The Kiss of the Spider

"What's on this island?" Lucas Hall asked coldly.

The reason he hadn't shot Henry yet was because he wanted to know the answer to that question.

"I said... you'll let me go if I tell you?"

Henry slumped on the ground, struggling to lift his head and look at Lucas.

"You can trust me." Lucas lowered the gun.

"You're lying! That's a killer's gaze!" Henry coughed, as though speaking was taxing.

Lucas frowned. He hadn't planned on letting Henry off.

"You're strong, I admit defeat, no need for you to take action! As for what's on the island... well, just go see for yourself!" Henry chuckled darkly, his mouth filled with blood, a crimson pool.

"What do you mean?"

Henry didn't answer. Instead, he pulled out a kitchen knife from behind his waist.

Lucas immediately became alert, raising his gun, but didn't pull the trigger.

Because Henry had already taken his own life.

He did so decisively, using all his remaining strength to stab himself in the throat with a single blow, without a hint of hesitation.

This guy… he's a tough one too!

Although Lucas couldn't see it, Henry's journal was still updating with new information.

[You have died. Oath pre-mission failed. Completion 6/10...]

Two orbs fell beside him, likely the drops from a player's death.

Just as Lucas was about to collect them, he felt something was wrong.

He heard a faint rustling sound, as though many things were crawling.

And the source of the sound was Henry's corpse!

In the next moment, Henry's body twitched and shook.

At the same time, countless tiny spiders, about the size of a fingernail, began crawling out of the wounds and holes in his corpse.

What the hell?

[You are frightened. Sanity decreased by 5.]

Lucas pulled the trigger. Just to be safe, he used the firepower mode of his gun.

Boom!

The shot had immense force!

Henry's body, along with the door, was blasted apart. The ship's hull also tore open, letting sunlight stream in.

The recoil sent Lucas flying, crashing into a wall.

"What the hell are you doing? He's already dead!"

Seraphina ran over, looking somewhat displeased.

If the shot had been a little lower, it would've made a hole in her beloved witch laboratory.

"There are spiders in his body. A lot of them!" Lucas explained.

He recalled the previous scene, still haunted by it.

In his nightmare, his fate had been the same as Henry's!

But how could spiders emerge from a human body?

Seraphina looked at the wreckage.

"Spiders? I don't see any," she glanced around.

"Right there, isn't it?"

Lucas pointed at the debris nearby but froze.

He was sure he had seen spiders earlier. They were tiny but clearly visible.

But now, apart from scattered meat, broken wood, and splattered blood, there was nothing!

"I definitely saw spiders..." Lucas insisted.

"Enough. Do you realize your shoulder is dislocated?"

Lucas's left arm dangled uselessly, the shoulder joint misaligned.

Luckily, Seraphina was a medical student. Though she wasn't specialized in orthopedics, she was a rare all-rounder and quickly popped his shoulder back in place.

Lucas, however, was still scanning the area for signs of spiders.

"It's impossible... I definitely saw spiders!"

Suddenly, his nose itched, and a little blood dripped from it. Probably from the gunshot's recoil.

But the itch didn't stop. It felt as if something was crawling inside.

Unable to resist, Lucas picked his nose, and to his shock, he pulled out a small black spider the size of a grain of rice.

[You've had a spider crawl out of your body. Sanity decreased by 10.]

Lucas was startled, quickly crushing the spider and continued to dig at his nose, relieved to find no second one.

"There really was a spider. When did you inhale it?"

Seraphina bent down and picked up the spider's corpse from the ground.

"Inhale?"

Lucas felt that something wasn't right. The spider must have come from inside his own body!

He immediately checked his status.

Status: Injured (Large body diagram showing light yellow areas on back and left arm)

Sanity: 85/100

Energy: 94/100

Vitality: 93/100

Everything seemed normal, but under talents, a new condition had appeared.

[Kiss of the Spider: A gift from the Spider Goddess. Spiders will crawl out of your wounds from time to time, but you'll soon get used to it! Can unlock oath pre-mission tasks. Spiders hold no hostility toward you (-100%).]

"When did this status appear?"

He immediately checked his activity log.

[You've gained the Kiss of the Spider.]

From the timing, it should've been the moment Henry died!

"He dies, and the status passes to me?" Lucas narrowed his eyes.

Seraphina, unafraid of spiders, walked into the sunlight to get a closer look.

But to their surprise, when the spider came into contact with the sunlight, it vaporized and disappeared.

Lucas noticed this too and immediately walked over, grabbing Seraphina's hand.

"It vanished?" he said in disbelief.

"Let go, you're hurting me!" Seraphina protested, pulling her hand away.

Lucas didn't respond to her complaint. His mind was racing.

This condition had to be linked to Henry's death.

Once he died, the next successor would inherit it...

"Seraphina, check your status. Do you have a negative condition called Kiss of the Spider?" Lucas reminded her.

She immediately checked and shook her head. "I don't have it."

It seemed like the curse targeted only one person!

Connecting this with Henry's recent actions... the answer was clear!

The Kiss of the Spider was related to this island!

"Let's leave this place first! My gun has a 12-hour cooldown after using firepower mode! And the ship's hull is damaged and needs repairs!" Lucas instructed.

Seraphina nodded, and they both started cleaning up the battlefield.

The spider issue was put on hold for now. They had to deal with the aftermath first.

They found two orbs dropped by Henry, one of which fell into the sea.

One orb contained 1250 seashell coins, and the other was the recipe for Firebristle Wool Coat.

[Firebristle Wool Coat: Requires 100 Firebristle Spider Hairs (An adult Firebristle Spider can gather 8-12 hairs).]

What Firebristle Grass? Henry was just making things up.

The island definitely had Firebristle Spiders!

What surprised Lucas more was that when a player died, they actually dropped recipes!

He turned to Seraphina.

This woman had a special talent for creating unique recipes.

If she died, would the recipes she created drop too?

That would be dangerous, as she could easily become a target.

Lucas immediately warned her: "Seraphina, don't sell or give away the potions you make!"

"You mean, you want me to give them all to you?" Seraphina teased.

"Uh... let's talk about that later!" Lucas thought of the bottle of stimulant potion he couldn't stop biting and suddenly felt a bit nauseous.

The two of them finished cleaning up the battlefield and found three pieces of equipment!

[Name: Webbed Gloves]

[Type: Treasure]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: Increases grip strength, allows climbing on rocky surfaces, and won't get stuck in webs. With these, you can scale walls like Spider-Man!]

[Name: Delicious Chef's Knife]

[Type: Relic]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Description: A sharp kitchen knife. Items cut by it become incredibly delicious, addictive even. A favorite for anorexics! The delicious effect lasts for 5 days. For objects larger than 3 cubic meters, only partial effects are produced.]

[Name: Healing Spray]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Description: Spray on wounds to speed up healing. Uses remaining: 3/10]

Lucas picked up the 30 cm long chef's knife.

"A knife that makes things delicious when cut?"

His expression was strange, and he caught a faint sweet scent in the air.