by Okina Baba
The monkeys are still climbing the wall.
I’m using Thread Control to lay down sticky threads on the wall directly in their path.
This is bad. I don’t have enough MP. I might’ve used too much for Poison Synthesis.
If it comes down to it, though, I could probably just apply the threads manually without using Thread Control.
Another stone comes flying in my direction, so I quickly take cover behind the rock.
The monkeys still on the ground are chucking stones incessantly. Even if one hits me, it won’t be a fatal injury by any means, but it’s still super-annoying.
The closest monkeys rush right into my sticky zone.
Of course, they get trapped in place immediately.
That should buy me some time, because if the monkeys in the lead stop moving, it ought to cause a bottleneck for— Geh?!
Those assholes are using their own allies as footholds to keep climbing!
There’s still more of the sticky buffer zone left, but at this rate, they’ll break through way faster than I expected!
Dammit! I have no time to think now.
I aim toward a particularly large group of monkeys and fire a casting net. I leave the hapless victims to seal their own fates.
The more they struggle, the more they’ll get tangled, until it’s impossible for them to move at all. The resulting lump of monkeys and webbing will create a worthy obstacle in the middle of the path.
As a general rule, once the monkeys are caught, I can afford to put them out of my mind. After all, their stats seem too low for them to escape from my threads.
This time, I’m not using Thread Control.
My basic strategy is to immobilize all the monkeys with only my sticky thread.
After that, I can take my time in finishing them off.
I launch a second casting net. Again, several monkeys are ensnared.
As I’m about to fire off the third net, a rock comes flying at me. I dodge it in a panic.
These guys are way too good at working together.
On top of that, they’re getting cautious of my casting nets and moving even farther to the left and right. Now I can only catch one or two with each trap.
These guys are way smarter than any monsters I’ve fought before!
If they’re this smart, why aren’t they noticing that I’m not nearly big enough to be worth their while as prey?! What are they hoping to get out of beating a tiny spider like me?!
But these guys are clearly coming at me with the desire to defeat me at all costs.
C’mon, give it a rest. I can’t deal with this level of fervor directed toward me, all right? You should devote all that passion to something else. Like ______, for example (fill in the blank yourself).
I keep pumping out thread everywhere while I rant at the attackers pointlessly in my mind.
Since they’ve scattered so far to the sides, I have to try and spread my webbing far and wide.
I’m trying to be as sparing with Thread Control as possible. If I run out of MP in this situation, this’ll get hairy.
Why don’t I just stay inside my simple home? Well, because I’m three hundred feet above the ground.
My threads are definitely strong, but they aren’t invincible. They’re weak to fire, for one thing, and that earth dragon blew them away like nothing.
While my webs boast high defense, they can still be broken by anything with attack power that exceeds it.
I don’t think the monkeys will be able to do that.
If I were on the ground, I obviously would’ve simply chosen to hole up inside. But this isn’t the ground.
If a monkey attacks my little web and gets stuck to it…
…then its weight will obviously be added to it.
And if that happens multiple times, my home may not be able to handle the load…
This simple shelter doesn’t have a foundation anchoring it down. It’s just attached to the wall and ceiling with some sticky thread.
It can bear my weight and that of the rock without much trouble. But I don’t know how much more it can take beyond that.
I consider expanding it and increasing its stability, but instead I decide to try and keep the monkeys from getting any closer. My logic is that even expanding my web would only increase the possible load it can bear by so much.
Still, it would be good enough for the number of monkeys…
Or it would have been, in the beginning.
Why only at that time, you ask? Because the number of monkeys isn’t decreasing at all!
I thought maybe I just failed to finish off the ones I hit with poison, but their corpses are piled up at the bottom of the wall. So it isn’t like they’ve been revived or anything.
No, it’s just that there are more monkeys than there were initially.
They must’ve called for reinforcements. Ha-ha… I don’t know where they’re all coming from, but their numbers are definitely increasing. There were only fifty or so at first, but now there’s easily twice as many. And that number is still rising. Not being able to see an end to this marathon isn’t exactly reassuring.
What am I gonna do? Seriously, what now? Not only is my MP drained, now my red stamina bar is starting to get too low for comfort.
Probably because I’ve been spinning threads this whole time.
If I run out of stamina, it’s all over. I won’t be able to produce any more.
So I have to avoid that, no matter what.
I prepare a Morning Spider.
My target is the monkey that’s closest to me.
I give it a toss, and it hits the mark.
Next, I let the stickiness of the thread do the work and yank it up toward me.
Quickly, I restrain the monkey as it tries to struggle. Then I strike with Poison Fang.
In the process, a rock hits me.
Ouch! But I only lost 5 HP.
As I expected, there isn’t much power in the missiles by the time they reach me. It hurts, but I ignore it with the help of Pain Nullification and Pain Mitigation.
The monkey soon draws its last breath thanks to my venom.
Time to eat!
I make quick work of the meal. I have to finish as soon as possible and return to the battlefront.
The monkeys are still struggling in my sticky threads. Most of them are so ensnared that they’re essentially immobilized, but their bodies are forming a path for the rest of their comrades. Slowly but surely, the other monkeys are drawing closer.
I’ve managed to recover some of my stamina, but it’s probably safe to assume that I won’t have that chance again.
So it’s all the more important that I eat every last bite to serve as fuel for the rest of the battle!
Whew! All gone!
I get the feeling that only increased the monkeys’ murderous rage toward me, but it’s too late for that now!
I am the predator! Nobody’s gonna make prey out of me!
I spray threads all over the place.
Since I’m focusing as hard as I am, my Concentration skill even levels up.
But I don’t care about that at the moment. If I let down my guard even for a second at this point, I’m screwed.
There are tons of monkeys piled up below me, covered in thread.
And yet their numbers aren’t decreasing. In fact, there are even more of them.
The number of immobilized monkeys is increasing, sure, but their reinforcements have been swelling faster.
It’s as if all the monkeys in the area are gathering right here.
I only have 2 MP left.
I don’t know what negative effects there may be when my MP reaches 0, so I can’t use it anymore, just to be safe. That means I can’t use Thread Control now, either.
But at the moment, that isn’t too big of an issue.
Because the monkey vanguard is right bef
ore me now.
They’ve closed the distance between us to the point where Thread Control isn’t even necessary.
I produce another thread. Another monkey gets caught and tangled in it.
And what it does next is utterly ridiculous.
It jumps.
The monkey crashes to the ground with a dull thud. From this height, not even a monster has any hope of surviving the fall.
Given the choice between dying or getting stuck in the path of their comrades and hindering their progress, these freaking monkeys actually choose death.
Unbelievable.
I can’t help but shiver at this disturbing thought process.
I had faintly hoped that if I kept countering them, the monkeys would eventually give up, but clearly that’s not going to happen. These monkeys won’t stop until they get to me. The only two ways this can end are if they kill me or if I kill all of them.
A stone flies at me. But I can’t even avoid it anymore. I don’t have a second to spare.
The stone hits my body, and my HP decreases. But thanks to Pain Nullification and Pain Mitigation, I’m able to ignore it.
I entrust the HP I’ve lost to my Auto-Recovery skill.
Even as the stone hits me, I keep streaming out more thread.
It’s my only chance of surviving this situation.
Part of me was disdainful of these monkeys before. I mean, they were nothing compared to that earth dragon.
Certainly, most opponents have nothing on that insanely powerful thing.
But that doesn’t mean I can look down on them.
What an idiot I’ve been. Did I forget how weak I am myself? Compared to me, just about anything could be a formidable enemy. What made me think I could take on small-fry so easily? Not to mention that even though I’m weaker than these guys, they’re coming at me with such determination that not even death deters them.
Given all that, there’s no reason I should’ve expected to be able to skate through this without any problems.
So now, I have to summon my resolve and face this with everything I have.
Another stone strikes my body.
It’s only one short moment. For just a single moment, I’m startled by the impact.
In that moment, a monkey catches one of my legs. More than half of its body is bound up in thread, yet it reaches out with its free right arm.
My leg emits a not-very-pleasant cracking sound.
Trying to endure the crushing pain, I manage to jab my poison fangs into the hand on my leg.
At around the same time that the monkey’s strength expires, half of my leg is torn off.
It hurts. It’s incredibly painful, and I can feel it despite my Pain Mitigation.
Since it’s only part of my leg, maybe HP Auto-Recovery will fix it? Hopefully it’ll recover if I level up, at least.
But I have no time to worry about my lost limb right now.
That attack has stolen too much of my precious time.
Another monkey will arrive any second now.
I make another thread. Now I’m starting to panic. My stamina is running low again.
My thread connects with a monkey, which jumps out into empty space.
Paying no attention to his fate, I launch the next one.
The moment I hear that voice, I quickly evacuate into my simplified home.
It’s good timing, but there’s a disadvantage to it, too.
Molting.
I hurriedly peel off my old skin. My torn leg has recovered without a problem. Tossing the husk aside, I immediately return to the front lines. Even the short time that molting takes could be fatal in this situation.
Just as I’d expected, a monkey has gotten stuck to my modest web.
They’ve reached my final line of defense.
When I leveled up, my MP and SP both refilled, but it might be too little, too late.
No, wait. I can still do this.
I extend a leg outside my simple home.
A monkey grabs it immediately, but what does that matter?
I spray out as much thread as I can, forming a huge clump of webbing.
Then I pour everything I have into activating Thread Control. Little by little, my power permeates into the threads.
Since my skill level has gone up, the number of fibers I can control at once has increased considerably.
Of course, I can’t control the entirety of this big cluster, but that’s fine.
Still, given the huge number I’m trying to manipulate, my recovered MP is disappearing again at an alarming speed.
Then, my captured leg makes another awful sound.
At the same time, my entire body is dragged out of my home.
More monkey arms reach in from outside.
I manage to keep my head free, but now my body’s been caught.
The monkeys are merciless, trying to crush me with all their strength.
My HP is rapidly decreasing, and intense pain tears through me.
Just as I hear the Divine Voice (temp.), my threads are ready.
I use all the power I have left to manipulate the thread. Following my commands, the webbed lump detaches from the wall and falls. Naturally, the monkeys stuck there fall with it.
With a load roar, the wall of yarn and the entangled monkeys go crashing down toward the remaining invaders below.
I’ve succeeded in slaughtering a multitude of monkeys all at once.
Thanks to the molting procedure of leveling up, my captured body and leg are freed from the monkeys’ grasp.
All they hold now are two layers of my old skin.
My enormous thread bomb took care of most of the monkeys, but the ones that were attached to my simple home are still alive.
Even so, they’re already trapped in my web.
I add more thread to immobilize them and then finish them off decisively with my poison.
When the last one stops moving, I breathe a sigh of relief.
It isn’t quite over yet, but I made it through the first wave.
My heart wants to relax, but I whip it into shape. No, it isn’t over yet. The monkeys haven’t all been wiped out. I can’t let my guard down until every last one has been annihilated.
I immediately exit my web and survey the situation below.
A dreadful spectacle greets my eyes.
I see the remains of the enemies who’d smashed into the ground, tangled in my threads, and the others who’d been crushed beneath them.
And among this gruesome carnage, I spot the survivors, who still haven’t lost their will to fight.
I immediately start laying more threads on the wall.
The monkeys haven’t given up yet. The moment they’re ready, they’ll come after me again.
Before that happens, I have to make preparations of my own.
Reinforcements are still coming. Seriously, how many of them are there…? Give me a break already.
And among those new enemies is something I really didn’t want to see.
A mouth like a giant crocodile’s. And inside that mouth, a countless number of fiendish, sawlike teeth. A height nearly double that of the monkeys I’ve fought off so far. A much thicker body, too. Freakish, deformed, giant monkeys.
It’s the monster I first saw when I entered this wide-open area.
The monkeys’ species name was anogratch. I should’ve noticed the similar name. That giant monkey is the evolved form of these guys.
And now several of them have shown up as horrible reinforcements for the monkeys.
There are three of them, mingling with the other kinds.
Their levels are lower than the first one I saw, but they’re still superior evolved monsters, so I can’t let my guard down just because of that. Besides, even the regular monkeys are fierce fighters, so their evolved forms can’t possibly be weak. They look horrifying, too, so it’s probably safe to assume they’re way stronger than the monkeys.
Sure, they probably don’t hold a candle to the earth dragon, but they’re still stronger than my current opponents, and there are three of them.
The difficulty of this area has jumped up again.
I freeze in fear, but only for a second.
As the surviving monkeys start making their move, my mind is dragged back to reality.
Giving a wide berth to the fallen lump of thread, the monkeys start climbing the walls from the far left and right again.
Judging by their movement, they’re clearly being wary of my thread now. These guys are tough customers.
