A man, a rabbit, two goblins and a carrot

"Growl..."

If one were to assume this sound was that of a threatening goblin, they would be mistaken. In reality, it was the sound of Kyoma's stomach, protesting loudly. Since arriving in this world, he had not had a proper meal. First, he was pursued by a pack of relentless rabbits, then saved, travelled to a new town, became an adventurer, avenged himself against the rabbits, and finally found himself in a dungeon after massacring his way to the entrance of the boss's lair. Now, he finally had a chance to catch his breath and satisfy his hunger.

However, the only food Kyoma had were the bag of rabbit's bait - raw carrots.

Kyoma's rabbit emitted a high-pitched "Squeak squeak!" and stared at Kyoma with its red, beady eyes that were absolutely adorable. Exhausted from all the activities, Kyoma took a break and laid down outside the boss room. Kyoma's rabbit jumped onto Kyoma's chest and stared at Kyoma with its pleading eyes, eager for treats.

"Alright, I've made up my mind. Let's take a break and eat before facing the boss!" Kyoma declared, taking out the bag of carrots he had prepared earlier as bait for the field rabbits. Seeing Kyoma fiddling with the bag of treats, Kyoma's rabbit jumped up and down and cuddled Kyoma's leg as if it were competing in a cuteness contest. "Here, one carrot for you." As Kyoma gave the carrot to their rabbit companion, the two goblins looked at Kyoma with the same puppy eyes. "I wonder what goblins eat. Do you guys eat carrots too?" Kyoma asked the two goblins. "Ah, what was I thinking? There's no way undead creatures can understand what I'm saying." As if responding to Kyoma's inquiry, the two goblins ran up to Kyoma and hugged one of his legs each, just like the rabbit, and looked up at Kyoma with those cute, pleading puppy eyes.

Kyoma distributed a carrot to each of his undead goblin pets. As soon as they started munching, the room outside the boss's door was filled with the sound of crunching.

"Cruchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunch..." The rabbit's bites were the fastest and most frequent, but they were small, akin to a toddler nibbling on a lollipop.

"Crunch crunch crunch crunch.." Kyoma's chewing was slow and steady, taking in a moderate amount of carrots like a normal human being.

"CRUNCH crunchcrunchcrunch CRUNCH crunchcrunchcrunch.." The two goblins, on the other hand, were barbaric in their approach, devouring large chunks of carrot with a loud initial crunch, followed by a series of short and rapid crunches.

The carrots were devoured in no time, but Kyoma's three pets still looked hungry and gazed at their master, hoping for more food. Kyoma scratched his head, giving an embarrassed smile to the pitiful pets. He found one carrot left in the bag, but he didn't know which pet to give it to. So, he decided to play a game of "dog and bone" with his pets. Kyoma placed the carrot in the center of the rectangular room and instructed everyone to go to one corner. The rabbit, being the most agile, was positioned furthest away from the carrot, while Kyoma and the three goblins were equidistant.

After explaining the rules, he started a countdown.

"Alright, 3 ... 2 ... and On-.." Before Kyoma could finish his countdown, the rabbit morphed into a bullet, heading straight towards the carrot. Reacting to the rabbit's burst of speed, the goblin archer shot a few arrows at the rabbit's flight trajectory, hoping the rabbit would have to dodge and slow down its speed. The other goblin (melee) was nowhere to be seen, seemingly using its skill "stealth" to make its way to the carrot. Upon seeing the dark arrows flying towards it, the rabbit side-hopped the initial volley of arrows, mixing in a bunch of unpredictable feint hops and quick successive side-to-side hops.

Kyoma had his eyes on the prize, the holy grail of all vegetables - the carrot. With the goblin archer and rabbit caught up in their own drama, he saw his chance and went for it with a grandiose dive. But, just as he was about to snatch it, the carrot decided to show off its magical powers and levitated in the air. Turns out, it was the goblin (melee) that had snatched it using his stealth mode. Without hesitation, the goblin (melee) immediately tried to take a big bite out of the carrot. The rabbit didn't take kindly to this and kicked the carrot out of the goblin's (melee) hand. This time, the carrot flew towards the culprit who was responsible for all the dark arrows zipping through the air - the goblin archer. With a chance to grab the carrot, the goblin archer halted its arrow barrage and sprinted towards the incoming vegetable. But alas, its skills were limited to bow-handling alone, as the carrot comically slipped from its grasp and sailed towards the direction of the boss room.

As if angered by the rabbit, the melee goblin decided to put his dark arts to use and cast a spell of "Dark Matter" on the poor rabbit's feet, just to make sure nobody gets the carrot. Kyoma, never one to back down from a challenge, made another ridiculous dive towards the carrot, now airborne and headed straight for the boss's room. He managed to grab it, but at what cost? He crashed into the boss room door, tumbling in like a ragdoll with the carrot still clutched tightly in his hand. It was a sight to behold, but he had succeeded where others had failed.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAH!!"

""GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAHHHAHHHH!!"

Well, playtime's over. "Crunch".

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End of chapter stats:

Name: Undead Dark Goblin Melee (Evolved)

Race: Monster (Pet)

Level: 5

HP: 500/500

MP: 50/50

Strength: 65

Agility: 49

Intelligence: 5

Passive Skill: Lesser Strength Boost (Level 5), Lesser Agility Boost (Level 3), Mace Mastery (Level 3), Intimidation (Level 3)

Active Skills: Dark Matter (Level 1), Stealth (Level 1)

Description: This is an evolved form of a goblin that has been brought back to life by Ryoma's necromancy magic. Enchanted by the dark arts, it now possesses stats proportionate to its master. It is fiercely loyal to Ryoma and will serve him until its second death. It will follow Kyoma's every command without hesitation. It specialised in blunt weapons.

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Name: Undead Dark Goblin Archer (Evolved)

Race: Monster (Pet)

Level: 5

HP: 300/500

MP: 70/70

Strength: 35

(Hidden stat) Dexterity: 69

Agility: 14

Intelligence: 5

Passive Skill: Lesser Dexterity Boost (Level 5), Bow Mastery (Level 3), Craftmanship (Level 3)

Active Skills: Dark Arrows (Level 1), Stealth (Level 1)

Description: This is an evolved form of a goblin that has been brought back to life by Ryoma's necromancy magic. Enchanted by the dark arts, it now possesses stats proportionate to its master. It is fiercely loyal to Ryoma and will serve him until its second death. It will follow Kyoma's every command without hesitation. It specialised in ranged weapons.