Day 586 in This World
Tris (me) lets go of the dagger and leaps back, dodging the sticky tongues and saliva of those frogs. I'm not sure if it's just gonna melt my clothes like some lewd anime trope… but probably not. One hit, and it'll burn my skin for sure…
Thank me for pumping Tris's Agi and [Leg Speed Boost] to the max!
Five Frog monsters, 40-45 cm big, and one FightFrog, a whopping 60 cm, chase Tris relentlessly, even past the campfires. (Normally, Frogs are just 15-20 cm, and FightFrogs are 25-30 cm!)
That FightFrog, especially, with Tris's cheap dagger stuck in its extra-thick slimy skin, looks pissed.
"Ribbit!!!!"
"Whoa!! My stuff!!!"
Tris tries grabbing the bags, sacks, and pouches piled up, but it's too late. The FightFrog, smart enough, lashes its tongue between the loot and Tris's reaching hand, forcing her to pull back.
Thud!
Then they leap to block the pile of loot.
"Where'd you guys come from!? Why didn't you show up on my first day here!?"
Tris (me) yells at them while looking for an opening to circle back, but they're not dumb enough to let me. They split up, shooting tongues to tie up trees along the detour paths, blocking my routes like they knew my plan.
Oh, if you're wondering why I don't just run since they're slower, it's because my farmed loot's still over there! My precious items are in that pile! Gotta loop back to grab them—such a waste! …But if they're this smart, it's time to bolt full speed and come back for the loot later…
"Ribbit ribbit!!!" x5
They start spreading out in all directions… They're clearly trying to trap me! Are you guys really the Frogs I know!?
"Are you frogs too smart or what!?"
I'm outta here! Stay if you want, but I'm gone!! Screw this!!!
Sure, over the past 10+ days, I've seen monsters like Frogs and Bupiders hunting local critters, leveling up to 20+, but I never imagined ones that gorged on insects here could get this fat and hit Level 80-100.
I don't even wanna think about a party of 5-10 newbie adventurers, happily grinding here, then getting ambushed by these frogs… They'd be dead meat with this level of brainpower!
Lucky for them, the one here is Tris, with the brain of an interdimensional gamer and cheat-code detector!
Oh, wait! I was about to talk about how the Goddesses let randoms like Nerim, Waan, and Rejeen pop up with crazy high levels, or weird monsters like Fipa show up…
If they're ignoring stuff this weird, maybe it's supposed to happen!
I pieced together another part of the puzzle.
So, the flood of monsters warping to other continents might be boosting regular adventurers' leveling speed too! It's like an indirect way to handle the monster invasions.
Hmm, so getting swarmed by monsters isn't just a downside. If someone figures it out early without realizing, their levels could skyrocket, making them key players in helping heroes protect nations or continents. That's good news…
The bad news? Something I just realized, made worse by these frogs…
What if monsters that level up by eating each other get killed by a hero… Do the ones warped to other continents keep their leveled-up stats? And if they're trained too? Does their intelligence stay the same!? That could be a way to send them to slaughter each other! If someone aiming to win figures this out, it's trouble… (Wait, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something super important here?… Eh, whatever.)
Those six frogs are way too weird… Are they test subjects or just leveled up so much they evolved and got smarter? Fighting as a team like that! …I gotta investigate if I get the chance…
…
But that's for after I prep gear and come back ready to fight.
Tris (me) values life above all and decides to sprint straight out of there as fast as possible. Her body's light as a feather, moving seamlessly with steady speed, no panting at all.
Zoom-zoom-zoom!
"Ahh~ So light! [Tireless Movement] comboed with [Leg Speed Boost] is just too good! No matter how much I leap, I barely get tired… Haha, hmph! No need to carry items except my clothes, so I'm not tired at all!!! My items!! Just you wait, you stupid frogs!!!!"
End of Chapter 75
Take That, You Stupid Frogs