"Ah"
Arthur, wrapped in the cocoon, rolled slightly across the ground like a ball. His insides churned, and the blood seeping from his wounds dyed the silk around him red.
Yet he endured the intense pain, and as soon as his body stopped moving, he turned his head with difficulty and stared at the stunned spider.
'It actually worked… she didn't eat me. But what now? I don't think she'll be kind enough to just let me go.'
His heart pounded, and he prayed inwardly that the spider would accept the meat he offered. All his hopes rested on that, or rather, his entire plan depended on it.
What he was doing might seem foolish and insane, but he had no other choice. He was in a desperate position, so he resorted to an even more desperate solution.
His main goal was simple: trade his life for the monsters he had, or at least delay his death as long as possible.
In reality, what encouraged him to do this—besides fear—was that he noticed during the battle with the wolf pack that high-rank monsters have intelligence levels close to humans, and maybe it would be possible to reason with them.
On the other side, the spider stared at the pile of corpses for a moment, then directed her gaze toward him. She found him staring at her anxiously. Her red eyes met his blue ones, and she noticed they were different from ordinary monster eyes—they seemed full of intelligence and mystery.
This wasn't just a hunch. When she tasted his blood, she realized it wasn't ordinary, it was exceptionally pure.
That could only mean one thing: he was a special monster, born of a superior bloodline.
'What does this mean? Where did he take the meat from? Could it be that he has the Dimensional Storage skill I've heard about? No, that's impossible.
It's a high-rank skill, and he's just a weak pup. This is strange… I'm certain he's the one who caused it to appear.
Wait, could he be trying to deceive me? Is the meat poisoned, or something like that?'
Her already heavily burdened mind overflowed with countless questions. After thinking it over for a moment, she decided to play along, not out of curiosity, but for several other reasons.
Most importantly, she truly needed that meat, and hunting in her current state would be extremely difficult.
Without any further hesitation, she moved toward the pile of corpses and began to eat greedily.
She wasn't afraid that the meat might be poisoned; she was naturally immune to toxins, and for poison to harm her, it would have to be at least A-Rank.
After she finished, she let out a satisfied sigh. She felt somewhat refreshed, regaining a bit of her energy, which made her less rash and anxious, and more calm and composed.
She turned and directed her gaze back at him. Her lips curled into a small, sinister smile as she released her oppressive aura filled with killing intent.
Even so, she didn't do anything hostile, nor did she say a word. She merely stood there, and that alone was enough to make her intentions clear.
Arthur swallowed with difficulty and resisted the urge to pass out. He had lost a lot of blood during the short time it took her to eat.
Despite his suffering and his foggy mind, he understood what she meant.
He felt a glimmer of hope, she had shown some form of response. Then he pulled out five more corpses and silently prayed for this to end quickly.
If he remained restrained and bleeding like this, he would surely die. Naturally, he tried to heal himself with "Regeneration," but it had already reached its limit and was completely useless.
The spider's smile widened, showing her mockery, as if to say, "Is that all you've got?" Suddenly, she launched a silk thread that wrapped around his body and lifted him high, then crushed him with immense force, making blood gush from his wounds.
His expression twisted in agony, and he screamed loudly. His thoughts raced, and he suppressed any cursing in his throat, not wanting to ruin these intense negotiations.
Even if she couldn't understand him, he couldn't risk losing his only lifeline. Weak as he was now, he had to endure the humiliation.
He tried to stay conscious and calm for as long as possible. Without further hesitation, he opened his Dimensional Storage fully and took out everything he had.
Before him appeared dozens of corpses of various sizes, mostly wolf corpses, and the rest weak monsters of different kinds, like burrow squirrels, rabbits, and others he had hunted while fleeing when the spider was fighting the humans earlier.
The spider's eyes widened, and she felt a mix of shock that quickly turned into delight. This large feast would restore her slightly.
She released him, letting him fall to the ground with a groan.
Without paying attention to him, she began to eat ravenously, swallowing the small monsters in a single bite, while injecting her venom into the larger ones and sucking them up like soup.
Arthur watched her devour all his spoils with intense hatred. His heart boiled with rage, and he barely managed to suppress his killing intent from leaking out.
He gnashed his teeth and endured, yet he had no intention of letting this slide; he was not one to forget a grudge.
'You damned insect... just you wait. If I don't die today, I swear I'll make you regret this. I'll kill you, and I'll eat that hideous face of yours. I'll wipe that smi...'
Bit by bit, his thoughts began to fade. His vision grew increasingly blurred, and he lost all sensation in his limbs. With a scattered mind, he thought:
'What's happening to me? Am I dying? No, not now... I don't want this…'
He tried to stay conscious, but it was useless. His awareness quickly began to fade, and at that moment, the system screen—absent for a long time—finally appeared.
[ WARNING ]
[ Host's condition is critical: HP below 1% ]
Seeing the familiar blue screen filled him with frustration.
Even at the brink of death, he hadn't forgotten how the System had failed him before, offering no help when it mattered most.
He wanted to curse it, to spit at it, but he couldn't. His eyes slowly closed, like a curtain falling on a stage, announcing the end of the performance, as he drifted toward the abyss of death.
[ DANGER ]
[ Host's life force is fading ]
[ All conditions met. Activating absolute hidden feature: Rebirth from Ashes ]
[ IMPORTANT WARNING ]
[ You can use this feature only once in your lifetime ]
Arthur, barely alive, his chest barely moving, didn't respond. He didn't even see the system screens, having completely lost consciousness.
All he felt and saw was darkness and nothingness, and the remainder of his life flickered like a candle in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.
The system waited a few seconds. When no response came, it bypassed the basic commands automatically and decided on its own:
[ Rebirth from Ashes feature activated ]
[ Transferring… ]
The moment the effect was about to take hold, warm vitality surged through Arthur's body, starting from his head.
His organs were revitalized, his heart—which had stopped for a few seconds—resumed beating, his chest moved, and he drew a breath of fresh air.
As more seconds passed, his condition gradually improved, and his awareness returned bit by bit.
[ External healing intervention detected ]
[ Host condition improving, Rebirth from Ashes canceled ]
[ SYSTEM FAILURE ]
[ Restarting and Recalibrating… ]