Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 56

Chapter 56: The Wrath of the Awakened

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We parted ways with the retreating Awakened and continued deeper into the dungeon.

Among those who remained were Mimimi, Yune, and Yinling. After the closing remarks for the live stream, they and the other Awakened gathered together and headed downward for the next part of the collaboration.

“What are we going to do next?”

The surprising part was that Ira-san was among them.

“…You’re coming along?”

“Oh my, you don’t seem surprised. As expected of an S-rank Awakened.”

I had known he was sneaking around. I had left him be since I thought he was only going as far as the tenth floor, but was he really planning to come along until the end after all?

“Don’t worry. I’m just an E-rank, but I am still an Awakened.”

“Well, sure, but…”

I had sensed a stealthy presence when he was sneaking around earlier, so he was probably a scout-type Awakened.

“I’ve given up on succeeding as an Awakened due to my low rank, but as long as I’m with you all, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“I’ve made sure the other Awakened knows the risk, but I will say it again. Once you enter the dungeon, all dangers and injuries are your own responsibility.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I recorded that just now, by the way.”

“…You really are thorough.”

“This is the kind of world we live in.”

“So, what’s next?”

“Of course, we go deeper. But I don’t know about her.”

The “her” I was referring to was, of course, Piroane.

“There’s no way she’s going to match our pace. I’ll just let her do whatever she wants.”

In fact, considering that we were trying to capture footage of the other Awakened in action, it might actually be better if she wasn’t around.

“Huh? Really!?”

Piroane sounded shocked.

“And what exactly were you planning to do?”

“…Hmm?”

She thought for a moment, then with her usual blank expression, she declared.

“If everyone’s cameras capture my brilliance, won’t that make everyone happy?”

“…Your self-esteem still reaches the heavens, huh?”

“You’re so mean!”

She really didn’t understand what was wrong with her brain.

“…Listen. The main subject of the cameras held by the other Awakened is them, not you.”

“Oh. So, you mean it’s like followers witnessing the glorious deeds of their goddess, right?”

“Just how come you’re able to twist it to make yourself the main character? You idiot.”

Damn it. Trying to reason with this woman was a waste of energy.

“Enough. If you want to show off, just take a recording drone and head deeper by yourself.”

“What!?”

“Either way, the other Awakened are focusing on their own recording drones. They wouldn’t be able to keep up with your movements anyway.”

“Mmm… What about you, Jiro?”

“If I don’t assist them, this entire project falls apart.”

“Ugh, boo!”

She grumbled something, but in the end, she took only her recording drone and descended ahead of us.

“Alright, let’s wait a little before going down.”

If Piroane had rampaged through, there might not be any monsters left. Even if they hadn’t respawned, the other monsters in the area would start filling the gaps anyway. Taking that into account, we eventually descended as well.

The dungeon exploring proceeded smoothly. Mimimi, Yune, and Yinling, who had experience in this dungeon before, fought steadily, and the other Awakened had grown accustomed to the enhancement buffs I had given them by the tenth floor, so their movements weren’t bad either. At this rate, we could continue exploring the dungeon without any issue.

Upon reaching the thirtieth floor, we discovered another large magic stone vein and took a break for mining. The other Awakened took turns resting or keeping watch. One of the reasons this dungeon was so disliked was its inherently narrow structure, full of blind spots, making it easy to be ambushed. Another reason was that many of the monsters here tended to call for reinforcements during battle.

Even in the exceptionally spacious areas around the magic stone veins, letting one’s guard down while mining could lead to an attack by creatures called Maspite. They looked like a grotesque version of a slime-covered hagfish, covered in a mucus-like substance, with sharp, iron-hard claws and fangs. They would slither out from their hidden burrows near the veins and attack the Awakened. Our plan was to stop mining once the miner-type Awakened had filled their item boxes.

“Jiro-san! Jiro-san!”

“What is it?”

Hearing my name called, I walked over to find a mountain of excavated magic stones beside Mimimi.

“My item box is full, so can you take these, Jiro-san?”

“Ah, sure. I’ll hold onto them until we return.”

She must have mined more than she expected. It would be a waste to leave them, so I decided to keep them for now.

“You don’t need to return them.”

“Huh?”

She smiled sweetly.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll give them back.”

“No. Please, accept them.”

“It’s really okay, I don’t need—”

“No… Jiro-san. If you don’t take them, you’re getting nothing out of this, aren’t you?”

“Uuuh…”

Well, when she put it that way… But I was benefiting—I was gaining experience by assisting the Awakened in battle. It wasn’t as if I was getting nothing. Sure, I wasn’t making money from magic stones, but I had a steady supply from the dungeon convenience store anyway, and I could live comfortably from the remuneration given to me by accepting D-Ministry’s requests.

“U-um!”

As I debated with Mimimi, other Awakened approached me.

“I mined too much too! Please take some!”

“Me too!”

“Here, have mine as well!”

“Wait, you guys…”

“We’ve never been this successful in a dungeon before! We’re so happy, so please! Take them!”

The others nodded in agreement.

“Everyone is grateful to you, Jiro-san.”

“…Alright, I understand. Thank you.”

Mimimi gave me a warm smile, and I accepted the magic stones. But that wasn’t the end of it.

“My box is full too. Please take these!”

“Ah, these as well. No need to return them!”

“Here, have some more!”

Even the combat-type Awakened started handing over their magic stones.

“I never thought I’d be able to contribute so much in a dungeon exploration!”

“I never imagined I’d actually clear a dungeon!”

“As expected of Dungeon Ojisan!”

….Just what kind of person do they think ‘Dungeon Oji-san is supposed to be?

Regardless, everyone seemed genuinely happy. At this point, I couldn’t just refuse them outright.

“In that case, we’re definitely clearing this dungeon!”

“””OOOH!!”””

The Awakened roared in agreement.

That said, if Piroane reached the bottom first, all this effort would be in vain.

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“I got lost.”

At the floor just before the lowest level, we found Piroane standing there, half in tears. We restrained the raging Piroane and, together, defeated the Rock Golem that had stood in our way as the dungeon boss.

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