"Did I die?" I thought to myself.

So this is what it's like to rest in peace. My mind is calm like an unmoving water, simply there to reflect the darkness that surrounds it. Emotions that I previously felt seems so distant and unfamiliar to me now. Even meditation couldn't get me to this level, it simply suppresses the emotion to a manageable degree.

Now that I mentioned it, since I'm dead shouldn't this be the after life? I was expecting something epic like the gates of judgement or that skull face grim reaper rowing a boat. Instead, all I see is nothingness.

Wait, nothingness? Now how can I describe this. It's kinda like black but a little bit to the gray side. This is probably how blind people feel. To be honest, it's not that bad, not focusing on eyesight means that I can enhance my other senses. Like my mind, I can feel my that body is relaxed and resting.

Eh? I have a body?

Suddenly, a sound interrupted my thoughts and what looks like a table came into my view.

(Maximus Mantodea)

Level 1

HP: 35/35

Stamina: 30/30

Mana: 10/10

STR: 8

DEF: 3

INT: 1

AGI: 6

Abilities:

Dash

Slash

Grapple

Bite

In that moment, my body began to move on its own. I created an opening by tearing my cage apart and escape into the narrow passage. The screen left before I had the chance to read it.

I scanned my surroundings as soon as I got out. Huge trees are all over the place and I'm currently standing on one of them right now. Trees these tall could easily scale up to seventy meters according to my rough estimate.

But the most disturbing thing was the creatures that are here with me. They look like oversized grasshoppers, and it seems that they also came from that egg. My instincts tells me they're not a threat , unless they start a fight which is unlikely considering that they don't have much power early on. Even if they decided to fight, I am confident of winning them but I don't want to leave myself exposed as the others could easily pounce on me.

There were dozens of them. I'll stick with them for now until I find a good hiding spot. They'll probably scatter sooner or later and I'm thinking of tailing one of them to attack when they're weak. Nothing's easier than fighting an injured or exhausted opponent. Besides, these insects couldn't possibly have my level of intelligence so chances are they don't have counterplay.

"Huh? What am I talking about. Where exactly am I? How did I ended up in this forest?" I voiced out my thoughts; it didn't came off as English.

After I witnessed almost all of my batchmates wriggle out of their casings, I noticed that these guys aren't grasshoppers - they're mantises!

Holy shit! These insects are cannibals, am I one of them now?

I looked at my body and saw an eldtrich monster standing upright in four legs and on my thorax was a pair of enlarged forelegs with small spikes. My abdomen was hanging out in the back connected to my body like a sack filled with items.

"A praying mantis , great." I groaned as I flexed my forelegs upward. A part of me was angry that I was born as a monster, but my other half was just relieved that I wasn't just a defenseless vegan cricket.

Now what should I do. It should be noon by now, because the sun is at its highest. I need to prepare for the dark, I'm not feeling hungry anyways so I should skip meals for now.

I once again inspected the surroundings. A number of mantises already left and roamed the dense forest, but a big clump of them are still in the same branch as me.

I need to leave here now, the tree is overpopulated. The hiding spots will be highly contested so they'll probably thin their numbers as soon as they get hungry.

Its definitely better to explore the uncharted territories than to constantly fight for your life. Of course, I might encounter potential predators, but that is better than a survival rate almost slim to none.

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I walked away from my birth place after deciding that it's too dangerous to stay and headed towards north, climbing from one tree to another. I obviously made sure I was covered by leaves as much as possible, proceeding with great caution.

I quickly became adept in controlling my strange body . No, it's more accurate to say that it feels natural to move. I didn't know why I made a big deal of it, but it's not like I've been a vassal of horror before.

Knowing that im still a hatchling or a nymph, jumping is out of the question. My legs can barely grip the tree and doing so will make me fall miserably. I remembered a creature teaching me that you need a tail or a wing to stabilize the fall but I don't think I'll acquire it soon enough.

Tree climbing would've been fun if I wasn't anxious every step of the way. Traveling in this wilderness meant something can attack me anytime. The vines, leaves and flowers are good ambush spots for predators and hopefully I wouldn't be confronted by something I'm far outmatched. I swear, if a lizard the size of a dragon spotted me, I might as well severe my own head.

As I was busy investigating where enemies may potentially hide, I heard a sound with a different frequency. Normally it's only the wind and the trees, however this time it's diverse coming from multiple lifeforms. Bark, grunt and whimper, if I'm not mistaken, only mammal creatures can produce such sounds.

I've learned not too long ago to not take any risks. But I should be safe because dogs can't climb as far as I remember. I searched to where the sound came from trying my best to not be noticable.

Unsurprisingly, I saw a pack of wolves surrounding a boar, but something's not right. The wolves looked ferocious, their teeth looked as sharp as knives and their fur, a combination of jet black and red color makes them feel intimidating.

As for the boar though, it's easily thrice the size of the wolves. That sheer mass would be an disadvantage against agile predators. However, it is not simply fat, its densely packed muscles tightening its fur further emphasizing its bulky frame. Moreover, if one were to be stabbed by its massive tusks, wolves that size would be teared in half.

As I observed them carefully, a box containing numbers was revealed at the top of their head.

Lvl 16 Lvl 9 Lvl 8 Lvl 8 Lvl 8 Lvl 8 Lvl 7 Lvl 7

"Levels? This world has levels? Am I inside a virtual reality? No that's impossible, our technology isn't that advanced yet."

I swiftly erased the thoughts in my mind and focused on the wolves' movement.

The wolves have it surrounded but they didn't close in. Instead they backed away at a safe distance and opened their jaws as if to release something. Then, fire bursts forth from the wolves' mouth, it's searing heat enough to dry up the leaves surrounding them.

"Impossible." I murmured, not believing what I saw.

The boar was engulfed in the flames coming from all directions. But it stayed stationary, holding it's ground until the fire died out. The boar survived the attack in spite of the firepower that was dished out. It looked irritated and ready to murder as it merely huffed at it's opponent's attempts. Notwithstanding, it charged for the strongest amongst the panting wolves.

The unfortunate wolf took a direct hit to the abdomen and the boar continued to gore down it's innards to make sure it never breathes again. Subsequently, the other wolves rushed in for the weak spot as the boar commit to an attack. Fangs sank into the legs, abdomen and buttcheeks, though not as deep because the fur was thick enough to hamper them.

The wolves struggles to pierce the boar's skin and even tried to maul it down but was shaken away when the boar moved rampantly. They probably realized this was an opponent they had no hope to win against, whimpering as they ran for their lives. Of course, the boar didn't let them get away easily.

No matter how fast the boar is, he couldn't reach all of them. Three pitiful wolves were slow enough to get caught and got stomped on , their skulls crashed against the dirt. Then, the remaining lucky wolves used the opportunity to run to the tricky woods, making proper use of their agility.

With that, the fight was concluded. Hell, calling it a fight is too much of a stretch. Although the boar took some damage, it clearly has enough strength to spare.

"Fire? Magic? Was that magic? We didn't have that in our world."

My confusion builds up, asking myself more and more questions to fill the gap in my mind.

"Our world? Yes that's right, I was a person."

"Now what was my name again?"

I shook my head to get rid of this thoughts. Survival comes first, I can think about irrelevant things after I find good shelter. I can't die, I must move forward.

I continued to walk towards north, where the moss on the trees is facing. It's not like it leads to somewhere but it's better than nothing. I remembered things when I was a scout, I don't really know what they do but they interact with the forest a lot. I'm sceptical about it's usefulness though because I think I'm dealing with a different kind of forest here.

Three hours passed, and I didn't make much progress. I mainly spent that time looking around if something was hiding near me. You never know what sorts of creatures you'll encounter so it's safe to be sure. Last time I got my guard down, it ended horribly. Most people would learn from the mistakes , well, unless you're Mom.

"Mom? Who is Mom? What is Mom? Did I forget something?"

"Purr."

A frequency, a sound. No, more like a vibration. I quickly looked around to find the creature responsible of it.

Lvl 11

We saw each other, eye to eye. I can feel it's eyes brimming with malice. Its four - no , six eyes , maybe more , piercing me with killing intent. A spider, its compact body fiiled with hairs and a head almost as bid as its abdomen. There's no mistaking it, a jumping spider. My intimidation stance wouldn't be effective against monsters that size.

We both know who is the predator and prey. Larger size means larger brain, but I do hope it's dumber than it looks. Although seeing how it moves its fangs, it's probably thinking of a sinister strategy.

I felt fear, but I refuse to succumb to it, not this time. I have every advantage except strength. He can't really close in the distance that fast when it's a couple trees away.

The spikes in my frontlegs are still small, but can deal reasonable damage if used right. I have the higher ground anyways , so I'll slash its eyes if it gets too close. My plan was already decided, and I made a move. I started to walk away with my eyes still on the spider. It turns out , my neck can turn 180 degrees.

As soon as I made my move, the spider jumped in a blink of an eye. I thought I lost it for a second.

"RUUUUN!"