WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 54: Spider's Nest

──────

Twilight Spiders were tougher and trickier than the other monsters on Floor 7.

They were fairly quick, had a special attack where they shot webs to bind their target's movements, and possessed considerable Defense.

On top of that, their basic attacks inflicted poison, so the strategy posts recommended hunting them in parties of at least three.

A huge number of Twilight Spiders swarming around in plain sight was obviously abnormal.

This wasn't a difficulty level an ordinary Floor 7 Challenger party could handle.

Of course, I had an idea why so many Twilight Spiders had appeared.

"Don't step forward. Stay behind me!"

There was Rizmel, the Dark Elf who told me to hide behind them after saying they wanted to see what I could do.

The difficulty was probably set on the assumption that you'd be accompanied by an elite Non-Player Character. Sort of like a story-mode version.

Maybe the Twilight Spider nests in other Towers had been cleared once by a Non-Player Character like Rizmel, lowering the difficulty.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with me. My stats were far beyond those of an ordinary Floor 7 Challenger.

"You shouldn't be stepping forward either."

I pushed past Rizmel and charged at the swarm of spiders. A Twilight Spider at the front reacted swiftly and spat out a web.

Rizmel wanted to see my swordsmanship, so should I focus on sword and shield again this time?

Once you got caught in those webs, they were hard to escape from. In exchange, their firing speed and range weren't all that impressive.

-Tap!

I lightly kicked off the ground to dodge, then leaped high and boldly landed on the spider's head.

Twilight Spiders varied in size, but their typical size was nearly as big as a wild boar.

Because of their body structure, once you climbed onto their backs or heads like this, they had no good way to attack you.

The strategy posts did list it as one way to deal with Twilight Spiders, but apparently few Challengers actually tried it.

I mean, who would really charge at a venomous spider at least as big as a wild boar and climb on top of it?

"Fuck, this is creepy as hell."

The fuzzy hairs covering the spider's body felt disgusting. Grimacing, I immediately brought down my sword.

-Thunk!

A Twilight Spider's outer shell was fairly tough, but my Strength let the sword pierce through it without any trouble.

Translucent green fluid sprayed from where my sword struck.

Twilight Spider fluid was mildly poisonous on its own and highly corrosive.

I'd heard that stabbing Twilight Spiders with an ordinary sword rapidly reduced the weapon's Durability.

But equipment made of Ebony Steel had high corrosion resistance, so my sword's Durability didn't drop at all.

Dark Elf-made weapons really were reliable. Their performance was no joke.

-Whoosh!

Just as I was admiring the Dark Elf-made sword, a shadow suddenly fell over me.

When I looked up, a huge Twilight Spider had jumped into the air and was falling toward my head. It had a pretty impressive leap.

I stepped on the head of the spider I'd killed, then climbed onto another spider's head to avoid the attack.

-Thunk!

But just before the leaping Twilight Spider could crush the spot where I'd been standing, something struck it and sent it flying.

"Y-You, what are you doing?! Do you have no idea how dangerous spiders are...?!"

Rizmel shouted with a bow in hand. So it had been an arrow.

Twilight Spiders had to weigh a ton considering their size, yet one little arrow had pierced it and knocked it over.

Was this what made an elite Non-Player Character different? The power behind a single arrow was absurd.

There was a reason there were so many spiders here. Rizmel was insanely strong.

"Get over here, now! You'll get hurt!"

"No, you said you wanted to see what I could do."

With a snort, I cut off another spider's head and charged straight at the next one.

* * *

Once Rizmel realized I had no intention of backing down, they actively joined the fight and focused on reducing the number of spiders.

Rizmel's skill with a bow was no joke, but their swordsmanship was even better.

I could take down most spiders in one or two hits, but Rizmel cut down two in the time it took me to kill one.

I hadn't expected such a huge gap in skill to show during a simple fight against fodder monsters rather than a battle against people.

Was it a difference in movement? Rizmel's speed and flexibility when responding to attacking spiders were on a completely different level from mine.

"I think we've gotten most of them."

In any case, Rizmel and I wiped out nearly all the Twilight Spiders swarming around the entrance.

There had been so many that green spider fluid and venom had mixed across the ground, forming a small puddle.

"Finally, I can breathe again. Why would you do something so reckless...?!"

"You said you wanted to see my skills."

"I never told you to charge in that recklessly, you foolish human!"

Rizmel screeched, rummaged through the bag tucked under their arm, and pulled out a small handkerchief and what looked like a potion.

Judging by the color, it was an antidote potion. Rizmel soaked the handkerchief with it and gestured for me to come closer.

"You're covered in spider fluid. Are you trying to get sick? It's filthy, so bring your face over here!"

Rizmel grabbed my face with the handkerchief and started scrubbing hard. Come on, who got sick from something like this?

"You may not know because you're such a rookie, but it'll be a serious problem if it gets in your eyes, nose, or mouth! Even if you can't help, don't become dead weight!"

"Mmph, mmph."

"Stay still! I'm cleaning you right now! Can't you keep your lips still? I'll just rip them off!"

By now, I was starting to get a rough idea of what Rizmel was like. Rizmel only acted prickly on the surface. They weren't any different from the other Dark Elves.

I pulled Rizmel's hand away from my face and waved them off, saying I was fine.

"Hey, you really don't know how scary spider venom is, do you? These things' venom gets stronger when it mixes with their body fluid!"

Rizmel started off like that, then went on for quite a while about how extensively Twilight Spider venom could mutate.

After hearing Rizmel out, I could kind of understand why they were so wary of it. Though it did seem like they were exaggerating a little.

"It's really that dangerous?"

"I'm telling you it is! Why won't you listen?!"

Hmm. Saying that made it hard to resist. There was a puddle full of venom cocktail right there, after all.

Ignoring Rizmel's warning, I scooped up a handful of the venom pooled on the ground and drank it.

-Gulp.

The distinctive burning thrill of corrosive venom slid down my throat.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Are you crazy? Spit that out right now! Yuck, yuck, bleh!"

Rizmel made a huge fuss, but after trying it, the venom wasn't as impressive as they'd claimed.

It was about on the same level as the blood spray from the Zombies on Floor 6. This wasn't going to affect me.

* * *

Rizmel was horrified when they saw me drink the venom, but seemed to understand once I told them I had a constitution immune to poison.

"Even if you're immune to poison, don't ever do something like that again!"

Rizmel still nagged me about why I'd eat something like that, but at least they stopped trying to shove their fingers down my throat to make me vomit.

"So, is the spider subjugation over now?"

I sheathed my sword and asked. Rizmel shook their head and pulled out the paper they'd shown me earlier.

Looking at it now, it seemed less like a note and more like a mission order.

"No, there were far more spiders than expected. There must be a reason for such a massive outbreak, so we need to investigate further."

Rizmel added that a special mutated Twilight Spider might have been born.

According to the Open Community's strategy posts, the deeper part of this Twilight Spider habitat was considered a dungeon, but it didn't have a boss.

Still, from my experience, there was a good chance a Unique boss that wouldn't respawn after being killed was hiding somewhere here.

"This wasn't supposed to be a mission for dragging along a human rookie... Ah, seriously."

Rizmel muttered and glanced at me. For all their complaints, they seemed to acknowledge my skills to some extent.

"Hey, human. Why did you say you wanted to join our Reconnaissance Team?"

"To do stuff like this."

"Stuff like this? Do humans enjoy playing with venomous spiders?"

I'd answered vaguely because it was hard to explain, and now Rizmel was saying weird things. Why would humans like venomous spiders?

"I told you I wanted to improve my skills. I need real combat experience. It'd also be nice if I could help with your work while I'm at it."

Rizmel narrowed their eyes at my words for a moment, then gave a little snort as if they understood.

"Hmph, listen to you saying something admirable. I get why Eleanor was so happy to bring you here. You're exactly that girl's type of rookie."

The way Rizmel said that while patting my back gave me a very strange feeling.

"But Eleanor isn't doing anything weird to you, right?"

Then Rizmel suddenly leaned in close and whispered that. Something weird?

"If she asks you to sleep with her, or touches you somewhere she shouldn't, you need to say no right away. Got it?"

The way the Dark Elves treated their princess did seem a little strange, but I couldn't be bothered to argue about it, so I just said I understood.

Right now, the boss inside that nest was more important.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried