"Huuhh... huuh."
My breath was ragged because I had been running so fast. I did not look back at all for almost thirty minutes. I stopped for a moment and turned around. Hoping that the large black spider from before was not chasing me. If it was, then this would be the end for me.
Turn around!
At that moment, I felt relieved because the big spider or my mother was not there. She really did not chase me, or maybe I simply managed to escape. But whatever it was, the result was the same. I successfully ran away.
"Now what?" I rubbed my spider chin.
The corridor was dim. Only the crystal stones became the source of light there, but the place was very wide. Those crystals could not illuminate the entire corridor.
[Appraisal activated!]
Triing!
[Moon Stone medium size!]
"Huh? Just this?"
I turned to another direction, trying the skill again.
[Moon Stone small size!]
Another direction.
[Moon Stone medium size!]
[Moon Stone large size!]
There was no further information. Only the names were visible. I tried cleaning my eyes. Maybe one of my eight eyes was hit by dust or something like that. Maybe that caused my vision to be wrong. I wiped my eyes with my spider legs.
After feeling it was enough, I looked at the crystal stones again.
[Moon Stone large size!]
I froze. Standing still because I could not believe what I was seeing. The skill I had was completely useless. I scratched my head repeatedly. Then walked back and forth. Thinking about what would happen to me.
"I was born as a small spider and now my skill is useless."
The other two skills were Survival Instinct and Weak Thread. Those were just normal skills. One was only for detecting danger and one was a skill to release thread. Two skills that should naturally belong to a spider.
"Isn't this strange? I am a human from Earth who got isekai-ed to another world. Shouldn't I be unique and have an SSS rank skill?"
In the novels I read, that was always the case. Usually the MC looked weak, but there was a hidden SSS tier power inside him. And none of that was happening to me at all. This really made no sense. This did not match what I imagined.
It turned out that getting isekai-ed to another world was not as fun as in the novels. It was exciting only to read. To be directly involved, your life was the price.
Suddenly I realized something. "Aha! That is right. I need to raise my level first. Yes, that must be it. After that, I will get an SSS rank skill."
Confidently, I began to walk, exploring the large corridor. My steps were very slow because my body size was tiny. I could not say for sure how small my body was because there was no comparison I could use here.
"Isn't this corridor too big?" I rubbed my spider chin again. Looking to the left and right. I only saw dirt walls and Moon Stones. Nothing else. "Where exactly am I?"
There were two possibilities I could think of, a cave or a secret place. That was all I could imagine. Ah, actually there was one more thing I thought of, a dungeon, but I felt that was impossible.
The gods were not so crazy and cruel to place me in a dangerous place without proper power. That sounded too harsh.
"I am sure of that," I said.
Right after saying that, for some reason I doubted it. As a believer of the gods, I should trust that they were good. Ah, even though my previous life was extremely unfair. Thinking about that made me doubt whether gods were truly fair and good.
Ah, never mind that. Now I had walked almost... twenty minutes? I did not know. What mattered was that I had walked for a long time, yet strangely, I did not encounter any creature in this corridor.
If it continued like this, I would never be able to level up. I would stay at level one and eventually meet another monster, then end up dead.
"No. No! I cannot die yet."
I nodded, convincing myself. Then I started walking again. Following the large corridor. I kept walking until all eight of my legs felt heavy. I stopped for a moment. I walked to the side and rested there.
[Status open!]
The screen appeared again. I looked more carefully at everything written on that status screen. But no matter how many times I stared at it, nothing changed. It was still sad.
[Enemy detected!]
Suddenly that notification appeared. I instantly stood up and straightened all my legs. For a moment I became excited because I felt this could be the beginning of a small spider becoming the strongest creature.
"Where?" I said while tapping both of my front legs with enthusiasm. "Come! I will kill you."
I quickly looked to the left, then to the right. Nothing. There were no footsteps, no growls, not even signs of any creature around. Only the same silence of the corridor.
"Is the system wrong? Or... is the enemy invisible?" I thought while tilting my head.
A few seconds passed.
Then...
Grk... grk... grrrkkk...
The ground beneath me suddenly trembled lightly. A small vibration as if something was pushing the soil from below. The vibration became stronger. Closer.
All eight of my eyes widened.
BRUKK!!!
From the right, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed. I did not dare to look at first, but I forced myself and when I did, my heartbeat raced four times faster.
[Abyssal Broodwyrm (Juvenile) Lv ???]
I froze completely.
"WHAT?! What level was that?! Why is it question marks?!"
Just one second ago, I was confident about leveling up, but now that idea shattered instantly. Fighting a creature whose level was written as question marks? That was not suicide anymore. It was something even worse.
"Damn. Damn. This is bad. I need to..."
The footsteps grew closer. My eyes kept moving until finally I found what I was looking for. Quickly, I ran to that spot and hid behind a large stone. I stayed silent without saying anything.
The creature slowly approached. Its form looked like an insect with two pairs of wings, two pairs of sharp legs, a jagged tail, and a long head shaped like a serpent.
Its size was enormous, almost as big as the corridor itself.
"What kind of creature is this?" I muttered.
I could not make a sound. The creature did not only look big, but incredibly strong, as if nothing could defeat it.
Slowly, it eventually moved away from the area. It went farther until it disappeared, but the fear still filled my body.
My heartbeat and entire body were trembling, yet there was a feeling of refusal.
"Damn it. I am really humiliated. In my previous world or this world, I am always terrified," I complained. I could not accept this. "I have to change. I do not want to be a loser anymore."
I came out from my hiding spot. Looking at the direction where the creature had gone. Staring sharply.
"I will defeat you once I am strong enough. Just wait!"