Ugh, I'm starving.
But I can't eat if nothing gets caught in my net.
Guess I'll sleep then.
Conserve my energy by sleeping.
Yep, I'm definitely not just looking for an excuse to be lazy.
I was planning to sleep to my heart's content, but I was forced awake instead.
A vibration traveled through the thread I'd tied to the net.
Did something get caught?
That joy turned to anxiety in the next instant.
I could read the state of the net through the connecting thread as clearly as if I were holding it.
What that sensation was telling me was something I'd never felt before.
Something was touching the net.
That much was certain.
But it wasn't tangled in it.
Because it was walking across the top of the net.
Impossible.
I'd considered the possibility that something might break through and destroy the net, but I never imagined something would just casually stroll across it.
Caught off guard by the unexpected, I was slow to react.
By the time I did, it had already crossed the net and entered My Home's territory.
This is bad.
I'd decided that if anything powerful enough to breach the net showed up, I'd run without hesitation — but before I knew it, I was face to face with it.
Careless.
My brain wasn't working properly from just waking up, and I was thrown into confusion by the unexpected situation.
For the first time since holing up in My Home, I felt my life was in danger.
『Small Lesser Taratect』
The one that appeared was a spider Monster, just like me.
Being the same species, it had broken through my net with ease.
Hello, brother.
This is probably my sibling, I think.
I don't know if it's an older brother, older sister, younger brother, or younger sister.
A heartwarming reunion with a long-lost sibling.
With a mortal threat, of course.
Wait wait wait.
Calm down, me.
It's not like this thing has been confirmed as hostile yet.
Maybe, even among Monsters that eat each other right after birth, this one will let me go out of sibling affection.
Chii chii chii. Shaah!
Ah, yep.
Hostile confirmed.
Though it's only posturing — it hasn't attacked yet.
It seems to be sizing me up just as much as I'm sizing it up.
What do I do?
Running isn't exactly a great option.
Being the same species means it has roughly the same physical ability as me.
Up until now, I've gotten by on speed, but there's no guarantee I can outrun something equally fast.
And even if I did manage to escape, there's no certainty of safety afterward.
The outside is crawling with Monsters.
In my current starved state, fleeing at full speed would drain what little energy I have, only to be dumped out into a place with no guarantee of safety.
Building a new home costs energy too, and more importantly, I'd need to find a location with good conditions.
Wandering around exhausted while looking for a good spot is basically suicide.
Just thinking about it is terrifying.
So then what? That leaves defeating this thing.
Can I do it?
I get the feeling I'm at a disadvantage.
Being the same species, there shouldn't be a huge gap in physical ability.
At least, not if our Levels are the same.
If this thing is a sibling born around the same time as me, the Level difference shouldn't be that big.
Probably the same, or maybe one higher at most.
After all, it crossed the dangerous outside world I've been avoiding to get here.
I should assume its Level is higher than mine.
The worst-case scenario would be if it was born much earlier than me — a veteran.
In that case, it would definitely be far above my Level.
It would have reached the kind of power level where it can walk the outside world freely — the very level I'm aspiring toward.
No chance of winning at all.
Either way, it's a life-or-death fight.
Then I'll stop worrying about how strong the opponent is.
I'll give it everything I've got.
If that's still not enough, then my short spider life just ends.
I don't want to die, but since Reincarnation is a thing, the afterlife might not be that bad a deal.
Let me steel myself.
Focus for battle.
Clear my thoughts.
Fix my eyes on the enemy in front of me.
The enemy seemed to recognize that I'd entered combat readiness and tensed up.
Its center of gravity was tilted slightly backward.
As if building up momentum for a run-up.
Just as I predicted, the enemy launched itself forward with tremendous force.
It jumped.
As the enemy drew back its front claws mid-air for a huge strike, I regarded it with a look of pity.
I backstepped simultaneously with firing a thread into the air at the airborne enemy.
It made the wrong choice.
It leapt into the sky with nowhere to dodge, and chose to attack with its claws rather than its Poison Fang — our greatest weapon.
A claw attack isn't bad per se.
But it should be used as a feint at best.
You don't make it your primary weapon.
Our weapons are thread and Poison Fang.
There was no way I'd lose to something that didn't understand that.
The sibling, caught effortlessly in my thread mid-air.
Tangled up in the thread, it crashed unceremoniously to the ground.
I immediately rushed over and— Chomp!
I sank my Poison Fang into its body without mercy.
Like me, it probably had Poison Resistance.
But that doesn't matter.
Once it was restrained by the thread, the outcome was decided.
All I had to do was inject enough venom to overwhelm its resistance.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Poison Fang LV2』has become『Poison Fang LV3』》 Perhaps from the sheer amount of venom I poured in, my Poison Fang's Skill Level went up.
Almost at the same moment, my sibling's breathing stopped.
Sibling, I won't forget you.
As the first fool to ever intrude into My Home.