Chapter Summaries

Water Falls Without a Trace led the adventurers in an assault on Nightwhisper Village, overwhelming the monster forces and killing Black?Rod and Big Gold Tooth. Xiao Yu persuaded Derek to pursue another target while he tried to protect the Seed of Elements, then Moontrace?Shadowstalker returned and asked about his supposed backup plan.

• Water Falls Without a Trace took command of the party, and the adventurers marched on Nightwhisper Village.
• The adventurers overwhelmed the guards, then defeated Black?Rod and Derek's combined forces despite being outnumbered.
• Black?Rod and Big Gold Tooth were killed, while Derek escaped deeper into the village.
• Xiao Yu convinced Derek that the deaths of the other bosses created a chance to claim their territories and sent him to help Deathclaw attack the grand druid.
• Xiao Yu admitted to himself that he had no escape plan and needed to get the Seed of Elements out before he died.
• Moontrace?Shadowstalker returned after fighting a group of adventurers and asked Xiao Yu what trick he had left.

Xiao Yu helped Moonmark?Shadow Chaser take the Seed of Elements to safety, then joined the assault that killed Archdruid Most?Moonwalker and destroyed Nightwhisper Village. The battle advanced Xiao Yu to a junior boss template, and he chose an upgrade path for his Flame Missiles.

• Xiao Yu gave Moonmark?Shadow Chaser the Seed of Elements and had her send it to her system warehouse after she accepted its quest.
• Xiao Yu reached Nightwhisper Temple as Eric, Derek, Deathclaw, Beowulf, and Teddy killed Archdruid Most?Moonwalker and Nightwhisper Village.
• Xiao Yu gained enough reputation to advance to a junior boss template, unlocking the Dungeon Creation System and boss skill system.
• Derek, Teddy, and Beowulf advanced to elite templates, while Deathclaw narrowly missed advancing to a boss template.
• Xiao Yu advanced Flame Missiles into a boss skill and weighed the options of launching many missiles or increasing their damage and adding splash damage.

Xiao Yu chose to advance Flame Bomb Storm and led the remaining bosses toward an escape route as adventurers overran Nightwhisper Village. He escaped through a gap in a wall of thorns, while Derek was killed and Teddy faced capture by a night elf hunter.

• Xiao Yu advanced Flame Bomb Storm and warned the others that adventurers were approaching Nightwhisper Village.
• After Ace Pilot reported the adventurers were near the temple, Deathclaw and Ace Pilot fled while Xiao Yu sent the underlings out to draw the adventurers' attention.
• Xiao Yu led Derek and the other bosses to a wall of thorns and used Flame Bomb Storm to burn through it as a five-person adventurer party caught up with them.
• The bosses killed three adventurers, and Xiao Yu blasted a gap in the thorns and escaped through it.
• Beowulf escaped, but Derek was killed and Teddy was cornered; Adventurer Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats began using Tame Beast on Teddy.

After helping Moonmark?Shadow Chaser secure the Seed of Elements, Xiao Yu witnessed the fall of Nightwhisper Village and advanced to an elementary boss template. He chose to upgrade Flame Missiles and faced a choice between two advancement paths.

• Xiao Yu gave Moonmark?Shadow Chaser the Seed of Elements and asked her to deliver it to her system warehouse, triggering a quest to return it to the Cenarion Circle in Darnassus.
• Moonmark?Shadow Chaser left with the Seed of Elements, and Xiao Yu headed for the Nightwhisper Temple.
• Xiao Yu arrived as Most?Moonwalker fell to the attackers, and the system recorded the destruction of Nightwhisper Village and made the night elves his mortal enemies.
• Xiao Yu advanced to an elementary boss template, while Derek, Teddy, and Beowulf advanced to elite templates and Deathclaw narrowly missed becoming a boss.
• Xiao Yu upgraded Flame Missiles into a boss skill and had to choose between launching many missiles or increasing their damage and adding splash damage.

Teddy pretended to resist while Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats tamed him, and the adventurers watched tensely. Once the taming succeeded, Teddy learned that he had to obey his new master, though honey cakes made being her pet seem less unpleasant.

• Water Falls Without a Trace explained that Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats had a better chance of taming Teddy because he was an injured elite beast.
• Teddy staged an attack, deliberately stepped on Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats's Freezing Trap, and endured her taming attempt while avoiding a lethal blow.
• Teddy used his non-damaging skills and danced until the 30-second taming channel finished.
• Teddy became Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats's pet and learned he had to obey her until she released him or his happiness fell below 50%.
• Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats fed Teddy honey cakes, and he began to think being her pet might not be so bad.

Teddy's favorability toward Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats reached its maximum after she fed him honey cake, and the group divided the loot from the gnoll boss. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu fled as the goblin diviner Eric, carrying the Storm Scepter, and stopped with only a few followers left as adventurers pursued the bosses.

• Teddy ate honey cake, raising his favorability toward Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats to the maximum.
• The group split the loot, with Surviving Fighter taking Manster's Pelt and the others claiming the remaining equipment.
• Water Moon Without a Trace let the others take all the equipment, and the group charged through the wall after the fleeing bosses.
• Xiao Yu checked Eric's powerful boss attributes and examined the Storm Scepter he had taken from the archdruid.
• Beowulf ran ahead while Invincible Hero, Killer Codename 38, and a few gnolls followed Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu stopped when he could no longer run and saw that no adventurers had caught up yet.

After the goblin camp’s defeat, Xiao Yu offered the Goblin Chieftain’s Scepter to his companions and set out with Invincible Hero instead of returning to camp. Meanwhile, adventurers pursued them, unaware that the monsters had grown stronger too.

• Xiao Yu encouraged the gnolls to return to their camp and fight over leadership, then left with Killer Codename 38 and Invincible Hero.
• Xiao Yu offered the scepter to his companions; Killer Codename 38 accepted it and left to become the chieftain, while Invincible Hero stayed with Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu explained that adventurers would search the goblin camp first, giving him and Invincible Hero time to escape farther away.
• A party of adventurers found tracks and continued the chase, but Water Falls Without a Trace and Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats logged off for the night.
• Supreme Greatsword, Hellboy's Dad, and Surviving Fighter chose to keep pursuing the goblin boss, while Nataya followed Hellboy's Dad.

Xiao Yu defeated a group of adventurers pursuing him, then was cornered by four Night Elf huntresses seeking revenge for Manster Moonwalker. The chapter left him preparing to fight Kaya Shadowhunter and her companions.

• Xiao Yu ambushed the three adventurers chasing him, killed Supreme Greatsword, and drove Surviving Fighter and Hellboy's Dad away.
• Xiao Yu found Manster's Pelt among the dropped equipment and put it on before continuing through the forest.
• Surviving Fighter and Hellboy's Dad met four Night Elf huntresses and told them where to find Xiao Yu.
• The huntresses caught up with Xiao Yu and surrounded him with their moonblade panthers.
• Kaya Shadowhunter accused Xiao Yu of killing Manster Moonwalker and threatened to destroy him, so Xiao Yu raised his staff to fight.

Xiao Yu fled Kaya Shadowslayer and three huntresses to the Western Wilds, but his Wind Barrier expired and they cornered him. Angmar and Dark Rod intervened, driving the huntresses away and leaving Xiao Yu wondering why they had saved him.

• Xiao Yu used Wind Barrier to deflect the huntresses' glaives, but Kaya Shadowslayer and her companions evaded his Flame Bomb Storm and pursued him.
• Xiao Yu ran out of Night Whisper Forest into the Western Wilds as Wind Barrier's protection expired.
• Kaya Shadowslayer confronted Xiao Yu, rejected his offer of money, and prepared to kill him.
• Angmar arrived on a twilight dragon and declared the huntresses would not get their way.
• Dark Rod emerged from stealth and claimed Xiao Yu had ties to the Defias Brotherhood, so Kaya Shadowslayer withdrew with the other huntresses.

Xiao Yu accepted Dark Rod’s invitation to join the Defias Brotherhood after Angmar failed to recruit him for Twilight's Hammer. Dark Rod led him through the Brotherhood’s territory and into the Deadmines, assuring him he was safe.

• Dark Rod revealed that Black?Rod was his cousin and invited Xiao Yu to join the Defias Brotherhood, while Angmar urged him to join Twilight's Hammer.
• Dark Rod exposed Angmar’s limited influence within Twilight's Hammer and challenged him to fight; Angmar flew away.
• Xiao Yu followed Dark Rod across the Western Wilds, where Defias Brotherhood members saluted their leader.
• Dark Rod and Xiao Yu discussed how role-playing helped players succeed with non-adventurer templates as they passed enslaved miners in the mine.
• Dark Rod opened the entrance to the Deadmines with a crystal and welcomed Eric inside.

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.