The troll giant thing payed him no mind as it sniffed the air. Why would it when Matt's current body was nearly invisible against the grass and wouldn't plug it's teeth even if he was found? Comparatively speaking, he was more worried about being accidentally stepped on...

After getting whatever prey scent it was looking for, it continued it's rumbling chase in a different direction from where he lay. Matt could finally relax a little tension.

That was a good wake-up call. I had been thinking this was just something like Earth, but that is clearly an unfounded and dangerous assumption. This 'Tutorial World' could have any manner of dangerous animals I don't know about, just like the Assassin Viper that I am currently. Even if something looks like prey I have to treat it like it possesses a fatal threat until it's danger is clearly understood.

He moved back to considering the burrow he had selected for his stake-out.  Fun fact, snakes have excellent senses despite their relatively poor vision and lack of external ears. He could smell things he had no names for, as well as things he did, like wet fur and plants. He also discovered how to use [Infrared Vision] like flipping an internal channel on TV. Though it couldn't be upgraded directly, it was quite powerful as is.

His senses were telling him there was something furry in the hole, and he was now internally debating lying in wait for it to come out on it's own for an ambush or going in on his own. Waiting would be the smart choice, especially since he had no idea what he would find.

Screw it, I'm going in.

Despite it being a bit contradictory with his earlier resolve to treat everything like it possesses a fatal threat, he couldn't afford to go with the patient game. He didn't know what the Divine Games were, but he definitely got the feeling it wouldn't be a friendly contest. He was set for risk no matter what he did, so betting on getting stronger wasn't a wrong move, and to get stronger he needed to eat.

Inside the burrow was dark, so he flipped over to infrared and creeped closer. He could hear something down the tunnel, and as he got closer he recognized it. A rabbit, though it's fur is bright yellow..... Many people have a misunderstanding about rabbits that because they are herbivorous they are somehow harmless. That was bullshit. Rabbits have been known to kill snakes in self defense or even in simple revenge.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

He must have gotten lucky though, as this one was alone and must have just started digging this burrow. It had no room to maneuver or escape, and as he got closer the rabbit must have smelled him. It turned to face him and it's yellow fur started sparking.

Pikachu, is that you?

Not willing to give himself more time to think how the hell that was even possible or rethink the wisdom of this attack, Matt lunged at it. His fangs snapped out and found their mark in the electric rabbit's body, and as his jaws closed it felt like he'd bitten a metal prong inserted in an electrical socket.

Fuck, that hurts!

He'd been planning to let go after injecting a payload of venom to beat a hasty retreat, but as his body spasmed he realized in panic that he couldn't control his muscles to do so. The rabbit went apeshit, and while it didn't have room to bring it's powerful hind legs to bear, biting worked just fine. Matt was powerless to resist, so he just crossed his fingers mentaly and hoped the venom was everything it was described as.

The rabbit had latched onto his neck, but it's teeth seemed unable to puncture through his layer of scales. It held on and started jerked itself in an attempt to inflict tearing injuries as the venom made it to it's heart. The sparking stopped as it spasmed and Matt was finally able to let go. He backed up as the rabbit gave it's final throes.

Holy cow, that took like 15 seconds! They weren't kidding about it being potent enough to take down a boar, though I'd wager it would take a lot longer. Now how to eat this thing?

After a few minutes of a process better left unmentioned he managed to get the rabbit whole down his throat, and was rewarded with a new blue screen.

15 Evolutionary Points gained! 1:12:52 until digestion

There wasn't a lot to do while he waited on account of having a huge lump in his stomach at the moment, but he brought up the [Shop] window to check. 15 points was hardly anything, but one option stuck out to him.

6 Months Natural Growth 10 Evolutionary Points Natural growth for what your species would normally receive in an accelerated timeframe. Consumes lifespan.

It seemed pretty straightforward. It wasn't flashy like some of the skills that he had drooled over, but growing larger would let him swallow bigger things and digest faster instead of struggling like he had with the rabbit. It was also dirt cheap. The loss of lifespan was a problem, but there were plenty of things in the shop that added lifespan as well. He needed to survive now.

He selected it and a sudden overpowering wave of drowsiness struck him. Sleepy....