Chapter 8: Level Up, Dragon Egg
Within the web.
Two scarred little spiders slept huddled together. Although their HP had automatically recovered to full, the physical wounds on their bodies had not fully mended. They didn't sleep soundly that night; their entire bodies throbbed with a dull ache.
The next morning...
Well, they didn't actually know if it was morning. Inside the Great Labyrinth, it was perpetually dim, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. If not for their racial
Shirazawa woke up early. Glancing at the little spider beside him and seeing her still snoring away, he crept out of the "room."
"Looks like another prey has taken the bait."
Sensing the vibrations traveling through the silk from a distance, Shirazawa crawled straight toward the target. Sure enough, another large blue frog was bound by the web, struggling with all its might.
With yesterday's combat experience under his belt, his mouth curled into a cold, predatory smile.
"Kékéké... little froggy, be a good boy and become our breakfast."
*Thwip!*
He spat silk to seal the creature's mouth, preventing it from spraying venom, then circled behind it and sank his venomous fangs deep into its body. The frog shook its head and lashed its tail desperately, but with its mouth bound and the web constricting it, there was no escape.
*Sizzle...*
The venom invaded its system, spreading rapidly. Soon, it lost consciousness.
[Proficiency reached.
[Total Experience has reached the required threshold. Individual: Small Lesser Taratect, has risen from Lv1 to Lv2.]
[Obtained Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus:
[Obtained Skill Points: 100.]
*Crack!*
Accompanied by the sound of a breaking shell, Shirazawa's body shed a layer of skin, revealing smooth texture and fine bristles—he looked reborn.
"Finally leveled up. That wasn't easy."
"Thank you for your contribution, Frog-Sensei. May there be no pain in heaven."
He muttered softly, then hoisted the frog's corpse and headed back to the web-nest.
"Wakaba, wake up! Food's ready~"
Wakaba rubbed her bleary eyes and slowly opened them. When she saw Shirazawa in front of her, she was shocked.
"Are? How did your body return to normal?"
Shirazawa smiled and tossed the frog corpse aside. "Once you level up, you recover completely. And look, haven't you recovered too?"
Wakaba blinked and looked down at herself.
"Eh? Since when did I hit Lv2? I was just sleeping!"
Shirazawa shrugged. He didn't fully understand it either. He had realized upon his return that Wakaba had leveled up to Lv2 just like him. It seemed their experience bars were shared. As long as one of them gained experience, the other received an equal amount.
He suspected it had something to do with his Innate Skill. He found this arrangement to be very "nice." This meant the experience needed for them to level up was effectively halved. It was a sweet deal.
After hearing Shirazawa's theory, Wakaba didn't dwell on it. Since leveling was shared, there was no need to worry about kill-stealing or fair distribution, which kept their partnership stable.
"Don't worry about that for now. Let's eat first."
"Ugh..."
Wakaba stared at the frog corpse and swallowed hard. She had to admit, this stuff was truly difficult to stomach. Facing such a cruel reality immediately after waking up... Wakaba felt that this "reincarnation" thing was way too terrifying.
Seeing her miserable expression, Shirazawa couldn't help but smile.
"Just endure it a bit longer. Once we reach the Middle Stratum, the food will taste better," Shirazawa comforted her gently.
Hearing this, Wakaba instantly perked up.
"Really?!"
"I never lie to people. (Though a spider isn't a person.)"
Wakaba clenched her fists with excitement. "For the sake of a feast, let's do this!"
"Munch munch... BLEGH—"
Ultimately, the frog was devoured by the two of them.
After the meal, they lay on their backs, comfortably resting on the soft webbing. During this break, Shirazawa began teaching her how to quickly increase skill proficiency and the "correct" way for a spider to fight. Of course, he was just passing on the knowledge he learned from the original "Shiro" in his past life. This would save Spider-chan a massive amount of trial and error and allow her to grow strong much faster.
"When you're idle, remember to use
Wakaba nodded repeatedly. "Uh-huh, uh-huh~"
"Since we get bonuses upon leveling up, some skills will improve automatically. So, we should try to raise our skill levels as much as possible *before* the level-up to maximize those bonuses."
"Also, when we get hit by monsters, there's a chance to gain resistances. We tried this before. In our downtime, we can attack each other to raise
"Remember, Poison Attack is our essential survival tool in this labyrinth. Many monsters have low poison resistance; it's our key to winning against the strong. Use the web for crowd control, fangs for the kill, and speed for escaping..."
Shirazawa rattled off a long list of advice. Wakaba nodded along, etching every word into her mind.
"Good heavens! Shirazawa-san, are you a genius?"
At the end, Wakaba looked at him with admiration, her eyes sparkling like little stars.
"Er... you're the real genius. I'm just standing on your shoulders."
Shirazawa felt a bit embarrassed. The techniques he described were all things Shiraori had realized on her own; he was just plucking the fruit of the original's labor. He even felt a twinge of shame.
Wakaba was confused. "What do you mean by that?"
Shirazawa shook his head and changed the subject. "Now isn't the time for that. Let's work hard to get stronger, Wakaba-san!"
"Yeah!" Wakaba nodded heavily.
Just then, the silk sensed new prey. Wakaba sat up immediately. "Something's happening!"
At this, Shirazawa flipped up and signaled her to get ready for hunting mode. However, when the two arrived at the scene, they were stunned.
"Humans?"
Shirazawa frowned as he observed the situation, feeling a headache coming on.
"Wait, those are... living humans?" Wakaba covered her mouth in shock. They had actually encountered a living person!
A human adventurer clad in armor was hopelessly tangled in the spider silk, clutching a black dragon egg in his arms. Upon seeing the two spider monsters suddenly appear, the man's struggles became even more violent. He knew that being targeted by two monsters in this state meant certain death.
"Dammit!"
Suddenly, the adventurer threw an item resembling a Molotov cocktail. Flames erupted, instantly engulfing the surrounding silk and setting his own body on fire.
Seeing this, Wakaba let out a startled cry.
"What is this guy doing?! Has he lost his mind?!"
***
Kumoko - The series protagonist
Shiro - Her humanoid name in the WNs (just the word "white" in Japanese)
White - Her humanoid name in the LNs
Nightmare of the Labyrinth - Name humans called her when she was in spider form. Humans believe Julius defeated her.
Shiraori - Name given to her as an administrator
Wakaba - Name she's called by classmates who recognize her as Hiiro Wakaba