Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

There were two options for me:

[Strawberry Bush (mutated)] and [Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated)].

Neither of them sounded that great. The thing that bothered me was the word in bracket.

What's up with this mutation thing? Me? Please, I'm perfectly normal.

I thought really hard about which one was better. The first option likely meant I would grow bigger. The second option likely meant something to do with poison since I had already been killing random things with poison and curses.

Well, I don't need to grow bigger, but seriously I hate being stomped. Regardless I would grow bigger as time went by. Let's pick the second choice!

[Level 11 Plant;
Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated);
Traits: Alluring, Devious;
Abilities: Absorption;
Description: N/A.]

Oh hey, new field is added. I wonder what my description is.

I couldn't tell what the evolution did until a visitor came to greet me. Calling it a greeting would be far-fetched. It came to rob me!

It tried to snatch away my first ever strawberry. It was my precious!

Mr. Robber, you rob me and I rob you. Call it a fair exchange, you know? It's nothing personal.

Snap.

Chi.

It got itself stuck in my thorns.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Then, as it tried to free itself, it was caught in one of my flowers.

Rip.

Whatever it was, it sure left quite a bit of mess behind even though my first ever strawberry was now gone. What a depressing day.

I quickly spread my roots to absorb the leftover.

Nutrient is nutrient! Nothing goes to waste. Nom nom nom.

Some time had passed.

I felt some tiny things crawling on me. It gave me the tingling sensations all over my body.

Stop! You insects! Where's my insect repellents when I need them?

They even made a near my crown.

You just wait. I'll get you one day.

I actually tried cursing them but nothing worked. That made me wonder if my targets had to harm me first before a curse could actually affect them. It wasn't like these things tried to harm me but having creepy crawlies all over me wasn't a happy feeling. I couldn't even get goosebumps even if I wanted to.

Stressing out wasn't going to help. After a while, I actually got used to it. Could anyone actually believe that? Anyhow, I tried growing more flowers for now.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Ohohoho...

Some birdies tried to pick a fight with the creepy crawlies hidden here. And, my flowers had somehow caught them. However, before I could absorb the good stuff, those creepy crawlies sprang into action to steal my loot. That was not acceptable to me. It was I who killed those birdies.

Stealing loot is a crime punishable by smites!

[Level Up Available.]

Not yet.

Since my previous level, I could slightly move my body, but too slow to be called movements. With my tremendous effort, I moved my flowers and leaves to cover my loots.

Please make it otherwise I'm smiting you all for real.

It just wasn't realistic for me to make it in time.

Fine, I'll let you go this time since you did the luring. You insects, go lure some more so I can level up faster!

The least I got was the left over juice. Nothing new showed up for this new level up.

Grr... How disappointing!

Well, this wasn't the first time nothing new showed up when I gained a level.

[Level 12 Plant;
Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated);
Traits: Alluring, Devious;
Abilities: Absorption;
Description: N/A.]

It didn't take long before more these little crawlies left their nest to search for more food. They should at least offer me something in return for sheltering them from predators.

You ungrateful brats, I demand sacrifice.

Again, since they hadn't directly harmed me, I couldn't curse them. In any case, I still wasn't sure if curses did anything or if it was all due to my inherent traits that killed. I really wished I had eyes to see. Life would be so much better if I could see. Hopefully next evolution would grant me eyesight. I could always hope even though there was no way plants could see. That would be like expecting worms to transform into humans.

I placed my bet on this fantasy world.

Unfortunately, for the next while, no predators came after those crawlies. A few pollinators came but I left them alive, otherwise others wouldn't come to me.

Days passed and my second strawberry was born!

Pollinators, you have made yourselves useful to me! Now I can attract more preys, ehehehe...

For every three pollinators that came, I spared one. That was how generous I was. The only issue now was that those crawlies decided that my strawberry was their next meal.

I dare you!

I left my strawberry out in the open so they had to compete with whatever predators was out there.

Crush.

Splurg.

Nooooooo!

A third of my body was stomped, literally stomped by someone's foot. All of my efforts to grow a strawberry was flushed down the drain like that. I was too depressed to even curse the perpetrator.

The only ones that were eager were those crawlies that quickly went for the leftovers.

Ah whatever, I'll just keep trying. One of these days, you just watch.

I had to reclaim the lost nutrients that I had spent on that strawberry. This time I focused on growing flowers and leaves without spending any energy on strawberries. This way I could level up quicker. The more pollinators I kill, the more nutrients I obtained. As a bonus, I got to level up.

[Level 15 Plant;
Species: Notorious Strawberry Plant (mutated);
Traits: Alluring, Devious;
Abilities: Absorption;
Description: A highly toxic species of strawberry plant that lures preys to their demise using their flowers and berries.]

Huh? If my strawberry is supposed to lure preys, why did it get stomped? Stupid description if I say so myself. The editor needs to get fired.

Luckily, before all the strawberry mess was cleaned up, two birdies I believe were lured over, and I was able to capitalize on them. None escaped the jaws of my flowers when their curiosity got the better of them.

Nom nom nom.