(L) Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? [WN]

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by cabman11

If I'm not mistaken all she really needed was Divinity level 10

Maybe not the only thing but it certainly feels like it was a requirement.

Hopefully the LN will expand upon it a little...


PS There's a note from the author saying that the plan was to attend the LN5 release event at Gamers in Akihabara tomorrow but unfortunately is suffering from influenza so can't go (and no updates either).

[Breimn]

J-japanese cold? Lets hope all is well.It is second cause of death after japanese trucks.

[kari-no-sugata II]

A few extra bits from LN5 (from memory from yesterday and a brief look this morning)

Early on there is a small chapter from the POV of Feyrune (the dragon reincarnator), and she regrets that she bullied Wakaba Hiiro in her previous life. She had wanted to apologise to Wakaba when they meet again but then she heard that Wakaba had died and so feels she'll never be able to clear her regret. She feels that her being a dragon is "punishment" - normally meant in a "bad karma" type way but can also mean "punishment from god". D, it's you!

"Kumoko" does have some more thoughts about how she used to be in her previous life. I should re-read this but IIRC she says that she would "freeze" when people talk to her or she needs to talk or similar. Which is why she's happy being a loner. I presume this is part of D's memory manipulation but who knows for sure.

At the end of the Shun timeline, Sophia is "playing" with Shun and co and is basically protecting Yuugo. Kyouya/Wrath turns up and says that time's up (playtime is over) as the Demon King army is here now. Yuugo gets angry and calls Sophia "Rihoko" (first time it's revealed that Sophia = Rihoko in the LN) which makes her really pissed off. Shun is currently having "Taboo" installing (which causes pain but doesn't seem to knock him unconscious) when he notices someone put a white hand to Yuugo's head and a spider comes out from his head and that spider is absorbed by the new person. Yuugo collapses to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut, revealing an all white girl (Shiro). Sophia says "Please don't interfere, goshujin-sama". From her appearance (all white) and Hyrinth's reaction, Shun guesses that this person is the one who killed his brother (in the LN, Shun doesn't see the event in the memory crystal). Shiro nods her head at Oka-chan and says "It's been a long time, sensei". Everyone (except Sophia and Wrath) is shocked at the appearance of Wakaba Hiiro, since she's supposed to be dead.

[cabman11]

And by everyone you mean the other students right? What's up with them? Escape? Are they still there?


So Prince boy isn't dead??

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by cabman11

And by everyone you mean the other students right? What's up with them? Escape? Are they still there?

It's the battlefield, so the ordinary students aren't there.

Shun, Katia, Anna, Hyrinth, Oka-chan as well as the two adventurer reincarnators are there, along with Yuri, Yuugo and Sophia. There is a "clone" (using vampire skill) of Mera with Sophia that the two adventurer reincarnators fight - Wrath knocks them both unconscious instantly on arrival.

So Prince boy isn't dead??

Nope. The fact that "Yuugo" (Natsume) tried to kill the spider that was Kumoko on Earth was a minor point but being saved by Oka-chan was a major point so I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe that event didn't happen in the LN or maybe Shiro plans to use Yuugo as an expendable bargaining chip with Oka-chan, just in case...?

[Von Himmel]

ollapses to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut,

Pls


So I guess the conversation that happened in the WN between Kyouya and Shun didn't happen?

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by Von Himmel

So I guess the conversation that happened in the WN between Kyouya and Shun didn't happen?

It does though it's a bit different in detail. He tells Shun that the elves are the bad guys basically (which angers Oka-chan). I think he says that she's been manipulated/duped by the elves.

[EvilSociopath323]

So, how exactly is Fay being a dragon punishment and not freaking cool? Does she complain about being cursed with awesome? Well I guess this is an individual thing...

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by EvilSociopath323

So, how exactly is Fay being a dragon punishment and not freaking cool? Does she complain about being cursed with awesome? Well I guess this is an individual thing...

The "punishment" bit is what she thought about when she was either in the egg or still a young dragon, I think, or when she realised that most of the reincarnators were human. Bear in mind she was born as a lizard - in class she was a sociable and outgoing person. It was only sometime later that she realised that she could evolve into what's generally recognised as a dragon.

[kari-no-sugata II]

Hmm. Something I haven't noticed before. In the table of contents of some of the LNs is a list of all the students with a bit of info about them (in the current world). I think it's by Shun. If I felt like reading a lot of hand written kanji I could figure out the names of all the students...

LN5 has the Oka-chan perspectives from the WN... though it doesn't have the conversation with Hyrinth. For student list, I don't think there's any changes - still has Yuugo dying and most of the students forecast to die by skill deprivation.


PS I've been writing it as Feyrune before but according to LN5 it should be written romanised as Feirune.

Also, official romanisation Ariel's full name is: Ariel the Origin Taratect.

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by cabman11

If I'm not mistaken all she really needed was Divinity level 10

Incidentally, as LV1 Arachne, Divinity Area Expansion is already LV9.

Basic stats are:

HP 38111
MP 44024
SP 33557 (yellow) 33557 (red)

Average Offensive Ability: 35799
Average Defensive Ability: 35682
Average Magic Ability: 42170
Average Resistance Ability: 42068
Average Speed Ability: 41063

Still has 165700 skill points remaining...


On the monster bio page for Arachne, the text talks about her being a mysterious monster that hadn't been seen before. Due to there only being a few witnesses all information is considered unreliable, including that the human half is that of a beautiful girl. The character design on the in-world monster bio and in the in-story image when fighting Potimas seems to be the same so we can probably consider both to be her official character design.

[haanss]

I personally always thought the way she became a god in the WN was pretty boring so I hope it will be more interesting this time around.

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by haanss

I personally always thought the way she became a god in the WN was pretty boring so I hope it will be more interesting this time around.

I wouldn't say it was "boring" but it was a bit sudden, yes. Kumoko had been aiming for it and D had said she expects it so it's not like there was no foreshadowing. But it did feel a bit easy somehow, even though it really wasn't I'm sure. Probably the only one who understands how someone can become a god within the System is D so unless she left some hints in Wisdom, it would be hard to foreshadow the specific method - though Kumoko could reveal some bits of Taboo earlier I guess.

It's not like we need a complete explanation but there is room for improvement. The most obvious thing I could think of is this: at start of LN6, Kumoko is gathering some food etc from the town by herself and returns to where the elves where. She'd killed the normal elves with severing thread so there's still an opportunity for an "elf mean stir-fry" scene. Anyway, she could decide to investigate the remains of Potimas's robot body. If she does then she should find a MA core. If we consider how she reacted in the WN, we should expect her to experimentally absorb the MA core in such a scenario. What would the results be...?

[Xacual]

The biggest problem I have with these changed events is that it brings Kumoko to Potimas' notice. That totally changes parts of the plot later.

[cabman11]

could still be for the most part the same. He just has to not know if she's become a God yet

[kari-no-sugata II]

I've thought about this myself. I don't think it's a problem. Anyone close to Ariel would catch Potimas's attention already - it's not like Shiro was being ignored in the WN. By meeting her earlier in the LN, if anything it would be a reason for Potimas to take her lightly since he would expect that he'd be able to deal with her. The fact that she becomes fully human looking (instead of half-spider) later wouldn't be too surprising or unusual for him I think - other monsters have the ability to evolve or shapeshift into humans.

In "Human-Demon Great War Secret" there's this line from Potimas:

「The Demon King's vanguard called Shiro has a considerable strength. I never thought that she can win against that Hero」

Clearly he knew about Shiro before the war started. There were demons working with the elves so this isn't surprising. The demons generally took Shiro lightly so the elves probably did to until this point.

I dunno if it matters but there's no equivalent scene in the LN. But we do see more from Potimas's POV in the LN and there's no indication that he's particularly wary about Shiro.

btw, overall Potimas is more clearly indicated to be a villain/antagonist in the LN. There's more hints early on and it's quite obvious by LN5. Shiro compares him to the Terminator

[Xacual]

The fact that Shiro was putting up a fight against a Gloria despite the disadvantages should have shown that she was way, way stronger than Julius ever was though.

[Rageth]

That's probably why the line about not expecting her to be that strong was removed from the Light Novel.

[kari-no-sugata II]

Originally Posted by Xacual

The fact that Shiro was putting up a fight against a Gloria despite the disadvantages should have shown that she was way, way stronger than Julius ever was though.

She certainly surprised Potimas by giving him a hard time. But in comparison Ariel one-shot-killed the same body. The threat level (at the time) was totally different between Ariel and Kumoko. And Potimas trash-talks Ariel (ie he looks down on her).

So yes, it would be fair to say that Potimas would have a much better idea of how much of a threat Shiro was much earlier but it wouldn't be enough to change his overall evaluation of Ariel or the Demon King Army in general. He would probably evaluate her to be a similar threat level to a Queen Taratect, or maybe a bit higher.

[Okashira]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata II

She certainly surprised Potimas by giving him a hard time. But in comparison Ariel one-shot-killed the same body. The threat level (at the time) was totally different between Ariel and Kumoko. And Potimas trash-talks Ariel (ie he looks down on her).

The WN has shown that Pochi thinks that both Ariel and the Queens have a low threat level for him and his plans, so even if he somehow comes to consider Shiro being half as strong as Ariel, that's still not enough to write home about in his book. (additionally that bit seems to show that he probably thinks the same in the LN)

--- At best he'll might think that Shiro's capped danger level is the same as Ariel, so he probably won't alter anything. Of course we as readers can't wait until the cake explodes in his face.