An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Kaori is very scary when her eyes don't smile, and what she says is also terrifying.

Ryutaro might... maybe while his physical wounds are healed, his heart will also be left with wounds.

Then several minutes passed.

Initially, it seemed that the Confucian defeated the Frost Golem first. He was suffering from intense fatigue due to the side effects of his "Limit Break," so he used his holy sword instead of a cane and emerged through the tunnel of snow and smoke.

Next, Ling passed. Like Kouki, she staggered over. She looked like she was about to fall, so Kaori hurried to support her.

Ryutaro is the last one, and he is on the verge of death.

No matter how you look at it, the amount of blood loss he was bleeding was dangerous, but he wore a satisfied smile on his face and fainted in a pool of blood. Because he didn't enter the tunnel, the heat ray passed by him.

"Wow, Ryuutarou-kun!"

Kaori rushed over. A heat ray flew close to the ground, heading straight for Ryuutarou's neck. Ryuutarou was in danger of having his head decapitated.

Hajime sighed and attached Kongo to the cross floater to block the heat ray.

Seeing Ryuutarou's carefree unconscious face from a close distance through the Demon Eye Stone... Hajime couldn't help but feel murderous intent.

"If I shoot him with a shotgun, will he become more normal?"

"Nagumo-kun!?"

Hajime pointed his gun at Ryuutarou, seriously considering whether or not to actually shoot.

Shizuku was panicking when she saw a vein popping out on Hajime's forehead, but Kaori just happened to slide in between the bullets' trajectories, and Hajime reluctantly gave up the idea.

Kaori dragged Ryuutarou's feet towards the tunnel. She seemed to be healing at the same time, but she didn't care at all when the back of Ryuutarou's head bounced on the ground, which showed Kaori's mood.

“…Hmm? Hajime, the sun disappeared.”

"Oh? Does that mean we can consider the trial over?"

Yue tugged at Shi's sleeve, and Shi looked in the direction of her finger, only to see that the light in the sky had indeed disappeared.

At the same time, the heat rays vanished, and the ice fragments that had transformed into diamond dust melted and disappeared. The snow smoke was also sucked upwards as if by a vacuum cleaner.

After a pause, as if confirming what Hajime had said, the door began to emit a brilliant light.

Surprisingly, the door did not open, but the door itself began to form a light film.

"It seems this light film is the exit."

"...It's very similar to a portal, a transfer-type exit?"

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Shia, you've never had a good feeling in the Great Labyrinth, right?"

"Ahaha, indeed. Psychic attacks are really annoying, I hope they won't happen again... But things won't go as I wish. Sigh~..."

Shia's rabbit ears drooped sadly.

If it were a physical attack, Shia, who had already become a cheating character, would naturally be no match. However, the mental attack that gradually interfered with the unconscious realm was as annoying as a small bone stuck in the throat, truly irritating.

"Guanghui-kun and Suzu-chan, come gather here too! I'll help you heal!"

When Kaori returned with Ryuutarou, Kouki and Ling had already arrived at the door and sat down on the ground. They looked extremely tired and could not immediately respond to Kaori's call.

Guanghui crawled over on all fours, looking quite eerie and terrifying; Ling had no intention of standing up from the beginning, she just rolled over on the ground.

“…Nagumo… I’m sorry… my attack…”

Kouki apologized to Hajime with a gloomy expression. Even ignoring the fatigue factor, he didn't look at all happy about completing the trial. His voice was also frighteningly gloomy, and his words were hesitant.

"I told you not to be so polite. Instead of wasting so much time, why not just attack with all your might from the start?"

“…Yeah, my Kamuy should have flown over, but there’s not a speck of dust on you. No matter what I do, it doesn’t hurt you at all. That’s why…”

Guanghui looked at Shi, a pair of dull eyes.

Yet, a twitching smile played across Guanghui's face. Perhaps it was a self-deprecating grin, seeing that Hajime was not only unharmed but also looked completely uninspired, while he himself looked so utterly dejected. However, his smile gave off a sense of something more than that; it even evoked a sense of danger and unease.

"Kuiki, are you okay? You seem a little off. Are the side effects of Limit Breaking really that bad? Do you want to lie down and rest for a while?"

"..."

Shizuku felt as if she had overlooked a crucial detail, and she asked Kouki with a worried look on her face. She patted her thigh, as if to say she could use it as a pillow if she needed to lie down.

However, when Kouki glanced at Shizuku... for some reason, a look of fear appeared in his eyes.

Because it was only a fleeting moment, and Kouki quickly looked away, it could have been an illusion. Kouki had no reason to be afraid of Shizuku.

“…No, that’s okay, Shizuku.”

“Is that so?”

However, when she saw Kouki shaking his head and closing his eyes, Shizuku felt a strong rejection she had never felt before.

Guanghui sat cross-legged, then stopped moving. It was as if he had turned into ice, or frozen from within.

Shizuku was speechless, her eyes wandering in confusion. Shizuku convinced herself that Kouki must be focused on recovering, and she stopped interfering.

And Hajime glanced towards Guanghui.

The look in Guanghui's eyes just before he closed them was probably only seen by Hajime. His eyes were filled with icy hatred...

"What a disgusting theme."

Hajime couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

Although Yue and the others asked Shi what was wrong, Shi just shook his head and replied that it was nothing.

This was the only issue that Kouki had to come to his own conclusion. And since his target was Hajime, even telling Yue and the others would be useless.

After a while, Kaori's treatment was over.

"Do you want to rest here for a while? Or should we keep going?"

"Let's keep going."

Hajime was about to ask everyone to vote, but Kouki answered without hesitation. He turned towards Hajime, his tone particularly strong, but his eyes subtly avoided meeting Hajime's gaze.

Hajime shrugged and looked around at everyone.

No one seemed to want to stay in this place where they could hear the whispers, so no one objected.

"Really? Let's go then."

Following Shi's command, the group rushed into the light gate.

Volume 9, Chapter 4: True Feelings

The dazzling light gradually dissipated, and Hajime realized that the aura of his companions around him had disappeared.

"...Separated? But that's to be expected."

Even so, he couldn't help but smack his lips in surprise when it actually happened. He frowned and looked around.

"There's only one way."

This is a passage made up of two-meter square ice mirrors. There is no way out. The portal has lost its luster, leaving only ordinary ice mirror walls.

Meeting his own gaze in the mirror, Hajime shook his head, turned back to face the front, and walked towards the narrow, straight passage that was obviously only wide enough for one person to pass through.

There are several overlapping shadows of myself reflected above, below, left and right, and they follow my movements.

His footsteps were incredibly loud, and even though Hajime had mastered the art of walking to silence them, it had no effect. Whenever he stepped on the ground, it felt like water droplets creating ripples on the surface.

Those ripples weren't ordinary sound waves. Though it was an uncanny feeling, Hajime felt as if they were a voice emanating from within his heart. With each step he took, it felt as if the ripples were asking and answering his own questions.

Feeling the strange feeling of my heart being both agitated and then gradually calmed down, I walked for about ten minutes.

It was a straight road with no forks, and Hajime saw a huge icicle ahead.

The icicle, seemingly connecting heaven and earth, towered in the center of the vast room. The icicle, extending from the floor and ceiling, gradually expanded outward, looking like it was taking root and spreading its leaves. It was like a giant tree formed from ice, Hajime thought.

"There's no other way..."

Hajime muttered to himself as he walked towards the ice tree.

The ice tree also seemed to be made of ice mirrors. Because of its long diameter, even though it was cylindrical, the reflection in the mirror was not distorted.

As Hajime got closer, the image of himself in the mirror gradually became larger and clearer, as if another Hajime was about to come out from the mirror world.

After approaching within arm's reach, Hajime stared at his own reflection in the icy tree.

White hair and an eye mask, wearing a black coat, and one arm is a prosthetic limb, what a perfect middle school style.

Hajime fell to his knees.

“…Shit, realizing my outfit again is such a heavy blow…”

In fact, Hajime rarely looks in the mirror (his hair is messy when he wakes up, and Yue, who loves to help him take care of it, always helps him deal with it), and after entering the maze of ice mirrors, he is always in a state of full alert, so he doesn't care about his appearance.

Therefore, being alone like this, carefully examining himself in a quiet space, Hajime regained an objective awareness of his own clothing and appearance... The dark history sealed deep in his heart was awakened, causing considerable damage to Hajime's spirit.

Hajime mentally tried to justify himself. For example, dyeing his hair frequently while traveling was a hassle; without the eyepatch, the Mystic Eye Stone would glow bluish-white. Yue had sewn the black coat himself, so Hajime couldn't possibly complain; the prosthetic limb was a necessity because he'd lost a hand... and so on. In a sense, this was perhaps the most traumatic moment he'd experienced during his time conquering the Great Labyrinth.

Hajime lowered his head and lay on the ground. If Kouki and the others saw this rare sight, they would probably be stunned. Hajime said in a trembling voice:

"The whispers are right. There really may not be a place for me in Japan anymore."

Because from the perspective of Japanese society, there is a high possibility that people will say, "Mom, that person..." or "Shh, don't look at him!"

What the whispers were trying to say was probably...definitely...definitely not that kind of thing. Hajime must have misunderstood seriously.

And as if to prove that Hajime had misunderstood, the voice he had become accustomed to hearing for the past few hours suddenly rang out.

"That's not what I meant."

“…As expected, it came out.”

Hajime narrowed his eyes and raised his head.

The person in front of me is myself, looking down upon me.

That’s right, Hajime was clearly kneeling on the ground, but the image of Hajime reflected in the ice tree was standing.

"I'm not shaken after all. Is this what you expected? Me."

"Of course. I had a rough idea of ​​the purpose of this great maze. Considering Tian Zhihe's testimony, I knew it would eventually turn out like this."

The person in the mirror was talking to himself, but Hajime remained unmoved.

Seeing Hajime's reaction, Hajime in the mirror grinned.

"By the way, what is the main point you are talking about...?"

"You're me, right? You should know that without asking."

"No, no, I am you, but not all of you. You expected this, right?"

"Yeah, I did expect that," Hajime admitted with a nod.

The Hajime in the mirror was an illusion of Hajime. Hajime had already encountered a similar being in the Hartrina Forest. To be exact, it was a phantom of Yue and the others, but the Great Labyrinth probably read their real information and created a near-real imitation.

The phantom's statement, "It's not all of you," proves this point. In other words, Hajime's phantom is purely a test of the Great Labyrinth. So, even though it's a replica of the original, it still needs to compare answers with the original.

Hajime stood up and answered impatiently:

"...The main theme of this great maze is 'overcoming oneself.' For example, the negative aspects of oneself, the filthy inner self that one is afraid to face, the reality that one is unwilling to admit, the conflicting emotions... etc. This great maze is a test to see if one can overcome these weaknesses of oneself."

Hajime looked slightly upwards. Above him was only an ice ceiling, but his eyes were fixed far above. Indeed, he seemed to be looking at the world in heaven.

"Even if you have strong power, it's meaningless if you are weak in spirit... This may be a test to prevent God from taking advantage of your spiritual weakness."

"As expected of me, it's exactly as you said."

The person in the mirror clapped his hands exaggeratedly. Hajime was very unhappy about this and thought, "This guy's face is really annoying," but he was only referring to himself.

However, that unpleasant face underwent a dramatic transformation the moment the applause ceased. His eyes began to glow a dark red, and his hair gradually turned black. His black coat, prosthetic limbs, and other equipment, in turn, turned white, while his skin took on the same brown color as the demon.

The color reversed. As this phenomenon occurred, Hajime took a step back, feeling wary...

In an instant—two fierce gunshots rang out.

There was no movement of drawing a gun, not even a murderous aura. The movement was as natural as water flowing from high to low. Hajime and Phantom drew their guns and fired at the same time with incredible speed.

Hajime's Black Donar released a bright red flash.

The Phantom's White Donar fires black flashes that are the opposite color of the gun body.

The bullet, wrapped in black electricity, flew from the ice tree into the real world.

The bullets were fired with the precision of a mirror, and because of this, the two bullets collided in the air, were squeezed and deformed, and fell to the ground.