“AAAh!!!” Lily’s desperate cries echoed throughout the cavern like a loud siren.

  Using all the endurance she had left in her body, she propelled herself up the tiny opening, managing to evade the stream of searing fire by the strand of a hair, getting her hind legs slightly burned up in the process, nothing that a little bit of cold water and some rest couldn’t fix.

  “Just in time,” she mumbled under her breath, gasping for air as she stared in awe—and fear—at the basilisk’s fire erupting like a geyser, instantly carbonizing a little bat that happened to fly right over it at the unluckiest moment possible.

  The monster’s attack was so powerful that it even reached the ceiling and, for some reason, turned some of the shiny blue rocks into a deeper purple.

  That was too close, Lily’s thoughts echoed her relief, letting out a loud sigh, her body heavy with exhaustion as if she had just sprinted a full marathon in record time.

  She didn’t dare look away from where she had just narrowly avoided certain death, waiting to see if the sovereign monster had other tricks—or skills as the System named them—up its sleeves. Still, as she stared at the small opening, the basilisk’s vibrations grew weaker by the second, meaning it had given up, at least for the time being.

  “I made it.” Her tone was a mix of disbelief and relief.

  She had faced a sovereign monster on her first day in a new world and lived to tell the tale. Whether it ranked among the highest or not, it was a powerful enemy, and she was proud of herself and her quick thinking.

  But what was that whisper earlier? Lily thought to herself, unable to explain why it felt so familiar, or if it even really happened.

  Unfortunately, the answer to that question was just one of Lily’s many problems, one that could wait; finding food was the next imperative on her list of needs, and much to her sparkling eyes, it was something she could actually attempt, not only because of her newfound confidence, but also because, finally, there were other life forms in the vicinity.

  “Wow,” she whispered to herself, staring at the multitude of species crawling, flying, and walking around the blue-lit cavern, whose color came mostly from shiny rocks and strange flora growing around it. So many creatures, she thought, so much food. Her mouth was already watering at the thought of what, or better yet, who, her first meal would be.

  While lost deep in her thoughts, another creature crashed into Lily by mistake, snapping her out of it. Ready for another fight, she nimbly turned around, her sharp forelegs poised to strike.

  Oh, she thought to herself as she stared at the little critter that had mistakenly bumped into her, another spider. “H-hey,” she said, her tone upbeat, yet terrified. It didn’t matter that she had reincarnated into a spider; she was still scared of them, and it was going to be a long while before she was going to feel comfortable around other creatures of her species—even looking at her own reflection freaked her out.

  The smaller arachnid didn’t answer back; it just stood there motionless, tilting its head as Lily attempted to communicate with it.

  “Do you understand me?” Lily asked, confused as to why the spider wasn’t saying anything since just a couple of moments earlier she had heard the basilisk’s voice and spoken with it.

  Still, no answer, instead the little critter just confusedly looked around itself, almost like its vision was much worse than hers, just like how she remembered a standard spider being.

  You can’t say much, can you, little buddy? Lily thought to herself, her gaze softening as she stared at the tiny spider with a weird, inexplicable fondness, waving goodbye to the small creature as it slowly pawed away.

  Deep down, even though the eight-legged critter freaked her out, she knew she could have easily been in its place, and she had no intention of harming something that looked like a baby compared to her.

  Huh, that otherworldly woman was telling the truth; I really am no ordinary spider, “and I’m sooo hungry,” she whined under her breath as her stomach growled loudly. “What can I eat around here?" she mumbled, scouting around the brightly lit portion of the cave in search of food.

  Oh? Lily’s eyes immediately sparkled as she noticed a chunky mosquito flying around; it must have been as big as her, maybe even bigger. And her mouth immediately began to water, wondering how a mosquito would even taste, hoping it could be close to chicken, or something similar at least.

  “Silk Web,” she echoed, swiftly positioning herself to hit the flying monster with her sturdy web, hoping to catch it and make it fall to its demise. If she had just managed to escape a sovereign creature, how hard could it have been to fight a measly mosquito anyway?

  Or at least that’s what she thought.

  Much to her shock, the monster had more strength than she anticipated, and instead of being able to stop its wings and force it to the ground, the mosquito pulled Lily up as it tried to flee the premises.

  “UGhhh!” Lily shrieked, her body still attached to the web, more than a couple of meters away from solid ground, dangling all over the place as the flying monster was effortlessly dragging her away.

  [Standard Mosquito engaged.]

  Huh? Lily was quite confused by the System’s warning, staring at the fleeing mosquito. Does it want to fight or—? Her train of thought was immediately interrupted when the monster turned 180 degrees, its humongous forelegs poised to strike as it flew toward her.

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  “It was a trap!” Lily gasped as she realized that the mosquito had lifted her high enough only to leave her defenseless to a counterattack. Heh, too bad for you that I’m a spider, she thought, grinning as she cut her own web, then used her skill again on a nearby surface, enabling her to evade the monster’s attack quite easily.

  There’s gotta be a way to slow it down, she planned, keeping an eye—or eight—out for the mosquito’s next move. “System, do I have any other skills?” she asked, and just like that, in the blink of an eye, the same translucent window from earlier appeared again, this time giving her a list of all the abilities at her disposal.

  “Oh crap.” Lily was shocked by the number of skills at her disposal, but that also meant there had to be one she could use to win the fight, aside from her trusty web.

  Acid Blast: short-range offensive skill. Blast the target with a melting substance—if only we were close enough.

  Appraisal: medium-range utility skill. Identify and gather info—nope.

  Detection: long-range passive skill. Identify and measure signals—ohhh, that explains a lot! Neat, but this isn’t gonna help now.

  Devour: short-range utility skill. Eat the target to replenish health and mana. Has the chance to acquire the target’s skills and/or experience—nope, this one doesn’t work either, not now at least, she thought, then suddenly got distracted by the flying monster as it attempted to strike again, this time readying its proboscis as it charged toward the little spider at much greater speed than before.

  As the enemy drew closer, Lily decided to attempt a counterattack by attaching her web to a nearby rocky column, propelling herself directly toward the mosquito, bracing for impact in case her plan didn’t work out.

  “Acid Blast!” she shouted, and a second later, a green blast of liquid released from the tip of her limbs like a magical spell, managing to hit the mosquito’s left foreleg, causing it to fly back.

  Excellent, Lily thought to herself, watching as the monster’s limb slowly turned into mush. If only it were one of its wings. I need something else, she wondered as she scanned through her skill list, Venom Bite: short-range offensive skill. Paralyze the—oh yeah, now we’re talking! She clapped her two forelimbs.

  The flying monster shrieked loudly, almost losing its balance as it tried to fly away.

  “No, you don’t,” Lily chuckled, launching her web past the flying monster and sticking it to a further ahead stalactite, using it to propel herself at high speed toward the fleeing creature.

  The hurt mosquito was visibly putting all its effort into flying away as fast as possible, its wings flapping at the highest possible frequency, most likely having realized that the little spider was too strong a foe to fight alone.

  “Got you!” Lily smirked proudly as she travelled through the air like a jet, much quicker than her enemy. “Venom Bite,” she whispered, her tone calm and collected, almost like a skilled assassin ready to strike from the shadows.

  The tips of her white forelimbs shone with a purple hue just before she hit her target, causing it to fall like a sack of potatoes as she watched it plummet from the rocky column she landed on, making a loud thump as it hit the ground beneath them.

  Oh yeah! Oh yeah, she cheered internally, dancing to the beat of her own thoughts. “Time to eat,” Lily mumbled under her breath, licking her salivating mouth in anticipation, slowly sliding down toward the paralyzed mosquito with the help of her web.

  Fingers—legs?—crossed that it tastes good, she thought, gracefully landing near the monster. But just as she was about to proceed with her plan, the mosquito released a faint vibration from its body. However, it didn’t look like anything actually happened after.

  That was weird, she thought, but shrugged it off as a last resort kind of attempt to fight back, which didn’t look like it worked. “Acid Blast,” she echoed as she stood upon her prey, fully enveloping it in her corrosive skill, watching it slowly turn into mush.

  “Devour,” she chanted cheerfully, her fangs glowing purple as she spoke. Whoops, I have to eat it though, she thought, worried the acid could hurt her. “Wait—” If what she remembered about biology was correct, spiders back in her world used enzymes to dissolve their prey to be able to absorb the food.

  Here goes nothing. And just like that, with a nimble move, Lily struck the mosquito, putting it out of its misery at last. Whoaaa, her cheeks turned bright red as her taste buds went wild, delighted by the monster’s incredible flavor.

  [Standard Mosquito defeated.]

  Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious, Lily chuckled inwardly while munching on her first meal since reincarnation.

  Though the mosquito was larger than her, she managed to eat every last bit of it, her acid working to her advantage as it not only tasted great, but also turned her food into an easily absorbable mush, akin to mashed potatoes or pudding.

  Suddenly, while taking the last bite, a familiar translucent window opened right before her, displaying a wealth of information about her progress, just as the otherworldly woman had explained earlier; winning the fight gave Lily experience points, which went toward a relatively long and empty bar.

  “That must be my personal information,” she mumbled under her breath, reading through a multitude of notes.

  According to the System, her rank and species were that of a Lesser Spider, but what caught her attention the most was one sentence in particular: fill the experience bar to evolve to the next stage—her current one being the lowest out of three.

  Evolve, that’s what the ghost said, she recalled, thinking back about their weird conversation. I wonder what I can evolve into, she thought, imagining herself as a gigantic tarantula, or maybe a black widow of some sort.

  For all she knew, perhaps she could even change species in the future.

  [New skill: Absorb, acquired thanks to Devour’s special effect.]

  “Absorb?” Lily mumbled under her breath as she ran her tongue on her sharp teeth, trying to clean them from the sticky residue of the acid. What does it do? she wondered, surprised by the unexpected notification.

  “Show me info about the new skill,” she stated, too curious to wait one second more. Absorb: short-range offensive skill. Regain health points based on the damage dealt to the target, she read internally. “This is amazing,” she muttered faintly, her grin growing by the second.

  I think I’m gonna enjoy my stay in this world, she thought to herself. “Onto the next one!” Lily chuckled loudly as she scanned the area for the next snack when her Detection passive activated all of a sudden.

  It was almost like something was calling for her.