Spider 33:
It's been a long time since I evolved and I have been living here while preparing for the journey to reach the Upper Stratum.
How long? I have already eaten all the monkeys and started eating other small fries.
Well, I did eat a lot of them after evolving, so that is probably not a good way to judge the time now that I think about it.
Speaking of, how long has it been since I got isekai'd?
...Yeah nevermind, I have no way to tell the time until I leave this damn stupid labyrinth.
But before that, I have finally decided that I will tackle the Middle Stratum instead of looking for another vertical shaft in the Lower Stratum.
I have to get revenge on that lavahorse for making a fool out of me after all.
Inner Critic: Eh? What about That, Hiiro?
I have no idea what you're talking about, Inner Critic.
More importantly, I have to find a way to deal with the heat and my lack of ranged attacks since that webs are unusable there.
Anyway, I checked my Stats after evolving and found out Appraisal-sama is now LV8.
Hm? Why am I calling it sama now?
Because she has become super useful now! That's why!
At first, the LV8 upgrade just seemed to display the amount of Skill Points.
But double appraising it lets me see the list of Skills I can grab with my Skill Points, which is the super useful part!
In my past life, I used to find Moonie's desire to be a magical girl to be silly at best.
But now I am totally on board with the idea, because I really want to use Magic!
Looking through the list of Skills I can grab, I found [Mana Perception] and [Mana Operation].
You literally can't use Magic without these.
Just when I was about to grab them both, I remembered that [Mana Perception] is already part of [Detection].
I already know that lesser Skills get incorporated into more advanced Skills.
Grabbing [Mana Perception] is pointless since [Detection] will just eat it up as Proficiency.
In other words, I can't use Magic until I can use [Detection].
But [Detection] is so powerful just turning it on for a second or so levels it up.
And the higher its Level, the worse the headache I get.
I am going to need more processing power to handle it I guess.
Inner Critic: Guess that just proves how slow and stupid you are, Hiiro.
Hey! Not cool, Inner Critic! I am smart! I had pretty good grades back at school, y'know?!
[Detection] just goes overboard!
Wait, haven't we already done this joke before already?
Am I seriously running out of jokes already?
Nai wa...
Anyway, I then looked for Skills that can help my brain handle [Detection] and found 'it'.
'It' is truly an insane Skill.
Appraisal-sama: < [Pride]: n% of the power required to achieve godhood.
Upon acquiring, Experience and Proficiency will greatly increase, along with better growth capacity for every ability.
In addition, the user will gain the ability to surpass the W System and interfere with the MA Field. >
And all of that for just 100 Skill Points, talk about a bargain!
By the way, this is the final form of [Desire], cause it got incorporated into [Pride].
Though I have no idea what the W System and MA Field nonsense mean since it is impossible for Appraisal-sama to tell me anything about them for whatever reason.
How can there be interference in a world without radio signals?
Inner Critic: No one's here to cringe at your bad joke, Hiiro.
Such is the life of the lonely. Nai wa...
Moving on, I definitely understand the increase in growth rate, it means I can level up my Skills faster.
As for the godhood part, well, it sounds nice and all but can someone like me handle the responsibility of godhood?
I mean, I rather have a simple Human life than deal with one full of whatever it is Gods have to deal with.
Y'know, a simple life like that of a certain witch who spent 300 years killing slimes?
Actually, I just realised, I haven't encountered any slimes yet.
Do they not exist in this world? Or the area I am in doesn't have them?
Another mystery added to the list of things I want to solve.
Anyway, the real concern is that pride is the worst of the seven deadly sins, the origin of the rest of them as some would say.
I know I am not a good person, but that doesn't mean I want to be evil either! Nai wa!
And finally, what if this Skill is too good to be true like [Detection]?
Like, there is a really bad downside that's not mentioned.
Despite all of my concerns, I picked it up anyway.
It's like being tempted by the devil, and I can't shake the feeling I will live to regret this.
And sure enough, just obtaining the Skill bumped my [Taboo] from LV2 to 4.
I just felt like I needed it the moment I saw it, like it was made for me or something.
I also got a Title from it, [Ruler of Pride], and it came with [Abyss Magic LV10] and [Hades].
Literal Magic from hell, scary stuff, and the vague descriptions provided by Appraisal-sama didn't help at all.
And [Hades] lets me, well, manifest Hades apparently.
But like, what will that even do exactly?
Inner Critic: And what were you thinking trying to use it, Hiiro?! Do you have a death wish?! What if Hades kills you on sight?!
Um, curiosity killed the spider, Inner Critic? Hehehe...
Inner Critic: Don't act like this isn't a big deal, Hiiro!
But nothing happened cause it didn't work so it's fine, Inner Critic.
Anyway, it's too late to worry about blindly trying to open Pandora's Box anyway, and besides, [Pride] has helped me gain a bunch of Skills and Levels for them.
Straining my eyes to look further gave me [Vision Enhancement].
Same with the other senses, even taste, which I have no idea how that's gonna help me ngl.
I remember being rather short-sighted in my past life, all the time looking at screens had done a number on my eyes.
I would get glasses but that requires interacting with a doctor to get the correct spec so no, I would rather be blind thank you very much.
That's social interaction and I do not support it.
Side note, I am glad I can turn these Skills off when needed, because with them on, I have become too sensitive to my surroundings, especially touch.
...Not the erotic kind! Pervert! Get your mind out of the gutter! Nai wa!
Divine Voice: "Proficiency has reached the required level.
Acquired Skill [Crude LV1]."
What!? A slow-acting but unblockable Charm Heresy Skill!?
Um, cool, but why? The name doesn't really make sense.
It's like [Rest] and [Desire] all over again.
Let's see, I got [Rest] from being a slacker in my first house, [Desire] from swearing to improve and [Crude] from thinking impure thoughts!?
Excuse me?! Are you calling me a pervert, Divine Voice?!
Well fuck you! I ain't using [Crude]!
Not that I can, I seriously doubt I can Charm Monsters into not attacking me.
If anything, wouldn't it make them want to eat me more?
Not the erotic kind, mind you, I ain't into vore.
Nai wa, I sometimes regret visiting the darker side of the internet.
Eh? I have another Skill called [Anger], when did I get it?
Oh, when I got super angry and bloodthirsty killing the monkeys I bet.
When active, it multiplies my Stats, but I will suffer the Madness Heresy effect.
Well, I definitely don't want to go mad, so I guess I ain't using this one either.
More importantly, just thinking about multiple things and the reasoning behind them gave me [Prediction] and [Parallel Thinking], not in that order respectively.
Y'know, things I probably need to increase my processing power to handle [Detection]?
So in the end, picking up [Pride] has more upsides than downsides, for now anyway.
Not that they are enough to deal with [Detection] yet.
I then noticed [Arithmetic Proficiency] in the Skill list and immediately put my mathematical talents to good use to get it, calculating the powers of 2, to get the Skill.
In an experiment to see if I can use [Detection] again, I got [Heresy Resistance].
Thus, explaining why [Pain Mitigation] isn't helping with the headaches, because the pain isn't physical, but spiritual.
So in addition to processing power, I need [Heresy Resistance] to protect my Soul too.
So that's my training plan on dealing with [Detection].
Onto the heat problem.
Everyday, I go to the entrance to the Middle Stratum to endure the heat.
Building up my [Fire Resistance] and [HP Auto-Recovery].
Hopefully, once they are strong enough, I will be able to offset the Fire damage.
Problem is, since I am weak to Fire, [Fire Resistance] is levelling up very slowly.
Yeah, even with [Pride].
Actually, I still don't have the [Fire Resistance] Skill, and I am starting to wonder if I can get it at all.
Regardless, I know I can raise [HP Auto-Recovery] at least.
Other things I have been doing are running around, dancing, parkouring, using MP with [Poison Synthesis] and [Thread Control], lifting weights and attacking myself.
Yes, actual self harm to build up Defence and Resistance Skills.
I mean, I am no masochist, so it just hurts, but my survival depends on it.
Overall, my life now is just training and waiting for food to come to me.
Yeah, I more or less set up yet another house.
And I have been using the wonderful new Skill from evolving, [Poison Attack], to add Poison to my floor web traps I have laid all over the chamber to catch prey and scare off anything strong enough to escape them.
It's so good! Too bad I won't be able to use it in the upcoming Middle Stratum.
Inner Critic: Regressing into a shut-in with no life again, eh Hiiro?
Eh? No, I am not turning into a shut-in again, Inner Critic! Nai wa!
I am working hard to improve myself this time, okay?! So much so it hurts!
I am not a princess waiting to be rescued from my terrible, self-destructive existence like in my past life!
Not waiting for someone to drag me kicking and screaming out of my shell so I can fit in with everyone else!
Inner Critic: Go get them, Hiiro!
That's right! I am now a princess that will kick names and take ass!
...No wait! I said it wrong! I didn't mean it like that! Nai wa!