Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 2

Chapter 2: Returning Home and Retiring

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Oops.

The sound of sirens snapped me back to reality. If I stayed like this, it would turn into a kaiju movie. I had no intention of being the one getting taken down, nor did I want to be the one destroying the city.

Right now, I had taken the form of an Ex- Magnifique Dragon. My appearance resembled that of a Chinese or Japanese-style dragon. I had a long, serpentine body, and even without wings, I could fly through the air—just as I was doing now.

First, I used a spell to make myself invisible. It was a high-level ability that completely erased my presence. I had learned it back before I became a final boss, back when I fought dungeon challengers using assassin-like tactics.

Now, what should I do next?

For now, I decided to check on my old home. It didn’t seem like Japan had changed from what I remembered, but how much time had passed since then? After becoming a dungeon monster, it felt like over a hundred years had gone by, but I had no way of knowing the accurate passage of time. I didn’t remember the terrain well enough to travel by air. Besides, I had never gone home by flying before.

I vaguely recalled traveling by train, so I transformed into a human. I had learned this while engaging in doppelgänger-like battles. After casually taking the appearance of someone I had spotted, I realized I had no money. So, I remained invisible and rode the train without paying.

Sorry about that.

Looking at the station’s route map, there were no noticeable differences from my faint memories of my past life. I found a familiar station name and, after struggling with transferring through trains, I finally arrived. From there, I walked for about ten minutes until I saw the apartment where I had once lived. For a place in Tokyo, it had been oddly cheap, but aside from that, I had no complaints about this one-room apartment.

With a nostalgic feeling, I approached the building and checked the mailbox on the first floor. 

Just as I remembered, the room number was the same, and the name “Hasegawa”—my surname—was still written on it.

“Huh?”

Wait, why is my name still here? No one has moved in since then? No, that’s impossible…

I climbed the stairs to the second floor and stood in front of my room. I didn’t have a key, but I had learned a phasing spell when I temporarily evolved into a ghost, so I simply passed through the door.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Beyond the entrance was the narrow entryway and hallway, leading to the front door. Behind that was a folding door leading to the unit bathroom. In the entryway, a pair of worn-out leather shoes sat in front, with walking shoes and a pair of sandals for quick trips to take out the trash or go to the convenience store neatly arranged beside them.

The dish rack above the sink held plates I recognized. Three steps down the hallway brought me to a door, which opened into the living-dining area. A suit was tossed onto the bed. On the foldable table, a convenience store bag held a sandwich, some snacks, a sweet bun, and a can of beer. The beer was sweating—still cold. A smartphone was plugged into the charger beside the bed.

I picked up the phone, but the facial recognition failed to recognize my face. Oh, right. I had a different face now.

Hmm… What was the passcode again? Surprisingly enough, I still remembered it. The lock opened on the first try. I checked the date. That confirmed it. Most likely—no, almost certainly—not even a single day had passed since my isekai reincarnation.

“Huh? Then…?”

Could it be that my corpse was here too? Worried, I checked the entire room, but it wasn’t there. The bath was filled with water. Did I die while taking a bath? Either way, I was relieved that I didn’t have to deal with the unpleasant task of disposing of my own corpse.

“Well, whatever…”

Being able to use this room was a huge relief. I could continue using my original identity. I sat down in front of the foldable table and opened a can of beer. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since I had a proper meal. Ever since I became a dungeon monster, I had been absorbing magic power to survive. Would I still be able to taste food?

Cautiously, I took a sip of the beer.

“—!”

The cold sensation of the beer, the carbonation gently stimulating my throat!

Delicious!

Next, I opened the sandwich. Lettuce, cheese, and ham. The soft texture of the bread, the crispness of the lettuce, and the different umami and saltiness of the cheese and ham!

“So good!”

Good. I still had my sense of taste. I savored my first proper meal in a long time.

“Now then…”

After finishing my meal, I used the information on My Number Card from my wallet and the facial recognition on my smartphone to recreate my old face. Then, I started thinking about what to do next.

“What should I do now?”

Should I just continue living as I always had, as the human Jiro Hasegawa? That seemed like the best option, but a huge problem stood in my way.

“What was my job again?”

I couldn’t remember what kind of work I did. What was it? I could recall most of my personal information, but when it came to my job, I drew a complete blank. I vaguely remembered it back when I was just a low-ranked dungeon monster, but at some point, I had completely forgotten all about my work in my past life. Was it because I had no good memories of my job?

“I guess I have no choice but to quit.”

That said, submitting a resignation myself seemed like a hassle. Besides, I couldn’t even remember what my coworkers looked like. Fortunately, I still had my employee ID, so I knew where I worked. The only question was how to go about quitting.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t there some kind of service for that?”

I searched on my phone and found something called a resignation agency service. Apparently, I could apply for it online, so I went ahead and used it. A few days later, I had successfully resigned without even stepping foot into my old workplace. Since all I did was send an email saying, “I’m taking sick leave using my paid vacation days,” someone who seemed to be my boss kept spamming me with calls, but I ignored them all.

And so, I spent my days burning through my remaining paid leave. Then, one day, I received a call from an unfamiliar number.

Sato?

Something about that name stirred my memory.

“Hello?”

“Yo, Hasegawa. How’ve you been?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m doing fine.”

“I was surprised when I heard you suddenly quit and you even used a resignation agency. The section chief was fuming, you know?”

“Haha, sorry about that.”

“Well, serves him right though. But man, that resignation seriously came out of nowhere. What happened?”

“Uh… I kind of forgot how to do my job.”

“…I see.”

Somehow, his response sounded oddly heavy. It seemed he misunderstood something.

“Well, I guess that happens. We both transferred to this company at the same time, but in the end, we were the only ones left.”

“Oh…”

So that was how it was. Wait, I had transferred to this company? I didn’t even remember that.

“Maybe it’s about time for me too… No, I’ll stick it out a little longer.”

“Just don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yeah. See you around.”

The call ended. It triggered something in my memory, but I still couldn’t remember everything.

“Sorry about that.”

Feeling a small pang of guilt, I continued gathering information on my phone. Since I had quit my job, I needed to find a way to earn money somehow.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー