The lives loss rate of the [Spider Silk Nest] was high, especially for such a zone.

Five hundred lives drained if you died.

For any normal player, that alone was enough to turn them away.

But Stark? He didn't even flinch.

He had already gone through the [Church Sanctuary], a zone where the lives loss rate was double this.

Compared to that nightmare, this was nothing more than a warm-up.

He stood in the first chamber of the cave, the zone's entry point.

The space was small, circular, and covered in thick, gleaming strands of silk.

They stuck to the walls like veins, hanging loosely from the ceiling, spreading across the ground in tangled webs.

The air itself smelled faintly of mold and something rotten.

No spiders appeared yet, but he could hear faint rattling in the distance, like claws tapping against stone.

He gripped his staff tighter.

He was ready to unleash an attack the second something came crawling out of the dark.

Unbreakable Magic Barrier!

He also cast his barrier on himself.

The translucent dome appeared around him, humming with power.

Stark wasn't about to get caught off guard in a place like this.

Even if he was ambushed, the barrier would buy him time.

This zone wasn't supposed to be massive. Mid-sized at most.

But even then, mid-sized didn't mean safe.

He exhaled slowly, then walked forward.

Out of the initial chamber and into the unknown.

The next room stretched out before him: massive, sprawling, and webbed with tunnels on every side.

The ceilings were high, the floor covered in silk like carpet.

"Oh, shit…" Stark muttered under his breath. "This might be bigger than I thought."

This was a pretty big nest.

And since it was the spiders' nest, that meant one thing, he was standing in the very heart of where they lived.

Summoning the ghost wolf here would only cause problems.

Tight spaces, silk everywhere, the beast would just thrash and get stuck.

Worse, it would panic.

Stark didn't need that. So he went alone.

He picked one of the tunnels leading deeper into the nest.

But the moment he stepped inside, he heard a hiss.

Eight legs scraped against stone. Shadows shifted ahead.

And het met face to face with several spiders.

There was the usual [Ground Spiders], but also two other types.

---

[Miner Spider (Level 27)]

[Rank: Elite]

[HP: 360,000]

---

[Small Spider (Level 26)]

[Rank: Uncommon]

[HP: 100,000]

---

The [Miner Spider] stood out immediately.

Pickaxes were fused to its legs, the jagged iron heads glinting in the light.

The smaller spiders, though weaker, crawled in groups, skittering fast along the silk.

The [Ground Spiders] hissed the loudest, leading the charge.

The whole swarm rushed him.

Blazing Meteor!

The tunnel lit up.

-384,480! -384,480! -384,480!

The explosion was deafening.

Flames ripped through the passage, burning silk, stone, and flesh alike.

When the smoke cleared, nothing was left but ash and twitching, charred legs.

Every single spider was dead.

Do note that when outside, [Blazing Meteor] would result in a meteor came crashing down from the sky.

But inside zones like this?

The meteor simply blasted out of Stark's staff like a projectile, smashing into enemies with devastating force.

Ding!

---

[You have killed x4 "Ground Spider (Level 26)"]

[You have killed x2 "Miner Spider (Level 27)"]

[You have killed x12 "Small Spider (Level 25)"]

[You have gained 30,000 Experience Points.]

[You have gained 124 Lives!]

---

Hand of Avarice!

The spectral hand clawed at the spiders' corpses, and indeed, the loot he got was higher!

[You have gained 158 Lives!]

One of the items even upgraded automatically.

[Miner Spider Pickaxe (Epic): Can be used to mine or attack, though extremely weak.]

Not much of a weapon. More like a tool.

But Stark stored it away anyway.

You never knew what might come in handy later.

"Not bad."

He continued forward, deeper into the nest.

Every fight gave him what he wanted: lives and experience.

People often underestimated them, but Stark would need as many as he could get.

After all, extracting your abilities to the real world was indeed useful, but only during some of the [Global Events].

In most other cases, you would spend your time inside of [Eternal Soul].

And the reason why Stark wanted lives so much even after the [First Calamity] was over was because they would be needed in the future.

For example, in the very next town, and further in [Eternal Soul], having lives would be crucial.

He wasn't going to be caught unprepared.

The tunnels twisted and stretched endlessly.

He fought group after group of spiders.

[Ground Spiders], [Small Spiders], [Miner Spiders].

All fell before him.

His spells burned through their lines like paper.

Their corpses piled, their loot filled his inventory, their lives flowed into his status window.

An hour passed.

And then… silence.

'They're either hiding… or there aren't any left.'

Stark doubted the latter.

Monsters weren't completely mindless. He knew that extremely well.

Even they, in front of an overwhelming opponent, would hide or try to run away.

The [Inferno Fox] back in the [Novice Continent] had tried to flee when it realized it couldn't win.

And even the [Calamity Goblins] in the [First Calamity] turned and ran when Stark showed up.

In here, spiders had some instinct for survival too.

They'd retreat if slaughtered too easily.

This world wasn't a "game", after all, was it?

Ding!

[You have gained 2,178 Lives!]

Even with [Hand of Avarice], sometimes you just didn't get Evolution Points.

It didn't matter. The lives alone were worth it.

Then came the real reward.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 26!]

[You have gained +5 to all attributes, and +5 free points.]

"All in Spirit."

He distributed the points immediately.

His body hummed with new power, spirit energy rushing through his veins.

[Level: 26 (127,000/220,000)]

Already halfway to his next level.

At this rate, he'd reach Level 30 faster than he thought.

A few more zones, a few more risks, and he'd be ready for the [Demonic Ruins].

But first—

The tunnels eventually converged into one.

A massive corridor stretched forward, silk covering the ground like a carpet.

At the far end, a cavern opened up.

"The boss room," Stark muttered.

He walked without hesitation.

The chamber he entered dwarfed all the others.

Silk coated every wall, dangling from above in thick strands.

The floor was littered with cocoons, dozens of them, some the size of a man.

They pulsed faintly, like something inside still moved.

The moment Stark stepped inside—

Fwip!

A barrier appeared behind him, sealing the tunnel.

There was no turning back now.

Then—

HISSSSS!

The hiss was loud enough to shake the chamber.

From the shadows above, something massive stirred.

Boom!

The ground shook as the spider dropped from the ceiling.

---

[Spider Queen (Level 28)]

[Rank: Legendary (Boss)

[HP: 1,000,000]

---

One million HP. The same as Andregil.

Three levels higher than the [Lord of Calamity].

It wasn't stronger than the Lord, not exactly.

But it was close. Close enough to be a threat.

The spider queen loomed over him, her body armored in the thickest exoskeleton Stark had seen.

Eight black eyes glowed in the dark, staring down at him with cruel hunger.

A tiny crown of bone and silk rested atop her head, marking her as the ruler of this nest.

"More food…" she hissed, voice echoing in the chamber. "Good…"

Her legs tapped against the floor in a steady rhythm.

"Come forth… my children."

The cocoons around Stark trembled.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

'More experience.' Stark's lips curled into a grin as he raised his staff.

But his eyes never left the Spider Queen.

He pointed his staff at her, aura flaring.

"Gotta get rid of you."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.