Life Is Like a Play—It All Depends on Acting

Wave after wave of arrows shot toward the dragon. Since it flew so high, the other spellcasters could not reach it and could only watch helplessly.

Dragon breath!

Arrow rain!

Dragon breath!

Arrow rain!

The two sides traded blows back and forth. It looked intense, but there was absolutely no skill involved.

Before the battle could produce a result, the viewers at their computers had already grown dissatisfied—

[What kind of garbage is this?]

[Not exciting at all. Refund, refund.]

[Could Dragon Bro be computer-controlled?]

[It's four in the morning. It really might be. Maybe it's on auto-play and Dragon Bro hasn't even woken up yet? Damn, I got up in the middle of the night to watch this livestream for nothing.]

[I was wondering why that black dragon wasn't moving at all. Turns out the guy wasn't even there.]

90%, 80%, 70%...

The boss's health kept dropping.

The adventurers below went from nervous excitement, to confusion, to gradually becoming numb, mechanically firing their arrows.

Its health had already fallen to 50%, yet the black dragon was still endlessly breathing fire. Every now and then, it even threw out some trash talk, like—

"Foolish mortals, have you felt the might of dragonfire?"

Or, "Weak insects, tremble before the power of a dragon."

The problem was, bro, you were still dealing zero damage.

"I'm starting to think it really is a computer. It's completely following a script. Could Murphys not even be online at all?"

Midnight Arcane God spoke with a relaxed expression. If they could pick up a free win, that would be fantastic.

Dawn Divine Sword nodded, agreeing with the guess. Even if the other side was putting on an act, there was no reason to keep acting for this long. Half its health was already gone. He even felt a little regretful. He had been expecting an earth-shaking showdown, but the final battle had turned out so dull. It felt like throwing a punch into empty air.

Meanwhile, in Starlight Company's lounge, the supervisor watching the livestream looked as if his parents had died.

It's over. We're completely screwed. Could Mo Fei have been bought off by the other side? This is way too obvious. He isn't even trying to act anymore. He wailed inwardly, but did not dare show it on his face. Strictly speaking, Mo Fei was still his subordinate.

Wang Ziheng had already turned to look at him, his face icy.

The supervisor knew he could no longer play dumb. "Wait a moment. I'll log in and ask him right away."

As he spoke, he jogged into his office and logged into the game. The supervisor also played Skyworld, though he was a lord-type player. He normally did not livestream and only played occasionally.

It also made it easier for him to contact the streamers under him in-game. As soon as he logged in, he sent Mo Fei a direct message.

Ned Stark (Earl of Rock City): "What the hell are you doing, Mo Fei? Start fighting properly! You're not screwing me over on purpose, are you? The young master is watching, and the whole world is watching. You can't pull this crap."

Mo Fei looked at the message notification that popped up and closed it directly.

He had no time to explain.

Of course, he was not using auto-play. From beginning to end, he had been controlling the Black Dragon Lord himself. He was waiting, enduring, searching for the one and only chance to win.

From the very beginning, he had understood that the enemy's countermeasures against him were extremely targeted. Dragon breath was countered by the Grand Elementalist, while melee combat was countered by that Dawn Divine Sword. If he charged in to fight desperately, all they had to do was let Dawn Divine Sword hold him off while the healers and support players desperately kept healing and everyone else desperately dealt damage. They would win for sure.

Perhaps Dawn Divine Sword would even find an opportunity to land a fatal strike and end the battle early.

His only chance of victory was to separate Dawn Divine Sword from the main force, then defeat them one by one. Quickly killing Dawn Divine Sword would not be easy, but quickly killing those adventurers would be no trouble. To accomplish that, however, he had to employ some psychological tactics.

As his health dropped to 30%, Mo Fei knew the time had come! Whether he lived or died depended on his acting from here on out.

The black dragon in the sky stopped breathing dragonfire and instead let out an enraged roar.

Murphys (Black Dragon Lord): "Insignificant mortals, I never expected you to be so resilient, to withstand my full-force attacks for so long! I must admit, I underestimated you."

Everyone: ...Wasn't this acting a little too fake? Other than breathing dragonfire, you had done nothing, and you called that going all out...

The adventurers' hearts clenched. It's finally here! Is it entering phase two? Thinking about it, this was the final boss of a forty-man dungeon. There was no way it would just stand there and let them damage it to death.

Murphys (Black Dragon Lord): "Hildesanks, your master needs your help!"

Tactical Strategy 1: Summon Ally—Activated!

Hildesanks (Black Dragon Wanderer): "As you command, Lord Murphys."

A young black dragon emerged from the darkness. It was Hildesanks.

The adventurers were speechless. They had thought he was going to unleash some massive move. This was it?

This black dragon was two sizes smaller than Murphys and was only a third-tier Terror-grade boss. Even with the dungeon's enhanced health bonus, it had less than seventy thousand health. What use could that be?

Yet it was actually somewhat useful. The dragonfire Hildesanks breathed was not scorching red, but a mixture of black and red. Beyond the flames, it seemed to contain another kind of power.

The flames actually penetrated the Fire Protection Barrier, causing the adventurers' health to begin dropping for the first time.

"Huh, this little dragon's breath isn't pure fire damage."

That was right. Hildesanks's exclusive skill was—Hildesanks's Shadowflame. This skill was a passive effect that gave all fire-element skills he used additional shadow damage.

At that moment, his dragon breath struck the Fire Protection Barrier. The power of the flames was blocked, but the power of shadow penetrated the barrier and continuously drained the players' health.

"Dawn Divine Sword?"

Dawn Divine Sword looked at the black dragons in the sky. "Can you keep everyone healed?"

"No problem." The healers replied as they restored health. After being useless for half the fight, they could finally do something. Several of them were actually quite happy.

"Then keep healing." As Dawn Divine Sword spoke, he raised his sword toward the sky and stood unmoving.

Midnight Arcane God was somewhat puzzled, but he trusted Dawn Divine Sword's judgment.

"Keep firing. It only has 30% health left."

Not taking the bait? Mo Fei looked at the situation below and sighed inwardly.

It really would not be so easy to use Hildesanks to draw Dawn Divine Sword away. Then he would add a little more bait.

Murphys (Black Dragon Lord): "Damn mortals, I admit that you are strong. This battle ends here. Perhaps you can defeat me today, but I will return in the end. So please forgive me, everyone—I can no longer keep you company."

Hearing the black dragon say that, everyone below was confused. What did it mean? Was this thing trying to escape? Could a dungeon boss even run away? No way.

One adventurer suddenly thought of something. "Oh no, this must be one of the boss's combat strategies. Do you think combat strategies can include fleeing or retreating?"

Everyone was instantly startled. That really might be possible.

But there was only one exit from this dungeon. If the black dragon wanted to flee, it would have to come down first, right? Yet they watched as the dragon suddenly slammed toward the cave ceiling.

Tactical Strategy 2: Environmental Alteration, Mountain Collapse—Activated!

Midnight Arcane God's heart sank. Oh no, is this thing trying to smash through the ceiling and fly away?

If that was really the case, there was nothing they could do.

Rumble! The massive black dragon crashed headfirst into the ceiling, and the entire mountain shook with it, as if it could collapse at any moment. Fortunately, the ceiling was quite sturdy and did not break apart. Instead, the black dragon itself became dizzy, flapping its wings in the air and nearly falling.

What the hell, was this black dragon here to be funny? The adventurers immediately burst into laughter, and the tense atmosphere vanished in an instant.

Plop. A piece of rubble fell in front of Midnight Arcane God. He looked up at the ceiling, and his expression suddenly changed. "Not good, the ceiling is about to collapse! Watch out for falling rocks."

The next second, even more rocks began raining down.