Ye Chuan handed the spirit essence to Lilith. As for the equipment, since they were all low-tier junk, they could be recycled at the point store. Every little bit counts, after all.
While Ye Chuan was checking the rewards in his inventory, he suddenly sensed something. A wisp of chaotic energy had returned to him.
Which meant...
The Skeleton Guard had been defeated?
"Huh? That fast?" Ye Chuan muttered in surprise. It seemed the Skeleton Guard had been overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Even though it was just a basic manifestation, it couldn’t hold its own against thousands of players ganging up on it.
The Skeleton Guard didn’t have any fancy attacks—just shield bashes and the occasional jump. Once the players figured out its patterns, they could easily dodge its moves.
"So this is what players are capable of? Not bad," Ye Chuan chuckled before settling back onto his throne.
Still, he had expected this outcome.
......
"Finally, it's dead!" Hu Tianyu watched as the Skeleton Guard collapsed into ashes and vanished. His sharp eyes immediately caught sight of an orange-glowing sword clattering onto the ground with a crisp metallic ring.
The moment that orange light flashed, it felt like everyone’s hearts stopped.
"Legendary-grade equipment!" The surrounding players surged forward like a tidal wave. A rogue, being the fastest, snatched the weapon and bolted.
"Kill him!"
In combat mode, newly acquired gear had a 99% chance of dropping upon death. The other players’ eyes burned with greed as they unleashed a barrage of attacks.
The rogue didn’t stand a chance. He was instantly obliterated, and the sword clattered back onto the ground.
The chaos escalated as players fought over the weapon, until one lucky player managed to grab it, die—and yet, it didn’t drop. Instead, they respawned back in town.
"Damn it! He got away with it!"
"Son of a—!"
A chorus of curses erupted. Hu Tianyu and his guildmates were the first to regain their composure, immediately contacting their fallen members.
"Keep an eye on that guy who got the sword. The second he steps out of the safe zone, slaughter him!"
After all, everyone respawned in the village, which was a safe zone. But no player could stay there forever—quests and leveling required venturing out to fight monsters.
Getting that weapon might not have been such a blessing after all.
"I wonder how those Skyhawk Guild bastards are doing. Did they manage to kill the hidden boss?" Hu Tianyu grumbled, but news soon reached him.
Skyhawk Guild had been instantly wiped out by the hidden boss?
"Wait, is that boss even stronger than the Skeleton Guard?" Hu Tianyu froze for a moment before noticing the ground trembling beneath his feet.
Then, right before everyone’s eyes, a new Skeleton Guard emerged.
"..."
A... respawn?
The players stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before noticing the faint orange glow radiating from the new Skeleton Guard.
"Does this mean killing it will drop another legendary-grade item?" Hu Tianyu’s heart pounded with excitement.
Even if it took massive resources to take it down, trading that effort for a legendary weapon seemed like a fair deal.
"Fall back and resupply first!"
Hu Tianyu wasn’t reckless enough to charge in again. After the last fight, everyone’s mana was drained. They needed to restock before another attempt.
The major guilds withdrew, while the solo players didn’t dare provoke the Skeleton Guard either. They lingered in the outer corridors, farming the respawning lesser skeletons in hopes of scoring some loot.
As time passed, the graveyard grew quieter.
"Buzz—"
The air rippled.
Ye Chuan teleported right in front of the Skeleton Guard, surveying the thousands of spirit essence scattered across the ground.
"Tsk tsk tsk, so many players... Thousands of spirit essence. This feels amazing."
Using a trash-tier spirit sword as bait in exchange for this haul—if Ye Chuan weren’t a skeleton right now, he’d be grinning ear to ear.
"All mine." With a wave of his hand, he absorbed every last bit of spirit essence.
Then, he glanced at the Skeleton Guard beside him. He had deliberately weakened today’s version—if it were too strong, players might lose interest in challenging it.
"But it looks like they’re enjoying themselves."
Ye Chuan weakened the Skeleton Guard a bit more, then pondered how to farm even more spirit essence.
"What if I could send my avatars outside the castle and camp the respawn point? That’d be perfect."
But that wasn’t realistic.
Ye Chuan couldn’t leave the castle himself. Even if his avatars slaughtered players at the respawn point, he wouldn’t be able to retrieve the dropped spirit essence.
"Ah well, this is good enough." After tweaking the Skeleton Guard’s stats, he returned to his throne.
"I wonder when the next wave of players will arrive~"
......
Over the next few days, Ye Chuan’s spirit sword bait netted him tens of thousands more spirit essence. The major guilds, meanwhile, happily farmed the Skeleton Guard for legendary gear, completely abandoning any thoughts of tackling the hidden boss.
But the guilds were puzzled. They noticed the Skeleton Guard’s stats fluctuated—sometimes it was fast, other times slow but tanky.
This inconsistency made it impossible to optimize their strategies, forcing them to expend enormous resources each time.
Still, a legendary weapon was worth the cost.
Word of the Naske Graveyard eventually reached the game’s administrators.
"What’s going on? Why are so many players dying in Norlan Village? Isn’t that a starter zone? Are guilds warring there?" Administrator A frowned.
"No, I checked the forums. Players are talking about farming some hidden boss’s Skeleton Guard for infinite legendary drops," Administrator B replied.
"Infinite drops? Check for bugs!" Administrator A ordered.
The game logs were pulled up, and the administrators fell silent when they saw a level 60+ hidden boss in a starter village.
"Wait, why is there a level 60+ boss in a beginner area?"
"Uh... let me ask the devs."
"Got a response. The devs say that boss is supposed to be level 20 and doesn’t drop legendary gear."
"Then it’s definitely a bug. Fix it."
"Right. Send an Arbiter to kill the boss and respawn a fresh one."
"..."
"Bad news."
"What now?"
"The Arbiter got killed by that boss."
"...What?"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
