After returning to the "Spider's Nest," Shiraori wasted no time.
Once she reinforced the area with a few protective webs, she eagerly began her evolution—unsurprisingly choosing the path of the Venomous Mini Spider.
While Shiraori slept in her cocoon, deep in evolution, Nagami remained on guard inside the little hut.
With a blank expression, he summoned his status screen and fell into deep thought—specifically, on how best to spend his newly earned skill points.
So far, Nagami had used his points right after battles, opting for immediate survival over saving them for later.
After all, even a slight increase in strength could mean the difference between life and death.
Here were the skills he had invested in directly:
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Mana Control LV3
Physical Reinforcement LV4
Precision LV2
Status Resistance LV5
Enhanced Senses LV1
Accelerated Thinking LV1
Swordsmanship LV3
Enhanced Vision LV2
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Eight total, all practical, carefully chosen skills—straightforward and effective in combat.
Besides these, Nagami had learned a bunch of minor elemental spells like Venom, Water Jet, Wind Blade, and Fireball.
There were too many to list, and he hadn't spent any skill points on them.
Thanks to the power of his Alpha Stigma, he could learn magic simply by seeing it used once.
These minor spells were picked up naturally while fighting monsters during his grind sessions.
That said, there were some exceptions.
Unique abilities like Shiraori's Fleetfoot or race-specific traits like Silk Manipulation—skills tied to the monster's biology—couldn't be copied.
From a system-transcendent perspective, even titles could be considered "skills" in a loose sense.
But copying them was meaningless, as they couldn't be used without the system's framework.
Titles were essentially nonfunctional if detached from the rules that gave them power.
Of all the skills Nagami acquired, the one that consumed the most points was Status Resistance LV5—a must-have for surviving in the moist, dark, disease-ridden Roelle Labyrinth.
That and Enhanced Vision were essential for long-term expeditions.
Despite being an otaku, Nagami had recently started working out.
But even with better physical conditioning, prolonged exposure to the dungeon's environment would still lead to various debilitating conditions.
Status Resistance wasn't just nice to have—it was crucial.
Thankfully, it would still be useful in the long run, making the heavy investment worthwhile.
For most adventurers, the greatest threat of dungeon crawling wasn't physical but psychological.
The oppressive darkness and isolation ate away at your sanity over time.
But Nagami? He was immune to that.
You couldn't mentally break someone whose favorite pastime was locking himself away in his room for days.
Lazily lying on a bed woven from Shiraori's silk, C.C flipped open a tablet from the backpack Shiraori had expertly cocooned for protection.
She found an anime she hadn't watched yet, got comfortable, and hit play.
In the crumbling world of Honkai, the most well-known anime IP was probably Homu's Great Adventure.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
This was a real world, after all—filled with masterpieces and forgotten gems alike.
And with three years' worth of isolation, Nagami had barely scratched the surface.
He wasn't one to binge everything at once; good stories were meant to be savored.
Now lying across C.C.'s soft stomach, Nagami closed his eyes with a faintly complicated expression, breathing in the light, soothing scent that clung to her.
He had used Geass too many times today.
Unlike Lelouch's version, his power didn't draw from some external source like the World of C or the collective unconscious.
It was fueled by his own spiritual energy.
Even with a soul far stronger than average, Nagami had pushed his limits today.
He'd faced monster after monster, most of them elite—maybe lacking in quality, but absolutely crushing in quantity.
Nestled in the silk bed, C.C began massaging his shoulders, her delicate hands working with perfect pressure. Well, of course it was perfect—she was the one doing it.
She glanced at the time in the corner of the screen.
10:00 PM.
Usually, this was C.C.'s peak energy time.
But after the day's string of high-intensity battles, even she was running low.
With a yawn, she stretched lazily.
Under the tablet's soft glow, her exposed skin shimmered with a milky-white radiance.
The anime on the tablet was approaching its emotional climax, but C.C didn't care.
Her pale fingers moved to pause the video and call it a night.
Just then, she paused.
Something... was off.
Her eyes narrowed.
That brief, almost imperceptible sensation of being watched—
'No way.'
Her brow twitched. She had a pretty good guess about who the voyeur was.
She blinked slowly, confused, a little annoyed, and entirely bewildered.
'D-sis, seriously?! You have this much free time?!'
C.C seemed to have forgotten that when D wasn't playing the role of Wakaba Hiiro in her fake high school sim, she was just as much a hardcore otaku as Nagami.
In an unknown, dimensionless space, darkness blanketed the sky like forged iron.
A lone screen floated in the void, its flickering colors casting an eerie light.
A beautiful girl lounged lazily on a couch, her brows slightly furrowed as she stuck out her tongue.
She stared at the frozen image of C.C on the screen.
"Come on~ You stopped it right before the best part?"
D wasn't from this world, but even she couldn't resist the allure of foreign anime.
And this one had looked so promising!
Of course, D could only cross into neighboring or nearby worlds but finding the collapsing Honkai world was beyond even her capabilities.
She didn't have a cosmic drill, after all.
Still, she smiled with satisfaction as she watched C.C gently set the tablet aside, adjust it to the perfect angle, and finally drift off to sleep.
D cut off the trace of her divine aura—the peeping sense she had intentionally leaked just for fun.
Just as Nagami had described her: a goddess who lived solely to amuse herself.
Before Nagami arrived in this world, her greatest joy was watching Shiraori's comedic misadventures and daily struggles.
That little spider's fight for survival had become her favorite show.
And now? She liked Shiraori even more.
A gift from a dear friend—one that crossed worlds—had to mean something special to Shiraori.
Snatching it away would be far too cruel, even by her standards.
Out of affection for her beloved little spider, D refrained from doing anything too tasteless.
Had it been anyone else, though? That tablet would be hers by now.
Still, D couldn't help but wonder: just where did that little spider find such a strange friend?
In theory, there should be no being in that world beyond her understanding.
But reality was already proving otherwise.
She had been watching Nagami ever since the "Fated One" plugged him into the system.
Even when he showed signs of siphoning off system energy, she didn't intervene.
After all, unpredictability makes things fun.
A world that never changes is the dullest place of all.