I’ve found… a companion——
A spider about the same size as me, giving off a pure white impression.
Inside that spider is Wakaba Hiiro-san, who had been my classmate in our previous life.
To be honest, I was overwhelmed with disbelief.
After all, she was the most beautiful person in our class, and her very presence, her aura, felt like it belonged to an entirely different world—so much so that I often wondered if she even lived in the same reality as us.
Still, I set aside that sense of incongruity for now.
The fact is, she’s currently a spider, and I’ve also been reincarnated as an insect-like creature resembling a Kokedama (Moss ball/Marimo). If there really is a God out there, they are nothing short of cruel…
Right now, as my gaze drifts far off in thought, Wakaba-san—who now goes by the name Kumoko—is in the middle of evolving, having wrapped herself in silk within a nest she built high up on a rocky cliff face that looks nearly impossible to climb…
Currently, Kumoko-chan can’t use [Telepathy], so we can only communicate via written messages. It took some time, but eventually, we managed to share all the information we knew with each other.
According to her, when evolving, one is forced into sleep and becomes completely defenseless, so it’s crucial to secure the surrounding area beforehand. On top of that, after evolution, SP drops down to nearly empty, so it’s also necessary to stockpile food.
That’s why, right now, I’m in charge of keeping watch and collecting the monkeys we defeated together.
As for the safety of the surroundings—probably because of the massive swarm of monkeys we just dealt with—there’s nobody around for several hundred meters. The only potential threats I can perceive through my omniscient senses are on the very fringes of detection, so I believe it’s basically safe.
More troublesome is gathering all these monkey corpses—it’s seriously hard labor.
Since I can’t manipulate silk like Kumoko-chan to bundle them together, I have no choice but to push them with my body.
I did consider using magic to move them, but with my current skills, I could either barely move them or end up shredding them to pieces—so in the end, I just had to grit my teeth and haul them one by one…
About an hour passed after Kumoko-chan began her evolution.
Then, with a tearing sound of silk, Kumoko-chan spun down in a graceful whirl.
After flipping through the air in multiple elegant somersaults, she landed lightly on the ground and struck a triumphant pose, lifting her front legs high.
(Ooh~ clap clap clap… you finished evolving?)
Kumoko-chan vigorously shook her front legs like giving a thumbs-up, nodding her head up and down energetically.
Her body seemed to have gained more black patches and reddish-purple patterns, giving her a slightly more ominous appearance.
(I’ll Appraise you.)
—Guh!
Sure thing!
I felt like I heard that voiceover.
Small Poison Taratect (Nameless) — LV 1
Status
HP: 56/56 (green)
MP: 1/56 (blue)
SP: 56/56 (yellow)
1/56 (red)
…
Skill Points: 200
Titles: Foul Feeder / Kin-Eater / Assassin / Monster Slayer / Poison Technique User / Thread User / Merciless / Monster Slaughterer
Ooh, the species name has changed.
The stats seem to have increased slightly overall, and the skills seem to have improved too.
And just as she said, it looks like SP really does get drained heavily after evolving.
Hm? Kumoko-chan is writing something…
[So, this is what it feels like when you’re Appraised.]
Ah…
(Yeah, when Kumoko-chan used it on me, I also learned for the first time how unpleasant it feels to be the one getting appraised.)
It’s like someone’s carelessly poking around inside your body—an eerie, goosebump-inducing sensation.
No wonder people get irritated when it’s used on them; thinking back, I guess it’s only fair that she got mad at me back then.
While I was reminiscing about the past, Kumoko-chan had already started using silk to drag over the monkey carcasses and was now sinking her fangs into the tough, muscular meat.
When she noticed my consciousness had returned, Kumoko-chan pointed at the ground with her front leg.
There, written——
[You can evolve too, Koke-chan.]
Kumoko-chan raised and lowered her front legs repeatedly in a bizarre motion that looked like she was either really excited or cheering me on, encouraging me to evolve.
I had already told her that I’d reached LV 10 and was eligible for evolution, but to suggest it so casually…
Also, “Koke-chan”—is that me? Well, I guess that’s fair given how I look…
《You have multiple evolution options. Please choose from the following:
Kokedama
Small Paralysis Kokedama
Small Sleep Kokedama 》
There’s a lot to choose from…
(Hey, Kumoko-chan. Which evolution should I go with?)
When I asked, she stopped eating and after a brief pause, wrote her reply.
[Rare species — no contest.]
Even so——
Small Paralysis Kokedama : Evolution conditions: Kokedama species with certain stat thresholds, title [Paralysis Master]. A rare subspecies larva of the caterpillar-type monster known as Kokedama. Possesses extremely potent paralysis venom.
Small Sleep Kokedama : Evolution conditions: Kokedama species with certain stat thresholds, title [Sleep Master]. A rare subspecies larva of the caterpillar-type monster known as Kokedama. Possesses extremely potent hypnotic effect.
Looks like there are two choices.
Apparently, I earned both titles during our battles with the monkeys by constantly scattering status effect-infused attacks—paralysis, sleep, poison—against any monkeys that approached.
Back then, I fortified an area with traps laced with status effects and repelled waves of monkeys without letting them ever touch me, mowing them down one after another.
The condition of “using a certain amount” to acquire those titles was probably met both by the massive contamination zone I created and by the cumulative effects of all the battles up to that point.
As for the three evolution options—the base Kokedama just makes the body larger in a standard evolution; stats like durability go up, but no new skills get added.
I vaguely recall seeing a few of those among the swarms before, but they didn’t seem all that strong or influential.
The other two—Paralysis and Sleep—I distinctly remember scenes of their adult forms in action, so I knew without a doubt that these two were the optimal choices.
Now then… which one should I pick?
…Alright, I’ve decided.
(Kumoko-chan, I’m going to evolve now.)
《Individual Small Kokedama will evolve into Small Paralysis Kokedama.》
The moment I made that decision, an unbearable wave of drowsiness hit me, and my consciousness began to fade.
This is… yeah, definitely dangerous………………
As my vision blurred, Kumoko-chan waved her front leg as if saying “Good luck” — and with that comforting image, I sank deep into darkness.
***
Mmm… huh? What was I… doing…?
Ah… right, I chose to evolve, suddenly got sleepy, and then just… drifted off…
I forced my still-groggy mind to wake up, stretched my whole body, and gathered strength into it.
For just a brief moment, I felt the flesh and moss of my expanded kokedama body, then scanned my surroundings.
Before I knew it, Kumoko-chan had finished gathering the monkey corpses into a single spot and was casually munching on a limb atop the tall pile of dead monkeys.
Then, the cleanly-picked bones came tumbling down as they fell.
Noticing that I had woken up, she waved around the half-eaten monkey arm in her hand.
I reactivated Omniscient, sweeping the area over several hundred meters to check for danger — finding none, I turned the Appraisal skill on myself.
Small Paralysis Kokedama (Kokemori Mari) — LV 1Status
HP: 72/72 (green)
MP: 42/1352 (blue)
SP: 71/71 (yellow)
1/71 (red)Average Attack Ability: 34
Average Defense Ability: 82
Average Magic Ability: 1130
Average Resistance Ability: 82
Average Speed Ability: 57Skills
HP Auto-Recovery LV 2 / MP Recovery Speed LV 3 / MP Lessened Consumption LV 3 / SP Recovery Speed LV 2 / SP Lessened Consumption LV 2 / Status Condition Enhancement LV 2 / Magic Power Operation LV 4 / Magic Warfare LV 2 / Magic Power Attack LV 2 / Magic Power Conferment LV 3 / Paralysis Attack LV 8 / Sleep Attack LV 4 / Poison Attack LV 3 / Acid Attack LV 3 / Heretic Attack LV 2 / Anesthetic Synthesis LV 3 / Hypnotic Drug Synthesis LV 2 / Moss Armor LV 6 / Armor Talent LV 2 / Spatial Maneuvering LV 3 / Stealth LV 2 / Concentration LV 10 / Thought Acceleration LV 3 / Foresight LV 3 / Parallel Thinking LV 5 / Arithmetic Processing LV 6 / Memory LV 4 / Hit LV 3 / Evasion LV 2 / Appraisal LV 10 / Telepathy LV 1 / Light Magic LV 4 / Water Magic LV 3 / Wind Magic LV 3 / Earth Magic LV 3 / Healing Magic LV 2 / Paralysis Magic LV 2 / Sleep Magic LV 2 / Heretic Magic LV 3 / Physical Resistance LV 2 / Status Condition Resistance LV 5 / Acid Resistance LV 3 / Corrosion Resistance LV 2 / Faint Super-Resistance LV 3 / Fear Resistance LV 3 / Pain Resistance LV 5 / Heresy Nullification / Night Vision LV 10 / Five Senses Enhancement LV 3 / Vision Expansion LV 2 / Life LV 2 / Ultimate Magic LV 10 / Instant Body LV 2 / Endurance LV 2 / Strength LV 3 / Sturdy LV 2 / Deva LV 10 / Talisman LV 2 / Acceleration LV 1 / Desire LV 5 / Overeating LV 4 / Divinity Expansion LV 1 / Omniscient LV 10 / Taboo LV 3 / n%I=WSkill Points: 7000
Titles : Foul Feeder / Ally Killer / Kin Eater / Paralysis Master / Sleep Master / Merciless / Monster Slayer
Oooh, lots of changes…
The overall stats didn’t increase that dramatically — though still higher than Kumoko-chan’s across the board — but the skill growth is remarkable.
Most of the skills have gone up by at least one level, and with all the new ones gained before evolution, the amount of information displayed with Appraisal has expanded significantly.
I don’t seem to have gained any brand-new unfamiliar skills from evolution itself, so next, I checked the descriptions of the skills I hadn’t reviewed yet.
《Anesthetic Synthesis: Consumes MP to produce and customize anesthetic drugs. The types of drugs that can be synthesized depend on the level.》
《Hypnotic Drug Synthesis: Consumes MP to produce and customize hypnotic drugs. The types of drugs that can be synthesized depend on the level.》
These were skills added via titles.
Paralysis Magic and Sleep Magic are exactly what their names imply, so I’ll skip over those.
Next, I looked at the mysterious skill whose level had somehow risen without me noticing.
《Desire: A skill that expresses strong cravings. Slightly increases experience absorption.》
I couldn’t fully grasp it just from the explanation, but it seems like it helps level up faster and improves the range and efficiency of experience absorption.
—If it makes me stronger, I don’t care what it is.
If the description is accurate, the skill grows in response to strong desires, so as long as I keep those feelings in my heart, I should be fine.
Yes, I can vividly recall my desire for strength. So—
《Proficiency has reached the threshold. Skill [Desire LV 5] has become [Desire LV 6]》
—Fufufu, yes, that’s right… I won’t forget. I won’t let myself forget.
This frustration, despair, uncertainty, and maddening longing — I’ll never forget them.
I reignited the dark flame deep in my chest, letting it scorch my heart.
Then, I refocused my consciousness outward.
Standing in front of me was Kumoko-chan, holding out a monkey corpse.
Tilting her head, she pushed it toward me as if to say, Aren’t you going to eat?
Oh, right. After evolution, SP drops to zero and you’re on the verge of starvation.
Gratefully accepting it, I began eating.
Even though the food was clearly larger than my own body volume, it somehow fit into my stomach — the usual bizarre meal scene. As I continued eating, Kumoko-chan kept staring intently at me.
(…Ah, could it be…? Sure, you can appraise me.)
I continued eating, glancing sideways at Kumoko, who seemed overjoyed that she got her message across and struck a triumphant pose.
Partway through, I felt a nauseating discomfort, but I didn’t resist and let it pass through.
With this, there shouldn’t be any resistance or interference from my defenses, so Kumoko-chan should have been able to view my status info.
Now that I think about it, I hadn’t checked my appearance after evolving.
Since I didn’t have a mirror or anything to see myself, I used Omniscient's sensing ability skillfully to gather information outside my field of view and confirm my form.
My body size itself hadn’t really changed — it was roughly the same size as Kumoko-chan.
Height-wise, about one meter tall? Maybe a bit longer in length.
But the important thing wasn’t that — the major change was in my coloration.
Until now, I had been covered in deep green, bushy moss. But after evolving, I had become a vivid yellow-green, which made me quite flashy and noticeable.
Also, the quality of the moss seemed to have improved; what had been coarse and rough before had transformed into a very fluffy, cotton-like soft texture.
Honestly, it looked like something you’d see at a plush toy shop — more cute than monstrous.
While I was confirming my evolution into what now resembled lime-green cotton candy, Kumoko-chan climbed onto me.
She nestled into the fluffy moss, swaying her body back and forth as if burying herself in it.
Even with her on top of me, she didn’t feel heavy — but it made me a little jealous that I couldn’t feel the fluffiness for myself.
Technically, it is part of my body, so I know how fluffy it is — but since it’s attached to me, I don’t get the experience of diving into and sinking into it like she does.
As I pondered that and turned my attention to Kumoko-chan, I noticed she was motionless, completely buried.
I thought, I’m so jealous… but it turned out that wasn’t the issue.
Her legs were twitching and convulsing, foam bubbling from her mouth — like a fish washed up on land, gasping on the brink of death…
…Ah. Paralysis Attack.
(K-Kumoko-chaaan!!!)
Panicking, I hurriedly shook her off and checked her condition. Fortunately, she was just paralyzed and unable to move — her HP hadn’t decreased at all.
It took about ten minutes before Kumoko-chan finally returned to normal.
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