Skreee-!

Sung-jin killed all the spider mobs rather quickly, and it didn't take long for him to reach the end of the hill.

"This should be the end of the hole."

He said, looking around, disturbed by all the eggs the Spider Queen had laid. He neared one of them and stared at it with something in his mind.

'The one time I conquered this dungeon before, I didn't bother to destroy these eggs. But I know that hidden quests are a thing too, so maybe I can activate one if I kill a few eggs?'

He thought of a game mechanic that he hadn't used intentionally before. The only times he had gotten one had been by coincidence, but now he had a bit more knowledge of the game, so there wasn't any reason not to do them.

"If I don't get a quest out of it, I at least get an angry Spider Queen."

He jokingly said while preparing to slash at one of the eggs. The eggs were the size of an average human, and they had nasty green liquid come out from the bottom.

"I rather not touch them…"

Sung-jin was a bit disgusted, but he had made up his mind. He slashed at the egg with his knife, cutting into it, and shortly after, the nasty green liquid flowed out. The egg deflated, and it soon just laid on the ground with nothing inside of it.

"Okay… Now I just do the same with every egg."

He said discontentedly.

…

Woosh-!

Sung-jin dashed around the tunnel slashing at the eggs with his knife. It only took one hit before the eggs began to deflate, so he eradicated them rather quickly. The only problem was—

"Why is there so many f*cking eggs!"

He yelled after spending at least two hours seemingly just killing an endless amount of eggs. Up to the point he decided to eradicate every egg; it had only taken him around twenty minutes to clear everything. And that's including the Spider King. So he was a bit upset.

"Is it even worth it?"

He questioned.

"But I have come too far. If my memory is correct, just around the next corner is where the queen resides, so I think I'm nearly done."

He tried to comfort himself, but at this point, he was just too tired even to show the smallest amount of emotions.

"I haven't even gotten the hidden quest yet, and I'm starting to think there's not one."

He sighed. Sung-jin had gambled with the possibility of a hidden quest, but it seemed he had lost the bet.

"Let's just kill the queen now…"

He said disappointed that he didn't get anything out of killing the eggs. He tightly gripped the handle of his knife and walked around the last corner—

Skreee-!

Sung-jin was met with a hair-raising screech. And something horrendous could be seen out of the corner of his eyes.

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"This scream was not normal."

He questioned his memory, trying to think back to when he cleared this dungeon.

Ding-!

-System: You engage in combat with the Spider Queen.

"What?!"

He didn't get to think for long before a system notification popped up out of nowhere, surprising him. He hadn't even engaged with the Spider Queen yet; it was just standing in front of him—

Thunk-!

[87 Damage Taken]

Sung-jin crashed hard into the walls of the room, making him spit out blood

"Awk!"

His mouth was filled with blood, and he couldn't produce many sounds. He fell onto his front, and his head crashed into the dirt floor of the dungeon.

"Wh-what…"

He tried to say something, but his eyes began to darken. He wanted to figure out what had happened, but his head hurt, and it spun like crazy. He only laid on the ground and couldn't move a single muscle.

'It must have been the Spider Queen.'

He used up all his strength to use his quick-witted brain.

'But I didn't engage in combat with it. It just attacked me out of nowhere?'

Ding-!

-System: Quest obtained 'Wrath of the Spider Queen.'

Sung-jin got surprised when the system interrupted him again. He had a hard time reading the notification because everything was blurry to him. But he got the gist of it.

-Quest(s)

Demon King's Quest (incomplete):

Information restricted until LVL 15.

A broken promise (Incomplete):

Search the Sorrowful Forest and find a blossoming tree.

(Hidden Quest) Wrath of the Spider Queen (Incomplete):

After having all her children killed, the Spider Queen goes mad, and she kills everything on sight. The wrath has caused a doubling in all her stats and abilities. Good luck, player.

'Good luck in my ass! At least give me the quest before I'm getting attacked!'

Sung-jin spat out the blood and dirt in his mouth, and he tried his best to stand up. He struggled a bit, but he eventually managed.

"I'm going to make you suffer."

He exclaimed, looking up at something that stood right in front of him. He had a sinister grin on his face, and the calm Sung-jin was gone.

"Haha!"

He laughed menacingly; something had clicked inside his brain. His eyes had become empty and cold. He was no longer the same person, and the reason couldn't be explained. Could he have hit his head too hard on the wall? But it seemed that the cause was deeper.

"You’re just a monster; why do you even care about the things you call children? Or maybe it's just an excuse to kill humans? Either way, I will kill you right here, and it's going to hurt! A lot."

He picked up his knife from the ground and stared at the many eyes of the Spider with nothing but murderous intent. It seemed that his survival instinct had kicked in after being twenty-three hit points away from dying.

Woosh-!

Sung-jin ran to the side after being cornered by the Spider. His speed was enough to get to a somewhat safe place. But as he lowered his speed to get a bit of air, the Spider Queen intervened and shot string at him.

"Awk!"

He rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack.

"Give me a break, will you!"

He exclaimed, taking himself to his stomach. Every move he made gave him immense pain, and the only reason he still stood up was because of his resolve.

'Come on! I need to control myself!'

He tried to get his mind under control.

'I can't let my wrath take over; I fight better when I use my brain.'

His eyes got warmer, and it seemed after running for a bit that he had cooled down. The way he lost himself for a moment greatly scared him, but he couldn't think of that now.

'I can't die here. But my options are limited. What is my health at?'

-Status Bar

Health: 24 — Mana: 100

'My health only regens one hit point per minute, which means I can't take another direct hit.'

He tried to calculate all his options, but nothing seemed possible. Even though he regenerates his health, his body is an entity for itself. Meaning it is possible to die even if your health isn't at zero.

'I have to take care of my body first. My health regens slowly but surely, but my organs… Unless I get a potion, my body will most likely die even if I kill the Spider Queen.'

Sung-jin's expression got sour at the realization that he was doomed no matter what he did.

"Damn it!"

He yelled. But as he was about to give up, he remembered another way to heal himself.

'That's right! A level-up heals all status effects and even one's body!'

He celebrated his survival, but nothing good comes without something bad.

'I'm not guaranteed to get a level-up, but it's pretty much the only way to survive now. I just have to spray and pray and hope for the best.'

Sung-jin showed his cocky grin again. It was now time to get rid of the pests, so he grabbed the knife's handle tightly and ran confidently towards the Spider Queen.