Giant Cockroaches

Liu Kai found himself in a vast forest filled with towering trees and a lush green carpet of grass that stretched out as far as he could see.

He was hearing the birds chirping and feeling the warm wind that blew across his face that calmed his mind.

It seemed like forever since he inhaled fresh air.

Filling his lungs as if it were the first time he learned how to breathe while basking in the beauty of the woodland heaven he saw.

He looked back at the manhole and saw that it was pretty hidden, covered with dirt and grass before he emerged from it.

"So that's why no one noticed or even heard me when I was banging and shouting inside it," he said with a chuckle.

All the frustration he felt was gone as soon as he got out.

He tried to observe his surroundings and think about what he should do next.

He's overthinking and worried about his situation so he tried to calm himself, took a series of deep breaths, and focused on what to do next.

'First, what do I have? I can use this bunker as a shelter to protect me from wild animals,' he thought to himself.

He was being confused about what he should do next. He decided to cover the manhole cover first with more dirt and grass to use it as a hiding place.

Liu Kai needs caution with every move he made since he wasn't familiar with his whereabouts yet.

'If I ever end up in a worst-case situation, I could just go back and hide here to rest,' Liu Kai thought to himself, feeling at ease with the idea of a safe place that he could return to.

'What's next?...'

'Maybe I'll check the whole area from a high place,' he deduced the idea and started to look for the tallest place he can climb on.

"Maybe that tree is enough," he said after he pointed his finger to the tallest tree.

His grip got used to climbing after what happened to the underground dungeon and made him quickly clamber the tree.

"Woah, I didn't know that I'm good at climbing."

He smirked and put his right hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight and look for a place he can go to.

'So there's a sea on the southwest of this place just nearby the bunker, then I should head northeast to investigate further,' Liu Kai talked to himself.

Liu Kai wandered inside the forest, trying to find anything he could recognize about the place, but nothing seemed familiar.

To be fair, he has never been in a forest before, so there's little to no chance to know where he was.

The forest is like open arms, ready to embrace him without judging, to give him power and support.

It caresses him with its beauty, sounds, smells, and it feels good on his skin, too.

The air in the forest smells good.

It may smell like damp moss, rain, wet tree trunks, flowers, and needle-covered path, but it's still an inexplicably good feeling.

Liu Kai narrowed his eyes while turning his head from side to side and observing the area while walking deliberately.

'This is nice. But I'm so hungry. Is there any food around here?' Liu Kai worriedly asked himself. The light in the forest is not too bright.

There are only a few strands of light rays that supported the shades, giving enough illumination to see the inside of the woods.

It's good for his eyes to quickly adapt to a newly founded area from a very dark place.

However, he was sure he heard multiple footsteps earlier when he was inside the manhole tunnel.

He kept walking past the trees, with every step crunching as piles of dried leaves crumbled under his weight or twigs snapping in half.

Suddenly, he heard rustling in the distance. Someone was moving at an incredible speed.

"Is anybody there!?" Liu Kai shouted.

He ran towards the direction of the noise, curious to see who it was. Trying his best to catch up to this mysterious thing or person, he picked up his pace.

He was running faster than he ever could before the accident happened. Unfortunately, he still had no chance of gaining on it until it suddenly stopped moving.

Eventually, he caught up to it.

As he closed in on the mysterious thing, he quickly hid inside a bush and quietly peeked out to see what it was.

"I-is that a giant c-cockroach!?" He yelled out, exclaiming from shock. He can't believe what transpired in front of him.

All the hairs on his body rose after seeing a giant cockroach.

It's about 6 meters long, and its head is about 2 meters above the ground.

The cockroach is chomping leaves on one of the trees.

At the end of its abdomen is an ootheca, an egg case that will spawn nymphs after some time.

Liu Kai trembled at the sight of the large insect, but he quickly tried to calm himself.

'So this was the thing that was making all those noises outside the tunnel,' he thought as he took a few steps back, hoping it didn't notice him.

Liu Kai slowly walks away from the area while still looking at the giant cockroach.

After a few steps, he turned his head to the direction he's walking in and...

"Kiiieeeeck!!" Another giant cockroach screeched as it swayed its body in his direction.

He froze at the terrifying sight of its large eyes directly staring at him.

He bolted away as fast and as far as possible.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Liu Kai shouted at the same time the giant cockroach screeched at him. He stands straight by reflex, just like how a normal person would react if electricity suddenly flowed in his body.

The giant cockroach tried to maul him and almost went successful if he didn't react on time by jumping backward.

Liu Kai runs in the opposite direction without thinking and ends up bumping his body to the other cockroach's ootheca.

The shock made him unaware of his place and forgot the things that he saw earlier.

The ootheca falls on the ground and is now unattached to the other cockroach.

Liu Kai didn't bother to look at the other cockroach and run as fast as possible while shouting at his lungs' top.

"WAAAAAAAH! RUN LIU KAI RUN!" He told himself while his eyes closed, trying to escape death.