13 Fear

A gigantic spider laid in front of Kei and he knew he was its prey. All of his animal instincts were warning him of the imminent danger. However, it wouldn't even matter if he was cautious because he couldn't escape.

(Shit! This thing is too tough, even for me. Can I actually beat it?)

Knowing that it wouldn't be smart to let the monster attack first, Kei charged. While speeding towards it he activated "slash", "venom", and "hard". To weaken it, he also activated "Greed". This fight would be rough.

{Greed has been activated.}

{Your opponent is within range. "Greed" has successfully stolen the following skill: "Spider Silk".}

{Spider silk (experienced): This passive skill allows the user to produce silk from their finger-tips. The more this skill is used, the better one can control it.}

(Here goes nothing!)

He began to claw at one of its legs. If he could cut one down, it would lose balance. This would give him a slightly better advantage. Kei kept running back and forth while slashing the same leg. The monster began to make a strange noise.

Giant Spider: ["HISSSSSSSSS"]

It lifted one of its legs and tossed Kei aside like a ragdoll. He flew for a few meters before hitting a tree and snapping it in half. Despite the barrier he placed on himself, the damage that was inflicted was severe. It was clear that he couldn't stand a chance against it. He glanced at the leg he tried to cut down. There were no signs of any damage to it. Only one emotion remained within him: Fear.

(Am I going to die here? Is this really all my effort amounts to!?)

He was fading in and out of consciousness. The hit Kei received broke his ribs and he was losing blood quickly.

(No… screw that! I've already lived a shitty life before. I'm not going to let it end like this.)

Making a last ditch effort to survive, he began to yell at the orcs beyond the bushes. Having learned their language, they would understand him.

[Hey you fat ugly pieces of shit! Get the fuck over here! You guys are talking about sleeping with girls? Who the hell would want to get in bed with you! I'm sure the girl you're with would rather kill herself. What…. not responding? That's what I thought. I'll fucking slaughter you like it was nothing.]

Kei was playing whatever card he could. He needed to distract the spider. Living was the number one priority in his mind.

Orc 1: [Who the fuck said that? Get out you little runt… I'll kill you myself!]

Orc 2: [Let me get in on the action t-…]

The orc was interrupted mid-sentence.

Giant Spider: [HISSSSSSSSSSS!!!]

The spider locked onto its new targets. It began to charge at them.

Orc 1: [Crap… run!]

Kei could vaguely see them running beyond the bushes. He could hear squealing and screaming.

(Not my problem…)

To stop the bleeding he switched to his goblin form, then back again to his rabbit form. The pain was still there, but at least this would stop him from completely fainting. He had to get away from this dangerous area. Kei began slowly limping. It was time to go back to the village.

(My whole body's killing me, but I don't really have a choice.)

While on his way, he began to ponder. From this experience, he learned the dangers of being too confident. Although he was cautious, he could have taken even more measures to ensure almost complete safety while still securing skills. Kei concluded that it was time to find "allies". In his mind, this basically meant finding loyal subordinates. He also partially regretted not learning about the ranking system before he went hunting. This information could have given him a slight advantage.

(It's too late to regret anything now. All I can do is learn from my mistakes.)

Gaining both strength and life experience from the hunt, Kei knew that there was still much to obtain in the future. Once he got stronger, he would definitely come back to face the spider. He moved on towards the village.