My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 141 - 116: Highland Female Knight, a Muscular Lin Zhiling?

For Fang Zhen, Jilenna wasn't really an option—she was a necessity.

Of the three combat partners offered, Jilenna was the only one who was obviously a melee fighter.

In the Ancient Castle Caverns instance, Fang Zhen's teammate Gwendolyn was clearly an agility-focused Swordsman and Archer with some Magic ability, while Mark acted as the pack mule, a Combat Servant type.

When Gwendolyn activated his Gang Zan Seal, he could barely hold the front line, but that wasn't his specialty.

Fang Zhen also knew the Gang Zan Seal, and he was aware that activating it repeatedly was extremely draining.

No matter how skilled Gwendolyn was in combat or how experienced he was, he was old, after all.

You couldn't expect a man in his sixties to have incredible stamina; it was already impressive that he could maintain his current level of performance.

Gwendolyn could only be considered half a front-liner.

Fang Zhen's role was a bit like Gwendolyn's. By activating his Gang Zan Seal, he could also serve as half a front-liner.

This was fine against goblins, or even Kobolds.

But it wasn't enough against the vicious ghouls and Maticvia.

His combat philosophy had always been that the farther back you stood, the safer you were. He had no intention of developing into a front-liner.

Besides, his greatest strengths were actually his ranged combat abilities and his use of various modern tech gadgets. He learned to use a spear because getting into close quarters was sometimes unavoidable, and he was afraid of being killed up close. Moreover, fighting as a spearman was a low-cost way to deal damage, which was why he learned melee combat in the first place.

The team was missing a front-liner.

Jilenna, on the other hand, seemed like a good candidate for the role.

Fang Zhen actually wanted to reroll for an Iron Armor Warrior combat partner to be his front-liner—one of those medieval "tin cans." That would be more reliable, a true iron tank.

But he only had 20 merit points left.

Refreshing the list of combat partners cost five merit points. After one refresh, he'd only have fifteen points left. He might not get the "tin can" Iron Armor Soldier front-liner he wanted, and even if he did, a combat partner hired for fifteen merit points would definitely be a tier lower than one hired for twenty.

He might as well just hire Jilenna.

You only agonize over a decision when you have a difficult choice. If it's a necessity, there's no need to struggle.

Fang Zhen settled on Jilenna.

He didn't choose to hire her immediately.

Jilenna's contract was for 24 hours. It was only 10 a.m. now; hiring her too early would be a waste of time.

Fang Zhen left his computer open to the combat partner selection screen.

Then he went to the bedroom, drew the curtains, took a sip of the black tea on his nightstand, and flopped onto the bed, falling asleep instantly.

The raid was scheduled for the afternoon. Fang Zhen seized every moment to recover his energy and conserve his strength, ensuring he would face the upcoming challenge in peak condition.

「1:30 p.m.」

Fang Zhen was awake and had eaten a nutritious lunch with a stable glycemic index.

His mind was sharp, and he had adjusted himself to peak condition.

He was in such good shape thanks to a method taught to him by a veteran in his field.

The trick was, if you wanted to take a nap, you should drink a cup of coffee or tea first.

Although caffeine keeps some people awake, if you weren't one of them and could fall asleep, you would wake up two hours later feeling refreshed and re-energized, not groggy from oversleeping.

After learning this method, Fang Zhen had always used it whenever he needed a quick energy boost, and it had served him well.

Once he was ready and had put on his gear, he went to the computer room.

The game screen was still on the combat partner selection page.

"Jilenna: Female, an Armed Knight from the Highland Barbarians. Possesses astonishing, beast-like intuition and excels at close-quarters combat.

Constitution: ...

...

Skills: ...

Evaluation: Bronze 4-Star. Hiring Fee: 20 Merit Points/Day

Hire?"

Fang Zhen clicked confirm.

"You have hired the combat partner Jilenna.

This partner will be waiting for your arrival near the instance entrance.

Please do not worry. You have a unique aura; your partner will recognize you at a glance and will not mistake you for someone else.

Finally, please treat your partner well. Perhaps a powerful and familiar partner can greatly improve your game experience and shift your yet-undetermined fate in a more favorable direction."

The game interface displayed the message.

Fang Zhen read it over.

'What does that mean? Can I raise my partner's affinity score?'

Shaking his head, he clicked to activate the external device.

In the living room, the Light Gate activated.

Fang Zhen walked out and gathered his equipment for the trip.

He was wearing a riot suit and carrying a machete. He also had a compound crossbow with 12 special arrows and 8 normal ones, 4 Molotov Cocktails, a five-kilogram Liquefied Gas Cylinder, Night Vision Goggles, a thermal imager, and a high-intensity flashlight.

Of course, he brought his long spear as well.

He didn't bring his Anti-Riot Shield. In a setting like the Underground Cave, the shield couldn't defend against the vicious ghouls' razor-sharp claws, the Poison Cannon, or Maticvia's Scythe of Death. It would be useless.

With the extra backpack space, aside from a good number of potassium permanganate tablets, he chose to bring some supplies, like canned beef and energy drinks.

After securing all his equipment on his Jue Ying motorcycle, Fang Zhen checked the time. Seeing it was about right, he pushed the fully loaded bike through the Light Gate.

After a moment of slight dizziness, Fang Zhen arrived at the Light Gate entrance of the Ancient Castle Caverns instance.

The first thing he saw was a tall female warrior standing not far ahead.

He realized this must be the combat partner he had recruited: Jilenna, the Armed Knight of the Highland Barbarians.

However, when Fang Zhen got a clear look at the Female Swordsman's face, a hint of surprise appeared on his.

"Lin... Lin Zhiling?"

The Female Swordsman before him looked to be in her early twenties. She was very tall, at least five-foot-nine, with incredibly long legs that immediately drew one's attention.

The Female Swordsman wore a suit of metal armor that looked like scale mail—a full suit of it. The armor was gleaming and must have weighed a fair bit, probably twenty to thirty pounds, but she wore it with an air of ease, showing no signs of being weighed down.

Some of the joints in her full plate armor were partially exposed, revealing the lining and skin underneath. He could see that this Female Swordsman had a great deal of muscle mass, rivaling that of most men who worked out. Her muscles rippled with explosive power, and they certainly weren't the result of hormones; they looked perfectly healthy.

Women have lower testosterone and find it difficult to build large muscles. In an era without hormonal drugs, the muscles on the Female Swordsman before him were a testament to her immense training regimen and willpower. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

For such a sinewy Female Swordsman, her face was surprisingly soft and beautiful.

Her light-blonde hair was tied up in something like dreadlocks, giving her a wild look, but her face was very much East Asian. At a glance, she bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to the star Lin Zhiling from Taiwan Province.

Fang Zhen was a little stunned.

He'd seen Lin Zhiling before.

In fact, he'd seen not only Lin Zhiling, but the "dark" Lin Zhiling as well—and perhaps in more intimate settings.

But this one before him...

'A muscular Lin Zhiling?'

Fang Zhen had never seen anything like it.

He didn't know if it was a coincidence or what, but this Armed Knight he hired from the Highland Barbarians had the face of a celebrity from Earth.

And it was a "Muscle Barbie" physique paired with a celebrity face.

'What was this? Lin Meimei uprooting a willow tree?'

The world of the instances was truly full of wonders.

"Are you done staring?" the muscular Lin Zhiling said, looking at Fang Zhen.

Her voice wasn't cutesy at all. Instead, it was crisp and clear.

She twitched the greatsword in her hand.

Fang Zhen's attention focused on the muscular Lin Zhiling's weapon.

It was a greatsword, over four feet long and at least three fingers wide. The blade was gleaming. You couldn't wield a weapon like that without considerable strength and skill.

"You look like someone I know. To be precise, someone I know of," Fang Zhen said directly.

"That's such a cliché pickup line. You'll have a hard time attracting a woman's interest like that," the muscular Lin Zhiling said.

"I'm telling the truth," Fang Zhen said.

"So am I," the muscular Lin Zhiling replied.

Fang Zhen chuckled and didn't bother explaining further.

He found this "Muscle Barbie" of a Female Swordsman quite interesting.

"I am Jilenna, your combat partner." Jilenna seemed a little surprised by Fang Zhen's reaction and gave him a second look. "That mysterious voice told me you hired me to fight for you."

"I might not be good at other things, but I'm one hell of a fighter. So, tell me, what enemies do you want to annihilate?"

Fang Zhen composed himself.

"Aberrations. Very strong ones," he said, briefly describing the four vicious ghouls and Maticvia.

After listening, Jilenna frowned.

Even when frowning, a beautiful person is still beautiful.

Jilenna said, "I'm confident in my fighting ability, but if what you're saying is accurate, the two of us can't win."

"Even if you're as strong as I am, we'll still need at least one more person at our level to have any chance of victory."

"Otherwise, if it's just the two of us, it's a suicide mission."

Fang Zhen glanced at Jilenna.

'I thought all Highland Barbarians were reckless.'

But from the sound of it, Jilenna's assessment of the situation and their strength was spot on, almost identical to the judgment of the veteran Gwendolyn.

Fang Zhen also sensed that the combat partners truly had human-like thoughts and reactions, unlike NPCs with fixed programming.

"There's one more companion. I was just about to go meet up with him," he said. "He's a Sword Master who can cast simple, instant Magic, knows how to use a bow, and can use Alchemy Artifacts."

"And I have quite a few Alchemy Artifacts I can use as well."

"On top of that, we have a Secret Medicine that can inflict heavy damage on the enemy."

He briefly explained the Secret Medicine Blood Burst.

"We can do this!" After hearing his explanation, Jilenna's brow relaxed, and a smile appeared on her face. "If what you said is accurate, we can fight. Our chances of winning are over seventy percent."

"I just don't know how powerful that Maticvia is."

"We'll know when we see it," Fang Zhen said. "For now, let's go find our companion. I arranged to meet him over in the valley."

After speaking, he looked at Jilenna and asked, "I have a vehicle, a mount. How will you get there?"

"You ride yours. I'll run alongside you," Jilenna said.

"Run?" Fang Zhen glanced at the metal armor Jilenna was wearing. "You're going to run in that gear?"

"Don't underestimate me. It's just halfway around a mountain. A good warm-up," Jilenna said.

"You're something else." Fang Zhen gave Jilenna a thumbs-up.

"Then keep up." He started the Jue Ying motorcycle and began driving down the forest path.