Chapter 24: The Speedmaster’s Duel with the Spider Demon

Arthropods of the Animal Kingdom – The Human-faced Spider Lord

1.

The melting great forest.

The notorious reputation of this cruel field can be seen just by looking at the community’s strategy board.

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[Step-by-Step Strategy for Banyogok Field (Part 1, First Playthrough)]

1. Hill of the Executioner’s Corpses (Common) (Tutorial)

2. The Seer’s Temple

3. The Lair of the Sealed Failures

4. The Fallen Fortress’ Dark Knight

5. Blood-stained Sewer Drain

6. The Sage of the Melting Great Forest

7. The Epicenter of the First Monster War

8. Fastest Ending Clear

Following this route will make gameplay smooth.

Skip the tutorial as most people are familiar with it. First, unlock skills at the Seer’s Temple and obtain essential items like the blood extractor or wire.

At the Lair of the Sealed Failures, only obtain the poison antidote and the treasure vault key. The poison antidote is essential for clearing the Blood-stained Sewer Drain, and the treasure key is required for progressing through the Fallen Fortress, so be sure to acquire them.

After clearing the Fallen Fortress and Blood-stained Sewer Drain, paths to both the great forest and the epicenter open. However, the great forest is not meant to be fully cleared.

You meet the Sage of the Swamp and unlock a new character there. If you’ve already unlocked the character, you can skip the forest section.

Once you head to the epicenter of the First Monster War, you’ll encounter [spoiler] and see the fastest ending.

Caution: The recommended specifications for clearing the Melting Great Forest are based on multiple playthroughs. Don’t break your spirit, and give up quickly.

It’s a hit-and-run field—achieve your goal and retreat quickly.

Players interpreted the design intention of this map as such, and for a long time, many players played the great forest that way.

The ground sinks unexpectedly.

Ghosts infected with a plague spread the disease upon contact.

A dark forest where it’s hard to find light, and heavy rain pours down.

Body temperature drops.

Fear tightens in the silence.

There were countless reasons to give up on clearing this field.

Even the legendary Speed Master only aimed to break through this map, never fully intending to clear it completely.

‘Is this guy really a beginner?’

In the arena of the Silent Swordsman.

The Speed Master’s face, watching this, unknowingly became serious.

– Sensei, isn’t that a bug?

– It doesn’t make any sense.

– You…

– How is she hitting so many people at once? Damn, she’s like Zhao Yun from Mount Changban!

– What kind of transformation is that?

As the viewers’ tension eased with nonsensical comments, the Speed Master seized the moment to interject:

“It’s a bug.”

– What, really?

– There’s a bug in Banyogok, Sensei?

“Not like that. It’s an old-timer trick that uses the game’s physics engine. That’s bunny hopping.”

Exceeding normal speed.

Without the skill correction effect from assistive action.

It’s pure, vanilla gameplay—accelerating with just the body.

The only explanation for that technique was bunny hop, a trick used by veterans.

“When you jump, the game’s physics engine gives a slight speed boost. These days, it’s just a general term for bug-based acceleration. Don’t just go jumping around aimlessly.”

– Oh no, we’ve been caught!

– Oops.

– We’ve been found out

– How can you resist jumping after hearing that?

“Make the jump long and smooth. Is it 1-strafe?”

– He’s speaking in alien terms again.

– Please use human language, Sensei.

– We’re moving too fast here.

“Strafing is when you move sideways during a jump. It helps you accelerate faster.”

– So you’re saying we can run faster by jumping sideways?

– Wow, he’s really underestimating us.

– That makes no sense If crabs could do that, they’d be jumping all over the place.

“Do crabs even jump?”

– If a crab jumps, immediately quit the game. That’s not a crab.

– If soy sauce marinated crab starts jumping, run away from the restaurant. That’s not food anymore.

– Yeah, if your food starts jumping, of course you run!

“Hmm. But it’s not the speed of 1-strafe.”

– Is there really a difference?

– Then is it Kim-strafe?

The Speed Master chuckled, shaking his head.

The speed of acceleration.

The length of acceleration.

Both surpassed the skills of most 10-year veterans.

“But you’re not supposed to do it like that.”

Even while witnessing such an extraordinary play, someone qualified to give advice.

The Speedmaster had that right.

– Wow lol

– A former legend giving advice to the current legend

– Can’t resist giving pointers

– But what’s the problem?

– LOL, they’re running so well

“Running is fine. But it’s not like there are only sluggish revenants on this map, right?”

That’s right.

A field that was clearly beyond the beginner zone.

In the melting great forest.

Other species existed alongside the revenants.

That species…

Pabat

Kwa-gagak

The Silent Swordsman twisted their running stance, grabbed a nearby rock, and spun 540 degrees, controlling their momentum.

Just 1 meter ahead, a massive spiderweb was spread out.

“Do I dodge this?”

Even the great Speedmaster couldn’t perfect-clear the great forest and had to leave it as a swamp.

The reason was the silent hunters of the forest.

A half-demon with the face of a human and the body of a spider.

The spiderweb of the <Spider Demon> appeared.

—

2.

Moving forward wasn’t difficult.

Breaking free from the restrictions of mediocrity.

The second-rate martial art that could be fully unleashed.

The Haenam Clan’s movement technique, <Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves>.

Like a ship running across the sea, riding the wind.

While it wasn’t the fastest movement technique in terms of pure acceleration, it was incredibly efficient at covering long distances without obstruction.

‘There’s no reason to get caught in such an obvious spiderweb.’

Cutting it down with a sword was an option.

But to martial artists, spiderwebs were nightmares they didn’t even want to approach.

‘Just looking at the size gives me an estimate.’

A spider the size of a small dog seemed almost cute in comparison.

Between two trees, a massive web was spread, indicating a much larger creature.

Even at a glance, the web was enormous, of a size that hinted at a spiritual-grade creature.

Hae Eung Eung had considerable knowledge of spiritual creatures.

In her pursuit of spiritual creatures’ inner cores to heal her Nine Yin Meridian, she had accumulated knowledge.

Plus, various group leaders had personally taught her to gain her favor.

– Spiders that become spiritual creatures grow to immense sizes, and the elasticity and stickiness of their webs are on a different level.

– If the web’s area is larger than a person, never engage with it.

– Spiders larger than 3 meters can’t even be pierced by blades. If you haven’t mastered sword aura, run immediately.

The web before her was about 2 meters in size.

The expected size of the spider was around 2.5 meters.

It wasn’t fully grown as a spiritual creature, but it was likely comparable in strength.

Even top-tier masters might end up dead if they recklessly fought a spiritual spider in its territory.

“…”

Hae Eung Eung quietly stared at the web, then picked up a stick.

Whip-whip.

She swung it, wrapping it around the web, and began shaking it violently up and down.

Instead of avoiding the web, she was rudely summoning the spider.

The chatroom erupted into chaos at this reckless behavior, but the ever-aloof streamer, unconcerned about her viewers’ protests, simply did as she pleased.

‘I’m a little curious. How strong is a monster comparable to a spiritual spider?’

In response to her daring summons, there was a rustling sound as a spider descended from the trees, trailing its web.

As expected, its size was around 2.5 meters.

With eight simple eyes and four jaws, the spider’s monstrous face sent shivers down the viewers’ spines.

Those who had paid extra for the first-person view from the Silent Swordsman dropped their food in shock.

– You evil monster!

– You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?

– She’s being so harsh on that poor spider lmao

– Noona, please stop, please stop, please stop

I’m not joking, I just fell off my chair.

– Stop chatting and go to the hospital, idiot.

– Just do a roll, man.

– Like streamer, like viewer, lol. Can you even roll in that situation?

As the spider clicked its fangs and legs, seemingly deciding how best to devour this human, its head suddenly flipped 180 degrees.

And the ghastly face of an old woman appeared.

“?!”

Even Hae Eung Eung couldn’t help but be startled at the grotesque sight.

Leaving her horrified viewers behind, the half-demon with a human head and spider body, the <Spider Demon>, opened its mouth.

“What a beautiful face. That beauty, that figure. How many men have fallen for you?”

– I will make that face mine.

The line everyone expected.

The Spider Demon’s signature phrase.

[Blessing]

[Animal Friend]: Your chances of befriending any animal-type creatures have dramatically increased.

A blessing effect from an old build, designed with playful intentions, even taking some liberties with zoophilia.

The Spider Demon’s affection level rose.

“But for some reason, I feel like I could be friends with you.”

– ?

– ?

– Friends?

– What is this?

– Seriously, where on earth would a human-headed spider want to be your friend?

Viewers, fully expecting the Silent Swordsman to simply kill every creature they encountered, were caught off guard.

The spider extended its leg towards the swordsman, who simply stared at it for a moment before slicing off the spider’s wrist with a swift strike.

– LOL

– I can’t believe she actually cut it

– “I don’t need friends.” The Murderous Swordsman is back on.

Even if animals wanted to be friends with her, she had no desire to reciprocate.

Hae Eung Eung swung her sword, frowning at the metallic sound that jarred her hand.

While she had landed a hit, she had failed to sever the limb completely.

But it wasn’t the partial success that irked her—it was the spider’s complete lack of killing intent.

“You wicked human! How dare you reject my kindness.”

“…”

“I won’t kill you, but I will break that wretched hand of yours!”

Not “I’ll kill you,” but “I’ll break your hand?”

It almost sounded like she was bullying an innocent, kind-hearted creature.

Even Hae Eung Eung was beginning to feel unsure whether she should really kill this thing, her motivation wavering as her duel with the <Spider Demon> began.