My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 201 - 162: Advanced Skills! Increased Player Strength (Part 2)

The logic behind his choices was even simpler. 'I have to ensure I survive before I can even think about clearing the dungeon and dealing damage, right?'

He wasn't actually worried about his damage output. With his spear and the Desert Viper Handgun, his damage in a normal world setting was far from weak—in fact, it was almost overpowered.

Even if he ran into tough monsters and bosses, as long as he had enough time, he could always find the right items to take them down. That wasn't a major issue.

What he truly feared were overwhelming attacks, getting one-shotted by an incredibly strong monster, or being crowd-controlled.

As long as you were patient enough, there was always a way to clear a dungeon. But if you kicked the bucket, it was all over.

So, the moment the skill upgrade function unlocked, his first priority was choosing survival skills.

His choices for three of the skills were clear, but the "Calm Heart" trait was a special case.

This trait was a targeted upgrade.

According to the dungeon information, Bloody Lord Ellick was someone who enjoyed toying with others' minds. He likely had many mind-control abilities. From what the description showed, the man could at least use powerful hypnosis.

Fang Zhen was extremely wary of this kind of control ability.

He felt that if he upgraded the "Calm Heart" trait further, he might get an ability similar to "Cold Heart" that would keep his emotions and mind stable.

This trait was a completely targeted improvement, chosen after exploiting a bug and getting intel on the Bloody Lord.

After Fang Zhen made his choices, he moved the mouse.

In the skill bar, next to the "Solidify" and "Unsolidify" options behind each skill, a new "Upgrade" option had appeared.

However, not every skill had an upgrade option.

For example, Basic Marksmanship had no upgrade option.

'Perhaps the more fundamental something is, the more perfect its solidified state, leaving no room for upgrades.'

Fang Zhen hovered his mouse over the upgrade option for Battle Instinct Lv. 2: Precise Instinct.

A text box popped up below with an explanation: "Upgrading this skill requires 278 Merit Points."

"So expensive?" Fang Zhen raised an eyebrow.

'But then again,' he thought, 'a level 3 skill... I don't have any skills that high level yet. A level 3 skill might represent a qualitative leap, right?'

Gritting his teeth, he clicked the upgrade button.

A flash of golden flame flickered in the dialog box, and "Battle Instinct Lv. 2: Precise Instinct" transformed into "Battle Instinct Lv. 3: Extrasensory Premonition."

"Battle Instinct Lv. 3: Extrasensory Premonition (While Battle Instinct is active, you gain a mysterious sixth sense, allowing you to predict an enemy's actions and reactions one second in advance and execute nigh-miraculous tactical maneuvers in response.)"

Fang Zhen's eyes lit up.

'Level 3 Battle Instinct is a form of precognition?'

'Even though it's only one second in advance, that's still extremely practical, isn't it?'

He ran a simulation in his mind.

In a real-time battle, a one-second premonition would already put him in an invincible position in certain fights.

Don't think one second is a short time. With just a one-second head start, it meant that if Fang Zhen entered a boxing match, as long as he trained his stamina and agility, he wouldn't even need to practice much technique to become the champion.

As long as he understood the rules of boxing, one second was enough time to predict and dodge. The opponent wouldn't be able to land a single punch on him. He'd be the only one doing the hitting; there'd be no chance of anyone hitting him.

It wasn't just boxing. In an ambush in any setting, Fang Zhen would be invincible in a one-on-one, no-holds-barred fistfight. Even against seven or eight opponents, he would still have a decent chance of winning.

Even if it was only one second, as long as it was true premonition, it was practically a bug for real-time combat.

'I've hit the jackpot.'

Fang Zhen smiled, suddenly feeling that the 278 Merit Points were well spent.

He grew even more expectant of the skills and traits he could unlock next.

He moved the mouse down.

Upgrading Fatal Dodge required 138 Merit Points.

He clicked upgrade.

"Fatal Dodge Lv. 2: Death Aversion (Instinctively sense locations in the environment with higher survival probability and higher fatality rates. Instinctively resist entering lethally dangerous locations. Instinctively avoid postures and positions with a relatively high probability of death. You will always instinctively remain in the safest relative spot in the environment.)"

Reading the description for "Death Aversion," Fang Zhen grew even more delighted.

This was similar to Extrasensory Premonition, but not exactly the same.

Extrasensory Premonition was mainly aimed at opponents and enemies, while Death Aversion was actually a bit more metaphysical.

It was like on a battlefield: some soldiers fight through a hundred battles without so much as a scratch, never hit by a stray bullet, while others get hit by a random stray or ricochet on their very first time out, even if they perform all their tactical movements correctly.

With Death Aversion, he would instinctively avoid that kind of bad luck.

It was kind of like those old sayings from Xia Country, "A wise man doesn't stand beneath a crumbling wall," or "A rich man's son doesn't sit where things can fall." This might even be a more advanced version. After all, the rich man's son still needs to make a conscious effort, whereas "Death Aversion" was pure, instinctual danger avoidance.

'Both of the upgraded skills are pretty badass.'

He continued upgrading his skills to see what else he could get.

Upgrading Calm Heart required 203 Merit Points.

Fang Zhen frowned. 'A level 2 skill costs this much?'

'On second thought, it makes sense. I just solidified Calm Heart and have zero experience using it, so upgrading it would naturally cost more Merit Points.'

Seeing how incredible the first two upgraded skills were, he clicked confirm again.

"Calm Heart Lv. 2: Mechanical Heart (Building on the Calm Heart trait, this upgrades the passive trait into an active skill. While in the Mechanical Heart state, the player is immune to all negative mental states and mind control, such as hypnosis, suggestion, fear, and frenzy. You will focus on executing your established strategy without negative states like procrastination or fear, until you exit the Mechanical Heart state.)

(Special Note: Do not overuse this skill, or it may result in side effects such as emotional apathy, alienation, and the loss of human emotional characteristics. Please control the frequency and duration of use.)"

"Not bad at all!" Fang Zhen was pleasantly surprised.

Often, it's not that people don't know what to do; it's that emotions get in the way—fear, confusion, or procrastination. They know what needs to be done, but they just don't do it.

Mechanical Heart solved this problem perfectly.

Plus, while the skill was active, he was almost immune to all negative emotions and mind control.

The side effects were a bit intense, but they were manageable.

At the very least, it would be a huge help in the Bloody Lord dungeon.

He proceeded to upgrade the fourth skill.

The Gang Zan Seal required 188 Merit Points to upgrade.

With the previous skills as a baseline, he no longer felt these Merit Point costs were high.

"Gang Zan Seal Lv. 2: Gang Zan Channeling. (A solidified ability to continuously cast the Gang Zan Seal. The area of effect is reduced to a radius of one to three feet around the user, but the intensity remains unchanged while the cost is reduced. Compared to a normal Gang Zan Seal, it has a much longer channeling time and does not require maintaining a hand seal.)"

Fang Zhen read the description for a moment, trying to visualize it.

After thinking for a moment, he slapped his desk.

'Isn't this just like the Mage Shield from Legend?'

Once he thought of it that way, the applications became immediately clear.

Smaller range, same intensity, long duration, and it didn't require constant focus to maintain.

'Extremely practical.'

He closed his eyes and sensed the energy structure of the Gang Zan Seal he had already learned.

The structure had become more detailed and complex.

Furthermore, the level 1 Gang Zan Seal wasn't overwritten; he could still use it whenever he wanted.

He let out a long breath.

The four advanced skills had cost a total of 807 Merit Points.

He only had 65 Merit Points left.

Fang Zhen pressed his lips together.

He hovered his mouse over another skill he really wanted to upgrade and checked the required Merit Points.

Critical Hit (Weak Point Attack) required 148 Merit Points to upgrade to level 2.

'Not enough Merit Points.'

He shook his head slightly.

'The Dungeon Life game is a lot like real life. No matter how much money you have, it never feels like enough for your current stage.'

"This is good enough."

Fang Zhen was still content.

He was much stronger now than before. If he got another chance to raise his base stats, he'd have enough confidence to enter even Elite Realm-level settings in the future.

His confidence was firmer than ever before.

Now that the Dungeon Life game had settled up and solidified his gains, he could also open the "Bloody Lord" dungeon.

Fang Zhen's spirits were high. He opened the peripheral Light Gate for the dungeon.

In the living room, a Light Gate leading to the "Bloody Lord" dungeon appeared.

He got up, went to the living room, and strapped on the Holy Garment case containing the Feather of the Light Spirit. Pushing his Jue Ying motorcycle, he stepped into the Light Gate.