Everyone felt tensed up as they awaited for Mokukiba to enter the clearing where they had just fought Onikiba. They were expecting a large muscular beast just like the first boss had been. What appeared from the shadows was anything but.
The tiny BOSS was approximately a quarter the size of its kin and was practically waddling as it got closer. Lily felt the tension crumble as Mokukiba turned out to be terribly cute. Before she knew it,she found herself approaching it. Kneeling down she reached out to pet it.
The beast flinched as it let out a roar…or at least it tried to as it sounded like the yelp of a puppy. Despite that threatening(?) bark, Lily began petting its head with a blissful look on her face.
"I want it! This one is gonna be mine now!"
She turned to the rest of her party who were left speechless at what was happening right now. They had received a system warning about it yet what they got was something like this?!
"Lily…. This is a Boss Monster….We are supposed to kill it"
Luna reached out her hand to try and put her hand on Lily's shoulder. In response Lily scooped up Mokukiba into her arms and backed away from her friend.
"No! I refuse to hurt this adorable creature! I will take care of him and feed him. I won't give him up! You can trust me little guy. I won't let these meanies hurt you~!"
She cooed to the little kobold, snuggling it lovingly. Mokukiba looked absolutely lost and confused at the actions of these weird creatures. It stared at them with wide, curious eyes.
"Awoo?"
"Kyaa! Shooo Kyute!"
Lily squealed and hugged it tighter while Luna and Nyx flinched as they fought their own urges to try and snuggle it. They also couldn't deny that the Kobold was tugging at their heartstrings
"I must be in the dumbest timeline… This shit is making no sense…What a Boss fight…"
Horo facepalmed as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing.
Sonata was also hesitant as she gave the adorable furball in Lily's arms a questionable look.
"Are you sure that this is okay?"
"Of course it is~! How can an adorable little face like this be evil! Cuteness is Justice! Look at Leo for proof!"
Leo rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, trying to ignore the questionable logic in her words…which was practically everything that she had just said.
"I don't know how I am supposed to feel about my own appearance being compared to that of a supposed DUNGEON BOSS!"
He couldn't help but raise his voice in exasperation, yet besides Horo who looked like he was done with this whole situation, everyone was getting swayed by Mokukiba's cuteness.
Sonata's hands trembled as she struggled against her own urge to pet him. With his big brown puppy dog eyes, he was practically screaming 'Love me~!'.
Just as she was about to turn away, Mokukiba tilted its head at her.
"Awoo?"
Then it sneezed. A teeny puff of smoke came out of its nose. Lily gasped with hearts in her eyes.
"He even sneezes like a baby dragon! I'm calling him Moku. My little Moku~!"
Horo and Leo exchanged looks, both of them feeling like their sanities were wearing thin as even Sonata cracked, petting the little Kobold with a blissful expression on her face.
Horo grumbled as he opened the recording feature from his menu.
"I just want there to be a record just in case we die… THIS is how stupidly we lived…"
Nyx, who had been unusually quiet through all of this, finally caved. She tiptoed up beside Lily and Sonata, her voice trembling with restraint.
"C-can I… just one pet?"
she whispered, already reaching out.
Lily gave her a smug side-eye.
"Only one. And you have to be gentle!"
"I'm always gentle!"
Nyx pouted, stroking Mokukiba—Moku now—on the head with a single finger. The kobold blinked up at her, then leaned into the touch, wagging his tiny tail like an oversized metronome.
Whump-whump-whump went the tail against Lily's side.
Nyx made a strangled sound like a dying fangirl and stumbled back, gripping her heart.
"Oh my gods, he's got little toe beans…"
"Guys…"
Leo said, voice cracking slightly,
"This is a BOSS. We got a SYSTEM WARNING. He's probably going to turn into some giant eldritch murderbeast the moment we let our guard down—"
A sharp ding interrupted him.
System Alert.
Player [Lily] has successfully tamed BOSS: Mokukiba.
Player [Lily] has gained the title [Friend of Nature]
Player [Lily] has changed classes to the Hidden Class [Nature Tamer]
Due to Taming of the BOSS Monster. All other rewards have been canceled.
Due to the Results of Taming, Mokukiba has been removed as a BOSS from the current dungeon.
Silence….
Leo felt something in his mind breaking as he struggled to understand what had just happened.
Horo was also at a loss for words as he stared blankly at Lily.
"She turned a Boss…into a puppy? What in the actual fuck is this game…"
Nyx stared at the floating system messages, eyes darting from one notification to the next like she was trying to read a foreign language for the first time.
"…Did she just—did you just tame a dungeon boss?" she finally said, voice cracking halfway through the sentence.
"I guess I did?"
Lily blinked, equally stunned, before grinning wide.
"I did! I tamed him! Look at his little face—he loves me!"
Moku let out a soft "awoo~" in agreement, tail still wagging like a wind-up toy.
Leo, meanwhile, looked like he was having a slow, beautiful mental breakdown.
"That's… That's not how boss fights work. That's not how ANYTHING works. There were mechanics! There was buildup! Suspense! He had a roar intro!"
"More like a squeaky toy intro,"
Sonata murmured under her breath, earning a suppressed snort from Nyx.
Horo stood motionless, the menu still open from when he had activated the recording. He slowly panned the camera toward Lily holding the former boss like a plushie.
"Behold! Our Deus Ex Machina of Bullshit! Taming a Dungeon Boss to the point said Boss got fired from its job…"
Horo continued flatly, his tone entirely devoid of any joy or will to live. He wasn't sure why or how but Lily always seemed to find a way to subvert his expectations.
"You're just jealous that I got a super cute pet and you don't!"
"Yeah. Sure. That's totally it. Not the fact that we got no loot nor exp from your little stunt!"
Horo shot back with a look of annoyance.
"Well I think my little Moku was worth it!"
Just as she was about to give her adorable new pet another hug, Moku began to glow softly as another ding of a system notification appeared.
Player [Lily]'s pet Moku has been affected due to the abilities of the Class Nature Tamer.
Moku is undergoing a Transformation
The entire party froze on the spot as Moku floated up from her arms, morphing into a ball of light like some sort of weird egg.
"Moku!"