Alex let out a scream of frustration, his voice echoing through the dense forest.
His heart pounded, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
It was mind-boggling that even after death the cockatrice refused to stop being a problem.
Breathing heavily, Alex sighed and swiped away the notification hovering in the air.
Though frustrated, he decided to accept the situation.
There was no point fretting about it, and certainly nothing he could do about it.
There was no way he would have known he would get cursed.
And honestly, even if he had known, he doubted he would have made a different choice.
Alex forced himself to think more clearly and decided to look at it from another angle.
'Instead of a curse I can just see it as a blessing?'
His original plan was simple: get stronger, and gain an edge over the other players.
But now he had another reason to push his limits, one with much higher stakes.
He was literally standing in cockatrice territory and with the < Rooster curse> inflicted on him, once he was spotted by a cockatrice he would become an instant target that would immediately be hunted down without hesitation.
Not wanting to risk an encounter just yet, Alex turned away and began walking down the familiar path leading to the goblin cave.
His plan was clear: raid the goblin hideout, gain experience, and level up until he was strong enough to take on the cockatrices head-on.
He recalled overhearing the goblin boss mention to Dreadfeather that it would return, meaning there was a good chance the goblins had respawned.
Alex smirked.
He needed a break from hunting bird-like monsters, and goblins would provide a nice change of pace. Soon, he'd be dealing with cockatrices nonstop, so why not take the opportunity to face a different foe for now?
Standing in front of the cave he equipped [Eclipse Edge]
The front was eerily quiet, compared to the rowdy scene he had seen about an hour ago.
As he stepped closer, a notification flashed before his eyes.
Ding!
[Goblin Sub Dungeon]
[Do you want to enter? Y/N]
[Once you enter you can't leave unless you defeat the boss]
It turns out the cave was a dungeon like he had suspected.
He knew the only explanation for what the goblin boss had said to the cockatrice was respawning. As long as the dungeon exists the goblin boss could always come back, like an undead.
'No wonder the cockatrice was pissed with them.'
They were like annoying chicken-loving cockroaches that just wouldn't die.
Alex was quite confident he could handle whatever the dungeon would throw at him.
He had leveled up a lot and gotten many power stones along with new abilities, so he was ready to unleash on the poor goblins.
He accepted the prompt to enter and stepped into the dark cave.
The air inside the cave was thick and damp, carrying the smell of decay and mold. Jagged rocks jutted from the uneven walls, casting shadows that flickered in the dim light of the bioluminescent fungi that clung onto the stones illuminating Alex's path.
Five minutes inside, and Alex was starting to get pissed, his frustration growing with every step.
'Seriously where the hell are the goblins?'
He had been walking with his nose covered, as the smell of the place left a putrid taste in his mouth, and hadn't found any single thing to kill but time.
'Seriously, I should send a complaint to the oracle for the lack of monsters to fight.'
As if on cue, he heard a faint noise echo from behind him.
He noticed it came from a distance, so he walked backward towards the noise.
Peeking around a corner, he saw some goblins chattering gibberish, along with more appearing out of thin air, one by one.
'So that's why I found no goblins.' Alex nodded coming to a realization.
The goblins had all died in their fight against the cockatrice, so the dungeon probably needed time and energy to respawn them back.
He then saw the scout goblin from the forest. He too had been respawned.
Alex wondered if the same applied to the cockatrice. Would they respawn after they died?
He really wished they didn't.
If that were the case, he would not only have to deal with a curse but also an angrier Dreadfeather.
Alex shuddered but he was snapped out of his thoughts by a low grunt behind him.
Turning quickly, Alex saw a goblin that had spawned right behind him, and without hesitation, he swung his blade, [Eclipse Edge], cleanly slicing through the goblin's neck.
The decapitated head rolled into the open. And one of the goblins who spotted the rolling head let out a shrill scream, alerting the rest of the group. In an instant, the goblins were armed, ready for battle.
"Well, at least now I've got something to fight," Alex thought, tightening his grip on his sword.
He stepped out of his hiding and waved to the goblins, grinning "Hi."
Two of the goblins charged at him immediately, as if provoked by the greeting, but Alex with a single fluid motion, swung [Eclipse Edge], slicing both of them in half at the waist.
Their bodies drop to the ground with a chilling thud.
And the rest of the goblins weren't so eager to rush in.
Instead, they moved cautiously, slowly forming a circle around Alex, their eyes glinting with malice. The goblin scout from amongst them stepped forward and a notification blinked into Alex's vision.
[Goblin Scout: Rusuk (Rank-D)]
Rusuk raised its dagger and pointed it menacingly at Alex.:
"Human drop weapon and all belonging. Human leave with head in one piece."
Alex raised an eyebrow. Unlike the usual gibberish from the other goblins, he could actually understand Rusuk's words.
That meant one thing: named monsters could speak human language, or at least he could understand them.
The rest of the goblins grunted, howled, and banged their weapons against the cave floor and walls, trying to intimidate him. The noise reverberated around the cavern, but Alex wasn't the least bit fazed. In fact, he found it all rather amusing.
With a smirk, Alex addressed the scout.
"Rusuk, huh? I'm Alex. I've been watching you since you killed the cockatrice in the forest. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten so many treasures and skills. So, thanks for that."
Rusuk paused, tilting its head as if processing the information. Then, completely catching Alex off guard, it asked, "Human have chicken?"
"Eh."
Alex blinked, stunned by the sudden question.
Rusuk, seemingly serious, stretched out its hand, palm up. "Human have chicken. Hand it over."
Alex chuckled finding the gesture comedic.
It was crazy that they thought of cockatrice meat as treasures.
And though Alex could spare some cockatrice meat, he had no intention of handing over anything to them. If anything, he was here to take.
"I'm sorry Rusuk I can't do that."
Rusuk's face twisted in annoyance.
"Human surrounded, no escape, human die, hand it over?"
From their viewpoint, they saw Alex as a fool, surrounded in their territory with little chance of escaping.
But it was far from what they thought.
Alex wasn't the prey here; he was a predator.
And they would come to know that very soon.