As I had noticed before, the laboratory was enormous.
Easily the size of a car showroom that could display more than thirty vehicles at once.
But the real absurdity wasn't the floor space.
It was the height.
The ceiling stretched so far above that even a small rocket might have fit inside the chamber.
For a moment, I wondered why anyone would build something this tall.
Then my eyes drifted back toward the central pillar.
The monitoring pillar.
If this room truly sat at the heart of the facility, then the structure around it must have been vast… far larger than anything I could see from here.
The thought alone made the place feel even heavier.
At some point, I realized I could no longer hear the sound of my own breathing.
I had stopped without noticing.
My gaze slowly climbed upward.
And then it happened.
The thing I had assumed was the ceiling…
It wasn't a ceiling at all.
It was covered.
A thick, tangled layer of golden threads stretched across the entire chamber like a massive web, glistening faintly under the pale neon veins of light running through the lab.
Together, they formed a suffocating canopy that swallowed the darkness above.
And in the center of that web…
were cocoons.
Hundreds of them.
They hung silently from the golden threads like grotesque fruit from some nightmare tree.
Some of them looked freshly wrapped, their surfaces still glistening faintly.
Others hung dry and shriveled, as if whatever had been inside them had long since escaped… or been consumed.
My stomach twisted.
This was only the first layer.
Only the part visible under the weak neon glow of the laboratory.
Beyond it, higher in the darkness, the web continued.
Fainter strands stretched upward into the black void above the chamber.
A second layer.
An entire vertical forest of webbing disappeared into the unseen height of the facility.
My throat went dry.
This wasn't just a web.
It was a nest.
I tried to move my body.
But I couldn't.
Cold crept through my veins as if my blood itself had turned to ice.
Only then did I notice it.
A thin thread.
Barely visible in the dim light.
It had already begun wrapping around me, slowly tightening, forming a faint circle around my body.
Like a trap closing.
Skrrrt…
Something massive shifted behind me.
The sound of legs scraping softly against steel echoed through the chamber.
My fingers tightened around the steel pipe in my hand.
If I used the circuits, I could escape.
But I waited.
Not yet.
Thud!
The thing behind me dropped to the floor.
Skrrt!
And slowly moved closer. The thread around me grew thicker.
Not yet.
I tried to calm my mind, cold sweat running down my back.
Just then, I felt something right behind my back, a large presence.
Now.
"Ahhh!"
I let out a cry as I activated the circuits and tore through the thread.
"Agrhhh!"
A giant spider, almost one and a half meters tall.
That thing behind me, startled, tried to step back. But I was faster.
Without hesitation, I brought down my pipe upon it.
Just then, the runes on the spider's body glowed and, to my surprise, it swiftly dodged the pipe.
While dodging it spat some venom on me.
I rotated my body and leapt a few meters back. The agility of my body surprised even me.
Suddenly, my senses flared up.
I quickly ducked, dodging another shower of venom, then swung my pipe backward.
But the second spider behind me dodged quickly.
Another spider?Aren't spiders supposed to be solitary creatures?
I didn't have time to dwell as both spiders lunged at me simultaneously.
Damn it!
I swung my pipe at the first spider, but it quickly leapt into the air as if pulled by an invisible string.
I stepped forward and kicked its exposed abdomen.
Skrrt!!
The spider quickly fell on the floor.
I quickly charged at the second spider and entangled its thread with the pipe, then yanked hard, cutting them loose.
Can't let them have an aerial advantage.
From the few exchanges, I figured out that the spiders were weak in close combat.
SKKKRT!
The spider, dodging my attack once again, leapt back.
I spun, narrowly dodging the venom from the first spider, then created some distance.
How should I deal with them?
I quickly formed a plan in my mind.
Right now, my goal is to get out of this place. And to do that, I would need a map.
My eyes drifted to the golden core in the center.
I clenched the pipe tighter.
But even if I know where I am going, how would I get out of here?
There were those ghouls outside and spiders inside.
While I was contemplating that, the spiders circled me slowly.
Their long legs dragged across the metal floor with faint scraping sounds.
Skrrt… skrrt…
They weren't attacking anymore.
Instead, they moved carefully, keeping their distance, spreading out.
As if they were… waiting.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the web above trembled slightly.
At first, it was subtle, just a faint vibration running through the golden threads.
But then it grew stronger.
No way!
My eyes slowly lifted upward.
And my heart sank.
More spiders were descending.
Thin strands stretched downward from the massive web above, and along those strands pale bodies slowly crawled down.
One.
Then another.
Their long legs unfolded as they reached the ground, each landing with a soft metallic scrape.
Skrrt…
Skrrt…
Within seconds, there were more than ten of them.
They spread out around me like a tightening ring.
My grip on the pipe tightened.
"Damn it…"
This was bad.
Very bad.
If two of them were already troublesome, dealing with this many at once would be impossible.
One spider suddenly lunged forward.
I swung my pipe immediately.
Skrrt!
It dodged by leaping to the side.
But before I could even recover from that swing, another spider leapt from the side.
Its legs stabbed toward my ribs.
I twisted my body and kicked it away.
More spiders began to move.
All at once.
Their bodies rushed toward me from different directions.
Skrrrt! Skrrrt!
I gritted my teeth and stepped forward instead of retreating.
Clang!
The pipe struck another spider's leg, bending it sideways.
More spiders meant more chances to hit them. Unfortunately, it didn't improve my situation at all.
A third spider spat a thick strand of web toward me.
Tsssss!
I barely moved my head in time as the thread shot past my face and stuck to the wall behind me.
But another thread wrapped around my arm.
I yanked hard and tore it loose.
The spiders continued circling, attacking in turns.
Each time I struck one away, another immediately followed.
Crack!
Skreee!
White fluid splattered across the floor as one spider collapsed under my blow.
But it didn't matter.
More of them were still coming down from above.
Every few seconds, another pale body landed on the ground.
Soon, the circle around me became even tighter.
My breathing grew heavier.
Sweat ran down my back.
Another spider lunged from the front.
I swung the pipe again, smashing its head.
But while I did that, two others attacked from behind.
Before I could react,
Tss!
A thick thread wrapped around my leg.
These bastards!
Then another around my waist.
I struggled and tore them apart, kicking one spider away.
But the attacks didn't stop.
More threads shot toward me from different angles.
Soon, several strands wrapped tightly around my body.
"Shit!"
I tried to break free, smashing the pipe against another spider's head.
But this time the threads didn't snap easily.
More spiders climbed closer, their legs moving quickly as they began wrapping layer after layer of web around me.
My movements became slower and heavier.
Another thread wrapped around my arm.
I struggled violently, but it was already too late.
The pipe slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.
Within seconds, the spiders had surrounded me.
Their legs moved quickly, spinning a web around my body like craftsmen weaving cloth.
The threads tightened.
My arms couldn't move anymore.
My legs were stuck.
Darkness slowly closed in as the cocoon thickened around me.
My breathing became muffled.
"...Damn it..."
I tried to force my body to move again.
But nothing happened.
The cocoon had hardened.
Completely sealing me inside.
For a moment, everything became silent.