Baby Phantasmagoria Type Arachnid Attribute Dark Stats HP 2500/2500 MP 2000/2000 STR 80 VIT 50 DEX 120 AGI 120 INT 100 WIS 90

'What is this stats... Huhhh...' I scoffed in disbelieve.

The fact that its average stats might be higher than the Broodmother Boss baffled me.

'It's even still a baby...'

After that, I immediately opened its skill window.

Skill Active Misty Illusion Lv. 1

Shadow Form Lv. 1 Passive Mist of Phantasmagoria Lv. 1

Misty Body Lv. 1

Dark Poison Lv. 1

Weave Mastery Lv. 1

Weaver Geophagia Lv. 1

Before I could check each of baby phantasmagoria's skills, someone was knocking the door, and a familiar muffled angelic voice was heard.

"Zeroth, can I come in?"

'Mirage?'

"Yeah."

Once Mirage came in, she stopped and surprised by the newly born spider on top of the table. She gasped with eyes wide open.

"I-is that the baby from the egg!?"

I nodded. Her hands trembled and she looked kind of scared.

"Awww... It's so cuuute~" She rushed toward the spider and petted it.

I was wrong and so confused by her action.

'How? How is this... Eight-legged monstrosity... Cute?'

I thought she would be scared, but no... She seemed delightful to see the thing that should be hated by most of humanity.

Somehow, Mirage had unique definition of cute.

"Is it a boy or a girl? And what is this cutie name?"

"I... don't know its gender... And I haven't thought a name yet."

"The gender doesn't show up on the status window?"

"Ummm no..."

"I guess it's genderless, then?"

"Y-yeah... I guess so..."

"Anyway, you should name this little baby. Ehehe..." Mirage suggested as she petted the spider.

Purr

"Ah... Alright..." I sighed.

To be honest, I was a player who respected the original names. In every games I played, I never changed names and let them carried their default ones. It was benefical within MMORPG, because unnamed pets could be sold again with higher price than the named ones.

However, since I had no intention to sell the spider, I might as well name it just like Mirage suggested.

'It's a spider. Then... It has to be Spidey? But that's too simple. Phantasmagoria, huh? Maybe Goria? Hmmm... That's not it. Phanty? ... Maybe not... That sounds wrong.'

I put my hand on my face and sighed. Then I folded my hands on my chest and continued thinking.

'Hmmph... Let's just think it in a simple way. Even though its species is Phantasmagoria, I got the egg from Mist Spider. Then how about Misty?'

Since it had some of mist related skills, I thought the name really suited the spider well. And so I nodded as I agreed to my own thought.

'Yeah, that sounds good.'

"How about Misty?"

"That sounds cute!" Mirage smiled. "I like that name. Ehehe... Hey Misty..."

Purrr...

It seemed the spider liked the name, so I began to think another problem: I was wondering about what the spider would eat.

'Spiders eat insects, right?'

Then suddenly I remembered something from some documentary channels I had watched before, and the images flashed within my mind.

Countless baby spiders were coming out from the mother's abdomen. Then, they ate their mother alive. It was a really unpleasant memory, so I brushed it away and looked at Mirage and Misty again.

While Mirage scratched Misty's head, it suddenly bit her.

I immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Ahahaha... That tickle..."

I was worried for a moment, but Mirage seemed having fun with it.

I sighed and began to ask Mirage if she had any insects.

"Umm... Mirage..."

"Yeah?" She turned her head to look at me.

"Do you... By any chance, have any insects?"

Mirage expression suddenly changed.

"W-why would I have those... scary things?" Mirage stuttered as she looked uncomfortable.

'Hey... Seriously?'

I realized that it seemed she was scared of insects or bugs.

'You're scared of insects but not spider?'

I put my hand on my face.

"Uhh... It's for Misty. Spider eats insects, right?"

"O-oh I see... I guess most of them yes. Ehehe..." Mirage let out a dry laugh. "Does what monsters eat show up on its status window?"

"Right. Let me check it."

I used Astral Eyes to open Misty's status window again. I skimmed it and found nothing. However, there was something interesting on its skill window.

Misty had a skill named Weaver Geophagia. The skill made Misty to be able to eat any minerals and turned the materials into strong silky web which could be produced by its spinneret.

I took out a small iron ore from my bag and gave it to Misty.

Purrrrr

Misty purred in an odd way, and then it grabbed the iron ore.

Crackle Crackle

Misty was actually eating it.

It was really strange, but it was indeed true that some creatures were eating dirt, even humans as well. Some also ate sponge or glass. I watched those kind of strange behavior a lot on internet, so I wasn't really surprised by the unexpected possibility of this world would give me.

Once it was done, Misty crawled on my hand, my shoulder, and I could feel it stopped on my chest. I felt uncomfortable so I opened my clothes to see what Misty was doing.

Then I was startled once Misty being absorbed into my body, and it turned into a black spider tattoo. Curious, I tried to touch it.

Purrrr?

Misty's noise could be heard and its red eyes appeared on the head part. It seemed it was kind of its ability, so I let it be. Then, I subconsciously looked at Mirage.

"Ummm... It seems Misty is sleeping." I said spontaneously as I put my clothes back quickly.

"I-I see..." Her eyes were wandering about as she hid her lips.

"Uhhh yeah, w-what's up?" I asked nervously.

"Ummm..." She was twiddling her thumbs. "I-I just made some foods. I want you to try it."

"Oh yeah...? O-okay... Sure... W-where is it?"

"W-wait a sec..."

She took the food out from her bag and put it on the table. I raised my eyebrows, and the tip of my lips went up.

On the plate, two types of fried foods were served. They looked similar to Stuffed Tofu and Fried Banana. Also, on the center of the plate, there was a small bowl with thick black paste in it. For someone who didn't know, they would think it was chocolate, but I believed it should be Petis Sauce.

I knew these foods very well. They were considered snacks in where I came from.

"Isn't this Fried Banana? And this is Stuffed Tofu!" I picked them one by one.

"Yup!"

"Wow. You made a lot. Even if it's just for me, this is too much. Let's eat these together."

"Mmm" The tip of both of her eyebrows went up as she shook her head. "I want you to taste it first."

"Alright then." I sighed and gave her a little smile "I'm sure they're delicious."

I picked a Fried Banana and bit it.

"Hmmm..."

I stopped for a moment and then slowly chewed it. It was crunchy outside and soft inside. However, no matter how many times I bit the Fried Banana, it tasted so different from the real one. The fruit was not like banana at all.

'It's a bit sour... But it's strangely edible, I guess.'

My silence and obvious expression concerned Mirage while I tried to comprehend the unsual taste in my mouth. Eventually, I had to build my words to avoid hurting her feelings.

"It's not the same taste, but it's still good."

"I-I see..."

Still, she looked sad, so I tried to describe the difference.

"This fruit is sweet but also a bit watery and sour. Banana has soft sweet flesh. And if you fry a riped one, it will be creamy."

"Oh... O-okay. I'll keep that in mind."

She seemed composed, so I was glad. Then I took the Stuffed Tofu. I put it in the sauce and ate it.

The nice tofu texture outside, soft rice noodles mixed with the crunchiness of the vegetables inside, and the bittersweet and spicy Petis Sauce. They matched perfectly.

On the next bite, I slowly chewed and tried to guess the ingredients by the taste, shape, and texture.

'This tastes like bean sprouts. This is rice noodles, carrot, and bamboo shoots? I don't know what they're called in this game, but... She put a lot of stuff inside, huh?'

Most Stuffed Tofu was just filled with rice noodles and carrot, and some put bean sprouts as well. However, Mirage seemed put extra stuff which made the taste richer. Nonetheless, it was still the Stuffed Tofu I know very well.

"Yeah, this is just like the real one." I said as I kept chewing. "It's really good!"

Her lips finally formed a smile.

"So... Please, you eat too." I said awkwardly.

"Unh..." She nodded as her eyes shaped crescent moons.

We were eating silently. It felt awkward yet normal. Perhaps, little by little, I got used to be with her, and it slowly became a norm within my mindset.

My eyes wandered and I finally noticed her new appearance. She was wearing black and white V-neck clothes which was similar to sweater. Her hair was raised up, ponytail hair. And she was also wearing glasses.

She looked a lot prettier. And the way she gazed toward me as she smiled, it was mesmerizing.

Somehow, with that clothing style, it felt like that was how she would look like if she was in real life. I felt nostalgic for a moment, and it also surfaced some of my bittersweet memories. Thankfully, her soothing voice woke me up from reliving the past.

"Umh... The Fried Banana tastes strange." She hid her lips as she chewed. "You should be honest, you know..."

"Sorry, I just don't wanna disrespect your hard work. But the Stuffed Tofu is really good, though. Eat some of them instead."

"Y-yeah..." She took one Stuffed Tofu and ate it. "This one is edible hehe... Anyway, it's okay. Just please always be honest to me. I won't be mad or sad. I'll try to improve so I can make more food from your world."

"Alright..." I gave her a little smile. "But seriously, we just did Soul Connect once. How do you remember that much?"

"I don't know..." She tilted her head and bit the Stuffed Tofu. "It feels like, some of what you've been through become my experiences as well. I can also remember some of your memories at ease."

'T-that's a bit creepy, you know...'

I couldn't say it out loud, and I didn't blame her. The game's system was what made this strange situation. A few seconds later, Mirage realized what she just said and her cheeks became redder.

"P-please f-forget what I just said..." She stuttered. "I'm sorry..."

I let out a sigh and unconsciously patted her head.

"It's okay. I can recall your memories as well. But most of them are foggy, though. It must be difficult for you that you can hardly remember your own memories..."

"Mmhh..." She shook her head. "I've been getting good new memories with you, so I don't really mind it anymore. Ehehe..."

My heart jumped a little when I heard that, but I tried to keep my expression calm and put unnecessary thoughts away by inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"Ah... I just ate the last one."

"Well then, thanks for the food."

"Unh..." She nodded and smiled.

Once Mirage put the plate inside her bag, she excused herself to get back to her room. I thanked her again and immediately hit the hay. Thanks to her, my stomach was full and it made me sleep quickly.

The next day, Misty woke me up by scratching my face. It purred strangely toward me, so I guessed it wanted to eat its breakfast.

"Uuuhhh..." I groaned as I got up. "Are you hungry?"

"Purrr...."

I took a small chunk of iron ore out and fed it to Misty. It immediately grabbed the ore and ate it. When I looked at it, somehow, Misty was kind of cute.

'No...'

I shook my head and hit my cheeks with both of my hands. Mirage's definition of cute seemed trying to corrupt me, so I took out a wet towel from my bag and scrubbed my face with it. Then I checked and prepared my inventory before I left. I moved important items from my bag to the new dimensional storage.

'You come in here... And you too... You get in here... And I guess that's it...'

Once I was done, I picked Mirage up. And then, we went to the castle hall to meet Hagwim. Without any delay, he immediately led us to the western path while I looked at my self-drawing map and updated it. Eventually, we stopped at the dead end. Then Hagwim opened his mouth.

"Palun ga ranush, alun malla."

(Open the way, my friend)

The wall was sliding down, revealing a hidden path ahead. Once we went in, the wall was sliding back up again. We continued walking through the narrow passage until, a few days later, we finally reached the exit.

A vast greenery and blue sky awaited us ahead. Hagwim stopped at the mouth of the cave, he turned around and faced me and Mirage.

"This is it, laddie." He said as he took something out from his bag. "Anyway, here. Take this."

Hagwim handed me over a silver bracelet with round blue mineral which looked like a shappire on it. Moreover, it was etched with oddly futuristic design.

"A bracelet?"

"It's not just a bracelet. It's a communication device. It was made by my friend. He was the best artisan of my kin."

'So it's like a phone watch, huh?'

"I see. This is convenient."

"Yeah. You can call me whenever you need us." Hagwim smiled.

"Alright then." I deeply sighed. "Thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure, laddie."

"Nallafar, Hagwim."

(Farewell, Hagwim)

"Nallafar. Fun Maldum namus galan kelnas."

(Farewell. May gods bless your journey.)

・・・

Felmoor Village

Two guards were taking a break on the watchtower. They were eating their lunch while chatting. Suddenly, one of them went silent and his eyes were locked onto something, so his friend followed his gaze.

They spotted some figures were moving toward the village.

"Oh my God! Quick!" He exclaimed. "Ring the bell!"

The two began to shout to the guards below them so they would go ringing the bell around the village, alarming the villagers. Thus, at that moment, only one sentence filled the whole place.

"The Dark Army is coming!"

Tagran Fortress

"Hey did you watch it? The livestream?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm here."

"Accept the party and let's go there to check."

"Okay. But, it's just the two of us."

"Well, let's try to look for another player in this fort. I'm sure they'll be willing to help us."

"Good idea."

Suddenly, multiple guards were marching quickly to the west part of the fort. Some of them shouted.

"It's the Dark Army!"

"Quick! Rush to the western gate! Prepare to war!"

The two players gulped their own saliva and stood in silence for a moment. Then they nodded at each other and immediately ran to the west as well.