Croak.
The sound slipped out of my throat without permission.
I froze completely, standing on the rock, staring into the distance as if the swamp itself had just exposed me.
"No," I whispered. "That wasn't part of the contract either."
I waited.
Nothing exploded. No one screamed. The world didn't end because of an accidental croak. Good. Point in my favor.
I looked around more calmly. The mud was still slowly bubbling where I'd landed earlier. The humans were gone. Probably ran off to write songs about me or warn half the kingdom that the swamp now had opinions.
I sighed.
"Alright, Ribbitina," I told myself. "No one's coming to explain anything. So it's time to… improvise."
I climbed down from the rock carefully.
Too carefully.
My feet touched the ground and my body decided that walking was merely a suggestion. In the next second, I jumped.
I didn't mean to jump.
I jumped.
The world turned green, gray, and wet as my stomach lagged behind. I landed several meters away, flat on my back in the mud, staring up at the fog-covered sky.
"…Right," I muttered. "Mental note: don't think about walking."
I slowly sat up. No pain. No dizziness. I wasn't even tired. My body reacted as if it had been doing this its whole life.
"My body knows more than I do," I concluded. "That's unsettling."
I decided to try something else.
Breathing.
It sounded simple.
I approached the murky swamp water. It wasn't exactly inviting, but it didn't look dangerous either. At least, not more dangerous than everything else so far.
I dipped one foot in.
Then the other.
The water was cold… but pleasant. Like my skin recognized it. I swallowed and submerged myself up to my waist.
"Alright," I whispered. "If I die here, let it be known it was for scientific curiosity."
I sank.
The water covered my head and for one second, panic shot through me like lightning. Instinctively, I opened my mouth to scream.
And I breathed.
I froze.
No water rushed in. I didn't drown. I simply… breathed.
I opened my eyes underwater. Everything was blurry, green, silent. My lungs worked with an almost insulting level of ease.
"Oh," I said, forming bubbles. "That's new."
I burst back out of the water, laughing nervously.
"Great. Perfect. Fully amphibious. What's next? Night vision? Regeneration? A tongue that—?"
My tongue shot out.
Again.
"No!"
It caught something. I felt the tug, the slimy contact. Panicking, I grabbed my mouth and forced it back in.
Another insect. Bigger. Crunchier.
I spat it out immediately.
"Listen," I told my own body. "We're setting rules. You don't decide what we eat. I decide. Civilized-like."
Silence.
The swamp, of course, didn't answer.
That's when I realized something else.
I was still naked.
I looked around, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Alright… I might be a frog girl, but I still have dignity."
I tore large leaves from a nearby plant and tried to improvise something resembling clothes. The result was… creative. Somewhere between a leafy toga and a botanical disaster.
I looked at my reflection in the water.
Bright green skin. Big eyes. Soft curves.
Very soft curves.
"…This is unfair," I muttered. "I didn't ask to be adorable."
I tilted my head. The reflection copied me. I blinked slowly.
I sighed.
"Great. Cute on top of everything. The universe has a sense of humor."
A notification appeared in front of me.
Level Up.
Current Level: 2
Status: Alive, wet, and slightly more aware
"Level two… for not dying?" I asked. "The bar is really low here."
I sat down by the shore, hugging my knees.
The fear was still there, deep down. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know if I could ever go back. But for the first time since I woke up, my heart wasn't racing out of control.
My body worked. The swamp didn't reject me.
"Alright," I said to the air. "I didn't die today."
I looked toward the fog-covered horizon.
"I guess… that counts as progress."
Croak.
This time, I smiled.