Episode 4: The Strongest Beautiful Girl Who Saved the World Leaves Work on Time Again Today End

Episode 4: The Strongest Beautiful Girl Who Saved the World Leaves Work on Time Again Today

That day, only five minutes remained until the end of human history.

A colossal dungeon capable of destroying the world—an S-class dungeon—suddenly appeared.

The SS-rank explorers, humanity's top fighting force, gathered from all over the world, were pushed to the brink of annihilation in just a few minutes by the overwhelming power of the final boss.

"Ugh! Not yet! I can't fall yet!!"

Swinging his greatsword while spitting up blood was Ryuji, a former A-rank streamer.

Despite his battered state, a flame of fanaticism burned in his eyes.

"We must make the 'necessary arrangements' before Stella-sama arrives on the scene!!"

Of course, Ryuji's desperate attack hadn't even scratched the boss's outer shell.

A complete waste of time.

Furthermore, it was wasted effort that produced no progress.

But he himself believed he was fighting with the fate of the world on his shoulders.

Meanwhile, at the command center of the Japan Explorer Management Bureau.

The giant monitor displayed the front lines of an S-class dungeon on the verge of collapse.

"Let's call! There's no time left!"

"Don't be ridiculous! Stella-sama hates taking phone calls!"

"But email might not be fast enough!"

"Shut up!!!"

The command room fell silent at Assistant Yamashiro's angry shout.

He clutched his stomach, typing on the keyboard with a pained expression.

The lesson from last time had been ingrained in his very bones.

—Leave the communication in writing.

"Please... do something...!"

Yamashiro entered 'Stella' as the recipient.

To ensure that the matter would be handled properly, he secretly included the address of his superior, the 'Director of Administration,' in the CC field.

"Now I've blocked her escape route... No, that's not right. This is a consultation. This is strictly a consultation from a subcontractor to the main contractor...!"

The time he pressed the send button—[16:55].

It was just five minutes before the scheduled end of the workday.

Subject: [Important/Urgent] Request for Emergency Response Regarding the Appearance of an S-Class Dungeon

Thank you for your continued support.

This is Yamashiro from the Explorer Management Bureau.

Regarding the above matter, an S-Class Dungeon has currently appeared, and a significant global impact is anticipated.

Therefore, although this is a very sudden notification, we would appreciate it if you could consider assisting us to the extent possible.

Thank you for your understanding.

The message described the greatest crisis in human history: the impending destruction of the Earth.

However, the tone was incredibly subservient, a business email that seemed to shed the blood, sweat, and tears of a typical Japanese corporate slave.

Ping!

A six-tatami-mat room in a cheap apartment.

As Stella—Tachibana Kentaro, a 38-year-old corporate slave inside—worn off by the liberating feeling of Friday, put her finger on the pull tab of a cheap beer can, she frowned at the sound of her smartphone ringing.

"Huh...?"

She opened the email.

The next moment, Stella's face contorted like a demon's.

"Ugh, a technical issue email came in five minutes before Fixed End Time on Friday...!"

Stella clutched her smartphone.

"Don't drop a last-minute issue at the worst possible time...!"

However, as she continued reading, Stella was slightly taken aback.

"Wait a minute... this email is too well-formatted."

A greeting.

A description of the situation.

The scope of impact.

The request.

A polite closing.

And, their boss was CC'd.

"The fact that the person in charge is so competent makes it even more infuriating. And on top of that, they've dragged their boss into CC and are cornering us from all sides. This is the work of a professional corporate slave who completely blocks all escape routes."

Stella, shuddering at the competence of the person in charge, Yamashiro, whom she hadn't yet met, angrily slammed the D-Live streaming button with her thumb.

"Today's a no-overtime day!!"

[16:56]

The moment Stella's stream began, viewers around the world screamed in despair, showering her with a torrent of red Super Chats at lightning speed.

[Stella-sama! The world, the world is ending!!]

[All the SS-rank explorers are almost wiped out!]

[Please, save humanity!!]

Ignoring the despair on the other side of the screen, the stunningly beautiful girl with white hair and red eyes tapped her watch with an extremely displeased expression.

"Ah, hello. We've had a sudden system failure, so I'll head to the site and close the task now."

Then she coldly declared:

"However, today is Friday, no-overtime day. I'll finish by 5 PM and go home. There's no overtime pay."

Those words sent shivers down the spines of the world government's leaders and the surviving SS-rank explorers.

"5.... PM...?"

"Four minutes left...!?"

"That's the end of the workday..."

"Is that the absolute time limit for God to finish saving the world...!"

[The God's RTA for leaving work on time has begun, lol]

[Saving the world in four minutes is impossible, lol]

[Our God is trying to finish in four minutes because she won't get overtime pay!!]

Stella sighed wearily.

"Travel time is also wasted effort, so I'll speed things up."

The next moment.

The streaming screen flickered violently for a split second.

Stella, who should have been on the tatami mat, disappeared.

And a few seconds later.

A beautiful white-haired girl in a baggy tracksuit, holding a convenience store bag, was standing normally at the front lines of the world's most dangerous S-class dungeon.

[Wait!? She was on the tatami mat three seconds ago!?]

[The concept of travel is dead.]

[A woman who even cuts off commuting time as wasted effort.]

[The pinnacle of anti-crowded-train sentiment.]

BOOM!!

As soon as she charged in, Stella swung her greatsword.

The instant-death traps that had driven explorers worldwide to despair instantly turned to dust.

"These are the ones the previous person set up and ran away with. I can smell this site being abandoned with zero handover documents."

As Stella emotionlessly pressed on, eliminating the dungeon's traps, Ryuji, covered in blood, crawled towards her.

"S-Stella-sama...! Ha, haaa... I've finished the groundwork...!"

The fanatic puffed out his chest proudly.

But Stella glanced at him and coldly retorted.

"Ryuji, please don't change the layout without permission. You're just making things worse by trying to fix it."

"Huh?"

"It's going to increase the workload, so just go straight home."

"Th-thank you for your guidance...!!"

Ryuji, cut off abruptly, wore an expression of supreme ecstasy despite being covered in blood.

"Thank you for your guidance, Stella-sama...!!"

[He's happy at being treated as wasted work lol]

[Don't be happy about being treated as a bug lol]

[Just when I thought he'd become a competent subordinate, he's just being treated as nuisance lol]

Stella is unstoppable.

The labyrinth gimmicks that were supposed to destroy the world, the instant-death traps, the hordes of super-high-level monsters—they're all dealt with with a single swing of her greatsword.

"The layout is bad."

Thud

"There are too many unnecessary branches."

Thud

"That idle animation is ruining the user experience."

Thud

[The review is too harsh lol]

[The dungeon's UX is being improved"

[The world-ending dungeon is being publicly debugged, lol]

And then—[16:59:30]

Stella finally stood before the final boss of the S-class dungeon that was leading the world to ruin.

The boss emitted a malevolent black aura and roared arrogantly.

"Humans, you have come well. I'm the one who governs the End. My name is—"

"Ah, excuse me. Please get straight to the point."

"...Pardon?"

"What's the agenda?"

The boss completely froze.

"...The agenda?"

"Your objective. What do you want to do? Be concise."

"I... I want to... destroy the world..."

"Understood."

Stella looked at her watch.

"I want to quit by 5 PM. I have another thing to catch up with."

"Hah...?"

"Do you have a second form?"

The boss was completely absorbed in the business atmosphere.

"I, I will now transform into my true form—"

"Ah, that's the one with the long animation. Please speed it up."

"Huh?"

"It'll be past 5 pm soon."

"W-Wait. This is my once-in-a-millennium—"

"Sorry, it's due to company reasons."

BOOM!!!

Completely ignoring the boss's invincibility period during his transformation, a merciless, full-power attack with frame cancellation exploded.

She demanded an agenda.

The deadline was pressed.

The trigger for the world's destruction, whose transformation sequence was even skipped, was literally annihilated in seconds, without anyone even understanding what had happened.

[17:00]

Stella pulled a well-worn, wet towel from a convenience store from her pocket.

Then, she vigorously wiped the face of the national treasure-level beautiful girl.

"Ahh, so tired. Good work everyone. Head straight home."

Click!

Exactly [17:00]

The stream ended abruptly, without a single second of delay.

On the internet, "The Religion for Leaving Work On-Time" became the number one trending topic worldwide, hailed as ["A Goddess who rejects the absolute evil of overtime and guides the world towards what it should be."]

[Breaking News] World Salvation completed at exactly 5 PM. No overtime required.

[Sad News] S-Class Boss defeated before revealing its second form.

[Analysis] The divine progress check embedded in "What's the agenda?"

[Congratulations] The "Leaving Work on Time" religion officially becomes a world religion.

[Urgent Request] Where will Stella-sama's overtime pay be paid?

[Discussion] Regarding the elimination of commuting time as wasted work time.

And at that moment...

In the command center of the Japan Explorer Management Bureau, Assistant Officer Yamashiro was shedding copious tears as he stared at the main monitor.

The screen displayed the following in bright green letters:

[Faulty Task: Closed by Stella]

"It's over..."

Yamashiro collapsed from his chair.

"The world... and my working hours... everything has been saved...!"

The middle manager, whose world's destruction and his own 5 PM departure had been saved simultaneously, punched his time card with trembling hands—the best moment of his life.

Click!

It was the most precious sound in human history, the sound of clocking out announcing peace.

Yamashiro then left at the scheduled time, unseen by anyone.

A few minutes after the live stream ended.

At the supermarket in front of the station, Stella, dressed in baggy sweatpants, was sprinting at full speed towards the time-sale shelves.

"I saved the world today, so it's practically free. Well, not exactly free, but..."

She muttered, tossing a pack of stewed offal with a half-price sticker into her basket.

"Well, I did a great job saving the world today, and I got an incentive too..."

Stella stopped in front of the alcohol section.

Her usual cheapest happoshu.

Next to it, the slightly higher-end Kinmugi.

Stella reached out her hand to the Kinmugi.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

She quietly put it back on the shelf.

"No, if I get carried away, my fixed expenses will die."

The strongest woman who saved the world put her usual cheap happoshu back in her basket.

The difference of just 20 yen was more significant than the grand honor of saving humanity.

And so, she headed to the cashier, contented, with half-price stewed offal and cheap beer in her hands.

The world was saved.

Fixed expenses were also protected.

[Episode 4 - The End]

Author Note:

Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end!

Stella saved the world.

But she didn't buy any Kinmugi beer.

Fixed expenses are a formidable enemy.

Thank you again for sticking with me until the end!