The Isekai Game

Avalice

Stench from the swamp filled her nose again while the eurypterid kept kicking its little legs to swim. Maybe it was considered a lake. There were dead trees sticking out the water, so it couldn't be too too deep. But the swamp was pretty wide and no other vegetation was sticking out the waters. 

One thing was certain, Vanessa wasn't going to test out the water's depth. She was going to keep her knee on the eurypterid's back and look out for any abnormalities.

With that in mind, she attempted to ignore the excessive ruffles in the water. They were likely from parasites or tiny fish. Far too common to be a threat. Shapes and floating objects are what she looked for. 

A firefly swooshed by. Vanessa caught herself looking in every direction before it hit the water. Only then did her heart continue thumping. This wasn't the pretty stars she saw in January. She knew that any little thing could be a trick. Such as the guppies splashing from afar. Or the fat fish that was eating them from the rear of their school. 

A tree fell somewhere on land. It seemed like the swamp fell silent to it. Yet nothing came. Nothing was hurled. After a few minutes of idly staring towards land, Vanessa came to believe it was nothing, to begin with. 

At least her crustacean was a hard worker. It swam to no end without a break nor being deterred. In this moment, she kinda saw its beauty. Even though the black clouds had mere cracks of red, she saw the blue shine from its shell.

Unfortunately, this moment also brought the realization that her chest was still beating like a shonen opening. But her emotions felt like the closing. Veins were practically felt stretching through her forehead as the stress weighed down on her. It got worse when the eurypterid took a sharp turn towards land. 

Heading towards the land where the tree fell, Vanessa couldn't figure out the cause. If the thing wanted to head towards land, it could've swum at an angle. There was nothing coming. Truffles in the water were normal. The oversized crustacean had to be scared of something. 

It dibbled and dabbled among other nonsense movements for the sake of reaching land. Vanessa stared, waiting for whatever it was to just kill her. She didn't need this. She didn't need to be sticky and mucky again.

That's literally all she wanted. To not be drenched in the filth blood bath this land has to call water. It was worse that she took a bath to see that it really wasn't normal water. But the studio wanted its players to suffer. Yes, they loved it when their players suffer for God knows what reason. 

And just like that, the eurypterid was bitten into midair shortly before reaching land.

Wishing she would die, Vanessa jumped off its back, leaving it to be eaten. It was during her fall that she saw a long green neck, glowing in a dark aura just like the previous swamp monsters. 

She attempted a dive, only to fall on her back. The sting struck flat against her but barely hindered her will to swim away.

While stroking underwater, trampling was felt, sending waves against her. 

Coming up for a quick breath, she heard the thing finish chewing her crustacean companion. Its shell crackled into its stringy meat, giving the closest sound to a scream as any shell beast could. One could imagine its antennas flailing against its useless pincers. 

Vanessa remained focused, ignoring that useless critter to swim her way towards land. But when a loud bloop was heard, she knew the creature was after her. 

She kicked wide strokes and made frequent peaks back to stay alert. The long-neck creature wasn't there. Rather it was somewhere underwater. 

As Vanessa swam with her head above water, she felt a tingle on her legs, "Kick"!

She stroked her legs wide to strike them on the beast's mouth. Her legs cracked something big, yet unknown. 

The creature rose portions of its green scaley body out of water. It was clearly a giant snake of some kind. Not the kind to divert Vanessa's attention from swimming. 

Splashes of rogue waves roared like thunder from the creature's lengthy body. It smacked its head towards her, hoping to land a successful bite on her back. 

When near the shallow water, it did just that. Hairs on her back stood, alarming her to the attack. She spun quickly to land another kick, but her legs could stretch high enough. 

The maneuver pressed her into the water. Leaving her to fumble for Masamune's handle. It was too late. 

This zombified snake bit downward from midair just a giant being tackled its head away. 

Vanessa rushed, leaving behind her oversized savior to fight off the snake. Once in shallow waters, she stood to run while pulling out her g*n. 

The ogre that saved her was wrapped by the snake, smashing its fist down to loosen it. Every clobber crushed through its bones. Snaps of bones crackled against each other when the ogre gripped his nails into the snake's flesh to beat his fist into it. 

The snake continued strangling with uncrushed portions of its body while snapping with its head. Every strike of its head was met with calloused knuckles, smashing its jaw away. It was already falling apart from Vanessa's kick earlier. 

It seemed like there was no end. No matter how many times the ogre smashed its body, the snake would simply slither a different part over. 

A loud shot ripped through the snake's body. Another one nearly keyholed the first shot. The ogre took his chance to tear down on part of the snake that wrapped around him until he fell into the water. 

He swam away, placing his faith in Vanessa as she shot at the snake. Tight when it dived underwater, she shot it with an ice bullet. It flinched out, hissing back to get shot in the dome by another ice bullet. 

Blood froze instantly upon escaping its skull. No matter, the ogre was a pretty quick swimmer, having already made it to shore by the time the snake fell into the water. 

The ogre walked towards her, "That's the problem the thing with the undead. In order to beat them, you have to actually immobilize them permanently".