After taking a few more bites and devouring a large portion of the crocodile's liver, Arthur forced himself to stop eating, his face twisted in clear resentment.
He loathed the idea of giving the spider-woman the prey he had struggled so hard to hunt.
'I haven't eaten anything for days. Ah, how I wish I could devour this entire crocodile myself.'
Reluctantly, he crawled out of the carcass. His body emerged completely coated in blood and entrails, making him look utterly feral and savage.
He stood tall and scanned the area meticulously to ensure their fight hadn't attracted any other predators.
Then, he turned his full focus to the thing that bothered and worried him most. With a sense of dread, he opened the main system window. The cracked, transparent screen flickered before him, containing only a few distorted words.
[ SYSTEM FAILURE ]
[ TRY AGAIN LATER ]
He froze in place, staring at the screen in disbelief. Although he had considered the possibility that something was wrong with the system, the idea of it failing entirely was inconceivable—something he couldn't easily process.
For a moment, his emotions went numb. He didn't know how to react to such shocking news. In the end, he merely let out a long sigh, disappointment written all over his face, as he addressed the system.
"Just like that? You broke down just like that? Are you kidding me, or are you mocking me, you piece of junk? You're truly useless. Fine, you know what? It doesn't matter. I don't need you anyway."
He still hadn't forgotten how the system had abandoned him when he needed it most. Seeing it malfunction so easily, like a piece of scrap metal, only fueled his resentment and anger, making him hate it even more.
He gnashed his teeth, wishing he could strike the screen and shatter it like glass. But suddenly, his rage vanished completely, replaced by a wave of sadness and a slight sense of emptiness. A cynical smile touched his face as he whispered:
"Who am I kidding... I really do need you. You can't just leave me like this."
No matter how much he tried to deny it, he couldn't ignore the importance of the system. It had been an integral part of his new life as a wolf—his only constant companion. True, the system was a thing of few words and rarely interfered, but it had always helped him, one way or another.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside his frustration and disappointment, refusing to let them blind him to reality. He engaged his mind instead of his heart, reading the system's words again and analyzing them with total seriousness.
'The system is like a superior computer program. Perhaps it's performing some sort of reset or repair. The message "Try again later" implies that it will return to service eventually. Tsk... I hope my theory is right.'
He shook his head in understanding; his theory felt logical enough. Still, he couldn't hide his anxiety. He quickly dismissed the broken system screen and focused on his own body.
He tested his skills and found that most of them were still functioning with high efficiency, which brought him a modicum of relief.
In fact, he was just double-checking, as he had just fought the crocodile using his physical abilities without encountering any issues.
What troubled Arthur the most, however, was his inability to use the "Dimensional Storage" skill, a problem that couldn't have come at a worse time.
That very ability was the reason the spider woman had spared his life in the first place. If he failed to use it again in front of her, who knew how she would react?
'This is bad… really bad. If that bitch sees me dragging food back to her nest instead of storing it inside Dimensional Storage, she'll definitely be displeased. I need a convincing excuse to explain why I can't use it.'
He paused for a moment, thinking more carefully.
' Come to think of it, both "Evaluation" and "Dimensional Storage" are directly linked to the system. If the system is malfunctioning, then it makes sense for those skills to be unavailable as well.'
There was nothing he could do about it.
With no solution in sight, Arthur swallowed his frustration in silence. Powerless to change the situation, he bit down on the crocodile's tail and began dragging the massive corpse toward the spider's nest, all the while rehearsing what he would say to her in his mind.
As he neared the nest, he came to a stop.
He took a deep breath and, just as he had planned earlier, emptied his mind. He suppressed his anger, buried his hatred deep inside, and deliberately put on an act—playing dumb, wearing expressions of submission and fear.
Still, maintaining such a mental state went completely against his nature. From time to time, his true emotions and hidden intentions inevitably surfaced.
Even so, he didn't panic or grow overly anxious. From the start, he knew he couldn't deceive the spider completely. He was just an ordinary person, not a monk skilled in meditation and mental discipline, nor a master actor capable of perfectly fabricating emotions.
Once he was satisfied that everything looked convincing enough, Arthur resumed moving forward. Soon, he arrived before the massive web-covered nest.
He hesitated briefly, deliberately showing fear, then lowered his head and slipped inside through the small, door-like opening.
At that moment, every strand of web inside his body trembled, and the spider woman's voice echoed in his mind, heavy with unmistakable anger.
"Is this all you brought me? And why is part of it already eaten?"
Arthur's body shook as her overwhelming aura crashed down on him. Panic surged through him, and he hurriedly tried to defend himself, his voice trembling and broken.
"F… forgive me. I… l haven't fully recovered my strength yet, and my skills aren't functioning properly. This is all I managed to hunt in such a short time. I'll bring more—just please, be patient."
"Hmph."
The spider woman snorted coldly, then replied with open mockery,
"You'd better. Otherwise, you'll regret it. I left you alone for several days so you could recover, don't offer me such pathetic excuses."
Suddenly, the webs lining the passageway where Arthur stood came alive. They wrapped around the crocodile's corpse and swiftly dragged it deeper into the nest, toward where the spider woman resided.
In truth, despite the anger in her voice, she was pleased deep down. Securing such a large meal proved that her investment had not been a mistake.
A small hole opened in her cocoon, and she dragged the carcass toward her maw. As was her custom when feeding, she liquefied the corpse with her venom and swallowed it whole within a single minute. Once finished, she turned her full attention to Arthur, who was still standing there, and said:
"More. Bring me more. And this time, do not touch my food, do you understand? Go now!"
Arthur was irritated by her domineering tone and saw this as the perfect opportunity to test if she was truly capable of reading his thoughts. Purposefully, he cursed her in his mind.
'You damn bitch... F*ck you. I'll kill you one day.'
In that instant, every strand of web inside him tightened, suddenly crushing his internal organs. He collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming in agony. The spider's voice echoed in his head again, but this time it was heavy with a terrifying killing intent.
"Listen to me, you piece of filth: don't you dare direct your killing intent toward me. I will let it slide this time, but if you repeat it, don't expect even a shred of mercy."