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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Clash with the Golden Spider
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In Dungeon Replay, the stages of Phantasmal Beasts are represented by rainbow colors.
From Purple Grade all the way to Red Grade.
The brighter the color, the stronger the Arthropod Beast becomes, and it gains unique traits.
And right now...
An Arthropod Beast was blocking Leyzon's path, completely filling the tunnel.
A massive body covered in gleaming golden fur.
Teeth like a human's.
Drool dripping from its maw.
In the Earthhold Layer—a Purple Grade Arthropod Beast.
The Golden Spider.
Just looking at it, it was a monster grotesque beyond belief.
But the Golden Spider had a different problem altogether.
The real reason it was Purple Grade.
It was its 'Magic Immunity Trait.'
Of all the foes, this was the Arthropod Beast Leyzon least wanted to run into right now.
"...Man, even for you guys."
Leyzon muttered with a hollow expression.
"Isn't throwing a magic-immune Arthropod Beast at me a bit much?"
A Poison Necromancer was still a mage at heart.
Which meant...
Leyzon's magic wouldn't work on the Golden Spider.
"Kuuuuaaaargh!"
At that moment, the Golden Spider raised its front leg and let out a deafening roar.
His eardrums felt like they might burst.
Just the sound alone made his body tingle.
So this was what it felt like to face a beast's howl head-on.
Leyzon spun around immediately.
He pointed the Fierce Poison Fang at the ground.
"Bone Broom!"
Leyzon felt something heavy drain from his body.
His remaining mana had clearly been consumed.
He didn't know the principle behind it.
But the moment he recognized he had the skill, he knew how to use it.
'A skill I must've spammed every day during auto-hunt.'
His body remembered it whether he liked it or not.
Poof!
In that instant, a bone broom floated into existence before him.
Leyzon hopped on immediately.
"Fly!"
At his command, the bone broom shot forward in a flash.
Fast.
So fast he nearly tumbled off backward.
Thinking back on being chased by the spider swarm earlier felt a little pathetic now.
'If I'd recognized and used this from the start.'
He wouldn't have had to struggle so hard just to escape.
'Whatever!'
As long as he used it right now to make a clean getaway, that was fine.
The problem was that a single bone broom wouldn't solve this mess.
Thud! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Leyzon whipped his head around as the whole cave seemed to shake.
Sure enough, the Golden Spider was charging after him like a mad beast.
Once the Golden Spider locked onto a target, it pursued relentlessly.
'No shortcuts once the Golden Spider shows up.'
The Golden Spider left spider silk in its wake as it ran.
Even now, it was spraying silk wildly in pursuit.
'That silk melts away once you kill the Golden Spider.'
But it carried the same magic immunity trait.
'As a Poison Necromancer, I can't clear it.'
The already narrow cave had turned into a spiderweb paradise.
No shortcuts until the Golden Spider was dead.
'Change of plans.'
Leyzon gripped the broomstick tight and leaned forward.
Even if it had been ten years since he played the game, his knowledge remained.
Especially for tricky Phantasmal Beasts like this one.
The Golden Spider pursued Leyzon with murderous intent.
He'd aimed to clear the game—would he really get stuck on a mere Golden Spider?
Soon, Leyzon passed the angel statue.
The Golden Spider followed right behind, barreling past it too.
A red crystal glow entered Leyzon's vision.
The end of the shortcut tunnel was near.
Fwoosh!
With a rush of wind, the broom Leyzon rode soared into the air.
Masses of spiders filled the plaza below.
Blue Grade Arthropod Beasts—Swarm Spiders.
Thousands of them turned to stare at Leyzon in unison.
Perfect timing—they'd just respawned.
Boom!
Right then, the Golden Spider burst out after him.
It rolled its six eyes wildly before spotting Leyzon.
"Kuuuuaaaargh!"
Roaring, it charged again.
"Chitter?"
"Chit?"
The Swarm Spiders noticed Leyzon too.
They seemed confused by the Golden Spider and Leyzon's sudden arrival.
But they didn't dare block his path.
Lord of the Horde.
The gear Leyzon wore parted the Swarm Spiders.
He raced over them.
The Golden Spider followed, smashing through the Swarm Spiders.
Five times larger than the Swarm Spiders, it sent them flying effortlessly.
Leyzon raised the Fierce Poison Fang.
Ideally, he'd avoid clashing with the Swarm Spiders again.
But with things as they were...
He had to push the Poison Necromancer's capabilities to the max.
A Poison Necromancer's specialty was mob pulling.
Leyzon raised the Fierce Poison Fang.
Once more, power drained from his body.
'Mana's running low, as expected.'
He'd anticipated this to some degree.
After all, he'd pulled the spider swarm earlier.
That must've consumed mana.
'Unlike the game, I can't see my mana levels.'
He had to rely on instinct, so caution was key.
Mana recovered slowly on its own.
Filling up completely took about a day.
'What I set up was for auto-hunt.'
If he planned to die endlessly in the dungeon, he'd have included mana recovery gear.
But auto-hunt hunted to a point, returned to base, then repeated.
No need for mana recovery setups.
A oversight, sure—but sometimes you made do with what you had.
And that let him equip more offensive spells.
"Fierce Poison Spread!"
Green poison mist poured from the Fierce Poison Fang.
It spread toward the plaza and soaked into the Swarm Spiders in an instant.
"Chiiit?"
"Chit!"
The poisoned Swarm Spiders twitched in agony.
"Kuuhargh!"
But the mist had no effect on the Golden Spider.
True to its Magic Immunity trait, it passed right through.
Leyzon didn't care.
He spent more mana to activate another spell.
"Poison Provocation!"
The Swarm Spiders shuddered...
Then chased after Leyzon on his bone broom.
Just like before.
Poison Provocation was an AoE taunt on poisoned targets.
Essential for mob pulling, obviously.
"Kuaargh!"
As the Swarm Spiders pursued Leyzon, they blocked the Golden Spider's path.
Enraged at the obstruction, it lashed out wildly.
No sense of kinship with its own kind—the rotten bastard.
But its strength was real.
The Swarm Spiders didn't dare challenge it.
The Golden Spider bulldozed through the swarm's center after Leyzon.
Which meant it was heading right into the thick of them.
'A bit more.'
Leyzon waited for the perfect moment.
And when the Golden Spider finally reached the swarm's heart...
He whipped the Fierce Poison Fang behind him.
"Fierce Poison Explosion."
A massive surge of mana drained from his body.
All at once, the Swarm Spiders lit up.
Fierce Poison Explosion detonated poisoned targets.
And the explosions dealt physical damage.
Flash!
A blinding light pierced the plaza.
Kabooooom!
A thunderous blast shook his skull.
Proving the difference between game and reality...
Leyzon got caught in the shockwave and went flying.
"Guh!"
He gripped the bone broom for dear life amid the explosion's force.
But he couldn't hold on—it flung him into the wall.
Crack!
The bone broom shattered.
Bone Brooms were weak to impacts anyway.
He'd expected it, so no panic.
The real issue: he was way up high.
Leyzon used the taekwondo falling technique he'd learned in school as a kid.
Thud!
His limbs buzzed with pain.
But his chest didn't hit, sparing his lungs.
Not bad.
He could still move freely.
Confirming that, Leyzon sprang up.
"Hoo, haa."
His body trembled from the massive mana drain.
'How many more can I do?'
Without visible mana, he couldn't gauge.
One thing was sure: no more big Fierce Poison Spreads or Explosions.
A hazy green mist hung in the air.
The aftermath of Leyzon's Fierce Poison Explosion.
Most of the Swarm Spiders had been poisoned.
The effect was nothing to scoff at.
'The Golden Spider...'
Dead?
Praying desperately that it was...
Thud!
Leyzon's hopes were dashed.
A sound cut through the mist, ignoring his wishes.
He gripped the Fierce Poison Fang tight.
Moments later, the Golden Spider emerged.
Two legs blown clean off, one more shattered.
Most of its body charred.
Especially the abdomen—ripped open, innards exposed.
And there, the Arthropod Beast's core gleamed.
Yet the Golden Spider still stood.
Its red eyes flashed.
It wasn't dead yet.
The fight wasn't over.
"Kuuuuaaaargh!"
The Golden Spider bellowed furiously.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It charged on its remaining legs.
A furious body slam.
Faster than before.
Leyzon didn't flinch.
'This means the Golden Spider's desperate.'
It was practically screaming that the explosions had hurt it bad.
Leyzon ran.
Pouring mana into the effort once more.
"Ngh!"
Dizziness hit hard.
Payback for overusing mana.
But Leyzon gritted his teeth.
He summoned another Bone Broom.
Without it, the Golden Spider would catch and kill him for sure.
Whoosh!
He barely made it airborne.
The Golden Spider followed instantly.
Leyzon forced his drooping eyes wide.
'Mana's even lower than I thought.'
His hands shook.
Was this reckless?
He was starting to grasp what life-or-death really meant.
Yet Leyzon gripped the broom tighter.
'What, scared?'
He bared his teeth in defiant glee.
'I'm not dead yet.'
Which meant there was a way out.
Leyzon's eyes scanned frantically.
The Golden Spider's core—its weakness—was exposed.
Land one solid hit there, just once...
And it was done.
That's when he spotted a Swarm Spider leg.
'Perfect.'
Leyzon surged forward on the broom.
He leaned low and snatched the leg midair.
Got it.
The moment he thought that...
Splat!
A side impact twisted his body.
He tumbled off the broom.
Crash!
Leyzon rolled across the ground.
His vision spun.
What hit him?
No idea.
The shock stole his breath.
Thud! Thud!
No time to lie there.
The Golden Spider was coming.
Leyzon jumped up.
No broom in sight—shattered on impact.
"Bone Broom!"
He wrung out mana for another.
He mounted it as it dragged him up and took off.
Boom!
A Golden Spider leg smashed where he'd been.
Chilling.
A split-second slower, and he'd be dead.
Only then did he spot the sprawled Swarm Spider.
That one had survived the explosion and swiped him.
'One that dodged the Fierce Poison Explosion.'
In-game, they'd all explode—but this was reality.
Cost of letting his guard down.
Pain throbbed in his right arm.
Bone probably cracked; it wouldn't move right.
'Fine. Left arm's good.'
His left hand clamped the spider leg.
This would do.
'Mana's almost gone.'
He felt it now—true rock bottom.
Maybe one Fierce Poison Explosion, tops.
'No Fierce Poison Spread left.'
Plan was Spread on the leg, then Explode the core.
But the extra Broom had burned his last Spread mana.
No Spread meant no Explosion.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Golden Spider kept coming.
Its stamina seemed endless.
Death closed in tighter.
Leyzon's mind felt on the verge of shutdown.
Grind!
But he clenched his teeth.
Mana remained.
His body remained.
There was a breakthrough.
Leyzon jammed the Fierce Poison Fang between his teeth.
Then lifted the Swarm Spider leg with his left hand.
The leg bristled with needle-like hairs.
Getting hit by one applied a bleed debuff.
He eyed the blood trickling from his injured right arm.
Mixed with sweat from pain and fatigue.
A feral, mad grin twisted Leyzon's lips.
"Arm's busted—lucky break. Won't feel bad using it."
He rubbed the spider leg on his right arm.
The needle hairs dug in.
Excruciating pain surged.
"Grrraaagh!"
Biting down on the Fierce Poison Fang to stifle his scream.
One might think he'd gone insane, self-harming.
But this was his best play.
Sizzle!
The leg sizzled where it touched his blood.
One of Leyzon's skills.
Poisonous Constitution (C).
Poison coursed through his veins.
No mana for Fierce Poison Spread?
Then he'd improvise with his own toxic blood.
Leyzon's eyes blazed.
His right arm hung in tatters.
But that didn't matter now.
Gripping the poisoned leg, he turned the broom around.
Whoosh!
Straight at the Golden Spider.
"Kuuuuaaaargh!"
Seeing Leyzon turn, it thrashed even harder.
Then swung every remaining leg at him.
Leyzon crouched low on the broom.
Its speed let it dodge the first swings.
But brooms were straight-line fast—poor at turns.
Couldn't evade them all.
Just before a leg connected...
Shh!
Leyzon canceled the broom and dropped.
He barely grazed under the leg.
Then its exposed guts loomed before him.
Leyzon powered his left arm.
Falling momentum plus full force—he stabbed the leg down.
Squelch!
Organs tore.
Not the best sensation.
But it meant the leg had pierced deep inside.
Problem: he hadn't mounted the Golden Spider.
Thwap!
He bounced off its body into the air.
The impact popped the Fierce Poison Fang from his mouth.
Can't drop it.
Leyzon reached out.
Snag!
He caught the Fierce Poison Fang.
Green energy flared fiercely from it.
The last dregs of mana.
Leyzon aimed at the Golden Spider.
Unyielding will and stubborn persistence.
This was the payoff.
Bloody it was.
Go out in style.
"Fierce Poison Explosion."
Green light flooded the plaza once more.