Who Says I'm Not a Proper Adventurer?
Chapter 2: Second Talent: Ouroboros Ring

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Second Talent: Ouroboros Ring

Lance.

In the common tongue, the name meant a long, sharp spear.

It was his late father’s greatest blessing for him, a hope that Lance could be like his namesake and carve out a future for himself in this fucked-up world.

However, looking at the jaw-dropping Talent panel before him, Lance couldn’t help but fall into deep self-doubt.

’Did God not intend for me to be a Hero? Was I meant to become the legendary Ghost King instead?’

In this world, Talents were not unique to Lance.

Besides the Talents granted by Professions and special bloodline Talents, there was an even rarer type of personal Talent.

Each person could awaken at most one in their entire life.

Their quality was strictly divided into five Levels: Ordinary, Excellence, Extraordinary, Legendary, and Mythic.

And the glaring red on the panel—Lance was certain it represented Mythic.

He felt a little ashamed of where this Talent came from, but he had to admit it was powerful to a game-breaking degree.

Even "overpowered" wasn’t enough to describe it.

As long as he was breathing, his stamina would fully recover. This meant that as long as his Spirit didn’t collapse, he could train endlessly, honing his skills at a speed unattainable by mortals.

You have to understand, even veteran Adventurers often had to make a hasty retreat from the high-pressure environment of an Underground City because their stamina was depleted.

But Lance, who possessed this Talent, only needed to consider two things: whether his health bar was long enough, and whether his backpack was big enough.

He would be a perpetual motion machine that never knew fatigue.

’Maybe... I could give it a shot, too?’

Just as that spark of ambition ignited in Lance’s heart and he was pondering whether to change his Profession to become an Adventurer, reality slapped him squarely in the face.

The next afternoon, terrible news came from the Adventurer’s Guild.

The Underground City outside of town had, without any warning, suffered a Magic Power rampage, and hundreds of exploring Adventurers had perished within.

This disaster not only took away vibrant lives but also directly struck the economic lifeblood of Gray Rock Town.

The sudden decrease in the high-spending group of Adventurers instantly plunged the town’s service industry into a harsh winter.

The most direct impact was that Lance found his daily food expenses had increased by two Copper Coins.

What was worse, his workload exploded.

As a Copyist, he had to work overtime to process hundreds of death notices.

And when he wasn’t mechanically copying, he would also receive many letters mailed from faraway places.

Unfortunately, the intended recipients of these letters would never be able to open them.

While sorting through the effects of the deceased, Lance saw a familiar name.

It was a young Adventurer he had served back when he had a side business writing letters.

When no one was looking, Lance secretly opened the unclaimed reply.

The paper was coarse, and the handwriting was crooked and clumsy.

Inside, an old farmer rambled on, full of pride that his son had become an Adventurer, and reassured him that everything at home was fine.

The letter mentioned that his younger brother would often lean against the windowsill, asking when his big brother would be back. He wanted to hear if Gray Rock Town really had those airships with giant gasbags and propellers, and if they could truly fly above the clouds.

At the end of the letter was his mother’s slightly clumsy reminder.

She said that of all the Silver Coins her son had sent back over the years, the family hadn’t dared to spend a single one; they had saved them all.

If you get tired out there, just come home.

The money they saved was enough for him to marry a pretty wife.

Every line was saturated with his parents’ dense, heartfelt longing and concern for their faraway son.

As he read, Lance’s vision blurred.

He couldn’t read any further.

And at that moment, the "dream of adventure" that had just begun to burn was completely extinguished by this letter from home.

Perhaps the only change brought by that red Talent was a revision to his retirement plans.

He had originally planned on marrying a Fox Girl with fox ears or a delicate, frail Elf.

Now, he was also considering a high-demand Succubus, or a physically robust Dragon-blooded Maiden with astounding stamina.

That was all.

Life in Gray Rock Town flowed on in sorrow.

The rampaging Underground City eventually calmed down, and Gray Rock Town slowly returned to its former prosperity.

New Adventurers filled the void, and it seemed no one remembered the dead anymore.

With one exception.

Lance secretly took more than half of the salary he had saved up that month and slipped it into the man’s death notice envelope.

Ordinary, low-ranking Adventurers received no death benefits, unlike those who had become Professionals.

It was just a small, insignificant bit of help that Lance could offer to that distant family.

After doing all this, Lance fiercely slapped his right hand with his left.

"Ugh, you and your useless sympathy."

The money he’d just thrown away meant that his dream of heading to Ostrara would have to be postponed for a while longer.

For the next three months, life returned to its peaceful state.

Relying on his handsome, harmless-looking face, Lance successfully integrated himself into the small circle of the Guild’s receptionist, Nia.

Nia had long, smooth brown hair and a tall figure, and was the Guild’s acknowledged beauty.

Through her, Lance met two other girls with completely different personalities.

One was the tavern’s poster girl, Amber. She had dazzling, golden-red short hair, a stunning bust you couldn’t look away from, and a spicy, straightforward personality.

The other was Flora from the town’s Potion shop. This girl, who wore her hair in braids, was always quiet and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

The four of them often got together in their spare time to play a game called "Three Dragon Card," which had rules similar to the poker from Lance’s previous life.

In order to earn back the money he had given away, Lance became extremely stingy with his food and drink, often buying only the hardest black bread to sate his hunger.

Flora noticed this and would often secretly slip him some honey-glazed croissants, blushing as she claimed she had tried baking, but they’d turned out badly that day and she could only give them to him to "deal with."

And when he went to the tavern, the busty Amber would always add a large glass of warm milk to his cheap meal set.

Then she would tease him in front of everyone, saying that a little boy needed to drink a lot of milk to grow big and strong.

Whenever the Adventurers in the tavern roared with laughter at this, Amber would snatch up a huge wooden mug, slam it on the table, and chew out the group of rough men like a mother protecting her cub.

Over time, Lance gained a bit of a reputation in Gray Rock Town and earned a nickname that left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry:

"That pretty-boy Copyist."

But Lance didn’t mind.

He happily counted his accumulating Copper Coins every day, occasionally played cards with the girls, and scrounged some delicious food off them.

Nia would also occasionally find him some side jobs writing letters home for others, helping him earn a little extra money.

Watching his savings gradually grow, it seemed he was another step closer to his dream.

However, Aretia, this world’s goddess of Talent, courage, and adventure, clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily.

「Another month passed.」

Then, late one night.

That erratic, short-circuiting panel popped up again without any warning.

Logically speaking, a personal Talent should be unique.

But perhaps it was because of Lance’s special soul as a Transmigrator.

After a long, four-month gestation, a second line of bright red text slowly emerged.

[Talent: Ouroboros Ring (Red)]