Then the smell hit Yuuta.
The rancid stench of burnt flesh, cooked guts, and melted armor clung to the air like rot on wet wood. Blood mist slowly drifted in the canyon breeze, casting a faint red haze across the battlefield. Yuuta, hunched at the shattered slab of rock that had saved his slimy ass.
"Disgusting piece of shit" Yuuta said, staggering forward on his two stubby frog legs.
He made his way across the battlefield, his steps wet and squishy from the blood-soaked ground. Shards of bone and smears of intestine decorated his path like the worst kind of confetti. But Yuuta didn't care—not when his frog eyes sparkled with something far more important.
Gold.
A shimmering pile of coins littered the debris like treasure scattered from a dragon's hoard. Next to them, floating just a few inches off the bloodied ground, were dozens of glowing orbs—XP balls, the size of bowling balls, pulsating with soft blue light.
Yuuta's jaw practically unhinged.
"Oh Fuck Yes."
He sprinted forward like a cracked-out frog on steroids. His movements were fast, erratic, flailing even—like watching a sock puppet getting possessed mid-air—but he didn't give a shit. For a normal person watching, it would've been either hilariously absurd or terrifyingly cursed.
But for Yuuta?
It was a damn victory parade.
As he crossed the five-meter mark, a handful of gold coins suddenly zipped through the air like magnetic bullets. They clinked into his body with satisfying pings, and his system went wild.
[+1 Gold Coin]
[+1 Gold Coin]
[+1 Gold Coin]
"Keep it coming, baby," Yuuta grinned, spinning in place like a drunk ballerina. "Papa needs to buy some beautiful slaves."
Then, one of the nearest XP balls surged toward him, smacking him square in the gut before dissolving into mist. A system prompt followed immediately.
[+4% XP Gained]
Yuuta's grin twisted into something feral. "Oh, you're mine. You're all mine."
He bolted toward the cluster of XP balls like a frog possessed, arms outstretched, greed seeping from every pore of his green slimy body. One by one, the orbs flew into him, bursting into streams of light and washing over him with that sweet, warm feeling of power.
Another.
And another.
And another.
Each XP ball made his heart race faster, his vision sharpen, his tongue itch with excitement. By the time he hit the twenty-fifth orb, his body jolted, and the world pulsed around him.
[DING!]
[Congratulations: You have leveled up!]
[New Level: 3]
"FUCK YES!" Yuuta roared, arms raised like he just won the lottery. "Suck it, you ugly walking bacon fat!"
Then everything stopped.
The canyon froze.
Colors drained from the world, replaced by grayscale. Dust halted mid-air. A drop of blood hovering inches from the ground remained suspended, time paused like the universe was holding its breath.
Yuuta's celebration froze mid-jump as he looked around.
The air warped, and three small black vortexes spun into existence above him. They pulsed ominously, magic vibrating through the stone around them. From each one, a card slowly descended, shimmering with a faint glow.
The same ritual.
The same choice.
His next power-up.
Yuuta grinned again, stretching his froggy arms with a loud crack. His wide frog eyes twitched as he rubbed his slimy hands together like a fucking gremlin. "Fuuuck yes," he whispered, hopping in place on his squat, muscular frog legs. To anyone watching, it would've looked like a cursed, bipedal toad trying to cosplay as a horny lottery winner.
He eyed the left card first, eyes narrowing with anticipation.
The design was familiar.
"Wait a second," he muttered, leaning in with his froggy snout.
It was the same fucking spell from before.
[LIGHTNING STRUCK]
_____________________________________
[Randomly strikes a single enemy with lightning every 10 seconds.
Star Rank: ----- (Unupgraded)]
____________________________________
Yuuta groaned. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He slapped his forehead. "Didn't I already pass on this useless roulette bullshit? I ain't here to gamble, I'm here to nuke things with style, not wait like a dickless frog version of a thunder gambler!"
He waved it off and shuffled over to the middle card like a sulking brat forced to look at socks on Christmas.
But then the card shimmered, revealing a new design: a slick pair of leather boots with tiny wings flaring off the sides.
Yuuta's frog face twisted into a crooked grin.
[SPEED INCREASE]
___________________________________
[Increase movement speed by 5%.
Star Rank: ----- (Unupgraded)]
__________________________________
That grin immediately melted into a scowl.
"Five… fucking… percent?" His voice cracked with rage. "Are you serious right now?!"
He pointed at the card like it had just insulted his nonexistent frog balls. "You're telling me I turned that pig into fried bacon bits, crawled outta hell, and for that I get five percent more speed? What is this? RPG for the disabled?! It's fucking useless to me in the early stages."
Yuuta paced in circles, ranting like a madman.
"Besides no one's gonna notice a 5% increase when my base speed's already a damn joke. That's like pouring a single drop of piss into the ocean and expecting people to taste it!"
He almost stomped on the card in pure spite. Only the fact that he didn't know what it might do stopped to him. Probably zap him in the ass just for thinking about it.
Still grumbling, he finally turned to the last card, muttering curses under his breath.
Then he saw it.
The card's design sent a chill through his slimy back. Unlike the first lightning spell, this one didn't have clouds or rain or any divine pretenses. This card had a black wand cracked in the middle with jagged lightning bolts erupting out of both ends. Arcs of power danced across the image like a storm caged in ink.
[LIGHTNING BOLT]
_________________________________
[Summon a lightning bolt.
Can deal chain lightning damage—MaxTarget—[Depending on The Distance of Each Enemy].
Can stun enemy [Depending on Strength].
Cooldown: 3 seconds.
Star Rank: ----- (Unupgraded)]
__________________________________
Yuuta's eyes widened like saucers.
He croaked.
Then he jumped—literally—leaping into the air with the kind of wild joy only a naked, battle-hardened frogman could embody. His tongue flailed from his mouth like a flag of victory as he spun mid-air.
"FUUUUUUUCK YES!" he screeched, voice echoing through the paused grayscale world.
He landed on the dusty ground with a squelch and started hopping in a frantic circle, giggling like a lunatic. "Chain lightning! Chain fucking lightning! Oh baby, daddy's gonna cook! That's the same with my magic missile..... Maybe"
Yuuta danced with zero shame, frog legs flopping, body jiggling like a sack of wet noodles. If any sane person were to witness this deranged little amphibian losing his ass over a magic card, they'd either die laughing or commit it to memory just to have nightmare fuel for the rest of their life.
He clenched his slimy fists and repeated the spell's name like he was chanting an incantation to summon some ancient god of violence. "Lightning Bolt. Lightning Bolt. Lightning fucking Bolt!" His voice cracked as he recited the spell's description like a national anthem.
"Chain lightning damage. MaxTarget, who knows. Can stun the enemy, maybe. Cooldown? Three damn seconds!" His throat gurgled in disbelief.
Yuuta dramatically dropped to his knees, arms spread wide, staring up at the floating card like it was the second coming of mana itself. "This is it… this is justice. This is for my missing dick, for that ugly fat pig, for getting sent to frog isekai hell!"
He clutched his chest like he'd just won a billion dollars. He stood up, wiped a fake tear from the corner of his giant eye, and reached out toward the glowing card.
"Alright baby, you're mine now. Let's light some shit up."
The moment his webbed hand touched the card, a pulse of electricity surged through the world. The monochrome world cracked and bled color. The ground trembled slightly as the card disintegrated into sparkling energy, rushing into Yuuta's chest like a voltage shot straight to the soul.
Yuuta spasmed briefly.
Then he exhaled with a raspy chuckle. "Ohh… yeah. That's the good stuff."
As the world returned to motion, with sound rushing back into his ears like a tidal wave, he stood in the middle of the canyon battlefield—bloody, broken, debris-covered—and felt stronger.
Not in body, not even in mind.
But in firepower.
"Let's see who wants to fuck with me now," he muttered with a smirk, turning back toward the horizon. "Next pig, wolf, or eldritch bastard that shows up? I'm chain-frying your ugly ass."
He cracked his knuckles.