Chapter 13
It’s been several days since I defeated the snake. At least, I think so. There’s no real way of knowing how much time passes inside the dungeon.
At any rate, for a while my life was eating and sleeping. I still haven’t finished eating the snake, and new prey keeps getting caught in my webs, so I can’t move even if I want to. I only planned on taking a short break, but things are getting dire.
At this rate, I’m going to relapse into my life as a shut-in!
I glance over at the mountain of prey I’ve caught over the past few days.
Yeah, a mountain. Mountain… In Japanese, that’s yama… Yamada. Come to think of it, wasn’t there someone named Yamada among my old classmates?
Well, that doesn’t matter now.
Anyway, my prey is piling up into a mountain. This is the result of systematically disposing of all the prey getting caught in my web.
Back in my first home, I ate my prey as soon as I got it, but I can’t start in on these until I finish eating the snake, which is why I ended up with this enormous pile.
There haven’t been any tough guys that could break through my thread like the snake, so I was able to dispose of them easily. One of them was a strong-looking level 6, but now it’s just part of the prey pile.
Well, a high level doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be strong.
I’m level 9 now. Level-wise, the same as the serpent. However, the snake had an overwhelming advantage in terms of straight-up battle abilities. In fact, without my thread, I probably couldn’t even beat a low-level monster.
I’m starting to think that the race of a creature is at least as important as its level. Even at the same level, if one species is superior, then there’s essentially no chance of an upset.
To give an extreme example, even if that giant spider, which is probably the strongest monster I’ve seen, was level 1, I still wouldn’t be able to beat it.
Regardless of our levels, with an opponent that big, no amount of strategizing would stop me from getting crushed in an instant.
So besides the difference in level, there was also a big difference in combat ability between that serpent and me.
That said, three-quarters of the snake’s body has already disappeared into my stomach.
Should I look at it as being three-quarters done with the snake or still having another quarter to go? I still have the mounting pile of monster corpses to tackle after this, so it may be better to go with the latter.
With a stockpile this extensive, they may start to rot before I can eat them. But I do have that Rot Resistance skill, so eating rotting things probably wouldn’t bother me too much.
In fact, it may be better to make myself eat a little to raise my skill level.
Taste? Considering all the gross poisonous stuff I’ve been eating this whole time, I’m pretty sure I can handle a little spoiled food at this point.
Okay.
Just as I thought, I can’t leave the area until I’ve finished digesting this giant pile of food. If I can just finish the snake off somehow, the other monsters aren’t terribly big, so I’m sure I could manage.
Besides, if I don’t push myself to finish all this, I’m really going to turn back into a shut-in.
I originally intended for this to be improvised housing, but I’ve spent so much time here, it’s getting to be just as big as my previous home.
As I mull over everything, I feel a vibration through my thread. Something is trapped in my web again.
Oh man. Now I’ll have even more food.
I never imagined that I’d wind up in a situation where I have too much to eat.
At any rate, I head over to my catch. It seems to be thrashing about pretty violently.
Maybe I caught some big game?
In that case, my staycation is going to be extended again.
I hope it’s something small.
This is a rather ridiculous problem to have.
△ Elroe Randanel • Lv 3: Status Appraisal Failed ▽
△ Elroe Randanel • Lv 3: Status Appraisal Failed ▽
△ Elroe Randanel • Lv 4: Status Appraisal Failed ▽
So I actually caught three monsters. Ah, these guys showed up in a trio at my old home, too.
Does this monster species only travel in threes?
In any case, this may be even worse than catching a big monster. Mostly in terms of meat quantity, that is.
For now, I add more threads to further impede their movements before carrying them away, web and all.
This is a new technique I’ve come up with. It’s way more convenient than cutting out a piece of the web every time.
Then I build a new web and head back to the center of my home with the monsters in tow.
Oof…
All three of them together are heavy. I should’ve taken them one at a time, even though that’s more of a pain.
Heave-ho!
Man, this is annoying. My body hurts a little bit now. In fact, my HP has even gone down.
Dammit!
Good thing I have these guys to take out my anger on. That seems a little irrational, but I don’t really care.
And so: Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
≪ Experience has reached the required level. Individual Small Lesser Taratect has increased from Lv 9 to Lv 10 ≫
≪ All basic attributes have increased. ≫
≪ Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. ≫
≪ Skill points acquired. ≫
≪ Condition satisfied. Individual Small Lesser Taratect can now evolve. ≫
…What was that?
As I level up, I receive some really mind-boggling information.
Evolve, it said? Does that mean what I think it means? Like in a certain game series where you raise pocket-size monsters?
≪ There are multiple options for evolution. Please choose from the following options: ≫
≪ Lesser Taratect or Small Taratect ≫
Wh-Whoa. Okay, give me a minute here. Wait just a moment.
Let me think about this. This can be a huge turning point in a person’s life.
Although I’m a spider, not a person.
At any rate, I can’t make this choice lightly.
Evolution, huh?
Well, that’s cool. Since this is such a gamelike world, it isn’t that surprising to encounter something like this, I suppose. If I start making cracks about that now, I’ll never stop.
So if I’m evolving, doesn’t that mean I’ll power up, too? If the choice to evolve is available to me, there’s no sense in not jumping on the chance.
So. Lesser Taratect or Small Taratect.
Based on the names alone, there doesn’t appear to be that big of a difference. So which is better: Lesser or Small?
Oh, if only Miss Appraisal could be used on the Divine Voice! Then I could understand the differences easily.
Hmm. Well, maybe I could take a guess?
My guess is that a lesser taratect would be an adult. It would take ‘small’ out of my name, after all.
So the flip side to that is that small taratect removes the lesser part. Would I become a superior species?
But since small is still attached, I’d probably still be an immature specimen. That must be the difference, I think.
In that case, it’s easy to pick one. Small Taratect should be the way to go, right?
I don’t want to evolve and stay as an inferior species, after all. Besides, doesn’t Small Taratect imply that there are more evolutionary steps beyond that? Like losing the ‘small’ and simply becoming a taratect, for instance.
I don’t know how much I would change by evolving, but at the very least, I’m confident it would make me stronger. In which case I should probably choose the one with more potential for further growth.
A lesser taratect might be able to evolve too, but I don’t want to choose it on the basis of that uncertain hope.
Besides, I don’t know how big my body will get if I choose to become a lesser taratect, which is scary.
If I evolve into an adult, that’ll probably mean getting a lot bigger.
I don’t think I’ll suddenly have a huge growth spurt as soon as I choose my next form, but I can’t say for sure.
This is a fantasy world, after all, so I can’t rule out the chance of something like that. And if it’s a possibility, I don’t want to risk it.
I doubt I would suddenly swell up to the size of that giant spider, but if I get too big to fit in the passage I’m currently in, that would undoubtedly be a problem.
I did see that huge finjicote monster before, but it nearly filled up the ten-foot-wide passageway completely. It seemed a little difficult to move around like that.
I’m guessing that monster normally lives in a bigger space, and that particular individual happened to go astray into a narrow passage.
So being too big to move around freely is a real possibility here. In which case, it would be best to stick with my current size. That’s another reason to pick small taratect.
Okay. That settles it, then. I’m going to evolve into a small taratect!
≪ Individual Small Lesser Taratect will evolve into Small Taratect. ≫
Oh, okay.
My evolution started pretty quickly.
The Divine Voice is always very abrupt, but I wish it would give me a little more time to emotionally prepare for these things.
I mean, this is my big e-vo-lu…tion…
~*~
≪ Evolution completed. ≫
≪ Individual race has become Small Taratect. ≫
≪ All basic attributes have increased. ≫
≪ Skill proficiency evolutionary bonus acquired. ≫
≪ Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill〔Taboo • Lv 1〕has become〔Taboo • Lv 2〕≫
≪ Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill〔Heretic Magic • Lv 1〕has become〔Heretic Magic • Lv 2〕≫
≪ Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill〔Rot Resistance • Lv 1〕has become〔Rot Resistance • Lv 2〕≫
≪ Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill〔Skanda • Lv 1〕has become〔Skanda • Lv 2〕≫
≪ Skill points acquired. ≫
Wha—?! Huh? What?!
Did I fall asleep?
No, it was more like my consciousness suddenly slipped away for a moment or was interrupted for a second or something? That had to be the effect of evolution, right?
Excuse me, Divine Voice, if I’m going to pass out when I evolve, a little warning would be nice!
Huh? Am I finished transforming, then?
As far as I can tell, I don’t look very different…
Oh, my self-appraisal stopped.
Okay, time to examine myself to see what’s what.
△
Nameless
Small Taratect • Lv 1
Status: Weak
▽
Oh! O-Oh? Wh-Whaat?
My species name changed, so the evolution seems to have been successful.
But level 1? So your level resets when you evolve?
Uh, my stats didn’t go down or anything, did they?
My status hasn’t changed from ‘weak’, so I can’t tell.
Wait, still weak? Aw, man…
The most worrisome thing is that my red stamina bar looks nearly empty now. That’s probably why I feel so sluggish and hungry. I must’ve used up a ton of energy mutating, right? Good thing I have such a huge stockpile of food.
In the end, my evolution was successful, but it turned out to be risky business. I passed out and nearly ran out of energy, after all. If I get a chance to do this again, I’ll have to make some preparations.
Since I lost most of my stamina thanks to my evolution, I turned my attention to eating.
First, what’s left of the snake. The large creature took so much work to eat before, but now it goes into my belly with ease.
≪ Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill
〔Poison Resistance • Lv 6〕has become〔Poison Resistance • Lv 7〕≫
As I finish off the snake, my Poison Resistance skill levels up. That makes two levels I’ve obtained for that skill thanks to this snake.
Yum, yum.
Before I evolved, that much food would’ve left me full and bloated, but now it has so little effect that I wonder if it vanished into a hole somewhere. It’s like everything I ate just now disappeared. In exchange, though, my red stamina gauge has recovered steadily.
So even after finishing the snake, my stomach isn’t bloated. In fact, I’m still pretty hungry. My red stamina bar is far from full, too.
Fortunately, I have a whole mountain of monster meat in my current abode. Before my evolution, I’d been seriously worried about how I was going to eat it all.
Surely this much food would be enough to satisfy even the extra dimension my stomach apparently has now.
So, I started to dig in.
I eat. And eat. And eat. I scarf it down like there’s no tomorrow.
In my previous life, I generally didn’t have much of an appetite, but I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to be a glutton in this world.
I feel like I could take on a competitive eater now!
Seriously, though, what’s going on with my stomach? I’ve obviously eaten more than my entire body mass at this point, yet I can still fit more?
For real, though. My stomach isn’t actually connected to a separate dimension now, is it?
I know thinking about it won’t solve anything, but you can’t help worrying when your own body is involved. I won’t figure out what’s going on no matter how much time I spend fretting about it, and it’s really starting to bug me…
Argh! Don’t think about it! Don’t think about anything, just keep eating!
I eat. And eat. And eat. And ea…
Oops, there’s nothing left.
Huh? Did I seriously eat all that food I hoarded?
…I did, didn’t I? I mean, it’s all gone.
For real?
My belly is still only 80 percent full. That’s what my red stamina gauge says, anyway. So that still isn’t enough to fill me up completely?
Evolution is scary.
Mostly in the sense of energy consumption. If my next one also occurs at level 10, I’ll probably have to start preparing once I hit level 9.
I’m lucky that I happened to evolve under the perfect conditions this time, but normally, it probably won’t go this well if I don’t prepare.
Man, for real, though—I’m so glad I could beat that snake.
If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have made a new home and saved up all this food.
Thanks, Mister Snake!
Well, anyway, I’ve recovered for the most part, but my stomach still isn’t full. And since I’ve munched through my entire store of food, there’s no reason to stay here any longer.
Time to escape from being a homebody!
And so I set off once again to continue my aimless journey.
Thank you, second home.
You were only supposed to be a temporary rest stop, but I ended up staying a lot longer than I planned.
Farewell!
I set off in high spirits.
Now, my first order of business is finding more prey to fill me up. After that, well, I’ll probably just roam around randomly as usual. But I do want to try to find the exit of the dungeon if possible.
If I do get a chance to evolve again, I’ll probably wind up getting bigger. Even this evolution, which didn’t change my appearance much, still had a huge effect on me.
This makes it seem all the more possible that with my next step up, I might suddenly turn huge or something. In which case, I’m a little worried about fitting through these small passageways.
If possible, I at least want to move into a bigger area. So the best thing would probably be to get outside. For one thing, if I stupidly make myself enormous inside this dungeon and the exit turns out to be tiny, I may not be able to leave at all.
The only problem is that if I reach the exit, there’s a good chance that I’ll run into humans passing through it. But in the end, I don’t really want to spend my whole life in this dungeon.
That gigantic spider I saw when I was born was probably around a hundred feet tall, estimating based on my own size, so it could probably barely go anywhere in this dungeon, let alone outside.
If I keep evolving from one form to the next, I’ll probably wind up like that eventually, so I really have to get out of here before then.
That being said, the gigantic spider seemed like a boss monster. Will I really reach the same size someday? I wonder how many evolutions that would take.
By that point, I could probably defeat humans without breaking a sweat, huh?
But if I do that now, I won’t be able to get outside!
Part of me is excited at the idea of becoming so enormous, and part of me is deeply alarmed by it.
This is a complicated feeling.
Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know if there’s anything I need to fix, and feel free to join my Discord for chapter updates!
Scarlett Shoujo 