I wanted to head toward the lake quickly, but I suddenly stopped. I couldn't take a single step forward, as there were strange creatures crawling near the water's edge. They looked like cockroaches… but not like any cockroaches I had ever seen in my life.
They were several times larger, their bodies flattened and divided into thick segments, their color a disgusting mix of dark black and sticky brown. Their many legs ended in sharp tips that dug into the ground with every movement.
As for their eyes… they were small and numerous, scattered across their heads in a way that sent chills down my spine.
The moment I saw them, I almost threw up, but I held myself together. There wasn't much in my stomach to begin with, and I didn't want to feel hungry again and be forced to eat that disgusting fruit once more. So I swallowed my saliva with difficulty, then turned my gaze toward the lake.
I was extremely thirsty, so I tried to use my mind and began muttering in a low voice:
How am I going to get water without those cockroaches noticing anything? Do I run quickly, drink, then come back before they notice me?
Then I hit my head in irritation.
I said to myself: You idiot. How are you going to run with your injured leg, drink the water, and come back without them noticing you? And even if your leg wasn't injured, how would you get close without those creatures sensing your presence? Do you think you have the ability to become invisible? Or are you just stupid?
Well… I know I'm stupid, but I need to stop hitting myself, or I'll become even stupider than I already am.
I then thought about searching for another source of water, but I wasn't very confident in my ability to find one. I had found this lake by pure chance, so I needed to think carefully.
I kept thinking for long seconds…
until an idea suddenly came to mind.
Wasn't it written in my status that I'm a mage?
Doesn't that mean I'm capable of using magic… like launching a fireball?
When this idea came to me, I felt genuine astonishment. I said to myself: Wow… I've always loved the idea of being a mage since I was a child. I was always pretending to shoot fire from my hands. I never imagined that a dream like this could actually come true. They weren't lying when they said: never stop chasing your dreams no matter what happens, because the more you persist and work hard to achieve your dream, the more likely it is to come true one day.
I raised my hand in front of me and focused with everything I had, then muttered in a low voice:
Come, O fire… gather around me, I'm calling you.
I tried to use magic, but nothing came out of my hand. I waited a few seconds, and nothing happened. I asked the system about the method of using magic, but it didn't answer me. I cursed quietly, then told myself that I needed to think more seriously.
That's when another idea came to mind. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I said: Well… let's try. We won't lose anything anyway.
I looked around, then bent down and picked up two stones from the ground, stepping back two steps. I gripped them tightly, targeted the nearest cockroach, and threw both stones at it at the same time.
The stones shot out of my hands at a speed I never expected. They struck the cockroach forcefully, causing it to stagger several steps backward and emit a sharp, strange sound when it was hit.
As for me, I froze in place for a moment in shock, then quickly hid so the cockroaches wouldn't see me. While hiding, I wondered in disbelief: how did I even obtain this strength in the first place? I found no answer, so I decided to think about it later.
I turned my gaze toward the cockroaches and saw them moving in agitation in all directions. Even I was shocked by their reaction, but I didn't stop. I picked up several more stones and threw them at them again, but only one was hit. After all, I was really bad at aiming.
The cockroach that was hit made the same sound again, while the others began looking around everywhere searching for me, but they couldn't find me. I was playing a game of hit-and-hide with them.
This time, I grabbed five stones at once and threw them all at the same time toward them. All of them struck a single cockroach.
Its body slammed violently into the ground, and one of the rocks pierced its skin, causing a thick, sticky green liquid with a suffocating stench to burst out. The cockroach let out a sharp scream that tore through the air.
The other cockroaches immediately gathered around it, moving at an unexpected speed, as if trying to protect it. They surrounded it with their bodies, then retreated all at once, dragging it with them as they quickly moved away from the lake.
I stared at the scene that had unfolded before me with an expression of disbelief.
"…What the hell did I just see?"
I didn't expect things to turn out this way, and I never imagined my random chaos would actually work. My mind needed a moment to process what had happened before I muttered quietly: I'm really a genius.
I let out a small laugh, then lifted my gaze forward toward the lake, ready to take another step…
But then I heard a sound behind me.
A chill ran down my spine, and I quickly turned toward the source of the sound.
Disgusting…
One of the disgusting cockroaches was directly behind me.
It didn't give me a chance to process what was happening. It lunged at me rapidly, opened its small mouth, and sank its teeth into my body. I almost screamed, but I stopped myself so my screams wouldn't attract other cockroaches.
I grabbed the cockroach with both hands, trying to push it away, but I couldn't. It dug its teeth deeper into my body, and the pain flared intensely. My mind was working at a frantic speed until my eyes landed on a sharp branch near my foot.
I tried to reach for it with my hand, but the cockroach prevented me from moving. I couldn't reach it with my hand, so I quickly used my foot to pull it closer, then grabbed it with all my strength and plunged it straight into its head.
But it didn't stop.
It continued biting into my body as if the stab meant nothing.
I screamed inside myself:
"Get away… get away… get away!"
I repeated the words over and over in my head while continuing to stab its head with the branch again and again, until the pressure of its jaws gradually weakened, before it finally collapsed on top of me, completely still.
I remained frozen in place for several seconds, gasping for breath, my body trembling, and the disgusting stench of its sticky fluid filling my nose…