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

---

Sneaking, sneeeaking…

Fwap!

Roooolling, roooolling…

CHOMP!

Time to eat!

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Taratect has increased from LV1 to LV2.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

<Skill points acquired.>

Diiiiing. I’m a bit upset that I didn’t get any skills, but that’s really alright. Oh, more prey.

Sneeeeeaking, sneeeeeeeaking…

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Stealth – LV1]>

Fwap!

Roooolling, roooolling…

CHOMP!

Time to eat.

Hm? Something happened during all that? Oh yeah, the “Voice of Heaven” (heh) said something. Hmmm… a skill, right? [Stealth], right? That’ll make it harder for enemies to notice me, hmm? It’s not like anyone’s been noticing me anyway, so, I don’t really need this… Well, it’s not like I’m going to refuse it if they’re going to give it to me anyway.

Oh, more prey.

Sneeeeeeeaking, sneeeeeeeeeaking…

Fwap!

Roooolling, roooolling…

CHOMP!

<Condition satisfied. Acquired Title [Assassin].>

<Acquired skills [Stealth – LV1] [Shadow Magic – LV1] as a result of Title [Assassin]>
<Skill [Stealth – LV1] has been integrated into [Stealth – LV1].>

Eatin’ time.

Oh? I heard something again. A title? This is the first title I’ve gotten since I picked up [Foul Feeder] and [Kin Eater] way back when, huh… I tried a bunch of different things to get some titles a while ago, but nothing worked. [Assassin], huuuuh… I’m seriously turning into a ninja, here.

Whoa, even more prey.

Sneeeeeeeaking, sneeeeeeeeeaking…

Fwap!

Roooolling, roooolling…

CHOMP!

<Condition satisfied. Acquired Title [Monster Slayer].>

<Acquired skills [Strength – LV1] [Solidity – LV1] as a result of Title [Monster Slayer]>

Time to eat.

Oh? Yet another announcement, huh. [Monster Slayer]? Maaaan, but basically all of my time in this dungeon has been spent killing monsters! Why now? Hmm, maybe… maybe this is a title earned for crushing countless monsters. Yeaaaah…

Wha?! Another prey!

Sneaking, sneeeaking…

Fwap!

Roooolling, roooolling…

CHOMP!

Time to eat…

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Overeating LV1]>

Seriously, again? This is a great day for gains. But, seriously, [Overeating]. I mean, what kind of name for a skill is that? That sure sounds pretty negative, doesn’t it?

Man, but have I been eating or what? My stomach had completely emptied itself after I evolved, but it’s finally starting to swell back up again. Maybe that mysterious food-vanishing stomach was a one-time thing, from right after I evolved. Phewwww. If I’d had to keep filling up my pocket-dimension stomach forever, I’d hit a really bad point on my Engel curve… although, I don’t have any money, so I’m not sure if I even fall on an Engel curve to begin with.(TL.1) I’m broooooke.

…Wait up a bit, hm? I was a bit hungry, so I was just kind of gliding along wherever, but… today’s been really good for whatevering my whatevers? I whateverly whatevered my whatevers, so whatever, you know.

Yeah. Let’s calm down first, shall we.

My level went up. This is good! This happens a bunch when I hunt, so this isn’t really surprising.

Next is my [Stealth] skill. That’s also good! I can’t really say it’s useful, right now, but it’s better than nothing, so I will take it if I can get it.

I got some titles, too! That was a little strange, right? Well, getting titles is good, right? It’s seriously great, right? Getting two of them in a row is seriously… well, you know, right?

Let me see… [Assassin] and [Monster Slayer]. What dangerous-sounding titles! Ugh, none of my titles are respectable at all. Even after all this time…

So, [Assassin] is a pretty ninja-esque title. It got me [Stealth] and [Shadow Magic], so of course it’s got that kind of feel. With [Shadow Magic], can I literally dive into the shadows? If I can strike from the shadows themselves, this will become a seriously useful skill. Of course, y’all are aware I can’t use a lick of magic, right? Tell me the gosh-darned instructions, already! Uggggh. The manual, please…

I understand even less about [Monster Slayer]. What’s this? [Strength]? [Solidity]? I have no idea what these ridiculously vague skills are supposed to do. Hmmmm? Well, if I take these skills exactly at face value, then might these be just straight-up stat bonuses to offense and defense? Maybe it’s a support skill that can boost them temporarily? Well, if it’s permanent, it would be way better; I have no idea how I’d activate it if it were temporary. Well, either way, I should leave them alone for now.

But then what’s with this [Overeating] skill I got at the end? This seriously has a negative effect, doesn’t it? Don’t even joke about things like that to a girl, “Voice of Heaven”! I’ll beat you up! You callin’ me fat?! Wrong! Absolutely wrong!! I just ate a little while ago, that’s all this is! I’ll be back to my slender self again overnight! Check out this leg, this long and slender leg! A beautiful leg, so thin that it might break at any moment! No human can possibly match the slenderness of my stick-like legs! So who’re you callin’ fat?! If I hadn’t just eaten, you’d be callin’ me thin!

Haaah… haaaaaaaaaah. Man, that was pointless. Nobody ever called me fat in my previous life, so I might have overreacted a little just now. No, people tended to call me skinny or even bony before.

Well, although, today was a pretty spectacular day for progress, wasn’t it? This was the first time I’ve gotten so much stuff all at once. It would be great if I could keep up this pace for eeeeever. Hm? Optimistic? Me? Yyyyyyep!

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

---

Hoooof. Right! Let’s test out these new skills.

First up is [Thread Control]. Based on its name, it should be a skill that makes my [Spider Thread] much more useful. My already-unstoppable webs are going to become even more powerful! This is the best. Let’s start by spinning some webs.

The next step is the problem. If I can’t figure out how to actually manipulate my threads, picking up this skill was pretty worthless. I’m really, really hoping that this isn’t the same thing as what happened with [Appraisal].

Move… mooooove…! Wait, my threads feel a little funny. …Hm? What the heck? There’s a weird feeling that’s kind of hard to put into words… almost like there’s something… in… my threads? It almost feels like there’s nerves in my threads, like they’re… alive? I focus on whatever is in my threads, and will it to move.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

With a wiggly sound that I’m pretty sure is all in my head, my threads start to sluggishly move a little.

Yep! I made it move. I don’t really have the kind of control I need to use it in combat, though…

Ugghhhhh, okay, fine! I knew this was going to happen! I was aware of this possibility! I’m happy I got it to move at all! I had no hopes, no expectations for anything better!

Haaaaah. Hm? My mana went down a bit? I’ve never seen that happen before, is this from using [Thread Control]? Ahhhh, [Thread Control] consumes mana, hmm… Well, I haven’t been using mana at all until now so this is fine. I should work on leveling this when I can, since I’ll have mana to spare. I’m choosing to believe that this is going to be useful in the long-term.

I take a moment to compose myself, and turn to the next thing: [Detection]. Okay! I have zero expectations. This was an even bigger gamble than [Thread Control] was. I have no idea if I can even use it! To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know if it has the enemy-detecting functionality that I’m hoping for. I can’t even rule out the possibility that you’re a completely unrelated skill, [Detection]! On top of that, it’s level one, so I should be prepared for something as worthless as [Thread Control] or even how [Appraisal] was when I first got it. If I can figure out what it does and how to use it, that’s already cause for celebration.

Well, let’s try it like I do with [Appraisal]: clear my mind, concentrate, and think, “Detect.” Ah! I’d kind of had a sort of image in my head that it would be like meditating, and it looks like I was pretty close: through senses that were previously dark, I can suddenly see so many things…

W… wait, what?

Each little wisp of information is so insubstantial that I have no idea what it could mean. And… there’s so much of it! My brain is drowning under a deluge of information from all sides!

Erk!!

Just like when I overused [Appraisal], the violent wave of information crashes into me like a punch to the head. I frantically cut [Detection] off immediately.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Detection – LV1] has become [Detection – LV2]>

What? Wasn’t that too fast? Did you seriously just level up?! I mean, that certainly was a ton of information, but, uh, seriously?

Aha, ha, no, wait. First off, what the hell was that?! Whatever that was is completely and utterly unlike what I was thinking of when I asked for [Detection]! I want to scream! Get me the manager! Hey! “Voice of Heaven”! I demand an explanation! This is completely! Utterly! Inconceivably unacceptable!!

Ughhhh. Settle down, me… …Okay. Let’s just double-check to make sure that was, in fact, the result of [Detection]. This might be a little risky, so I should make sure I’m prepared. Inhale… Exhale. Right! Commence [Detection].

Just like before, I’m assaulted by a wave of unintelligible information.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Detection – LV2] has become [Detection – LV3]>

I said… that’s too… fast! Errgk, that’s enough. I cut it off again. Blahhhhh. Ugh, I’m exhausted already.

I’ve learned one thing, though. Yeah. [Detection]. The skill’s name is just [Detection]. There’s nothing that says what it actually detects! It does exactly what I thought it does, but way better than I thought could possibly happen! In fact, it works so well that I can’t use it at all!

I think this skill gathers information about literally everything around me, and blasts it at me full-force.

That quantity of information just immediately overwhelms my brain’s ability to process it. It is extremely likely that it’s got enough information in there to let me detect enemies sneaking up on me, somewhere in that enormous flood, but the information is coming at me far too fast for my tiny brain to pick up on it. For that, I’d need more processing power than a supercomputer.

Maaaaan, seriously! I had not even begun to consider the possibility that there could be a skill that was too powerful for me to use. What a trap I just fell into. Seriously, who thought this one up? Do you get off on leaving traps for your players?

Ahhhh. Well, I can’t use [Detection]. I can practice willing my threads to get [Thread Control]’s level up… but if I do that with [Detection], won’t my head explode? I guess I’ve got no choice but to shut this away forever. Nai wa.

Hey, can I get a refund on skills? …Yeah, not a chance. Uuuugh, I seriously have no luck at gambling. What have I done? This sucks.

Dejectedly, I slump.

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

---

Q, 《Experience points has reached a certain degree. Individual, Small Lesser Taratecs LV9 has became LV10》

《Conditions met. Individual, Small Lesser Taratect can evolve》

Taratect? Taratecs?

A, It’s a typo.

I have corrected it.

The right one is Taratect.

Q,＞Regarding [Rot Resistance]: Apparently it is a Resistance towards rotten things, but what kind of Rot is it?

1. The shape of the rotten thing must break down. Also, break the shape of the thing after rotting it.

「Isnt that normally done by the Bases of the material?」

2. Rotting in the sense of Rusting?

After seeing this much, the phenomenon of rotting regarding the resistance, the effects overlaps with the “Acid Resistance” and when thinking that rotting can release poison, it also overlaps with “Poison Resistance”

Well, I think that it’s better to use “Carrion Resistance”.

A, This might be a little spoiler, but the MC misunderstands the effect of some skills.

Q, The position of the parenthesis is strange and in case it’s a game-like world, I think it’s looks better with a choice arrow

《There are multiple choices of evolution. Please choose from the following.

　Lesser Taratect

　Small Taratect ↓》

《There are multiple choices of evolution.Please choose from the following.》

→Lesser Taratect

　Small Taratect

A, Like what it’s told in the story, the voice of heaven can only be heard so I have avoided using any visual arrow (APM: they indicate Dialogue in japanese).

About the position of parenthesis, please let it be the same because I can’t think of a way to use it well.

Q, Eventually, will it become Sergeant Ashidaka and fight against cockroaches? (APM: “Sergeant” is a term originating from 2chan to refer to huntsman Spiders (Ashidaka) as part of “anti-cockroach forces”)

A, Do you want them to fight (￣ー￣)*grinning*?

Q, After reading this novel and sleep, I had a dream that I sprayed insecticide because there was a large quantity of small spiders in my room. Lol.

A, Today, you will surely have a dream about a huge spider leaning on you. Lol.

Q, Will the day when the name is given to the MC come?

A, A name will be given soon.

Q, A question, the venom from the spider’s “Poison Fang”, will the poison disintegrate through time progression and long period of being exposed to the air?

A, Due to it’s a poison from the “Poison Fang” skill, the effect of the skill will fall considerably when it’s not injected directly with the fangs.

When it’s dripped from the fangs directly to its opponent then it barely has its effect. Other than that, it has no effect at all.

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

---

Spread across my lap is a picture book. In it are amazingly realistic pictures of strange and fantastic creatures, the likes of which were never seen on Earth. It seems that, in this world, monsters are real.

“This is a goblin! Goblins are monsters that have green skin, and they’re about as large as a human child. They look kind of like a human, but they’re not very smart at all. They don’t have very many skills, and their stats are very low. You shouldn’t take them lightly, though! When it levels up and learns a few skills, one can pick up a weapon and be quite dangerous if you don’t expect it.”

Anna, my nanny, is sitting next to me, describing the monsters in the book out loud for me. Anna looks like she’s in her twenties, but in reality she’s nearly twice that age. Apparently, she used to be a magician who fought against the monsters, and now she’s explaining to me the things that the picture book leaves out.

On my other side, my little sister Sue is imitating me by staring at the book. Recently, she’s taken to copying me a lot. Unlike me, though, she can’t yet speak very well, and I don’t think she can understand Anna’s words very well. I’m paying very close attention to what Anna is saying, though. One of us should, at least.

I pat my adorable sister on the head, ruffling her light-blue hair. It feels smooth to the touch. Sue looks quite pleased, and lets out a happy giggle.

Anna and Klevea, our other servant who’s standing by the door, look at us smilingly. I used to think that the attention was a little bit embarrassing, but I’m pretty used to it by now.

“My prince, you and the princess seem quite close,” says Anna. “Yeh!” exclaims Sue. “Yes!” I say, almost simultaneously. Anna’s smile grows broader. It looks like I’m getting pretty good at playing the part of an adorable toddler.

I go back to looking at the picture book. Anna doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve already learned to read this country’s language, so I’ve been reading the descriptions of each monster while pretending to enjoy looking at the pictures. This really is a picture book, though, so the illustrations fill each page with only a small amount of space left over for a short description. I’m glad that Anna is explaining things more clearly.

The more I listen to Anna talk, though, the more I realize how fucking crazy this world is. These people are seriously talking, with a straight face, about skills, stats, and levels. These are video game terms!

This world seems to be very much like a game. Well, I’m living in it, so I don’t really think of it as a game itself, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s full of all of these game-like systems.

Skills seem to be pre-defined abilities, drawn out of your soul once you’ve had enough practice. Stats are discrete measures of our raw abilities. Levels seem to be a numerical representation of the power you amass as you go through life.

This was all explained to me, but from a gamer’s perspective, these are some extremely flimsy explanations. Everyone seems to take them at face value, not even bothering to ask why things are this way. I’m really not comfortable with this, but I don’t have much of a choice but to play along.

I turn the page on my book, revealing a picture of an enormous wolf. To show how large it is, there’s a person lying at its feet. I thought for a moment that the scale had been exaggerated, but Anna’s explanation proved otherwise.

“This is called a Fenrir. It’s a Mythic-ranked monster, said to be as large as a mountain and capable of destroying a fortress with one bite. I’m lucky to have never seen one myself.”

This certainly seems to be true. This giant wolf is far too big to be called a monster, though. It’s an Abonimation. How can the world be this unbelievable, allowing such an enormous creature to exist? How does it keep up its enormous bulk?

“Umm, how does this stand up?” I ask. Anna stares at me blankly. Perhaps I need to clarify. “It’s so big, isn’t it heavy?”

Comprehension flashes across Anna’s face. “Ah,” she says, “it might be better for me to show you than to tell you. Klevea?”

Klevea comes closer. Like Anna, Klevea used to serve this country as a knight, and is now working as both a nanny and a bodyguard. Unlike Anna the magician, whose frame is very slender, Klevea has a powerful, almost masculine body that she built through years of training.

Anna and Klevea quietly discuss something, then take up positions a few paces from each other. Klevea extends an open hand out towards Anna.

“Here it comes. [Fireball],” chants Anna, casting a spell at Klevea.

[Fireball] is a low rank fire spell that, exactly as its name implies, creates a small ball of fire and launches it at your opponent. The flaming sphere, which was cast with low power, streaks forward and hits Klevea in her outstretched hand. Sue stiffens in surprise. I was a little surprised as well, suddenly seeing magic for the first time.

Anna and Klevea exchange smirks over our reaction, like they’d just pulled off a successful prank. I feel a little offended.

“Your hand… hurt?” asks Sue, looking at Klevea’s hand.

“Only a little bit, Princess. It was very hot for a moment, but it’s fine now!” says Klevea, in a powerful voice that’s unusually deep for a woman. “As you have just seen, if your stats are high, you can become quite strong. That’s how such large monsters can move without being crushed by their own weight.”

I’m curious, so I reach out to feel the palm of Klevea’s hand. Her hands are tough and calloused, as expected of someone who fights with a sword. But it’s still ordinary skin. It’s nowhere near tough enough to be able to take a fireball head-on without even getting singed.

“My prince, when you raise your defensive attributes, your skin does not necessarily become tough,” says Klevea. “Really?” I ask. “Yes, my prince. High defense does not make your body physically tougher, it makes you harder to injure. While I’m nowhere near this powerful myself, I’ve heard that the Heroes of previous generations could withstand direct sword blows without taking a scratch,” says Klevea, answering my question politely.

However, to become hard to hurt like that, wouldn’t the intercellular binding forces have to be somehow increased? Well, in this fantastical world, trying to reconcile things I see with my knowledge from Earth is a waste of my time. For now, I’ll set aside these troubled thoughts.

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

---

Well then, I’ve got a bunch of skill points, so I’d really like to pick up a new skill. I can’t really do so carelessly, though. I picked up [Appraisal] on a whim and basically immediately regretted it.

While I’ve got my safety secured, let’s spend some time thinking about this. I throw together a temporary home, ignoring the bones of the frog that I’ve finished eating. Man, I’m getting pretty good at putting basic homes like these together.

All right. Time to focus.

What skills shouldn’t I take? [Heresy Magic] has taught me that I should, well, just straight-up avoid anything that has to do with magic. I have no idea how to actually use it! Really, I should steer clear of any skills that I can’t figure out how to use from the name alone.

I should also really avoid buying any skills that I might earn myself. From what I’ve seen so far, each skill has some sort of skill proficiency associated with it. When I’ve accumulated enough proficiency in the skill, the level of the skill goes up. Even if I don’t have a single level in the skill, it looks like proficiency still accumulates, and when I finally get enough proficiency, I get the skill. Granted, the only skills I’ve acquired this way were resistances, so maybe that sort of thing is unique to resistance skills. Still, if there’s a chance that I might be able to learn it by myself, I shouldn’t be spending any skill points on it.

When I look at it that way, maybe spending skill points on [Appraisal] wasn’t actually a terrible idea. How could I have possibly worked to acquire [Appraisal] if I were starting from scratch? It’s also ridiculously fortunate that I figured out how to use [Appraisal] immediately, unlike magic. Man, I’ve been complaining about how worthless and unusable this skill is, but this might be one of the rare few skills that are actually usable out of the box.

Okay, so, if I pick a skill, it not only has to be a skill that I can figure out how to use, but also needs to be one that I wouldn’t pick up on my own. That’s actually a pretty harsh restriction, you know! Seriously, all I have to go on is a skill’s name, with no clue about what it actually does, which is, quite frankly, terrifying. On top of that, I have to keep checking with the, uh, “Voice of Heaven” to see if there’s even a skill that matches the name I’m looking for.

From what I’ve seen so far, if I want to spend skill points to acquire a skill, I need to tell the “Voice of Heaven” that I’d like to purchase it. If I ask her about a skill that exists, she responds; if it doesn’t exist, though, she remains silent. So, in order to find out what skills exist, I’ve been constantly spamming the “Voice of Heaven” with requests.

Since I’ve been sending enquiries whenever I’ve got any downtime, I’ve started to put together a list of skills that I might want to pick up. Of those skills, there’s five that meet my criteria: [Poison Claw], [Thread Control], [HP Auto-Recovery], [SP Lessened Consumption], and [Detection].

[Poison Claw] and [Thread Control] are skills that will, hopefully, make me stronger. [Poison Claw] is, well, [Poison Fang], but in claw form, and [Thread Control] is a support skill to help me use my threads more effectively. There’s a couple of problems, though: if I pick up [Poison Claw], it’s probably going to be way weaker than [Poison Fang] at the beginning, and I’m not one hundred percent certain that I’ll be able to figure out how to use [Thread Manipulation].

[HP Auto-Recovery] and [SP Lessened Consumption] are totally background support skills. If they work just like their names imply, they’re going to be extremely handy to have around.

Last but not least is the riskiest choice: [Detection]. In this dungeon, I have a serious need for a way to detect surprise attacks. I think [Detection] is the right skill for the job, but I’m not really sure what its effect will be… or, again, how to even use it. If I pick this skill, it’s a serious gamble.

I’ve found plenty of other skills, but this is the lineup that I’m really interested in. My life is on the line here, so I can’t really afford to be too sentimental here. There’s definitely other skills that I wanted, but didn’t have enough skill points to obtain. Like, you know, [Immortality]. I’m probably off by an entire order of magnitude, on that one.

Hmmmm. I’m torn. I mean, with these skills, I’m not really working to come up with any new strategies, I’m just figuring out how to strengthen my existing ones. Well, this is really what I’m reduced to if I’m trying to avoid picking up any more awful skills. For now, I guess I should pull [HP Auto-Recovery] from the list. If my HP hits zero, I’m probably going to die, right? If I’m an assassin, I should be avoiding any sort of situation where my HP could go down to begin with.

Four more to pick from, hmm… what should I doooo? I mean, there’s [SP Lessened Consumption], which doesn’t really have any downsides I can think of. It’s my safest choice. Picking up [Poison Claw] would probably let me broaden my combat tactics, but getting its level up to a usable point is going to be super slow! If I can figure out how to use [Thread Control], it’ll be a serious boost to my combat ability… but, of course, if I can’t figure it out, then it’s yet another useless skill I’m hobbled with. [Detection], as I mentioned earlier, is a gamble.

Mmmmmmm.

Umf. Alright, I’ve decided.

<Number of skill points currently in possession: 200. Number of skill points required to acquire skill [Thread Control – LV1]: 100. Acquire skill?>

Yes.

<[Thread Control – LV1] acquired. Remaining skill points: 100>

<Number of skill points currently in possession: 100. Number of skill points required to acquire skill [Detection – LV1]: 100. Acquire skill?>

Yes!

<[Detection – LV1] acquired. Remaining skill points: 0>

I’ve picked up [Thread Control] and [Detection]. I know I was just saying things about putting my life on the line, but I’ve seriously just picked up the two biggest gambles from my list. Ahahaaaa… I’m really not cut out for gambling. Well, it’s not like there’s any going back now. I’ve picked up these two skills, and if I can’t use them, I’ll cry.

…I don’t know if spiders can cry, though.

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

---

I found my first target.

{Elro Ferekt – LV 5 – failed to appraise status}

Another one of these frogs that I’ve kept running into. Its level’s way higher than the other ones, though.

Hmmmm. I have no idea how my stats changed after evolving, and I’m kinda wanting to test them out. I’m betting that evolving made them stronger, though.

Though… my level did get set back down to one. Until now, whenever it went up, my stats were increased. If they got dropped back down when my level got reset, that would be seriously dangerous. Well, I don’t quite think that’s the case, but there are definitely games with leveling systems like that, where you get weak immediately after you evolve but then get way stronger after you recover from that. Kind of like a “New Game +” sort of thing, but if that were to happen in reality the results might be disastrous.

Yeah. I’m probably worrying about nothing, but, still, let’s proceed with caution. Since I’m still a little bit concerned, I’m not going to charge in and do anything reckless. My life is on the line, after all, and discretion is the better part of valor.

I stealthily creep up the wall, take my position on the ceiling, and start to creep forward, upside-down. When I arrive just above the frog, I string one line between me and the ceiling, then use a separate thread to weave a mini-web around my forelegs. Preparations complete! I get ready to lower myself down.

Three… two… one… GO!!

I plunge from above, mini-web stretched out before me. Before the frog can even flinch, it’s been wrapped in my web, and I cling to its back as I continue to spray more thread. When it’s tied too tightly to struggle, I bite at it through my webs! CHOMP!

Hmm! Not bad, if I do say so myself. Perhaps I should start calling myself Assassin? Ehehehe. Who could possibly win against my thread and my fangs?!

Ahh, well, first off, I’ve got a frog to eat.

Hmm, but seriously, though. I evolved, but I’m still doing basically the same things. I originally set out with the goal of gaining some more practical combat experience, but lately I think I’ve not really been keeping up with that. The monsters here are way stronger than me, you know? If it’s a straight up fight, my life will be on the line, you know? I’m seriously not finding any monsters of a suitable level for me to practice against. I’m getting really good at my sneak attack assassination combo, though, but I’m not always guaranteed a sneak attack. If I’ve built a nest, then there’s no way I’ll have the element of surprise against anything that tries to break through it! And wasn’t the entire reason why I set out on this quest to get strong enough to defend my home?

No, no! I’ve evolved! My level’s gone up! Even my base stats have gone up, and that alone is huge! My actions until now have not at all been for naught! Think of it like that!

Hooooohf. I nearly wrote off all of my progress as meaningless. That’s bad, that’s bad.

Ummmf. Still, out here in reality, relying one hundred percent on sneak attacks is actually really dangerous. When I lost my home, that was because I was relying too heavily on the power of my webs. What I need is to come up with a new weapon, any weapon! …Hah, if I could just come up with one that easily though, life would be great…

Just off the top of my head what about my currently-unusable [Heresy Magic]? If I could figure out how to use this thing, a whole new world of tactics would open up to me. Of course, I don’t have the manual. Grr.

If I was a human, I’d be able to learn how to use this from another human, right? Ah well, even if I wonder about that it’s not like it’s going to make a difference. Being forced to do everything myself is both kind of nice and a huge pain. It’s nice because I don’t have to subject myself to the rest of humanity, but having to tackle every problem on my own is a ton of effort! Either way, it’s not like I could get any information out of humans. I can’t talk.

Hmm, I could do it if I was telepathic, couldn’t I? Oh, right, haven’t I been earning more skill points? If I’ve been getting ten points per level, by the time I hit level ten I should have saved up a hundred. It cost me a hundred points to learn [Appraisal], so I should be able to pick up a new skill with what I’ve got now.

Hey, Ms. “Voice of Heaven”! What do you think, can I get it?

<Number of skill points currently in possession: 200. Number of skill points required to acquire skill [Telepathy – LV1]: 100. Acquire skill?>

Ohhhh! I can!

Hmmmm. Is telepathy even useful to me at the moment, though, with nobody around? Nah, bzzt, rejected.

Although, I have two hundred points! Maybe I’ve been gaining twenty points per level. Ah! That means that by the time I’ve hit level six, I’ll be able to afford another skill! I bought Appraisal right when I started, and although it was pretty useless when I got it, I’ve been able to slowly grind it up into something useful. I still think I might have done something wasteful.

Hmm? Ah, wait, wait. Let’s think back a little harder. Didn’t I try, back when I was level six, to buy another skill, and… fail, because I didn’t have enough skill points, right? Hmmmm?

Well, it could be that skill points are increased both by leveling up and evolving. I have no real way to determine what it really is, though! Let’s put aside the problem of skill point increases for now.

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

---

In order to restore the stamina that nearly ran out while I was evolving, I’ve been doing nothing but eating. First to go was the rest of the snake. All of that meat that I was having so much trouble eating before now rests within my belly.

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

Just as I finished eating the snake, [Poison Resistance]’s level went up. I got two skill levels out of that thing. Tasty, tasty!

Man, before I evolved, eating this much would have caused my stomach to swell up like a balloon. It’s not really doing that anymore, though… where is it going, some kind of pocket dimension? It’s like whatever I’m eating is disappearing. While my food stocks are diminishing, though, my red stamina meter is steadily refilling. Hmmmm. I’ve seen a ton of really strange phenomena since I came to this world, but I think my stomach is the strangest of them all. What the heck is up with this thing?

Well, I shouldn’t put too much effort into thinking about this. “It’s just that kind of world” is a good enough explanation. I’ll leave explaining the rest of these phenomena to the academics.

Anyhow, even after finishing off that snake, my stomach isn’t even swelling a little bit, and if it’s not swollen, there’s no way it’s full yet. Plus, my red stamina meter isn’t full yet.

Luckily, I’ve got this huge mound of monster corpses stacked up in my home, stacked tall enough that, before I evolved, I had no idea how I could possibly get through all of it. I should be able to get even this enormous pile inside my new pocket-dimension belly, hmm…

Well, let’s dig in. I eat, and eat, and eat, I do nothing but eat. Umf, in my past life I had such a tiny appetite, but I’ve become a pretty serious gourmand! I could dominate the competitive eating scene like this.

Ahh, maaan, what is up with my stomach?! I have clearly shoved more food down my throat than the entire volume of my body, yet I can still eat more! It totally, seriously looks like my stomach is connected to a pocket dimension. I know I just said that I was going to leave the thinking to the academics but seriously this is my own body! I have a right to be curious! No matter how curious I am, though, it’s not like I can get an answer, so maybe I’m just being impatient… Stop! No thinking! Without thinking about anything, eat in stoic silence!

I eat, and eat, and eat, and… oh? I’m out. …Whuh? Did I seriously eat all of that food? …I did. Nothing’s left. Seriouslyyy? I’m not even full yet! My stamina meter isn’t full yet either. Even after all of this food, I’m still not full? Maaan.

Please don’t tell me it’s going to be like this forever. Please tell me I’m only extra-hungry because I used up all of my energy evolving! I’m going to starve to death otherwise, there’s no way I can find that much food. That would suck. That would reeeeally suck. Seriously, you know, that’s… impossible, right? Seriously, it’s impossible, right? If it’s true then I just stepped on a really big evolutionary land mine.

Ahh! Now that I’m thinking about it, evolution really is a land mine, isn’t it? I passed out, lost all of my energy, and was left defenseless for who knows how long. I was okay because I was in my home, but how do other monsters manage it? Man, I got really, really lucky with this one.

Even though I managed to get through evolving in one piece, running out of energy is a serious problem! Anything that didn’t have piles of food stored up like I did would have to drag themselves around, with no energy, hoping to find prey. They’d totally be at a huge disadvantage in a fight, right? Maaaaan, I got lucky. Is this the bonus I get for being the main character, or was it just coincidence? Ehhh, well, it’s not like they’d ever make a spider the protagonist, anyway. My life has been sufficiently awful so far that I can’t really say I’ve been lucky overall.

There’s a definite chance that this is going to happen again when I hit level ten, so I need to make sure that I’m prepared for it, starting from when I hit level nine. I happened to stumble on the perfect combination of circumstances for a flawless evolution, but if I’m not set up for it next time, then there’s no chance it’s going to go anywhere near as smoothly as this. Ahh, seriously, bringing down that snake was the best thing that could have happened! If I hadn’t been forced to sit still and eat through its corpse, I wouldn’t have made a home, and wouldn’t have accidentally stockpiled all of this food. Sir Snake, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Now then! While I’ve certainly recovered a bit, my belly is still not full. And, since I’ve cleaned out my larder, there’s no need for me to stick around here any more. Let’s anti-shut-in-ify! And so, as I set off on my aimless journey, I bid farewell to the home that has taken care of me.

Thank you, my second home! Though I may have arrived thinking that my stay would be brief, you kept me safe for as long as I needed to stay. Farewell!

I depart triumphantly. My first order of business is to fill up my stomach, which means finding prey to hunt. Once that’s done… I guess I’m going back to wandering the dungeon, looking for the exit if I can.

My next evolution is probably going to require me to get bigger. My size didn’t change as a result of this evolution, so the possibility is still out there that evolving will make me get way bigger all at once. I’m a little bit uneasy with how small these passages are, then. I’d really like to try to find someplace bigger, if at all possible. Really, my best option is to go outside. Worst case scenario is that I get really big while in the dungeon, only to find that the only exit is really tiny, making it impossible to leave. Yeahhhh, and I don’t think I could take it if I had to live out the rest of my life here…

Yeah. Well, for now, let’s find something to eat. We’ll worry about what comes next once we get there.

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

---

As I leveled up, I was informed of something completely unexpected. “Evolution”, was it? Is that… what I think it is…? Like in that one game, where you catch and raise, uh, pocket monsters, right?

<There are multiple options for evolution. Please choose from the following.

Lesser taratect

Small taratect

>

Oh… oh! Ummm, hang on, one sec. Uno momento, por favor.

Okay, let’s think this through. This kind of thing is a huge turning point in a person’s life. I’m not a person, though, I’m a spider. There’s no way I’m going to just pick one randomly.

I’m going to evolve. Well, that’s okay. This world’s basically a game, right? It’s totally not unthinkable for video game evolution to be a thing here. Man, once we start digging, there’s no end to the similarities, is there.

Well, when you say “evolution”, it really makes me think of a powerup. I’m given the option to evolve, but I really don’t have a choice, right? Right. Although… I do remember that there were some games where not evolving was advantageous sometimes. Eh, but those were seriously in the minority of games, so I think evolving is a pretty safe choice.

The problem is, there are two different forms that I have to choose between. [Lesser Taratect] and [Small Taratect]. Going by the names alone, there’s really not that much difference. I’m getting rid of either “Lesser” or “Small” from my species. Aaaaargh, why can’t I use [Appraisal] on what the “Voice of Heaven” says?! I’d be able to find out these differences immediately!

Hmmmmm. Well, let’s just take a stab at it. A [Lesser Taratect] is… probably the adult form of my current species, since I’m just dropping “small” from the name. A [Small Taratect], though, is dropping “lesser”. Does that mean that I’d no longer be an “inferior breed” of Taratect? I’d still be small, though, so I’d still be just a hatchling.

If I’m thinking along the right lines here, and I think I am, my choice is obvious.

It’s gotta be [Small Taratect].

I really don’t think staying as an “inferior breed” is a good idea. Think about it. If I pick [Small Taratect], I’m guaranteed to have at least one more evolution, from [Small Taratect] to a regular Taratect. I don’t know what exactly will change when I evolve, but I know that it’s going to be a good power boost, so I should really pick the option that seems like it will give me the most options down the road. Sure, you might want to think that a [Lesser Taratect] might also have evolution options, but there’s no way I’m going to make such an important decision off of such an unfounded hope.

On top of that, if I become a [Lesser Taratect], I’m probably going to grow larger. This is, quite frankly, terrifying. Adults are, of course, bigger than children, but usually a creature gets bigger gradually. In this ridiculous fantasy world, though, growing up via evolution may work in a “POOF! You’re big now!!” kind of fashion. And, really, since I can’t guarantee that isn’t actually the case, I really, really shouldn’t pick that option. I don’t think I’d get quite as large as that enormous spider from earlier, but there’s a definite possibility that I’d grow too big to fit through these tunnels.

I remember seeing a huge monster, a [Finjegoat], a while ago. It was so big that it had trouble fitting down these passageways, even if they’re three meters wide. Trying to move around while being that large would seriously suck. [Finjegoat]’s probably normally live in a much more spacious part of the cave so, I’d bet that one had gotten lost and wound up in these smaller tunnels.

Since getting big would make it hard for me to move, I’d really rather remain the size I’m at now. So, that’s another point in the [Small Taratect]’s favor.

Right. I’ve decided. I shall evolve… into a [Small Taratect]!!

<Individual Small Lesser Taratect will evolve into Small Taratect.>

Ah, yep. This started really quickly. The Voice of Heaven(???) blasted its way into my head as unceremoniously as usual, even though this is such a momentous occasion! Please, be a little more respectful! I’m trying very hard to ev…o…l…….v………..e………………..

<Evolution Completed.>

<Individual race has become small taratect.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency evolutionary bonus acquired.>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Taboo – LV1] has become [Taboo – LV2]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Heresy Magic – LV1] has become [Heresy Magic – LV2]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Rot Resistance – LV1] has become [Rot Resistance – LV2]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Idaten – LV1] has become [Idaten – LV2]>

<Skill points acquired.>

Whoa!? Eh? Heh? Did… did I fall asleep?! Wait, no, that really felt more like my consciousness was shattered apart, with how quickly it faded. Did evolving cause this? Hey! Voice of Heaven!! It would have been just a tiny little bit nice to know that evolution causes sudden unconsciousness!!

Hmm? Wait, am I done evolving? I can’t really see any differences, physically… ah! [Appraisal] got turned off. Let me turn it back on real quick, so that I can confirm things for myself…

{>Small Taratect – LV 1 – no name}

{Status: Weak}

Oh! Ohhh… ohh? Hmmmmmm? The species name changed! Does that mean evolution was successful? …Level one, though? Like, does evolving decrease my level? …Oh no, does it reduce my stats as well?! I have no way to compare! [Appraisal] still only says I’m weak! …Ugh, it still only says I’m weak…

Ah, but, now that I’m looking, I can see that my red general-stamina meter has somehow completely emptied itself. Plus, the sluggishness I was feeling from overeating is gone. …I’m really hungry now. Did evolving seriously burn through all of the food that I had eaten? Well, uh, it’s a good thing that I’d been stockpiling so much.

You know, I’m actually really glad this evolution happened safely, because it’s risky as hell. I lose consciousness and wake up starving. Next time this happens, I’m going to need to make sure I’m well-prepared.

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

---

It’s been a while since I defeated the snake. There’s no real way for me to measure time here in the dungeon, so I don’t really know how long it’s been. In the meantime, all I’ve really been doing is eating and sleeping. I’m still not done eating the snake, and new food keeps getting itself caught up in my webs, so I can’t really leave. I started out by thinking this was a nice little vacation, but I’m starting to get a little worried. If this keeps up, I’m going to become a shut-in again!

I’ve accidentally amassed quite a mound of monster corpses. Seriously, yeah, a mound of bodies. …heh, Yamada’s body.(TL.1) Y’know, Yamada, a dude from my class? Back in my previous life? Ah, nah, well, it’s not like that matters anymore.

What’s important is that this pile of meat just won’t stop getting taller. I have been diligently killing every single thing that gets stuck in my webs, then onto the pile it goes. Back when I was still living in my real home, I’d eat everything as soon as I caught it. Now, though, I’ve got this snake to go through, and I don’t want to start anything else until I’m done with that, so… yeah, I’m building up quite a pile.

There haven’t been any ridiculous bodybuilders who can rip through my webs like that snake did, so for the most part killing everything has been super easy. At some point, a level six monster showed up, and it certainly was strong! …It’s in the pile now, though. Well, just because you’ve got a high level doesn’t mean you’re actually strong.

I’m level nine. Going by level alone, I’m on even footing with where that snake was. But the difference in raw battle power is straight-up overwhelming. I wouldn’t even trust myself to fight some of these lower-level monsters outside of my webs!

I really think that there’s some kind of species factor that weighs much more heavily into strength than level. If I fought against a foe of a superior species, I’d be at a serious disadvantage, even if we were the same level. You’d think that the difference in level would be a good indicator of relative strength, but it really looks like it only works like that when it’s two members of the same species. To give a really extreme example, imagine if that enormous spider from back then was only level one. There’s absolutely no way I could win that fight. No matter how hard I tried, a fight against something that huge would end in a flash. I really should be thinking of the difference in level as more of a suggestion.

Now that I think about it, though, when I was fighting that snake, it might have even had a level advantage! Through sheer chance, I only encountered it after I’d put together this simple home to rest in, which is basically the only reason I was able to win. If I were to have come across it unprepared, that would have been it.

So far, three quarters of this snake have vanished into my belly. Man, should I be thinking that I got through three quarters of that enormous thing, or that I still have one more quarter to go? Hm, with the flow of monsters steadily accumulating on top of my pile, I should probably think of it as still having a quarter left.

With this much stored up, there’s a serious risk that this stuff is going to start rotting before I can get to it. I mean, I have [Rot Resistance], so eating spoiled food might not be the worst thing I could do to my stomach. Even better, if it’s just a little bit rotten, I might be able to grind up [Rot Resistance]’s level while I eat! The taste? Man, I’ve been forcing myself to choke down all this disgustingly bitter poisonous food, I’m sure I can handle a little bit of rot.

Umf. Really, I can’t leave until I’ve gone through all of this food. I think that, if I can somehow finally finish off the rest of this snake, I’ll be able to get through the rest of my stores faster than they can accumulate. Assuming, of course, that another huge monster doesn’t show up before then. Seriously, if I don’t finish this up soon, I’m going to revert back into a crazy shut-in. I may have designed this home as a temporary one, but I’ve been stuck here long enough that it’s been getting built-up almost as my previous full-scale home.

Hm? Wait, you say? Why would I strengthen my home when all that’s going to do is make it catch more monsters, you ask? Hmmmmm?

Nah. Any monster who dares lay eyes upon this fortress will almost certainly flee. My previous home had been designed to lure and catch prey, so my webs had been built out of extremely fine silk, almost impossible to see. This home, though, is built out of thick, tough threads.

Oh, what a coincidence, my webs are vibrating again. Seems like yet another thing has blundered into them. Oof. My food supplies are still increasing, aren’t they. I really didn’t think gluttony would be so troublesome.

To start with, I walk over to where my prey have been ensnared. It sure seems to be struggling a ton; have I caught another huge monster? If that’s the case then there’s no way I’m going to be finishing up my food stores anytime soon, which will lead me even further down the path of the shut-in. I was really hoping for a small one! Ugh, too much food. First world problems.

{Elro Randanel – LV 3 – failed to appraise statistics}

{Elro Randanel – LV 3 – failed to appraise statistics}

{Elro Randanel – LV 4 – failed to appraise statistics}

I caught three things this time, in one go. Ahhhhh, are these the same three that I dealt with back at my original home? Don’t tell me these all come as a set. Getting three things at the same time is definitely way more than one big thing. …In terms of meat, that is.

I tie them all up more securely, pull them out of my web, then wrap all three of them together. This kind of releasable web is a new technique I came up with over the last few days. It’s super convenient, I don’t have to painstakingly cut through each thread to get things out.

I fix up the hole real quick, then make my way back inside while dragging my bundle. Ugh, this is seriously heavy, dragging all three of them. It would have been a huge pain, but I really should have carried these things one by one.

HrrrrRRRAGH! Whew, that was heavy to the point where I’m seriously hurting. Did I strain something? My HP certainly went down. Damn it. I’m going to take it out on these jerks! Sure, this might be extremely unfair, but they’re in no position to complain!

So, then, chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Lesser Taratect has increased from LV1 to LV2.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

<Skill points acquired.>

<Condition satisfied. Individual Small Lesser Taratect can now evolve.>

Uh, what?

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

---

Thank you for all of your impressions.

Because there were a lot of questions, I will try to answer the questions without spoiling the story.

Q: Though I think that most people might be creeped out about it, I am concerned that there’s too little description of the MC’s figure for a spider lover like me.

A: This is because it’s from the viewpoint of the MC.

The MC doesn’t have a mirror so she can’t see her own figure. So I intentionally did not write that part.

I thought about describing it when the other spider appeared but I didn’t do that because I want the readers to imagine her figure.

Q: Is the Thread Control Technique included in the [Spider Thread] skill?

A: Barely.

It can only be moved a little after being detached from the body.

Q: I am concerned about whether “Appraisal” can appraise “Poison Resistance” or not.

A: I inserted the explanations in chapter 25.

Please see that for details.

Q: (When being chased by the centipedes) It seemed easier to escape if she scattered adhesion threads in the passage…..

A: Even if it can stop some of them, it wouldn’t help much because there are too many of them.

The next centipede will climb over the centipede that got caught in the thread.

—–

I intend to put efforts to explain doubtful points in the work as much as possible.

Will be in your care from now on.