Otherworld Company Chapter 28.1: Holiday Calls, People Call It Holiday Work

Jiro Tanaka: 28 years old – Unmarried

Girlfriend(s): Suela Handelberg & Memoria Tris

Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Regular Employee)

Magical Aptitude: Eight (General Class)

A person’s true nature comes out when it comes to emergencies.

It is often said in manga, anime, and novels that if an emergency occurs in a theme park or other entertainment facility, the majority of the general public will be anxious, confused, and unable to move in an orderly fashion.

“It shouldn’t have come true, though.” (Jiro)

“What came try Jiro?” (Suela)

“ No, I’m just escaping reality, just for a bit.” (Jiro)

She turns to me and catches my rambling, and I shake my head and tell her it’s nothing.

With that, she went back to her work.

What had been a garden bar had been transformed into a conference room by the way the chairs and tables were all arranged.

The lights were dimmed, but that didn’t mean that magic couldn’t be used, and the facility staff and some employees (the Demon King’s army) were working together to keep the lights on.

No one is panicking and everyone is dealing with the emergency.

You can see how well-trained they are.

“Let’s check the current situation. First of all, [Telepathy] has been completely blocked.” (Suela)

“The flow of magical power circulation is also strange. If it wasn’t for that, there wouldn’t be a power outage in this facility.” (Kaley)

“The concentration of magic seems to be getting thinner.” (Memoria)

The three people standing at the forefront of this are Suela and the other demons.

They are collecting and organizing information that can be checked without letting the atmosphere change.

“What kind of situation are we on, that we are?” (Minami)

“I don’t know.” (Masaru)

“At least it’s not an event.” (Karen)

“Well, I don’t know, there are no other humans here but us, but I don’t think this is normal.” (Kaido)

“So, it comes to this, something troublesome?” (Jiro)

The goblins, lizardmen, and demons that are similar to humans but have wings and tails and other familiar demons are gathered here.

There’s not much I can do to help the girls as they lead that group of other races from one to the next in various tasks.

What they’re doing is checking the function of the dungeon itself.

There’s very little that we, who aren’t professionals, can do about it.

So, we form a small circle and hold a special party meeting.

“Let’s summarize what we know.” (Jiro)

“We are trapped in this facility.” (Karen)

“The lifelines are down, that they are. There’s no electricity, water, gas or anything else we can use.” (Minami)

“Fortunately, we have food. We can cook with magic.” (Masaru)

“There’s plenty of water right in front of us, but I heard a little bit earlier that there’s quite a problem with facilities in dungeons that malfunction to this extent.” (Kaido)

“In short, there are no immediate dangers while were trapped and waiting for rescue, but is it really dangerous to be trapped here?” (Jiro)

I would like to avoid battles of attrition if possible, however, just staying in the same space, although not in a closed and narrow space can become a strong burden on one’s mind.

“Let’s brainstorm and speculate without immediately denying any possibility.” (Jiro)

“Is it okay?” (Kaido)

“We don’t have enough information to even begin to examine the possibilities. Suela’s information is full of otherworld jargon. It’s not something we can deal with. As amateurs, all we can do is conserve our strength so that we can move in case of an emergency. To do that, we have to consider all possibilities.” (Jiro)

“…well, it’s better than silently doing nothing.” (Karen)

“If you think about it normally, there’s probably an accident.” (Masaru)

“I hope so, that it is, but my guess is that it is “artificial”, that it is.” (Minami)

“What is your basis?” (Jiro)

Masaru’s idea of it being in an accident was the first thing that came to my mind as well, but my thoughts are already denying the possibility.

Rather, something being “artificial” might be true, especially with Minami being very intuitive.

“This is a dungeon, that it is, and the power of the facility is, of course, magic power, right? It’s not normal to think that all of that power would be cut off, that it is.” (Minami)

“That’s right. If it’s a fantasy trope, it’s going to be a rebellion of some sorts.” (Kaido)

“Sometimes I think that Senior Kaido willingly raises flags, that he is.” (Minami)

“What?” (Kaido)

For me, that’s the worst kind of thinking, but for now, let’s just listen to her.

“May I? The reason why I used the indirect word “artificial” is that I don’t want that to happen, that I do. The chances of such an event coming true are higher if you say it directly, that it will! It’s commonly called a ‘death flag’, that it is. Senior Kaido has just raised one, that he has.” (Minami)

“Ee~ Minami, that’s as expected.” (Kaido)

“It’s too sweet! It’s sweet, that it is! It is as sweet as MAX coffee with condensed milk and honey, that it is!!!” (Jiro) [T/N: Max Coffee is a brand of canned coffee. And sweet and  naïve are both read as “amai/あまい/甘い” so it’s wordplay at the same time.]

If you go that far, it’s already a different drink.

At least I don’t want to sip on something that makes me want to throw up.

Coffee is fine with just sugar, that’s justice. [T/N: I don’t know why they use “Justice” like that, but you can always hear or read phrases like “oppai is justice”, “pettanko is justice”, etc. Don’t know the origin of the phrase but it just means it is what they highly prefer or something like that.]

“It’s the people who deny things like that who fall down, that it is! Even now, my senior is steadily building a mountain of death flags, that he is!” (Minami)

“Oh no, there are still so many things I want to do! There’s also a lot of stores (18 prohibited) I want to go to.” (Kaido)

Why is this guy able to show his true intentions so clearly in a serious setting?

I’m sure that even Masaru and Kitamiya could have figured it out, not just me.

I’ll just keep an eye on how things go down for the time being, even though we feel that the direction of things is getting suspicious.

“I’ll teach you how to crush flags, that I will.” (Minami)

“For real!?” (Kaido)

“But Senior must be prepared to do it, that you must.” (Minami)

“What? I think I can do most things now!!” (Kaido)

“That’s right, then first transfer about 100,000 to this account, that you should.” (Minami)

“Masaru.” (Jiro)

“Yes.” (Masaru)

I’m not sure how Minami came up with the idea of a fantasy-style bank transfer scam.

It’s not a good idea to leave it any longer.

A forced intervention on Minami was executed before the prank even started.

“Habu!?” (Minami)

“Do not get carried away.” (Masaru)

I’ll have Masaru impose some sanctions and adjust the course of our conversation.

“Be serious!” (Masaru)

“Well, I’m not good at being serious… I understand, that I do! I want you to stop that Masaru because I’m losing consciousness, that I am… but you see I have no choice but to predict things based on similar events or patterns, that I do.” (Minami)

“It’s okay, you’re the one with the most knowledge about fantasy in this group. Though, I’m on the fence about things.” (Jiro)

“So, what is the leader’s prediction? What is it? I’d like to hear it for reference, that I do.” (Minami)

“What comes to mind for me is the possibility that the facility was affected by an attack from an enemy of the Demon King’s army, in this case, a country or organization that summons the heroes, or an entity such as a god.” (Jiro)

“I see, so it is more outsider than an insider, that it is?” (Minami)

“If you suspect your own people first, you’re in deep sh*t.” (Jiro)

“At my last company, it was the people around us that we suspected first.” (Kaido)

“Hey, Kaido, put “supervisor” on the top of your thoughts. There were few cases of failure in the field.” (Jiro)

“Leader! Senior I’m sorry please come back~, I’m sorry but you’re falling into the dark side~” (Minami)

“”Oh no!”” (Kaido & Jiro)

When I told myself to be serious, I almost fell in the direction of stupidity on another level.

“Sorry, please continue.” (Jiro)

“I’ve thought of several things, that I have, but I think the most likely one is factional strife, that it is.” (Minami)

“Why? From what I’ve seen, I think the president was pretty much in command of all things.” (Jiro)

“That’s naive, that it is.” (Minami)

“That expression on your face is really annoying.” (Masaru)

“Mmm-hmm. Okay, that it is? If you turn the history of Earth upside down, you will find that there is plenty of discrimination, that there is plenty of conflict between people who are similar in appearance, and even more so if they are different in appearance, that it is not surprising that it is happening.” (Minami)

I’ll leave aside the smug look on Minami’s face as she passionately plays the role of a critic, but she certainly has a point in her explanation.

If we talk about famous stories, the story of African migrants (voluntary or otherwise) comes up.

A familiar story is that people in Osaka and Tokyo do not get along well.

There is no limit to the extremes, but the question is whether humans can be compatible with a species that has a human form but does not look like a human.

“It’s not only a problem from the human side, that it is. There are feelings from other species as well, that there are. You say that a lot, that you do. You’re human, but you’re represented as a subordinate species, that you are, and that’s a classic fantasy trope.” (Minami)

“I guessed from Minami’s thoughts that the point was this rebellion or strike. Either way, do you think this is an act of those who want to change the position of testers?” (Jiro)

“I expect so, that I do. But if they do, it will definitely be for the worse.” (Minami)

“Ugh, company restructuring is the worst.” (Kaido)

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