TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 26

Just as the five pillars were turned, the massive, ancient coffin suddenly opened. A half-transparent old emperor, his empty eyes staring blankly, floated out.

The Emperor Ghost was impressively designed; his luxurious, Western-style robes and his ghastly, withered face matched the eerie, dark palace perfectly. Xia Tong let out a terrified “wah!” and hid behind Zhou Yan’s broad frame.

“I thought you said you’d grown up?” Zhou Yan smirked, giving him a teasing glance.

“I… I’m not that scared!” the little wizard retorted defensively, his voice a bit shaky. “Let’s finish this quickly and leave, okay?”

“No,” Zhou Yan said seriously. “You mentioned KKong was doing this dungeon too, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“If he hasn’t shown up yet, he’s probably still at the statue boss,” Zhou Yan said, frowning. “That thing’s no joke. If we’re mid-fight with the Emperor Ghost and he shows up, he might just bring his team to steal it. We’d be in trouble. Let’s wait a bit, just to be safe.”

Xia Tong nodded, somewhat understanding.

“Two years ago, Saber-Toothed Tiger ambushed us like that and nearly wiped us out,” Bo Yu added quietly. “Back then, we didn’t have gear or level advantages. The Emperor Ghost’s mechanics weren’t well-known, and its skill damage was high. We could barely keep our health up as it was. When Saber-Toothed Tiger ambushed us, our tank got instantly killed, we lost our healer, and that was that.”

“Thankfully, we had Zero back then. His range was long, and he managed the aggro perfectly. Once we died, he broke off quickly, so Saber-Toothed Tiger didn’t get any advantage,” Zhou Yan said, still bitter. “But the boss got pulled off, and all our work that night went down the drain. Just thinking about it makes me mad.”

“I remember that—the forums and Weibo were roasting Saber-Toothed Tiger for a while,” Cat-Ear Girl chimed in. “They’ve never cared, though; they keep playing and ignore the hate.”

“But why steal a boss? Public bosses respawn weekly, right? There’s always another chance,” Xia Tong asked, tugging on Cat-Ear Girl’s sleeve.

“Because hidden bosses drop rare items that boost basic attributes,” she replied.

“Basic attributes?”

Bo Yu explained, “In professional play, we can use custom gear. Even slight differences in base attributes can affect the game outcome, so they’re crucial. Before every league season, teams train and grind for this. The league even makes it an official event, with livestreams and betting, and it lasts a full month.”

Cat-Ear Girl crossed her arms with a scornful laugh. “Teams like Saber-Toothed Tiger, who’d do anything to win, are notorious in PvE. I almost respect how shameless they are.”

“Well, that’s Saber-Toothed Tiger… We’re not facing them right now, and not everyone is as shameless,” said Dragon King, the hunter, hesitantly. “And Snowy Palace isn’t even a top dungeon. No one would bother stealing bosses here, right?”

“Better safe than sorry. Let’s wait for those guys to show up first,” Zhou Yan insisted. “It’d be a shame if we lost the boss halfway through the fight.”

“But… but the little guy is scared,” Dragon King muttered, glancing at Xia Tong. “The sooner we finish, the sooner we’re out of here—”

Before he could finish, he was stunned by the sight of the little wizard finding a flat stone in the corner, wiping it off with his robe, and sitting down with a cute, doll-like expression.

“With him far away, I feel a lot less scared!” Xia Tong hugged his knees and grinned. “Compared to before, I’m practically fearless!”

Zhou Yan: “…Fearless, my foot.”

Cat-Ear Girl found his adorable posture irresistible and rushed over, delighted. “Scoot over, let big sis sit with you!”

“Sure, come on!” Xia Tong slid over a bit and waved her over happily.

The two sat side by side, chatting about everything from game gossip to local dessert shops, even setting up a meetup date, and eventually started a clapping game.

Dragon King: “……”

It felt like that scene of a caring parent with a mischievous child all over again!

What kind of weirdos were these?!

Bo Yu, who looked hard to approach, was even sporting the same ID prefix as Zhou Yanjun. It was clear that these four were all in sync, cut from the same cloth. Dragon King eyed the hidden boss with envy, but Zhou Yanjun’s intimidating presence kept him from making a move, leaving him feeling restless as if ants were crawling over his heart.

Just then, a temporary private chat popped up on his friend interface.

—

Meanwhile, after successfully teaming up with KKONG, Dylan brought along Goblin and the rest of his squad to synchronize Kong’s dungeon progress. Standing at the end of the cleared Snowy Palace dungeon, Dylan stretched and loosened his muscles.

“I didn’t expect you to actually bring people here to steal a boss,” Kong said with narrowed eyes. “Seems D-God has a bit of nostalgia.”

“Not really nostalgia. Just wanted to reconnect with some old friends,” Dylan replied.

“Old friends? You guys are practically sworn enemies by now! And when Zero properly returns, it’ll just pile new grudges on top of old ones!” Kong gritted his teeth. “What a coincidence—I also can’t stand the P team! Especially Zhou Yanjun! That traitor!”

Dylan wasn’t keen on chatting with Kong, who was notorious for being both weak and loudmouthed, with a bad reputation in the community. If he hadn’t been startled by Lin Mingfei while picking up his takeout earlier, Dylan likely wouldn’t have entertained Kong’s invitation.

Since the system announcement for summoning the hidden boss would display player info, Dylan quickly checked. There were two P-team members in the group: Cat Eared Girl, a famous support healer who seemed close to Zhou Yanjun, and a newly leveled character named Xia Xiaotong, who, judging by Kong grumbling earlier, also seemed to be Zhou Yanjun’s friend.

That left only Dragon King as the potential wild card.

Dylan decided to lower himself to send a message.

Sabertooth_Dylan: 【Hello.】

Sabertooth! Dylan!!

Dragon King gawked in disbelief. He was just a regular player in King’s Tomb, neither highly skilled nor rich. What luck had brought him a private message from a professional player, no less a star champion? His hands trembled as he typed his reply: 【Are you really D-God from Sabertooth?! It’s an honor, truly an honor!】

Sabertooth_Dylan: 【Thanks for the support. Have you engaged the boss yet?】

Dragon King: 【We summoned the Emperor Ghost, but they’re refusing to fight.】

Sabertooth_Dylan: 【Why?】

Dragon King: 【They’re afraid of having it stolen.】

Sabertooth_Dylan: 【In an outdated dungeon like Snowy Palace, who would go out of their way to steal a boss aside from nostalgic fans?】

Dragon King: 【Right? I find them pretty odd too.】

Sabertooth_Dylan: 【They might just be trying to wear down your patience, hoping you leave so they can take the loot. I see there’s a newly leveled character in your party, right?】

Dragon King felt a shock of paranoia as he eyed the surrounding group.

The little mage sat in the middle, with the other three either joking with him or lightly teasing him, the mood cheerful.

Dylan’s suspicion seemed… plausible.

Dragon King’s face darkened as he quickly moved closer, lifting his weapon to aim at the Emperor Ghost floating above the coffin, and fired a shot.

Suddenly, a fierce wind howled, the ground shook, and the old emperor’s ghost let out a furious roar, which was mirrored by Zhou Yanjun’s.

“What the heck! Can you stop clicking everything?!” Zhou Yanjun shouted in frustration.

“My bad! It was an accident!” Dragon King apologized insincerely. “Well, it’s started anyway, so let’s just finish it!”

Zhou Yanjun hesitated, glanced at his friend list, and noticed that KUQ_KKONG’s ID had gone grey.

Kong’s was offline.

This should be good news, but somehow, Zhou Yanjun couldn’t shake a sense of unease.

“Fine! Let’s get it done!” he finally said, annoyed. “The Emperor Ghost has a repeating mechanism. If we don’t hit the next stage within a certain time, it’ll reset back to the start—it’s a hassle! Listen to my instructions!”

The Emperor Ghost roared, releasing a swirling storm of black corpse vapor, quickly filling the confined space. Their party’s health began to drop rapidly. Cat Eared Girl struggled to keep up with the healing, cursing, “You DPS jerks with defensive skills, use them! I’m a healer, not a miracle worker! My heals don’t come free!”

Xia Tong, clinging to a sliver of health, continued to attack fiercely, cheerfully replying, “Big Sis, I’ve invested all my points into damage skills. What should I do?”

Cat Eared Girl immediately responded, “Fight hard, Tongtong, and Big Sis will always have your back!”

With a gesture, the elf healer created a crescent-shaped golden shield around Xia Tong. The black vapor gnawed away at it until it shattered, instantly refilling Xia Tong’s health.

“Wow, I thought you’d never use that ancestral shield skill!” Zhou Yanjun teased.

“Tongtong is our village’s pride and hope!” Cat Eared Girl declared, unashamed. “But that’s it—I’m out of big heals for 30 seconds, so you’re all on your own!”

Despite her words, with their positioning and equipment, lasting 30 seconds wasn’t a problem. Zhou Yanjun rolled his eyes, and as they continued bantering, a thin red line silently descended, piercing through Cat Eared Girl.

Xia Tong’s gaze flickered.

Instantly recognizing the danger, he shouted, “Watch out!” and redirected his staff, casting a fiery spell toward Cat Eared Girl.

Cat Ears Girl flinched and leaped back with a scream, but the bullet meant for her struck Bo Yu, who was right in front of the boss.

“Ugh!” Bo Yu suddenly dropped to his knees, his brows furrowing in pain as he felt the realistic impact. Unable to dodge in time, he took several hits from the Emperor Ghost’s skills, leaving his health dangerously low.

“Someone’s sniping our target! Xiao Bo, disengage the boss!” Zhou Yanjun shouted. Just as he prepared to summon his creature to take the aggro, a black-and-gold shadow raced out from the side. It was the Sabretooth Paladin, Molar Blue, riding his lightning leopard. With a sharp thrust of his lance, his beast bared its fearsome fangs, radiating murderous intent.

In an instant, the team led by Polaris was torn apart, its members scattering in all directions. Zhou Yanjun and his beast retreated to the edge of the palace, where he immediately spotted the familiar prefix of these ID tags.

“Damn you, Sabretooth! Can’t you ever stop being filthy scavengers?” He roared, pulling away from the boss and edging closer to Cat-Ear Girl, only to see that Sabretooth’s Axe Warrior, Robin King, had already taken the boss’s aggro. The hunter’s targeting line hovered in the air, and though Dylan’s exact location wasn’t visible, the presence of all five Sabretooth team members was undeniable. They had taken over the half-health boss, pushing Polaris out of the fight zone.

The Sabretooth wizard, Goblin, whistled loudly. “Looks like Polaris isn’t all that, huh?”

“You’re just ganging up on us! It’s pathetic!” Bo Yu gritted his teeth slightly.

“Ganging up? Nah, weak is weak! Two years ago, when Zero was the only one left standing, he wiped out our whole team. Think you can make history repeat itself?” Goblin taunted arrogantly. “If you can’t, maybe stay off the pro circuit. Two years later, even the best products lose their market value. Much less you guys—what a disgrace!”

Bo Yu: “!!”

“Hey, don’t do anything rash!” Cat-Ear Girl looked pale, struggling to keep their health up, her voice shaking. “I’m not a PvP healer! You’ll be at a big disadvantage if you start a fight! If we die and respawn at the dungeon entrance, they’ll have already killed the boss by the time we get back, and you’ll lose all chances for the loot!”

“What, so we’re just supposed to sit here and take this beating?” Bo Yu shouted angrily. “Why don’t they just kill us outright?”

“Maybe they think we won’t fight back and want to make us watch as they steal the boss from under our noses,” Zhou Yanjun muttered, uncharacteristically level-headed. He added hoarsely, “We need to get in top form without losing anyone. Let’s see if there’s an opening later.”

“Hey! That weak archer just left the team!” Cat-Ear Girl exclaimed suddenly.

Bo Yu and Zhou Yanjun’s faces changed. A quick glance at the messages confirmed it: their party list showed a missing name, and a system notification read: [Dragon King] has left your team.

In the dungeon, Dragon King’s ID no longer displayed the party icon. Waving to the Sabretooth members with a sycophantic smile, he shouted, “Dylan! See? I’m on your side! I wouldn’t dare go against you. Go, Dylan!”

“Damn you…” Zhou Yanjun’s fury nearly choked him, as he cursed Dragon King with every insult he could muster, mentally digging up his ancestors’ graves. Terrified, Dragon King took a few steps back and promptly logged off.

“So that bastard kept pulling the boss’s aggro because he was in cahoots with Sabretooth!” Zhou Yanjun yelled. “Son of a—!”

“Maybe you guys… should just give up. Think of it as stepping in dog crap,” Cat-Ear Girl muttered hopelessly, eyeing the Emperor Ghost’s health bar—it was down to a quarter.

“You should leave the team. What’s left is a private score to settle between us and Sabretooth. No need to get involved,” Zhou Yanjun said quietly.

“What… What are you planning to do?” Cat-Ear Girl’s heart skipped a beat. “Just the two of you? What can you possibly do?”

“We’ll manage fine with a different healer,” Zhou Yanjun replied, flashing a grin that revealed two sharp canines. “Right, Xiao Bo?”

“Yeah,” Bo Yu replied, his gaze cold and piercing as he turned, focusing on the elf floating in the air.

Cat-Ear Girl understood.

This “healer swap” tactic was a common strategy in PvP combat, especially in 3v3 matches. The two DPS would ignore everything at the start and unleash a full combo on the enemy healer, aiming for a quick takedown. Whoever’s healer survived the longest won, a strategy known as a healer swap. This high-stakes tactic required extreme technical skill from the DPS players, with minimal room for error. Those adept at it were ruthless, using invincibility and damage reduction chains to the fullest, undeterred by distractions as they gunned down the healer.

As a healer herself, the thought alone sent chills down Cat-Ear Girl’s spine.

“You PvP maniacs…” She shivered. “Well, I’ll be going. Good luck! No matter what happens today, don’t take it too hard!”

–

Sabretooth’s healer, YOYO, had been hovering midair, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under two intense gazes.

“Dylan, Goblin, those two Polaris guys keep staring at me. It’s creepy!”

“You’re imagining things. You’re not some kind of supreme beauty Omega. Why would they look at you?” Goblin laughed. “Oh, hey, their healer left the team!”

“Quit fooling around and focus on your damage output,” Dylan said sternly. “We’ve gone through Phase Four twice already and still haven’t pushed forward. Is your DPS even worth anything?”

“Chill, just going through the motions,” Goblin scoffed. “By the way, I was watching earlier. That little mage from Polaris is kinda cute. Think I should add him? Tell him I could be his wizard mentor?”

“Finish this first,” Dylan replied.

Goblin shrugged. “YOYO, keep an eye on my health. If those Polaris idiots come for me after I trashed them, I don’t want to get blindsided.”

But before he could finish, two shadows sliced into their team, heading straight for YOYO.

The White Wolf King howled, leaping to seize the hovering dark elf in its jaws, tossing him aside. YOYO was dazed from the impact, and the next moment, a sharp axe shattered his makeshift shield. *King’s Tomb* wasn’t excessively graphic, but its hits were intense, with debris and flashes of blood. In no time, YOYO was pinned down, pummeled by a flurry of blows. 

“SAVE ME!”

The Sabretooth team members’ expressions shifted drastically upon hearing the commotion.

“Damn! They’re both in super armor mode! We can’t stop them!”

In an instant, YOYO’s health bar was emptied, and he disappeared into thin air.

“Damn! They dared to target my healer!” Goblin exploded in anger, abandoning the boss and aiming his staff straight at Bo Yu’s head.

“Goblin, ignore them! Focus on the boss!” Dylan shouted.

“What’s the point of hitting some outdated boss?! YOYO is already down!” Goblin was furious.

“Bo, watch out!” Zhou Yanjun yelled, driving the White Wolf King to Bo Yu’s side just in time to block one of Goblin’s spells. The White Wolf King let out a wail as it was killed and vanished, leaving Zhou Yanjun without a summoned beast, forcing him to dodge on foot.

Without Goblin’s attacks, the Emperor Ghost’s rotation reset, going back to the start of phase four. Dylan’s teeth clenched in frustration. Zhou Yanjun, overwhelmed by Goblin’s anger, was killed, leaving only a severely injured Bo Yu. The berserker’s near-death passive triggered, entering a five-second state of battle fury — invincible with doubled damage — and he turned to strike back at Goblin.

Goblin, unaware his healer was gone, hammered at Bo Yu for a few seconds until a single ax stroke took him down, ending with both of them dead.

“Damn! Those Polaris guys are insane,” exclaimed Molar Blue, shocked at their reckless fighting.

“Stop admiring them! Finish off the boss! We’ll deal with them once we’re done here!” Dylan roared, unleashing all his skills to maximize damage output. As the Emperor Ghost’s health dwindled, a victorious smile crept onto Dylan’s face.

He could already imagine the uproar on the King’s Tomb forums when the system notification showed that Sabretooth had taken down the hidden boss that Polaris had worked to summon.

Would any wizard be willing to join Polaris after this failed attempt? Without a wizard, how would they assemble a team to return to the league?

Suddenly, a pale blue binding spell looped around their tank, tightening instantly.

“A restraint spell?” Robin Wang was stunned. In the next moment, he found himself being dragged toward the map’s edge by the sturdy light chain.

“What the hell! Don’t run off, Old Wang!” Molar Blue yelled in alarm.

“Someone’s messing with me!” Robin Wang shouted.

“Don’t you have a skill to break free? Use it!” Molar Blue called. Robin Wang swung his ax, breaking the chain, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the restraint spell ensnared him again.

“My skill’s on cooldown! Damn, does his spell have no cooldown?” Robin Wang shouted as he was dragged toward the map’s edge, taking the boss with him as it continued following its aggro target.

“Stop moving! If you keep running, the boss will reset!” Molar Blue yelled. Robin Wang, growing frantic, realized that the wizard’s restraint could manipulate his movement with a three-second confusion debuff, often followed by another damage or control skill once it ended. But this wizard didn’t seem very skilled, as they hadn’t followed up with anything. When the confusion debuff wore off, Robin Wang forcefully pulled back, and out rolled a small, disheveled figure who landed squarely on his backside.

“It’s that little alt from their team!” Dylan recognized him. “Forget him, Old Wang! Pull the boss back!”

“On it!” Robin Wang responded, casting a disdainful look at Xia Tong, who stared back wide-eyed and clueless, clutching his staff with one hand and his hood with the other, looking like an innocent doll. Out of sheer malice, Robin Wang aimed a kick at him.

“Ah!” Xia Tong yelped, flying up and landing high on the palace chandelier, where he swung back and forth.

Robin Wang let out a mocking laugh and turned to pull the boss back into position, only to be restrained by that spell again.

“You’re not taking our boss! Not a chance!” Xia Tong shouted in defiance. Dangling from the chandelier, he gripped his staff tightly, forming a blue chain of light that anchored Robin Wang in place.

“Damn it!” Robin Wang roared, struggling to free himself from the control, but Xia Tong’s spell seemed endless, chaining him again and again. Robin Wang could only watch as the aggro reset, the boss’s health slowly regenerated, and it drifted back to its original spot.

The boss was reset.

“Damn it!” Molar Blue and Dylan cursed in unison. Dylan’s veins bulged with anger as he turned, aiming his rifle at Xia Tong, a red targeting line hovering over his forehead. “You asked for it.”

Xia Tong, still stuck on the chandelier, flailed his limbs helplessly and watched the ghostly red aim settle on him. He gulped.

“I, Xia Xiaotong, am the mightiest Omega!” he declared, covering his eyes in fright.

Bang!

The anticipated pain and impact never came. Peeking through his fingers, he saw a tall figure standing nearby, a hunter with a single-handed rifle, standing over two “corpses” — Dylan and Molar Blue.

“Hey, mighty Omega.” A beautiful elf descended, his wings fluttering as he teasingly flicked his fingers, releasing Xia Tong from his tattered robe’s chandelier entanglement.

“Ah!” Xia Tong shrieked as he fell, but Shi Ya swooped in, catching him around the waist as they landed gracefully.

When Xia Tong’s feet touched the ground, he stood dazed for a moment before his face crumpled, and he whimpered, “I’m not mighty at all, waaaah—”

“Alright, alright!” Shi Ya chuckled, ruffling his hair like a ball. “No worries, Brother Shi got reinforcements!”

Dylan and Molar Blue’s bodies still lay motionless, waiting for the respawn timer, helplessly watching as Lin Mingfei stomped on them with a wicked smile, taunting, “What you couldn’t accomplish two years ago, what makes you think you could do now? Points for bravery, though.”

Before he finished speaking, someone suddenly came up from behind, wrapping around his waist in a bear hug.

The little Omega pressed his face against his back, crying, “Brother—”

The gun god, who had been threatening moments ago, stiffened all over, a thin layer of embarrassment creeping up to his ears, and his seductive posture collapsed entirely.

Xia Tong, like a little animal, kept rubbing against his firm and broad back, crying out mournfully, “Brother! They stole our monster, killed Fatty and Little Bo, and even kicked me, wuwuwu—”

“Cough.” Lin Mingfei cleared his throat and pulled the little wizard by his slender arm, bringing him to his side. “Xia Xiaotong.”

“Mm…”

“Look at these two,” Lin Mingfei pointed at Dylan and Mo Lan lying on the ground, his expression grim. “Form a idiom.”

Xia Tong looked at them tearfully, then turned to observe them again.

Shi Ya, who was standing beside them, couldn’t hold back a laugh, chuckling with a fist against his lips.

“What a cold joke,” he said. “Just a hint, Zero only fired one shot, you know.”

Xia Tong stopped crying. He wiped his nose and thought seriously for a moment before tentatively answering:

“Two birds with one stone?”

“Mm, that’s right.” Lin Mingfei nodded seriously in affirmation. “The bird is a silly one.”

–

The author has something to say: 

Sabertooth Tiger: You dare insult me again!

Lin Mingfei: I insulted you 🙂

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