On how PhDs become human evil

(I won't leave you alone, Bai Jie.)

P.S.: This could be considered a foreshadowing for the next volume.

P.S.: The number of subscribers is going through a huge jump, from 600 to 200 to 400. What's going on with everyone?

Section 231, paragraph 7. Author: Training starts tomorrow.

Nagumo Hajime is extremely agitated right now. Although he has experienced countless chaotic situations and has developed a calm and composed mind, the current situation is really driving him crazy!

"Shi, they're almost catching up."

A blonde, red-eyed girl sitting on Hajime Nagumo's shoulder reminded him.

Her name is Yue. She is an ancient vampire girl who was sealed away and rescued by Hajime Nagumo on a certain floor. She had been living in a dark and sunless room because of betrayal. Since being rescued by Hajime Nagumo, she has become completely dependent on him.

Right now, Hajime Nagumo is carrying Tsuki on his back, running away suddenly through the grass. The surrounding area is covered with weeds that are over 160 centimeters tall, and Hajime's shoulders and below are completely obscured by the tall grass. If it were Tsuki, he probably wouldn't be able to see him at all.

The reason he started running away, while impatiently pushing aside the dense weeds, was—

“WWWWRRRRYYYYYY!”

Nearly two hundred monsters are chasing them.

The monsters look similar to velociraptors, but are much larger. What's even stranger is that these velociraptors have a flower on their heads!

Honestly, pairing a fierce-looking velociraptor with a small yellow flower is like putting a muscular man in a Pretty Cure cosplay outfit—the incongruity is off the charts!

In fact, each velociraptor was very weak, and both Hajime Nagumo and Yue could kill them without any pressure. But the important thing was that no matter how the two of them killed them, velociraptors would keep appearing, and in the end, more than two hundred of them came at once!

Faced with such a large number of enemies, even Hajime Nagumo couldn't help but feel intimidated, since neither of them had unlimited stamina or magic power, so they chose to retreat temporarily.

Then the scene above happened—Hajime Nagumo and Tsuki were running, followed by a large group of velociraptors, making for a rather bizarre scene.

"Ughhhhhh! This is so annoying! If you keep chasing me, I'll completely collapse!"

Having had enough of the frustration of running away, Hajime Nagumo turned around and took out his **** Donal. Because Hajime Nagumo ate the flesh of the two-tailed wolf and gained the skill of [Binding Lightning], the Donal, which was originally just an ordinary ****, has now become a small electromagnetic cannon.

Aiming at the rapidly approaching swarm of velociraptors, Nagumo Hajime was just about to pull the trigger—

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss!"

Hundreds of silver lights suddenly streaked across the space, landing in the velociraptor horde at a speed beyond Nan Yun Shi's sight. The chaotic dance of silver lights directly cleaved the entire velociraptor horde into countless fragments.

That was a super-fast, continuous slashing attack launched by someone!

Nagumo Hajime and Tsuki immediately realized this fact, but at the same time, they couldn't help but wonder if there were any other living people besides them in this abyss-like underground labyrinth.

(No, there might actually be one....)

Nagumo Hajime suddenly thought of a possibility, and the next moment—

"Huh? Isn't that Nagumo?"

Bai Jie, with a silver sword slung over his shoulder, emerged from the raptor pack with an expression of surprise on his face.

"I was planning to go upstairs to see if you were still alive, but I didn't expect to see you here. It seems I don't need to worry about your safety anymore."

Hearing Bai Jie say this, Nan Yunshi was immediately furious: "You still have the nerve to say that! You promised to help me when I was about to die, but you never showed up once, and now I've lost an arm and an eye. Since you dragged me down with you, you should at least take some responsibility!"

Nan Yunshi still remembers that Bai Jie had promised to help him, but Bai Jie never showed up again after that, forcing Nan Yunshi to rely on his own strength to survive.

"Well, don't say that. If it weren't for that, how could you have become so strong? You only lost an arm and went blind in one eye to gain such power. You should be content."

Compared to when they last met, Nan Yun Shi's aura had undoubtedly undergone a tremendous change. The naivety of the past had completely disappeared. Now, Nan Yun Shi was like a madman who would do anything to survive, and every move he made exuded a powerful and ferocious aura.

"Speaking of which, Nagumo, aren't you going to explain the situation with that little girl on your shoulder? I had no idea there was a little girl in this abyss."

"You mean Yue? I found her in a secluded room, I think it was on the 50th floor or so."

(Huh? In that case... could it be that I discovered the room I didn't go into?)

Bai Jie remembered clearly that he left that room because he didn't want to use magic to open the door, intending to leave the things inside to Nan Yun Shi. And now, Nan Yun Shi did indeed receive them. But what Bai Jie never expected was that the "treasure" in that room was actually such an adorable little girl?!

"I told you, Nan Yun, I never expected you to be this kind of person. I misjudged you."

"Hey, don't just label me with weird tags. Let me tell you beforehand that Yue is already over three hundred years old."

"Isn't that even worse? Are you broken inside and out?"

"Isn't it all your fault that I'm broken? Who do you think forced me to become like this?!"

If it were the old Nagumo Hajime, he might have been afraid of Bai Jie's identity as a god-slayer and dared not retaliate. But the current Nagumo Hajime is prepared to be an enemy of the world and the gods. Even if the target is Bai Jie, he will not be afraid in the slightest.

"Speaking of which, Fafnir, why are you on this floor? With your strength, you should be on a lower floor."

Upon hearing Nan Yunshi's words, Bai Jie revealed a refreshing smile: "Of course I came back to see if you're still alive. If you're dead, I'll give you a resurrection spell."

"So you've always thought I was going to die?" Nan Yun Shi raised his gun and pointed it at Bai Jie.

"It wasn't that I always thought so, it was that I occasionally thought so."

"Go to hell."

----------------------

Ten minutes later, looking at Nan Yun Shi who had been knocked to the ground, Bai Jie tapped him on the head with the back of his knife: "You have indeed improved a lot since before, but you are still very inexperienced."

“You…you’re a monster.” Nagumo Hajime said with a bitter smile. He knew that Bai Jie was strong, but he thought that Bai Jie’s strength was entirely due to his powerful magic and authority. He never expected that Bai Jie’s swordsmanship was so good. “Your swordsmanship should be even better than Yaegashi’s, right?”

"Who knows? If it's just a matter of swordsmanship, we're probably evenly matched. But if we really fought, I could take down hundreds of her in an instant. After all, the difference in ability stats is obvious."

Bai Jie laughed.

"Alright, since you're still alive, that makes things easier. After all, there are quite a few places in this maze where magic is needed. I don't want to use magic right now, so you can do the work."

Why don't you use magic?

"I'm currently playing a swordsman alt account; my main Godslayer account has been temporarily banned."

P.S.: The author will be undergoing military training tomorrow, so I need to take a day off. Please understand.

I'm taking leave tonight for the 232nd military training field exercise.

As the title says, I have to go on a training exercise tonight, so the update scheduled for tonight will have to be cancelled. I heard that the training will last from 7 pm to midnight, which is absolutely grueling. I'll probably be too tired to move when I get back to my dorm, so I'm sorry everyone.

This is the first leave request I've ever made while writing this book, and I'll probably only make one too. I really don't have time this time. I'll definitely be up all night to catch up on my work when I get home on the 30th!

Section 233, paragraph 8. Author: I feel my writing has deteriorated. Is it because I didn't have the energy to think during military training?

The Orcus Great Labyrinth, Bai Jie and Nan Yun counted from the first floor they fell to, one hundred floors deep underground. According to their calculations, this floor was the final stop of the entire Orcus Great Labyrinth.

That is, the deepest part.

However, unlike the other floors, this floor was a vast space supported by countless enormous pillars, each five meters in diameter, adorned with spiral patterns and carvings resembling vines. The pillars were arranged neatly and at regular intervals. The ceiling was approximately thirty meters high, and the floor was flat, smooth, and clean, creating a solemn and dignified space.

As Bai Jie, Nan Yunshi, and Yue Yi stepped into that space, all the pillars emitted a faint glow, and the other pillars lit up one by one, starting with the three of them.

At the end of this space stands a massive door—a huge double door over ten meters long, adorned with exquisite carvings, especially the patterns depicted on the vertices of the heptagon, which are the most impressive.

Generally speaking, the deepest part of a maze has two settings—either a room that hides the final boss or a treasure vault that holds countless treasures.

However, given the setting of the Great Labyrinth of Orcus, with so many monsters appearing along the way, it would be really unreasonable if there were no monsters on the last level.

"There are no monsters—though I'd like to say that, it seems it's too late."

When they reached a point about thirty meters from the door, Bai Jie, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and said that the silver sword he had been carrying on his shoulder had also been lowered, and the piercing sword energy had transformed into a domain that occupied a space of about three meters around him.

Domain: Slaying Evil Diseases.

One of the skills Bai Jie learned in this abyss is that any enemy who steps into a three-meter radius around him will be sensed by Bai Jie the instant they enter the area and will be attacked by Bai Jie immediately.

Having accompanied Bai Jie for nearly twenty floors, Nan Yun Shi and Yue understood Bai Jie's meaning and activated their aura perception and magic perception skills to the limit.

The moment the three reacted, an enormous magic circle appeared before them, its blood-red, bewitching light illuminating the entire space, accompanied by the sound of a beating heart.

"Hey, what's with this enormous size? Is it really the final boss?"

Nan Yunshi couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, his expression turning somewhat serious.

"...It's okay, we can win." Yue held Nan Yun Shi's hand tightly.

"Hey you two, stop showing off your love in front of me, or I'll chop you up."

Although he is already married and has several beautiful wives, Bai Jie still can't stand seeing people showing off their love in front of him—of course, he's happy to share this love with others.

"Enough with the mushy stuff, the enemy is coming."

As Bai Jie finished speaking, the shining magic circle suddenly stirred, bursting forth with light as if from an explosion. The brightness was so intense that the three of them had to raise their hands to shield their eyes.

And when the light faded, what appeared before everyone's eyes was—

It is thirty meters long, has six heads and a long neck. Each of its six foreheads is marked with a different colored pattern. It is a monster with sharp teeth and dark red eyes. If we were to make a comparison, it would be the mythical monster, the Hydra.

Although this one in front of the three was missing three heads compared to the real Hydra.

“GGGAAAAAA!”

The six-headed serpent emitted a screech that could make anyone lose their mind, and six pairs of eyes shot towards Bai Jie and his two companions, as if declaring that it would punish the reckless intruders. The murderous aura it released would have caused an ordinary person's heart to stop immediately.

"boom--!"

The snake's head, engraved with red patterns, suddenly rose high, and the next moment, crimson flames erupted from its mouth, so large that it could be described as a crimson meteorite flying towards Bai Jie and his companions!

A scorching wave of heat rushed towards them, but Bai Jie, who was standing at the front of the three, neither dodged nor avoided it. He simply gripped the silver sword in his hand and raised the tip of the sword to eye level.

"Compared to the white horse of Vereslana, your flame is nothing but a tiny flame."

As he said this, Bai Jie swiftly swung his sword down. A thin layer of magic covered the surface of the silver blade, and he slashed at the center of the flame!

Sizzle—!

The meteorite split in two, passing by the three of them. The moment Bai Jie cut the meteorite in two, Nan Yun Shi rushed out, holding an electromagnetic hand cannon in each hand. In 0.3 seconds, he covered a distance of 30 meters and lightly touched the ground.