Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 55 – The Hidden Boss

—–CROW—– 

The inside of the Dusk Spider nest twisted and turned in various directions, making it the perfect terrain to get lost in.

“I told you not to go ahead! It’s easy to get lost if you don’t mark the path properly!”

Lizmel was using some kind of special tool as a countermeasure, leaving marks along the path we took.

“That won’t happen, just follow me.”

But I strode forward, leaving Lizmel behind.  Naturally, because I had the map of the nest from the community strategy guide.

Unlike the Lizardmen’s ruins filled with traps, the Dusk Spider nest had the same terrain as described in the strategy guide.

Since I already knew the location of the large space where the boss was likely to be, all I had to do was move forward, taking down the occasional spider that popped out.

“This is why I hate brats. At least don’t go ahead.  It’ll be hard to find you if you fall behind!”

Lizmel followed me while complaining.

After walking briskly for a while, a space with a different atmosphere from what was described in the strategy guide appeared.

The interior of the Dusk Spider nest we had passed through so far looked like an ordinary stalactite cave, except for the spiderwebs strewn about.

But here, unidentified shining minerals were densely embedded in the walls like barnacles.

“What is this?”

I tapped the shining mineral with my hand and could feel that it was much harder than ordinary rock.

It looked like the shining crystals often seen in fantasy works.

Perhaps it’s a rare material item used in mage-type equipment.

“This is… Light Mithril?”

Lizmel said, as if she knew the identity of the crystal. I was surprised and immediately asked,

“This is Mithril?”

Mithril, along with Adamantite and Oriharukon, is one of the rarest and strongest materials in the Trial Tower.

Among the items I have, only the wand I obtained from the large chest on the 1st floor is made of Mithril.

If all of this is Mithril, it’s not just good luck, it’s a sign that something is wrong.

“Not Mithril, but Light Mithril.  They just have similar names, but they’re completely different things.  Don’t humans know this?”

“No, what is it?”

“It’s a rare crystal. It’s called that because its color and hardness are reminiscent of Mithril.”

Lizmel said it’s like the relationship between gold and pyrite, but how would I know what that relationship is?

I decided to just think of it as a different mineral that’s similar but much inferior and moved on.

“It’s not as valuable as real Mithril, but it’s still not something you’d find embedded in a spider nest.”

I agree. Mithril is a truly incredible metal, and it’s strange that something compared to it is scattered around here.

Besides, the existence of this material wasn’t mentioned at all in the information posts on the open community.

There’s quite a lot of it at first glance, so even the challengers from the 2nd generation should have discovered and utilized it at some point.

That means it’s highly likely that it was lost for some reason related to the boss room ahead.

“Let’s go forward.”

I put aside the matter of the Light Mithril for now and moved forward again.

The deeper we went, the more Light Mithril there was.

And at the same time, the deeper we went, the fainter the light emitted by the Light Mithril became.

The shape of the embedded Mithril wasn’t its characteristic pointed shape, but only fragmented or deformed pieces.

The fragmented pieces are one thing, but what kind of force would it take to deform them like that?

While pondering such trivial questions, we finally arrived at the boss room.

– *Crunch, crunch.*

A giant spider immediately answered the question I had.

**

The sound of something scraping against stone echoed from the deep darkness.

Thanks to the [Dark Vision] skill I obtained after clearing the 6th floor, it wasn’t difficult to discern its form even with the faint light.

A giant spider, far larger than other Dusk Spiders, was munching on a crystal.

“Huh, of all things.”

“Shh, be quiet!”

Lizmel’s hand covered my mouth as I let out a sound of disbelief at the absurd sight.

And a shadow crept up, seemingly using some kind of invisibility magic – but it was too late in my eyes.

The tingling warning from my [Intuition] skill pointed to the spider.  It means we’ve already been spotted.

Even if we hadn’t been caught, quietly hiding wasn’t an option in my book.

– *Crunch, crunch.*

A strangely deformed lump fell from the rear of the spider as it gnawed on the crystal with its bizarrely shaped teeth.

The spider was eating the shining crystals and excreting crystals that had lost their light.

The reason for this behavior is evident just by looking at the spider’s appearance.

It wasn’t just gigantic; its entire body was made of shining crystal.

Either it consumed the crystals – Light Mithril – and acquired their properties, or it needed to eat the crystals due to those properties.

Either way, it’s clear that the spider possesses incredibly high durability and attack power.

And naturally, the reward for defeating it must be substantial.

– *Clatter.*

“Hey, stay still…!”

Lizmel frantically stopped me as I adjusted my shield and prepared to step forward.

“We’ve already been spotted. We have to fight.”

I ignored her, took my stance, and pulled out iron balls from my inventory.

The spider seemed to be planning to finish its meal before dealing with us, but I had no intention of sitting back and losing the initiative.

I gripped two iron balls and threw them with all my might towards the spider’s eyes.

– *Bang!*

An explosion echoed as the iron balls collided with the Crystal Spider’s head, and a system message appeared.

[A subspecies of Dusk Spider, an artificial lifeform created by someone, a monster born from the rotten branch of the World Tree.]

[There were various speculations about its identity, but only one thing was certain.]

[That it was the most dangerous spider under the sky.]

[HIDDEN BOSS – Crystal Spider Aranasia]

A house-sized Crystal Spider rose its heavy body to kill us.

**

The entire spider nest shook just from the spider unfurling its crouched body.

The spiderlings hiding here and there quickly scurried away.  Perhaps the ones swarming at the entrance were also those driven out like this.

The unfamiliar title of “Hidden Boss” is a bit concerning, but there’s only one thing I always do.

I move forward, not backward.

“Then…”

I glanced at Lizmel, who was still cloaked.  She stared at me with a tense expression.

“I’ll hold it off, so you quickly run and call for backup.”

I didn’t expect her to say that.  She must have been tsundere, liking humans deep down.

But that’s not going to happen.  What did I come all this way for?

I have no intention of running away from a boss I finally encountered.  It would be a different story if it were the other way around.

“I don’t want to.”

“Hey!”

Lizmel shouted angrily at my short reply. I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the Crystal Spider’s movements,

“I told you, this is why I came here.  You can call for backup or fight with me, I’m not running away.”

Lizmel seemed like she wanted to say something, but I ignored her and charged towards the spider.

– *Whoosh!*

The sound of wind cutting through the air echoed as the spider raised its front leg.  Each leg seems to weigh a considerable amount.

Naturally, there wouldn’t be anything left of me if I got hit by that.  But fundamentally, it shouldn’t be any different from other Dusk Spiders.

– *Boom!*

I dodged the Crystal Spider’s front leg attack and leaped high towards its head.  As expected, no different.

The timing and landing point of the front leg attack are just a larger version of a Dusk Spider’s.

But as soon as I thought that, the spider’s mouth tore open grotesquely, as if to show me the difference.

And countless crystal fragments shot out from its mouth.

What the hell is that, some kind of Diamond Dust Rebellion?

I quickly raised my shield and protected the exposed areas with the [Iron Wall] skill.

– *Crack, crack, crack!*

“Ah, shit.”

A few fragments embedded themselves in my shield and near my leg.  They didn’t go deep, but the fact that I couldn’t deflect them all means failure.

Its attack power is stronger than I thought.

But I landed on the spider’s head.  Due to the spider’s anatomy, I’m safe for now as long as I’m on its back.

I pulled out the crystal fragments embedded in my thigh and swung my sword down before drinking a potion.

– *Clang!*

As expected, it’s incredibly hard. But I managed to make a decent scratch with that.

Well, it’s not impossible to defeat.

Let’s keep attacking the same spot to widen the scratch and then thrust my sword deep to trigger a critical hit.

– *Swish!*

Suddenly, a shadow surged beneath my feet, and Lizmel popped out.

“Really, why do you only do dangerous things!  Don’t you have enough of a short lifespan already, are you trying to die even sooner?”

Lizmel, who teleported right next to me with a strange movement skill, immediately started nagging.

But I didn’t have time to listen to Lizmel’s nagging. The tingling warning of my Intuition skill suddenly rang from beneath my feet.

– *Creak, creak, creak!*

The Crystal Spider’s head, on which we were standing, bent at a right angle.  Its bizarre teeth were aimed at me.

I thought it would shoot fragments again, but Lizmel suddenly pushed me away with a pale face, and a light burst forth.

– *Kaboom!*

“What the fuck!”

Why is the spider shooting a laser beam?!

—–CROW—–