The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 8

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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 8

* * *

The cursed elixir tasted absolutely awful.

‘…The aftertaste is sharp and tingly. Kind of like steeping a rotten branch in water.’

[An unknown power settles into your body.]

I downed the Essence of the Tentacle Monster in one gulp.
The glass vial
turned into a purple puff of smoke and vanished.

[You have acquired a new trait, 【Rapid Regeneration (+)】!]
[You have acquired a new trait, 【Out of the Gods’ Favor (-)】!]

And here they are.
The new traits I got from the essence.

‘Let’s start with the useful one first.’

【Rapid Regeneration (+)】
-Natural healing ability increases significantly. Also effective against various infections and diseases.

A self-healing trait that greatly boosts the body’s regenerative power.
In a time like this, with no healers around, it’s an incredibly useful ability.

‘Potions are dangerous. Even if you use them just a little too often, you’ll get addicted right away.’

In this insane world where death means there’s no restart, there’s no trait that helps survival more than this.
It felt like I’d gotten a sturdy lifeline, and it reassured me.

‘Next, the negative trait…’

【Out of the Gods’ Favor (-)】
-Holy Magic affinity is fixed at 0. Conflicts may arise with heroes who have deep faith.

Judging by the name alone, it sounds pretty terrifying.
In reality, the effect is simply that Holy Magic gets sealed off.
…Ah, you’re thinking sealing Holy Magic must be bad, right?
But it’s not something to worry about much.

‘After all, Setanta is a damage dealer whose Holy Magic aptitude is close to zero to begin with.’

Well, it’s also a negative trait that can be removed later through a hidden quest.
If it causes trouble, I’ll just get rid of it then.

“Uh-chah.”

With the essence down the hatch, too.
Hop, I climbed down from the special mutant’s body and landed lightly on my feet.

[The Underground City residents’ Trust Level toward you has risen significantly!]
[Trust Level toward you…]

“Hm?”

Then cheers began rising from every direction.

“…Huh?”

I turned my head and looked around. The Underground City’s residents were pouring out their fervent praise in my direction.
Some were rubbing their palms together, some were weeping into their hands, some were bowing…
Apparently, they saw me as the one who had protected their home.

Hmm, now what do I do with this?
Should I wave or something?

Just as I was about to raise my hand with an awkward smile…
…Ding!

[The Checklist has been updated.]

A new checklist abruptly popped up before my eyes.

[Hidden Route Progress: 1.5%]
– (New!) 『Earn the Princess’s Trust』
– 『???』
– 『???』
…

‘…Wait, what?’

A princess?
Not an empress?

I immediately brought up the detailed description.

【Earn the Princess’s Trust】
– Earn the trust of Erin O’Murchadha Kivanach, the last heir of the Ailand Royal House.

But the description struck me as a little odd.

‘Wasn’t the Ailand Royal House supposed to have been wiped out ten years ago?’

The last princess of a fallen kingdom barely escaped and survived…?
Did they have some kind of backstory like that?

Still, I was at a loss.
Where on earth would I even find this person?

‘It’s not like I’m combing all of Russia for Anastasia.’

Besides, if this were an Irish-style female name, they’d have attached ‘Ni’ instead of ‘O.’
This is a name you’d give to a male descendant.
I was so exasperated that I just kept staring at the hologram window, when—

“Setan, Lord Setanta…!”
“Hm?”
“You saved us once again!”

Rian came hurrying over from far off and clasped my hand tightly.
Beneath the robe he had pulled over himself, I could see a flushed face.

“My dream was right after all…! That you would save us!”
“…Excuse me?”
“Lord Setanta is our savior!”

He went on to heap praise on me, smothered in every flowery phrase he could muster.
The way he stared at me was so glossy-eyed that he might have been the leader of some quack cult that worshipped a mortal as a god.

[Rian feels a strong fondness for you.]

His Trust Level went up again.
This lunatic.

“The residents of the Underground City are expressing their gratitude to Setanta!”
“Ah, yes…”
“We Ailanders have waited all this time for a savior to finally lead us! I’ve been waiting for this very day!”
“…”
“I have a bit of a gift for prophecy, you see!”

Yeah, I bet you do. Considering your Unique Myth is the god of death and fate, Morrigan…

“Tears… I’m actually tearing up… Oh, how I’ve longed for this day!”
“Excuse me.”
“Yes! Yes…! Setanta, just say the word!”
“Would you mind letting go of my hand?”
“Ah…!”

I slipped my hand free.
He put on a show of looking crestfallen.

“Anyway, please see to the disposal of the corpses. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Y-you, you, you must at least have a meal! Please, stay and eat something!”

I was afraid I’d lose my mind if I stayed a moment longer, so I hurried out of there.
Cheers kept erupting behind my back.

* * *

Ailander SSRs basically all carry Irish mythology.
To start with, I, Setanta, am Cu Chulainn, the great hero of Irish myth.

The rest of them were bosses who couldn’t be recruited, so I’m not certain, but…
Going by their appearances and names, as players have speculated, here’s who these guys likely are.

The Dark Mage who was clinging to me so creepily a while ago is Morrigan.
The big guy is Ferdin.

‘And last of all, the woman with the silver gauntlets sitting in front of me right now is…’

The first king of the Tuatha Dé.
Nuada of the Silver Arm.

And now she and I are sitting down to a meal together.

“Setanta, was it? Seeing that you seemed uneasy, I sent Rian off somewhere else for a while. Call me Ailin.”

A corner of the Underground City’s eatery.
Ailin set something charred black onto a plate.
Judging by the greasy smell, it seems to be some kind of meat…

Bat?
Don’t tell me it’s bat.

“Sorry about this. This is all we have to offer you.”
“…….”

She hesitated for a moment.
Swish.
She slid the bowl with the larger bat over and set it down in front of me.
…There was no need to give me the big one.

“By the way, Ailin, that little piece of meat next to the bat. It isn’t dog meat, is it?”
“Why do you ask?”
“If I eat that, I’m in serious trouble.”
“…?”

It matters a great deal to me.
I really would be in serious trouble.
My whole body would likely go numb, and if things went badly, it could even kill me.

[Extreme Picky Eater (-)]

For one, I’m already carrying a negative trait in the eating category.

[Oath of Cú Chulainn]
-You must not eat dog meat.

That’s because this bizarre dog-meat Geas is carved into my soul.
And above all else…

‘Eating dog meat was also the cause of Cu Chulainn’s ultimate death.’

According to the legend, Cu Chulainn, who had been nearly invincible, ate dog meat and in return half his body was paralyzed.
He went into battle in that state, was ultimately defeated, and met his end on his feet.

‘In other words, one bite of dog meat could get me a Game Over as well.’

All the more reason to be careful.

“Hmm… To put it simply, it isn’t dog meat. You needn’t worry about that sort of situation, so rest easy.”
“Then what exactly is this?”
“It’s bat too… more or less. But you needn’t fear any parasitic infection.”

Ailin looked away for a brief moment as she spoke.

“Rian casts Life Removal Magic on the ingredients every time.”
“Excuse me?”
“So rest easy. Eating this won’t make any worms wriggle in your belly.”
“….”

Life Removal Magic, she says.
Could it be…

‘The trap skill from the original game that instantly killed anyone whose HP fell below a set threshold…’

Surely not.
He actually used it to sterilize the food ingredients?

“Anyway, I’m telling you this food is safe. You must be quite hungry. Go on, eat.”
“….”

To be honest, I didn’t really feel like eating.

‘If I want to survive, I do have to take in nourishment.’

But her face looked like she was screaming.
Her cartilage had melted in the fire, leaving her legs twisted, and her wings were scorched and shriveled.
The visual was thoroughly grotesque…

‘Damn. Is this actually safe to eat?’

I lifted my head, trying to see how the natives ate this.

“…”

Ailin, too, just stared at the roasted bat for a long while.
She showed no intention of eating it.

Silence settled over us.
In the flickering candlelight, only her silver gauntlet caught the glow.

…Come to think of it, why is she wearing a combat gauntlet while eating?

“Wearing a gauntlet even while eating. Isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“…It’s a prosthetic.”
“And the arm, how did you…?”
“Everyone has circumstances they’d rather not speak of.”

Ah, at first I wasn’t quite sure, because of the cloak draped over her right shoulder.
But now that I looked, from the shoulder guard down through the upper arm, the forearm, and all the way to the hand.
Her entire right arm seemed to be one solid piece of armored prosthetic.

“Is it a magitech prosthetic that runs on mana?”
“Something like that. Even so, I can grip a sword without much trouble. The sensation, though… is somewhat different.”

Ailin clenched and unclenched her silver hand a couple of times.
Indeed. Judging from the movement alone, it didn’t look much different from a human arm.
It seemed to be a considerably high-end piece, or perhaps even an artifact.

‘So she really did lose an arm to follow the Unique Myth. That’s the setup.’

Nuada of the Silver Arm.
Once the king of the divine tribe, he lost his right arm in battle.
By Celtic tradition, a maimed man could not be king, so the god stepped down from the throne.
This is Ailin’s myth.

‘And Nuada is also the owner of Clau Solas.’

Flash-
At that moment, the silver-white sword at her waist caught my eye.
A single blade that looked precious even at a glance, a weapon nearly at the level of an endgame item.

‘That’s it. The sun sword Clau Solas. The Mythic-Grade weapon I was the only one never to obtain…!’

Perhaps the developers had locked it away out of fear of breaking the balance.
In the original work, even when Ailin appeared as a Boss and was slain, that sword never dropped.
Upon her death, the blade simply scattered into golden motes of light and vanished.

‘So I really, really regretted that.’

In that moment, curiosity stirred within me.

“Ailin, you carry a truly fine sword.”
“This? Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Would it be all right if I tried holding that sword for a moment?”
“Ah…”

For a brief moment, confusion flickered across Ailin’s face.

“It’s a weapon that chooses its master, so I can’t hand it over. You likely wouldn’t even be able to draw it.”
“Then would it be all right if I just tried? I’m genuinely curious.”
“…You could be cursed. Right now, it recognizes me as its owner, so–”
“Then if Ailin dies, does ownership pass to someone else?”
“…What?”

Silence fell over the room in an instant.

[TIP – Some Mythic-Grade Items become obtainable once their owner dies.]

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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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