Twenty minutes later.
With the thought of "first climb the nearest mountain to observe the surrounding terrain, then decide where to dig down…", Arthur was now standing at a good vantage point.
From here, although he still couldn't clearly distinguish north, south, east, and west, he could already form a rough understanding of the surrounding environment.
First was the path he had come from: a normal plains biome dotted with sunflowers. Looking farther in that direction—
The beautiful scenery abruptly vanished.
In its place was a massive, blood-red tumor swelling on the surface of the land.
Countless bottomless holes riddled its surface, each exuding a thick, bloody stench. Even the sky above that area appeared shrouded in crimson clouds.
Arthur felt a wave of visceral discomfort and slowly turned his gaze away.
As a former Terraria player, he immediately recognized that terrain.
The Crimson…
A malignant growth of the entire Terraria world.
Like the Corruption, it devoured the land itself, spreading bloodshed and madness as it expanded.
And buried within it slept a grotesque entity—the Brain of Cthulhu.
Although it was considered weak in the game, Arthur had no intention of provoking it right now.
After all, he was currently in what amounted to a hardcore, open-world, unknown-difficulty Terraria.
There was no guarantee of a rollback mechanism like the TT2 protocol this time.
If he fell to his death here, there would likely be nowhere to complain.
Therefore, what he needed to do now was simple.
Arthur turned around and descended the mountain path.
He clearly remembered seeing several large cave entrances on the way here.
And those entrances likely led to underground caverns.
Without hesitation, he drew Decisive Heart and walked straight into a vast limestone cave.
The deeper he went, the darker it became.
In the darkness, he held the tachi in one hand, while the other cautiously felt along the surroundings.
His hand suddenly brushed against something cylindrical.
Found it.
Arthur struck downward with Decisive Heart.
Bang!
The container shattered, and a light source tumbled out.
"Damn it—why are pots in this world so hard to find…?"
Picking up the fallen torch, Arthur finally escaped the suffocating darkness.
He had searched the surface for a long time without finding a single pot—the easiest early-game resource.
Complaints aside, the torchlight revealed many more pots ahead.
Arthur smashed all of them without hesitation.
[Items acquired:
Shuriken ×12
Rope ×389
Torch ×46
Glowstick ×13
Lesser Healing Potion ×3]
His inventory rapidly filled.
Exploration—especially underground mining—was a fundamental part of Terraria.
Yet Arthur completely ignored the exposed silver and gold ore veins nearby.
Instead, he placed torches and continued downward.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Though he felt no physical fatigue, Arthur glanced at his watch and knew significant time had passed.
Still, the descent showed no end.
Good luck… at least this isn't a dead tunnel.
As soil gradually gave way to stone, Arthur finally reached a vast vertical shaft.
He secured a rope to the rock wall and began descending again.
As his speed increased—
The background music changed.
That could only mean one thing.
He had entered the underground layer.
Still not the bottom…
He had confirmed the rope reached all the way down before descending, yet the depth still exceeded his expectations.
Just as confusion set in—
The torchlight caught something small and blue.
It circled him.
And then—
It shot straight for his head.
Not good!
Arthur instantly released the rope, letting gravity pull him down before grabbing it again.
Cold sweat ran down his face.
"Damn it!"
There was no time to recover.
He repeatedly released and re-gripped the rope, accelerating his descent.
I've been in the City too long—I forgot about this!
Arthur scanned his surroundings. The system had already identified the threat.
Monster Name: Cave Bat
Damage Type: Physical
Containment Level: No containment required
Description: Cave Bats frequently ambush unprepared adventurers in dark environments and often knock them into deadly drops.
Different areas spawned different enemies.
And this was the cave layer.
If that hit had landed… with only 38 HP, the fall alone would've killed me.
Arthur abandoned all caution.
He could already hear the flapping of wings again.
After barely evading several more attacks, his feet suddenly splashed into water.
Almost there.
He let go.
Arthur plunged into the pool below.
Pulling glowsticks from his inventory, he tossed several into the water.
As the lake illuminated, he finally exhaled.
No piranhas.
Yet when he looked up—
There was more than one Cave Bat circling above.
I can't go back up.
Their size and speed made them hard targets; neither Decisive Heart nor a firearm would be reliable.
Arthur pulled out his Copper Pickaxe.
Swimming toward the rock wall underwater, he prepared himself.
I'll have to use this trick…