Chapter 28

Once we had put our equipment back on, we decided to explore the *Laurel Wetlands* located to the east of Dualis in the afternoon.

As the name suggests, the ground was mostly waterlogged, and the main monsters were of the *Frog* and *Lizard* varieties.

In terms of strength, these monsters easily exceeded level 10, making them significantly stronger compared to wolves and goblins.

However, compared to the Demon Forest, where the average level surpassed 20, the monsters here were much more manageable.

While the wetlands had trees scattered here and there, most areas were ankle-deep in water, so the real enemy for players who reached this area might be the terrain rather than the monsters.

Still, compared to the field leading to the Demon Forest, the open view made it less treacherous.

Unless you had a physiological aversion to reptiles and amphibians, this could be considered an appropriate difficulty level for a field around the town.

"So, we've arrived at the Laurel Wetlands."

"Frogs are big."

"Wetlands... getting wet... got it!"

"↑ That."

"Waterlogged and cold, I bet."

"Not as cold as you might think. It's actually kind of uncomfortably warm."

"Warm... a bit cold, but not too much."

We had resumed the stream before leaving the city of Dualis and stepped into the wetlands just a bit east of the city. We reported on this indescribable sensation to the comments.

Touka usually wears equipment more suited to a mage, but this time she had changed her robe to a shorter mantle to avoid getting the hem wet. I could understand her reasoning.

"Alright, let's introduce the new equipment! It's the long-awaited one!"

"Whoosh whoosh."

"Here it is!"

"Here it is!"

"Yay!"

"Whoo-hoo!"

"Been waiting for this."

"Here it is. This is the new equipment! The *Red Wolf Outfit - Solo*!"

"Wow!"

"Neat!"

"Cute!"

"I see."

"It's Japanese-style!"

"Looks like a kimono."

"Carrying talismans."

"Seems like you could set up barriers."

"No, I can't set up barriers."

"There are classes that can."

"Really?"

When I picked up a fallen leaf instead of a talisman, someone commented "Ponpoko." I'm not a tanuki! Besides, even if there were classes that could set up barriers, I couldn't change my class, so it wouldn't be useful for me. I'm a brawny yin-yang practitioner, after all.

Anyway, the listeners' reactions were generally positive.

I'm grateful for Koneko-maru's sense of style, or perhaps it was his wife's. At any rate, I really like it.

It has high defense and agility, and it doesn't slow me down. Plus, I noticed that it has a slight water-repellent property.

While thinking that being weak to fire and strong to water might be the reason, we started moving through the wetlands.

We targeted a *Amphibian Frog Level 12* that caught our eye. Amphibian Frog... probably a tree frog?

It didn't seem particularly aggressive and remained inactive until we got close enough to touch it.

When I approached and hit it with a gold club, it only lost about 10% of its HP, along with a strange resistance.

"Tough."

"Frog-type monsters have high HP and some resistance to physical attacks."

"Ugh, favoring swordsmen...!"

While dodging the tongue attack that stretched out, I lamented the unfairness of the world.

It looked sluggish, but I managed to take it down with a few arts. However, its weakness was unclear, and its resistance to physical attacks was quite troublesome.

Still, the gold club is a durable weapon, making it perfect for endurance battles.

"Are you okay with frogs, Touka?"

"I'm fine with all creatures."

"That's impressive."

I don't really understand the feeling of being grossed out by living things, but there are definitely people who can't stand certain things.

I think frogs are cute. They don't bite, and touching them makes them weak, so I don't touch them.

By the way, the Amphibian Frog is a 30 cm tree frog. At this size, it's almost a different creature.

Its clean yellow-green color, probably due to being in the water, made it hard to hide or ambush.

Still, when we saw a player get attacked earlier, they took a significant amount of damage, so it must have high attack power.

After hunting Amphibian Frogs for a while, we came across a slightly larger piece of land.

"I wonder what that is."

"I'm not sure."

When we landed and explored, we found a small swamp in the center.

We threw a pebble into the swamp, and it was quickly grabbed by something and disappeared.

Looking at the ripples on the surface, Touka and I exchanged uneasy glances.

After a while, something surfaced in the swamp.

The name displayed was *Ox Frog Level 22*. It's probably based on a bullfrog, but it has a high level.

After leveling up bit by bit since the morning, I had reached level 23, almost the same as the Ox Frog. It also likely has resistance to physical attacks.

After staring at each other for a while, the balance was broken when the Ox Frog suddenly leaped out of the swamp.

"Huge!"

"Wow..."

"Huge!"

"Two-meter frog!"

"Trouble!"

"Looks strong."

I only saw its face, but this frog was one of the largest monsters I had fought, second only to Aria and the Red Ogre.

Even Touka was taken aback.

The Ox Frog suddenly spat out a mud projectile.

"Whoa, close call!?"

"Ah!"

"Touka!?"

When I turned to the scream, I saw Touka being flipped in mid-air.

While I was dodging the mud projectile, Touka had been caught by the Ox Frog's tongue.

"Help, Onee-sama!"

"Damn, you perverted frog!"

Ignoring the listeners who were turning pink, I charged at the Ox Frog to save Touka.

☆

After that.

We defeated the Ox Frog in a 30-minute intense battle and faced another challenge.

This challenge was the *Giant Frog Level 25*. This 4-meter-long monster repeatedly charged like a bullet, but despite its appearance and name, it was quite weak. However, its damage output was brutal.

Touka nearly faced a death penalty from a direct hit, and I was blown away and flew through the air.

We managed to defeat it, but we were covered in mud and water, and it was a miserable experience.

"I don't want to go to the wetlands for a while..."

"Me neither. The last time we went, it was a much easier area..."

"Well, unexpected events are part of the game. At least we got some good footage."

"Rin-chan..."

It was night. After finishing the stream and returning, we were having dinner with Rin, who had also just returned.

"Hehe, the wetlands were hell for Nana, weren't they?"

"Really. They all had resistance to physical attacks... and no lizards appeared, which should have been easier to defeat."

"Right, that's true. We explored for about four hours, but no lizards appeared, even in front of other players."

Indeed, the wetlands were supposed to have both lizards and frogs, but none of the lizards appeared during the stream.

The listeners were also confused, and other players we spoke to briefly said they hadn't seen any lizards today either.

"...So, no lizards appeared. The spawn rate changes with the weather, but it was supposed to be sunny today."

"That's right."

"Without rain, the frogs are overpopulating... or the lizards are decreasing? Something seems to be going on."

After hearing our story, Rin looked serious for a moment before smiling again.

"Well, there's no point in worrying about it. You're going to the Demon Forest tomorrow, right? Be careful of magic."

"I know~"

"Hehe, Nana-onee-sama has no magic resistance at all."

"The Red Wolf Outfit also has no magic resistance."

The dungeon we plan to challenge tomorrow, the *Demon Forest*, is known for its magic-using monsters.

Due to the influence of the *Shinto Boy* class and the low resistance of the Oni race, I currently have almost no magic defense, like a piece of paper.

Still, I was looking forward to the new dungeon.