The Battle Golem

What the hell? Xiao Yu was stunned when he saw the iron cage.

"Oh, so your backstory is like this: you're a master thief who infiltrated the Defias Brotherhood ulterior motives, intending to steal their treasure. After sneaking into the Hidden Gold Vault, you accidentally triggered a trap inside and ended up locked here."

"After adventurers enter the dungeon and defeat the battle golem, they can obtain a key. This key can be used to open treasure chests or to open this cage. If the cage is opened, you will be released to fight them, which is why it's called a hidden boss."

"Alternatively, if a thief's lockpicking skill is high enough, they can open this iron cage, thus triggering a boss fight without consuming a treasure chest key."

After saying that, he took out a key and handed it to Xiao Yu. "Take this key. This way you can freely enter and exit this iron cage. You can come out for a walk occasionally, but once adventurers enter the instance, please be sure to stay inside the cage."

"Okay, this plot is acceptable." Xiao Yu nodded. "So, what's the password for the main control room of the instance?"

"The main control room password is 3570. You must have been a dungeon boss before, right? You even know the dungeon control room password?"

Xiao Yu shrugged, turned around, and crawled into the iron cage.

The lighting inside the iron cage was very poor. The Hidden Gold Vault was already dark enough, but this place was even more pitch black. Fortunately, Xiao Yu didn't really need to stay here all the time.

Enter 3570 in the instance control interface, and with a flash of white light, Xiao Yu appeared in a room. Inside, he reverted to his real-world appearance. Opposite him was a chubby boy wearing glasses, flipping through a magazine. Upon seeing Xiao Yu, the chubby boy immediately smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Da Kui."

The Boss Home, also known as the dungeon control room, is designed so that when no adventurers are challenging the dungeon, the BOSS player can stay in the control room and do other things. At the same time, the control room can also monitor the entire dungeon.

Of course, only the player enters the Boss Home; their character remains inside the instance, somewhat like an AFK (away from keyboard) experience. However, due to the BOSS, the system automatically takes over once combat begins, preventing situations where the player is attacked without fighting back. It's just that the system's AI is relatively low, making the combat process somewhat monotonous.

Players can do other things in the Boss Home, and before, it was clear that only Da Kui was here, looking very bored. He immediately became happy when he saw Xiao Yu come in.

"Thank goodness, at least I have someone with me now. Before, I was all alone, and it was so boring."

"Hello, "Xiao Yu said, shaking hands with Da Kui before turning to look around at his surroundings.

Compared to his incredibly luxurious Boss Home, the Boss Home in front of him looked rather shabby. It was practically empty, with no decorations other than tables and chairs. It was clearly the basic form given by the system.

On the table was a magical silver basin filled with water, the reflection of which mirrored the scene inside the dungeon. Xiao Yu glanced at the basin; Black Rod had already left, and the Hidden Gold Vault had returned to calm.

"This is the Boss Home. The two of us just need to stay here and wait for adventurers to come. You don't need to be too nervous, because this dungeon is relatively easy. The main task is to give players money so they can buy our dungeon keys, so whether you win the battle or not is not important. Besides, you are a hidden BOSS, and you don't even need to show your face if there's no need."

Da Kui continued his introduction from the side, taking out a chess set as he spoke. "How about it, interested in a couple of games?"

Xiao Yu wasn't particularly interested in playing chess, but since he had nothing better to do, he sat down and, while fiddling with the chess pieces, asked, "Do you usually just stay in this room and never go anywhere?"

"Yes."

"Don't you get bored?"

"It's alright. After all, it's a job, so you have to be serious. Besides, there are always players coming to raid dungeons, so it's not always quiet."

As the two were talking, a voice suddenly rang out in the room.

System notification: An adventurer team has broken into the Hidden Gold Vault and is about to engage in battle. If you do not log in, the system will manage your character for you.

Da Kui said, "Look, here I am. I'll go to my post first. If you're free, you can stay for a while. You can log on later if they open the cage."

After saying that, Da Kui disappeared.

Xiao Yu stood beside the silver basin, watching the images in the dungeon. At this moment, a group of adventurers had already appeared at the entrance of the dungeon.

This was clearly a well-prepared group of adventurers. They entered the dungeon without hesitation and headed straight for the gate. Upon reaching the gate, the Warrior Charge in and engaged the monsters, quickly reaching the BOSS.

Ural (Ogre Fighter): "Damn it, someone's invading! Prepare for battle!" With that roar, the four Defias guards behind him charged forward.

Taunt! The Warrior instantly drew the aggro of all five monsters. Just as the five monsters were frantically attacking the Warrior, the two mages behind him raised their hands simultaneously—

Rain of Fire!

Blizzard!

This was truly a clash of ice and fire, with flames and ice descending from the sky and instantly engulfing all five monsters. Four of the smaller monsters fell instantly, and the ogre boss held out for a few more minutes, but was soon knocked down as well. From beginning to end, there was not a single ripple.

Damn, this guy is so useless! Xiao Yu couldn't help but complain as he watched the entire BOSS battle. Apart from normal attacks and the occasional Heavy Strike, the Warrior's health never even dropped below half.

"Haha, we got the treasure vault key!" The leading adventurer pulled a key, a belt, and a pair of gauntlets from the BOSS.

The group divided the spoils and immediately continued on their way, eagerly opening the doors to the treasure vault.

A battle golem appeared before them.

"Wow, that looks really powerful," a mage couldn't help but exclaim.

The Warrior waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry, everyone. This golem is pretty useless. Just be careful not to get close. We don't even need tanks or healers; we'll all switch to DPS."

The Warrior then pulled out a crossbow and fired an arrow.

Treasure Guardian (Battle Golem): "Invading creature detected. Combat program initiated. Invaders, your lives are about to end."

The lines were quite domineering, Xiao Yu thought to himself, this guy should at least be given to the store.

As it spoke in a mechanical voice, the battle golem slowly began to move.

Boom, boom! The battle golem was indeed slow, unable to go fast at all. The adventurers maintained their distance while attacking, which was like shooting at a target. Xiao Yu was getting anxious watching this.

Treasure Guardian (Battle Golem): "Battle progress data anomaly, prepare to Arcane Ray!" With that, the Battle Golem plopped down on the ground, and two green Arcane Ray shot out from its eyes.

Then its head suddenly started rotating 360 degrees.

"Everyone be careful not to get hit by the ray," the captain said, starting to run clockwise while continuing his attack.