Chapter 12 - 11

It was a really close call. Seriously, that snake nearly killed me. It would not even be an exaggeration to say that I only managed to survive because of pure luck. And I wasn't only able to survive because I won all those gambles, it was also because I have those versatile skills at hand. In essence, I survived because of the culmination of luck and coincidences. Honestly, leaving my life in the hand of pure dumb luck wasn't my style at all. In fact, I hated it. But in this case, I really owed a big one to lady luck. Well, I might have used up all my luck because of this so I better be careful from now on. After all, good luck and bad luck were just two sides of the same coin. This meant that every time I leave my fate to luck, it was like tossing a coin of life and the result would determine whether I live or not. In short, it was a 50/50 chance of success (life) and failure (death). That was why in my humble opinion. Anyone who relied solely on luck was either hopeless or dumb.

'Well, at least I got a new title and some new skills…' After I woke up from my FIVE HOURS SLEEP, I saw a notification saying that I received a new title and gained some new skills. The one skill that stood out to me was the skill Antibodies which was apparently the evolved version of Poison Conversion. From what I could remember before I lost consciousness, I saw a flood of notifications that ultimately ended with this skills evolution. And if I was remembering it correctly, the highest rank of the skill was S and it would then evolve if some unknown conditions were satisfied. There was just an ominous thing revolving around the evolution of the skill, though…

'If everything I know up to this point is right. That means that there was so much poison inside my body that time to the point that the skill even evolved because of how much it was used.' This theory sent a chill down my spine. The worst part of it was I was pretty sure it was correct. That meant that the snake was a really dangerous and deadly monster, and if I fought another one of those on my current level of strength, I wasn't even sure if I would win the second time. To top it all off, it was not only strong but was also unbelievably cunning. 'Okay, let's be careful and avoid any kind of confrontation against that thing for now.' I swore to my heart. Call me a coward all you want, but for me, this was necessary for my survival. And trust me, I knew what I was talking about.

Anyway, did I mention that I gained a new title and new skills? Yes? Oh well, that would make this easy. So, to start with, the new title I received was called Survivor. And just like what its name suggests, it was apparently a title gained by individuals who have managed to survive a supposedly certain death situation. In short, it was a title gained by idiots who have a bit of dumb high luck. As for my new skills, I acquired three. Those were Antibodies, Toughness, and Pain Endurance. The last two I acquired through Survivor. As for their effects and details…

[Antibodies (Rank D)]

[Rare]

[Allow the body of the user to combat any foreign elements that can harm the body. When the skill is activated, the user would be forced to enter a state of slumber as a side effect. And on a case that the user was on the verge of death while being afflicted by a fast-acting deadly toxin, the skill would be automatically triggered]

[Toughness (Rank D)]

[Passive]

[Slightly increase the vitality of the user allowing their body to withstand more damage than usual]

[Pain Endurance (Rank D)]

[Passive]

[Assist the user in moving the body while in pain]

So, yeah. I got another new rare skill. Although there was a side effect in using it, the skill was certainly still really powerful. And being that this skill was rare, I could safely assume that there were just a few individuals who have managed to survive being poisoned long enough to gain this skill. It wasn't surprising though, I mean, I only managed to survive that crisis because of my skill Devour. And even if they have the Devour skill, I doubt there would be anyone insane enough who would try and forcefully acquire an anti-poison skill instead of simply curing it with an antidote. Who knows, maybe there were even healing spells that could remove any kind of poison in this world. The only problem with this skill was I had to avoid being infected by a fast-acting deadly toxin in the middle of a fight. If that happened and I suddenly fell asleep in the middle of a battle, that would be the end of me.

As for my two other skills, well, they were both certainly survival skills. My only concern was despite the level of difficulty of the conditions for receiving the title Survivor, the skills I acquired through it were somehow not considered as rare. 'Does that mean that there are numerous individuals who have survived a supposedly certain death situation? If that is so, that just speaks volumes of how dangerous this world is… Well, that should be obvious considering that there are real literal monsters in this world.'

That said, even after acquiring these new skills, I was still in a pinch. Why? Well, it was because when I woke up, I found myself physically injured. To be more specific, I broke multiple bones during the fight with the snake, and among those broken ones was the bone on my right back leg. Fortunately, it was still possible to use that leg to walk, albeit slowly. Yes, SLOWLY. And then, this was the problem.

'I am starving…'

Honestly, I didn't know if this was the result of exerting myself too much in the fight against the snake, I mean, it probably was, but the only thing I knew was when I woke up, I was both tired and hungry. The problem was, I am in no condition to hunt. And it was not only as simple as feeling tired, because if that was only the case, then I could still hunt. But since one of my legs was broken, hunting for food, I wouldn't even be able to run. I couldn't even stand straight in my condition, so how was I supposed to ambush or fight an enemy in this state? If this was a forest with a lot of places where I could set an ambush or hide, it might be possible, but in this flat wetland with only some boulders to hide, pulling off a successful ambush without being able to run was impossible. Besides, the monsters here were all incredibly tenacious. And to kill such tenacious enemies, I would need to put some pressure on them using my weight. And guess what? Doing that with a broken leg was difficult as hell.

Oh? What about the remaining carcass of the frog? Of course, I already ate that. Actually, thanks to that I was able to gain some energy to walk. Of course, being that I was injured, I was walking slowly while trying to hide my presence as much as possible. I wouldn't want to run into any kind of monster in this condition after all.

And so, I moved forward while trying to conserve as much energy as possible. What was my plan? Well, I am searching for a frog or maybe a lizard's nest. Why? Of course, it was for the eggs. Okay, here was my reasoning. As I said, I desperately needed food. But at the same time, I was in no condition to hunt. That was why I zeroed in on those monster's eggs. And since they were still eggs, I only needed to steal some from the nest and then eat it to regain some of my strength. So far, I still haven't found any nest. But I'm quite certain that there was one or two somewhere around here… I hope at least…

With my eyes fixed in search for any nest nearby, I strode forward. On my way, I encountered some familiar monsters such as lizards, frogs, and some bees. Of course, whenever I saw one, I immediately tried to hide before they noticed me. I also made extra sure that there was no monster sneaking behind me. Fortunately, it looked like there were no other snake-like creatures in this area. That or they were just that good in concealing themselves. But since no snakes have ambushed me so far, I think it was safe for me to assume that there really wasn't any. After all, I doubt those cunning creatures would let go of a walking meal like me.

After walking for a while, I also noticed that not only the walls but also the ceiling of the area were rapidly closing in. From the looks of it, I was really nearing the end of this cave. Along with all of that, I also saw a cliff on the left side of the cave. For now, though, I've yet to check the cliff for fear that a monster might see me on my way. Additionally, from what I could tell, those bee-like monsters were all coming from that cliff. Though, I still couldn't be sure for now since my eyes couldn't see that far ahead.

Finally, just before I completely lost my strength, I saw a nest. From what I could tell, it was a frog's nest. And like the frogs in my old world, this one was also made inside a lake. Compared to the other lakes surrounding it, this particular one was relatively large. Beside it was a huge boulder with some kind of sticky substance clinging to it. Normally, that sticky substance was what should have been holding the eggs. But it looked like I was already too late, that was because when I focused my eyes on the water of the lake, I saw some black things swimming and squirming about on the water.

'Those things for sure are tadpoles.' I concluded. Honestly, I already considered this possibility ever since I became aware of evolution in this world. Well, it looked like I was right. And as a bonus, it seemed like those frogs also behave the same as the frog from my world. What I meant was, no mother frog was hanging around the nest. In short, those tadpoles were alone and helpless. 'It's a free meal!!' I thought. Of course, that was only until I saw what was happening inside the lake.