Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 87

Chapter 87: Reunion?

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“Hello! This is Mimimi Amanokawa, reporting from the 30th floor of the Kichijōji Dungeon!”

After confirming that Mio had started recording, I stepped away.

We had discovered a very promising magic stone vein, so this video of hers would probably be a big hit too.

And as for me—I was now acting separately. This time, my objective was to find out just how far the Kichijōji Dungeon had expanded. I intended to go as deep underground as possible.

And so, I moved forward, relentlessly. Any monster I encountered, I punched on sight. I gained magic power, but not magic stones. Well, since that magic power contributed to my growth, I wasn’t really losing anything by defeating them.

At first, I had thought that without obtaining magic stones, I wouldn’t be able to convert them to money. But with the Dungeon Convenience Store doing such booming business, the revenue from my solo dungeon expeditions was nothing more than pocket change—an amount small enough to ignore.

I wondered, just how many lifetimes could I live as a NEET with the income I had now?  I tried not to think about it too much—dwelling on it only drained my motivation to work.

Even just the reward I got from helping with the request to  instant-clear the dungeon was enough to sustain my current lifestyle. So, collecting magic stones now was more of a hobby than anything. If I thought too deeply about it, I’d start questioning the meaning of life.

I’d learned during my time as a dungeon monster that the key to living a stress-free life was focusing on the things you enjoy and not bothering to think about things that didn’t need thinking. Besides, in the worst-case scenario, I could convert everything into magic power and use it for growth. That option was always on the table.

…Actually, that really wasn’t a bad idea.

Back when I defeated Piroane, I also fought that Ruin Seed creature. The magic power I obtained from that creature filled a significant portion of the experience needed for my next evolution. I could just keep what was necessary for managing the Dungeon Convenience Store, and convert all the other magic stones into magic power.

I had thought that, having reached my current form, further evolution wouldn’t come easily—but maybe it wasn’t as impossible as I had assumed.

As I entertained such thoughts, I found myself standing at the deepest part of the Kichijōji Dungeon.

“Hmm. There’s no doubt about it. The deepest part is right beyond this door.”

A massive door loomed in front of me. I could feel the presence beyond it and knew for certain. The final boss guarding the Kichijōji Dungeon was behind that door. That said, I had no intention of destroying the dungeon this time.

I simply wanted to confirm how deep it had currently expanded. Just walking endlessly like this had helped clear up some recent minor worries. After all, even a small purpose gave life more meaning.

“Alright, Mimimi’s shoot should be done by now. Time to head back.”

I remembered the way back. If I focused on speed, I could return in no time.

“Wait.”

Just as I turned my back to the door, a voice called out to me.

From where? No, I didn’t even need to think about it. It was from behind me.

I turned around and saw that the massive, heavy door—which had definitely been shut moments ago—was now slightly ajar.

“Come in.” 

Said a woman’s voice, beckoning from within. But…

“No, I won’t.”

“Hah⁉︎”

“I’m not here to destroy this dungeon. Please value your life.”

If I went in, a battle would be unavoidable. Sure, I could probably escape if I wanted to, but adding unnecessary defeats to my record didn’t sit well with my pride. So yeah, I really didn’t want to go in.

And you don’t need to force yourself to fight me, either. Yeah.

“Hey! Wait!”

For some reason, the voice behind the door sounded flustered.

“You’re Gobujirō, aren’t you!?”

“Huh?”

That name. And a name no one would use unless they knew about my goblin days.

“For you to know that… Who are you?”

“If you want to know that, then come inside.”

“As I said, I don’t want to destroy this dungeon.”

“If it doesn’t come to that, then it’s fine, right? Then there’s no problem. You don’t need to destroy this dungeon.”

“Hm? Well… if you say so.”

I didn’t understand what she meant, but maybe I’d get it if I went in. So, with that, I slipped through the opening and entered.

“Finally. Geez.”

The room resembled a royal audience chamber. At the spot where a throne would normally be, the owner of the voice sat.

“Don’t keep me waiting, Gobujirō.”

Instead of a throne, there was a large, white cushion-like object, and she sat atop it.

“A vampire-type?”

“Fufufu… It’s been a while.”

“Huh?”

The sultry vampire woman said something strange.

“It’s been a while?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Pardon me, but where have we met?”

I’d never gotten close enough to speak with a monster from another dungeon. No—wait. I had exchanged words with the monster who was once king of the Peschel Kingdom. But that monster was a sahagin-type, wasn’t it?

Still, if the creator of this dungeon was the same as the one for Peschel, it wasn’t impossible. Was she reassigned and became the boss here?

“Huh? You branched into a vampire after that and already made it this far?”

The one before me was a true ancestor-class—a very high-ranking vampire. To branch off from a sahagin evolution into vampire, and then further evolve to true ancestor level, would be no small feat.

Did the Creator lend a hand?

“…Wait, aren’t you mistaking me for someone else?”

“Eh?”

The ruby-eyed woman gave me a look of exasperation, and I tilted my head to the side.

“Then, who are you?”

“Come on, remember!”

“Hmm?”

“Geez… It’s Surami!”

She yelled out the name, looking obviously exasperated. Surami?

“You’re the one who named me, remember?!”

“…Ah!”

The memory finally came back to me. That was back when I hadn’t been a goblin for long yet. I was still figuring out how to live as a dungeon monster.

There was a monster I fought alongside back then. One of them was Surami. Just like the name suggested—she had been a slime.

I hadn’t known her gender at the time, so I gave her a random name. So when she later evolved into a rare slime girl, I was pretty surprised. Ah, those were the days…But more importantly, there was something bothering me.

“You’re one of Piroane’s units, right? So why are you here?”

Piroane was no longer a goddess and this dungeon didn’t belong to her. So then, why was Surami here?

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