13. Gather Points (4)

How long had I been dragged here?

Soon, I found myself hanging upside down.

‘Did it leave…?’

After waiting briefly, I heard the sound of the spider leaving. True to its name, the Silent Spider was nearly undetectable, requiring my full concentration to sense its presence.

‘It’s gone.’

It seemed the creature had left its nest. Now was the time to start moving.

‘The knife.’

I pulled out a fillet knife from my inventory. The moment the knife firmly grasped in my hand, I felt part of the spiderweb tear away.

‘Ugh..!’

Whoosh.

After tearing through the web, I finally broke free. I quickly removed the remaining webbing from my face and surveyed the area with Night Vision.

‘A subway?’

It seemed part of the subway had been turned into a nest. Spiderwebs were spread everywhere, and large eggs-clearly laid by the creature-were densely clustered on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Moreover, the withered corpses and bloodstains of those who had been captured and eaten like me were scattered everywhere.

“…”

Without saying a word, I continued scanning my surroundings. There was always a chance it was hiding somewhere, watching me.

‘It must have gone to gather more prey…’

Holding my breath, I checked the corners and ceiling where it might be lurking, but there was no sign of it. The creature had likely gone back up to find food for its soon-to-hatch offspring.

‘A spider with maternal instincts. The worst.’

I decided to loot the nest before it returned. I could have just escaped, but after being dragged all the way here, leaving without retaliation and abandoning the spiderlings was unthinkable.

Besides, killing a Silent Spider would surely grant a hefty amount of points.

“Ugh..! Ugh!! H-help me..! Damn spiderweb..!”

“…?”

At that moment, I spotted a squirming cocoon in one corner. Moving closer, I saw a few others who had been captured like me.

They seemed to be recovering from the paralyzing venom. There were no women among them.

‘A perfect opportunity.’

I had no intention of wasting time talking to them or setting them free. If they couldn’t escape on their own after being dragged here, their survival chances were zero.

In short, they were already corpses.

I don’t particularly like talking to or dealing with moving corpses.

‘Die.’

I approached the squirming cocoon, gripping the handle of the fillet knife with my left hand. Then, with my right hand pressing against the end of the handle, I drove it in like a nail.

-Thud!!!

“Aaaah!!!!!”

One down. Crimson blood seeped into the pristine white webbing.

I gained 15 points. As expected, it was a non-Awakened.

-Thud!!!

“Ugh!!!!!”

Another one down. Another 15 points.

Two left…

-Squelch!!!

“Huff.. huff.. You bitch.. What the hell..”

One of the squirming cocoons broke free. It seemed the screams had startled it into escaping.

“Tch.”

Too bad. I could’ve killed all four if they hadn’t resisted.

“Ugh..!!”

The last one broke free too. Both seemed to be Awakened. Only an Awakened could break free from a Silent Spider’s web barehanded.

The two who had escaped on their own now stood facing me, talking among themselves.

“H-hey, man.. What’s with her..?”

“I-I don’t know… She’s killing people.”

“Fuck. Are her ears long? It’s too dark to see.”

“Can’t tell, but she doesn’t seem like one of them..”

“Fuck. Then she’s just a crazy murderer.”

Realizing I wasn’t of their kind, the two grew even more panicked. While they debated how to kill me, the first escapee spoke to me again.

“H-hey, Miss. I don’t know why you’re doing this… Let’s just get out of here peacefully. We’re all victims here-no need to fight each other.”

“…”

“Yeah, like he said. Let’s go peacefully. Peacefully.”

Peace? In a situation like this?

‘Both of them can’t see well right now.’

Thanks to Night Vision, I could see them clearly, but they could barely make me out. That meant I could easily slip out of their sight or harass them with Paper Shikigami before ambushing them.

“Go.”

I sent out the Shikigami. In an instant, it flew from my cross bag toward the two Awakened.

“W-what the!!!!”

“Fuck!!!”

As something flew at their faces, they flailed their arms wildly. One even spewed flames in panic, setting the other Awakened on fire.

“Kyaaaaaa!!!!!!”

Chaos erupted. One was on the verge of burning to death, while the other tried to flee.

“Hup!”

I hurled the kitchen knife at the fleeing Awakened.

-Thwack!!!

The knife embedded itself in his calf. No time to watch. I rushed forward and smashed the head of the one spewing flames with an iron pipe.

-Crunch!

As his skull shattered, the flames died out. But the other Awakened, his upper body already ablaze, showed no signs of stopping his screams.

“Aaaaah!!! Aaaaaaah!!!!”

“Shut up.”

I gave the writhing man on the ground a taste of the iron pipe too.

Killing both netted me 60 points. As expected, they were Awakened.

Now, I had a total of 149 points after gaining 90.

‘Phew.. Now..’

Before the spiderlings arrived, I had to smash all the eggs and secure my spoils.

‘Weapon..’

I switched to a hammer.

‘Undead and insect spawn are best crushed with blunt weapons.’

Time to smash every Silent Spider egg. My body would reek of the stench from the broken eggs. Perfect. The pheromones released by a dying Silent Spider repel other insect monsters.

Might as well bottle some. Then most low-level bug spawns wouldn’t dare approach me.

‘How many points will this give..?’

I swung the hammer down on an egg.

-Crash!!!!

-Squelch!!!!

The egg split open, green slime oozing out, along with an underdeveloped Silent Spider hatchling.

-Crunch!!!

I stomped the squirming larva flat. The sensation of crushing it was oddly satisfying.

[20 points acquired]

“Holy shit.”

Earning points is ridiculously easy.

Killing people only gives 15 points, but squashing this damn larva gives 20?

‘Let’s see.. The eggs..’

There were at least thirty. How many points would I get if I killed them all? Only one way to find out.

‘Motivation increased by 30x.’

I gave myself a placebo buff-completely useless-and charged at the eggs.

Time to trample the mother spider’s dreams, hopes, and future.

******

“Phew..”

I smashed a total of 33 eggs. The ones hanging from the ceiling were shattered by hurling the hammer, and I stored as much of the oozing slime and hatchling corpses as I could in my inventory.

‘After that last one, 809 points. Jackpot..’

My body was filthy with insect fluids, but enduring it was worth it for 660 points in an hour. Who cares about getting dirty when the hourly rate is insane?

‘Come on.. Hurry up.. Spiderlings..’

I considered using the Demon Digestion Method for an ambush, but since it was a stealth technique rather than invisibility, the reaction speed would be slow. I decided to crouch and hide in a corner instead.

Plus, my body was drenched in the hatchlings’ fluids and pheromones, so hiding wouldn’t fool it for long. To mask my presence, I scattered dead spiderling corpses around the nest and smeared slime from the eggs all over myself.

If the stench came from everywhere, it wouldn’t find me. A kind of zombie corpse camouflage, you could say. Like covering yourself in zombie flesh and blood to move among them undetected.

‘Ah, it’s coming..!’

True to its silent nature, the creature had already crawled into the nest’s entrance, carrying prey wrapped in webbing.

‘How’s this, you bug spawn..?!’

Seeing the devastated nest, the spider chewed its prey to death and began wailing.

“Kieeeeeee!!!!”

All hell broke loose. The mother spider let out an unidentifiable cry-whether mourning or raging-over its dead offspring.

‘How tough is its exoskeleton?’

No idea. Only one way to find out. But if I didn’t crush its head in one hit, I’d be the one dying. Given its size-like a compact car-a single flailing leg could kill me.

-Crash!!! Kwaaaaang!!!!!

‘Damn.. Fuck.’

I absolutely couldn’t take a hit from its front legs. The head-crushing plan was scrapped. No opening presented itself.

Watching the enraged spider smash walls and pillars with its legs sent chills down my spine. A direct hit would turn me into paste.

“Open the path..”

From the corner, I quietly chanted. The spider’s furious cries drowned out my voice.

-Whoosh!!!!

“Kieeeeeee!!!!!”

Using Archangel’s Baton, I precisely hit the spider’s head with a Fireball. Its head burst into flames, leaving it defenseless.

Now was my chance.

“Hup!!!”

I rushed forward. Before it could extinguish the flames, I had to slice open its abdomen and gut it.

“Kyaaa!! Kyaaa!!!”

-Thwack!!!!

“Ah! Fuck!!!!”

Almost died.

In desperation, it shot out needle-like hairs from its body. If I hadn’t hidden behind a pillar, I’d have turned into a human pincushion.

Luckily, it seemed to be a one-time ability. All its hairs had been shed.

“Hyaa!!!”

With the hair needles gone, I lunged at its body.

Most of its eyes burned away by my Fireball, the spider tried to roll over as I climbed onto its back. Since it couldn’t reach me with its legs, it planned to crush me.

“Stay still!!!”

I pulled out a crowbar and drove it into its back.

Instead of the curved end, I used the chisel-like tip, smashing down repeatedly until the crowbar pierced its carapace, yellow fluid gushing out.

It was disgustingly tough, but against solid steel, the spider’s chitin armor was nothing.

“Kieeeee!!! Kieeeeeee!!!!”

“Ah! Die! Just die!”

-Crunch!!!!

-Groooan..!!!

After nearly gutting its back, the spider finally collapsed.

[700 points acquired]

“That’s more like it.”

Now at 1,509 points. Killing one spiderling gave a whopping 700 points. The Silent Spider must be rare and hard to find, hence the high reward.

Either way, mission accomplished-1,000 points in a single day.

‘Fuck, I’m starving.’

Time to butcher the spiderling and head home.

After such a productive day, I was so hungry I could collapse.