Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

“…Is this what it means to die rather than compromise?”

Yelang wasn’t in a hurry, planning to wait for Yi to return and then continue fighting, but soon, he noticed with shock that four more Endermen had spawned!

Luckily, within a few seconds, Yi returned through the Teleportation Gate, quickly picked up the equipment and items on the ground, and resumed the fight.

The same tactics were used again, luring one Enderman at a time, and proceeding to destroy another End Crystal protected by an iron cage.

– Their plan was to tackle the difficult parts first and save the crystals that could be shot from a distance for later.

However, learning from their last mistake, they didn’t build any ladders this time. Instead, they built a spiral slope around the Obsidian Pillar.

After destroying the cage, they could create some distance to avoid being blasted by the crystal and dodge the subsequent vertical Dragon Breath that covered the entire Obsidian Pillar.

The reason they didn’t teleport was that, during the early stages of the game, they wanted to conserve their precious items.

Ender Pearls, which could be used for teleportation, and expensive Golden Apples were too precious to use now.

Even potions were used sparingly, they didn’t use Fire Immunity Potion, Strength Potion, or Swiftness Potion.

The reason was simple – the game had only been released for three days, and it was not easy to obtain rare supplies.

In the future, as more bosses discovered ways to mass-produce supplies with “machines,” the situation would certainly ease, but it was still too early for that now.

This time, things went very smoothly. Dodging a pounce and destroying the End Crystal, Dragon’s Breath once again engulfed the Obsidian Pillar from the sky.

Yi and Yelang looked at the pillar of fire less than a foot away, both suddenly filled with extreme confidence-

“As expected, the BOSS has a very clear behavior pattern. Once we figure out the mechanism and respond correctly, it’s not difficult to win!”

“Yeah, this is too easy!”

“We’ll take it down tonight!” Yi said confidently.

“Absolutely!” Yelang echoed with equal confidence.

In both live broadcast rooms, the audience seized the opportunity and sent messages: “If you can’t take it down, wear diapers (cross-dress) and wander the streets!”

After the crystals exploded, four more Endermen spawned in the open area. However, by now, they didn’t pose any pressure to the two players.

Defeat the Endermen, build platforms to shoot crystals, defeat more Endermen, shoot crystals… and so on.

The End Crystals were shattered one after another.

After successfully destroying five, the situation changed once again-

“Roar~~~”

Accompanied by the terrifying howl of the Ender Dragon, the Dragon’s Breath fell from the sky.

It was no longer a precise spray, but rather like a falling meteor shower, shattering the flames and pouring down on Yi and Yelang like a rainstorm. When it hit the ground, it started burning and randomly spreading within a range of four to nine grids.

As the two were pulling their bows to attack the sixth End Crystal, they raised their heads to stare at the trajectory of the falling fireballs. They struggled to find the safe gaps, running awkwardly in mid-air, laying down blocks while dodging the attacks from above.

The Ender Dragon no longer attacked only once when the crystal was hit. Instead, it began to continuously dive and attack.

Dragon’s Breath and pounce alternated, forcing the two players to evade while trying to shoot the distant End Crystals, making the battle even more challenging!

A single mistake could set them on fire.

This fire couldn’t be extinguished with water, and they had to endure four rounds of fire damage before it went out – if it hadn’t gone out and new flames touched them again, although the damage wouldn’t stack, the duration would reset.

During this time, if the Ender Dragon pounced on them or they fell from a high platform, the damage would stack, making it very easy for them to die instantly.

Thus, the dead man’s tactics were resumed.

Die and resurrect, then charge back into battle.

After destroying three more Crystals in this manner, Yi dodged a Dragon Breath that landed in front of him with a small jump. He quickly switched to building blocks, laying down stone on the side to increase distance, and pulled out his bow to attack the Endermen that spawned.

Before, they tried to ignore the Endermen, but their numbers would add up. Every time a Crystal exploded, four Endermen would spawn — and without much effort, eight of them together could take the players down.

“Roar~~~~”

The howl of the Ender Dragon reverberated again.

“What’re you roaring for! You’re so annoying!” Yi roared back without any fear.

Yelang, on the other hand, showed understanding: “It’s out of options and angry, huh?”

As soon as the words fell, they heard the tremendous sound of dragon wings flapping and then the whooshing sound of wind.

“?” Yi turned to Yelang, “When did you awaken your jinxed bloodline?”

At the next moment, a hurricane struck!

With no cover in the air, the two players lost their balance and were blown off the platform. They fell miserably onto the still-burning Dragon’s Breath and both died instantly.

After resurrecting, they didn’t hesitate for a moment and rushed through the Teleportation Gate — fortunately, the high platform, the flames, and the remaining two End Crystals were still there, unchanged and not restored.

After taking a breath, the two of them ran to pick up their equipment. Yi couldn’t help but say, “Can you please make fewer sarcastic comments next time? I feel like you’re on the BOSS’s side!”

Yelang also felt a bit guilty and quickly agreed, “Alright, alright, my bad.”

Next, they continued to build the high platform, avoiding the dragon breath and Ender Dragon’s pounce. They also had to build pillars on the high platform to defend against the occasional high-altitude hurricanes that blew.

In this difficult battle, the two of them finally overcame countless hardships and broke the last two End Crystals.

The next moment, the Ender Dragon no longer stirred up hurricanes, nor did it spit dragon breath, or even roar.

It retracted its nearly twenty-meter-long wings, quickly lowering its altitude. It didn’t swoop past like before, but instead, ferociously vibrated its wings at a low altitude, encircling the ten obsidian pillars.

At the same time—the sound of music appeared!

Just in seven or eight seconds, the music went from nothing to slow, then from low to high. The passionate drumbeats quickly became deafening, stirring up the audience’s fighting spirit.

-This was the heartfelt dedication from Cloud Dream’s music department.

“Is this… battle music?” Yelang asked in amazement, watching the huge dragon hover.

Yi also opened his mouth wide, “You’re kidding me! Are you saying that the battle has just begun?!?”

The Ender Dragon circled around for two rounds, proudly displaying its enormous and terrifying body up close. Then it charged straight towards Yi and Yelang!

It no longer just swooped past, biting with its teeth or striking with its claws, but instead—rammed directly into them!

“F*ck!” Yi exclaimed in horror, quickly taking out a bucket of water and leaped off the high platform, safely landing using the “landing water” technique.

Yelang also landed beside him.

A loud noise came from above their heads.

The two quickly looked up, only to see that their built high platform had been almost completely destroyed. Only a few blocks remained at the edge, faintly forming a large empty hole.

“How do we fight this?!?”

But without waiting for them to think, the Ender Dragon had already returned, crashing heavily to the ground and biting at them!

Yi gritted his teeth and raised his shield, blocking the strike. He was hit back several squares, but since he managed to block it, he only lost one point of health, which was still acceptable.

Yelang also took advantage of the opportunity, slashing the Ender Dragon’s head with his sword.

There was indeed damage, but it wasn’t very high. Judging by the Ender Dragon’s health bar, they probably had to slash it hundreds of times to be enough!

This was already frustrating enough when they heard Yi’s voice, “Under the health bar! What is that ‘Victorious Chaser’ stacked 12 times?!”

Yelang looked closely and also noticed the icon—

[Victorious Chaser: Each layer increases damage by 5% (Current layers: 12)]

Before the Ender Dragon landed, it was just a prelude to the battle. The information wasn’t displayed until the battle officially began, assisting players in combat.

Yelang was puzzled, but fortunately, some quick-witted people in the live broadcast room reminded them, “You guys have died 12 times already! One death per layer!”

Knowing the truth, both of them were speechless: such a difficult battle, and we’re not allowed to die once?

But with things as they were, they could only continue until their supplies ran out. Meanwhile, they would accumulate combat experience and try to see more of the BOSS’s skills.

As they fought, Yi also couldn’t help but gloat, “I was thinking earlier that if we couldn’t beat it, we could resort to swarm tactics. Thank goodness we didn’t! But I bet many people would, right? I wonder if there’s any unlucky guy who stacks it up to 100 layers, making the Ender Dragon’s damage six times more powerful. I really want to see that situation.”

“There should… be some, right?” Yelang answered uncertainly.

As a matter of fact, there indeed were!

And they were even people they were very familiar with.

*

Before the announcement was released, Super Tomato was still studying the blueprints of Huagai Hall and Jingshen Hall, planning to bring them together with the completed Heaven Hall and complete the three main halls of the Forbidden City.

However, they couldn’t resist everyone’s urging, especially since the Heaven Hall had been officially completed. Over a hundred players had been helping out, so it was hard to say no. So, they organized everyone to tackle the main storyline together.

Finally, a total of 135 people participated.

With so many people acting together, their speed was naturally extremely fast.

In less than 20 minutes, they all found the Nether Fortress and obtained the necessary materials: Blaze Powder.

As for the rarer Ender Pearls, with so many people, some had already encountered and killed Endermen while gathering building materials above ground. So, they directly used the Ender Pearls they’ve obtained.

After crafting the Eye of Ender, they found the End Portal.

However, they didn’t activate it immediately. Instead, they caused some havoc by demolishing a large area around the portal and then dumped 135 beds and wooden boxes to update their respawn points and store some supplies before officially activating the portal.

Afterward—it was time for a full assault!

And then, the tragedy began.

And the first tragedy wasn’t even the Ender Dragon but the 270 Endermen suddenly appearing on the flat End floating island.

—Just the right number, exactly twice the number of players!