A Single Leaf Foretells Autumn

This bout of unconsciousness had clearly lasted longer than his previous molt. When System woke, he discovered that he had probably been out for two days, because the standing water in the forest hollow had receded to only about ten centimeters deep.

Just as he had sensed in the sea of numbers before losing consciousness, System's Numerical Code (2/2) had advanced to Numerical Code (3/3), but he had not gained any new abilities.

However, while the strengthening of his Numerical Code talent had been less than ideal, the changes to System's body were tremendous.

His body had grown from five centimeters to six and a half centimeters, more than twice the length of an ordinary adult Green-tailed Grasshopper.

His hind legs had become thicker and more powerful. System felt that he could leap five or six meters in a single bound, more than twice as far as before.

At the same time, his newly formed mandibles were exceptionally sharp and sturdy. System could even use them to leave marks on the bark that he had previously been unable to do anything to.

A pair of sturdy wings had appeared on System's back, and he felt that he could use them to fly continuously for several hours.

But those wings also had an obvious flaw. When System tried flapping them, they let out a thunderous clap-clap-clap-clap.

It sounded somewhat like the roar of a helicopter—imposing and highly intimidating—but for System, who had kept a low profile and sought to survive in peace ever since his rebirth, this was clearly not good news.

Besides the changes to his outward appearance, after becoming an adult grasshopper, some of System's abilities had also improved. His [Green Camouflage] (2/4) had risen to the maximum level, [Green Camouflage] (4/4).

The leaf-vein patterns on his grasshopper body had become more lifelike, and he had gained an ability similar to a chameleon's. As long as he remained on a certain plant for an extended period, the colors and patterns on his body would slowly change to resemble that plant.

Another ability that had improved was the [Foul-Smelling Mucus] (4/7) secreted from the grasshopper's mouth. Due to System's second molt, this skill had undergone a tremendous change, becoming an entirely new derived ability: [Corrosive Mucus] (7/13).

[Corrosive Mucus] (7/13): An ability gained from [Foul-Smelling Mucus], Molting Growth, and Insect Adaptation. Can secrete highly corrosive mucus for attacks, and can also use this corrosive liquid to aid digestion. System's unique derived ability.

System did not know that his acquisition of this entirely new ability was actually related to his unconsciousness.

The power from Molting Growth that had been meant to enhance Numerical Code had failed to produce a new ability, scattering much of its strengthening power. Because System had been unconscious, the remaining power had flowed through the grasshopper body with its blood, randomly strengthening the glands that secreted System's [Foul-Smelling Mucus].

In terms of the result, this ability born from coincidence was a case of a crooked blow hitting the mark.

The newly emerged [Corrosive Mucus] undoubtedly gave System another means of attack. The corrosive liquid secreted by the glands in his throat was extremely potent; within a dozen seconds, it could corrode an equal weight of bark into juice, which he could then drink and reclaim.

With this [Corrosive Mucus], System was confident that he could easily break open those insect pupae that had left him utterly helpless and turn them into food.

When System emerged from the dead leaves once more, he felt that the forest weather had grown somewhat cooler. But thanks to his second molt, the cooling weather had little effect on him, and his body did not stiffen as it had in the past.

System leaped about with ease. After flapping his wings and attempting several short flights, he headed toward the tree covered in butterfly pupae.

Although he had already gained the derived ability [Hunger Resistance], his body was still exceedingly hungry after molting. He was now desperate to taste those pupae.

Yet as he moved forward, System suddenly saw a slightly withered yellow leaf drift down from the sky. His continuous hopping gradually came to a stop.

A single leaf foretells autumn.

An old saying from his previous life suddenly surfaced in System's mind—grasshoppers after autumn cannot hop around for many days.

Species: Green-Tailed Grasshopper (Mature Form)

Title: -

Name: System

Rank: -

Level: 8/

Lifespan: 63 days

Vitality: 97%

Special Energy: -

Special Talents/Skills: Numerical Code (3/3), Molting Growth (12/13), Insect Adaptation (11/21), Data Storage (1/2).

Derived Skills: [Self-Information Generation] (2/2), [Insect Instinct] (3/5), [Limb Regeneration] (5/11), [Green Camouflage] (4/4), [Dark Vision] (3/5), [Acid Resistance] (2/4), [Information Input] (1/1), [Information Reading] (1/1), [Fire Resistance] (2/7), [Hunger Resistance] (5/11), [Corrosive Mucus] (7/13).

Combat Rating: 0.

The information from [Self-Information Generation] confirmed the truth of that old saying from System's previous life: grasshoppers after autumn truly could not hop around for long.

His [Self-Information Generation] had analyzed his remaining lifespan in detail.

Because [Self-Information Generation] (1/1) had advanced to [Self-Information Generation] (2/2), the information on the data panel had become more abundant and detailed.

When System had first awakened, he had only given it a hurried glance. But because he had been extremely hungry after molting, he had decided to eat first, so he had not noticed the newly appeared lifespan entry.

System stared blankly at the sixty-three days of lifespan shown in [Self-Information Generation]. At the same time, he also sensed more detailed records regarding grasshopper lifespans within his bloodline.

Unlike adult grasshoppers, grasshopper nymphs had no lifespan limit before becoming adults, though their survival rate was very low. They could live on without end.

This was also one reason why System had overlooked the grasshopper lifespan during his time as a nymph: while he was a nymph, he could not feel the limit of his own lifespan.

But although grasshopper nymphs possessed an unlimited lifespan, not a single one could escape the fate of becoming an adult.

Once they became adults, grasshoppers experienced earthshaking improvements in their physical abilities, but their limitless lifespan immediately became finite—usually ranging from several weeks to several months.

The lifespan of an adult Green-tailed Grasshopper was middling among grasshoppers, lasting a little over two months.

Yet even so, few Green-tailed Grasshoppers truly lived as long as two months, because after grasshoppers molted into maturity, they had a special mission: to reproduce.

Once a grasshopper successfully found a mate and completed mating, the male grasshopper's lifespan would immediately shrink to three days. After laying her eggs, the female would likewise die within a few hours.

As long as it completed the task of reproducing, a grasshopper's life could be considered a glorious success.

System stared blankly at the still water beneath him, unable to come back to himself for a long while.

Unlike ordinary grasshoppers, he possessed formidable intelligence, along with a bloodline inheritance of Molting Growth as high as level 12. He now understood the Green-Tailed Grasshopper species in far greater detail.

Thinking back on how he had exhausted every possible means to accelerate his level growth, all so he could molt into an adult grasshopper, System wanted nothing more than to slap himself hard a few times.

He had fought so desperately to molt into an adult grasshopper and raise his chances of survival, only to shove himself into a bottomless abyss.

His chances of survival had indeed risen. He was even confident that he could defeat an ant squad like a pack of hyenas—but so what? Wouldn't he still die two months later?

His human soul had given System intelligence, but it had also made him subconsciously overlook a grasshopper's lifespan. He had assumed that, like humans, he had a long life ahead of him.

He had thought spring would pass into autumn, year after year, yet overlooked that once summer passed into autumn, a grasshopper's life was already over.

He should have noticed it long ago. If he had realized the lifespan of grasshoppers sooner, he certainly would not have molted into an adult so rashly. Before becoming an adult, he would have made far more preparations.

But it was all too late.

Just then, however, a particular figure suddenly surfaced in System's mind: the old druid reclining halfway down, as though he were one with heaven and earth.

"Can he help me?"

System raised his insect head and looked toward the sky beyond the gaps in the dense forest, letting out a distinctive hissing sound.

Though he had lost the memories of his previous life, System, reborn anew, did not want his life to end like this two months from now.

He wanted to live longer...