Chapter 30: The Crimson Spider

Page 1 of 3

King Yu Valley.

A large dog with a body black and glossy as lacquer moved through the forest. Its paws made no sound against the humus. Every so often, it raised its head and sniffed, sorting through the countless scents in the air. At someone’s request, it had to locate a special species that was both similar in nature and densely concentrated.

It was practically an impossible task for a dog. Yet Old Black was a transcendent creature, and his sense of smell had grown far keener than before. In the end, he managed to lock onto his target.

“Little Grain, this way.”

River Grain followed close behind with his spear in hand. After the attacks by unknown shadows and the rampage of the beasts, the primeval forest near the Yu King Stele had become remarkably quiet. Along the way, they often found traces of dead animals, but no bones or fur remained. Everything had been devoured by the competitors.

The man and dog walked for nearly half an hour. Their pace was slow because they had to remain alert to their surroundings. After crossing a certain boundary, the temperature suddenly dropped to freezing, while the dark forest gradually shifted into an icy blue tinged with deathly stillness.

When they left the forest, their view suddenly opened wide.

River Grain’s pupils contracted.

Before him stretched a mountain range without end, rising so high that its peaks vanished beyond sight.

The cliffs were pure and crystalline as water. A closer look revealed rugged surfaces layered with distinct formations. Wisps of icy mist coiled through the air, while hundreds of blood-red waterfalls plunged downward into bottomless karst caverns. A thick, pungent stench of blood filled the air, so intense that even the bitter cold could not conceal it.

Old Black looked a little embarrassed. The phrase “similar and densely concentrated” had been intended to describe herd-dwelling beasts. Judging by the situation, he seemed to have led them the wrong way.

“There are sheep up there,” River Grain said softly.

On the cliffs, crystal-like blue sheep moved slowly, almost blending into their surroundings. They ceaselessly licked the blood-colored salt granules that had splashed outward and frozen solid.

Ordinary blue sheep in nature could climb with ease across cliffs that were nearly vertical. These transcendent variants were no different.

“Find a way to make the herd fall. At this height, ordinary variants would probably die on impact—unless they’re all elite monsters on the level of mountain macaques and wolf-demons.”

Old Black fixed his eyes on a male blue sheep with enormous horns. It was nearly three meters long and clearly no ordinary beast.

River Grain approached the ice-blue cliff, a black gemstone clenched in his hand. He intended to use the shock wave from an explosion to throw the prey off balance and send it plunging downward.

But as though they sensed the approaching danger, the blue sheep halted in unison. The instant they stopped moving, their bodies transformed into translucent ice sculptures, freezing solid against the cliff face.

Deep, lightless caverns opened on either side. River Grain frowned slightly and retreated along the path they had come.

“They’re difficult to kill. I can afford to wear them down, but it wouldn’t be worth the time. It might take more than ten days.”

Old Black sat on the ground, thinking. He rubbed his chin with a paw like a human. After a moment, he said, “There’s humus in the forest, so earthworms probably live there. Centipedes and other venomous insects all like to eat soft-bodied creatures. If we catch a large number of them, we may be able to lure out a centipede. That multicolored centipede we saw the first time was obviously highly venomous. If your hypnosis works, you could control the centipede and have it poison the whole herd.”

River Grain nodded. “Then we’ll give it a try.”

The man and dog returned to the forest. Relying on his sense of smell, Old Black found a damp patch of ground heavy with the scent of wet earth.

River Grain chopped down branches and shaved them into wooden rods. He drove one into the ground, then used another to saw back and forth against it.

Earthworms crawled out of the soil and onto the surface during rainstorms because the rainwater blocked the oxygen underground. To earthworms, the friction and vibrations caused by the wooden rods resembled rainfall.

Old Black stared at the ground. After more than ten minutes, the first earthworm emerged. He plucked out a black hair and pinned it down with the strand.

As time passed, more and more earthworms appeared. Once they had formed a small heap, their numbers abruptly began to dwindle.

The man and dog moved to another location and continued searching for damp ground.

After working all night, Old Black’s coat had become patchy and bald. They had caught too many earthworms to count, filling three bark sacks to the brim. The resources of the Borderlands—Desolate Wilderness were astonishingly abundant.

River Grain used the Everlasting Hatred Spear to dig a large pit among the trees. He poured one sack of earthworms into it. Unable to burrow back into the soil with the black hairs piercing their bodies, the worms writhed densely across the bottom of the pit.

“Light a torch and spread the scent around.”

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Old Black sat on the ground and rubbed sticks together to make a fire. He then carried the torch in his mouth and circled the pit dozens of times.

Once the preparations were complete, the man and dog climbed into a great tree and waited quietly for their prey.

The sun of the Borderlands rose and fell. A full day and night passed. Large numbers of earthworms died, and their peculiar earthy odor grew increasingly strong.

Old Black gave a howl, yawned, and jumped from the tree to relieve himself in a secluded corner. When he returned, he saw that River Grain had also climbed down. His entire body was taut, and he was already in hunting mode.

Old Black focused his eyes.

The prey was not the multicolored centipede they had expected, but a bright-red spider the size of a fist. The red markings on its back were especially horrifying. Even viewed from a distance, they caused instinctive discomfort. A conspicuous scar ran across its body, as though left by a bird’s beak.

“This thing isn’t very intelligent,” River Grain suddenly said, straightening up.

Old Black relaxed and ventured a guess. “It may be one of the creatures that lost the earlier battle and is desperate to replenish its food.”

The scarlet spider crawled into the pit and spun a web at an eerily rapid speed. Its sharp mouthparts sliced through the earthworms, and it consumed an amount of food far beyond what its size should have allowed.

River Grain picked up a wooden rod he had prepared in advance. Its tip was bristling with black hairs and skewered with numerous earthworms. He placed a leaf between his lips, then lightly tapped the web with the rod.

The vibrations caught the scarlet spider’s attention. It watched for a moment, then suddenly pounced.

River Grain pulled away the rod and blew a whistle through the leaf. At the same time, he activated his active skill, Hypnosis.

The scarlet spider grew wary. River Grain blew another note. This whistle signified advancement.

For a full three minutes, the scarlet spider moved forward hesitantly. Just as it drew close to the earthworms on the rod and was about to bite down, River Grain used manifest force to jolt it half a meter into the air.

Another whistle sounded, completely different from the one before. This time, it signified biting.

Old Black’s cheeks twitched at the sight. Before he had gained intelligence, this was exactly how the creature had trained him.

Again and again, the whistles rang out. The scarlet spider gradually came to understand their meaning, and its movements grew more fluid in response.

As a reward, an entire sack of earthworms was poured out.

Suddenly, the scarlet spider broke free and charged madly toward the bark sack. River Grain had anticipated this. He swept his spear out and sent it flying several hundred paces away.

By then, nearly half his energy had been consumed. He blew the whistle signaling advancement, and the scarlet spider obediently returned to wait in its original spot.

A tone signifying feeding rang out. River Grain activated Hypnosis and spoke in his own voice:

“Feed.”

The scarlet spider feasted ravenously.

Once it had finished eating, the second round of domestication began.

River Grain alternated between his own voice and the whistles, using them to reinforce one another. After completing the second round, he rewarded it with another sack of earthworms.

The entire process took several hours, and his energy had fallen to nearly zero.

“It’ll have to do.”

River Grain wiped the sweat from his brow. The constant activation of Hypnosis had left him somewhat fatigued.

With Old Black leading the way, the man and dog brought the spider back to the ice-blue cliffs. The variant blue sheep were still licking the blood salt. When they noticed that the hunters had returned, ice sculptures formed around them once more.

At River Grain’s command, the scarlet spider climbed the cliff. Its mouthparts tore into the ice. Before long, a variant blue sheep fell from above, its thick, insulating fleece largely intact.

A second fell, followed closely by a third.

The leading ram grew furious. River Grain walked straight toward the cliff and pressed a Chaos Bomb against it. He did not care in the slightest if the creatures broke free of their frozen state. If the herd’s leader was willing to sacrifice itself to kill the scarlet spider, he could accept that outcome as well. After all, the quality of the fleece depended on the creature’s level of life. The buyers should know what they were looking at.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

When the twenty-fourth blue sheep crashed to its death, the ram was nearly at the limit of its patience. At the same time, however, the hunt came to an abrupt end.

Old Black dragged the prey into the forest, while River Grain recalled the scarlet spider and withdrew.

“Three seconds. Those variant blue sheep were already dead before they reached the ground. An ordinary person would probably have died from the poison instantly.”

Old Black reported what he had observed. The scarlet spider was not particularly strong in direct combat, but its venom was terrifying. Given its size, it was better suited for assassination.

“Let’s go back and try a Healing Potion. If it can neutralize the poison, we’ll keep it around,” River Grain said.

Although the spider had undergone two rounds of domestication, he could not guarantee that it would never bite him under unusual circumstances. He could only hope to find a solution later through the Hunter system.

“Safety comes first.” Old Black nodded solemnly.

There was nothing unusual on the surface of any of the blue sheep. Yet when River Grain skinned them, he discovered that the flesh beneath was covered in mottled patterns. The poisoned tissue had suffered severe necrosis and lost all vitality. Even the hearts had withered in a bizarre manner.

The man and dog headed home. After descending the mountain, they stopped at the market and bought a live pig. This month’s wages had already been deposited into the account.

Back at the red-brick house, River Grain purchased two Healing Potions from the public marketplace of the Origin Game. He had used one previously to heal his burns after completing a derivative mission.

[Game Coins: 925]

“Feed.”

The scarlet spider pounced on the back of the live pig’s neck and sank its fangs into it. In the blink of an eye, the pig began to tremble violently.

River Grain promptly poured a Minor Healing Potion into the test subject’s mouth. The pig needed half an hour of rest before it had enough strength to stand again.

“Feed.”

This time, the pig lasted less than two seconds. The experiment was over, and River Grain did not use the second Healing Potion.

“If a Healing Potion cannot be administered within a few seconds, even a low-level player will be doomed to die… The spider seems to have evolved.”

River Grain beckoned. The scarlet spider crawled onto his shoulder. Another red mark had appeared on its back.

Old Black used his claws to dissect the pig. Its heart had withered as well.

“Twenty-four variant blue sheep. Its staple food is heart blood.”

River Grain thought for a moment, then said, “It has great potential. We’ll call it Little Red.”

Old Black fell silent.

That name was absurdly careless.

Old Black said helplessly, “I chose my own name. An elegant ancient name for a wolf is Lord of the Road, so I call myself River Lord of the Road.”

River Grain laughed. “A name you choose yourself means more. You don’t have to carry the weight of my expectations. Also, after dark, I plan to complete that daily mission. The location is Demon City. I won’t take you this time. Once we arrive, I may not even be able to look after myself.”

Old Black nodded, agreeing with his decision.

That night, River Grain pulled the Glock 17 from beneath the bed, along with two magazines full of bullets. He tucked Little Red into his item pouch. Seeing that it was still alive, he directly removed the mission pendant he had obtained on the island.

The instant the mission began, his figure vanished from where he stood.

Page 3 of 3