After acquiring the new title skill Goblin Taker in the Floor 10 monster room of the Shinjuku Dungeon, we decided to head for the boss room before returning to the surface.
Our objective was, of course, to test out my new skill.
In simple terms, Goblin Taker’s effect was the ability to "force a guaranteed drop of one desired item from any goblin-type monster."
The skill had a cooldown of 120 hours—five full days—so I had to be very selective about my target.
That said, among the many types of goblins, there was only one truly worthy of the skill.
You’ve probably already guessed it. Yes, the Goblin King.
And so...
"—Hyah-hah!! Hand over the goods!!"
As soon as we reached the Floor 10 boss room, the battle commenced.
The moment the goblin army of thirty-two, including the Goblin King, was summoned, I activated Goblin Taker on the exceptionally massive king and visualized the item I wanted. For a split second, the Goblin King was enveloped in a red light.
I instinctively knew how to use the skill the moment I focused on it.
From there, it was just a matter of cleaning up.
Following my now-familiar routine, I fired off a series of Explosive Blades at the pack.
Tremendous explosions roared, sending shockwaves surging from the boss room into the corridor. When the pale blue explosive flames cleared, a massive crater had been carved into the center of the room.
A beat after the goblins were obliterated, magic stones and items manifested in mid-air, clattering down into the pit.
I sheathed my sword and immediately dove into the bottom of the crater to find my prize.
"—It's actually here...!"
Lying amidst the magic stones and miscellaneous loot, it was definitely there.
I picked it up, climbed out of the crater, and showed it to Hinata-san.
"We got it, Hinata-san...!"
"—Amazing...! It really is a guaranteed drop...!"
Hinata-san’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the mysterious crystal ball held in my right hand, which contained a faint, trapped light.
Meanwhile, it seemed the viewers had also confirmed the identity of the crystal—a Skill Point Skill Orb—through the drone camera floating near Hinata-san. Comments began flooding the feed from the drone.
『Wait, what?!』 『No way! It actually dropped!!』 『Goblin Taker is way too good!!』 『A guaranteed skill orb drop... isn't that a bit too broken?!』 『Getting a Skill Point Skill Orb every five days... that's a total balance breaker...』 『This seriously solidifies killer-type skills as Tier 1, doesn't it?!』 『It's a title skill, so it's hard to get, but it's definitely worth the point investment.』 『And to think it was the poster child for dud skills until recently...』 『The community's evaluation has done a total 180 thanks to Leveling Junkie Bro's performance.』 『The way the explorer community has flipped on killer-type skills is incredible...』 『Well, realistically, it’s probably a nightmare to level up the skill that far, so getting a taker-type skill should be nearly impossible...』 『Even just reaching the slayer-type stage makes it seriously excellent.』
Indeed, the power of Goblin Taker was so immense that anyone would consider it "broken" rather than just "excellent."
After all, from now on, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I could unconditionally acquire one skill point every five days.
Regardless, obtaining Goblin Taker gave me a clear path forward.
During our next expedition, I should be able to level up on the first day. If I do, I can finally raise "Danger Sense" Sensei to its maximum level.
Once that happens, I should be able to avoid those irritating traps.
I felt a wave of relief that we finally seemed ready to make progress.
"Well then, Hinata-san, once we've gathered the magic stones, shall we head home for today?"
"Yeah, let's. We can use the teleportation circle on Floor 11."
With that decided, we collected the magic stones and loot, headed to the back of the boss room, and descended the stairs to the Floor 11 teleportation circle to return to the first floor.
●◯●
Once we reached the teleportation circle on Floor 11...
"Ah, wait a second, Takeo-kun."
"Hm? What is it?"
Hinata-san stopped me just as I was about to step onto the circle.
"Gobu-taro can't teleport, so I'll release the Char—Tame here."
"Ah, right. I forgot about that."
Gobu-taro was under the control of Hinata-san’s Charm, but since we couldn't take him with us forever, this was where we had to part ways.
The viewers seemed to realize the situation from Hinata-san’s words as well.
『Oh right, Gobu-taro is a monster.』 『So it's goodbye to Gobu-taro.』 『That means the next goblin Hinata-chan tames won't be Gobu-taro.』 『Gobu-taro... just when we finally became comrades...』 『It's a little sad.』
"You're right. It's time to say goodbye to Gobu-taro..."
The viewers and I both felt a bit sentimental.
I felt like we had become friends... or something close to it. But the next goblin to be tamed wouldn't be this Gobu-taro.
I didn't know what would happen to him after we left, but the odds of us taming the exact same individual again were practically zero.
As I was wallowing in the sadness of it all, Hinata-san spoke up as if she had noticed a problem.
"Ah, but if I release Gobu-taro here, do you think people might mistake him for a special variant?"
"That... well, I wonder."
『Ah, that is a possibility.』 『Goblin knights don't usually spawn on Floor 11.』 『The only explorers on Floor 11 in Shinjuku are Junkie-bro and his group right now, so the chances are low, but other explorers might freak out if they run into him.』
Gobu-taro was a goblin knight; while explorers reaching Floor 11 shouldn't have much trouble with him, his presence in such an unusual place might cause unnecessary alarm.
Convinced by the logic, the viewers and I found ourselves in agreement.
"In that case—" Hinata-san said, her tone as casual as if she were suggesting a menu for dinner. "Takeo-kun, I'll order Gobu-taro not to move, so could you kill him while he's still?"
"—Hinata-san!?"
『Hinata-chan?!』 『H-Hinata-chan, do you even have a human heart...?!』
Some of the viewers and I were visibly shaken.
What a thing to say!
It was true that doing as she suggested would be the cleanest way to handle things without causing trouble for anyone... but this was Gobu-taro. We had explored this far together, and Hinata-san had used him as a meat shield—no, he had protected her as a tank many times.
To order him to stand still and then execute him... wasn't that a bit much for the human heart?
In the face of our horrified reactions, Hinata-san began to fluster in confusion.
"Eh? Eh? Eh?...Is that no good?"
"Well, it's not that it's 'no good,' but... it's Gobu-taro, you know? Don't you have any... attachment to him?"
"Attachment?"
Hinata-san looked at Gobu-taro. Then she looked back at me. She answered without a second's hesitation.
"Nope."
"I-I see..."
That's Hinata-san for you...
However, I felt conflicted about killing Gobu-taro after he had worked so hard. I desperately tried to offer an alternative.
"B-But Hinata-san, is there really a need to kill him? The odds of anyone else running into him here are low, and even if they did, they shouldn't struggle against him. Let's just release the Char—Tame and let him go!"
"Really?...Well, I'm fine either way."
She said it as if it didn't matter to her in the slightest.
Since I had Hinata-san’s consent, it was decided that Gobu-taro would not be slain and would instead be released onto Floor 11.
We stepped onto the teleportation circle while Gobu-taro watched us from a short distance away.
"Okay, I'm releasing the tame now."
"Yes, understood."
I nodded and looked at Gobu-taro one last time.
I bid him farewell.
"See you, Gobu-taro. Take care."
『Goodbye, Gobu-taro.』 『Bye-bye.』 『Stay healthy.』
Like me, the viewers were mourning the departure of our companion.
And then—
"—Tame's released."
The moment Hinata-san lifted the charm...
"GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Unlike the goblins on Floors 1 and 2, Gobu-taro—a goblin knight who usually never shouted—suddenly let out a blood-curdling war cry.
The emotions packed into that scream were pure, unadulterated rage, hatred, and murderous intent.
To put it bluntly, he was furious.
The second the cry left his throat, Gobu-taro drew his sword and charged.
Toward us—or rather, straight at me, no matter how you looked at it.
"G-Gobu-taro?! Why?!"
『Wait, what?!』 『Gobu-taro?!』
I hurriedly drew my sword and caught the heavy blow Gobu-taro swung down with both hands.
"S-Stop it, Gobu-taro!!"
But Gobu-taro didn't hesitate for a heartbeat, unleashing a relentless flurry of sword strikes.
At this rate, I wouldn't even have time to activate the teleportation circle. Unless Gobu-taro gave up, I couldn't go back to the first floor.
No, there was one other way. To... Gobu-taro. But...
"GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"Stop! Just stop it, Gobu-taro!! What is wrong with you?!"
I couldn't bring myself to counterattack; I focused entirely on defense.
『What happened, Gobu-taro!』 『Why, Gobu-taro!』 『Weren't we comrades, Gobu-taro!』
The viewers were just as shaken by Gobu-taro’s sudden madness.
However, Gobu-taro wouldn't stop. He attacked with an aura that made it clear he intended to kill me.
Was the only way to stop him really to kill him?
But every time I considered it, memories of the time we spent together yesterday and today surfaced. Even though he had directed constant hostility toward me to keep Goblin Genocider active—even so, we were definitely comrades.
So...
"Stop it, Gobu-taro! Please! I... I don't want to kill you!!"
I pleaded with him, my voice practically a wail.
"GUGYARUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
It was no use.
Gobu-taro had completely lost his mind.
Or perhaps, this state was what "sanity" meant for a monster like him.
『Gobu-taro's a goner!』 『Junkie-bro, give up on him!』 『Kill him!』
The viewers urged me to finish it.
"B-But...!!"
Gobu-taro... Gobu-taro is... a comrade!!
"I can't bring myself to lay a hand on a comrade!!"
『You idiot!!』 『He's not in his right mind anymore!』 『He's an enemy, not a comrade!!』 『Kill him! Kill him, Junkie-bro!!』
N-No...!! I can't do it...!!
"—Fire Lance!!"
K-Boom!!
"Eh?"
『Eh』 『Eh』 『Eh?』
"G-Gobu-taroooooooooooooo!!?"
『Gobu-taro?!』
Suddenly, a lance of fire flew in from the side and obliterated Gobu-taro’s head, metal helmet and all.
Having lost his head, Gobu-taro’s body collapsed to the floor.
As I watched in stunned silence, what was once Gobu-taro dissolved into particles of light, dropped a small magic stone, and vanished.
Hinata-san walked over and picked up the stone.
The girl who had just fired the Fire Lance didn't look the least bit distressed as she spoke in her usual casual tone.
"—Well, shall we go home now?"
"Ah... yes."
We used the teleportation circle to reach Floor 1 and then returned to the surface.
Gobu-taro...