The sun was barely peeking over the treetops when the peaceful atmosphere of the cave was shattered to pieces. Without warning, a cluster of black shadows darted out from behind the foliage. They weren't ordinary soldiers; they were high-ranking assassins wearing skull masks that made the hair on the back of one's neck stand on end.

Grom was the first to wake, instantly snatching his battle-axe with a low growl. "Intruders! Quick, protect the princess!"

Naria rose immediately, her magical staff beginning to glow faintly. Yet before they could react, the leader of the assassins—a heavily built man with a long sword radiating a dark aura—was already standing right in front of Raga.

"Hand over the princess, carpenter," the man's voice was cold, piercing the air.

Raga, who had just woken up with messy hair and a tank top that smelled terribly stale, could only groan. "Can't you guys wait five minutes? I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!"

[System: Emergency Notification! Side Quest Detected: 'The Legendary Bucket Block'. Reward: +500 Experience Points. Condition: Use the construction bucket near your feet to parry the enemy's sword strike. Penalty for Failure: Instant death.]

Raga’s eyes went wide. "A bucket?! You're telling me to block a steel sword with this cracked, old paint bucket?!"

[System: Affirmative. Do not ask questions, just execute. Consider it part of the laborer's miracle.]

The assassin didn't wait for a reply. He swung his sword with lightning-fast speed—a slash that should have cleaved Raga cleanly in two.

In a state of sheer panic, Raga grabbed the orange plastic paint bucket lying in the corner of the cave. Without overthinking, he thrust it right in front of his chest.

Clang!

The sound of metal meeting plastic—which should have sounded pathetic—instead produced a massive boom like a cannon blast. The assassin's sword didn't cut through the bucket; instead, the blade bounced violently backward as if it had just struck a ten-meter-thick steel bunker wall.

The assassin was dumbfounded. He stared at his sword, then stared at the orange plastic bucket in Raga’s hands with absolute disbelief. "What... what cursed object are you holding?!"

Raga was even more shocked than he was. He stared at the bucket, then glared at the assassin with a forced, swaggering grin. "This? Oh, this... this is a specialized bucket made from rare materials I special-ordered straight from a hardware store in my home world. It's called Vibranium-Cement Bucket."

[System: You're quite good at lying. Excellent. Now use that bucket to slap him across the face. System bug is currently active!]

"What? Slap him?!" Raga screamed internally.

"You think you're tough with that piece-of-trash bucket?!" the assassin roared in fury, launching a barrage of brutal attacks.

Raga awkwardly swung the bucket every which way. Parry! Clang! Parry! Clang again!

Every time the opponent's sword slammed into the bucket, the assassin was violently knocked backward due to a system bug that rendered the bucket an indestructible object. Raga looked like a lunatic doing laundry in the middle of a battlefield, but every swing of his bucket sent his opponent flying straight into the cave walls.

"Stop moving, you beggar!" the assassin screamed in frustration.

"Do you mind not screaming? I'm trying to balance the structural integrity here!" Raga fired back with a mock-professional tone.

Grom, who had been watching the whole thing while casually plucking blades of grass beside him, could only gawk. "Is... is that some new martial arts style? Parrying a sword with a paint bucket? Dwarves like us usually rely on silver armor, but... this? This is way more effective!"

Naria, who had been prepping a defensive spell, was equally stunned. "Raga... you are completely unpredictable."

Suddenly, another assassin tried to lunge and stab Raga from behind. Without looking, Raga swung the bucket backward in an inverted arc. Thud! The bucket struck the assassin square on the head, sending him sprawling to the ground with a deeply comical plop sound.

[System: System Bug Confirmed: 'Laborer's Laws of Physics Bucket'. As long as you hold this bucket, your defense stat is equivalent to a military bunker wall. You're amazing, Raga. How utterly humiliating for those professional assassins.]

"Damn you, S.I.N.I.! Stop mocking me, and tell me how to take down their leader!"

[System: Use the 'Drop the Bucket' technique. Pretend to lose your grip and drop the orange bucket, then the moment he drops his guard, shove him toward the concrete trap you built in Chapter 7.]

Raga smirked. He pretended to lose his footing and "dropped" the orange bucket. The assassin leader, having lost what little patience he had left, lunged forward to finish Raga off.

"You're done for!"

Yet right before the blade could touch him, Raga nimbly stomped on the ground—which was still slightly soft from the earlier concrete trap—and shoved the assassin leader with all his might. The man lost his balance and plunged straight into the puddle of curing soil.

Within seconds, his boots were locked tightly inside Raga's homemade "concrete."

"Ta-da!" Raga lifted his paint bucket high into the air. "Congratulations, you have just volunteered to be a foundational pillar for our future apartment complex!"

The man tried to yank himself free, but it was useless. The soil had already set into solid concrete.

"Grom! Finish him with your axe!" Raga called out.

Grom stepped forward with a wide grin. "Ready, Foreman!"

With a single swing of his battle-axe, the assassin leader went down. The remaining assassins, watching their boss get taken down by a bucket and cement, scattered and bolted frantically back into the deep forest.

Raga collapsed limply onto the ground, setting the orange paint bucket right beside him as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

"System," Raga panted heavily. "I hate you. But... I've gotta admit, this bucket isn't half bad."

[System: You're welcome. Don't forget to wash that bucket; we might need to use it again later.]

Naria approached Raga and picked up the bucket. "Raga, may I hold this legendary 'weapon'?"

Raga offered a tired, bitter laugh. "Sure, Princess. But be careful—it's a weapon with a high degree of complexity. Only certified construction workers can operate it properly."

That night, they managed to survive once more. And Raga realized that as long as he had his crazy system and a plastic bucket, he might actually survive until the very end and carry that chest of gold back home.