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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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‘Every time I tried sneaking around, some leader had to show up.’
Just like when that foul-tempered officer appeared while I was searching for the map in the ant hill’s officer quarters…
Now Uberak, chief of the Jungle Orcs, walked in just as I was setting up explosives.
While not catastrophic, it was certainly annoying.
‘I needed to kill Uberak here.’
My plan to take out all the officer-level monsters at once by rigging their quarters with explosives had one major flaw—monsters with enhanced physical abilities could smell explosives and had strong survival instincts.
That’s why I’d planned to set everything up while they were outside.
The moment Uberak entered, the plan changed from bombing to assassination.
The problem was I didn’t have any quick way to kill him.
Even with enhanced cutting power, my spider silk would only work on low-level monsters.
Taking down an officer-level monster—practically a sub-boss—in one shot wasn’t feasible.
I had one option, but it was far from stealthy. I needed to find another way quickly.
‘His anger is making him careless, keeping him from noticing the smell of explosives.’
By the time he calmed down and detected the unusual scent, it would be too late.
If I was going to act, it had to be now—every moment of hesitation meant a lost opportunity.
‘Quick decisions, immediate action.’
After muttering those words to myself, I struck the moment Uberak started removing his equipment to rest.
“What the—!”
Since shouting while launching a surprise attack would be idiotic, I moved swiftly instead.
He’d removed his helmet to breathe more easily.
That left his neck exposed.
Taking advantage of his surprise, I wrapped spider silk around his neck and pulled tight to cut off his airway.
Uberak immediately understood my intention and tried to shout a warning, but…
– Boom!
Pephais’s distant explosions swallowed all sound.
“You think this will be enough to take me down?!”
Uberak had only removed his armor at the neck.
The rest of his body remained protected by iron armor, making it difficult to target.
This meant I could only attack his neck—making it easier to defend since all attacks would focus there.
‘The silk won’t cut through.’
The spider silk could pierce skin but wasn’t strong enough to cut through muscle and bone.
‘If only I had the second-tier spider title…’
But regrets wouldn’t help—I needed to take down Uberak.
There was no time for hesitation.
I gripped the spider silk with all my strength, tightening it around his neck as much as possible.
If I couldn’t cut, I’d strangle.
The thin, dense spider silk dug into his skin, making it impossible for even his thick fingers to get a proper grip.
This turned into a battle of endurance—one that heavily disadvantaged me.
– Gurk gurgle!
After his initial shout, the tightly constricted spider silk prevented him from making proper sounds.
Realizing he might pass out at this rate, he started throwing anything within reach at me.
The distance was about three meters.
In the cramped barracks, I could barely dodge the flying beds and desks.
It became a contest between his strangulation and my ability to avoid the projectiles.
‘The explosive sounds have their limits.’
No matter how much Pephais diverted attention outside…
Once people heard the commotion and crashes from the barracks, some would inevitably come to investigate.
That would put me at a severe disadvantage, forcing me to use my last resort.
‘I’ll have to rely on the damage reduction.’
Better to end this quickly than risk failing to take him down in the confusion.
Moving backward to keep the spider silk taut, I opened my spatial pouch and took out black powder.
Following my thoughts, Pephais dumped the powder into Uberak’s mouth and…
– Boom!
Detonated it instantly.
“The barracks! An explosion in the barracks!”
“This is real! I smell explosives!”
– Growl!
The Jungle Orcs rushed toward the barracks as soon as they heard the explosion, while Uberak radiated killing intent as if such a blast couldn’t possibly kill him.
I hadn’t expected much from the monsters’ cheap explosives, so I calmly proceeded with my next move.
– Whoosh.
No matter how cheap the explosives or how tough his skin, an internal explosion would still weaken his durability.
“What’s that look for?”
I hadn’t expected one blast to kill him anyway.
If once wasn’t enough, try twice. If twice wasn’t enough, try three times.
Having already revealed my position to the Jungle Orcs by using explosives, I needed to finish this properly.
– Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
[Damage from explosions reduced due to contract with Pephais.]
[Damage from explosions reduced due to contract with Pephais.]
[Pephais…]
I kept feeding explosives into his mouth and detonating them with increasing intensity.
The Jungle Orcs rushing in to protect Uberak got caught in the explosions and thrown back outside while I continued until the death message appeared.
Having committed to this course, I relentlessly shoved explosives down his throat or detonated them in his mouth until…
[You have eliminated Jungle Orc Chief Uberak.]
[For soloing a mid-boss monster while in Solo Run state, Will increased by 3 as reward.]
I’d managed to take him down.
“He killed Uberak!”
“That bastard!”
Now I just needed to escape the barracks.
All those explosions had actually helped set up my escape.
– Creak creak.
The crudely built monster barracks couldn’t withstand the repeated explosions, creating a wall of debris between me and the orcs.
‘Not all of them came.’
Some had probably gone to investigate Pephais’s earlier explosions elsewhere.
Still, having over 70% of them trapped in the collapsing barracks to save their boss counted as a success.
“At least you won’t die alone.”
I leaped toward the hole blown in the ceiling, scattering black powder where the Jungle Orcs gathered before triggering another explosion.
– Boom!
The confused orcs got buried under the barracks’ debris, becoming combat ineffective.
By the time other monsters arrived at the Jungle Orc barracks after hearing the commotion, I’d already used my spider silk to escape.
When facing multiple opponents without overwhelming combat power, there was only one approach:
‘Guerrilla tactics.’
I had to whittle down their numbers through hit-and-run attacks.
Ideally, this would continue until only the boss monster remained.
Since that convenient scenario wasn’t possible, I settled for eliminating the Jungle Orcs.
‘The Jungle Orcs, Monkey Goblins, and Banana Kobolds.’
Of the fortress’s three main forces, I’d destroyed the Jungle Orcs, leaving two.
The Monkey Goblins were particularly troublesome and needed to be dealt with.
Goblins riding monkeys solved their mobility issues and could quickly approach to shoot poison needles—making them especially dangerous.
‘I targeted the Jungle Orcs instead of hunting Monkey Goblins first… but why were the Banana Kobolds so quiet?’
I perched in the cliff crevice I’d found during my honey penalty episode and reassessed my plans.
The clean takedown of the Jungle Orcs bothered me most.
Everything from stealing from the armory to destroying their barracks had gone too smoothly—as if they’d wanted me to do it.
Just minutes ago I’d felt good about killing the monsters, but now it seemed suspicious.
Logically, when barracks get destroyed, it made no sense for only Jungle Orcs to respond.
No fortress would ignore an attack just because it wasn’t their jurisdiction.
‘Maybe I should scout again.’
Suspecting some scheme, I decided to check the situation before moving again.
‘But first, I need to get that hidden skill.’
While time to clear was tight, rushing in blindly wasn’t an option.
Beyond contracting with a spirit, I needed every power boost I could get.
With Will now at 33 after the three-point increase, I could finally handle spider silk properly.
Which meant…
‘I can properly weave now.’
It was time to use spider silk to its full potential.
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He just needs sticky fingers