* * *
“I’m late in introducing myself. Please call me Rian. I belong to the Underground City now, but I was once a researcher at the Mage Tower.”
“…….”
Damp air. Gloomy light.
Countless pillars stretched irregularly all the way to the ceiling.
A place where lives regarded as filthy and repulsive had settled, barely managing to cling to existence.
Right now, I was walking through the heart of the Underground City, escorted by the Dark Mage who had slaughtered countless Imperial citizens in my previous life.
‘These guys were bosses from the enemy faction in the original story…… and now they’re characters I can recruit.’
And three SSRs right from the start?
That made no sense.
In the early game, even pulling two R Grades and one N Grade would have been considered a good result.
‘Could this only be possible because I’m on the Hidden Route……?’
I was dumbfounded.
I suppose there really was something to be said for spending so long playing a game.
……Although now I had ended up inside that very game…….
[Rian feels a faint sense of goodwill toward you.]
[Rian’s Trust toward you increases!]
But this Dark Mage……
His Trust was rising at an alarming rate.
‘The Heroes on the Empire’s side treated me as an enemy no matter what I did. It’s the complete opposite here.’
It felt strange.
I had played this game countless times, but this was my first time experiencing a route where I gained the favor of the enemy faction.
Naturally, I did not know these people perfectly.
……After all, when they appeared as enemies, almost everything on their character information screens had been hidden.
They had never been recruitable in the first place.
All that remained vividly in my memory was how much trouble they had caused me whenever I fought them.
‘But on the Hidden Route…… these guys can actually become my allies?’
Of course, even a Hero obtained through the bond gacha could later turn into a hostile Hero depending on their Trust.
And yet, for some reason, I felt certain.
At the very least, these people would not come charging at me with axes while screaming that they were going to kill me, nor would they betray me so easily.
‘Good. Then let’s start progressing through the Hidden Route in earnest.’
First, I needed to find the Special Mutant hiding somewhere in the Underground City.
For now, I decided to see what information I could get out of this Dark Mage named Rian.
“Rian, have there been any unusual developments? For example, what’s the current condition of the Underground City residents who are undergoing mutation?”
“Ah, we’ve isolated the group whose mutations are progressing slowly. As for those whose mutations are progressing quickly…… well, you already know.”
If someone had a certain degree of Resistance, exposure to the vapor would not immediately mutate them into a monster.
So if they endured it for as long as possible and later received Divine Healing, they could still be completely cured.
But what if the mutation progressed quickly?
From what I could see, grotesquely twisted corpses were piled throughout the city.
They had probably been dealt with just before their transformations were complete.
“So you’re culling them by hand.”
“Pardon……? Ah, since we personally allow them to meet their end just before they mutate, I suppose ‘by hand’ is accurate.”
[Rian’s Trust toward you increases!]
For some reason, his Trust went up again.
Even taking the inherited bond into account, this was enough to leave me bewildered.
‘Wasn’t Trust normally an absolute pain to raise……?’
Just as I was wondering about that—
“By the way, Sir Setanta. About that companion of yours who’s currently confined in the isolation cell.”
Rian asked me with a peculiar look in his eyes, his dark ash-gray hair hanging loosely around his face.
“He called me a Dark Mage.”
“…….”
“How exactly did he know…… that I have to pay a price every time I use magic?”
“Wait, that bastard isn’t some kind of Imperial spy! I think there’s been a misunderstanding-.”
“What’s strange is that I experienced something similar myself.”
“Pardon?”
“I had a dream in which you saved the world.”
…….
……I saved the world?
Instead of destroying it?
* * *
‘He shouldn’t be able to find me around here.’
The way that bastard kept looking at me with sparkling eyes and treating me like some kind of savior was becoming seriously uncomfortable.
So the moment I spotted an opportunity, I slipped away.
DING!
[Rian’s Trust toward you…….]
And yet, messages about his increasing Trust were still appearing one after another.
He really seemed insane.
[TIP - A Hero’s interests and actions are heavily influenced by their .]
Just then, another message appeared.
‘……Oh, right. That bastard was Morrígan.’
Only now did this bizarre situation begin to make sense.
SSR Heroes in this game had a tendency to follow the ‘course of their myth’ that had been assigned to them.
-Are there seriously no normal SSRs? Especially those mercenaries from the Rom Federation, hahaha. They have affairs at the slightest opportunity, slit each other’s throats, and turn everything into a complete disaster.
└The Rom Federation SSRs are all based on Greek Mythology. Of course they’re a disaster.
└If you want a quiet playthrough, just use the Empire SSRs. They’re based on the Knights of the Round Table, so they’re pretty strait-laced.
└What are you talking about? Lancelot had an affair too, and Arthur got hit with Mental Breakdown because his wife was taken.
That was right.
As though drawn along by fate, they ended up doing it.
Whether that meant adultery or murder…….
‘Most of those disastrous surprise events happened because of this.’
Incidentally, this Unique Myth was also a source of power for SSR Heroes.
Following the deeds of their myths could raise their stats as though they had completed an achievement.
-Here’s a stat-boosting tip for raising Setanta.
└What is it?
└You know that muscular tank who appears as a boss from the enemy faction? Ferdi or whatever his name is. If you kill him with Setanta, your stats permanently increase.
A special stat-boosting event that only appeared for SSR Heroes.
-??? Are you serious? I already killed him with another character?
└There goes your main damage dealer’s permanent stat boost, hahaha.
└But why do Setanta’s stats increase?
└Setanta is Cú Chulainn. In the original myth, he kills Ferdiad, so I guess the developers added it as a special event?
└Huh? I looked it up and it’s Irish mythology? How was I supposed to know something this obscure;
That was right.
That hulking barbarian named Ferdi whom I had briefly seen earlier.
If I killed him with my own hands?
All of my stats would permanently increase!
‘……But he isn’t just a bunch of pixels on a monitor anymore.’
Attacking and killing a character who had done nothing to me was a little…….
Of course, if he turned out to be someone who did evil things, I would have to make him ‘good.’
‘For now, let’s just focus on progressing through the Hidden Route.’
I cast those thoughts aside and decided to begin seriously tackling the route.
That was also why I had slipped away from the bothersome Dark Mage and come here alone.
[Loading Checklist.]
[Hidden Route Progress: 0%]
-『Purify the Underground City』
-『???』
-『???』
…….
‘The mutant should be appearing around now. Why is everything still so quiet?’
Hmm. At a glance, nothing seemed particularly wrong.
Where the hell was this thing hiding—
CRRKK-
“……!”
A chilling sensation suddenly crawled up my spine.
I turned my gaze.
Among the corpses that had supposedly been dealt with before they could fully mutate…….
Something resembling a tentacle was writhing.
‘Don’t tell me the Special Mutant was hiding among the corpses?’
Just as I was about to hurry over—
[Warning! - A Boss-Class Monster has appeared.]
[The level gap between you and the boss is extreme. Retreat is recommended!]
“GRRRRR…….”
Something enormous and dark crimson slowly began rising from among the corpses.
‘So the Special Mutant mentioned in the quest…… was this bastard.’
A torso encased in a hard, blackish-red shell.
Thick, elongated tentacles extending from where its arms should have been.
I had seen this creature countless times before.
The boss of the dungeonized was standing right before my eyes.
“URRGH-!”
In the blink of an eye, one of the Underground City’s residents had his abdomen pierced by the creature’s tentacle.
There had not even been enough time to run over and save him.
“Move, damn it! Get out of the way-!”
“AAAAAAAGH!”
People shoved one another as they frantically fled, throwing the entire area into chaos.
SWISH-!
I immediately pulled out my spear and gripped it in my right hand.
A bead of cold sweat ran down my skin before I even realized it.
‘Under normal circumstances…… this is a troublesome boss you’re supposed to form a party for and tackle sometime after the midpoint.’
Right now, my level was low, and I did not even have proper equipment.
It was like a level-three player skipping the beginner area and heading straight into the depths of a dungeon.
But even so……
For some reason, I did not feel as though I would lose.
‘……Turning the impossible into the possible was always my specialty.’
[Using 【Curse Resistance Potion】.]
To prevent any chance of mutation, I took out a potion in advance and gulped it down.
THUD,
…THUD,
……THUD!
The enormous mutant began approaching me, apparently preparing to attack.
Clouds of dust rose wherever it stepped.
“GRRRRK!”
Once it came within five paces of me, its body twisted strangely.
WHOOSH-!
One of its tentacles swept horizontally toward me.
It was enormous yet fast, heavy yet sharp.
TAP-TAP!
I quickly retreated, maintaining just enough distance for it to barely miss me.
“GRRK?”
When its attack failed, more and more tentacles began extending toward me in a wild barrage.
‘Should I slice off a little?’
I lightly extended the tip of my spear and struck at the end of one of the tentacles it swung at me.
SLICE.
A soft sensation traveled through the shaft of the spear.
The tip of the tentacle was severed instantly, spraying blackish-red blood.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAH-!”
Apparently enraged beyond reason, the creature began twisting its body and roaring.
‘……Now!’
While it was thrashing around and failing to defend itself, I quickly closed the distance.
Gripping my spear firmly, I slashed diagonally upward across its torso.
SKRRAAAAPE-!
Unlike the tip of its tentacle, however, its torso did not suffer so much as a scratch.
Instead, the hand gripping my spear trembled violently from the recoil.
‘As expected, I can’t do it yet.’
I might have been born to deal absurd one-shot damage.
But at my current level of growth, with such mediocre equipment…….
It seemed difficult to damage its body directly.
“GRRRK!”
A mass of tentacles immediately counterattacked.
Like a spring suddenly releasing, I launched myself backward, flipped once through the air, avoided the attack, and landed.
“Whew…….”
My heart pounded, and the hairs on my body stood on end.
Was this dopamine?
My vision seemed to turn crimson as my heart hammered with a strange excitement.
‘Let’s deal with the tentacles first.’
I maintained a fixed distance from the creature as it charged toward me with a roar, backing away as it pursued.
SHING-!
Then I immediately switched to the longsword and began cutting off the ends of its tentacles one by one.
‘……Kite it, cut off every last tentacle tip, then crack open the lid.’
I remembered posting this strategy on a forum once.
What had puzzled me was that no one but me had ever managed to pull it off.
-You can solo the Underground City boss if you have the Trait. (video link)
└??????????
└? What just happened?
└Just kite it, dodge every tentacle while cutting them off, then slowly rip open the shell over its belly with brute force at the end. (OP)
└No, what I’m asking is how you’re supposed to dodge all of that without getting hit even once while soloing it;
‘Why can’t they?’
It was a little difficult, but it was not impossible.
In the end, no one else ever managed it, and only the view count on my strategy video went through the roof.
SLASH!
Just like in that strategy video, I maintained a distance where the tentacles barely failed to reach me and sliced through them.
Every time I swung the sword—
PATTER.
Bundles of tentacles fell away as though I were harvesting spoon worms.
“GR-GRRK, GRRRRRK-!”
……SPLAT!
When I cut off the final tentacle tip and sent it falling to the ground, the mutant’s entire body began trembling violently as it turned bright red.
TAP-TAP!
I squeezed between the bundles of severed, powerless tentacles hanging limply around it.
Then I quickly slipped into close range.
A moment later, my hands touched the hard, rough surface of the mutant’s shell.
‘The heart should be around here.’
There was an especially red section of thick shell in the center, divided by a visible seam.
I plunged my fingers straight into the gap.
……CRACK!
Then I brutally exerted my strength and began ripping away the outer shell.
“GRRK! GRRRRRK……! GRRRK-!”
The mutant’s writhing screams rang so loudly that my ears went numb.
Ah. At some point, soft, lukewarm tentacles had wrapped themselves around my body.
As though desperately resisting and trying to push me away in order to survive.
SLITHER-.
When that failed, they began trying to strangle my neck instead.
……This damned bastard.
‘Don’t change the genre of the game whenever you feel like it!’
Ignoring the slimy sensation, I focused entirely on exerting my strength.
CRACK, CRRACK-.
I could hear muscles, ligaments, and bones twisting.
A single second felt like an hour.
…….
……CRRACK!
At last, something snapped.
DRIP-.
Something resembling a blood vessel stretched out, dragged along with the thick layer of keratinized shell.
‘……Finally.’
I could see the exposed flesh through the gaping hole in the creature’s chest.
I immediately pulled out my spear, gripped it tightly, and drove it deep inside as though gouging into the wound.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH-!”
A sound like oatmeal boiling in hell echoed through the area.
At the same time, the disgusting tentacles clinging to my body all went limp.
[Your level increases.]
[You have successfully eliminated the Special Mutant of the Underground City.]
[Hidden Route progress increases!]
[Hidden Route Progress: 1.5%]
-『Purify the Underground City』 (Complete)
‘Whew…….’
I shook my entire body like a dog that had just finished a bath, flinging off the slick, slimy fluid.
My victory.
[A Hidden Item drops!]
Then violet smoke began rising from the gaping hole around the fallen mutant’s heart.
WHOOOSH-.
It wobbled in an amorphous mass as it settled onto the ground, before finally solidifying into the shape of a small glass bottle.
‘Oh, nice drop.’
Some bosses had a chance of dropping a Hidden Item upon death.
This creature was one of them.
I quickly picked up the violet glass bottle lying at my feet.
The essence of a tentacle monster, which permanently increased the body’s regenerative ability.
However, in exchange for gaining that power, the user would receive a curse from a god.
In short…….
You could call it a ‘cursed elixir.’
[Warning! - This item is expected to inflict a lethal debuff!]
[We strongly recommend exercising caution before using……]
POP.
I immediately opened the elixir.
* * *