Chapter 7: Chapter 7:- The Spider's Gift
The group debated back and forth, unable to come to a logical conclusion. Finally, they all turned to Steve for answers, since he was the only one who had seen the "monster."
Steve, seeing their expectant gazes, thought for a moment before offering a word of caution.
"All I can say is, if we run into it again, be careful."
"After all, it's just a game. Even if we die, we can respawn…"
"As for what it really is, we'll have to figure that out over time."
Though the whole thing was bizarre, Steve had calmed down since his initial scare. After all, it was just a game. Even if they ran into the monster again, it was only a matter of losing one life. They could always respawn. As long as they weren't carrying anything too valuable, it wasn't a big deal.
As for the mystery surrounding the "monster," it would unravel in time.
Hearing Steve's words, the others nodded in agreement.
Steve quickly followed up, adding, "Let's set up our base camp around here."
"The environment is great, and there's a chance we might encounter it again."
It had only been a week since the game started, so players hadn't progressed much. Most were still wandering, exploring new places without establishing permanent homes. The game world was vast, and many players preferred to see as much of it as possible. Steve's group had the same idea until yesterday's events changed his mind.
Now, Steve felt compelled to settle down. His curiosity about that "creature" was overwhelming. He couldn't explain why, but he felt a strange sense of destiny, as if this encounter wasn't just a coincidence. Deep down, he knew they would meet again.
The others had no objections to Steve's decision.
"Alright! I'll go chop some trees. Let's build a nice three-story house!"
"This grassland's perfect—good visibility, plenty of animals. I'll corral a few, so we'll have a steady supply of meat."
"I'll dig for coal. We need to light up this area so we don't have to worry at night."
As everyone set off to work, Steve opened the game forum once again. He updated one of his most popular posts—a bestiary guide—adding a new entry:
———
Monster Name: Unknown
Appearance: White-eyed Steve (with attached image)
Attributes: Unknown
Skills: Explosive ability similar to Creepers, but doesn't die from the blast.
Abilities: Can collect and use blocks.
First Sighting Location: [coordinates redacted]
Notes: It seems capable of independent thought, not a mere AI construct or boss.
Caution: If spotted, retreat immediately. We are not equipped to handle it yet.
———
Steve was somewhat of a celebrity in the game's forum community. Known for posting detailed strategy guides, he had garnered a large following. As soon as he posted this new entry, comments began pouring in:
"What? White-eyed Steve? You serious?"
"No way! I love your guides, but this sounds like a reach for views."
"If you'd said it was just a monster, fine, but White-eyed Steve? That sounds too fake."
"Steve, man, I've been following your posts for ages, but this one… really?"
"Pics or it didn't happen, Steve! Show us proof!"
Most players found Steve's claims hard to believe. A monster that looked like Steve himself, had no official name, and could think independently? It sounded too outlandish to be true. Many assumed Steve was making things up for attention.
But Steve didn't respond to the comments. He understood their skepticism. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it either. But the truth was, that strange creature did exist. He was sure of it.
Someday, everyone would see for themselves.
…
After two hours of effort, Xu Yuan finally completed his first monster grinder.
The structure was up and running, and even though Xu Yuan wasn't personally killing the monsters, the system still credited him with gaining "Intimidation" from their deaths. It wasn't long before his screen was flooded with notifications:
[Intimidation +10]
[Intimidation +10]
...
[New Skills Unlocked: Invisible Arrow, Precision Shooting]
[Invisible Arrow: Allows the use of a bow without needing arrows.]
[Precision Shooting Lv1: Guarantees 100% accuracy.]
[Upgrade to Homing Arrow with 5000 kills.]
These skills were undoubtedly courtesy of the skeletons being killed by the grinder. The basic setup was yielding zombies, Creepers, and skeletons—nothing special, but it met his needs. After all, Xu Yuan wasn't looking for loot, only "Intimidation."
The grinder wasn't large—only a medium-sized one, given that he lacked flight skills, which made building anything bigger quite a hassle. But for now, it was more than sufficient. After a quick calculation, Xu Yuan estimated the grinder was netting him around 5,000 monster kills per hour, meaning 50,000 "Intimidation" points.
Just one hour would allow him to unlock a 15x15 monster control radius.
Satisfied with the setup, Xu Yuan smiled. "Now, onto my next goal—claiming the first kills of some key monsters."
---
In the Minecraft world, there are three primary dimensions: the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. Each has its own exclusive monsters, and Xu Yuan aimed to be the first to kill each one. For now, though, he focused on the Overworld creatures.
After spending hours constructing his grinder, his biggest current need was a flight ability. Building without it was pure torture!
Thinking back to Minecraft lore, the creatures capable of flight were bats, Phantoms, Ghasts, Withers, and the Ender Dragon. Xu Yuan had already encountered bats while mining earlier. Killing them hadn't awarded him anything—no skills, no "Intimidation" points. They were purely decorative creatures.
From his analysis, it seemed like only monsters that had natural flying abilities could provide flight skills upon their defeat. Bats, Phantoms, Ender Dragons, and the like had wings—they didn't rely on special skills to fly. Therefore, they probably wouldn't grant flight abilities even if Xu Yuan landed the first kill.
That left Ghasts and Withers as the most likely sources of a flight skill, but both were located in the Nether.
Going to the Nether required building a portal, which meant gathering at least ten blocks of obsidian. While he could use a bucket trick to create the portal without a diamond pickaxe, it was still a hassle.
Xu Yuan sighed. "Forget it. I'll just settle for a teleportation skill for now."
For that, he needed to hunt Endermen. Known as "Little Black" by the community due to their jet-black appearance, these tall, lanky creatures were the key to unlocking teleportation.
With a clear objective in mind, Xu Yuan set off in search of Endermen.
Along the way, he casually dispatched a few zombies and skeletons lurking in the shade of trees. Eventually, he spotted a lone spider and quickly brought it down in a few strikes.
To his surprise, the rewards for killing the spider were better than expected:
[New Skills Unlocked: Poison Immunity, Wall Walking, Strong Webs]
[Poison Immunity: Grants immunity to all poisons.]
[Wall Walking: Enables the user to walk on any surface.]
[Strong Webs Lv1: Fires a web with a hardness rating of 5 to trap enemies, reducing their movement speed by 30%. ]
[Cooldown: 60 seconds.]
[Upgrade available with 5,000 kills.]
Xu Yuan hadn't anticipated that a mere spider would grant him such useful skills.
Poison immunity was self-explanatory—a valuable passive ability. But Wall Walking? That would come in handy for building, mining, and even traveling. Strong Webs, meanwhile, offered an upgradeable ability. The upgrade path likely involved increasing the web's hardness and slowing effect.
If the web's hardness reached that of obsidian—or, better yet, bedrock—and the slow effect reached 100% or higher, it would essentially become a binding rope that no one could escape.
"For the first time ever, I actually find spiders kind of cute!" Xu Yuan chuckled.
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