Hearing this shout, Rogel's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pulled up the rope with all his might.
However, at this moment, Old Nelson's urgent and frightened voice sounded again.
"Rogel, don't go down..."
It seemed that Old Nelson hadn't even finished his sentence before it was abruptly cut off, and immediately, the once taut rope suddenly went slack!
Pulling the rope back again, he saw that the other end was already broken, with still warm blood stains on it.
Old Nelson... something happened to him!
"..."
Seeing this, Rogel's pupils contracted.
He had long regarded this kind and stubborn old man as his friend.
And now, he died right before his eyes.
For a moment, anger, guilt, and sadness overwhelmed him.
But soon, he snapped back to his senses.
No, I can reload a save point, what's there to panic about!
Thinking of this, Rogel calmed down immediately.
Just as he was about to exit the true perspective to reload the game, he stopped.
Let's go down and see the situation first.
Thinking of this, Rogel couldn't even be bothered to tie the rope, and he slid straight down the cave.
The icy touch came, making Rogel's heart restless.
But this feeling didn't last long.
With a thud, Rogel's feet hit the ground.
A spacious stone cave, with a tall, tightly sealed stone door.
However, before he could see anything else clearly, a pale, bloodstained figure suddenly turned its head, staring at him with blood-red eyes.
This humanoid monster was gaunt, its skin as pale as snow, with a few grimy, bloodstained rags hanging on its body, its sharp teeth and scarlet eyes utterly frightening.
Under it lay Old Nelson's body, hollowed out of its innards and still twitching.
Old Nelson was indeed killed by this monster!
Seeing all this through the true perspective, Rogel felt a tingling on his scalp.
Meanwhile, the game also provided information about the monster.
[Cave Horror Demon]
[Type: Monster]
[Quality: Elite]
[Level: 3]
[Tier: Extraordinary]
[Explanation: The pale as snow Horror Demon will only allow one color to stain its claws, and that color is red, possessing an almost mad desire to attack.]
The game divided creature levels into Ordinary, Elite, Boss, Lord, and Dominator.
Rogel didn't expect the first monster he encountered to be an elite one.
But even so, he quickly calmed down.
The Gatekeeper Horror Demon's level was higher than his, but he wasn't entirely without a chance of winning.
After all, there was no escape now even if he wanted to leave.
Besides, even if he died, it wasn't a big deal; he was planning to reload a save point anyway.
"Hiss!"
The Horror Demon let out a sharp, piercing shriek, then raised its sharp claws, approaching Rogel at extreme speed.
Rogel remained calm, engaged his leg muscles to move his body, trying to dodge this attack.
The Horror Demon reacted quickly; seeing Rogel attempting to dodge, it opened its bloody mouth to bite Rogel's shoulder.
With a squelch, Rogel's shoulder was torn open with a bloody hole.
[Life Value -82]
Although it didn't hit a vital point, this attack still caused Rogel significant injury.
In pain, Rogel raised his dagger and swung wildly, while the Horror Demon nimbly dodged, leaping onto the rock wall, staring coldly at Rogel, waiting for its next hunting opportunity.
Rogel gripped his dagger tightly, enduring the pain, keeping his eyes fixed on the Horror Demon.
Before long, the Horror Demon shrieked again and charged forward.
This time, Rogel was fully concentrated but didn't dodge.
Until the Horror Demon was less than a foot away, Rogel's body suddenly turned into a mist and dispersed.
Then, the mist quickly reformed behind the Horror Demon.
With a squelch.
Rogel stabbed the Horror Demon in the neck.
Then, he cautiously activated Fog Flash ahead of time, guarding against the Horror Demon's frenzy.
Sure enough, with a tearing, eerie scream, the pale sound wave exploded in the cave like a bomb, making even Rogel, in his fog state, feel uncomfortable.
Looks like this is also an extraordinary skill.
After the scream, the Horror Demon fell to the ground with a thud.
Rogel flashed forward, stabbing it again.
"Hiss!"
The first stab pierced its chest, and the Horror Demon suddenly sprang up, swinging its claws to sneak attack Rogel, but to no avail, as Rogel in fog state was immune to physical attacks.
Thus, the Horror Demon could only die with resentment, watching helplessly as Rogel delivered the finishing blow.
"Really was playing dead."
If killing monsters didn't drop loot as common knowledge, Rogel might have been tricked by this Horror Demon.
Speaking of which, this Horror Demon also suffered for its mindlessness; had it started with a big move, Rogel might have died once.
After all, Rogel was just an inexperienced novice in combat.
[You have slain the Gatekeeper Horror Demon, gaining combat experience, and your character level has increased.]
[Your current character level is: 3, with 4 free attribute points remaining.]
Sigh, it hasn't been easy; I've been playing this game for days, and only now have I killed my first monster.
But speaking of which, for Old Nelson's sake, I probably have to reload and fight again...
But I'd better loot the body first.
Rogel approached the Gatekeeper Horror Demon, and a prompt appeared on its corpse.
[Do you wish to loot items?]
Rogel chose 'Yes' with his mind.
[You rummage through the Gatekeeper Horror Demon's corpse...]
[You found Horror Demon Sharp Claw x1.]
[You found Horror Demon's Vocal Cords x1.]
[You found Demon Ghost Condensed Oil x2.]
[You found Bloodstained Map Fragment x1.]
[You found 6 Gold Coins.]
[You found Harmony Cave Key x1.]
[You obtained a key to the underground cave, and the system has marked its coordinates; you can teleport to this location for exploration when safe.]
What a haul!
Rogel was very excited.
Especially when he saw the last line of information; he felt a surge of excitement.
It even has a teleport function; is this game scripted to be enjoyable?
This hack seems too much.
But I like it.
Rogel chuckled, packed up everything, smacking his lips, looking at old Nelson's corpse beside him.
"Old man, this time I won't let you go down first."
After this, Rogel exited the true perspective, returning to the real world.
Immediately, he paused the game and decisively reloaded a save point.
Like a script being erased and rewritten, the original game trajectory disappeared, time rewinding to just before setting off.
In front of the cave, the game character reached out to stop Old Nelson.
Old Nelson still showed unwavering determination.
Rogel didn't waste words, directly having the game character snatch the rope and then head into the cave.
Seeing this, Old Nelson could only sigh, clutching the rope tightly, waiting anxiously.
"Hiss!"
Once again, the familiar unexpected turn, and the familiar pale Horror Demon.
Yet Rogel started thinking.
This Horror Demon is easy to kill, but can I capture it as a clone?
Rogel thought for less than a second before abandoning the idea.
Not to mention whether the Horror Demon was easy to catch, even if Rogel managed to capture it and successfully made it a clone, would he still want the key on it?
Behind the stone door, the cave surely holds more treasures.
Besides, the Horror Demon is so ugly it would be demeaning to take it outside.
Overall, this idea was somewhat putting the cart before the horse, better to abandon it.
Thinking of this, Rogel drew his small knife, eyes fixed on the Horror Demon in front of him.
"Hiss!"
The familiar shrill cry rang out.
Having not tasted fresh blood for a long time, the Horror Demon leaped excitedly, eager to devour Rogel completely.