Chapter 13 – Tutorial (Survivor) - 13
BOOM
The spider lady slams the door for the third time, causing the hinges and lock to break apart as the door fell over. Stretching her head into the room, she rotates it around, her eyes locking onto Vesper. Her jaw split into four, revealing a wide smile.
As the spider entity smiles, Vesper vaguely senses a cold air emanating from the lady's direction. He grabs a rune ball and hurls it toward her with all his force.
*POK*
The rare rune struck the lady's face, breaking her nose and causing blue blood to drip from her nostrils.
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
she screams in anger, lunging toward Vesper like a face-hugger. However, her legs hit the fallen baby's bed, causing her to fall short of reaching him. Her face is now only 30cm away from his.
Sensing her cold breath and the mysterious presence, Vesper clenches the gold key in his right hand and throws a straight punch in front of him, connecting with the monster's face. As he senses the impact, Vesper inherits the spirit of a character from the Jojo Series, barraging his fists upon the target's face.
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
The spider lady screams again, angered by the multiple hits to her face.
Seizing Vesper's neck, she presses him down on the ground, opening her mouth wide to bite his head off in one bite.
Frustrated by his powerlessness, Vesper uses the key as a weapon, thrusting it upward. The key enters the monster's mouth, stabbing her throat and causing her to flinch. However, her mouth snaps onto Vesper's right arm, her long fangs sinking into his flesh. Struggling for his last breath, Vesper repeatedly punches the spider woman's head with his left fist.
The spider lady, annoyed, shakes her head with her fangs still inside Vesper's flesh, attempting to tear off his right arm.
In retaliation, Vesper sweeps the floor with his left hand, senses another small rune ball nearby, and grabs it as a weapon. He then smacks the spider lady's head with it.
The rune stone strikes the lady's right temple, causing the monster to become dizzy and let go of Vesper's right arm. Seizing the opportunity, Vesper pulls his right arm out of her mouth and gathers his strength to stab the monster again with his key.
However, being blind, he accidentally stabs the monster's right eye instead, piercing through her eyes and the soft tissue behind it, ultimately reaching her brain.
The spider lady flinches in shock. She collapses and dissipates into ash, leaving behind a monster rune that falls onto Vesper's chest. He grabs it and bitterly laughs, wondering if he had truly killed it.
Vesper doesn't care if it was a fluke. He is just relieved to still be alive.
Lying on the floor, he consumes the two runes in his hands—the weapon rune used to strike the lady's head and the monster rune.
A voice rings in his head, offering him choices.
1. Temporarily increase dexterity by 1 for 10 minutes. 2. Permanently increase the dexterity attribute by 0.2 points. 3. Obtain one grade-1 smudge stick.> 1. Heal Wounds. 2. Permanently increase Vitality Attribute by 0.5 points. 3. Learn Active Skill – Scratch Attack.> Pain shoots through his right arm, knees, and scratch wounds, warning him that he is not in good shape. Vesper agrees with his instinct and chooses to heal his wounds. As for the other rune, he picks the second option. Vesper forgets how many runes he has consumed and wonders what his status menu would be like if he could see it. Mentally exhausted from the previous struggle, Vesper lies there and catches his breath. He almost falls asleep due to the exhaustion. Fortunately, the realm warns him of the passage of time. Vesper let out a long sigh as he needs to move. After all, one or more entities should have been spawned by now. Grabbing the key, he gets back on his feet. As soon as Vesper stands up, the destroyed door and window float and repair themselves. All windows and the front door are locked due to the mysterious paranormal activity. *CLICK* The loud click sound from the front door and the baby's room door reaches Vesper's ears. He stops in his tracks, biting his lower lip. A ghost in this house is entering the hunting phase. Realizing the changes, Vesper remains motionless. While standing, he senses the presence of someone in the house. He feels strange, somehow able to tell that there is an entity in the living room, patrolling in that area. After circling around for a minute, it disappears. When the sense is gone, Vesper remembers that he has learned a special skill – Scardy Cat. 'Ah, I forgot. I guess this skill is quite good? At least, I know where the ghost and that monster's general location are.' Happy with the skill he has, Vesper lets out a long sigh and backtracks toward the door. Leaving the baby's room with the golden key in his hand, Vesper once again relies on the wall to sense his general location. When Vesper returns to the living room, he turns toward the kitchen area as he senses another presence. ZAG-ZAG-ZAG The hairy eight-legged woman remains in the same place, hoarding all the runes underneath her. Despite the monster being a threat, Vesper uses its presence as a landmark to determine the direction. Carefully, he releases his hand from the wall and steps toward a door leading to the washroom and the garage. *ZAG-ZAG-ZAG* The eight-legged lady spreads her hair all over the kitchen and dining area, collecting runes left and right. She piles them on the island table, but since all the runes are round, they fall to the floor, creating a lot of noise. The entity then chases after the noise to collect them again, causing another ball to fall from the table. The loop never ends. The eight-legged spider ignores Vesper, focusing on her business in the area. Vesper is alarmed by the repeated sound of giant marbles hitting the wooden floor or rolling around. Afraid of the entity, he rushes toward his destination and accidentally runs into a wall. His left-hand pats the wall and discovers the door to the washroom and garage. Due to the noise, the eight-legged entity sends her hair toward Vesper to investigate. The shadow of black hair crawls on the ceiling and creeps down, aiming for Vesper's head.