章 28: Ch 28: Shuppet [pt1]
[This tutorial complies with the system's regulations. If you are dissatisfied, take your complaints up with the system.]
The message had been sent to everyone, and Soma was included.
People's dissatisfaction with his actions was mounting slowly, and Soma was sure that it would explode if given enough time.
But that was a problem for the 'future' him. It had nothing to do with Soma's current situation.
He felt dizzy being inside the mouth of the chameleon.
Soma had to carefully maneuver that giant puppet to save his neck and make it toward the center of the spider web.
He managed to maneuver the dead boss toward the spider room, and now it was time for the big test.
He moved slowly so as not to make any unnecessary noise and gradually started to climb the enormous nest.
The spiders looked in his direction once they felt their nest getting disturbed.
But they lost interest in what was happening because they saw nothing.
Soma breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he noticed the disinterest of the spiders around him.
This idea was sure to work, and Soma carefully approached the web's center.
The first spider reacted when Soma came in range and could touch Soma.
It looked confused while reaching for the chameleon's body.
It looked confused as soon as it noticed that there was something it could feel but not see.
One spider turned two, and two turned four, but Soma crawled away slowly until he reached the web's center.
The mother spider finally reacted once Soma was close enough to it.
At first, Soma was convinced that the spider was trying to get away from him.
But instead, it walked toward him and tried to poke the chameleon.
Soma gripped his sword hard because he knew he would get only one chance at this.
He jumped out of the chameleon's body when the mother spider raised its arm and brought it down to kill its prey.
It pierced the chameleon's body, but Soma could strike the Mother Spider simultaneously.
[Hell fire has activated]
Soma challenged his power into the wound, letting the fire consume it all.
It spread through the mechanical joints of the spider, causing it to short-circuit.
The spider flailed, finally spotting Soma and throwing his body as far as possible to avoid getting hurt further.
Soma's instincts reacted and made him dodge.
Soma was thankful for his fast reflexes; otherwise, he would have given the spider enough time to recover and attack Soma.
This spider looked pissed but hurt.
The smaller spiders started to move toward Soma to try to hurt him.
They wanted to buy enough time for the mother spider to heal itself.
How could Soma allow such a thing?
He tugged at the body of the chameleon that was still beneath the mother spider and tugged it hard.
The chameleon slammed into the mother spider before it exploded, taking the mother with it.
No matter how strong the mother spider was, there was only one chamber after the chameleon.
The mother was also hurt by Soma, causing it to no longer be able to react in time.
All the spiders stopped moving as soon as they realized their mother was dead.
They looked at each other in shock over what happened, and then one of them attacked the others.
The spiders were trying to choose the next mother, and only one of these spiders would survive to gain that title.
Soma relaxed as he was forgotten by the fighting spiders in the room.
It was an expected outcome since choosing a mother was more important than gathering food for the moment.
Finally, one of the spiders emerged victorious by killing the other spiders.
It let out a trump shrill to show that it had made it, but Soma decided to take advantage of this time and drive a knife through the monster's throat.
The last spider died without leaving any progeny behind, and the final door opened.
This was the last chamber; it also had the control panel and the switch to control it.
Soma entered the last room and walked toward the control panel.
The door behind him closed, and the chamber lit up with pretty light all over before it dimmed down, and the screen showed the face of a masked man.
The mask was made of paper and moved every time the body moved.
The only thing that could be seen behind the mask was extreme darkness.
It was akin to looking into the void.
{Oh! Did you make it till here alone? That's an achievement. I'm sure you will get a massive reward for completing this tutorial.}
Soma looked at the masked stranger with an empty expression on his face.
His solemness seemed to strike the masked man as odd, but he did not show how much it irked him and continued to smile back at Soma.
{Congratulations on making it to the last chamber of the tutorial. Once you press the button, this ship will stop its descent toward the sun.}
The faceless mass said in a pleasant and airy voice.
Anyone else would have fallen into a trace and decided to finish this tutorial.
But Soma walked behind the terminal that had the switch.
{Are you not going to press the switch? Are you blind? Or maybe retard. Do you need me to tell you what a switch is?}
The masked entity was a loudmouth, but it felt that something was wrong as soon as it noticed Soma walking behind the terminal and toward where the screen was.
The entity did not show that it was panicking, but Soma could feel the confusion that the entity felt even through the screen in front of him.
{What are you doing? You need to press the button and stop the ship. Why are you heading toward the back section here?}
The entity asked with a confused voice.
It tried not to show how frustrating it was to see Soma getting so close to the screen.
That was because the screen was a way to enter where this masked figure resided.
No one knew of this secret but the administrator of this floor.
Since that was the case, the masked figure looked confused to see Soma approaching him this readily.
"So, this was where you were hiding like a coward. Did you have an excellent time here? Unfortunately, it is time for you to close your eyes and rest."
Soma stood before the screen and noticed the entity for any changes.
He was sure the entity would have broken out into cold sweat if it could.
However, since the current entity was just a face made of paper without an expression, it could have been more expressive.
{I am afraid I have no idea what you mean. I oversaw this part of the examination before you were born. That is fine if you want to skip this tutorial. You can doom this group for all I care.}
The entity tried to show that it was not getting affected, but Soma noticed the tenseness in its posture and the way it attempted to shrug off what was happening.
"Oh, don't worry about this part of the tutorial. I will complete it just fine."
Soma leaped toward the screen before it could go blank, and he let go of the string he had been holding.
The small but heavy knife took a few seconds to reach the switch to press it, but Soma was already gone from the room.
The section's door also opened, along with the selection of the clearance.
[Congrulations! You managed to stop this ship from crashing into the sun on time. Every participant would be given a reward corresponding to their rank. You may advance your points and rank for the next seven days.]
The system informed everyone, and that became everyone's priority.
Everyone but Soma stepped into that screen-filled room and instantly noticed the entity he had been searching for.
"H-How did you get in here? The administrator promised I would not be disturbed while serving my sentence here. You need to get out of here."
The entity sounded concerned about Soma and why he was being sought out.
It did not like the disturbing smile on Soma's face since it reminded it of all the enemies it had made.
"You are Shuppet, right? I don't need an introduction. I just want you to die here and now."
Soma yelled before he attacked.
Shuppet looked surprised at the sudden attack, but it was not an entity that would be easy to take out.
It waved its hand and disappeared from where it had been standing.
It appeared right behind Soma and stuck hard with its artificial body.
Soma realized what was happening and turned to block that metallic body with his sword.
Metal clashed with metal, and sparks flew all around the room.
The black cloak and the white paper mask levitated as they watched Soma with concerned but determined eyes.
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