An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

If someone were looking into the room from the passage, it would have looked as if the room had vanished with a swish, the passage suddenly covered by a wall. The ceiling had fallen, completely blocking the entrance to the passage. From the sidelines, all that remained was the passageway, instantly becoming a dead end.

Silence hangs in the air.

At first glance, no matter how one thinks about this situation, Hajime and the others in the room must have been crushed to death by the collapse of the entire ceiling. The complete silence further confirmed this conclusion.

However, a few minutes later—a passageway facing the opposite wall from where Hajime and the others had come in—began to glow with flames. The next second, a hole roughly large enough for a person to crouch down through was dug open. The people who emerged were, of course, Hajime, Yue, and Shia.

"H-h-h-I'm a little panicked."

"...Yeah. It would be troublesome if we were defeated."

"No, no, this isn't just a 'trouble', right? Normally, you'd be dead by then, right?"

With nowhere to run and the path too far from the depths, they had no time to escape. For a split second, it was only when Hajime and Shia used their arms to hold up the ceiling that Hajime, taking advantage of that moment, forged the ceiling and dug a hole, that they were able to escape.

The problem was that the powerful decomposition of mana made the refining process very difficult, reducing the refining speed to a quarter of its normal speed, and the effective range was only one meter, so dozens of times the mana was completely consumed. Thus, the three of them barely stuck together in that small space, letting Hajime dig the cave with refining while moving towards the exit...

I never thought that even after coming this far, I would have to use this method of digging at the wall to advance again, just like when I fell into Naraku… Hajime gritted his teeth in humiliation, and this feeling was slightly reflected in his rough tone:

"Damn it! I can't believe I have to use my Refining Skill to dig a cave again. Plus, my 'High-Speed ​​Mana Recovery' is useless; my mana isn't even recovering."

Hajime looked annoyed. Yue, standing beside him, pulled out a test tube from her bosom, smiled faintly as if to lighten the mood, and handed it to Hajime.

"...Anyway, how about a bottle of recovery potion first?"

"Come on, come on, have a drink~"

"You guys seem quite relaxed..."

Hajime, speechless, relaxed his shoulders and sat down against the wall, looking slightly exhausted. While it was possible to draw from the magic crystals to replenish the mana stored, in this situation, it was more appropriate to keep the magic crystals, which allowed for easy access to mana, and use the recovery potion as needed.

Hajime smiled faintly at Yue and Shia, who appeared as office workers from nowhere, and took the potion and drank it all in one gulp. It tasted exactly like *Libomida. Compared to extracting mana from a magic crystal, the speed and amount of mana restored were negligible, but it felt like a significant return of vitality. "Good!" Hajime said, and stood up with renewed energy. (Editor's note: Libomida is a functional beverage released by Taisho Pharmaceutical in Japan.)

Then he once again... or rather, as usual, found the annoying text.

"Pfft~ Are you getting anxious~? Such a loser~!"

Meredy Lessin...the one who went out of her way to be annoying.

"Ah, we're not anxious at all! Absolutely not anxious at all! We're no less capable!"

Following Hajime's gaze, Shia spotted the annoying text and, with a low growl, retorted. Shia's hostility towards Meredith seemed to have reached a fever pitch, and she would react to each annoying text she encountered. If Meredith were still alive, she'd probably chuckle and say, "Good prey, taken the bait!"

"Okay, let's go. Don't dwell on those words."

“…Exactly what I wanted.”

“Oooooh, alright~”

From then on, every passage they advanced through, every room they entered, was filled with traps. Poison arrows suddenly shot from all directions; cave traps filled with a liquid that dissolved objects, like sulfuric acid; a room with a floor as sandy as an ant lion's nest, and a worm-like monster waiting in the middle; and annoying text... Hajime's accumulated pressure had reached its limit.

Even so, they managed to overcome all the traps and reach the largest passage they had entered. The passage was about six or seven meters wide, with a steep slope that curved gently to the right. It was probably a downward spiral.

They were extremely alert at first. It was impossible for such a suspicious passage to have no traps activated.

And they were right. "King!" A nearly audible sound echoed, as something activated. It felt like the trap would activate regardless of whether the switch was pressed or not. "If that's the case, then there's no need for a switch!" Hajime wanted to complain loudly, but that thought would surely only amuse Millardy Lathan, so he forced himself to hold it in.

"What kind of trap is this?" A voice was heard in the ears of Hajime and the others who were alert to their surroundings.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

It was obviously the sound of something heavy rolling down.

“““…”””

The three of them exchanged silent glances, then simultaneously looked upward. Because the path above the slope curved, they couldn't see the road ahead. But the strange noises grew louder, and then...

A massive rock, the same size as the road itself, rolled down from the depths of the winding path. It was a massive ball of rock, a classic trap. On the road ahead, where they desperately tried to escape, they would undoubtedly find those annoying words again.

Yue and Shia turned around and started running. However, they only made it a little further before stopping. This was because Hajime didn't follow them.

“…Hmm, Hajime?”

"Hajime-san!? If you don't hurry up, you'll get squashed!"

The two called out to Hajime, but he didn't respond. Instead, he crouched down, his right hand stretched straight out in front of him, and opened his palm to aim for the ball. Then, he tensed his left hand to its limit and let out a mechanical "Jiyiyi!!"

Hajime made a loud noise while staring straight at the large ball that was approaching. A sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Being played around with all the time isn't my style!"

The prosthetic hand made a mechanical sound of "Jiyiyi!!", which became more intense as Hajime spoke. And then...

Boom boom boom!!! A fierce crackling sound echoed as the ball collided violently with the blow delivered by Hajime's prosthetic arm. Hajime's foot slipped back slightly under the pressure of the ball, but he ground firmly, refining himself into a nail. Hajime's blow caused the ball to gradually shatter around the point of collision, cracking throughout. The ball's momentum noticeably faded.

“Drink aa ...

With a fierce momentum, Hajime swung his left fist forward. The balance between the ball's durability and Hajime's fist's power, barely balanced, was instantly broken, and the flag of victory was raised towards Hajime's fist. And then, with a loud thud, the ball shattered into tiny fragments.

Hajime maintained his stance, his fist pumping, his spirit and posture unwavering. But soon, he relaxed, standing straight again. The prosthetic arm no longer made that distinctive mechanical sound. Hajime opened and closed it, checking for any abnormalities, then turned to Yue and Shia.

His expression was quite cheerful, a genuine expression of "I've solved it!" The fact that the trap, which couldn't be sensed, would activate even without being triggered, and the annoying text that appeared afterward, seemed to have accumulated considerable pressure on Hajime.

The move Hajime used this time was a combination of the explosive force of the bullet that had shattered King, one of the elders of Feyalbergen, with his previous blow. He then combined this with his "Giant Arm" and used vibrational prana to propel the prosthetic arm itself, crushing the opponent. This was known as "Vibration Smash." Because the prosthetic arm was burdened with heavy loads, it required maintenance after each use. It was supposed to be his ultimate move, but he couldn't help himself.

Yue and Shia excitedly greeted Hajime who returned with a satisfied look on his face.

"Hajime-san~! That's amazing! You're so handsome! I feel so good!"

"...Yeah, that feels much better."

"Hahaha, right, right. This way, we can leisurely pass this road—"

Hajime happily responded to the two people's compliments. However, he stopped mid-sentence.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

A familiar voice echoed again. Hajime froze in place, maintaining his smile. Shia's smile froze as well, while Yue's cheeks twitched expressionlessly. Like a piece of forgotten machinery, Hajime turned his head stiffly, and what he saw was...

—A large metal ball that shone with black light.

"You must be kidding."

Hajime couldn't help but twitch his smile and muttered.

“Um, um, Hajime-san. If I’m not being overly suspicious, it seems like it’s rolling towards us while sprinkling some strange liquid…”

“…It’s melted.”

Indeed, as fate would have it, the giant metal ball was actually pouring liquid from countless small holes on its surface as it advanced straight towards them. Wherever the liquid touched, it melted with a terrifying "swish" sound.

After confirming this, Hajime let out a sigh, then smiled again at Yue and the others. The moment his smile vanished, he yelled, "Run! Damn it!" and sprinted down the slope with a pace so perfect it would make even a sprinter blush. Yue and Shia exchanged a fleeting glance before turning and sprinting after Hajime.

The metal ball spraying corrosive liquid made a terrifying sound and gradually increased in speed as it approached from behind.

“Nooooooooooooo!! I absolutely don’t want to be crushed and melted!”

"...Well, let's run."

Xia's cries echoed in the corridor.

“By the way, Hajime-san~! You actually ran away first, that’s too much! You’re so cold-blooded! You’re a devil!”

Shia protested to Hajime who ran off first.

"Stop making so much noise! ​​It was an accident, an accident! Shut up and run!"

“You’ve already abandoned us, and you still say that! Don’t you care about my affairs? Uwaa ...

"...Shia, you're surprisingly calm, aren't you?"

Yue looked at Xia with a helpless look as she tried desperately to escape but still kept complaining.

As they bickered, the passage reached its end. Using 'farsightedness' to check, it appeared to be a rather large space. However, the visible area was a bit odd; I could only see the floor at the far end of the room. Perhaps the exit to the passageway Hajime and the others were running towards was near the ceiling.

"It's about to jump right down!"

"Um!"

"yes!"

They began to slide down the passage into the room in front of it, landing right under the exit. Then—

"Well!?"

"Um!?"

“Eh!?”

The three people let out three different cries. Because directly below the exit was a swimming pool overflowing with liquid, and that liquid looked very ominous.

"asshole!"

Hajime instantly shot out a knife from his prosthetic arm and simultaneously hammered the anchor into the wall, while grabbing Yue with his right hand to prevent her from falling.

The next second, a metal ball sprayed with molten liquid flew out from above and fell into the swimming pool below. The ball just emitted wisps of white smoke and sank.

“—Wind Wall.”

Yue used magic to blew away the scattered melt. Hajime kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings for a while, but nothing significant happened, so he finally relaxed.

“Wu, wu, anyway, people like me… people like me… wuuu…!”

For some reason, they heard sobbing from the side, so they turned around and saw that Xia's clothes were fixed to the wall with several knives.

"? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

"...Emotionally unstable?"

“Just look at my state and you’ll understand. Why is Yue-san being embraced so tenderly, while I’m pinned to the wall? Hajime-san, you should be a little nicer to me, right?”

"No, didn't I save you?"

“No, the way you save me should be to treat me more like a girl… you understand!? I also want to be saved by a hug like Miss Yue!”

“…Shia.”

"Uh, what is it, Miss Yue?"

"...Face the reality."

"What's the meaning!?"

"I'm telling you, Shia. I've already accepted you as my comrade, so I'll treat you as one... but the person I like is Yue. My body instantly moved on reflex, but there's nothing I can do about it, right?"

"Wuwu~"

The more Hajime spoke, the more Shia, who was pinned to the wall, complained and cried. Yue's cheeks flushed at the word "the one I like," and she leaned closer to Hajime, who was holding her, rubbing her face against his chest.

"I will definitely make you like me so much that you will hug me and save me!"

"He's a guy who gets stronger with every setback."

"...Hmm. She's quite determined. Don't underestimate her."

There was a pool of meltwater below, and they were suspended in mid-air. But they were talking about love without a care in the world, and they were indeed very calm.

They used the pendulum's trick to swing back and forth, flying over the pool of melted liquid, and finally landed on the floor of the room this time.

It was a large, deep, rectangular room. Countless grooves lined the walls, and figures, approximately two meters tall, dressed in knightly armor, armed with swords and shields, were arrayed. At the far end of the room, a grand staircase led to a seemingly altar-like structure. On the far wall, a solemn doorway adorned the altar, atop which rested a diamond-shaped yellow crystal.

Hajime looked around and frowned subtly.

"This door looks suspicious. Have we reached Meredith's secret base? If so, great news... But am I the only one who feels that the knight armor around here gives off a nauseating feeling?"

"...It's okay. It'll be like usual."

"So that means we'll be attacked, right? There's something wrong, right?"

As they continued their conversation, they moved towards the center of the room. Then, as always—that familiar voice that always appeared—rang out.

clang dong!

Hajime and the others immediately stopped, thinking, "As expected~" and looking around. A glint flashed from the knights' eyes, peeking through the gaps in their armor. Then, with the sound of metal rubbing against metal, the knights emerged from their recesses. There were fifty of them in all.

The knights crouched low, shields in front of their faces, greatswords raised forward, and assumed a fighting stance. And despite being inhuman beings, they slid their feet, gradually closing the encirclement.

"Hahaha, it's the same old thing. If only we could destroy them before they move, but it's too late now... Yue, Shia, are you ready to go?"

"Um!"

"Are, a lot of them? Uh, I'll go, but..."

Hajime pulled out Donal and Hulak. While the machine gun Mejerai was more effective against large numbers of enemies, he didn't know how many traps were set in this room. If an indiscriminate barrage of bullets triggered all the traps, it would be disastrous. Therefore, this time, he chose two railguns.

Yue answered Hajime excitedly. She knew she had the lowest attack power in this maze. But she had no intention of holding him back. As Hajime's partner, she couldn't afford to fall behind in such a harsh environment. Furthermore, there was a one-in-a-million chance that she might become a romantic rival, so she couldn't let Hajime see her in such a state.

Shia, on the other hand, was a bit hesitant. While she was the most capable of exerting her strength without being affected by others, her actual combat experience was quite limited. She had only truly fought monsters at the bottom of the valley, and that was only for five days. Even including the mock battles with Yue, her combat experience was only a little over two weeks. Coming from the gentle Hauriya tribe, it was understandable that she would be afraid of fighting. Rather, the moment she stubbornly raised the Deluken and planted her feet to face the enemy, she could already be said to have demonstrated her fortitude.