บท 9: Heavy Rain
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
System had encountered ants many times ever since he had come to this world. Each time, he would see a different ant, black, dark red, dark brown, and different in color and size.
Apparently, these different populations of ants bred well in this forest.
The several encounters with the ants and he fleeing in disarray brought out System's resentment. He could not wait to take revenge on them.
However, after calming down, he knew it would be hard.
Even if System grew into a large grasshopper, it would be difficult to defeat the ants head-on. Also, there were so many species of ants in the forest that he could not find his target for revenge.
…
After successive jumps, System returned to the tree with the butterfly pupae.
Hours had passed, and the ants should have found the worm carcasses in the flame path. Hence, System did not waste time searching for such carcasses.
For System, the pupae were the most stable food source as they would keep him fed for a dozen days.
As long as he found a way to destroy the pupae, System would not have to worry about finding meat for the next ten days. He could also undergo his second metamorphosis into an adult grasshopper safely. He may even undergo the third metamorphosis if he was lucky.
System swung his mandibles at the silk thread that held the pupae to the bark. Soon, a pupa fell off the bark.
System was not expecting the falling pupa to shatter. He just tested to see if he could get them to fall to the ground.
The pupa's shell was even harder than the sturdiest exoskeleton of a katydid's head, and System had yet to find a way to break it even after his level-up.
However, it was not that System had thought of no way. On the contrary, he had come up with a very shady method that could wipe out the pupae.
System thought of burying the fallen pupae with soil, dead branches, and broken leaves. It was like a seed buried in the soil. By burying a pupa in the spring, he would harvest a butterfly or moth in the autumn.
System's idea seemed to be very childish, stupid, and ridiculous.
However, it was deadly for the butterflies that would be very vulnerable in the first few minutes when their pupae were broken. And one could easily imagine the consequences if their stretched wings were exposed to soil and dead leaves.
After breaking their pupae shell, there was a nearly 90% chance that their wings would become deformed when in contact with soil and dead leaves, thus losing the possibility of survival completely.
Naturally, this shady method would not do him any good, as burying the pupae would waste a lot of his time. Simultaneously, waiting for these pupae to hatch also brought the problem back to square one.
How long did he have to wait if these butterflies would only hatch after a few months?
After several failed attempts to attack the pupae with wood spikes, the sun set once again.
System jumped back to the lair he had found during his metamorphosis.
As darkness approached, System met another kind of insect hunter—a fast-flying bat in the dense forest.
The sudden appearance of the bat made System abandon his plan to forage for food at night. Although he had [Dark Vision] and [Information Reading] to assist him, his vision was still limited as compared to the daytime. Also, his spirit had been depleted quite a bit, so he could not use [Information Reading] for too long.
In the face of a dark night fraught with danger, it was not a wise plan to go out foraging for food.
…
System, who had been a grasshopper for several days, was getting more comfortable with controlling his body. His body entered a hibernating state with extreme ease, while his mind quickly entered a half-asleep state.
There was some unusual sweltering heat that day, and System, who went into hibernating state in the first half of the night, was awakened three or four times by the sweltering heat.
Each time he woke up, System could only return to normal after taking a few quick abdominal breaths.
System's antennae felt the wet and sultry scent in the air.
"Low pressure and stuffy heat… Is a heavy rain coming?"
As System guessed, it did not take too long for the sporadic drizzle to fall. Then the drizzle fell faster, and chilly weather replaced the stifling heat.
The heavy rain washed System's lair, and the dead leaves kept shaking with the rain's impact. Luckily, the wind was not strong, and the dead leaves stuck in the cracks of the bark were also stable. Thus, System's lair was not in danger of collapsing.
Upon feeling the secured dead leaves above his head, System gradually reassured himself and fell into a hibernating state again.
However, as time passed, System showed a serious expression.
A faint light filtered through the dead leaves and branches. It was dawn, but the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping.
Although he was not directly facing the rainstorm, the splashing rain still made System wet under the leaves. Amid the fierce sound of the rainstorm, System heard the sound of running water coming from below.
The torrential downpour converged into a flowing stream. Although he had not seen it with his own eyes, System, who was hiding among the dead leaves, was able to imagine the rain gathered outside.
He was very lucky that he had not hidden under a dead leaf on the ground as he had on his first night of awakening. If he had done, he would have been washed away by the rain and resigned himself to fate.
During the second day after the rainy night, the heavy rain continued but showed signs of stopping. However, near the evening, the rainstorm turned heavy again, as if it was playing a joke on System, who was sheltered under the dead leaves.
As time passed, besides the rain washing the tree's branches and leaves, System could no longer hear the sound of the rain hitting the ground. What he could hear was the continuous and constant sound of dripping water.
Beneath the tree, where System was located, there should have become a small lake. As for the sound of the turbulent water, it had completely disappeared.
Usually, intense rainstorms were short and would end in a few hours. Unexpectedly, the rainstorm in the forest where System stayed showed no signs of abating for three days.
On the third day of the heavy rain, System was starving, and his body was very stiff due to the low temperature of the constant rain.
System could only be forced to move his body adequately so that the low temperature would not cause the blood in his body to clot. If that were to happen, it would cause his body to become necrotic and disabled.
Nevertheless, exercising would, in turn, make System feel even hungrier. In order to relieve that hunger, System had to keep his body still and reduce physical exertion.
The cold brought by the rain, together with the inability to go out and forage for food, undoubtedly put System into an unimaginable vicious circle.
The hunger in led System to tear the rain-soaked bark with his mandibles, but this did not work. The bark was not something that his mandibles could deal with even after being soaked in the rain.
…
On the fourth day of the heavy rain, System, who was hiding under the dead leaves, finally decided to brave the rain for food.
He might hold out for another day or two, but by then, his physical strength would not be able to support his search for food and he would only be able to passively wait in the dead leaves for the heavy rain to stop.
System did not want to resign himself to his fate…
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