Chapter 17

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Chu Ge thought as he returned to the mining area. As he stood in the passageway used to transport ore in the mining area, he observed the dark shadowy areas all around the mining area carefully.

The mining area was huge, taking up more than half of the entire map of the Instance Dungeon. The whole area was filled with many torches to illuminate the place. However, even so, there were still a lot of spots that were hidden in darkness.

Chu Ge observed the surroundings for a while, then quickly found a pattern. In the southeastern section of the mining area, there seemed to be no torches used to illuminate the section, so it was contrastingly darker than the other areas. Furthermore, that section did not appear to have any Kobold miners working there. It was as if the Kobold miners were afraid of staying in that section.

“That means the monster must be near there,” Chu Ge thought to himself. It was his hunch as an experienced gamer. If the Instance Dungeon were operating based on the concepts of gaming, then his guess would most probably be right. Chu Ge was very confident about it, so now there was another decision to be made.

Should he go ahead and check things out, or not?

Technically, he had already cleared the Instance Dungeon, and he had gained quite a bit of loot, too. It would be ok if he left the Instance Dungeon and proceeded with point calculation. After all, there would still be many other Instance Dungeons that he could challenge. Even if there were some kind of a hidden Boss, it wouldn’t be much of a loss to him.

However, as an experienced gamer with a gaming OCD, Chu Ge could not help but want to find out what the so-called “terrifying presence lurking in the shadows” was. Besides, knowing there was still one Boss remaining that he didn’t defeat didn’t sit well with him. He had already beaten three Bosses. It would make no difference if he defeated another one.

As he struggled mentally, Chu Ge started walking towards the dark shadows.

However, just to play it safe, he held the Kobold’s magical candle in his hands. Since the item’s introduction mentioned, it would protect the person holding it, and then he shouldn’t be in any danger.

Although the light from the magical candle was not too bright, it was still able to illuminate the area around Chu Ge for about three meters. Chu Ge followed the edges of the mining area while searching, and soon, he found a cave entrance.

As soon as he stepped closer to the cave entrance, a waft of disgusting stench drifted to his senses.

System: You have encountered a disgusting stench.

“Crap! Wasn’t that obvious?” Chu Ge cursed and berated in his mind.

He peeked carefully at the cave entrance. It was perfectly rounded. Compared to the imperfect and uneven mining cave that the Kobolds had dug, it was very different. Also, there were some white silk-like threads around the edges of the cave entrance.

After Chu Ge saw the silk-like threads, he immediately felt unease growing. Walking to the cave entrance, he cast the light towards the interior of the cave. The moment he saw what was inside, he stiffened. Just a short distance away from the cave entrance, he caught sight of a spider the size of a millstone.

“Momma! It was such a huge spider!” Chu Ge exclaimed in surprise.

The moment he saw the spider, Chu Ge went numb with shock. It couldn’t be helped; he was deathly afraid of the creatures. In real life, even if he saw a slightly larger than a normal spider, he would always flinch and avoid the area where the spider was. Especially so for those colorful spiders, he would always keep a safe distance from them. Now that he met a giant spider about one meter wide, with its thin, long legs, the thick and furry stomach, and those four dark and black eyes, Chu Ge felt his hair raise, and his mind went blank. Subconsciously, Chu Ge just felt like running away from the godforsaken place.

After thinking about running, he did precisely that. First, he retreated backward softly and carefully. Then, he ran out of the Instance Dungeon in one shot. It was only when he had stepped foot into his living room that he had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning back to look at the curtain of light of the Instance Dungeon, Chu Ge was still worried and paranoid that the spiders would jump out from the curtain of light.

No, wait! What was he running for? It wasn’t real life. It was the Instance Dungeon! Within the Instance Dungeon, monsters would not instigate battles with him even though he knew that he still did not dare to go back in.

He was not afraid to take risks. It was because every time he saw a spider, he would always feel his skin begin to crawl, and goosebumps appear all over his skin. Maybe he should give up here. Chu Ge played with the thought of giving up; after all, he had already defeated the last Boss. Technically, he had already cleared the current Instance Dungeon. Even if he did not defeat the hidden Boss, it wouldn’t matter too much. The number of spiders in the cave was an unknown, and the millstone-sized spider was only a lesser monster.

Who knows? There was even a Boss-classed spider inside. The size of the monster would be gigantic. By that time, he didn’t even need to think about fighting it. He would probably die of fright first.

As he considered his options, he switched on the computer. Placing the cursor over the Instance Dungeon Point Calculation option, somehow, he could not seem to be able to click on it.

In the end, Chu Ge still did not select to calculate his points. He did not know what he was waiting for. At night, Chu Ge laid in bed, tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep. He knew the most straightforward method was to end the Instance Dungeon by starting the point calculation process. As long as the Instance Dungeon disappeared, Chu Ge’s internal struggle would end. However, as a gamer with gaming OCD, he was not willing to accept choosing to complete the Instance Dungeon, giving up while knowing there was one Boss left that he had not defeated.

Besides, he had run for the hills and out of the Instance Dungeon after seeing a spider. What about next time? What if there were a more frightening monster? Would he continue to run?

No, he had to continue and defeat the monsters. After all, the Instance Dungeon was already set to Noob-level difficulty. It was already the easiest Instance Dungeon. The difficulty level of the Instance Dungeon would only get more and more difficult, so he had to overcome his fears and pull through.

Chu Ge made up his mind and immediately went to sleep. That night, he had a good night’s rest and awoke early the next morning, Chu Ge ate well to prepare himself for the battle ahead. Fully equipped with his armor and equipment, he stepped into the Instance Dungeon once more.

Chu Ge was ready to go all out. Although he might hesitate at times, once he had decided and became determined to see through things, Chu Ge would also become a very decisive person.

“Weren’t they just spiders? I have already killed thousands of those in-game. What is there to be afraid of?” As he thought to himself, he made his way through the passageway of the Instance Dungeon.

Soon, he came to the deep end of the mining area near the cave entrance of the spider cave. Grasping the compound bow in his hands, Chu Ge carefully made his way to the entrance.

The spider that had frightened him off yesterday was lying on the ground near the entrance. Although he had already seen it once, Chu Ge could not help but exclaim again, “That is such a big spider!”

He clamped down on the uneasy feeling in his heart and observed his opponent carefully.

“Cave Spider (Seras’ Child)”

The spider was about the size of a millstone. It had eight thin and long legs, a rounded, fat tummy, and was colored with a strange red and blue pattern. It was not the type of colorful spider that Chu Ge was most afraid of but still did not help in making Chu Ge feel at ease. Just looking at the odd shape of the spider made him apprehensive.

Chu Ge knew he could not wait any longer. The more he looked at the spider, the more frightened he got. The spider’s battle strength might not be too strong, and to defeat a monster with such a frightening appearance, he had to be reckless in his attacks. Chu Ge took a deep breath and drew the compound bow and shot out the first arrow.

It hit the spider right on its head, and it let out a pained cry. In that instant, its HP dropped by one-third and seemed like it was quite heavily injured. The hit caused Chu Ge to relax a little. No matter how frightening its appearance was, it was still only a lesser monster in a low-leveled Instance Dungeon.

Chu Ge saw the spider let out a strange hissing sound, and was about to pounce over to him.

He hurriedly attacked it with another arrow. Unfortunately, the second arrow was shot out too hastily, and it missed the target.

In an instant, the spider had reached Chu Ge. The eight legs of the spider were much faster than the two legs of the Kobolds. Chu Ge could only grit his teeth and switched his weapon to the zanbato. He was preparing to hack at the spider the moment it reached him, but he was stunned when the spider suddenly stopped in its tracks. Then, it forcefully let out an attack.

Splat!

A green fog sprang from its mouth.

The fog was cone-shaped, and Chu Ge was hit right in the face. In that instant, he felt woozy and unwell.

Not good! The fog was poisonous!