"Left!" I shouted, veering to the right myself.
Ethan nodded and dashed to the left path, while I took the right.
The spider hesitated for a moment, confused by our sudden change in direction.
I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I pushed myself to run even faster.
The forest blurred around me, but I forced myself to focus.
Every step was crucial.
If I could somehow outrun it, I might just survive.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the spider had chosen to follow me.
Its massive form moved with surprising agility, leaping from tree to tree.
Acid dripped from its fangs, sizzling as it hit the forest floor.
Fuck, why is it chasing me?
I thought it might chase Ethan instead, and I know that sounds cruel because if the spider went after him, he would definitely be killed.
But I don't care whether he lives or dies—my life is more important.
I value it more than anyone else's.
So, why should I care?
But let's focus on the main question: why is the spider chasing me?
Did I do something wrong?
I can't remember doing anything to provoke it.
When did I—wait!
Those mini spiders...
Were they its children?
I looked back and saw the spider's twisted, furious face. It was angrier than ever.
I also noticed scars on its body, probably from rushing through the tree branches.
She was so relentless in her pursuit that she literally ignored her scars just to catch me.
If I ever fall into her hands, forget about living—my bones might disappear along with my body.
Shit, I made a huge mistake.
I have to get away from it and put some distance between us, or it will catch me.
But how?
My mind raced as I scanned the terrain for anything I could use.
Ahead, I spotted a fallen tree, its trunk half-rotted and covered in moss.
I sprinted towards it, hoping to use it as a temporary barrier.
With a final burst of speed, I vaulted over the tree and ducked behind it, pressing myself flat against the ground.
The spider landed on the other side, momentarily disoriented.
Taking advantage of its confusion, I grabbed a nearby branch and hurled it at the creature.
The spider hissed in anger, its eyes locking onto me once more.
It lunged, but I rolled to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding a spray of acid.
The ground where I had been lying sizzled and smoked.
Gotta keep moving, I told myself. I can't let it pin me down.
I sprinted through the trees, zigzagging around bushes and plants along the way.
The spider followed, relentless in its pursuit.
My breath came in ragged gasps, but I forced myself to keep going.
Suddenly, I emerged into a small clearing.
Desperation clawed at me as I realized I was running out of options.
Think, Michael, think! I urged myself.
An idea flashed through my mind.
It was risky, but it might just work.
I quickly unlatched my belt and tied it around a sturdy tree branch, creating a makeshift snare.
As the spider burst into the clearing, I taunted it, "Come on, you ugly bitch! Is that all you've got?"
The spider lunged at me, and at the last second, I dived to the side.
The creature crashed into the snare, and the branch snapped back, entangling its one leg.
For a moment, it struggled, caught in the trap. I didn't waste any time.
I had to do something. Its legs were giving me a real headache.
I staggered backward, scanning my surroundings for anything useful, and saw a fallen branch.
I swiftly grabbed it, gripped one dagger tightly in my left hand, and clenched the other between my teeth.
Gripping the branch tightly, I hurled it at the spider's head with all my strength.
The spider used all its legs to block the branch, then returned to its normal posture.
I found my opening.
I took the dagger from my mouth and threw it at the spider's underbelly.
As I expected, it used all its legs to defend itself, giving me a few precious seconds.
Without wasting time, I switched the dagger from my left hand to my right and threw it straight at its eye again.
With its legs occupied, I was convinced victory was mine—until the spider spat a jet of black liquid, deflecting the dagger mid-flight and melting it completely.
In a situation like this, despair would've been the normal response since my plan had utterly failed.
But instead of feeling defeated, I smiled widely.
"Got you!" I said confidently.
I quickly grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and threw it at the spider, blinding it for a moment.
Predictably, the spider used all its legs to defend itself again.
At the same time, I opened my inventory, grabbed another dagger, and threw it with precision—this time aiming for its mouth.
But...
Despite the dust making it harder for the spider to see, it still managed to defend itself.
It shot another mouthful of black liquid at the oncoming dagger, striking it directly.
The liquid deflected the dagger and melted it instantly, as if it were nothing but paper.
What happened next, however, was beyond anything the spider could have imagined.
As it regained its balance, a massive sword suddenly appeared from the swirling dust.
Its eyes widened in shock, but before it could react or spit more corrosive liquid, the sword pierced straight through its head and skull.
In less than a second, it was dead.
A fountain of blood erupted from the spider's skull, showering me in thick, black liquid.
I stood motionless, almost completely drenched by the overwhelming flow of blood.
Huh?
Black blood?
A wave of panic swept across my blood-soaked face as I thought, Wait! Is this some kind of acid?
Thankfully, I got my answer quickly.
After a few seconds, nothing happened to me from the black blood, easing my worry.
Back to the situation, I looked at the spider's body, which was twitching violently, likely due to its body's response to death.
After a few more seconds, the twitching stopped, and the body slowly began to break down into small particles, leaving nearly nothing behind.
As that happened, my system screen suddenly flashed with notifications right in front of me.
(Ding, congratulations, host! 1 Monster Core (Uncommon) has been added to your inventory!)
(Ding, congratulations, host! 1 Healing Potion (Gold) has been added to your inventory!)
(Ding, congratulations, host! The system has added 100 Monster Essences of Spider to your Character Profile!)
"Ohhh... Fuck!"
That was all I could say before collapsing to the ground from pure exhaustion.
The run and the fight had completely drained me.
Despite everything, though, I couldn't help but feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
It was my first time killing an Uncommon rank monster, and I was incredibly proud of the hunt.
Also, I couldn't deny that I was a little too excited when my plan finally worked.
While running with Ethan, I noticed something strange about the spider: it always took a few seconds' break after spitting acid.
I figured it might take time for the acid to form inside its body before it could spit it out.
I found the first clue during our chase, and the second while I was fighting it.
Whenever I threw my daggers or branches at it, aiming for a specific spot, it defended itself by using all its legs to create a shield to protect that area.
I also noticed that it treated any object I threw as a harmful weapon.
To test my theory, I threw dust instead of an actual weapon at its belly.
As I expected, the spider reacted by protecting its underbelly, leaving its head exposed.
Since I had already made it spit out its acid, I knew I could seriously injure it if I hit it hard.
And you know what?
It worked.
The spider was too stunned to react when I executed my backup plan, using the extra dagger and sword, which eventually led to its downfall.
Just when I started thinking about those words again, the system screen suddenly popped up with new notifications right in front of me.
But this time…
The messages were nothing like before.
In fact, they were more surprising than I ever imagined.
(Ding, congratulations, host! You have earned 1000 Monster Essences for defeating your first Uncommon rank Monster!)
(Ding! The system has added 1000 Spider Monster Essences to your Character Profile!)
(Ding, congratulations, host! You have received an additional 200 Monster Essences for defeating your first peak-tier Uncommon rank Monster!)
(Ding! The system has added 200 Spider Monster Essences to your Character Profile!)
When I saw the notifications, my eyes widened in disbelief.
My excitement and happiness shot through the roof.
System, are you serious?
No, System, I truly thank you from the depths of my heart.
I take back every harsh word I said before...
You're truly the best, the most amazing system I could have ever hoped for...
You're the GOAT.
I don't know what came over me, but I started praising the system like I was some nobody in the presence of something powerful.
Whatever it was, I didn't care.
This was the first time the system had shown me this much kindness since I arrived in this world.
Hahahahaha!
This day is turning out to be something else!
I swiftly opened my character profile to check how many essences I had left to rank up.
---
Name: Michael Frostburne
Race: Human
Current Rank: Iron
Progress to Gold Rank: 79.7% (1972/2500 essences)
Attributes:
Power: Iron
Speed: Iron
Spirit: Iron
Recovery: Iron
Free Attribute Points: (0/1)
Human Racial Abilities:
Interface
Quest System
Inventory
Map
Adaptor (Special)
---
Hmm... with the extra reward, I now only need 528 more essences to reach Gold rank.
"That's less than I thought..."
I muttered to myself, tapping my chin.
With this, I could probably level up in just a few days, speeding up my progress.
That's a good thing...
Roar...
Suddenly, a loud human roar echoed through the evergreen forest.
The birds, which had been chirping in the trees, flew into the air in a panic.
What was that?
It didn't sound like a monster's roar, so...
I looked up at the sky.
The atmosphere began to shift.
Dark clouds slowly swirled above me, covering the sun and casting a dim light over the forest for a radius of at least three or four miles.
Damn, this isn't right...
A sense of unease washed over me, and I knew something was wrong.
My instincts kicked in, and I quickly got to my feet, ready to back away to safety.
But just as I turned to run, a sharp pain shot through my leg, causing me to collapse to the ground.
"What the heck was that?"