Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon
is a Japanese light novel series written by Shisui Meikyō and illustrated by tef. The series started serialization on the online platform Shōsetsuka ni Narō in April 2020, and was later acquired by Hobby Japan for a print release in May 2021, with a manga adaptation by Takafumi Ōmae being published by Kodansha since May 2021. Both series were licensed for an English-language release, with J-Novel Club publishing the light novel series and Seven Seas Entertainment publishing the manga series. An anime television series adaptation produced by J.C.Staff aired from October to December 2025.
The series follows Light, a human adventurer who was member of the adventurers group Concord of the Tribes in order to fight discrimination against human race. One day, Light was betrayed by his fellow group members left to die in a dungeon called the Abyss. Infuriated by this act, Light swore to take revenge against them for betraying and leaving him behind.
Premise
The world is inhabited by nine tribes: dragonutes, demons, ghouls, dwarves, elves and dark elves, beast men, centaurs, and humans, with the last ones being the weakest of all. Despite this, there are humans who receive a special power, known as a "gift", once they reach the age of 10.Light is a human adventurer bestowed with the gift of "unlimited gacha", allowing him to summon an endless number of cards to support his comrades. He is a member of the Concord of the Tribes, an adventurer group consisting of the dragonute Drago, the elf Sasha, the dark elf Sionne, beast man Garou, the dwarf Naano, the centaur Santor, the ghoul Oboro, and Diablo from the demon race. The group was seemingly formed to fight against the discrimination against humanity.
One day, when Light had to be saved in the world's most dangerous dungeon, known as the "Abyss", the members revealed to Light that he was no longer a member of the adventurers group and the sole purpose of the group was to observe him for being a potential "master" candidate. It is said that the master is a being with the power of overruling the world and destroying civilization. As Light only was able to summon useless cards they decided to classify him not as a threat, to get rid of him and disguise his death as a monster attack. Before Garou was able to deliver the final blow Light managed to activate a teleportation trap by accident, which transported him to the deepest part of the dungeon. As his wounds attracted the attention of numerous monsters he used his gift out of desperation in the hope of summoning something to distract the monsters. He summons the seeker maid Mei, a SUR card, who is able to defeat the monsters with only one blow. Mei reveals to Light that he was able to summon her due to the density of magic in this place and that his summons until now were useless because of the lack of magic on the surface. He responds to her question about how he was able to reach the deepest part of the dungeon to summon her, relating his story of how he was betrayed and nearly killed by his former comrades. Hearing this, Mei offered to support him in his plans to take revenge on those who betrayed him.
For the next three years, Light spends his time and power building an underground base in the Abyss, and decides to return to the surface of the world to start his revenge against his former comrades. When he visits his hometown he learns that it was completely destroyed and its people were massacred, including his parents. He witnessed other races enslaving humans, using them in horrendous experiments or killing them just for fun. So, Light decides to enlarge his revenge to all the other races to free all the humans from enslavement and discrimination as well as to search for his siblings, who have seemingly survived the attack on his former hometown.
Characters
Main characters
; LightSummoned card characters
SUR cards Lvl. 9999
;Mei;Aoyuki
;Ellie
;Nazuna
UR cards
Lvl. 7777
;Suzu;Mera
;Iceheat
;Jack
Lvl. 5000
;Gold;Nemumu
;Aneria and Arus
Lvl. 8888
;Chaos;Orca
Concord of the Tribes
;Drago;Sasha
;Garou
;Sionne
;Naano
;Santor
;Oboro
;Diablo
C's Group
C is a mysterious being that made themselves known while Light was dealing with Naano. Not much is known about C, except they know about Light's quest for vengeance, and has an incarnated form of giant devouring dragon's head, due to an ancient religious painting. It's implied by Kaava that the other masters are either searching for or working against C.; Kaava: Known as the Level 5000 Flesh Zombie, Kaava is a human with the ability to boost his abilities by eating human flesh. It was revealed later on that he was actually created by a master known as Hisomi merging various humans together.
Media
Light novels
Written by Shisui Meikyō, the series began as a web novel with its chapters first published on Shōsetsuka ni Narō on April 17, 2020. Japanese publisher Hobby Japan acquired the rights for a print release of the series and started publishing the novel under their HJ Novels imprint. The light novel, written by Meikyō and illustrated by tef, was published in physical format with the first volume released on May 19, 2021. As of October 2025, thirteen volumes have been published.In July 2022, American publisher J-Novel Club announced to have licensed the novel series for an English-language release.
Manga
Takafumi Ōmae started a manga adaptation of the series on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket website on May 25, 2021. The first volume of the manga was released in print on August 6, 2021, in format. As of December 2025, twenty volumes have been released.In May 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced to have licensed the manga for an English-language translation.
Chapters not yet in ''tankōbon'' format
These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.- 156. "The Absolute Worst!"
- 157. "You're Gonna Gimme EXP!"
- 158. "Something I'm Real Good At"
- 159. "The Very Deepest Depths"
- 160. "Here I Come"
- 161. "The Strongest Mythic-class Weapon"
- 162. "True Sight"
- 163. "Sole Supremacy"
- 164. "Unlimited"
- 165. "Dammiiiiiit!"
- 166. "An Even Greater Power"
- 167. "Fifty Percent Power"
- 168. "Curse"
- 169. "Gimme!♡"
- 170. "Two Types of Masters"
- 171. "It is Unbearable! "
- 172. "Important Quest"
- 173. "Holy Princess Yotsuha"
- 174. "You'll Get Eaten"
- 175. "Bright Future"
- 176. "Thinking Out Loud"
- 177. "Reveal the Location!"
- 178. "Onifolk Martial Arts"
- 179. "Full of Holes"
- 180. "As Her Big Sis"
- 181. "Light of Hope"
- 182. "Welcome"
- 183. "What Happens to Me"
- 184. "Ultimate Strength"
- 185. "The Hidden Truth"
- 186. "An Avenging Oni"
- 187. "A Letter from the Holy Princess"