The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 2

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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 2

“Remember, Setanta?”
“…”
“The moment you drove your spear into my heart…”

The Hero’s bloodshot eyes fixed on me.
A chill crawled up my spine in an instant.

‘Does the Hero remember playing Hell Mode on the first run?’

And I’m Setanta?
That bastard who betrayed the Empire at the end and butchered every one of his allies…
…that’s me?

“Back then, you were grinning from ear to ear. As if you’d been waiting for that very moment all along.”

The Hero stepped closer and tightened his grip on the longsword.

Now that I thought about it, right before the Game Over screen.
I seemed to recall Setanta’s pixelated character grinning at the screen with a spine-chilling smile…

“When did it start? Planning to betray us under the pretext of that nonsense Ailand independence movement.”
“Wait, I’m not Setanta…!”
“Yes… surely the gods have granted me another chance.”

The Hero lunged at me at once, swinging a gleaming blade.

“From you, the one fated to destroy this world! Save this world! Save the Empire!”
“Gah…!”

I twisted my body on instinct and dodged the Hero’s sword.
Wind rose in the sword’s wake and grazed my cheek, cold as a blade.

“Hero, calm down! I’m not that guy!”
“Shut up!”

Whoosh!
I hadn’t even had a moment to steady my tangled thoughts before the blade came flying at me again.

“Setanta, because of you! The Empire, this entire world, was laid to ruin once already!”

Every time the Hero swung, the blade flashed, throwing back the light.
Sunlight glanced off the steel and scattered wildly along the arc of his swing.

“Hero, let’s just talk… talk this through! The one who killed your comrades and I are completely different beings!”
“Don’t you dare play games with me!”

Grrk!
The Hero ground his teeth and brought the sword down with even fiercer force.

“You! How could you be so merciless to the comrades who shared the same table with you?!”
“No, seriously, I didn’t do it!”
“You ruined the world! Mine, my comrades’, everything we built together!”

‘This guy isn’t listening to a word I say.’

[Bonus Acquired – The bonds with Heroes from previous runs have been inherited!]

Don’t tell me that the bond has been inherited…
Was he talking about the grudge with the Hero who was going to charge at me and try to kill me?

It didn’t seem like this could be settled through conversation.

‘…Then I’ll just have to beat some sense into him.’

I stepped back a little and sized up my angle.

“Setanta! You bastard!”
“…”

I weaved and dodged the Hero’s relentless sword strikes, backing away step by step, until the instant his footing tangled.

…Tap!

I closed the distance in a flash and drove my fist at his face with everything I had.
But.

[The target is invincible.]

Thwang-!

In an instant the Hero’s body flared golden, and my fist rebounded right off it.

“…The Goddess’s protection, the one that guarded me even in my previous life.”
“…”
“Pity, Setanta. It seems you don’t have any.”

The Hero curled one corner of his mouth into a sneer.

“I won’t repeat the same mistake in this life! Die quietly, you traitor!”

Once he realized there was nothing that could harm his body, the Hero began to rage even more wildly.

‘Of all the times for the Tutorial Invincibility Time to kick in…!’

Plans had to change.
By my estimate, the invincibility would last about five minutes.
Until then, I’d have to avoid him.

“Setanta! It’s because of filthy remnants of Ailand like you!”

Whoosh-!

“Because of you traitorous reactionaries who set off the Red Steam attack in the Imperial Capital, the world has come to this!”

Shhk!

Every swing carried the Hero’s roiling fury down along the tip of his blade.
But perhaps because his emotions had boiled over, he poured more force into each strike than necessary.

Kwaang-!

‘…Now!’

Seizing the moment the Hero’s stance faltered, I bolted in the opposite direction.

“Setan… Setanta! Stop right there-!”

Just like that, I wove through the alleyways, mixing in feints as I ran, and shook off the Hero chasing after me.
I had played this map countless times, so the layout drew itself in my mind without any effort.

* * *

Once I confirmed the Hero had fallen behind, I leaped up onto a nearby building.
Monsters were already swarming every corner of the street.

“Monsters, why are monsters in the middle of the capital…!”
“Get out of the way! Move, damn it! Don’t block the road!”
“Ah…! Aah, aaaaargh!”

The ground was already a wasteland.
Mangled flesh and pools of blood littered the street from one end to the other.

‘It looks exactly like hell…’

I perched on the edge of the roof and looked down at the streets of the Empire.
Crimson steam, creeping and coiling through the capital, caught my eye.

…Red Steam.
Any human who touches that steam mutates into a monster that has lost its reason.

“Kkrrk, krk….”
“Why… why is this happening! No, no… Nooo-!”

Monsters whose limbs had twisted into grotesque shapes, their reason gone, who had once been human.
And at the end of the chase, that blood-red scenery and the horrible screams…
I had surely run this tutorial hundreds, thousands of times, yet seeing it on a game screen felt completely different from this.

‘Have I really repeated this tutorial over and over again?’

A sudden chill crept over me.

‘What if I die in this world?’

…
…Then what happens?

‘No, I should spend my worry on preparing instead.’

I laid a hand over my chest and took a deep breath.
This is a game, and I am a gamer.
And the first gamer in the world to unlock Hell Mode for this game.
So if this world is a game, then I’ll clear it, no matter what.

‘First, the System… does it respond just to thinking about it?’

I conjured an image in my mind.
…Ding!

[Welcome, Possessor!]
[Accessing your character information.]

A hologram window, both strange and familiar, began to float before my eyes.

[Setanta (SSR) Lv. 1]
[Class: Lancer Knight]

[Health: 8/8]
[Strength: 15/15]
[Agility: 7/7]
[Intelligence: 6/6]
[Wisdom: 7/7]
[Charisma: 9/9]

[Held Traits: 【Great Strength (+)】, 【Extreme Picky Eater (-)】]
[Held Passive Skills: 【Lesser Spear Art】, 【Lesser Swordsmanship】, 【Basic Mana Manipulation】]

‘Good. Up to here, it’s just as I remember.’

◈Geas◈
【Oath of Cú Chulainn】
-Must not eat dog meat. Other canines (such as hyenas) and demonic monsters are permitted.
◆ Geas effect: 30% bonus to Stamina, Strength, and Agility.

Dog meat is forbidden, yet demonic monster meat is allowed. Such a ridiculous restriction.
It was exactly the same as Setanta’s information I’d seen back when I was playing the game.

‘Still, I’m lucky. An SSR… and I possessed a Tier 0 cheat character.’

SSR is the highest grade of Hero, clearly set apart from SR and lower Heroes.
Its greatest feature is that each one is granted a Unique Myth.

Setanta – 【Cu Chulainn】

Setanta is Cu Chulainn, the greatest hero of Celtic myth.
His standing is on par with Heracles, no less.
Naturally, his performance is cheat-level as well.

▶ 【Strength: 15/15】

As you can see, even his starting stats are absurd.

‘That’s why he could tear apart iron chains with his bare hands at Level 1.’

On top of that, under this game’s system,
no matter how much you level up, the themselves don’t change; they are calculated only through multipliers.
The only way to gain ‘acquired stats’ is through achievements and special events.

In other words, that his innate stats are this overpowered means—

He’s a Lü Bu who was different from the start, bud.
He’s a Bamboo Spear damage dealer beyond reach.

‘Speaking of which, the Hero’s invincibility time should be about to run out.’

Sure enough.

Ka-chak, ka-ka-ka-chak…
A chilling metallic scrape of a blade dragging along the floor rose up from somewhere far below.

I poked my head out and peered down beneath the roof’s edge.
The Hero, smeared with demonic blood, rolled his glaring eyes as he looked up at me.

“…Setanta.”

Kwang!
The Hero leapt straight toward the rooftop where I stood.

“Found you at last… you little rat.”
“…You got here sooner than I expected.”
“Have you forgotten that we bonded our souls and swore brotherhood? Wherever you hide, I can find you…”

The Hero slowly closes in on me.
Longsword still in hand, blood dripping from its edge.

“…Setanta. Before you die by my hand, can you answer just one thing for me?”
“What is it?”
“Why… back then, did you strike her throat first?”

For a moment, something subtle flickers across the Hero’s eyes.

“She trusted you and loved you more than anyone…”
“…?”

Right before the Final Chapter, I think.
He must be talking about the allied healer, the first one Setanta killed.

‘How do I answer this?’

I’m being asked to explain why I killed someone I never even killed.

‘Hmm…’

I hesitate for a moment,
then decide to answer the way the Setanta of that time most likely would have thought.

“Because it’s efficient? That’s probably why I went for her first.”
“…What?”

Obviously, you take the healer out first.
That’s how the front line collapses with the least effort.

“Efficient? You mean efficiency…?”

The Hero stares at me in silence for a long while, as if he’s been struck,
then grinds his trembling lips together with a sharp crunch.
A thin trickle of blood runs down his chin.
…Ah, the Tutorial Invincibility Time must be over.

“Setanta… you filthy bastard…! I’ll kill you right now… right now!”

The Hero lets out a shriek-like roar and charges straight at me.
But his attack is riddled with openings.

Whoosh-!
I easily sidestep the Hero’s sword, which comes down in a needlessly wide arc,
then snap my palm hard against his head and bring it down on him.

Kwaaang-!

With a deafening crash, the Hero slams into the rooftop floor,

“Gah…! Guh…”

He heaves up a mouthful of bright red blood.

‘…Huh?’

[The shadow of death falls over the Hero.]

Ah, no, I didn’t mean to kill him this badly…?

“Hero, are you still alive?”
“Gh… *cough*, *hack*… Kk-ahh…”

I bent at the waist and examined the Hero’s condition.
Hmm, he’s a mess, but thankfully he still seems to be clinging to life.

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh of relief, and in that very instant,
a question suddenly surfaced in my mind.

‘Is it really all right to let the Hero live like this?’

The Hero harbors a deep hatred toward me.
If I leave him alive, he could come after me at any time.
Surely, for the sake of what lies ahead…

[Recommendation: Enemy heroes who may become a future threat are best eliminated in advance.]

…Hm?

At that moment, a red System message flickered into view before my eyes.

[Kill the Hero to secure your safety!]

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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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