In a World Where Death Is Cheap, I’ll Get Back at the Goddess Who Dumped Me—with My “Self-Destruct” Skill [Dropped]

Chapter 05: The Curse of Immortality

After hearing from Sheila and Leia about the Holy War of the Gods—and their bitter history with Goddess Urza—Taiga finally understood just how unstable his position was.

“So basically… if I die, there’s a high chance I just won’t be revived, right?”

[If you were to accomplish something significant in this life—such as defeating another god’s Hero—there is a possibility you would be revived. However… in that case, you would simply be used as a human bomb who kills enemies with ‘Self-Destruct.’]

“…Now that you mention it, I think she said something like that when she dumped me. Something about taking at least one demon down with me.”

If the points he generated by blowing himself up were greater than the points spent to revive him, then perhaps he would be granted another life.

But that life would only exist because he had proven useful as a disposable weapon for that goddess.

It was humiliating.

He had his own grudge against Urza, of course.

But knowing she was also Sheila and Leia’s enemy—

There was no way he wanted to cling to life by helping her.

“So that means… I need to survive without using ‘Self-Destruct’… But wait. If I do anything at all, doesn’t that still earn points for that woman? Maybe not much, but it still counts. That’s annoying.”

As long as he remained Urza’s Hero, anything he accomplished would benefit her.

He felt completely trapped.

Seeing his frustration, Sheila offered something unexpected.

[…In that case, how about changing your faith?]

“Changing my faith… You mean becoming your Hero, Lady Sheila?”

[Yes. You seem to get along well with Leia too. What do you think?]

Becoming Sheila’s Hero.

If he were only thinking about himself, it was such an incredible offer that even hesitating would feel ungrateful.

He had only known her for a short time, yet he could already tell how kind and sincere Sheila was.

If he accepted—

Even if he turned out to be nothing more than a point-draining burden, she would probably still revive him.

But that was precisely why he couldn’t say yes so easily.

“…I’m sorry. The more I hear about this system, the more I realize I’m basically a bad investment. I can’t just rely on you without thinking.”

[I truly do not mind. Right, Leia?]

“…I will follow Lady Sheila’s decision. However, to be honest, we don’t have the spare points right now to take Taiga in as a Hero.”

[Leia!]

“No, I think Miss Leia is right. I don’t want to cause trouble for either of you.”

Taiga bowed deeply as he spoke.

But as she looked at him, Leia continued.

“However… with Lady Sheila’s power, it’s possible to strengthen Taiga without making him change his faith. At least to a certain extent.”

[Leia!]

“Well, I’d definitely appreciate that… but are you sure?”

[Of course. Though I won’t be able to grant you any extremely powerful skills that require a large amount of points.]

“N-No, that’s more than enough!”

Seeing Sheila speak so modestly, Taiga shook his head so hard it looked like it might fall off.

She then showed him a list of skills that could be granted within their available point range.

Taiga carefully examined them.

He even reviewed the ones recommended by Leia, his senior Hero.

But unfortunately, none of them could compensate for the weakness of his Unique Skill.

“Man… instead of focusing on getting stronger, maybe I should look for something that makes me harder to kill… Huh? Wait, what’s this?”

Shifting his focus from offense to survival, one particular name caught his eye.

“Miss Leia, what exactly is this ‘Curse of Immortality’?”

“‘Curse of Immortality’? That’s not under enhancements. It’s listed under traps for enemy Heroes.”

“Huh? Oh… you’re right. It just said ‘immortality,’ so I thought it was perfect for me.”

“Heroes are already immortal as long as their patron god has points. That one is… actually, that might work.”

“…Wait. What do you mean?”

The skill Taiga had found—Curse of Immortality—was not a power-up.

It was a debuff meant to be inflicted on enemy Heroes.

Leia had been about to sigh and explain why it was a terrible drawback.

But in that moment—

She realized something.

Maybe this was exactly what Taiga needed.

“Normally, when a Hero dies, they return to their patron god. Their stats reset, they’re strengthened again, and then they’re reincarnated. But ‘Curse of Immortality’ forces the Hero to reincarnate immediately in a weakened state—without returning to their god.”

“I see!”

The Curse of Immortality meant that if the affected Hero died, they would respawn in a weakened condition.

That made them easy targets for what other Heroes would call a “respawn kill.”

It was undeniably a debuff.

But for Taiga—

If he returned to his patron goddess, there was a very high chance she simply wouldn’t revive him at all.

In that case, being forced to respawn immediately—even in a weakened state—wasn’t a drawback.

It was a lifeline.

That was why Taiga shouted excitedly.

“This is amazing!”

“Yeah. For you, that basically gives you one extra life.”

“Ah, well, that too—but more importantly…”

His eyes gleamed.

“If I combine ‘Curse of Immortality’ with my bad-investment skill ‘Self-Destruct,’ couldn’t I make that woman burn through a ridiculous amount of points?”

“…Wait. Are you serious?”

Leia blinked.

Because Taiga wasn’t excited about surviving.

He was excited about making Goddess Urza suffer.