As Long as I Can't See You, You Don't Exist

Origin Internet Cafe, dusk.

If Huo Yuhao's "stealth archer build" was the pinnacle of underhandedness, and Wang Dong's "spell machine gun" was an outlet for overwhelming firepower, then the research Xu Sanshi was conducting at this moment made everyone feel... insulted on an intellectual level.

On the screen, the character Xu Sanshi controlled stood inside Riverwood's general store.

He had been eyeing the "Exquisite Potion" on the counter, worth 500 gold, for ages. But the shopkeeper, Lucan Valerius, kept a close eye on him. The moment he reached out, guards would rush in shouting, "Stop right there, you scum!"

"Damn it... how am I supposed to steal this?" Xu Sanshi scratched his head in frustration. His Sneak level was too low; he simply could not turn invisible right in front of someone like Huo Yuhao.

"Xu Sanshi, can you show a little ambition?" Bei Bei took off his headphones and looked at him helplessly. "You're a defense-type soul master. Your job is to practice blocking, not thievery."

"What do you know? This is called the reasonable redistribution of resources!" Xu Sanshi snorted indignantly. As he wandered around aimlessly in the game, his foot suddenly kicked a wooden bucket sitting by the door.

Thanks to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's absurdly realistic physics engine, the bucket flew up from the kick and spun twice in midair.

An idea suddenly struck Xu Sanshi. He held down the object-drag command and lifted the bucket into the air.

Then he performed an operation that left Bei Bei dumbfounded: he carefully controlled his character and placed that enormous wooden bucket over shopkeeper Lucan's head.

The air fell silent.

On the screen, shopkeeper Lucan had a large bucket over his head, his line of sight completely blocked. Yet he did not get angry, nor did he take the bucket off. He simply continued standing behind the counter as though nothing had happened, even saying amiably, "A little of this, a little of that."

Xu Sanshi cautiously crouched down. The open eye icon at the center of the screen, which indicated that he had been detected, instantly shut.

[Sneak Status: Hidden]

"What the fuck?!" Xu Sanshi cried out in shock. "That works too?!"

Right in front of the shopkeeper—though the shopkeeper had a bucket on his head—he brazenly took the potion from the counter.

No reaction.

Then he took the Golden Claw beside it.

Still no reaction.

Finally, he even went around behind the counter and emptied every last gold coin from the shopkeeper's pockets.

With the bucket still over his head, Lucan continued smiling as he said, "Come again."

"HAHAHAHA! Divine skill! This is a divine skill!" Xu Sanshi laughed so hard that he slapped the table, nearly crying. "Bei Bei, did you see that? This is called tactics! This is called wisdom! As long as I cover his head, even if I danced naked right in front of him, he wouldn't see a thing!"

Bei Bei watched the scene, the corner of his mouth twitching violently. "This... this is a game exploit, right? What normal person would have a bucket put over their head and not react at all?"

At that moment, Lu Yuan behind the counter quietly drove the knife in deeper. "It isn't a bug. It's a feature. And it's also a supreme tactical principle—line-of-sight obstruction."

"Line-of-sight... obstruction?" Bei Bei froze.

He looked at the foolish shopkeeper with a bucket over his head on the screen, but a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

In soul master duels on Douluo Continent, everyone had grown accustomed to locking onto each other and clashing head-on with soul skills.

Defense-types raised shields, assault-types fought head-on, and agility-types circled around to attack from behind.

But no one had ever considered... what if they blinded the opponent's "eyes"?

What if, instead of competing with soul power, I first found a way to deprive you of your vision and turn you into a "blind man with a bucket on his head"? Wouldn't that leave you completely at my mercy?

"Xu Sanshi, come on. Let's spar." Bei Bei suddenly stood up, a dangerous gleam flashing in his eyes.

"Huh? Spar?" Xu Sanshi was still stealing enthusiastically. "In the game?"

"No, in real life." Bei Bei pointed to the open ground outside the internet cafe. "No Martial Soul Avatar. Only the first two soul skills."

Five minutes later, on the lawn outside the internet cafe.

Xu Sanshi held a black Xuanming Tortoiseshell Shield, staring at Bei Bei with a wary expression. "Bei Bei, what are you up to? Let me tell you, my defensive awareness is really strong now. In the game, I can take a giant's club head-on!"

Bei Bei said nothing. He merely smiled faintly as blue-violet lightning began crackling around his body.

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, possessed.

"Come on!" Xu Sanshi raised his shield, ready to receive a lightning blast. Based on past experience, Bei Bei would use Thundering Might for a frontal assault, and he only needed to withstand it with Xuanming Shock.

Yet this time, Bei Bei did not rush forward. He extended his right hand, gathering an incredibly dazzling sphere of lightning in his palm, brighter even than the sun.

"First Soul Skill: Thunderclaw!"

Bei Bei gave a low shout, but rather than firing the lightning at Xu Sanshi's body, he violently tossed it upward and detonated it directly in front of Xu Sanshi's eyes!

BZZZZ—!!!

A piercing electric roar rang out, followed by an intense flash bright enough to blind! This was no ordinary lightning attack. It was a flash lightning attack Bei Bei had created by imitating the visual effect of [Chain Lightning] from The Elder Scrolls, deliberately compressing its power while enhancing its brightness!

"Ah! My eyes!!" Xu Sanshi screamed, instinctively shutting his eyes as tears streamed down his face.

His vision turned completely white. He could see nothing. At that moment, he was no different from that shopkeeper with the bucket over his head!

"Line-of-sight obstruction successful." Bei Bei's cold voice sounded by his ear.

The next second, Xu Sanshi felt someone circle around behind him. A hand carrying a faint electric current gently pressed against the back of his neck.

"If this were a real battle, you'd already be dead," Bei Bei said calmly. "I could use Thunderclap's Fury to pierce your spine in an instant."

Xu Sanshi covered his eyes and crouched on the ground for a long while before his vision finally returned.

He looked at the refined and easygoing Bei Bei, pointed at him, and cursed, "This is Huo Yuhao's tactic! Bei Bei, you've changed! You used to be an upright assault-type! How did you become so underhanded?! You're putting a shit bucket over my head... no, a water bucket!"

Bei Bei withdrew his Martial Soul and revealed a scheming smile. "All's fair in war! Boss Lu said that as long as you can win, putting a bucket over someone's head is a form of glory. Besides..."

Bei Bei glanced at Di Tian, who was still picking up trash on the second floor, then at Huo Yuhao, who was practicing his stealth archer build.

"After staying in this internet cafe for so long, don't you think... being normal is the greatest weakness?"

Xu Sanshi froze. Remembering the joy of stealing things in the game just now, he suddenly felt that Bei Bei made a lot of sense.

"Damn it, that makes sense!" Xu Sanshi slapped his thigh, a glimmer of realization flashing through his eyes. "Since you can blind people with lightning... could my Xuan Ming Replacement swap something else? For example... the instant an opponent uses their ultimate, could I swap them outside the arena? Or swap off the helmet on their head and use it to block their face?"

That day, the twin stars of Shrek Seven Monsters' outer court ventured farther and farther down a certain strange path.

One learned how to make flashbangs by hand, while the other began researching physical blindness.

And the true culprit behind it all—the wooden bucket in the game—remained quietly placed over the Riverwood general store owner's head, hiding its achievements and fame.