Chapter 10: The Boss Is Screen-Peeking

[You have slain player — Dao Shan]

[EXP +5000]

Inside the castle.

The sudden notification made Xia Er pause for a moment.

What the heck?

He hadn't done anything — so why was he getting experience?

He thought it over and quickly pieced together what had happened.

Could it be the trap he'd set up in the secret passage earlier?

After dealing with the previous group of adventurers, Xia Er had specifically asked Avril which route they had come from.

Once he discovered the secret passage that led directly into the heart of the Undead Territory, Xia Er hadn't hesitated for a second — he immediately arranged for traps to be set up inside.

The rot potion he'd just obtained from Edward was also meant to be applied to those traps. He hadn't even had time to go do it, yet someone had already fallen for them this quickly.

"Five thousand experience points..."

"Damn, that player had to be level thirty or above, right?"

Watching his experience bar tick up another level, Xia Er quickly realized something was off.

Whoever had come this time was quite strong — at the very least, they had already completed their job advancement.

Reaching that level during the early-access period was no easy feat. So far, Xia Er had only seen a handful of players hit level thirty through livestreams.

Players of that caliber were usually grinding gear and experience in higher-level dungeons — they had no reason to come to a starter-area dungeon like his.

If one did come, there was only one explanation.

They'd accepted a bounty commission.

Having worked out what was going on, Xia Er opened the Oracle Forum and searched for "Dao Shan" in the livestream section.

A livestream page appeared before him, its banner displaying a bold tagline:

[T1 player taking commissions online — Solo speed-clear dungeon tutorial. This is what Rogue gameplay is really about!]

* * *

At the starter village respawn point.

Dao Shan stood beside the revival point while players streamed past him. His screen was flooded with a torrent of mocking comments from the chat.

[666, died before even getting inside.]

[The streamer is putting on a show for content!]

[Streamer got too cocky. An obviously sketchy route that hasn't been patched? Of course there's a trap in there.]

[A Rogue got killed by a trap? Now that's interesting.]

There was nothing more embarrassing than this in the world.

He'd just been talking himself up in the livestream, and less than three seconds into his big performance, he'd been slapped in the face and sent straight back to the starter village.

Aside from the several thousand viewers in his stream, his client was probably watching too.

This was a massive loss of face.

"Damn it, I was too busy watching the chat and didn't notice the trap in the secret passage..."

Dao Shan opened his stats panel and checked — his level had dropped by three, from thirty-six down to thirty-three. Fortunately, he'd gotten lucky and none of his equipment had dropped.

[Why isn't the streamer saying anything? Did something upsetting happen?]

[Hey hey hey, did the streamer disconnect?]

[Are you still doing the bounty quest?]

Facing the comments, Dao Shan stood up. "Of course I am. Obviously."

"I only dropped three levels — no big deal. This time I won't be messing around with you all."

After a quick reset, Dao Shan returned to the Undead Territory.

This time, he didn't take the secret passage. He went straight through the front gate.

Dao Shan scaled the perimeter wall with practiced ease, dagger in hand, his figure gliding like a phantom behind the Undead Soldiers. Each strike was a one-hit kill — clean, efficient, no wasted motion.

Within just a few minutes, the large group of Undead Soldiers ahead had been wiped out without him losing a single drop of health. Pure professionalism.

Originally, Dao Shan had planned to speed-clear through the secret passage, but after getting burned once, he decisively chose to go through the front gate and run a proper solo dungeon clear.

After that fluid, seamless sequence of moves, the mood in the chat did shift somewhat.

[Not bad at all.]

[Is the streamer finally in the zone?]

[This is what a Rogue is all about — backstab for double damage. Mobs in a starter domain like this basically die in one hit.]

Dao Shan smiled. "Relax, those were just small fry — basic stuff."

"I remember there are four lieutenants in here. Watch me clear all of them without taking a single hit."

Dao Shan planned to sweep through the domain's four zones in order — north, south, east, west — to prove his skill.

Unfortunately.

The plan was beautiful, but reality had other ideas.

Just as Dao Shan finished clearing another wave of minions and pressed forward, what appeared before him was not a domain lieutenant — it was the boss.

[Undead Territory Boss — Undead Archmage]

"Just like the client said — it really was changed."

Staring at the boss that had suddenly appeared in front of him, Dao Shan quickly composed himself. His client had already mentioned that this domain's boss had been modified.

"Sorry folks, the plan to clear the lieutenants first is out the window. Let's see if we can take down the boss without taking any damage."

Dao Shan studied his opponent while explaining to his viewers: "When a Rogue fights a Mage, the most important thing is kiting."

"Watch carefully and learn how it's done."

As he spoke, Dao Shan lunged forward, and in the next instant, his figure vanished entirely.

This was the skill unlocked after advancing from Rogue to Rogue — [Shadow Step] — granting five full seconds of invisibility.

Dao Shan's habit was to use this skill to open with a burst combo, then continue kiting afterward.

With the skill's fifty percent movement speed boost, it took barely two seconds for Dao Shan to close the distance. Just as he was about to circle around to the target's back for a backstab dealing double damage —

Something strange happened.

Dao Shan noticed, to his disbelief, that even while he was completely invisible, the opponent's gaze was locked directly onto him.

What the hell was going on?

Was he just being paranoid?

Dao Shan hesitated for a moment, then charged in anyway — dagger reversed in his grip, arm swinging in a slashing arc.

But the very instant the blade was about to make contact, the Undead Archmage suddenly moved — stepping back just two paces, perfectly dodging the attack, and then capitalizing on the recovery lag after Dao Shan's swing to slam a surge of overwhelming magical force directly into him.

[HP -90]

Nearly half his health bar vanished. Dao Shan scrambled backward, eyes wide with shock.

He wasn't being paranoid.

The opponent had genuinely tracked his movement while he was invisible — otherwise there was no way the dodge could have been that precise.

In all his time playing as a Rogue, this was the first time Dao Shan had ever encountered a boss that could do this.

Damn it — was this thing using wallhacks?

In truth, Xia Er wasn't using any wallhacks.

The reason he could see through the attack was simple — it had nothing to do with a sixth sense or any special item...

It was because Dao Shan's own livestream was currently open in the lower-left corner of Xia Er's view, crystal clear — he could even see which of Dao Shan's skills were on cooldown.

Kid...

Screen-peeking!