Chapter 6: The Wild Boss

“What’s this?” In truth, there was no need for the rookie guide to explain; Ou Xiaolu had already noticed the green glow enveloping the two-headed vulture. If this were a game, then the two-headed vulture would be a creature of green rarity. But this was clearly the real world. Ou Xiaolu glanced around; while there were no students passing by, the wind occasionally rustled the leaves, proof enough that this was not a world frozen in time.

“Which means you really are lucky,” the guide whispered into Ou Xiaolu’s ear. “This painting was made by someone with resentment in their heart, painted right before their death. Their soul is trapped in the artwork, making it a rather unusual earthbound spirit.”

“So I’m supposed to rescue him?” Ou Xiaolu understood what the painting was, but he wasn’t quite sure why the guide had brought him here.

“Rescue him?” The guide laughed outright. “You underestimate this. Think of it as a wild boss—whether you purify it or destroy it, you’ll gain a great deal of benefits.”

“Is this situation rare?” Ou Xiaolu was more concerned about the odds of such an occurrence than the rewards that hadn’t yet materialized, especially since he’d hurried over from the administration building.

“If the chance of a boss appearing in the world card is one percent, then the probability of a boss appearing in the real world is almost one in ten thousand.”

Upon hearing this, Ou Xiaolu nodded with satisfaction. “I really am lucky.”

He turned to leave, but the guide quickly called out, “You’re just going to walk away?”

“What else should I do? I have no combat abilities at the moment, and I need to get to the administration building to check in, at the very least to secure a dorm room for tonight.”

The guide was momentarily speechless at Ou Xiaolu’s reply. “If I just wanted you to take a look, would I have rushed you over here like this? Come, place your hand on the painting. Yes, just like that…”

Before the guide could finish speaking, Ou Xiaolu felt a force drawing energy from his body, imprinting a strange symbol onto the painting.

Though he didn’t understand the meaning of the symbol, Ou Xiaolu instantly recognized that it represented himself.

“What does this mean?”

“It’s a marker for the boss, showing that you were the first to discover it. Even if others find it later, they can’t steal the boss from you.”

Ou Xiaolu was a bit speechless at this explanation. The guide’s words didn’t seem like those of an experienced player. Wasn’t it common that whoever saw a boss first owned it? Even in games, stealing bosses and killing players was hardly unusual.

Perhaps sensing Ou Xiaolu’s skepticism, the guide spoke seriously: “Don’t underestimate this marker. In the Cross-World Game, stealing a boss marked by someone else has very severe consequences.”

“How severe?” Ou Xiaolu asked, somewhat doubtful.

“You’ll see soon enough,” the guide replied mysteriously. “By the way, weren’t you going to complete your enrollment procedures?”

Ou Xiaolu let out an exclamation and hurried off toward the administration building.

Not long after Ou Xiaolu departed, two mysterious men arrived at the site. Unlike Ou Xiaolu’s casual manner, they approached the small building cautiously, first checking the surroundings for any other people before gathering beneath the graffiti to confer.

“Jason, are you sure this is the place?” asked a man in a white shirt.

“Don’t worry,” Jason replied, shorter but bursting with muscle under his yellow T-shirt. “I’ve already checked. That guy who claimed to be a descendant of the Holy Roman Empire died right here, and that painting was his final work.”

“Just because it’s his last work, you think you can extract holy blood from it? I don’t believe it. This painting doesn’t carry his true essence. Anything extracted from it is useless. If you ask me, it should be the Caesar car he used for racing.”

“Ann, I know you make a good point, but can you afford the Caesar car?” Jason retorted loudly. “That’s the legend of the underground racetrack in Xinxiang—the king of the entire Xinxiang racing world. Honestly, if that guy hadn’t had his left hand broken, he might have become the king of all Amiliki. Do you know how much his cars sold for after his death? Even if we sold ourselves, we couldn’t afford a single wheel, and you’re dreaming of the legendary Caesar car. You’re thinking too much.”

“Fine, fine,” Ann replied quickly. “But even if you’re picking something free, shouldn’t you pick something better? This is obviously just graffiti.”

“It’s graffiti, yes, but it depicts the man’s signature symbol—the two-headed vulture. I’ve really investigated: after being injured, he came here to vent with graffiti, and after finishing, died right at this spot coughing up blood. So the likelihood that his final essence remains here is quite high. If we can extract the holy blood, we can become official sorcerers. Then, don’t talk about buying—just say the word, and they’ll deliver the Caesar car to you.”

Imagining their future glory, both men’s faces shone with excitement. They exchanged glances, checked once more that no one was present, and then produced various items from their pockets.

Most of these items were rotting meat, blood bags, and pens. Coordinating with each other, they moved deftly and quickly drew two magic circles.

Each stood inside a circle, took out a high-frequency ultraviolet lamp, and shone it fiercely on the graffiti.

The moment the twin beams of violet light struck the two-headed vulture, a strange symbol abruptly appeared. It reflected the ultraviolet glow, while bizarre symbols began to shift and mutate on the bodies of the two mysterious men.

They had no idea what was happening, only sensing something terrifying affecting them. Screaming, they tried to escape, but couldn’t leave their own magic circles, forced instead to writhe on the ground until they melted into two pools of yellow liquid, erasing every trace—even fragments of clothing were gone.

As Ou Xiaolu made his way toward the administration building, he sensed something amiss. He looked back uncertainly at the path he had taken. “What’s the story with this extra card?”

“Someone tried to steal the boss and triggered the rebound effect. That’s left behind by the thieves after their deaths—your spoils of victory.”

Ou Xiaolu toyed with the newly acquired card. “If someone finds a powerful boss early and marks it, couldn’t they just sit and wait for the profit?”

He expected the guide to refute him, but the guide confirmed, “Exactly. The only difficult part is finding the boss.”