Riley walked only a few ters away from the cave before he stopped. He pulled the card back out of his pocket and held it up in front of him.
As expected, a familiar notification appeared before his eyes:
[Do you want to activate the key now?]
[After using the key, you'll be teleported to the secret Orc area, an area filled with level 10–20 monsters.]
[Note: You can't leave the secret area until you clear it, and dying in there ans no going back, because the key will be imdiately destroyed.]
Riley scoffed.
His gaze drifted back—briefly—to the narrow path leading to the cave, now shrouded once more in shadow and silence.
'You're probably sitting there thinking about how you'll kill , Harty,' he thought, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
'That won't work.'
His hand lowered, fingers tightening around the glowing card.
After the player who first attempted this quest in his past life posted about how dangerous it was, a few brave—or foolish—players, curious about the anonymous post circulating on the forums, had taken it upon themselves to investigate the so-called quest.
However, most never made even found the cave, talkless of unlocking the quest.
A few managed to find and initiate the quest, but the outco was almost always the sa. They entered the Orc zone under-leveled, unprepared, and were quickly slaughtered.
But there had been one exception.
A top Beta player, who had been the first and only to clear the secret area.
Bleeding and exhausted, he returned to the cave, the sacred potion in hand.
And Harty had killed him.
While the player was off guard, his health still low, armor broken and skills on cooldown, Harty struck without hesitation.
The player had also posted about it afterward, and since then, most learned to stay away from the cave.
The warning was clear: "Don't trust the man in the cave."
But Riley knew better.
Because the betrayal wasn't a bug. It wasn't a gimmick.
Harty wasn't just so broken, poisoned NPC.
He was a spy—sent ahead to this novice village by the dark forces that would later bring about the demon invasion.
A hidden agent ant to weaken the player base before they ever had a chance to organize. By manipulating, testing, and culling the curious. All under the guise of a tragic questline.
And worst of all?
He was still poisoned.
That part was true.
But it didn't stop him from being far stronger than any of the players who ever stumbled into that cave.
Harty was already a level 30 warrior, so even as weak as he was currently, he still couldn't be compared to the players currently.
Riley glanced at the card again. The green glow pulsed faintly between his fingers.
"I've already made up my mind," he muttered.
"Activate."
The card pulsed.
Then it blazed with erald light, the glow wrapping around Riley like a living fla, curling up his arms and legs.
Then, with a faint shhhhp of air being displaced, his body vanished.
The card went with him, dissolving into dust the mont he disappeared from the forest path.
And in the silence that followed, far behind him in the cave, Harty stirred.
He smiled, a cruel, knowing grin, and whispered into the dark:
"Good luck, player."
*
Riley suddenly reappeared in a different location, a green flash erupting around him, before dispersing like mist into thin air.
A forest appeared within his vision once again, a bit similar, yet very different to the one he was in before.
The scent of bark and soil still clung to the wind, but the trees here were spaced farther apart, allowing sunlight to bleed through the branches.
The ground was covered in low bushes and moss instead of tall grass, and the overall terrain had a quiet, barren feel.
There were fewer shadows, fewer places to hide... it wasn't what could be called a good location for an assassin like him.
Riley's boots crunched softly against the dry underbrush as his eyes took in his surroundings.
Then a notification blinked to life before him.
[You have entered the Secret Orc Area!]
[Note: Monsters here are from level 10–20]
[Secret Area Difficulty: Normal]
[Clear the monsters in the secret area with at least an S-rank rating to receive rewards.]
His gaze narrowed at the ssage, pupils tightening.
Riley lifted a hand and dismissed the entire thing with a flick of his finger.
There were five difficulty tiers in total when it ca to secret areas: Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Impossible, and Death.
The one he was in now—Normal—was the lowest of them.
But that didn't an it was easy. Not for a Level 5 like him.
The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards—and the faster one could level up, obtain powerful items, and also treasure.
That allure was what had driven so many high-level players to their deaths in his past life.
Riley still rembered his own first ti entering a Hard secret area in his past life, along with a group of ten.
He had barely used five seconds in the area, before he was killed, and he didn't even see what killer him.
One second he was alive, the next, the screen went black and he had found himself back in the real world.
He exhaled softly, shaking his head in pity at his old self.
He was different now.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed in the forest.
Then another. And another.
Riley's ears twitched as he turned, his instincts kicking in imdiately.
The sounds ca from multiple directions—north, east, and west. Heavy thuds shook the ground, followed by the soft scraping of weapons dragging through the dirt.
Then he saw them.
Four figures erged from the shadows between trees.
Each of them was easily two ters tall, their broad chests rising and falling with guttural snarls.
Bulking muscles stretched across their fras, glistening faintly beneath cracked leather armor.
Their skin was a dark gray, almost like granite, with thin, faded red tattoos curling up their arms like vines.
Orcs.
Red Orcs, to be precise.
The three at the sides held massive clubs—crude, spiked things fashioned from knotted wood and rusted iron.
While the one on the right swung a jagged sword, thick and chipped, but still sharp enough to gut a man in a single swing.
Riley's eyes flicked upward to the floating tabs above their heads.
[Red Orc]
[Level: 14]
[H/P: 300]
[Red Orc]
[Level: 16]
[H/P: 400]
[Red Orc]
[Level: 14]
[H/P: 320]
[Red Orc]
[Level: 15]
[H/P: 350]
Four of them.
All between levels fourteen and sixteen.
Each one with health far above what he had faced so far.
But even as he stood before then, Riley didn't feel any fear.
Instead, all he could think about was how much power he would gain by consuming them.
Grrr!
His stomach growled loudly in response, and he subconsciously licked his lips.
The orcs began spreading out, fanning into a semi-circle to box him in. Snorts and grunts filled the space between them, along with the sound of weapons being lifted.
They hadn't attacked yet.
But that would change in seconds.
Riley's hand reached for the dagger at his waist, his heartbeat slowing, and thought sharpening.
The hunger still throbbed quietly in his veins, but he ignored it.
'Co at ...' Riley thought, his eyes shining with excitent as he tightened his grip on his daggers. 'You're all food to eat!'
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