CHAPTER 1: IN THE RAIN

The first sensation was the feeling of the drizzle tickling his skin.
Then, he smelled the earthy scent that filled his nostrils every time he took a breath.
Next, he heard the wind brushing past his ears.

 

Gradually, all of his senses became alert, and the man slowly regained consciousness.

 

“ …The ground?”

 

He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but he realized he was lying flat on the damp ground, getting drenched in the rain.

 

And he was completely naked.

 

“Why am I in this state right now?”

 

He tried to recall the events before he lost consciousness, but he could only remember flashes of light and fragmented memories that didn’t seem to connect with his current situation.

 

“What on earth is going on?”

 

The man, confused and disoriented, froze in his position, unable to move when he met a pair of eyes staring back at him from a mere meter away.

 

“…?”

 

It didn’t take long for him to realize that he was face to face with a giant spider the size of a cooking pot.

 

“Huh!”

 

Startled, the man jumped up, instinctively grabbing a thick branch that could serve as a weapon and assumed a defensive stance.

 

The spider stood its ground, its long hairy legs twitching, as if it was about to attack at any moment.

 

The man swung the branch threateningly, hoping to scare off the spider, but it only responded by clicking its mandibles and advancing towards him.

 

“ …!”

 

The man, who involuntarily swallowed dry saliva at the sight that made his spine shiver, quickly shifted his gaze to the gruesome spider’s teeth that had popped out.

 

The fang, which was only the length of a human palm, was dangerous in itself, but if it contained venom, it would be even more dangerous.

 

On the other hand, the man was unarmed, wearing only his bare body without even wearing a single thread of clothing, with only one tree branch nearby as a possible weapon.

 

As the reality became more and more bleak with every moment, the man gritted his teeth in despair.
At that moment, the spider sensed his desperation and fiercely charged towards the man, disrupting the standoff.

 

Crackle!

 

“Ah!”

 

The man screamed in terror and ran away.
He ran through the thick forest with tall trees, panting and gasping for breath, but he couldn’t stop.

 

However, unlike the man who slipped and stumbled on the increasingly treacherous path in the rain, the spider chased him relentlessly, as if running on a flat surface.

 

“Heuk! Heuk!”

 

His heart was pounding like crazy, and his feet felt like they were on fire, but the man kept running with all his might.

 

Suddenly, when the path disappeared and a huge rock appeared in front of him, the man instinctively rolled to the side with all his strength.

 

Bang!

 

The spider, which had been chasing only his back, let out a scream as it crashed helplessly into the rock.

 

“Kkiik…
Kkiguk…”

 

Having received a considerable shock, the spider continued to twist and writhe in agony, unable to control its body.

 

“Huuk! Huuk!”

 

The man watched the scene, panting, then slowly stood up.

 

There’s no guarantee that he could continue to run away, and this might be his only chance to catch the spider.

 

“…”

 

The situation was critical.
The man clenched the tree branch tightly, trying to gather his courage.

 

However, before his attack could reach the spider, the creature regained its senses and easily dodged the swinging branch.

 

In a moment of panic, the man took a step back, and the spider quickly climbed up the nearby rock and leaped towards him with all its might.

 

“Ah!”

 

As the large spider flew towards him in a perfect arc, its terrifying appearance caused the man to swing his arm reflexively with his eyes shut.

 

And then, with a blinding flash and a deafening roar, the spider’s corpse lay motionless before the man.

 

Shocked by the unbelievable turn of events, the man stuttered for a while before finally expressing his confusion.

 

“…Lightning?”

 

The idea that lightning would strike the spider at the moment when it’s about to attack him seemed too surreal.

 

And if it was true, why was he still unscathed, despite being so close?

 

Despite his confusion, the man realized that this was not the most important thing.

 

“…I’m alive.”

 

Relieved, the man collapsed onto the ground, his tension released.

 

The gray sky above was still pouring down cold raindrops without mercy.

 

***

 

“Phew…”

 

 

The man, who had just barely caught his breath, tried to understand the situation he found himself in, with one hand covering his face.

 

However, because of the urgency of the crisis he had just narrowly escaped, his body was exhausted, and his mind kept getting hazy, making it difficult to think clearly.

 

But he couldn’t continue to be in this state.
The moment the man tried to look around to assess his situation, he realized he needed to get out of there.

 

“This harvest is not going so well.”

 

“But we can’t just stay here and die, can we? It’s already been four days since we disembarked.
We have to wait for the next station.”

 

The voices of people could be heard not far away.

 

It was fortunate that it wasn’t some alien life form that didn’t speak an unknown language, but just because they were humans, it didn’t mean he could let his guard down.

 

Instead of hastily requesting rescue, the man decided to hide himself and observe their movements.

 

However, what the man overlooked in this plan was his own physical exhaustion and the keen observation skills of the others.

 

“Wait, where is that smell coming from?”

 

“On rainy days, sometimes you can smell it in the forest…
Wait, is it from that thing?”

 

Those who had smelled it approached the spot where the spider’s corpse lay and arrived just before the man hid behind a rock.

 

“Oh no…”

 

“Oh, there’s another one here?”

 

The people who emerged from the bushes nonchalantly reacted even after seeing the man completely naked.

 

Among them, a middle-aged man with brown hair, who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and spoke.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

“