My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 76: The Demon’s Whisper

A bright flashlight was on at Fang Zhen's left hip, and in his hand, he held the long spear he had pulled from the Dogman Priest's body.

The Cheetah Hunting Crossbow was already in a backpack, along with three Molotov Cocktails and the Anti-Riot Shield, all of which Quade was carrying.

The blood on the long spear had been wiped clean.

Fang Zhen had thoroughly searched the Dogman Priest's body. In addition to the dark green, diamond-shaped stone from its brain and the Ruby Pendant, he had also found a key.

Without a doubt, this was the key to the treasure chest in Miner Ding.

Fang Zhen felt quite pleased and full of anticipation.

'They say Kobolds like shiny things, and that they pool all their collective property together. They should have some savings, right?'

'What exactly will I find in the treasure chest in Miner Ding?'

With the mindset of opening a blind box worth at least five figures, Fang Zhen returned to Mine Cave C.

He didn't go straight down the spiral path, however. Instead, he found the Heavy-Armored Warhammer Dogman Warrior that had been sniped and killed.

Fang Zhen had been deeply impressed by the Dogman Priest's fearless charge earlier. Just to be safe, he put two more shots into the Heavy-Armored Warhammer Dogman's head.

The Heavy-Armored Dogman on the ground showed no reaction. It seemed to be completely dead.

Fang Zhen relaxed and searched the Heavy-Armored Dogman's corpse.

He found nothing.

Fang Zhen frowned, but his expression smoothed out a moment later.

'It's normal not to find any loot.'

'Even the bodies of the Kobold grunts Fang Zhen killed during the day, aside from the charred ones, have disappeared. They must have all been dragged to the Rune Array in Miner Ding.'

Fang Zhen didn't know what the Rune Array was for, but it looked very sinister.

He turned and continued toward Miner Ding.

After descending the spiral path into Miner Ding, Fang Zhen moved at a steady pace, finishing off any Elite Dogmen that might still be breathing.

Fang Zhen didn't find anything else on the Elite Dogmen either.

'It seems the Kobolds strictly practice a system of centralized property.'

With no threats remaining, Fang Zhen arrived at the Kobold tent. Before him was the white sheet-metal box.

The white sheet-metal box was about a cubic meter in size, with a large and very sturdy-looking lock.

Fang Zhen took out the brass key he had looted from the Dogman Priest and inserted the nearly ten-centimeter-long key into the bronze lock.

He applied a little force with his right hand, twisted, and with a CLICK, the bronze lock opened.

Fang Zhen had Quade place an empty backpack next to the box, then, with the feeling of opening a high-tier blind box, he lifted the lid.

His eyes lit up the moment he looked inside.

The first thing that met his eyes was a large handful of Gold Coins.

The Gold Coins were the same as the Gold Ropes he had seen before, just in a much larger quantity. At a glance, there were at least twenty or more.

This was equivalent to more than half a year's tax revenue for Redstone Town.

'These Kobolds really know how to hoard wealth!'

A happy smile spread across Fang Zhen's face.

He already had nearly ten Gold Ropes on him, but you could never have too much of this stuff.

Fang Zhen wasn't necessarily planning to sell them. He felt that a currency made of Gold like the Gold Ropes might not be usable in just one instance.

After the Redstone Town instance, he had realized that "cash power" was universally applicable—and he meant the "cash" in "cash is king."

A precious metal currency like Gold Coins didn't necessarily need to be exchanged for real-world money. In interactive instance scenarios, they were very likely to have value and be usable.

Even if the instance worlds were different and the minted Gold Coins varied, Gold itself was universal. It was probably like in the old days, when the Nobel Gold Coin from the United Kingdom could be used in France, and likewise, France's Golden Ecus and Italy's Florin Gold Coins had purchasing power in neighboring countries.

After all, who would refuse Gold?

Even if Fang Zhen didn't exchange the Gold Ropes for real cash, he could probably use them in other instances in the future.

Later on, in Elite, Hero, or even Legend-tier instance worlds, these Gold Coins might be used to buy Magic or other Extraordinary Items and equipment.

He happily accepted them.

Fang Zhen swept all the Gold Ropes into the backpack and looked back into the metal box.

Inside were two golden-yellow objects, each the size and approximate shape of a human brain, with a complex, honeycomb-like structure.

Fang Zhen was a bit surprised. He reached in and picked one up; it was exceptionally heavy.

After examining it for a moment, Fang Zhen suddenly realized what he was holding.

"This is... Dog Head Gold?"

Once the thought occurred to him, the more he looked, the more certain he became.

Dog Head Gold is a type of large, naturally formed gold nugget, often with an irregular or dog-head-like shape. It's typically found in riverbeds or ore veins and is not artificially processed.

Fang Zhen had seen Dog Head Gold before in short-form videos.

The two metal lumps in front of him perfectly matched his understanding of Dog Head Gold.

"Damn, I'm rich!" was Fang Zhen's first reaction.

Dog Head Gold is a natural gold ore, so its purity is lower than that of pure Gold, but due to its natural origin and rarity, many collectors are willing to acquire it.

If sold openly, Dog Head Gold of the same weight could fetch an even higher price than pure Gold.

Of the two pieces of Dog Head Gold in Fang Zhen's hands, one weighed over a jin, and the other was even heavier, at least one jin and six or seven liang.

If this was all Gold, the price would be astronomical.

The light shining from Fang Zhen's eyes seemed to take on a golden hue.

He took a deep breath, calming his emotions.

'Calm down. Don't act like you've never seen the world.'

'Didn't you just sell a lot of Gold?'

'You're not short on cash right now. Don't freeze up at the sight of Gold. Where are your ambitions?'

'Fang Zhen, oh Fang Zhen, you have this "instance life" game now. You should broaden your horizons.'

'It's a bit much to ask you to conquer the world, dominate a region, or become some tyrannical king—you're just not that kind of person. But at the very least, your ambition should be to become a master of countless skills, with boundless Mana, an unrivaled force across the universe. It would be best to become Extraordinary, achieve sainthood, and live a long life. If fate gives you the chance, even peeking into the realm of gods isn't out of the question. That's the goal you should be pursuing.'

'Don't lose your composure over a little bit of money.'

Fang Zhen gave himself a mental pep talk.

And it had to be said, this self-talk was quite effective.

His emotions quickly calmed down.

"Heh, it's all about mindset," Fang Zhen mused.

Fang Zhen smiled, quite satisfied with his ability to regulate his own state of mind.

He put the pair of Dog Head Gold nuggets into the backpack as well.

Fang Zhen had no intention of selling these two pieces of Dog Head Gold anytime soon.

He had already attracted a lot of attention by going through Chen Baokun to sell the Holy Chalice and Holy Plate. If he took out two pieces of Dog Head Gold so soon after, he was afraid it would tempt even those who weren't greedy to begin with.

Fang Zhen didn't want to stoke Chen Baokun's greed; the potential loss would outweigh the gain, and he wasn't short on money for the time being.

He would take these two pieces of Dog Head Gold back as a financial reserve. For now, he wouldn't touch them. He could even just put them on his bedside table as collectibles.

His gaze fell back inside the box.

Two items remained in the box.

A rolled-up sheepskin scroll that looked quite ancient, and a letter.

Curious, Fang Zhen unrolled the sheepskin scroll.

The scroll wasn't long, only about an arm's length when unrolled. It was covered in dense symbols, all a blackish-red color like dried blood, and some of them, though ancient-looking, gave off a sinister aura.

After looking at it for a while, Fang Zhen's brow furrowed deeply.

He understood.

This was a Summoning Array for calling upon a demon from another plane!

Fang Zhen whipped his head around and stared at the Rune Array behind him, which was filled with the flesh and blood of countless Kobolds.

According to the ancient, sinister-looking sheepskin scroll, the Array behind him was essentially ready. All that was missing was the final step—a summoning ritual—to call forth some kind of "demon" from the Otherworld, and then communicate, or even make a "deal" with it.

The information on the ancient sheepskin scroll revealed that the summoned "demon" would grant the summoner extremely potent Magic Power, allowing them to bypass the process of learning and training to directly possess immense strength.

Of course, as a fair exchange, the demon would collect a small "price" from the summoner.

Something strange happened.

Before he'd read the scroll, Fang Zhen had only felt that the Summoning Array behind him was somewhat sinister, but he'd felt nothing else.

After reading the scroll, however, Fang Zhen felt a powerful pull emanating from the Summoning Array.

This attraction felt like a magnetic force, a type of Magic Power that irresistibly drew Fang Zhen's Spirit toward the Summoning Array.

At the same time, it was as if a voice was whispering in his mind, tempting the desires in Fang Zhen's heart.

The voice seemed to be saying, 'Come... come... Don't you want to obtain Extraordinary power and gain Magic Power? Just complete the Summoning Array, and you will get everything you desire. Whether it's power, wealth, beauty, or strength, you can have whatever you want. All you have to do is complete this ritual and offer a tiny little "price."'

This silent, yet seemingly real whisper echoed both by Fang Zhen's ear and in his heart.

For a moment, Fang Zhen was caught in an intense internal struggle. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But his hands lifted involuntarily and began to move unconsciously, as if drawing some kind of rune, while his feet started walking toward the sacrificial Summoning Array.

Fang Zhen took two steps before he suddenly realized something was wrong.

He forcefully stopped in his tracks, using all his willpower to restrain his tempted body.

"What the hell is this thing?"

"I'm not going to be your damn puppet!"

"Get out of my head!"

Fang Zhen's will was roaring.