After much deliberation, Ei decided to take the part-time job.
He couldn't help but lament that even after transmigrating, he couldn't escape the fate of being a wage slave.
[To attend the mixer, you choose to work.]
[Chaldea Academy permits part-time jobs after school, as long as they don't impede academic progress.]
[You explained the situation to your roommates and asked if they could recommend a job.]
[Gawain told you that their friends Lancelot and Bedivere once worked a summer job at a certain electronics factory and impressed everyone with their exquisite welding skills. Although the work intensity is very high, the money is quick; you can easily earn 3000 QP in just a few days of part-time work.]
[However, they strongly advised against it, calling it Edison's sweatshop. Safety is poor, employees receive minimal training, and only the bare minimum of safety measures are in place.]
[This is not a problem for you. Your Luck is A, so you're unlikely to suffer an accident, and if something serious happens, you can just re-run the simulation.]
[You successfully applied for the job and reported to the workshop after school that same day.]
Following the simulation's description, Ei arrived at Edison's notorious factory.
"I didn't expect to run into one of my students here."
The Britain class math teacher, the robotic, steam-spewing Charles Babbage—Father of the Computer and Steam King—said as hot steam billowed out of him.
It's hot!
Feeling the constant torrent of steam from the teacher, Ei was soon sweating profusely.
"Teacher Babbage, why are you here? Are you an employee too?" He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"No, this is my first time visiting." Babbage's voice carried an electric hum. "Edison's factory is prone to accidents, which severely disrupts production and lowers efficiency. So, he specifically hired me today as a consultant to find safety loopholes in the workshop. Hiss..."
Another sharp blast of steam followed.
"Mochizuki Ei, I advise you to find a different job. This production workshop has far too many safety hazards. To be blunt, you might die."
Teacher Babbage earnestly advised.
"It's fine," Ei said calmly.
"What could possibly drive you to take such a risk?"
"To summarize... money and a woman."
"I don't dislike your concise phrasing, but I've warned you. Even I, with my steel body, feel fearful here. The strength of these lathes could easily crush my body, and they lack automatic protection programs, having only an emergency stop switch."
Babbage turned his large, clumsy steel body and walked toward a lathe.
"Rest here for a moment. Don't wander or touch any switches. I'm going to inspect the lathe now; starting it without warning would drag me in as well."
"Can't you just cut the power first?"
"No, I am inspecting the efficiency of these lathes while operational."
[Babbage meticulously goes to inspect the lathe, and you wait in place. Just then, you see two familiar figures approaching.]
[Tristan, with striking red hair and a sorrowful frown.]
[And the muscular, cheerful blonde handsome man, Gawain.]
[They are both wearing the workshop uniform and walking straight towards you.]
[After asking, you learned that they were worried about your safety. The Knights of the Round Table couldn't just let their friend enter a dangerous factory. Since they couldn't dissuade you, they decided to join you, so they could at least look out for each other.]
"It's too impersonal to come alone," Gawain said with a brilliant smile. "Ei-kyun, workshop work is very physically demanding. You should have called me. I train every day; heavy or tiresome work is nothing to me."
"And should you sustain any injury, I can help treat you," Tristan added. "I can even play the lyre to help lift your spirits."
"Lift our spirits with what, Tristan? You came to work in a factory workshop; do you think your job is resident entertainer?" Ei couldn't help but complain, before cracking a smile.
"But I still appreciate you two accompanying me. Thank you, my friends."
"For a friend, it is nothing," the two Knights of the Round Table replied warmly.
"So then..."
Ei rubbed his chin and asked, "What's the real reason?"
"We also want to earn money to attend the mixer!!"
The two spoke in unison.
"I knew it."
Ei chuckled, deciding it was fine. The boring and monotonous workshop work would at least be lively with these two clowns around.
At this moment, the script text suddenly popped up.
[You and the two Knights of the Round Table have taken jobs at the dangerous workshop, and just then...]
[Pass a Luck Check.]
A Luck Check?
The random element of the story has appeared again. What happens if he fails this time? A workshop accident?
It... it should be fine, right?
"My Luck is A, it would be harder to fail than to succeed."
[No, the one who must pass the Luck Check is Tristan, who is standing next to you.]
[His Luck is E.]
"What?!"
Ei's eyes widened.
The die rolled down, then stopped.
[The Luck rolled this time is EX. GREAT FAILURE.]
By—why is it a Great Failure again!
It's bad enough he has Luck E, but he rolled a Great Failure that ignores the stat! How embarrassing, Tristan!
Rolling a Great Failure in a dangerous workshop like this could actually get someone killed!
"I'm attending the mixer not because of shallow desire, but because I recently composed a refined and artistic piece of music that I wish to dedicate to cultured ladies at the precious event... Pff!"
Tristan, trying to save face with an excuse for the mixer, suddenly lost his footing and stumbled forward.
Bang!
"Are you okay, Tristan!" Ei's heart tightened, and he quickly rushed forward.
Tristan stood up nonchalantly. Because he had grabbed the workbench, he hadn't completely fallen, only bumped his knee.
"I'm fine. This minor injury is nothing compared to Mordred's sword or Sir Bedivere's iron fist. The physical damage is trivial. However, falling so poorly has slightly wounded my dignity."
Ei sighed in relief: "Your dignity is irrelevant. It's good that your body is fine."
By all logic, rolling a Great Failure in this situation should have resulted in a serious injury, but Tristan seemed to have luckily dodged the worst of it.
"You're a lucky guy, you should know that here, it's—"
Before Ei could finish complaining, a strange noise suddenly came from Babbage's side.
Teacher Babbage hadn't noticed their situation and was focusing only on the lathe in front of him. However, the lathe behind him suddenly started without warning.
Due to his massive mechanical frame, his body was inevitably in contact with the machine behind him. In the next second, he was being pulled into the lathe.
"Teacher Babbage!"
"He's being pulled in! Damn it, why did this happen..."
All three suddenly realized something and simultaneously looked at Tristan's hand resting on the workbench.
When he stumbled and fell earlier, Tristan's hand must have pressed the lathe's power button!
He guessed the wrong victim!
"Teacher Babbage!"