The First Visitor in the Isekai… Sort Of?
To sum it up, after finishing my exploration of the forest—where I found nothing but the tree bearing gold apples. I returned to the cabin before sunset.
There, I was greeted by the first visitor in this world.
"Kyu, kyu…!"
But it wasn't a person.
Nor was it a demon as mentioned in the journal, or one of those mysterious lifeforms said to come from the sky.
If I had to describe it in one word, it was a slightly large spider.
"Uh, um…"
"Kyu-kyu…!"
When I tried to approach, it brandished its unnervingly sharp front legs, threatening me.
I called it a spider, but it didn't look like a typical one. It was more like a cute, stylized spider you'd see in anime or manga, a sort of chibi character design. (T/N: デフォルメキャラ, deformed or exaggerated cartoon style)
It was about ten centimeters long, small enough to fit in my hand. It had four sparkling red right eyes and four blue left eyes. Its body was covered in fluffy gray fur, with two white stripes running across its abdomen.
It resembled a tarantula but lacked hairy legs and had slender ones instead, making it closer in appearance to a water spider.
"It looks… really weak."
Despite its efforts to intimidate, its legs were wobbly and unsteady, and its eyes seemed clouded.
It let out a "Kyu!" in a cute, un-spider-like chirp, but the sound was frail, growing fainter by the moment.
At this rate, the spider would probably die.
It didn't seem injured or sick, though.
That left one likely possibility.
"Are you… hungry?"
My exploration was incomplete, but I hadn't seen any fruit-bearing trees in this forest besides the gold apple tree.
And there's an unnatural absence of animals—no birds, no insects, no food sources at all.
I don't know if it wandered into this forest, but this spider likely couldn't find prey and is starving.
It might be a ferocious spider.
But faced with the first living creature I'd met in this world, I felt a pang of sympathy. I split a gold apple I'd gathered from the forest, let the juice drip onto my hand, and offered it to the spider.
"Here, food. I don't know if it's to your taste, but it's delicious, so eat up."
"Kyu… kyu…?"
I don't know if it understood my words or not.
Still, the spider alternated between looking at my hand and my face, cautiously approaching.
It reached my hand, hesitated for a brief moment, then dipped the tip of its front leg into the gold apple juice and brought it to its mouth.
"…Kyu!? Kyu-kyu!"
In that instant, its clouded eyes sparkled.
The spider leapt onto my palm, pressed its mouth to my hand, and moved around as if licking the juice.
"Ha, haha! That tickles. Hey, no need to rush, there's more."
The eight legs skittering across my palm were ticklish. But at the same time, I felt a growing fondness for the spider, eagerly slurping up the gold apple juice.
After it quickly drank all the juice, I crushed another gold apple to make more, dripping it onto my palm.
The spider drank as if bathing in it, and its desperate demeanor was kind of adorable.
"Haha, you're pretty cute."
I gently touched its fluffy head.
The spider flinched for a moment but seemed to realize I was just petting it, as it nuzzled against my hand, wriggling.
It's a spider, yet it feels like I'm dealing with a cat or dog.
Come to think of it, I never had a pet in my previous life.
The apartment I lived in alone naturally banned pets, and my parents at home hated animals, so even with a spider, interacting with a living creature like this is a first in a while.
"Kyu, kyu-!"
"Haha, a spider that likes being petted, huh?"
Petting not just its head but under its chin and along its back, the spider chirped happily.
After petting it for a while, I pulled my hand away, and the spider hopped back onto my hand, swaying its body.
"You're really friendly. Are you actually a spider?"
"Kyu!"
As if answering my question, the spider raised its right front leg.
It was like it was saying, "That's right!" even that tiny gesture was endearing.
"…Could it be, you understand what I'm saying?"
"Kyu!"
It raised its leg again.
"Uh… are you trying to eat me?"
"Kyu!? Kyu! Kyu!!"
As if to say, "No way!" it shook its head vigorously side to side.
…This thing definitely understands me. It might not speak, but its gestures and actions clearly convey its intentions.
They say dogs and cats understand human words to some extent, but they learn through tone and inflection, not grasping precise meanings.
But this spider acts in ways that make it clear it understands my words.
It might be an incredibly intelligent spider.
"Where did you come from?"
"Kyu! Kyu-kyu!"
As if saying, "Over there!" it pointed—or rather, aimed—its front leg toward its back.
That direction, if I recall, is where the gold apple tree was.
"Are there humans like me around here?"
"Kyu? Kyu~"
It shook its head side to side.
So, there are at least no humans living nearby.
"Hmm… There aren't many animals around here, but is that just this forest, and there are tons outside?"
"Kyu! Kyu-kyu~… Kyu!"
The spider hopped off my palm and began drawing on the ground with its sharp legs.
First, it drew a house—probably representing the cabin I'm in.
Then, it drew a large circle around it, with leaf shapes inside. Likely, this represents the forest.
Next, it made countless dots outside the forest, so many that they quickly filled the space beyond the forest's edge.
"These dots, are they living creatures?"
"Kyu! Kyu!"
It raised its leg while shaking its head.
Affirming, but also denying. Is that it?
"Kyu~… Kyu!"
The spider drew X marks over the dots.
Then, tapping the X marks with its leg, it shook its head vigorously.
"…Do the X-marked dots mean danger?"
"Kyu!"
This time, it raised its leg alone. Seems I got it right.
"And where are you from?"
"Kyu~… Kyu-kyu?"
Vaguely, the spider walked a bit farther and drew a small circle.
If the forest's size is represented as a ten-centimeter diameter in this diagram, the circle for where the spider came from is over a meter away, meaning in reality, it came from much farther.
…Can such a small, cute spider really travel that far alone?
I don't know how dangerous the X marks are, but if the journal in the cabin is true, the forest's exterior must be teeming with dangerous, demonic beings.
Yet this spider made it to this forest while starving, unscathed, without a single injury.
A spider that understands human speech and draws to communicate.
"Sasuga isekai" doesn't quite cover it. (T/N: さすが異世界, means 'as expected of another world' sort of thing)
But—
"By the way, do you have a place to return to?"
"Kyu… Kyu…!"
It lowered its face but nodded up and down.
I see. I think I get the gist of what it's saying.
"…You have a place to return to, but you don't want to go back. Or maybe you can't. Something like that?"
"…! Kyu! Kyu-kyu!!"
It nodded vigorously.
Yeah, I get it. Everyone wants to run away from home sometimes or be alone for a bit.
Maybe it's the same for humans and spiders.
"How about staying with me for a while? I'm living here alone, and it gets a little lonely at night. I'd be happy if you'd be my conversation partner."
"Kyu~! Kyu-kyu-kyu! Kyu~!"
Happily, the spider jumped onto my hand, raising both front legs.
This must mean agreement—enthusiastic agreement, at that.
And so, in my second life,
My first companion, a small but adorable spider, joined me.