I Became the Blacksmith NPC

Liu Kongkong didn't quite know how to react to the Scorpion-Tailed Lion's answer.

But the moment the Scorpion-Tailed Lion heard that name, it was as if a floodgate had opened: "You people don't even know his name, and you still follow him around? Then again, I suppose that's Li Tiansheng for you — he can get away with anything. Spins a few stories and has you all wrapped around his finger."

"So you weren't created by him?"

"Does he have that kind of ability? I'm just trapped in this guy's pocket dimension with my power suppressed. Out there — on the Xingye Continent — I could slap a thousand of you to death with one paw!"

"So how did you end up in here?" Hearing the contempt in its voice, Liu Kongkong cut straight to the point.

"Because I harbored a great and noble dream — I wanted to become the first Yin-Yin-Yin-Yin-Yin-Yang Scorpion-Tailed Lion in history! But I fell right into Li Tiansheng's trap!"

Liu Kongkong had initially thought the creature was stuttering, but once he understood what it meant, he let out a dry chuckle. So this thing had been tricked into coming here. Not exactly impressive.

"That Li Tiansheng is a cunning one. To earn my trust, he transformed into a Scorpion-Tailed Lion and romanced me! Then he lied and said his grandfather was sick and needed me to accompany him for a visit — and the other end of the teleportation array led straight here!"

"What about your wife? Don't tell me she wanted to become a Yang-Yang-Yang-Yang-Yang-Yin Scorpion-Tailed Lion?"

"No, my wife was provoked by him. He told her I was out looking for mistresses number three, four, five, six, and seven on the side — so she came chasing after me to kill me! He tricked both of us into this place..."

Well, that part wasn't exactly a lie... Liu Kongkong thought, a sweatdrop forming.

Perhaps because it had been locked up for so long, the Scorpion-Tailed Lion went on and on about the whole affair. Liu Kongkong listened patiently until he had a rough picture of the situation.

In short: every boss and wild monster in the Starter Village had a true body, hidden somewhere within the pocket dimension. If the true body was killed, that was the end of them for real. The field bosses and dungeon bosses were all suppressed copies — with the exception of a few weaker ones who had been forcibly brought in, the vast majority had been lured in through Li Tiansheng's schemes. And that "vast majority" numbered over ten thousand different species.

"That guy is the most despicable thing I've ever encountered. Take those wild rabbits out there — they were originally just sunbathing. Li Tiansheng went to use the bathroom without any paper, grabbed one to wipe himself, said it had a nice texture, and then tossed it in here."

Wild rabbits? Liu Kongkong suddenly recalled the talking rabbit that Lonely as a Song had encountered before. So that was the true body — he hadn't expected such a tragic backstory.

As for why there were no humanoid monsters in the Starter Village:

"Li Tiansheng fancies himself a Human God, so he only captures us beast-folk. And what do you mean 'doesn't capture humans'? Aren't you people the ones he captured? You just do different kinds of work, that's all."

The "people" the Scorpion-Tailed Lion referred to here were, of course, the villagers.

A Human God who captures people? Didn't sound like an upstanding individual. But if the villagers had all been captured, why did they still follow Li Tiansheng's lead and do his bidding? Were they being threatened?

There were many questions, but the Scorpion-Tailed Lion knew nothing about any of that.

"Last question — how much do you know about the Void Lord?"

At those words, the Scorpion-Tailed Lion, which had been lying flat on the ground, suddenly leapt to its feet and stood at attention!

"What Void Lord?! That is the supreme Divine King!"

"Even the supreme Divine King got captured..." Liu Kongkong was speechless.

"Hmph, captured? You mean the [Divine King] in this dimension? Li Tiansheng exhausted every trick he had and spent every last ounce of his ability just to obtain a single strand of the Divine King's fur — and from that he made some so-called Replica..."

"A single strand of fur?"

"That's right! The Divine King's true power is hundreds of billions of times greater than that Replica..."

"Alright, alright, enough with the 'billions.'" Liu Kongkong watched the Scorpion-Tailed Lion nearly hyperventilate and quickly cut it off. "So right now, if I want to go see the Void Lord — er, the Divine King — do I have to kill you first?"

"Kill me? You, alone?" The Yin-Yang Scorpion-Tailed Lion froze for a moment, then burst into laughter as if it had just heard the funniest joke in the world. After a few seconds, its expression twisted in pain: "I laughed so hard I pulled something — give me a second..."

Liu Kongkong: ...

"Since you put it that way — hold on, let me swap out the copy. Considering you kept me company for a chat, I'll give you fair warning: you villagers aren't like those players out there. If you die, you're really gone for good." The Scorpion-Tailed Lion said this in its usual sarcastic tone.

Players? Liu Kongkong blinked. This creature actually knew that word — and now that he thought about it, it had been singing when he first walked in...

"Oh, that's just what you call 'friends.' I didn't know the term at first either. I picked it up listening to those people chat over time — they call themselves players. The song I was singing earlier, I learned that from them too."

Seeing the puzzled look on Liu Kongkong's face, a flicker of smugness crossed the Scorpion-Tailed Lion's eyes, as if to say: I know more about what goes on here than you villagers do.

A boss eavesdropping on players' conversations? Well, it wasn't like it had anything better to do.

Watching the Scorpion-Tailed Lion slowly fade, Liu Kongkong shook his head: "Isn't this swap taking a bit long?"

"Obviously — this is Li Tiansheng's dimension. The fact that I can swap at all is impressive enough. Give me twenty seconds, almost done!"

"Uh... fine." Liu Kongkong leaned against the door and waited quietly, then suddenly remembered something: "Wait — I came in here wearing this outfit. How did you know I was a blacksmith?"

"I smelled it! Don't interrupt me — swapping requires concentration!"

"When I was building the dungeon, could you see my character info?" Liu Kongkong ignored the protest and kept asking.

"No!"

"Then how did you..." Liu Kongkong was confused.

"You humans have terrible memories. Aside from the time you came alone a few days ago, haven't you all been here before? More than once, in fact. And they kept calling you 'Liu the Blacksmith' the whole time... Though I suppose back then this place was pitch black, so you probably didn't see me."

"?!" The villager NPCs had been here before? But wasn't this dimension only supposed to open once a player reached level 18? Liu Kongkong looked up and found that the Scorpion-Tailed Lion in front of him had already gone glassy-eyed — clearly the copy had taken over. Still, he was certain the true body was still lurking somewhere in here, waiting to enjoy the show.

"So you don't know what happened before either?" Liu Kongkong said, walking slowly forward.

"How would I know? You were looking for the [Divine King], not me. Stop wasting words — watch yourself. Two more steps and it'll start attacking you~" The Scorpion-Tailed Lion's voice was excited. It had seen plenty of players respawn, but it had been a long time since it watched a villager get flattened for real.

Doesn't know? Then there's nothing more worth asking.

Liu Kongkong glanced at the Scorpion-Tailed Lion copy standing four to five meters tall before him. All six Scorpion-Tailed Lions shared a single HP bar — and that HP had already reached 800,000!

"The restrictions in this dimension should be the same as in the Starter Village. But I have one hour. That should be enough."

"Ha! One hour?! Without running, it'll kill you in seconds..."

The Scorpion-Tailed Lion's words cut off mid-sentence as it watched Liu Kongkong calmly slide the Curse God Ring off his left middle finger. The next instant, the previously calm boss room was swept by a violent gale — even the massive Scorpion-Tailed Lion copy was pushed back two steps by the blast!

"Wait — you..." The hiding Scorpion-Tailed Lion's eyes went wide!

Name: Liu Dameng (Disguised ID: Liu Daqiang)

Class: Apprentice Blacksmith (Level 20, Max Level Reached)

HP: 100,001 / 100,001

Mana: 100,001 / 100,001

Strength: 50,000

Constitution: 10,001

Agility: 4,700

Intelligence: 1,000

Spirit: 10,001

Available Points: 0

Fifty thousand Strength — to be safe, I should probably invest more into Mana. Liu Kongkong raised his hand and glanced at his stats. The space around his arm had already begun to crack apart! The frantically flashing warnings were ignored without a second thought.

200 Mana consumed!

He looked up just in time to see the Scorpion-Tailed Lion copy's front claw already lunging at his face. Liu Kongkong bared his teeth in a grin.

"Die!!"

The next instant, a fist wrapped in howling wind collided with the lion's claw!

-999,999!!

A terrifying number burst into the air! The Scorpion-Tailed Lion copy didn't even register the hit — its entire body turned to ash on the spot. Simultaneously, five distant rooms erupted in explosions. One strike, and all six Scorpion-Tailed Lions were annihilated at once!

Above Liu Kongkong's head, after a long, reluctant pause, a single number finally appeared: -0!

Holy shit!! It didn't even scratch his defense?!

Witnessing this scene — and feeling the entire dimension tremble — the true Scorpion-Tailed Lion desperately pressed both front paws over its own mouth, looking exactly like a three-year-old child hiding in a wardrobe, watching a killer commit murder right before their eyes, terrified that even the sound of its own breathing might draw attention!

Terror flooded through it. Replaying the conversation it had just had with this man, it was so frightened that tears began to stream down its face!

"When I said one hour was enough, I meant enough to clear the dungeon."

Without waiting for the Scorpion-Tailed Lion to respond, Liu Kongkong vanished from the spot in an instant. He left behind the still-stunned Scorpion-Tailed Lion, trembling alone in a dark corner: "Wuwuwu... Mama, I'm so scared, I want to go home... Wait, I switched back — if my wife didn't hear the warning just now... doesn't that mean... Honey? Honey! Are you still there?! You absolutely cannot... wuwuwu hehehehehe... be okay, hahahahaha!"

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