The canyon spider wasn’t just big in size. Its overwhelming strength was comparable to boss monsters.

“Hiiik…”

Lee Junho, Choi Chansung, and Sim Kiwan—the three people who attended high school with Shin Youngwoo were trapped in the canyon spider’s nest, wrapped in the spider web. They felt extreme fright at the canyon spider’s sharp teeth and legs, wondering which one of them would be eaten first.

“Damn... I just wanted to go to Winston…” Lee Junho lamented.

Winston was the name of a popular city in the middle of nowhere. The three people heard that there were hunting grounds of various levels where they could hunt and earn money, so they headed to Winston. But thanks to the antics of the mischievous goblins, they almost froze to death and found the canyon. Now they would become the meal of a canyon spider.

“Dammit, why did you decide to go to Winston?” Sim Kiwan grumbled. Then Lee Junho’s face distorted.

It was Lee Junho who first talked about going to Winston. Lee Junho glared angrily at Sim Kiwan’s complaint. “Didn’t you agree? Now you’re trying to blame me? Did I know it would be like this? Eh?”

Lee Junho had a bad temper and was the best fighter in his high school. There was no kid in high school who hadn’t been bullied by Lee Junho. In the period where Lee Junho was his most rebellious, Choi Chansung and Sim Kiwan suffered despite being his closest friends. They knew that Lee Junho still had a temper, so Sim Kiwan didn’t grumble anymore.

However, Lee Junho didn’t relax.

“Ah, this damn... the more I think about it, the more shitty it is. Hey, Sim Kiwan. Try speaking again, you jerk. I told us to move to Winston, so we were caught by that damn spider? Didn’t we all agree? You said it was a good idea, right? But now you’re blaming me once things became worse? What type of friend are you, you jerk?”

“...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blame you. I was just so agitated that I misspoke.”

“Ah, shit. Why don’t you do something if you’re sorry? This jerk should really go to hell.”

The silent Choi Chansung quickly mediated between them. “Why are we fighting now? Let’s try to figure how to escape instead of fighting.”

To be honest, Choi Chansung and Sim Kiwan didn’t like Lee Junho. Lee Junho was a friend, but he tended to look down on Choi Chansung and Sim Kiwan. They were now 26 years old and didn’t want to keep acting like their high school years.

On the other hand, Lee Junho was unable to adapt to society due to his dirty nature and because he had few friends. Therefore, he frequently wanted to hang out with Choi Chansung and Sim Kiwan. Choi Chansung and Sim Kiwan wanted to ignore Lee Junho, but they couldn’t easily dismiss Lee Junho after knowing each other for 10 years.

But now they were reaching their limits.

'Is he crazy? He’s calling a friend a jerk?’

‘That bastard Lee Junho, he can’t fix his dirty habit. Kiwan also has a lot of pride.’

As the atmosphere became tense...

The wind from outside brought the sound of disturbance.

“! $ #! ~%”

The sound was coming from a distant place, so the three people couldn’t precisely grasp the contents of the disturbance, but it was different for the canyon spider. The canyon spider locked the three people up and glanced toward the outside of the nest.

“Kikikik...”

The canyon spider sprang up excitedly. It seemed to rejoice that a new prey had appeared. The three people were relieved to see the canyon spider leaving the nest.

“Phew... I thought I was going to die.”

“I agree...”

“Come on, let’s escape this place!”

Lee Junho was a level 88 warrior. Due to his aggressive tendencies, he invested most of his stats into strength. Therefore, he tried to break the web with his body. However, no matter how he moved his body, the web didn’t budge.

“What is this damn thing? I can’t break it even with my strength?”

Lee Junho became exhausted and eventually gave up on breaking the web. Then Sim Kiwan, who was a level 87 fire magician, chanted a spell and summoned fire.

Hwaruruk!

The spiderweb around Sim Kiwan’s body started to burn.

“Ohhh!”

The three people cheered at the thought of the spiderweb turning to ashes, but after a while, the flames died down and revealed the spiderweb only had a blackened surface, and it was still tightly trapping Sim Kiwan’s body.

Sim Kiwan’s face turned white.

“What is this? It can’t be burned with fire?”

“Leave it to me.” The level 89 thief, Choi Chansung, came forward. He held a dagger in one hand and tried to cut the web with a dagger. However, even the sharp dagger couldn’t cut the web.

“Unbelievable... not even a scratch?”

This was why the canyon spider left this place so easily. The three people left behind were so low-levelled that they couldn’t get rid of the spiderweb or avoid death. They were desperate.

“In the end, we’re going to be eaten by that spider bastard...”

“Hey, if we are going to die anyway, let’s just log out. Isn’t it better to give up experience than being eaten?”

Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan had already tried to log out. But ‘In this situation, you can’t avoid death. If you log out, it will be treated as a death.’ floated in front of them and they had hesitated. However, these circumstances meant it was better to log out.

“Okay, let’s just log out. I will completely lose my dignity as a human if I experience being eaten by a spider.”

“Okay, log…”

Choi Chansung tried to stop the two people who wanted to log out.

“Wait. Isn’t it too shameful to take our lives, even if this is a game? We don’t know what is happening, so let’s hold on a little longer.”

“What are you saying? The spider will come back soon! Do you want to be eaten by a spider? I might get arachnophobia for the rest of my life!”

“If you have the courage to take your own life, use that courage to find a means to fight the spider.”

“What nonsense are you saying? Stop speaking. Aye, I don’t know. We are going to log out, so you stay here alone! Logout...eh?”

The three people fell silent at the same time. Their gazes headed toward the entrance of the cave.

Thump, thump.

They weren’t mistaken. There was the sound of human footsteps from the entrance of the cave.

“What?”

“Shh!”

The three men held their breaths as they watched the situation. After a while, a person entered the cave.

“That spider bastard has been alive for decades, so did it gather any treasures in its nest? This bastard, it was hard hunting you.”

This person hunted that fearful spider? Lee Junho, Choi Chansung, and Sim Kiwan looked at the man with disbelieving expressions. Half the man’s face was covered by a big helmet, which seemed to be made from the skull of a giant monster. The helmet’s appearance was hideous.

The three people whispered to each other, because they were worried the man would hear.

“That guy doesn’t seem ordinary...?”

“That's right. He is like a psychopath with that odd aesthetic sense.”

“But let’s ask for help.”

“H-Hrmm... he looks dangerous...”

“Won’t he just kill us?”

“... That’s possible.”

“Yes...”

The three of them were conflicted. The appearance of the man’s helmet was just as terrible as the canyon spider. On the other hand, inside the helmet, Grid found the three people tied up by the web. He was startled.

‘Isn’t that Lee Junho? Why are those guys here?’

Lee Junho and his followers! They were famous as gangsters since their school days. In particular, Lee Junho was an uncontrollable gangster. He often committed violence against his classmates. He even dared go against the teachers.

Grid, no, Shin Youngwoo, was his target not just once or twice. It was seven or eight years ago, but Shin Youngwoo remembered all the evils Lee Junho had committed against him.

‘During high school... the amount of money that bastard took from me from second grade to graduation is exactly 67,300 won... his follower was 23,000, and the other one 14,000... those damn three people.’

It wasn’t a good memory for Shin Youngwoo. His head was bad and he couldn’t remember small things, but he remembered the things that happened to him.

‘His harassment didn’t end just in school.’

Lee Junho was the first person who laughed and ignored Shin Youngwoo at the alumni meeting two years ago. The alumni heard that Shin Youngwoo had become obsessed with games and debt-ridden and couldn’t laugh.

Only Lee Junho continued teasing Shin Youngwoo and kept calling him pathetic. As the alumni meeting continued and everyone started to drink, the other alumni followed Lee Junho’s example and started laughing at Shin Youngwoo. Shin Youngwoo became a laughing stock with all the alumni.

‘This unforgivable bastard... dammit, how did I come across this bastard in a game? I really have no luck.’

Shin Youngwoo glared at Lee Junho and his followers. Lee Junho felt his gaze and asked gently, “E..Excuse me? Can you help us? As you can see, we are trapped. Haha.”

Lee Junho never imagined that the man inside the helmet was Shin Youngwoo. Shin Youngwoo thought this was ludicrous.

‘That bastard... he acts like such a devil toward me, but makes such a fake smile toward others! Ah, isn’t my face covered right now? Then they don’t know who I am? Oho, maybe this...’

Honestly, Shin Youngwoo didn’t like the Frostlight Orc Chief’s Helmet. As a unique set item, its functions were very good, but it was too ugly. However, at this moment, he was delighted with the Frostlight Orc Chief’s Helmet.

Why? The helmet had a shape that covered half his face. Therefore, Shin Youngwoo’s appearance wasn’t revealed and the ID of Grid didn’t appear over his head.

'Now that I’ve met this scum here, isn’t it a chance for revenge?’

Shin Youngwoo started laughing and Lee Junho’s group looked at each other. Shin Youngwoo’s laugh that emerged from the helmet caused Lee Junho and his group to feel an eerie chill. The eyes that could be seen in the helmet were similar to those of the canyon spider. Yes, like they were prey...!

'Did we step in poop?’

As Lee Junho’s group trembled, Shin Youngwoo focused his gaze on Choi Chansung.

‘Choi Chansung...’

Choi Chansung was clearly a person who hung out with Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan. Choi Chansung was with them whenever Lee Junho or Sim Kiwan were committing violence against someone.

Despite that, Shin Youngwoo had never witnessed Choi Chansung’s direct involvement in any cheating, swearing, or violence. Rather, Choi Chansung watched Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan with an uncomfortable expression. Youngwoo didn’t know why, but he often saw Choi Chansung arguing with Lee Junho.

‘One time, he apologized to me on behalf of Lee Junho... he also never made fun of me at the alumni meetings... not long ago, he called and asked if I was going to the reunion... I didn’t call back or reply to his email, despite several attempts to contact me. It was like he was worried about me! Yes? Perhaps he really is a good guy?’

Shin Youngwoo’s interpretation was correct. Choi Chansung was really worried about Shin Youngwoo after what happened at the alumni meeting. He was afraid Shin Youngwoo might make the wrong choice out of shame.

While Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan always mocked Shin Youngwoo, Choi Chansung kept his mouth shut. Choi Chansung hung around Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan due to the relationship that started from their first year in high school, but he was reluctant to harass anyone.

However, Shin Youngwoo had doubts.

‘... Anybody who is a friend of Lee Junho can’t be a good guy. If I look at examples from the movies or comics, he is the truly evil mastermind who is pretending to be good on the outside!’

Wasn’t Choi Chansung standing behind Lee Junho and Sim Kiwan when they bullied him in high school? Wasn’t he behind Lee Junho when he laughed at Shin Youngwoo at the reunion? Shin Youngwoo was so suspicious that he considered Choi Chansung more of an enemy than Lee Junho.

Then he raised the +8 Ideal Dagger.