instincts WHERE?

— Batman got summoned to a fantasy world.

— Bro got an escort mission and doesn't even know it yet.

— MC behavior.

— Side character tryna get lore and failing.

Cipher sighed dramatically. "Alright, man, fine. Be mysterious. But if we survive this, you owe me an explanation."

"Nuh uh."

Cipher blinked. "What do you mean, Nuh uh?"

I didn't answer. I just turned and kept walking deeper into the dungeon.

"Bro—wait up!" He hurried after me, his footsteps echoing against the cave walls.

The deeper we went, the more bizarre the environment became. Strange carvings covered the stone, intricate symbols I couldn't decipher. The walls, once rough and natural, began to take on a more structured form—pillars, crude archways, remnants of what seemed to be an ancient civilization buried beneath time.

I traced a hand over the markings, my mind racing.

"Where the hell am I? This… this wasn't even in the game."

— Wait, why does this place look like an actual ruin??

— Bro found DLC content.

— This ain't a cave, this a lost city wtf.

— Cipher's gonna uncover some ancient conspiracy at this rate.

— If he touches something cursed, I'm logging off.

We continued forward until the tunnel split into two paths.

The right tunnel was lit by flickering torches—an obvious sign of goblins. Their chattering voices echoed faintly, confirming my suspicions.

The left tunnel, however, was dark and split off into another intersection further ahead. Uncharted territory.

Cipher finally caught up, panting. "Okay, cool, yeah, love the silent treatment. So, uh… where do we go now?"

I stared down both paths.

"We don't pick unnecessary fights," I said.

Without waiting for his input, I turned left, stepping into the darkness.

Cipher groaned. "Man, why do I feel like I'm in a horror movie?"

— Bro picked 'explore the scary tunnel' instead of EXP farming smh.

— Dungeon exploration episode LET'S GOOOO.

— Nah, he's gonna unlock some hidden questline.

— Watch them find some cursed relic that starts a world-ending event.

— Bro not grinding, he's LORE DIVING.

I reached the intersection, my footsteps slowing as I took in the sight before me.

To the right—another long, dark path stretching into uncertainty, the air thick with an eerie stillness.

To the left—a stone throne.

It sat atop a slightly elevated platform, crude yet imposing, its jagged edges carved from the same rock as the cave itself. The surface was adorned with deep scratches, possibly from years of wear—or battle. Surrounding it, a handful of goblins stood guard, gripping their weapons with an alertness I hadn't seen from the ones before.

A throne?

My brows furrowed. This wasn't normal.

My knowledge of the game—the maps, the dungeons, the enemy placements—was starting to fail me. This wasn't in the script.

— A throne?? Goblins don't have thrones wtf.

— Bro just unlocked secret boss fight, gg.

— Nah, that ain't a throne, that's a final boss seat.

— Either a goblin king or some eldritch horror about to wake up.

— Imagine sitting on it and the cave just closes.

A sinking feeling settled in my gut.

Something was wrong.

Something big was about to happen.

Yo author here sorry for the late update my schedule has been tight this week BUT I might come back next week Tuesday with regular updates.

Also shoutout to insane_Clown_Poser for consistent support to my novel my guy is my inspiration to make more.

Author here peace out love ya guys