Chapter 56 : Screams in the Dark

‘What the… What kind of guys are these…?’   

Swallowing hard, she cracked the whip again. 

This time, a few of the spiders weren’t able to dodge and were hit. 

Still, the swarm of spiders was writhing all over… 

At this rate, how long would it take to kill them all? 

‘This won’t do. The whip isn’t efficient… 

I’d like to figure out what kind of attack skills these things have. 

They might have poison, so I can’t just touch them recklessly. 

More than anything, they’re so gross I don’t even want to touch them.’ 

What if those tiny spider monsters started crawling up her arms the moment she touched them? 

Just imagining it gave her the chills. 

Stepping backward toward the entrance, she racked her brain for an effective attack strategy. 

She couldn’t hit those tiny ones with her Fur Flicker skill. 

And those things would probably get through even a tightly woven shield like it was nothing. 

‘What should I do… What… Ah, okay. That’s how I’ll attack.’ 

Putting away her whip, Iris quickly retreated from the approaching swarm of spiders. 

Then she pulled out some food from a pouch between her thighs, hastily tore off the wrapping, and threw it into a corner. 

The idea she had suddenly come up with was to use food to redirect the spider monsters. 

If they didn’t react to the bait as she’d hoped, the plan would fail. 

Fortunately, the little spider monsters seemed hungry. 

Their target switched from Iris to the savory-smelling ham. 

But just as they were gnawing on the ham, a ghostly face appeared above them. 

It was a fear-inducing skill that triggered terror through a marking on their backs. 

“Eek!” 

Screaming, Iris bent her waist forward. 

And from between her thighs, a pair of massive pincers popped out and dangled menacingly. 

‘Using these pincers instead of a narrow whip should be much more effective. Die!’ 

Just as the spider monsters swarmed the brick-sized piece of ham, forming another terrifying face, Iris swung her hips downward and to the left. 

The left pincer slammed down with a loud crash. 

Blue blood splattered on the lifted pincer. 

‘Nice, just as I expected.’ 

Excited, Iris shook her waist wildly—like a dog in heat… no, just energetically. 

She slammed left, right, and swiped side to side with her waist, crushing the swarm like she was cleaning her house. 

The aftermath of her wild dance left only crushed ham and traces of former spider monsters. 

‘Whew, I think I took care of most of them.’ 

Wiping sweat from her forehead, Iris furrowed her brow. 

She had enjoyed killing them, but if the ratio was one loot per fifty spiders… how many did she kill? 

Where were the spoils? 

Checking the mission post again on the Hero App, she finally found the loot: three tiny sparkling stones on the ground. 

They were labeled as “Essence Crystals of 50 Spider Monsters.” 

There really was all kinds of stuff. 

After pocketing her loot, Iris, still feeling regretful about not leveling up her Search skill more, placed her hand on the remains of a fallen spider monster. 

[Search Result] 

Pea Spider LV.13 

[Skills] 

Paralysis Poison LV.10 

Swarming LV.14 

Gnawing LV.10 

Web LV.13 

Terrifying Face LV.12 

[Status] 

Squashed / No trace / Ascended 

‘Oh, so I can still use the Search skill even if the target is completely mashed. 

And it had poison—could’ve been dangerous if I wasn’t careful.’ 

Thanks to her clever thinking, she was able to avoid the enemy’s skills and defeat the monsters. 

Iris brushed aside the tattered ham and moved on to find more monsters. 

Going down the artificially constructed stairs, she entered a wide chamber lined with stalactites. 

Inside were overturned pickaxes and rusted carts, along with tracks laid across the floor. 

‘Looks like they mined mana stones here.  There should be monsters too.’ 

As expected, a chill ran up her arm before several dog-sized spiders appeared. 

From their clicking mouths, unknown fluids dripped. 

The smaller spiders were tolerable because she couldn’t see them clearly. 

But these ones—she could see every horrifying detail, even the thick tufts of hair on their bodies thanks to her improved vision. 

Iris frowned and spread her arms, fists clenched. 

Soon, a three-sided shield appeared, and she slotted a chain flute into a hole perfectly suited for it. 

Spreading her palms over the wire-mesh-like shield, she stared down the spider monsters. 

Thankfully, this performance wasn’t in front of people. 

Not that mere creatures would care about beauty, but the spiders looked at Iris, then at each other, and hissed—as if saying, “What the heck is that?” 

The hissing sounds felt like they were mocking her, and it annoyed her. 

Iris, now slightly paranoid thanks to her ever-evolving skills, shouted and unleashed her Fur Flicker attack while shaking her waist back and forth with enthusiasm. 

“Die! Just die already!” 

“Kreeek!” 

“All!” 

The upright chain flute rattled loudly as it flung yellow hairs. 

Several hair-chains turned a large spider’s round body into a beehive. 

One of the unaware spiders collapsed like a hedgehog impaled with quills. 

Just as Iris prepared to finish off the rest with more waist-shaking fury, she paused. 

The surviving spiders, having witnessed their comrade’s death, suddenly swelled up and their skins turned a dark red. 

It was a sign they were about to use a skill. 

Pop! Pop! 

She had to finish them before that. 

She shook her waist hard again, preparing to launch another flurry. 

But instead of piercing them, the yellow hairs bounced off their hardened bodies. 

Surprised, she shook her hips more desperately, but the hairs just bounced and fell to the floor. 

‘This is bad. 

What do I do now? 

If Fur Flicker doesn’t work…’ 

Iris retrieved the chain flute and summoned her whip again, along with the large pincers from between her thighs. 

She had figured out how to switch between accessories to activate different skills. 

To make up for her failed Fur Flicker, she decided to use the whip and pincers together. 

But it was an advanced technique—she had to whip with her hands while shaking her waist left, right, up, and down at the same time, like a circus act. 

Focusing hard, Iris thrashed her body around. 

She grabbed one spider with her left pincer and lashed the side of another with her whip. 

The force from the whip caused one spider’s body to slam into the other’s, toppling them like bowling pins. 

Crash! 

With that sound, the one with weaker armor cracked apart, its blue blood gushing out. 

One was dead, and the other flailed its limbs and screamed. 

“Kwaaaak!” 

“Gotcha. Die, you bastard!” 

Her strategy to smash them into each other worked. 

Beaming with pride, Iris grabbed the remaining spider with one pincer and pounded it with the other. 

Because it had collided with its ally, its side was crushed, exposing soft flesh that made it easier to kill. 

With one final death cry, the last spider met its end. 

“Kiiiik!” 

“Whew, that was close. 

I thought I was spider food for sure.” 

It was a tough battle. 

Who would’ve expected their skin to suddenly harden? 

If she hadn’t used her wits, things could’ve gone badly. 

If this was supposed to be low difficulty, how hard would it get later? 

Iris clicked her tongue and picked up three spider legs as loot. 

Then, as always, she explored the warm monster corpses. 

[Search Result] 

Middle Spider LV.14 

[Skills] 

Scurry LV.16 

Body Slam LV.17 

Bite LV.14 

Confusion Poison LV.11 

Intimidate LV.12 

Crispy Outside, Tender Inside LV.15 

Bouncy Web LV.12 

Grab and Roll LV.14 

[Status] 

Crushed / Dead / Warm 

‘That’s a lot of good skills.’ 

Clicking her tongue in regret, Iris felt tempted by the skills, but she couldn’t acquire them from something already dead. 

She resolved to try stealing skills before killing the next monster. 

Even after continuous fighting, her body felt light—likely due to several level-ups. 

Her skills were clearly stronger now, so she probably leveled those too. 

Flicking her hands, she moved forward. 

Who knew how deep she’d gone when the path grew more twisted. 

As she cautiously stepped over a protruding rock, a woman’s scream echoed from deep inside the cave. 

“Kyah! Somebody help me!”