Footsteps echoed in the dimly lit, quiet tunnel as damp humidity clung to the skin.

The railings, which had not been used in a long time, were broken and rusted in places, with weeds growing through the cracks.

Misaki was walking along a path that deviated slightly from the original shortest distance, using only the light of an old lantern hanging from the arch-shaped wooden frame.

(The road is too narrow to pass through if there are monsters.)

The path was only wide enough that five people stood side by side, and their shoulders would touch the wooden framework at both ends. It was already too narrow for walking, but it was even more so for fighting.

Because there are numerous paths leading to the destination in the ant’s nest-like tunnels, Misaki, who has a fully explored map and [life-sense], makes detours to avoid the mobs on a regular basis and never gets lost.

The mobs that appear here are more powerful than those that appear on the plains.

Misaki, who struggled even against the weakest demi-rat, assumed that encountering a monster here would mean certain death.

Nonetheless, she kept going because the blue dot at her destination was still alive and well.

(I should at least have an arrow in my quiver in case we ever cross paths…….)

The hand holding the arrow trembled, she knew there were no mobs nearby because no sign of them was detected by her life-sensing system, but her body naturally reacted to the fact that she could die at any moment.

Misaki clenched her hands tightly to shake off her fear, despite the fact that the sweat on her hands was unpleasant to her.

 (Two new red dots near the entrance, I need to be careful on the way back… And why is there a purple dot near it?)

Misaki believed she could only recognize three types of signs in life senses.

NPCs are green, players are blue, and mobs are red.

But then she noticed this purple dot, but she also lacked the courage to investigate further.

(On no! I was distracted by the purple dot and mobs coming this way from both ends of the road.)

She was walking down the middle of the road without realizing it, and she found herself sandwiched between mobs.

Nonetheless, the red dot she saw in front was moving in an erratic manner, as if it had wandered off.

One thing she knows is, that the encounter is unavoidable no matter what she does, whether she continues or turns back; however, if she stops her track here, she may be caught in a pincer attack.

Misaki tightened her grip on her bow even more.

She moved as quickly as she could towards the red dot in front of her.

(If I dwindled any longer, the mobs behind me would catch up with me; the only way to survive was to quickly defeat the red dot in front of me or pass by it and flee!)

As she walks forward, the identity of the red dot becomes clear: it is a one-meter-long green spider.

Iriana Spider is the species’ name.

It is an omnivorous spider with a level of 5 to 7 that lives in the Iriana Tunnel.

Now that the Iriana Spider has noticed Misaki, it makes a strange cry, “Kiggyiiii!” and rushes over to her from behind the wall.

(It’s quick!)

“Gyyiiiii-……!”

The poisonous fangs of the spider grazed her shoulder.

Fortunately, the fangs only reduced her armor’s durability value, but Misaki felt [death] approaching her for the first time since she arrived in this world.

Misaki’s life will end when the green LP number 55/55 reaches 0/55. She’s now forced to face a fear she has never met.

She managed to draw her bow, and the arrow pierced the wall deeply, but she missed.

Misaki quickly turned around while shielding her face because the Iriana Spider was no longer in her sight and she could hear an unsettling sound coming from behind her.

Immediately following that—

Misaki was mercilessly stabbed in the abdomen by the Iriana Spider’s poison fangs.

“Gahg! ……!”

41/55

She could see that her LP had been shaved.

“It hurts…!”

Misaki dropped her bow and collapsed in agony from the pain.

Her mouth makes a strange breathing sound.

The pain is so real that it’s difficult to believe this is a virtual world, and it’s only feeding more fear into Misaki’s mind.

“It hurtsss!!”

Misaki could feel a pulsating sensation and severe pain in her body at this point, and she realized she had been poisoned by the Iriana Spider.

The poison reduces her LP by 1% every three seconds, but even worse than that is the burning sensation that spreads and swells throughout her entire body.

Before her eyes, she could see the Iriana Spider approaches with the intent to finish her.

“No, no, no, please, NOOO!”

Misaki screams in terror as she swings the broken arrow around helplessly.

With eyes closed, she had lost all the will to fight and was simply shivering in fear in front of approaching terror—!

But at that time, she could hear a slashing sound.

A deafening slashing sound.

When Misaki opened her eyes, she noticed a figure in front of her.

Was it a small knight or a demon? Perhaps a “black knight” would be a suitable name for him.

His armor appeared to have been cut from the dark of the night.

The small, childlike head softens the evil appearance, but it has a hideous design as if made by a demon and, the sword he holds in his hand is somewhat rugged, with no ‘fun’ elements in its design except for the shiny blade and its sturdy handle.

Misaki’s eyes widened at the unexpected appearance of her savior.

Two figure appears to be following him.

One is a stunning male knight with hard black hair and a large scar across his face.

The other is a beautiful girl with a pure white appearance. The horns extending above her ears seemed to prove that the girl was not at all human, and they were all dressed in strange attire.

Misaki thought they all looked like messengers from other worlds until she realized they were two red dots and one “purple dot” from the entrance of the tunnel that her ‘life sense’ skill had detected.

(Are they on our side? Or–?)

At least she knows that mobs are represented by the color red, but she had never seen a ‘purple’ before.

Is it an enemy or an ally?

“Are you injured?”

A gentle boy’s voice echoed in the tunnel’s darkness.

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