Chapter 6: From Prince to Prisoner

"Wait! Let's settle this peacefully! Ahhn don't grab me there! Calm down!" Zach barely had time to protest before the guards hauled him through the grand halls of the palace, dragging him down a flight of damp stone stairs. The luxurious tapestries and golden chandeliers of the upper floors faded into darkness as they descended into the bowels of the castle—the dungeons.

The moment they opened the rusted iron gate, a wave of ungodly stench hit Zach's nose.

"Motherfu—GAAH!" He gagged, covering his nose. "What the hell?! Did something die here?! No, wait... something definitely died here. And then pissed itself. And then took a massive dump before dying!"

"You love owning what doesn't belongs to you, let's see you do it here." The guards said, sneering as they chuckled as they shoved him into a cell, the heavy iron door slamming shut behind him with a deafening clang. Zach stumbled forward, his feet squelching into something wet. He froze. Slowly, he lifted his foot, eyes widening in horror as he saw the mysterious brown smear left on the stone floor.

"Oh. My. God. Kill me now," he whispered, trembling. "What kind of medieval horror show is this?!"

The cell reeked of sweat, piss, and something even worse—probably regret. Straw was scattered on the ground, though calling it a "bed" was like calling a puddle a luxury bath. A single torch flickered outside the cell, barely illuminating the mold-covered stone walls. Somewhere in the darkness, a rat squeaked.

And then another.

And another.

Zach's entire body stiffened. "...Oh, great. Rats. That's exactly what I needed. You know, because getting caught and thrown into a disease-ridden pisshole wasn't enough!"

He slumped against the wall, rubbing his temples. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be living the ultimate wish-fulfillment dream, not rotting in a dungeon.

Then, the memories of this body's past life crashed into him like a sledgehammer. His father.

King Cedric the Ruthless.

The man wasn't just feared—he was a goddamn nightmare. A single act of disobedience could get someone flogged, mutilated, or worse, executed. This was a man who once hanged a noble upside down for three days just because he yawned while the king was talking.

And he—Zach, the dumbass extraordinaire—had just banged his concubine.

Zach swallowed hard. I'm dead. I'm so dead. Oh, God. He's going to skin me alive. No, wait. He'll have my balls chopped off first, then skin me alive. Or maybe he'll make me watch as he feeds my dick to the royal hounds before making me eat it too.

His mind spiraled into panic, coming up with increasingly ridiculous and horrifying punishments.

"What if he turns me into a eunuch and forces me to become a court advisor? I can't be a eunuch! My greatest asset is below the belt! My whole personality revolves around it!

What if he buries me up to my neck in the sand and lets ants eat my eyeballs? What if he ties me to a horse and drags me through the streets naked while children throw tomatoes at me?"

Zach grabbed his hair. "Fuuuuck! I need to get out of here!"

Then an idea struck him.

Bribery.

His gaze flicked toward a guard passing his cell—a burly man with a scar running down his cheek. Zach leaned against the iron bars, lowering his voice into a conspiratorial whisper.

"Psst. Hey, big guy. You look like a man who appreciates… opportunities."

The guard barely glanced at him.

Zach smirked. "I've got a lot of money, you know. If you let me out of here, I can make you richer than the king himself. I mean, look at you—stuck guarding prisoners instead of drowning in gold and women. What a tragedy."

The guard finally turned his head, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? And how much are you offering, Your Highness?"

Zach grinned. "Fifty gold coins. No, a hundred!"

The guard snorted. "Prince Zach, if I let you go, the king will have my head on a spike. You got a way to pay me more than my life is worth?"

"...Two hundred gold?"

The guard smirked. "Tell you what, Your Highness. You give me a thousand gold coins right now, and I'll consider opening the door."

Zach's face twisted. "A thousand?! Are you insane? That's robbery!"

The guard shrugged. "And what you did to the concubine wasn't?"

Zach clenched his jaw. "Tch. Damn moral guards."

The guard chuckled and walked off, leaving Zach seething. "Fine! You'll regret this when I'm king! You'll be cleaning chamber pots for the rest of your miserable life, you hear me?! CHAMBER POTS!"

As his voice echoed through the dungeon, he slumped against the wall, defeated. "Damn it. I really am screwed. I should have locked the door before doing the deed, argh! There must be a way, my journey can't end before it even begins, there must be a way! The women of this world haven't even have the chance to appreciate the asset below my belt."

And then—

[Ding!]

A crisp, mechanical sound rang in his head.

Zach's eyes widened upon hearing it, "it can't be what I think it is, right it—"

Loading…

[System Activation: 10%... 20%... 50%...]

His heart pounded the moment he heard that cold mechanical voice in his head.

[Loading Complete. Welcome, Host.]

[You have unlocked the Dungeon Overlord System!]

For a second, Zach just sat there, blinking.

Then a slow, wicked grin stretched across his face.

"Holy shit."

He threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing through the dungeon.

"HAHAHAHA! Yes! YES! Of course I have a system! I'm the main character, damn it! You hear that, you filthy rats?! I'M THE PROTAGONIST, wherever I go, events that happens once a thousand years will happen! HAHAHAHA!!!"

A new wave of confidence surged through him as he rubbed his hands together, excitement bubbling in his chest.

"Alright, Dungeon Overlord System, let's see what you've got. Time to turn this shitty WORLD into my domain!"