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

---

This path I’ve been following is pretty big.

Well, it’s got to be pretty big if those two-and-a-half meter wasps can fly about freely. Even that five-meter praying mantis can move freely, too!

{Elro Greshgard – LV 3 – failed to appraise status}

A swarm of wasps are swarming around a giant praying mantis, who is slashing back at them with the giant sickles on its forelegs. Unlike an ordinary praying mantis, though, this guy has six. Like an Asura. The wasps want to strike from the air, but they don’t want to get in range of those sickles… what a stalemate.

As for me, I’m sneakily observing these proceedings from behind a rock. It looks like neither party has noticed me just yet. It looks like my [Stealth] skill is far more effective than I was giving it credit for! I sneak a peep over my rock in order to activate [Appraisal].

{Elro Greshgard: A praying mantis-like monster that inhabits the Great Elroe Labyrinth Lower Stratum. The attacks it makes with its sickles are extremely powerful.}

Oh! One of the wasps just got bisected by a sickle. Whoooa, those things must be crazy sharp to cut a wasp in half with a single blow! Man, if those things are that ridiculously sharp, they might even be able to cut through my thread! Well, since they haven’t noticed me, I have the great privilege of just being able to sneakily scuttle by as I please.

Oh yeah, before I forget, I should look up these new vocabulary words I got from [Appraisal].

{Great Elroe Labyrinth Lower Stratum: The area between the Middle and Bottom stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Many powerful monsters inhabit this level.}

Ahhh, I see! These are the lower depths, huh… And there’s even more below me, huhhh… And there’s tons of strong monsters down here, huuhhhhh…

I didn’t want to know any of that.

By the way, I did in fact try looking up the {Middle Stratum} and the {Bottom Stratum}, but all I got was {the stratum in the middle} and {the stratum which resides at the bottom}. Why do I bother, [Appraisal]?

Although, it seems like this is not actually the deepest layer like I thought it was; there’s even more below. I can’t help but imagine that the Bottom Stratum is packed to the gills with absurdly powerful monsters. Ugh, this is, of course, the world’s largest dungeon, and when I think of a dungeon, I think of a place where the monsters get stronger and stronger the deeper in you go. If my current stratum really is filled with powerful monsters, then it’s totally not unreasonable to think that the Bottom Stratum could be crawling with Earth Dragon-class monsters. Just thinking about it gives me the chills.

That’s far away, though. Hmm, if I had to guess, I’d say I probably was in the Upper Stratum before. If humans were able to get in and out, those tunnels must have been connected to the surface somehow. Aaaargh, why didn’t I follow after those footsteps instead of running away! Although, really, even if I did manage to follow them out, I still look like this… Just because I’m a spider, I’d still have to live out my life hunting like a monster.

But yeah, that really has nothing to do with things right now, right? I’ve got to figure out how to escape these lower depths, after all… which would put me in the Middle Stratum, huh. Really, though, I don’t even know if this tunnel connects to the Middle Stratum at all! Maaaan, I really want to avoid that Bottom Stratum.

Oh, another wasp died! It’s not looking good for the wasps. Mantis, you’re way strong! Hmm, isn’t that thing way stronger than a snake? This is weird, I’ve been ranking the snakes as boss monsters… they don’t even compare to that Earth Dragon, though, and if this praying mantis is so much stronger… The snake is plummeting down my rankings. This is pretty obvious, but… those snakes are nowhere near the toughest things on this level, are they?

Well, it’s far too early to tell. It could be that the praying mantis is just way too strong.

…That is also a thought that needs correcting. Immediately after the third wasp was slain, something entirely unexpected happened to the praying mantis. In the blink of an eye, it was crushed between the mandibles of a giant spider.

Uh? Wait, wait… Seriously?

{Greater Taratect – LV 18 – failed to appraise status}

Whoa. Is this what my Mega Evolution looks like? Really?

{Greater Taratect: The evolved form of the spider-type monsters known as Taratect. Their powerful, carnivorous fangs drip with deadly venom.}

Ohhhh! If I keep evolving, is that what I’ll become!? It’s still really small compared to “My Mother”, that super-huge spider I saw way back when, but this thing is seriously over ten meters long! That praying mantis looks tiny now. …Wait, was that thing taken down without the use of thread at all? Just with a bite? Wouldn’t that require a stupidly high offense stat? Mine’s still only 21! How many times am I going to have to evolve to turn into that thing…

Well, I should probably sneak away before I get spotted. Noooo way I can win against something like that.

Alright, I’ve learned one thing today: the Lower Stratum is seriously bad news!! Why do I say that, you ask? It’s pretty obvious!! All these monsters around me are so powerful that I don’t even know if making a nest will be enough to beat them. Like I said before, [Stealth] is the last thread I’m clinging to. Was I too quick to flee, huh? Should I have seriously tried blasting through that swarm of wasps to get out of here, huh? Maaaaan, though, I’m not really feeling that sense of overwhelming doom like I was when that Earth Dragon was nearby, huh…

Although, I do know that there’s monsters down here that the bees actually can kill, so maybe this isn’t completely hopeless after all. Praying mantises and giant spiders are one thing, but the other monsters down here can’t all be that strong, right? If I find a monster that I think I can take, I’ll make a meal out of it, otherwise I’ll just keep using [Stealth] to sneak by. By the way, my red status gauge hasn’t dropped at all! If I can trust this display, I don’t need to worry too much about food for the time being. I should be able to pick my targets freely, acting with the utmost caution. I don’t want to blunder across anything else like the Earth Dragon, after all.

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

---

I survived. I am grateful beyond belief. I’m alive. What an amazing thing to be.

As I think that, though, I can’t stop faint feelings of despair from creeping in. What on earth am I going to do now?

My nest is gone. Completely, utterly, gone. I caught a fleeting glimpse on my way out of the destruction wreaked by that breath-like weapon.

There’s an enormous crater in the wall where it once stood.

Ha ha. A crater in the wall, that’s kinda weird! How did that even happen? Isn’t a crater supposed to be something that happens when a meteorite or whatever crashes into the ground? What on earth could put a crater on a vertical surface? On top of that, didn’t it have to blow through that huge rock too? Yeah, kinda weird.

Even when I was dazed and defenseless, the wasps didn’t attack. Those guys are probably just as terrified of the Earth Dragon as I am. It’s just that powerful of a being. Anyone would be terrified. Even I’m terrified.

Seriously, what do I do now? Breaking through the wasps and returning to my original tunnels is… possible. That’s only if I disregard the Earth Dragon, though. This time, I survived through pure luck. Next time, though, I don’t think I’ll be anywhere near as lucky. Based on that thing’s actions, it’s clear that it recognized my nest as a particularly troublesome thing to deal with. Otherwise, there’s no way it would let loose such a ridiculous attack. From here on out, whenever I build a nest, I need to acknowledge the high chance that the Earth Dragon is going to take offense.

So, I can’t make a nest. Or, rather, I’m terrified, so I’m not going to. My spirit has been broken. I absolutely do not want to anger my superior, the Earth Dragon.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the Earth Dragon destroyed my nest on a whim, but I can’t say that a creature that powerful would attack like it did without some level of thought behind it. It really doesn’t matter either way, though, since I’m too weak to do anything about it. If I meet it, I will die. That’s it.

Twice so far, I’ve been able to escape. Both of those times have been extremely lucky. I don’t think it was entirely luck though. Even though that thing is monstrously powerful, it wasn’t able to see me while I was hiding… right?

Yeah, I think so. I really want to think so. If I don’t, I’ll lose that last thin thread of hope I’ve been hanging on.

My single way to survive. If I keep myself absolutely hidden, I’ll somehow be able to make it out of the Earth Dragon’s territory. I’ve got no other options.

I’ll need to rely on my [Stealth] skill. When I first got it, I didn’t think it would help me all that much, but now it’s my only lifeline. Its level is five, which is, quite honestly, not great, but I’ve got no other choice.

I focus on my thoughts. First off, I have to figure out which direction the Earth Dragon went. I survey the ground around me, and notice that it’s left splendidly clear footprints. They lead off away from me… in that direction, it looks like there’s just one big tunnel. Back there, it seems, is where the Earth Dragon lurks. Just realizing that makes me nervous.

I should go down the path that points as far away from the Earth Dragon as possible. That much is obvious. Who’d be so stupid as to aimlessly meander towards it? To be honest, though, I have no idea where this path may lead. Putting my fears aside, the best way to get out of here would be to try climbing again. Putting my feelings aside, I think it would really be my best chance for survival. Seriously, though, that’s still impossible. I don’t need to think about this one, I can feel it in my gut.

If I proceed slowly and keep myself hidden, I’ll be able to move forward. Staying hidden will be hard… where’s a cardboard box when you need one? Heh… Looks like my mood’s recovering a little bit, huh?

Speaking of recovering, it looks like that huge pile of damage I took when I fell has already been healed, thanks to [HP Auto-recovery]! Man, I really should have spent all of those skill points on this, instead of that worthless [Detection] skill. It’s fantastic that I was able to acquire it on my own, though. I wonder how quickly I regenerate? I didn’t really have the luxury of being able to watch my meters fill back up back then. It’s still low-level, so I can’t rely on it for rapid recovery, but I shouldn’t need to be overly concerned about a few scrapes every now and then.

Ahhhh, I didn’t really think about it much back then, but I did notice that my red Stamina bar wasn’t going down at all! I wonder why that is? I’ve never noticed anything like this before… Maybe there’s some sort of condition that stops it from decreasing, but I really have no idea what it could possibly be. …I don’t think this is the case, but… is this a bug? Is my stamina going down without the meter being updated? Ah, that would suuuck! I couldn’t do anything if I suddenly ran out of stamina. Hey, Ms. [Appraisal], I can believe in you, right? You’re a can-do kinda girl, right? I trust you, but… with things like this… can I really believe in you?

I think [Appraisal] might level up soon. It’s been a while since it last leveled, and I’ve been using it constantly since then. Since getting it up to level six made it a billion times more useful, I have really high hopes for level seven. I will be grateful beyond belief if it gives me a skill readout or anything like that. Having all of these skills I know nothing about is seriously inconvenient, you know! I might even have some skill hidden away that will turn this entire situation around! Even if I’m expecting too much of it, maybe there’s something that will make things even just a little bit better.

Even the tiniest little advantage I can scrape together in order to get out of here would be amazing. What about a skill that gives me the location of all of the nearby enemies? If I had that, I could constantly be checking to make sure the Earth Dragon wasn’t anywhere near me as I move forward. It would be great if I could use [Detection] like that, huh… I’ve given up hope on that by now, though.

I could really use a map, too! I don’t know if this tunnel is going to lead me to a safe place or not. There’s actually a pretty decent chance that this links directly up with another danger zone! If that happens, I’ll probably die… right?

Well, for now, all I can really rely on is my own terrible luck. Please, if I may be so bold, let this passage bring me to somewhere safe!

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

---

After my successful defeat of the first squadron, the wasps started attacking continuously. I wiped out the second squad they sent at me without any trouble, but after that, things started getting a little hairy. They started sending multiple squads at once. Nai wa! I mean, this is the right thing for the wasps to be doing, but, please look at it from my perspective! I don’t want this many wasps to come! I’m still totally safe in my nest, but there’s this constant feeling of pressure, you know! What am I supposed to do about all of these wasps constantly buzzing around me, day and night?

I sigh a little and look around me. Everywhere I look is wasps, wasps, wasps. Seriously, guys, what’s up with you? With this many of you this close, your buzzing is no joke! You’re seriously annoying! You’re so loud I can’t sleep!

On top of that, if I do manage to shoot all of you down, I can’t eat that much! Sure, my [Overeating] skill might let me eat more than I could before, but even that is nearing its limit! I was complaining that one of these things was too huge, and then I got five more. Eating all that brought [Overeating] all the way up to level three, didn’t it?

The worst part of this is that, while I’m being harassed by these wasps, work on my nest has stopped completely! My absolute top priority is escaping. Not dealing with wasps. But now, thanks to this unrelenting onslaught, my construction work can’t continue. I’d really prefer if they stopped attacking and left me alone… I already have more than enough food. Well, it’s not like they could understand that, anyway.

I really have no choice but to thread a little more work in between each attack. With the wasps being as vigilant as they are, leaving my nest is straight-up suicidal. The “charge straight to the top” plan I was thinking about before is definitely impossible. My speed may be 369, but I won’t get anywhere close to that amount when I’m charging straight up a wall. If I run into any wasps on my way up, it’s plain to see that I’ll be stabbed straight to death.

Ahhhhh, son of a bitch! I really don’t want to get slowed down like this! What happens if that Earth Dragon suddenly shows up? …If that Earth Dragon… suddenly…

A tremendous chill runs down my spine.

Wh… what? Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!! This isn’t happening. This is not happening!! Ahhh, but it really is!!!

{Earth Dragon Araba – LV 31 – failed to appraise status}

The last guy I ever wanted to see has arrived. What’s worse, it looks like he is quite interested in my nest.

Wh… what do I do?! Wait, no, what can I do? Nothing. I can’t do anything. Not against an opponent like that. I have, basically, one option: pray with all of my heart that he is going to pass me by.

My prayers, however, are ripped to shreds.

The Earth Dragon opens its mouth. A dragon’s greatest weapon is, without a doubt, its breath weapon.

A thunderous roar splits the air. A blast of pressure rips forth. A terrible vortex of destruction swallows everything in front of it.

What happened next, I’m not so sure about. It’s pretty easy to put the pieces together, though. The big, sturdy rock I had used as the foundation for my nest simply vanishes, along with a huge chunk of the wall behind it. An enormous crack runs up the wall above the blast site. Chunks of the wall start to rapidly break off; a literal cave-in. In a single blow, the bottom half of my nest was destroyed. The remaining top half was soon swallowed within the collapsing wall.

I was in the top half, spared from the direct effects of that breath weapon. I fell, surrounded by my broken webs, unable to do anything. I helplessly fall to the ground below. Oof. My health meter empties in an instant, but I’m still alive somehow. I’m alive, but I don’t know for how long. Everything is up to the dragon, now.

I’m covered in layers of my own webbing. I’ll get stuck in it if I touch the sticky parts, even though it’s my own thread. That’s really not a problem, though, not now. This might actually be lucky. If I’m covered in a pile of thread, the dragon might not be able to see me amongst the wreckage. He might even think I’m a rock, if I had to take a guess! If I just lie perfectly still, maybe he’ll miss me entirely?

Seizing this faint hope, I hold my breath, and clamp down on the fear that trembles through my body.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Fear Resistance – LV 1]>

My trembling lessens by just a fraction, but I’m still scared. I am still quivering in abject terror! I’m scared i’m scared i’m scared i’m scared i’m scared i’m scared i’m scaaaared!!

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

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

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Stealth – LV3] has become [Stealth – LV4]>

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

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [HP Auto-recovery – LV1] has become [HP Auto-recovery – LV2]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fear Resistance – LV3] has become [Fear Resistance – LV4]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Stealth – LV4] has become [Stealth – LV5]>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fear Resistance – LV4] has become [Fear Resistance – LV5]>

The, ahah, “Voice of Heaven” pulls me back together. Or, maybe, it’s the five levels of Fear Resistance that I earned while lying here trembling. I have no idea how long I’ve been hiding here. From the number of skill levels I got, it feels like forever. I check my stamina meter to see if I can tell how long it’s been by how much it’s gone down, but for whatever reason it’s still at max.

I use [Thread Control] to rip off the threads stuck to my body. From my earlier experimentation, I learned that I can use [Thread Control] to change the properties of my thread somewhat, even after I’ve detached it from myself. Now, I decrease the adhesiveness and peel it back, slowly crawling out from under the pile of webbing. The Earth Dragon is gone.

Oh man, I’m lucky.

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

---

Ah, is it finally happening?

{Finjegoat – LV 6 – failed to appraise status}

{Finjegoat – LV 4 – failed to appraise status}

{Finjegoat – LV 5 – failed to appraise status}

{Finjegoat – LV 5 – failed to appraise status}

{High Finjegoat – LV 1 – failed to appraise status}

Hovering in the sky before my eyes is a squadron of wasps, and they sure don’t look like they’re just here to watch. They’re giving off an atmosphere of hostility, like they’ve finally seen me as a threat and are here to settle things.

My nest stretches up about halfway to my goal. As I’ve been building higher and higher, the wasp’s attitudes have been changing bit by bit, but it looks like I finally hit a point where they just can’t leave me alone anymore.

But still, they just sent one squadron. Are they not taking me seriously, or are they just testing the waters? Regardless, in my nest I can totally win against just one squad.

I ready my Ku-morning star. I’ve been building the walls of this nest out of a fine mesh, but I’ve left cracks for me to throw my weapons out of. Of course, even though there’s cracks, it’s not like they’re big enough for those two-meter-long wasps are going to be able to get through them. My foes have no way to get through to me, but I can attack outside as much as I want. Well, they can always run away, though, so it’s really more of a tie.

The two level fives rush in to assault my nest. Heh. Even when there’s two of them attacking simultaneously, my nest doesn’t even budge. My [Spider Thread] skill is level eight! Even when it was low-leveled, my thread was something I was proud of, and now that it’s this high-level, it’s only gotten better. Just like that, it was able to withstand two of those wasps directly charging into it, without moving an inch! Even though they came at me with their impressive bulk and their great speed, there was literally no damage at all. It literally didn’t even shudder from the impact.

The threads I’ve surrounded my nest with are maximally strong, with just enough rubbery elasticity to be excellent shock absorbers. I designed it so that the threads can expand and contract somewhat, in order to absorb a certain amount of shock. Two wasps ramming into it head-on did nothing! It can absorb at least that amount. If it couldn’t, then I’d have to rely solely on the raw strength of the threads to keep things together.

It’s not like those wasps’ attacks are particularly weak, or anything. From my observations, these wasps are, hm, how do I say it… strong. They drag all sorts of prey back here, including those huge snakes!

They can attack unopposed from the air, with their poisoned stingers and powerful physiques. Under any normal circumstances, they would be a huge threat! No ordinary attacks can reach them when they’re in the air, so they can attack without fear of reprisal. Ah, hm, this might be why they seem so weak to my anti-air attacks. My perfect accuracy with the Ku-morning star may be because they just simply aren’t expecting anything to hit them!

Thanks to all that, an ordinary battle with these wasps would be extremely difficult. Yes, an ordinary battle. My home, my trump card, is not, however, ordinary. It possesses extraordinary resilience, extraordinary binding power, and extraordinary siege potential! I’ll bet these wasps haven’t ever seen any tactics like these. This is, after all, what happens when a spider’s strongest trump card is wielded by a human’s powerful intellect.

For now, I’ll ignore the two wasps that got stuck in my nest after they body-checked it. I turn to the remaining three wasps, who still haven’t grasped the severity of their situation, and hurl my Ku-morning star! Their leader is completely unable to avoid it, and takes it full on. This was my goal all along. I crack my thread like a whip, and the centrifugal force slams my foe down into my nest. The leader has been neutralized.

The remaining two wasps panic, not knowing what to do now that their leader’s been taken out. Perfect targets. I fling out the Ku-morning star yet again and dispatch the higher-level one. After that, the remaining wasp gets its head together, but its next move is awful. I don’t know if it was expecting a turnabout, but it charges straight at me! Didn’t you learn anything from the other two that tried that? Well, unfortunately, that desperate attack completely fails to reach me, and there’s one more wasp stuck in my webs.

It was over too quickly. The wasps I thought were so dreadful and terrible when I first fell down here have no strategy to deal with me once I’ve built a nest! If it can withstand a straight-on charge without even shuddering, then no matter how many wasps may attack, they’ll never reach me! This alone is proof of the ridiculous defensive strength of my nest.

In a video game, if your defense stats are high enough, attacks from weaker characters won’t deal you any damage at all. It looks like that’s holding true for my nest against those wasps. I had imagined that the wasps wouldn’t be able to break through, but I was figuring that they’d at least do enough damage that I’d have to do some maintenance every once in a while.

There are still hundreds of pathetic little wasps buzzing around above me. I remember the terror I felt when I first realized how many there were… but, now that I have my indestructible nest, it’s an entirely different story. It doesn’t matter if you bring hundreds, or even thousands, if you cannot break through my webs, your stingers shall never reach me!

My chances of escape are looking better and better. In an excellent mood, I finish off these captured wasps and get back to work.

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

---

After killing a few more lone wasps, I finally heard that voice.

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Taratect has increased from LV2 to LV3.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

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

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

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

<Skill points acquired.>

The level up that I’ve been waiting for all this time comes at me in an instant! My skin rustles as it peels away from my body. Somehow, although I can’t really describe how, I can feel that the wound on my back has closed completely.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [HP Auto-recovery – LV1]

…Huh? Really? Ohh! Now this is a surprise. So, uh, does this mean that my full-heal on level up is a kind of automatic recovery? I am extremely, unbelievably happy about this, but, man, I really could have used this earlier… My life wouldn’t have been nearly this hard if I’d had such luxuries available to me.

No, I shouldn’t be complaining. This really is luxurious! My anxieties about if I would ever level up have vanished. This is when I should be smiling thankfully.

Seriously, though, things had gotten pretty dangerous. My health, which had been stuck at six for a while, went down to five on its own, so I got seriously worried about my continued existence. It kept going down, too, and by the time I leveled up it was all the way down to three. Seriously dangerous. I clamped down on my anxious heart, and threw everything I had into hunting stray wasps.

Hunting the loners was remarkably easy, though! Unlike what I’d expected at first, my accuracy with the Ku-morning star has been one hundred percent. This was a serious surprise, you knooow! Is this another thing that spiders can just do naturally? Regardless, on top of that, I picked up both [Throw – LV1] and [Hit – LV1]! Both of these are probably skills that give me a passive bonus, I think.

And on top of all that, I got three bonus skill levels when I leveled this time! I don’t know what any of them actually do, but since I’ve somehow accumulated some skill proficiency, I’ve probably been benefiting from them unconsciously. I don’t… think… there’s any downsides to this… probably. I’m a little bit concerned about [Overeating], though…

Thanks to all the web-weaving and wasp-hunting I’ve been doing, my thread-related skills have gone up quite a bit, too! My [Spider Thread] is now at level eight, and [Thread Control] is up to level five. [Thread Control] is way more useful than I thought it was gonna be. Now that it’s level five, its accuracy and speed have gone up quite a bit. Picking this up was absolutely the right choice.

[Pain Mitigation] also hit level five, so my back was actually pretty comfortable. This skill is pretty awesome; it alleviates pain, but it leaves enough feeling that you have a sense of how bad your injuries are. Pain is a great indicator of danger, so feeling it is actually pretty important. If it disappears entirely, you’ll have no idea of how dangerous any of your injuries are. This skill, though, still gives me that sense of danger, despite taking the pain away. It’s hard to describe… wounds have a sense of… uneasiness about them, I guess, that is distinctly different from actual pain. So, taking away the pain isn’t a problem at all. Ah, well, it’s only level five, so it’s not like it gets rid of it completely.

Well then! I leveled up after all this time, so let’s check out my new stats!

Oh ho! All three meters went up by two, as did Offense and Defense, and Magic Power and Resistance went up by one. But uh, hey, Speed, what are you doing? I remember you being 348 before, and then you gained… twenty one points…? Isn’t that a little weird? The other stats were a little more reserved about it… aren’t you trying a little too hard? …Offense, Defense, why did you go up the same amount? You’re leaving Magic Power and Resistance in the dust, you know… Nai wa…

Ah, well, I’m going to have to ignore my unbalanced stats for now. Gotta focus on the present.

At long last, I’ve leveled up and regained all of my health, so now I can focus my full efforts on getting out of here. With my injuries as bad as they were, my work was slower than I would have liked; plus, I had to be extra cautious. From now on, though, I’m going to keep hunting the loner wasps for stamina while extending my nest higher and higher.

By now, I’ve made it about one quarter of the way to my goal at the top. I’ve still got a loooong way to go. So far the wasps haven’t been aggressive or even just intimidating. I have no idea how long that’s going to last, though, so I need to make sure I’m still building this strong enough to withstand an attack. This is crucial… but man, it’s way hard. Unlike building a regular nest at ground level, this climbing nest is super challenging! The higher I go, the harder it gets. I keep having to run a thick support thread from the foundation rock to the wall above me, and then I have to bind it tightly to the rest of the structure. I’m only a quarter of the way there, and this work is getting harder and harder as I climb.

I’ve got no choice, though, I have to do it. I have no idea if or when that Earth Dragon is going to show back up here. What I do know is that I want to be far, far away from here when it does happen. Worst case scenario, I have to abandon my nest halfway through and just charge straight up as fast as I can and hope for the best. This is, of course, extremely dangerous… but if I stay down here, my death is inevitable. So, until then, I’m going to keep building this web higher and higher. I absolutely do not want to stay down here.

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

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Today is the long-awaited day where I finally get my stats checked with the Gem of Appraisal. There are stats in this world. I can’t say that I haven’t wondered why that is, since this is reality and not a game, but I’ve given up on looking for the answer. The explanation is pretty simple: that’s just how this world is.

Yes, a simple explanation. This world really is very much like a game. If you work hard enough, you’ll earn a reward, just like that. Sure, there seem to be differences in raw talent, but if I compare it to Earth, this really does seem to be a world where your efforts are acknowledged far more easily. At any rate, these rewards come in the form of things called “skills”.

To earn a skill, you must perform actions that match what that skill does. As you do so, you accumulate a number of “proficiency points”, and when you’ve earned enough of those, you earn the skill. Once you’ve earned it, you can start using it immediately. On top of that, if you keep using the skill, you keep earning more proficiency points, until you pass a certain threshold and the skill’s level increases. The harder you work on it, the better it gets. There’s no such thing as an effort gone to waste! Truly, this is a magnificent world.

Ever since I was born, Anna and Klevea have been tutoring me, so by now I’ve picked up quite a few skills. The more I did, the more I got out of it, and I got swept away by the thrill of greedily acquiring skill after skill. Sue has always been by my side, mimicking me, and has picked up a lot of skills herself. Sometimes, we overdo it, and Anna and Klevea get angry, but they do it out of love.

In a game, more strength equals more fun. There are other players that like to pace themselves, but I always try to get as strong as I can as fast as I can. This is doubly true now that I’m not just leveling a game character, I’m working on strengthening my own self.

It’s all well and good to work on getting stronger, but there’s one inconvenient thing about this world: I have no way to check my stats. This world definitely has the concept of an individual’s statistics, but trying to see them is extremely difficult.

To do so, you need a skill called [Appraisal]. If you have that skill, you can use it to see someone’s statistics, but there are few humans in the world who can use it. In order to start building proficiency points, you must first build a deep understanding of what makes something valuable and a sense of what materials things are made of, much like an appraiser does back on Earth. The level of technical skill required is far beyond what a novice can muster. Even if you can somehow acquire the skill, raising its level is an extremely difficult task, so there are very few humans out there who can truly use it.

It’s not impossible, though, if you just want to easily acquire the skill. If you have any of these things called “skill points”, you can spend them in order to acquire a skill directly. Even a skill as difficult as [Appraisal] can be acquired, as long as you have enough skill points to spend. Even if you do so, though, you can’t really go very much further.

To level [Appraisal], you have to use it. Using it grants you proficiency points, and, once you’ve accumulated enough, the level goes up. However, activating [Appraisal] is actually pretty hard on your mind.

[Appraisal] requires neither magic nor willpower to activate. It’s definitely wrong to say, though, that you can activate it as much as you want. If you fall into that trap, you’ll be assaulted by severe headaches and a sort of intoxicated feeling. The limit varies from person to person, but apparently there are people who can’t even use it once without falling ill. Even if you’re talented, trying to appraise two things at a time will leave you ill, with a crippling headache.

Since just activating it once could cause such serious effects, activating it over and over again in order to grind out your skill proficiency would carry a terrible cost. And, on top of all that, if you don’t get it up to a high enough level, it’s effectively useless. Thanks to that, there aren’t very many people alive who can use [Appraisal] effectively. Apparently, it’s a profession that’s passed down from parent to child.

So, to solve the problem of people still needing to be able to check their stats, this thing called a [Gem of Appraisal] was introduced. If you can acquire one of these rare, specially-crafted magic items, you can temporarily use [Appraisal] as if you had the skill yourself. The skill level varies depending on the quality of the Gem, and the one owned by the royal family is, naturally, beyond compare: it’s level ten, a level that no other stone in the world can match. Of course, its use requires special permission, so it’s really only the royal family and their most valued friends amongst the high-ranking nobility.

Since I’m a member of the royal family, using it will be no problem. However, even though I’m a prince, I can’t just use it whenever I want. No matter how many tantrums I threw to try to convince Anna, she was very insistent: you can’t get permission until you’re old enough. Of course, once you’re old enough to appraise your status the first time, it’s treated as a special event. Even if you’re merely a noble, there are still rites to be held, a majestic ceremony for a child’s first [Appraisal]. I, of course, still have to go through with this ceremony.

These ceremonies are not just for [Appraisal]: they also serve as the child’s first appearance before the nobility. The [Appraisal] results are displayed such that all of the gathered adults can see them as well. I don’t think it will be a problem that my skills are atypical for someone my age, but I’m a little terrified that my stats will be so low that my family will abandon me.

In any event, Sue and I are making our grand debut here. We’ve been dressed in our ceremonial children’s clothes, and have been drilled endlessly on the ceremonial rites. In attendance will be the current King; that is, our father. Even more, it looks like there’s someone especially important in attendance, so it is extremely crucial that we don’t mess up at all. Even if we’re children, we are members of the royal family. We are the stars of this occasion, so we must present ourselves with all of the dignity and grace that is expected of the royal family. This is a lot to ask of me; I used to be a lowly commoner in my previous life. However, when I saw how magnificently my little sister was standing beside me, I was filled with determination. I must do this.

“Are you ready, my Prince?” asks Anna, solemnly. I silently nod. “Then, after you.”

Anna pushes lightly at our backs, and Sue and I enter, side by side, into the assembly hall.

Author’s note – This has turned out somewhat longer than I was expecting, so I’m cutting it off here. It will continue in chapter S06.

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

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For now, I’ve secured a source of food. This wasp is big enough that I’ll be able to stave off starvation for another few days, so I don’t need to worry about my stamina at all. I have way more options available to me now.

Most realistically, I should keep doing the same thing, doing this small-scale hunting thing until my level goes up. I can eke out a safe, honest living that way, not taking any unnecessary risks.

I had another idea, though: work on expanding my nest. Upward.

Exploring this floor warrants a big fat “nope”. It’s not a question can or can’t. Nnnnoooope! That dragon’s too scary. Noooo can do.

So, if that’s my plan, creeping my way up this wall will let me get back to the tunnels from before. In order to do that, I’m going to need some way to avoid all of those wasps. If I were to just climb up as-is, those wasps would eat me alive! I need some sort of countermeasure.

I’ve thought about it somewhat, and my best plan so far is somehow extending my nest vertically. It’s less a plan and more of an application of brute force… ah, and what a blatant use of force it is. Really, though, it’s all I’ve been able to come up with so far.

There are, of course, problems. First of all, weaving a nest like that is going to burn through all of my stamina. I’ve never tried to build a nest up a wall before! I have no idea how much more stamina it’ll take than usual. This is a seriously huge project, and the stamina from the single wasp I’ve caught so far isn’t going to last me very long at all. I’m going to have to replenish it, somehow.

On top of that, there is an excellent chance that I’m going to have to fight a bunch of wasps. Down here, they’re overlooking me, but if I start to encroach on their domain up above, they’re going to have problems with that. A violation of sovereign airspace. I wonder if they’ll be able to overlook that… The absolute worst case scenario is that hundreds, no, thousands of wasps will all swarm in and attack me at once. This would be a straight-up nightmare; there’s no way my nest could withstand an attack of that magnitude.

I shouldn’t just be worried about the wasps, either. There haven’t been many other monsters that have come wandering into this pit, other than the snake and the Earth Dragon from before. If that dragon were to wander in here, though… Last time, I escaped by hiding in these crags, but if I start extending my nest it is going to stick out like a sore thumb, and if the dragon takes notice… I’m dead. Even after all this time, I”m terrified that the Earth Dragon is going to appear at any second.

So, if this works, I can finally get out of this mega-danger zone, but there are some serious risks involved. I really don’t have a better plan, either. There could be one, but I certainly haven’t thought of it.

So, then. Commence the preparations for nest extension!

First up is the foundation. When building a house, you must start with a sturdy foundation, after all; it’s not a stretch at all to say that the quality of a house is decided by the quality of its foundation. And, here’s a good, sturdy rock!

It’s the first rock that I took shelter behind. It is seriously huge, about seven meters high and five meters wide, sitting slightly away from the wall. I’ll use that one as the foundation, so I’ll start expanding my nest over that way.

What I’ve got so far is a web connecting one side of the rock to the wall, with a little horizontal bit jutting out. First, I need to link the other side of the rock to the wall and web that up. Next up is a diagonal thread that connects the top of the rock to the wall… then, using that as a base, connect it to my other walls. With this, my foundation is complete!

Now, it’s time to try to expand things up a little bit. I snack on the wasp to get my stamina back up, then get back to work. While I’m working, I notice a few wasps silently watching me, but, as expected, they don’t approach. Looks like I’m still far enough down that they’ll keep overlooking me.

I wrap up my work for the day, finish eating up the wasp, and call it a night.

Day Five. It feels like my back is a little less sore than before. My health is, of course, still six. Since the wound hasn’t gotten any better, I guess my [Pain Mitigation] skill leveled up again while I was sleeping. Probably.

It’s really great that the pain’s going away. I’ve still been able to move around without any trouble thanks to [Pain Nullification], but there’s a night-and-day difference in my mood now that I’m not hurting any more. Ah, no, the pain hasn’t gone away completely, and the wound still isn’t cured, but this is way nicer. I never had a wound nearly this bad when I was a human. The worst pain I can remember was stubbing my pinky toe on the doorframe. That really hurt, but it doesn’t even begin to compare to having a huge, gaping wound opened up in my back.

Thanks to my elevated spirits, work goes great!

As I’m working, one of the loner wasps buzzes over. There’s a full squad nearby, though. Umf…

Now’s a pretty good opportunity to run a little experiment, so I think I’ll provoke this loner wasp. If I threaten the loner, will the squad react? If they do, I can immediately escape deep into my nest. If they don’t, I can do it like I did before

I ready my Ku-morning star. Oh, yeah, didn’t I pick up a [Concentration] skill last time I did this? What does that do, just increase my ability to focus? …Eh, it’s level one, so the effects aren’t going to be huge, so I’ll just leave it be for now.

Wait, no, concentrate, concentrate. Heh, thinking about [Concentration] ruined my concentration. Aim caaaaarefully… there!!

Ah, it hit.

Wha, what?! I’m awesome, aren’t I? I was thinking “oh man there’s no way this is gonna hit, heh” and then I got a direct hit two out of two times! Me, who consistently ranked lowest in the class for physical strength; me, who could barely even throw a softball…

Uh, whoops, in my surprise I completely forgot to keep track of that squad. They are… oh, there they are! Umf, no reaction at all. Man, can I really attack these loners without facing a counterattack? That’s really heartless, you know, guys? Or maybe this is just how severe life in the wild is. Well, regardless, either way this is great for me. I can pick off the loners at my leisure.

Chuckling happily to myself, I bring the captured wasp back into my lair, and finish it off with [Poison Fang].

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

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At the end of the third day, just as I was starting to think about going to sleep, the “Voice of Heaven” came down from above.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Pain Resistance LV 9] has become [Pain Nullification].>

<Condition satisfied. Skill [Pain Mitigation LV 1] has been derived from skill [Pain Nullification].>

[Pain Resistance] went up again, huh… and it had already leveled from eight to nine without me noticing, probably when I was sleeping again. The level number disappeared, and the name changed to [Pain Nullification]. Feels like it capped out. That gives me two max-level skills, next to [Night Vision]. I think I started out with a high level in [Night Vision] already, though, thanks to my natural-born abilities, so [Pain Nullification] is the first skill I’ve raised all the way up from zero to ten by myself! I don’t really feel like celebrating, though, because grinding that out was literally suffering.

Well, it looks like the skill I just unlocked is the actual “pain hurts less” skill. Ah, no, I’m not saying that [Pain Resistance] was a rip-off or anything, just that it wasn’t what I was expecting. The new skill is only level one right now, so I’m not feeling much of an effect. As always, my back is rather rudely reminding me how badly it’s still wounded. I’m hoping it’ll be a little more polite about it once I get a few levels of [Pain Mitigation], and I’m really hoping that it’ll level up overnight.

Well then, good night!

Day Four. My stamina has started to steadily fall, so it’s time to take action. My targets are the lone wasps that drift away from the swarm. Trying to get an entire squad of wasps is too risky. I think I could beat them, sure, but I need to be cautious: since there’s a bunch of wasps in a squad, it’s not impossible that they’ll do something completely unexpected.

So, snagging one of the loners is probably my best bet. It looks like they’re not quite as smart when they’re not being ordered around by a commander. While I was observing them yesterday, I saw a lone wasp fly through a tiny tunnel that a squad definitely couldn’t fit through. I’d bet that the wasp I caught a while ago had done something similar, going down a strange passage, getting lost, and eventually winding up in my webs. Hmm, that was a long time ago, though, and really far away; it’s really unlikely that the wasp from back then came from this swarm. Maybe there’s another hive somewhere else?

From what I’ve been seeing so far, the ones that wander off are already not very bright. Maybe that’s why they never joined a squad and were content with wandering off? Ah, regardless, the point is, if I provoke one of the strays, it might be dumb enough to come and attack.

I’d never rely on such an uncertain strategy, though… not when I have the new secret weapon I developed yesterday!

It’s a hardened sphere of sticky webbing at the end of a long cord. I call it: the Ku-morning star(TL.1)! Eheheh. With my raw physical strength plus the power of [Thread Control], I’ll be able to strike those wasps out of the sky! …Probably. It’s, uh, worth noting that I’m probably going to miss with this nine times out of ten. But that’s okay! All I’m really trying to do is get these things to realize that I’m an enemy, and come charging at me of its own accord. If I get super lucky and hit it directly, then my target will be immediately trapped, which is my victory anyway.

Now, I just have to wait for the perfect chance, for one of the loner wasps to come close enough to my nest. If today is anything like yesterday, a bunch of them will be buzzing by to get a closer look at my web, so everything should go as planned.

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

As I waited, [Pain Mitigation] leveled up again. Huh? Compared to [Pain Resistance], this is leveling up super slowly! I was really expecting it to go up to about level five while I was asleep, but it only went up to two… hmm? I wonder if the way I accumulate proficiency is different? Or maybe, is the amount of proficiency I need to accumulate different? Ahhh, I don’t know.

Although, that level up made this extremely obvious: [Pain Mitigation] is, in fact, a skill that dulls pain. Thanks to my new skill level, my back is feeling much better.

The wound on my back is a severe one. I did my best to bandage it up with [Thread Control], but this is seriously a gaping hole. If I was a human, this would absolutely have killed me. I wonder, am I still alive because I’m a spider, or because I’m a monster? Regardless, it is a miracle that I’m alive with a wound this bad. I wanted to make sure no more poison was left in the wound, so I tried cleaning it out with [Thread Control]. This hurt so bad I thought I was going to die.

I have to level up as quickly as I can, to fix this wound. If I leave it as it is, it’s only going to get worse from here. It could fester, it could get necrotic, it could get infected… I cleaned it out with thread, but it’s nowhere near as good as washing it with clean water, let alone actually disinfecting it. I really need to do something before my symptoms get worse.

And, just like that, a chance appears.

A single loner wasp makes its way over here. There’s no other wasps nearby! If there were, they’d probably come rushing to protect their comrade once he got into trouble. This situation is perfect: I don’t have to worry about that at all.

I ready the Ku-morning star. Focus… focus… aaaaaaim… THERE!

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

Oh, it hit. And it seems like I got a skill at the same time.

Oh, man, I did not think that would hit at all. The Ku-morning star hit it dead on! Using [Thread Control], I unravel it and use the thread to wrap up the captured wasp. I drag the violently struggling bundle back into my nest, and it falls prey to my [Poison Fang].

Whoa. A perfect success on my very first try. This is a great omen! Ah, no, no, I am not going to let myself get cocky again. We all know what happened last time I did. Now, I walk with humility. Well then, let’s celebrate this important first step with this long-awaited meal. Let’s dig in!

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

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On the first day, I made the simplest workable nest and went to sleep. I can’t really say I slept well, thanks to this backache, but the important part is that I didn’t get attacked overnight, which is a huge relief. Even better, I didn’t die from my injuries overnight! I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I woke up. After checking my health level, it looked like nothing changed; I was still at six HP. I’m kind of disappointed that it’s not recovering on its own, but I’m still happy it didn’t go down, either… well, could be better, could be worse.

On the second day, I devoted basically the entire day to expanding and fortifying my nest. My back was still hurting, but I focused on my task and fought through it. Wasps were buzzing around me a ton, but whenever they came close, I stopped working and kept a watchful eye on them. I’m not used to working under these conditions; constantly being vigilant while I work is really nerve-wracking.

I took whatever spare moments I had to work on nibbling away at that wasp from earlier, so I can keep my stamina up. In this situation, if I run out of stamina, the scales will absolutely tip further towards my defeat. I am extremely dependent on my stamina. Weaving threads relies heavily on my stamina, not to mention my other day-to-day activities. On top of that, I need to make sure I save enough stamina for at least one battle. I don’t know how easily I’ll be able to secure more food after I finish this wasp, so since I’ve committed to this siege-defense strategy, I need to take extra special care of my stamina.

Also on day two, I realized that the level of [Pain Resistance] had gone way up. If I’m remembering correctly, the last time it leveled up it hit level two, but while I was working on building the nest the “Voice of Heaven” chimed in,

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

So, it jumped straight to level seven. I don’t have any solid idea why, but if I had to take a guess, I’d say it probably happened while I was asleep. If proficiency in that goes up when you’re in pain, then it makes a ton of sense that it would have gained a bunch of levels while I was sleeping, what with how miserable I was last night and all. If I think back, maybe I did hear the “Voice of Heaven” say something while I was half-asleep.

Well, now that I know it’s level seven, it seems pretty obvious that [Pain Resistance] isn’t actually a skill that alleviates pain; if it was, it would be really strange if I was still hurting this bad at level seven. If I had to take a guess, I’d probably say… It lets me endure pain well enough to keep moving. Honestly, could be better, could be worse. This still hurts a ton, and there still is a limit to how much I can move with these wounds. When I first got this skill, I remember feeling like my pain had immediately gotten better, but maybe that was all in my head.

Before the day was out, I made it up to [Pain Resistance – LV8].

Day three. I’ve completely consumed the wasp I dragged in a few days ago. My nest is about as good as it’s going to get, in these conditions, so it’s time to move onto stage two: namely, hunting until I level up.

There’s a problem, though… how am I going to catch anything? These wasps keep coming close, and I know they know I’m here, but none of them are swooping in to attack. I was really expecting them to throw themselves at me without a plan, but I guess I’m not that lucky.

Well, for now, I should keep an eye on the wasps and wait for a good chance to strike. I tried provoking a few of the ones that came near, but nobody took the bait.

From my observations, I’ve learned a few things about these wasps. It looks like they mostly fly around in groups of about five or six, acting independently of each other. Each group has a leader:

{High Finjegoat – LV 1 – failed to appraise status}

A “High” Finjegoat, huh. Its name implies some sort of superiority, so maybe these are individuals that have evolved. Since they’re level one, that seems pretty likely to me. I also see wasps flying around that are levels eight or nine, right on the verge of evolving; when they do, they’ll probably become leaders as well.

The boss wasps are slightly darker-colored than the regular wasps. That’s basically the only difference; their size and shape are basically the same. [Appraisal] can’t seem to manage to get the stats on these things, but I’d bet that they’re stronger than the ordinary wasps.

Well, I don’t think that even those guys can break through my nest. I think they know it too, which might explain why they’re not attacking me when I’m provoking them. Man, if that’s true, these guys are way smart.

Every so often, an entire group will disappear down one of the corridors at the bottom of the pit; after a while, they’ll come back, bearing fresh prey. Man, those squads look super-efficient. They really are intelligent! There are a few that wander around aimlessly by themselves, though.

You know what’s great, though? There’s monsters down here that these wasps are able to hunt. Everything down here is not, after all, as tough as that Earth Dragon! Things are really starting to look up for me, now that I know that.

There are, however, groups that don’t make it back, so I shouldn’t get too careless. After all, a group that doesn’t come back is almost undoubtedly a group that got wiped out before it could make it back. Even some of the successful groups come back bearing their fellow soldiers’ corpses, so I definitely shouldn’t stop thinking of this as a dangerous kind of area.

Unblinkingly, I continue observing the wasps.

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

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I waited a good, long while after the Earth Dragon left, constantly keeping an over-watchful eye on my surroundings. There’s no way I can relax, just with that. If I don’t do something, though, it’s no use.

I turn towards the wasp that I left tied up over there and extend a thread towards it with [Thread Control]. Agh, that hurt my back. It doesn’t look like I have any problems spinning thread, though. I carefully maneuver the thread out there, and tie it to the wasp.

The wasp is still struggling, but it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I need to get this thing pulled in before it attracts the attention of another monster. Every time I pull on the thread, my wound aches. The pain is serious, but my health isn’t going down at all, so I’m telling myself that this is fine.

Finally, I’ve retrieved the wasp. I quickly seize it in my [Poison Fang], and clamp down tightly until it stops moving. Hmm, when I think about how effective [Poison Fang] is on other poison-using monsters, I wonder if I’ve overleveled both it and [Poison Resistance], compared to other monsters? Eh, for now, whatever works is good.

The real problem is what to do next. Frankly, I think exploring this area is basically suicide. If there’s anything else out there that’s as strong as that Earth Dragon, there is literally zero way that I will survive.

This is really bad. I’ve crossed many dangerous bridges before, but nothing like this.

You know, maybe I’ve been a little bit conceited about my combat abilities. Sure, I’ve been successful with my various sneak-attack strategies as I’ve been loitering around this dungeon, but my real strength is fighting defensively from within my nest. Even one of my simple homes was able to take down one of those snakes, so if I were to actually put my full efforts into it, I don’t think there’s a single monster out there that could get through to me. …Probably.

…well, THAT thing can probably break through. While whistling a jaunty tune, even. It is, at the very least, that powerful.

[Spider Thread], [Poison Fang], sneak attacks, and speed. All of my specialties are nothing more than clever tricks in front of that thing, tricks that are kicked aside by its overwhelming power. This is the second completely undefeatable monster that I’ve encountered in my brief life as a spider. The first, by the way, was my mother (father?), the giant spider.

Not being able to win is definitely a problem, but way, way worse is the fact that its speed vastly outpaces mine. Usually, if something can break through my nest, I can run away while it’s doing so. I may seethe with rage, but I will make it out with my life, thanks to my speed. That thing, however, could catch me.

I can’t win if I fight it, and I can’t escape if I run away. If I catch its eye, it’s all over.

Man, what an unreasonable monster. If I’d known about this, I would have tried facing that other snake’s charge instead. At least I’d have a chance then. On top of that, I don’t even know if that thing is the only one of its kind down here!

I’m scared. This is the closest I’ve ever been to death. I’m almost a little surprised that I’m feeling so afraid. I’ve been through so much ridiculous stuff so far, and I never really felt much fear or nervousness. I thought that maybe I’d mastered those feelings already. Now, though, I know. All the dangers so far have merely not been dangerous enough to make me scared. It’s not that I can’t feel fear, it’s that I didn’t need to.

Ha, ha. It’s way too late for me to be realizing this. I wish I’d figured this out sooner. If I had, maybe I’d have been a little more aware of how dangerous things could be.

Okay, I think that’s enough regretting. Let’s figure out how I might survive this.

Step one is securing my safety. It’s not going to be much help against the Earth Dragon, but for now I should set up a nest in these crags. Right now, I don’t think I’m in any condition to move anywhere else. You could even say I just don’t want to leave. So, I’m going to build my home, number three, right here.

Then, if I can, I’m going to lure wasps and other strong monsters in here so that I can kill them. My goal is to level up and get that full heal. Until I fix this wound in my back, there’s not much I can do. If any monster, even a weak one, so much as sneezes on me, I’m dead. I really don’t want to bank on recovering on my own. Man, I wish I’d picked up [HP Auto-Recovery] back when I had the chance. Regrets won’t fix anything, though; I need to accept my mistakes and move on.

For now, let’s focus on getting my base set up. Honestly, this isn’t a very good place for a base. It’s going to stand out a ton and, of course, if I’m noticed by a monster like that Earth Dragon, I’m toast. With these wounds, though, I don’t have much choice. This really comes down to luck. Bad luck.

Okay, my plan is to level up. Once I’ve fixed this wound, I think I’ll be able to get out of this danger zone.

Hmm, do I go up and try to break through the wasp army, or do I stay down here and explore this extremely dangerous area? Either way, it’s hell. Man, now that I’ve fallen down here, I’ve got the ultimate life-or-death choice in front of me. If I’m lucky, I live, if I’m unlucky, I die. The scales are tipped pretty far towards “die” right now, though. Is it going to keep tipping this way, or can I make it recover?

I need to take action to swing the scales my way. Luckily, I’ve got enough stamina left to weave a decent nest. This wasp is pretty big, so it’ll be a solid meal. Let’s extract all the stamina I can from this thing and turn it all into an awesome nest. Everything after that is down to luck and skill.