The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 48: Solid Gold

Ah, just an ordinary ring.

This was Lu Li's first impression.

It was just twenty small rings, with nothing special about them. They lacked the uniqueness of the rings sold at the small circular convenience store; at least those rings might have engraved skulls, emitted laser light, or could even be eaten and played with after consumption.

She looked at Paladin with confusion, wondering why she couldn't sense any magic despite their claims.

"Because you are a pure Hobbit," Paladin admired Lu Li. "Only the pure and innocent mindset of a Hobbit can resist the temptation of the One Ring. But obviously, your companion... he has too many impurities, not pure enough."

Lu Li looked perplexedly at Chen An, only to find her tablemate staring fixedly at the One Ring.

She nudged Chen An's shoulder, but there was no response. Could this ring really have some kind of enchantment?

"Move aside!"

Paladin signaled Lu Li to step back, while casting a distrustful look at Chen An, who was captivated by the ring. Although he was only allowed to watch, this new Hobbit was reaching out with trembling hands towards the One Ring.

Even though they knew that Hobbits from outside were impure, they didn't expect the lack of willpower to be so extreme. He was easily ensnared by the One Ring, beyond salvation...

With a tinge of regret, Paladin raised his holy hammer and forcefully struck Chen An's head!

Lu Li, unable to intervene, could only watch as the hammer collided with her tablemate's skull, making a 'pu' sound.

"Ugh—"

Paladin gasped for breath, his gaze horrified as he saw Chen An, who now tightly held the One Ring in his hands.

Witnessing this, Lu Li spoke with a complex tone, "Could it be that the One Ring gave him strength, allowing him to resist your attack?"

"No—" Paladin shook his head. "My holy hammer relies on atmospheric elements to harm enemies; the damage is mostly dependent on momentum. What horrifies me is that even after taking a blow to the head, he didn't spare me a glance! The One Ring completely took away his soul!"

Indeed!

Lu Li worriedly looked at her tablemate. Even a blow to the head couldn't divert his attention from those rings. Could it be that Chen An's purity was really that low?

"Pu!"

Paladin, unwilling to give up, once again swung his hammer at Chen An's back. However, to his disbelief, the outsider remained unaffected, not even glancing at him.

"He's beyond salvation!"

Paladin looked at Lu Li sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, but I may have to... kill your friend who has been ensnared by the One Ring!"

"Well, even though you're saying extremely exaggerated things..."

Lu Li looked somewhat puzzled at the inflatable toy hammer in Paladin's hand. "But are you sure your weapon can actually kill someone?"

"Should be able to after a few dozen hits, right?"

Paladin uncertainly replied, then raised the hammer again. Just as Lu Li was about to intervene, she saw Chen An putting the One Ring he held back into the box. Seeing this, Paladin also relaxed a bit and put down his holy hammer.

It seemed that even impure Hobbits retained some resistance to the One Ring. Fortunately, she didn't have to be forced to the point of killing a Hobbit.

"This is madness..."

Chen An looked at the One Ring in the sandalwood box, then at Gandalf's seemingly otherworldly face. His voice trembled, "This can't be! It's just a game, why— why make it so big!"

"Anything is possible."

The asian Gandalf blinked, smiling. "Or perhaps, why can't an old man like me do this?"

Chen An was momentarily speechless.

The recent contact confirmed a terrifying fact: the rings in this sandalwood box were not magical rings at all; they were just heavy rings. The weight of a typical ring ranged from 6 to 8 grams, but these so-called magical rings weighed 50 grams each! Their size was also much bulkier than ordinary rings!

If it were just about the weight, it would be fine. However, the material of these rings... if he didn't see it wrong, they were all genuine gold! Although he couldn't accurately determine the purity of this gold without professional tools, judging by the color alone, it was undoubtedly pure.

He didn't know the current price of gold, as Hobbits didn't really care about such things. However, before his reincarnation, the price of gold was 400 RMB per gram. Now, here were 20 gold rings, each weighing 50 grams. 20 times 50 times 400 equals...

Four hundred thousand!

This was the reason he was dumbfounded. In this small box, in this tiny Mongolian-style tent, who would have thought it concealed gold worth a whopping four hundred thousand!

"Now, do you realize the seriousness of the situation?"

Gandalf's voice sounded in his ears, and he raised his head, looking at Gandalf, who suddenly seemed 'profound and unfathomable.'

Where did this rich old man suddenly come from? Daring to take out so much gold to play games with kids?!

"Nice expression. The seductive and corrupting magic of the One Ring, the tempting and corruptive power, I believe you've already experienced it personally."

Listening to Gandalf's words, Chen An twitched his mouth a couple of times.

With such a large sum of money, even an ordinary good person could fall and become a money-grubbing individual. Even he, the giant in thought, faced a bit of difficulty resisting these 'magic rings.'

No, rather than saying it was because he was a giant in thought, it was more accurate to say that because he was a giant in thought, the allure of the One Ring to him was tens of thousands of times greater than an ordinary person!

This tens of thousands of times was not an exaggerated description. At first glance, four hundred thousand might not seem like much, but in his childhood, money was really valuable. Even the housing prices in the capital were similar to that of cabbages.

He could completely use his understanding of economics as an adult and his keen sense of future business opportunities to invest this gold. Bitcoin, real estate, online dividends—then let money make more money, and money make even more money. Turn several hundred thousand into several hundred billion; for him, it would be effortless.

Several hundred billion... even in his previous life, the wealth he could only dream of was now right in front of him, right here in this little Rivendell!

Chen An's throat involuntarily twitches. Although he knew that the ownership of these magical rings did not belong to him, at this moment, he couldn't help but have the thought, 'How nice it would be if I could get my hands on those rings.'

And the moment this thought crossed his mind, he instinctively pushed the box back to Gandalf as if jolted by electricity.

He self-examined, realizing that although he hadn't done many good deeds in his two lifetimes, he also hadn't committed any major wrongs. Yet, just a moment ago, he harbored ill thoughts about these gold rings that didn't belong to him. It felt as if...

Looking at the magical rings in front of him, he vaguely saw mansions, luxury cars, beautiful women, and countless servants lining up to serve him. There were employees singing his praises, and numerous followers praising his successful deeds.

Rubbing his eyes, he focused again. All the illusions disappeared, leaving only the One Ring shimmering with a mysterious and bewitching glow in front of the light bulb.