NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12
Dreadful Fiend in the Cave
Upon hearing the shout, Roger was startled and quickly pulled on the rope, trying to pull it up. But at that moment, Old Nielsen’s panicked voice rang out again. “Roger, don’t come down…” Old Nielsen seemed to be cut off before he could finish his sentence, and then, the tense rope suddenly loosened! When he pulled the rope back, he only saw that the other end had already snapped, with warm blood stains on it. Old Nielsen… something happened!
“…”. Roger’s pupils shrank at the sight.
He had already considered this kind and stubborn old man as his friend. And now, he had died right in front of him. Anger, self-blame, and sadness rushed over him in an instant. But soon, he regained his composure. Wait, I can reload the game, why am I panicking? With this thought in mind, Roger calmed down.
Just as he was about to exit the game and reload from a previous save, he stopped. Let me go down and see what’s happening first. With that in mind, Roger didn’t even bother to tie the rope and slid down into the cave. The cold sensation greeted him, and Roger’s heart was filled with unease.
However, this situation didn’t last long. With a thud, Roger landed on his feet. It was a spacious cavern with a tall, locked stone door. But before he could take a closer look, a pale, blood-stained figure suddenly turned its head and stared at him with crimson eyes.
This humanoid monster was gaunt, with pale skin like snow, and several tattered blood-soaked cloth strips hanging from its body. Its sharp teeth and crimson eyes were extremely frightening. Beneath it lay the lifeless body of Old Nielsen, with his organs emptied and still twitching.
Old Nielsen was indeed killed by this monster! Seeing all of this from a first-person perspective, Roger felt his scalp tingle.
At the same time, the game provided information about the monster.
[Dreadful Fiend in the Cave]
[Type: Monster]
[Quality: Elite]
[Level: 3]
[Rank: Transcendent]
[Description: The pale and terrifying monster only allows one color to stain its claws, and that is red. It possesses a near-insane desire to attack.]
The game categorizes creature levels as Normal, Elite, Boss, Lord, and Master.
Roger didn’t expect to encounter an Elite monster as his first opponent. But even so, he quickly regained his composure. The Gatekeeper Dreadful Fiend may be higher level than him, but he still had a chance. After all, he couldn’t simply run away right now.
Besides, even if he died, it wouldn’t be a big problem since he planned to reload the game. “Hiss!” The Dreadful Fiend let out a sharp and piercing scream, then raised its two sharp claws and swiftly approached Roger.
Roger remained calm, using his leg muscles to move his body and attempt to dodge the attack. The Dreadful Fiend reacted quickly, seeing Roger’s attempt to dodge, it opened its blood-stained mouth and lunged at Roger’s shoulder.
With a splattering sound, Roger’s shoulder was torn open, leaving a bloody wound. [Health -82] Although it didn’t hit a vital spot, the blow still caused significant damage to Roger.
In pain, Roger raised his dagger and swung it haphazardly, but the Dreadful Fiend agilely avoided it, leaping onto the rock wall, staring at Roger with cold eyes, waiting for the next hunting opportunity.
Roger tightened his grip on the dagger, enduring the pain, and stared back at the Dreadful Fiend. Before long, the Dreadful Fiend let out another piercing scream and attacked again. This time, Roger was fully focused and didn’t attempt to dodge.
Until the Dreadful Fiend was just one foot away from him, Roger’s body suddenly turned into a mist and dissipated. Then, the mist rapidly condensed behind the Dreadful Fiend.
Splurt
Roger stabbed the Dreadful Fiend in the neck. Immediately, he cautiously activated Mist Flash, anticipating the monster’s rampage. As expected, accompanied by a heart-wrenching and desperate scream, a pale wave of sound exploded in the cave like a bomb. Even Roger, in his mist form, felt a bit uncomfortable. It seems that this is also a Transcendent skill.
After the scream, the Dreadful Fiend collapsed to the ground with a thud. Roger used Mist Flash to stab it again.
“Hiss!”
When the first stab pierced its chest, the Dreadful Fiend suddenly feigned death and swung its claws in an attempt to ambush Roger. But unfortunately, Roger, in his mist form, was immune to physical attacks. As a result, the Dreadful Fiend could only die with resentment, watching helplessly as Roger finished it off.
“You really played dead.”
If it weren’t common knowledge that killing monsters would drop equipment, Roger might have fallen for the trick of this Dreadful Fiend. Speaking of which, this Dreadful Fiend also made a brainless mistake. If it had enlarged upon meeting, Roger might have died. After all, Roger is a newbie who doesn’t know how to fight.
[You have killed the Gatekeeper Dreadful Fiend and gained battle experience. Your character level has increased.]
[Your current character level is 3, with 4 remaining attribute points.]
Phew, it wasn’t easy. I’ve been playing this game for several days and I’ve only just killed my first monster. But come to think of it, I might have to reload and fight again for Old Nielsen’s sake… But for now, let’s loot the corpse.
Roger approached the corpse of the Gatekeeper Dreadful Fiend and a prompt popped up.
[Would you like to pick up the items?]
Roger selected yes with his mind.
[You start searching the body of the Dreadful Fiend…]
[You have found Dreadful Fiend Claw x1.]
[You have found Vocal Cord of the Monster x1.]
[You have found Ghostly Condensation Oil x2.]
[You have found 6 gold coins.]
[You have found Gentle Breeze Cave Key x1.]
[You have obtained a key to the underground cave. The system has recorded its coordinates, and you can teleport to this location for exploration when it’s safe.]
What a great harvest! Roger was extremely excited, especially after seeing the last piece of information. He felt a surge of excitement. To think that there’s even a teleportation function, this game really follows the script of a thrilling adventure. The scale of this game is truly impressive.
But I like it.
With a smirk, Roger collected all the items and smacked his lips. He then looked at Old Nielsen’s body nearby.
“Old man, this time I won’t let you go first,” Roger said.
After speaking, Roger exited the game and returned to the real world. Immediately, he paused the game without hesitation and reloaded the save file.
Just like a shattered script, the original storyline of the game disappeared, and time went back to the moment before the departure. In front of the cave, the game character reached out to stop Old Nielsen.
Despite the situation, Old Nielsen remained resolute. Roger didn’t waste any words and directly had the game character snatch the rope and descend into the cave.
Old Nielsen could only sigh and tightly grip the rope, anxiously waiting.
“Hiss!”
The familiar turn and kill, the familiar pale Dreadful Fiend.
However, this time, Roger started to contemplate.
This Dreadful Fiend is easy to kill, but can I capture it and use it as a decoy?
Roger thought for less than a second before giving up on the idea.
Setting aside whether capturing this Dreadful Fiend is feasible or not, even if Roger successfully captures it and turns it into a decoy, what about the key on its body?
There must be more valuable things hidden in the cave behind the stone door.
Moreover, this Dreadful Fiend is so ugly that it would be embarrassing to bring it along.
In conclusion, this idea is sacrificing the main goal for a trivial benefit. It’s better to abandon it.
With this in mind, Roger took out his knife and focused his gaze on the Dreadful Fiend in front of him.
“Hiss!”
The familiar and eerie scream echoed.
The Dreadful Fiend, excited after not having fed on fresh blood for a long time, leaped forward, intending to devour Roger completely.