28. Spider Cave (Patreon)

As Luke stepped into the portal, a familiar sensation of disorientation washed over him. For a brief moment, his surroundings dissolved into a blur of shifting light and shadow, as if space itself folded inward before snapping back into place.

The next thing he knew, his boots landed on uneven stone.

A sharp chime echoed in his mind.

------------------

System Notification

You've ventured into a group dungeon solo!

Dungeon Max Capacity: 7

Current Reward Multiplier: 7x

------------------

Luke chuckled under his breath, a slow grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Now that’s what a cheat looks like.”

The Goblin Den had capped at five participants and rewarded him with a fivefold loot multiplier. But this—this was a step beyond. A seven-participant dungeon meant a sevenfold return. The Spider Cave was already promising to be a lucrative endeavor, and he hadn’t even moved yet.

The surroundings were different from anything he’d experienced before. Unlike the Goblin Den, which began in an open clearing leading to a narrow cave, the Spider Cave tossed him directly into the belly of a twisting subterranean canal. The ceiling arched high above, coated in black threads too thick to be natural. Veins of purple crystal protruded from the walls, casting a soft, eerie glow that danced across slick stone and jagged webs. The air was thick—oppressively so—with a pungent, musky odor. A mix of decay and something... acidic.

He could hear it, too—the occasional echo of thin screeches in the distance, like sharpened nails dragged over bone. The ambiance was oppressive, but it was just the kind of place Luke had starting to enjoy. Cursed, dark, and probably full of things that wanted to kill him.

He reached up and gave Szeth a tap on the head.

“Alright, soldier. I’m counting on you this time. Stay sharp. We’re deep in enemy territory now with only one way out.”

Szeth let out a soft hiss, flicking his tongue before slithering down Luke’s shoulder. His silver-black scales glinted faintly in the purple light as he coiled with a grace that was both elegant and deadly. On the ground, he moved like a disciplined scout, his body low and senses alert. If a soldier had ever been born a serpent, it was Szeth.

Luke smiled at the sight. Szeth's current posture unintentionally made him look adorable, like a miniature guardian prepared to take on the world.

“So far, no spiders…” Luke muttered, his voice low as he began his cautious trek through the winding cave.

The floor was coated in some kind of sticky residue, and every step felt like peeling his boots away from a half-dried glue trap. His instincts screamed at him to stay alert. Every faint whisper of a screech, every flicker of motion in the corners of his vision kept him on edge.

After several turns through the canal-like corridors, he came to a wider clearing—and froze.

Three large spiders stood ahead, clustered near a suspended cocoon-like mass. They were munching—no, tearing—into whatever was inside. Wet, crunching sounds filled the air as Luke's gaze took in the full scope of the creatures.

“...these are the spiders of this cave?” he whispered with a mix of disbelief and unease.

They were easily the size of a small adult goblin, but bulkier. Their legs were thicker than any he'd seen on spiders in the real world, covered in sharp bristles that looked like they could pierce skin on contact. Their eyes glowed faintly, reflecting the crystal light, and their dark brown bodies moved with alien precision.

One of them turned slightly, and Luke instinctively took a step back.

A mistake.

All three froze mid-bite.

The next second, they shrieked.

With horrifying speed, the trio rotated and lunged, their front legs raised and fangs wide open. Some kind of glistening fluid dripped from their jaws.

Luke sighed. “So much for a quiet start.”

He took a step forward and called out, voice tinged with mischief.

“You’re the plan, Szeth! Go! I choose you!”

Szeth hissed like a fired arrow, launching himself across the floor. In a blink, he coiled around the neck of the nearest spider with practiced fluidity. There was a grotesque snap as the spider's head twisted violently, its body crashing to the stone with a wet thud.

The other two retaliated. With synchronized screeches, they unleashed clouds of sickly green mist—poison.

Luke didn’t wait. He dashed to the right, side-stepping the mist with inches to spare. His hand reached behind him and drew his newly acquired Titanfang Repeater. It wasn’t designed for close combat, but right now, he didn’t care. Reversing his grip on the gun, he swung the weapon like a club.

The butt of the gun met the spider’s face with a sickening crack, splitting open the creature’s skull. Greenish blood sprayed as the beast crumpled.

Panting slightly, Luke turned around—and blinked.

Szeth was already chewing on the severed leg of the last spider.

Luke grimaced. “Seriously? You’re eating that?”

The serpent ignored him, happily gnawing on his spoils.

‘Snakes do eat all kinds of critters, don’t they?’ Luke mused. ‘Guess this counts.’

He glanced down at the Titanfang Repeater. The weapon was unscathed—physically—but streaked with green blood. A small notification blinked at the edge of his vision.

Titanfang Repeater durability: -2

“Figures. Use a gun like a bat, and it loses durability. So much for trying to be quiet.”

He wiped the goo off with a sigh, glancing around.

No more enemies in sight.

“I really did want to take them out quietly so I could plan how to proceed,” he muttered. This whole—gun loud, gun attract—thing was starting to stress him. 

The echo of his own voice sounded lonely in the vast cave. Szeth finished his snack and tilted his head toward Luke.

Luke chuckled. “Should we make at least some sort of a plan before moving forward?”

Szeth blinked slowly, then returned to licking whatever residue remained on the spider’s leg.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll handle it,” Luke said with a tired smile, holstering the Repeater. “Leave the thinking to me, champ.”

------------------

The cavern air grew heavier the deeper Luke ventured, a mix of damp earth and something fouler—stale decay clinging to the walls. Each step forward was careful, precise, the sound of his boots muffled by a soft, tacky layer coating the stone floor. He moved with deliberate silence, crouching behind rock outcroppings and webs the size of canopies. In one hand, he held a small, heavy lead ball, rolling it lightly between his fingers.

Without a word, Luke threw the ball across the cavern.

It clattered softly against the jagged rock wall a dozen meters ahead.

From the shadows, faint skittering answered.

Two spiders emerged, drawn by the noise—quick, sharp-legged creatures, twitching as if unsure of where to attack. Their fur shimmered slightly under the glow of purple crystals embedded in the walls, the color casting strange, ominous reflections off their twitching limbs.

"Szeth," Luke whispered. "Go."

The metallic serpent dropped from his shoulder like coiled lightning, slithering across the ground in eerie silence. One spider didn’t even have the chance to react before Szeth’s silver-scaled body wrapped around its thorax, constricting once—twice—and snapping the creature’s exoskeleton with a sickening crunch. The second turned, mandibles flaring open in alarm.

Too slow.

Szeth darted again, his crystalline tail slicing through the air with terrifying grace. The spider’s head rolled off its body, twitching once before falling still.

Luke exhaled through his nose. “Clean and quiet, just how I like it.”

This pattern repeated. Luke advanced in increments, tossing lead balls into new spaces of the cavern system. Where noise lured spiders, Szeth killed—always efficient, always silent. Not a single shot was fired, and Luke kept the Titanfang Repeater holstered, its gleaming barrel faintly stained with remnants of the previous kill.

Eventually, the narrow tunnel gave way to a wider chamber. Luke’s eyes narrowed as he took in the new sight.

Cocooned webs stretched from floor to ceiling like thick drapes, clustering around a mound near the center of the room. Embedded within were dozens of pale, glistening eggs—each the size of a clenched fist. Six spiders patrolled the space, noticeably larger than the previous ones. Their legs clicked against the stone, heads swiveling every few seconds.

“Finally found one of the mission items,” Luke muttered, crouching low behind a sharp outcropping.

He reached for another lead ball.

But just before he tossed it, something inside him stirred—a primal instinct, something closer to animal than man. His spine tingled, hair rising on his arms as his eyes locked on the shadows.

“Szeth,” he whispered. “Don’t attack yet.”

From the edge of the darkness, something emerged.

The cavern floor trembled faintly as a hulking spider stepped forward—larger than the others by a wide margin. Black, jagged protrusions jutted from its body like plated armor, and its eyes—eight deep obsidian pits—scanned the area with chilling focus.

Luke’s pupils narrowed as he checked the system window that hovered into view.

------------------
 [Spider Guard]
 Elite Monster
------------------

“Well, what do we have here,” Luke breathed. “So Elite monsters are a thing, huh?”

Even without the screen, he could feel it. The sheer weight of the creature’s presence was suffocating, far beyond anything the Goblin Brute from the earlier dungeon had exuded. That brute would’ve run screaming at the first sight of this thing.

Luke slowly inched backward.

Instantly, the Spider Guard turned on alert.

Its gaze locked not onto Luke—but onto Szeth, who lay coiled like a poised spring beside the rock.

“Ah, fuck plans! I guess?” Luke hissed, yanking the Titanfang Repeater from his hip in one fluid motion.

------------------
 Innate Skill – Titan’s Barrage (Cooldown: 5 minutes)
 For the next six shots, firing speed drastically increases, and each shot deals 50% additional damage. Accuracy is reduced by 5% due to recoil.
------------------

Luke pulled the trigger.

Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.

The cavern roared with each shot. The force of the recoil nearly wanted to wrench the gun out his hands, but Luke stood firm. The six regular spiders guarding the eggs exploded in green bursts of ichor, torn apart before they could even react.

The Spider Guard flinched—not at the carnage, but at the deafening sound that ignored its presence completely.

With a shriek that pierced the soul, it lunged.

Luke raised his gun, but it was too late. The monster was fast—unreasonably so for its size. A blur of black legs and scale-like armor flew toward him.

Until a silver streak intercepted.

Szeth’s tail, glowing faintly under the purple light, slammed into the spider’s underside mid-air. The impact sent a shockwave echoing through the cavern, and the Spider Guard crashed against the wall, the stone cracking behind it.

Its abdomen bore a massive dent, the shape of Szeth’s triple ended crystal tail—but it was still alive.

The spider screeched again, furious now, and this time it charged directly at Szeth.

Luke’s voice cut through the noise. “Oooh, you’re indeed an Elite monster. That didn’t kill you, huh? What about this, then?”

------------------
 Skill: Double Round (Level 3)
 Effect: Upon activation, instantly fire another shot using the same type of ammunition as the previous shot without consuming ammunition. Works even for firearms that require manual reloading. The second shot deals 100% additional damage.
 Cooldown: 4 minutes
------------------

The Titanfang Repeater clicked once—then roared again.

The bullet fired was no ordinary slug either.

------------------
 Additional Option – Titan Bullets
 Any type of ammunition loaded into this firearm is automatically converted into Titan Bullets, which have a base damage of 55 and deal blunt damage in addition to the weapon’s standard pierce damage.
------------------

The round exploded from the barrel, a thunderous report echoing as it struck the Spider Guard clean in the head. Its skull fractured on impact, a second crack forming at the back as the sheer force tore through the creature’s armored cranium.

Green and black fluids sprayed outward as the monster’s body collapsed, twitching once before falling still.

Luke exhaled through his teeth, flicking the remaining heat from the repeater’s barrel. “That’s what I thought.” No matter how strong an elite monster was, it was still a 2-Star Beginner monster. The gun’s high base damage along with the Titan bullets and all the other damage multipliers were more than enough to be an overkill.

He walked toward the mound of eggs, a dozen of them even at a glance, as he cautiously pulled them out of the thick webbing. Each one felt sticky and warm to the touch, but stable. As he stored them in his inventory, the weight of the encounter began to settle in.

That had been too close.

Then—another sound. Skittering. Heavy.

Luke turned, already half-sighing. “Not again—”

But he stopped mid-sentence.

Three more Spider Guards.

Lined up at the far end of the chamber, their bodies poised low to the ground, mandibles twitching in hungry anticipation.

‘Well, shit.’