**【Nephila Jurassic LV13】**

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**【Nephila Jurassic】**  
- Its body length is approximately 7 cm, but its leg span exceeds 15 cm, making it a gigantic spider.  
- It primarily feeds on insects, lizards, or small dinosaur hatchlings and is highly skilled in using webs to capture prey.  
- It is also known as the "Mongolian Arachne."

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**Mongolian Arachne?**

Mongolia?

Does that mean I'm in Mongolia?

No, it doesn’t matter. This world has both Oviraptors and gecko lizards at the same time, so thinking about geography is useless.

The real issue here is that there’s a spider in front of me that’s much larger than I am.

I stayed calm. Its appearance may be intimidating, but who knows, maybe it's kind-hearted inside.

"Hello, Mr. Spider."

I tried tilting my head in a friendly greeting.

"Ki-eek!"

The spider clashed its two front legs together, making a sharp sound.

Fifteen centimeters? That’s a gross understatement—just from a glance, it looked twice that size.

The idea that this creature eats small dinosaur hatchlings wasn’t an exaggeration after all.

I prepared to escape, carefully watching its movements.

But then, the spider glanced at me briefly and turned its head away as if uninterested.

"Ki-eek."

What?

Did it just… back off?

Maybe the green gecko is a natural enemy of this spider species?

I entertained the thought, but the truth became apparent soon enough.

**【Caligramma LV3】**  
**【Caligramma LV1】**  
**【Caligramma LV1】**

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**【Caligramma】**  
- Its body length is around 5 cm. Despite its butterfly-like appearance, it is classified as a dragonfly.  
- It does not eat meat, feeding on nectar with its long proboscis.  
- The patterns on its wings resemble the eyes of larger creatures, helping it to deter predators.

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The spider’s web was full of prey. It didn’t need to worry about me.

If it were a tarantula, maybe it would have attacked, but a web-spinning spider like this rarely makes the first move. Also, my size wasn’t that small either.

I might not be fully grown, but I was at least 10 cm long. So unless I got caught in its web, there was no reason for it to fight me.

In short, the spider decided to ignore me. I would do the same.

Still, sharing the same space didn’t seem ideal, so I decided to move a little further away.

It’s not because I was scared or anything.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

I climbed onto a nearby branch and crawled toward a cluster of leaves.

There was no one else in this spot. So, it seemed relatively safe.

After being chased right after hatching, I hadn’t had the chance to reflect. Now that I had a little breathing room, I needed to gather information and use it wisely.

Let’s assess the situation.

I had been reincarnated as a gecko lizard.

Given that I had HP, MP, skills, and a status window, it was clear that I wasn’t in the same world I once knew.

Right, skills.

If there was a status window, there should be a skill window too.

“Skill window!”

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**【Skills】**  
「Tail Severing LV1」「Wall Climbing LV1」「Cold Blood LV1」「Predation LV1」「Wild Eye LV1」「Tail Severing LV1」

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There were more skills than I expected.

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**「Wall Climbing LV1」**  
You can climb walls using the pads on a gecko’s feet.

**「Cold Blood LV1」**  
As a cold-blooded creature, you possess resistance to mental attacks and can maintain calm in extreme situations.

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These were very typical gecko-like skills.

The “Cold Blood” ability looked especially useful. I didn’t know what a “mental attack” was, but being able to stay calm in any situation would always be an advantage.

Maybe the reason I hadn’t freaked out after suddenly becoming a lizard was thanks to this skill.

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**「Predation LV1」**  
You can consume prey, exceeding the normal limit, and convert the excess into experience points.

**「Wild Eye LV1」**  
You can observe targets in greater detail.

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Predation and Wild Eye.

These felt like basic starter perks you’d get in an isekai world.

They weren’t attack skills, which was a bit disappointing, but they still seemed useful.

Wait, why do I have two “Tail Severing” skills?

I read both skill descriptions, but they were identical.

"Severs the tail." How unhelpfully vague.

...Is this a bug?

The only plausible explanation I could come up with was that “Tail Severing” was a basic skill that came with being a gecko, like “Wall Climbing.”

Then, as part of my reincarnation perk, I got another “Tail Severing” skill.

...This is ridiculous.

If I’m reincarnated as a gecko, shouldn’t I at least get some powerful skills? Like, I don’t know, *Heavenly Demon Power* or maybe *Dragon’s Breath*?

But "Tail Severing"? And a duplicate at that?

I was getting annoyed.

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**[Cold Blood has activated.]**

---

My emotions suddenly cooled down as if by their own will.

This annoyed me further, but I knew now wasn’t the time to lose my temper.

Given the relatively peaceful situation, I needed to figure out what to do next.

The most pressing issue?

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**[Warning! HP is low!]**

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My HP was sitting at 1.

Even the slightest touch could prove fatal right now.

I needed to recover HP.

I didn’t know the exact method, but I had a guess.

One of my skills, "Predation," seemed to imply that eating something would restore HP.

Even if it didn’t, gaining experience points from eating might help me level up and restore my HP that way.

I wasn’t aiming for a level-up. Right now, I just needed to restore some HP.

What could I eat?

I licked a nearby leaf.

Maybe I was a herbivorous lizard?

The taste of bitter chlorophyll spread across my tongue.

Whether chlorophyll even had a taste, I wasn’t sure, but either way, I knew I couldn’t survive on plants.

As the skill had indicated, I needed to hunt small bugs.

Small bugs, huh…

I glanced over at the Nephila Jurassic’s web.

It was full of juicy-looking bugs dangling from the threads.

There were so many, surely the spider wouldn’t miss just one, right?

I swallowed hard.

Maybe I should just ask.

"Ge-ge-geck."

"Hey, I just moved into the neighborhood. Could I maybe borrow one bug?"

"Ki-eek!"

The spider whipped its long legs around angrily. It wasn’t in the mood for any favors.

I quickly gave up.

By giving up, I mean giving up on asking nicely, of course.

Who needs permission when it’s easier to ask for forgiveness?

I crept closer to the web, moving as silently as possible.

Spiders may have many eyes, but their eyesight isn’t great. Instead, they rely on the vibrations in their web to sense prey.

In other words, as long as I didn’t touch the web, I could get close without any problems.

I slithered silently.

This stealth business felt like second nature to me.

Soon, I was right next to the web. The spider still hadn’t noticed me.

I stared at my tail.

It had fully regrown and looked plump and delicious.

...What am I even thinking?

My low HP must be making me delirious.

Even if the spider couldn’t see well, I would eventually get caught.

My goal was to grab one of the bugs caught in the web, which meant there was no avoiding detection.

If I was going to get caught anyway, it was better to choose when.

“Tail Severing!”

As my tail detached, I felt a lightness in my body.

I didn’t lose any HP, but I did feel a little hungrier.

Carefully, I picked up my severed tail and threw it into a corner of the web.

"Ki-eek!"

The spider reacted immediately.

My tail squirmed wildly in the web.

Good job, tail.

"Ki-eek?"

The spider tilted its head in confusion.

The more the tail thrashed, the more the web shook.

The spider crouched down, carefully observing the situation.

Even though prey was caught, spiders don’t usually pounce right away.

They wait for their prey to tire out before wrapping them in silk. It was a careful hunting strategy.

For now, the spider’s full attention was on my tail.

...Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.

“Tail Severing!”

Just in case, I used the skill again.

Something incredible happened.

The already severed tail split into two.

And I felt even lighter.

The effect stacked.

The spider was completely baffled. It had mistaken the movement of my tails for a predator large enough to destroy its web.

This distraction wouldn’t last forever, though. The more the tails moved, the more tangled they’d become.

But I didn’t need much time.

*Tap!*

I quickly snatched one of the butterflies from the edge of the web. Surprisingly, it came off easily. Holding the butterfly tight, I dashed away without looking back.

*Tap, tap, tap!*

Mission accomplished.

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**【Green Gecko LV1】**  
HP: 1/7  

MP: 0/3

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Pulling off a double *Tail Severing* had been a big help.

Without it, I might have still succeeded, but the risk would’ve been much higher.

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**[MP is fully depleted. All activities are now penalized.]**

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The status window gave me another warning.

I’d have to leave at least 1 MP from now on.

With no HP and no MP left, I stared at the butterfly wrapped in web.

Eating bugs wasn’t exactly my preference.

But survival comes first.

I took a big bite.

*Crunch.*

The crispy texture was surprisingly pleasant.

I’d expected something squishy, but it had dried out into a jerky-like state.

Being tied up in the spider’s web for so long had mummified the butterfly. Now it was like insect jerky.

Not bad. It wasn’t delicious, but it filled my stomach.

Although I hadn’t checked the status window, I could feel my HP and MP recovering. My full stomach probably helped with that. After finishing the butterfly, the status window gave me some good news.

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**[Level Up!]**

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Oh.

I had expected this, but actually leveling up still felt strange.

*Rustle.*

My skin started to itch.

*Tug.*

A thin white film began peeling from my body.

...Was this molting?

I quickly shed my skin. From what I’d seen in videos, lizards usually take a long time to molt, but I managed it in the blink of an eye.

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**【Green Gecko LV2】**  
HP: 9/9  
MP: 5/5

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I was no longer a Level 1 green gecko. I had been reborn as a Level 2 green gecko.

Naturally, my tail had regrown, and I felt like I’d gotten a bit bigger too.

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**[You’ve achieved the 'Raptor’s Astonishment' accomplishment! You’ve used *Tail Severing* twice in a row and survived!]**

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Huh? An accomplishment?

Was I being praised?

Come on, it’s nothing to get excited about.

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**[Using *Tail Severing* is typically a last-ditch move before death. You managed to use it twice and still live.]**

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Well, that’s all thanks to my tail.

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**[It’s surprising enough that you had two identical, mediocre skills, but you’ve gone beyond that and even leveled up!]**

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...Wait a minute. That sounds like an insult.

"Ge-geck."

I let out a low grumble, expressing my displeasure.

Not only had I been reincarnated as one of the weakest creatures, but I’d also been given duplicate skills. I had every right to be upset.

The status window had a way of rubbing salt in the wound by rewarding me with achievements.

I really didn’t like this status system.

If the design sucks, it should at least be polite.

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**[Congratulations! As a reward, you’ve obtained *Sprint LV1*.]**

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...Whoever designed this status window, you’re amazing.

The best.