Darkness. That was the first thing he awoke to.

It was strange, he realised. Groggy and dazed, still unable to fully take in the situation he seemed to be in, he tried to shake off the feeling that resembled just waking up from a coma, he began to ask himself questions: where am I? Why can't I see anything? Similar questions surfaced in his mind.

Slowly regaining control of his body, something felt off, but he simply could not place where such a feeling came from.

Groggily moving his limbs, he tried to feel out where he was.

Though...

That endeavor was cut short when it took less than a few seconds to get a feel for every nook and cranny of his current predicament: he was trapped in what seemed to be a spheroidal or ellipsoidal barrier. Such a thing brought many questions to the forefront of his mind.

He hadn't been kidnapped had he? Wherever he was, it wasn't in a bag or in a box so it's unlikely that that's what had happened...

But wait... What did happen anyway? If he hadn't been kidnapped and he wasn't at home or anywhere that he recognised, then what?

It struck him that it was smarter to try and get out of there before trying in vain to answer all those questions.

Following this train of thought, he attempted to push against his confines, only for his arms to break through them and go right through.

Despite his confusion, sensing an opening, he took it and crawled out.

Now covered by a dim light from the local [Shroomlight], he could see more than what he was previously able to, that is to say not much, as spiders, and especially the weak and unevolved forms of the [Araneae] species have very weak vision. Still, he could make out vague shapes and among them he could easily recognise spiders. Who wouldn't? Eight legs connected to a proportionally large body with a smaller head dotted with eight eyes, more often than not the source of fear for children and adults alike; except this time, they were just as big as him.

No… Not Him.

He had a name, and it was...? What was his name again? That's not normal is it? People don't just forget their names!

But... Looking around himself he could see that it wasn't the right place to think about such things, it seemed that wherever and whoever he was could wait until later with the danger surrounding him.

Moreover, he seemed to be a spider just like the rest of them despite his hard to recall human memories. An important piece of information suddenly came to mind: some spiders cannibalise their mothers in the early stage of their lives and may even do the same with siblings and whilst he wasn't sure if these spiders also did such a thing, he wouldn't stay to find out.

So setting foot on eight legs, he set off away from his probably impending doom.

Away from the dimly lit egg patch, his innumerous siblings and the looming shadow that was most likely the mother.

Into the darkness of the cave he seemed to have found himself in.

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Instinctively realising that being out in the open might not be the safest of ideas, he had found a nook to hide in whilst he thought over his situation.

'This situation seems too real to be a dream, but it's so unbelievable that it might as well be.'

'I mean, what? Now I'm a spider like one of those bad isekai stories you might sometimes come across? Or had I died and reincarnated into the body of an actual spider? In either case, I should have died, but I don't recall such a thing ever happening.'

As he mulled over his current predicament, he ultimately concluded that to get the answers he was looking for he had to explore and unveil more information first.

'Well if this was a bad isekai story, the protagonist reincarnates and finds themselves being able to use a system which grants them the ability to know and do all sorts of crazy stuff.'

'If that's the case then perhaps saying stuff like "system", "analyse" or even "inspect" might do something.'

…

'...'

'Nothing? Maybe [Appraise]?

"[You currently have 1 available skill point.]

[Would you like to spend 1 skill point to obtain the skill [Appraisal - Level 1]?]"

'Woah! I really am in such a ludicrous sounding situation.'

The unexpected voice in his head had made him jump, quickly recovering, he began weighing the pros and cons of such a decision.

'I only have 1 skill point... I didn't expect that.'

'If I take this now I probably won't be able to get another skill point for quite some time and seeing as it's only level 1, it might not be very good.'

'But on the other hand, if I don't take this then who knows when I'll get another opportunity to do so, especially since I don't know how to acquire skill points and then even if it doesn't do much at level 1, if it levels up then it might become very good.'

'I guess I have no other choice then to take it.'

"[Yes], I would like to spend 1 skill point on [Appraisal]."

"[Confirmed.]

[You have spent 1 skill point to acquire the skill [Appraisal - Level 1]]."

'Okay, let's check this out!'

'The only thing apart from rock around here is myself, so that's what I'll [Appraise].'

Hatchling spider Level 1

'Well, that's better than nothing I suppose.'

'Ah, Now that I think about it, I'm getting quite tired, most likely because I haven't had anything to eat since I was born.'

'If I don't die of starvation, I should probably try to find something to eat.'

'I was probably meant to eat some of my siblings, but now I don't have anything, on the bright side I don't have to worry about potential cannibalism.'

Deciding that staying still would be equivalent to dying, and that even if finding food was an equally dangerous endeavor, it still had the benefit of a potential reward.

Setting off, weaving in between the stalactites and stalagmites, the pillars of stone and the winding walls, our spider protagonist went on a quest for food.

'I do wonder if by using appraisal I can check if there are dangers ahead.'

'Might as well give it a go, [Appraisal].'

"..."

'Well, there is still a chance it might work.'

Continuing on the path and using [Appraisal] to determine whether or not, it was safe to proceed, eventually...

Infant millipede Level 2

'A millipede, and it's higher level than me.'

'But... I have nothing else to eat and it doesn't look like it'll be too much trouble if I ambush it.'

Taking the chance, he jumped the millipede from behind, catching it off guard, he sank his fangs into it.

You have killed a level 2 infant millipede.

2 experience points have been awarded.

'Judging from the fact that I received experience from that, I imagine that it's dead.'

In order to suppress his growing hunger, he started eating the millipede bit by bit, it was not tasty nor was the texture nice and the less said about it, the better.