Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord
At the end of the third day, just as I was starting to think about going to sleep, the “Voice of Heaven” came down from above.
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Pain Resistance LV 9] has become [Pain Nullification].>
<Condition satisfied. Skill [Pain Mitigation LV 1] has been derived from skill [Pain Nullification].>
[Pain Resistance] went up again, huh… and it had already leveled from eight to nine without me noticing, probably when I was sleeping again. The level number disappeared, and the name changed to [Pain Nullification]. Feels like it capped out. That gives me two max-level skills, next to [Night Vision]. I think I started out with a high level in [Night Vision] already, though, thanks to my natural-born abilities, so [Pain Nullification] is the first skill I’ve raised all the way up from zero to ten by myself! I don’t really feel like celebrating, though, because grinding that out was literally suffering.
Well, it looks like the skill I just unlocked is the actual “pain hurts less” skill. Ah, no, I’m not saying that [Pain Resistance] was a rip-off or anything, just that it wasn’t what I was expecting. The new skill is only level one right now, so I’m not feeling much of an effect. As always, my back is rather rudely reminding me how badly it’s still wounded. I’m hoping it’ll be a little more polite about it once I get a few levels of [Pain Mitigation], and I’m really hoping that it’ll level up overnight.
Well then, good night!
Day Four. My stamina has started to steadily fall, so it’s time to take action. My targets are the lone wasps that drift away from the swarm. Trying to get an entire squad of wasps is too risky. I think I could beat them, sure, but I need to be cautious: since there’s a bunch of wasps in a squad, it’s not impossible that they’ll do something completely unexpected.
So, snagging one of the loners is probably my best bet. It looks like they’re not quite as smart when they’re not being ordered around by a commander. While I was observing them yesterday, I saw a lone wasp fly through a tiny tunnel that a squad definitely couldn’t fit through. I’d bet that the wasp I caught a while ago had done something similar, going down a strange passage, getting lost, and eventually winding up in my webs. Hmm, that was a long time ago, though, and really far away; it’s really unlikely that the wasp from back then came from this swarm. Maybe there’s another hive somewhere else?
From what I’ve been seeing so far, the ones that wander off are already not very bright. Maybe that’s why they never joined a squad and were content with wandering off? Ah, regardless, the point is, if I provoke one of the strays, it might be dumb enough to come and attack.
I’d never rely on such an uncertain strategy, though… not when I have the new secret weapon I developed yesterday!
It’s a hardened sphere of sticky webbing at the end of a long cord. I call it: the Ku-morning star(TL.1)! Eheheh. With my raw physical strength plus the power of [Thread Control], I’ll be able to strike those wasps out of the sky! …Probably. It’s, uh, worth noting that I’m probably going to miss with this nine times out of ten. But that’s okay! All I’m really trying to do is get these things to realize that I’m an enemy, and come charging at me of its own accord. If I get super lucky and hit it directly, then my target will be immediately trapped, which is my victory anyway.
Now, I just have to wait for the perfect chance, for one of the loner wasps to come close enough to my nest. If today is anything like yesterday, a bunch of them will be buzzing by to get a closer look at my web, so everything should go as planned.
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Pain Mitigation – LV2] has become [Pain Mitigation – LV3]>
As I waited, [Pain Mitigation] leveled up again. Huh? Compared to [Pain Resistance], this is leveling up super slowly! I was really expecting it to go up to about level five while I was asleep, but it only went up to two… hmm? I wonder if the way I accumulate proficiency is different? Or maybe, is the amount of proficiency I need to accumulate different? Ahhh, I don’t know.
Although, that level up made this extremely obvious: [Pain Mitigation] is, in fact, a skill that dulls pain. Thanks to my new skill level, my back is feeling much better.
The wound on my back is a severe one. I did my best to bandage it up with [Thread Control], but this is seriously a gaping hole. If I was a human, this would absolutely have killed me. I wonder, am I still alive because I’m a spider, or because I’m a monster? Regardless, it is a miracle that I’m alive with a wound this bad. I wanted to make sure no more poison was left in the wound, so I tried cleaning it out with [Thread Control]. This hurt so bad I thought I was going to die.
I have to level up as quickly as I can, to fix this wound. If I leave it as it is, it’s only going to get worse from here. It could fester, it could get necrotic, it could get infected… I cleaned it out with thread, but it’s nowhere near as good as washing it with clean water, let alone actually disinfecting it. I really need to do something before my symptoms get worse.
And, just like that, a chance appears.
A single loner wasp makes its way over here. There’s no other wasps nearby! If there were, they’d probably come rushing to protect their comrade once he got into trouble. This situation is perfect: I don’t have to worry about that at all.
I ready the Ku-morning star. Focus… focus… aaaaaaim… THERE!
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Concentration – LV1]>
Oh, it hit. And it seems like I got a skill at the same time.
Oh, man, I did not think that would hit at all. The Ku-morning star hit it dead on! Using [Thread Control], I unravel it and use the thread to wrap up the captured wasp. I drag the violently struggling bundle back into my nest, and it falls prey to my [Poison Fang].
Whoa. A perfect success on my very first try. This is a great omen! Ah, no, no, I am not going to let myself get cocky again. We all know what happened last time I did. Now, I walk with humility. Well then, let’s celebrate this important first step with this long-awaited meal. Let’s dig in!
APM - Translation 