The Reward for the World's Strongest Explorer's Perfect Dungeon Conquest is apparently Marriage to me, who is known as an S-rank Fraud - Chapter 16

“Hmm. I have a bad feeling about this, but let’s hear it.”

“Whether it’s on the surface or inside the dungeon, sooner or later, someone is going to see me and Berglims together.”

“Because the scariest thing in this world isn’t monsters, nor the abyss of the unknown—”

“It’s social media and the people with the lowest possible level of internet literacy.”

“They appear out of nowhere, take pictures without a sound, and spread them across the world without permission.”

“Kuma, you sound really passionate about this.”

Ugh. My past experiences with internet outrage still haunt me…

“So what’s your plan?”

“It’s impossible to keep it a secret. We need a way to make it normal to have him around.”

“That makes sense. But how?”

Heh. Patience, patience.

Throughout history and fantasy, dungeons have always had heroes traveling with monsters.

Even if they walked into a royal castle, a church, or an inn, no one questioned it.

From rotting corpses to killer machines, they were just part of the team.

“Me strong. Me defeat you. You fall. You wake up. You follow me. Yes, yes.”

“……Shia, translation, please.”

“He’s saying we’ll just claim that he was a monster you defeated and recruited.”

“Exactly!”

I snapped my fingers with approval, but Berglims looked unimpressed.

“I don’t like it. I’m not weak enough for you to defeat me.

If anything, the reality is that you were the one defeated, and I took you as my subordinate.”

That would mean I’m the monster’s ally instead.

And everyone knows what happens when you say ‘yes’ to the Demon King’s offer.

The hero becomes a monster.

“Hmm… if we go with that, neither of us will be able to walk around freely.”

“Hmm…”

We both crossed our arms, lost in thought.

“Then why not use an extraordinary legal reward and make Grigri a Japanese citizen?”

Shia raised a hand and whispered a casual yet outrageous suggestion.

“…!? What an absolutely diabolical idea!”

“Making the Dungeon Bureau—the very organization fighting monsters—protect a monster’s rights!?”

Damn, that’s hilarious.

I love it. Let’s do it.

“I agree. If I’m going to live on the surface, I’d like basic rights.”

“From what I’ve heard, your country even has a system called ‘welfare.’

I shall live off your tax money. Yes, I like this plan.”

Berglims grinned.

His smug satisfaction was unsettling.

Could he stop smiling like that? It was creepy.

“…By the way, what about the status of the Shibuya Dungeon?”

“You’re the boss of the 150th floor. Is it considered cleared?”

“No, it’s not.”

“And actually, the boss of the 150th floor is now both you and me.”

“…Oh, come on.”

So, I was now a raid boss.

Great.

At least no one would reach the 150th floor anytime soon.

“Then I’ll defeat him.”

I see.

Shia would defeat Berglims, claim the legal reward, and make him a citizen.

A rigged fight, ensuring victory and success.

“That’s a solid plan.”

I nodded in agreement.

Berglims also nodded in satisfaction.

“Yes, that’s a good approach. Now, let’s fight. Go, my servant.”

“Wait, me!?”

Instinctively, I looked at Shia.

“After coming back from the brink of death, I’ve grown even stronger.”

She sounded like the protagonist of a battle manga.

“By the way, Kuma, while I was inside your body, I took the liberty of fixing your utterly ruined and broken mana circuits.”

“Your mana control should be much better now.”

“Wait, seriously?”

I opened and closed my hand, testing my mana flow.

Before, I had to force it through, but now—

It flowed smoothly, like a freshly unclogged toilet.

“…Your choice of words is terrible.”

“Hey, stop reading my thoughts.”

“But this is amazing. It’s like clearing three years of constipation in one go.”

“Even worse. I need to train you in manners.”

A goblin lecturing me about manners.

God, if Berglims were human, he and Ayane would probably team up to discipline me.

“Anyway, let’s move this to my room.”

Berglims raised his right hand dramatically and snapped his fingers.

The scene warped and shifted—we had teleported.

“This is…”

“Yes. The 150th-floor boss room.”

“A place humanity wouldn’t have reached for another fifty—maybe even a hundred years.”

Unlike the other boss rooms, this one was completely different.

For a moment, I forgot I was even inside a dungeon.

“What do you think?”

Berglims waited for my response.

I took a good look around.

This wasn’t a boss room.

It was a glittering ballroom, the kind where nobles held masquerade parties at midnight.

“Wha… what a god-awful taste!”

Imagine spending a hundred years climbing the dungeon…

Only to reach this gilded, flashy hellscape.

And then—

A shiny goblin appears and goes,

“Come, let us dance… before we fight to the death.”

“Humanity would lose its damn mind!”

I dropped to my knees, slamming my hands against the smooth, polished marble floor in despair.

Good thing it was just us.

If real explorers made it here, their century-long effort would be for nothing.

“……”

“Kuma, that was too harsh. Grigri looks depressed.”

“Oh. Uh… my bad.”

“…Just dance already.”

“Yes, sir.”

A sulking goblin was not a good look for anyone.

To cheer him up, I decided to play along.

“Well then, as the first servant of the great Lord Berglims, I, Kuma Hayama, shall be your dance partner.”

“Shia Kusakabe. I wish to be your partner… for life.”

“Wow, what a bold proposal.”

“This is the Mana Form of the new [Nosferatu, the Undying]!”

No matter how many times I had tried before, I had never been able to pull off a Mana Form.

But now—now, I felt like I could do it.

“UOOOOOHHHHH!!”

Green flames erupted from my body.

Every cell in me reformed, saturated with mana.

My bones cracked and shifted—wait, cracked?

My body bulged from within—wait, bulged!?

“…Kuma, amazing. You’ve become a really cool goblin.”

“…………”

My perspective was suddenly much higher.

My limbs had grown longer, my skin had turned green, and my claws were significantly sharper.

My muscles were taut and packed with strength.

And of course—

Still just in my underwear.

『Berglims. Got a mirror?—Wait, is this my voice!?』

It was a deep, raspy baritone, rough like gravel scraping against steel.

Gone was the angelic tenor I once had.

The Vienna Boys’ Choir would never accept me now.

“Here.”

A full-length mirror appeared, and I took a good look at myself.

A smooth, bald head.

No visible eyes, my nose completely flattened.

A massive mouth, stretched wide, filled with rows of razor-sharp fangs.

Aside from my green skin and pointed ears, I barely even resembled a goblin.

What stared back at me was a monstrous, terrifying figure.

『Hmph. Hah!』

I struck a few poses.

A thick neck, a broad chest.

Chiseled abs, long, flexible limbs, and well-defined muscle fibers.

The sheer visual impact was stunning.

Honestly, I was a pretty stylish goblin.

A Stylish Goblin—Stalin, for short.

『Not bad…』

I looked like a complete villain.

But I also looked strong.

At least I didn’t end up like one of those pot-bellied, short-legged Goblin Kings.

That was a win in my book.

“I’m glad you like it. Oh, and since explorers tend to derive their epithets from their Mana Forms—”

“Allow me to bestow upon you a fitting title—

[Grim Goblin, the Undying Monster of Green Flames].”

『[Grim Goblin, the Undying Monster of Green Flames]…』

The green flames flickered around me.

I liked it.

『I am [Grim Goblin, the Undying Monster of Green Flames].

I shall rip out your entrails and incinerate your corpse to ashes!』

I roared, my deep, rasping voice reverberating through the hall.

Damn.

This was actually pretty exciting.

“Kuma, you look… incredible.”

Shia gazed at me with hazy, mesmerized eyes.

Of course, she was entranced.

Because I looked ridiculously cool right now.

“But…”

She took a step forward, her expression hardening.

“Right now, you are the Undying Monster Goblin King—”

“And I will be the one to take you down.”

“[Valkyrie, the War Goddess].”

Shia’s aura shifted, her mana flaring intensely as she activated her Mana Form.

Her entire presence transformed—divine, radiant, untouchable.

『Oh? Your wings have doubled to four. Kukuku… how insolent.』

Did it actually make a difference?

No clue.

But I had to acknowledge it for the sake of drama.

Honestly, to me, it just looked like she changed her hairstyle a little.

“I’m coming.”

『Come, weakling.』