Hirim, the Heavenly Warrior, had barely broken through the third room, but his body was battered beyond recognition.
But he was a man of indomitable spirit.
Soon, he used his sword as a crutch to haul himself to his feet.
"Ugh… my body…"
Was this the absolute limit of limits…?
Even after pushing me this hard and making me stronger, I end up like this— No, wait. It's my own arrogance.
This place wasn't designed by human standards like mine. It was built around that boss.
Was this what a true trial felt like?
And this place…
I looked around. Trees with blue leaves stretched to the horizon across the ground, and above, stars glittered brilliantly against a purple sky.
I'd definitely gone underground, hadn't I?
But with the wind and the scent of grass, it felt like the outside—
Hirim! Get it together! You came here for a reason. No time to get distracted.
Just like the rooms before, this one surely had some gimmick, so I downed my last recovery potion and advanced cautiously.
Weaving through the dreamlike forest, I reached a park where a vast field of pristine white flowers spread out, stark against the purple sky.
And…
"You've arrived."
"!!!"
The reason I'd come here—the boss in black armor.
Vallak stood in the middle of the white flower field, arms crossed, waiting silently for me.
I tensed up, bracing for battle, but Vallak showed no will to fight. He just gazed idly at the sky.
"What's he doing?"
"Just enjoying this fake sky. But… impressive. To pass all the trials I prepared. You truly are a 'worthy' hero."
Hearing himself called worthy by an overwhelming powerhouse like Vallak made Hirim's heart race, but he quickly shook his head to suppress the emotion.
"Hey, Vallak. What's this 'worthy' business?"
"Didn't I tell you? I've been waiting for the fated hero to defeat me. But most warriors who came here were terribly disappointing."
"...."
"That's why I created the path you walked."
"So those were the trials? I passed them perfectly, so I'm qualified as the fated hero?"
"Perfectly… one of the most arrogant words in life. The qualification I spoke of isn't mere passage. It's just the right to face the final trial."
"Final trial?"
Vallak stretched his hand to the side, and a massive sword flew from somewhere in the forest into his grip.
"Fight me. Earn my recognition."
"!!!"
"Worthy hero, before we begin, tell me your name."
"…Hirim."
"Then here I come, Hero Hirim."
And so, Hirim accepted the trial from the one he admired.
*************
The duel between the two warriors began the moment Vallak kicked off the ground.
Boom!
One earth-shaking stomp. The shockwave rippled through the ground, and Vallak closed in on Hirim in an instant.
He raised the massive sword overhead and brought it down like lightning in a vertical slash.
At that moment, sensing the vibration from underground, Hirim twisted his body reflexively and dodged to the side.
Vallak's overwhelming strike shattered the flower field in a flash.
White petals erupted skyward like a blizzard, blanketing the park.
Amid the fantastical sight, Hirim kept his nerves taut, eyes locked on the enemy, but his opponent casually brushed the dirt off his blade.
Hirim couldn't fathom why the foe—who had unleashed a storm of attacks in their first clash—was holding back now.
Then Vallak pointed his sword and spoke.
"Remember, this fight is a 'trial.'"
"!!!"
Finally grasping the full meaning of the final trial, Hirim adjusted his stance and tried to read his opponent's movements.
"Good form. But it won't be enough to pass my trial."
Vallak rushed in again at eye-blurring speed and began a barrage of attacks on Hirim.
Barely blocking or dodging the brute-force swings from Vallak's immense strength, Hirim spotted something odd.
'His attacks… they're simple?'
Vallak's swordplay was brutally straightforward, devoid of finesse or subtlety.
Reading the predictable patterns, Hirim began to perceive the blade as moving slower.
And the result—
Kreeeeang!!
"Not bad."
"Hah… hah…"
For the first time, Hirim landed a hit on Vallak.
Regrettably, some strange energy blocked his sword, leaving not even a scratch on the armor.
But in the clashes that followed, Hirim's senses sharpened noticeably.
As the two warriors continued their exchanges, Hirim suddenly hit a major wall.
Vallak had switched to erratic, off-beat attacks.
The familiar rhythm shattered, turning the fight into a discordant mess.
In the end, Hirim slipped up mid-battle.
Clang!!
"Urk?!"
Trying to parry the massive sword, Hirim's stance crumbled instead, and he couldn't evade the incoming fist.
Thwack!!!
Tumbling across the ground from the punch, he managed to block Vallak's follow-up sword, but the impact rattled him internally without mercy.
But he didn't give up.
Even sensing his defeat, he couldn't stop here.
Vwooom!!!
"Oh?"
"This… is my final attack. Will you take it?"
"Pity. Someone like you should see the wider world, unbound by this place. So come! Show me everything you've got! Hirim!!"
"Here I go!!!"
Hirim then gripped a massive greatsword woven from his mana and charged at Vallak.
Beneath the purple sky, as white petals drifted slowly to the earth.
The two warriors' blades clashed.
And the Heavenly Warrior faded away in a blaze of blue light.
***************
When Hirim the Heavenly Warrior's challenge ended in failure.
There were onlookers to the fight.
The other floor bosses in the dungeon.
They'd been stunned that the Heavenly Warrior cleared those three rooms in one go.
Even if their champion had gone easy—still, his fierce resistance drew the same exclamation from all.
""""Oh.""""
That's right!! The underdog effect!!
No matter the being, people cheer for the challenger underdog over the overwhelming powerhouse. It's a universal truth!
Underdogs are always romantic!
So even against impossible odds, the bosses couldn't help applauding the unflinching hero.
But wasn't this Heavenly Warrior their greatest threat? Why applaud him?
Honestly, survival wasn't even on the table anymore.
Their champion was strong enough to take on the whole world.
And from the rooms he'd designed so far, the bosses knew he was sharp as a tack.
Now, the other floor bosses were musing peacefully about 'what hobby to pick up for the rest of our days.'
The Abyssal Pit had gone from prison and execution ground to a luxury hotel they could decorate as they pleased.
Among them, the 90-100th floor alliance—practically an elder council now that danger was gone—gathered for drinks and chatted about Vallak and Hirim's battle.
"Whoa… so that's what the custom order was for."
"The illusion magic tool to overlay on the boss room?"
"Didn't expect him to use it like that."
"Thought he'd make walls of tentacles and flesh… not a flower field."
"But it was cool."
"Hmm, purple twilight and white flowers… reminds me of a poem."
"Keep your stuffy poetry to yourself. Heroes seem to grow way too fast lately. Not just my imagination, right?"
"You'd grow fast too if you kept smashing your head against walls like that."
Old fogeys… er, exalted beings could see the Heavenly Warrior's growth curve was insanely steep.
And the growth rates of everyone else grinding like mad in the dungeon were ridiculous too.
But…
"They'll hit real-world problems soon enough."
"Heroes are part of society's monster too."
"Wanna bet on when the hero and his party leave the city?"
"Ooh, sounds good. Count me in."
What earthly problem could these extraordinary minds conjure for the heroes?
The most obvious thing in the world.
'No money left, time to leave the inn.'
'Eh?'
Money issues.
The hero and his party had been holed up in the Abyssal Pit for months, grinding nonstop—no jobs!
And their base was one of the world's priciest cities!
Blood is thicker than water, but money's thicker than blood!
Even with 50%+ discounts for heroes on most things, zero cash meant icy stares from locals.
'Uh, could we maybe… run a tab?'
'Hahaha…'
'Hello?'
'Hahahahaha…'
Merchants already lost big selling cheap to heroes—now tabs? Their smiles turned frosty, forcing the heroes to work.
Dragged by reality, hero parties trickled out of Laiter, the city by the dungeon.
You'd think the now-hero-less Abyssal Pit would become a vacant tomb.
But good news spreads slow.
Bad news? Lightning fast.
And so the world expanded.
"What?! That dungeon with the clear-eyed maniacs gave up at floor 1?"
"Yeah! Newspaper says so!"
Students at an imperial academy hearing the news.
"Master!! Master!! Look at this!"
"Ugh… what is it…"
"The heroes failed the dungeon from floor 1!"
"What? That's bullshit…"
A master and disciple on some mountain.
"…Has our era finally arrived?"
"Whaaaat?!"
"Moon's gonna moon!!!"
"Now's the time for heroes and legends!!!"
"""Woooooo!!!"""
Adventurer guilds, gigs drying up from overpowered cheap heroes.
"Whoa… tough break for the juniors."
"The heroes of this age failed… but you might've changed that."
"…"
"Y-you there?"
A certain wanderlust-struck being.
"O."
"O."
"O."
"O."
Reality's content updates crawl.
Bored bunny duos with nothing to do in this world.
"Where the hell is this…"
The man closest to Vallak's boss room, perhaps.
"The one who beat all those heroes…"
"We have to get him first no matter what…!"
"Grr… world's strongest? That's my title!"
The world's absolutes were all drawn to the dungeon like Vallak.
No lion in the hills? Foxes play king.
Weirdos started stirring here and there.
Heroes failing floor 1 went viral.
Soon, everyone shared the same curiosity.
｢What kind of place is that, exactly?｣
A true blessing in disguise.
Episode 1: The Heroes' Failure END