**Sprint.**

Finally, a skill that’s worthy of being called a skill.

Though, to be honest, the name "Sprint" wasn’t exactly thrilling. It just meant running fast.  
But compared to *Tail Severing*, it was a thousand times better.

---

**「Sprint LV1」**  
The power of wind imbues the user’s body. Speed increases dramatically.  
MP cost: 2

---

The description alone was impressive.  
It didn’t just say, “Run faster.” It mentioned the power of wind imbuing my body.  

Who am I?  
The owner of *Sprint*, the mighty Green Gecko LV2.

A chuckle escaped me.

"Ge-ge-geck!"

I let out something like a triumphant roar, savoring the meaning behind the skill.  
The power of wind—sounds like something out of a fantasy novel.  
But even though the description was fancy, I couldn’t fully grasp its effect just by reading it.

With my HP and MP recovered, it was time to test the capabilities of my new skill.

**“Sprint!”**

---

**[The power of wind imbues your body.]**

---

Oh.  
My body felt lighter.  
I experienced a similar sensation when using *Tail Severing*, but that was because I had cut off my tail, reducing my weight. But this time, my tail was still attached. The only thing that changed was my speed.

*Tap, tap, tap!*

I sprinted at full speed. The increase in velocity was clear—I felt at least twice as fast.  
Of course, I’d experienced this speed before, using the double-layered *Tail Severing*.  
If this was all *Sprint* offered, I would have been disappointed. But what if I combined *Sprint* with *Tail Severing*?

I would become the fastest gecko alive.

**“Tail Severing!”**

The lightness and the burst in speed were instantaneous.  
But I wasn’t satisfied just yet.

**“Tail Severing!”**

I did it again—double *Tail Severing*.

Now, I was moving at an incredible speed, so fast I could hardly control it.

*Zing!*

It took me only 5 seconds to travel from one end of the branch to the other.  
I could now feel what the "power of wind" truly meant.

At this rate, could I even outrun an Oviraptor in a race?

I had used 4 MP, but it didn’t feel wasted.

This experiment had given me an idea about how to replenish MP.

---

**【Green Gecko LV6】**  
HP: 24/24  
MP: 10/10

---

The mightiest gecko has been born.

After a fierce battle against Nephila Jurassic, I became a super gecko.

Well, I didn’t exactly defeat it.  
No matter how fast I’d become, I hadn’t grown strong enough to fight that spider head-on. Its web was my nemesis; the moment I slowed down, I’d be dead.

But there was one reason I’d managed to level up so much.

---

**【Caligramma LV3】**

---

I stole all the spider’s prey.

I did feel a bit guilty, but what could I do?

---

**[The effect of Cold Blood has activated.]**

---

My blood runs cold, after all.

At least I wasn’t starving. Every time I stole a meal, I left the spider a tail.  
With my tails being so plump, maybe it didn’t mind.  
In fact, the spider might even prefer lizard tail meat over the dry insects.

Would my own tail taste good?  
I shook my head.  
If I discovered how delicious my tail was, I might end up like an Ouroboros, eating myself.

...An Ouroboros as a gecko?  
Now I was just being ridiculous.

Still, I couldn’t help it. I’d reached level 6 in less than a day. Was that impressive? Or was it average?  
Either way, I decided to pat myself on the back. Positive thinking might even earn me a new skill.  
...Or maybe not.

Reaching level 6 had taught me several things.

Not only did eating through *Predation* replenish my hunger, but defeating enemies also granted experience points.  
When I bit into a still-living butterfly, I gained a level.

Eating for experience felt more like a bonus.

I also confirmed that leveling up restored HP and MP, and that when my stomach was full, my HP and MP slowly regenerated.

In short, I needed to eat.  
Eating made me stronger.

Why did I need to get stronger? Simple.  
This world was teeming with monsters.  
Though I hadn’t ventured down from the trees, I had observed them secretly.

This world was full of dinosaurs.

There were peaceful herbivores, but I also saw packs of raptors hunting in groups.  
Surviving in this world as a mere lizard would be impossible.

It would be nice to leave this lizard body behind, but I hadn’t found a way to do that yet.

Born as a gecko lizard—what can I do but make the best of it?

If I kept leveling up, I could at least sneak around these monsters without being caught.

---

**【Skills】**  
「Tail Severing LV6」「Wall Climbing LV3」「Cold Blood LV2」「Predation LV1」「Wild Eye LV1」「Tail Severing LV1」「Sprint LV2」「Stealth LV2」

---

My skill window had changed significantly since I was level 2. The more I used a skill, the higher its level rose, and through my repeated sneaking around the spider’s web, I gained the *Stealth* skill.

By hunting for food and leveling up, I would naturally become stronger.

Now that I knew how to grow stronger, I just had to put it into action.

But there was a problem.

I’d eaten all the insects caught in the spider’s web.

As tempting as it was to fight the spider, I quickly gave up. I wasn’t ready to face it in a one-on-one fight. Besides, with the spider around, it would continue delivering food to me in the future.

I decided to look for other prey.

The spider didn’t own the whole tree.  
It only occupied one branch.  
That meant there had to be other creatures elsewhere.

I walked with pride.  
Not crawled—walked.

By standing on two legs and using my tail for balance, I managed to hold myself upright.  
There was no particular reason for this action.  
At best, it gave me a slightly better view and made me look a little bigger. Maybe that would scare off potential predators.

Honestly, though, I did it more out of a lingering sense of human identity.

I moved on to a second branch.

No one was here.

At least, not that I could see with my bare eyes.

---

**【Acacia Aphid LV1】**  
**【Acacia Aphid LV1】**  
**【Acacia Aphid LV1】**  
**【Acacia Aphid LV1】**

---

Using *Wild Eye*, I could see what was invisible before.  
They were so tiny I almost missed them.

---

**【Acacia Aphid】**  
- A tiny 1mm insect that feeds on plant sap. It is a common pest.  
- Its combat abilities are nonexistent, but it produces sweet substances after digesting sap, which often leads to a symbiotic relationship with ants.

---

Oh.  
Aphids.

If these are acacia aphids, does that mean this tree is an acacia?

It doesn’t really look like one.

Either way, aphids are the weakest of the weak.  
Fighting aphids as my first opponents felt a bit underwhelming.

I wouldn’t even need *Tail Severing* for this.  
It was time for a massacre.

*Wahng.*

In one lick, I scooped up five or six aphids.

They were so small it was almost frustrating.

Still, the taste wasn’t bad. The aphids had a pleasant popping texture and a sweet flavor.  
Even aside from leveling up, I might hunt them just for their taste.

The aphids began fleeing in all directions.

Watching them run from me filled me with a strange sense of omnipotence.

To these aphids, I must seem like a giant dinosaur.

I stretched out my tongue like a sweeping vacuum, collecting them effortlessly.

It was like half leaves, half aphids in my mouth.

I savored the sweet flavor filling my cheeks.

...But no matter how much I ate, I didn’t feel full.  
It would probably take a thousand of these to gain just one level.

While they provided plenty of nutrition, I wasn’t hunting them just for sustenance.

Still, food is food.

*Wahng.*

After devouring all the trembling aphids, I lightly patted my stomach.

There was still a cluster of aphids gathered on a nearby leaf.

Before finishing them off, an idea came to mind.

Eating them all wouldn’t result in a level-up anyway.  
So why not invest them for tomorrow?

I bit the leaf off the branch and placed it carefully on my tail before heading toward Nephila Jurassic’s nest.

"Ge-ge-geck."

I made a deliberate noise, and the spider appeared, tense and alert.

Even though spiders have poor eyesight, it was staring directly at me.

"Ki-eek!"

It flailed its arms in anger.  
Maybe it was mad that I had stolen so much of its food.

I’d be mad too.

I carefully stuck the aphid-covered leaf onto the spider’s web.

"Ki-eek!"

And then I quickly retreated as the spider rushed toward me.

When it reached the

 leaf, the spider hesitated.

"Keek?"

It poked at the aphids with its legs, unsure what to make of them.

Since the aphids were already dead, it didn’t need to wrap them in webbing.  
The spider glanced at me before hungrily devouring the aphids.

For me, the aphids were too small.  
But for survival, they were a great energy boost for the spider. Aphids were basically sugar bombs.

As the spider finished eating, I tossed it a few more aphid-covered leaves.

"Hi-eek!"

Was that a... cute cry? Maybe I was imagining it.

Yeah, eat up.

Eat plenty and get stronger so you can catch even tastier bugs for me.

---

Night had fallen.  
It was time to sleep.  

But I was starting to feel a bit chilly.  
I quickly tore off some leaves and fashioned a nest.  
It wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t in danger of freezing to death.

I curled up and tried to sleep.  
But I had forgotten one critical thing.

Geckos can’t close their eyes.

With no eyelids, I couldn’t close my eyes even if I wanted to.

Like all wild lizards, I would have to sleep with my eyes open.  
This was going to be tough—I’d never done this before.

I chewed through some leaves with my mouth.  
I cut them into small pieces and draped them over my eyes like makeshift blindfolds.

Good, now I couldn’t see.

Finally, I was ready to sleep.

...

But I couldn’t.

Why not?

Was I a nocturnal creature?

Then what was I doing being active all day?

Nocturnal or not, now was the time to sleep.  
I needed to rest while it was still safe.

One raptor, two raptors.  
I started counting dinosaurs instead of sheep.

To my surprise, it worked.

Six raptors, one T-rex.

...Now a full-bellied T-rex.

My thoughts drifted away.  
The T-rex... the mech T-rex...  
Somehow, the T-rex in my imagination evolved into a golden mech T-rex.  
But just as I was about to admire its majestic form, something else came into view.

---

**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**

---

Just an ordinary ant.

Leave Green Gecko LV6 alone and go away.

---

**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**  
**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**  
**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**  
**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**  
**【Acacia Fire Ant LV1】**

---

But this was no time to be casual.

The ants were a swarm.