Original Translation: APM
Editing: Legit-rikk
Additional thanks goes out to Kubor. Join our discord

Eating.

Eating.

I am eating. 

Little by little, in order to not be noticed I slowly nibble away my food.

< Proficiency has reached a certain level. The skill [Heretic Attack LV1] has become [Heretic Attack LV2]. >

I am a spider. And I am in a pinch right now as I am slowly getting cornered. What should I do? 

The monsters all but disappeared. Are you kidding me? Why is there nothing here?

They won’t get caught in my nest, and I don’t see any of them once I go out. That is a problem isn’t it? 

A dangerous monster from the middle stratum turned up all of the sudden. It’s a dangerous creature that releases a tremendous amount of intimidation, spreads curses and paralysis, and is casting spells non-stop!

What do you think you would do in such a situation? Of course you run away if you aren’t an idiot.

Ha-ha! Isn’t that crazy monster just me? 

Right. Yeah. If you look at it that way, I am really crazy, aren’t I? And that is why the monsters run away.
Because if they don’t, they just get eaten.

haaa-

Really now, what is going on here. I have to go quite far to find anything in the upper level. In the middle level they are also all doing home office inside the magma. 

I am not worried about starving to death, because I have enough food stocks left over, but if I don’t think of a countermeasure now, it may be at some point be too late to fix it.

Well, it’s not like I am totally done, I still have one last ace in the hole:

Spatial Magic Level 9 [Teleport]!

This dreamy magic can take me to any place I know. Moreover, it can be combined with Lady Wisdom’s map to give me an accurate way of pinpointing a location!

But I think I am not  going to do that for now, rather I think it is time to start looking for a real exit. So I roam around and expand my scope of activities looking for prey and an exit, and when I get tired I just teleport back home.

I think I will repeat this process and continue to raise my [Fire resistance] while I am back home. If I can’t find any prey, I just transport to the lower level, where I run into Monsters just by walking a bit. I don’t think I will lose there unless the earth dragons appear again. Saying that, I am honestly not that keen on the lower level because of that risk. 

Now that we have our thoughts in order, let’s go out and expand the map! And coincidentally get a meal on the side! Well, it’s not like the monsters in the upper level taste that well though…

Wandering around the upper level and teleporting back to my home. I’ve been living like this for a while now and my Upper Stratum map has expanded quite a bit because of it. But it is still only about 10% of the Middle Stratum. I lived in the Middle Stratum way too long.

I didn’t see a lot of Monsters while doing this, which is only natural considering they were running from me, right? But thanks to that I’ve had a hard time obtaining food and experience.

However, one time I got a treat, experience AND food. I came across a passage that was as wide as the middle stratums and ran into an earth wyrm – an Elroe Fenegrad. It looked like some kind of T-Rex, and I thought I saw it somewhere before, but it was just a part of the crowd of monsters I saw when I was just born. Though it is a long way from there to here, so it might just be a different member of the same species.

When we fought it was strong. Yes, strong. I might have restrained him with strings and stopped him completely with my [Inert Evil Eye] and sucked him dry with my [Jinx Evil Eye], but he was still strong. 

There was no mistaking he was powerful.

But that’s all, isn’t it? I am a dragon slayer, and a mere wyrm is nothing to me. Come to think of it, even a fire wyrm could be beaten rather easily. There is an unconditional gap between a wyrm and a dragon in terms of strength.

Thanks to defeating him, my SP stock increased, and I got some tasty experience. But sadly, I cannot say the same about his flesh. Thanks to the Jinx Evil Eye, even my SP is getting filled up without eating, so it is great that I have more SP to spare now. Thanks to that function my fear of starvation has been put further back. I can just string up the uneaten corpse, and when my SP gets low I just can eat them bit by bit.

The experience was also very delicious. It was almost the same level as the fire wyrm, so I am very close to leveling up. It is still not enough, but at this rate I’m sure to level up soon. Then I am finally going to evolve. Evolving is not going to be the end, but a milestone. I think it is more efficient to have smaller goals and achieve them one-by-one. 

Well, my next goals are the following:
– Evolve

– Level up Fire resistance

– Find a way out of here

As for the way out, I am in no hurry, so I just hope I find it eventually. It would be bad to encounter some humans unprepared. 

Humans, huh..

What should I do if I encounter them? I don’t think I would be willing to kill them, but if they try to then I will fight back.

To be honest, I don’t think I have as much of an aversion to killing as I did when I was in Japan. Hm, maybe I didn’t have that much of an aversion about it in the first place. I just didn’t do it because it was troublesome and there was no point in doing it. Thinking about it, wouldn’t it also be troublesome to kill people in this world? 

I don’t want to be noticed after all.

Yeah. I’m just going to run away when I meet humans. I don’t even know how strong the humans are in this world. There is no way all of them are dragon class, right??? 

Well, if they haven’t captured the Middle Stratum yet, they are probably not that strong. Anyhow, lets just hope I don’t run into them.

Original Translation: APM
Editing: Legit-rikk
Additional thanks goes out to Kubor. Join our discord

Something is strange around here.
I’ve had that feeling for quite some time now. But only recently have I realized that. Before now it was only a subconscious feeling.
Something is definitely wrong.
But what exactly it is, I still don’t understand. While this discomforting feeling is following me, I cannot put my finger on it.

I have to figure out what it is, no matter the cost, otherwise I will regret it.

I have been called to father’s room, which is uncommon. He seems to be busier than ever these days. As it pertains to me, I know about how the rumors of the Hero’s death are spreading from the battlefield among the ordinary people.

We cannot hide the death of Brother Julius.

It seems like the church plans to officially announce the passing of the hero, and to announce a new one at the same time. Which means that I have to finally take the stage as a hero. I guess that is why I have been summoned today.

But why did Sue also get summoned alongside me? Currently we are walking side by side.
I wonder for what reason they called Sue together with me, all the way from the school. It seems Sue wasn’t informed either.

Thus, we arrive at the room clueless. But I guess we are going to know once we are inside. 

I knock on the door.

“It’s Schlain.”
“hm? You may come in.”
“Well then, excuse me.”

I open the door and enter; Sue follows silently.

“What is wrong?” asks Father while writing something on a document. Isn’t that my line?

“Wasn’t it Father who summoned me? What can I do for you?”
“Huh? I didn’t call for you.”

Eh?
By the time I thought that, things were already in motion. Before the sound voicing my doubts could even leave my mouth. Not that they could anyways. Some kind of muting wind magic was placed around me. Constructed and activated so quickly that I couldn’t respond. I only know a few people who could do that, one of them standing right next to me. 

Sue. 

What? 

When I voice my thoughts the air around me drowns out the sound. The tricky part about this magic isn’t that it doesn’t silence you, but instead drowns out your sound with wind. Once it is active, my voice will never get out, unless I cancel it.

As I stand there confused, insult gets added to injury. 

Sue attacks Father.

My eyes widen in surprise.
What?
Why?

Sue uses light magic, the magic I am best at. And Shoots my father in the forehead.

 “Iyaaaaaaaaaa! BIG BROTHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Sue screams at the same time.

I am too confused to get a clear thought. 

Suddenly, Brother Cyrus and an armed knight escort violently open the door , entering the room 

“What is going on!?”
“Big Brother…” exclaims Sue, “He… The king…!”
“Seriously!? You’ve lost your mind Schlain!” 

No it wasn’t me!

I didn’t do it! 

What’s going on? 

I wanted to shout that, but my Voice was drowned out.

“Guards! Schlain attacked his Majesty the King! Apprehend him!”

The armored knight next to him moves right after. He drew his sword and swung it down on me. I was momentarily confused, but thanks to my training I quickly got up and pulled out my own sword to stop it. The armored knight’s sword swiftly splits mine in half.

Impossible. Even though I haven’t reinforced it, there was no way the sword of a Hero would shatter that easily. Yet it got split in half like that.

The constantly changing situation made it hard for me to comprehend what was happening. My hesitation didn’t elude the armored knight however, as he sliced me on the way back up. Thanks to the fact I backpedaled after losing my sword, I wasn’t fatally wounded. Still, the diagonal slash inflicted a serious wound. 

“Yo. You look great right now, my dear lord hero.” Mocks the armored knight. His voice was slightly muffled by the helmet, but I could still clearly make it out.

“You… Hugo!?” I gasped.
“That’s right!” and with that, he takes off his helmet. And standing there is Hugo. The Hugo that should have lost all his skills. That should have lost his position.

Cyrus looks startled. “Hugo, why did you reveal yourself?” Upon hearing that, Hugo  scoffs, “Isn’t it fine? It’s a nice memory to take to the underworld”.
Cyrus just talked as if he knew that the armored knight was Hugo the whole time. Like he knew him prior. But why?

Hugo spots my confused expression. “Oh, so you want to know? Your Esteemed Brother wants the throne. I want revenge on you and Oka. So, we both wanted you out of the way.” 

“But isn’t Cyrus supposed to be the next king anyways?”

“On the contrary. The King that kicked the bucket just now wanted to make you the next king. That way, by announcing your pampered ass as the next king before your announcement as a hero, you wouldn’t have been able to be sent to the battlefield so easily.”

“I will not let such an idiotic action snatch away my throne!” screamed Cyrus bitterly after Hugo’s words. But of course, they also were silenced, so no one but us could hear them. 

I look towards the one who cast that magic.

“Big Brother, its unfortunate, but could you please die?”

Despite sounding like usual, her voice came over like a different person. The complete opposite of her flat but usually passionate voice, she now sounds cold and indifferent, as if she despises me.
“Sue? What’s wrong?”
“Big Brother,” she just answers flatly, “I have discovered true love, and for that reason I am willing to kill you.”

Something is strange. Thinking that there is something wrong with her, I activate appraisal. [Hypnosis], [Brainwashing], and [Charmed] were all displayed there.
“HUGO! Did you do that??”
“Oh, you noticed? You see it now? That’s right. I did that. How does it feel? How does it feel to be robbed? Are you frustrated? I know exactly what you are going through right now! Hehehe.”
“Turn Sue back to normal right now!”
“You really think I’m going to turn her back just because you asked? Are you an idiot?”
My eyes slowly redden. My body does not respond like I want It to.
Hugo raises his sword. “The guards will be here soon. I guess it’s time for you to ‘take your leave’ now.” 

“I WON’T LET YOU!” Suddenly, a small elven body inserts itself between us, and blows him away with a shockwave of wind; leaving me shocked.

“OOOKA?!?” Hugo reacts a second later.
“Let’s run.” Without sparing Hugo a glance, teacher runs off. Someone is carrying me. 

“Hyrince!” I exclaim in shock. “Hey, I’m confused too, but let’s just think about surviving right now, ok?”

I cast healing magic to mend my wounds, while teacher’s magic blows away the approaching guards. On the way here and there, I could see fellow soldiers fighting each other. “What is going on?” 

“Mutiny” answers Oka. “Mutiny?” “Indeed, led by the first prince Cyrus and Hugo. They probably intend to pin the blame on you shun, as if they were the ones to quell the rebellion.”

Teachers’ explanation leaves me lost for words. 

“Right now, Leston is fighting. We escape while he buys us time.” Saying that, we finally escape the castle and head for a single house.

“We will rendezvous with Leston there, and then we are going to flee the country.” Teacher then states calmly.
“Wait a second Teacher! We have to do something about Hugo and Sue!”
“We won’t.”
“But teacher, if we deal with him right now, we can resolve this whole mess. I know I lost before, but my wounds are healed now, and if we go back to the castle to get him…”
“No.” The same statement as before.
“Teacher! Please!”
“The church has already announced a new Hero. And his name is Hugo von Renxandt”
“eh?”
“That means that even the church is in on this.”

I stumble involuntarily. Luckily Hyrince catches my shoulder, before asking cautiously, “Miss elf, do you have any idea on why the church is involved in this nonsense?”
“It’s reasonable to assume that Hugo’s Brainwashing has penetrated deep into the church.”
“That’s impossible! Such brainwashing usually wears off nearly instantaneous. It should not be able to lead to such a situation.”
“Yes, generally that should be the case.” Oka elaborates, “But there is one exception.”
“Exception?”
“The Top level Skill series, ‘Seven Sins’: ‘Lust’. The Brainwashing effect of it is unmatched by any other skill. I have no doubt that Hugo possesses this skill.”

‘Seven Sins’? Are there skills like that? There was no such skill among the ones I’ve checked, does that mean that it is a Skill that can’t be acquired even with 100,000 Skill points?
“With that being clear, I have no idea how far Hugo’s reach is, but it is safe to say this whole country is already a lost cause.” Hearing that, I can only let out a faint “Oh no…”. 

Right during my dilemma, Brother Leston and two more familiar faces entered the house together. Instantly he shouts “Shun! Are you all right?”. The first one, Anna greets me with “It’s been a long time, your highness” and the other, Klevea adds “You have grown up splendidly, your highness”. These were the two maids that once worked as our personal chambermaids. Compared to the still young looking Half-elf Anna, Klevea looks older than before. Still, she came to my aid in my time of need nonetheless. Suddenly I became desperate.
“Anna? Not you too!”
“Yes?”
“You too, you are also under Hugo’s control!” Anna’s status clearly states [Hypnosis], [Brainwashing], and [Charmed] after appraising it. At the same time I was shouting, Anna suddenly squints her eyes and begins to construct magic. I intercept her and knock her out with my hand, now that my sword is gone. Immediately, I try to cleanse her status with healing magic. However, the letters didn’t disappear from Anna’s status.
“Shit! They even got Anna”, Brother Leston clenches his fists in frustration. 

“This is bad! We’re surrounded!” After hearing Mr. Hyrince’s words, I looked outside the house and see numerous soldiers standing all around us.

“Let’s break through by force!” at teacher’s proposal, we all nod. Then Leston hands me his sword.
“What is that?” I ask, confused. “It is a divine sword of the royal family. This is better suited to be wielded by the hero Shun, rather than by me, who has no combat experience.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.” I answer, before following Mr. Hyrince as he leads the way into the encirclement. At the same time, Brother Leston’s troops launch a surprise attack from their hiding spot. “Now!”, on teacher’s command we break through the encirclement. But there is another unit ahead of us.

And the one leading them is…

“Shun! You are not going to get away with this!”
“Katia…”

My best friend from my previous life stands in front of me.

***************************************************

“Hugo, You bastard, you let him go on purpose, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t act senile now! You know what kind of trouble he is going to cause if he stays alive!”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“Bastard.”
“The fuck is wrong with you shithead?”
“huh?”
“Why are you telling me what to do, bastard? You’re just another pawn.”
“What are you saying?”
“I can kill you anytime I want. You should know that.”
“You…”
“It’s not like I am satisfied with only this much. They are going to have to suffer much more…”

Original Translation: APM
Editing: Legit-rikk
Additional thanks goes out to Kubor. Join our discord

I’ve returned, Upper Stratum! I am finally, finally back again!

Living for so long in the middle Stratum Made me long for the upper Stratum’s comfortable air. I forgot how wonderful “not constantly burning” felt.

Let’s enjoy the excitement of returning to the upper Stratum for a moment. It really has been a while huh? Ever since I got chased down to the lower stratum by that snake. The battle with the bees, and me being overlooked by that Earth dragon. 

The Lower Stratum was way too full of monster swarms wandering around. Like the Monkeys and their attack on me. Then, While preparing to enter the Middle Stratum, those damn Earth dragons showed up again. 

Once I finally thought I made it through, the scorching hell of the Middle Stratum comes around. Along with magma as our first and strongest opponent. The Catfish were delicious, the Eels presented a challenge, Mother came for a visit, Fire wyrms came in droves, and the Fire Dragon was stupidly strong.

Huh?

How come I’m still alive?

Well, what does it even mean to be alive?

What is considered as still alive?

I don’t care because I AM STILL ALIVE!

Well then, I reached my end goal traversing the Middle Stratum. So, what to do now?

A few days after my return to the Upper Stratum I simply chilled in a web near the entrance to the Middle Stratum. 

Mmmmmh, that’s it. That’s all I ever wanted. What a magnificent home. I can finally lay down and sleep without risking getting burned. Who knew life with strings could be that relaxing? Ahh. Sweet, sweet happiness.p

I have been looking around the area in the past few days, and I couldn’t spot any strong monsters. Even though this is the same Stratum, I am completely opposite to my starting point. The distance between there and my current point is so far that it could cover Japan’s main island.

I was wondering whether the ecology and the environment would change once you are that far removed, and indeed there were some unfamiliar monsters. However, I was also relieved to see some old friends. Like the Frogs.

The structure around the entrance to the middle level is quite wide, but once you get further in, it’s like a narrow passage branching. Because of that, there aren’t any large monsters nearby. Well, being large doesn’t equal being strong, but all the strong monsters I have seen so far have also been large. I haven’t seen any small, strong monsters like me, so I wonder if I’m a rarity here?

But even the small and weak ones can come in packs, like the monkeys and the centipedes, so that doesn’t mean I can drop my guard. Even though the me of now could wipe them out with Abyssal Magic… but if I did actually do so I would probably bring Mr.Cave’s roof to a very unstable situation. Yeah, I can only predict a major cave-in coming. I guess I will have to rely on substitutes like my poison, huh.

At least currently there seem to be no monsters that would pose a threat to me.And I have an escape route called “magma” I can easily escape through, should that change. Though I have a feeling there are less and less encounters with monsters as time goes on.

As I just desperately escaped from the Middle Stratum, I think I’ll live here for a while and hone my skills while taking it easy. Not as much as before I started capturing the middle stratum, but just some relaxation. Just a minute of laziness. As I’ve worked so hard until now, I should be allowed to do that right?

My level of security has increased immensely ever since I reached the Upper Stratum; while it is not guaranteed, it is definitely safer in the Upper Stratum than in the Middle Stratum where I can’t use my stings. Considering that, I want to do something that I haven’t been able to do for a while. This is the reason why I camp out so close to the middle stratum.

I move out of my new home and go back into the Middle Stratum. 

Ugh, the heat…

After experiencing the air of the Upper Stratum, you definitely realize how bad the air down here is.

I have no idea how I managed to endure all that, I really want to give myself a pat on the back for that.

 Well, I guess that’s good enough for now. 

Slowly, I approach the magma.

Ugh, it gets so hot the closer you get. I really don’t want to go near there. But nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Alright, let’s do this. Let’s plunge my scythe right into the magma!

UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! 

THE HEAT HUUUUUUUUUURTS!

<Skill proficiency reached. Skill [Pain Alleviation LV8] has become [Pain Alleviation LV9]> 

I constantly apply healing magic and treatment magic with the help of Magic Brain 1 and 2. Even so, the sickle is burning waaay too fast. Rather than burning, it is directly melting.

Holy hell, even my body is starting to burn.

Panicking, I pull my sickle out of the magma and put it out by using my poison. That finally extinguishes the fire wreaking havoc on my body. 

Haaaah. That was painful.

What I wanted to do was to improve my [Fire Resistance] level. Even though I had been walking in the Middle Stratum for such a long time, my [Fire Resistance] level was only 7. It improves so slowly, and even though I was in a lot of pain just now, it didn’t go up at all. Well, at least ain Resistance] got leveled up instead.

I already went through the Middle Stratum, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still vulnerable to fire. Since there is a place where I can train my [Fire Resistance] in this way, I think I should strengthen it to the point where it becomes [Heat Nullification]. Up until now, I’ve prioritized safety and never put the idea into action, but from now on, I can do it without worrying about that.

Oh, by the way, as expected my sickle melted completely. And [Healing Magic] at level 2 cannot yet restore missing limbs. It is just usable for small injuries. I guess I have to wait for my automatic recovery skill to kick in, and now that it’s evolved into [HP Rapid Recovery] it doesn’t take that long anymore.

Hum. Still, at this rate, it’s gonna take a long time before I acquire [Heat Nullification].

Name	Zoa Ele
Level	19
HP (Green)	499/687+0 (185 up)
MP (Blue)	5012/5012+1300 (916 up)
SP (Yellow)	636/636 (114 up)
SP (Red)	636/636+1191 (114 up)
Average Offense	590 (84 up)
Average Defense	685 (82 up)
Average Magic Power	4757 (856 up)
Average Resistance	4871 (850 up)
Average Speed	3152 (472 up)
Skill Points	0

Original Translation: APM
Editing: Legit-rikk
Additional thanks goes out to Kubor. Join our discord

Food. Food! Foood!

Slowly and careful to not slurp, I chew what my threads have reeled in.

<Skill proficiency reached. Skill [Satiation LV2] has become [Satiation LV3]>

<Skill proficiency reached. Skill [Divinity Area Expansion LV4] has become

[Divinity Area Expansion LV5]>

<Skill proficiency reached. Skill [Taboo LV8] has become [Taboo LV9]>

Over the next several days I increase my pace and continued to advance. While looking at the automapping of Lady Wisdom, I can see that I have traveled a considerable distance. It seems like the middle layer covers the undulating and meandering space between the upper and lower layer, like it is covering the whole place fully. Unlike with the Upper Stratum, it’s nice that the whole thing is one long path, but it’s stupendously long.

There were several vertical Mother sized pits along the way that She probably uses, but I stayed away from all of them. Don’t be conceited now, just because you killed a Fire dragon, me! I have a hunch I still can’t beat mother right now.

I’ve started thinking about that mysterious attack that Mother threw out during her fight in the Middle Stratum; I mean, that had to be the same [Dragon Power]-[Breath], right? It’s hard to get a concrete guess, but it would be no surprise if she had it.

That would mean she’s already slayed dragons.

Oh man…

There’s no way I can win against her.

That’s why I won’t go near a place where she might be loitering around.

I proceeded along the Middle Stratum without any trouble after that.

Fire dragons? Not even a fire Wyrm appeared. As you all know by now, the Middle Stratum monsters are vastly lower in level then Lower Stratum ones. That is probably why there are so few strong Monsters.

I have detected some fish that could be eels, but they don’t ever come out of the magma. If I shoot them with my breath or spells, they just withdraw further into the magma. It’s the same story with catfish.

In fact, even the seahorses, which so troublesomely charged me at the beginning, run the moment they see me. I can one-shot them with my breath before they realize it, but as evaporating them doesn’t give any food in return, it’s just a huge waste in terms of consumption. Even if there was, it would sink into the magma.

So I can’t eat anything, so what?

It still gives exp, but its cost-effectiveness is very off-turning. So, I’m only going after the monsters who actually go on land. If I don’t consume SP meaninglessly then it’ll last me a while. 

Since my fight with the Fire Dragon I’ve also gained a little exp, compared to back then I am halfway done. But that still means I have half the levels left, so it looks like evolution is still a long way off. I’m constantly trying to conserve my SP, all of the relevant skills are leveling super slowly.

Welp, I guess it can’t be helped.

If I could eat as much food as I want, I wouldn’t need to regulate it so much, but I want to have some SP in reserve should I meet another Fire Dragon class enemy. And even if I don’t, if I’m not careful then I may just straight up starve to death. That’s why I can’t squander my SP away.

In exchange for that, my MP related abilities have grown considerably. 

[Poison Synthesis], [Magic Combat Act], and various types of evil eyes have all risen.

In the magic department, [Shadow Magic] reached level 10. And as expected, the derivative skill was [Dark magic]. Even after hitting the Countermark, [Shadow Magic] still gives me the same delicate feeling as ever, that’s why I am going to focus on leveling [Dark Magic] first.

[Space Magic]’s level has been rising fairly well, but I still don’t have access to teleporting. Its level rises steadily, but the slow growth rate compared to the other magic makes me a bit anxious and excited.

Unsurprisingly, [Poison Synthesis] and [Poison Magic] levels also hit max. However, what was surprising, or rather unsurprising, was that the derived skills turned out to be quite similar to each other: [Medicine Synthesis] and [Treatment Magic]. Does it have something to do with the fact that good medicine always tastes bitter?

Anyhow, I finally obtained a way to recover! Until now I’ve relied on level ups and [Automatic Recovery], so it’s great that I’m now able to heal myself instantly.

Well, its level is quite low, and I couldn’t confirm the strength of the effect because I hadn’t had a situation where my HP was reduced. One of these days, when I can afford it, I am going to reduce my own HP and try it out.

[Heresy Magic] also reached max level. But its derivation turned out to be quite the problem child.

It’s [Taboo].

Thankfully the level didn’t rise but I thought my heart stopped when the announcement came.

Well, it didn’t rise at that time, but over the past couple days it went all the way up to Level 9 before I knew it. Level proficiency is working against me now! Only one more to go.

Some of my evil eyes have also evolved.

[Cursed Evil Eye] gave me [Jinx Evil Eye]. To my surprise, the drained HP and other things are now returned to me. In addition, its power also increased, so it’s a definitive improvement to before. It cannot absorb status, but absorbing SP in itself is huge. So now I can first drain them with the evil eye, and then slurp them up for increased nourishment.

[Paralyzing Evil Eye] also evolved into [Inert Evil Eye]. It’s not normal paralysis anymore, it seems to inflict the enemy with some kind of time stop like attribute!

Even with paralysis the monsters were still able to move slightly; but with this upgraded version they literally can’t move. I guess that this [Stasis Evil Eye] uses a mix of paralysis and another attribute that I haven’t come across yet.

However, even when looking at the skill list, I can’t see any suitable attributes for it…

Ah well, I still win if my opponents are ever caught by it, so it simply means that I’ve become stronger.

[Heavy Evil Eye] also went up a level, but didn’t go all the way up to the max. To make up for that, I got [Heavy Resistance] instead. However, acquiring it means my weight training efficiency dropped a sharp bit.

And finally, [Telescopic Sight]. It derived a skill named [Clairvoyance].

It’s a broken skill which not only expands the effect of [Telescopic Sight] but also adds the effect of clairvoyance. Which means I can now see through walls and beyond.

But when I hear [Clairvoyance], I expect something like being able to see everything throughout the world. This feels more like an extension of [Telescopic Sight].

There’s a certain something that I’ve been able to see with this skill for a while though.

A long slope to the top.

It’s been a while.

I had to go through a lot, but with this I will finally be released.

Goodbye and good riddance, you hot magma filled place.

I’m finally home, Upper Stratum.

Looking out from the shadow of a rock,  Still a bit ahead of where I am, about 7 Monsters gather. A valuable source of food and experience points.

A pack of red dogs. Fortunately, they have nothing to do with a certain admiral of the Marines.

The dogs spend their time sleeping and play-fighting. Being dogs, they must have a sharp sense of smell, so they’ll notice me if I try to get closer.

First of all, [Intimidation] off. Though only barely, I notice that some of the effects of [Stealth] return even if only slightly.

Well, as long as I have the [Fearbringer] title, I can’t hide completely anyways, so it just makes it a bit harder for the other party to notice you. It’s a level of intimidation that would prevent sneaking in unnoticed.

They have a high level searching ability, thus I need to spy on them with [Telescopic Sight] from far away so they don’t notice me. If I were to get any closer they would notice me eventually.

Then they would naturally run away.

Being rare in the middle stratum, the Red Dogs do not possess any magma swimming skills. But, it’ll be troublesome if they scatter in all directions. Even though I am going to hunt every single one of them anyways, that would just mean extra work. That’s why I am going to do this right the first time.

Hmm. This is actually a great opportunity to test out that skill I got the other day.

Well then, [Dragon Power] boot up! By the way, [Magic Power Attack] is already active. My stats immediately skyrocket. I start running towards the red dogs with my newly enhanced speed.

They notice me on the way but it’s already too late! I brandish my scythes and cleanly decapitate the first two dogs, then go around the two trying to run and do the same to them.

The last three dogs run in the opposite direction.Without a moment’s delay I spit my breath at them. Just as planned, the breath causes a violent explosion as it hits the ground in front of the dogs.The red dogs get overturned by the impact, and not missing the opportunity, I quickly finish them off.

Mission complete!

Hehe, this kind of thing is easy for me. Oh, I better eat while it’s fresh. Fufufu.

As expected of a skill named [Dragon Power], the power boost is on a whole other level compared to [Wyrm Power].Furthermore, this skill has two additional effects:

One is [Breath], which I can only use when the skill is active, which is further broken down into a fireball-looking single shot, and a wide annihilation type breath, though the power isn’t super high. It’s a far cry from a true dragon’s breaths and it’s only a small part of the skill. Even so, it’s still approximately Eel-strength. That’s why I never hit the dogs directly, they’d disintegrate, and I would never waste food like that!

By the way, this [Breath] seems to automatically become whatever attribute the user is most proficient in. In my case, it’s a combo of ‘Poison’ and ‘Darkness’. The ‘Dark’ attribute brings forth destructive power while the ‘Poison’ attribute erodes my opponents. Although it would lose to real dragons in terms of destructive power, it might win in terms of nastiness.

The second effect of [Dragon Power] is the power to interfere with magic, certainly a cousin of the nasty [Dragon scales] effect. Though it’s certainly much weaker than the original.

But I can’t test it right now because I don’t have any magical creatures on hand.

[Dragon Power] is a great skill which helps everything: raises stats, grants a strong attack method, and even helps with defense. But I can’t use it.

It’s such a wonderful skill but it uses both SP and MP, just like [Wyrm Power], but at a faster rate. MP is okay but SP is the real issue. I used it in this fight as a trial run but it costs too much for small fights, it’s another skill only to be used against boss-class monsters.

Hmm. In the recent days I’ve already barely been scraping by with my SP usage. It’s fine for my normal activities, but not enough if I want to grind levels and gain more proficiency.

[Spatial Maneuvering], [Magic Power Attack], and now even [Dragon Power]. It’d be great if I got a [SP Automatic Recovery] skill or something. At the moment I can only recover it through eating.

Comparatively, I have a surplus of MP. Even with activating [Magic Power Attack] and having Magic Brain 1 and 2 continuously strike me with magic, it only depletes slightly faster than it recovers. No matter how much effort I put in to try and deplete it I just wake up everyday and see it fully recovered.

Although I can use powerful spells like [Abyss Magic], I’d probably cause a natural disaster inside the labyrinth.Which is… bad. a total death flag.

Besides, I’m concentrating on raising the level of [Spatial Magic] right now. It even became level 2. As expected of a skill taking up that many points, its proficiency is earned a lot slower than most other magic skills.

The magic I learned from level 2 turned out to be [Coordinate Fixation]. This magic just fixes the space selected by the level 1 magic [Coordinate Designation]. Even if it’s called ‘Fixation’, it has no material influence at all.Just a line that appears and specifies the position in space, the same as with the level 1 version. This might be the same as just specifying coordinates, but it is a requirement to use high level magic. Now I can shoot other magic and skills at the fixated position, and I’ll have a 100% hit rate.

Now that I’ve developed the [Hit] skill it doesn’t seem very useful, but it’s better to have than not!

I want to learn teleport as fast as possible, and I’ve got plenty of MP to acquire it. So start working, Magic brain 1 and 2!

Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord

---

Name	Small Lesser Taratect
Level	1
HP (Green)	26/26
MP (Blue)	26/26
SP (Yellow)	26/26
SP (Red)	26/26
Average Offense	8
Average Defense	8
Average Magic Power	8
Average Resistance	8
Average Speed	8
Skill Points	–

We are the spider’s initial species.

Weak.

The subjugation danger degree that the human determined is the lowest, F. Because it’s weak in status, it will only charge foolishly. That’s why, the subjugation is easy. However, there’s also individual that rarely makes nest. In that case, the danger degree springs up. It is said that a person got caught in the nest without any preparations, the worst, it can be said that it’s the end for that person. Therefore, destroying the nest in top priority when discovered it is the adventurer’s basic. The thread and the main body are vulnerable to fire.

Name	Small Taratect
Level	1
HP (Green)	36/36
MP (Blue)	36/36
SP (Yellow)	36/36
SP (Red)	36/36
Average Offense	18
Average Defense	18
Average Magic Power	18
Average Resistance	18
Average Speed	18
Skill Points	–

The spider’s normal species. Still, it’s weak as usual. It’s property is also about the same with the deteriorating species.

Name	Lesser Taratect
Level	1
HP (Green)	85/85
MP (Blue)	36/36
SP (Yellow)	85/85
SP (Red)	85/85
Average Offense	42
Average Defense	42
Average Magic Power	18
Average Resistance	18
Average Speed	42
Skill Points	–

The grown form of the deteriorating species.

It grows up to approximately 5 meters in length, and physical-related status improves. Still, it’s weak. However, the probability to meet it is very low because it’s rare that a hatchling of the deteriorating species can evolve to this.

Name	Elroe Frog
Level	1
HP (Green)	６５／６５
MP (Blue)	４５／４５
SP (Yellow)	５５／５５
SP (Red)	５５／５５
Average Offense	３５
Average Defense	３５
Average Magic Power	２８
Average Resistance	２８
Average Speed	３０
Skill Points	–

It’s approximately 1 meter in length and it has a rainbow-colored body surface.

It uses the strategy where it shoots the droplets that has weak poison created by “Poison Synthesis” and the acid attribute from the “Acid Attack”. Even if it the opponent gets closer, the opponent might receive an unexpected counterattack because of its stable physical ability.

Danger degree, E.

Name	Elroe Randanel
Level	1
HP (Green)	１２５／１２５
MP (Blue)	２５／２５
SP (Yellow)	１２５／１２５
SP (Red)	１０５／１０５
Average Offense	７８
Average Defense	６５
Average Magic Power	２２
Average Resistance	３４
Average Speed	７７
Skill Points	–

Also known as the three intimate friends. A small dinosaur-like monster measuring about 1.5 meters in length.They always act in 3 and make fun of their enemy with skillful cooperation.

They corner their opponent into poisoned condition with “Poison Fang” and “Poison Claw”. They are good at cornering their opponent slowly.

Danger degree, D.

Name	Elroe Pekatot
Level	1
HP (Green)	155/155
MP (Blue)	46/46
SP (Yellow)	180/180
SP (Red)	125/125
Average Offense	58
Average Defense	39
Average Magic Power	32
Average Resistance	32
Average Speed	100
Skill Points	–

A monster with a strange figure that has the body of a fused penguin and pelican and the arms of a monkey.

Although it only has 4 skills, it’s a troublesome monster that can jump around at high speed in the small cave and it attacks from every direction.

In the story, it was caught in the nest and was quickly eaten.

Danger degree, D.

Name	Elroe Basilisk
Level	1
HP (Green)	138/138
MP (Blue)	126/126
SP (Yellow)	46/46
SP (Red)	65/65
Average Offense	58
Average Defense	52
Average Magic Power	108
Average Resistance	105
Average Speed	58
Skill Points	–

Also known as petrifaction lizard.

A gray-colored lizard-like monster measuring just a little over 1 meter in length. It petrifies its opponent with the basilisk inherent skill, “Magic Eyes of Petrifaction”. In addition, it has poison. Furthermore, it can use “Earth Magic”, although there’s no opportunity to show it in the story. It uses the strategy where it shoots the soil made by the “Earth Magic”, but there’s no time to do it because it was caught in the nest.

Taking the troublesome petrified condition into account, the danger degree is C.

Name	Small Rock Turtle
Level	1
HP (Green)	180/180
MP (Blue)	10/10
SP (Yellow)	25/25
SP (Red)	100/100
Average Offense	108
Average Defense	236
Average Magic Power	8
Average Resistance	58
Average Speed	6
Skill Points	–

Also known as turtle.

The turtle-type monster that carries a rock shell on its back. It’s very slow-witted, and it has high defensive ability, but the other abilities are altogether low. Although it only has the ramming attack, the power of the rush can’t be underestimated.

Danger degree, D.

Name	Elroe Ferect
Level	1
HP (Green)	25/25
MP (Blue)	15/15
SP (Yellow)	15/15
SP (Red)	15/15
Average Offense	5
Average Defense	5
Average Magic Power	4
Average Resistance	4
Average Speed	90
Skill Points	–

Also known as centipede.

A insect-type monster that has brisk feet growing on it. Most of the status is low. Only the speed is strangely high. However, it can be subdued easily if there’s only 1 because it doesn’t has the “Night Vision” despite being the endemic species of the Elro Great Labyrinth. The terrifying part of this monster is that it spring forth in large quantities and it lives as a colony.

Although the individual’s danger degree is F, the colony’s danger degree is considered to be B.

Name	Elroe Baradrad
Level	1
HP (Green)	350/350
MP (Blue)	100/100
SP (Yellow)	350/350
SP (Red)	350/350
Average Offense	320
Average Defense	320
Average Magic Power	100
Average Resistance	280
Average Speed	300
Skill Points	–

Also known as snake.

A huge snake-type monster that seems to be able to swallow a person wholly. Physical status is high. It has the skill that can be seen in the dragon species called the “Dragon Scale”. By the effect of the “Dragon Scale”, it has a high defensive ability for both physical and magic.

Danger degree, C.

Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord

---

The [Appraisal] ceremony finished without a hitch, apart from that little commotion. It seems that what had everyone talking wasn’t just the fact that Sue’s stats and mine were both abnormally high. Thanks to my enhanced sense of hearing, I was able to eavesdrop a little on the nobles’ discussions. It seems that skill points are normally only supposed to be granted when you level up, so starting with a hundred thousand at level one isn’t normal at all. Sue, now that I think about it, has zero. I’d bet that this is because I’ve reincarnated, but what’s interesting is that I keep overhearing that “the duke’s daughter” also was born with skill points.

From what these nobles are saying, it sounds like the duke’s daughter was Appraised a few days ago. They found that not only did she have phenomenally high stats, she also had skill points she wasn’t supposed to. On top of that, they’re saying that she also has the same skill with the strange, glitchy name that I do.

I come to a sudden realization: if what I’m hearing is correct, I absolutely must meet this daughter of a duke. My chance, luckily, arrived quickly.

After the [Appraisal] ceremony, we were led to a different assembly hall, where a small party was being held. Accompanied by the king, we went to meet a group of young nobles that had lined up in the center of the room. These children are generally around my age or slightly older; it seems that this is a way for the younger generation of the nobility to introduce themselves to each other. There, I got a chance to meet the duke’s daughter.

“It is a great pleasure to meet you, my lord. I am the daughter of Duke Anabald, Karnatia Seri Anabald,” she says.

She is beautiful, with bright red hair like a raging flame and a fierce face that reveals her strong-willed disposition. Her presence captivates the attention with just a single glance. Not only that, I can see through my Mana Perception the huge mass of magical energy that billows around her. She has as much as Sue and I do.

Duke Anabald, incidentally, is among the country’s most renowned members of the aristocracy. House Anabald has served the country for many generations, and their proud lineage has produced royalty and heroes. Every child born to the House of Anabald is supremely gifted, and their talents are finely honed by rigorous education so that they may be raised as the finest servants of their country.

Even so, the girl before me is abnormal. She seems to have already surpassed her father, the red-haired man who stands next to her.

“Greetings,” I reply, “I am Schlain Zagan Analeit. 宜しく (Nice to meet you)”

To test my realization from earlier, I said the last part in Japanese. For an instant, her eyes went wide, and I knew at once that I had been completely right.

“Father, may I speak with this girl?” I ask. “Eh?” replies the king.

He seems a little puzzled by my actions. The duke and his daughter, after all, were at the head of a long line of other children, brought in to meet me. However, I couldn’t let this chance slip past me.

“Should I not?” “Hmm…“

The king glances at me, then at the duke, then at the other nobles still waiting in line, contemplating his options. Finally, he opens his mouth to speak.

“I don’t mind. Don’t be gone for too long. Come back in a little while.” “Yes, Father. Thank you.”

I grab the duke’s daughter’s hand and run off, like a little kid. Behind me, Sue started sulking incredibly, but I paid it no mind.

We left the assembly hall and found a private chamber off of the waiting room. Rooms such as these were set up near the assembly halls so that any nobles who needed to slip away to conduct private transactions could do so. This room is tightly soundproofed, and a guard stationed at the door outside adds additional security. “Ahh, this’ll do,” I say, talking in Japanese now that I have nothing to hide.

“I would have never guessed that the prince would seriously be another reincarnated person!” says the duke’s daughter, also speaking in Japanese. “Oh maaaan, it’s been so long since I heard Japanese coming out of another person’s mouth! I’m getting a little emotional here.” She still looks as strong-willed as ever, but her tone is light.

“So, I’d like to know… do you remember Heishin High School?” I ask, referring to my old school.

“Holy crap, yeah! We’re seriously both from the same school and reincarnated in this world, huh?”

As I feared, this young woman was, just like me, caught up in that mysterious mid-air crack in the classroom and transported here; a former classmate.

“My old name was Shunsuke Yamada,” I say. “What was yours?” “Bwha?!” As soon as I say my old name, her eyes practically fly out of their sockets. “Ahahahahaha! H… hahaha! Y… you’re… Shun! Shun, a prince, haha, as fucking iiiif!”

The young woman lets out an enormous roar of laughter. What’s with this deja vu? The girl in front of me looks nothing like anyone I know, but this style of speech, these mannerisms, I remember them.

“Are you… no way, are you Kanata?” I ask, incredulously. “Yeah!”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. Kanata, the guy I used to play games with all the time, my best friend, is now a young woman. I don’t know if it would have been possible for him to have been reincarnated as anything less like his old self.

“Man, don’t laugh! I was seriously depressed about this for a while after I was reborn, you know?” “Ahaaa, my bad. You were laughing at me just now though! Let’s call it even.” “Yeah. I’m so glad I met you again, though! It’s been rough so far, dealing with this all on my own.” “Ahh, yeah, I totally understand. I’m glad we met too.”

Kanata and I bump fists.

Immediately, an ear-splitting sound roars through the soundproofed door. “What the?!” yells Kanata, panicking. I also panic for an instant, but as soon as I realize who was on the other side, I calm down. Or, rather, I started panicking for a different reason.

With another roar, the door flies off its hinges and crashes into the room. On the other side, I see Sue, her body strengthened with [Magic Warfare] and [Magic Conferment] readying her fist for another strike. She peers at the two of us, then locks on to Kanata.

“Sue, no! Stop! Stop!!” I dive between them, just barely before Sue was going to blow Kanata to pieces.

Sue runs forward and clings to me tightly. “I won’t let anyone else have you,” she mumbles.

“お前の妹、こええ(Your sister’s scaaaary…)” says Kanata.

On that day, I met my first classmate.

Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord

---

HP Auto-recovery: Gradually restores lost HP. Allows for recovery of injuries that would not heal naturally.}

{Poison Fang: Grants the Poison attribute to the user’s bite attack.}

{Poison Synthesis: Consumes MP to customize and purify poisons. The kinds of poison that may be synthesized are dependent on skill level. Available poisons: Weak Poison – LV 1}

{Spider Thread: A unique skill possessed only by spiders and spider-like organisms. Produces customizable silky threads. Attributes available to customize: adhesion, elasticity, resilience, texture, strength, and size.}

{Thread Control: Allows the user to freely manipulate thread.}

{Throw: When throwing something, increases the strength and accuracy of the throw.}

{Concentration: Increases the ability to concentrate.}

{Hit: Increases the user’s accuracy rate, in every circumstance.}

{Appraisal: Displays information about various things.}

{Detection: A composite skill that encompasses every perception skill in the system. Skills included: [Magic Power Perception], [Technique Perception], [Material Perception], [Presence Perception], [Danger Perception], [Motion Perception], [Heat Perception], [Reaction Perception], and [Space Perception].}

{Stealth: Conceals the user’s presence.}

{Night Vision: Provides a sense of sight even when no light sources exist.}

{Vision Expansion: Widens the band of frequencies that the user is capable of perceiving.}

{Poison Resistance: Increases the user’s defense against the Poison attribute.}

{Paralysis Resistance: Increases the user’s defense against the Paralysis attribute.}

{Petrification Resistance: Increases the user’s defense against the Petrification attribute.}

{Acid Resistance: Increases the user’s defense against the Acid attribute.}

{Rot Resistance: Increases the user’s defense against the Rot attribute.}

{Fear Resistance: Stifles feelings of terror.}

{Pain Nullification: Completely negates the restrictive effects of pain on the user’s mind and body.}

{Pain Mitigation: Lessens the sense of pain, while preserving the sense of danger pain would ordinarily provide.}

I appraise the remaining skills in one go. Generally, everything’s as I thought it was going to be, but there was a bit of new information in there as well.

The [Vision Expansion] skill, for instance, has finally been explained. This will let me see infrared and ultraviolet radiation… right? I can’t really see anything, though… Oh, I guess I only have one level in it, so it’s not going to do all that much. It’s also totally possible that there isn’t much infrared or ultraviolet radiation bouncing around inside a dungeon. Well, it hasn’t been bothering me so far, so I guess I don’t really care!

I also analyzed the various attributes in the resistance system, and, uh, found something kinda terrible. Most of the attributes are pretty much exactly what they say on the box, but… one of them doesn’t really quite match up.

{Rot Attribute: Encompasses the breakdown and collapse of matter, such as that associated with death.}

What the heck? Scary. I thought it was just a skill that made it okay for me to eat meat that was a little rotten, but this is a really weird attribute. My [Rot Resistance] went up when I ate one of those snail-bugs… do they have this attribute? Whoa. That… explains that terrible, unearthly taste. Ugh. Eating those things is absolutely the last resort.

The next thing that I got curious about was [Detection]. It’s way, way more high-power than I had originally thought. “Every perception skill in the system”? Shouldn’t I have had to spend more than just 100 points on that? Can I use them one at a time? Noooope. Man, seriously, I want to figure out what each one of these things does individually, but it looks like I have to activate everything simultaneously. My options are “on” and “off”, nothing for the individual skills. I really want to use [Presence Perception] and [Danger Perception], but when everything is activated simultaneously I can’t tell the bits of information I want from all the rest of the information that’s coming in.

There’s no way my tiny little brain can process all of that; if I try, a headache will be the least of my worries. On top of that, when I turned it on just to test it for a little while, the level went up again! Now it assaults me with even more useless information! Until I find a skill that makes my brain work better, I can’t use this at all. This skill is awesome because it’s so high-power… but it’s also basically impossible to use.

‘Twas caviar to the general, pearls cast before swine, [Detection] for a spider. Ugh.

Well, onto the last thing, the skills that have the highest chance of having their true potential unlocked through [Appraisal]: my three magic skills. The skills that I’ve had to leave aside all this time because I had no idea how to use them. The skills that would be infinitely more useful if I knew how they worked. If I knew that, I’d be able to truly call myself a magician. Yeah! d, if you would?!

{Heresy Magic: Magic that directly affects the soul. The spells that may be cast are dependent on skill level. Available spells: Discomfort – LV 1, Phantom Pain – LV 2}

{Shadow Magic: A low-rank Darkness magic that manipulates shadows. The spells that may be cast are dependent on skill level. Available spells: Dark Shadow – LV 1}

{Poison Magic: Magic that manipulates poison. The spells that may be cast are dependent on skill level. Available spells: Poison Touch – LV 1}

Oh? Ohh? Hmm… Questionable. Well, don’t get me wrong, compared to when I knew absolutely nothing this is a night-and-day difference… but I still have no idea how to use it. [Heresy Magic]… these are mind-affecting spells, right? [Shadow Magic] and [Poison Magic]… well, they’re pretty obvious. Some of these even look like they might be useful even at level one! They might be useful… but how the heck do I activate them? Should I just try doing it like I did with [Appraisal], just kinda chanting the name to myself.

Right. Now then… [Discomfort]!

…

Nothing happened. Ah, well, maybe it was a misfire because I didn’t aim it at a target. Let’s try a different spell. [Dark Shadow]!

…

Nothing there either. [Poison Touch]!

…

Nothing’s happening! My mana isn’t even being drained. Forget misfiring or targeting errors, I don’t think I’m even firing anything to begin with. Seriouslyyyyyy. I got my hopes up a little, but I guess it was useless after all. Ah, wait up a bit? Maybe if I try appraising “magic” by itself, it’ll give me a little hint…?

{Magic: A phenomenon where a user may channel Magical Power through a skill, producing an effect.}

Yeeep, no good after all. Uuughhh, I still can’t use any magic!! Well, shit. My magical-girl debut as “Mahou Shoujo Magical Kumoko” is still a long way away, isn’t it. Fuck.

Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord

---

I move stealthily, keeping close to the wall. So, ever since I ate those three monsters a little while ago, my red stamina meter has once again gotten stuck at its maximum value. Hmmm? Sure, it was a lot of food; eating just one of those things was almost enough to max me out, but… Now that I think about it, could this maybe be the result of my [Overeating] skill? If I eat more than I need, does the excess get stockpiled somewhere? This effect did start happening after I acquired that skill, after all… Hmm, this doesn’t seem like such a wild guess.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Appraisal – LV6] has become [Appraisal – LV7]>

Oh? OH?! OHHHH?!?! [Appraisal]!! Miss [Appraisal], you came!! What a glorious day!

Is it okay if I get my hopes up a bit, since you got way more awesome last time? It’s okay, right? You wouldn’t let me down, right? We’ve cleared that hurdle already, getting this high, right? You’re not going to crash into it, right? Now, the results are…?!

Name	Nameless, Small Taratect
Level	3
HP (Green)	38/38
MP (Blue)	38/38
SP (Yellow)	38/38
SP (Red)	38/38
Average Offense	21
Average Defense	21
Average Magic Power	19
Average Resistance	19
Average Speed	369
Skill Points	?

Eh? Really? Seriously?! I’m not seeing things, right?! Oh. Oh! Ohh! WHOOOOOAAAHHHHHH?! Skills!! My skills showed up!! Miss [Appraisal], you do excellent work! You cleared that hurdle splendidly! Yahoo! You’re really making something of yourself!

[Appraisal], you’re seriously amazing! Thank you so much. Seriously, thank you! With this… with this, I can finally double-Appraise all of the skills I know nothing about and get a description! So… whoooo’s… FIRST?!

Right, first up is [Overeating], since I was just thinking about it.

{Overeating: A skill which makes it possible to eat beyond one’s normal capacity. The stamina that would have been gained from the extra food is stockpiled for future use; however, this causes the user to become fat. As the level increases, the amount that may be stockpiled increases.}

Ah, aaaah… Oh ho! It’s just as I thought! In other words, it’s a skill that, after I eat a ton, stops my Stamina from going down for a while. I’ll get fat, though, huh? Am… am I fat?! I don’t know how I feel about that. I mean, I’m a spider, so is it really that bad? If I were human, of course, it would be a huge drawback.

Next is… this, I guess!

{Strength: A skill which applies an increase to your physical offensive capabilities, proportionate to its level.}

Huh. Is that what that is? Just a basic stat-boosting skill. Oh that’s right, after I leveled up, this skill leveled up too. When I leveled up my offensive power went up by 2 instead of 1 like some of my other stats did; maybe that’s thanks to this skill. So that must mean…

{Solidity: A skill which applies an increase to your physical defensive capabilities, proportionate to its level.}

Aha, just as I thought, this skill’s the defensive version of [Strength]. Umf, the effect might be a little weak, but since my stats are such garbage, I’ll take every tiny little boost I can get.

Let’s keep going! Next is… this one, that I’ve never seen before. It’s level two, so it must have leveled up at some point… did I miss something the “Voice of Heaven” said?

{Skanda: A skill which applies an increase to your speed, proportionate to one hundred times its level. In addition, when leveling up, this skill increases your base Speed statistic by ten times the level of this skill.}

Huh? Ahh… uh… huh? Ah… is that why my speed was so ridiculously fast, huh… right… right… WHAAAAAAAT?!

Wh… what the heck is this ridiculous skill? I thought for sure that my entire species was this fast, but it was this?! Whoa. [Skanda]… is this the special privilege of a transmigrated soul?! Oh! Is that it?! Thank the gods! An amazing rare skill, bestowed upon me at birth? Transmigration privilege is awesome! I didn’t earn the nickname Idaten in that MMO for nothing! Hee! I’m getting pretty hype!

Now… what’s this other skill I haven’t seen before?

{n% I = W: Impossible to appraise.}

Uh? “Impossible to appraise”? What the heck? …Huh. After all that, a fumble. Well… just from the name, this kinda looks like a bug. I don’t really like not knowing what it is, but if I can’t Appraise it I guess it can’t really be helped. I just hope it doesn’t have a detrimental effect, that’s all.

I take a moment to collect my thoughts, then check the next skill.

{Taboo: A skill earned by breaking taboos. You must not raise this skill.}

Whoa. This is a profoundly mysterious description. It seems kinda obvious, though, that this is some kind of penalty, like a curse. Ugh, I don’t want this. “You must not raise this skill,” it says, but it’s already level 2… Seriously? Maaaan… that killed my hype.

Editing/Standardisation: kubor04
Formatting/Extras: APM
Original Translation: Blastron
Additional thanks goes out to mae and Legit-rikk. Join our discord

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After all this time following this long, dangerous tunnel through the lower depths, I’ve finally, finally, found it! A fork in the path! …uh, the path?

Yeah. An impossibly large cavern stretches out into the distance before me. Here, the path forks… er, here, the path opens wide… uh, here, the path disappears…? If you asked me to tell you how big it is, I couldn’t; even with my ultra-powerful night vision cutting effortlessly through the darkness, I can’t see the other side.

Uhhhh… which way should I go now? I couldn’t get lost while I was following a single straight line, but in this enormous, empty space, I’m kinda worried. It’s kinda like… suddenly finding yourself in a desert with no path or landmarks to guide you. I don’t even know which way I should be facing! This is dreadful.

I heard that if you keep constantly walking forward in a place where the scenery doesn’t change, you’ll subconsciously wander in a huge arc and eventually wind up back where you started. Of course, I’m a spider, not a human, so I actually have no idea how true that is for me. There’s not really much around here that I could use as a landmark, just crags and pillars scattered here and there. I can’t really find anything unique about any of them, so using them as landmarks isn’t really possible. There’s snail-bugs around here, so even in the worst case scenario I’m not going to die of hunger, but there’s going to be no way for me to notice if I’m getting lost.

Well, it’s time once to break out the most basic maze-solving skill: follow the wall. I’ll keep the wall on my right side as I advance.

But, man, this place is huge. It’s not just extremely broad, horizontally, but it’s ridiculously tall as well! The pillars holding up the ceiling have to be over a hundred meters tall. What a spectacular height. Even though I’m still stuck in this dungeon, I don’t feel like I’m cooped up anymore. How do I say this… even though there’s nothing here but rock, this cavern exemplifies the glory of Mother Nature. In here, I am reminded of how small I truly am.

In my previous life, I saw a TV show that talked about the unexplored parts of the world. Honestly, I can’t say that I felt moved at all when I was watching it back then. No matter how beautiful the images on the screen were, in the end they were just figments of a distant world that had absolutely nothing to do with me. I felt no excitement, no wonder; just indifference. I honestly don’t even know why I was watching it.

But now, I’m here. This is the world I’m living in. This isn’t irrelevant. I can’t be indifferent! Being this moved by my surroundings is something I had never experienced when I was a human. I probably wouldn’t have ever been able to come here, too, if I had kept myself cooped up in the nest I called my home. I really should thank that pyromaniac human for forcing me out into the outside world.

…Ah, but even just thinking about it still makes me mad. Yeah, right. Like there’s any way I could be grateful to a jerk like that. Next time I meet him, I’ll roll him up nice and tight in my [Spider Thread], drag him around the dungeon for a while, and then finish him off with a [Poison Fang].

Hoooof. That’s an unpleasant memory to drag up. Let’s put that aside, gaze once more at the grandeur of nature, and be calmed.

{Bagragrach – LV 14 – failed to appraise status}

A giant monster lumbers into view. From its build and attitude, it looks kinda slow and lazy, and a little bit stupid too… but that mouth shatters that impression immediately. That giant, crocodile-like mouth, bursting with countless jagged teeth. The monkey-like body attached to that terrible maw looks kind of unbalanced, but brutal.

This isn’t calming at aaaaall…

Yeah, that’s right. This is a dungeon. This isn’t nature; this is danger. Comprende? Yeah.

And, so, I slip away into the murk and make my escape.

Somehow, I made it out without being seen. You know, I just had a really terrible thought that I really wish I didn’t have. Could this enormous cavern be, uh, could it maybe be the Bottom Stratum?

I don’t really know how far apart layers are supposed to be, but it’s not unthinkable that I could have gone down a level while following that extremely long road. With such a long, straight tunnel, if it had just a tiny little slope to it, I could easily have gone up or down a fair way without noticing anything at all. It’s a possibility, right…?

No, no, no. It can’t be, right? That’s just an ordinary huge cavern. Yeah. Or maybe it’s part of the Middle Stratum! Aha, let’s go with that! This is definitely the Middle Stratum! Haha, oh man, it was way easier to get out of the Lower Stratum than I had expected!

{Bagragrach – LV 8 – failed to appraise status}

{Bagragrach – LV 4 – failed to appraise status}

{Bagragrach – LV 11- failed to appraise status}

Man, what are these guys doing in the Middle Stratum? I make like the Invisible Man… wait, no, the Invisible Spid… ah, forget it. I sink into the shadows and sneakily scuttle away.

After I put a bunch of distance between me and them, I remember that I haven’t actually gotten around to appraising their species yet.

{Bagragrach: A monster with a giant, deformed jaw. They work together, bringing down their prey as a pack.}

Uh-huh… so they’re not just strong, they hunt in packs, huh… I’ve really got no chance, huh…

Yyyeah. It’s starting to look like this isn’t the Middle Stratum after all. How could it be, with this kind of difficulty level? Ugh. I really, really hope this isn’t the Bottom Stratum.