The Dark Master of the Abandoned Auto-Hunting Game

Chapter 3

The stages of the fantasy species in the dungeon replay are represented in rainbow colors.

From self-sufficient to red.

The brighter the color, the stronger the arthropod becomes, possessing unique characteristics.

And now.

An arthropod stood firmly in front of Rayzen, blocking the path.

A massive body with golden, shining fur.

Teeth resembling those of a human.

Drool dripping from its mouth.

A landlord-level, high-grade arthropod.

The golden spider.

Just looking at its appearance, it was an utterly grotesque monster.

However, there was a specific problem with the golden spider.

The real reason it was high-grade.

That was the ‘magic immunity trait.’

At this moment.

It was the arthropod Rayzen most did not want to encounter.

“…Wow, even so.”

Rayzen muttered with a despondent expression.

“Isn’t it a bit much to throw a magic-immune arthropod at me?”

Even a poison necromancer is ultimately a magician.

That means.

Rayzen’s magic does not work on the golden spider.

“Kuoooooong!”

At that moment, the golden spider raised its front legs and let out a roar.

It felt like his eardrums were about to burst.

Just the sound made his body tingle.

Seeing a beast’s howl up close felt like this.

Rayzen immediately turned his body.

Then he aimed his venomous fangs at the ground.

“Bone broom!”

Rayzen felt something surge out from within him.

It was clear that the remaining magical power in his body was being consumed.

He didn’t know the principle.

He simply recognized that he had a skill and knew how to use it from that moment.

‘This is a skill I would have used every day while auto-hunting.’

Even if his body didn’t want to, he had no choice but to remember.

Pyoong!

At that moment, a bone broom appeared, floating in front of him.

Rayzen immediately hopped onto the bone broom.

“Fly!”

Following Rayzen’s command, the bone broom shot forward in an instant.

It was fast.

It was so fast that he almost fell backward.

Now, the memories of being chased by a swarm of spiders felt a bit sad.

‘If I had recognized and used this from the start.’

He wouldn’t have had to suffer so much while fleeing.

‘Alright!’

He just needed to use it well and escape brilliantly.

The problem was that this situation couldn’t be resolved with just one bone broom.

Kuwung, kungkungkungkungkungkung!

Rayzen felt the entire cave resonate as he turned his head.

As expected, the golden spider was madly chasing after him.

The golden spider persistently follows a target it has recognized.

‘It’s impossible to take a shortcut now that the golden spider has appeared.’

The golden spider leaves webs in its path as it runs.

Even now, it was chasing Rayzen while indiscriminately spreading webs.

‘Those webs will dissolve immediately if I kill the golden spider.’

But they also possess the same magic immunity trait.

‘As a poison necromancer, I can’t erase them.’

The already narrow cave had turned into a paradise of spider webs.

At this rate, he couldn’t use the shortcut until he killed the golden spider.

‘Time to change tactics.’

Rayzen gripped the broomstick tightly and lowered his body.

Even if it was a game he played ten years ago, the knowledge remained.

Especially when it came to dealing with troublesome fantasy species, he knew them well.

The golden spider was still chasing Rayzen as if it wanted to kill him.

He had aimed to clear the game, but was now stuck against a golden spider.

Before he knew it, Rayzen passed by the angel statue.

The golden spider followed closely behind, passing the angel statue as well.

A red crystal light entered Rayzen’s eyes.

He was nearing the end of the shortcut cave.

Paan!

With the sound of wind, the broom Rayzen was riding soared into the sky.

Soon after, he saw a swarm of spiders densely filling the plaza.

Blue-grade arthropods, swarm spiders.

Thousands of spiders turned to look at Rayzen all at once.

Just in time, the swarm spiders regenerated.

Kwaaaang!

At that moment, the golden spider followed closely behind Rayzen.

It rolled its six eyes and soon spotted Rayzen.

“Kuoooooong!”

The creature let out a roar and began to run again.

“Gik?”

“Gik?”

Simultaneously, the swarm spiders also noticed Rayzen.

They seemed startled by the appearance of both the golden spider and Rayzen.

However, they couldn’t hastily block Rayzen’s path.

[Absolute Ruler of the Swarm].

Thanks to the equipment effect Rayzen was wearing, the swarm spiders parted.

Rayzen dashed over the swarm spiders.

The golden spider followed, scattering the swarm spiders in its wake.

The golden spider was about five times larger than the swarm spiders.

As a result, the swarm spiders were helplessly flung away.

Rayzen raised his venomous fangs.

Originally, he wanted to avoid colliding with the swarm spiders again.

But given the situation, he had to maximize the performance of the poison necromancer.

The specialty of the poison necromancer is to gather multiple mobs.

Rayzen raised his venomous fangs.

Once again, he felt power surge out of his body.

‘As expected, there isn’t much magical power left.’

This was something Rayzen had somewhat anticipated.

He had already gathered mobs with the swarm of spiders earlier.

He had calculated that he would have consumed magical power.

‘Unlike in the game, the amount of magical power cannot be seen with the eyes.’

He had to rely on intuition, so he had to be more cautious.

Magical power recovers at a significantly slow rate.

To fully replenish magical power, it would take about a day.

‘What I have set up now is an auto-hunting setup.’

If he were to keep grinding in the dungeon, he would have set up a magical recovery setup.

However, since auto-hunting would eventually return to the base after completing a certain amount of hunting.

He didn’t need to set up a magical recovery setup.

It was a mistake, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have.

On the contrary, that’s why he could possess more attack magic.

“Venomous Release!”

Green poisonous smoke poured out from the venomous fangs.

The poisonous smoke spread toward the plaza and quickly seeped into the swarm spiders.

“Gik?”

“Gik!”

The swarm spiders that inhaled the poisonous smoke twitched in pain.

“Kuheong!”

However, the poisonous smoke had no effect on the golden spider.

As expected from its magic immunity trait, it didn’t work.

But Rayzen didn’t care.

He used his magical power once more to activate a spell.

“Poison Provocation!”

At that moment, the swarm spiders twitched their bodies and began to chase after Rayzen, who was riding the bone broom.

Their movements were just like before.

Poison Provocation is a skill that provokes a target afflicted with poison in a wide area.

Naturally, this is an essential skill for mob gathering.

“Kuooong!”

As the swarm spiders chased Rayzen, they blocked the path of the golden spider.

With its path blocked, the enraged golden spider began to lash out indiscriminately.

It was a nasty creature with no sense of kinship.

But its strength was real.

The swarm spiders dared not think of attacking it.

The golden spider followed Rayzen, who was passing through the center of the swarm spiders.

This meant the golden spider was about to reach the center point of the swarm spiders.

‘Just a bit more.’

Rayzen waited for the right moment.

Finally, the moment the golden spider reached the center of the swarm spiders.

Rayzen immediately aimed his venomous fangs backward.

“Venomous Explosion.”

A massive amount of magical power surged out from his body.

At the same time, the swarm spiders began to glow in unison.

Venomous Explosion is a spell that detonates a target in a poisoned state.

The explosion deals physical damage.

Flash!

And a flash pierced through the plaza.

Kwaaaang!

With a sound that felt like his eardrums would burst, a fierce explosion echoed.

As if proving that explosions in the game and reality are different.

Rayzen was swept up in the explosion’s aftermath and flew into the air.

“Guh!”

Rayzen gripped the bone broom tightly due to the explosion’s force.

But he ultimately couldn’t hold on and crashed into a wall.

Crash!

The bone broom shattered.

It was already weak against shocks.

He had anticipated this, so he wasn’t flustered.

The problem was that the point of impact with the wall was quite high up.

Rayzen executed a falling technique he learned in Taekwondo class back in school.

Kwaang!

His arms and legs resonated painfully.

However, since his chest didn’t hit, his lungs were unharmed.

Not bad.

He could move his body smoothly.

At the moment he was sure of that, Rayzen kicked off the ground and stood up.

“Phew, phew.”

His body trembled, perhaps due to the massive amount of magical power that had drained away.

‘How many more times can I do this?’

In reality, the amount of magical power isn’t visible to the eyes.

He couldn’t gauge how much magical power he could use.

What was certain was that he couldn’t use another Venomous Release or Venomous Explosion of the same scale as just now.

A thick green smoke hung in the air.

It was the effect of the Venomous Explosion Rayzen had activated.

Most of the swarm spiders were in a poisoned state.

The effect was not something to be ignored.

‘As for the golden spider.’

Is it dead?

Hoping desperately that it was, Rayzen prayed fervently for a moment.

Thud!

His wish was not granted.

Ignoring his hopes, a sound came from within the smoke.

Rayzen gripped his venomous fangs tightly.

Soon after, the golden spider revealed itself.

Two legs had been blown off, and one leg was broken.

Most of its body was charred.

In particular, the body part was severely damaged.

It looked as if the lid had been blown off, exposing its insides.

And within, the core that made up the arthropod was visible.

Yet, even in that state, the golden spider stood.

Its red eyes gleamed.

It was not dead yet.

The battle was still not over.

“Kuoooooong!”

The golden spider roared loudly.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

Then it began to run with its remaining legs.

The enraged creature launched a physical assault.

It was faster than before.

Rayzen did not panic.

‘This is proof that the golden spider is desperate.’

It was as if it was screaming that it had taken significant damage from the explosion.

Rayzen ran.

At the same time, he poured his magical power once more.

“Cough!”

At that moment, dizziness spun around him.

It was the price of excessively consuming magical power.

But Rayzen gritted his teeth against it.

Rayzen created a bone broom.

Without this, he would be caught by the golden spider and surely die.

Whoosh!

Rayzen barely soared into the sky.

The golden spider immediately followed.

Rayzen widened his eyes, which were about to close.

‘I’m running out of magical power more than I thought.’

His hands trembled.

Was this a reckless act?

He was slowly beginning to understand what it meant to gamble with life and death.

However, the more he felt that way, the tighter he gripped the broom.

‘What am I afraid of?’

Rayzen forced a smile, even if it was out of pride.

‘I’m not dead yet.’

That meant there was still a way out.

Rayzen’s eyes busily scanned his surroundings.

The golden spider had its weak core exposed.

If he could land just one successful attack there, just once.

He could kill it.

At that moment, Rayzen’s eyes caught sight of a leg from the swarm spiders.

‘That’s it.’

Rayzen propelled the broom forward with a gap.

Then, he lowered his posture and snatched the spider leg from the air.

He caught it.

The moment he thought that.

Thud!

With a shock from the side, Rayzen’s body twisted.

At the same time, he fell off the broom.

Crash!

Rayzen tumbled to the ground.

His vision blurred.

What on earth had he been hit by?

He didn’t know.

The shock to his body momentarily took his breath away.

Thud thud thud!

But there was no time to waste.

The golden spider was coming after him.

Rayzen immediately got back on his feet.

He couldn’t see the bone broom.

It seemed to have broken when he fell.

“Bone broom!”

Rayzen squeezed out his magical power to create a bone broom.

Then he climbed onto it as if being dragged along and soared into the sky.

Kwaang!

The golden spider’s leg suddenly struck the spot where Rayzen had been.

His heart sank.

If he had been just a moment slower, he would have died.

Rayzen then noticed a swarm spider lying on the ground.

It was clear that it had been the one that had struck him earlier.

‘There was a creature that survived without being caught in the Venomous Explosion.’

In a game, it would have definitely exploded and died, so he hadn’t expected this.

But this was reality.

It was the price of being careless.

Rayzen felt a sharp pain in his right arm.

It seemed his bone had broken from the earlier impact, and his arm wasn’t moving properly.

‘It’s fine. I still have my other arm.’

His other hand tightly gripped the spider leg.

That would be enough.

‘My magical power is almost gone now.’

Rayzen truly felt that he was running out of magical power.

At best, he could manage one more Venomous Explosion.

‘I can’t even use Venomous Release.’

Originally, he had planned to use Venomous Release on the spider leg first.

Then he intended to blow the core away with Venomous Explosion.

However, after using the bone broom one more time earlier, he had no magical power left to use Venomous Release.

If he couldn’t use Venomous Release, he couldn’t use Venomous Explosion.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

The golden spider was still chasing Rayzen.

It seemed its stamina was endless, showing no signs of stopping.

Death is tightening its grip.

Rayzen felt as if his head would stop at any moment.

Creak!

But Rayzen clenched his teeth tightly.

He still had magic left.

He still had his body.

Then there was a way out.

Rayzen lifted the venomous fang and wedged it between his teeth.

Then he raised the collective spider leg with his left hand.

The collective spider leg had sharp, needle-like hairs.

These would inflict a bleeding debuff when struck by the collective spider.

Rayzen looked at the blood that soaked his injured right arm.

Amidst the sweat dripping down from fatigue and pain.

A manic smile mixed with madness spread across Rayzen’s lips.

“I’m glad my arm is hurt. It’s not a loss.”

Rayzen rubbed the collective spider leg against his right arm.

The needle-like hairs pierced into his arm.

A fierce pain surged.

“Grrrgh!”

As he bit down on the venomous fang, Rayzen swallowed a scream.

One might think he had gone mad and was self-harming.

But this was the best he could do.

Sssss!

The spider leg that touched Rayzen’s blood began to dissolve.

One of Rayzen’s skills.

Toxic Physique [C].

A skill that allows poison to flow within his body.

Rayzen didn’t have enough magic to release venom.

So, in this moment, he cleverly smeared his toxic blood.

Rayzen’s eyes lit up with determination.

His right arm was in tatters.

But that was fine for now.

Holding the spider leg in his left hand, he turned the direction of the bone broom.

Whoosh!

Rayzen, having changed direction, flew towards the golden spider.

“Kuoooorrrr!”

Seeing Rayzen turn, the golden spider thrashed even more wildly.

Then it swung all its remaining legs at Rayzen.

Rayzen, riding the bone broom, lowered his posture.

The high-speed moving bone broom dodged the legs swung by the golden spider.

However, the bone broom was fast only in a straight line.

It was vulnerable to turns.

This meant he couldn’t dodge all the legs.

Just before the golden spider’s leg struck Rayzen.

Crack!

As Rayzen released the bone broom, he fell downwards.

As he plummeted, Rayzen narrowly brushed past the golden spider’s leg.

And soon, he saw the exposed insides of the spider’s body before him.

Rayzen infused strength into his left arm.

With the force of his fall, he plunged the spider leg down with all his might.

Thwack!

Part of the golden spider’s insides was torn apart.

The sensation felt quite unpleasant in his hand.

However, this sensation was a clear sign that the spider leg had indeed penetrated inside.

The problem was that Rayzen couldn’t manage to mount the golden spider.

Thud!

Rayzen collided with the body of the golden spider and soared through the air.

From the impact, the venomous fang slipped from Rayzen’s mouth.

He couldn’t let it go.

Rayzen reached out with his left hand.

Snatch!

Rayzen grabbed the venomous fang.

A green aura shone fiercely from the venomous fang.

It was the last bit of magic he could muster.

Rayzen aimed the venomous fang at the golden spider.

A tenacious will and unyielding perseverance.

That was the result of his efforts.

The finale.

Let it be magnificent.

“Venomous Explosion.”

The green flash once again colored the plaza.