Chapter 57 …
Startled.
“W-what…? Why do I feel this chill…?”
“Riza?”
Eliza tilted her head as Jihad shuddered, as if reacting to an unpleasant gaze.
Her eyes were full of concern.
Jihad shook his head, signaling it wasn’t anything, but then suddenly stared intently at Eliza.
A tiny body, barely 5 cm in size.
With fluffy, pure white fur and a plump little backside that looked almost too cute to be an insect.
At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a small ball of fur rolling around.
Unlike other spiders, it only had two eyes—and they were the same green as his own.
“Exactly the same…”
Just like when they first met.
Memories of the old cabin they’d shared flooded Jihad’s mind, and his eyes glistened.
But since they hadn’t met for so long, he forced himself to change the subject instead of drowning in tears.
“I thought you’d be much bigger after 150 years… You can parasitize too?”
“Riza! Rizari-za!”
“My eyes weren’t wrong. You really are a special spider!”
“Riza!”
Eliza puffed her chest out proudly, as if to say, “You only just noticed?”
…Though calling it a chest seemed odd, the posture was unmistakable.
Even more curious, when Eliza left, the corpse of the spider queen, which had been the same color as her, turned black.
“Is that a trait of parasitism?”
“Riza…”
“Ah, it’s probably just because your skill isn’t fully mastered yet. Fascinating. Nothing else to hide, right?”
“Ri…za!”
“Heh, alright. So you’ve grown this much?”
Eliza shook her head.
She placed her front legs on her waist and tilted her chin upward like a child showing off.
“Really? Then how long is a lifespan? I’ve never heard of a spider living this long…”
“Rizari-za.”
“What? So… I’m not fully grown either, right? How did he even know that?”
“Riza!”
As the two reminisced, Dohyun didn’t interrupt.
Even someone as oblivious as Dohyun could sense that now wasn’t the time to interfere.
And there wasn’t really a chance to intervene anyway, so he focused on something else.
‘Parasite on a Sky Web… its traits are different.’
Originally a steel web, it was now a sky web, and other traits like poison or Spider Sense had disappeared.
It seemed this was Eliza’s innate ability.
‘Could it be linked to parasitism?’
Perhaps while parasitizing, it could utilize the host’s abilities.
The range of its parasitism wasn’t clear, but considering it affected even a field boss, the performance must be exceptional.
But it could also be that…
‘Its stats might have been downgraded like Jihad.’
Since it was under Jihad’s command, its abilities could have been significantly reduced.
While Dohyun considered how to utilize Eliza, a small voice whispered near his ear.
“Riza!”
“Hmm?”
Eliza had somehow climbed onto his shoulder.
He hadn’t noticed her approach… Maybe parasitic creatures of this class could move freely like this?
“Rizari-za!”
“?”
She seemed to want to say something, but he couldn’t understand.
He looked at Jihad.
Understanding Dohyun’s gaze asking for translation, Jihad answered with a pleased expression.
“She says thank you, master.”
“Ah, I see.”
“She’s even more grateful… and wants to repay you. Follow her.”
“Repay me?”
“Riza!”
Eliza nodded affirmatively.
Her sparkling eyes were full of excitement—seemingly more thrilled than the one trying to repay.
Unable to resist that excitement, Dohyun agreed, and Eliza leapt onto Jihad’s head.
“Riza!”
“This way, master.”
“Lead the way.”
Dohyun followed Jihad, suddenly turned guide.
After walking through the long passage for about ten minutes, which narrowed and widened repeatedly, they arrived at their destination.
It was a large room.
“Wow…”
The space was round, bigger and gloomier than a spider web.
The air was cool, the surroundings dark and sticky, as if entering a refrigerator.
Neither Jihad nor Eliza explained the place—only a system message did.
[Hidden location discovered.]
[Spider Queen’s egg hatching site discovered.]
‘Egg hatching site?’
As the message said, round eggs were stacked like towers everywhere.
Surrounding them were small spiders.
Larger than ordinary spiders, but smaller than giant forest spiders.
Above each, a label floated:
[Spider Queen’s Offspring]
‘Wait, the Spider Queen’s children?’
Dohyun’s eyes widened as he checked their info.
[Spider Queen’s Offspring]
Title: Field Boss
Type: Spider
Trait: Not yet manifested
Description: Offspring of the Spider Queen Eliza, ruler of the western forest.
Most abilities are still locked, but upon maturity, they will appear as proper field bosses in the forest.
‘Field bosses?’
Each of these tiny spiders carried the “Field Boss” title.
Every single one of them.
‘Hold on.’
Dohyun realized something.
The first trial of Raven’s graduation quest required defeating a field boss.
The “field boss” in the text didn’t refer only to the Spider Queen Eliza.
The text said grades were determined by how many field bosses were defeated.
Officially, only defeating the Spider Queen counted for completion.
‘So the trial is basically made to kill Eliza…’
Players hadn’t focused on the text because it wasn’t necessary.
The only field boss in Raven was the Spider Queen Eliza.
The question was simply how well one could defeat her.
“…Right, that’s the official story.”
“……Then what happens if I defeat these too?”
These were technically Spider Queens as well, though separate individuals.
Would they count as separate field bosses if defeated?
There was only one way to find out.
‘Let’s try.’
Dohyun swallowed and gripped his training sword.
The massacre at the egg hatching site began.
[Spider Queen’s Offspring defeated.]
[Spider Queen’s Offspring defeated.]
……
[Spider Queen’s Offspring defeated.]
Ignoring the message flood, Dohyun surveyed the area.
The bustling spiders were gone without a trace.
Only unhatched eggs remained, scattered like decorations.
There was a simple reason he hadn’t attacked them before.
[Spider Queen’s Egg]
Description: Spider Queen’s egg. Not yet hatched.
[Spider Queen’s Eggs cannot be attacked.]
‘Ah, can’t touch these.’
He tried putting one in his inventory, but it wouldn’t go.
So he gave up.
‘Then what are they for…?’
He quickly speculated:
‘Could the eggs respawn the field bosses?’
Though speculative, it made sense.
Otherwise, why would the system block them so thoroughly?
Even if true, it was interesting—but not something Dohyun dwelled on now.
Ding-
It was now clear whether defeating the Spider Queen’s offspring affected the graduation quest.
[First Trial: Field Boss Hunt completed.]
[Confirming defeated field bosses.]
[Hidden Field Boss Hunt ×1, Field Boss Hunt ×34 confirmed.]
[Official Raven Field Boss ‘Spider Queen Eliza’ defeated.]
[First Trial cleared.]
[Ranking being calculated.]
……
‘It works.’
Surprisingly, field bosses Dohyun defeated before, like Karuk, counted toward his grade.
It seemed the system tallied all field bosses defeated while in Raven.
Others could barely defeat one; Dohyun could claim 35.
Not only that, some were categorized as hidden field bosses, boosting his score further.
[Unbelievable achievement.]
[Calculation may be delayed.]
Even the AI managing God of Sword Online seemed unprepared.
The rank wasn’t immediately calculated.
‘Well… I’m in an unbelievable situation myself.’
Sure enough, this might be unprecedented in God of Sword Online history.
After about ten seconds, the long-awaited notification appeared:
[Cleared solo. Hidden Field Boss defeated ×1, Field Boss defeated ×27, shortest time cleared, hidden pieces confirmed… score calculated.]
[Score updated to 1,471 points. S-Rank achieved.]
[First Trial max rank is S-Rank; cannot achieve higher. Enhanced rewards granted.]
[S-Rank first achieved in the First Trial.]
[Ranked #1.]
[First Trial ranking updated.]
[Title ‘First S-Rank’ acquired.]
[Title ‘Top Graduate’ acquired.]
[Time Attack Throne effect activated: all stats +5.]
[S-Rank rewards granted.]
……
[Recorded in Adventurer’s Tome.]
‘Wow.’
The avalanche of notifications was dizzying.
The rewards were on a different level than graduating Arde.
Dohyun gawked in disbelief.
‘How many rewards is this?’
He expected it wouldn’t be ordinary, but this was beyond imagination.
He froze amid the flood of messages.
“Riza!”
“Ah.”
The cheerful voice brought him back to reality.
Eliza wriggled her little bottom on his shoulder like a purring cat.
“Thank you, Eliza. This reward exceeded my imagination.”
After helping him defeat 35 field bosses, what could be a better reward?
Dohyun felt genuine gratitude.
Yet Eliza, receiving this sentiment, tilted her head in confusion.
“Riza?”
“Master, Eliza hasn’t given her reward yet.”
“? What do you mean?”
“Rizari-za!”
Eliza jumped from his shoulder onto Jihad’s head again, pointing in a direction.
“Riza!”
“The reward she wanted to give is over there.”
“…Huh?”
Dohyun looked and his eyes widened.
There was a small box.
It looked ancient, hundreds of years old—but his gaze wasn’t on the box itself.
‘That is…’
Next to the box lay a small, elongated gem.
A mysterious gem that sparkled with all colors, yet to Dohyun, it appeared as a single hue.
[Eye of Truth activated.]
“What is this?”
He picked up the gem, now a bright red dot, his focus blurred.
A message overlapped the gem:
[Adventurer’s capacity confirmed.]
[Conditions met.]
[First Fragment of Fate obtained.]
[Recorded in Adventurer’s Tome.]
[Hidden condition fulfilled; new route unlocked.]
[Job Quest ‘Inheritance of Fate’ created.]
“…Huh?”
This definitely seemed extraordinary.
