Something was wrong.

For one, his instincts were telling him that he should hide.

And secondly, there was nothing alive to be seen for a mile, no rats, rabbits, or snakes.

Just simply nothing, except for the occasional eye fetus crystals, suspicious moss, and cactuses.

But, that was just the surface, underground, however, was a different story.

Hans could feel hundreds of vibrations with [Mole’s Senses] as all the missing monsters were heading underground as if their life depended on it.

“I don’t like this all…” Hans mutter, and decided to err on the side of caution, and head underground as well.

As he was digging, Hans felt a large amount of vibration traveling throughout the desert all at once and heard a roar that causes him to freeze still.

BOOM!

A loud crash could be heard, followed by the ground shaking around him. Hans was thrown around in the small confines of the tunnel he made with small rocks and sands starting to fill in the tunnel while he was in it.

“Fuck, fuck, goddamn it—“ Bits of sand got into his mouth, causing him to try and spit it out.

However, when he tried to do so, more sand got in his mouth, and thus more spitting and coughing ensure. That with all of the bouncing around made sure that Hans did not have a good time.

“Ahhhhh—fhjbfdjkllghiohr!”

When the dust settled, Hans could be found buried under rocks and sands.

Hans poke his head out and began spitting out sand for what seemed to hours before stopping.

After that, he just sat there contemplating what just happen.

“I fucking hate this place, you know? I mean there is nothing to be seen here except for sand and some occasional cactus, and it’s hot as well, and when it's nighttime, it starts getting so cold that I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a skill for dealing with it!”

A loud banging sound could be heard through the cave, startling some monsters awake.

“Not to mention the fact that I’m a fucking scorpion and I want my goddamn hands back! And I’m standing here talking to a creepy fucking fetus stuck inside crystal! I just want to laze in my college dorm and do whatever the fuck I want!”

Hans stood at the entrance of his little burrow, panting, for a solid minute before taking one big breath and relaxing, having vented all of his frustrations.

…

He then awkwardly glances at Em the crystal and mutters an apology to it. Hans knew that it probably didn't understand what he just said, or if it was even alive.

But…for some reason, he felt bad for yelling at it and calling it a “creepy fetus stuck inside a crystal.” Probably had something to do with his failing sanity and it is his only companion.

Even if it was debatable if it has emotions or not.

However, he would have that line of thought behind him as he felt something approaching and turn to face the intruder.

And what Hans saw was a fellow scorpion, but it didn’t seem to be friendly as it was both clicking its claws and circling him.

It moves in to try and sting him, only to get crushed into a bloody paste.

[You have slain Common Lesser Sand Scorpion - Lv. 7!]

“Dumbass.”

Hans withdraws his claw, slathered with blue blood. He didn't even know what the scorpion was even trying to do because it was half the size of him and he had a carapace, making its main form of hunting useless.

Eh, it probably didn’t have the brain mass to process that and just went with its instinct to attack and sting anything that moves.

“Pretty sure that’s why I rarely see other scorpions around,” Hans said. “Too dumb to live for their own go—" The ground again begins shaking with a loud thump followed by loud roars.

"...When is it gonna leave?"

For the past few hours, the goddamned lizard had been stomping around for whatever reason, causing the dank, dark cave that he was in to start shaking. Which was annoying. For many reasons.

One reason is that it agitates the monsters that live here causing them to stay in their little burrows or run around and attack anything that is near them. Which includes him.

Oh sure, it was a good source of experience, but it sure as hell isn't fun when dozens of little crawlers attack you and give you little to no experience. For fuck sake, around ninety percent of them were level six to eight, LEVEL SIX TO EIGHT! And none of them were even evolved like that evolved form of the acid spitter.

If he had hands, he'd be flipping the bird at whatever gods that sent him here. Alas, he only has his little claws, and all he could do was shaking them angrily at the gods above, unable to properly demonstrate his anger.

But, he, Hans...What was his last name? Because that seems like something you shouldn't forget. Hmm, it starts with either a J or N and ends with a...uh, whatever, that was a problem for future Hans. When he has hands with opposable thumbs.

Anyway, back to the giant lizard stomping around causing nearby monsters to go crazy. They were a good source of experience as they were coming straight toward him, however, they give very little experience and some were far too annoying to fight for how little they gave.

He would really prefer—

Hans turned around, one of his claws raised, and slam it into a rat's face. The rat was sent tumbling to the ground, moving a bit before going limp like a puppet with its strings cut.

[You have slain Fanged Rat - Lv. 6!]

His tail then moves and pierce something that was moving behind him, and to his surprise, it didn't die and was still twitching. He brought it closer for a closer look and what he saw was a lizard.

A lizard with four eyes, and furs. Hans didn't what it was but if he was being honest, it was quite fascinating to look at. The lizard tried to set itself free from his tail but failed each time. He decided to put it out of its misery with a quick punch to its skull

With a loud crack, the lizard stopped struggling before it went limp and died.

[You have slain Lesser Sand Crawler - Lv. 10!]

You Have Leveled Up! [Venomous Desert Scorpion - Lv. 17 —> 18]!

"Huh, so that's what it's called. Still, quite a boring name, although I don't have any right to complain." Still, it was a higher level than he expected, not that it helped it at all.

Hans stood in his spot, waiting for any monsters that could try and attack as well as waiting for the ground to start shaking again. After a while, nothing happened. No monsters, the cave didn't start shaking again, and no roaring.

It finally stops huh? Well, now he could go and take a nap in his burrow since right now, he just want to unwind and relax.

However, just as he made his way back inside, Hans couldn't help but groan as he felt his danger sense tingling and something moving toward him.

"Oh, what is it—"

Something heavy slammed into him, sending him skidding across the ground. He felt his exoskeleton dented and cracked a bit as green blood dribbled out of his wounds.

A scaled foot hit the ground with a thud as hot air exhale out of its fanged mouth, eyes watching him and a giant shell resting on top of its back.

Hans got up.

"So, what's your fucking problem, eh."