Recaps

Xiao Yu learned that Shadow Dynasty Studio had built a profitable monster-faction business by controlling the Western Wilds and linking dungeon access to sales. Dark Rod revealed he believed he could make Xiao Yu several million in a year, leaving him intrigued by the offer.

• Xiao Yu asked why Dark Rod valued him, and Dark Rod praised his ability to advance as a monster and lead an attack on Nightwhisper Village.
• Dark Rod invited Xiao Yu to join Shadow Dynasty Studio, and Xiao Yu questioned how a studio could profit from playing as monsters.
• Dark Rod explained how mirrored dungeons and control of monster territories could support the studio’s business.
• Dark Rod revealed that his people sold single-use Deadmines keys for fifty gold through a black marketeer in Moonbrook.
• Dark Rod claimed he knew a way to make Xiao Yu several million in one year.

Dark Rod explained Sky Group’s monster-player contest to Xiao Yu and pitched his studio’s chances of making the next expansion’s bosses. Xiao Yu pointed out that Dark Rod lacked the prestige of a major villain, so Dark Rod offered to show him a plan to change that.

• Xiao Yu questioned Dark Rod’s claim that monster players could win millions, and Dark Rod explained the upcoming contest to choose expansion bosses.
• Dark Rod said eligible monster players needed to reach level sixty with a major boss template, control a monster faction, and have a backstory and questlines.
• Dark Rod described how Twilight Light Studio had developed the Western Wilds into a popular adventuring region to build his reputation as the Shadow Lord.
• Xiao Yu argued that adventurers saw Dark Rod only as a regional bandit chief, leaving him without the prestige to become a leading expansion villain.
• Dark Rod agreed that he needed to do something astonishing and invited Xiao Yu to see his plan before deciding whether to join.

Xiao Yu toured Dark Rod’s operation and discovered that he had built an ironclad gunboat, The Defiant, which he planned to use to bombard Stormwind City. After declining to join Dark Rod’s studio for now, Xiao Yu heard an unseen voice accusing him and logged out, worried that exhaustion had caused him to hallucinate.

• Dark Rod showed Xiao Yu the smelter and lumber mill, where Doctor Leist and Aisibi reported that their projects were progressing well.
• Dark Rod revealed The Defiant, an ironclad gunboat he planned to use to attack Stormwind City and raise his reputation.
• Dark Rod invited Xiao Yu to join his studio, but Xiao Yu chose to think over the offer while being shown to a guest room aboard the ship.
• Xiao Yu heard an unseen voice accuse and threaten him, though the shadow guard denied speaking.
• Xiao Yu suspected that prolonged play had caused hallucinations, so he logged out to get some sleep.

Xiao Yu ate breakfast at Liu Xiaoyu’s shop, where they made a bet that she would raise a monster template to a boss template within a month. He then searched the game’s records and learned the official account of the Nightwhisper Village uprising, which differed from what he had experienced.

• Xiao Yu found his fridge empty and went to Liu Xiaoyu’s breakfast shop, where he talked with her about professional gaming.
• Liu Xiaoyu asked to join Xiao Yu in gaming, and they bet that she would reach a boss template within a month or buy him buns for a month.
• Xiao Yu explained his monster character’s progression and described the challenges he had faced in the game.
• Xiao Yu searched the Firmament Chronicle for Nightwhisper Village and read that Eric, Derek, Black Rod, and Big Gold Tooth had led its attack, while Ruslan Sharpclaw’s reinforcements retook the village and Eric escaped.

Xiao Yu read the Firmament Chronicle’s account of the Defias Brotherhood and suspected Dark Rod had plotted his rise from the beginning. He then suddenly blacked out and woke to Liu Xiaoyu worrying over him.

• Xiao Yu complained that the Firmament Chronicle credited an unnamed hero for defeating him and left out his orders from Galax and the Seed of Elements.
• Xiao Yu searched for the Defias Brotherhood and read how Edwin VanCleef founded it, Dark Rod infiltrated it, and Vanessa VanCleef and Dark Rod later joined forces.
• Xiao Yu suspected Dark Rod had deliberately arranged his career, VanCleef’s death, and his alliance with Vanessa to gain reputation and become a boss.
• Xiao Yu suddenly lost consciousness while thinking about Dark Rod’s plans.
• Liu Xiaoyu woke Xiao Yu, who found rice porridge on his face, and urged him to get checked after he insisted he had only dozed off.

After receiving the Seed of Elements from Lin Yueying, Xiao Yu logged into the game and learned about ways to work with the Defias Brotherhood. He chose to join as a paid member through his goblin character, leaving his plans to create an elemental creature character for later.

• Xiao Yu went to the hospital for an examination, then slept, exercised, ate, and logged back into the game that evening.
• Xiao Yu received the Seed of Elements and a message from Lin Yueying, then stored the item while planning to use his goblin character to learn about the Defias Brotherhood.
• Xiao Yu met Black? Rod, who explained that he had created a new rare elite character named after his previous character, which was his in-game father.
• Black? Rod described the Defias Brotherhood's employment, paid membership, and affiliation options, including the daily allowance for members who followed orders and stayed online for eight hours.
• Xiao Yu chose paid membership, accepted Black? Rod's invitation, and joined the Defias Brotherhood.

Xiao Yu joined Dark Rod’s organization and went to the Death Arena to be tested as a potential dungeon boss. He chose the third boss battle and began configuring the boss system.

• Black Rod explained the organization’s ranks and roles, then took Xiao Yu through a hidden subway tunnel to the Death Arena.
• Xiao Yu learned how adventurers entered the arena and that its bosses were chosen randomly from the monsters in the stands.
• Black Rod offered Xiao Yu a place in one of the dungeon’s four boss battles, and Xiao Yu chose the third so he could assess the adventurers first.
• Xiao Yu received permission to guard the Death Arena as a boss and immediately dismissed the system tutorial.

Xiao Yu configured himself as a level 18 instance boss, choosing a fire elemental minion and three adjusted skills before the Death Arena battle began. After the adventurers defeated three waves of lesser monsters, Aristock entered the arena as the next boss.

• Xiao Yu chose the Leader tactic and hired an elite fire elemental, which disabled his Summon Fire Elemental skill.
• Xiao Yu let the system generate his boss dialogue and equipped Flame Bomb Storm, Wind Barrier, and Lesser Fireball.
• The system adjusted Xiao Yu's skills for the five-player normal instance, extending Flame Bomb Storm's cooldown and setting Wind Barrier to unlock below 30% health.
• A goblin announcer started the Death Arena battle, and the adventurers defeated waves of kobolds, orcs, and wolves.
• Aristock, a tauren berserker, leaped into the arena to fight the adventurers.

Xiao Yu watched Big Brother's party defeat Aristock and loot his corpse, then heard the resentful voice again and met Merlin, a player who claimed a ghost was haunting him. Merlin exposed the ghost as Manst Moonwalker, who emerged from Xiao Yu's bearskin coat.

• Big Brother's party fought Aristock, endured his War Stomp and weapon change, and defeated him after five minutes.
• Big Brother looted Aristock's Berserker's Battle Axe and gave a spirit-boosting accessory to the priest.
• Xiao Yu heard the malicious voice warn that he would share Aristock's fate and considered abandoning his account.
• Merlin introduced himself as fortune-teller Liu Banxian and offered to remove the ghost haunting Xiao Yu for 100 yuan.
• Merlin cast a spell that drew a black form from Xiao Yu's bearskin coat, revealing Manst Moonwalker.

Xiao Yu paid Merlin to dispel Manst Moonwalker's ghost and then asked him to read his character's fortune and his own. Merlin predicted that Xiao Yu would face a frightening but harmless trial within the next year, and Xiao Yu joined Black Rod as his arena turn approached.

• Merlin used Begone, Evil Spirit to destroy Manst Moonwalker's ghost, and Xiao Yu paid him a hundred vouchers.
• Merlin explained that he offered fortune-telling and ghost-subduing services in both the game and real life.
• After examining Xiao Yu's character, Merlin warned that its death was imminent and said Xiao Yu alone could save it by overcoming the greed behind the trial.
• Xiao Yu gave Merlin his real name and birth details, and Merlin predicted a soul-shaking trial that would pass without serious harm if Xiao Yu stayed open-minded.
• Xiao Yu sent Merlin a hundred vouchers and a friend request, then followed Black Rod toward the arena as the next match approached.

Xiao Yu, as Eric the Goblin Pyromancer, fought a party of adventurers in the arena alongside a fire elemental. After nearly killing the warrior with Flame Bomb Storm, he began casting the spell again as the battle continued.

• The hunters and mage argued over Eric's possible loot before Big Brother ordered the party into formation.
• A hunter drew the fire elemental away while Xiao Yu prepared Flame Bomb Storm against the rest of the party.
• Big Brother tried to interrupt the spell with Pummel, but Flame Bomb Storm blasted away his shield and left him near death.
• The priest saved Big Brother with Power Word: Shield, then healed him as the party attacked Xiao Yu.
• After trading spells and taking over 500 damage, Xiao Yu began casting Flame Bomb Storm again.

Xiao Yu defeated Big Brother’s adventurer party by combining Flame Bomb Storm with the fire elemental’s Flame Nova. After returning to the stands, he earned Black Rod’s approval and was offered a choice between two vacant dungeon posts.

• Big Brother had his party group together to share Flame Bomb Storm’s damage, but the priest’s mana dwindled as Xiao Yu kept attacking.
• Xiao Yu ordered the fire elemental to join the fight, and it cast Flame Nova while the party was grouped up against another Flame Bomb Storm.
• The adventurers panicked and scattered after both attacks left them at critical health, allowing Xiao Yu and the fire elemental to kill the priest and then the rest of the party.
• Xiao Yu collected the dropped equipment and left the arena as the monsters praised him.
• Black Rod judged Xiao Yu strong enough to guard a dungeon and offered him a choice between two vacancies.

Black Rod explained the Hidden Gold Vault and Defias Armory boss positions, and Xiao Yu chose to become the Hidden Gold Vault’s hidden boss. Black Rod brought him to the vault, introduced him to Ural, and showed him the final boss and the sealed cage that would serve as his post.

• Black Rod described the Hidden Gold Vault’s bosses and the Defias Armory’s bosses, including a new patrol position.
• Xiao Yu rejected the patrol role and accepted the hidden boss position in the Hidden Gold Vault.
• Black Rod led Xiao Yu to the vault and explained that adventurers used a purchasable key to enter and could win gold from chests.
• Xiao Yu met Ural, also known as Da Kui, the ogre boss guarding the entrance.
• Black Rod showed Xiao Yu the Treasure Guardian and led him to a sealed iron cage, assigning it as his post.

Xiao Yu learned how to enter and leave his hidden-boss cage, then met Da Kui in the dungeon control room. While they waited, a party cleared the first boss and began fighting the battle golem, whose unusual attack left the encounter unresolved.

• Xiao Yu received a key to the iron cage and learned that the dungeon control room password was 3570.
• Xiao Yu entered the control room, met Da Kui, and watched the dungeon through a magical silver basin.
• A party of adventurers defeated Ural and the four Defias guards, then looted a vault key and other items.
• The party opened the vault doors and attacked the Treasure Guardian, while Xiao Yu watched from the control room.
• The Treasure Guardian fired Arcane Rays from his eyes and spun his head, so the party captain ran clockwise to avoid the beams.

Xiao Yu’s Hidden Gold Vault earned a healthy profit from adventurer parties, but he decided that selling keys and letting players defeat him would betray what he loved about being a boss. When a party from Light of Dawn entered the dungeon, he recognized the guild and prepared to fight them.

• A five-player party defeated the battle golem, chose a wooden chest for its rewards, and left without opening the iron cage.
• Da Kui resurrected the bosses and reset the dungeon while Xiao Yu calculated that the party had earned him about 100 points in profit.
• More than a dozen parties ran the Hidden Gold Vault that afternoon, but none triggered its hidden boss by opening the cage.
• Xiao Yu considered how much he could earn by selling keys and letting adventurers defeat him, then rejected the idea because it went against his identity as a boss.
• An adventurer party bearing the Light of Dawn guild name entered the dungeon, and Xiao Yu decided to take out his old grudge on them.

Xiao Yu returned to the game and killed a Light of Dawn party after they opened his cage, then Da Kui explained why the dungeon should avoid wiping adventurers. The chapter left Da Kui describing the three dungeon types used in the Western Wilds.

• Da Kui let a well-equipped Light of Dawn party defeat the ogre boss and battle golem before they prepared to open a treasure chest.
• Xiao Yu returned to the iron cage and lured the adventurers into opening it by promising them a divine artifact.
• The warrior opened the cage, and Xiao Yu killed him instantly with Flame Bomb Storm before wiping out the rest of the party.
• Xiao Yu reached level 20, recovered two dropped pieces of equipment, and returned to the control room.
• Da Kui warned Xiao Yu that wiping parties could drive customers away, then explained how Dark Rod's three dungeon types catered to different players and made money.

Xiao Yu learned how Shadow Dynasty Studio used monster bosses to entertain paying players, and grew increasingly disgusted with its business. He stayed long enough to witness The Defiant’s completion, where Dark Rod announced a scouting mission to prepare for an attack on Stormwind City.

• Da Kui explained that the studio’s job was to let wealthy players defeat its bosses while providing an entertaining fight, and Xiao Yu decided not to seek out battles.
• Xiao Yu spent two days observing Shadow Dynasty Studio’s operations and became more convinced that its practices had turned the Western Wilds into an amusement park.
• Da Kui told Xiao Yu that The Defiant was finished and urged him to come to the Deadmines.
• Xiao Yu arrived at the crowded docks and watched The Defiant sail out with Dark Rod and Vanessa VanCleef aboard.
• Dark Rod announced that members would scout Stormwind City as the first step toward planning the ironclad’s attack.

Xiao Yu created a dwarf civilian character and explored Stormwind City while Dark Rod organized a scouting operation for the Defiant. In the Cathedral District, Xiao Yu discovered a statue of Long Ao Jiutian and encountered Light of Dawn players gathered around it.

• Xiao Yu told Dark Rod he would join the harbor scouting operation that afternoon, and Dark Rod welcomed his help.
• Xiao Yu created a dwarf civilian character in Stormwind City and wandered through the Dwarven District and nearby streets.
• Xiao Yu reached the Path of Glory and recognized a statue of Long Ao Jiutian, whose inscription described his victories and death in battle.
• Xiao Yu saw Light of Dawn players he had killed in the Hidden Gold Vault arrive with a level 45 warrior, who identified the statue as their former guild leader's.

Xiao Yu learned that Long Ao Jiutian’s resurrection ritual was beginning at Stormwind City’s Altar of Heroes. After seeing the ritual start, Xiao Yu left the game to check on Dark Rod’s plan to bombard the city.

• A warrior told newcomers how Long Ao Jiutian had died fighting Raglios and claimed the Balrog Lord had dropped the legendary Hammer of the Balrog.
• Phoenix led Light of Dawn members toward the cathedral, and Xiao Yu followed after realizing they were going to hold a resurrection ritual.
• Archbishop Benedictus began the ritual, and a system notice showed Long Ao Jiutian’s resurrection progress at one percent, with twenty-four hours remaining.
• Xiao Yu considered attacking the altar but recognized he was only a dwarf commoner and could not fight the guards and guild members.
• Xiao Yu decided to check Dark Rod’s reconnaissance for the planned bombardment of Stormwind City and logged out.

Xiao Yu learned that the Defias Brotherhood could not find a way to land at Stormwind City and attack it, leaving his plan to stop Long Ao Jiutian uncertain. An emergency message and a call from the hospital revealed that Xiao Yu had a brain tumor, with an expensive but highly effective treatment and a dangerous conventional alternative.

• Dark Rod reported that Stormwind City's harbor defenses made landing impossible, though the city itself had relatively few armed forces within its walls.
• Xiao Yu considered how difficult it would be to stop Long Ao Jiutian without the Defias Brotherhood's help when an emergency message arrived.
• Xiao Yu logged out and answered a call from the hospital about his test results.
• The doctor told Xiao Yu that he had a brain tumor in a difficult location, and Xiao Yu read the emailed report confirming it.
• Xiao Yu learned that nanotherapy cost three million yuan and had a 97 percent survival rate, while conventional surgery cost about 300,000 yuan and had only a 5 percent survival rate.

After learning that his brain tumor required costly treatment, Xiao Yu pinned his hopes on winning the Strongest Boss competition and sought another fortune-teller to verify Merlin’s prediction. At the Temple of Fate, Kara questioned what Xiao Yu expected from divination, then began telling him a story.

• Xiao Yu learned that surgery carried a five percent survival rate and that nanotherapy would cost three million, so he considered winning a prize in the Strongest Boss competition his best chance.
• Xiao Yu asked Merlin how he had predicted a calamity, and Merlin admitted he had learned divination online and had mistaken a debuff on Xiao Yu’s coat for possession by a dead soul.
• Merlin directed Xiao Yu to the Temple of Fate, where Xiao Yu registered and entered the Hall of Fate to seek a more reliable prediction.
• Xiao Yu told Kara about his brain tumor and his plan to compete, and asked whether divination’s predictions were guaranteed to come true.
• Kara challenged Xiao Yu to consider whether certainty about his fate would make him stop striving, then led him into her tent and began telling a story.

After Kara’s story about fate, Xiao Yu decided to trust his own efforts and pursue the Strongest Boss Competition without hesitation. As Eric, he returned to the Deadmines and proposed ways to cooperate with Dark Rod’s studio, revealing his identity as the former Flame Demon Lord Lagrios.

• Kara told Xiao Yu a story about three brothers whose beliefs in prophecy shaped how they fought, and Xiao Yu left the Temple of Fate resolved to make his own fate.
• Xiao Yu returned to the Deadmines as Eric and found Dark Rod preparing to bombard Stormwind City with the Defias Brotherhood.
• Eric warned Dark Rod that Stormwind’s harbor defenses were too strong without a way to draw defenders away, then offered to explain ways the studio could cooperate with him.
• Eric proposed becoming the Defias Brotherhood’s executive officer for a year in exchange for a three-million bonus and promised Shadow Studio a top-three boss ranking.
• After a tauren boss challenged him, Eric revealed that he had once been known as Lagrios, the Flame Demon Lord.
• Dark Rod acknowledged Eric’s qualifications but refused to hand him control of the studio, and Eric began to introduce a second way to cooperate.

Xiao Yu arranged with Dark Rod to infiltrate Stormwind City in disguise and cause a disturbance during the planned attack. He reached the cathedral square, where Long Ao Jiutian’s resurrection ritual was underway, and tried to avoid a patrol by approaching Phoenix.

• Xiao Yu persuaded Dark Rod to pay him 100,000 after he caused a disturbance in Stormwind City, and Dark Rod agreed to disguise him and arrange his entry.
• Xiao Yu entered Stormwind City disguised as a human civilian and went to the cathedral square to wait for the agreed time.
• The resurrection ritual reached 60%, and Long Ao Jiutian appeared above the Altar of Light as a translucent figure.
• Xiao Yu noticed a patrol with hounds approaching and moved toward the Light of Dawn members to avoid being detected.
• Xiao Yu greeted Phoenix and claimed they had met at a Qingyang Group business summit, leaving her puzzled as she tried to remember him.

Xiao Yu learned from Phoenix that Han Wei controlled the Light of Dawn and that she served as Long Ao Jiutian’s deputy. At nine o’clock, he began his attack by invoking the Flame Mark, summoning a towering flame demon before the altar.

• Xiao Yu praised Phoenix’s guild leadership and learned that she was Han Wei’s secretary, sent to serve as Long Ao Jiutian’s deputy.
• Phoenix explained that Han Wei had ordered the creation of the Light of Dawn and that Long Ao Jiutian, whose real name was Han Yufeng, had become its guild leader because he liked games.
• When the church bells rang nine times, Xiao Yu told Phoenix to turn on her camera sprite and headed for the altar.
• Phoenix ordered the Light of Dawn members to stop Xiao Yu, but he reached Long Ao Jiutian’s suspended phantom and greeted him with news from Lakrios.
• Xiao Yu activated the Flame Mark on his chest, and its power formed a magic circle and summoned a huge flame demon phantom.

Xiao Yu summoned Shadow of Galax during Long Ao Jiutian’s resurrection ritual, and the Balrog Lord realized the goblin had deceived him. Long Ao Jiutian’s orders sparked a fight that ended with Galax unleashing a massive fire spell across the cathedral square.

• Members of Light of Dawn mistook Shadow of Galax for Lagrios, while Phoenix recognized the name above the Balrog Lord’s head.
• Eric told Galax that Long Ao Jiutian’s soul was there for him, and Galax realized the goblin had failed his task and was trying to trick him.
• Long Ao Jiutian ordered Light of Dawn to attack, while Phoenix tried to stop them and preserve the resurrection ritual.
• Light of Dawn’s attacks hit Galax, and he fired a huge fireball at Eric, who survived with little health remaining.
• The Holy Light knights joined the battle, and Galax cast Super Fire Nova, engulfing the cathedral square in flames.