Chapter 20

From what I could see, a large number of huge frogs had come forth from around the lake, snapping their tongues toward the insects that had been flying toward me.

At the same time, the insects were unable to run away, being instantly swallowed whole by the long maw of a crocodile, yet unlike normal crocodiles, this one ran with the same theme of being overly huge.

After a few more seconds passed, I found my feet landing on solid ground once more.

'I survived' I thought while panting.

"I SURVI-" I almost exclaimed out loud in joy, but I quickly covered my mouth and looked around, hoping that there wasn't an animal or beast nearby.

'I survived! How? I was so dead! How did I do it? Is this fate?! Is this good karma? Did I do something good in my last life for this to happen?' Tears of joy started to pour out of my eyes while low muffled sobs could be heard if one were to listen hard enough.

The forest, however, was no longer silent. Instead, it was bustling with noise.

After taking a breather, something finally hit me.

'Wait... Gaint toads? None of this makes sense. Even the centipede and those insects are way too big to be normal. This is supposed to be the Triassic, right? I know the oxygen levels in the atmosphere are high and all, but still. There is no way anything should be that big, especially toads!'

After pondering for a bit, I finally dropped the thought as I had something much more important to think about.

Right now I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and I had been given a mission.

'Survive for one week, huh... If the beasts of the forest don't kill me, dehydration, hypothermia, or malnutrition will kill me first. Plus, there might be some ancient diseases in this place that could probably kill me in less than 24 hours.' I sighed in exasperation before rubbing the bridge of my nose with a complicated glint within my eyes.

'I guess I'll just call this goal something like "Mission Impossible" hahaha' I laughed in self-mockery at the situation I had been dropped into, not knowing that this same laugh would become the sole thing I would lean on for the next few adventures as I struggled to keep my sanity in check.