NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Game over?
Food is never scarce around a water source.
Even though that swarm of mosquitoes didn't give Arthur much of a boost, the time spent devouring them let him scope out the entire area. Across the way, up in a tree, he spotted several ladybugs!
Ladybugs seemed like a solid pick—plentiful, harmless, and big enough that they should fill him up a decent amount. Maybe they'd even jack up his evolution points, too.
Arthur climbed down, scanning the area carefully. Seeing no large creatures nearby, he inched his way toward the other tree.
Suddenly, a colossal hoof slammed down from above, barely missing him. Startled, Arthur instinctively backed up two steps—only to have another massive hoof thunder down right behind him.
Boom, boom, boom—
It wasn't until this moment that Arthur realized the ground was shaking. One after another, those heavy black hooves barreled past above him. Thankfully, they weren't moving super-fast. Arthur dodged and weaved between them, making it through unscathed until he finally reached the other side.
Scrambling up the tree, he let out a shaky breath only once he was safely perched on a high branch.
By now, the ladybugs had been spooked by all the commotion and had flown away, which made Arthur curse under his breath. When he looked to see which creatures had caused the ruckus, he was shocked to discover a group of rhinos—ten or so by the looks of it.
Fuming, he muttered, "Just you wait. Sooner or later, I'm gonna gobble you all down!"
Naturally, the rhinos ignored the little gecko and kept drinking.
Arthur might've been pissed, but he still needed food. Luckily, there were other insects on that tree besides ladybugs—like that plump green caterpillar inching along.
In one swift flick of his red tongue, the caterpillar was gone.
Gulp.
Arthur's eyes lit up.
Satiety +10!
Holy cow, that little caterpillar carried some kick. And there were plenty more crawling around on the leaves above!
In an instant, Arthur forgot his frustration. He climbed a bit higher, thrilled to find dozens of green caterpillars munching away. All herbivorous, relatively clean, and definitely not about to fight back.
Perfect targets.
Arthur feasted on one plump caterpillar after another, quickly bringing his satiety up to 90. Just one more and he'd be completely stuffed. Then he could find a spot to digest and seriously boost his stats.
Happily imagining the gains, Arthur aimed for the final caterpillar. Right as his tongue was about to make contact, a second tongue—faster than his—whipped the caterpillar away.
Arthur practically jumped out of his skin, cursing, "What the hell?! Who dares snatch—snatch—my…"
A pair of icy, vertical pupils stared him down.
It was a venomous viper with a triangular head—significantly thicker than the snake that had whizzed past him earlier.
Arthur's voice died in his throat. An oppressive killing intent enveloped him, and the serpent raised its head in a menacing arc.
Run!
His mind raced, and he spun around to flee.
The snake was lightning-quick, lunging forward with mouth agape. Arthur jumped off the branch, only to find the massive snake whipping its body around and dropping down beneath him. The scaly jaws yawned wide, making him look like he was diving straight into its mouth.
Dammit, game over…
Arthur shut his eyes in despair.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind roared overhead. A sharp eagle's cry rang out, closing in fast. The wind currents batted Arthur aside, sending his tiny body flying. In the next second, razor-taloned claws seized the giant snake, physically ripping it off the branch.
Arthur spun through the air, crashing through leaves and bushes before landing on a thick layer of fallen foliage.
He wasn't injured, just dizzy. The surroundings swirled and doubled in his vision.
He wiggled his head, finally clearing out the fuzz, and peered up: the snake that'd nearly taken his life was off in the sky, clutched by an enormous eagle. All that remained was a thin, swaying shadow in midair.
Arthur lay there, alive but not exactly relieved—more drained really. Life in this jungle was way more lethal than he'd imagined.
"Okay…definitely gotta be more careful. Can't let myself get cocky and become someone's lunch."
Honestly, it was lucky the serpent had come at him head-on. If it had attacked from behind, Arthur was toast for sure. That thought made him shudder.
He was a consistent optimist, though—his low mood only lasted a beat before he dragged himself upright and moved toward the pond again.
This time, he kept his Camouflage up the whole way, scanning alertly before every move.
And good thing, because the more he observed, the more he realized this forest was teeming with creatures using camouflage. On his trek, he found several moths whose wings blended perfectly with leaves or bark. Since moths mostly rest during the day and have weak awareness, Arthur easily managed to eat two large ones.
At last, his satiety hit 100/100 for the first time!
He scurried off to a hiding spot, shut his eyes, and let his body digest all of it. This time, the process took much longer. By the moment he opened his eyes again, the once-sunny sky had morphed into total darkness.
He immediately checked his status:
[Mutant Gecko · SSS]
[Strength: 6.6 → 13]
[Agility: 5 → 7]
[Defense: 1 → 2]
[Evolution Points: 11/100]
[Status: Hungry (0/100)]
[Description: You're still very weak. 95% of this forest's creatures can easily kill you.]
Huh, he'd surpassed another 5% of this forest's wildlife. That might still be labeled "very weak," but that was definitely progress. He was especially pleased at his larger body—50% bigger than before.
So, a full 100/100 satiety gave him 10 stat points, while evolution points shot up by 10. He wondered if they were directly related.
Arthur didn't want to jump to conclusions yet. Instead, he found a safe spot and tested his body's new capabilities. Turns out, he could now leap from this tree to the next one nearly 20 feet away!
That meant his odds of escaping danger had just skyrocketed. He was moving almost twice as fast as before. He was sure that if he ran into that giant viper again, he could easily outrun it now!