The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1

[Setanta has left the Party.]

Of all the games in the world, could there be a more absurd reason for a Game Over?
Just before the Final Chapter.
The main damage dealer had gone off to join the independence movement.

[Setanta takes the side of the Ailand Independence Army.]
[Enraged by the Empire’s tyranny, Setanta grabs the Machang Gaibolg!]

‘What the hell…?’

He even went so far as to shout for the Empire’s downfall and point his spear at his own allies.

[Battle begins.]
[……has returned to the bosom of the Goddess.]
[……has returned to the bosom of the Goddess.]
…….

[All Party members have been slain.]

Red pixels scattered across the blue fields.
The characters I had poured so much affection into lay strewn across the field, their limbs hacked off.

[GAME OVER]

Eight letters announcing the end of a world flickered onto the screen.

A brutally hard roguelike I’d played for just over a month, squeezing in time after work.
My Hell Mode save file, full of effort and affection, had just been destroyed.

* * *

“This… can’t be real. It ends like this? No, what kind of—”

Bang!
I slammed my fist on the desk, uselessly. Nothing changed.

‘Let’s try a force quit… just in case…’

I pressed the power button with sweaty fingers.
The desktop slowly booted back up.
Beep-.
An eternity seemed to pass.

‘Please, please let me go back to before the Game Over…!’

I didn’t care if the computer’s lifespan shortened.
As long as my month’s worth of effort and devotion in that save file came back!

[This world has already ended. It cannot be played.]

But no miracle came.
No matter how many times I clicked, the same message was all that appeared.

[This world has already ended. It cannot be played.]
[This world has already ended. It cannot be played.]
…….

The slot that occupied a single space in the save list, now turned ashen gray.
It was as if a gravestone had been erected over a world that had already died.

‘……Damn it.’

Hell Mode, which I had only unlocked after collecting triple-digit endings.
I’d been so careful, every single time, and I had finally made it to just before the Final Chapter.

「Warning!」
「In Hell Mode, the Heroes think and act three-dimensionally.」
「……Just like living, breathing people!」

The garbage cliché where an ally betrays you at the last moment and switches sides to the enemy.
A damned situation you’d only expect in some old-school RPG.

‘Is this for real?’

Instinctively, I retraced my own play, looking for the mistake.
Trust Level and Good-Evil Value management, route progression by branch… But I hadn’t slipped up on any of it.
If anything, my playthrough had been organized to near perfection.
So why?
I’ve been playing this game for years, and now this kind of nonsense happens?

‘…Don’t tell me that in Hell Mode, Setanta always betrays the Empire? Just because he’s a hero from the colonies?’

I was so dumbfounded that I just sat there, staring blankly at the monitor.
In Hell Mode, Setanta was the only one with a Bamboo Spear build who actually dealt proper damage, so I’d poured every resource into him.
…And that had turned into poison instead.

‘I’m losing it. I thought today was finally the day I’d see the True Ending.’

Countless hours of effort I’d poured in flashed through my mind like a lantern show.

Trying the route where I wiped out every major NPC.
Clearing the ending without using a single Potion.
Setting Intelligence to 1 and playing like some uncivilized beast, and so on…

‘But not once did I ever reach an ending that truly felt like an ending.’

The protagonist regressing into an infant, the world I’d tried to save ending up in ruins, the companions I’d raised so carefully all turning into Demonic Monsters.
All I ever got were Bad Endings that left a bitter taste.

That’s when my stubbornness kicked in.
To somehow reach the True Ending, I kept replaying with some new, variety-show-style stunt every time.
Then one day, when the endings I’d collected were finally approaching triple digits.

[Hell Mode has been unlocked by satisfying a hidden condition!]

For the first time in the world, I was the one who had unlocked Hell Mode.

-First Hell Mode unlock in the world, and it came from our country? As expected of a gamer nation
└You cleared Hell Mode after collecting every normal ending? Is that even possible? Is this guy insane?
└Did he just play games all day lol

On the forums, I was even treated like a lunatic.

-Just wait a month. I’ll go and see the True Ending myself. (Proof)
└???????? What is this? The guy himself showed up???
└It’s real! The real one has appeared!!!

The moment I got off work, I dove straight into playing Hell Mode.
Just as I expected, the difficulty was absolutely insane.
Since death meant starting over from scratch,
I can’t even tell you how carefully I played for a whole month.

‘But then some damn SSR hero had to go and wreck everything right at the end…’

…Setanta, you son of a bitch.
This time, I’m going to kill him for sure before I start over!
I ground my teeth and pressed Play, and in that instant—

[Congratulations! Restarting now grants the <Hell Mode> Special Bonus!]

‘Huh?’

[Additional Bonus – Bonds with heroes from previous runs will be inherited.]
[Additional Bonus – A New Hero will appear additionally!]

A new hero, on top of that?
And the trust levels of the companion characters I’d raised will carry over too?

[Do you accept this offer?]
[Y/N]

‘…So this is the real deal starting from the second run?’

Driven by my excitement, I moved the mouse cursor as if I’d been entranced.

▶ [YES]

Executing right away!

[The terminated world will now be rebuilt.]
[Activation in progress… 12%]
[Activation in progress… 57%]
…

‘That bastard Setanta. This time, I’m never recruiting him as an ally.’

Right, I’ll have to hang him from the guillotine before starting.

[Special Bonus! – The user’s wish is reflected.]
[Starting Stage: Guillotine]

“Hm?”

Just like a scene from a cliché, my vision went hazy and consciousness slipped away.

.
.
.

“How much longer do you intend to drag this out? Cut that bastard’s head off this instant!”
“Kill him! Get on with it!”
“Those filthy Ailand illegal immigrants! We must drive these criminal scum out of the Empire!”

With great effort, I forced my eyes open.
It was noisy, and my throat felt like it was burning up.

‘My head’s splitting… What is this? Where am I?’

I lifted my head and looked ahead.
On a platform drenched in red.
A massive guillotine came into view.

…I was definitely in front of my computer, wasn’t I?
Could I be dreaming or something?

Just as I was about to push myself up.
Clank!
I pitched forward and crashed face-first onto the floor.

“Ugh…!”

Looking down, I saw a heavy iron chain wrapped around my ankle.

‘W-what the hell. What is this…?’

The cold feel of iron.
The stench of blood hit my nose all at once.

[Time remaining until possession is complete: 20 seconds]

And then.
A Hologram Window floated up before my eyes.

‘What is this supposed to be?’

Before I could even recover from my bewilderment.

“Kill him! Kill him!”
“Sentence these parasites who cling to the Empire to death!”

Amid the deafening roar of voices.
The chilling guillotine blade sliced through the air and came crashing down.

…Schk!

With a flash of reflected light, the head in front of me was severed.

“Next!”

Right after, the brawny arms of the guards dragged my body away.

“Your turn.”
“…Me?”

What are they talking about?

“H-hey, wait a moment. Why are you doing this to me-”
“Shut your mouth, you trash!”

Thwack!
My vision spun sharply for a moment.

[Time remaining until possession is complete: 9 seconds]

Kwang!
Just like that, my hair still caught in his grip, I was slammed face-down over the guillotine.

The rough wooden board presses against my throat.
Blink. I shut my eyes and opened them again.
On the wooden floor, layers of blood had soaked in and stained it dark.
The head of the man who had just been cut down comes into view.

“Ah…”

Sseureung—.
I hear the sound of the guillotine’s blade being raised.

[3…]
[2…]
[1…]

In the instant before my mind could snap completely.

[The will of Cu Chulainn settles into your body.]

Along with the System message that flared with blue light.
For a moment, it felt as though the blood in my heart had surged upward in reverse.

[The Unique Myth has been applied, and all your stats are being recalibrated.]

[Stamina 1 → 8]
[Strength 2 → 15]
[Agility 3 → 7]
[Intelligence 4 → 6]
[Wisdom 3 → 7]
[Charisma 2 → 9]

Wudeuk.

“Huh? What the—suddenly—”
“Hey, what are you doing over there? Hold that guy’s head down again and keep him still.”
“No, wait… this guy’s acting strange! He suddenly got strong, like, really strong!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Hold on, his build looks different from a moment ago? H-how is that even possible?”
“…What?”

I immediately shook off the man who had been pressing down on my head.
Then I twisted both arms and spread them wide.

Karang!
The iron chains that had been clamping my wrists stretched like taffy and fell limply to the ground.

“Wh-whoa, whoa…!?”
“…What the hell is this guy!”

[Your Hero rank rises from N to SSR.]

Cheolgeuk, kwadeuk!
I bent at the waist and seized the chain bound around my ankle as well, and the thick iron links tore apart like paper.

“This is ridiculous…”
“W-what… that lunatic…!”

Looks of horror converge on me and sink in.

Steadying my startled heart.
Feeling around, feeling around…
I ran a hand over my neck, the one that had nearly been cut off.
Ah, thankfully, it’s still attached.

‘What on earth is this…?’

I was too dumbfounded to speak.
Is this a dream?
Am I dreaming right now?

“G-grab that bastard! He’s a traitor!”

But before I could even sort out my thoughts.
A guard who had closed the distance in a flash swung his sword at me.

‘Damn it…!’

At the instant the blade sliced through the empty air.
I instinctively slipped inside the arc of the sword, closing the gap, and blocked with the edge of my hand, knocking his wrist aside as if brushing it away.

Snap!

The right wrist of the guard who had swung at me bent at a grotesque angle with a limp flop.

“Ghh, gh-hhuk…!”

The guard stumbled backward, clutching his wrist.
He groaned for a long while, gripping his dangling wrist, and the look in his eyes as he stared at me was pure, undisguised terror.

‘I barely deflected him… and his wrist is completely shattered?’

“Wait, I didn’t mean to harm you—”
“Subdue that Ailander right now!”

Shing—!

Before I could offer any explanation.
Blades gleaming a cold blue came surging toward me.

“You… you! An ungrateful parasite living off the Empire, and you dare—!”
“He has a monstrous strength! Pile on him all at once!”
“Huh?”

A dream…?
Am I dreaming?

Within my thoughts, which crawled along as if through molasses.
I stood there blankly, staring at the dozens of eyes glaring at me, when—

Kwa-aaang—!

A deafening roar shook the very ground, and far off, a column of red steam began to surge skyward.

[The Tutorial has begun.]
[Survive the attempts on your life, by any means necessary!]

* * *

“What? Where did that explosion come from…?”
“Wait, something crimson like fog is rolling in from far away?”
“….”

My body moved on instinct.
Taking advantage of the chaos, I broke through the encirclement and ran with everything I had.

“Huh? H-hey, isn’t that death row prisoner running away?”
“Catch him! The condemned man is escaping!”

I ran, and kept running.

Buildings lit on one side by the glow of the setting sun, blazing like torches.
People on the street stared at me with startled eyes, then gradually fell away behind me.

In a field of vision that scattered in disarray.
All I could feel was my breath rising in my chest and my heart threatening to burst.

“Haa, haah….”

I had no idea how long I’d been running.
By the time the sound of pursuing footsteps no longer reached me.
I gasped for breath and sank down in the middle of the street.

‘Is this a dream after all? Yeah, there’s no way something this absurd could be real….”

But if it were a dream, why won’t I wake up? Why is every sensation this vivid?
Between each exhale and inhale, my doubts crumble into scattered pieces.
Every time I breathe out, my throat burns as if it’s on fire.

‘No way….”

Slowly, I raised my head.
The sky, dyed a deepening red, filled my vision.
That crimson steam, spreading as red as the sunset and beginning to settle over the ground, too.

Before long, screams began to ring out from all around.

“Ah…! Aaah, aaaaargh!”
“My hand… why is my arm looking like this…!”

At the touch of the Red Steam, people’s bodies twisted and warped, transforming into Demonic Monsters.
This is exactly the same as the Tutorial of that game, which I’ve played thousands of times.

Suddenly, I turned my head to the side and looked at my reflection in a shop window.

“….”

For a moment, my thoughts came to a halt.
I know this face.

‘Of all people… why this one?’

Just as my heart pounded as if it were about to tear through my chest.

[The Hero has noticed your presence.]

A Hologram Window appeared before my eyes.

[The Hero feels an intense murderous intent toward you.]
[The Hero, who has returned, will do anything to save the world.]

In that instant.
A voice, sharp as a blade, rang out from behind me.

“…Setanta.”
“……”

I turned my head to face the owner of the voice.
A face that looked exactly like the illustrations I had been staring at every day for the past month.
It was the Hero.

“You traitorous bastard…! Setanta, you’re the one who destroyed the world!”

Shing-!
The Hero leveled his longsword at me.

“But now that a miracle has arrived, I’ll set the future right with my own hands.”
“……”
“For the future of the Empire and the world! I’ll take your head right here and now!”

That seething rage was unmistakably aimed at me.

[TIP – Some heroes may faintly recall their memories from previous runs.]

[Survive the Hero.]

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————