Kumodesu

But seriously, why is there a house in the middle of nowhere like this?

The house was made of wood—probably from the trees in this forest. It had a living room and kitchen on the ground floor and two bedrooms upstairs.

Overall, it looked like it was made to accommodate a family of four. I even found traces of children's items in one of the rooms.

Almost none of the furniture was intact.

I wanted to find something that could tell me about the owner of this house, but everything was in ruins. Some marks indicated that, aside from natural decay, this place had also been attacked by some creature.

I searched one more round, but the result was the same. I was about to give up and leave when my eyes suddenly locked onto the fireplace.

I didn't know why it caught my attention, but I had a strange feeling and stared at it, trying to spot anything odd.

And soon after, I did notice something strange.

Everything else in the house was messy and dirty—proof that it had been abandoned for a long time. But the fireplace area remained relatively clean.

The fireplace was gray like ash, which made me think it was just dust. But when I touched it, it was spotless.

Could someone still be coming here regularly?

Another strange point: the firewood inside was still fresh, unlike the rest of the house which was rotting.

I used my spider silk to pull all the firewood out and examined the inside. It wasn't that big, but I could still crawl in.

I looked left and right, then my eyes stopped at the floor.

With my eight sharp eyes, I quickly spotted a tiny gap. Through it, I could feel airflow coming from below.

Amazing, my sensory enhancement skill came in handy at the perfect time.

Hahaaa, I've found a secret spot!

I pried open the wooden panel with force and revealed a tunnel.

A secret passage?

No way!

How did it bypass my [Heaven Eye]?

I started feeling anxious again.

Lately, I've been getting outwitted a lot, so I'm beginning to lose faith in my own skills.

Still, I brushed that aside and focused on my excitement. I might discover something that answers my questions. Or better yet—something valuable.

Without hesitation, I jumped in. It wasn't too deep, so I landed after a few seconds. There was no light here, but with [Heaven Eye], I could still see everything clearly.

There was only one path forward, so I had no choice but to follow it.

This place… feels gloomy, doesn't it?

I muttered to myself and gave a little shiver.

Along the way, I noticed strange paintings hanging on the walls. One showed a creature I couldn't clearly make out, but I saw it had eight legs and was blue.

The painting was quite old and faded in many parts, so that was all I could make out.

Eight legs… Could it be a spider too?

I continued and saw another painting—this time it showed something floating in the air with a human kneeling before it. The floating being was white, with no definite form. Or more like… I just couldn't describe it.

I guessed it was some kind of spirit worshiped by the people who lived here.

Another painting came right after.

This one was relatively intact, and I could clearly see the scene depicted: a ritual.

Everyone was kneeling, and before them were strange beings like the one I'd just seen.

Between the people and the beings stood a cross-like structure, and something else…

I squinted to look closely—and was shocked to see a human hanging on it, with red coloring around suggesting blood.

A punishment ritual?

Basically, I could confirm the inhabitants here were human. As for what they worshipped… judging from the name of this floor, they were probably spirits or fairies.

So what were they doing?

I could only speculate, but a single painting couldn't tell me much, so I decided to keep going. Eventually, I reached the end of the path, where a door awaited.

I checked what was behind it—just another room—so I entered.

From a glance, this room looked like a research lab. I saw many strange items, and a lot of documents on the tables, though most were damaged.

I picked a few that were still readable, but soon realized I couldn't understand human writing.

I also found a notebook—looked like someone's journal—hidden beneath the floor.

It must hold some secret to be hidden like this.

I opened it.

Eeewwww.

Still unreadable.

Come to think of it, I've never studied the language of this world since coming here. No wonder I can't read anything.

I thought about learning it myself but… I'm too lazy.

Hehe.

Don't blame me.

Why make a spider learn human language?

I put the documents aside and kept searching. There were a lot of things here, all messy, but what caught my eye most was a group of colorful stones at the back.

What are these?

I tried using Appraisal.

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Nai wa~

I accidentally found something amazing!

I looked around more and found a total of six Experience Stones and one other strange stone. So I used Appraisal on it too.

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Nai wa.

Another surprise.

But how do I use it?

I tried experimenting but couldn't activate it.

What's wrong?

The stone was dark purple but dull, unlike the glowing Experience Stones.

Did I miss something?

I tried Appraisal again.

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Naniii???

I wasn't surprised that it was sealed—but why didn't that info show up in the first scan?

Is this a joke?

But since it's sealed, there must be something inside.

That thought helped me recover my excitement. I set the stone aside and turned back to the Experience Stones.

If something's useful, better use it now.

These aren't sealed, right? But… how do I activate them?

If this were a game, I'd just click "Use," but this isn't.

Maybe I'll just try.

I touched the stone and thought, "Use."

Immediately, something flowed into me, and the stone dimmed until it lost its light completely—then the sensation stopped.

It worked.

But the amount of experience wasn't that much. Not even enough to level up.

Oh well, better than nothing.

I used several more, and on the fourth one—I leveled up.

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I leveled up, so I checked my stats.

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HP: 135/135

MP: 85/85 (+200)

SP: 165/165

Oh, it increased.

I used the remaining stones, but they weren't enough for another level.

Still, getting this unexpected gift was already satisfying.

I checked a bit more but didn't find anything else useful, so I left.

There was a lot here, but nothing really helpful to me, so I didn't take anything other than the stones.

I wrapped them in silk and carried them at my side.

Once I left the house, I kept going forward—there was a small trail behind it, so I followed.

Before long, I came across something new…

Is that… a village…?