Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Spendthrift Necromancer (52)

Human-Faced Spider (3)

Seo Yerim looked at Kim Minwoo.

He was always someone who escaped the bounds of her imagination.

She'd expected him to offer some comfort, only for him to suddenly tell her to pick up a bow.

It was absurd.

“Are you seriously saying that right now?”

“You've never even used a bow before.”

His gaze held such complete certainty that she found herself speechless.

She had been born in Sword Sea Pavilion, awakened with a sword in hand.

Just as Kim Minwoo said, she'd never used a bow before.

There had never been any reason to.

“That doesn't mean I have talent for it.”

“Seo Yerim. You want to go higher right now, don't you? Then you need to try everything.”

Seo Yerim fell silent.

Of course, his words weren't completely unreasonable.

If she experimented, perhaps she really could discover talent in a new field, just as Kim Minwoo said.

And if she failed to find any, it didn't matter.

She could simply continue training with the sword as she always had.

But if, by some chance, by one chance in a million, she actually discovered another talent.‘Then what the hell was my whole life……?’A life spent training with the sword.

It would all be denied at once.

That was why she didn't want to attempt change.

If she failed to discover another talent, that would be a problem in its own way.

If she succeeded, that would be a problem too.

“I know. It's burdensome. But Cedric wasn't lying. You can keep raising your level and learn a few more skills, but you won't go beyond that.”

Kim Minwoo spoke calmly.

That was what people commonly called a hollow S-rank.

High level, no substance.‘Of course, Seo Yerim isn't quite bad enough to be called hollow…….’But if he wanted her to pick up a bow, he had no choice.

He needed to hit her with some harsh words now and shock her awake.

“Use this chance to think seriously about what you truly want. Whether it's reaching the end of the sword, or earning the Sword Immortal's recognition. Either way, you'll never achieve it with a sword.”

Seo Yerim lowered her head.

If some mediocre nobody had said something like that, she would've refuted them immediately.

But Kim Minwoo was different.

Even her grandfather personally sought his guidance in swordsmanship.

When someone like that spoke with such certainty, she couldn't find any way to argue.

She stared at her sword.

Was reaching the end of the sword truly her goal?‘……

Maybe not.’Earning her grandfather's recognition.

That was her true goal.

The sword, strictly speaking, was only a means toward that end.

Because her grandfather also used a sword.

Because her class was Swordsman.

Because she'd trained with it her entire life.

It was simply a weapon she couldn't let go of for those reasons.

“Let's stop the conversation here. We need to start clearing the Human-Faced Spider soon.”

Minwoo didn't expect her to throw away her sword and pick up a bow overnight just because he told her to.

Simply reminding her that another path existed besides the sword already made the conversation worthwhile.‘That's enough for now.’People needed time to let things settle.

He looked at Seo Yerim.

“Can we leave?”

“……

You think something this minor broke my mental state? Let's go.”

As expected of a professional Awakened, she wasn't losing focus inside a Gate.

Minwoo looked toward Cheongong Mountain ahead.

A mountain buried beneath fog.

It was time to head in.* * *Seo Yerim drew her sword and looked toward him.

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

“Roughly.”

“You must know the Human-Faced Spider pretty well? All I know is that its face looks human.”

A monster with a human-like face.

Its main traits were that it was an extremely cunning and intelligent hunter.‘Average level around 351 to 400.’An A-rank monster that usually appeared as a mid-boss.

He'd hunted it several times before.

Of course, answering like that would sound extremely suspicious.

“I've read a lot of strategy guides. It showed up in one.”

“Strategy guides? You read books?”

“……

Yes. I read.”

Come on.

A man could read a book.

Why did she have to make it sound suspicious?

Making it awkward for someone trying to bluff.

“Then let's go in.”

“It's evening.”

“The Human-Faced Spider is active at night. If we go in during the morning, we won't find it. It'll hide and refuse to come out.”

Human-Faced Spiders normally claimed an entire large mountain as their territory.

Webbing released from their tails spread in every direction and attached itself throughout every corner of the mountain.

That was how their hunting ground was formed.‘Walk in without knowing anything and you'll come out a corpse.’Thin, transparent webbing.

Extremely difficult to identify with the naked eye.

And that wasn't all.

The webs were sticky enough to tear flesh away from a trapped limb, and poisonous miasma flowed between them.

Touch them and you were done.

Before climbing the poison-filled mountain.

The first thing they did was take antidotes.

Minwoo and Seo Yerim each drank a Highest-Grade Antidote.

For the next thirty minutes, the poison in the air shouldn't be much of a problem.

“The plan is simple. We'll make the Human-Faced Spider come to us.”

“How?”

“Like this.”

He summoned the Skeleton horde.

The armed Skeletons began roaming freely through the mountain.

Soon.

Clatter![Skeleton 356 is caught in a sticky web!][Deadly poison spreads!][Skeleton 543…….][Skeleton 654…….]

The Skeleton horde staggered as their feet stuck firmly to the ground.

It was practically a signal to the Human-Faced Spider.

There's a feast ready here, hurry over.

However.‘This isn't enough.’The Human-Faced Spider was extremely cunning.

It wouldn't stupidly rush straight toward prey just because something had been caught in its web.‘It'll circle around.’Climb a huge tree.

Dig underground and emerge.

Whatever it did, it wouldn't charge directly at the Skeletons.‘It'll suspect a trap.’And something made it even more troublesome.

Human-Faced Spiders naturally possessed camouflage.

If it approached while hidden by camouflage, most people couldn't detect it.

Minwoo continued scattering Skeletons in every direction.

Each held a trap.

They climbed trees and installed traps, buried them in the ground.

Every available space nearby was filled with traps.

“……

Wouldn't it be easier to just set the mountain on fire?”

“If we burn it, it'll hide in some tunnel or cave it prepared beforehand. Then catching it will take forever.”

When a Human-Faced Spider hid inside its home ground, things became incredibly annoying.

Instead of sparse webs like those scattered across the mountain, its entire lair was made of webbing.‘And it doesn't burn either.’Anyone who charged in imagining normal spiderwebs that simply melted under fire would end up getting eaten instead.

There was a reason it was called a monster.

Then.―Coo.

Snowy's cry rang out.‘It's coming.’Minwoo had told Snowy to cry if it sensed something large approaching.

Camouflage could fool the eyes.

But it couldn't hide the noises made by a gigantic body brushing against trees and terrain.

Snowy was smart enough to understand and warn him.

The direction was west.

Seo Yerim seemed to catch on as well, because her grip tightened around her sword.

Rustle.

A tree shook in the distance.

Something with an almost transparent body seemed to ripple as it approached.

The Human-Faced Spider watched the trapped Skeletons from far away, carefully testing the situation.

Then it slowly, slowly crept closer.

Click.

Booom!

Shrapnel traps exploded everywhere.

Minwoo had overlapped several of them, so a chain reaction was inevitable.―Krrk?

Its body became covered in shrapnel.‘Camouflage disabled.’He cast the curse.

After several misses, it finally landed squarely on the monster.[‘Human-Faced Spider’ is afflicted with Curse of Aging!][The target's level is overwhelmingly higher than yours!][It resists the curse!][Defense and Movement Speed decrease by 5%!]

“Kill it!”

Skeletons hidden everywhere rushed forward.―Kieek!

The Human-Faced Spider's eyes glowed red.

It spun its body in a full circle.

Its enormous mass slammed into the Skeletons.

Skeletons shattered.

The level gap alone was 300.

The Skeletons were never going to deal meaningful damage.

That was why he hadn't summoned Mages either.

Magic wouldn't do anything.

Better to have the Skeletons cling to it and obstruct its movement.

Minwoo charged alongside Cedric.

“Ice!”[‘Snowy’ shares its attribute with its master!][You may use the Ice attribute!][Ice Attribute Resistance increases by 20%!]

The Human-Faced Spider's outer shell was extremely hard.

It was also resistant to Fire.

Conversely, that meant it was weak against Water.

Ice was part of the Water attribute.

Minwoo drove his frost-covered sword deep into its torso.[Title, ‘Insect Slayer,’ activates!][Damage increases by 10%!][Title, ‘Strong One Slayer,’ activates!][Damage increases by 20%!][You possess a countering attribute!][Damage increases by 40%!]

Insect Slayer and Strong One Slayer.

The damage increase didn't end there.

Attacking with a countering attribute increased damage by up to twice the percentage of that attribute.

Snowy had shared its 20% attribute.

Thanks to that, Minwoo's damage rose another 40%.‘Damage multipliers stack multiplicatively.’Nearly 1.8 times the normal damage smashed into the outer shell.

Clang!‘Still can't pierce it in one hit.’Even if the multiplier rose, a low base value still meant the increased amount was limited.

Still, it was fine.

He had a way through.

From the opposite side, Seo Yerim swung her sword.[Seo Yerim uses Spatial Slash(B)

!]

Slash!

Her sword tore through part of the shell in a single stroke.

High level.

A weapon appropriate to that level.

And a powerful skill stacked on top.

She really was strong.

Poisonous blood sprayed everywhere.

The Human-Faced Spider's gaze instantly snapped toward her.

Its human-like mouth opened wide.

Whoooosh!

A massive torrent of poison poured toward Seo Yerim.[Seo Yerim uses Moon Step(A)

!]

She retreated.

Then.[Seo Yerim uses Sword Energy Barrage(A)

!]

He saw her launch a cluster of blue sword energies at the Human-Faced Spider.‘She dodges well.’And she was holding aggro nicely.

Thanks to that, Minwoo could work comfortably.

He struck the same point over and over.[You struck the same location! Damage increases by 11%…….][You struck the same location! Damage increases by 22%…….][You struck the same…….]

The same location.

Meaning the exact same point with not even an inch of deviation.

This level of play was something Minwoo could manage while picking his nose.

Especially now, when all the aggro was focused elsewhere.

The damage began skyrocketing through multiplicative stacking.

The shell, turning increasingly blue with frost, finally shattered apart.

A large hole opened.[You have acquired the title, ‘One Who Keeps Digging at the Same Spot’!]

The screaming Human-Faced Spider turned toward him.

Minwoo threw every Skeleton directly in front of its gaping mouth and immediately leaped backward.

“Cedric!”[Cedric uses Mini Breath!]

Cedric had already approached with his mouth stretched wide.

He blasted the breath directly through the hole in its shell.

The outer shell might possess Fire resistance.

But internal organs and blood weren't going to shrug off being cooked by dragon breath.

Fsssssh!

Poisonous blood boiled under the breath, releasing an enormous cloud of fumes.―……!

The Human-Faced Spider leaped violently from the agony of its flesh cooking.

But it couldn't shake off Cedric, who was blasting breath inside its body.

Cedric had already gripped the broken shell tightly and practically buried his head inside.

The intense poison would soon unsummon him.‘Still worth it.’He would revive once anyway.

For free.[Cedric is unsummoned…….][Death Lord's effect activates!]

Cedric hung limp for a moment.

Then revived at full mana, completely refreshed.

He immediately fired a second breath into the wound.―Kieeeeeee!

The Human-Faced Spider screamed under the agony of taking two direct breath attacks.

Its many legs began staggering.

Then its tail rose.

Webbing erupted in every direction.

Minwoo retreated together with Seo Yerim.

The slower Skeletons were all unsummoned.

Then the Human-Faced Spider turned and began sprinting away like mad.

“After it!”

He ran alongside Seo Yerim.

He summoned Skeletons ahead to block its route, but they were useless against the Spider's overwhelming breakthrough power.

Cedric fired breath.

Seo Yerim scattered sword energy.

The Human-Faced Spider simply tanked everything and continued charging stupidly forward.

The chase continued.

Before long, a cave appeared in the distance.

Webs clung thickly around the entrance.

It looked like the creature's lair.‘Feels like it has around 10% HP left…….’It was going to hide inside.

Minwoo realized it instinctively.

At this rate, they wouldn't kill it in time.

They needed to gamble.

He rummaged through his inventory.

Then.

“Catch!”

He threw over a quiver and bow.

They were Magic-grade items with a Level 51 requirement, made by his Skeletons.

He'd originally intended to use them simply to pull monsters.

But right now, even this would have to do.

Seo Yerim caught them reflexively and looked toward him in confusion.

“What are you doing? Shoot!”

“I've never even held a bow before!”

“Just shoot! Hurry! If that thing gets inside, it'll be too late!”

She looked as though she wanted to argue, then gripped the bow.

Seo Yerim awkwardly took the posture she'd seen in various media.

She placed an arrow on the string and pulled.

The bowstring stretched taut.

She drew a breath to focus and narrowed her eyes.

At that instant.

Time slowed to a crawl.

Her posture, breathing, weapon, distribution of strength.

Everything was a complete mess.

Yet despite that.

A strange certainty filled her.

If she released now, the arrow would absolutely hit.

A terrifying amount of mana surged around the arrow.

The Human-Faced Spider was almost at the cave.[Brilliant talent blooms!][Show Time!][Overwhelming talent creates a skill!][Skill, Precision Snipe(A)

has been created!][You have acquired the title, ‘One Who Tasted No-Self’!][You have acquired the title, ‘One Who Found Their Match Late’!]

Whoosh!

The mana-laden arrow flew.

It tore through the air and pierced straight through the Human-Faced Spider's head.[Level increases.][You have acquired the title, ‘Godlike Sniper’!]

The Human-Faced Spider collapsed lifelessly, dropping a Skill Book.

“…….”

Seo Yerim.

She stared blankly at the bow.