Otherworld Company Chapter 10.1: I Believe That Work Is A Process Of Progress And Fulfillment

Jiro Tanaka: 28 years old – Single – No Girlfriend –

Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Regular Employee)

Magical Aptitude: Eight (General Class)

“Hey, fantasy.” (Jiro)

Stepping into the square, the entrance behind me is closed off, which is good, no not good, but expected.

“Go a little easier on me, I didn’t see this one coming.” (Jiro)

The staircase that was built into the wall as if to reject intruders was also within expectations.

But

“An army of orbs levitating in the air? Yup. Truly. Such royal treatment.” (Jiro)

The first time, there were wooden enemies, so I thought, “maybe a stone golem or something will be next.” But even if it’s not, my prediction, which should have been more or less correct, was that a ball the size of a bowling ball would be ejected into the air.

“If this is a suicide attack, I’ll be screwed, won’t I?” (Jiro)

Looking at the obvious spherical objects, I could only think of one use for it.

If I look at the way it doesn’t attack, like a mine floating in the water, it could self-destruct like a Blood Wood Puppet, in other words, a homing self-destruct suicide attack, bomb monster.

The thought of having to deal with that makes me think that mentality is more important than skillfulness before all else.

“Lock-on? What?” (Jiro)

And it seems that the time for observing me here is over.

As soon as it came into view, the spheres flickered at uniform intervals as if to identify me, then gradually the intervals became faster, and the blue-white light covering the spheres turned from blue to red like a signal lamp.

“Is it pinball!?” (Jiro)

Before I could avoid it, my arms were moving.

“Heavy!?” (Jiro)

With a quick reaction, I flicked it off, and then it exploded.

“Isn’t the difficulty increase too much!?” (Jiro)

This may be a necessary move if you think of it as an anti-hero dungeon, but I would like to scream that this is too much for me to take.

I had predicted this, somewhat, based on the appearance. However as expected, homing bombs, even if it does not explode when hitting the enemy. The ricocheting movement as it flies randomly using the walls, floors, and ceilings must be dealt with calmly. It seems that I will be swallowed by the battle soon.

I can’t afford to move around and dodge.

I can’t just have them around and move around, aimlessly.

It’s still safer to crouch and have them collide with each other.

The good news is that my eyes and arms are still moving around fast enough to keep up, and the Mineral Tree is harder than my attackers.

One hit at a time, sometimes using my foot, then throwing it back. And sometimes redirecting the increasing number of spheres by foot maneuver and wrist turning.

Even if I don’t move, the spheres will fly at me from there, so I can save my energy.

However, as if to take away the energy saved, the spheres are aimed at me without pause.

“Gugh!” (Jiro)

But as I concentrated and focused and attacked and intercepted, I made a mistake.

There’s one that I missed that explodes nearby sending debris flying at my body. The spheres flew from the surroundings immediately as if they were aiming there.

Oh no!

My posture collapses and it will be difficult to completely parry it.

If this continues, the spheres will rush in carpet bombing me, and in no time at all, the place where I am will turn into a blast zone.

If that happened, I wouldn’t have to imagine the rest.

I knew that if I thought for even a moment that I was going to die, I would slowly lose my strength.

Surprisingly, I persisted, but that was as far as I got.

Fortunately, my body is made of magic, and there will be pain, but that’s just luck.

If I had the guts, I wouldn’t have to deal with the trauma of the explosion.

I hate to say it, but there’s nothing I can do.

I’m about to give up, but…

“No…”

Apparently, the logical part of my mind and my emotional body are separate and distinct parts of me.

“Don’t you dare!!!” (Jiro)

I felt my mouth loosen for a moment, and then a voice came out as if it was coming from my guts.

What’s wrong with this situation?

My posture collapsed from the explosion, but on the other hand, that was the extent of it.

It was an absurd thought.

I can’t stop laughing at my immediate thought saying, “That’s the extent of it.” (Jiro)

“It’s ten thousand times harder than before!!!” (Jiro)

During my time as I trained, poison, paralysis, gravity, physical punches, hypnosis, stench, blindness, sword attacks, and sometimes range magic and all other deadly techniques flew at me.

There is always room for me to resist in that situation where even if one or two shots are received, only an injury is required.

Before I could get out of the way, I put my energy into it again, and in the midst of my speeding up my thoughts and slowing down the scene, I searched for my next action within the limited time.

Sure, I have reason to say “that’s the extent of it”, but now how do I get around this situation?

Think, think!

“Damn! Great!” (Jiro)

In the end, I couldn’t think of anything.

But I’m not going to let a suicide kamikaze attack break my spirit.

“I’ve had more than my fair share of near-death experiences! If you want to crush me, come at me like you’re ready to be crushed too!!!” (Jiro)

Well, for the time being, it was just that wielding my full strength was faster than thinking.

“I’m going to kill you all!!” (Jiro)

I wondered what I was shouting at an inorganic object, but I put it aside for the moment and let’s slaughter these floating things in the air.

The fact that the instructor slammed me to my core with such a vicious smile that even a sadist would faint without having time to escape or think of it.

Kill them before they kill you.

It was as if the instructors had possessed me, and I was suddenly smiling.

“Kukuku, I wonder if something will change.” (Jiro)

Surprisingly, laughter comes out even at the last minute.

This is a great way to get your mind on track, so you don’t get caught in the middle of a situation that you thought was a dead end.

While bathing in the blast of those I missed. I started immediately swinging fully from my collapsed posture, gradually returning to a proper stance and hitting back, hitting back, and hitting more. As I try to match the enemy who is getting faster. So speed at which I swing the Mineral Tree also increases.

Then some of them, I realized have been cleanly cut, and this time, the spheres flying over here were gradually decreasing.

“Kukuku… Kakaka. Ahahaha!!!” (Jiro)

As if to declare that this time it was our turn, slowly, just by taking a step forward, I felt like my range had expanded.

There is a phenomenon called “runners high”.

The more you run, the more tension you get, and the more you want to run forever.

Before I know it, I’m laughing. I wondered where the frightened man I have been earlier had disappeared to.

There I am, calmly looking at myself. My tension is high, and yet my vision is clear.

My body is hot, my heart is racing, and my blood is rushing through my body.

However, my body is reacting in cooperation with reflexes, and my head is calmly thinking about the current situation.

My current situation, in which my head and body are in two opposing directions, was at my most efficient and powerful state.

Not enough.

I’m still too slow at this speed.

It’s not enough.

With this kind of power, I can still be beaten.

It’s not enough.

It’s not enough. With this sharpness, I can’t defeat them with a single strike.

It’s not enough. There’s too much that’s missing to defeat these guys.

The numbers are still too many to count, and there will always be more.

“Faster! Faster! Harder! More speed!” (Jiro)

If you do not have enough hands, think, and be more efficient.

Eliminate wasteful actions and change your stance, you don’t have to be at this place.

You can defeat them more efficiently if you go to a more compact area, or even in the center.

“I came this far! I don’t feel like losing!” (Jiro)

My anger explodes, creating a storm, and I rampaged.

Everything is going well.

I feel like I can see things that should have been invisible.

I feel like I can see where my opponent is as if I have eyes in the back of my head.

“Well, maybe it’s just my imagination!” (Jiro)

I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or not, but I’m glad that I can still hit the target when I swing, because it seems like the accumulation of my experience is helping me answer the question, and it makes me even more efficient.

“Aaaaaaaaah!!!” (Jiro)

If I come this far, I want to get out to the point where I can do it.

It’s not that I want to cut it off, but rather that I’ve already done so.

Rather than swinging around, it’s more like everything is connecting and spreading.

As I was in a sword dance, the order and footwork are set, and when I move with the pattern, my partner flew toward me as if they were in sync.

Moreover, this was despite me being at the center of the enemy group.

“What is the trick?” (Jiro)

In order to regain the position that had been gradually pushed back, a spike grew on one of the balls.

The spikes were sharp and I could easily imagine that they would pierce my armor like paper.

Fortunately, they didn’t bounce and were stuck in the ground, but any of these variants could be fatal just by hitting my body and these are not a positive in this situation

“So what?” (Jiro)

There’s no way that’s a positive.

But even so, I slashed and flung it away.

On the verge of being injured or killed, there is no reason for me to despair. Since I would lose if I couldn’t handle this.

“Okay, Jiro, fear is just an emotion. However, despair is only a burden. I’ll let it soak into my body.” (Jiro)

“Yes, ‘we teach fear, never despair’.” (Jiro)

Oh, I can now understand the words of my instructors during my time in training.

That’s true.

Fear tells us where what, and how something is a threat.

If you step back, you can dodge; if you swing through, you can cut it off.

Fear is like medicine that assists us in taking action.

“Feed your fear, then consume it.” (Jiro)

I said the words that came to me as if they were coming right out of my mouth, and my body felt as if all the excess pressure was slipping away.

I felt as if fear was on my side, and it made me fight harder and faster.

As I sliced through the center of the crowd like it was done in good fun, one became two, three became four, and the number of pinball golems I killed continued to increase.

Time flew by, and the battle was over when I cut down the last one and let it explode behind me.

“Yes, a hard-earned victory.” (Jiro)