Frank drank from his water bottle, tasting a cold, metallic aftertaste. The map blinked again, showing heat trails in motion. Something larger lay ahead.
He stepped after them.
The tunnel narrowed as they descended. The floor curved slightly downward, slick underfoot, and the hum in the walls rose to a steady vibration. Ahead, bioluminescent sacs lined the ceiling—egg-sized bulbs pulsing faint orange with each step they took. Riva kept her blades angled downward, while Torin nocked an arrow but didn't draw. No one spoke.
The tunnel ended in a rounded chamber.
The entrance sealed behind them with a wet slam.
No light from outside—just the low glow from the egg sacs embedded deep in the walls. The air shifted, becoming heavier and hotter. Steam hissed from cracks between the floor tiles, fogging the lower half of the room. Every surface appeared alive—fleshy, wet, and ready to move.
Frank tightened his grip on his sword.
The hum stopped.
Then—click, click, click.
From above, the Queen descended.
Venomfang Widow.
Eight legs, long and glistening, black as oil, each barbed and ending in a hook. Her body moved with slow, purposeful grace, fangs flexing as she lowered herself from the ceiling webwork. Her eyes—clustered and dead—caught the faint light, and the rhythm of her clicks quickened, like teeth grinding.
Kota stepped forward, shield already raised. "Cover the flank!"
The Widow lunged without warning.
Kota met her head-on, braced his feet, and blocked the full impact. Steel screamed as he slid three feet back, his boots grinding into the resin-streaked floor.
Riva dashed past his left side, a blur of blades. She dove low and cut into the front leg just above the joint. The Widow screamed—sharp and shrill—and flung acid in a wide burst. The floor hissed as Riva rolled away clean, smoke rising behind her.
Eliya launched a healing orb toward Kota. It struck his chest and spread like mist, sealing a fresh gash in his shoulder.
Frank stayed behind Kota's left, not moving or rushing.
The Queen reared up, her limbs spreading wide. Underneath her thorax, something shifted—a brief gap, but there nonetheless.
Frank didn't wait. He took one step, adopting a low angle with his blade forward. He struck fast, right into the opening. The blade hit soft, met with resistance, then gave way. He pulled back immediately as venom shot past his left shoulder, melting into the wall behind him.
Kota barked, "You hit something."
Frank kept his eyes on the Queen. "Let's make it count."
She reared again—not to strike, not to spit, but to scream. The sound tore through the chamber: sharp, hollow, too high to be breath and too low to be pure sound. It shook the web-lined walls, causing egg sacs to pulse.
Then they ruptured.
Fist-sized spiderlings poured from the seams, dozens hitting the floor with wet plops before scrambling in every direction. Some clung to the walls, while others rushed low across the fogged floor, their legs twitching with erratic hunger.
"Back left compromised!" Torin's voice cut through the noise.
Frank spun around. One spiderling had already reached Eliya's boot, silk webbing shooting from its back. Another leapt from a wall toward Riva's side.
Riva turned too late. A sharp hiss escaped her lips as she cursed—the spiderling clipped her forearm, and blood welled under the shallow but fast cut.
Frank moved without thinking.
He slashed the crawler off Eliya's boot and kicked another aside, then yelled, "Pull center! Focus left—there's a gap forming on the ridge!"
Kota held the Queen back in the center of the chamber, shield raised and boots rooted. But he was pinned; he couldn't disengage. Every time he shifted, she mirrored him—barbs clashing against reinforced steel in wet, heavy beats.
Torin fired high into the webbed ceiling. Arrows zipped between sacs, clipping climbing spiders before they could descend.
Frank stayed low, clearing the flank. One spiderling hissed as he drove his blade through its thorax. Another lunged; he stepped back, slashed upward, and caught it in the underbelly. The next jumped from the Queen's leg. Frank sidestepped, dragged the blade along its spine, and kicked it away.
『+2 XP – Spiderling (Tier F)』
『+2 XP – Spiderling (Tier F)』
『+2 XP – Spiderling (Tier F)』
『Current Progress: 41/100 XP』
The floor was slick with acid and spider blood, the smell cutting through the heat. Eliya was back on her feet but breathing hard. Riva switched grips on her blade, the cut on her arm still bleeding slowly.
The Queen's abdomen pulsed again—venom gathering. The rhythm of the battle shifted.
Frank's eyes locked onto the pattern forming between her legs and torso. A shape. A shine.
It was about to open.
The Queen's rear legs spread wider, stabilizing her stance. Her entire abdomen lifted, exposing a slick cavity underneath. A shimmer of green light pulsed beneath the plates—too rhythmic to be muscle, too volatile to be anything but a core.
Kota adjusted his stance and slammed the edge of his shield upward. It hit the Queen under her jaw with a thud that echoed off the walls. She staggered, and her thorax tilted slightly. The gap widened.
Riva didn't wait. She darted in on the right side, her blades moving faster than before. She hooked one behind the Queen's leg joint, pulled, then drove the other forward into the soft gap behind the knee. Chitin cracked.
The Widow screamed—sharper than before.
Frank's heart raced.
That was the opening.
He didn't shout or signal; he just moved.
『Skill Activated: Piercing Fang』
His stance tightened: right foot forward, blade low. He breathed once, steady, and charged under the curve of the Queen's body.
First thrust—upward, angled toward the abdominal seam. The steel struck just off-center. A crack, but not a full breach. Frank stepped deeper.
Second thrust—he pivoted left, slashed across, and drove the tip under her third leg joint. The blade found flesh, and resistance gave. Hot fluid sprayed along his wrist.
Third thrust—he angled back under the rising thorax, twisted in close, and rammed the point straight into the exposed gland. The pressure behind the blow carried through his shoulders.
A burst.
Like glass shattering inside meat.
The Queen's body jolted upward. A shriek ripped from her mouth as her rear legs collapsed. Venom sprayed outward in a high arc, painting the floor with a hiss of steam. Frank ducked back and rolled to the side, his boots sliding through a slurry of acid and blood.
『Dungeon Boss Eliminated – Venomfang Widow (Tier 1-E)』
『+70 XP』
『Bonus XP – Final Hit』
『Level Up 3』
『+10 Stat Points』
『Inventory Update: +Venom Gland (Auto-Stored)』
The Widow's body convulsed once, then collapsed sideways. Her legs twitched, curling inward toward the core. The egg sacs stopped pulsing, and the remaining spiderlings froze before crumpling mid-movement, fading to dust.
---------
The light in the room shifted from blood-orange to a cold, stable blue. System stabilized.
No one spoke for three breaths.
Then Kota exhaled, leaned on his shield, and muttered, "That… that was a boss."
Eliya dropped to one knee and covered her mouth, trying not to gag. Riva sat on a stone ledge, her arm shaking as she wiped blood from her cheek. Torin lowered his bow without a word and watched the body steam.
Frank didn't speak. He walked over to the Queen's side, blade still drawn, and checked the puncture.
The core had been ruptured cleanly.
He wiped the sword against the back of her leg—slow and controlled—then re-sheathed it in one motion.
Riva looked up. "Was that your first?"
Frank nodded once. "With something that bites back, yeah."
Kota stepped forward and clapped him once on the shoulder. Not hard. Just solid.
"Next time, give us a warning before you disappear under a spider god."
Frank cracked half a smile. "Didn't think it'd work."
But it had.
Kota stepped forward and clapped him once on the shoulder—not hard, just solid. "Next time, give us a warning before you disappear under a spider god."
Frank cracked half a smile. "Didn't think it'd work."
But it had. And now the body was theirs.
Kota was the first to move. He sheathed his sword, reached into his pack, and pulled out a hooked blade meant for harvesting. "Start carving. We don't want it decaying before we're halfway out."
Torin crouched near the abdomen, already tapping his system's scan overlay. "Carapace is holding. The core's gone, but there's still integrity. We've got viable drop zones."
Eliya stayed back, her hands resting on her knees, breathing evenly but shallowly. She wasn't injured, but the fight had wrung her out. Her eyes flicked toward the spider's curled legs and didn't move away.
Riva stood slowly and rolled her shoulders. "Call what you want, Hagan."
Frank stepped forward and pointed. "Three plates, a venom sac, and the core."
Kota raised a brow but didn't argue. "Fair. You landed the gland. No one's touching it but you."
The group worked quickly. Riva cut cleanly through the back leg joints, while Torin harvested sacs from beneath the midsection. Frank pulled three thick slabs of hardened chitin from the main shell. Each was nearly the length of his forearm—dark brown, acid-slick, and heavy.
『+3: Hardened Chitin Plates – Inventory Updated』
『+1: Venom Sac (Tier E) – Inventory Updated』
『+1: Dungeon Monster Core (Unstable) – Inventory Updated』
Inventory: 20 out of 30 slots used.
He wiped his gloves on a cloth and stepped back while the others took what remained—acid-tipped legs, two web sacks, and a few raw venom traces.
No one complained. No one tried to take more. They'd seen what he could do.
By the time they reached the rift gate again, the dungeon behind them had begun to cool—blue light stable, fog receding. The temperature dropped five full degrees in minutes.
Outside, the wind hit sharply.
Frank tapped his system window as soon as his boots hit the pavement. Notifications stacked immediately:
『Noodle Pack (2) Sold – 800 Tokens Received』
『Buyer Review: Satisfactory. Chewy. Unusual saltiness.』
『New Request: +10 Packs from Client: Glimmer Fang Clan』
He scanned the last notification again. The client's icon pulsed silver—a verified trade account from the Ember Wastes. Another clan, another buyer.
He muttered, "Didn't expect food sales to outpace weapons."
The system beeped, and the inventory tab flashed orange.
Frank flipped to his stats. A new prompt blinked at the bottom of the screen:
『Level Up – Stat Points Gained: +10』
Current XP: 11 / 100
He tapped into the panel and distributed the points:
+4 Strength
+3 Agility
+3 Perception
Frank felt the shift immediately—weight redistributed across his muscles and balance. Slight. Sharp. Enough to make the blade feel like it wanted to move faster than his hand could.
Torin stepped beside him, pulling a wrap over his shoulder. "You coming on the next run?" he asked.
Frank didn't answer right away. He tapped into his shop menu and checked his inventory. Only four potions left, two noodle packs gone, and tomatoes already sold out. Demand was rising in three directions.
He glanced up and said, "Only if you buy your own potions next time."
Kota chuckled behind him. "Fair deal."
Frank turned and unsheathed his blade just long enough to check the edge. Still clean. Still sharp.
"I've got deliveries to prep."