I am leisurely strolling on the path looking for the entrance to the Middle Stratum.
Mmm…
Although I had already thought about entering the Middle Stratum to go on an adventure before, when I actually started taking action for it, the excitement in my heart was still a little hard to suppress.
Whenever the lava area of the Middle Stratum is mentioned, what pops up in my mind first isn’t some scenario like powerful fire dragons or terrifying magma boiling and bubbling everywhere, but rather fragrant roasted catfish and roasted eel~
Speaking of which, those two tasted pretty amazing in my previous life too!
To think they could still “shine brightly” even after coming to another world.
And thinking up to this point, the sight of Kumoko crying and drooling with emotion when she first enjoyed catfish always floats before my eyes, and drool involuntarily overflows from the corners of my mouth as well.
Urgh!
Is it really that delicious?
It’s making me crave it to death too!
Ooh, I really want to take a bite too!
Before I knew it, my footsteps sped up quite a bit.
Hurry, hurry…
I can’t wait anymore!
…
Whew…
Whew…
The temperature around here is getting higher and higher; the entrance to the Middle Stratum should be right near here…
Hmm…
I scratched my little head.
Although I don’t know the exact path, it seems that pushing deeper along the walls of the labyrinth’s Upper Stratum over these past few days was correct after all.
While lost in thought, I suddenly noticed a huge cave entrance up ahead.
Hopefully, it’s a downhill path…
I walked up curiously.
What met my eyes was a winding channel that continuously extended downward, with faint red light seemingly emanating from it.
Ooh ooh ooh!
Looks like this should be the place!
My eyes widened in excitement, and the tail behind me wagged frantically left and right.
Come on, starting from now, I will gradually conquer the Middle Stratum step by step!
Heh heh…
Suddenly, not paying attention, I tripped over a protruding rock beneath my feet and fell heavily onto the ground ahead…
Ugh…?
This is a downhill path!
Oh no…!
Nooo…
I dug my claws tightly into the floor, hoping to stabilize myself with this, but it was all in vain.
My entire lizard self still slid downward uncontrollably.
Accompanied by the continuous harsh noise of my claw tips grinding against the stone, my figure gradually vanished into the winding passage…
…
*Shuuu~*
Just like a slide, I gradually slid into the Middle Stratum, and face-down at that…
My belly got rubbed a bit hot…
Ugh, no laughing!
This is just a tiny minor episode; the conquest journey has only officially kicked off now!
I propped up my body against the overwhelming heat wave, taking in the “brightness” of the Middle Stratum.
So hot, so hot…
Except…? You are reading on g.com, the official source.
It seems besides being a bit hot, there’s no other feeling!
Although I had worried beforehand that the hot environment of the Middle Stratum would affect my movements, since I had [Divine Scales]—this super-strong resistance-type skill—to back me up, I didn’t care too much.
And as it turned out, unlike Kumoko’s situation where she was burned and lost HP like crazy when she first came to the Middle Stratum, I was completely fine like a harmless lizard.
Heh~
I’m really just way too amazing!
…
Pacing back and forth, I stepped on the crimson rocks, gazing at the seemingly endless churning lava lake.
Speaking of which, I can’t possibly go down to look for “delicacies,” right?
It seems there’s no way to go down anyway…
Uh, the situations where Kumoko encountered monsters in the Middle Stratum area back then were basically all instances where the other party came knocking on her door, right?
They were unavoidable random encounters.
However, the low-to-mid-level monsters here seem kind of dumb and foolish.
When they launch attacks, they always shoot fireballs from the lava lake first, and once their MP is completely drained, instinct drives them to come ashore and pursue the enemy.
This was also the reason why Kumoko could still hunt Middle Stratum monsters even when she was extremely terrified of fire.
After a good bit of probing, I touched the “dragon scales” on my body that appeared due to the skill’s derivative effect, pleasantly surprised as if I had discovered some treasure.
Woah woah woah!
My fire resistance really isn’t ordinary high~
As expected of the [Ruler of Envy]!
…
Come on, come on…
Catfish-kun and Eel-kun, come play with me…
Lying bored on the ground, my head tilted to the side, I extended a little claw and tapped its tip up and down repeatedly.
Boohoo, could it be that you all like eating “roasted spider”?
An adorable little lizard like me isn’t to your taste, is that it…
Before the words could fully fall, a loud noise came from behind—something was bursting out of the “lava”!
Woah!
Did you hear my calling~
Hehehe…
Even if I might not be to your taste…
You guys will definitely be very to my taste!
Ooh-haha!
I turned around to look behind me and locked eyes with a pair of tiny eyes: a round body, a huge mouth, and even a few small whiskers growing on it.
Looks like it’s the Catfish Brother, no doubt about it!
You really made me wait long enough!
I stood up facing the catfish’s blank stare, my small body forming a stark contrast with it:
[Elroe Guneseven LV4]
[HP: 390/390 (Green) | MP: 150/150 (Blue) | SP: 148/148 (Yellow) 395/395 (Red)]
[Average Attack Ability: 296 | Average Defense Ability: 256 | Average Speed Ability: 89 | Average Resistance Ability: 88 | Average Magic Ability: 91]
[Wyrm LV1] [Dragon Scales LV1] [Precision LV6] [Swim LV5] [Overeating LV1] [Heat Nullification]
Sigh, its strength is just average; it’s not really much stronger than me~
And just while I was still comparing the stat gap between us, Catfish Brother was already impatient to play a game together.
It opened its mouth and spat out a massive fireball, flying toward my direction.
Relying on my extremely high speed stats, with just a slight sidestep, I easily dodged the attack it launched.
However, it still refused to give up, firing several more fireballs in succession, wanting to use them to compress my dodging space.
Hmph!
Naive.
You think you can hit me with something this slow?
After all, I only have advantages in speed and defense, but my attack power falls short of its defense power, and I can’t pour lethal poison into its mouth like Kumoko did…
Wait…
In its mouth…?
Got it, got it!
Doing it like this might just work…
…
After a period of pulling back and forth, I drained the Elroe Guneseven’s MP reserves.
So, it waddled its fat body, crawling out of the magma onto the shore, and rushed toward me with its big mouth open.
Finally waited for this moment!
Giggling wickedly in my heart, I copied Kumoko’s style and dodged to the side the moment before the catfish was about to pounce and bite me.
Thus, the magic formation I had prepared behind me in advance was swallowed whole into its mouth.
In an instant, intense light burst forth, and an [Earth Lance] penetrated the catfish monster’s head from the inside out!
Its body trembled violently as it fell to the ground, thrashing frantically, but gradually it went still.
Just as I expected~
No matter how strong the defense stats are, they are only for the outer skin; the inside is still just as soft~
I walked forward and tapped its skull with my claw.
<Elroe Guneseven Corpse>
Mmm, looks like it’s as dead as dead can be.
…
Phew…!
I exhaled a long breath.
Finally arrived at the most lizard-exciting part!
Come on…
Come on!!
Just let me taste how you actually taste!
I swallowed hard, gulping down the saliva that had accumulated in my mouth, and licked my lips.
For me, who possesses [Sensory Super-Enhancement LV1], my sense of taste has definitely been enhanced too.
This was probably why I puked my guts out every day when I ate the meat of Upper Stratum monsters before.
But now the situation has changed—this skill will no longer cause me suffering, but exist as a solid partner to buff my sense of taste!!
I bit onto the catfish monster’s belly in one gulp, tore off a piece of meat, and sent it into my mouth.
The next second, sweet and fragrant grease filled my entire mouth, and a smooth, tender texture danced on the tip of my tongue.
Swallowing it gently, the delicious flavor lingered for a long time, echoing continuously in my mouth and throat.
Struck as if by lightning, my brain went blank and stalled on the spot, unable to believe everything that had just happened.
This taste…
This texture…
Th-This is way, way, way, way, way too delicious!
Heavens!!
As if possessed, I threw myself onto the catfish monster’s body, continuously stuffing piece after piece of fish meat into my mouth…
…
Waaaaah!!
I’m eating, eating, eating, eating, eating!!
…
Before I knew it, like wind sweeping through remnant clouds, the catfish monster’s bouncy body turned into a hollow skeleton.
Meanwhile, I leaned nearby with unsated craving, scratching my belly with a face full of bliss…
…
Sob, sob, sob…
What kind of trash was I eating before…..
Sob, sob, sob….