49: Chapter 49 Who says a blank slate can't kill a mutated lord?

The deepest part of the dungeon.

It was less of a lair and more of a massive underground palace.

Countless white spider threads, as thick as a wrist, crisscrossed the area, cutting the entire space into fragmented pieces.

In the very center, perched upon a massive spider web, was a half-human, half-spider monster.

Her upper body was that of a bewitching woman with pale skin and cascading black hair, while her lower body was a swollen, hideous, shiny black spider abdomen, with eight legs covered in steel bristles deeply embedded into the rock walls.

[ BOSS: Dungeon Spider Queen (LV.12) ]

[ Status: Sleeping ]

Zhang Wei hid behind a rock, peeked out, and swallowed hard.

"This is just absurd."

The fatty wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "The upper body looks like a club's top hostess, and the lower body looks like Resident Evil. Isn't that a bit chaotic?"

Zhao Xiaoyu gripped her staff tightly, her voice trembling.

"The guide says that as long as we don't step on those alert spider threads, we can get an ambush in first. Its poison spray has a three-second wind-up; that's our chance to deal damage."

Wang Kai's hand holding the bow steadied slightly: "As long as it isn't that invisible monster from before, it's fine. I have confidence against a target of this size."

Lin Qi didn't speak.

He stared at the massive figure, his brows furrowing slightly.

It was too quiet.

The feeling of being watched not only hadn't vanished but was becoming increasingly intense.

Just then.

In a dark corner, a streak of extremely obscure black light shot out.

There was no sound, and it was incredibly fast.

Even Lin Qi couldn't intercept it in time.

The beam of light precisely plunged into the Spider Queen's swollen abdomen.

"Roar——!!!"

The monster that had been sleeping suddenly raised its head.

It wasn't a sound a human could make; it was more like the screech of metal scraping against glass, piercing enough to make one's eardrums ache.

"What's going on? We haven't engaged the monster yet!"

Chen Huo was so scared he nearly dropped his staff.

Before they could react, the Spider Queen's body began to convulse violently.

Her originally pale skin became covered in ominous purple-red veins, and her body size ballooned to twice its original size, like an inflating balloon.

Those eyes, which had been closed, suddenly snapped open, glowing blood-red.

[ Warning! BOSS has undergone an unknown mutation! ]

[ Rank increased to LV.15! ]

[ All attributes doubled! ]

[ Entered "Berserk" status! ]

Bright red System pop-up windows were plastered directly onto everyone's retinas.

"What the f*ck? Mutation?"

Zhang Wei was dumbfounded.

"Can the dungeon even be played like this? It was supposed to be a weakened version, and now it's been buffed directly into its full-power form?"

Outside, in the live broadcast room for the entire network.

The audience in front of their screens was in an uproar.

"What is this situation? An S-Rank dungeon can have a sudden mutation?"

"Someone must have used an item just now, right? I saw that black light too!"

"This is murder! They're trying to run that group of students into the ground!"

On the podium of the sports field, Instructor Su Qing stood up abruptly, her face livid.

She grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Examination team! Cut the connection to Group 44 immediately! Forcefully eject them!"

"Instructor Su, the System is throwing an error!" An anxious voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"There is external code interference, the forced logout is locked, and it will take at least three minutes to crack!"

Three minutes.

Instructor Su Qing looked at the berserk monster on the big screen.

For a BOSS of that level, thirty seconds would be more than enough to slaughter these few newbies.

Inside the dungeon.

"Run! Run quickly!"

Wang Kai was the first to break down, turning and running toward the tunnel they had come from.

"We can't run."

Lin Qi's voice was cold.

"It has blocked the path."

The moment Wang Kai turned around, the Spider Queen opened her mouth, which was split all the way to her ears.

Pfft——

A massive cloud of purple-black poison mist erupted forth.

The poison mist spread incredibly fast, covering half the arena in the blink of an eye, completely sealing off their retreat.

Where the poison mist touched the rocks, white smoke rose, and the surfaces quickly weathered and turned black.

"It's over... It's all over..."

Zhao Xiaoyu slumped to the ground, watching the approaching grim reaper, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"Hold your breath."

Lin Qi suddenly spoke.

He unbuttoned his school uniform jacket and tossed it onto the ground.

"This poison mist is very dense. As long as you don't inhale it into your lungs, mere skin contact won't kill you."

"Big brother! What time is it, and you're still giving a physics lesson?"

Zhang Wei looked at Lin Qi's calm demeanor and was about to go crazy.

"This is corrosive poison mist! Even if we don't breathe, our skin will rot away!"

"If it rots, then I'll just refine it again."

Lin Qi took a deep breath, then his chest collapsed inward, and his whole body seemed to enter a bizarre state of stillness.

Embryonic Breathing.

All his pores closed at this moment, locking his vitality firmly within his body.

This was the confidence granted to him by [Skin Refining · Perfection].

The next second.

Lin Qi moved.

He didn't retreat; instead, he charged in a straight line toward the dense poison mist.

"Brother Qi! Are you crazy?!"

Zhang Wei reached out to grab him but grasped only air.

Lin Qi's figure was like an arrow released from a bow, diving straight into the purple-black mist.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

A dense stinging sensation spread across the surface of his skin; that was the toxins trying to erode his epidermis.

But his skin, tempered through a thousand trials by tiger bone and cloud-pattern herb, displayed astonishing resilience at this moment.

Although red spots appeared, it did not fester.

"Still within the tolerable range."

Lin Qi calculated silently in his heart.

Since he hadn't died, that was his chance.

At this moment, the Spider Queen had already discovered this little bug that dared to charge into the poison mist.

She waved her long legs in anger.

Four legs, like spears made of refined steel, whistled with a shrill wind as they simultaneously stabbed toward that tiny figure.

This wasn't combat; this was a slaughter.

It sealed off all space for evasion, above, below, left, and right.

Lin Qi didn't slow down.

While running at high speed, he suddenly performed a sliding tackle, his body sliding almost flush against the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The four spears stabbed deep into the rocky ground beside him, sending gravel flying and carving a bloody scratch onto his face.

A hair's breadth away.

Using the momentum of the slide, Lin Qi passed directly through the attack zone and slid to the area directly beneath the Spider Queen's massive body.

This was a blind spot.

But it was also the most dangerous place.

Directly above him was that swollen, disgusting abdomen, with countless bristles standing upright like steel needles.

"The abdomen isn't covered by a carapace."

Lin Qi kicked off the ground with both legs, propelling himself upward.

The rusty iron sword had been discarded during the charge.

In a battle of this level, that broken piece of iron wasn't as useful as his own fingers.

Lin Qi formed his hands into claws, his knuckles becoming thick from engorged blood, taking on a bluish-black metallic luster.

All his strength was concentrated at his fingertips.

Eagle Claw Technique.

Designed to break hard defenses and tear flesh.

Splat!

His ten fingers, like hooks, were forcefully thrust into the bristle-covered spider abdomen.

The bristles, which could easily pierce leather armor, punctured the back of Lin Qi's hands, but he didn't even furrow his brow.

"Open!"

Lin Qi let out a low shout, the muscles in his arms bulging as he ripped hard to both sides.

Rip——

It sounded like torn fabric.

A large chunk of flesh, dripping with green slime, was forcefully torn off by him.

"Awoo——!!!"

The Spider Queen let out a cry even more miserable than before.

The intense pain drove her completely mad.

She twisted her body frantically, trying to shake off the damned flea beneath her belly.

At the same time, the spinneret at her tail suddenly shifted direction.

Whoosh!

A white spider thread as thick as a wrist shot out, precisely wrapping around Lin Qi's waist.

A massive pulling force came.

Before Lin Qi could inflict a second injury, he was dragged directly into mid-air by this strange force, hanging upside down.

"Lin Qi has been caught!"

Wang Kai screamed from a distance.

Poison dripped down the spider thread, sizzling as it corroded the remainder of Lin Qi's shirt, and a burning, searing pain spread across his skin.

The Spider Queen turned around, her beautiful yet twisted human face facing the hanging Lin Qi.

She opened her mouth, and black poison dripped from her two massive fangs.

The distance was less than half a meter.

This was the kill shot, the execution moment.

In the live broadcast room, the viewers in the chat didn't dare to look.

"It's over..."

"This time he's really done for."

"Cut the feed! It's too bloody!"

However.

Trapped in a desperate situation, hanging upside down in the air, Lin Qi had no fear on his face.

Not even a trace of panic could be found.

Looking at that hideous face just inches away, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

It was an extremely crazy smile.

It was as if a hunter had finally cornered a beast into a pre-set trap.

"Running around is too much trouble."

Lin Qi stared into the Spider Queen's blood-red eyes, his voice hoarse yet clear.

"Now, I've got you."