Narrator-kun's Recap:

  The misadventures of Hajime-san at sea were extremely annoying to our hero. Navigating life as a harem protagonist is never easy. Knowing the inevitability of it all, he simply goes with the path of least resistance. After all, understanding women is futile—only tomboys and goth mamas are partially understandable. To each their own taste. Cough cough.

  Either way:

  "We are fast approaching the city of Adlantis—a beautiful, ad-free wasteland cursed by an unknown agent of adstruction."

  Our hero, hopeful for the future, will participate in the relief effort to track down and resolve the curse of this once-great city.

  Hajime-san, almost at landfall:

  “We’re almost at landfall everyone! Please prepare accordingly.”

  He’s in manager mode—a strange development for our eccentric hero.

  The Saintess flexes her arm like one of those feminist war posters.

  “I’m ready for the fight!”

  The Knight, still dazed from their recent ‘date,’ mumbles,

  “Uwa, uwa, uwa… ohhh yeah, ready for landfall.”

  One sword chimes in:

  “I'm ready dear!”

  The last one? Just trembling like a leaf.

  “Everything is good,” Hajime nods at the air. “We’re all set.”

  A few hours later landfall is almost iminent. He steps outside to spectate his approach to the island nation of Adlantis.

  Scene: The Prow of the Ship

  Hajime-san is now posing—menacingly—at the prow of the ship. Not doing a Titanic pose. Just standing there, arms crossed, staring ahead like an overworked boss before a merger.

  Some companions glance at him with concern... but give up halfway through. The hero knows best after all.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Meanwhile, a shy girl peeks her head around the corner to do her final pose of the trip—only to see Hajime already there.

  She’s now in a dilemma… should she interrupt? Or give up on her last chance for a photo-op?

  She gathers her courage.

  “U-umm… excuse me Hajime-san, can you move over a bit?”

  Hajime looks over his shoulder and sees Melissa-san fidgeting nervously.

  “Oh! Sure, sorry about that. I’m just excited to get to landfall,” he says, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

  Melissa steps forward and does the Titanic pose.

  Hajime mutters, “Why the hell do all of them like doing that so much?”

  Triggered by his muttering, Melissa suddenly asks,

  “H-Hajime-kun… was that your girlfriend at the dinner the other day?”

  Sensing all the makings of a harem trope, Hajime swiftly enters damage control.

  “No, she and I were resolving a contractual issue. In essence, I was forced to act that way.”

  She perks up at that, her tail stiffening like a stick. Still doubtful, she presses on:

  “Yet… she didn’t seem to think of it as just a contractual thing, right?”

  “To each their own,” Hajime replies, his eyes empty, gazing at the horizon.

  Melissa-san pauses. She recognizes that look. Only a true office worker could show those eyes.

  She remembers living that same kind of life for years.

  In that moment, something in her shifts.

  Suddenly, she hugs him.

  He resists—at first—but gives up halfway through.

  “Why…?” he asks.

  “Those eyes… they’re the same as mine… Just shut up and accept it.”

  Melissa-san, finally having her heroine moment, feels something swell in her heart.

  Hajime-san, for once, is at peace—he's happy making a second friend in this godforsaken world.

  All is good with the world.

  Then—Adlantis appears on the horizon.

  It's square-shaped. And half of it is gone to the ocean.

  “…What the hell happened to it?!”

  Melissa’s mood crashes deeper every second. Her inevitable separation from Hajime-kun is fast approaching.

  She wants to recruit him… but when she sees the look in his eyes, she can’t.

  She should shoulder the burden of her evil bosses—not drag him into another hell.

  A single tear falls from her eye as she walks away from the prow.

  Then—

  “We’ll be in touch,” Hajime says, flashing her his card.

  Melissa crosses her arms over her chest, smiles radiantly, and replies:

  “Thank you for your service!”

  …An awkward finisher to their last moment. But it doesn’t matter.

  Not to these two idiots.

  Hajime-kun final thoughts

  We’ve made landfall.

  It truly looks miserable—to the ad-lovers.

  Should I make this my Nexus point of operations here?

  Hajime merrily whistles a tune from his favorite anime OP, unaware

  that he’s already been marked by the local population..