Chapter 38: The Spider’s Nest Awakens

Yoo Hee-ro snatched up the two people who were kneeling in front of him and lifted them easily. Then he lightly touched his palm against the right-hand wall. The massive, rippling shadow behind him writhed and held his body firmly in the air. With the two dangling from his grasp, Yoo Hee-ro floated upward.

Tracing a smooth arc through the air, he crossed to the opposite side with ease.

Thud.

The two, set down on the ground, simultaneously clutched their chests and gasped for breath. They hadn’t been able to breathe properly while crossing.

“H-Huff! Hah…!”

Their hearts pounded wildly, their chests rising and falling in sharp motions. They scrambled to feel the floor beneath them, needing to confirm that they’d really reached the other side safely. Only after they stood on solid ground did they burst into relieved sobs.

“Thank you… Thank you so much…”

Yoo Hee-ro’s gaze shifted to the spider rushing toward him from across the ceiling with a rapid, skittering sound.

“You bastard! You traitor!”

From far behind, Yoo Ho-bin’s shout echoed thunderously across the cavern.

“Take us too!”

Park Joon-soo’s voice followed right after. The giant spider spun its body 180 degrees to glare at them. Its eyes darted rapidly, as if calculating which prey to attack first.

“You sons of bitches!”

Unable to contain his anger, Yoo Ho-bin grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it. A normal throw wouldn’t have reached that far, but the stone rolled right to Yoo Hee-ro’s feet—because he’d used his psychokinesis.

His telekinesis worked only on inanimate objects. So he couldn’t lift himself to cross over; he had to use whatever was available inside the dungeon. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing but spiderwebs here, rendering his ability essentially useless.

Without Yoo Hee-ro, the only escape route was to risk a fight with that giant spider on the ceiling. That was why Yoo Ho-bin had drawn aggro toward Yoo Hee-ro—if the monster focused on him, he’d kill it somehow, just like always.

Cold sweat trickled down his back. Park Joon-soo trembled violently.

“W-What do we do…? Did he abandon us?”

“Don’t be stupid. Abandon us? Shit. He’s not even our party member.”

Yoo Ho-bin spat on the ground. His eyes glared venomously at the faint figure of Yoo Hee-ro in the distance.

“If we’re doomed, we’re all going down together. Don’t try to survive alone, asshole.”

He pushed his telekinesis to its limits, widening its range and pulling up anything he could. Surely something—anything—had to be down there.

‘There. Got something.’

Something huge snagged at the very bottom. It took a long pull before a faint shape finally surfaced. Yoo Ho-bin narrowed his eyes.

“A bug? A… beetle?”

What he had pulled up was a massive white cocoon. From within its semi-transparent shell, black speckled patterns were visible—almost like a giant albino ladybug egg.

Yoo Hee-ro stepped back immediately. He knew what that white mass was.

The wandering spider eyes all snapped toward the cocoon.

A trembling voice rose from behind Yoo Hee-ro.

“Isn’t… isn’t that a monster egg?”

“Don’t move. Don’t provoke it. Nothing good will come of it.”

The “albino ladybug” cocoon was actually a spider egg sac. And unfortunately, unhatched eggs counted as inanimate objects—meaning Yoo Ho-bin’s telekinesis could lift it. He didn’t realize that.

“Ugh, what the hell is this?”

He recoiled at the wriggling cocoon.

“I don’t know! Gross! Just throw it! It’s disgusting!”

Park Joon-soo gagged repeatedly as he shouted.

Whirr—

The cocoon flew through the air and landed exactly where Yoo Hee-ro stood.

Thud!

Sliding across the floor, the cocoon tore open halfway. Inside were glossy, semi-transparent eggs the size of an adult’s torso.

Their enormous size—impossible to see from afar—was now undeniable. Something that big could easily devour a grown person the moment it hatched.

Sssskk.

With a chilling sound, the spider on the opposite ceiling instantly dropped down right above Yoo Hee-ro. Its bright red eyes glared down. A long white thread unspooled from the end of its abdomen.

Its jagged fangs twitched violently, large enough to pierce a human skull in a single bite.

This was why so few hunters ever made it past the 30th floor. From here downward, even brushing against a monster could mean death. Hunters who cleared even the 25th floor were praised as elites. No one risked their life further without a reason.

“P-Please… save us…”

Those on the brink of death trembled uncontrollably. They looked as if they could no longer cry for help. They shook like people standing naked in midwinter.

To be overwhelmed—was this what it felt like?

Yoo Hee-ro didn’t blink, even with the monster right before him. He didn’t seem human.

The standoff lasted only a heartbeat.

The spider’s two front legs twitched.

Then they lunged.

Swish—

It happened in an instant. The spider’s folded fangs extended fully, plunging down toward Yoo Hee-ro as if to swallow him whole. At the same time, Yoo Hee-ro’s shadow cut across the air.

Boom!

A detonating crack tore through the room. The dungeon wall split open with a deafening sound.

Screeeech!

The monster shrieked—its first and last cry.

Thud!

Its huge body slammed to the ground, throwing up clouds of dust. The fight ended so quickly it almost made the earlier fear feel ridiculous.

Its abdomen, cleaved cleanly in half, spilled purple entrails. The other half fell over the cliff’s edge.

Rumble—

The spider’s death seemed to trigger something. The egg sac twitched violently. Dark specks moved rapidly inside the translucent eggs—and with terrifying speed, hundreds of baby spiders burst out.

Kk-kik! Kik! Krrk!

Making grotesque sounds, the spiderlings swarmed toward their mother’s corpse and began devouring it.

Their bodies swelled as they fed, growing larger by the second.

One party member retched at the horrifying sight.

“Ugh—bleeergh!”

The spiderlings swarmed everywhere, and Yoo Hee-ro’s eyes turned toward the egg sac itself. Across the gap, Yoo Ho-bin and Park Joon-soo sneered triumphantly—only for the spiders to crawl across the walls and ceiling and reach them in seconds.

“Ah—Ahh! f*ck, gross!!”

“Park Joon-soo! Don’t just stand there! Do something!”

Yoo Ho-bin, drained from lifting the cocoon, screamed at him.

“What the f*ck do you want me to do?!”

Even while cursing, Park Joon-soo hurled flames at the spiders. Fire burst up their legs.

Screee!

The spiderlings writhed in agony. Their burnt legs snapped off and flew through the air.

One severed leg slammed into Yoo Ho-bin. He coughed violently and used the last of his power to lift it telekinetically, spinning it like a shield. Spiders were knocked away or sliced apart—but there were just too many.

“I’m dying here?! Like hell! After everything I did to get this far?!”

“We’re screwed!!”

Park Joon-soo rolled on the ground, trying to put out the flames on his clothes, crying hysterically.

The more they killed, the worse things got. The tight space filled with smoke, fire, and the toxic fumes from burning monster flesh.

His eyes burned. Tears and snot streamed down uncontrollably.

“I—I can’t see…”

His vision turned gray and blurry. He groped along the floor and wall, curling up small. He couldn’t even tell what was attacking him anymore.

“Park Joon-soo, you useless bastard! Do something! You worthless piece of shit!”

Yoo Ho-bin’s furious insults echoed, but Park Joon-soo only covered his face and crouched down lower.

There was no hope.