The Fantasy World Fanatic Wants To Leave Work

55 – This Too Shall Pass (2)

The method for using the ring was simple.

Simply slide it onto the index finger, clench your fist, and hope for the protective shield to materialize.

“Can I really hit you?”

Diana asked with a deeply concerned expression.

“Yes, I’ll give you a signal, and then you strike with all your might.”

“Even though elves are petite, they possess considerable strength. They can transform into a colossal tree if they wish, matching their age… No, perhaps it’s faster to show you.”

Saying this, she brought an empty plastic bottle leftover from dinner.

Is she planning to crush the plastic bottle tightly? If that’s the case, I can do that too.

“Watch carefully. Let’s assume this is Hyunwoo’s arm, and I’ll lightly apply pressure with my finger and strike.”

Bang!

Huh? Why did it explode like that?

Surely, Diana barely tapped it, but instead of the usual, the plastic bottle didn’t just fall backward; it exploded with tremendous force.

The head of the bottle rolled weakly about 5 meters away from my feet.

I swallowed hard.

“People often mistakenly assume that we elves are delicate in appearance, but in ancient times, we were said to be 2 to 3 meters tall with robust muscular bodies.”

Doesn’t that sound closer to an orc than an elf?

If they’re big in size, muscular, and even green…

[Traits: Fairies living alongside the forest, pointed ears, generally lean and small in stature. Prefer a vegetarian diet but occasionally eat fish and insects. Apart from a few elves, they’re mostly social misfits.]

It seems like TreeWiki’s information might be incorrect.

In reality, it’s not that the elves are misfits in society; perhaps society fails to adapt to elves. In that sense, Diana, who has adapted well to society, is actually an elf.

“Well… Of course, the elves these days are generally weak like me and tend to hide if they fall behind in terms of numbers or strength compared to humans.”

But being weak is relative, right?

Or perhaps, am I unusually weak in this universe?

I feel like one wrong move might not just end in a fractured arm bone, but my whole body might burst like that. Could Alensia heal a body that bursts open like that?

“Maybe I’ve been a bit overconfident. If you’re so confident, you can strike with all your might. I was concerned because Hyunwoo is relatively frail. I’ll go ahead then!”

“Wait! Hold on a moment!”

“Yes? Why?”

“Let me prepare myself first.”

I saw Diana spinning her fist around, and in that moment, the word “death” flashed through my mind.

I shouldn’t think of that fist as something thrown by a child who looks 10 years younger than me.

“Also, take a little force out, just enough for it to hurt if it hits.”

“Like the plastic bottle earlier?”

“About half the force of that plastic bottle.”

“Well, even if I don’t know what you’re trying to do, it might feel weak and not much if it’s not strong enough. Just go all out-“

“Just go easy.”

“Hmm… I understand. Then, I’ll go easy.”

If even after seeing the plastic bottle explode, I think that way, then I must truly be stupid.

I should think of that fist as one that the UFC heavyweight champion would use to genuinely kill someone in one hit.

You could argue that it’s an exaggeration to say someone dies from one punch, but if the UFC champion hits with all their strength, there’s a higher chance of death than survival.

Humans are actually quite fragile creatures.

“I’ll give you the signal, and then you start. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Even so, performance tests are done before going into actual combat.

If I trust only in this ring and unexpected problems arise in actual combat, it would be very unjust.

“This distance should be enough.”

I kept a distance of about 10 meters from Diana.

Of course, even in this state, I had my fist ready to use the ring at any time.

“So, when I say start, rush at me and hit me with an appropriate force. Got it?”

“I understand. With an appropriate force.”

May my life be more valuable than death.

Diana will adjust the force, so even if I make a mistake, I won’t die. But I hope I don’t end up digging my own grave like I did when I lured the devil last time.

But then again, Diana will adjust the force, so am I just being too scared?

“Are you ready? Rea-“

However, I soon regretted that choice.

“J-?”

The moment I said start, Diana was already in front of me, her fist aimed at me.

I see Diana’s small fist right in front of me.

And yet, it was clear that her fist was cutting through the air.

Where on earth did you see the need to control your strength?

No matter how you look at it, it seems like you’re determined to kill me.

Thanks to your punch, in the mere 0.1 second before it landed, my life flashed before my eyes like an eternal lantern, and I gained the realization that I have wasted my life.

Flash!

A protective barrier appeared along with a bright light from the ring.

Thunk!

As the lantern passed by, I reached the present again, and seeing that my head was still intact, it seemed like the catastrophe of my head exploding from Diana’s punch did not happen.

“Wow…”

Diana, who had been thrown back, had an expression of disbelief, even though she had experienced it herself, and I had the expression of someone who had died and come back to life.

“What did you just do?! Even I unintentionally put extra strength into my punch.”

“…Were you trying to kill me just now?”

“Oh come on, why would I want to kill Hyun-woo? It was just an accident that I put in a little too much strength. And even though I don’t know how you did it, you’re still perfectly fine, right? So it’s all good.”

“From your gaze, it seemed like you were determined to kill me. Wasn’t there any lingering resentment from when your head got fractured by those knights last time?”

“How could that be? hahahahaha.”

Diana blew a whistle and shrugged it off.

Maybe it would be better to test it with something else next time.

Even if Diana really did make that mistake, I have to be extremely cautious since that mistake could easily crack someone’s skull.

Honestly, I didn’t sense a stronger aura of death compared to when Ceretini pointed a gun at me.

“So, how did you really block it?”

“I blocked it with this ring. I bought it while you were asleep. It’s said to block any attack once. Of course, it’s not disposable.”

I showed Diana the ring she was curious about.

It wasn’t particularly flashy or pretty, but the inconspicuous design seemed better, in a sense.

“Wow… So that means I’ll be safe even if that angel shoots a flamethrower?”

“Not exactly. It can only be used a maximum of three times, and it takes a whopping three hours to recharge. It should be reserved for emergencies.”

“It’s a shame there’s a limit to the number of uses… Oh, by any chance, did that Dwarf make it too?”

“No, I bought it separately. Don’t be too surprised when you hear this. The original price for this was a whopping 44 gold coins.”

“44 gold coins?! It’s certainly not expensive considering the performance you mentioned, but there are similar things made by other Dwarves at a much cheaper price…”

Diana was surprised by the fact that the ring cost 44 gold coins.

Admittedly, I thought there might be a similar ring on Universe-1221, so Diana might perceive it as expensive.

Of course, I bought it with a 50% discount there.

“I’ve seen those things too, but they all have limitations.”

But when it comes to actually buying something cheap and better, there is nothing like it. Although the dwarves from other universes made cheaper rings, they actually had lower convenience.

“Well, if you want to make a tool with magic, you have to prepare the appropriate materials, so you can’t create a universal tool.”

For example, it can only block attacks by fire, or physical and mental attacks.

However, this product proved, through Solomon the King, that it can block even those attacks that do not have a physical effect and that it claims to block anything in the product description.

I’m not sure if this Solomon the King is the same Solomon the King I know, but this was the best choice among what I could choose right now.

Anyway, it’s relatively cheap for the value of my life.

“But did Hyunwoo have that much money? It doesn’t seem like this store belongs to Hyunwoo. You could use so many gold coins to buy one ring…”

“I was trembling when I bought it too. I bought it for half the price though. But why are you looking at me like that?”

By the way, Diana’s gaze was not ordinary.

It felt like she was scrutinizing me, and I had a feeling that she was trying to avoid something.

Why all of a sudden?

“Don’t tell me you did something frightening to that wicked angel? Like, giving her gold coins and using her as a living target, or even forcibly experimenting on her…”

“I earned the money by risking my life, you know? Do you think I’m crazy enough to do something dangerous like that?”

Working at this convenience store is already a dangerous job, but I don’t go out of my way to do something that puts my life at risk.

More importantly, why does Serenity consider selling my body for money?

“But with that ring, you can prevent accidents like last time. Do you know how worried I was when your face turned pale? I thought someone as fragile as you would die if you were treated so roughly.”

From Noble mtl dot com

“That’s why I spent money on buying something like this, even if I don’t need to use this ring. Of course, it would be best if I didn’t have to use this ring.”

Anyway, I have a rough idea of the ring’s capabilities.

I still don’t know how much powerful impact it can withstand, but at least I can defend myself against bullets and arrows if I’m aware that they’re being shot at me.

Even if the knife is right in front of my face, as long as I have my fist clenched, a protective shield will appear and protect me.

Moreover, seeing Diana being repelled far away makes me think that it can also be used for retaliation.

“I wonder if it can block this as well?”

Setting that aside, a sudden question came to mind.

If this ring really creates a protective shield that can block anything, can it also block this dice that can swallow anything?

I’m curious, but it’s too dangerous to test it out.

“What is it?”

“There’s something you shouldn’t see.”

“Oh, what is it? Show me once. Oh, no, don’t be so cautious…”

Diana became interested in the dice, but as soon as I raised my hand, she quickly jumped a few times and eventually gave up.

Powerful but lacking in propulsion.

“Now I can finally relax.”

Since the test is over, let’s finish eating dinner.

As long as I have this, I can be at ease even if demons attack like last time.

Now, whether it’s demons or whatever, tell them to come, I’ll use this ring to cut them off at the entrance of the convenience store.

…Surely they won’t really come, right?