My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 199 - 161: Exploiting a Bug

Fang Zhen got himself ready and sorted out his gear.

Now that he had the Desert Viper Handgun, he could leave the compound bow behind for now. The compound crossbow was another matter.

The effective range of a typical handgun is about fifty meters. That’s for an ordinary person; with better skill and a high-performance handgun, that distance can be extended.

At close range, a handgun could replace the compound bow.

The compound crossbow was a different story. Although it was slow to reload, it could substitute for a sniper rifle within a certain range. He could use it when necessary.

He also brought a long spear, since he might run into close-quarters combat with melee weapons.

It was often said that a gun is fast beyond seven steps, and both fast and accurate within seven steps. However, dungeons were full of monsters—like Montagu from the Fallen Knight dungeon—against whom a handgun might not be as effective as a long spear.

He had to bring melee weapons to deal with these special monsters.

He also packed other items, like Molotov Cocktails, hemostatic gauze, painkillers, adrenaline, and antibiotics.

He dismantled his plate armor, which fit perfectly into the metal case meant for art and antiques. He’d placed a Feather of the Light Spirit inside, reducing the weight by eighty percent. Including the case, the total weight was about 28 pounds—a completely manageable load.

He also packed potassium permanganate tablets.

After preparing all the necessary equipment, Fang Zhen performed another round of Meditation to adjust his state. After checking his gear one last time, he saw that the "Bloody Lord" dungeon was already counting down.

He sat in front of his computer. In the "Dungeon Life" game, he actually had two windows open.

After returning from the last dungeon, "Fallen Knight," Fang Zhen had intentionally not completed the post-dungeon settlement.

He wanted to test something—to exploit a bug.

Previously, after clearing a dungeon, Fang Zhen would always return home, immediately view the clear screen, and then complete the settlement to solidify his new skills.

The dungeons were quite difficult to clear, and settlement allowed him to solidify skills, so it was only natural to do it immediately.

But after clearing the "Fallen Knight" dungeon, a sudden idea struck Fang Zhen.

He suddenly wondered what would happen if he delayed the settlement until the next dungeon, "Bloody Lord," officially started. If he bought the intel for the new dungeon first and *then* went back to settle the previous one, what would happen?

The point of this was to gain an advantage. If he unlocked multiple skills but didn’t have enough Merit Points, he could choose which to prioritize based on the specific challenges of the "Bloody Lord" dungeon. It would also give him the flexibility to decide whether to spend his Merit Points on solidifying his own skills or on other things, like hiring combat partners.

Of course, he wouldn’t need to do this every time—just for crucial dungeons.

With this idea in mind, he had deliberately held off on settling "Fallen Knight," waiting for "Bloody Lord" to officially begin so he could see if the bug could be exploited.

Before long, it was time for the "Bloody Lord" dungeon to open.

A dialog box from the "Dungeon Life" game popped up.

"The queued dungeon is now available.

Dungeon Name: Bloody Lord

World Setting: Standard

World Name: Curse Seal World

Dungeon Difficulty: Hard

Do you wish to activate this dungeon?"

Fang Zhen selected "Yes."

"You have activated the ’Bloody Lord’ dungeon. It has been added to your main interface queue."

"You may spend 25 Merit Points to obtain information on the World Setting, Monsters, and BOSS."

Another prompt appeared in the dialog box.

"You have 73 Merit Points on file. Do you wish to spend 25 Merit Points to obtain information regarding the ’Bloody Lord’ dungeon?"

Fang Zhen noticed that unlocking the information cost 5 more Merit Points than last time.

’Maybe the fee increased because the dungeon is harder,’ he thought.

He had to confirm. Fang Zhen clicked the mouse.

"You have obtained information regarding the ’Bloody Lord’ dungeon.

Analyzing dungeon data...

Analyzing...

Dungeon data acquired. Information for ’Bloody Lord’ is as follows."

"Analyzing Dungeon Background...

Dungeon Background Confirmed:

"A special potion provided by the Ranger, Fang Zhen, was coincidentally combined with an Alchemist’s secret formula in the Curse Seal World, creating the Secret Medicine Blood Burst. As a result, the balance of power in the Curse Seal World has subtly shifted.

The powerful destructive effect of Secret Medicine Blood Burst on non-human life has caught the attention of the Whig Society’s high command. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Over the long years, the Whig Society has repeatedly challenged the authority of the Eternal Night Council. Their struggles have seen both victories and defeats, but overall, the Whig Society has been at a disadvantage. The emergence of the Blood Burst Secret Medicine, however, could change this. It has the potential to compensate for the Whig Society’s lack of high-end combat power against the Eternal Night Council, while also boosting the effectiveness of ordinary Warriors against non-human entities.

However, a rift formed within the Whig Society’s leadership. One faction believes the changes brought by the Blood Burst Secret Medicine are enough to destabilize the power structure of the Kingdom in the Curse Seal World. The other, more conservative faction, argues that the powerful among the non-humans are practically a different species from the common ones. They doubt the Blood Burst Secret Medicine will have any effect on these high-tier entities.

To resolve the disagreement between the two factions, the Whig Society leadership made a decision: they would test the lethality of the Blood Burst Secret Medicine against a high-tier non-human and settle the matter with facts.

As a result, they decided to use the renowned Vampire Lord of Ellick Territory, Count Ellick, as a test subject to determine if the Blood Burst Secret Medicine is effective against high-tier non-humans.

The radical faction within the Whig Society took this matter extremely seriously. They dispatched their elite forces to Ellick Territory to await the arrival of the Ranger, Fang Zhen.

However, within the Ancient Castle of Bloody Lord Ellick, some unknown and abnormal changes are also taking place..."

"Generating Key In-Dungeon Information:

Bloody Ritual: A ritual that alters a creature’s life form. Creatures that undergo the Bloody Ritual will experience either a drastic change in appearance or a fundamental transformation of their very being.

Creatures baptized by the Bloody Ritual will have either their appearance altered or their soul and essence transformed. In either case, they cannot maintain their original form.

Blood Core: The core of a non-human life form. As long as the Blood Core exists, the ’core’ can sustain the creature’s life functions even if its heart is destroyed. The exact mechanism is unknown. It can be physically destroyed.

Life Form Transformation: The process of changing a being’s fundamental origin, which is closely tied to one’s understanding of the world’s true nature. For example, even among those who appear human, the origin of some ’humans’ might be a consciousness that emerged from self-organizing carbon-based life, while for others, it might be the fruit of the Tree of Life."

"Generating In-Dungeon Threat Units:

Ordinary Human Soldier: Trained humans with their own will and emotions. They possess some martial skill, but their potential is limited.

Trait 1: Emotional Attachment. Ordinary human soldiers are emotional beings. They can be swayed by acquaintances and kin, losing morale and refusing to fight when forced to face friends or family.

Trait 2: Self-Preservation. Under high pressure, human soldiers will act in their own self-interest. They may surrender or even act as guides when facing certain death, and can be coerced into acting against their will when their lives are threatened.

Earl’s Guard: Comprised mostly of Full Armor Warriors with superb martial skills. At some point in the past, some members of the Earl’s Guard transformed into quasi-aberrations, losing their hearts and gaining a ’Blood Core’.

Trait 1: Loyalty Brand. A powerful mental brand formed through long-term hypnosis. Soldiers bearing this brand prioritize Lord Ellick’s interests above all else and cannot be swayed or persuaded.

Trait 2: Battle Fervor. When in a state of battle fervor, the mental fortitude of these guards is comparable to that of a zealot. They will even sacrifice their own lives to launch fanatical attacks.

Aberrant Test Subjects: Special life forms created by Ellick using other non-human creatures as a base. Each test subject has unique characteristics, but all are extremely dangerous.

Trait 1: Trait Enhancement. Modified from their original non-human forms, their lethality and ferocity far exceed the baseline. However, their weaknesses are also more pronounced. A strike to a weak point can be instantly fatal.

Trait 2: Allophagic Evolution. Some test subjects evolve by consuming other subjects. The direction of this evolution is unknown, and its pace is extremely rapid.

BOSS:

Bloody Lord Ellick:

Trait 1: Experimental Fervor. Has a pathological passion for exceptional test subjects.

Trait 2: Mind Domination. This Vampire Count enjoys toying with the minds and souls of others and is highly skilled in the art of manipulation.

Dungeon Objectives:

Objective 1: Kill Bloody Lord Ellick

Objective 2: Find the potential traitor among your companions

Optional Objective 3: Uncover the truth of the Bloody Ritual

"

Fang Zhen was a little surprised by what he read.

’I’m actually mentioned in the world background description?’

’Thinking it over, it actually made sense.’

He also noticed a pattern: in Hard difficulty dungeons, his influence was always expanding. He was either affecting the regional situation or impacting the Kingdom’s balance of power.

’Perhaps one of the key elements of a Hard difficulty dungeon is having a major impact on its world?’

’This time, unlocking the info also revealed the objectives. That must be what the extra 5 Merit Points were for.’

’If all future dungeons list their completion objectives like this, it’ll be much easier to come up with a targeted strategy.’

Just then, another dialog box from the "Dungeon Life" game appeared.

"Detected: Your previous dungeon, ’Fallen Knight,’ has not been settled. You must complete the settlement for the previous dungeon before entering ’Bloody Lord.’ Do you wish to settle now?"

Fang Zhen chuckled when he saw this.

’So I did manage to exploit the bug.’

He clicked the mouse and proceeded with the "Fallen Knight" dungeon settlement.

"Congratulations! You have cleared the Hard difficulty dungeon ’Fallen Knight’ in the Nameless World.

Dungeon World Setting: Nameless

Dungeon Difficulty: Hard

Base Merit Points for Dungeon Completion: 200

Calculating performance-based rewards. Please wait... Please wait..."

"Your Performance in the Dungeon: Excellent. Your exploitation of the dungeon world is increasingly mature, allowing for reasonable self-optimization and development.

Exploration Performance: Excellent

Key Item Acquisition: Excellent

Dungeon Development Completion: Excellent

Skill Acquisition and Development: Good

Other: Excellent

Calculating overall score... Calculating...

Your total performance-based reward is: 859 Merit Points

Congratulations! Your final reward for the ’Fallen Knight’ dungeon is: 1059 Merit Points."

A smile spread across Fang Zhen’s face.

Merit Points from his first Hard difficulty dungeon. This was the first time he’d ever earned over a thousand Merit Points from a single run.

"System Prompt: Detected that character ’Fang Zhen’ has cleared a Hard difficulty dungeon for the first time. A new feature has been unlocked in the ’Dungeon Life’ settlement screen.

In the character skill tab, in addition to solidifying new skills, an ’Upgrade’ option has been added.

Already solidified skills can now be upgraded by spending Merit Points. The cost is based on parameters such as usage experience and personal insight.

Tip 1: After each dungeon, a solidified skill can be upgraded a maximum of one time. Some skills and traits cannot currently be upgraded.

Tip 2: The higher a skill’s experience and proficiency, the fewer Merit Points are required to upgrade it, and vice-versa."

"Detected that character ’Fang Zhen’ acquired multiple abilities and traits during the dungeon.

Detecting... Detecting...

The abilities and traits you acquired during the game will be displayed after the dungeon settlement screen.

You may choose to use Merit Points to Solidify, Upgrade, or Remove them.

The abilities and traits you acquired in ’Fallen Knight’ are as follows:

Basic Spearmanship (Cleave) (Basic spear technique that increases attack damage)

Solidify: 15 Merit Points

Basic Spearmanship (Vibrate) (Basic spear technique that adds variation to your spear moves)

Solidify: 15 Merit Points

Advanced Spearmanship Combo: Reversal Spear / Golden Rooster Nods / Python Flips Over / Close-Quarters Block-and-Thrust (Advanced traditional martial arts spear techniques with high damage in specific combat scenarios)

Solidify: 120 Merit Points

Mechanical Operation (Reduces errors and increases precision when operating machinery)

Solidify: 30 Merit Points

Heart Like Still Water (A mental trait. Allows you to maintain a calm heart in the face of slaughter, war, and emotional shock, but is only one step away from apathy.)

Solidify: 50 Merit Points..."