Right now, I’m mad. Really fucking mad.

Not only did I get reborn as an ordinary little fish, but I was also thrown into a huge sea snake’s cave, which conveniently also happens to be guarded by a freaking water dragon!!

I’m somehow supposed to survive and escape from a double monster layer, then get stronger by surviving in even more dangerous monster layers until I finally apotheosize.

Becoming a god doesn’t even guarantee my safety. Alkreya probably offended tens of gods with her trickery, and I might have to clean up her mess.

Just give me a break...!

...all right, my tantrum is over for now.

Now that I think about it, the more difficult it is, the more excited I am. I did choose to reincarnate in this world to avoid the mundane life of a normal one.

Since the difficulty was adjusted to hell mode right now, then I’ll just play with my regular hell mode playstyle!

As long as I survive, then everything’s fair game from now on.

First off, I go into stealth and swim down to where the remaining eggs are.

Since crab boss was swallowed without any resistance, the remaining 10% of the eggs are mine to keep, thank you.

 

{Condition satisfied. Acquired title [Kin Eater].}

{Acquired skills [Taboo LV 1] [Heretic Magic LV 1] as a result of Title [Kin Eater].}

{Skill [Heretic Magic LV 1] has been integrated into skill [Soul Seeker].}

 

Soul Seeker...?  So that’s my reincarnation skill, it turned out to be a soul branch skill like I guessed.

This means all heretic magic spells should be available as soon as I get the prerequisite magic skills.

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Prediction LV 2] has become [Prediction LV 3].}

 

Soul Seeker should be only related to heretic-type skills, but since my soul is unique in that it is the core of my mental processes then mental skills fall under it by extension.

Heretic Magic got integrated right away, but Concentration and Prediction didn’t which is weird, maybe there are other conditions for it.

Next up, I’m going to make sure those juvenile crabs don’t get as much as a wink of sleep. You see, I’m a vengeful girl, and their parent did scare me a while ago.

Also, my stealth will be left on 24/7 from now on, I’ll even let Manager-san keep it on while I’m sleeping.

 

{Condition satisfied. Acquired title [Assassin].}

{Acquired skills [Stealth LV 1] [Shadow Magic LV 1] as a result of Title [Assassin].}

{Skill [Stealth LV 1] has been integrated into skill [Stealth LV 4].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Stealth LV 4] has become [Stealth LV 5].}

 

I can only get these two titles right now.

Merciless title is on my list as well, but its requirement is Merciless Behavior which can’t be done now... if the crabs were intelligent, I could probably get it by eating them all.

Still, I should minimize the amount of fear I induce in others when getting it to avoid acquiring Fear Bringer by mistake, that’d make me a shining lightbulb for all predators in the ocean.

What I have to do next would be considered insane by any normal person. No... it’s frankly downright suicidal.

But since D wants to force me then don’t blame me for being ruthless even if it’s with myself.

Rapidly rising from the depths, I only stop when the cave’s opening can be reached in less than 10 seconds from my position.

The closer I am to open waters, the more surface area of the cave rocks is exposed to the open water current, making them much softer and easier to dig through.

So, I start by finding a relatively brittle area and dig myself a small shelter for sleep and food storage. I make it to where its size can accommodate one of my species even if they are double my current size.

Evolution may result in me getting significantly bigger, double my size is more than enough for a future estimate.

Kumoko’s Arachne form was significantly larger than any previous form, but I’m still at the bottom of my evolutionary tree, thus getting such a size increase is unlikely.

Now that my temporary home is complete, I slowly move closer to the opening. It should pop up any moment now...

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Stealth LV 5] has become [Stealth LV 6].}

 

All right, that’s my sign to stop.

If you don’t understand what’s happening, it’s pretty simple.

Remember when Kumoko gained a couple of levels in Stealth by hiding from Earth Dragon Araba?

Also, remember how I said that skills level up according to duration and circumstances?

I’m making use of those two pieces of information and the resident water dragon sleeping above me.

If I want to leave this cave, then I must have max-level Stealth skill, I can also wait for my evolution and gain a couple of levels in Overeating by the way.

So, for the next few days, my routine will be as follows.

Overhunt crabs, throw them into my little den, use Overeating to stock up on SP, and lastly, stay near the water dragon to max out stealth.

 

A few days have passed by since I started my enjoyable life-threatening routine.

I leveled up once while hunting the crabs and my Overeating went up to level 4 after I ate them. I can now stock up to 400 extra SP, which might be over 10 times the amount of SP I actually have.

Walking on a tightrope around a water dragon paid off and I gotta tell ya, actively pursuing controlled danger is the best way to increase skill proficiencies.

Stealth was finally maxed out a few hours ago and Fear Resistance even went up by 2 levels after a few close calls with the dragon.

My preparations for escaping are almost done, but the water pressure and the monsters down there are worrying me so I’m going to evolve and get Appraisal before gunning it.

Leaving my burrow while biting on a dead crab, I quickly find a sea snake hidden nearby.

I did say I wouldn’t fight them until after my evolution, but the big snake could come back at any moment, I gotta hurry up.

There! I let go of the crab and stealthily swam closer to the snake’s position.

Right as its head pops out, I bite down without giving it any chance to free the rest of its body.

This is the new strategy I came up with, by combining Space Awareness, Stealth, and the damage bonus from the Assassin title, I capitalize on the snakes’ most vulnerable state which is during their initial lunge, and then bite down on their vulnerable heads.

Why are their heads vulnerable, you say? After analyzing the corpse of the snake that nearly killed me, I found out that it was due to their hunting tactics.

Juvenile snakes dig their burrows mostly using their heads, and then those same heads endure water resistance when lunging at their prey, making them a significant weak point in their defense.

It’s remedied after evolution though; I can’t imagine that big ol’ snake having a weak skull just because it digs a lot...

The strategy turned out to be way more effective than expected, it seems Assassin’s extra damage is calculated according to Stealth skill’s level...?

More experimentation is required to confirm, but I’ll try to stick to a small-sized body during my initial evolutions.

The snake lost its life in less than 5 seconds while I took no damage.

Sometimes... I’m afraid of my genius, muahahaha!

Just wait, big snake and water dragon! I will figure out all of your weaknesses and enjoy your despair as I enjoy sashimi made from your bodies!

Three snakes later, I finally get my level up and take the first step towards my ultimate goal.

 

{Experience has reached the required level. Individual spina argentea has increased from LV 9 to LV 10}

{All basic attributes have increased.}

{Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Swimming LV 4] has become [Swimming LV 5].}

{Skill points acquired.}

{Condition satisfied. Individual spina argentea can now evolve.}

 

Phew, I’m so nervous right now. Without Appraisal I can’t see the details of the available options.

I could potentially fuck myself over by choosing an option with low future potential or I could hit the jackpot.

All right, here goes nothing...!

 

 {There are multiple options for evolution. Please choose from the following.

•  Velox Kers
•  Serratus Saven

                                                                                                                                          }

 

Oh, so I get the un-distinguishable options right before Appraisal’s debut, huh...

Might as well name them options A and B in the future, thanks for nothing!

The first option has the Latin word for fast in it, meaning it’s probably an evolution that would increase my speed stat, its other properties are unknown.

I don’t need speed with my over-dependence on Stealth, the area I’m escaping to is probably loaded with higher-level monsters that can easily catch up with me anyways, so this option gets a no from me.

No information can be gleaned from the second option’s name, but my intuition is telling me to go with it, and Serratus kinda sounds like the word serrated...? It feels like an offense-focused race.

All right, Serratus Saven, I choose you!

 

<Individual small spina argentea will evolve into serratus saven.>

It’s sleepy time now...? Wait, why am I still awake??

Does it have something to do with Soul Seeker? Maybe the Heretic Nullification part kept me awake.

 

{Evolution completed.}

{Individual race has become serratus saven.}

{All basic attributes have increased.}

{Skill proficiency evolutionary bonus acquired.}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Poison Resistance LV 1].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Vision Enhancement LV 1].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Night Vision LV 1] has become [Night Vison LV 2].}

{Skill points acquired.}

 

Before anything else, please unlock Appraisal, Manager-san.

 

{Number of skill points currently in possession: 110. Number of skill points required to acquire

skill [Appraisal LV 1]: 100. Acquire skill?}

 

Holding back my tears, the bubbles come out of my mouth carrying a joyful answer. Freaking yes!

 

{[Appraisal LV 1] acquired. Remaining skill points: 10.}

{Skill [Appraisal LV 1] has been integrated into skill [Sage].}

 

Wai-what?! Give me back my Appraisal!! I don’t even care if you’re better, I worked so hard just to get Appraisal...!

Ahh, can fisheyes tear up? Why is this world so cruel...? Mr dragon, would you like to have a quick snack in the form of a newly evolved fish?

Sighing, I use my newly integrated Appraisal skill on myself.

I finally got the ability on which my entire skillset is centered, and I’m certainly going to milk it for its worth.