Sett Chapter 25: Check In! Haymaker Obtained! (Patreon)

A thread invisible to ordinary people hung in the air—a spider’s silk, to be precise. No, more accurately, it was a thread belonging to a spider curse spirit. Tadashi could clearly sense the negative curse energy emanating from it.

"That entity is cunning and intelligent, so once I take action, I must eliminate it with overwhelming force," Tadashi said, his expression serious, his tone sharp.

"If I fail to kill it in one strike, it may escape and hide, and who knows when it might come back for revenge—against both you and me!"

Upon hearing this, Haruno froze, feeling a growing sense of unease. She had assumed this would be a typical supernatural issue—dealing with ghosts, monsters, or vengeful spirits—and that a professional could simply resolve it. She never imagined the entity behind this was both intelligent and devious.

Haruno shivered at the thought. She nodded vigorously, saying, "You're right, we must deal with it in one go. If it hides in the shadows to seek revenge, we’ll never have peace!"

"Please, Tadashi-kun, do everything you can to stop it," Yukino pleaded, her face grave.

"Yes, Tadashi, make sure to get rid of it," Shizuka added.

Seeing their cooperation, Tadashi smiled slightly.

This was good.

The biggest issue in dealing with such problems was often a lack of cooperation from the people involved.

"Then, let’s not waste any more time and start now," Tadashi said, standing up.

"Right now?" Haruno looked surprised. "But shouldn’t we at least eat first? We can’t just skip the meal and have you get to work, right?"

"Haruno-san’s safety is far more important. What’s one meal compared to that?" Tadashi replied with a smile.

"Is that so?" Haruno felt a bit embarrassed. It was the first time she had felt such concern from a stranger. Even her family hadn’t shown her this much care before.

Suddenly, Haruno’s impression of Tadashi improved significantly, and she didn’t even mind him addressing her by name so casually anymore.

Meanwhile, both Shizuka and Yukino’s expressions darkened.

‘Is he planning to make a move on my sister?’ Yukino thought.

‘This bastard, isn’t his target Yukino? Is he aiming for both sisters?’ Shizuka wondered.

The two of them exchanged glances, their faces revealing mutual concern. Did this mean…?

They quickly averted their eyes in a panic.

‘Has he already gotten to Yukino?’ Shizuka thought, shocked. ‘How did it happen so fast?’

Yukino, equally alarmed, thought, ‘Does Shizuka-sensei know about my… relationship with Tadashi?’

Both women were flooded with internal turmoil.

Meanwhile, Tadashi approached Haruno and extended his hand. "Haruno-san, I will transfer some of my power to you. In case of danger, you’ll be able to sever the spider’s thread."

"Spider’s thread?" Haruno asked, confused.

Tadashi didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned to Yukino and Shizuka. "Would you like to see it?"

"Yes!" they both replied instantly.

"Uh..." Haruno glanced back and forth between Shizuka and Yukino, slightly puzzled by their quick responses.

"Alright, then put your hands on my shoulders," Tadashi instructed, looking back at Haruno. "Haruno-san, please hold my hand."

"Okay." Still confused, Haruno followed his instructions.

Behind them, Yukino and Shizuka exchanged awkward glances, recognizing the familiar scene. This had happened just a few days ago when Yukino shook Tadashi’s hand.

*Slap—slap—slap.*

Yukino and Shizuka’s hands landed on Tadashi’s shoulders simultaneously.

At the same time, Tadashi grasped Haruno’s warm, delicate hand.

【Ding!】

【Congratulations, host! You have successfully checked in with Yukinoshita Haruno. Template progress has increased!】

【You have gained a new skill: Haymaker!】

【Haymaker (Passive): Convert incoming attacks into Grit, with a maximum storage of 50% of your maximum health.】

【Haymaker (Active): Unleash all stored Grit, gaining a shield equal to 100% of the Grit released, and deliver a powerful punch, dealing (80/100/120/140/160) plus (20% bonus AD per 100 Grit) true damage to all enemies in front of you.】

‘Finally!’

‘Haymaker, Set’s most essential skill!’

A glimmer of excitement appeared in Tadashi’s eyes.

His main reason for suggesting the handshake was to check in with Haruno. Sure enough, after doing so, the system rewarded him with the missing W skill, Haymaker.

What’s more, the skill was even more powerful than in the game!

In the game, Set converted the damage he received into Grit, but Tadashi could directly turn the enemy's attacks into Grit. The upper limit of this conversion was 50% of his maximum health. Until this limit was reached, Tadashi would take no damage at all, as the enemy’s attacks would all be converted into Grit.

Moreover, when he released his Grit with Haymaker, all enemies in front of him would receive true damage—not just the ones in the center, as in the game, where only the middle targets took true damage while the others received physical damage.

‘Did the system optimize the skill?’

‘What a great system!’

‘With Haymaker, it’ll be even easier to take down that spider curse spirit.’

Tadashi quickly pulled up his personal stats and applied the two stored skill points to Haymaker.

…

Template: Set

Level: 4

Skills: Pit Grit (Passive), Knuckle Down (Level 1), Facebreaker (Level 1), Haymaker (Level 2)

Skill points: 0

…

The spider curse spirit was stronger than the cat spirit he had faced before but not by much—only about twice as strong. It still wouldn’t be able to defeat Tadashi.

However, spider curse spirits could control humans with their threads, possibly even laying eggs. They were intelligent and tricky to deal with in combat.

Tadashi had already anticipated that he would likely face a horde of puppets controlled by the spider curse spirit.

If he only relied on Knuckle Down and Facebreaker, it would be a hard fight. But with Haymaker, he could wipe them all out in an instant!

‘A spider curse spirit, huh? I wonder how much experience you’ll give me?’ Tadashi thought as he prepared to unleash his power.