Chapter 5: Kin Eater
Shirazawa looked at the excited little spider and sighed, burying his face in his forelegs.
While Appraisal was a must-have skill, it was incredibly useless in the early stages. He wondered if she could handle the disappointment.
"Appraisal!"
Having obtained the skill, Wakaba couldn't wait to pick up a pebble and activate it. She believed that even the most inconspicuous object would reveal a wealth of useful information before the mighty Great Appraisal.
However...
[Appraisal Result: Stone]
"Are? (Huh?)"
Appraisal again!
[Stone]
Wakaba: "..."
"Sigh~"
Shirazawa rested his head on his leg and let out a long breath. "Stop it. For now, that's just how the skill is."
"I don't believe it!"
Wakaba puffed out her cheeks stubbornly, tossed the pebble aside, and walked over to a nearby stone wall. "A stone is just a stone, so it's understandable that there's nothing to see."
She muttered to herself, casting her gaze toward the wall ahead. "If it's a wall, surely it can tell us the name of the cave we're in or something, right?"
Thinking this, she pressed her palm against the stone wall and squeezed her eyes shut. "Appraisal!"
[Stone Wall]
Wakaba: "..."
She still couldn't believe the results she was hearing.
"Appraisal! Appraisal! Appraisal! Appraisal! Appraisal! Appraisal! Appraisal!..."
[Stone Wall! Stone Wall! Stone Wall! Stone Wall! Stone Wall! Stone Wall! Stone Wall! ...]
Shirazawa: "..."
He rubbed his forehead, truly admiring Wakaba's sheer persistence.
"Waaaah! What a useless skill! Why did I even learn it?!"
Finally, after n-straight useless attempts, Wakaba threw a tantrum on the floor like a brat demanding a new toy. "Everyone knows it's a stone wall! There should be other info!"
Shirazawa explained patiently, "The skill level is too low. It's like this at the start. You'll get used to it."
"Is that really true?" Wakaba looked up at Shirazawa suspiciously.
"Believe me or don't." He shrugged his legs helplessly. "Anyway, come with me to level up. We need to find something to eat; if our SP hits zero, we're toast."
"Mm... alright."
Wakaba nodded. Although she didn't quite understand what "SP" was, seeing his confident demeanor, she instinctively crawled up and followed behind him.
The two... or rather, the two spiders, chatted idly as they gradually climbed toward the upper stratum of the labyrinth.
"Appraisal!" [Stone Wall]
"Ugh, you still haven't given up?"
"I'm bored anyway. Maybe I can increase the skill proficiency."
"As expected of you. You figured that out pretty fast."
"Heh... Oh right, I haven't appraised ourselves yet... Appraisal!"
[Spider: Nameless]
"Appraisal!"
[Spider: Shirazawa]
"Why do you have a name?!"
"...Maybe... because I'm handsome?"
"Kuso! Now I'm annoyed for no reason. The System Goddess is way too biased..."
"..."
Listening to her one-woman comedy routine along the way, Shirazawa suddenly felt that this journey might be quite interesting. Even listening to her constant muttering wasn't boring.
But he knew very well that without strength, this behavior was just a foolish waste of time.
They were facing a "Disaster/Hell Mode" start.
Furthermore, with Shirazawa's interference, it was unknown whether the plotline would change. Knowing part of the plot was his only "cheat," but it wasn't an absolute guarantee.
He had to gain power while trying not to derail the main story too much. Once the main plot veered off, his "meta-knowledge" would become useless.
Regardless, survival came first.
Once they reached the "Immortality/Arachne" tier, it wouldn't matter if the plot changed. With bugged abilities like
Thinking this, Shirazawa's mouth curled into a slight, wicked smile.
"Hey, what are you smiling about?" Wakaba asked, tilting her head.
"Hmm? Nothing. I just thought of something happy." Shirazawa smiled faintly and kept walking.
"...You aren't thinking about *that* incident from before, are you?"
Wakaba glared at him, putting on her best "don't mess with me" face.
Shirazawa shrugged. "I admit, kissing you back then was my bad. But you did give me your 'silent consent'."
Wakaba: "..."
*I'm just socially anxious and didn't want to talk, dammit! Since when does that count as silent consent?!*
"Hmm?"
Shirazawa suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
Wakaba, who was about to argue further, leaned in curiously.
"Human footprints."
"Oh?"
Wakaba craned her neck to observe. Sure enough, there were two rows of messy footprints on the ground.
"It's true! That means there are humans in this world! Awesome!"
"Looks like they just left recently."
"I'm a friendly and brave little spider baby. They'll definitely get along with me!"
She gave a cheer and bolted off in the direction of the footprints.
Shirazawa watched her retreating back and shook his head helplessly.
"Humans won't see us through a 'cute' filter."
He spoke softly, walking forward at a leisurely pace.
"AH—"
A terrified scream rang out from ahead. Shirazawa had already guessed she had seen the cruel truth and was scared out of her wits.
"Hey, you okay?"
He caught up and looked at the scene, thinking: *Just as I thought.*
A medium-sized spider lay in a pool of blood, its terrified eyes wide open—clearly unable to die in peace. Its body was covered in deep gashes from swords and spears, a bloody and brutal sight.
Wakaba stood frozen in horror. "..."
"So you see, if we're discovered by humans, being brutally murdered is the only outcome. Accept your fate, Wakaba-san."
Shirazawa patted her back with his front leg in a comforting gesture.
"This is bad. If we keep wandering around and run into humans..."
"Well, we just have to survive the early game. Humans are just high-quality experience packs for us."
Wakaba couldn't understand how this guy could say something so horrifying so casually. "Don't you think that's a bit barbaric?"
"Sigh. It's not us who are wrong; it's this world."
Shirazawa shook his head. "Humans aren't saints, and neither are we."
Wakaba fell silent. After a moment, she looked up. "Makes sense!"
Shirazawa blinked. *She accepted reality that fast?*
As expected of Spider-chan, his future waifu. Her mental fortitude was top-tier.
"Alright, let's stop thinking about that. It's dinner time! Look, a free meal. My treat!"
"Uh..."
Wakaba was speechless. "This spider looks like one of our siblings. Is it really okay to eat our own kind?"
"Relax, relax. It's better than starving to death. Besides, if our SP hits zero, we die. Everything is for the sake of survival."
He waved a leg dismissively, walked up to the corpse with an easy air, and took a bite.
*Crunch!*
Fluids splattered. As the sound of chewing echoed, Shirazawa's face instantly froze.
"BLEGH—"
"It tastes horrible... and so bitter..."
"BLEGH—"
[Condition met. Obtained Title:
[Due to Title effect, obtained Skills:
"BLEGH—"