by Okina Baba
From there, it’ll all depend on my skills and my luck.
On the first day, I made as basic a web as possible and went to sleep.
I can’t say I slept very well, thanks to the pain in my back, but at least I didn’t get attacked in my sleep.
Aside from the possibility of attack, I’d also been worried that I might die of my injuries while I passed out or something, so I was extremely relieved when I woke up safely.
My HP was still at 6, the same as before I went to bed.
I didn’t know whether to be disappointed that it didn’t recover or relieved that it didn’t go down any further.
I spent the entirety of the second day expanding the web.
Thanks in no small part to the pain in my back, building this home was proving more difficult than I expected.
Since bees kept buzzing too close for comfort, I often had to stop working and take cover.
Unlike my previous construction projects, I had to be on the lookout while I set things up, and it wore on my nerves.
When I had a moment to spare, I worked on eating the bee from yesterday little by little, to make sure that I didn’t run out of stamina. In this situation, I couldn’t afford to risk getting any closer to death than I already was. Stamina, especially, was critical to my survival. I needed it to create thread and even move around. So at the very least, I had to take care to save enough stamina for at least one fight.
On top of that, I didn’t know when I’d manage to get food next after this, so I had to be very careful about managing my stamina in case I became locked in a war of attrition.
As I was working, I found out that my Pain Resistance skill had jumped up by quite a few levels.
Last I remembered, it had only gone up to level 2, but in the middle of making my webs, the Divine Voice (temp.) spoke:
So now it was suddenly level 7.
I have no idea how that happened, but my guess is that it went up while I was sleeping.
It certainly wasn’t a comfortable sleep, so if the only condition for increasing proficiency in that skill was feeling pain, there was a very good chance that I’d built up plenty during the night.
In retrospect, I did feel like I heard the Divine Voice (temp.) speaking in my dreams.
It turns out the Pain Resistance skill doesn’t actually relieve you of discomfort like you might expect.
It had progressed all the way to level 7 now, but it didn’t seem like the pain was any duller than before. Eventually, I figured out that its effect might be more along the lines of “allows you to move around while enduring pain.”
Honestly, what the hell.
It didn’t hurt any less, and while I could move, at least, my options were still limited.
When I first got the skill, I felt like the pain let up a little, but maybe I was just imagining it.
By the end of the day, my Pain Resistance skill had gone up to 8.
The third day.
I finished eating the bee I’d caught. I also expanded the webs of my nest about as much as possible, so now it’s time to move on to the next stage. Namely, hunting to raise my level.
The question is, how am I going to capture prey?
The bees come pretty close, but they must be cautious of me or something, because they haven’t actually attacked.
I had hoped they’d just charge right at me without thinking, but things haven’t gone so smoothly.
For the time being, I peer up at the bees as I wait for an opportunity.
I’ve tried indirectly provoking the ones that come nearby, among other things, but they still don’t come at me.
As I observe the bees, I notice a few things.
First of all, they generally seem to form groups of five or six. Each squad acts individually.
And the squads have a leader.
A more advanced finjicote.
Judging by the name, it’s probably a stronger species, maybe even an evolved form.
Most of them are level 1, so that seems like a strong possibility.
Among the normal bees, there are some at level 8 or 9, not far from the level threshold, so presumably they could become leaders of their own squads once they evolve.
This captain bee is a bit darker in color than the regular ones. That’s essentially the only difference; their size and shape are the same.
Since the status Appraisal failed as usual, I can’t be sure, but it’s probably safe to assume that their stats are higher than the basic bees.
Eh, probably still not enough to cleave through my web, though.
They probably realize that, too, which would explain why they aren’t making any unnecessary passes at me.
In that case, these bees might be pretty smart.
Occasionally, a squad would break off and disappear into one of the passages at the bottom of the hole.
After a while, they would come back with some defeated prey. That seems to be how they hunt: in efficiently organized groups.
So they really are clever creatures.
There are a few outcast bees that seem to act on their own, though.
More important, the ability of bees to hunt monsters down here is vital information.
That means that not everything here is as freakishly strong as that earth dragon.
Just that little tidbit makes me feel slightly better.
That said, not all the squads come back, so I can’t let my guard down too much. The fact suggests that some monsters out there can turn the tables on the bee groups. Some of the hunting parties that do return are also carrying the corpses of their comrades, so there’s no doubt this is a dangerous area.
I continue observing the state of the bees for a while.
Just as I start considering catching a few z’s, I get a message from the Divine Voice (temp.).
My Pain Resistance skill leveled up again.
I didn’t even realize it had gone from level 8 to 9. That must have happened while I was sleeping again.
The name of the skill changed to “Nullification,” too, and the level counter is gone. I must’ve reached the proficiency cap.
After Night Vision, this is the second skill I’ve maxed out.
And it seems like Night Vision was at a high level to start with, meaning this is the first time I’ve raised a skill all the way to level 10 on my own.
Although I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth all the excruciating memories I made in the process.
Well, the derived skill seems likely to actually ease the pain, so that’s nice. Not that Pain Resistance was useless, exactly, but still.
At level 1, there isn’t much of a change. The stinging in my back is as persistent as ever.
If I raise this skill’s level, the pain might get a little easier to bear, so I just have to hope that it rises while I’m sleeping.
So without further ado, I go to bed.
The fourth day.
I’m slowly beginning to run low on stamina, so I’ll probably have to take some kind of action soon.
My target is one of the solo bees. The risk of challenging a whole group is too high.
I don’t necessarily think I have no chance to win. But it’s far better to err on the side of caution here.
If there are multiple enemies involved, all kinds of unexpected problems could arise. In that respect, it’s easier to take on a loner.
Since the outcast bees don’t have a captain, their comprehension abilities aren’t that strong. Based on my observations from the day before, some individuals willingly venture into narrow tunnels the groups would never approach.
Mos
t likely, the one bee I did catch in my web was a loner that had gone astray in a strange passage and gotten lost.
But then again, I can’t imagine that guy made it all the way from this place to my previous nest, so there was probably a different hive closer to that area.
The prodigal bees I’ve been observing don’t seem very smart. In fact, maybe they failed to join the groups for that very reason and resigned themselves to a life of solitude.
Anyway, I think it may be easier to provoke them into attacking me.
But I don’t plan on using such a luck-based approach.
Instead, I take out the new weapon I devised yesterday.
It’s a thread with a hardened ball of stickier thread attached to the end. I call it the Morning Spider!
Heh-heh-heh. I’m going to use my strength and my Thread Control to swing this thing at a bee in midair.
I’m probably—no, almost definitely—going to miss.
But that’s fine.
It should be enough to get my target to recognize me as hostile. After that, it should come down to attack me on its own, I hope.
If I hit it, great. If not, as long as I can get it to look my way and see me as an enemy, I’ll count that as a win. After that, I just have to hope that it’ll approach my web.
Judging by the way things went yesterday, the outcast bees will come down to check out what’s going on around my home every so often, so it should work out.
While I’m waiting, my new Pain Mitigation levels up.
Huh? This seems like a slow rate of improvement compared with Pain Resistance. I thought it might at least go up to level 5 in my sleep, but it hasn’t changed much at all.
However, now that the level has risen, it’s clear the skill is working.
So Pain Mitigation really does mitigate pain. Thanks to that, the throbbing in my back is a lot easier to bear now.
It’s a pretty bad wound.
I applied some first aid by bandaging it with Thread Control, but there’s still a gaping hole in my back.
If I were still human, I know I would’ve died from an enormous gash like this.
Did I survive it because I’m a spider or because I’m a monster? Either way, it’s such a serious injury that it’s a miracle I’m alive at all.
I’ve used Thread Control before to clean it on occasion, hoping to clear out some of the poison while I was at it, but it hurt so much that I thought I was gonna die.
I have to level up as soon as possible to heal. If I leave it as is much longer, it’s gonna get worse sooner rather than later.
Festering, necrosis, bacterial infection… I need to do something before any new symptoms appear.
And now, finally, my chance has come.
One of the outcast bees is headed my way.
There aren’t any others around. If there were, it’s possible they’d rush to the outcast bee’s aid.
Since that isn’t an issue right now, this is a great opportunity.
I swing my Morning Spider around and around.
Concentrate…concentrate…
Take aim, aaaand…now!
Whoa, I hit it. And I even got a skill at the same time.
Ooh.
I hadn’t expected to land a hit, but the Morning Spider managed to smack straight into the bee’s body.
Without hesitation, I use Thread Control to wrap the thread around the bee right away. Then I politely invite it into my nest. And introduce it to my venomous fangs.
Okay.
That went as well as it possibly could have, start to finish. Maybe my luck is starting to turn around.
No, no, no.
I can’t get carried away. That overconfidence hasn’t gone well for me in the past. I have to stay humble.
I take the first step forward by digging into my first meal in a while.
Now then, time to eat.
For the moment, I’ve secured some food. Given the size of the bee’s body, I can stave off hunger for at least a few days with this. Now I don’t need to worry about stamina for a while.
Which means I have more options.
And my choice is to expand my nest further. In an upward direction.
I really don’t want to explore down here. It isn’t a matter of whether I can or can’t. I just don’t want to.
Nope. I’m scared of the dragon. So that’s a hard pass.
Which is why I’ve decided that I’m going to somehow climb back up to the passage I fell down from.
To that end, I have to find a way around those bees.
If I try to just climb the wall normally, the fliers will get me right away, so I need some kind of plan.
My strategy is to simply keep extending my webs upward.
Well, I don’t know if it’s a strategy so much as an ill-defined attempt to bulldoze my way through the problem.
I mean, I am a crafty sort, if I do say so myself. But I can’t think of any other way to get back up there.
Of course, there are a lot of disadvantages to this plan, too.
For one thing, making more webs will exhaust my stamina.
And unlike normal, I have to build up along a cliff face this time.
Since the circumstances are different, I don’t know how much extra stamina it’ll take.
This is probably going to end up being a pretty big nest, so the lone bee I currently have on hand won’t provide enough energy for the whole project. So I have to find a way to boost my supplies.
On top of that, I might end up having to fight bees for reasons other than dwindling food stores.
They’re ignoring me for the moment, but if I keep expanding my nest upward, I’ll eventually encroach on their main territory.
It’d be an airspace violation. There’s no way of knowing whether they’ll let that slide.
Worst-case scenario, it’s entirely possible that hundreds or even thousands of bees will attack me all at once. What a nightmare.
Obviously, no volume of web would be enough to protect me against numbers like that. And the bees aren’t the only thing I have to worry about.
For the moment, no other monsters have been showing up at the bottom of this pit.
Just that first snake and the earth dragon.
But if that dragon happens to wander by again…
Last time, I was able to wait it out by hiding under rocks, but if I’m expanding my nest, I’m going to draw attention whether I like it or not.
And if I catch that thing’s eye, it’s all over.
Even now, I’m afraid the behemoth might show up at any moment.
In other words, while success would mean escape from this dangerous hellhole, it’s still an extremely risky strategy.
But it doesn’t look like I have any other choice.
Even if I do, nothing’s coming to me right now.
And so, I make up my mind. Time to expand my nest!
First, the foundation. You can’t make a house without a solid base. It’s even fair to say the foundation is what makes or breaks a home.
And what better rock to use for construction than…this one!
My first refuge down here.
The stone rests right up against the wall and is pretty hefty: about twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide. I’ve decided to use this as the support for my extension.
So far, my webs take up the space between this rock and the wall and a little ways beyond.
First, I seal up the space between the rock and the opposite wall with more thread. Then, I add another strand diagonally from the top of the rock to the wall. Next, I connect the wall and the rock with more webbing, using that diagonal as a guideline.
Now my foundation is complete.
All I have to do now is build upward from there, one step at a time.
I proceed wit
h my work little by little, pausing to snack on the bee for stamina on occasion.
Along the way, I sometimes notice one bee squad or another watching me, but they still don’t conduct any assaults.
Apparently I’m not in their attack range just yet.
Once I finish eating the bee, I decide to call it a day and get some rest.
It’s now day five.
The pain seems to have let up considerably. My HP is still 6.
Since it hasn’t recovered at all, my Pain Mitigation skill must have risen while I was sleeping.
Not being in agony is a nice change.
I’ve been able to work this whole time thanks to my Pain Nullification skill, but the weakening of the pain still makes a huge difference.
Of course, the sensation hasn’t gone away completely, and the injury hasn’t healed, but still. It’s definitely easier.
I never suffered an injury this severe when I was a human.
Up until my reincarnation, the most painful experience I’d ever had was when I stubbed my little toe on the corner of a door. Man, that hurt.
But it was nothing compared to a gaping hole in my back.
Since I’m starting to feel a bit better, work is progressing smoothly.
Along the way, another outcast bee comes along. But one of the squads is pretty close by, too. Hmm.
As an experiment, I decide to take a swipe at it. I want to know whether the nearby group will react if a stray gets attacked. If they do, I’ll immediately retreat deep into my nest. And if they don’t react, I’m good to go.
I take a swing with the Morning Spider.
Take aim, aaaand…now!
Oh, I got it.
Wow. Am I amazing or what?
I hadn’t expected to hit anything at all with this, but now I’m two for two.
Me, the one who came in dead last in my grade for the softball toss during our physical fitness test…
Oops, I was so surprised that I forgot to watch the main bee group’s reaction.
The bee squad is…over there. Hmm. No reaction. So if I savage an outcast bee, the others won’t come after me.
Is it just me, or is that a little heartless?
I guess maybe you have to be a little cold-hearted to survive in the wild…
Well, if they aren’t going to attack, that’s a win in my book. Now I can pick off the stragglers to my heart’s content. I practically cackle to myself as I collect my prize and finish it off with my venomous bite.