Stink Bug

The rocky layer was now less than two meters from the surface.

That wasn't good news for Rowan.

His advantage lay underground. Of all the creatures he'd seen in this strange world, he was the fastest underground, thanks to his pair of Digging Legs.

Though, so far, he'd only seen two kinds of creatures: White Grubs and Yellow Earth Ants.

On the surface, he currently ranked second in speed.

There was a big difference between first and second. First place meant there were no more creatures around to compare him against. Second place meant at least one creature was faster than him.

And being fast meant you could stay alive when danger struck.

So underground, he was far safer than on the surface.

But now, his strategic depth was less than two meters.

What good was running fast? He'd reach the finish line as soon as he started, and the finish line was a dead end. He could still move sideways, but if his opponents had the numbers, they could surround him. Ants, for example, never had a shortage of numbers. That made him feel extremely insecure.

So he decided to change his strategy.

Given the current trend, as the underground riverbed rose higher, vegetation would become more plentiful and denser. There would be more and more creatures, too.

If he kept digging ahead without a thought, he might run straight into a hypothetical enemy's encirclement.

He needed to slow down and gather more information so he could plan his next steps.

And this spot, with nothing but shrubs and no sign of any insects or animals, suited him perfectly. It was like playing a battle royale game: he was fleeing the encroaching danger zone, and had to keep moving forward while making sure nobody was behind him.

But before that, he needed to fill his stomach.

The small green leaves on the shrubs were exceptionally tender. After repeatedly testing them several times and confirming they weren't poisonous, Rowan finally let loose and ate his fill.

Judging by how many of these shrubs grew nearby, their leaves would likely be his staple food for some time to come. They were worth spending time and effort to test.

With his belly full and the sunlight no longer a threat, Rowan didn't slack off. He got straight to work.

He hadn't crawled far before he came under attack for the first time.

Rowan had stayed on high alert, and his big eyes, which he always carefully protected while digging, now proved extraordinarily effective.

Their exceptional resolution left the attacker nowhere to hide. A plump, elongated worm, like an oversized earthworm, suddenly shot out of the soil. Its thick, rounded body was like a long, tubular sack, dropping over him.

He couldn't make out what it looked like, because from Rowan's angle, all he could see was a huge mouth. Inside, rows of tiny, sharp teeth spiraled inward, stretching all the way into its pitch-black body. Just looking at them made his scalp crawl.

The unusually high refresh rate of Rowan's vision slowed the Big Earthworm Bug's swift movements, giving him plenty of time to react. He shifted slightly to one side and dodged the attack.

After missing, the Big Earthworm Bug withdrew, as if nothing had happened.

Neither of them had been hurt, so they ought to have made peace. But Rowan wasn't one to hold a grudge. He deliberately stepped into the Big Earthworm Bug's attack range several more times, and it dutifully lunged at him every time.

Thanks to the Big Earthworm Bug's cooperation, Rowan soon gathered enough data.

First, it wasn't very intelligent—that much was obvious at a glance. Its front half worked like a spring. It compressed its body and hid underground, then shot out to attack when it sensed prey nearby.

But its attack range was limited. It could only strike within a half-circle directly in front of it, with the length of its exposed body as the radius.

It also seemed to locate prey by sound and faint vibrations.

Once he had a rough idea, Rowan burrowed underground and approached the Big Earthworm from below. This bug's weakness was so obvious that it was a wonder it hadn't gone extinct.

It might have moved swiftly when attacking, but that was because it could mimic a spring. The trick only worked if it could prepare in advance and use itself as a trap. It was helpless against someone like Rowan, who didn't play by the rules.

When he bit into the Big Earthworm from below, it had only turned halfway around. This was a complete intellectual mismatch. But Rowan didn't feel any sense of achievement. The thing probably couldn't even understand what it meant to be outsmarted. What was there to brag about when you'd beaten an idiot?

Then he thought about it: if even a brainless creature like this could set a trap to catch food, that proved there were even stupider creatures nearby.

He'd been worried that, with his current weapons and equipment, he'd have to lie low for a while and live as a herbivorous insect. But he'd barely taken two steps before an idiot had popped out and shown him that he could keep being a carnivorous bug.

The Big Fool had no exoskeleton armor. Its tough skin alone couldn't withstand Rowan's big teeth.

His two big teeth snapped together, tearing through the Big Earthworm's body. As dark brown fluid seeped from the wound, Rowan pressed his lapping mouthparts against it.

"Ptooey, ptooey!" As soon as he sucked in a mouthful of juice, Rowan spat several times, trying to get it out. He managed to spit out quite a bit, but some had already gone down his throat.

The foul taste of rotting mud filled his mouth. It was fucking disgusting.

Rowan didn't consider himself a particularly picky bug. He'd even licked rocks before. But this thing had still dealt him a critical hit.

He'd been wrong. This thing was probably the stupidest creature around. It likely lived on dirt and had only set a trap to kill time. The only reason it hadn't gone extinct was that it stank so badly.

It perfectly embodied the idea that if you evolved to taste bad enough, no creature would be able to stomach eating you.

Rowan shook his head again and again, muttering that this thing was beyond him. That single taste had nearly given him an eating disorder. He didn't want to eat anything else today.

He turned, stuck out his rear, and sped away. Just looking at the bug made him sick.

If the Big Earthworm had any useful gene fragments, Rowan would have forced himself to eat it, even if he had to keep spitting as he did. It was a shame. Though its mouthful of tiny teeth seemed pretty cool when he thought about it, even Rowan, who wasn't picky, couldn't stomach the ability to make himself taste awful.

Even if he could stomach it, it wouldn't matter. That ability had come from generations of Big Earthworm ancestors sacrificing themselves, embedding their stench in the genes of the predators around them. That was how the Big Earthworms of today had earned their peace and quiet.

To give an example, if Rowan ever had little bugs of his own, he'd definitely tell them to stay away from this thing...

He burrowed down to the rocky layer, found a crack to crawl into, drank his fill of water, then took a piss. At last, the disgusting taste was gone.

Rowan knew he'd been careless this time. He still lacked experience as a bug. His antennae also had taste receptors, so next time he ran into prey, he'd taste it with his antennae first...

He wasn't in the mood to scout anymore. He'd rest for a while first.