'Kill... myself?'
Constantine seriously paused when he saw this.
He deeply contemplated the words of the System and, after trying his best to rationalize them, he hurriedly shook his head.
He had thoroughly read the contract he had with that floating head. Dying in this world meant he would return to Earth with none of his memories intact. If he killed himself now, he would not be resurrected as anything.
It was game over.
'But the System is assuring me that it will only reset the entire thing... Can I really believe that?'
It wasn't that Constantine didn't want to trust his System.
He simply trusted himself more.
'What is the guarantee that this will happen if I actually go down this route? I could actually die for real and lose out on all the benefits I have been offered if this System is wrong. Even though my current plan is hard, at least I have a chance to succeed, and it has far fewer risks.'
Constantine found his skepticism rising to an extreme level.
In the end, he chose the most rational option and decided not to go with the System's suggestion.
"I won't kill myself."
Now that he had equipped himself with a change of clothes, Constantine was ready to leave the Awakening Cave once again.
Of course, he wouldn't be leaving this starting area.
All Awakening Caves existed in an inconspicuous section near the giant gate that led to one of the Great Dungeons. Thus, leaving the Awakening Cave automatically led the Player to the entrance of the Great Dungeon.
If a Player chose to be stubborn and venture deeper into the Dungeon, they would often receive 'Hints' from the game to turn back.
Ignoring these hints would lead to a penalty round that usually resulted in the Player's death.
Basically, it was part of the game's progression to leave the Dungeon after the Tutorial. Only after reaching the Frontier City and becoming an Adventurer could a Player return to the Dungeon and freely explore it.
'But now, while I plan to advance close to the entrance, it will only be to obtain that special chest. Once I get that, I will venture deeper into the Dungeon.'
[Are you sure about this, Host?]
"Yes!"
Constantine clenched his fists in determination as he began his journey.
He only paused after some time when he spotted a few Undead Goblins playing around.
There were six of them.
Although Constantine could not tell them apart, he was very sure that these were the ones who had killed him earlier.
"Bastards..." Constantine instantly accessed his Inventory and brought out his rusty blade.
Although he was a Level 1 Ghoul and was even weaker than a human of the same Level, with his skills as a Player, as well as a weapon in hand, he was confident in taking down these Goblins if he strategized properly.
"Time for my revenge!"
Without wasting any time, he charged at the Undead Goblins, who didn't even seem bothered by his presence until he swung his blade at them. Since he was no longer a human, these monsters wouldn't consider him a threat until he attacked.
'This is one of the benefits of being an Undead in this Dungeon!' Constantine grinned as he wildly slashed at the first Goblin in sight.
"Guagaarghheq (Why are you doing this)?" the Undead Goblin screamed.
'Oh? I can really understand them!'
One of his Racial Traits allowed him to understand monsters, since he was classified as one himself, so he wasn't too surprised by this development. Still, hearing the inhuman cries of the Goblins translated in his mind felt a little weird.
"Hehehe! Not that I care that much!"
Constantine kept slashing at them, not minding their cries or their petty attempts at a counterattack.
Although they had the advantage in numbers, his advantage in this fight was simply too staggering.
Not only was he much bigger than these Goblins, but he also had a weapon—albeit a crude one. He had also caught them off guard, which prevented them from fully displaying their strength.
Goblins were sly and sneaky creatures.
They didn't excel in direct confrontations like this.
By resorting to this kind of attack, even without any proper form whatsoever, he still suppressed them until he was finally able to kill them all.
[You Have Leveled Up]
[You Have Leveled Up]
"Already Level 3 from killing these six. I should be one step away from Level 4, too. Not too bad for my first haul, actually."
It was simply too easy to Level Up in Eccles Accel.
As a veteran gamer, Constantine had already calculated the requirements necessary for Leveling Up.
Undead Goblins were clearly the weakest monsters in this Dungeon, so killing one of them resulted in a Level Up. Killing two more right after resulted in another Level Up. Killing an additional four resulted in yet another Level Up.
Thus, to reach Level 4, Constantine only needed to kill seven Goblins.
'I have killed six already. Just one more and I'll have 40 Percent more of my base abilities. The effects of my Skills and Titles will also increase.'
After relishing the experience, Constantine looked at the disappearing corpses and realized only one of them had left any loot behind.
This was to be expected.
Although they were low-level monsters, since they were chosen for the Tutorial, their chances of dropping loot had to be extremely high.
"Oh? I got a rusty shield this time. That's good..."
Constantine chose to store the rusty sword, which was already extremely fragile after being used so recklessly. If he could leave this place, it would be no problem repairing it or obtaining a better one, but for now, he could only rely on himself.
'Carrying too much stuff will only slow me down. I'll only take the shield. Although I shouldn't encounter any more enemies based on the game's mechanics, I still have to be careful.' Besides, since he needed to carry the torch in order to find the treasure chest, he couldn't wield a blade in the same hand.
After making up his mind, he continued advancing.
He brought out the torch when he was close to the hidden spot, and not too long after, he found the hidden chest—just as he had hoped.
But then—
"What's that? It's an Undead!"
Constantine heard strange voices behind him and looked back, only to find a group of Adventurers staring at him in shock.
There were three of them.
One was a young man, while the remaining two were young women.
As one would expect from the illustrations in Eccles Accel, they were all extraordinarily pretty to look at. They also wore amateur outfits, clearly resembling Novice Adventurers.
The bronze plates dangling from their necklaces confirmed this.
'Rank 1 Adventurers... Why are they here?!'
Constantine widened his eyes.
He felt a surge of panic, but thanks to his racial trait, all those emotions were suppressed.
"It really is an Undead! Looks like a Ghoul!"
"A Ghoul out here? That's very rare, isn't it?"
"It's our lucky day! Our first adventure as a team, and we already have good prey to hunt!"
These humans quickly brandished their respective weapons the moment they laid eyes on him. The girl on the right had a bow and arrow, while the girl on the left wielded two daggers. As the vanguard, the young man held a decent sword that put Constantine's shabby equipment to shame.
While they glared at him with immense ferocity, Constantine was battling quiet confusion as well as a strange sense of recognition.
'This is... strange.'
For one, Constantine realized that he could understand the humans despite being a monster.
Secondly, based on the conversation just now, he recognized these people.
'They're the Adventurers the Player meets in the Frontier Town. They are newbies who are heading to the Dungeon, and they tell the Player how to register. They also tell the Player that they will be waiting in the Dungeon. Oh, I understand now!'
At first, Constantine didn't know why he was meeting these Adventurers already.
But it soon made sense.
Because he had lost his life, and it had taken some time before he became an Undead. During that time, these three had come to the Dungeon and started their journey as Adventurers.
'This is a living world. It's not like the game, where NPCs exist for the Player and wait for them...'
By the time Constantine finished thinking, the three Adventurers had already gotten into formation, and they had even taken their respective Potions. Since they likely didn't have any proper Skills yet, Potions were the best way to increase their chances of success.
Although it was a bit extravagant to use Potions so readily, since they were inexperienced, this was actually an excellent choice.
Normally, novices like these would only have to face Undead Goblins.
A Ghoul, although still weak, was several times stronger.
Since he was a Level 3 Ghoul, he would naturally be even stronger than a few Undead Goblins.
'Dammit! Now isn't the time to think about this!'
Constantine saw the novice Adventurers rapidly approaching him and quickly tossed aside his torch. He had to quickly equip his blade, which would at least allow him to survive this treacherous situation.
But the moment he tried to summon his weapon, he received a despairing message.
<Error!>
<Error!>
<Error!>
[System Error]
{Your chosen item cannot be summoned at the moment. Please try again later.}