While I was lounging around at My Home, I got a reaction on my silk.
Looks like my second prey ever has been caught.
I was just starting to get a bit hungry too, so the timing is perfect.
I skip my way over to the prey.
...Even I have to admit, a spider skipping is pretty surreal.
Last time I let my guard down and got hit with a counterattack, so this time I'm approaching cautiously.
Now then, what kind of prey has been caught this time?
『Elroe Frog』
It's a frog.
You again?!
Seriously?!
There are so many other Monsters in this Dungeon!
What are the odds of catching the same thing twice?!
Haah! Haah!
I accidentally slipped into pseudo-Kansai dialect.
Really, what am I going to do with— Splat!
Noooooo?!
While I was busy doing my little one-man comedy routine, I got hit with the frog's saliva attack.
For the first time in my second life, I'm presented with a shocking truth!
I'm an idiot!
Ah, yeah.
The pain helped me calm down a little.
No Poison Resistance level-up this time.
Looks like I didn't have enough Proficiency.
Oh well, whatever.
I wrap the frog in silk so it can't move, then deliver a single bite. Crunch.
This frog didn't die from one bite last time either, so it probably has Poison Resistance too.
But immobilizing it and giving it a bite should weaken it regardless.
I quickly carry the wrapped-up frog to the back of My Home.
Then I immediately turn around and rebuild the broken web.
Alright, that should do it.
When I get back to the frog, it's still wriggling and trying to escape even while wrapped up.
Hmm.
One bite doesn't seem to be very effective, huh.
Chomp!
I bite down.
Last time I had to bite it over and over before it finally went down, but thinking about it, I don't really need to do that.
I just need to keep injecting poison through the fangs I've already bitten in.
『Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill "Poison Fang LV1" has become "Poison Fang LV2"』
Oh!
Skill level-up, here we go!
That's a skill I've never heard of before.
And at the same time as the skill level-up, the frog that had been struggling until just a moment ago suddenly convulsed and went still.
It startled me so bad I jumped too.
Ah, but looking at this, it seems like the Poison Fang skill level went up, which strengthened the poison's potency.
Nice!
『Experience Points have reached a certain level. Individual "Small Lesser Taratect" has gone from LV1 to LV2』
Hm?
Hm-hm?
Ah, something's weird with my body!
Uwah?!
What is this?!
My skin is peeling off!
Am I molting? Is this a molt?!
『Various base stats have increased』
『Skill Proficiency level-up bonus has been obtained』
『Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill "Poison Resistance LV2" has become "Poison Resistance LV3"』
『Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill "Spider Silk LV3" has become "Spider Silk LV4"』
『Skill Points have been obtained』
Hm-hm-hm-hm?!
H-hey, wait a second?!
I feel like something incredibly important just got casually skimmed over!
Say it again!
One more time, please!
...
Are you serious...
No, no.
Calm down and try to remember.
Didn't it say something about a level-up?
I'm pretty sure it did?
Ah, the molting started so suddenly I couldn't really hear properly!
I-into immediate molting seems pretty weird no matter how you look at it though?
So does this mean that because of the level-up, my body got renewed?
For now, let me peel off the old skin that's still clinging on.
Whoa, the part on my back looks pretty beat up.
That's from where the frog spit on me.
I couldn't see it, but it was actually a pretty nasty wound.
Hm?
Come to think of it, part of my vision that was blurred has come back too!
Oh!
A level-up fully restores your stamina and health? That's smooth!
Yeah.
This is definitely a level-up.
My body feels lighter too, and everything's just crisp and refreshing.
The cause was defeating the frog and gaining Experience Points, right?
Well, let me think about this while I eat the frog.
Alright, let me recall things in order.
First, I think it said something about my level going up.
Right after that, the molting started, and while I was confused, the Voice of Heaven (provisional) rattled off a bunch of things real quick.
Come on, remember—Skill, right, didn't it say something about a skill level going up?
And it wasn't just one, was it?
Two skills leveled up at the same time?
Why?
Right, it said something before the skills.
What was it—Skill Proficiency level-up bonus?
That's it!
Yes, that's what it said!
In other words, because I leveled up, bonus points were added to my skill Proficiency!
That's why two skills leveled up all at once.
The skills that went up were Poison Resistance and... Spider Silk?
Huh, silk is a skill too.
I missed the level number on that one.
But if I keep using Spider Silk, I should be able to level it up pretty easily, right?
This is some good info I've gotten here.
To summarize: when you level up, your stamina fully recovers.
I think my stats went up too.
And the most important thing is the bonus to Skill Proficiency.
I don't know how many points are being added, but if it's enough to level up two skills at once, that's a pretty substantial amount, right?
So if that's the case, raising my level could be an efficient way to strengthen my skills.
Levels, huh.
I figured there might be Skills in this world, since there are Skills, but it's actually real.
I was trying not to think about it, but this world really is like a game, isn't it.
I was scared that I'd end up trying to live with a gamer mentality, but it might already be too late.
Because I'm actually starting to get excited about it.
You just can't go against the gamer soul.