A/N: Yo! Here is the first of my two back-to-back random chapters. Both of them are from the same series, which is a series I have been passionate about for a few months now: So I'm a Spider, So What? I love Kumoko/Shiraori, and after reading the LNs up to book 5, I really do find the series didn't do justice to the hero's party either, Shun is a surprisingly compelling, if still bland, MC, while Katia and Fei were amazing characters that I wished we could see more of. Also, Hugo is the character I definitely love to hate.

Here are the premises of the two random stories-both of which I may continue in the break after I finish arcs of different series, as I plan on having the stories take breaks between the arcs after I finish writing them, so probably 4 months between updates for those stories.

Fate of the Red-Haired Devil is likely going to be the first chapter to hit this break, given that it is almost finished with the prologue arc, or buildup to the grail war now. It likely only has 2-3 chapters to hit this mark, and afterwards I will bump it out of the rotation for a couple times to be able to incorporate and write new stories as well as focus on other stories.

Here are the two premises:

What if an OC who read the first 5 volumes of the series and watched the anime was reincarnated as a monster in the Great Elroe Labyrinth around the same time as Kumoko?

What if an OC was reincarnated as a summoner with all the knowledge of the 1st 5 volumes of the LNs?

Pairings:

1st one: DxOCxKumokoxAriel

2nd one: KumokoxAriel, DxOCxSophia

Let's start writing the first one, please let me know if you want to see more out of these stories!

So I'm a Fox So What?

Mark rushed down another side tunnel in the Great Elroe Labyrinth on all fours. He had long since given up considering himself as human, coming to terms with his new life as a fox kit, or as his species name actually was:

[Elroe Fox Kit]

That's right, he had been watching his latest anime obsession, Kumo desu ga nani ka or So I'm a Spider So What? when he was transformed and transported into the Great Elroe Labyrinth, not that he knew that at the time.

It took him a week to figure out exactly what happened and how he came to be a fox kit in the middle of a group of foxes. The only reason he actually figured it out was because he took part in a mock hunt and gained a level from it, and hearing the divine voice that he recognized allowed him to figure it out pretty quickly-along with the Elroe in his species name.

One of the very first things he did was get [Appraisal Lvl 1] and work towards getting that levelled up through the constant headaches. He didn't know if he would get the [Wisdom] skill that Kumoko got in the labyrinth, but [Appraisal] at lvl 8 was one of the most useful skills in the world, and it was a shame that no one actually dedicated themselves to working on the skill to figure it out.

Once he got that skill, he learned that he had 9,900 skill points left. So, realizing that, he bought [recall lvl 1] and used it to enhance his memory and ensure he didn't lose any important information about his past life or his current skills.

He had also remembered how to create skills and gained [arithmetic processing lvl 1] [parallel thinking lvl 1] [cooperation lvl 1] [persistent lvl 1] [strength lvl 1] [solidity lvl 1] [running lvl 1] for some of his basic skills figuring they were important to get at the very start, as the later he got them, the less optimized his progression was.

He had been reincarnated as a fox kit to a close-knit fox clan, family, pack…whatever. He wasn't sure what it was called, but they were a group of about 25 foxes, including his family and siblings.

He had been a part of the group and felt great being a part of a group. Plus, as a newborn in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, there really was a need for him to protect himself, and having a group that could help him do that worked well. He was able to learn how to walk in his new body, fight, basic skills, and work out how he wanted to progress.

There were a couple pre-cannon events he could interfere with if he was in Kumoko's time when she was levelling up. He definitely wanted to get a human form as well as become close to the demon lord Ariel, being one of his favorite characters. D and Kumoko were also really cool and he hoped he could become close to them as well. The other important pieces of information he wanted to act on was his survival and his ability to connect with others. He wanted to connect with Fei, knowing that she is an Earth Wyrm from the Great Elroe Labyrinth and knowing when she was taken. These were all events he wanted to happen in his new life.

Having that bucket list, he had decided to get himself ready and really expand his abilities. From what he remembered from Kumoko, he knew how to acquire [Taboo Lvl 1] as well as the sin skills [sloth lvl 1] [greed lvl 1] [lust lvl 1]. Having been able to purchase all 3 of these skills confirmed to him that he was definitely pre-Kumoko getting her human form, as these skills were exclusive to 1 person.

However, none of this was really relevant to the reason he was running away right then. Human soldiers had come in and slaughtered his entire group with the exception of himself, he had taken the opportunity to run like a coward. He didn't know why the human group decided to attack his group, but guessing from their actions in the show and light novel, it was probably standard practice to clear out and hunt down groups of monsters before they got too large and powerful. His group, with his birth, probably exceeded the limit humans were willing to put up with foxes being and decided to get them. Made easier by the fact his group came up near the entrance to the labyrinth whenever they had children/kits to better protect and train them.

The group had been slaughtered almost instantly. Between his having to run and his powerlessness, Mark felt awful. He felt useless, tired, depressed, guilty, and enraged all at once. But he couldn't act on these feelings, he had to keep running if he wanted to survive. There was no way he could beat those humans at their levels.

Panting from exhaustion with his SP bar nearly depleted, Mark finally allowed himself to weep in his fox body. He cried for thinking it would be easy to survive since he knew the world already, he cried because he had lost everyone and everything he knew in this life, he cried for the death of his belief in humanity, and he cried tears representing the last bit of his humanity finally leaving him. He no longer could pretend otherwise, he was NOT a human, he felt nothing for humans but disdain and anger currently.

Mark found himself a small hole in the wall and used his strength to move a small boulder in front of it just in time, as a group of soldiers rushed past in an attempt to find him.

Mark stayed quiet, his tears being the only thing making noise as they dropped to the ground. He had to stay hidden, he couldn't let himself be found or else his entire family and pack would have died for nothing. His survival meant that his pack lived on, if he died, that was it, his pack was just another group of monsters killed by humans-just another statistic.

Mark kept as quiet and as still as possible as the humans rushed by, only allowing himself to make a noise once the group had completely passed him by.

'I took too much for granted.' Mark chastised himself. 'I let myself be comfortable being part of a pack instead of using my time wisely and making myself strong enough where nothing could stop my pack. I could've stopped those soldiers if I had used my time more wisely. I need to be stronger; I need to be smarter from now on. I know how this world works, it's time I used my knowledge to thrive and more importantly, make sure the humans know how much of a mistake it was to attack me and slaughter my pack.' He thought the final thoughts with a growl, his anger coming out of him.

No one was around to hear him but that vow would change the way the world and the war between humans and demons went, as a new player entered with his thoughts of depriving the humans of one of their most powerful pieces.

'I will make them regret ever messing with Elroe foxes, the humans shall lose and my clan will be returned to this world-more prosperous and better than ever.' Mark vowed, setting his mind to planning how to get a certain egg before it left the labyrinth.

With a fire in his eyes, a new skill was unlocked for Mark the Elroe Fox Kit.

[Elroe Fox Kit] has gained the skill [Avenger lvl 1]

Title [Revenge Seeker] has been obtained.

Title Acquisition of [Revenge Seeker] has granted [Taboo lvl 1] [Rage lvl 1] [Grief lvl 1] [Malice lvl 1] [Immoral lvl 1]

Proficiency increased in [Taboo lvl 1] to [Taboo lvl 2] as a result of having prior possession of the skill

Done! I am sorry for this one being a short one, but this is meant to be an introductory chapter to see how people feel about the idea of this maybe taking up a slot in my 8 weeks rotation in the future. I love the series Kumo desu ga nani ka and have loved it since first watching the anime 2 years ago, and then reading the LNs recently has rekindled that interest and made me want to write something for the series.

Also, KumokoxAriel is one of my favorite pairings of the series, so any story I make will definitely include this pairing and maybe KatiaxShun, because I love Katia's character, she's one of the favorites, and while Shun is less interesting, I can't say I hate him the way I hate Hugo.

This has a bit of an angsty and fast paced beginning, and while there is going to be angst (it can't be a kumo desu ga nani ka story without it), it will lighten up and become more lighthearted as the story progresses and Mark gets stronger. Right now, he has just lost everyone and everything he ever cared about in his new life, and is allowing his emotions and skills to overwhelm him, but once he is able to better manage this, he will calm down a lot too and stop being such an edge lord.

Please let me know if you would be fine with this story taking the place of one of my main ones for a couple rotations whenever they hit a hiatus!

Thanks!