Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
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An enormous swarm of wasps buzzes above me. Well! If I don’t get out of here quickly, I’m going to have problems.
Of course, by the time I thought that, it was just a little bit too late.
A wasp lands on my back, and suddenly, a blinding pain shoots through me.
!!!!????
Aaargh!! I’ve been stabbed! And it feels like something got pumped into me when it happened, too! It’s poison?!
It’s latched onto my back, where I’ve got no way to protect myself. Wait… I’ve got one thing! Now is not the time for me to worry about my last few points of magical power!
I grab hold of my Thread with [Thread Control] and stick it to the wasp on my back, immobilizing it.
Off… we… GO!!
Seizing the line, I fling the wasp off of me as if I were doing a shoulder throw!
I really want to finish it off, but now’s my chance to escape! I find a craggy spot in the walls to hide in. Hopefully, these rocks will make it hard for those giant wasps to maneuver.
Just as I thought, a few wasps chased after me, but after flying around for a while they figured out the deal and buzzed off.
Ahhh, that was close. I definitely didn’t come through unscathed, though. I can’t see it for myself, but there’s a gaping hole in my back. I’ve got six health left. One single attack dealt me thirty damage.
This is no surprise. I’ve been more than well aware that my defense is terrible. Really, I’m grateful that spiders are resilient enough that I can keep going, even with this extremely serious wound.
I’m so glad my [Poison Resistance] is so high. Whatever that wasp pumped into me was almost certainly some kind of poison. I don’t know whether it negated it entirely or not, and I don’t know how much of this damage was from the wasp’s poison or its stinger, but if I didn’t have [Poison Resistance] I would surely be dead by now.
With wounds like these, I probably shouldn’t be moving around. I don’t know if it’s going to heal on its own, so what I really want to aim for is the full-heal I get out of leveling up. So, since I need experience points, and since I need to get myself some food, I should sneak out and retrieve that wasp I threw off of me a little while ago.
Leaving these crags is no sound plan at all, though. I reach out with [Thread Control] and start to slowly inch the wasp back towards me.
Suddenly, a chill runs through me.
I peek out from behind the crags. Over there, I see the shape of the wasp I tied up. And, over there, I see yet another monster, slowly approaching.
{Elro Baldarad – LV 5 – failed to appraise status}
It’s the snake. This jerk, did he follow me all the way down here?! No, probably not. It’s the same level as the other one, but it’s probably not the same individual. Yiiikes. Is this the habitat of these super-strong boss-class monsters? With my body as wounded as it is, I am definitely not looking for a fight.
The snake slowly approaches the fallen wasp. Please, I beg of you, take the wasp and leave me alone!! The snake, however, didn’t do anything to the wasp. Rather, it couldn’t do anything.
With blinding speed, something tears the snake apart.
Uh? Are my eyes working okay? That snake, unless I’m completely mistaken, was shredded into scrap as if it were made of paper. That snake, which was supposed to be protected by its impenetrable scales. That snake, whose speed rivals even my own, was erased before it even had time to react.
{Earth Dragon Araba – LV 31 – failed to appraise statistics}
It stands, proudly and calmly. Its name might be “dragon”, but its form is really closer to that of a wolf. It walks on four legs. Its tail is long. It has no wings. Even still, with its majestic bearing, it’s impossible not to see it as a dragon.
Not good. My instincts as a spider, my reason as a person, everything is screaming at me in unison: this thing is absolutely terrible news. I have zero chance against it. Forget winning or losing, this thing is so out of my league that I shouldn’t even bother. If it looks at me, I don’t think it would see me as anything but fodder. I’m not even prey. If it sees me, I will become food. That’s how far above me that thing is.
Oh, it might have a high level, but that’s the least of my problems. No matter how you look at it, that thing is extremely terrible news.
Earth Dragon Araba, starts to slowly devour the scattered pieces of the snake. Panicking, I try to steal my breath.
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Stealth – LV1] has become [Stealth – LV2]>
Ah!! Shut up! Please! Shh!! What are you going to do if it spots me?!
Araba finishes devouring the snake and leaves, not even sparing a glance for my wasp.
Ph… phew. I don’t know if it completely overlooked me, or if it just decided I wasn’t even worth the effort, but, phew, I’m safe for now.
I’m no stranger to life-and-death situations by now, but this is the most terrifyingly close to death I have ever come. I’m still trembling just thinking about it.
This isn’t good. If there’s something that powerful lurking in this area, I should be doing everything I can to get far away from here.
I check my surroundings. Right now, I’m at the bottom of the huge shaft I fell down a little while ago. I’d estimate that the shaft is about a hundred meters in diameter, and its depth… is probably way more than that, huh. I really have no way to tell; the huge swarm of wasps buzzing overhead is like an impenetrable wall.
I’m glad that [Appraisal] didn’t activate at this range. If it did, the headache from the sheer number of [Appraisal] results would knock me straight out. If I want to go back the way I came, I’m going to need to get through that swarm. And, on top of that, climb up the cliff.
That’s impossible. If I’m clinging to the wall, I can’t fight. I won’t be able to move quickly, and I won’t be able to aim my thread. That’s a zone where all of my most reliable strengths are sealed away. The wasps certainly will have no trouble with their mobility, flying through the air. There’s no way for me to win.
Even still, with a monster like that lurking around, exploration is basically suicide. There are a bunch of passageways connected to the base of this pit… if it really came down to it, could I maybe try going down a different one? Nope. With a wound like this, even if I didn’t encounter another ludicrous monster like that, I’d still be toast even if I found just a regular monster.
This is bad. This might just be checkmate.
APM - Translation 