Chương 3: Options

It was about time the System rewarded me properly for my efforts. Between surviving attempted predation and killing a creature several levels above myself, I would have considered anything less than a substantial reward an outright insult. According to the notification, I had been granted access to something known as a Trait. During my previous life, I had never possessed Traits of this specific kind.

What I had were these passive abilities called Class Traits, and judging by the terminology, I suspected the two served similar purposes. A trait that enhanced my poison would be an excellent beginning. Better yet, perhaps there existed a trait that allowed me to actively inject venom into enemies rather than relying upon them to make the mistake of eating me. The ideal outcome, of course, would be some method of projecting poison from a distance.

If I could spray venom or launch toxic projectiles, I would finally possess a means of attacking without repeatedly throwing myself into the mouths of predators and hoping they died before I did. As somewhat entertaining as my recent encounter with the frog had been, it was not a strategy I wished to rely upon indefinitely. With growing anticipation, I turned my attention toward the System. Now it was time to discover what options awaited me. [Displaying Available Traits] 1. Hardened Exoskeleton 2.

Enhanced Poison I stared at the list, and then felt an overwhelming urge to weep. Not only had the System offered me a grand total of two choices, but neither option appeared nearly as exciting as the possibilities I had been imagining moments earlier. Still, disappointment had never been an excuse for carelessness. One of the quickest ways to make a foolish decision was to dismiss an opportunity before fully understanding it.

With that in mind, I suppressed my initial dissatisfaction and began reading the descriptions of each trait. [Hardened Exoskeleton] The world is filled with creatures that would very much like to eat you. This trait reinforces and thickens your exoskeleton, significantly increasing your resistance to physical damage. The greatest benefit is gained against piercing attacks, including beaks, stingers, fangs, and other implements commonly employed by predators attempting to convert your body into a meal.

[Enhanced Poison] The Kingsbane Caterpillar is already recognized as one of the most toxic caterpillar species in existence. This trait significantly enhances the potency of your natural toxins, increasing lethality against all creatures susceptible to poison. With this trait, your poison becomes substantially more potent, increasing both lethality and efficiency. Well, these two traits did about exactly what I expected, but with only one Trait Point available to me, I'd have to choose between the two.

Despite still being annoyed that I didn't gain access to venom, investing in a stronger poison would actually not be as much of a benefit to me as one might think. See, it seems my poison was already strong enough to kill frogs many times my size. And evidently, I'm poisonous enough to deter at least one bird from trying to eat me entirely.

So for now, I figured that getting a stronger exoskeleton was probably for the best, as all the poison in the world wouldn't matter to me if my body was too damaged to do anything. [1 Trait Point Spent] [Trait Acquired: Hardened Exoskeleton] [Remaining Trait Points: 0] After selecting the trait, I felt a strange tingling sensation spread throughout my body. The feeling began near my head before gradually flowing through every segment of my caterpillar form.

I could have sworn that my body emitted a subtle glow, though it was difficult to tell whether that was an actual effect of the System or merely my imagination. I was, however, curious to see what had become of my other traits. The System had apparently unlocked a dedicated trait menu at some point, and there was little reason not to inspect it. [Displaying Traits] 1. Kingsbane Poison 2. Hardened Exoskeleton 3. Herbivore The selection was neither particularly impressive nor especially surprising.

My natural poison was present, my recently acquired hardened exoskeleton had been added appropriately, and apparently my dedication to consuming leaves had been immortalized by the System as an official trait. Despite the rather underwhelming display, I was not too disappointed overall. I had only recently begun this new existence, and no empire was built in a single day. It stood to reason that as I continued to grow stronger, the System would reward me with additional traits.

For now, my collection might have been modest, but I had every intention of becoming something far more impressive in the future. Regardless, my body had become stronger, and that meant it was time to resume the rather undignified process of convincing local wildlife to eat me. I cannot claim to have enjoyed this strategy, but, if enduring a few moments inside the mouth of a frog allowed me to grow stronger, then so be it.

With that in mind, I spent the next several hours patrolling the area surrounding the stream in search of suitable victims. Frogs remained my preferred target since they were not the brightest animals and would still try to eat me despite my colorful body. Second, they lacked the ability to inflict significant damage before my poison took effect. Whenever I spotted one, I simply presented myself as an easy meal. The frog would attempt to eat me, and then the frog would die after a few seconds.

Eventually, I settled into a comfortable rhythm. Find a frog, allow it to make a poor life choice, collect experience, and then repeat over and over again. Had anyone informed me during my reign that one day I would be deliberately farming amphibians for experience points, I would have ordered their immediate removal from my presence. Yet here I was, doing exactly that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

To my mild annoyance, the strategy eventually became less productive. Whether the local frog population had somehow learned from the fate of their unfortunate brethren or I had simply exhausted the nearby supply, encounters became increasingly rare. No matter how much I searched, I found fewer and fewer suitable targets. That said, my efforts could hardly be considered a failure. By the time I finally decided to stop, I had reached Level Nine.

More importantly, I could not shake the feeling that Level Ten represented an important threshold. The System had always favored milestones, whether that meant another trait, a new ability, or something even more valuable, I could not say. But, I was convinced that reaching Level Ten would trigger something noteworthy. However, that achievement would have to wait. Night was rapidly approaching, and nighttime was precisely when a sensible caterpillar ought to avoid wandering around the forest floor.

Who knows how many nocturnal predators would emerge after sunset, and I had little desire to discover which of them possessed sufficient resistance to poison to make my life difficult. Slowly and painstakingly, I made my way up the trunk of a nearby tree. I had briefly considered spending the night upon one of the lower plants instead, but ultimately dismissed the idea. Remaining too close to the ground carried unnecessary risks.

All it would take was one careless animal brushing past the wrong stem or one hungry creature investigating the undergrowth, and I could find myself in danger. After what felt like an eternity of crawling, I reached a tree branch that I considered high enough to feel safe resting on it. It was elevated well above the forest floor and offered an excellent vantage point from which to observe my surroundings. Better yet, the leaves provided a readily available source of food should I become hungry during the night.

Sleep, at least as I remembered it, was no longer something I truly experienced. Rather than drifting into unconsciousness, I entered a strange trance-like state. My body grew still, my senses dulled, and yet I never completely lost awareness of my surroundings. I remained only vaguely conscious of the rustling leaves above me, and I could barely register any other sounds. It was as though only part of me rested while the remainder remained vigilant.

In that peculiar state, my thoughts wandered more freely than they did during the day. I found myself recalling marble palace halls illuminated by golden chandeliers, vast banquet chambers filled with nobles eager to gain my favor. Faces I had not thought about in years appeared before me, some I remembered fondly, while others I remembered with considerably less affection. No matter how much progress I made, no matter how many levels I gained, there remained a part of me that still mourned what I had lost.

I had once ruled an empire. Even after all this time, I still could not remember the circumstances of my death. Had I been assassinated? Struck down by illness? Or did I perhaps die during a military campaign? Speculation was all I had for now, and any true answer remained far out of reach. More than once, I wondered whether my current existence was some elaborate curse inflicted upon me by an enemy. Frankly, there had been no shortage of individuals who would have enjoyed seeing me reduced to my current state.

The uncertainty gnawed at me more than I cared to admit. I did not know where I was or even what year it was. I did not even know whether this was the same world I had once ruled. The forest around me felt alien in a way that was difficult to describe. Certainly, my weakness contributed to that feeling, but it was not the true source of my discomfort. What troubled me most was my ignorance. I had once commanded vast networks of spies and rarely had there been a situation where I lacked answers for long.

Now I lacked answers for almost everything. I often found myself wondering what had become of my empire. Had it survived my death, or had ambitious rivals torn it apart the moment I was gone? Were my achievements remembered, or were they forgotten? Perhaps nobody remembered me at all. Every so often, I would emerge from my trance without consciously choosing to do so. Hunger would stir within me, and instinct would guide my body toward a nearby leaf.

I would nibble away at it for several minutes before returning to my resting place upon the branch. Once there, the strange half-sleep would claim me again, and my thoughts would drift back toward memories of a life that now felt impossibly distant. The cycle repeated itself many times. By the end of the night, I found myself wishing more than ever that this entire caterpillar experience was some bizarre dream from which I would eventually awaken.

But I knew that dreams did not last this long, nor did they feel this real. When morning arrived, I decided I might as well finish what I had started and continue feeding upon the tree's leaves. While devouring foliage remained an inefficient method of gaining experience, I was only a single level away from reaching Level Ten. Abandoning such an abundant source of food now would have been wasteful. I moved steadily from leaf to leaf, carving away small portions while keeping a careful watch on the forest below.

The elevated branch provided an excellent vantage point, allowing me to observe the countless creatures moving through the undergrowth while remaining relatively safe from most of them. At one point, a deer wandered beneath my tree. The animal appeared young, perhaps not yet fully grown, but from my perspective it was still enormous. It weaved between plants and fallen logs with an ease that I found mildly irritating. Not long ago, creatures of that size would have barely warranted my attention.

Now, I found myself staring at one as though it were some towering giant. Then, an idea occurred to me, though it might be a very stupid idea. I briefly considered dropping onto the deer and allowing my poison to do the rest. If merely being held inside a frog's mouth had been enough to kill it, then perhaps physical contact alone might be sufficient to poison larger creatures as well. The experience reward for slaying something of that size would undoubtedly be substantial.

Regrettably, the plan suffered from several flaws. First, I was positioned rather high above the ground. A fall from this height carried risks that I was not particularly eager to test. Second, there was no guarantee I would even land on the deer in the first place. Given my size, the odds of missing entirely and crashing into the forest floor seemed uncomfortably high.

As appealing as the potential reward sounded, in the end, I concluded that hurling myself from a tree in pursuit of a speculative gain was not ideal. So I stayed where I was and continued eating leaves. The experience gains were pitiful, but they accumulated steadily enough. By the time evening approached, I could feel myself drawing closer and closer to the threshold I had been pursuing. Then, the familiar glow of System notifications appeared before me. [Experience Awarded] [You have Leveled Up! 9 >> 10] [Vitality +1] [Evolution is now available!] Evolution? Now that was something entirely new. Whatever this Evolution was, it had required ten levels to unlock. The System rarely withheld rewards without reason, which strongly suggested that this was considerably more significant than a simple stat increase or trait selection. With a thought, I directed a question toward the System. What exactly did Evolution entail?

[Evolution is the process by which monsters become stronger through the acquisition of an upgraded form. Each Evolution increases a monster's overall capabilities exponentially and may grant access to unique skills and traits.] This was precisely the sort of reward I had been hoping for. For the first time since my rebirth, I was being offered the opportunity to become something more than a simple caterpillar. Perhaps I would evolve into some form of butterfly and finally acquire the ability to fly.

Freedom of movement would transform my situation entirely, allowing me to travel, explore, and avoid many of the dangers that currently plagued my existence. Of course, there was also the possibility that the System had something far more interesting in mind. Either way, I had no intention of delaying any longer. I opened the Evolution menu to examine the options available to me. [Displaying evolution options] 1. Adamant Caterpillar 2. Spinecrown Caterpillar 3. Silkbinder Catterpillar