## Chapter 88 – Memories of the Widow Spider (3)
“Ms. Leah…?”
“What is it?”
Leah responded curtly to Pina’s question, making it clear she wasn’t interested in talking.
Enick had asked them for some help, but they would part ways once they reached a safe place anyway.
There were no promises beyond taking them to safety, so she could even eat them afterward without owing them anything.
With that in mind, Leah, who didn’t feel any particular attachment or meaning towards them, glanced down at Pina, who seemed eager to continue the conversation with cautious prodding.
“Um… I just thought I should…
express my gratitude…”
“I was merely asked to do this.
And aren’t you just tagging along as you please?
There’s no need for thanks.”
“Hmm… Is that so…? Aha… ha…
Still… I wanted to thank you…”
Pina gave an awkward smile, then lowered her head slightly and began to speak.
“Humans… were so cruel…
Meeting him gave us hope of escaping to the outside…
But without Ms. Leah, we’d be lost even if we got out…”
“What does it matter if those human bastards are cruel?
Don’t you think I, standing right beside you, am an even worse existence?”
At Leah’s barbed question, Pina offered a sad smile, her lips slowly parting.
“I… wanted to die…
My partner died… when I was first captured…”
“……”
“So… I just waited for the day I could die…
But… I didn’t want it to be like running away through death…
I know it’s foolish to worry about that after ending up like this, but…”
“……”
A slightly worse story than she had imagined.
Leah’s face hardened as memories of the past flashed through her mind, and she simply listened in silence.
“So… the day that child made a mistake and incurred the wrath of the human mercenaries…
I shielded her, intending to be cut by their swords instead…
That’s what I thought…”
Pina’s voice trembled as she gave a self-deprecating smile, tears gradually welling up in her eyes.
“I must have been wrong… I couldn’t even die…
And they found out I was in heat…
While receiving the seed of those I wanted to tear apart and kill…
Unable to expel it, I had to carry it inside…”
“Enough with the pointless stories.
If you don’t sleep now, it will affect tomorrow.
Take care of the children yourself.”
Leah casually spun a web to lightly secure her upper body, cutting Pina off firmly.
It was probably night outside, and it was time to sleep for tomorrow’s schedule.
Saying that, Leah gently leaned her upper body against the web as if collapsing onto a desk and closed her eyes.
Beside her, Pina quietly sobbed, then gradually moved away to take care of the children.
‘This is different.’
A pure smile flashed through her mind.
Her friend, who couldn’t find meaning in life and chose death because of the lingering pain.
The memory of sending her away without even having a chance to comfort her still filled her.
Was that why she was living like this?
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In Chaoxing, the Arachnella were generally called Widow Spiders.
As the atmosphere emanating from the name suggested, it was more of a derogatory term than a nickname.
Beings who despaired over their fate as products of bio-experiments but couldn’t die and lived on.
Beings who had hope despite their miserable lives in an environment with barely any food.
Their end always involved a lone female left as a widow, so the derogatory term Widow Spider was truly stained with tears.
The Arachnella were fundamentally human, and surprisingly, their existence didn’t have a long history.
‘Who are you? What’s your name?
I mean, what was it when you were human?’
‘Leah.’
‘That sounds like a name from another country…!!
I’m Yoonmei. Yoonmei!!’
Like many Chaoxing monsters, they were the result of bio-experiments combining humans and monsters.
Like genetically modified pigs used for human organ transplants, the Tangxianlong spider, which lived near the Luhe River, surprisingly had high compatibility when combined with the human body.
The experiment involved genetically modifying the spider to enlarge it, implanting a human upper body, and altering the genetic map to completely integrate them. Initially, the experiment focused on giving new bodies to people who had lost limbs or had congenital disabilities, offering them a chance to live.
‘Ah~ When can we get out?
I think I’m doing pretty well now…’
‘The researchers haven’t finished their diagnosis yet…
You’ll have to wait a little longer…’
‘Hehe… When we get out… won’t you come visit my house?
I… always have to lie down… so I haven’t had any friends since I was little?
I’d be so happy if Leah came to visit…!!’
‘There’s no reason not to. But you should get some sleep now.
Aren’t you tired of chattering all night?’
But technology and ethics always grow in opposite directions, inversely proportional to each other.
As technology advanced, the disregard for life and ethical laxity worsened, and the concentration of wealth and power among the royal family and clans gradually began to be used for the benefit of the privileged rather than the original purpose.
‘Damn it… Why are the test subjects’ hormone responses like this?’
‘I don’t know… Maybe there’s a side effect somewhere from the genetic modification and integration with the spider…’
‘How can they be used as soldiers for the great empire in this state!!
Find a solution immediately!!’
‘This is supposed to be about giving a new life to those with disabilities…
Umm… I understand… I’ll try…’
Thus, the experiments, which were always conducted as prototypes for human modification soldiers, ultimately yielded miserable results, failing to even replace or assist transcendents.
Rather, as if inheriting the nature of the Tangxianlong spider, the test subjects became violent, even ignoring orders.
‘It’s a failure… a complete failure…’
That meant that all the test subjects used in numerous experiments had become objects to be eliminated, beyond being worthless.
‘Agh!! Who released the test subjects!!’
‘Where’s the lab director!!
No one but him has access!!’
‘Could it be the director…!! Damn it!! Agh!! Argh!!’
‘Forgive me… for my sins that I didn’t know would happen…
In the next life, I will be reborn as a small bug and live a life of atonement for you…’
Because of this, in the process of ‘cleaning up’ the test subjects as the research was being shut down, the Arachnella, who were released due to a ‘coincidental accident,’ turned the laboratory where they were born into a sea of fire and escaped, and they began to go wild.
At first, the Arachnella, who lived around the laboratory that had become ruins but was still touched by civilization, didn’t have to worry much about their livelihood.
Individuals who had lived as humans and possessed that knowledge came up with solutions for food, technology, and other necessities based on their knowledge.
The time of the girls, who were still small and young and trapped in the laboratory, may have started from this point.
‘It’s not much… but let’s eat well?
The uncle found a farm!! The aunt said she’d teach us how to make clothes!!
We’re still young… but if we help each other and work hard…!!’
‘Of course I know that, Yoonmei.
So calm down and wipe the drool from your mouth.
I won’t steal it.’
But eventually, the higher-ups, who heard about the surviving Arachnella, didn’t leave them alone.
Thus, a large-scale extermination of the Arachnella began, and although a significant number were eliminated, some with relatively strong physical abilities were able to escape.
But the external environment was too harsh for those who escaped to survive, so without even having time to be happy that they had survived, the Arachnella had to continue their struggle for life.
Especially for the fragile girls.
‘Sob… sniff… sob… Uncle…’
‘Uncle has gone to a better place…
So before we follow him, we have to earn the value of his life.’
‘Sniff… Okay…’
They did everything they could to survive.
When they were hungry, they ate grass, and on days when they really couldn’t bear it, they swallowed dirt.
But for them, who had inherited the characteristics of the carnivorous Tangxianlong spider, proper food was the protein of meat.
Even after collapsing from dizziness several times before learning how to catch earthworms and small bugs in the ground, the girls, who had only each other left, lived on.
Then, they happened to encounter a small monster that charged at them, and the two girls, with the determination to risk their lives, fought a fierce battle with the monster and realized that a delicious scent was emanating from it.
That was the moment they realized that meat was the most suitable food for them.
‘Mousey is pitiful…’
‘So are you thinking of starving?’
‘Ah…!! No…!! Not that…’
‘It’s delicious, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah… Hehe…!!’
Perhaps because they inherited the characteristics of the Tangxianlong spider, which was a wild hunter from the beginning, the girls’ skills improved rapidly as they continued to hunt.
Waiting patiently for prey, persistently tracking, and sometimes fighting to the death.
But neither of them said anything more about it.
Because the girls, who now knew that death was always alongside living.
So the girls lived on, and as time passed, their bodies grew stronger and more powerful, giving wings to the agile and dangerous wild hunters.
With each other, they were not afraid of anything.
Just this time, sitting together and sharing the prey.
They just wished that this moment together would last forever.
Until that day came.
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