The moment Miguel heard the blacksmith, Huang Tao, speak, he immediately understood—so that was the trigger. The faster you killed the boss, the more likely this hidden sequence would appear.
And then, when Huang Tao mentioned the Gate to the Otherworld, Miguel's eyes lit up.
The Gate to the Otherworld—that was what the NPCs called it.
Players, on the other hand, had a simpler, far more familiar name for it: dungeons.
I always thought there were no dungeons in a newbie village, Miguel thought. I never imagined there'd be one hidden in the forest.
Taking the map Huang Tao handed over, Miguel quickly thanked him.
The blacksmith's expression dimmed. A shadow crossed his face as he recalled his younger brother, who had been slain by the Wild Boar King. With a shake of his head, Huang Tao lost all interest in chatting further. After a few absentminded words, he returned to his room, leaving the shop unattended.
Miguel, clutching the newly acquired map, wasted no time heading toward the village outskirts.
Halfway down the dirt path, his friend list flickered. His one and only friend in the game had just logged on—Thunderblade.
Thunderblade: "Holy crap, Stellar Mist! You're insane!"
Thunderblade didn't even bother to check the equipment screenshots Miguel had sent earlier. His first instinct was to send that excited message.
Miguel: "???"
He fired back three question marks, baffled.
Thunderblade: "Bro, I was scrolling the game forum earlier. Out of nowhere, I see this post—its view count skyrocketing so fast it shot straight to the top trending spot."
"I clicked it open… and guess what I saw?"
Miguel: "What did you see?"
Thunderblade: "You. Playing with the World Boss like it was your pet!
It's just a shame the recorder had bad luck—he got bulldozed by the Wild Boar King before he could capture you actually killing it. Cry cry cry."
Miguel's lips twitched. Someone recorded my fight with the Boar King? And uploaded it to the forum? That was unexpected.
Curiosity piqued, he opened the in-game forum himself.
This was one of the reasons Godmaking Online had crushed older VRMMOs so easily—not just its vast worldbuilding, but the fact that players could do almost anything in-game: transfer money online, browse the web, even play 2D or 3D games inside the game itself.
Sure enough, as Thunderblade had said, the number-one trending video featured the Boar King… and him.
Miguel's eyes narrowed at the bold title:
"Confirmed: Godmaking Online Fails to Monitor Cheaters — Watch This Hacker vs. Boss Showdown."
In less than an hour, the video had broken ten million views and was still climbing at an absurd rate. Likes, shares, and comments exploded under it.
So… I'm famous now?
Miguel scratched his head, unsure whether to laugh or groan.
He clicked play. The footage showed him weaving circles around the Boar King, baiting and dodging with almost theatrical precision. When it ended, he scrolled down to the comments.
Top Comment: "666! Who is this god-tier player? That footwork—like something straight out of a kung fu movie."
2nd: "That's not like cheating—it is cheating."
3rd: "Offering a huge bounty for this guy's ID. I need him on my friends list. I wanna 'cheat' too."
4th: "I'm a cute single lady, can be sweet or spicy. Big guy in the vid—add me so we can, you know, chat privately at my place."
5th: "LMAO. Forget my grandma, I only bow to you. By the way, dude in the vid—you into guys? Asking for a friend. Wink wink wink"
Miguel shuddered at the fifth comment. The internet really does attract every kind of bird…
Shaking his head, he closed the forum. He wasn't afraid of Godmaking Online cracking down on him—after all, even the dev company couldn't touch the backend data. The game's code belonged to the supreme Cosmic Will itself.
Sometimes he even wondered—after creating a game world this complex, did the Cosmic Will ever worry about going bald?
A new message popped up from Thunderblade.
Thunderblade: "Bro, I know you're not cheating. This game doesn't even allow cheating.
Those keyboard warriors are just salty because they can't do what you did."
"By the way… are you selling that shield?"
Miguel narrowed his eyes slightly. Thunderblade's casual tone hinted that he knew more about Godmaking Online than he let on.
Miguel: "Selling."
Thunderblade: "Haha! Love the decisiveness. I'll give you 200,000 Flame Nation credits for it—transfer incoming now."
Seconds later, Miguel's bank pinged:
[Bank Notice] *Account ***6292 credited with 200,000. New balance: 305,717.67 credits .
From a measly 717 credits yesterday to 300,000 today.
Not just fast money—this is warp speed.
Miguel: "Aren't you worried I'll take the money and keep the shield?"
Thunderblade: "I trust you, bro. I trust my instincts. And honestly, even if you did, it's just 200k. Not much to me."
Miguel smirked. Rich bastard.
Thunderblade: "Ever think about starting a guild? If you do, promise me you'll let me join. I wanna tag along."
Miguel: "Not planning on it yet. Maybe someday. But my guild will only take top-tier players… and you're not on my list for now."
Thunderblade: "Come on, man. I might suck in combat, but I've got money. I'll donate a full million to the guild fund—just let me in!"
Miguel chuckled.
Miguel: "I'll consider it."
He sent the Boar King's Shield to Thunderblade via in-game mail.
[System] Your friend [Stellar Mist] has gifted you [Boar King's Shield] ×1.
Then, after a beat, Miguel added:
Miguel: "Interested in taking a trip to the forest's deeper zones?"