Elliot was only level one. How could a skill this ridiculously good even exist?
He couldn't figure it out, and honestly, Elliot didn't want to overthink it. Maybe this was just his special 'cheat' skill, the standard perk for someone transported to another world.
The moment he saw this skill, his mind was made up. No hesitation.
"System, I want to learn the skill [Earth Core]."
Yeah, no contest. With the points he had, [Earth Core] was hands down the best skill available.
It gave him damage and a shield based on his own health.
There probably weren't many monsters out there with more HP than him at level one. This skill felt like it was made just for him.
It wasn't just good for the early game; it would be incredibly strong later on too. As his health pool grew, the skill would just get more powerful.
Once he could pop that Jade Shield, he could probably just stand there and let enemies wail on him without even scratching his scales.
[Learning Successful]
The system prompt chimed. Soon after, Elliot saw the skill [Earth Core LV 1] appear in his skill list.
"With this skill, probably no monster at the same level can stand against me."
Still, he thought, I need to be careful. Being unbeatable at my level doesn't mean I can take on high-level monsters. Job number one is still grinding levels.
And right on cue, a level-three mantis-like monster wandered by. Perfect target practice.
….
Meanwhile, not too far from where Elliot was...
A gigantic spider lay low on the ground. If someone could use an Appraisal skill on this monster, they'd find out she was a terrifying Level 50. Her HP, attack power, and other stats were monstrous, easily reaching five digits. She could probably crush almost any other monster in this cave with a single stomp.
Beneath this giant spider, countless spider eggs waited to hatch the offspring of this Level 50 beast.
One by one, tiny spiders broke free from their shells. They immediately started attacking and eating each other, growing stronger. Only the few who survived this brutal free-for-all would get the most resources and experience, marked for special nurturing.
In a quiet, unnoticed corner, another spider hatched.
Her tiny body was covered in pink and white stripes. The moment she opened her eyes, they held the spark of human intelligence, shining with a strange, beautiful light.
This spider wasn't like her brothers and sisters. She was a transmigrator, someone reborn into this world just like Elliot.
And she... was the spider later known as Kumoko!
….
The little spider, Kumoko, had just hatched and was completely bewildered.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What is this place???
She clearly remembered being just an ordinary girl from Japan. The last thing she recalled was sitting in her classroom during a lesson.
Suddenly, the ceiling above exploded. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls. The whole world seemed to be collapsing, quickly swallowing everyone in the classroom.
Including her, sitting in the back corner.
Next thing she knew, blink, and she was in another world.
And worse? She'd been reborn as a tiny, insignificant spider.
All around her, for hundreds of meters, countless other baby spiders just like her were hatching from eggs.
These little spiders were surprisingly big, almost human-sized at birth, and showed shocking aggression right away. They instantly started attacking and biting their own siblings nearby. Some had even devoured enough of their kin to reach level 2 or 3 already.
Also...
Eating your own family...
Apparently granted a special title, "Kin Eater," which came with extra skills.
Kumoko didn't know any of this yet.
"No, no, no!"
"Why are they eating each other?!"
Kumoko trembled with fear.
It was understandable. Even a grown man would probably feel sick seeing this, let alone Kumoko, who used to be just a normal high school girl.
"Run? Should I run?"
"Fighting? No way! I was just a nerdy girl back home!" she wailed internally.
Just then, something like a game menu popped up in front of her.
It had three simple, easy-to-understand choices:
Fight
Item
Run
Classic RPG setup.
She figured it out pretty quickly. After all, she was a nerdy girl who knew her games!
But right at that moment...
Looming above her was the giant spider, its body as huge as a building, with blood-red fangs and bloodthirsty eyes. Just looking at it would make anyone's blood run cold.
The giant spider seemed to sense something and turned its gaze towards Kumoko's location.
"Waah!"
"So big! So huge! Wait... is that giant spider... supposed to be my mom?"
"Never mind that! She looks terrifying! Gotta run!"
Thinking fast, Kumoko mentally clicked the 'Run' option and scurried away as fast as her little legs could carry her.
She didn't stop until she was a safe distance away, where the giant spider couldn't easily catch her. Only then did Kumoko pause, panting, the fear still chilling her to the core.
Taking a moment to catch her breath, she started muttering to herself, "Okay... this is definitely not Earth. And no matter how I look at it... I'm totally a monster... well, thanks a lot for that!"
Slowly, she started to understand. This was a world that worked like a game. Levels, skills, equipment, stats it had everything.
It sounded kind of interesting, but it was also filled with danger at every turn. Even your own kind would eat you without a second thought.
While escaping, she'd seen the giant spider casually munching on her own children like they were snacks. So yeah, counting on this life's mother for protection was completely out of the question.
She also noticed she had 100 skill points, available to learn skills.
So, she used those 100 points to learn [Appraisal]. Mainly because she desperately needed to know if she was still human somehow.
After using Appraisal on herself, the system confirmed her race.
Spider!
"Oh, I could cry!"
"I really am a spider monster."
"And now my only skill points are gone, and I didn't even learn an attack skill! I'm so screwed. Plus... I'm starving..."
She felt like bursting into tears. She used to be a cute girl, and now she was reborn in this world as a spider monster. Scary-looking. No one to care for her, no one to like her.
Come to think of it, not many people liked her in her previous life either. It wasn't because of her looks, but because she'd been ostracized. In Japan, high school girls often formed tight cliques, and anyone who didn't join one often ended up bullied. She was used to being alone, a solo act.
Sigh...
She let out a long, sad sigh. The hunger in her stomach felt even stronger now.
With only Appraisal, how was she supposed to hunt monsters and refill her SP? She knew that if SP dropped below 30, she'd get a [Weakened] status. If it hit zero, she'd die for real this time.
As she hesitated, wondering what to do, she suddenly heard the sounds of fighting not too far away.
Curiosity overriding her fear for a moment, she carefully crept closer. Peeking out, she saw a powerful-looking creature hunting some other prey.
Using [Appraisal], she found out the creature was also a Level 1 monster, but it looked way stronger than her.
Because this powerful monster... was an Earth Dragon!
….
"An Earth Dragon!" Kumoko screamed inwardly.
Her Appraisal skill could identify the stats of any monster, costing a tiny bit of MP and SP, but it didn't work on monsters more than 10 levels higher than her.
In most games, dragon-type races usually had all sorts of natural advantages right from the start.