I gave up on trying to get out of this dungeon. I half-heartedly thought about wandering around for a while, but with everything in this dungeon, I’m worried that an unexpected encounter would put the “dead” back in “dead end”. It doesn’t matter if it’s a human or a monster, they’re both seriously formidable foes. Oh, um, please don’t misinterpret me; when I say “formidable foe” I don’t mean in the sense of, hm, “a rival I want to beat”, but more in the sense of “an extremely serious threat to my life”.
Fortunately (or whatever if “fortunate” isn’t a good word to describe my current situation), there aren’t any monsters here that are faster than me, so dodging unpleasant encounters is quite easy. My spider body has agility in spaces! I’m far, far faster than I was as a human.
Ah, sorry, I’m getting too full of myself. While it’s true that I am quite fast, it is really all of my physical capabilities that are far, far greater than those in my previous life. Heh.
Well, before I was reincarnated, I really was more of the indoors-y type. “Exercise? What’s that?”, etc., etc. It’s obvious that a wild spider would have better stats than I did before. The only parts of my body that I had bothered to hone were my thumbs, made strong by countless hours of gaming.
Let’s set aside the topic of my former unathleticism. What matters now is that, in my current body, I’m pretty good at running away. Of course, running away all the time is not a really solid survival strategy. If I’m caught from both sides in a pincer attack I’m done for, and if I run into anything faster than me I’d be screwed, although I haven’t seen anything like that yet.
Plus, I’ve been steadily growing hungrier and hungrier, and you can’t fight on an empty stomach. Well, not being able to fight isn’t really the problem, since I’d really rather I didn’t have to. It’s the “empty stomach” part that’s the issue. I’d rather not starve to death.
Well, then, let’s think about this for a bit. Q: What do spiders eat? A: Other bugs.
Oof… that’s right, isn’t it… if I’m going to sate my appetite that’s what I’m looking at, isn’t it… and since I’m so big, that’s going to reduce my options for prey, isn’t it… Specifically, my options are other monsters and, although I don’t really want to think about it, humans.
I mean, my siblings got into cannibalism immediately after being born, didn’t they, and that giant spider that seemed like our parent was also calmly eating its own children. It seems like the average member of my species thinks that everything on the planet apart from itself is prey. It’s not like there’s many other options, though, in this cave.
What do those deer-like monsters in that big passage eat? Are they carnivores, disguised as herbivores? …man, I can’t stop thinking about food. I am seriously worried about where I’m going to find my next meal.
It’s time to face the facts. At this rate, I will starve to death. That’s a bad thing, so I’m going to have to put up with eating whatever junk I can scrounge up. Ugh. I need to prepare myself.
It’s all well and good to prepare myself, though, but step one is really figuring out what it is I’m going to be eating. Of course, there’s nothing edible on hand, which means I need to go acquire myself some provisions. Now, how will I do that?
To be frank, my odds of winning in a fight are basically zero. Sure, the passages in this maze I’m in now are smaller than the huge ones from before. Sure, there’s no monsters that seem absolutely unbeatable, like that giant spider or whatever that dragon-like thing was. The monsters here are only about person-sized!
Even still, it’s probably not possible for me to win a fight. Why, do you ask? I have no idea how! I’ve never fought anything IRL before! If this was a game, I’d probably win, but pressing buttons is way different from actually moving my body. Plus, 2D and 3D are way different.
I shouldn’t really be concerned about not being able to fight, though. I’m really hungry, but not to the point where I might keel over at any moment. So, since I’ve got a little time to prepare, let’s come up with a properly spider-like way to secure me some food.
When you’re talking about spiders, you have to talk about webs! Weaving a web out of sticky spider silk and ensnaring prey is totally spider-like, and a cave is a perfect place to do it, since I can stick my threads everywhere.
I have decided! Here, I shall build my new home!
First, I have to make some thread. That comes out of my butt (or whatever you call it now), right? Let’s try making some.
…now that I’m paying attention, it looks like I’ve already got some thread. Huh?! How’d that get there? Wouldn’t I remember spewing that stuff out?
Hmm. This stuff stretches all the way back the way I came. Have… have I been laying thread the entire time I’ve been walking around?! Aaah, this is embarrassing!! It looks like I have to focus on turning it off.
Yeeeeeah. What should I do about all this thread? I might find a use for it in the future but for now let’s cut it off and get back to work.
Let’s try this again… here, I shall build my new home! I’ve got the basics down on making thread. Now, I need to stick my thread all around the cave. I like to think I’m pretty handy, but can I pull this off?
…before I was even finished thinking that, I’d already done it. In the blink of an eye, I’d built quite a satisfactory web. This tunnel is now quite magnificently covered with an enormous spiderweb. Whoa, is this my body’s instinct? As soon as I started, my body started moving like it knew exactly what it needed to do as I watched dumbfounded.
I’ve made my web in two parts. The top and bottom halves are separated from each other by a one-meter gap. Why, you ask? I definitely wouldn’t want to cut off my own escape route, would I?
My new home is at a T-intersection, so I’ve built a web in each of the tunnels. I’ve made sure to leave a hole in each of them so that I can escape, since if I were to block them off completely I’d be trapped. I don’t think there’s anyone around here strong enough to break spider’s silk, so I feel fine leaving these little holes.
The stupid monsters that crawl on the ground will get stuck in my lower web. The ones that try to jump or fly over it will get caught in my upper one. I’ve closed off all entrances, so I’m perfectly safe in here, and just in case something does break in I’ve left myself escape routes. Isn’t this the perfect kind of place for a shut-in like me? This wonderful place I’ll call my home.
APM - Translation 