Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 84

Chapter 84: Samejima-san’s Wish

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The video of the three of us doing the “kamehameha” went viral. At the time we uploaded the video, everyone was probably doing their best to acquire the skill, and perhaps there were even some who managed to obtain 【Energy Blast】 before us. However, we were the first to upload it as a video.

No—considering the original existed, I guess we were the second? If it had just been an unknown Awakened doing it, people might have brushed it off as a publicity stunt or some kind of magic trick. But the fact that two S-Class Awakened pulled it off seemed to give it credibility.

Really, though? One of them was Piroane, you know? The useless goddess who recently got scammed in a way that’ll probably be written about in history books?

Personally, that thought did cross my mind, but it seemed the general public responded positively. It must have generated quite a buzz—an hour after we uploaded the video, I was summoned by the Ministry of D. I’d expected it to draw attention, but it seemed the end result had exceeded my expectations.

“Teach me too.”

That was what Samejima-san said when we arrived at the Ministry of D in the car that had picked me up.

“You want to do the kamehameha too?”

“It’s not about jumping on a trend. There’s a method to acquiring the skill, right? I want to know that.”

Just the two of us in a meeting room. Samejima-san was serious.

“You’re the one who added the ability to view status on the DC Ring, aren’t you? Then isn’t this progression exactly what you were hoping for?”

Minister Niitaka, who arrived a bit late, added that. As expected, he already seemed to understand my intentions.

“Yes. In the other world, I was on the dungeon monster side—but on Earth, I’m on the Awakened side. I want to encourage the growth of the Awakened in a way that doesn’t seem unnatural.”

Just like the Kingdom of Peschel, there are dungeons out there that encroach upon the world in ways I don’t even know. Rather than passively watching dungeons multiply on their own, wouldn’t it be better to prepare so the Awakened can respond more effectively when the time comes?

That line of thought led me to enable status viewing on DC Ring, which sped up the skill acquisition process. The result of that was the so-called “wave.” I didn’t mind helping that wave gain further momentum. The problem was, I still didn’t know where the line was between what was “natural” and what was not.

Still, now that the course had already begun, all I could do was going with the wave.

“I don’t mind teaching you, Samejima-san. But—hmm, yes.”

Prompted by her request, I added a thought that had just occurred to me.

“Let’s go ahead and teach all the S-Class Awakened in Japan at once.”

“…What did you say?”

“If people hear that you’ve mastered it, the other S-Class Awakened might start taking action too. And answering the same request multiple times would be a hassle for me. Maybe uploading a tutorial video could work…”

I wasn’t planning to play teacher to every single Awakened. More importantly, doing that would naturally lead people to ask, “How do you even know this stuff?”

There were already rumors online speculating I might have been an “illegally awakened” individual because, even though I awakened later than others, I seemed to know more about combat than most. If it became widely known that I also knew how to acquire skills, it might eventually force me to reveal to the world that I was a monster. That was the last thing I wanted.

“So you’re going to make sure the S-Class Awakened have it before that happens?”

“If they can get a feel for how skill development works, then the overall power level of the Awakened will rise. Of course, the amount of improvement still depends on their base potential.”

In short, if Japan’s most overworked manual laborers—the S-Class Awakened—gained this knowledge, it could help lighten their burden.

“Also, let’s just say the other S-Class folks ‘happened to discover’ the 【Energy Blast】 on their own. Please proceed with that story to the public.”

“I understand. That’s probably for the best too.”

Minister Niitaka seemed to understand what I was aiming for, but Samejima-san still looked a bit dissatisfied.

“Hey, how many skills are there?”

“Who knows? If you stick to conventional combat, the necessary ones are limited. But there are odd ones too—those with quirks that, if mastered, can be really powerful… And above all, human imagination might seem finite, but it’s practically limitless.”

“I see… So then, how many skills do you have?”

“That’s a secret.”

I had a lot, but honestly, I’d never counted them. It just felt like a pain. And if I counted them only to find the number was underwhelming, I’d be disappointed.

Surprisingly vain, aren’t I?

“If I master this, do you think I’ll be able to beat you someday?”

“Who knows? At the very least, I don’t plan on losing that easily.”

“……”

Her gaze held no hatred toward monsters. Considering Samejima-san’s background, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she harbored resentment toward someone like me, but I didn’t sense any of that from her.

“I’ll make sure to pay back what I owe you from back then.”

“When you say ‘back then,’ do you mean our first little test match?”

“That’s right.”

“But if I’d lost to you back then, I probably would’ve ended up as a lab rat, you know.”

“Even so, you beat me. A debt is a debt.”

“…That’s kind of unreasonable of you.”

That was what I thought, but since she seemed motivated, I decided to just roll with it.

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