Dark Plain—Dragonflame Mountain Range.
Atop the towering Dragon Head Peak, a black dragon was overlooking the vast plain below that resembled charred coal.
The dragon scales on the black dragon shimmered in the dim sunlight with the luster of obsidian, and its majestic wings spread wide, casting a massive shadow on the mountain ridge.
The dragon's neck was slightly curved, making it look like a statue, as though it was pondering some profound question.
The dragon's eyes opened partially, and its reptilian vertical pupils gleamed with a flame-like brilliance.
'Death's Shadow' Morphis (Black Dragon Lord), a disaster-grade boss, level 80, the final boss at the end of the Dark Dragon Nest instance, and one of the thirteen Black Dragon Lords of the Black Dragon Legion.
Behind the black dragon was a dense throng of monster minions, goblins, jackalweres, kobolds... swarming together in a bustle. A few ogres and bear goblins with huge statures were idly yawning while dragging large clubs, clearly impatient with waiting. However, under the aura of the black dragon's draconic might, these simple-minded creatures had no thoughts of protest.
Several young black dragons stood side by side at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance imitating their uncle, on the horizon where Dark Plain met the Emerald Forest, one could faintly see tiny specks like ants, gradually drawing closer.
Those were adventurers, brave adventurers, fearless adventurers, greedy adventurers...
The young dragons initially found it interesting, but quickly grew bored.
A Dragonkin vanguard emerged from the crowd, cautiously inquired, "Great Lord Morphis, the enemy has appeared, shall we go down and prepare?"
The black dragon did not respond, and this silent silence led to a bead of sweat forming on the brow of the Dragonkin vanguard who did not dare to inquire further and retreated back carefully and noiselessly.
A few young black dragons whispered secretly.
"Lord Morphis's draconic might is getting stronger and stronger," one murmured.
"Yes, yes, what do you think Lord Morphis is contemplating?" another asked.
"I think he might be engaging in divine prayers. It's said that powerful dragons can communicate directly with the Dragon God. Maybe the Dragon God is imparting an oracle to Lord Morphis right now," speculated another.
"I, on the other hand, think that Lord Morphis might be considering whether to unleash a new dragon calamity. Our nest has been established for nearly half a year, and those adventurers keep provoking us every now and then. It's time to destroy their cities and plunder their wealth!" suggested another.
"You all think too hard; maybe Lord Morphis is just wondering what to eat tonight. I really want some Dragonfire-roasted lamb…"
However, the thoughts of the black dragon Morphis were completely different from their guesses.
(What in the blazes... is today a holiday, or is there some game event happening? Why are there so many adventurers coming? And they're brazenly attacking from Dark Plain? Don't they know why I have the moniker 'Death's Shadow'? Well, the more that come, the better the kill spree will be. As long as there are no heroes leading them, all these adventurers might as well be walking to their deaths. Speaking of which, the live streaming room is about to open, right? Might as well do something vicious in a bit and rake in some donations.)
That's right, the black dragon Morphis is a player, and also a game streamer.
Don't think it's strange for a player to play as a boss. In this game called "World of Sky," players can role-play as any character. Not just bosses, even the rats in the sewers, monstrous creatures of the deep sea, or even deities from the Divine Domain could be portrayed by players.
World of Sky replaced traditional point cards and item fees with subscription charges for using templates.
There are dozens of different character templates in the entire game from which players can choose, categorized roughly into three types based on the payment model.
The first type is the free template, which allows players to play freely without spending money.
Monster template; players can become skeletons, zombies, predatory birds, beasts, goblins, murlocs, or even strange life forms like slimes and man-eating plants.
Soldier template; players portray common foot soldiers from various Kingdoms, guarding cities, patrolling the countryside, clearing out monsters, participating in wars between Kingdoms, and serving as the cannon fodder on battlefields.
Civilian template; this template has no combat abilities, but one can travel around, learn skills, do business, set up shops, experiencing the life of a commoner in a fantasy world...
The second type is the paid template, where players must purchase game time with point cards.
Adventurer template; closely resembling the traditional game mode. Monsters are fought, levels are gained, bosses slain for loot, quests completed, and reputation is grinded. This is also the most populated type of player.
Explorer template; diving into ancient ruins, exploring age-old secrets, and unearthing legendary treasures...
Vassal template; allows ownership of one's own manor, engaging in agriculture, development, leading troops in battle, serving a lord, participating in wars....
The third type is the VIP template, which is the most entertaining and also the most expensive way to play.
Lord Template, this gameplay is somewhat similar to real-time strategy games where the Lord has their own castle, land, and can engage in agriculture, raise armies, wage war against other kingdoms, expand territories, lead troops to defend against Orcs, Undead, and Demon attacks, achieve great feats, and even establish their own kingdom.
Hero Template, players can play as heroes of legend with noble bloodlines, prestigious backgrounds, and epic life stories, adventuring with other adventurers, slaying powerful Demon King bosses, becoming brothers-in-arms with the King, and fighting side by side. They can also enjoy strolling between town taverns, romancing Elves, and reveling with Dwarves over drinks.
Not only is it the most liberating, but the Hero Template also has five times the attribute growth of the ordinary adventurer; truly, one can fight against five.
The most exhilarating part is that heroes can personally participate in various epic storyline events, even directly changing the course of the story, such as the Dark Portal opening event that happened a month ago. It's said that the player who killed the Orc Warchief Blackhand at the Dark Portal was a Hero Template player. The Kingdom of Stormwind even erected a statue for this player as a sign of admiration for all to see.
When this player enters the city, the guards of Stormwind City would kneel on one knee to express their respect…
Boss Template, players of this template can build their own monster forces, raid villages and towns, stand as enemies against kingdoms, establish dungeons, and battle against the greedy adventurer teams.
The Boss Template gives the highest individual combat strength; some World-level bosses can even take on thousands singlehandedly and decimate nations.
And the most powerful bosses can even initiate End of the World calamities, attempting to destroy the entire World of Sky — the reason for 'attempt' is because every time the world is on the brink of destruction, heroes appear to save the world, preventing its demise. Thus, so far, no boss has truly succeeded in ending the world.
It's rumored that above the VIP Template exists a Deity Template, but so far, this feature hasn't been unlocked in the game. Many players speculate it could be something game companies use to control the game's storyline, serving as a GM-like presence, but this is only speculation for now.
Of course, although these templates are thrilling to play, the fees for the VIP Template are prohibitively high. Whether it's the lowest Bronze Tier Hero or the weakest Skeleton-level Boss, unlocking them requires an investment of over 100,000 RMB.
Usually, only wealthy players can afford this mode.
Morphis played the Boss Template, and he even played a Disaster Grade Boss.
(The Boss levels are divided into five grades: Skeleton, Terror, Disaster, World, End of the World)
Naturally, he was not some wealthy player; he painstakingly leveled up his black dragon Boss from a small black dragon hatchling all on his own.
And this leads to another design in the game — Template Advancement.
As long as specific conditions are met, one can advance a lower-level template to a higher-level one.
Minions can become vassals, vassals can become Lords, monsters can become elites, elites can become bosses, and bosses can escalate to great bosses…
Of course, template advancement is no easy feat. A slight misstep can make one a stepping stone in another's path to advancement. Morphis had countless close calls with death during his advancement; reaching his current status was partly due to luck and partly due to his gaming skills.
Today, in the entire Starlight Live Streaming platform's "World of Sky" section, he firmly holds the top spot in the Monster Zone. In the entire gaming circle of World of Sky, he's considered a celebrity.
But fame has its own troubles. Every so often, players form teams to hunt him down, aiming to loot his equipment and clear his dungeon, trying to make a name for themselves.
Even Lord players have led their armies to trigger "plot campaigns," attempting to earn Prestige and Plot Points at the expense of his dragon head.
Ever since he established the Dragon Nest in the Dragonfire Mountain Range three months ago, such occurrences have become even more frequent; at the peak, three waves of adventurers arrived in a single day.
Morphis engaged in battle every day, fought wars every day, and in three months, fought over twenty extermination battles, killing countless adventurers, including one led by two Hero Template players.
That battle raged fiercely, with rivers of blood, ultimately concluding with the valiant deaths of the two heroes.
After that bloody battle, not a single organized group of players dared to visit for a whole week.
Today, however, as soon as Morphis logged on, he noticed the Burning Plain was rather lively, which couldn't help but excite him.
Tsk tsk tsk, these greedy adventurers never learn, do they? Coming to deliver equipment and heads again. Well, it's all good, I'll teach you all a lesson today: defeating a boss isn't just about numbers.
He slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over each of his monster underlings, finally resting on his dragonscale-encrusted Military Governor, Borax.
Morphis (Black Dragon Lord): "Get ready, Borax. Strike at the usual place, take all the underlings, do not let a single adventurer escape. Don't disappoint me."
Borax (Dragon Military Governor): "By your command, great Lord Morphis, I will not disappoint you—You all heard him! Get moving, you lazy louts, or I'll flay your hides if you mess up Lord Morphis' plans."
The Dragon Military Governor brandished his flaming whip, driving the monsters down towards the mountain base.
Morphis, however, was in no rush to act. He could fly and join the battle at any time. He decided to wait for the monsters to be in position first. The most important thing was that he was a streamer; playing a black dragon was thrilling, but he still had his real job to do.
Checking the time and seeing it was about right, he turned on the Live Streaming System, adjusted the camera angle, and started his game stream for the day.