My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon

"After I killed the butcher and his family, I began my serious search for a viable way to become a non-human."

"And that's when Count Ellick caught my attention."

"The Count is a peculiar figure, even within the Eternal Night Council. Unlike the other council members, who are conservative and merely wish to preserve their status and their lives, the Count is passionate, even fanatical, in his obsession with understanding and transcending life itself."

"He could perhaps help me achieve my wish and transform me into a non-human."

"So, using the opportunities I had delivering messages for Gwendolyn, I traded some secrets of the Whig Society to earn the Count's trust."

"As for what happened after that, I imagine you already know."

Tos's monologue silenced Gwendolyn and the others.

Even Karen was left without any scathing remarks.

After all, only those with a sense of rules and morality can be wounded by words and emotions.

But Tos had openly declared he no longer wanted to be human. It was hard to imagine he could still be bound by human emotions and morality.

Gwendolyn and the others were emotionally devastated and shocked.

Ellick was very pleased with Tos's speech. The smile returned to his face—one that held an indescribable sense of superiority, yet was deliberately restrained.

"Tos pleases me greatly. Though he possesses the inferior flesh of a lesser being, his thinking has already approached that of the members of the Eternal Night Council."

"We welcome kindred spirits to join us."

"As for the physical body, that is secondary. Once you have accumulated enough merit, I will craft a suitable vessel for you—one to match a mind that has already stepped into the realm of the extraordinary," Ellick said.

"Praise be to you, esteemed Count. What you have promised is what I have longed for my entire life," Tos said, turning and bowing deeply.

"It is what you deserve. The inferior flesh of a human is unworthy of your superior, transcendent soul," said Ellick.

Both Ellick and Tos spoke with utter seriousness.

But the more serious they were, the more disgusting it seemed to any normal person.

Seeing this, Red Viper Laura and Pat both looked nauseated.

Fang Zhen looked at this inhuman pair before him and also felt disgusted.

"Hmph. Quite the unique mid-life crisis you're having, you self-taught philosopher," Fang Zhen scoffed.

He'd seen plenty of people like this. They hit middle age, have a sudden change in personality, and start searching for their "true selves."

The common ones try to start a business or have an affair. The artsy types run off to paint, pursuing art and the wild expression of life, like Gauguin.

Frankly, there was nothing wrong with that. Everyone goes through a phase of wanting to live for themselves; it's quite common. And the search for the meaning of life is a worthy endeavor.

But Tos's mid-life crisis was a bit extreme.

And his ideas and values had gone completely off the rails.

"Tos... you've gone astray..." Gwendolyn said, looking at Tos with a complicated expression.

"Oh? And where am I wrong?" Tos looked at Gwendolyn, his face bearing the same kind of smile that often appeared on the faces of high-ranking non-humans, just like Ellick's.

Gwendolyn pressed her lips together and said nothing.

"Don't waste your breath on him, Master," Fang Zhen said. "You can't talk sense into people like him."

He paused, leveling his long spear, on which the Magic Flame burned and leaped.

"But you can beat sense into them."

Gwendolyn's lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

Gwendolyn tightened her grip on her sword, her actions showing her agreement with Fang Zhen's words.

"Heh heh..." Tos let out a chuckle of unknown meaning. "It should be about time."

Gwendolyn frowned, not understanding what Tos was talking about.

Suddenly, Karen, Pat, Laura, and even Poisonous Jorent began to sway, unable to even hold their weapons, before collapsing to the ground one after another.

"Sorrowful Butter Clear Wind? Is the delayed effect kicking in?" Pat blurted out, a look of bewilderment on his face.

No one paid him any mind. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"I've been poisoned?"

"When was I poisoned?" Karen's face was full of shock.

"Jorent, was it you? Did you betray us too?" Red Viper Laura looked at Jorent, furious.

"It wasn't me! I'm poisoned too! This is the effect of Alchemy Decaying Powder. It weakens the muscles and fascia. But when was I poisoned? I would have felt it beforehand if I were!" Jorent's expression was just as grim.

A smile crept onto Tos's face as he said, "There are only a few poisons in Alchemy effective against multiple people, and I don't have any other secret formulas."

"But the method of delivery can always be innovated."

"The Count purchased a special alchemical product. The Decay Powder and its activator were mixed into separate candles."

"In Ellick Town, I swapped in the candles containing the powder. When you were discussing battle plans at night, you all inhaled a portion of it. It remains in the body for a full day and night."

"And here, at the Count's residence, the other powder was mixed into the candles, activating the effect of the Decay Powder."

"As for me, I took the antidote long ago."

Tos was very pleased with himself.

"Unfortunately, Gwendolyn was staying in a separate residence, and I don't know what Fang Zhen was up to at night, so neither of you were poisoned beforehand."

"That's why, in the darkness just now, I chose to ambush Gwendolyn first."

At this point, Tos turned to Fang Zhen and said, "To be honest, I wanted to ambush you more than Gwendolyn."

"It's just that, when I was guarding you, I always had the feeling you were wary of me. You never truly exposed your back or any weaknesses to me."

"I'm curious. Was I just being paranoid?"

"Or had you already guessed that I had chosen to side with the Eternal Night Council?"

"I had guessed," Fang Zhen said.

Tos asked seriously, "When?"

"When we were crossing the snake pit," Fang Zhen said. "I checked the rope. It had been cut with a knife."