LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 17
“Reti?”In response, the bushes rustled, and a rabbit plushie emerged, covered in leaves and dirt.“Human!”It beamed cheerfully, holding a large, black egg.“Where have you been? And what’s that?”Elsez eyed the egg suspiciously. Its surface was soft and slimy rather than hard, with a sticky, viscous liquid clinging to it.It resembled the eggs of an insect or a fish rather than those of a beast.But Reti, clearly excited, exclaimed, “Didn’t you say eggs are used to make egg tarts? Let’s make a giant egg tart with this one!”“Whose egg is that? And where did you get it?”“I found it! It was just lying there!”Elsez gave Reti a disbelieving look before snatching the egg away.She carefully placed it back into a nearby patch of grass and stepped away.Reti stared at her, confused.“Why are you leaving it there?”“Leave it.”“What? The egg tart!”“Who would make an egg tart out of something that looks like that? It’s obviously a monster egg. Let’s go before this turns into a bigger mess.”“But my egg tart…”Ignoring Reti’s wistful gaze toward the egg, Elsez shoved the plushie back into her pocket.Just then, a man’s scream pierced the air.“AAAAH!”Startled, Elsez instinctively turned toward the sound.Probably just a beginner caught up with a monster, she thought.Such incidents were common in the Starting Forest.She was about to ignore it and move on when the man’s desperate cries grew louder, filled with sheer panic and even sobbing.“Help me! Please, someone help me!”His voice was frantic, the situation clearly urgent.Sighing, Elsez turned around and sprinted toward the source of the cries.When she arrived at the presumed location, however, there was nothing there.I’m sure it was around here…She scanned the area, frowning, when her foot bumped against something.“A sword?”She picked it up, assuming it belonged to the person who had been screaming.At that moment, she sensed movement above her and heard muffled sobbing.Looking up, she saw a familiar face cocooned in webbing and dangling from a tree.It was the guild member who had pestered her earlier.“Mmph! Mmph!”His mouth was also sealed with webbing, rendering his screams silent.Seeing his predicament, Elses smirked and mocked him.“A guy like you, doing quests? Just stay quiet and I might save you—if you behave.”Though he recognized the words as his own, thrown back at him, he had no choice but to pin his hopes on her.Suddenly, Reti’s urgent voice shouted from her pocket.“Human, behind you!”Elsez spun around as a sticky thread of web shot toward her. She dodged swiftly and turned toward the attacker.On a tree branch, a massive spider, the size of a six-year-old child, hissed at her with multiple gleaming eyes fixed on her.“Oh, so you’re the owner of that egg?”The spider hissed louder, as if confirming her words.Elsez tightened her grip on the sword, locking eyes with the creature.The spider moved first, shooting another web in her direction.With mana surging into her legs, Elsez dodged the attack, darting toward a nearby tree and scaling it swiftly.The spider scanned the trees, its multiple eyes darting in every direction, searching for her.From above, Elsez crept closer, using the dense foliage as cover.She leapt, ready to strike from above, but just as she moved, the spider’s eyes locked onto her.A thread of webbing shot toward her mid-air.It left an opening on purpose…!Unable to avoid the attack, Elsez’ wrist was pinned to a tree by the sticky web.“Ugh…”Struggling, she dangled with her arm stuck as the spider fired another thread, knocking the sword from her hand to the forest floor.The spider began to crawl toward her along its web, ready to cocoon her.As it approached, a bright blue light flared from her arm, mana coalescing rapidly.Before the spider could react, she ripped through the web restraining her arm and slammed her glowing fist into the creature’s body.“My specialty isn’t the sword—it’s my fists.”Elsez had feigned weakness to lure the spider in.Without giving it time to recover, she unleashed a flurry of punches, pummeling the spider relentlessly.The creature, overwhelmed, fell with her to the ground below.Thud!The spider lay still, unable to move. Though its exterior appeared unharmed, its insides had been pulverized by her mana-enhanced blows.That thing doesn’t belong in a beginner’s hunting ground. Why is it here?As Elsez pondered the spider’s unusual presence, the muffled cries of the guild member hanging above snapped her out of her thoughts.“Mmph! Mmph!”The guild member locked eyes with Elsez, his gaze pleading for help as he struggled even harder in his cocoon.Elsez looked at him with disdain.Caught like this in the Starting Forest of all places… How did someone this weak even get into Eternal?Spiders, being gourmands that preferred live prey, usually injected paralyzing venom before feasting.Yet this man had managed to get caught without even being stung, which spoke volumes about his skills—or lack thereof.With a sigh, Elsez climbed the tree and cut through the web binding him.Even then, the man was unable to free himself, prompting Elsez to tear through the cocoon herself.Finally, the guild member wriggled out and collapsed to the ground.“T-Thanks. You saved my life,” he stammered.“Yeah, yeah. Be more careful next time.”He glanced at her, noticing her casual tone, and hesitated for a moment before speaking.“Uh…”Elsez raised a brow, silently daring him to say something.“N-Never mind.”Cowed, the guild member averted his gaze and shuffled over to retrieve his dropped sword.As he moved away, Elsez turned to leave, but something stopped her.A cold wind carried an ominous sensation through the air.What is this feeling? It’s familiar somehow…A creeping sense of dread gripped her chest.She turned back to the guild member and called out.“Hey, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Why don’t we call it a day and head back?”“Are you kidding? I just got this thing—I’m not leaving it behind!”The guild member ignored her warning, clutching his sword as he approached the spider’s corpse.Monster carcasses turned to ash after a while, vanishing completely unless their materials were harvested in time. He clearly intended to extract whatever items he could before it disappeared.But the moment he drew close, the spider’s jaws twitched.Watching idly, Elsez noticed the movement a second too late.I didn’t confirm the kill…!The spider’s jaws snapped open, lunging toward the guild member’s leg.Elsez dashed forward, shoving the man out of the way and grabbing his sword. She drove the blade down into the spider’s head, silencing it for good.But as the creature fell limp, something sharp pierced her leg.“Ugh!”A second spider had appeared, sinking its fangs into her calf.Without hesitation, Elsez swung her fist, enhanced with mana, into the creature’s body.The spider twitched as her blows landed repeatedly, finally collapsing lifelessly on the ground.The guild member scrambled to his feet, his face pale with shock as he looked at her.“A-Are you okay?”Instead of answering, Elsez glanced down at her leg, her brows furrowing.Paralytic venom…The wound itself wasn’t serious, but the venom injected through the bite was another matter.It wouldn’t kill her, but it would slowly immobilize her body. Without proper treatment, it would take hours for the effects to wear off.Elsez shot a sharp glare at the guild member, who flinched under her gaze.“Do you have any antidote potions?” she asked, her tone clipped.“N-No,” he admitted sheepishly.Elsez sighed heavily. Of course he didn’t have any.Antidote potions were expensive, and since status-inflicting monsters rarely appeared in beginner hunting grounds, most people didn’t bother bringing them here.The guild member, looking guilty, hesitated before asking, “Do you, uh… need me to carry you?”“No.”The idea of being carried by someone weaker than her—and by someone who had been hitting on her just a while ago—was too irritating to bear.I’ve finished the quest. If I leave the forest before the venom paralyzes me completely, I should be fine.She was formulating her escape plan when the ground suddenly shook beneath her feet.BOOM!A deafening explosion roared from nearby, followed by tremors strong enough to rattle her bones.