Chen Xinhe ventured deeper into the cave.
The passage gradually grew dark and damp, and visibility began to decrease.
Fortunately, Chen Xinhe was experienced in leveling up, having been to most maps, and knew that at times like this, his other senses were just as important as sight.
"Congratulations, you have slain a Cerberus Knight."
"Gained 712 EXP."
...
"Gained 498 EXP."
...
Having gone more than halfway through the cave, Chen Xinhe had already cut down over 20 Cerberus Knights with overwhelming force.
His remaining EXP was about to break twenty thousand.
Suddenly, the cave ahead opened up significantly, and although visibility was poor, he could still vaguely make out a colossal figure in front.
It was an abnormally huge Cerberus Knight, its head already touching the cave ceiling, and its body occupying more than half of the newly spacious area.
[Target Found: Cerberus Knight]
[Comparing our strengths... Reconnaissance results obtained...]
[Level: Lv21]
[HP: 3519/3556]
[Stamina: ???]
[Attributes: Strength 19, ???, Intelligence 6, Agility 11]
[Skills: Charge (D-Rank) LV???, (Insufficient reconnaissance data) ???]
[Overall Evaluation: E (Advanced Monster)]
[Warning: This enemy's strength far exceeds yours, evasion is recommended]
Seeing this giant Cerberus, Chen Xinhe's expression turned serious.
This kind of Cerberus would have been nothing to his original game character.
But for his current self, the gap was indeed significant.
Being over level 20, it had already entered the third tier.
Its strength and stamina attributes alone crushed him, not to mention its overall E-rank evaluation.
This meant that even among third-tier monsters, this Cerberus Knight was far superior to an ordinary Cerberus.
Seeing that its basic attributes from the reconnaissance weren't that high, it could only mean that its Charge skill level was extremely high!
"Swish~Thud~!"
Before Chen Xinhe could carefully assess and compare, this third-tier Cerberus Knight charged over without a word.
Its speed was faster than any Cerberus Chen Xinhe had encountered today, almost leaving afterimages.
Chen Xinhe's mind could react, but unfortunately, his current body couldn't keep up.
He could only raise his blade, hold his breath, and brace for the hit.
"Boom~!"
Chen Xinhe was sent flying like a cannonball for over ten meters, crashing back into the narrow cave passage.
"You have suffered a heavy blow, HP: 417/762 (Cannot recover during combat)"
"You are afflicted with the Bleed effect, HP -3."
"You are afflicted with the Bleed effect, HP -3."
...
As expected, a monster with an E-rank overall evaluation was still too much for the current Chen Xinhe.
Not only was its Charge skill extremely powerful, but it also came with an additional Bleed effect.
If it weren't for his decent set of family heirloom equipment, a full set of Merrick Family Heirloom (Rare) gear, he probably would have died from that one hit.
Moreover, unlike controlling a character in a game, after being heavily injured by one blow, he felt his body trembling uncontrollably, and even trying to get up sent excruciating pain through his entire body.
Unfortunately, the Cerberus on the other side clearly wasn't giving him any time to recover, charging at him again in the next moment.
Its speed was still extremely fast, but this time Chen Xinhe had already anticipated it.
He leaped sideways along the cave wall just in time, and even though the opponent's movements were so fast they left afterimages, he relied on his years of game sense to find an opening and deliver a heavy slash.
"Critical Hit: Dealt 1643 damage."
"Remaining HP 1876/3556"
The Cerberus collapsed to the ground behind him after the heavy blow, and taking advantage of the stun and stiffness from the critical hit, Chen Xinhe quickly rushed forward.
He didn't dare let this Cerberus charge up again, having lost half his health even while wearing a full set of rare equipment and blocking with his blade, if it happened again, he would be done for in this new world.
With the blade in his hand, he swung down with all his might, once again aiming for the weak spot on the back of its neck!
"Critical Hit: Dealt 1797 damage"
"Attack: Dealt 79 damage"
...
"Congratulations, you have slain a Cerberus Knight."
"Gained 17019 EXP."
As expected, killing a higher-tier monster yielded more experience, enough for him to level up, and more than the combined EXP from the nearly 30 ordinary Cerberus Knights just now.
Of course, this was also because this Cerberus had an E-rank overall evaluation.
Unfortunately, there was still only experience, without even a single common item drop.
At this moment, two more Cerberus Knights rushed out from within the cave, and just as Chen Xinhe was forcing himself to endure the discomfort and raise his blade to continue fighting, he saw the two knights run right past him and flee.
Given his condition, Chen Xinhe didn't pursue them.
Instead, he continued walking deeper into the cave, where there was no longer any sound of other Cerberus.
The entire cave had come to an end, and the foul, fishy smell in his nose grew stronger and more overwhelming, making him nauseous.
It wasn't until he lit a torch with the tinder he carried that the scene before him instantly stunned Chen Xinhe.
The end of the cave was not as it was when he cleared it in the game in his past life, where there would be ironwood chests containing various rare items.
As far as the eye could see, this relatively wide area at the end of the cave was covered with human corpses!
Blood-stained severed limbs, long-decayed corpses, and skulls that looked like they had been gnawed clean, a pile of bodies like a scene from hell on earth stood before him.
The smell of blood and the stench of corpses continued to assault his nostrils without restraint.
Chen Xinhe stood there, completely stunned, all the strength in his body drained in that instant.
So... this is the real world of "Apocalypse"?
Was the experience he had in the game a censored version from the server?
As a real human now living in the world of "Apocalypse", is this the true state of the second act's background story?
So the monsters survive by completely slaughtering humans, feeding on them?
In his past life in the Earth Federation, although Chen Xinhe was a bottom-tier commoner who owned nothing besides government relief.
But at least there was the game "Apocalypse" to indulge in fantasies, to sink into as a new world.
And now, facing the field of corpses before him, he truly felt the real world of "Apocalypse" for the first time.
It was far from the paradise he had expected, equally fraught with danger, where ordinary people lived under the threat of monsters.
At this moment, he could no longer see this place as a game world.
He could no longer subconsciously think of himself as just playing the role of a character named Lister Merrick, maintaining a detached mindset and treating the other people in this world as NPCs.
Chen Xinhe suddenly felt the experiences of the past few days become intensely real.
He was now truly within the borders of the Principality of Weir.
And he was truly Lister Merrick, the sole heir of the Merrick family in this generation!
At least in this current, real world of "Apocalypse", he finally accepted the fact that he was Lister Merrick.
It wasn't a simple role-play, he was willing to live on with this identity.
"Congratulations, Lister Merrick, you have triggered the main quest, do you wish to accept?"
The system's message now appeared before his eyes.
Lister expressionlessly summoned the panel and began to review the main quest.
"Main Quest: Re-forge the Glory of Merrick"
"Quest Objective: Spread the reputation of the Merrick family throughout the Principality of Weir and the Kingdom of Lucian."
"Quest Rewards: Stage One, spread glory throughout the Principality of Weir, reward 5 attribute points, 2,000,000 EXP, 10,000 gold coins.
Stage Two, spread glory throughout the Kingdom of Lucian, reward 10 attribute points, 5,000,000 EXP, 100,000 gold coins, and one extra revival chance."
"Note: User's current revival chances: 0!"
It was only at this moment that Lister finally realized he had no revival chances at all.
And his fight against the advanced Cerberus Knight with an E-rank overall evaluation had been incredibly dangerous.
If he had made a single mistake, he might have really died in the game world.
"Accept quest!"
After recovering on the spot for a good while, Lister finally accepted the quest.
This kind of main quest was exactly what they wanted, not to mention the hard-earned attribute points, just the single chance at resurrection was enough for them to risk their life for it.