Deep within the dense jungle, a burst of white particles flickered into existence—and without any warning, Ren Kuroda's figure materialized among the trees.
Just moments ago, back in the main world, he had been lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what kind of world he'd be sent to next—and when the transfer would happen.
Then the bedframe beneath him collapsed outright.
Accompanied by a sudden sensation of weightlessness, everything went black—
And when he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in this jungle.
"Ding. Plane transition complete. This plane has been detected to possess an alternate power system. Host parameters have been adjusted accordingly.Demonic Power = Mana."
"…Every single time, I get dumped in some godforsaken place like this," Ren muttered irritably."Can't you at least drop me somewhere with people for once?It'd make figuring out where the hell I am a lot easier, you know?"
Unsurprisingly, the system maintained its usual aloof silence.
Ren's voice echoed sharply through the otherwise quiet jungle, sounding almost intrusive.
The system didn't respond—
But something else did.
Leaves on the surrounding trees began to tremble violently despite the lack of wind, and the ground itself started to shake faintly.
It was obvious that Ren's voice had disturbed something in the forest—something now racing toward his position at terrifying speed.
Ren instantly pushed his perception to the limit.
And when he clearly sensed what was approaching—
He froze.
A spider.
No—a gigantic spider.
Its legs, thick and long like lances, smashed through trees as it charged forward in a straight line, barreling toward him with unstoppable momentum.
To be fair, Ren had seen more than his share of bizarre yokai. A spider with spear-like legs wasn't inherently shocking.
The problem was—
This thing was way too big.
The legendary yokai Tsuchigumo was said to possess an enormous body, but Ren would bet good money that the creature in front of him dwarfed even that.
Spear-Legged Demon Spider—one of the monster species inhabiting the Great Jura Forest. With armor-thick exoskeletons and colossal bodies, they fed on other large monsters and reigned as apex predators of the forest.
And yet—
This supposedly dominant monster was clearly panicking.
It charged forward recklessly, smashing through obstacles, fleeing as if something far more terrifying were chasing it from behind.
Despite its bulk, the Spear-Legged Demon Spider's eyesight was excellent—six eyes gleaming atop its head.
Already fleeing blindly, it now spotted a human standing directly in its escape path.
Naturally, it didn't hesitate for even a second.
It intended to crush him flat.
The human wore a long blade at his waist. His clothing was a little odd, but clearly marked him as an adventurer.
Even while fleeing, the spider didn't entirely lower its guard. Strong humans existed, after all.
Out of caution, it activated a skill common to many monsters—
Mana Detection.
A few seconds passed.
Then a disturbingly human-like look of contempt appeared on the spider's face.
There was no need to change its escape route.
Because it couldn't sense any mana at all from this human.
In short, the adventurer in front of it was a complete nobody.
A trash-tier weakling who just happened to be standing in its way.
Bad luck for him.
Of course—
That was all from the Spear-Legged Demon Spider's perspective.
Ren, who had only just arrived in this world, had originally planned to leave the forest and gather information, figuring out where he'd been sent.
Instead, the moment he complained about the system's lack of humanity, a massive spider came charging straight at him.
The spider was fleeing, true.
It had zero interest in a weak human who barely registered on its mana senses.
But from Ren's point of view—
This thing was charging straight at him, and he could clearly feel its hostility.
Unlike the spider, which couldn't sense Ren's mana at all, Ren's own perception allowed him to instantly gauge the creature's strength.
If judged by the power ranking system of his original world—
The monstrous spider radiated power equivalent to only C+ rank.
"…So it's just big," Ren muttered."Looks scary as hell, but it's actually weaker than that cowardly Nurikabe by a long shot?"
Watching the spider charge toward him on six massive legs, Ren smiled faintly.
His right hand naturally wrapped around the hilt of his Nichirin Blade, and his body lowered slightly.
From the spider's perspective, the human before it didn't flee upon seeing it.
Instead, he struck some kind of pose, as if trying to look cool.
The spider's disdain deepened.
In its view, humans who dared enter the Great Jura Forest were all wildly overestimating themselves.
True, due to the Storm Dragon Veldora being sealed within the forest, the area was saturated with mana, producing countless valuable magical materials.
Because of this, reckless human adventurers entered the forest every year—
Many of whom had died by the spider's own legs.
Still, even those humans had possessed at least a modicum of sense.
Unlike the one in front of it now.
Faced with a monster radiating such overwhelming mana, this human didn't run.
He chose to resist?
If the human had turned and fled, the spider—busy escaping its own pursuer—wouldn't even have bothered chasing such a small fry.
But resistance?
Was this little bug trying to make it laugh?
With such pitifully nonexistent mana, what could he possibly do?
He'd probably get solo-killed by the weakest goblin in the forest.
The Spear-Legged Demon Spider plowed through every tree between it and Ren. The sandstorm kicked up by its legs was so intense that Ren could barely keep his eyes open.
Just as the spider lifted one massive leg, intending to impale the weak human in front of it—
A brilliant blue slash erupted from Ren's sheathed blade.
The crescent-shaped arc of light expanded the instant it left the blade, slicing forward like a streak of azure moonlight—
And passed cleanly through the spider's enormous body.
The spider remained frozen mid-motion, one leg still raised.
—Click.
With the crisp sound of a blade being sheathed, the Spear-Legged Demon Spider's massive body split cleanly down the middle.
The two halves crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
From the dulling light in its eyes, it was clear—
Even at the moment of death, it hadn't understood why it died.
How could a human with almost no mana—
Kill it with a single strike, slicing through its armored shell like paper?
Had it known how terrifying this human truly was, it would have fought its pursuer to the death before ever provoking him.
Unfortunately, there were no second chances.
As the spider's corpse collapsed, a rustling sound echoed through the forest—rapid movement through undergrowth.
When Ren turned toward the sound, several figures burst from the trees.
Their eyes immediately locked onto the bisected spider—
Then shifted to Ren, who stood there completely unscathed.
Their expressions grew tense.
There were six of them.
At the front stood a tall man clad in Sengoku-era armor, with flame-red hair.
Behind him were:
An elderly man with graying hair and an unfathomable presence.A pink-haired girl who looked like the friendly kid next door.A voluptuous, mature woman with a purple ponytail, wielding a spiked mace.A blue-haired young man radiating icy composure.And finally, a black-haired, rough-looking middle-aged man holding a massive hammer.
They all shared one unmistakable trait—
Horns on their heads.Fangs in their mouths.
They looked human.
But humans didn't grow horns.
That alone made them deeply abnormal.
Ren's first impression of this sudden group was simple:
These people are not normal.
From loli to mature woman, child to elder—every age range was represented.
And their hair colors made Ren itch to complain.
Red, pink, blue, purple, white, black.
Six people. Six colors.
What is this, a delinquent fashion show? Are you guys about to debut as an idol group?
Still, in a forest this massive, finding intelligent beings was no easy task.
Since he'd finally encountered people he could talk to—even if they looked a bit off—Ren intended to try communicating.
But the moment he stepped forward with what he thought was a friendly smile—
The red-haired man slashed his blade forward, forcing Ren back.
The man glanced at the spider cut clean in half, then stared at Ren with open hostility.
Understanding dawned instantly.
Ren calmly unbuckled the Nichirin Blade from his waist, planted it point-first into the ground between them, and raised both hands.
"It attacked me first," Ren said evenly."I was just defending myself. I don't mean any harm—I only wanted to ask for directions."
Despite what Ren believed was a perfectly reasonable display of goodwill, the six-person group remained intensely wary.
It was as if they'd been traumatized by something before.
Their eyes stayed sharp, guarded—
Then one of them spoke coldly.
"Who would believe anything humans say?""You're just as sly as those demon-men, if not worse.Who's to say the destruction of our village has nothing to do with you?"
..
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