In Dungeon Replay, the strength of Fantasia-type monsters is ranked by color—ranging from Self-Class to Red-Class. The brighter the color, the more powerful the creature, and the more unique traits it possesses.
And now...
A single monster blocked the path before Raizen, its massive body covered in shimmering golden fur. Human-like teeth protruded grotesquely from its face, and saliva dripped steadily from its maw.
A Pillar-Class, Yellow-Rank Arthropod.
The Golden Spider.
Even its appearance was nothing short of nightmarish. But the real problem with the Golden Spider lay elsewhere.
Its true threat—what earned it its rank—was its Magic Immunity Trait.
Raizen stared, hollow-faced.
"...Really? You're throwing a magic-immune monster at me right now?"
As a Poison Necromancer, Raizen was essentially a spellcaster. In other words, all of his abilities were useless against it.
"RAAAAGH!!"
The Golden Spider reared back and let out a piercing roar. The screech sent tremors through his body—like being struck by a wild beast up close.
Raizen spun around and jabbed his weapon, Venom Fang, toward the ground.
"Bone Broom!"
He felt something yank itself from within his chest. His mana—definitely being consumed.
He didn't understand how it worked. But somehow, he instinctively knew how to activate the skill.
'I must have used it constantly during auto-hunts. My body remembers.'
Poof!
A broom made of bone materialized mid-air.
Without hesitation, Raizen jumped onto it.
"Fly!"
At his command, the Bone Broom shot forward like a rocket. It was so fast he almost fell backward.
'If only I'd realized this earlier...'
All that panicked fleeing from spider swarms—needless.
Still, no use crying over spilled milk. He had the tool now. All he had to do was escape.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a situation that a single skill could fix.
BOOM! BOOMBOOMBOOM!
The cave quaked. Raizen glanced back.
As expected, the Golden Spider was in hot pursuit—ferociously.
Once it locked onto a target, it wouldn't let go.
'So much for the shortcut.'
The spider weaved webs as it ran, covering the narrow cave with thick strands.
Normally, those webs would vanish if the Golden Spider was defeated—but of course, they were also magic immune.
'And I can't clear them with poison magic...'
That meant the shortcut was completely unusable unless he killed the Golden Spider.
'Change of plans.'
Gripping the broom tighter, Raizen leaned into the ride.
He still remembered the game well, especially monsters as troublesome as this.
No way he was going to be stopped by a single Golden Spider when his goal was to beat the whole game.
He flew past the angel statue—the landmark marking the exit of the Spider Nest.
The Golden Spider followed, passing the statue as well.
Raizen spotted the glow of red crystals.
The end of the shortcut tunnel.
FWOOSH!
The Bone Broom blasted into the open sky.
Then—Raizen's eyes widened.
The plaza ahead teemed with spiders.
A horde of Group Spiders, Cyan-Class arthropods. Thousands of eyes turned to face him at once.
Perfect timing—their spawn event had just triggered.
CRASH!
The Golden Spider burst out of the tunnel behind him.
It scanned the plaza with its six eyes—and locked onto Raizen.
"RAAAAGH!"
It charged.
"...Kiiik?"
"Hrk?"
The Group Spiders looked stunned, glancing back and forth between Raizen and the charging beast.
But none dared to block Raizen's path.
[Sovereign of the Swarm]—a gear effect.
It caused lower-ranking group monsters to instinctively avoid the wearer's gaze.
Raizen darted across the plaza, riding over the spider horde. The Golden Spider followed, trampling its kin like bowling pins.
It was nearly five times larger than the others.
Raizen raised Venom Fang.
He didn't want to clash with the Group Spiders again, but he had no choice.
Time to unleash the full potential of the Poison Necromancer—a class built for large-scale monster control.
His mana drained again.
'Still not much left...'
But that was expected. Earlier, he'd already burned through a lot fleeing the original swarm.
Unlike the game, his mana wasn't visible anymore. He had to rely purely on intuition.
And naturally regenerating mana was agonizingly slow—about a full day to fully recover.
But his current setup was optimized for auto-hunting, not regeneration.
It was a miscalculation. But he had to work with what he had.
"Venom Spray!"
A torrent of green mist burst from his staff.
The toxic gas spread across the plaza, quickly engulfing the spider horde.
"Kiiik?!"
"HIIIK!"
The Group Spiders twitched and spasmed in agony as the poison took effect.
But of course...
"RAAAAGH!"
The Golden Spider wasn't affected at all.
Its Magic Immunity made sure of that.
Raizen didn't flinch.
He poured more mana into his staff.
"Poison Taunt!"
The poisoned spiders all turned as one—and charged at Raizen, now riding high on his Bone Broom again.
Just like earlier, the taunt skill had worked.
Poison Taunt enraged all poisoned enemies in range, forcing them to attack the caster.
An essential mob-gathering skill.
With the Group Spiders now racing after him, they blocked the Golden Spider's path.
The furious beast lashed out wildly, trampling friend and foe alike.
It had no loyalty, no kinship.
But its power was undeniable.
Even the Group Spiders, numbering in the thousands, were helpless before it.
Still, the Golden Spider had charged right into their center.
And that was exactly what Raizen needed.
He waited.
And then, as soon as the beast was surrounded—
Raizen spun around and aimed his staff behind him.
"Venom Explosion."
A final, massive drain of mana surged through him.
The poisoned Group Spiders all lit up simultaneously.
Venom Explosion was a magic attack that triggered detonations in poisoned enemies—causing physical damage.
FLASH!
A blinding green light swallowed the plaza.
BOOOOM!
The shockwave was earsplitting.
Reality's explosion was very different from a game's.
Raizen was caught in the blast, flung into the air like a ragdoll.
"Ugh!"
He clenched the Bone Broom—but couldn't hold on. He crashed hard into the wall.
CRACK!
The Bone Broom shattered.
Not surprising. It was fragile to begin with.
But the real issue was where he'd landed—high up on the wall.
Raizen tucked into a breakfall—techniques he'd once learned in taekwondo class as a kid.
SLAM!
Pain shot through his limbs, but his torso had been spared.
He could still move.
He sprang to his feet, breathing hard.
His body shook. So much mana had drained that he felt faint.
'How many spells do I have left in me?'
No way to tell. Mana wasn't visible anymore.
He definitely couldn't use Venom Spray or Venom Explosion again.
The green mist still hung in the air—a lingering effect of the explosion.
Most of the Group Spiders had died or been left twitching in agony.
'What about the Golden Spider...?'
Did he kill it?
He hoped so.
THUMP.
Nope.
A heavy, deliberate sound rang through the smoke.
Raizen gripped his staff tightly.
And there it was.
The Golden Spider emerged—still alive.
Two of its legs were missing, one more broken.
Its body was scorched black, and its abdomen was split open, exposing its core—the nucleus that defined an Arthropod.
Yet even in that state, the monster stood tall.
Its glowing red eyes flared.
It wasn't dead.
The fight wasn't over.
"RAAAAGH!"
It bellowed and charged, faster than before.
But Raizen didn't panic.
'It's in berserk mode.'
A clear sign it had taken massive damage and was now desperate.
Raizen ran.
At the same time, he summoned his broom again.
"Nrgh—!"
A wave of dizziness hit him.
He was running on fumes.
But he gritted his teeth and endured.
He had to. Without the broom, he was dead.
FWOOSH!
He barely took to the skies in time.
The Golden Spider followed immediately.
Raizen forced his heavy eyelids open.
'Even less mana than I thought.'
His hands trembled.
Maybe this was a reckless gamble.
He was beginning to understand what it meant to truly fight for your life.
Still—he grinned, stubbornly.
'So what if I'm afraid?'
He wasn't dead yet.
And that meant there had to be a way out.
His eyes scanned the battlefield.
The spider's exposed core glowed.
If he could strike it—just once—this would be over.
Then he saw it.
A severed spider leg on the ground.
'That's it.'
He kicked the broom forward and snatched the limb out of midair.
WHAM!
Something hit him from the side. He was thrown violently and crashed to the ground.
THUD!
He rolled across the plaza.
His vision spun.
What the hell hit him?
He didn't know.
Couldn't even breathe for a second.
THUD THUD THUD!
But there was no time to rest. The Golden Spider was still coming.
He scrambled upright.
His broom was gone—shattered in the fall.
"Bone Broom!"
He squeezed out what little mana remained and summoned another.
Mounting it like a lifeline, he blasted off again.
BOOM!
The spider's leg slammed down where he'd just been.
Close. Too close.
Just one second slower, and he'd be dead.
He spotted a Group Spider on the ground—still alive.
That must've been the one that hit him earlier.
'One survived the explosion…'
In the game, that would've been impossible.
But this was real.
He'd been careless—and paid for it.
Pain exploded in his arm.
His right arm—possibly broken.
'Fine. I've still got the other one.'
He gripped the spider leg in his left hand.
It was enough.
'But my mana... it's basically gone.'
No way he could even cast Venom Spray anymore.
His original plan—poison the spider leg, then use Venom Explosion on the exposed core—was ruined.
One extra broom summon had cost him too much.
THUD THUD THUD!
The Golden Spider was still coming.
Its stamina seemed endless.
Raizen's head throbbed. He felt on the verge of blackout.
But he clenched his teeth.
He still had a body.
He still had options.
That meant there was still a path forward.
Raizen jammed Venom Fang between his teeth, then lifted the spider leg with his left hand.
The leg was lined with needle-like bristles—the same ones that inflicted bleeding status when struck.
He looked at the blood seeping from his broken arm.
Through the pain and exhaustion, he grinned—a wild, sharp grin laced with desperation.
"Good thing my arm's busted. No regrets now."
He rubbed the spider leg against his wounded arm.
The spines dug into his skin.
The pain was blinding.
"GRRAAAAAARGH!"
He bit down hard on his staff, stifling the scream.
It might've looked insane. But it was the only choice he had.
SSSSSSSS!
The spider leg sizzled where his blood touched it.
One of his passive skills: Toxic Physique [C].
His body naturally produced poison.
He had no mana left to cast Venom Spray, so he made his own.
He gritted his teeth.
His right arm was torn to shreds.
But it didn't matter.
He twisted the broom's direction.
FWOOSH!
He shot toward the Golden Spider.
"RAAAAGH!"
It saw him coming and roared, swinging its remaining legs.
Raizen ducked low.
The broom was fast—but weak on turns.
He couldn't dodge everything.
Just before one of the legs struck—
SWOOSH!
He dispelled the broom and dropped straight down.
Barely evading the strike, he plummeted toward the spider.
Its body—its exposed core—came into view.
Raizen raised the leg in his hand.
All his weight behind it.
THUNK!
It pierced deep.
Flesh tore. A sickening squelch.
But the resistance told him—it was a clean hit.
Problem was—he didn't land on the spider.
BAM!
He bounced off its body, flying through the air again.
The impact knocked Venom Fang from his mouth.
No!
He reached.
SNATCH!
Got it.
The staff pulsed—one last flicker of green light.
One final bit of mana.
Raizen aimed.
Unyielding will and stubborn defiance gave birth to this moment.
The grand finale.
Let's make it count.
"Venom Explosion."
A green flash swallowed the world once more.