Blundering into the "Spider Web Cave"

Liu Xuan had barely closed his eyes when he realized there was no way he was going to fall asleep.

It had only just gotten dark, and there was still a little light outside, but the temperature around him was dropping rapidly. At the same time, the air was becoming increasingly damp.

It was the kind of humidity where you could clearly feel the moisture in the air.

Anyone who lives in southern China and has experienced the rainy season knows exactly what that feels like.

At first, Liu Xuan assumed it was simply because the forest was so humid. But gradually, he noticed through the broken window that the outside world seemed to be growing hazy with mist.

It was already dark, though, so he couldn’t see very clearly.

Now he understood why this place was called Mistveil Town.

Did the town become shrouded in mist every night?

Liu Xuan suddenly thought of the strange black lamp posts outside the town. Could they have been used to dispel the fog?

It was probably just that, because of the monster attack, all the townspeople were gone—and naturally, no one was left to light them.

Since it was clearly impossible to get any proper sleep, Liu Xuan simply climbed out of his sleeping bag.

He walked over to the window and was just about to stick his head out to take a look when a black spider the size of a goose crawled down from the top of the window.

The instant it appeared, it was practically pressed against Liu Xuan’s face. He could even see the fine hairs covering its body, and the sight startled him badly.

A jump-scare right in the face!

Fortunately, the Thunder Aura activated on the spot and killed it. The spider was struck dead and fell from the window ledge, landing neatly inside the room.

Liu Xuan took several steps back and got a good look at the spider.

Its entire body was black, with red hairs growing from the tips of its eight legs.

On its back was a faintly glowing pattern that looked almost like a human face.

[Sentinel Spider]

Level: 28

Attack: 550

Health: 6,000

Armor: 100

Magic Resistance: 100

Skills: [Alert: Sentinel Spiders only attack moving creatures.]

[Web: Spits a web at an enemy, preventing the target from moving for 3 seconds.]

[Swarm: Upon death, the body emits a special scent that attracts other Sentinel Spiders within range.]

When he saw the final skill, [Swarm], Liu Xuan was actually rather pleased. Wasn’t it similar to the Destroyer’s skill?

The only difference was that one released an odor from the corpse, while the other left pheromones clinging to a person.

But Liu Xuan’s smile quickly vanished.

Before he could step forward to collect the loot, he saw countless spiders crawling in through the window from outside, covering the walls.

In real life, Liu Xuan couldn’t exactly say he was afraid of spiders. But faced with this many gigantic spiders, even he felt his scalp prickle.

On Blue Star, every company that developed virtual-reality games had one ironclad rule:

You could make disgusting monsters, but whatever you did, never make spiders.

The more realistic your game was, the more players would hate those creatures.

They were even scarier than snakes.

Just look at Liu Xuan. He wasn’t afraid of spiders, yet even his expression had stiffened.

So when the Sentinel Spiders began closing in, Liu Xuan didn’t stand there and take their attacks like he normally did while farming monsters. Instead, he very sensibly retreated several more steps.

“Whoever wants to farm these stats can go ahead!”

But then he noticed that as he backed away, the foremost spider turned its head and faced him with its abdomen.

Liu Xuan’s heart stirred. He guessed what the creature was about to do and hurriedly took out the [Celestial].

“Web!”

As he silently recited the name of the skill, the Sentinel Spider on the other side “cooperatively” activated its own skill as well. However, Liu Xuan had anticipated it and perfectly canceled the attack.

[Nightmare Incarnation], [Source of Plague], and [Fire God] activated in succession. The spider was instantly killed, and the explosion also wiped out the other spiders around it.

Liu Xuan let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness he had the [Celestial]. He could bounce the damage back and kill these monsters without having to touch them.

He stepped forward and picked up the copper coins dropped by the spider, along with a material called “Fine Spider Silk.” But the moment he raised his head, he saw more spiders beginning to crawl in through the window.

“Will this ever end?”

Could standing by this window really cause monsters to spawn endlessly?

Liu Xuan felt that he probably wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight. Forget the cold, damp chill in the air—even this endless stream of spiders was enough to keep anyone awake.

“I might as well go outside and farm monsters.”

Liu Xuan went to the room’s entrance. The door had already rotted away completely. Before resting, he had dismantled an intact door panel from another building, used it to block the entrance, and piled miscellaneous objects in front of it.

After moving everything aside one piece at a time, Liu Xuan set the door panel to one side. But the moment he turned around and stepped outside, he froze.

The entire town was covered in glowing human faces as far as the eye could see.

They were the patterns on the backs of the Sentinel Spiders.

They covered the streets, the buildings, and the trees—dense, countless, and utterly overwhelming.

Whenever Liu Xuan looked up, he found that the walls above his head were covered with them as well.

The spectacle was no less impressive than the rabbits in the beginner village back then.

Liu Xuan’s whole body was trembling.

Not from fear, but excitement.

If there was only one spider, you wouldn’t be afraid. You could just kill it.

If there were a hundred spiders, you might feel a little uneasy, because seeing them gathered together really was unsettling.

But when there were tens of thousands of spiders in front of you, they stopped being spiders.

They became—

Liu Xuan’s eyes gleamed.

“Experience! It’s all mine!”

There wasn’t a trace of fear left on his face.

Right then, a Sentinel Spider fell from above. By some incredible coincidence, it landed directly on his head.

“……”

“Waaaaah!”

Amid Liu Xuan’s howls of terror, that Sentinel Spider gloriously became the fuse that ignited a magnificent explosion.

As [Corpse Explosion] activated, the Sentinel Spiders began dying one after another. They fell from the walls like dumplings dropping into a pot, one “human face” after another tumbling down through the darkness.

The sight was spectacular.

Liu Xuan’s mood was absolutely terrible.

He had just stepped out of the building and happened to be standing beneath a wall. As a result, spiders began raining down from above.

“Killed [Sentinel Spider]. Gained 34 experience.”

“Killed [Sentinel Spider]. Gained 34 experience.”

“Killed [Sentinel Spider]. Gained 34 experience.”

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 22. You have gained 37 free attribute points.]

[You have a new skill available.]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 23. You have gained 37 free attribute points.]

[You have a new skill available.]

Sigh. Only those cold free attribute points and passive skill could warm his wounded heart now.

Forget it. He would draw the passive skill first.

Liu Xuan brushed away a spider corpse hanging from his head and was just about to draw the skill when, on the street not far ahead, a beautiful woman appeared out of nowhere, glowing like a ghost.

She sobbed as she whispered, “Save me... save me.”

As she spoke, she glanced softly at Liu Xuan and reached out toward him.

But before Liu Xuan could react, a web shot out of the darkness, wrapped around her waist, and instantly dragged her away into the distance.