Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

I desperately tried to back away from “it”, but in such a small room, I could only do so much, and soon, my back was against the wall. The only way out was behind my pursuer, who was quickly closing in.

My fate was sealed.

As I was unable to back down any longer, I could only shake my head in vain while my pursuer… Nii-sama came up to me with “it” in his hand.

“Come on, this outfit is not even that revealing, you know.”

“But it’s still too embarrassing for me to wear it!”

With tearful eyes, I glared at “it” held up in Nii-sama’s hands as if it were a terrible object.

“I see… if ‘this one’ is no good, how about that-”

“What’s with the unnaturally short skirt?!”

How could I possibly wear such an outrageous thing?! If I bent down a little while wearing it, my panties would be fully visible!

Now that I think about it…

“Why do you have an inventory full of these things?!”

On the verge of crying, I asked him that question. Yes, these two outfits were nowhere near the last of them. Since a few minutes ago, a large number of clothes had come out of his magic bag and were already piled up on my bed in a heap… Some of them seemed to be so lewd that I definitely did not want to look at them, let alone wear!

“Hahaha, why shouldn’t I?”

Saul-niisama said with a fresh-looking smile as if it were a matter of course.

“In fact, I still have another magic bag dedicated to you, Iris!”

Idiot. Absurdly idiotic. Nii-sama was a gargantuan idiot.

Where should I even begin. Back in the game, the supply of magic bags, which could easily increase inventory capacity, was extremely low compared to demand since they were only dropped from raid bosses. There were very few of them coming to the market and they were very expensive. Even Reiji-san and I, who had no-lifed the game, could only afford one of them!

“So, just give in and wear it. You still remember what you said right?”

I hate to say it but, Nii-sama was starting to get unreasonable. It seemed I had no choice but to play my trump card.

“I hate it when people talk to me in that way!”

“…Guh?!”

The effect was instantaneous. “I hate it”. The moment I said those words, Nii-sama collapsed to his knees with a face like the end of the world. Mmm, what a good feeling.

“… Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, but…”

He quickly raised his head and tried to run away, but hope wasn’t gone from his face yet.

“I’m sure Reiji will love it if you take care of him in that way.”

My face scrunched up at his words.

Reiji

I passed out on the way back to my room from exhaustion. When I came to, I couldn’t even get up.

A feeling of intense emptiness overtook the entire body, and every muscle was tormented with heat and pain. Overwork and sore muscles. To be honest, I had never felt anything like this in my life.

At first, I thought about asking Iris to heal me, but I thought I should let nature heal itself, so I gently refused her anxious offer, and as I was sleeping peacefully, the noise coming from Iris’ room, which had been making a heavy thumping sound, suddenly stopped.

After it got quiet, I finally calmed down and closed my eyes for a few moments.

“Reiji, we’re coming in.”

A discreet call and knock on the door woke me up, and when I looked toward the door, I saw that it was just about to open softly and two people were coming in.

Saul, who looked very smug, and Iris, who was by his side, hiding her face embarrassedly…

“Oh god it’s that kind of nurse…!”

I couldn’t help but shout. Yes, the problem was what Iris was wearing. The navy blue one-piece dress with a slight frill peeking out from the hem, a clean white apron, and a pure white headpiece, which looked just like the costume of the Menth*latum mascot character often seen in pharmacies, were completely different from what I first thought of when I heard from Saul that Iris would be nursing me in a nurse’s uniform in modern Japan.

“Ahahahaha, does it look good on her?”

Saul proudly presented his “work” to me.

I took a good look at Iris again.

I see, for someone with the physique of an elementary schooler… or should I say middle schooler (she’s cute either way), a nurse uniform like that would fit the young but innocent and dainty Iris well.

Iris herself was still looking down to hide her face, her hands crossed at the base of her legs, fidgeting, but occasionally she looked up at me with a slightly tearful look, as if waiting for my reaction, waiting for my words…

Darn it, stay with me, my reason!

“… I’m sorry for Iris, but Saul, you did a good job. She’s really cute.”

Just as I finished my sentence, Iris looked up with a pout… then a smile blossomed on her face. For a moment it was so cute that I almost fell unconscious, but my reason managed to pull through.

As I expected, her expression was much more girlish than she used to be. If it had been the original Yanagi, he would have said something like “W-What are you talking about, dummy”. This reaction was just like a young girl who was pleased to be praised as cute. I realized that the person before me was genuinely a girl now, not someone trying to act girlish.

Yanagi’s performance from before was perfect and didn’t give the impression of the original gender, but I could only look at that with a slight filter because after all, it was a performance, unlike the Iris of now. The facial expressions, detailed gestures, emotional flow, and such were truly natural.

“Well then, I’m off to discuss our future plans with Milly. Iris, take care of Reiji for me, okay?”

“Yes, please leave it to me!”

“Hey, wait-”

And just like that, Saul left the room, leaving a slightly enthusiastic Iris behind with me.

… Are you serious? Just me and her, alone?

“Oh, by the way, no matter how cute it might be, if you do anything to make her cry… I’ll make you regret it, you hear?”

“Not happening, dumbass!”

I opened the door again and yell back at Saul, who declared something disturbing. Iris was alone, tilting her head, unable to understand what was being said.

Iris scooped up a lock of hair from around her ear, took a spoonful and scooped up the thick white porridge in the steaming bowl, and cooled it down with a serious look on her face and a mouthful of huffing and puffing. The white nape of the neck, which was usually hidden by the hair, was exposed up close and personal, and the softly sweet smell and unexpected scent make me feel a little nervous…

Stay calm, me.

“Okay, say ‘ahh’.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Man, I felt super embarrassed. A young, but extremely beautiful girl, about 13 years old at the time of creation, was blowing porridge on my pillow and feeding it to me by hand. I’m sure that every man in the world would curse me for this very enviable situation, but I couldn’t help but be a bit too shy and blunt.

The porridge, which had cooled sufficiently, flowed into the mouth and was slowly tasted on my tongue… where the gentle sweetness of the milk spread over it.

“… It’s delicious.”

“Really?!”

Iris clutched the spoon and flashed a radiant smile. Her joy was mixed with doubt.

“… Did you cook this?”

“Yes. I had Mrs. Miranda teach me from the side… I hope you enjoy it.”

Oh, she did say she was learning how to cook. The well-blown and cooled porridge was placed in front of my eyes again, and I took a spoonful into my mouth. It’s a strange thing that it tasted much better now that I knew she was the one who cooked it.

“Wow, it tastes really good. You did well.”

“Hehe, thanks.”

The way she beamed happily despite her embarrassment warmed my heart.

…

……

Hold on.

Uoooooh?! What have I gotten myself into?! I felt like I could die from embarrassment alone!

While inwardly writhing in agony, I sipped the porridge as it was fed to me.

“… I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to say this but…”

In the midst of all this, Iris opened her mouth to say something other than “ahh”.

“… taking care of you like this, I feel really happy. Until now, I’ve always been on the receiving end.”

“I-I see…”

I looked away, unable to look directly at her, who seemed to be happy from the bottom of her heart.

As Iris and I were alone together, she gave it her all to take care of me. Sometimes, she would notice my gaze while I was watching her, smiled back in return, and moved on to her work again… Though, I had to stop her from wiping my front as well when she was wiping my back, I couldn’t take any more shame today.

Somehow, time passed peacefully, and before I knew it, it was noon.

“… Reiji-san.”

Iris’ expression suddenly turned gloomy, and she called out to me anxiously.

“About the ‘Sword of Destruction Arsley…”

“I know you’re gonna ask.”

Frankly speaking, I didn’t expect it to be such a burdensome weapon. Since there’s no concept of level in this world… was I able to wield it with my own ability alone? It was obvious that this was not enough at all. After all, that was almost the highest level equipment in the original game, and I didn’t expect to be able to use it to its fullest when I came here with a lowered level due to reincarnation.

“… Still, it’s fortuitous that I found I could somehow use it if you pushed myself enough, this could become a trump card in case of emergency.”

“Please, don’t use it!”

The sudden angry voice startled me, and I stopped speaking. Iris was staring at me with tears in her eyes.

“You became like this just from using it for a bit… What if the side effects become worse…”

“… My bad, you have a point there. I’m going to seal it off… I’m sorry, okay?”

To her eyes full of worry for me, I could only say that.

But if you were in danger again, I would definitely pull it out without hesitation.

I silently thought so to myself, without saying it out loud.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi
After being told to stay at home, I spent a few days helping Mrs.
Miranda, who thought it would be a good idea for me to do something
to take my mind off things.
The people of this town gathered herbs and ground them to make
medicine. They relied on forestry as their main industry, since there
was a constant demand for their product to treat bruises and sore
muscles. As someone with healing arts, I wondered if I could improve
the effects of the medicine… but, was this the right thing to do?
While tilting my head in contemplation, I poured my magic into the
medicine.
Later on, when I heard from Mrs. Miranda that those who had used the
product had found it to be surprisingly effective and that those who
had used it had expressed their gratitude, I couldn’t help but feel my
cheeks relax.
In my spare time, I would also learn how to cook from Mrs. Miranda.
The soft, herb-kneaded cookies like something from a certain famous
country, were a hit with those two when they returned, and I somehow
felt I understood a little more about how people like to have their food
eaten.
Thanks to magical technology, a certain level of water and sewage
system had been developed in this world, and although not every
house had a bathroom as a matter of course, there was one present on
the ground floor of this building. Come to think of it, it was quite
widespread at the time of the game.
I still refused to bath, though, as I had no desire to look directly at my
body. Fortunately, I could use “Purification” to cleanse my body, so
simply wiping myself with hot water was sufficient to keep me clean,
and there was no particular inconvenience… I had Saul do it for me
while my eyes were covered with a blindfold.
And as for the treatment of the women held by the bandits, Saul
relented at my insistence and allowed me to treat “one of them at a
time while staying at home”, starting from the most severely injured.
“…You alright?”
“…I can keep going, yes. It’s what I wished to do… so I can’t afford to be
weak.”
With a wet rag over my eyes on the bed, I barely answered Reiji, who
called out to me with concern. In truth, it was hard for me to even
speak up. Ever since that day, I had been in a slump. The wings were
harder to get out. When I tried to use it, I instantly started to feel sick.
It was as if they were rejecting me, attacking me like they weren’t parts
of myself.
Therefore, after the treatment, I always collapsed from exhaustion and
often fell asleep. Nevertheless, the treatment of the neighborhood girls
who were staying here was somehow completed, and they all returned
to their own villages, repeatedly expressing their gratitude.
A week, in Earth’s time, passed peacefully only around me, despite Reiji
and Saul being busy with their daily requests, and just as I was about to
treat the remaining victims, Reiji returned home with an injury.
“…Uh, don’t cry like that, okay? Look, it’s not a big deal at all.”
“(Sobs) But… but…”
“My bad, I shouldn’t make you worry about me like this…”
I found myself strangely upset, and I was still in tears and kept shaking
my head, even though Reiji’s treatment had already been completed.
Reiji himself was patting my head and comforting me with a troubled
expression.
He was caught off guard by a camouflaging plant monster he happened
to overlook, and got wounded after it grazed him. The monster was
said to be poisonous and he had a hard time battling it as a result.
I was confronted with optimism. Somewhere along the way, I had been
reassured, without any basis, that both Reiji and Saul were the
strongest and most invincible heroes in the world.
It was completely wrong. No matter how strong people were, they
could easily die in this world where things like HP didn’t exist. Besides,
in the game, this was a hunting ground used for leveling up at a very
low level, and it was still a “safe” place with many mild-mannered
animals. The danger level was just the beginning, and there were plenty
of more dangerous places to go. I felt like the ground I was standing on
was crumbling. I was too scared to wait in a safe place by myself
anymore.
“Please, I ask you both… Bring me along next time.”
The plea that escaped my mouth…
“…No, you should stay here.”
…was brusquely dismissed by Saul.
“We’re doing this for you, Iris… I hope you understand.”
“…?!”
Blood rushed to my head. Not again, I thought. Every single time, they
wouldn’t let me do anything “for my own sake”.
“I don’t understand! I don’t understand a thing at all! Are you two
really okay with coming back injured like this?! What’s going to happen
if both of you get injured?! Are you telling me… that I should be
anxiously waiting at a safe place for the two of you who may or may not
come back?!”
I found myself screaming hysterically. Saul stared at me in surprise, and
I felt a twinge of guilt, but once I said it out loud, I couldn’t stop talking.
Was this body starting to drag me down?. Tears welled up in my eyes
like a small child’s. I must have looked like a child throwing tantrum at
the moment, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Don’t leave me alone… I don’t want to be left alone… I’ve always been
tormented by the thought that something might have happened to you
somewhere I don’t know about… You said at the time that you would
never leave me alone again, didn’t you?!”
“…I’m sorry but, I still can’t let you do that…”
“…I give up!! I can’t understand Saul-niisama at all!!”
I ran back to my room and slammed the door violently. I couldn’t stop
sobbing, and the pillow in which I buried my face became damp with
liquid.
I wasn’t strong enough. The reason those two were so overprotective
was because I was weak. If I couldn’t prove to them that I was okay
now, that I could keep up with them, they would leave me behind. I
was tormented by this obsession that I had to be strong enough to not
make them worry.

Saul
“…Hey, Saul, I know you’re worried about that guy but… is this the right
thing to do? Shouldn’t we take that guy with us? He needs to get used
to this world, too-”
“I already know that!!”
Without thinking, I punched the table. It was more powerful than I
expected, and I felt a crack. I knew, Iris was anxious and crushed as he
waited for us alone in a safe place, and the way he looked just now was
like a genuine girl again. What did he call me earlier when she was
agitated and not in his right mind again? “Saul-niisama”, wasn’t it? Even
if I tried to keep him away from danger in this way, I was afraid his
symptoms were progressing no matter what.
“I know that too well… But when I think about it, I just can’t…”
From the beginning, I had wanted to be a man. Then, I would be able to
protect Onii-chan this time. I had watched Onii-chan, who protected
me in that incident, live a crippled life for a long time afterwards, more
than anyone else. In order to protect him, I made a ploy and switched
our accounts around, and here I was, as “Saul”.
Indeed, I initially struggled with this unfamiliar male body. If this were a
muscular body, I might not be able to stand it, but my current body was
a neutral, beautiful boy made by my ideal, and although I was confused
at first, there was no particular inconvenience, and I got used to it
rather quickly and enjoyed it to the fullest. Yes, I was even happy to
have come to this world and to be on the “protector” side.
…But what about Onii-chan?
He was suffering like this now with a slender girl’s body that was forced
upon him by my selfishness. Because of me, Onii-chan was getting hurt
again. I wanted the power to protect Onii-chan, and now I was catching
up with him because of what I did to get it. It’s not even the end of the
line, it wasn’t meant to be like this. I was scared. Last time something
happened to him, I barely made it in time. But what about this time? If
the same thing happened again, would I be able to make a timely
rescue once more?
Locking him up wouldn’t solve anything. And yet, I kept depriving Oniichan
of an opportunity to confront the problems. I’d made so many
mistakes here. I really hated myself. If I thought about it for a second, I
could easily see that what I was doing is a bad idea. I could come up
with all kinds of ideas about what I should do, or what would be best
for Onii-chan, but I couldn’t make that choice if something were to
happen to him because of my decision, and all I could say was to keep
him away from danger, ignoring his will.
“…Sorry, I should have taken your feelings into account… Tomorrow,
we’ll be done with all monster hunting requests, then we take that guy
with us afterwards. Sounds good?”
I could only nod to Reiji-san, who assured me so with strong eyes. No, I
was just relieved that he made that decision.
What a coward, I was.
???
“Uegh, this is terrible…”
“Did those two knights accompanying that princess really do this?”
The bandits’ hideout… used to be a mansion where an alchemist did his
shady research. However, the bandits who had roosted there were
gone, and the two men who had come to investigate whether the
mansion could be used for something or not found it, to put it simply, a
bloodbath. The room, which had already been in this state for several
days, was filled with the stench of rusty iron, and it was difficult to find
a clean spot.
“Shouldn’t we just burn this place down?”
“Agreed. This is a house with a bad reputation to begin with, and even
if it were cleaned up, no one would use it.”
Snaps
“…Did something crack just now?”
“I-Is it going to collapse? I don’t want to get buried alive in this place, so
let’s get the hell out of here…”
“Yeah, we should get back for more instructions-”
Cracks
“What the…”
In the few moments between a few blinks, before he knew it, the room
was covered in crystals. He was too stunned by the change in vision to
notice “it”.
“Boss, behind you!”
“Wha?!”
He was immediately swarmed and chewed upon by something. Amidst
the disgusting sound of flesh being bitten off, a few faint moans could
be heard, and when the moans were no more, the floor beneath was
coated with a brand-new red liquid.
“E-Eeek…?! Ack!”
As soon as the other man turned his back and tried to escape, his body
was impaled over and over. Each time he was stabbed, his body
twitched and jerked while being lifted up.
“Am I going to die…?”
He felt something cold pass in a straight line from his head to his groin.
The last thing the man saw as he frantically reached for it was his own
vision, which split to the left and right and collapsed.
Iris/Yanagi
“Aaah, thank you so much for making my child beautiful again… I don’t
know how I can ever repay you…”
“Um, you don’t have to say that… P-Please excuse me!”
The mother of the girl was so moved that she tried to take my hand.
That alone reminded me of that disgusting hand, so I just dodged her
hand and quickly walked away.
Neither Reiji nor Saul was around. The night had passed, and I was now
walking around town, trying to get out of the lodging and around the
victim’s house by myself while those two were away on a request.
It was at this moment… that I realized I was so lonely.
Rumors spread quickly in the small town, and it seemed that some
people know about my shameful display the other day, and as soon as
they saw me they looked away, either uncomfortably or painfully.
Thanks to this, I somehow managed not to fall down, but even so, I was
already exhausted after the first house and fled to an alleyway that was
not popular, yet not far from the main road, to get away from the
public eye.
Leaning my back against the wall of a private house, I sat down on the
ground on the sly. My consciousness faded. The reaction was much
stronger than when I was with the two of them, and my spirit and
strength were slowly being drained away. When I was alone again in
this way, I realize how much I depended on the two of them, painfully
well.
I had to get stronger… I must not stay like this.
Tears of impatience and inadequacy blurred my eyes, and I buried my
face in my embraced knees.
“I found a pretty girl collapsed, nya. Are you hurt anywhere, nya?”
I wondered how much time had passed, but someone was talking to me
in a strange tone.
I jumped back at the unfamiliar voice and fearfully raised my eyes to
see… a well-styled demon girl with slightly reddish, almost peachcolored
silver hair cut just below shoulder length, pale white skin, and
reddish-black horns, approaching me before I knew it and peering
down at me.
Her eyes were at the same level as mine, and her soft, friendly face
made me feel at ease.
Hold on, why is she talking like a cat if she had neither cat ears nor tail?
My thought drifted aimlessly to something out of place.
“Mmmeow? You’re the princess from Ayame’s place, aren’t you…? Can
you stand up? Is your little sister here, by any chance?”
The strange girl in front of me revealed that she knew about me and
Ayame like it was nothing.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Yanagi/Iris
White snow crystals fluttered in the sky, and all the trees I could see
were covered in a white makeup of powdered snow.
In the midst of such a fantastic natural landscape, like something out of
a fairy tale, I…
“So tired…”
With a face like the end of the world, I was at my wit’s end, perched on
a reasonably high fallen tree.
I was on my way to the nearest town where I was supposed to meet up
with those two, and about an hour into my walk, I had already started
to make noise.
I would like to say that my body is not as strong as it looked… but it was
more my inability to walk well that was causing this situation.
Back in my old world, I’d been forced to live with a wheelchair since I
wasn’t even ten years old because of an injury, and even in my game
days, I could move my avatar, but I could not move my legs as well as
other people. As a Highborn player who had wings on my back, I was
able to cover this to some extent by levitating, but this weakness was
exposed when I landed on the ground.
At first, I tried to play as the vanguard character my sister was currently
playing, but quickly grew frustrated with it.
In close combat, I had to stand my ground, but my condition meant that
I just couldn’t do it.
Reworking our avatars just because of “not having the aptitude for the
character” was not an option either, for they were masterpieces we
had spent a long time perfecting together.
Fortunately… as weirdly as I put it, my younger sister was frustrated
with her support character as well. She used to say, “I want to act cute
with a cute character and be pampered in a support role”, but that
didn’t last long.
She was the type to go out in front and punch monsters in the face
even though she was supposed to be a specialized support. Needless to
say, the two of us had a disastrous result when we started out.
After exchanging avatars, we found ourselves meshing with our new
roles much better. Since then, I’d spent seven years undergoing some
mysterious lessons called “G.I.R.L training from a genuine article” by my
sister.
Thanks to my sister, every single word and action of mine had been
refined to perfection. It’s fair to say that I could immerse in my girly
role as naturally as I breathe… As a man, I felt a bit complicated.
My limp legs couldn’t be fixed, however, and I often stumbled when I
walked, but my sister only said something incomprehensible like
“That’s also a moe point, so no problem!” and let that matter slide.
Oops, looks like I’ve digressed from the topic at hand. Why did I walk on
my own two feet despite my bad legs? After my reincarnation, I was
now of the Lightwing race, which looked no different from humans and
could only produce wings when necessary.
Naturally, it came with the restriction that I could only fly when the
wings were out. These extremely conspicuous wings.
If some bad people were to see my wings, I’m sure it’s going to be a
Slave Ending speedrun right then and there.
Moreover, when I tried to practice flying, I found that unlike in the
game days when the system assisted me in moving my wings on my
own just by wanting to fly, here I had to consciously move my wings
myself.
For the time being, I could float myself for a short time, but it was
decided that flying freely in the sky was impossible without a lot of
practicing, so I continued walking…
One hour later.
I had been compensating for my lack of muscle strength with
strengthening magic, and for the pain in my legs with recovery magic,
but I could not do anything about the accumulation of fatigue, so
eventually I was exhausted to the point where both my legs and my
back were shaky.
“…Why does it take so long to find a town anyway…? Back in the game,
it only took me 30 minutes even with my feet alone…”
Mumbling and complaining, I munched on the sandwich that was lying
in my magic bag and sipped the magic water as my drink…
I took this time to look back on my journey so far.
Up until now, I must have walked twice as far as I did within the game,
but all I could see was trees and more trees. It was painful to walk in
silence, seeing nothing but trees, snow, and a barely recognizable roadlike
thing.
Several times, I was caught in the roots crawling under the snow, and
dove headfirst into the snowy ground. Sweat and melting snow that
had gotten into my clothes made it slightly damp, sticking to my skin
and making me feel uncomfortable, which contributed to the
accumulation of fatigue.
The density of monsters was low for a world that had become so large,
and I was lucky to have only seen a few passive ones grazing leisurely
from time to time.
When I got up to continue my search for a town or at least a place I
could camp, something came from faraway…
“…A scream?”
Yes, it was a scream that sounded like someone was in dire need of
help. I thought for a moment about avoiding it and running away, but
the calculation hit me that maybe I could get directions if I helped, and I
couldn’t just leave it alone, so I turned my legs in the direction of the
scream. Or rather, I was about to.
“…Ah, AAAAAAH?!”
Suddenly, I collapsed in a severe pain that seemed to go through my
entire body from head to foot.
Ithurtsithurtsithurts! But there’s nothing around…!
What just attacked me?! But I didn’t feel like I’d been injured anywhere
at all. But soon, the pain that was tormenting my entire body began to
subside. When my consciousness was clear again, I was left with “only”
a throbbing, tearing pain in the back of my head.
I didn’t really get it, but for some reason, an urge rose from the back of
my head that I must go that way, the way I heard the screams. As if
guided by something, my feet naturally began to move.
Then I immediately regretted my choice. I closed my mouth by instinct
after seeing the horrific sight.
The scream’s owner was there.
A man who appeared to be middle-aged was lying helplessly on the
ground.
The snow around him was stained a deep red, and around his belly, an
irregularly shaped dog-like creature, about the size of a large dog and
seemingly made of shadows, had its snout buried in the man’s belly.
I abandoned my thoughts when I saw a long, thin object being pulled
out of the man’s stomach when the black shadow pulled its nose away
from the man, who was still twitching and convulsing from time to
time. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to even stand if I recognized what that
object was.
…But the man was still alive.
My body trembled with horror at the thought of being gutted and
devoured alive. My soft and white body, albeit rather thin, must look
delicious to whatever creature that was there.
I almost lost strength in my limbs as I pictured the scene in my mind,
but I scolded myself that if I slumped down here, my fear would
become reality. I bit my lips to hold it in, to the point they bled, trickling
blood into my teeth.
In the game, that monster was probably called a “phantom”, which
would attach itself to the animals around it, transforming them and
cranking up their feral instincts… appetite, in this case, perhaps.
I remembered that my “Divine Spear” was effective against spirit-type
monster such as that phantom, and gripped my staff.
Leaning back against a tree to suppress the recoil, I quietly finished the
chanting before I knew it. With a feeling of something being pulled out
of my body, four spears of light appeared, the maximum power that I
had put into them in order to be prepared for anything. I took careful
aim and unleashed the four spears of light.
The enemy, engrossed in eating, finally noticed me and turned around,
but it was too late. The spears, guided by my concentration heightened
by fear, pierced the targets and sent it away flying with a cry of pain.
Just like in the game… spirit-type monsters died when their MP ran out,
regardless of their HP.
After coaxing my shaking body and confirming that there was no other
enemy around, I walked over to the fallen man and tried to check his
injuries…
I quickly averted my eyes.
A hot sensation rose up from the back of my throat, and I couldn’t help
but spit it out onto the ground beside me. This time, my knees gave
way and I slumped to the ground.
The contents of the belly were unusually small.
Several lumps of different colors, and the occasionally twitching flesh,
were burned into my mind for a moment and never left. I might have
nightmares about it for a while.
But if I stayed like this, I would not be able to save what I could save.
With trembling hands, I gripped the staff, and after a few unsuccessful
attempts, I spun a faltering chant with a trembling throat and a sense of
urgency to hurry up.
“Ares Heal”. This healing magic, bearing the name of the god of war,
was a magic that healed HP greatly and also healed physical conditions
and abnormalities at the same time, but perhaps in this world it might
also be effective for blood loss.
The wound in the man’s abdomen began to close up as if time was
turning back.
Once I was sure it had worked safely, I leaned back on the staff and
tried not to fall over, and regulated my breathing.
I still had a violent feeling of nausea going round and round in my
stomach, but there was nothing more to be rushed up as there was
nothing more to vomit up.
“…Ugh, I… Huh, I’m not hurt anywhere?!”
The man in front of me seemed to have woken up and seemed to have
roused himself.
I was reeling from the tension of my first battle and the relief of having
arrived in time.
The threads that had somehow managed to hold me up until this point
snapped. I slipped and fell from the staff that supported my body, and
lost consciousness…
(Author’s Note)
First battle in another world. For a recluse in a peaceful country, Iris
didn’t do too bad.

A re:translation of the Faerieeee part of the RTD ‘section’ of the ‘Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?’ Web Novel.

Re:translations – TBA

The original RTD translation can be found here:
https://rtd.moe/novels/kumo-desu-ga-nani-ka/

A re:translation and re:editing of the Turb0 ‘section’ of the ‘Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?’ Web Novel. Mostly a completely new translation, which then is standarized, normalized and edited.
Re:translations – APM
Re:writing – kubor04
Editing – Legit-Rikk
Skills – mae
[further credits to be added]

The original Turb0 translation can be found here:
https://turb0translation.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

The original Japanese can be found here:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7975cr/

The Blastron01 ‘section’ of the ‘Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?’ Web Novel with slight ajustments in order to improve reasing quality.

Standardised title layout and names – kubor04
Edited out typos – kubor04
Standardised character and ability names in accordance with the Wiki and Light Novel – kubor04
Standardised Skill names in accordance with the Wiki and Light Novel – kubor04
Adding in extra chapters missed by Blastron01 but translated by Turb0 – kubor04
Checking chapters – APM
Adding in Stat tables – APM
Translating/redoing the extra Turb0 chapters – APM

The extra chapters which aren’t required reading are marked by [extra].
Additionally, due to the standardisations and changes included, we believe that reading this version will leave first time readers less confused in further parts of the story.
Thank you for reading.

The original translation made by Blastron01 can be found here: https://blastron01.tumblr.com/kumoko-contents

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

---

APM: Again, mostly reformatted

Q, About the status appraisal, it is kinda hard to read

A, Because there’s a lot of comments that says that it’s hard to see, I will improve it before long.

Please wait till then.

Q, Child of an idiot

A, N-, not at all….

I’m just easy to get carried away….

Probably

Q, I want you to put the subtitle on every story with something like ～side

A, I  might change it someday because I have thought that it’s a little hard to understand.

Q, the Shun are chapters boring

A, I-, it will become interesting from now on ((((；゜Д゜))))

Seriously speaking, the S series explains the world’s structure in a different viewpoint from the loner MC.

The contents will be like a briefing session for a while, but once the story starts to move, it will have early developments too.

Because this story will play an important role later, please keep reading it.

Q, Should you reply to the reviews?

A, Though it’s possible to answer individually, but please let me use this method because I can let you see the other questions.

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

---

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Lesser Taratect has increased from LV7 to LV8.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

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

<Skill points acquired.>

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Lesser Taratect has increased from LV8 to LV9.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Poison Fang – LV5] has become [Poison Fang – LV6]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Night Vision – LV9] has become [Night Vision – LV10]>

<Condition satisfied. Skill [Vision Expansion – LV1] has been derived from skill [Night Vision – LV10].>

<Skill points acquired.>

Whoa, that’s a huge amount of growth. Looks like beating a foe much stronger than you gives a ton of experience, no matter what world you’re in. In the blink of an eye, my level went up by two.

That snake was certainly quite a formidable opponent. If it had been a full-on fight, there’s not even a sliver of a chance that I would have won. A powerful body. A hide covered in extremely tough scales. Speed that might even eclipse mine, if the few times it lunged at me were any indication. To top it all off, venom. As a snake, there is no doubt that its bite carries a powerful venom.

Even after restraining it, I think my odds were still only about 50/50. Leveling up may have fully healed all of my wounds, but I had taken a tremendous amount of damage before then. My stamina is only just barely still positive. That was seriously dangerous.

But to go with that huge risk, the return was equally huge, you know! When I was tirelessly overhunting those centipedes, I felt like I was on a nice, steady path to eventually becoming level eight. I never thought that jumping all the way up to level nine in one go was even possible!

I’m definitely excited about leveling up, but the skill increases I got were also huge! [Pain Resistance] going up is nice on its own, but [Poison Fang] went up as well! It’s one of my biggest trump cards, second only to [Spider Thread]. As [Poison Fang] grows, so does my offensive capacity. Well, hm, it’s definitely worth remembering that [Poison Fang] is basically my only offensive option, so it would be really awful to face something with a high tolerance for poison.

Next up is probably the most interesting one from this level-up: [Night Vision]. Yeah. Now that it was brought up, it’s really not strange at all that I should have it. The light of the sun doesn’t, of course, reach this deep into the dungeon. In fact, there’s no light at all! Yet I can still see clearly in this inky blackness. I’m actually a little surprised that this is because of a skill, I had honestly thought that it was part of the whole spider package.

So, when [Night Vision] leveled up, my vision seemed to sharpen. What once was murky is now clear and bright. I can clearly and distinctly make out the scenery around me. Skills must max out at level ten. If that weren’t the case, then this could level up even more, and I have no idea how my vision could possibly get any better. Ah, well, maybe it’s just [Night Vision] that has only ten levels.

So, when [Night Vision] leveled up to ten, as a bonus, I acquired the related skill [Vision Expansion] out of nowhere. That’s great and all, but I have no idea what it could possibly do! Judging by the name, I thought that it might increase the physical range of my vision, but it really doesn’t seem like that’s the case. Well, I guess I’ll throw this one onto the piles of skills I know nothing about but their name.

At times like these, I really wish I had the ability to appraise my skills. Unfortunately, the only valid targets for [Appraisal] are things that I can see, and I only know the skill names because the “Voice of Heaven” said them out loud. If it’s not a thing that’s in front of me, I can’t appraise it. The [Appraisal] results, though, feel like they’re being written out in my brain. I can see them with my mind’s eye, which I guess counts enough.

If I can get [Appraisal]’s level up high enough, maybe my skills will start being displayed as part of the results. Then I’d be able to appraise them directly. Well, until that time, I don’t really have much choice but to set these unknown and unusable skills aside.

Well then, let’s take this huge thing that I just barely managed to kill… and eat it! To start, I put up a new simple home so that other monsters wouldn’t want to barge in on me and steal a piece. This thing is absolutely huge, so huge that I probably won’t be able to eat it all in one go. I should stick around here, then, until I’ve finished it all up. I’ll put extra care into making this simple home perfect.

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

Oh, here’s another good thing! The [Spider Thread] skill, which almost never seemed to acquire any experience, finally leveled up. What have I been doing differently? Did this happen because I was using my threads so heavily while fighting the snake? My two primary offensive skills are [Poison Fang] and [Spider Thread], so if I keep fighting, they will of course be going up as well. Seriously, the stat points I get on level-up don’t seem to have anywhere near as strong of an effect on my combat effectiveness as my skills do.

Humming to myself, I get back to eating my lunch. Before that, though, I need to peel all of these scales off. These things are seriously way too damn hard! There’s no way I can eat them. I really have to do this, otherwise I won’t be able to eat at all.

I got them all offffff! Ugggh, I’m beat. That was way more tedious work than I thought. The scales are very tough, and they don’t peel off easily, so it took a very long time. It took off nearly a quarter of the red overall-stamina meter, even after leveling up had raised it back up to full! This was definitely heavy labor.

But now, thanks to that, I can eat as freely as I want! So, let’s dig in.

Ewwh, bitter! Way too bitter! Is this the poison? If it’s this bitter, then this guy must have had a ridiculously powerful venom. Man, it would have been awful if I had gotten bit!

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Poison Resistance – LV5] has become [Poison Resistance – LV6]>

Yep. The meat may be bitter, but the skill rank sure is sweet.

I gave up on trying to get out of this dungeon. I half-heartedly thought about wandering around for a while, but with everything in this dungeon, I’m worried that an unexpected encounter would put the “dead” back in “dead end”. It doesn’t matter if it’s a human or a monster, they’re both seriously formidable foes. Oh, um, please don’t misinterpret me; when I say “formidable foe” I don’t mean in the sense of, hm, “a rival I want to beat”, but more in the sense of “an extremely serious threat to my life”.

Fortunately (or whatever if “fortunate” isn’t a good word to describe my current situation), there aren’t any monsters here that are faster than me, so dodging unpleasant encounters is quite easy. My spider body has agility in spaces! I’m far, far faster than I was as a human.

Ah, sorry, I’m getting too full of myself. While it’s true that I am quite fast, it is really all of my physical capabilities that are far, far greater than those in my previous life. Heh.

Well, before I was reincarnated, I really was more of the indoors-y type. “Exercise? What’s that?”, etc., etc. It’s obvious that a wild spider would have better stats than I did before. The only parts of my body that I had bothered to hone were my thumbs, made strong by countless hours of gaming.

Let’s set aside the topic of my former unathleticism. What matters now is that, in my current body, I’m pretty good at running away. Of course, running away all the time is not a really solid survival strategy. If I’m caught from both sides in a pincer attack I’m done for, and if I run into anything faster than me I’d be screwed, although I haven’t seen anything like that yet.

Plus, I’ve been steadily growing hungrier and hungrier, and you can’t fight on an empty stomach. Well, not being able to fight isn’t really the problem, since I’d really rather I didn’t have to. It’s the “empty stomach” part that’s the issue. I’d rather not starve to death.

Well, then, let’s think about this for a bit. Q: What do spiders eat? A: Other bugs.

Oof… that’s right, isn’t it… if I’m going to sate my appetite that’s what I’m looking at, isn’t it… and since I’m so big, that’s going to reduce my options for prey, isn’t it… Specifically, my options are other monsters and, although I don’t really want to think about it, humans.

I mean, my siblings got into cannibalism immediately after being born, didn’t they, and that giant spider that seemed like our parent was also calmly eating its own children. It seems like the average member of my species thinks that everything on the planet apart from itself is prey. It’s not like there’s many other options, though, in this cave.

What do those deer-like monsters in that big passage eat? Are they carnivores, disguised as herbivores? …man, I can’t stop thinking about food. I am seriously worried about where I’m going to find my next meal.

It’s time to face the facts. At this rate, I will starve to death. That’s a bad thing, so I’m going to have to put up with eating whatever junk I can scrounge up. Ugh. I need to prepare myself.

It’s all well and good to prepare myself, though, but step one is really figuring out what it is I’m going to be eating. Of course, there’s nothing edible on hand, which means I need to go acquire myself some provisions. Now, how will I do that?

To be frank, my odds of winning in a fight are basically zero. Sure, the passages in this maze I’m in now are smaller than the huge ones from before. Sure, there’s no monsters that seem absolutely unbeatable, like that giant spider or whatever that dragon-like thing was. The monsters here are only about person-sized!

Even still, it’s probably not possible for me to win a fight. Why, do you ask? I have no idea how! I’ve never fought anything IRL before! If this was a game, I’d probably win, but pressing buttons is way different from actually moving my body. Plus, 2D and 3D are way different.

I shouldn’t really be concerned about not being able to fight, though. I’m really hungry, but not to the point where I might keel over at any moment. So, since I’ve got a little time to prepare, let’s come up with a properly spider-like way to secure me some food.

When you’re talking about spiders, you have to talk about webs! Weaving a web out of sticky spider silk and ensnaring prey is totally spider-like, and a cave is a perfect place to do it, since I can stick my threads everywhere.

I have decided! Here, I shall build my new home!

First, I have to make some thread. That comes out of my butt (or whatever you call it now), right? Let’s try making some.

…now that I’m paying attention, it looks like I’ve already got some thread. Huh?! How’d that get there? Wouldn’t I remember spewing that stuff out?

Hmm. This stuff stretches all the way back the way I came. Have… have I been laying thread the entire time I’ve been walking around?! Aaah, this is embarrassing!! It looks like I have to focus on turning it off.

Yeeeeeah. What should I do about all this thread? I might find a use for it in the future but for now let’s cut it off and get back to work.

Let’s try this again… here, I shall build my new home! I’ve got the basics down on making thread. Now, I need to stick my thread all around the cave. I like to think I’m pretty handy, but can I pull this off?

…before I was even finished thinking that, I’d already done it. In the blink of an eye, I’d built quite a satisfactory web. This tunnel is now quite magnificently covered with an enormous spiderweb. Whoa, is this my body’s instinct? As soon as I started, my body started moving like it knew exactly what it needed to do as I watched dumbfounded.

I’ve made my web in two parts. The top and bottom halves are separated from each other by a one-meter gap. Why, you ask? I definitely wouldn’t want to cut off my own escape route, would I?

My new home is at a T-intersection, so I’ve built a web in each of the tunnels. I’ve made sure to leave a hole in each of them so that I can escape, since if I were to block them off completely I’d be trapped. I don’t think there’s anyone around here strong enough to break spider’s silk, so I feel fine leaving these little holes.

The stupid monsters that crawl on the ground will get stuck in my lower web. The ones that try to jump or fly over it will get caught in my upper one. I’ve closed off all entrances, so I’m perfectly safe in here, and just in case something does break in I’ve left myself escape routes. Isn’t this the perfect kind of place for a shut-in like me? This wonderful place I’ll call my home.

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

---

Well then! None of my problems will be solved if I just sit here forever, so I should get going.

I shouldn’t follow these bootprints. Running into the people who made them would be a huge pain in the ass, so I really should go in the opposite direction.

…But, seriously, this cave is too big.

The ceiling towers over a hundred meters above me, and the section I’m in is probably about that wide as well. The craggy rocks scattered throughout the cave sometimes disguise its size, but as far as caves go, this one is enormous.(TL.1)

Currently, I’m at a sort of crossroad, where three wide tunnels join together in a Y. Behind me stretches the path I came from. The path where those footsteps lead goes off to one side, leaving me with only one path, which travels straight into the distance and out of sight. I climb on top of an especially large rock and survey the road ahead.

…What are THOOOSE?!

Scattered throughout the cave before me are countless monstrous creatures. [Appraisal] goes off accidentally.

{Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Deer; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Bat; Wolf; Wolf; Wolf; Wolf; Wolf; Wolf; Dinosaur…}

…Well, uh, now that you mention it, I guess those do look kind of like “deer”… but the deer I’m familiar with definitely don’t have horns that shine like swords. “Bat” could be used to describe those creatures flapping around, but they look less like actual bats and more like extremely ugly rats that grew demonic wings. Looking at the “wolves”, you’d think they were almost normal by comparison, but then you see that they’ve got six legs. Even the “dinosaur” lying against the far wall looks weird: it’s like a tyrannosaur, but with horns and scales. That’s not a dinosaur, that’s a dragon!

Should I try to push my way through? It’s doable, right? Haha, nooo, I’m just a tiny spider that was born just a little a while ago, so I really shouldn’t do anything rash. The difficulty here is definitely set to Lunatic.

Stealthily, I creep down from my rock. What should I dooo? There’s a huge pile of monsters in front of me, a spider-filled hell on one side, and potentially-hostile people on the other. Am I stuck here?

Ah, wait, hold up, please, no cause for alarm. Even though all three of these paths are blocked, I’ve already devised a grand strategy to advance! …Ahaha, although I say “grand strategy”, I really mean that I saw another passage while I was up on top of that rock. In addition to these hugely obvious passages that make up this Y-intersection, it looks like there’s a much smaller side path through a fissure in the wall. It looks like it’s about three meters high and three meters wide, and there’s no problem getting there from here. No, the problem with this particular path is that this is where those bootprints come from. If those people came from this direction, then wouldn’t that lead to this cave’s (or, rather, this dungeon’s) exit?

Umf. The exit, huuuh… should I really try to get out of here? If I were human, it would be obvious; I’d get out without a second thought. I mean, this dungeon is way too high-level for me! I don’t really know how strong I am compared to other monsters, but that quick glance I got earlier told me that getting into combat would be a seriously bad idea.

Wellll, if this were really just a game I’d be all like “dying’s not a big deal lol” but this is reality! I probably won’t come back if I die, so there’s no way I’d put my life on the line and charge madly into battle, not without any sort of fallback plan.

If I keep that in mind, getting out of here is a pretty attractive option. Well, it’s comparatively attractive, but I really don’t know if it’s actually that good of an idea. After all, I’m a monster. Since people travel through this part of the dungeon, there must be some sort of human settlement nearby. If a big spider like me were to show up, they’d totally hunt me down. So, yeah, there’s definitely risks going outside.

On the other hand, I might find a nice, quiet place to settle down somewhere out there. Staying out of sight of the people out there would be very luck-dependent, though… and, well, now that I say that, I should really also say that survival in here would be equally up to luck. Hmm…

Ah! Got it! For now, I’ll set my sights on the dungeon’s exit. Once I get there, I’ll check out the state of affairs, see if there’s anything dangerous like a base camp for the humans, and figure out if leaving is a good idea.

We have a plan, so, LET’S! GOOO!!

…I got lost, lol. 😛

Well, ahaha, how should I put it… This cave is freaking huge! What is up with these labyrinthine paths? The road has been forking crazily all over the place ever since I started. How many branches, you ask? I lost count after 10!

I also encountered a ton of monsters! Every time, I ran away as fast as I could, but I think I got turned around and I have no idea where I am anymore. What happened to the footprints, you ask? I lost track of them a while ago!

Aaaaaahh, nai wa. I’m lost in a maze and have no map. There’s no way I’ll find the exit!

Plus, I’m so hungry I can barely stand it. Someone, anyone, can you spare any food?

Translator notes:

1 – This is probably the hardest line I’ve ever tried to translate in my (very short) translation career. The Japanese language relies a lot on contextual cues to indicate what a sentence is referring to, and sometimes it’s really damn hard for a non-native speaker to figure out what’s going on. Literally, the line translates to “thanks to the rough rocks scattered haphazardly about, [I] feel things that are somewhat varied; but even so, for a cave, this is huge.” What about the rocks mixes up your feelings? What’s varied about your feelings? What are your feelings even of, the cave? Its width? Tell me, spider girl! Tell meeeeee