Sword Art Online: Moonlight Swordman.

Ren dropped to one knee, then, like a shadow, sprang behind a venomous spider the size of a full-grown hunting dog.

Windslash hissed through the air, a silent but deadly tear. The blade followed a smooth, razor-sharp arc, slicing through space as if cutting a thin veil.

Within a single breath, the unfortunate spider's body was cleaved in two, its limbs twitching before disintegrating into a spray of glowing red pixel shards that scattered across the moss-covered ground.

[You have defeated…]

Ren didn't look back. But that sound, the sound of a body being ripped and dissolved, though all too familiar, still stirred the senses of other monsters in the area.

From the tall grasses came a cascade of clicking legs and high-pitched screeches. Dark shapes, some with four, six, or eight legs, slithered out of hiding, their crimson eyes glowing like embers in the shadowy forest.

The swarm had found the intruder. And they were coming.

Ren didn't stop. He spun around and darted into the dense forest, weaving between damp trunks and the tangled roots that twisted like a maze.

Though he had faith in his new gear, light armor and a high-speed weapon, Ren was never foolish enough to underestimate a monster nest.

Alone, no matter how fast or strong, he could not withstand a horde of ravenous, brutal creatures like these.

His plan was clear.

Lure the spiders toward Aisen. And then, whether he liked it or not, Aisen would be forced to fight alongside him.

A quick sidestep to the right, Ren dodged an incoming pounce from another spider crawling down a tree trunk. The curved blade of Windslash spun in his grip, and in an instant, it pierced the chitin shell of the creature, hard as stone.

A diagonal slash, deep and precise.

The spider shrieked, its long legs flailing wildly, then collapsed. After a few spasms, its body shattered into hundreds of pixel fragments, vanishing into the damp foliage.

Ren didn't glance back. He moved like the wind itself, dragging behind him the nightmare of the forest that chased him relentlessly.

A few more steps carried him beyond the thick fog that still coiled around every tree branch like a deathly shroud.

A faint light filtered down from above...but beneath the tree, Aisen... was gone.

He had vanished without a trace.

Ren paused for half a second, lips tightened, his eyes flicking back toward the furious swarm hot on his trail.

The original plan, to lure them toward Aisen for a coordinated attack, was now worthless. He had to adapt.

Without hesitation, Ren opened his inventory, his hands moving instinctively. One, two, three smoke bombs, along with a few compressed gas canisters.

He knew these wouldn't cause damage, but they would buy enough time to separate or trap the swarm.

He bit down on an HP potion, holding it between his teeth, a survival reflex. When needed, he could simply clench his jaw to activate it instantly.

His eyes scanned the incoming swarm forming within the mist. Behind him, four... five shadows moved on eight legs, silent and terrifying.

Some were larger than usual, long-legged, swollen abdomens, red light flickering in their many eyes. These weren't low-level foes.

Level 13, maybe 14, two or three levels higher than him.

Ren tightened his grip on the sword hilt. As soon as one of them, the weakest among them, leapt from a rotting tree trunk nearby, he sprang as well.

A sharp hiss tore through the air. Windslash carved a cold arc through space, slicing directly into the creature's torso with a faint glimmer of light.

The first target had to go down, fast.

The spider struck mid-leap as it tried to shoot silk to block his path, but Windslash drilled deep into its neck joint, slicing off two front legs and part of its belly.

It rolled, spasmed, then burst into glowing red pixel fragments.

[You have defeated: Nephila Spider Lv.12]

The damage Ren dealt was truly impressive, partly because he struck their weak points, but the +10 STR bonus from his armor set was undeniably a major factor.

Ren didn't stop. He twisted around, sliding beneath a scythe-like leg swing from the second spider. His curved blade slashed upward from chest to head, a burst of pixelated blood scattering instantly.

The spiders began to screech, a piercing, bloodthirsty sound. Three more sprang out from the underbrush, firing venomous silk like deadly webs in all directions.

Ren didn't retreat. He threw a smoke bomb, then used the thick smoke to close in from the side.

Windslash sliced diagonally, plunging into a spider's abdomen, trailing a flash of blinding light.

A reverse kick slammed straight into the second spider's face, staggering it. Ren twisted again, this time, a piercing thrust from below, right through the soft armor between belly and neck.

[You have defeated: Nephila Spider Lv.13][You have defeated: Nephila Spider Lv.12]

Sweat began to soak his back, but Ren's gaze remained cold as ice. There was no room for mistakes. He rotated his wrist, lowering his sword into a defensive stance, just in time to evade the stabbing attack of the largest spider in the swarm, its swollen belly dripping thick venom.

Ren gritted his teeth, leapt off the ground, bounced off a nearby tree, and shot downward like an arrow, channeling all his weight into the blade's tip.

A diagonal slash that seemed to tear through the air itself.

The creature roared, then exploded into thousands of blazing red pixels, as a series of system messages appeared all at once:

[You have defeated: Nephila Spider Lv.14]

Ren dropped to one knee, breathing heavily, the HP potion in his mouth activating instantly.

The virtual blood glowed a faint orange, gradually restoring. In the distance, a few more spiders lingered hesitantly in the thinning smoke.

Ren squinted. What were they sensing? Fear? Or just a primal reflex when their target refused to fall as expected?

Fortunately, the new armor he wore, a light plate coat reinforced at the shoulders and hips, was strong enough to block the spiders' fang bites.

Even though those fangs were sharp enough to pierce tree trunks, when they struck the armor, they left only shallow scratches and a dry, metallic clack.

Ren had managed to dodge most of the venomous web attacks, those shimmering gray-green threads that were both sticky and dealt poison-over-time damage. A single hit to the neck or face would be enough to end anyone who let their guard down.

He had taken a few leg sweeps and had been tossed into the bushes, but nothing too serious. His HP dropped only from physical damage, and thanks to the HP potion and his evasion skills, he remained standing.

Armor durability? Still within the safe range, down by only about a tenth.

Ren gently bit his lower lip, tasting the familiar metallic flavor of in-game blood, then tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

He didn't wait.

The blade swung again.

No shouting, no flashy effects. Just a precise, fluid slash, like flowing water, cutting toward the nearest spider. It turned to flee, but too late.

The sword pierced a leg joint, then swept sideways across the torso. Fake blood scattered like red flecks in the silvery mist.

Level: 11 (822 / 3648 EXP)

It wasn't until the [Search] skill no longer signaled any movement nearby that Ren finally dared to exhale and slump onto a mossy stone.

The forest air was still laced with smoke and fine dust, but things had calmed a little. Stray light filtered through the leaves, falling silently on the fading traces of fake blood at his feet.

His body felt like it was falling apart after a battle longer than expected. Ren couldn't even recall how many times the notification [Nephila Spider has been defeated] had appeared.

They popped up and vanished, mechanically, rhythmically, but with each name that disappeared, an artificial life had been taken, and a part of his strength drained away.

When the battle ended, a cold system report appeared: nearly 800 experience points in total, enough to push his EXP bar almost one-fifth of the way to the next level.

To gain that much EXP in a single short fight... even large boss-hunting parties rarely pulled that off.

But the reward hadn't come free.

Ren let go of his sword, letting the blade touch the ground with a heavy clunk. Both his arms trembled—not from fear, but from exhaustion.

To face relentless attacks, dodging, reacting in milliseconds... had pushed his body to the limit.

Virtual blood could be restored by potions. Injuries could heal. But the dull ache in his muscles, the lasting pain in his shoulders, and the ragged breathing from constant evasion, those things didn't just vanish.

His stamina had recovered a little after a few minutes of rest, but Ren still felt like something had been worn down deep in his bones.

This kind of fatigue... was worse than seeing his HP drop into the red.

It was in moments like this that one understood... the health bar didn't truly represent life.

It was just a number. A symbol.

But the pain, the suffocating breaths, the sensation of muscles on the verge of tearing, those were the things that reminded him he was still alive.

Resting a while longer under the cold shadow of silver-gray foliage, Ren began to feel the numbness in his sword hand fade. The dull tingling along his index finger and wrist finally receded, giving way to a deeper, almost pleasant ache, as if his body was trying to stitch its shredded nerves back together.

He inhaled deeply, sensing the damp scent of earth and the lingering stench of poison smoke still drifting in the air. Then he stood, straightening his back, gripping the sword hilt tightly as if performing a ritual before continuing onward.

"Looks like my task isn't over yet."

Ren thought to himself, eyes scanning the system menu, but no notification appeared.

He knew exactly what that meant.

Not enough spiders had been slain. The area still wasn't safe. And he, the one who had volunteered to shoulder this danger, couldn't return yet.

With no other choice, Ren stepped forward, following the damp paths still marked with spider tracks and faint, blood-red threads of silk.

Strands of web crisscrossed between tree trunks, hazy like smoke, forcing him to duck constantly or slash them away with his sword.

The road ahead seemed to lead into a place both strange and familiar, a place where light was swallowed by the wet blackness of rotting grass and dense overhead webs.

Each step felt like sinking deeper into another world.

After pushing through more underbrush filled with half-decayed white cocoons, Ren finally saw it.

A large stone cave, its mouth gaping open in a moss-covered cliffside, like a jaw waiting to crush any who dared enter. Around it, thick strands of web converged, stretching out like veins guiding the way for the creatures that lived within the darkness.

A cold wind blew from inside the cave, reeking with a foul, nauseating stench.