As soon as I stepped into the cave, my vision darkened and everything around me turned pitch black. Despite having enhanced eyesight, my visibility was limited to no more than three meters. Startled, I immediately retreated from the entrance without caring whether there were any ambushes waiting for me inside.

Hmm... it seems like there's no movement at all. If there were enemies nearby earlier, the poisonous flower vines underground would have already started attacking automatically. Their vision shouldn't be affected by darkness anyway.

After some thought, I cautiously entered the cave again knowing that there were no ambushes waiting for me this time. Unlike before when I stumbled in a panic due to poor visibility caused by darkness and an oppressive atmosphere weighing down on me making my limbs feel heavy.

I realized that if I encountered any enemies under these circumstances, it would be a dead end for me.

Helpless and with dim sight still adjusting to the environment of this dark place, I felt along one of the walls near the entrance while keeping watch with caution using the poisonous flower vines surrounding me as protection against potential threats. Eventually sitting down against a wall to let my eyes adjust further.

"Eh?"

Suddenly feeling something soft beneath where I sat made me reach out only to find myself holding onto a slippery wet object which sent shivers down my spine as realization dawned on what it could be - part of an intestine from within a rotting Rogge head staring back at me covered in maggots grinning wickedly!

"Ugh..."

I lost count how many times now but once again vomited out whatever bile remained in my stomach before rushing outside towards a nearby stream frantically washing off both hands tainted with putrid stench emanating from that disgusting discovery moments ago.

Looking at myself reflected in its murky waters revealed someone who looked different compared to how they used to look like back home - slightly gaunt features not particularly handsome, with short messy hair covering my forehead and a hint of weakness and confusion in my eyes.

I thought I had already adapted to this dark world after coming here but when push came to shove, I couldn't help feeling resentful. What powerful force could compare to the comfort of living at home? What thrilling battles could match the peace and tranquility of that other world? The enjoyment of advanced technology, sound legal system, carefree days filled with peace... all replaced by corpses littering every corner, cutthroat competition for survival day in day out while living in constant fear under a shroud of misery and despair. Why do I have to live in such a hellhole? Why must I endure so much pain? And why me?

"It's okay... just keep vomiting until you get used to it."

After a long time, I smiled and said to myself, tears slowly dripping into the stream, turning into something called grievance and helplessness, drifting away with the current...

"Yes, that's right. In this world, there is only oneself. I am different; there are no peers or confidants. Only relying on oneself is necessary because nobody can be trusted nor should one be soft-hearted..."

I admit that at this moment, I went crazy; my thoughts twisted towards an extreme. However, it doesn't matter as long as I can survive. I want to live better than before.

When I stepped into the evil cave again, there was no fear or cowardice left in me anymore. The mountains of corpses and piles of bones around me seemed like mere stones now. Finally appearing in my eyes was something called resilience - it didn't make me stronger nor did it allow me to abandon my emotions completely but instead made me bury them deeper and more concealed.

The werewolf transformation had already dissipated since 15 points of mana were consumed during its use earlier; fortunately though my health remained at 95 points so even if danger arose, hopefully my life wouldn't be lost.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Ignoring the overwhelming stench emanating from rotting flesh and bones around me inside the cave entrance area for a while longer until feeling adjusted to its lighting conditions allowed me to stand up immediately without any hesitation or delay heading straight ahead towards where that monstrous mouth-like opening lurked deep within.

The evil cave interior was very large and deep with light unable to penetrate inside whatsoever except for occasional magic lamps blessed with eternal illumination affixed onto walls which helped somewhat but still couldn't overcome pervasive dampness permeating throughout making visibility limited by about ten percent compared outside posing great danger especially when enemies could detect you yet you might think yourself safe.

Fortunately for me though surrounding areas were guarded by fierce poison ivy vines whose vision wasn't affected - perhaps it didn't even have vision at all - so when enemies approached within 10 meters, it could detect them in time and launch an attack proactively. In theory, I shouldn't be in danger of being ambushed.

The cave is huge and deep, like a maze with twists and turns. Sometimes there are forks or even crossroads. If I didn't bring the teleportation door, I wouldn't dare to go in.

The space inside varies in width; some areas are so narrow that only two people can barely walk side by side, while others are larger than an entire football field. However, 90% of the time it's inhabited by a large group of monster tribes.

I usually choose the narrower caves because they cannot accommodate large groups of monsters. At this point, I can no longer distinguish between north, south, east and west. As long as there is still a way forward, I will keep going. If there is a fork in the road, I just choose the smaller one.

It seems that my judgment is very accurate. Along the way, I encountered many sinking demons and rotten corpses - all small groups at most - including venomous vines which were nothing more than easy prey for me.

With my current strength plus venomous vines without transforming into a werewolf state yet , it's enough to deal with two teams of sinking demons; if transformed into werewolf form , this number would double.

Of course, most of these victories belong to venomous vines since they basically swallow up each demon one by one . The key lies in how long can I support myself under their attacks? These sinking demons aren't stupid either: when they see their companions being attacked by venomous vines , they seem to know that I am their real target . Except for those entangled by venomous vines , all other monsters rush towards me .

Unfortunately for them though: if these monsters were even dumber and split up attacking Venom Vines instead , then winning would be much easier for me because frankly speaking,I'm not worried about Venom Vines at all ; its self-recovery rate is very fast . Even if it's seriously injured, it can become vigorous again after resting for just over an hour. Moreover, even if I accidentally die , I can just summon another one.

As for the rotten corpses, to be honest, no matter how many there are, I'm not afraid of them. Their movements are too slow. Even if a dozen or so gather together , as long as I stand far away and command Venom Vines to attack them , by the time they reach me they're already almost dead . However,Venom Vines do take some damage in these situations since among the group of rotten corpses - fast or slow - it will inevitably get hit by those that happen to be nearby . But with its life points reaching up to 137 points,it is enough to ensure that it won't die from injuries.

Now I really like these clumsy zombies. The terrifying corpses don't seem so disgusting anymore. They give 10 experience points, twice as much as the Sunken Demon and Hard Skin Rat combined. With my bug talisman that multiplies it by four, I get 40 experience points per zombie. Their drop rate is also particularly high - whether it's because of what Raer said or because of my bug talisman, or both, I'm not sure. On average, two zombies will drop some gold and silver coins while ten zombies will drop a bottle of potion. However, the equipment I need still hasn't appeared yet even though I'm already at level three.

Suddenly, the light ahead dimmed and several blurry shadows appeared in front of me - from their shape alone, based on my previous experience here in this cave system, there must be some Sunken Demons up ahead but not too many.

Compared to the increasingly cute zombies around me now, I actually hate these Sunken Demons more since they are agile unlike the slow-moving zombies. When my Poison Ivy attacked one of them before others quickly realized that I was its master and abandoned their struggling comrade to swarm towards me instead. Although Poison Ivy's attack was sharp enough to hold off one demon at most during any given moment due to its limited power; this helpless situation meant that unlike with groups of zombies where you could take on larger numbers if needed - with these demons however you simply couldn't afford to provoke them en masse.

I slowly groped along the damp wall until finally reaching a point where through dim lighting conditions; my eyes suddenly widened