Currently, I am running for my life.

“What in the world happened?” you may ask.

Well, after waking up, I decided that I should try my hand at combat. What could possibly go wrong, I naively thought to myself. If there are level 1 baby scorpions such as myself wandering about in broad daylight out in the middle of the open, then surely this place shouldn’t be all too dangerous, right?

Clearly I was mistaken.

I am currently running away from a very angry ant-like creature whose job I had disturbed by accidentally knocking the fruit it was carrying off from its back.

I sincerely apologize Mister Ant; can’t we talk it out?!

Luckily I only got this one ant’s attention, as it seems to be a rogue or something, but still! I wasn’t prepared!

I turned sharply, catching the ant off-guard, causing it to fumble. Alright, got it!

With another sharp turn, I lashed out my stinger and injected the ant with a large dose of poison.

 

「 Skill 《Poison Tail Lv. 1》 grew to 《Poison Tail Lv. 2》 」

 

Oh, it was actually a skill??

The ant fell and twitched, though it seems to still be alive. Well, then. I’ll show you how strong these pinchers can be!

Grabbing where I assumed its neck would be, I ruthlessly cut its head off, though it took a few tries before actually happening, which lowered my cool factor significantly. Though whether or not I even had a “cool factor” to begin with is debatable.

 

「 Skill 《Claw Crusher Lv. 1》 grew to 《Claw Crusher Lv. 2》 」

 

「 Conditions met: 《Humble Beginnings》 title acquired 」

 

「 Conditions met: 《Self Evaluation》 title acquired 」

 

Oh, more stuff.

However.

What’s with the “self evaluation” title? I feel like someone’s mocking me.

Anyway, I’m quite curious. What level was this ant? Well, only one way to find out!

《Appraisal》

 

「 Rogue Ant Lv. 2 」

 

Mm-mm. I beat an opponent one level ahead of me? Does that mean I’ll level up?!

…

…

…

How come I don’t feel any different?

《Appraisal》

 

「 Lesser Baby Scorpion Lv. 2 」

 

Oh! I did grow a level! Then how come I don’t feel any different?

Maybe it’s because I didn’t exhaust much effort when fighting just then… I mean, I did kind of trip it up and didn’t fight fair and square…

…

Who cares! My life comes first and foremost! It’s it’s own fault for tripping up like that!

Mm-mm, my conscience is clear.

Now, what do I do with the body? Hm… Well, I don’t have any food, and I can’t exactly be all too picky (let’s ignore the fact I left behind quite a few scorpion bodies back there, alright).

Speaking of food, I do feel a bit hungry from all that running around.

Well, food it is.

Taking a bite, I immediately regretted it. It tasted like I was biting into chewy sand. It tastes quite disgusting.

I forced myself to finish it, though. I doubt I’ll have many encounters as lucky as that one.

As if the world could hear my thoughts, I was ambushed!

Pain reared up my back as talon clawed at my exoskeleton.

Ow!!! That freaking hurts!!!

「 Skill Acquired: 《Slashing Resistance Lv. 1》 」

 

Oh, I got a new skill- wait, this isn’t the time for that!!

Whirling around, I saw a giant bird swooping down towards me. Hey, hey, hey, hey! This is unfair! Ground doesn’t affect flying!

I quickly dodged it’s second attack, but not without another small cut to my forearms to block my head. This is like throwing me from the tutorial stage straight into the first main boss! How is this fair??

《Appraisal》

 

《Appraisal Failed》

 

What do you mean you failed?! I demand a refund!

Another attack, another dodge, another attack, another dodge. It was getting tiring fast, especially since that ant was the only thing I had eaten all day.

As it swooped down once again, I raised my stinger and met it mid-attack, hitting it square in it’s back and injecting my venom. It let out a loud caw before retreating.

Ah, as expected, it won’t go down with just one hit. It does seem to be slightly woozy, however. Maybe I can use that to my advantage…

So, I took off running once again. The bird gave chase, awkwardly avoiding tree trunks and branches. Just a bit more and… now!

I quickly hid behind a tree and, unable to stop its momentum, the bird crashed right into it, falling straight to the ground. Taking this opportunity, I rushed out and slammed it with my tail before injecting it with more poison.

After a few jerks of movement, it finally stopped.

Haa… That was stressful. Hm? My skin… it’s shedding?!

After my skin shed, I felt like a new man. The previous injuries were gone and my body felt lighter than ever before. I must have leveled up then, right?!

《Appraisal》

 

「 Lesser Baby Scorpion Lv. 5 」

 

Ooooh! I grew 3 levels, bay-beeeee! Wait, can I check the bird’s stats now?

《Appraisal》

 

「 Angry Hollow-Bone Bird Lv. 3 」

 

Hm, it was level 3? I see, I see… Wait, I used my poison tail moved a few times just now, shouldn’t it have leveled up, too?

Suddenly, another message popped up in my mind:

 

「 Would you like to be informed of all level up information from now on? 」

 

…

Goddess, come out; I promise I won’t kill you…!!