Hearing what Jiu Jianxian said, Xiao Jie almost laughed out loud.
Who would have thought that he, the guild leader of Wuji Studio, a professional gamer who had once claimed world-first kills, would be asked to play a dead boss one day...
The so-called "dead boss" is actually a term in online gaming.
In the early days of online games, equipment could be freely traded. Experts who looted equipment from bosses would sell it to bosses for money, which is why bosses didn’t need to participate in combat.
However, since the rise of games like World of Warcraft, the concept of loot being "bind on pickup" became popular.
Top-tier gear becomes untradeable once picked up, and only players who participated in the boss fight qualify to loot it, which ended the early profit model where gamers sold equipment to bosses.
Bosses had to join the fight, but since bosses usually didn’t play well, the concept of the "dead boss" emerged.
Basically, it means that a strong enough team could take down a boss with fewer people, allowing a few rich bosses with no combat ability to tag along. These bosses didn’t need to fight or even survive the battle; they just needed to show up with money when it was time to distribute the loot.
Xiao Jie used to bring many of these "dead bosses" along when he ran his studio, but he never imagined he’d become one.
He surely couldn’t be a "dead boss"—in this game, you didn’t need to play dead; you just needed to enjoy the show.
But he couldn’t afford to lose face.
Besides, with three Boss-level Boss heads, how could he not pay hundreds or even thousands of taels to get them?
He wasn’t that desperate.
Of course, the most important thing was that Xiao Jie saw himself as a strong player now. Except for being a little behind in level, he really didn’t feel inferior to these folks.
What did they mean by not being up to snuff? What a joke.
An Ran and the Martial Saint named Hao Mie were understandable, one a Demon Master in the Magic System and the other a Third Transformation top melee in the Physical category.
And that Zishan, a Spirit Master, was likely an advanced Magic System class.
But Jiu Jianxian, still just a Sword Master over level 30, not even a Sword Saint, dared to challenge him?
And the same for that Flipped Cake, a Beast Taming Master which is only an advanced level of Beast Tamer, making it clear that their skills were only slightly better than a Salted Fish, probably not even matching Xia Yi the Unrivaled.
Xiao Jie didn’t get angry but chuckled instead, "Hehe, brother, you’re pretty confident, eh? Alright, I like the look of that ’Black Lion King’ on the bounty list. Why don’t we start with it?"
Jiu Jianxian was at a loss for words, "My friend, do you even know how to play? That Black Lion King is a Level 38 Boss-level Boss. How could our small group possibly take it down? Naturally, we start with something easier."
Xiao Jie pretended to be surprised, "Oh no, I thought you guys were really strong given what you said earlier. My apologies, I misunderstood."
With that, Jiu Jianxian was somewhat irritated, "Come on, you’re really taking the piss now. We are really strong, you could ask around..."
An Ran interjected, "That’s enough, Jiu Jianxian. My friends may be lower in level, but they’re not weak."
Still, Jiu Jianxian wasn’t convinced, "They’re barely over Level 20, how strong could they be?"
The Martial Saint named Hao Mie suddenly spoke up, "Stop arguing, Jiu Jianxian. I know him! He is indeed very strong."
He then said to Xiao Jie, "I’ve seen your videos. You’re definitely an expert. You can join us."
"What video?" Jiu Jianxian asked, puzzled.
Zishan joined in, "The video where a Level 15 Swordsman solo killed a Level 29 Qi Gong Master."
"That’s impossible!" Jiu Jianxian exclaimed, "Are you guys messing with me?"
Zishan scoffed, "What’s there to mess with you about? I told you to keep up with the game news, and now you’re behind the times—someone at Level 15 could solo kill a Level 29 Qi Gong Master. Now at Level 21, you might not even be a match for him."
Now Jiu Jianxian was thoroughly speechless; he didn’t move an inch, and Xiao Jie guessed that the guy might have gone to check out the videos.
Hao Mie said, "You can join, but we have to be clear about the rules. We distribute money based on performance. If you don’t perform well, you won’t get any money."
"Of course, that’s how it should be. What are the rules for your team? Do you count contributions?"
"We don’t use such complex rules. Everyone in the group must fight with all their might, and all members can participate in the auction for the Boss’s drops.
The money from the auction is distributed at the end.
There are three payout tiers: All Gold, Half Gold, and No Gold. Those who perform well get the full 100%, those who perform averagely but offer some help get 50% of the gold, and those who don’t contribute in the fight get nothing.
Additionally, healers get an extra 50% subsidy, and MVPs receive a 50% bonus. How much you get depends on how much gold we make."
Xiao Jie expressed his surprise, "There’s healing?"
An Ran explained, "Zishan’s our healer."
In this game, a Master of Magic is a big deal, and a healer is the biggest deal, being able to save lives in combat.
A 50% subsidy is certainly not too much.
Xiao Jie was somewhat relieved; he had been playing this game for a long time and it was the first time he’d heard of healers. He never thought he’d get to enjoy such treatment.
"No problem, we’ll do as you say."
Getting MVP might be a stretch, but scoring All Gold should be doable.
As for I Want to Be Immortal and Ye Luo, they should at least get Half Gold, right?