He was surrounded by snakes.
The uneasiness that another arrow might hit him didn't hinder the fight.
On the contrary, the adrenaline rush heightened his excitement, allowing Noa to butcher snakes with much more precision.
His senses didn't diminish, waiting for the second strike.
Yet, it didn't arrive.
'Who was that fucker?' Noa thought.
Considering that Arthur used a variety of weapons, it might have been him, but according to his memories, the protagonist was spawned in the labyrinth, far from the place he was right now.
Noa had another reason for being on edge about Arthur.
He could tell that the main character realized something was amiss.
The story Arthur knew from the novel had changed.
Noa had survived, a completely new system announcement had been made, and if he put the pieces together, he might be on a hunt.
'But he didn't attack me in the academy,' Noa pondered. 'Nor did he show me any suspicions.'
No matter who his assailant was, the attack wasn't repeated.
Yet his back remained warm, tingling his senses.
He felt eyes.
The eyes that peered into him.
With nothing better to do, Noa walked through the swamp, battling his way to the gate.
Time ticked, the distance he had to cover decreased, but nothing interesting occurred.
'At least I am getting rich.'
Cheering every time he got orbs, Noa filled his bag happily.
'But god dammit. The loot drop rate is so low. That bastard is so lucky.'
The same problem didn't exist in the game because playing as Arthur had been his job.
Now that he was stripped of the plundering skill, Noa missed it greatly, even if he was seeing items through the monitor.
However, he wasn't shameless enough to complain when his talent literally turned him into an immortal.
Hating the dirty and sticky water with annoying monsters to deal with, Noa was delighted when he left the swamp.
He even considered killing himself to get new clothes, but shook his head immediately.
'I shouldn't be so wasteful. Just because I have echoes, I shouldn't be spending them on every minor inconvenience.'
Feeling that Aeris would have been proud of his decision, Noa embraced the hard ground.
Being able to walk on a solid surface was a blessing he had never appreciated.
The new location looked like a cave, enveloping him with walls in every direction, but something about the scene drew him in.
Thankfully, the space was vast.
The ceiling was high, easing movement, and for a moment, he simply wandered as if time had stopped.
"It should be around here," he said, remembering the road he had taken countless times before.
Nearing the magic gate, Noa halted his step.
"There is no way I am letting you go," he muttered.
Noa also felt a new presence approaching him with killing intent.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the human that had attacked him earlier but a completely new creature.
[ Toothless Undead Lv. 10 ]
[ Grade: Evolved Challenger ]
He was confident in dealing with it.
Even considering its rarity and strength potential, Noa knew he could win the battle, but he had no intention of doing so.
To bait the assailant, he needed a plan.
And the plan was not to act dead to bait the aggressor but to actually die before their eyes.
There was no risk involved.
It only depended on his execution, and as someone who was used to death, Noa quickly made the decision.
He threw his previous resolution out of the window of not wasting echoes and welcomed a zombie-like entity.
Undead were a diverse species in Velrox, encompassing countless different types with unique features and grades.
But he felt no connection with them.
'I guess she is controlling death itself, not the dead,' he guessed, thinking about the Doom God.
Then he brought his attention back to the humanoid undead.
Waiting for the strike, Noa bared his sword.
If he was going to lose and die, he had to do it spectacularly, with style, while making it believable.
His current opponent was a swordsman zombie that resembled a halfling.
Its flesh was woolen with various remains.
A single eye, a bloodied eye, gazed out of a rotten head, creating a specific aura around it.
Noa chose to be offensive.
But he also wanted to use this opportunity to improve his sword skills.
When it came to swordsmanship, he still had a long way to go, and if someone with better experience attacked him, Noa would have been cornered.
This battle also showed what he lacked this entire time.
Yet, unknowingly to him, his stance and movement had become better.
Mixed with the practices he had back on Earth and the grinding he had to do on Velrox with his life on the line, Noa was content with his progress.
However, he had to die.
Showing too much and going all out would destroy his chances.
So he got hit, sliced, pierced—all to slowly accumulate the wounds, and when the fight seemed hopeless, he even tried to run away.
Noa also thought that the archer might shoot at him when he was so close to dying, but the arrow never came.
With his back to the zombie, the creature didn't allow his retreat, cutting his hands off.
Of course, he screamed.
No matter how used he got to the pain, he wasn't numb to it.
Yet he chose it himself and held on.
Finally, Noa's suffering ended when the undead beheaded him swiftly.
Darkness covered his vision, and the system's prompt wasn't delayed, announcing his deliberate death.
[ You Died ]
Noa was back in an all-too-familiar territory.
The whiteness of the place didn't blind his eyes, and even though the changes in his stats were the most impressive, he didn't spend a dime on them, wishing to go back.
[ Echo: 888/1,000 ]
His desire was fulfilled, and sensing his corpse and the situation around it, Noa stood between the two choices.
Either he would create a new body, or he would go back to his corpse.
The decision had been made long ago, and before his mind even woke up, Noa detected an approaching human nearing him with steady steps.