I've given up on escaping this labyrinth.
If I wander around aimlessly, all I can see is a dead end courtesy of some random encounter.
Whether it's Monsters or humans, they're all equally lethal threats to me right now.
And when I say "lethal threats," I don't mean it in the "rival" or "worthy opponent" sense.
I mean genuine, honest-to-goodness my-life-is-in-danger danger.
Fortunately — or maybe not — the Monsters that appear in these narrow passages don't seem to be the particularly fast kind.
Otherwise, there's no way I'd be able to escape from them.
My spider body is actually pretty quick.
In terms of pure speed, I'm probably better than I was in my previous life?
…Sorry.
I got cocky.
The truth is, it's not just speed — my overall physical ability is probably above my old self across the board. Yeah.
Think about it — before I was reincarnated, I was the "Exercise? What's that?" type of indoor person.
Of course a wild spider is going to be more athletic than me.
The only physical prowess I could ever boast about to a human was my thumb dexterity from playing games.
Anyway, setting aside my spectacular athletic ineptitude in my past life — the point is, I can run away. That much I can do.
But I can't keep running forever.
If I get flanked, I'm done for. And just because I haven't encountered one yet doesn't mean there isn't something faster than me lurking around.
Besides, I'm getting seriously hungry. Like, danger-level hungry.
A hungry belly makes for no fight.
Well, not that I could fight anyway, but at this rate I'm genuinely going to starve to death.
So.
Let's think this through.
Q: What do spiders eat?
A: Other insects.
Ughhhh…
Yeah, that's right, isn't it.
Filling your stomach means filling it with bugs.
And given my absurdly impossible-for-Earth size, I'm guessing my prey options aren't limited to insects.
Specifically, other Monsters, and — not that I want to think about it — humans…
Going by the evidence, my siblings were cannibalizing each other practically the moment they were born.
That parent-type giant spider was casually eating its own kids, so it's entirely possible that my species considers every living thing except itself fair game.
Honestly, in a cave like this, there are no other options.
What does that deer-like Monster from the big corridor eat, anyway?
Was that thing a carnivore disguised as a herbivore?
Well, no point dwelling on it.
Right now, my problem is my own meal.
But desperate times call for desperate measures.
If I stay like this, starving to death is a guarantee.
If I don't want that, I'll have to eat whatever monstrosity comes my way.
Time to steel myself.
Okay, so I've steeled myself — but the question remains: what exactly am I going to eat?
Obviously, there's no food on hand.
No food means I need to procure some.
How?
Honestly? The probability of me winning a fight against a Monster is infinitely close to zero.
These maze-like passages I'm in right now are much narrower than that first big corridor.
So there aren't any obviously impossible opponents like the giant spider or the dragon-looking thing from the big corridor.
At most, I'm looking at human-sized Monsters.
But even then, could I actually win a fight? Probably not.
Because, duh — I've never fought anything in my life!
Well, I'd be great at it in a game.
But games and actually moving your body are two different things.
Two dimensions and three dimensions are not the same thing.
Of course, if it really came down to a fight-or-die situation, I wouldn't have the luxury of being picky.
But right now, while I'm hungry, I'm not at critical starvation levels yet.
So in that case, I should do what a spider does — use a spider's methods to secure food.
Speaking of spiders — that's right, silk!
Spiders spin their special sticky thread to build webs and catch prey.
The cave terrain is actually perfect for this.
I mean, I can string silk all over the place.
Decision made — time to build my new home!
First, let's produce some silk.
It should come from the part that's — the back end? Is that what it's called? Let me give it a try.
Oh wait, something's already coming out.
Huh?
I don't remember doing that!
And it stretches waaaay out in front of me.
Wait — could it be that I've been dragging silk behind me this whole time while walking around?
Ugh, how embarrassing!
It's like having toilet paper stuck to your shoe and not noticing.
Hmm.
What should I do with this thread?
Well, it might come in handy for something, so I'll just cut it at the base and leave it be.
Alright — nest-building time!
So I can produce silk. Check.
Now I just need to weave it across the cave walls properly.
I think of myself as fairly dexterous, but can I actually do this well?
Well, there was a time when I thought that too.
I gazed upon my finished web with satisfaction.
A magnificent spider's web had been strung across the cave passage, blocking it completely.
Wow — is this what they call instinct?
Once I started, my body just moved on its own, and before I knew it, the whole web was done.
The catch? I only made the bottom half.
The top half was built about a meter away from the bottom one.
Why did I do that?
To leave myself an escape route, obviously!
I'm at a T-junction.
I strung webs across each passage branching out from it.
But if I sealed them off completely, I'd have no way out for myself.
I mean, I doubt it, but there might be some badass out there who could break through my web.
So I deliberately left gaps — just in case.
Mindless Monsters would get caught in the lower web.
Anything that flies would snag on the upper one.
I'm surrounded by webs on three sides, so I'm safe, and I've got an escape route ready for emergencies.
The ideal shut-in living space is complete!
Behold — my wonderful new home.