Emily could feel her legs shaking. She recognized the spider all too well. The beast was the same monster that she ran into when she was still with the large group of survivors. At that time, there were dozens of officers and hundreds of survivors. They were so close to safety, but this spider came out of nowhere and ruined everything. Emily could still remember the sight of dozens of bullets bouncing harmlessly off its shell. She could still hear the screams of the poor souls who were showered by the spider’s acid. She could still remember the fear that consumed her when she turned and ran.

And now, what happened not long ago is going to repeat, and this time, she might not make it out.

“Oh shit…” One of the survivors called out in utter despair. Within seconds, he had broken down already. “Run! We can’t beat this thing!”

The others recognized the beast as well, but none of them wanted any vengeance. All they wanted was to live to see another day. As the first survivor turned to flee, the others didn't hesitate to follow his lead. After all, those who fled last were the most likely to be hunted down and devoured.

As more and more turned to run, those who had some intention of making a stand quickly changed their mind. Just as the entire group was about to be scattered, a voice suddenly called out to them.

“Hold it right there you idiots!”

Shaw’s roar echoed through the street. She took another glance at the spider and was glad to see it was taking its sweet time. The higher level the NPCs get, the more intelligent they become. While the level 2 and 3 beasts were barely smart enough to use basic tactics in battle, the level 5 spider was smart enough to toy with its victims. Good…

This gave Shaw an opportunity to try and salvage this situation. The dominating influence she had among the survivors, the product of the countless NPCs who fell beneath her blade, worked. It was enough to stop many of the survivors in their tracks. As most of the survivors paused and glanced at her, she quickly gave them a set of instructions.

While the other survivors were panicking, Shaw was making her calculations. The seemingly invincible arachnid would be a challenge to her, but it was hardly impossible to defeat. If it was a level 8 or level 10 NPC, she would've turned and fled without a second thought and left everyone else to die. But as of now, the risk of facing the spider wasn't great enough for her to abandon this optional mission. She was willing to take a stand here and selflessly put herself at risk to buy time for the innocent to escape...and to get herself several DAPs and an unknown reward.

Of course, she had to get the survivors out of here first.

“I will hold this thing off.” Shaw declared quietly, her eyes frequently glancing back at the spider. “Emily. Emily!”

“I...yes!” The officer finally broke free of her fear and came up with a reply.

“Find another way and take these people to the precinct. Get them to safety!” Shaw ordered. “Remember! Stick together! As long as all the players work together, you will get through this!”

“But...what about you?” The officer couldn’t help but ask.

“I told you. I will hold this thing off.”

“I will stay with you.” Much to the surprise of both Shaw and everyone else in the group, Emily suddenly said something. Shaw couldn’t help but glance at her. She always knew the officer was stupid, but this insane? Now that was unexpected!

“You do know this thing is level 5, right?”

“All the more reason for me to stay and help you!” Emily repeated. “Look! I have already turned and fled once! I am not about to do that again…”

Shaw suddenly scoffed. She turned to Emily and, with her sword in hand, answered her offer for help with the usual cold, chilling words.

“Listen to me, Emily. If you are level 3 now, then you can stay and help. If you are level 5 now, then you can handle this spider alone. If you are level 10 now, then this won’t even be an issue. But as of now…” She chuckled darkly as she stared into Emily's eyes. “As of now, you are useless! You are nothing but a liability that will hinder me and get me killed! You want to help people? You want to save people? Level up! Level the fuck up! Do you feel afraid now? Do you feel helpless? Good! Remember this feeling! Fall behind, and this is what you get!”

She glanced at the survivors again, all of whom were too eager to obey her instructions.

“Now go!”

Emily stood there for a few seconds before nodding. One by one, the survivors and the players alike turned around and fled down the street. The spider, seeing that most of its prey was making a run for it, decided it was finally time to get moving. The arachnid charged forward, its appendages cutting through everything in the spider’s way.

As everyone else was on their way out and it was just her and the monster coming her way, Shaw suddenly let a small smirk climb onto her face. Her hand gripped onto her Silver Sword.

The moment she saw the spider and its stats, Shaw had been going through her options of fighting this NPC. Analyzing the capabilities of combatants and how to kill said combatants was something she had done countless times before, and by the time the spider was charging her way, she already had a plan.

The spider’s raw stats weren't that impressive. In fact, Shaw was superior or equal to the spider in most attributes. That being said, one main issue that made the spider so dangerous was its size. Usually, at this level, a larger size made the spider a lot more difficult to kill. Shaw’s sword was fierce, but it could only cut through so much plating. Shaw, on the other hand, had no armor and no shields. In a straightforward brawl, Shaw wasn’t confident she would win. Even if the spider only landed a single strike on her, it could cleave her in half.

Another issue was the spider’s abilities. NPCs that have reached level 5 would have at least 2 abilities. This was a piece of information that the players found out after countless bloodshed. Shaw couldn’t see what the spider’s abilities were, which made this especially dangerous.

Now, Shaw could just turn and flee, but running was never her thing, and the spider was far from invincible. More importantly, killing the spider would give her 1,000 exp, enough to not only get her to level 5 but also bring her much closer to level 6. Killing this beast alone was worth more than spending a full hour slaying low-level monsters.

She just needed to choose her tactics carefully…

The Shadow Spider kept on advancing, but Shaw didn't move. She simply observed the incoming giant with a cold glare. Perhaps a part of the spider was confused by her lack of action, but its confusion was quickly replaced by its lust for blood. An appendage of the arachnid came down on Shaw, looking in pin her to the ground alive.

As the appendages were mere feet away from Shaw, she suddenly moved. Like a phantom, she dashed to the side. The appendage struck the floor and dug deep into the ground.

Before the appendage could pull back, Shaw sliced her Silver Sword across the appendage. The blade cut deep into the plating. Green blood spilled out and hit the ground, leaving a quiet sizzling sound.

“Like I thought. Corrosive blood.” Shaw whispered to herself as she dodged another appendage. Once again, she used her superior speed and left a few cuts on the limb before pulling back and avoiding the spider's retribution.

For the next minute, Shaw danced around the spider, dodging between its appendages and leaving painful cuts here and there. Unfortunately for her, she and her weapon were too small to do any real damage. The only way for Shaw to get a kill, aside from damaging the spider’s body extensively, was to go for the head. The head that was way beyond Shaw’s reach.

If Shaw had a bow, she might be able to snipe the spider from range. Just with a sword in hand, there was little she could do.

Luckily for Shaw, she didn't need to cut the entire spider open on the spot. She had...other plans. This was just her probing her enemy and seeing what it was capable of.

The spider hardly enjoyed the probing. Not at all, in fact. Again, despite its superior intelligence compared to the low-level NPCs, it was still a beast. Blinded by pain and rage, the spider decided to use one of its abilities. It abruptly took a few steps back. Its chelicerates parted ways, and a dart of green acid shot out.

Shaw had been paying attention to the spider the whole time. As soon as the spider backed off and its mouth took aim in her direction, Shaw knew what was up. Without really thinking, she threw herself to the side.

The green acid landed on the ground mere steps away from Shaw. It was even more corrosive than the spider’s blood. Within seconds, it had already melted a hole in the ground. If fighting against a modern army, that acidic spit alone was enough to melt through an armored vehicle and dissolve everyone within. Such was the power of NPCs, and this Shadow Spider was just level 5.

Shaw let out a small growl. She did dodge most of the spray, but a few drops of the acid still landed on her left leg. She could feel it burning through her flesh and skin. Luckily, that was when her Fortify passive ability came in and reduced 20% of the damage done to her by the acid. In addition, as a level 4 player, Shaw’s body had become a lot more durable than ordinary humans. The few drops of acid could cripple an ordinary man, but it merely minorly injured Shaw.

Still, a direct hit could be very problematic, not to mention extremely, extremely painful.

At this point, Shaw had achieved part of her objective for this phase. She had baited out one of the Shadow Spider’s abilities. She also noticed that after using the acid, the spider felt a lot weaker than before. It made sense. Generating and projecting the acid could be highly costly. She had learned enough about the spider. In other words, it was time for the next phase.

Just like that, she turned around and started running.

It took the Shadow Spider a few seconds to realize what she was doing, and when it did, it chased after her like a predator closing in on its pray. Just as Shaw expected.