In the third level of the Mythical Mirage…

Dinosaurcerer, flapping his black Strix-like wings, was flying near the ground searching for Bosses to fight. While doing this, he also had the Leaderboard activated so he could check the rankings on the go.

“Hmm?”

“Oh, someone had defeated a Tier 5 Elite Miniboss? Good job.”

“Crab Lover”, a Level 52 Demon Faction Berserker had accumulated 5700 points and rose to be the top on the Leaderboard.

It was merely four minutes since the third level of Mythical Mirage was opened and yet, he had already defeated a Tier 5 Elite Miniboss. This player must have been strong.

However, Dinosaurcerer was not anxious at all…

With his strength, he could also accomplish the same feat as quickly as Crab Lover did too.

Besides, if Dinosaurcerer wanted to, he could do something even crazier than what he did in the Purge Tower. He had hurled out over a hundred Tier 6 Sealed Mana Cores and several Tier 5 Miniboss Mana Cores in the tower; and these cores took him an entire day to seal too.

This neat little trick that he pulled in the Purge Tower gave him some ideas on what to do next…

Other than that, there have been colleagues begging him in the workplace to help them seal several monsters so they could conscript some of them as bodyguards in the Mythical Mirage. This gave him the motivation to spend time and money to grind for scores in the contest.

Therefore, Dinosaurcerer had sold almost all of his gear in the storage and spent every single penny in order to purchase as many Mana Cores as he could to create his “Monster Army”!

In other words, if he wanted to, rising to the top within minutes was not an issue for Dinosaurcerer.

However, like Qin Ruo, he too had his eyes set on the Tier 6 Megabosses. This was to help contribute in the competition and heighten the rivalry between the Angel and Demon Faction to be the top in the game.

Tier 5 Elite Minibosses, which yielded 5000 points each, were merely small fry to him. If he summoned his Monster Army too early, it would have slowed him down in seeking out the Bosses and would also hinder his plan.

After all, if he could have thought of using a swarm of monsters as pets in the contest, the rascals in the Demon Faction probably would have had the same idea too.

He wouldn’t want to show his hand the first time he entered the Mythical Mirage… he wanted to use this trump card only after he had completely investigated the third level of Mythical Mirage!

***

And Dinosaurcerer was not the only one who had this idea.

There were many famous Champions, Veteran Champions and newly risen Veteran Champions who had not taken any action at all too.

Their names did not appear on any spot on the Leaderboard at all…

On the contrary, the other ordinary Field Commanders and Clan Leaders had been clashing vigorously to compete to be on the Leaderboard!

In just five minutes…

The Leaderboard’s number one spot had been taken by over thirty players.

The rankings were changing by the minute—players were climbing and falling on the ranking ladder, sometimes falling to hundreds of ranks below where they previously stood in mere seconds. Some players were amongst the Top Hundred a moment ago and suddenly their rankings plunged straight down to the Top Ten Thousand.

The constantly changing Leaderboard was quite a sight to behold.

It was like war itself had already broken out on the Leaderboard, this time, only without the sounds of battle cries.

***

Compared to the other players who were still dwelling at the third level of the Mythical Mirage, Xin Yu was facing quite a dilemma. Although she had gone through a lot of training in the Underworld and had gotten a lot stronger since, Xin Yu still lacked experience when facing Bosses. She would sneak toward a Boss like how she would to a player but would usually be immediately discovered and then killed by the Boss.

After resurrecting from the Resurrection Portal in the third level of Mythical Mirage, Xin Yu noticed that some other players had already gotten more than 20,000 points while she hadn’t yet scored anything. She felt so anxious that tears welled in her eyes.

“Brother Fateless?”

Having no guts to disturb Qin Ruo, Xin Yu sobbingly contacted her other “teacher”, Fateless.

“Gosh.”

Fateless, who was slowly sneaking toward a Boss, was startled by her private message, almost blowing his cover.

“Your highness, I thought you’ve entered the Mythical Mirage? Who bullied you this time?”

Although feeling a little vexed, Fateless was able to detect something wrong in Xin Yu’s sobbing tone. Quickly sneaking back into the shadows, Fateless sent a reply to her.

“I died!”

Hearing this, Fateless was spooked even more—his heart almost stopped.

“Now now! What do you mean you died?! You’re so young… just say you’ve been felled or axed. Got it?”

Xin Yu then mumbled.

“But ‘axed’ sounds so uncouth.”

“So what really happened?”

Fateless then switched back to the topic at hand.

“After being killed in the third level, you can still revive at the entrance in the Mirage. You can still go on. What’s there to cry about?”

Xin Yu then told him what had happened earlier with the Bosses.

Fateless finally understood what the problem was. He had been teaching Xin Yu a lot of things about being a Bandit; yet, he forgot that Xin Yu was still entirely new in facing off a Boss alone.

Other than that…

Gifted Monsters usually possessed the ability to see through Bandits’ stealth mode.

Xin Yu’s confidence must have been severely diminished by now after being defeated so many times…

Fateless then quickly explained why her cover was blown so quickly and that it was not because she was weak. He said this hoping to cheer her up.

After hearing Xin Yu stopping her sobbing, Fateless finally felt relieved. Suddenly, Fateless thought of something and asked, “About the Boss that you were trying to defeat just now… what Level was it?” There were 48 tries for this contest, using up this turn’s thirty-minutes was not a big deal to him; thus, Fateless decided to help Xin Yu overcome her problem first before resuming his progress in the contest.

“Hmm…”

Xin Yu, hesitantly, answered Fateless’s question.

“It… it was a bear… Tier 4… Boss…”

“Tier 4 Boss?” Fateless doubted her words, “You must be kidding. You could kill any Tier 4 Boss with your eyes closed. Tell me. Was it Tier 4 Overlord Boss or Ultimate Boss? Don’t lie to your teacher.”

“Alright…”

Xin Yu’s voice was as soft as a mouse, like a little kid who was caught red-handed for her mischief.

“It was an Ultimate Boss.”

“…”

Fateless almost fainted when he heard this. He felt as though every word he had said to cheer her up was all for naught…

Ultimate Boss!

Just what she was thinking? Taking on this kind of Boss alone as a Bandit?

Ultimate Bosses were not only Gifted Monsters, they also possessed superb five senses. Unlike the usual monsters, these things could detect enemies from miles away.

If a Tier 5 Bandit could get close to an Ultimate Boss undetected, there would be endless supplies of Ultimate Boss’ Eggs in the market by now!

Xin Yu was a kind gentle girl so Fateless didn’t feel too annoyed by this. If she had been a brat that often caused people trouble, he would have then been ticked off…

“Why pick an Ultimate Boss? You should know these things aren’t something you can take on yet… besides, with your current capabilities, it’s easy to rise up to be in the Top Ten Thousands. There’s no need to pick a fight with a Tier 4 Ultimate Boss. Now tell me why and don’t lie.”

Then, Xin Yu stuttered on her reasons and on why she was determined to work hard. Fateless was speechless after hearing what she said.

‘To help the Winter Demon reclaim his reputation…

‘Determined to outdo everyone in the Top Ten Thousands.’

This little girl didn’t have this kind of ambition before. Back then, even when faced with an ordinary monster, she would still fidget around with no confidence. Today, she seemed different!

Just a little encouragement from Qin Ruo and she dared to pick fights with an Ultimate Boss.

Then, Fateless looked at the Tier 5 Elite Boss nearby… and a flush of beetroot steamed up his face.

His “student” was so worked up that she was trying to pick fights with monsters that would yield 200,000 points. And yet, he, the “teacher, was playing hide-and-seek with a Boss that yielded only 20,000 points. How embarrassing.

Nonetheless…

“Xin Yu, listen…”

Fateless continued explaining to her.

“I think you should give up on that Ultimate Boss. You’re a Bandit. An Ultimate Boss could finish you off in mere seconds… even though Little Eye is an Ultimate Boss too, it is still a pet. It would struggle immensely when facing an actual Ultimate Boss… its HP wouldn’t be enough to tank the attacks.”

“…”

There was nothing but silence on the other side. Knowing Xin Yu was about to cry again, Fateless shook his head and continued, “Of course, if you really want to accomplish what you wanted… it’s not entirely impossible.”

“Really?”

Xin Yu’s jovial voice surprised Fateless again. Was she too easily persuaded or tricked?

“Sure there’s a way. But it’s very dangerous.”

“Xin Yu isn’t afraid at all!”

“… the success rate is quite slim for Bandits like us though.”

“No problem, Xin Yu can do it. Come on, Brother Fateless. Just tell me.”

Xin Yu’s fighting spirit had finally made Fateless conceded. The latter then told her a rather maddening plan that he had devised in his mind.

This plan was devised with Xin Yu in mind, a Bandit, who owned an Ultimate Boss as a pet… nonetheless, it was quite a long shot. This method was entirely experimental and untested.

Despite being the fearless little newbie, Xin Yu was still surprised after hearing his plan.

‘Getting the same score by killing two Tier 6 Megabosses.’

This was a plan that only a crazy super Bandit like Fateless could come up with.

Of course, Fateless’s plan was still viable.

Bandits possessed Elemental Camouflage and Stealth. These two skills were undetectable by most Bosses. Utilizing these, a frail Bandit could survive in this world where the other Classes were basically war machines.

Fateless had faced off Tier 6 Megabosses before so he knew just how different Tier 6 Megabosses and Tier 4 Ultimate Bosses were. And it was by knowing this “difference”, Fateless was able to devise this plan for Xin Yu. A crazy plan that had a very slim success rate but still, a viable plan.

“So, how about it?”

After voicing out his idea, Fateless’s voice had finally calmed down, “It’s still alright to give up if you don’t want to proceed…”

Before he was able to finish his words…

“I’ll do it!”

Xin Yu responded determinedly.

“If there’s a chance to succeed, Xin Yu will not give up!”