Chapter 1

The evening drizzle fell steadily at the entrance of a dilapidated Taoist temple.

Strangely enough, about thirty people had suddenly appeared at this abandoned mountain temple, half-covered by wild tropical vegetation.

Their leader, a middle-aged man, made a respectful martial salute and asked, “Young hero, might we take shelter from the rain here for the night?”

He was addressing me, who stood there with a startled expression at their sudden appearance.

I’d been worried they might be bad people, but given their respectful salute and polite speech despite my young age, they didn’t seem dangerous. The man apparently thought I might be a young Taoist guardian of this abandoned temple.

“I merely settled in this abandoned temple a few years ago myself. Please feel free to stay wherever you wish. However, I’m using that hall over there, so I’d appreciate it if you could use the other buildings.”

“Thank you. You’re quite well-mannered for one so young. I’ll do as you say. Everyone, you heard him – stay away from the young hero’s hall and find shelter elsewhere. Understood?”

“Yes, Clan Head!”

Judging by the character 唐 (Tang) on their chests and their use of “Clan Head,” they seemed to belong to the same clan.

Though curious about who they were, I simply gave a slight bow to the middle-aged man before hurrying back to my hall.

It was dinner time for my babies, after all.

“Almost late. You must all be hungry.”

Entering the room, I lit the oil lamp and quickly prepared dinner.

Opening the lid of a large earthen jar and clearing away the leaves inside, I grabbed a handful of crickets.

The sensation of crickets squirming in my palm.

Still holding them, I opened another large jar beside it and peered inside.

Large body, fuzzy legs.

The slightly yellowish body still made my heart race.

I tossed several adult crickets into the jar, and the creature inside quickly snatched them up.

True to its aggressive nature, it greedily stuffed the crickets into its mouth.

“Eat up, Blackie. What would your brother have done without you all?”

The creature in the jar was named Black Earth Tiger.

It’s a species of tarantula native to Hainan, China – or Hainan Island in the Central Plains as it’s known here – that can grow up to 20cm. After I caught it, it had already molted twice and grown to nearly 15cm.

Now that I’d confirmed it was eating, it was time to feed the others.

After watching it grab the remaining crickets one more time, I turned to the old medicine cabinet right beside it.

Opening a drawer, I was greeted by my Bawangling Cave Geckos.

These were also native to Hainan Island, lizards with distinctive yellow stripes on their bodies and white stripes on their tails.

In my past life, they were so rare and expensive I could barely get my hands on them, but here they’re everywhere once you go outside. Watching you guys is what keeps me going.

I held a cricket by its legs and dangled it gently in front of them.

They darted forward and snatched up the crickets.

“Ouch!”

After prying off one that had bitten my finger while trying to grab a cricket, I finished feeding the ones in each drawer of the medicine cabinet when a voice called from outside.

“Young hero, are you in there?”

It sounded like the Clan Head from earlier.

I quickly dusted off my hands and closed the cabinet.

When I stepped outside the hall, the middle-aged man was standing there with a smile.

“We’re grateful for your shelter from the rain, so I was wondering if you’d like to join us for dinner? We caught some deer.”

“D-deer, you say?”

“Indeed. We caught two on our way here for dinner. Would you care to join us?”

Deer – something I had never managed to catch here.

Tempted by the prospect of meat, I quickly nodded.

In my past life, I would never have considered eating snakes and lizards, but here they were the only game I could catch.

A person needs protein to survive, so I had no choice but to catch and eat them as my only source of protein.

That’s why I couldn’t refuse the offer of deer meat – meat from a four-legged beast.

Sorry, little ones… Brother had to survive somehow…

After silently apologizing toward the burial place of snake and lizard bones, I followed the man past partially collapsed roofs missing tiles to reach the largest hall in the temple.

There, amidst the holes in the building, the delightful aroma of roasting deer meat wafted up with the rising flames.

Gulp.

My mouth watered involuntarily at the smell of dripping fat and cooking meat.

As I stood there mindlessly swallowing saliva, I felt someone’s gaze and turned to find the man who had brought me here smiling and gesturing to the spot beside him.

Oh my.

Blushing with embarrassment, I headed to the seat he indicated.

Then came his voice, tinged with amusement.

“The meat will need a bit more time to cook. Meanwhile, I have a few questions, if you don’t mind?”

“Yes, elder, please ask away.”

He seemed curious about something.

Since I had to earn my meat, I nodded and replied, letting him begin his inquiry.

After all, personal questions usually come first in these situations.

“Do you live alone in these Hainan mountains? How old are you?”

“About fourteen or fifteen, I think.”

“About fourteen or fifteen?”

The middle-aged man’s expression seemed to ask why I couldn’t simply say fourteen or fifteen.

Scratching my head at his reaction, I answered.

“I lost my memories…”

“Oh my, what a tragic circumstance.”

The man looked at me with sympathy, but my claim of lost memories was all a lie.

I hadn’t lost any memories – rather, I seemed to have either reincarnated or possessed someone.

Reincarnated… well, in my previous life, I was a streamer.

I was a famous streamer with a million subscribers across YouTube, AfreecaTV, and Twitch, known for introducing and raising reptiles, spiders, and various venomous insects and creatures.

My nickname was Spicy Fabre.

I got that nickname because I specialized in streaming about venomous insects, creatures, and snakes.

There was a reason I ended up in this world, and moreover, in the body of such a young child.

It happened during my million subscriber celebration special.

I died after being bitten by a Black Mamba while filming a special on the world’s top 10 deadliest snakes.

I must be listed as one of those streamers who died doing something dangerous… But seriously, who expects a Black Mamba to jump out from behind a hotel refrigerator when we couldn’t find any while actually looking for them!

The snake that had been nowhere to be found when we were trying to film it for the stream suddenly appeared from behind the refrigerator at a shabby African hotel when I was trying to rest.

When it bit me, I knew I was screwed.

Black Mamba venom is famously potent – it can kill a person within 20 minutes of being bitten.

And that’s how I ended up in this situation.

“My, my. So you’ve been living here alone all this time?”

“Yes, I don’t have any particular skills. I make a living catching snakes and selling their skins.”

“How concerning that such a young hero has to risk catching snakes…”

The man looked at me with worried eyes.

Even I found my situation pitiful, so I can imagine how pitiful it must look to others.

As we were talking, two large pieces of meat were presented before us.

As I blinked in surprise with wide eyes, the man who brought the meat smiled and said:

“Clan Head[1], I brought the parts that cooked first. The young hero seemed quite hungry earlier.”

Though my face flushed red again with embarrassment, shame doesn’t feed you, so I quickly bowed my head and accepted the meat.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had meat from a four-legged beast. Thank you.”

And as soon as I received the meat, I began tearing into it ravenously.

Chomp.

How long had it been since I’d had such meat?

Snake meat was tasty too, but nothing compares to meat from four-legged beasts.

Happiness washed over me as the dripping meat juices and rich fat flooded my mouth.

Yes, this is happiness.

The fat that I would have found greasy in my past life now tasted incredibly savory.

After quickly stripping all the meat from the bones and happily sucking on them, an elderly man brought over a large cut of deer ribs and said:

“The young hero certainly has a healthy appetite. Here, have some more.”

“Thank you, elder.”

“Ho ho, you remind me of my granddaughter back home.”

As I was licking even my fingertips clean while gnawing on the meat, the man who had brought me here, their Clan Head, spoke again.

“Young hero, listen while you eat. We’re looking for something – have you noticed anything unusual around here?”

Quickly licking the grease off the back of my hand, I asked in return:

“Slurp, something unusual?”

“Hmm… how should I put this…”

As the man pondered my question, the elderly man who had given me the large ribs smiled gently and said:

“Clan Head, we’ve received the young hero’s kindness in sheltering from the rain – perhaps we should tell him? He might be in danger otherwise. Besides, living alone here, who would he tell?”

“Indeed, Father’s words are wise.”

So the elderly man was this man’s father.

Following the old man’s words, the Clan Head lowered his voice and asked again:

“We’re looking for a centipede with blue spots – have you perhaps seen one? We’ve been searching this area for days but haven’t found it.”

“A centipede with blue spots?”

“Yes. A centipede with blue spots, called the Blue-spotted Centipede[2]. It’s quite large, so you might have noticed it…”

The mention of a centipede immediately caught my interest, regardless of whether I’d seen it or not.

Centipedes are beautiful creatures.

With their numerous legs and sleek bodies, no arthropod is as unique and beautiful as a centipede among venomous insects.

Moreover, centipedes aren’t insects but arthropods, and they’re arthropods that show maternal care.

Aren’t they fascinating in many ways?

And this one was large with blue spots! A new species!

As Spicy Fabre, I couldn’t just ignore a new species.

I decided to subtly probe for information.

“How large are we talking?”

“Well… if it’s fully grown, I’d say it could easily devour someone your size.”

“Gasp!”

A crazy centipede big enough to eat people? I thought I’d just gone back a few hundred years into the past, but maybe not? Is this another world? I definitely need to find this one.

A new species of giant centipede.

My body trembled with excitement at the two men’s words.

Seeing this, the elderly man patted my shoulder and said:

“The young hero is scared. Don’t worry, we’re here to catch it.”

Here to catch it? Are there people with similar interests to mine even in this era?

Though they seemed to misinterpret my excitement as fear, they appeared to share my interests, so I quickly asked.

If we shared interests, we might be able to form a community.

Share breeding information, collecting spots…

Doing this hobby alone is so lonely… Half the fun of a hobby is showing off, but I can’t even do that.

“If you’re here to catch it, do you plan to raise it?”

The two men laughed at my question, finding it amusing.

“Haha, raise a Blue-spotted Centipede? That’s an interesting thought.”

“The young hero is quite amusing.”

“How could one raise such a thing? We’re going to use it for medicine.”

My enthusiasm instantly deflated at their response.

Turns out these were some ignorant old men.

Even in my past life, there were baseless rumors about centipedes being good for back pain and such, causing many centipedes to suffer, and these men seemed to be that type.

Using centipedes for medicine.

I knew there was no scientific basis for that, so it seemed another centipede would die needlessly.

I had a pretty good idea where to find centipedes, but…

Ah, I thought I’d found kindred spirits who shared my hobby. Turns out they’re just ignorant old men.

Though disappointed, I decided I should try to educate these uninformed gentlemen.

I didn’t want a potentially new species to lose its life needlessly.

“Centipedes don’t really have medicinal properties though?”

My question darkened both men’s expressions, and the elderly man explained in a complex, sympathetic voice:

“That may be so. But my granddaughter is currently bedridden with a serious illness. Only this centipede’s inner core can save her, which is why we seek it.”

The old man’s granddaughter would be the middle-aged man’s daughter.

Startled, I looked at the middle-aged man, who forced a smile through his dark expression.

Oh dear. Their child is at death’s door, so they’re trying to find anything that might help.

Though the centipede surely wouldn’t have any medicinal value, how could you blame parents with a child between life and death?

Parents want to try anything that might help their child.

Hadn’t I once spent 500,000 won at a vet trying to save a 20,000 won lizard?

Though I felt sorry for the potential new species…

Having been treated to meat, I felt I should help somehow.

“I haven’t seen that centipede, but I have an idea where it might be.”

When it comes to centipedes, they’re all in the palm of Spicy Fabre’s hand, after all.