I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 46
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 46.
Black waves surged from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the Cave.
As the distance closed thanks to the lantern Elion carried at his waist, I could see the creatures clearly.
The black spiders crawling out of the Darkness were each larger than a decent-sized dog, and the foremost pair of legs on each was sharp as blades.
There were easily dozens of such spiders.
“Those are Arachne’s Spiderlings!”
Elion cried out in a sharp voice.
Han-sung raised his sword toward the Spiderling approaching right before his eyes and asked back.
“Those are Spiderlings?”
Spiderlings simply meant baby spiders. Normally, such baby spiders were no larger than a fingernail.
Meanwhile, the spiders before my eyes were so enormous I wondered if they could grow any larger.
“That’s right! They’re far smaller and weaker compared to Arachne! Still, you mustn’t let your guard down!”
It seemed Arachne was several times larger than these creatures.
But for now, dealing with the enemies before me was more important, as Elion said.
Shiiing—!
As the distance closed, several spiders spat out webs.
Instead of blocking it with my sword, I moved to the side and dodged. Then, rather than wait any longer, I extended my leg forward and swung my blade.
Crack!
My swung sword split the Spiderling’s head clean in two.
The creature died instantly, but my expression wasn’t particularly pleased.
‘Quite hard, actually.’
Its shell was far harder than I’d expected. Considering the sword I held, an ordinary blade wouldn’t even cut properly.
Of course, dealing with the Spiderlings themselves wasn’t a major problem. The real issue was their parent.
‘Arachne must be far harder.’
Arachne couldn’t possibly be large in size alone.
As I mentally considered Arachne’s specifications, I simultaneously swung my sword with vigor.
“Hah!”
Meanwhile, Elion also dispatched the Spiderlings approaching at terrifying speed.
His movements were so graceful they resembled a dance.
As his slender, straight blade cut swiftly through the air, holes appeared in the Spiderlings’ eyes or joints—their weak points.
Pababak!
Hank wasn’t falling behind in his efforts either.
He displayed truly terrifying rapid fire, each arrow finding its mark precisely in the spider’s eyes, shredding its head.
The Spiderlings surged forward with terrible momentum, but neither Han-sung nor Elion—nor even Hank—took a single step from where they stood.
“Hmm? They’re not coming anymore.”
“Seems so.”
After a few minutes passed, the Spiderlings had been completely eliminated.
I focused and examined the interior of the Cave, wondering if any might be hiding, but I sensed nothing in particular.
‘Well, we did dispatch quite a lot.’
Just counting the corpses scattered across the floor, it seemed we’d eliminated somewhere between seventy and eighty.
Elion also surveyed the interior of the Cave with a cautious expression, then smiled and spoke.
“Our coordination is better than I expected!”
The “our” he mentioned naturally included Hank as well.
Of course, Hank dismissed it lightly.
“Not bad. Though we’re not done yet.”
“There will be more Spiderlings. Typically, the stronger specimens stay closer to Arachne.”
Elion nodded at Hank’s words.
Indeed, both of them seemed quite knowledgeable about Arachne.
“Let’s talk as we head deeper.”
“Understood!”
The three of us moved past the Spiderling corpse and ventured inward.
During this, I posed a question to both of them.
“But how do you know so much about Arachne? Have you faced one before?”
“This is my first time! But I studied the knowledge separately.”
“I’ve faced one before.”
“Knowledge? And when you say you’ve faced one, are you talking about in The Tower?”
As I asked again, Elion answered first.
“There are monster-related texts. I made a firm decision and purchased them before climbing The Tower. They were quite expensive, but they’ve been incredibly helpful.”
“Oh, monster-related texts? That would really be useful if such things exist!”
“Hehe. Indeed. If you wish to trade for them later, just say the word.”
Elion’s proposal was truly attractive. Monster information texts—I’d never even heard that such things existed on Earth.
There were a few posts on the internet, but they contained only fragmented information, and most of it focused on monsters that appeared in the lower floors.
Information about floors beyond a certain level was virtually nonexistent, as if deliberately suppressed.
‘Could that also be some kind of Tower restriction?’
I recalled the restrictions Baek-seol had mentioned to me—that information beyond a certain level couldn’t be shared.
Then, as Elion finished speaking, Hank opened his mouth.
“Where I lived, there was an Arachne subjugation operation. I participated in it.”
“Oh… wait, so that means monsters exist in your world too?”
“Hm? Isn’t that obvious?”
“Of course.”
At my words, Hank and Elion exchanged puzzled glances.
For a moment, I hesitated about whether I should say this, then opened my mouth.
“Well. Where we lived, there were no monsters.”
“What? Ah, surely The Tower hasn’t existed for long?”
“Hm? It’s been a few years.”
“A few years! So that’s why!”
Elion nodded in understanding.
“Then you still have time. Our world also had no monsters in the past.”
“That’s enviable. You still have a chance.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“That’s….”
Elion, usually talkative, seemed about to say something before his mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
Actually, looking more carefully, Hank was doing the same thing.
Both appeared flustered, repeating the gesture several more times before speaking aloud again.
“It seems the words aren’t getting through.”
“Hmm. You didn’t hear anything at all?”
“Not a thing. Ah. Could this be information we’re not yet permitted to access?”
“That seems to be the case. I’ve heard about it before. The Tower has various restrictions…. But in our world, since the Tower appeared so long ago, those restrictions are much weaker.”
“I see….”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
It was disappointing not to satisfy my curiosity, but this was still a worthwhile exchange of information.
At least I’d gained various insights about other worlds.
‘These two seem to have relatively moderate temperaments.’
I observed them briefly while thinking this.
The atmosphere was better than I’d worried it would be. Elion didn’t seem particularly bothered by Hank’s dismissive attitude toward me.
‘Or perhaps they’re just pretending.’
It would be foolish to judge based solely on what I see now.
At least until we complete this floor’s objective, I cannot afford to let my guard down.
‘Most importantly, both of them are quite skilled.’
I recalled the images of both of them from the brief combat just now.
Though the fight was short and I didn’t see much, I could definitely tell that both possessed considerable composure.
‘At minimum, they’re on par with Cheon-ung.’
Cheon-ung only appears weak compared to me; he’s still counted among the world’s finest Awakeners.
Yet I judged that no matter how weak these two were, they’d likely be at a similar level to Cheon-ung.
The details would probably become clear when we faced Arachne, the Floor Master.
“There’s another spacious area ahead.”
“Yeah. It looks much wider than the last one.”
Where Elion pointed, there was an extremely vast cavern.
However, from our current position, it merely appeared empty, true to its name.
“That’s even more suspicious. Let’s approach slowly.”
At Hank’s words, both nodded and cautiously moved forward.
For now, there were no particular issues until we exited the narrow passage. But the moment we entered the cavern, I felt something off.
I instinctively sensed the flow and quickly noticed a massive current extending upward.
I lifted my head sharply, saw something, and spoke in a voice only they could hear.
“Above.”
The moment I said that, both were already looking at the ceiling.
“There it is.”
“A fully mature form.”
Elion and Hank each spoke a word.
Just as they said, the Floor Master of this level was positioned on the ceiling.
The ruler of the desolate spider cavern. Mother to hundreds of Spiderlings.
A colossal monster with a body of black silk sat upon a silver web—its upper half a human woman’s torso grafted seamlessly onto the arachnid form below.
Scattered across the web were spiders inferior to Arachne, yet two to three times larger than the Spiderlings we’d faced climbing here.
“Those beside her—are they semi-adults and juveniles?”
Hank spoke a few more words, then raised his bow.
“Do you need more time to prepare?”
“No.”
“I’m ready as well.”
At our responses, Hank nodded and gripped the bowstring with one hand, muttering something under his breath.
Whoosh!
An arrow wreathed in flames materialized at the string.
Hank drew it back fully, then released it toward the ceiling without hesitation.
What happened next was remarkable.
Fwoooosh!
The arrow expanded dramatically as it flew, then split into twenty projectiles just before striking the web, attacking every spider simultaneously.
“Shrieeeeek—!”
The smaller spiders shrieked as flames consumed their bodies, writhing across the web.
The fire spread naturally along the silk strands.
Watching this, I revised my assessment of Hank upward considerably.
Though most were smaller specimens, that single attack had killed roughly a third of the spiders.
“Impressive! To burn Arachne’s own web! This is no ordinary flame!”
Elion, equally impressed, drew his sword and assumed a ready stance.
Moments after Hank’s arrow struck the web, several spiders leaped down with fierce hostility.
Among them were creatures targeting me.
“Shrieeeeek!”
I swung my blade at the spider descending directly above my head.
Crack!
The resistance against my sword was stronger than before, yet I tore through the spider’s body without difficulty.
Splurch!
But another seized the opening to fire webbing at me.
And that wasn’t the end.
As I dodged the web, a different spider hanging from above lashed out with razor-sharp forelegs.
I blocked with my blade and glanced up—the creature dangled from the silk above.
‘Higher intelligence too?’
These were unmistakably different from the Spiderlings I’d faced initially. They seemed to employ strategy, coordinating their attacks with deliberate intent.
Yet I felt no real danger.
Whoosh!
No matter how sturdy their bodies, a swing of my blade split them cleanly in two.
Splurch!
Whish!
Even if I shot out spider webs and launched surprise attacks through the gaps, there was no way they would reach Han-sung, who read every current and flow around him.
Hank and Elion, just as when they had faced Spiderings before, dispatched the spiders without any difficulty whatsoever.
Only their size and numbers had changed—the scene was identical to when they slaughtered the Spiderings.
‘They’re both certainly strong.’
I had felt it from the first battle, but they truly exceeded my expectations.
Yet, that didn’t make me feel they were above me.
I was currently using only my swordsmanship, without employing any of my other abilities.
‘If they also have hidden power they haven’t revealed, that would be a different story.’
Even as I harbored such thoughts, I continued to swing my blade, and when the remaining spiders dwindled to single digits.
Whoosh—.
A black shadow fell over everyone’s heads.
At last, Arachne had begun to move her massive body.
—Stop.
Simultaneously, dozens of bundles of spider webs shot forth at a terrifying velocity.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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