Chapter 56. Arachne
I carefully picked up the paper Pururu had sent me.
Then, slowly moved my gaze over the paper, admiring the drawing.
“······.”
【Yumi】 ─ Wow. Did Pururu really draw this? It’s so impressive!
【Rizenova】 ─ You certainly have a talent for drawing.
【Mysticism】 ─😮
【Mysticism】 ─ Pururu suddenly looks so cool.
Admiring the drawing, I furrowed my brow slightly and spoke.
“···You drew it well.”
【Pururu】 ─ Haha, proud.
【Yumi】 ─ Huh?
【Pururu】 ─ What now, why ‘huh’? What kind of nonsense is that?
【Yumi】 ─ No, it’s just that Kang’s reaction seemed a bit off. Maybe he didn’t like the drawing?
【Mysticism】 ─ But it’s well-drawn.
It seemed Ha Yumi had noticed the subtle change in my expression.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like the drawing.
And I wasn’t being insincere when I said it was well-drawn.
It was genuinely a unique and cool drawing, so much so that it left me in awe.
The brief change in my expression was due to another reason.
“No. I really like it.”
【Yumi】 ─ Really? You suddenly frowned, so I thought you didn’t like it.
【Rizenova】 ─ When you’re deeply immersed in appreciating art, your expression tends to get serious.
【Mysticism】 ─ Art! Artist Pururu!
【Mysticism】 ─👍
【Pururu】 ─ Kkkk.
“More than that, Luru, is the name of this really *Kinogine Arachne*?”
Because of the sudden shift in my expression.
I quickly changed the subject, fearing Pururu might feel offended for no reason.
【Pururu】 ─ Yep, that’s right.
【Pururu】 ─ The Korean name with ‘Kinogine Arachne’ in parentheses means it’s okay to pronounce it like that.
【Yumi】 ─ Is the name written above in Greek?
【Pururu】 ─ Yup. Arachne appears in Greek mythology, so I wrote it in Greek.
“Ah. So it’s Greek. You put a lot of thought into it. Thanks.”
【Pururu】 ─ Haha, no need to thank me. Since it’s for the little one, I had to at least put that much effort in.
【Mysticism】 ─ Pururu is so cool.
【Yumi】 ─ But Pururu, you even know Greek? You’re surprisingly versatile.
【Pururu】 ─ I just used Google Translate though.
【Yumi】 ─ Oh, I see.
【Mysticism】 ─🤭
【Rizenova】 ─ What is this ‘Google Translate’?
【Pururu】 ─ You don’t need to know.
*Kinogine Arachne.*
The name of the species Pururu came up with.
I conveyed that name to the evolved Dog Spider.
Upon hearing it, the creature murmured with a curious expression.
［Kinogine, Arachne···.］
“Pururu came up with the name. How do you like it?”
【Pururu】 ─ Say you like it right now, little one!!!
【Yumi】 ─ She’s not ‘little one’ anymore, you know.
【Mysticism】 ─ Change her nickname to ‘Plump’ now.
【Pururu】 ─ Mysti, shut up. You’ve reached your chat limit for today, so now only use emojis.
【Mysticism】 ─🤐
The Dog Spider slightly opened one of its eyes.
It seemed to have a habit of doing so occasionally, perhaps as a way to express emotion.
［It seems like a good name.］
The Dog Spider smiled faintly, curling its lips.
It seemed that the new name was somewhat to its liking.
“From now on, I’ll call you Kino for short.”
［Yes, Father. And thank you, Pururu, for giving me such a great name.］
Arachne gently closed her eyes, bowing to Pururu in gratitude.
Her previous pure and adorable demeanor had faded, replaced by a mature, elegant, and polite attitude.
【Pururu】 ─ Hey! You’re too young to address me like that! How disrespectful!
【Pururu】 ─ From now on, call me Pururu *Unnie*, little one.
【Pururu】 ─ Kang, pass it on.
【Yumi】 ─ So, Pururu is a girl after all.
【Mysticism】 ─ Female!
【Rizenova】 ─ So, not genderless, huh?
“Kino, Pururu says you should call her *Unnie*.”
［Understood, Pururu Unnie.］
【Pururu】 ─ Hehe.
【Mysticism】 ─🤭
【Yumi】 ─ Kino! You can call me *Mom*!
【Yumi】 ─ Kang, pass on my message too. Haha.
I pretended not to see Ha Yumi’s chat.
【Rizenova】 ─ Tell her to use ‘Mother’ for me too.
【Pururu】 ─ You’re not even a woman, you crazy man.
【Yumi】 ─ Two moms…!
【Rizenova】 ─ Genderless beings can be both male and female. Therefore, they can be fathers or mothers as well.
【Pururu】 ─ Just go die somewhere.
【Mysticism】 ─😠
I also lightly ignored Rize’s chat.
Before tucking the paper into the journal, I showed it to Arachne.
Since it was a drawing of her, she should at least see it once.
Arachne took the paper.
After squinting at it and examining the drawing, she let out a small exclamation of admiration.
［Wow···. I liked the name, but the drawing is amazing too.］
“I’m glad you like it.”
【Pururu】 ─ Haha, your Unnie worked hard on it, little one.
Arachne smiled contentedly and gently stroked the drawing.
［It seems Pururu Unnie has a talent for drawing, just like you, Father. While it’s not exactly like me, it captures all my important features well.］
“Hmm? How do you know whether it looks like you or not? You haven’t even seen a mirror yet.”
［I gained a new ability called *Hyper-sense* during evolution. I can use it to grasp my appearance.］
“Really? That’s a useful ability.”
【Yumi】 ─ So, she can see herself from a third-person perspective.
【Pururu】 ─ It seems like she can also see her surroundings without relying on her eyes.
【Rizenova】 ─ That’s why she kept her eyes closed, huh.
【Mysticism】 ─😮
【Mysticism】 ─ Hyper-sense!
“Anyway, Kino. If you’re done looking, hand it back so I can put it in the journal.”
I held out my hand to Arachne.
She hesitated for a moment, then hugged the paper tightly and spoke.
［Father. I want to keep this drawing. Can I?］
It seemed she liked the drawing more than I had expected.
【Pururu】 ─ Kang, just give it to her as an evolution gift. I’ll draw another one for the journal.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the creator gave her approval.
I nodded and told Arachne she could keep the drawing, mentioning that Pururu had also agreed.
Arachne, pleased, wiggled her droopy dog-like ears.
［Thank you. I’ll cherish it. From now on, this will be my second treasure.］
“Your second treasure? What’s your first?”
［You, Father.］
“······.”
Arachne, who slyly responded, carefully tucked the paper between her cleavage.
Her chest was so large that she could store the paper without folding it.
***
After finishing a meal with the monsters huddled together.
I tested the abilities of the newly evolved Kinogine Arachne.
The first ability we tested was *Hyper-sense*.
With this ability, she could perfectly perceive her surroundings even with her eyes closed.
【Pururu】 ─ Where did she suddenly get a power like that from?
【Yumi】 ─ Maybe she was influenced by the Fox.
But that wasn’t all.
Her reaction speed had also increased to a near-unbelievable level.
It was as if she could predict the near future.
She could read her opponent’s moves and respond accordingly, as though reaching a new realm.
【Pururu】 ─ Woah, that’s like *Observation Haki*.
【Yumi】 ─ What’s that?
【Mysticism】 ─ Nerd.
【Pururu】 ─ Shut up.
Another notable feature was the enhanced *Neutralizing Silk* ability.
Now, the silk could exert its effects without needing direct contact.
To be specific.
Just being near the silk caused the target to weaken.
It was a similar ability to how monsters around the Explorer would get nerfed.
Although the effect was much weaker than the Explorer’s nerf ability.
For reference, a small amount of silk didn’t have much effect.
The more silk present near the target, the greater the weakening.
“It… doesn’t seem to affect me much…”
［Indeed.］
Arachne’s equivalent, Azeroth, and the Black Magma Slime were not affected by the neutralizing silk.
Even if a large amount of silk was scattered around them.
Of course, that was only if they didn’t touch the silk directly.
If their bodies touched the silk, they visibly weakened.
In addition.
Arachne was always wrapped in silk, which acted like a protective shield.
Magical or psychic attacks disappeared before they could even touch Arachne’s body,
【Pururu】 ─ Looks just like last time.
Even mental abilities with no physical form couldn’t affect Arachne.
Although we couldn’t test Psycho Clown’s mind control since it only worked on those weaker than him, telepathy and other mental abilities had no effect on her.
【Pururu】 ─ Ah, so now she has complete immunity to psychic powers. She’s definitely different from last time.
【Yumi】 ─ Wow.
【Mysticism】 ─ Even charms won’t work now!
【Rizenova】 ─ Neither would brainwashing, I suppose.
In addition to these, Arachne had several minor abilities, with the most impressive being the ability to summon *Spider Spirits*.
According to Arachne.
She could summon at least tens of thousands of spirits.
Although she currently summoned about a hundred.
The summoned spirits looked very similar to the Dog Spider, but they were slightly smaller than the Dog Spider when it was first born.
【Pururu】 ─ What the heck! The little one has come back to life!!!
【Yumi】 ─ Oh my, it’s a mini little one.
【Mysticism】 ─ A bit creepy.
【Pururu】 ─ Kang, how dangerous are these little ones?
“D-rank, roughly.”
The spider spirits were classified as D-rank in danger.
However, their actual danger level was estimated to be B-rank.
The fact that these tiny things were considered B-rank bosses…
Perhaps the spirits were currently nerfed in size, but in reality, they might be much larger.
【Yumi】 ─ Since their actual danger level is B-rank, they’re the weakest monsters we’ve met so far.
【Mysticism】 ─ They’re not monsters! They’re spirits!
【Pururu】 ─ B-rank is boss level. Not weak.
【Yumi】 ─ I meant compared to other monsters we’ve encountered in the labyrinth, they’re weak.
【Pururu】 ─ No, no. Each one is weak, but when they gather, they’re strong. Arachne said she could summon more than tens of thousands of these.
【Yumi】 ─ So, is Arachne the queen of the little ones?
【Pururu】 ─ Yep.
【Rizenova】 ─ Hmm. But is it really possible for a boss-level monster to summon tens of thousands of others?
“Logically, no. But since she possesses power beyond common sense, she’s considered SS-rank.”
With the summoning of the spirits completed.
All of Arachne’s abilities had been tested.
The other monsters looked at her with eyes filled with envy.
Soon after, the attention of the monsters shifted to Melody Fox.
［Ahem! Like I said before, I want to be friends with you. Let’s get along from now on.］
The Centaurides, clearing her throat awkwardly, sat next to Melody Fox.
［Pii! Piii!］
The Jellyfish, eyes sparkling, circled around Melody Fox.
［Kik. Your tail looks soft. It’s cool.］
［Do you want to dance with me? If we dance while singing, the fun will double! Doodoomba!］
Psycho Clown and the Hedgehog Summoner awkwardly attempted to strike up a conversation with Melody Fox.
【Pururu】 ─ Those scheming girls are so obvious. Haha.
【Yumi】 ─ Approaching like that will make it hard to get close. You have to approach naturally to win her over.
Despite the attention from many monsters.
The SS-rank monsters, the Medical Mushroom, and Iris didn’t seem interested in evolution and didn’t pester Melody Fox.
Anyway, despite all the attention, Melody Fox,
［Kyuu.］
Didn’t pay them any mind, jumping up and burying her face into Arachne’s chest.
It seemed she still wasn’t ready to open her heart to anyone but Arachne.
【Pururu】 ─ She’s so aloof.
【Mysticism】 ─🤭
***
I knew who Pururu was.
As soon as I saw the drawing she sent me, I realized her identity.
Her drawing style was so distinct.
Pururu’s true identity was Seo Dan-bi.
She was a high school classmate of mine, and we had sometimes drawn together.
‘When should I let her know that I recognize her?’
It wasn’t that I planned to keep pretending I didn’t know.
I was thinking of revealing her identity and talking with her today.
Even though I had noticed her identity earlier.
I had pretended not to know until now for a simple reason.
To be considerate of Seo Dan-bi.
In other words, I wanted to give her a bit of time.
If I suddenly revealed that I recognized her, she might be extremely flustered.
She wouldn’t run away, but still.
I also needed some time.
It had been a while since I last saw an old friend, and I was still unsure of what to say to her.
As I debated internally on when would be the best time to naturally bring up her identity.
【Pururu】 ─ Kang, I’ve finished the journal drawing.
『PLATINUM-rank Assistant ‘Pururu’ has sent a new item!』
【Pururu】 ─ Receive the drawing!
Another piece of paper arrived.
Since I had given the previous drawing to Arachne as a gift, Pururu had drawn another one for the journal.
I picked up the paper without thinking much.
And,
“Thanks, Dan-bi.”
【Pururu】 ─ Yep.
【Pururu】 ─ ?
【Mysticism】 ─🤔 Who’s Dan-bi?
Without realizing it, I had called Pururu by her real name.