Chapter 21: Tame (2): Monarch’s Difference

Chapter 21: Tame (2): Monarch's Difference

『Bonus Mission: Gain a Familiar Serpent』

『-> Tame the serpent』 『Incomplete』

『Notice!

The serpent is scared of you. Use this opportunity to show off and tame him.』

『Advice: Use the skill - Monarch's Difference.』

'For real? Monarch's Difference? Really?', I could barely believe my eyes, like seriously, this skill?

Anyone would give such responses if they knew what this skill did.

I, by no means forgot the rewards I had gotten for the previous generous mission.

『Final Tutorial Mission』

『—> Kill the Serpent』 『completed』

『—> Kill all the goblin kin』 『completed』

『—> Devour the Serpent』 『completed』

『Rewards:』

1. Rank-Up Feature: A new feature will be added. As the name suggests, the host will be able to increase his rank from F to SSS for 5 seconds. Note: the ranking up applies to all skills and stats. (Can be used only once a day) [claim]

2. Level-Ups: You will level up 5 times. [claim]

3. Skill Card x1 (Skill cards are specific cards that hold a particular skill. The advantage of having a skill in the card is that you can learn the skill whenever you want and not just immediately. You can even lend it to someone else so that they can learn the skill.) [claim]

After having completed these missions, I claimed two rewards - the first and third, while saving away the leveling-ups.

When I claimed the first reward, the 'Rank-Up' option appeared next to the rank in the profile. Either by clicking it or just thinking about it, I could increase his rank.

And then, I claimed the third reward.

The skill I received was: Monarch's Difference Lv.1

The name itself sounded very awesome so I was super excited, but when my pitiful eyes landed on the description… I couldn't help but wish that rain had washed my eyes away in the great flood.

『Monarch's Difference Lv.1

Type: Passive/Active

Rank: ???

Description:

A true goblin monarch doesn't bow—unless it's to laugh in someone's face. They don't hesitate—because thinking too hard is for weaklings. And they definitely don't act humble—because what's the point of power if you're not rubbing it in everyone's face? This skill isn't just about confidence; it's about absolute, unchecked, shameless goblin arrogance. Even when outmatched, even when outnumbered, a real goblin king acts like they're already the final boss.』

And if this wasn't enough, what came after that made it even more ridiculous.

Effects:

『Aura of Unhinged Supremacy (Passive)』 – The user radiates an overwhelming aura of delusional confidence and goblin audacity. Weaker beings hesitate, questioning their life choices. Allies feel emboldened, caught up in the sheer absurdity of it all. Enemies? They either get irrationally mad or subconsciously start treating the user like a real threat (even if they aren't). 『Refuses to Be a Side Character (Passive)』 – The user's monstrous willpower makes them nearly immune to fear, mind control, and intimidation. Gaslighting? Doesn't work. Threats? The user laughs in their face. Psychological warfare? The user forgets it happened five minutes later. The more the user gets pissed off, the harder they are to manipulate. 『Bow Before the Goblin Lord! (Active)』 – For a short duration, the user's presence explodes with monstrous authority, making weaker beings instinctively lower their heads (or at least hesitate). Works best on cowardly creatures and weak-willed fools. Smart enemies might resist, but they'll still feel an itch in their skull telling them, "Maybe this goblin is onto something..." If used too often, may cause unjustified overconfidence and reckless stupidity. 『Monarch's Terror (Passive)』 – Enemies see the user as their worst nightmare—a towering demon, a legendary beast, or just a goblin so insufferably smug that fighting them feels like a losing battle. Even the strong may hesitate, questioning if they're truly stronger.

[Note: Further effects will surely be added once the skill levels up.]

Never…

Never had I seen something so absurd.

True, I get skills now and then, but their descriptions only last for a couple of lines.

But this?

I don't even know if it's absurd anymore…

"…"

At least, I decided to learn it, sure, for Stucky wouldn't suggest me something useless. But I had only half expected to use it on anyone, surely not in near future.

But now… this mission, I don't know what this bonus mission means, but it is advicing me to use… uh, Monarch's Difference?

『Monarch's Difference』

***

Gubzo's lips quivered. His breath hitched. His heart clenched.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He clutched his chest, trembling.

"…S-Serpent…" his voice cracked.

『Skill has been activated: Monarch's Difference Lv.1』

BOOM.

A wave of suffocating, raw, unfiltered emotion burst out of him like a flood, washing over everything.

The serpent flinched. The walls trembled. The goblins—wherever they were—felt an unknown pressure as if the world itself was on its period.

Gubzo's face contorted into a mix of agony, rage, despair, joy, and a whole damn poetry book's worth of emotions. His eyes were wild—pupils dilated, lips curled into an ugly grin one second and then a wailing frown the next.

"You…" he whispered, voice thick with emotion, "You have no idea… sniff …how much I suffered… hic …how many times I DIED… SNIFF …just to get here…"

The serpent pressed itself against the portal, eyes blown wide, rethinking its entire life.

"AND NOW YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST RUN FROM ME?!"

Gubzo threw his arms in the air. His entire body trembled with overwhelming, indescribable grief and rage.

"I HAVE NEVER FELT SO BETRAYED IN MY LIFE!!!"

"NOT EVEN MY 'EX' DID THIS!!!"

And then, he started bawling.

The serpent's body stiffened, scales standing on end. The air had changed—no, reality itself had shifted.

Gubzo stood there, his tiny goblin frame bathed in an aura so thick it distorted the cave air… or what it seemed to the serpent. His tattered rags fluttered as if he were draped in royal robes, and his silhouette loomed titanic in the serpent's horrified eyes.

He… He was radiant.

Divine.

An emperor of destruction!

Gubzo, meanwhile, was wiping his tears with the back of his dirty hand. "Sniff… Why am I like this…?" His voice cracked, heart overflowing with every emotion known to existence. "Do you know how much pain I've endured?" He pointed at the serpent with a trembling hand. "DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DIE A HUNDRED TIMES?!"

The serpent hissed in terror, slamming its head against the wall, trying to flee from the otherworldly pressure of this being.

Then—Gubzo slapped himself. Hard.

"AGH!" He whimpered. "That hurts!" He looked at the serpent, eyes shimmering with betrayal. "DO IT TOO! HIT YOURSELF! NOW!!!"

The serpent, in absolute fear, immediately started bashing its own head against the cave floor.

***

This… this thing wasn't a goblin.

No, no, no. Goblins were weak. Goblins were prey.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

An apex predator in its purest form.

A being so far beyond its understanding that every instinct in its body screamed one thing—RUN. RUN. RUN.

But it couldn't.

Its body was frozen, its muscles locked.

It gulped hard, the dry saliva which was larger than a sewer rat, almost making him struggle to swallow.

"I HAVE NEVER FELT SO BETRAYED IN MY LIFE!!!"

The goblin's voice shook the cave like an avalanche. But it wasn't the volume—it was the raw emotion. A predator that could feel this much? Impossible. Impossible!

Then, to the serpent's absolute horror, the goblin slapped himself.

'Why… why is he slapping himself?'

Slap-

'Wha-'

'What… what kind of mad beast does that?!'

Slap-

'Why would he hurt himself?'

Slap-

'Why…? Huh? Why is he pointing at me?'

"AGH! That hurts!"

And then—AND THEN—he turned towards the serpent.

"DO IT TOO! HIT YOURSELF! NOW!!!"

'Is he… is he telling me to slap myself? But I don't have hands!', it's the first time in nine-hundred blue moons that any serpent regretted for not having hands.

"DO IT TOO!"

'O-okay!', it didn't have hands alright, but surely it had a tail and perhaps, the ground?

It hit itself with its tail. Not much sound was produced.

BANG!

It smashed its own head into the cave floor.

'I—I don't understand what he is saying but if he is pointing at me, then I too have to do it! I have to show I am no threat!'

The goblin—no, the apex nightmare—tilted his head, eyes burning with wild, predatory insanity.

The serpent nearly pissed itself.

It was crying…

'Where in the Snerky god's hell am I in!? Waaaaaaaa!'