It was a bug. A six-legged freak of nature that clamped its mandibles in the direction of Hatchling Red. Its tiny, beady black eyes stared at her with every intention to tear her apart, and she instinctively raised her arms in preparation for the next bloodiest brawl.

And not only was it a putrid bug, but it was made of rocks. The impenetrable, indigestible material that injured her knuckles. Indeed, Hatchling Red not only possessed a vendetta against wolves, but also rocks after her last interaction.

Her blade glistened in the light of the glowworms as she circled around the insect, which simply twisted itself, following her every lead.

This bug is smart. It knows what I want. I know what it wants. Jump at me already, coward.

She mentally calculated her odds against this beast, which was roughly the same size as herself. They were locked in a stalemate, with her circling around it counterclockwise, seeking an opening.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t follow the illusionary ‘bloody trail’ in this instance. She then began hopping from leg to leg, looking down at the intelligence of the six-legged monstrosity. She figured that she could fool it into turning away, and to her surprise –

That’s right. Dumb rock bug. You’re my next meal!

– It turned its back towards her, and she lunged forward int that instant.

However, when her blade met with its rocky shell, she was unexpectedly repelled backwards after a loud, metallic twang. She stagged backwards, losing her footing before the insect backed into her and simply knocked her away with its backside.

“Yowch!”

Hatchling Red | HP: 369

Rock Bug | HP: 599

She fell onto her butt, wondering how her attack did virtually nothing to it. Even if it was a rock, her combined ATT was surely high enough to be able to damage it, right? Gripping her blade, she suddenly remembered the < Defensive Stats > prompt which outlined how all damage done against a higher DEF target will always become 1.

Meaning…

“I’m that weak…?”

As if it wasn’t already obvious enough, this realization struck her harder than the wolves. A bug – a rock bug – a simply, creepy oversized level 5 monstrosity possessed a DEF stat higher than something 3 times more than its level.

“Maybe I should try wearing rocks. But that’ll slow me down.” She considered the prospect but left it alone as the Rock Bug went back to its inactive state, nestling into its small dugout without a care in the world.

“I’ll be back for you. Just you wait.” She vowed before venturing deeper into the cavern.

The lights became dimmer here as the number of glowworms above dropped significantly. Chunks were torn out from the ceiling, as though something were eating them. Cautious, she wandered through the stalactites, finding nothing of interest aside from more Rock Bugs.

Something else lurked here, evident by the strands of webs left around. From what she knew, webs were used to capture prey, but here it was used in a manner that felt like a creature was marking its territory.

These early signs were likely warnings, but Hatchling Red pushed deeper regardless of the fact, holding her blade in a reversed grip. Eventually, she reached a relatively flat chamber where strange insects with dozens of legs scuttled around clumsily.

They were grey and about half her size. They swarmed over one another as they moved through connected tunnels almost aimlessly, bumping their heads against the walls and one another.

The sight caused hairs around her body to rise. The wriggling soup of dozens of insects caused her great discomfort. There was something eerie about being faced with something with multiple limbs. It didn’t feel ‘right’.

The best solution?

Kill them.

Or in her case: devour them!

She wondered if they were also blind as she sunk behind a rock, tossing one of the wolf teeth into the crowd. To her surprise, a few of them crawled towards the noise like curious beasts, smashing their head against the stone ground.

Do they think it’s food? I don’t see any mouths on them. ‘Soft Shell’ makes me believe they have low DEF stats, but what if that’s a red fish? What do they call it? A red tuna? Red… salmon?

*Grrrrr*

Her stomach rumbled at possibly the worst time, and she cursed at herself for thinking of something she believed to be tasty. However, only one of the insects crawled towards her location, curiously waddling by as she then threw a tooth further down to lure it into the direction she came from.

She felt like a Sheppard leading a lamb to the slaughter, occasionally tossing teeth. The fur boots allowed her to walk side by side with it as she inspected its outer membrane. It was a fleshy, leathery exterior and when brought underneath direct light, one could see various organs within its semi-transparent flesh.

How do people eat things like this? They eat stuff like giant millipedes too, right?

She pondered on what was supposed to be normal cuisine as she spun her blade in her hands, positioning herself behind its head and in one swipe –

– Black and green blood came spewing out. She dragged the blade lengthwise quickly to bleed it as much as possible. The creature squirmed, nearly crushing her against the wall but thankfully, it died almost as quickly as it could react.

Its head deflated as its guts spilled out. Another hunt successful, and she dragged its surprisingly light body far enough in case the others could smell its corpse. Finally, with her newest meal in hand, she reached into its cavity and tore out a chunk of leathery, pinkish meat.

It smelt foul, and it wobbled in her hands like jelly. The taste was to be expected.

“Pfffft. Pffffffft. PPPPPPPFFFFFT! It’s not just wolves that taste like crap! It’s like this isn’t meant to be consumed or something!” She complained to the air but stuffed herself full regardless.

And she wasn’t the only one who did as well.

Something scuttled beside her, ripping chunks from the millipede its scissor-like mandibles.

She glanced down with furrowed eyes, knowing that she couldn’t do anything to stop this thief from feeding off her catch.

“See this? This is gonna be you soon. Heh. I bet you’re scarred. That’s right. Be afraid of Hatchling Red!” She taunted a certain bug with an evil chuckle.

Indeed. The very same Rock Bug had come to take its share!