Oops, I'm a Monster with a Too Long Prefix!-Chapter 27: The Strange Venommist Forest

Isaac didn't care what was waiting deeper in—he was going to take down that Elite first.

At level 10, a lone level 9 Elite didn't scare him. But Red Team? Their levels weren't cutting it anymore. If this was going to work, he had to tank the Elite himself.

"Red One, you hold two. Three and Four, one each. I'll take the Elite. Clear the small fry first!" Isaac barked. "Move!"

The Elite spider lunged toward him, its front legs snapping like whips.

Damage numbers popped up over his head:

-33 (white), -20 (green).

A status icon appeared beside his character.

[Status Effect: Poisoned – Lose 20 HP/sec for 5 seconds.]

"Great, poison," Isaac growled.

Adding that to the base damage, this spider was chipping away 20 health a second.

Red Team had it easier—each of them only lost 10 per second. Even Red One, getting attacked by two spiders, didn't suffer compounded poison effects.

At least the small spiders didn't hit hard. Red One was only taking single-digit hits.

"Alright, damage is low—let's focus one down."

Four Hyenamen swung their crude clubs in rhythm, pounding on a single level 8 spider.

-19, -34 (crit), -26, -54.

Red Two scored a nice crit.

With just 480 HP, the spider couldn't take much punishment. The group shredded through a quarter of its health in seconds.

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

The spider collapsed, leaking neon-green ichor as its legs curled under.

[Defeated Forest Venomspider (Level 8) – XP Orbs +75 – Tier 0 TalentShard x1 – Star 0 Quality Point x1]

"Keep going!"

Another rhythm of clubs.

And another spider down.

[XP +75]

[XP +75]

[XP +75 – Spiritual Energy +1]

With the last of the small fry dead, Isaac took a breath.

"Alright, you had your fun," he muttered, glaring at the Elite. "Now it's my turn."

The Hyenamen descended, clubs raised high.

Whack! Whack!

-13, -11, -19...

And then—

-90 (critical)!

The Elite spider had more HP than the others, but not more than Daffino. It sat at 800 health.

Sure, it was an Elite, but not a named boss. And spiders like these naturally had less HP than tankier mobs like Hyenamen. Poison was their strength.

Still, even Isaac had to chug a potion halfway through the fight—20 poison damage per second added up fast.

But the spider just didn't have enough health to survive the onslaught. Another crit from Isaac put it down.

[Defeated Forest Venomspider (Elite) – XP Orbs +200 – Tier 3 TalentShard x1 – Star 3 Quality Point x1 – Spiritual Energy +1]

Two Spirit Energy from five mobs—not bad. But right now, Energy gains weren't the priority. The Tier 3 materials were.

And then—ding.

Isaac perked up. Loot alert.

[You've obtained: "Venommist Spider Silk Bracers" (White)]

[You've obtained: "Sturdy Spider Silk" x2]

"Spider silk? Looks like a crafting material—probably useless for me. And one piece of gear? Come on, tightwad..." Isaac scowled at the Elite's corpse.

Still, it was a new piece. And a new slot. That was something.

[Venommist Spider Silk Bracers (White – Common)] ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Crafted from refined Venommist Forest spider silk—lightweight but strong."

Level: 6

Defense: +6

Poison Resistance: +3

Venommist Set (2 pieces): +3 Poison Resistance

Venommist Set (3 pieces): +5 Poison Resistance, -50% Poison Duration

Isaac paused.

"A set? White gear can be a set now?"

In most games, sets were always rare or legendary. Here, even common gear came with bonuses. Granted, poison resist wasn't that exciting... unless you were, say, stuck in a forest full of poisonous spiders.

"This is definitely made for Venommist Forest."

He had three gear slots open—weapon, vest, shoulderpads. Next slot would cost 200 reputation.

Screw it. He'd need it eventually anyway.

[Unlocked fourth equipment slot – Reputation -200]

[Defense: Physical +39 (18+21)]

[Poison Resistance: +3]

"Nice. Almost 40 physical defense now," Isaac nodded.

"Red Team, rest. Heal up."

Isaac sat on a tree stump, keeping his eyes on the treeline. Those spiders weren't impossible—he and Red Team could handle them.

Anyone who could take down Daffino could handle this.

"Wonder what's further in..." he muttered.

Red Team's health bars climbed quickly. In just seconds, they were nearly full. Isaac didn't know how fast players regenerated, but this felt fast enough for monsters.

Then the shadows shifted.

The light dimmed just a touch.

Isaac instinctively looked up—

—and shot to his feet.

More spiders. Five of them again.

Four level 8s. One level 9 Elite.

"You've got to be kidding me."

They were already in combat. Regeneration slowed to a crawl. If they hadn't healed up between waves, they'd have been wiped.

"Same plan! Hit it hard!" Isaac roared.

Another three-minute brawl. Another Elite down.

This one was even stingier than the last—no gear drop at all. Just four spider silks and a pair of Star 3 materials.

Isaac stared down at the twitching corpse. He wasn't upset about the loot. It was the bigger picture that bothered him.

Two Elite waves. Back to back.

And they were still at the entrance to Venommist Forest.

If he hadn't paused to rest, he and Red Team could've been wiped out. What about players?

What about the ones who didn't have Red Teams? Who didn't have 40 defense or poison resistance? Who didn't know to expect this?

In that moment, Isaac finally understood.

The inscription on the boundary stone—"Only one in ten survive."

It wasn't a scare tactic.

It was a warning.

And it might not have been exaggerated.

But it wasn't over.

Because ten seconds later...

The third wave came.