"This is Overtime!" Hero Strikes by Stabbing Holy Sword into Floor, Forms Union with Demon Lord

As children's cheers filled the air, the hero suddenly halted the show. "Defeating the demon lord isn't in my contract. This is clearly overtime," he declared, driving his holy sword into the stage. The demon lord, a student part-timer hired for 980 yen per hour, agreed, proclaiming "Workers' rights!" Both parties are now negotiating to establish an interdimensional labor union.

2025-10-01

Translations: JA

Otherworld Pocket

"This is Overtime!" Hero Strikes by Stabbing Holy Sword into Floor, Forms Union with Demon Lord

As children’s cheers filled the air, the hero suddenly halted the show. “Defeating the demon lord isn’t in my contract. This is clearly overtime,” he declared, driving his holy sword into the stage. The demon lord, a student part-timer hired for 980 yen per hour, agreed, proclaiming “Workers’ rights!” Both parties are now negotiating to establish an interdimensional labor union.

The incident occurred at 2 PM on the 22nd during the “Gather, Little Adventurers! Photo & Handshake Event with the Hero” held on the rooftop of a large shopping mall. Just as the demon lord appeared for the climax and the hero was about to deliver the finishing blow, the venue’s excitement froze in an instant. The hero used the microphone to demand better working conditions, stating “Protecting world peace and weekend extra performances are separate contracts.”

According to the hero’s claims, his contract with the kingdom (management agency) covered only “battles with demon army executives and related performances.” Fighting the final boss demon lord was “performance-based optional work,” and performing without prior incentive negotiations constituted a clear contract violation - essentially “unpaid overtime.”

Meanwhile, the supposedly antagonistic demon lord supported the strike. His true identity was revealed to be Mr. Tanaka (pseudonym), a second-year economics student at a nearby university working part-time for 980 yen per hour. “The contract only states ‘be defeated with dignity by the hero.’ The ad-libbed ’exchange of special moves’ and ’encore resurrections’ demanded are overtime with significant mental burden,” he complained, emphasizing that “even demon lords have demon rights.”

Faced with this unprecedented situation, the event organizer Dream Creators Inc. was thrown into confusion. A company representative, responding to our interview, explained using business jargon: “It was an agile on-site decision to maximize all stakeholder experiences, especially the children’s customer experience.” They continued with a detached comment: “We deeply regret the current significant decline in the hero’s engagement and will rapidly iterate our PDCA cycle toward root cause analysis and recurrence prevention.”

Regarding this incident, Sage Magnus (age 782), a specialist in otherworld labor law, provided academic analysis: “This is a typical example of ‘passion exploitation’ rampant in fantasy worlds. Planting a holy sword as a labor dispute mediation petition is a time-honored method of asserting rights dating back to the ancient dragon era.”

Currently, the hero and demon lord have begun negotiations to establish the “Interdimensional Entertainers and Monsters Labor Union,” tentatively called “Union Excalibur.” Extras playing goblins and slimes who get defeated in every show have already expressed intentions to join, suggesting this could develop into a large-scale labor dispute shaking the entire fantasy industry.

The hero who should protect children’s dreams has laid down his sword to protect his own rights. Is this scene bitter irony toward modern society, or the dawn of a new era? The sword is mightier than the pen, yet cannot overcome the three labor laws. It seems we’ve entered an age where one’s own peace of living is questioned before world peace.

Stakeholder Comments

Hero: “My KPI was supposed to be ‘world peace.’ Somehow it got switched to ‘audience attendance.’”
Demon Lord (student): “Attempting world conquest on minimum wage is unrealistic. Balancing with studies is also tough.”
Event Organizer: “We sincerely accept this incident and commit to realizing more sustainable hero shows.”
Child Audience Member (age 6): “Hero, pull sword! Beat bad guy! Please!”
Holy Sword Excalibur: “The sheath environment is quite toxic too… I’m deeply moved to finally have my opinions represented.”
Labor Law Attorney: “Unity between adversarial parties is the ideal form of labor disputes. This could become a groundbreaking precedent transcending dimensions.”
Goblin Actor (Freelancer): “It’s always just getting defeated in one hit, but the waiting time is too long. I’d like waiting time included in wages.”
Economic Analyst: “Hero-villain cooperation should be monitored as a risk factor bringing unpredictable volatility to markets.”
Kingdom Princess: “While I’m always grateful for the hero’s help, I’d like him to value work-life balance too.”
Labor Standards Inspection Office: “First, we need to confirm which dimension the parties’ establishments belong to…”