Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 10

Chapter 10: Dungeon Ojisan

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Search: #DungeonOjisan

『Dungeon Ojisan is so cool.』

『Who the hell is this guy, making an A-rank Spriggan Giant completely helpless in an instant?』

『It’s obviously edited. There isn’t a single Awakened, even an S-rank, who can do that.』

『Shut up, Shin-sama can do even crazier things.』

『Tougo-sama can too.』

『Even Youki-chan!』

『Wait, wasn’t there one more?』

『Weren’t there four S-ranks?』

『Poor Rinko, completely forgotten.』

『That’s a stray bullet if I’ve ever seen one.』

『Wait, is Dungeon Ojisan even an Awakened? Doubts arise. [Link: Ministry of Dungeons Registered Awakened List]』

『Cutting out his face from the video and searching it doesn’t bring up anything from that site. How suspicious.』

『By the way, isn’t it messed up that Awakened are forced to have their faces publicly listed? Privacy is dead.』

『Well, I mean, it’s basically a list of superhumans.』

『He’s not even hiding his face with flashy D-Tuber makeup or anything. Maybe he was in disguise?』

『Why would anyone disguise themselves as a boring old guy?』

『Nah, no way.』

『Yeah, not happening.』

『So then, who the hell is Dungeon Ojisan?』

When I searched for the term Dungeon Ojisan on social media, an endless stream of posts popped up. I gave up on reading all of them. It had been twenty years since dungeons appeared in the world. I had thought that, compared to those chaotic early days, talk about Awakened would have died down by now. But apparently, that wasn’t the case at all.

The biggest difference between now and twenty years ago was the development of the internet. Back when TV was the main form of entertainment at home, information was filtered. But now, people had instant access to the internet and could pick up whatever trending topics they liked through social media. Even if TV stations no longer covered dungeons or Awakened, the discussion was still alive and well here, on the internet.

“That being said…”

This is… Kind of bad, isn’t it?

The most concerning thing I saw in those posts was the Registered Awakened List link. It was an official page managed by the Ministry of Dungeons, listing all registered Awakened in Japan, complete with their photos and names.

At the top of the page, there was a disclaimer:

“This is a lawful act in accordance with the Awakened Registration Act and does not constitute a violation of privacy.”

And, of course, my name wasn’t on it.

Well, duh. I’m not an Awakened after all.

But if I wasn’t an Awakened, then why was I in a dungeon? And how was I able to overpower an A-rank monster? It was way too optimistic to think no one would try to track me down. I changed into the casual outfit I had bought earlier in the day and stepped out. With a book from the bookstore in hand, I headed to a nearby family restaurant. I ordered a hamburger steak set and a beer, flipping through my book to pass the time. By the time I finished eating, I had ordered another beer. After the meal, I grabbed a coffee from the drink bar and returned to my table, only to find a woman in a suit sitting across from me.

“Pardon my intrusion.”

“It’s fine.”

I casually acknowledged her stiff greeting and moved my book aside.

“Are you, by any chance, with the police?”

“No, I work for the Ministry of Dungeons.”

She handed me a business card with polite precision.

Her name was Rinko Samejima.

Wait a minute.

“If I remember correctly… You’re an S-rank, aren’t you?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Well, well.”

I was surprised that this woman was one of Japan’s only four S-rank Awakened, but I wasn’t at all surprised that she had found me. Of all the people whose gazes I had felt on me earlier today, the one who had been tracking my every move was her.

“This is about the dungeon, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm. My apologies.”

“No, not at all. I’d just like to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“The age limit for the Awakened Recognition Test is thirty. But… if you had the chance to take it again, would you?”

Thirty?

“Um…You are aware that the age requirement for the Awakened Assessment is between fifteen and thirty years old, correct?”

“Ah, ahh, ahhh! Yes, of course, I know that!”

That was a lie. I had no idea. Maybe I would have remembered in the past, but I had completely forgotten about it now.

Wow, she’s really suspecting me.

“So, what will you do?”

The meaning behind her question was clear—”Take the Awakened Assessment here and now, and be officially recognized as an Awakened. If you do that, we’ll let this incident slide.”

Was she deliberately applying pressure without putting it into words? Or was she testing my intelligence? Either way, I had no intention of making an enemy of the government. I could run away now, change my appearance, and abandon the identity of Jiro Hasegawa. That option was always on the table, but I didn’t want to do that if I could help it.

“Understood.”

In fact, I was actually curious—how would their machines evaluate someone like me? I kind of wanted to test and see the result myself.

“Then, please come with me.”

Under Samejima-san’s watchful eyes, I paid my bill at the register and followed her to a car. The place we arrived at was the Ministry of Dungeons headquarters. The reception desk had already closed for the day, and most of the lights were off. It was an intimidatingly grand building, but I walked inside, guided by Samejima-san, and entered a room about the size of a small conference room. There were no tables or chairs inside. Instead, a large cylindrical machine stood in the center, along with a staff member who was apparently there to operate it.

Judging by the setup, they had already prepared everything before I arrived. Following the staff member’s instructions, I stood in the designated spot and was handed something that looked like an aluminum ball.

“Don’t tense up—just relax. Alright, three… Two… One… Go.”

A soft shoon sound rang out, like the whir of a machine winding down. Samejima-san and the staff member stared at a monitor that I couldn’t see from where I stood.

“Huh?”

“No way…”

Both of them looked stunned. Then, they turned to me.

“Excuse me, could you try that one more time?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

I already had a pretty good idea of what the result would be, but I obediently followed their instructions. I repeated the same process, but the outcome wouldn’t change.

It seems I’m not an Awakened after all.

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