Weakness Detection, Floor 0 Cleared
Squelch.
Sharp teeth tore into something in the darkness.
Clamped in Daengdaengi's jaws was a leg — thick, bristling with coarse hair.
The moment Doha recognized what it was, a scream tore itself out of her throat.
"Hiek! Th-the Giant Spider…!"
As if it had only been waiting for this, the entire corridor began to writhe. Countless legs pressed against the floor as the swarm came surging forward.
The darkness deep in the passage filled up with glistening spider eyes and started to shine, wet and oily.
"Ugh…"
Doha hid herself behind her shield with a fear-laced moan.
Grrrwooo-!
A long howl rolled in from up ahead.
"Daengdaeng!"
That familiar voice, shaking the corridor to its foundations, thawed Doha's frozen body.
She collected herself and peeked out from beside her shield, just her head poking out to survey the battle.
There are so many of them, but the corridor's narrow!
The passage was barely wide enough for four grown adults to stand shoulder to shoulder — only the three spiders at the very front could engage at once.
Even now the spiders were squeezing through the tight passage in a three-column formation, shoving and jostling their way in.
This terrain cancels out their numbers advantage… they said holding the line is everything in a chokepoint like this…!
WHAM-
Daengdaengi's forepaws swung in a blur, and the lead spiders were slammed bodily into the wall. The one behind got snatched up by the nape and flung, bowling over two more of its comrades as it went.
"…"
Was this what Jangpanpa's legendary equipment had been like? The black wolf had plugged the entire corridor by herself, grinding the incoming enemies up like a blender.
Huh? I don't think this even needs a strategy…?
They say a weak body means the head suffers. Well—
When the body's this good, the head gets to rest easy…
She was tucked behind her shield, spectating Daengdaengi's one-woman massacre, when—
Ssshhk-
One spider reared up and sprayed out a yellowish liquid. Daengdaengi snapped her body aside to dodge, and the miss splattered across the wall instead.
"Uh…?"
The wall, which had looked solid as anything, began to melt.
Steam rose as the liquid ran down, carving grooves wherever it flowed. Etched into the wall was a pattern eerily similar to the marks they'd seen in the passage on the way in.
Ssshhk- Shhhk-!
The spiders in the back started spraying acid in droves.
Grrrr-!
Daengdaengi's movements turned noticeably cramped.
She'd swing her forepaws and have to pull back; she'd go to bite a spider apart and have to veer sideways.
Daengdaengi's being pushed back…!
While Doha racked her brain for a way to help the wolf whose movements were being hemmed in—
Plop-
A drop of acid landed on the shield in Doha's hands.
"H-hiieek!"
She shrieked and flung it off in a panic.
If this keeps up, we're in trouble…
If the spiders kept up this bombardment, Doha's shield would end up just like that wall — a molten puddle.
Shhhk-!
A thick stream of acid shot straight for Daengdaengi's flank. She twisted hard to avoid it, leaving her right side open for a heartbeat.
A spider dove into that gap.
"Ah—!"
The moment the giant spider loomed right in front of Doha's eyes, her body raised the shield on pure reflex.
BANG!
The shield held, but Doha's body couldn't bear the massive impact and buckled.
Her feet left the ground, and she toppled backward, still hugging the shield to her chest.
"U-uuuh…"
The spider raised a leg, its pointed tip descending toward Doha.
KWAAANG-!
Daengdaengi came sprinting back and slammed into it, sending the spider flying into the opposite wall.
"Daengdaeng!"
The spiders gave them no time to breathe.
The moment Daengdaengi turned her back, the spiders behind her lifted their maws as one.
Shhhk-
Daengdaengi raised her foreleg and blocked the acid that came arcing toward Doha.
Ssshhk-
Black fur burned away, sinking into a shallow crater where it had been. The fur was thick enough that her skin went untouched — but Doha couldn't take any comfort in that fact.
"…"
Of all legs, it had to be the one Doha had bandaged.
I can't let her get hurt again…
Gripping her shield with trembling hands, she pushed herself up.
For all her steely resolve, actually charging into the fight herself was beyond her.
If I rush at those spiders… one single hit and my body'll be split in half…!
So instead, she leaned on her one specialty and started analyzing the battle.
Shhhk-
Acid came flying one glob at a time.
Why aren't they dumping it all at once…?
If dozens of them had sprayed simultaneously, this corridor — and Doha with it — would have melted long ago.
Not every spider can shoot it…
Pieces of the puzzle clicked together in her head.
A handful of ranged attackers, and the tanks shielding them…
If she could pick out which of the dozens of identical black blobs were the acid spiders, she could lighten Daengdaengi's burden.
Think! Recall everything you read on the forum over the last five years!
Acid-type monsters. She was sure she'd read a post about exactly that kind of monster once.
[Acid-Type Monster Guide Even Newbies Can Follow~]
Scared of acid that melts solid steel?
Read this post carefully and you'll never have to fear it again~
To carry acid around, a monster needs a pouch to hold it in, right?
Keep that thing inside its body and the acid would melt itself first~
That's why acid-type monsters mostly have their discharge organs exposed on the outside of the body~
If this helped, drop an upvote everyone~
— I read this and popped the pouch, then melted one of my arms off!
— Is there any info on acid that only melts clothes?
↳ (Private post)
So there's a distinguishable body part visible from the outside! But… how am I supposed to tell in this darkness…?
Worse, Daengdaengi's back was blocking her line of sight.
I can't use my eyes. I need another sense.
In a few spots along the corridor floor, white steam was curling up, and an acrid smell drifted through the air.
Marks where acid leaked out…
The acid spiders couldn't help dribbling a little of their payload every time they fired.
Then their feet must be wet… those are the ones doing the shooting!
The instant she swept her gaze over the marks, one more pattern jumped out at her.
They put the tank spiders up front and aim for the flanks!
The acid spiders pressed against the walls, angling for a side shot. Doha sorted the spiders' traits out in her head.
There was just one problem: the only one she could relay all this to was a wolf who didn't speak her language.
Daengdaengi understood a fair amount of what Doha said, but in a crisis like this, Doha couldn't count on the wolf reacting instantly to her every word.
Isn't there a way even Daengdaengi could spot them easily…
She tried to remember how she herself had pieced it together just now.
Wet marks. Leaked acid.
The smell…!
If direct commands were out, all she had to do was tell Daengdaengi who to target first.
Daengdaengi's nose is way sharper than mine! She'll react even faster than I could shout orders!
Decision made, Doha shouted.
"Daengdaeng! The walls! Go for the ones that smell wet first!"
At Doha's words, Daengdaengi's nose twitched.
Sniff sniff-
She took one deep breath, and her forward-driving body broke hard toward the left wall. She shoved aside the two tank spiders blocking the way and pinned the wall-hugging spider to the floor.
CRUNCH-!
Yellow liquid burst from the crushed body. Daengdaengi slipped sideways, clear of the acid's splash radius.
"That's it! Good girl!"
With every sweep of Daengdaengi's forepaws, the incoming acid visibly thinned.
Even with Daengdaengi on a rampage, one held out to the very end.
The innermost spider, half-hidden in the darkness.
Every time they closed in, the tank spiders barred the way, and from behind that screen it kept hurling acid.
Shhhk-!
I'm running out of time…
She gritted her teeth and stared hard into the depths — and something caught her eye.
Huh…?
The acid spider's belly had gone flat. It had been swollen taut just moments ago; now it hung limp and deflated.
It takes time to refill. It can't spray anything for a while!
"Daengdaeng! The one at the very back — she's wide open right now!"
At Doha's order, Daengdaengi's ears pricked up, and she leapt clean over the tank spiders.
CRUNCH-
The instant the innermost acid spider was flattened beneath her—
[You have understood the ecology of the individual 'Acid Spider'.]
[A sub-skill of 'Understander of Magical Beasts' is being unlocked.]
[Skill 'Weakness Detection' has activated!]
Her vision transformed in an instant.
Contours bloomed around the spiders that had been mere smudges in the darkness, and on the abdomens of a few of them, red dots flickered into being.
Three acid spiders left…
Daengdaengi, mid-bite into one of the spiders, froze — then snapped her head around. In her blue eyes glowed the same red dots Doha was seeing.
"You see them?"
Grrrr-
"Sweep up the red ones first!"
What followed was less a battle than a one-sided hunt.
Under Daengdaengi's lightning-fast movements, every last red dot was gone in under a minute.
"One's getting away!"
The spider trying to melt back into the darkness — Daengdaengi chased it down and flattened it.
Crunch-
Watching the final one get dealt with, the tension finally began to drain out of her.
"Haa… haa…"
Even braced against her shield, her legs kept threatening to buckle.
Daengdaengi, the fight over, padded up and pushed her face close to Doha.
"Hehe~ Daengdaeng, you okay? Let me see that leg."
She took hold of the foreleg, its fur sunken into a crater, and peered at it — and a huge muzzle thumped down on top of her head.
"H-heavy…!"
Deeper in, the passage opened up all at once.
A cavern so tall the ceiling vanished from sight, papered wall to wall in white spider silk.
From among the webbing, black shapes raised their heads in unison.
"Three on the walls! One more on the ceiling!"
Spot the red dot, Daengdaengi pounced, squash. Now that she knew the method, it didn't take long.
They'd all lose it if I posted this to the gallery…?
It drove her crazy that she couldn't open the gallery inside a gate.
I want to get out of here…
After the fighting was done, she scoured the floor and gathered up the magic stones.
"Oh, these are decent-sized?"
The spiders' magic stones were impressively large — putting them next to the goblins' felt almost insulting.
This should keep Daengdaengi fed for a week at least!
The moment she picked up one more stone, the familiar notification appeared before her eyes.
[Skill 'Understander of Magical Beasts' has activated!]
The inside of the cavern overlaid itself with images from another time.
There was nothing in here to eat. The upward passage was one no spider could enter.
The hatchlings that broke free of their eggs withered and died before they ever grew up.
Then one day, light poured down from above, and a person descended.
From that day on, the spiders clung to the underside of the tile, waiting for prey to fall to them. That long, long stretch of time was nothing but an unending, terrible famine.
They were so hungry…
The magic stones clinked in her palm.
The spiders had thrown themselves at her to survive; Doha had killed them so she wouldn't be eaten. A strange bitterness settled in her chest.
The hand slipping the last stones into her pocket had grown more careful than before.
Once she'd collected every stone, she retraced her steps.
Back in the chamber where she'd first arrived, a notification floated up before her eyes.
[Monsters appearing out of nowhere in a sealed space — wouldn't it be worth suspecting, at least once, that a passage exists somewhere?
If this had not been the tutorial, monsters burrowing up through the floor might have ambushed you the very moment you relaxed into your victory.
Always remember: inside the Tower, question everything.]