The Great Thief

by Stayrr

He had never invested in shares or bought a lottery ticket, and neither did he have any experience in the general business industry. Lu Li found that the only thing he could do was play games. Luckily he had experienced rebirth, and was one step ahead of everyone else. Luckily, games had been developing extremely quickly, and there were many people who had become rich through play

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The Great Thief

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Summary

He had never invested in shares or bought a lottery ticket, and neither did he have any experience in the general business industry. Lu Li found that the only thing he could do was play games.

Luckily he had experienced rebirth, and was one step ahead of everyone else. Luckily, games had been developing extremely quickly, and there were many people who had become rich through playing games.

In his 'past life', he had spent countless nights awake, in grief and anguish. However, although all of this had been washed away, so what…? This life, he was determined to make a fierce counterattack against fate and stand at the very top!

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The Great Thief - Chapter 1: Rebirth Light Novel Pub

The Great Thief

Chapter 1: Rebirth

"Big brother's going to go look for work. Be good, and stay at home and do your homework. Here's 10 dollars- don't forget to buy some food for lunch."

In front of the door of a small house in the Slum District, Lu Li patted the little loli's head. He simply couldn't help but lovingly stroke her hair- to see his little sister so healthy and playful was simply wonderful!

"Alright, alright, big brother," The little loli pouted, "Stop playing with my hair, you're going to get it messy."

Lu Xin affectionately straightened up Lu Li's clothes, and reminded him like a little adult, "Do your best, alright? Big brother's so hardworking, so I'm sure you'll be able to find a job this time."

"Don't worry, big brother will definitely find a good job, earn a lot of money and let Xin Xin live a good life," Lu Li said as he hugged her. He said silently in his heart, "I definitely won't be so poor that I can only watch as you slowly die."

"When Xin Xin's older, she'll earn a lot of money as well," The little loli said as she squirmed in his embrace, solemnly raising her fist in determination.

Despite the fact that he was extremely unwilling to leave, Lu Li said his goodbyes to his little sister.

On the bus, he reached into his pocket and froze, bitterly smiling.

The money he had given to his little sister had lunch had reappeared in his own pocket. He knew that she would probably do this. She was simply too lovable and cute.

It was currently the 23rd Century, and science had been improving by leaps and bounds. All sorts of AI technology filled every corner of the world, and this development had caused people's lives to improve tremendously. However, it also meant that human labour was becoming obsolete.

Unemployment was no longer something that was rare, especially to people like Lu Li who were at the bottom of society. To them, finding a stable job was simply a dream.

If nothing changed, he would have continued to wander in unemployment.

It was not until he joined a game union's Gold Collection Unit, by a stroke of incredible luck, that he finally enjoyed a stable life. However, because he only entered the game called "Dawn" a year after it was released, he was at too big of a disadvantage, and was never able to become an expert.

Two years later, his little sister, Lu Xin, was diagnosed with a serious illness during a school check-up.

Without the money to afford the millions of dollars of medical expenses, coupled with the fact that he had been hunted down by a few other game unions, Lu Li could only watch as his only family slowly died.

That feeling was worse than being cut with a knife. Lu Li had hugged his little sister while sobbing on many occasions.

However, his fate had been changed.

On the day he had received notice of his sister being critically ill, Lu Li had cried for a long time before passing out on his little sister's hospital bed. When he woke up, he found that he had returned three years in the past - a sort of rebirth.

He knew that while his little sister was still healthy, he needed to earn money- a lot of money.

Only with enough money could he cure his little sister of her illness, so that she could be like the other children her age and live a blissful life.

Only with enough money would he not be humiliated by his girlfriend's parents. He had been asked, "You don't have a roof to cover your head, nor do you have a foundation to stand on. Without a car or a house, and just your words, what do you think makes you good enough for our Mei Mei?"

Only with enough money, would he be able to lift his head high and not be looked down upon!

The easiest way to earn big money would be through the lottery. However, it was a pity that Lu Li never thought that he would experience rebirth, and so never paid attention to the numbers. Neither did he have any experience with the stock market: him, a poor boy, could never afford those sorts of things. Moreover, because the stock market was so volatile, it was something that poor people like him could never risk…

After thinking and thinking, Lu Li was frustrated to find that although he had experienced rebirth, becoming rich would not be easy at all.

The only thing that he seemed to be able to do was play games- and the game that he had played for 2 years, "Dawn", was set to be released in just a few days.

Lu Li had already given up on finding a proper job. Today, he would pay a visit to the Star Moon Union's headquarters, where he had worked in his "past life".

The Star Moon Union was not one of the 10 Great Unions, nor was it in the Chinese Top 4. It was just a game alliance created by a group of university students. The union's leaders all had extremely rich parents, so they could spend money as they pleased. That was the only reason why their union was still of considerable size.

The Azure Lake District next to the Higher Education Mega Center was one of the most beautiful places around. It had mountains on one side and water on the other, with cherry blossoms carpeting the ground. In front of Lu Li was an office building, and behind him was a Villa District. Only extremely rich people would be able to set up their companies here.

Lu Li walked into a building, and the beautiful receptionist looked at his attire in disgust. She called a number, and told Lu Li that he could go in for his interview.

"Currently, we're only recruiting people for our Suicide Squads; our Gold Collection Unit is not recruiting anymore." The interviewer was a fashionably dressed woman. She painted her nails as she talked, and didn't even bother to look at him.

The so-called "Suicide Squad" was simply cannon fodder. Dying 10 times in a day was normal for them.

The reason Lu Li wanted to find a union to join was so he could use their game helmet for free. Although members of the Gold Collection Unit didn't have very good future prospects, they could at the very least train and level up. Those in the Suicide Squad were destined to never rise to high levels. After all, dying in the game meant losing EXP.

"To be honest, I'm quite talented at collecting gold," Lu Li wasn't willing to give up and join the Suicide Squad. If he gave up now, his plan to earn money would be ruined. He calmed down his breathing as he coolly said, "If you're willing to recruit me to be part of the Gold Collection Unit, I can earn at least 20 gold per week…"

"What? 20 gold?!" The woman was so shocked that she accidentally flicked nail polish onto her face.

Although Dawn was created with the most advanced virtual game technology, and had world-class developers, it was impossible for it to be released without any beta tests. However, not many people had been selected for beta testing, and what they experienced would not have any impact on the actual game.

In just a few days, what all players realised was that it was incredibly difficult to earn money.

For normal players, they would not even be able to make their ends meet. Members of the Gold Collection Unit with some skill or experience were only able to earn a few silver per day.

According to the estimates of experienced players, at least 100 gold was required to establish a guild. Even with 100 members of the Gold Collection Unit working day and night, assuming that they didn't spend any of it, it would take at least a week to earn that much money.

And yet, this guy had promised that he would be able to earn at least 20 gold in a week!

20 gold- that was the equivalent of 200,000 copper!

"Have you been part of the beta testing? Did you find some sort of way to earn money?" The interviewer's heart raced as she suspiciously asked.

Lu Li gave a mysterious smile, pretending to have some sort of secret.

"Ao Jian, come over for a bit, something just came up… Mmm, someone came to apply for the Gold Collection Unit, and says that he can earn 20 gold in a week. I think he's found some sort of bug." The beautiful interviewer had no choice but to tell her superior.

Very soon, Lu Li heard some hurried steps running towards the room. Turning around, he was quite shocked to see who had appeared.

The people who had arrived included the boss of Star Moon, Ao Jian, as well as a few other people. From Lu Li's two years' worth of experience in the Star Moon Union, he could see that they were all high-profile members of Star Moon.

"Ohh? Don't tell me that the person who can earn 20 gold in a week is this boy." A short man next to Ao Jian yelled out. This person's in-game name was Half A Cigarette, and was the leader of Star Moon Union's Thief Group. He was an incredibly abrupt and rash person.

"Is what she said true? Do you really have a method to earn 20 gold in a week? Are you sure that you're talking about "Dawn"?" Ao Jian's face was quite unsightly. He had carried a sliver of hope as he ran over, but seeing what Lu Li looked like, he felt it disappear.

Lu Li's looks were extremely ordinary, and his face was a yellowish-black colour. His clothes were wrinkled, and there were threads sticking out of it. One could tell at a single glance that he was one of those people at the bottom of society.

"I don't have any evidence, but even if I can't deliver, you won't lose much, right?" Facing the crowd of rich and talented young people, Lu Li didn't look like someone who was at the bottom of society at all. He calmly smiled, his eyes filled with boundless confidence.

The Great Thief

Chapter 2: Cai En's Kite

The Star Moon Union's hundred-man Gold Collection Unit was already full, but they didn't mind adding another person. After signing the official contract, Lu Li received one of the cheapest game helmets.

Even one of the cheapest game helmets cost $30,000- for the Lu family brother and sister, a mere $10 was a large sum of money. It would have been impossible for Lu Li to afford a game helmet by himself.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and on September 1, 2215, Dawn was opened worldwide.

"Do your best, big brother!" The little loli jumped around, feeling very excited.

Lu Li kissed her little face, then lay on the bed and put on the game helmet. A feeling of numbness came from his head and spread throughout his body, causing his consciousness to become hazy.

"System check-up…"

"First log on, retina scan, binding… DNA analysis, binding identity, binding bank account…"

After the robotic voice disappeared, Lu Li appeared in a vast hall. There were ten or so large screens around him, and all of them had the image of a figure that looked just like him.

"Dear Player, would you like to begin creating your account?"

"Yes…"

"First, please choose your faction. In the war-torn Azeroth Continent, the Evil Faction and the Light Faction have begun hostilities…"

"The Light Faction!"

"You have chosen the Light Faction. Humans, Dwarves, Night Elves… seven races are available to you…"

"Night Elves!"

… Ten seconds later, a Night Elf version of Lu Li that looked about 80% similar to him appeared in front of him.

Night Elves and humans were about the same height, but had slightly darker skin, as well as pointy ears. Compared to humans, the Night Elves who lived in forests had much better stealth and detection abilities.

Player: Lu Li

Profession: Thief

Race: Night Elf

Faction: Light Faction:

Level: LV0

Attributes: Strength: 2, Agility: 2, Intelligence: 2, Constitution: 2, Perception: 2, Charisma: , Luck: *

HP: 100/100; Energy: 100/100

Defence: 2; Attack: 3; Toughness: 1; Reflect: 2; Willpower: 0

Balance: 5; Focus: 5; Jump: 5; Stealth: 0; Hide: 5; Search: 5

Magic Resist: 0; Movement Speed: 5; Attack Speed: 5

Weight limit: 0-20 pounds (light movement); 20-30 pounds (normal movement); 30-50 (restricted movement)

Racial Abilities:

[Shadowmeld: Active Skill, Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 2 minutes. Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chances of being detected. The effects last until the time runs out or upon moving. After the effects end, aggro that was held towards you will be restored.

[Quickness: Racial Passive. Reduces the chances of being hit by melee and ranged attacks by 2%.

[Evasive: Racial Passive. When using Shadowmeld or in stealth mode, reduces the chances of being discovered by enemies.

[Nature Spirit: Racial Passive. Night Elves possess wisdom and intelligence that other races do not. Gain 3 Intelligence every 5 levels.

[Nature Resistance: Reduces chance of being hit by Nature magic by 2%.

Class Ability 1: [Dagger Proficiency: 20% bonus Attack Speed when using Daggers.

Class Ability 2: [Ambush: 30% bonus Attack Damage when attacking an enemy from behind.

Class Ability 3: [Pick Pocket: Has a certain chance to steal money or items from humanoid creatures. Creates aggro. Cannot be used against players and non-aggro NPCs.

In his previous life, Lu Li's profession had been a Druid.

He could attack, heal, and even tank. However, that didn't mean Druids were powerful. In fact, one would rarely see Druids in the top 10 rankings.

However, most of the Gold Collection Unit players had chosen Druids. This was because Druids were hard to kill, and barely had to use any consumables when fighting monsters. When running out of HP, they could heal themselves, and when running out of MP, they could transform and use Swipe. They could often access places that other players couldn't such as water and mountains.

However, this time, Lu Li had chosen the Thief profession.

The Thief profession was the king of PK, and had many incapacitating skills, as well as shocking explosive power. Furthermore, no one could stop them if they wanted to escape from battles. It was also easy for Thieves to earn money by opening treasure boxes, stealthily going to places where normal players couldn't go to mine, picking medicinal plants…

Although Lu Li hadn't played as a Thief before, he was very interested in this profession. He had read many guides for Thieves, and was confident that he would be able to succeed as one. Moreover, Lu Li's Thief was destined to be set apart from all the other Thieves.

"You have chosen a melee profession, please choose your operating mode…"

Regarding the operating modes, the official website went into much detail regarding the Automatic Mode, Half-Manual Mode and Manual Mode.

Each of these modes had their advantages and disadvantages, and it was acknowledged that their difficulty was in that order.

When playing as a Druid in his "past life", his Cheetah and Wolf transformations were also used melee attacks, so he knew how difficult using Manual mode was.

However, he was clear that all melee experts used either Half-Manual mode, or Manual mode!

"I choose the Manual mode!"

"Enter the game!"

Suddenly, a dizzying sensation hit him, and when he opened his eyes they were filled with the verdant scene of a dark ravine. Towering trees that blanketed the entire sky- in the real world, because of the deforestation from humans, this sort of scenery was impossible to find.

Near where he spawned, there was a gigantic tree with a few NPCs standing around it. They looked exactly like real people, except for the physical characteristics of Elves.

Soon, more players also appeared.

The Dark Ravine was one of the Night Elf players' spawn points. The Star Moon Union's Elf players all decided to start here.

After having a look at his stats, Lu Li decided to start doing quests.

At LV0, there were 3 quests available to them: The Blacksmith's 30 Young Boar Tusks, The Tailor Shop's 30 Young Shadowmaw Panther Furs, and the Orphan Cai En's Kite. The third quest was to take down a kite from a tree, and return it to Cai En.

Lu Li didn't bother with the first two quests, and instead accepted the third quest, "Cai En's Request". He ran to the back of the mountain, and avoided monsters whenever he could. If he couldn't avoid them, he would do his best to charge past them, and would eat Bread whenever his HP was low.

Little Bread: Use: Recovers 30 HP in 8 seconds, must be sitting while eating.

The system gave each player 5 for free, and the shops sold them for 5 copper each. They were quite expensive, and normal people wouldn't be able to afford them.

It was lucky that monsters under Elite grade wouldn't chase players; players would be able to shake them off once they ran out of their aggro range. As such, Lu Li was able to arrive at the back of the mountain without much trouble.

The "Kite" item in "Cai En's Request" was on a tree at the bottom of the mountain. It wouldn't be too difficult to grab it after jumping onto the tree from a nearby rock.

It was a very, very large kite, and the problem wasn't with how to retrieve it, but the respawn time.

Tens of thousands of Elf players in the Dark Ravine could accept this quest, but this quest item only respawned once every half an hour. This was simply ridiculous.

From the very beginning, Cai En's Kite was acknowledged to be the most ridiculous quest in the Dark Ravine!

Luckily, Lu Li was able to obtain this quest item.

However, he didn't go to complete the quest.

And that was because he hadn't obtained this kite for the purpose of completing the quest.

The Great Thief

Chapter 3: Druid God Ring

For most games, quest items were quest items and nothing else.

However, Dawn was different. This kite could be modified to become a glider, and could allow players to 'float' down from high places without falling to their deaths.

Of course, this was only achievable after some significant modifications.

Lu Li tore his clothes into strips, and tied them onto the kite so he could use it as he wished.

His next goal was to get to the top of the mountain.

He failed on his first attempt: he had been killed by 2 fat boars. On his second attempt, he was killed by a LV6 Forest Leopard. His third attempt was even worse: he had run into a crowd of Jungle Spiders…

In Dawn, dying was a very common occurrence. Any player, unless they forever stayed in the Main City, was bound to die quite a few times. When venturing out into the wilderness for the first time, it was completely normal for players to die 10 or so times.

It was only on his seventh attempt that Lu Li finally reached the top of the mountain!

His weapon had been completely destroyed, and the few coppers that he had been given by the system were gone. Luckily, the kite counted as a quest item, and so he couldn't drop it when he died. Otherwise, he would have cried himself to death.

After attaching himself to the kite, Lu Li breathed in deeply, and jumped down from the cliff.

The wind howled in his ears, and after stretching out his 'wings', his descent began to slow down.

Of course, the kite simply couldn't compare to an aerial mount. It was hard to maintain balance, and he nearly crashed into the mountain many times.

Luckily, the kite was a quest item, so it didn't couldn't be destroyed!

Bang!

-27!

-3, -3, -3…

The first damage figure was from falling, and the subsequent '-3' were from stepping into magma.

Luckily, he had good reflexes, and he quickly jumped out of the way. Otherwise, he would have suffered a heavy loss.

Below him was a complex-looking region, with smoke everywhere. There was magma spewing out of the ground, and the thick smell of sulphur hung in the air. This was the Outer Region of the Abyss.

It was said that the Titans defeated and sealed Ragnaros who was from Azeroth into the Abyss. After millions of years, Ragnaros' power created countless Lava Monsters, causing the Abyss to become the most dangerous place in the entire continent.

Luckily, there weren't any monsters in this area, otherwise they would easily be able to squish the LV0 Lu Li to death.

Lu Li wasn't too far away from his goal, and he carefully looked around. 10 minutes later, he found the place that he was looking for.

It was a stone house.

Inside the stone house were a stone table, stone chairs, as well as a stone box on top of the stone table. Inside the stone box was a ring.

[Supreme One Ring] (Silver): Strength1, Agility1, Vampirism1. Special effects: The Lord of the Forest, Cenarius, gave this ring special powers. You can learn three Druid transformation skills, as well as a skill for one of those transformations. Equipment Requirements: None. Durability: None.

That's right, this was what Lu Li came for.

Equipment in Dawn were ranked as such: Common, Bronze, Steel, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Epic, Legendary…

Common equipment didn't have any bonus stats; only Defence and Attack. Bronze equipment had 1 bonus stat, Steel had 2 bonus stats, as well as a chance of special effects… Legendary equipment had 8 bonus stats, and would always have a special effect.

Cenarius was the child of Elune and Malorne, the protector of nature. He was also the adopted son of Ysera, the Queen of the Giant Dragons, and was called the Lord of the Forest by the ancient Elves, or the Demigod of the Groves.

He was a Demigod, as well as the mentor of the first Night Elf Archdruid, Malfurion Stormrage!

The Supreme One Ring was the legacy equipment that he had given to Malfurion Stormrage. There were two rings in total, and because Malfurion believed that he couldn't wield their power by itself, he only wore one ring and left the other in an unknown place in the Dark Ravine.

Malfurion's twin brother, the most powerful Demon Hunter, Illidan Stormrage wanted to obtain this legendary equipment, but was refused by Cenarius because he knew that his heart was filled with darkness and malice.

As such, there was a split in the relationship between the twins.

The reason why Lu Li had been able to find this ring was simple- rebirth!

In his 'past life', when he was earning gold, Lu Li had met an Elf Warrior called Azure Sea Breeze. That Warrior could transform like a Druid, as had healing and stealth skills.

Azure Sea Breeze was like Lu Li; someone who was collecting money in the game to earn a bit of money in the real world. Moreover, because of his strange skills, he was often chased down and killed, causing his level to fall.

Afterwards, Azure Sea Breeze had told him his secret- he had obtained those skills through the Supreme one Ring!

It was a ring that could be upgraded- even after three years, there were only a handful of items that were found that could be upgraded!

It was a pity that this mystical equipment hadn't brought Azure Sea Breeze any luck.

Firstly, it took up an equipment slot. Although the Supreme One Ring had three stats, they weren't that great. When there was an abundance of Steel grade equipment, these stats were worthless.

Moreover every person could only equip 2 rings, and in order to upgrade it into the Supreme Two Ring, Azure Sea Breeze had spent a lot of time and effort on it.

There was once an elite team that had created many records. They were ranked first in the Level Rankings as well as Equipment Rankings, but after obtaining this ring, their team disbanded, and slowly fell from the rankings. In the end, they could only join a Gold Collection Unit…

In addition to this, once equipped, it could never be unequipped.

In order to try to get rid of this ring, Azure Sea Breeze had protested to the company that developed the game, as well as tried dying again and again in the game, but it was useless.

If players could have multiple accounts or restart their account, Azure Sea Breeze would have chosen one of those options, but unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

And now, this ring was in front of Lu Li.

Lu Li didn't hesitate at all as he equipped it.

Because this was the beginning of the game, this Supreme One Ring would give him a massive advantage over other players.

As for the future... he had confidence that he could upgrade it into the Supreme Two Ring, then the Supreme Three Ring, Supreme Four Ring, Supreme Five Ring…

It was incredibly difficult to get here, but getting back was easy. Lu Li stood in the magma and watched his HP decrease.

He once again respawned at the Dark Ravine.

"Look, another one died. It's a pity it's a guy."

"Whoa, no way, he only has a pair of underpants left. What happened to him?"

"Aiya, I recognise this guy. He's died a lot of times already. Is he addicted to dying?"

There were many people at the spawn points. Some people hadn't bothered to train yet, and sat around the respawn point, enjoying the show and hoping some beauties would show up.

Lu Li ignored these people, and opened the community channel, then entered the group chat's number.

"Hi everyone!"

After a few moments, the group chat became quite bustling.

"Aiyo, if it isn't the Gold Collection Unit's expert. What level are you now?" There were quite a few people in the Star Moon Union who knew of this new expert, who had claimed that he could earn 20 gold in 1 week. None of the high-profile members of the Star Moon Union believed him. For a menial worker to spout such arrogant words, had everyone outraged.

"I'm not worthy for that title, please call me Lu Li. Right now, I'm LV0." Lu Li said as he looked for the NPCs for the Boar Tusks and Panther Fur quests.

"No way, my LV1 EXP bar is already 30% full, how can the expert be LV0…"

"I'm also LV1…"

"Boss Ao Jian is doing really well; he's almost LV2…"

"Does anyone at the Dark Ravine have a dagger or short sword?" Lu Li casually asked, "If you loan it to me, I'll return an equipment with bonus stats tomorrow."

"Wah, equipment with bonus stats? No one's found any equipment with bonus stats yet."

"At least put some effort in when trying to scam people; piss the hell off!"

"Lu Li," Ao Jian finally spoke. He wasn't very courteous either, "It's been more than an hour, but you're still LV0, and you even destroyed your weapon. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Didn't we agree that you would fulfil my requests within your power? Right, and it's not just my weapon; my clothes and money are also gone. If someone can give me a few bread, that'd be great as well." Lu Li shamelessly said.

The people in the group chat fell silent. Goddamn, can you be even more shameless than this?!

The Great Thief

Chapter 4: Skill Completion

"Where are you right now? Come over to the Blacksmith." After the group chat fell silent for a while, the future Union Elder "Square Root 3" spoke up. Ao Jian had probably swallowed his anger and agreed to Lu Li's requests.

Not too long later, the Hunter Square Root 3 saw Lu Li at the Blacksmith. Although he was mentally prepared, what he saw shocked him out of his mind.

The player who had confidently said that he could earn 20 gold in 1 week was only left with equipment that couldn't be destroyed or dropped…

However, Lu Li's expression was abnormally calm. Square Root 3 had never seen anyone look so calm while almost naked, which left him with some hope and faith in Lu Li. He silently transferred to Lu Li a dagger and 10 Little Breads.

[Sharp Dagger] (Common): 1-2 Damage. Level Requirement: LV0. Durability: 8/10. A bit better than the beginner weapon.

"Oh, also, were you able to find a Seal Transformation book?"

Square Root 3 shook his head, and asked in curiosity, "You're a Thief, right? Why do you want a Seal Transformation book? Is it for a friend?"

The Seal Transformation was a Druid transformation skill book. It had a chance of dropping from monsters beside lakes. It didn't have any skills specific to that animal, and so Druids usually viewed it as quite useless. However, Lu Li was determined to have this skill book.

"Yep, I have a friend who wants that skill book. Just remember to give me that book. Earning 20 gold within a week depends on it." Lu Li casually said as he held the hand equipped with the Supreme One Ring behind his back.

"Don't worry, I'll send some people to wipe out some small fry," Square Root 3's expression became serious, and immediately dispatched some people to kill monsters to look for the skill book.

"See you later." Lu Li waved with the dagger in his hand, and left to kill some monsters.

Thieves were given three skills when they started the game: Shadowstrike, Stealth and Unlock. As a Night Elf, he also had a bonus stealth skill: Shadowmeld.

Stealth: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 8 seconds. Allows Thieves to conceal themselves until the effects run out.

Shadowstrike: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 4 seconds. Deals 2 damage to the target, as well as 120% weapon attack damage. Awards 1 combo point. Proficiency: 1/1000.

Unlock: Requires 10 seconds to cast, Cooldown Time: 2 minutes. Open the locks of chests and doors. Proficiency: 1/1000.

Lu Li didn't find a monster and simply charge at it. Instead, he activated Stealth and got closer. This was the difference between the Manual mode and Automatic mode.

Under the Automatic mode, the system would alert players when they were able to use their skills, and could even cast skills for players. Using Automatic mode, it was also impossible for skills to fail because of control issues. On the other hand, any other issues could cause the skill to fail.

Like so.

LIKE SO.

Snap! Lu Li accidentally stepped on a branch, causing a clear snapping sound.

The young boar's ears pricked up, and snorted a few times before charging at Lu Li.

This was, after all, Lu Li's first time playing as a Thief. He could only reveal himself and start duelling it out with the young boar.

He slashed at the boar, -6!

The boar rammed into him, -9!

Just like this, Lu Li exchanged blows with the young boar.

In the distance, Square Root 3, who had been observing him, frowned. He didn't know much about Thieves, but this guy who even failed at using Stealth didn't seem like an expert.

Under Automatic mode, using Stealth was not foolproof, but against low level monsters like this boar, he definitely wouldn't have been detected.

The Star Moon Union's future Vice-President left in disappointment. To him, Lu Li was pretty much a scammer.

However, Square Root 3 didn't see Lu Li's second attempt against a monster, otherwise his impression would have been much better.

The second time, Lu Li's Stealth didn't fail. He arrived behind a young boar, and aimed at its hind legs as he slashed out.

Blood spurted everywhere, -11!

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 82%, caused 93% Skill Damage, target stunned for 1 second!

Stun!

This was the Manual mode!

The beloved, yet despicable, manual mode!

The 82% Skill Completion that Lu Li just achieved was not a simple feat at all. That 82% Skill Completion was pure luck.

Currently, not many people had chosen to go with the Manual mode, and those who did averaged around 50% Skill Completion. 50% Skill Completion could only unleash 40% of the Skill's Damage, as opposed to the 100% from the Automatic mode.

In Lu Li's "past life", Manual mode had not become popular until the game had been released for three years.

The next few times Lu Li faced off against monsters, his highest Skill Completion was around 60%, which was far below the 100% for Automatic mode players. After all, he had never properly played with the Manual mode before.

Although the 'rebirth' gave him advantages over other players, it didn't mean he became an expert instantly.

However, he wasn't worried. He patiently killed young boars while raising his Proficiency and getting a better sense of the Skill Completion.

Being a professional player could be quite dry at times, and patience was often more important than talent. Lu Li, who had killed many, many monsters in order to earn money was an incredibly patient person.

Lu Li's skill completion level continued to climb upwards, and by the time he had reached LV1, he could consistently achieve over 70% for the Skill Completion. The Skill Damage was now around 90%, which wasn't too far below that of Automatic mode players'.

The quest to obtain 30 Young Boar Tusks was quickly completed.

Lu Li found 45 copper coins, 10 young boar fur, but no equipment.

When he went to complete the quest, he received 300 EXP, 20 copper coins, as well as a Cloth Cloak.

[Cloth Cloak] (Common): 3 Armour. Level Requirement: LV1. Durability: 10/10.

The young boar fur could be sold for 2 copper coins each, and after selling them, Lu Li's personal wealth was now a single silver coin.

However, after buying 10 Bread, he was left with only 50 copper coins, or half a silver coin.

In Dawn, every time a player levelled up, they would receive 5 Attribute Points.

Lu Li thought for a few moments, then gritted his teeth and put all of the Attribute Points into Agility.

Although it wasn't as much as Strength, Agility also gave him some Attack Power. Furthermore, it could also increase his Movement Speed and Attack Speed. More importantly, Agility could increase the chance for Critical Hits and Evasion for Thieves.

In Dawn, Thieves were split into two main styles: the Agility Thieves, who put all of their points into Agility, and the Warrior Thieves, who put all their points into Strength. It was hard to say which one was better- both styles had peak level experts, but to Lu Li who was used to playing alone, there were more advantages to Agility Thieves.

After levelling up, there were 2 new quests available to him: Shadowmaw Panther's Fur, which could only be obtained by killing a LV2 Shadowmaw Panther, as well as the Rotting Magic Moss. The second quest was a Collection quest, and was located near the bank of the Moon Shadow Lake.

After killing 30 young Shadowmaw Panthers, and finishing all of the LV0 quests, Lu Li would go to kill real Shadowmaw Panthers.

Shadowmaw Panthers were decent monsters to farm for EXP. They didn't have much HP, and had average Defence. To Thieves, who had the advantage of attacking first, it wouldn't take much effort to kill them. Moreover, apart from fur, Shadowmaw Panthers could also drop equipment, or even skills like the Magicians' 'Ice Spear' or the Druids' 'Claw' or 'Panther Transformation'.

Of course, this all depended on one's luck. Lu Li's luck was quite poor, and even after half an hour, he didn't find a single skill book.

Stealth, Shadowstrike, -19!

Shadowstrike Skill Completion 73%, caused 81% Skill Damage. Lu Li sent out two attacks, and the Shadowmaw Panther in front of him let out a pitiful cry as it collapsed to the ground.

A clang sounded out, causing Lu Li's heart to leap. That wasn't the sound of coins falling, but equipment dropping- and a weapon, at that.

Lu Li kicked away the Shadowmaw Panther's body, revealing a 1 metre long, jade-green Magic Staff.

[Apprentice Magic Staff] (Common): 5-7 Damage. Level Requirement: LV2. Durability: 3/10.

This was definitely a good piece of equipment. Although it was only Common grade, it had high Damage. For a LV2 weapon, it was extraordinary.

With the motivation of earning equipment, Lu Li began to farm monsters in earnest.

Not too long after, a second piece of equipment appeared.

[Fisherman's Old Felt Cap] (Common): 2 Armour. Level Requirement: LV1. Durability: 8/10.

This piece of equipment was a lot worse than the Magic Staff, but at least Lu Li could immediately use it. After equipping the Hat, his Armour was increased by quite a bit, and he received less damage when fighting monsters. This raised the efficiency of his farming.

As he was farming monsters, he felt the sensor on his waist vibrate.

Lu Li quickly finished off the monsters he was dealing with, picked up a copper coin, and answered the call.

"The 'Seal Transformation' you wanted has appeared…"

The Great Thief

Chapter 5: A Thief That Can Cast Seal Transformation

"Where are you right now? I'll come over to you immediately." It was the Star Moon Union's Square Root 3. Lu Li was a little taken aback; he didn't think that the Seal Transformation skill book would be found so quickly. The union's capability was definitely greater than any individual.

If it were up to him alone, it wasn't guaranteed that he would be able to find this skill book, even after three days of searching.

"By the Moon Reflection Lake, where you said the Grells would spawn" joked Square Root 3: "Seeing as you now know how to farm the Seal Transformation, could you tell me how I could farm a Tame Beast Skill Book?"

Tame Beast was a unique Hunter skill, whereby after learning it, they were would be able to tame beasts. This was the mark of a true hunter.

"For that you have to grind a LV 6 monster on the mountains – Wild Forest Wolf. They can drop 'Tame Beast' or 'Revive Pet' skill books for the hunter, 'Wolf Transformation' for the Druid, 'Inferno Impact' for the Magician, 'Backhand Backstab' for the Thief, and if you are lucky, it might even drop 'Shieldstrike' for the Warrior.

"I shouldn't have said that". Immediately after he had finished speaking, Lu Li regretted it.

It was also because he got the Seal Transformation so quickly, that he was a little excited.

The blood of a Thief should be calm; next time he definitely needed to keep his cool.

He had honestly just asked Square Root 3 that question in passing, not thinking that he would receive such a detailed answer.

'Shieldstrike'!

With Shieldstrike, professions that focused on Defence would no longer be a useless burden, and the LV5 Spider Lair Instance Dungeon would be possible to clear.

After repeatedly farming, the quest for Shadowmaw Panther skins had already been completed. He immediately set out for the Moon Reflection Lake.

In the history of Dawn, there lived the intelligent Eisenna of the Wild. In a way that even she cannot remember the precise process of, she created a weak evil spirit race, giving them the Moon Reflection lake as their habitat.

Eisenna was a demigod and was once rumored to be Cenarius' spouse - mother of the keepers of the Grove, but this had never been confirmed by the King of the Wild.

Perhaps the God of Creation didn't care, but the Grells were exceedingly ugly and frequently said "this is our territory, trespassers must die" while aiming fireballs at them.

However, these small rogue-like monsters were in fact vegetarians who fed off moss.

The corrupting moss quest, was to collect 20 of these items from the bodies of these small evil creatures.

Not long after, Lu Li found Square Root 3, but following him was not one person; he was leading 2 members of the union, one was a Magician, and the other was an impressive Druid!

The Druid, "I am Richy Rich", was staring at Lu Li with hate in his eyes - it was his party that found this Druid skill book. As such, he thought that it would be his, but it was unexpectedly reserved for a Thief.

How could he not feel resentful?

Lu Li knew this Druid, he had very rich parents and would die for his pride. He infamously set a massive bounty for the head of the 'Water Thief', all because they had some good equipment that they did not want to sell to him.

If that kind of circumstance caused such an event, then what would happen now that there was an actual reason for resentment?

"This is the skill book that you wanted" Square Root 3 said, handing the skill book to Lu Li. After the trade ended, he left without saying a word. Square Root 3 had some reservations about Lu Li saying he wanted the skill book for a friend.

Dawn only had a few open skill books, from which all professions could learn. However, this definitely did not include 'Seal Transformation' which was unique to its occupation.

"I have a Magic Staff, you can have it as compensation for the skill book." Lu Li did not satisfy their curiosity, putting the skill book in his bag, and taking out the Magic Staff that he attained earlier.

The Magic Staff had broad usage requirements, Magicians, Warlocks, Priests and Druids could all use the Magic Staff.

"What kind of joke is this, a common equipment to compensate for a skill book? You're insane!" I am Richy Rich took a glance and immediately started calling out.

"You guys can also choose not to take it" Lu Li was too lazy to explain how high the damage of this Magic Staff was, and how weak the skill book actually was.

"That's enough" I am Richy Rich was dumb, but that didn't mean Square Root 3 was too. He pulled past the child with wealthy parents, and took the Magic Staff. "It's clear according to what you have said, do you want to train together?"

"Not right now, I need to do a collection quest", Lu Li didn't want to form a party with them. On one hand, he didn't want to expose his own secrets, and on the other, he wanted to practice Skill Completion alone.

The reason for forming a party to train was efficiency, but other people had no obligation to practice skills with him. Moreover, he did not like these arrogant people who were favored by God.

He still had 8% exp left to go and after handing in the two quest items he had on hand he would rise to LV2. When that time came he would be able to learn a very important Thief skill – Cheap Shot. After learning Cheap Shot, training with the Thief would become much more efficient.

[Cheap Shot: Instant cast. Stuns target for 4 seconds, must be cast when under the effect of Stealth. Awards 2 combo points.

Although it didn't deal any damage, Cheap Shot stunned for 4 seconds, making the thief an elegant King of control, regardless of whether it was PVE or PVP. This skill was a big part of professional Thief gameplay.

What was quite unfortunate was that this skill is not upgradable.

Square Root 3 was the diplomat of Star Moon Union and was considered rather amicable to talk to. Even after being declined by Lu Li he was unfazed, it was only I am Richy Rich whose expression was not too pretty.

This rich child had always gotten the first of everything, but today, not only did he not get a skill book of his own occupation, he was also offended by Lu Li. If it weren't for Square Root 3's good demeanor, he would have organized for some members of the union to take out Lu Li.

After collecting everything, he returned to the village. Lu Li handed over the Young Shadowmaw Panther, Shadowmaw Panther fur and corrupting moss to complete 3 quests, becoming level 2 in the process. He also immediately learnt Cheap Shot.

Of course, the price that he paid to learn the skill made him return once again to having only copper coins, after newly breaking through into having a silver coin.

This was the nature of the game - the money earned was never enough. Learning skills, repairing equipment and buying potions, were all reasons for your wallet to decrease in size.

Lu Li did not forget the 'Seal Transformation" in his bag. This skill was not for Thieves but after learning it, it would appear within his skills column.

[Seal Transformation: Instant Cast. You transform into a seal that is capable of swimming. You can now enter and explore waters. Spell duration 20 minutes. Cooldown 30 minutes. Swimming speed increased by 50%, gain ability to breath underwater, when transformation is in effect offensive skills cannot be used. Skill proficiency 1/1000.

To speak the truth, the Seal Transformation was terrible, and didn't gather much attention amongst the other Druid skills. Its function was very limited.

A large majority of Druids who picked this skill used it to find herbs or mine underwater.

Regular players could achieve the same effects by taking breathing underwater pots. Furthermore, they could still attack while under those same effects.

However, this was completely different; Lu Li was a Thief, a Thief that knew Seal Transformation.

The reason that he dared to make a claim that he could make 20 gold in a single day to the Star Moon union was because he could take advantage of this – a Thief that could transform into a seal!

He moved to a more remote part of the Moon Reflection Lake, and looked around in all directions as the water rippled around him. He then disappeared below the surface of the water.

The Great Thief

Chapter 6: Opening a Treasure Chest

After entering the water, a grey bar appeared before Lu Li. This represented how long he could stay underwater, which was roughly 30 seconds. After this period, he would start to lose HP.

Seal Transformation!

After casting the skill, Lu Li instantly transformed into a small seal. His body was very smooth and he continued diving towards the bottom of the lake.

There were different kinds of monsters within the lake; like variations of fish, shrimps, crabs and snails. While the transformation reduced aggro, none of the monsters were higher than LV5 so they did not target him.

After about 2 minutes, Lu Li reached the bottom of the lake that was over 100 yards deep.

Amongst the aquatic plants, there were fish swimming through them. Lu Li looked around and found the object that he had come here for.

A treasure chest!

This was the kind of advantage he had. The game had only started about 4 hours ago; who else would be able to find a treasure chest like this?

Loot that was found in treasure chests was like the loot awarded for killing elite monsters. In the previous world, Thieves who opened treasure chests were all very wealthy.

So he approached the chest and cast his Unlock spell.

[Unlock: 10 second cast time, 2 minute cooldown, opens locked chests and doors. Skill Proficiency 1/1000

Unlock was not an offensive skill, so even in seal form it could be used. Lu Li got lucky and the chest was opened on his first try.

The chest slowly opened, and he reached into it and felt around, pulling two items out with his seal claws.

One of them was a piece of equipment.

Crab Claw Band (Bronze): 8 Armor, Agility 2, Level Requirement LV3, Durability 9/20

An attribute equipment!

It was even armor suitable for Thieves!

The bronze equipment before him was great – it completely suited the Agility Thief playstyle that Lu Li had taken up. Once he reached level 3, his skills would be even more synergized.

The other item, was a skill book.

Even though it was easier to find these low grade skill books, right now it was still early in the game. As such, the value of these skill books were much higher than bronze equipment.

[Frost Nova: Instant Cast, 50 second cooldown, affects all targets within 12 yards, dealing 9-11 ice damage and freezing them. The freeze can last a maximum of 8 seconds. This freeze effect can be cancelled by dealing damage to the target. Level requirement LV5. Upgradable.

Oh my!

Lu Li couldn't contain himself; he felt the rush of 10,000 galloping horses.

He just gave Square Root 3 a common Magic Staff that dealt 5-7 damage for a skill book. A skill that could deal 9-11 damage was already incredibly good, but this Frost Nova, the damage was a secondary effect with the primary effect being a freeze!

All targets… in 12 yards… for 8 seconds… all these aspects together, made Frost Nova the best attainable skill!

Even after 2 years of this game, not all Magicians would have owned this skill.

You couldn't farm it in the LV5 Spider Lair Instance Dungeon, the LV10 Death Mines, the LV15 Howling Caves nor the LV25 Scarlet Monastery…

Hmm, in the LV25 Scarlet Monastery, the boss might have a small chance of dropping it, a very small chance.

So if a grade were to be given to it…

Bronze?

What a joke!

Iron?

Definitely higher!

Silver?

Take any piece of silver equipment and it wouldn't compare to this skill book!

……

Lu Li was completely shocked; he did not expect at all to get Frost Nova from this low grade treasure chest. He thought he was dreaming… or maybe it was a bug.

This book alone could be sold for 20 gold.

With 20 gold you could match the entire earnings of a large union down to their last copper coin.

Only after a while did he finally calm down and put the skill book in his bag to continue looking for treasure.

Moon Reflection Lake had 3 treasure chests, placed randomly at the bottom of the lake.

If he could get 3 Frost Nova skill books…

Pah, Lu Li slapped himself – to find another Frost Nova would just be wishful thinking.

There were many aquatic plants around and elite monsters that could appear, so he had to search very slowly. It was only after 10 minutes did he managed to find the second treasure chest.

His heart started beating faster!

The life of a Thief was so exciting; so far he had no regrets with this occupation.

Montreal's Sickle (Bronze): Damage 15-23, Strength 1, Level requirement 4, Durability 12/18.

It was another bronze equipment, this time a long two handed weapon. It could be used by Hunters, Druids, Paladins and Warriors. The attributes were also good, boasting significant damage and one of the best stats in the additional strength.

Small Black Bag (Common): Container, 6 Spaces.

This was also a good item. In Dawn, players first started with only 10 bag spaces. It was not clear now, but when the levels were a little higher and with various drops to collect, everyone would find that there would be enough inventory spaces.

A 6 space bag would be sold by the universal shop at the Beginners Village for the price of 80 silver when it was renovated. Lu Li could sell this bag for 50 silver or more, depending on whether people could afford it.

After opening 2 treasure chests, Lu Li started to swim towards the surface of the water because the 20 minute duration of Seal Transformation was about to end. If he didn't leave now he could drown here.

After breaking through the surface, Lu Li quickly returned to his original Thief form. He climbed onto shore to find a few Grells to kill.

When the Seal Transformation cooldown had reset, he quietly dived in once again.

The third treasure chest contained a silk cloth, which was material for a tailor. It wasn't worth much money.

However, there was also a ring.

Sturdy Ring (Bronze): Damage 2-6, Constitution 3, Level Requirement 5, Durability 20/20.

Tutut, he was salivating over this ring.

Not only did this ring increase his damage, it also gave 3 points of Constitution.

Every player, when they levelled up, would gain some additional max HP depending on their occupation but also on their Constitution stat.

Thieves and Magicians both gained 7 max HP for every point of Constitution. Paladins and Warriors on the other hand gained roughly 10 max HP for every point. This was known as growth potential.

If he kept this ring for himself it would be a bit of a waste, but he believed that Azure Sea Breeze would really like it.

He would have to wait 24 hours before he could farm these treasure chests again. In the meantime, he could only train. He didn't farm any more Grells, instead going to farm some Shadowmaw Panthers and hoping to find 'Cheetah Transformation'.

Unfortunately, he kept farming till level 3, and it was now 6pm in game. In real life it was already 12am, and he still hadn't found a skill book. Other than the furs that he had found, there was only a common piece of armor.

The colour of in game sky started to dim. According to government regulations, this was the daily 8 hour period where the game would be dark - from 12 am to 8am. In the open field, visibility was reduced to half and the training areas would randomly spawn Night Crawlers

Night Crawlers were especially strange; their level was highest level player in the area 10. They had high attack, high defence and high HP, as well as strong regenerative abilities. Only after an attribute decreasing weapon was found could the players stand a chance against them.

These were put in place for the sake of the player's bodies.

Virtual technology was truly well developed but it was unable to resolve the problem of rest for the players.

At this time, death was very costly, and if you were killed by the Night Crawlers, you would lose 40% of your current exp: 2 times the penalty of normal death.

Of course, there were advantages and disadvantages to these measures. A rich person could just hire a bunch of players as cannon fodder, and use them to draw away the Night Crawlers when travelling by night.

Lu Li had no reason to oppose the system; he returned to the village, and like the numerous other players, set up a stall in the open area in front of the inn.

Before long, the first player came to look at Lu Li's shop. This little Night Elf girl squealed so loudly that the whole valley could probably have heard her.

"Heavens, am I seeing things? There are 2… 2 bronze equipment, and even a skill book!"

The Great Thief

Chapter 7: The first pot of gold

"Where? Where is the bronze equipment?" This reaction was made by more than one person.

Just because a stall had been set up didn't mean that it was selling something of value. If you had an extra piece of common equipment to sell, you could already be proud of that. Most players could only sell some dried meats that could be used to replenish some HP.

"Scoff, it's just an exaggeration. Our union has 18 people and we only have 3 spare common equipment to sell. We have only found 1 bronze equipment which was dropped by an elite monster. Our leader is currently wearing it…"

"Woah, it really is bronze equipment and a skill book. I'm going to find out what kind of skill book it is…" Not everyone was skeptical; there were some bored people who also came by to have a look. After looking through the stall they were speechless.

Then, more and more people came.

How did this happen? Lu Li was left equally speechless.

When he played this game previously, it had already been running for a while. At that time, the newbie village was busy and there were many stalls around, but it had never been so… noisy.

It wasn't because of the bronze equipment, nor was it because of the skill book. It was because they had not yet seen the world!

"Brother", a surprised union member went over, calmed down a little and started talking business. "I'm very interested in this Montreal's Sickle, but 1 gold and 50 silver is a little too much don't you think?"

"Sturdy Ring for 2 gold, dammit, if there's someone out there who has 2 gold right now, I'll do a live broadcast of myself eating grass!"

"Frost Nova, this skill is overpowered. Brother, we the Grand Hegemony union can't afford 20 gold. How about we trade with actual money. We'll send the money to you first, and you can give us the skill book when you receive it…"

Grand Hegemony!

That was the union that rules over the 'Shadow Realm'; they weren't much different from Star Moon Union.

Who would have thought that a person from such a large union would be so polite? It was completely unlike the aggressive stories that were told about them.

This proposal of first sending the money before receiving the skill book showed a genuine sincerity. Lu Li couldn't help but be interested by the offer.

The in-game name, Drinking Alone, was a famous one. Amongst the 4 owners of the Grand Hegemony, there would come a day when he would lead a group of 800 players to the Shadow City of the Evil Faction, destroying many villages in the process.

20 gold was incredibly difficult to come by. Even though Grand Hegemony was one of the top ten unions, they were still unable to gather 20 gold. Their members were all dispersed into different regions, and at this time, they were unable to gather this kind of strength.

Lu Li considered it for a few seconds, before taking out his communication device from his waist and inputting the Star Moon Union number.

"Calling for assistance, calling for assistance…"

"Okay stop calling, we're on our way" Square Root 3's response was quick; there must have been someone who had made an announcement to the Star Moon Union.

"Oh", Lu Li didn't say a word after that, and continued to work on his stall.

Not long after, Square Root 3 arrived, and this time he wasn't alone. There were 7-8 people following him, each one with a look of excitement on their face.

"Okay, time to pack up, the union wants everything you are selling. Give accounting some time, and the funds will be directly sent to your card." Ao Jian was here, so naturally it wasn't Square Root 3 speaking. His tone was so natural, but the people surrounding were shocked to hear what he said.

"Hey, isn't this Ao Jian? Brother Ao Jian is so insincere; there is a process to doing business, especially when dealing with items of such high value" Drinking Alone was trying to stick to Lu Li. This was no joke; this skill book was very hard to come by and anyone with ambition would not want to let it go.

"Haha, Drinking Alone, this is none of your business" Ao Jian made a faint smile while looking at him. "Lu Li is one of our Gold Collection unit, and has signed an official contract. You say I don't have the capacity to make a decision like this?"

"Gold Collection Unit?" Drinking Alone was shocked, "this master is one of your Gold Collection Unit people?"

The audience nearby erupted with noise.

This was insane, someone who was capable for getting 2 bronze equipment and a high quality skill book to sell was a member of the Gold Collection Unit?

Were the members of Star Moon Union all this talented?

I am Richy Rich jumped out and sneered: "You inexperienced imbecile, you see his level and you call him a master? I don't know what kind of luck he had to get this kind of item, but as a member of the union he didn't even do what he was supposed to. He secretly tried to sell these items…"

"I just didn't get to tell you yet" Lu Li tried to respond.

"What do you mean you didn't get to tell us? You have signed a contract to the union, of course everything you get belongs to the union." I am Richy rich was fierce and stern. "You set up a stall, but you knew that this was illegal behavior. If you did manage to sell the items, we are fully capable of pursuing you for your legal liability."

Everyone's fuse is only a certain length and Lu Li already didn't really like Richy Rich. After hearing him say that, he immediately put the skill book in his bag: "The contract I signed with you is not an ordinary Gold Collection contract, so I will keep this skill book."

Finding Frost Nova was a complete accident. According to Lu Li's plans, opening a treasure chest every 24 hours should result in at least 3 bronze equipment. In a week, it should be possible to attain at least 20 bronze equipment which was more than enough for 20 gold.

At the time that the contract was signed, the basic agreement was to deliver 20 gold a week for a 3 month period. There were no other limitations.

After 3 months, Lu Li's contract with the Star Moon union would expire. If Lu Li wanted to continue using the helmet, he needed to pay Star Moon Union 10,000 in real life money. During this period, the gold that was delivered was not for free. Star Moon Union would need to give a 20% discount of the market price as a reward.

Ao Jian thought of all this, and his expression went cold. Due to his arrogance, he was unable to face the words that had been said.

Seeing Ao Jian's expression, everyone knew that Lu Li's words weren't empty. I am Richy Rich also couldn't say anything. It was like he was choking; he opened his mouth but no words came out.

"Haha, that's just fine. We, the Grand Hegemony, know the high value of this book; 20,000 real life money. But I don't know if Lu Li is willing to part with his treasures."

Drinking Alone looked ecstatic, seizing this opportunity to name a price that left people dumbfounded.

20,000, Lu Li's heart beat with excitement.

"How about this" With the surrounding people enjoying the misfortune of what was happening, Square Root 3 quickly spoke up: "this book can be counted as the 20 gold, your weekly duty has been accomplished and you can now play the game at ease…"

The lack of human compassion that was being shown through Square Root 3's words stopped Lu Li from maintaining his composure.

To live for someone else, how would that ever be a good feeling?

Honestly speaking, was Frost Nova really worth 20 gold? It was hard to say.

But simply looking at its attributes and effects, no one dared say it wasn't.

Right now any union in the game was incapable of paying 20 gold for anything. Moreover, even after 3 to 5 days no one would be able to pay that kind of money.

In a time when everyone was working to contribute money to the unions, the value of gold was greater than anything else.

That's why it's said that Square Root 3 knows how to deal with people!

In the previous game, Star Moon Union developed and became a big union. Square Root 3's way of working obviously outclassed that of the I am Richy Rich kind.

"If there isn't a problem, we'll count it as 20 gold" Ao Jian stared intently, but he wasn't an idiot. Knowing that this was the best way to take advantage of the situation, he still nodded his head even though he did not completely agree.

As for I am Richy Rich, he stayed completely silent, afraid that Lu Li might remember the boastful words that he said before.

The Great Thief

Chapter 8: Ambush!

Right now gold coins were valuable but there wasn't a big market for them. If you were to trade it, it would be roughly 1 to 1500 times in terms of value. After taking into account the 20% discount, Lu Li would be able to attain about 25,000 real life money if he were to give Star Moon Union the skill book.

"With this bit of cash, we could rent a nice small suite near a park, and find a decent school for my little sister," Lu Li thought.

As for Drinking Alone?

The price that Square Root 3 has offered was higher and fulfilled the weekly gold quota. Lu Li really had no reason to reject him, after all, Drinking Alone and he were not really friends.

However, this did not get Drinking Alone down, as he warmly said: "Brother Lu Li, add me as a friend. Next time you find some good equipment, don't forget me. I hope for an opportunity to work together in the future."

Lu Li felt like it would be rude to refuse, so he hastily accepted the friend request.

Ao Jian and I am Richy Rich both felt ashamed, so they found a reason to leave. Square Root 3 was left with the responsibility of trading the skill book from Lu Li and dealing with the financial transfer.

25,000 in actual money!

This was almost the monthly wage of a high position office worker.

In addition, Lu Li also gave one of the bronze equipment that he found to Square Root 3. Back when he had lost everything from dying too much, Square Root 3 gave him a Sharp Dagger and supplies. At that time, he also pledged that he would return a weapon that had additional attributes. Naturally, he couldn't break this promise.

Montreal's Sickle (Bronze): Damage 15-23, Strength 1, Required Level 4, Durability 12/18.

This weapon had high damage, which was very useful for the early levels. Even the cool headed Square Root 3 couldn't remain completely emotionless.

After the trade had completed, Lu Li disconnected. To professional players, getting an appropriate amount of rest was important. Lu Li didn't want what happened last time, where after 2 to 3 months he had damaged his body.

The next day when he woke up, his sister had already left for school.

Lu Li would have to wait for her to come home before telling her the news of the money he had made. They could finally move out from this low class worn out room.

First, he went out for a run around the block, and then checked his account for the money before returning to have some breakfast. By the time he went online, the daylight was already shining in-game.

The game time and real world time had a 1:1 relationship. But the darkness in game was fixed to be from 12am to 8am no matter what. Whether it was windy or raining it would still be daytime out of those hours.

Speaking of rain, when Lu Li logged on, the Dark Ravine was raining.

The rain was fine, continuously falling and blurring the sky.

He repaired his equips and bought some bread. Then, Lu Li who had recently made a decent sum of money continued on in his journey to practice his occupation.

At this time, the highest level players would be around level 4, diligently working towards level 5. Lu Li wasted a lot of time getting the Supreme One Ring. He also spent quite some time practicing Skill Completion and opening treasure chests. In addition, the Thief occupation was not one that was easy to train up; it would in fact be stranger if he didn't fall behind.

He was already level 3, so farming Shadowmaw Panthers would not be efficient. Instead, he decided to go and farm the LV4 Young Forest Wolves.

While he was walking, Lu Li suddenly discovered a patch of grass that was unnaturally hollowed out.

There's a thief here!

Lu Li's heart jumped, he hastily took 2 steps back and planned to cast Stealth.

Unfortunately, before he could do so, he heard the shifting of air behind him.

A short dagger that emitted a white light flew out at him from the void. This was obviously Shadowstrike, one of the thief skills.

Lu Li didn't even think, reflexively turning to the side and tumbling in that direction as far as he could.

This would allow him to dodge the strike but also prevent further attacks of the thief from behind.

When the game ran for longer, even new players would know that you shouldn't turn your back on a thief. The additional 30% dealt because of that was no joke.

The dagger grazed Lu Li's shoulder, dealing more than 30 damage. At this stage, this was a very scary attack.

System: You have been attacked "lawlessly", you have 10 minutes to retaliate!

He got up and started running away.

What rubbish; in this situation where there weren't many skills to be used, both thieves knew each other's skills. Moreover, the other thief was nowhere to be seen. Once one of them was hit by Cheap Shot, it would all be over.

"Dammit, grab him!" his assailant was decisive and followed in pursuit, holding a small dagger with him.

Because moving in stealth reduced movement speed by 30%, the other thief no longer maintained his stealth. He also started hurtling towards Lu Li wielding a dagger.

Because he was attacked, Lu Li's movement speed was reduced and the two thieves would soon be able to attack him.

He started to despair, trying to work out why someone would just randomly decide to kill him and whether he would have an opportunity in the future to exact revenge.

In that moment, there was a rustle and a silhouette of someone ran into one of the thieves. The impact was great and the while the thief didn't get knocked back, he was instead stunned on the spot.

Charge!

This was a warrior skill!

The swishing of two blades could be heard, and not waiting for the stun duration to end, the warrior faced his shield towards the thief.

Pa! Continue being stunned!

The blades continued to swish and the thief that was attacked fell.

At this time, Lu Li and the other thief finally reacted.

What happened next was rather anti-climactic. It was 2 on 1 and one of them was an expert Warrior. This lucky thief was also quickly taken care of.

Then, Lu Li looked at this friendly warrior, dumbfounded.

It wasn't because seeing a Night Elf Warrior was rare… Night Elf Warriors were truly rare like beautiful flowers. This was because the race had high Agility and Intelligence but very average Strength and Constitution.

It also wasn't because this friendly warrior had demonstrated 2 very rare skills.

The reason Lu Li was dumbfounded was very simple: he knew this warrior.

Well, he knew him from the previous game.

Azure Sea Breeze! The guy who had the bad luck of obtaining the Supreme Ring.

"I said, brother, are you dumb?"

"No you're dumb."

This was the first conversation between two fellow sufferers in a 2 person gold collecting group.

"I said, I saved your life, how are you going to repay me?"

"The fact that you can live the rest of your life is enough, oh yeah, this is for you." Lu Li raised his hand and threw a ring.

Sturdy Ring (Bronze): Damage 2-6, Constitution 3, Equipment requirement: 8 Strength, Durability 20/20

Lu Li kept this ring and didn't sell it because of this guy before him; after all, he took someone's Druid God Ring. Hopefully it would be a bit of a consolation because ever since he got that ring he had started having bad luck.

Azure Sea Breeze instinctively caught it and after taking a glance he excitedly said, "No way brother, are you really giving me a bronze ring!"

It's not like he had never seen a good item before. The weapon he had in hand was bronze which he traded for with a skill book that teaches the Magician skill 'Ice Gun'. Moreover, he had also learnt 'Charge' and 'Shieldstrike'.

The number of people who had obtained 3 skill books in game were very few right now.

But he hadn't seen a ring like this before, especially a ring that has such good attributes.

"Thank you for saving my life" Lu Li said with a laugh, "If you get something good in future I hope you will return something to me."

In this game one death costs 10% exp, but at such a low level this was only a matter of a few tens of minutes. It really wasn't worth a bronze equip.

But Lu Li wanted to make friends with this person he once knew.

"Okay, I accept your friend request. My name is Azure Sea Breeze. Warrior, level 5," said Azure Sea Breeze straightforwardly as patted Lu Li's shoulder. He didn't say anything that wasn't necessary.

"You're level 5" Lu Li was surprised, "I'm Lu Li, Thief, newly level 3."

"How are you only level 3? No wonder you were attacked by the two thieves. Let's go, I'll help you level up." Azure Sea Breeze was this kind of person; once he made a friend he was immediately very warm and open towards them. Otherwise, Lu Li would have never found out about the secret of his ring.

Speaking of, that ring was really just a mess.

In some sense Lu Li had made a friend, but this wasn't completely the case. That ring didn't make Azure Sea Breeze stronger, but resulted in lowering him to a point where he had to farm gold to get by.

Of course you don't want to make too many requests if you are being led. But Azure Sea Breeze was already level 5, so Lu Li didn't want to go farm Young Forest Wolves anymore.

"You're already level 5, how about we go to an Instance Dungeon".

The Great Thief

Chapter 9: Verbally Abusing an NPC

"Are you talking about the Spider Lair? I heard that the monsters inside are pretty strong. The LV3 monsters inside there are as strong as LV5 monsters outside, and don't even mention the Elite monsters and Bosses." Azure Sea Breeze was excited by this idea, but also worried. After all, dying meant losing EXP.

"Find some people to work with us, it should be fine," Lu Li confidently said, "Do you have any friends? We'll make a five-man team."

It would be fine for the two of them to kill some of the weaker monsters, but Elites and Bosses were out of the question. Instance Dungeons were good opportunities to earn money and items, but the risks were high.

"You think I have friends? I've been training by myself all this time." Azure Sea Breeze felt quite awkward; every expert had ten or so followers, but he didn't have any.

"Then I'll go and find a few people."

Lu Li had been planning to call Square Root 3, but what happened yesterday had caused him to lose faith in the Star Moon Union's people. He thought about it for a while and rejected the idea.

Lu Li's friend list was pretty much empty. Apart from Square Root 3 and the newly add Azure Sea Breeze, he only had one other person- Drinking Alone.

Screw it, if it wasn't for his help yesterday, the Star Moon Union definitely wouldn't have given in so much. Lu Li directly called him, "Are you free?"

"Hey Mr Expert, what's up?"

"A LV3 Instance Dungeon- have you ventured out into the wilderness yet?"

"We tried once last night, and everyone died."

"I want to find a few people to do an Instance Dungeon together; do you have any Druids who have learnt Bind and Regeneration, as well as some other healing spells…"

"We'll be there soon. Where do we meet?"

"At the entrance of the village. The one at the north, near the Wild Wolf Territory."

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze didn't wait for long before they saw Drinking Alone walking over.

Drinking Alone was a Warlock, and was followed by a little demon who was jumping around. Evidently, he was already LV4. With him was a female Druid and a female Warrior who wielded a large two-handed axe. Lu Li couldn't see their levels, but they had equipped new weapons over their Common beginner ones.

"I say, bro, this is crazy. Wait, is that Northern Tang Dream? It's got to be Northern Tang Dream. And that guy at the front is Drinking Alone." Azure Sea Breeze was shocked to see who was joining them.

The last game he played was 'Shadow Realm', and he was quite familiar with all the famous people.

Lu Li looked over, and saw that the person walking with Drinking Alone was indeed the Grand Hegemony's North Tang Dream.

In Dawn, there were a few famous beauties. There was the bewitchingly beautiful 'Dancing Flower Charmer, the lolicons' favourite 'Not A Primary Schooler', the cold goddess 'Water Fairy', as well as the dashing and elegant 'Northern Tang Dream'!

Northern Tang Dream was one of the key figures of the Grand Hegemony, and was even more famous than the leader.

"LV4 Warrior, Northern Tang Dream." She wore a suit of thin plate armour, which emphasised her slim figure. Coupled with her beautifully sparkling eyes and valiant-looking eyebrows, it was no wonder that she not only had male admirers, but many female admirers as well.

"Hello big brothers, I'm the Druid Northern Tang Kitty. I'm a bit rusty, so please take care of me." Northern Tang Kitty was also a beauty. It was just that she was quite short, and had a soft and cute voice- a typical loli.

"As long as you know how to heal, that's fine. This is my friend Azure Sea Breeze, a LV5 Warrior." Lu Li casually glanced over at Northern Tang Dream, then turned away, looking extremely calm.

"Hey there beauties." Azure Sea Breeze said shyly. He didn't even dare to look at them in the eyes- a typical otaku!

Apart from being slightly shocked at Azure Sea Breeze's level, the women didn't appear to be too warm.

Comparatively speaking, Lu Li was in fact doing better than Azure Sea Breeze- after all, he had a Skill Book and Bronze grade equipment. When Drinking Alone told them this, even Northern Tang Dream became interested in this person.

What methods had this person used to earn a powerful Skill Book and Bronze grade equipment?

There were thousands of people in the Grand Hegemony, and even until now, no one had been able to obtain a Skill Book like the Frost Nova. In total, they had only found 10 or so Bronze grade equipment, all of which were obtained from killing Elite monsters in the wilderness.

Hearing that Lu Li wanted to find people to do an Instance Dungeon, Northern Tang Dream had immediately headed over.

"2 Warriors and a Thief. Our team seems a bit skewed towards the melee side. Should we call over someone with a ranged profession? I only came to have a look at the expert who could get so many good things in a day." Northern Tang Dream was called the Dashing Beauty, and was a straightforward person, saying whatever was on her mind.

In Dawn, skills were very important. Not only were ranged professions safer, their attacks were usually more effective. As such, they were especially important for clearing Instance Dungeons- no one used teams with three melee professions.

"No need, melee teams are pretty good too," Lu Li said as he shook his head, "Did you guys bring any restoratives? Instance Dungeons need a lot of consumables."

"We've got a lot of Bread and Spring Water," Northern Tang Dream said in a generous manner, "Just ask us for some if you need any."

Spring Water was similar to Bread- it could restore MP.

"I'm not talking about Bread and Spring Water," Lu Li shook his head, "Do you have any potions that can instantly recover HP during battles?"

"We had a quite a few bottles, but we used them all yesterday. We only have 3 bottles left." As one of the high profile members of the organisation, Northern Tang Dream was frustrated by their poverty.

Health Potions that could be used during battles could be obtained from quite a few places: the Potion Shop sold them, and they could be dropped by Elites in the wilderness. Alchemists could also make them if they had a recipe. However, to the players of the current stage of the game, buying them from the Potion Shop was the only viable option.

In the Village's Potion Shop, 5 bottles spawned every hour. Not only was each bottle valued at 1 silver coin, buying them also required luck. Many organisations often left people at the shop to wait for them to spawn.

"Without Potions, Instance Dungeons are a bit difficult. Everyone, come with me, and follow my orders later on." Lu Li remembered seeing a post in the forum in his 'past life', and had remembered it because of how amusing it was.

There were all sorts of people in the game. Some liked to mess around, but who would have thought that their work would have actually come in handy now?

If everything went to plan, they would be able to obtain some Potions.

Lu Li led his group towards the Forest, and came to a campsite.

"This is the Goblin Businessman, "Northern Tang Dream was surprised, "He has quite a few good items, but they're all really expensive. I only have 3 silver coins."

The items weren't just "quite expensive". Not too long after the game had started, many people had met this Goblin Businessman, and found that he had lots of great items. However, until now, no one had ever bought from him before.

The price of items was 5 times that of the normal price!

Lu Li couldn't afford any of the items either- he didn't have a single silver coin on him.

However, this didn't matter. Lu Li walked over to the Goblin Businessman and started to verbally abuse him, "You dirty Goblin, what is this crap you're selling?"

The people behind him stared with eyes wide and mouths open, and even Northern Tang Dream's jaw dropped.

Lu Li wasn't extremely handsome, but he seemed to be an intelligent, temperate and calm person…

However, this impression of him was turned on its head.

The Great Thief

Chapter 10: Physically Abusing an NPC

"You despicable Elf, where is your elegance and dignity? You have insulted the great Krolly. Krolly's items are the best in the entire Continent!" The Goblin was furious, and began to argue with Lu Li.

"What the hell is wrong with your head? And why are you so smelly? I bet you live in the sewers… don't ruin the word "great" by using it to describe yourself, alright?"

Lu Li didn't hold back at all as he continued to verbally abuse the Goblin Businessman.

System Announcements continuously rang out in his ear:

You insulted the Goblin Businessman Krolly, Goblin Reputation -5.

You insulted the Goblin Businessman Krolly, Goblin Reputation -5.

…

You insulted the Goblin Businessman Krolly, Goblin Reputation -5. Your relationship with the Goblins has dropped from 'Friendly' to 'Neutral'…

After falling to 'Neutral', Krolly's items would no longer be available for purchase by Lu Li and his teammates. However, Lu Li didn't show any sign of stopping at all, and began to insult him even more.

"I heard that insulting NPCs can cause them to attack you." Azure Sea Breeze said as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked at Krolly's level with fear. It was LV53.

Moreover, any NPC with a name was usually Elite grade, or even a Boss.

"He can probably insta-kill us in 1 hit…" Northern Tang Kitty was on the verge of tears. Her LV4 EXP bar was only 2% full. If she died right now, she would go back to LV3.

"What the hell is Lu Li doing…"

Lu Li's new teammates all took a step back.

The poor Goblin was at a clear disadvantage in this insult competition with Lu Li. The system only gave him enough intelligence for negotiating with players for money; he had no skill at all in an insult standoff.

"The great Krolly curses you, despicable Elf," He cried out, "You will be killed like an animal by the Goblins, and your pitiful cries will be heard in every corner of the Continent…"

System: You insulted the Goblin Businessman Krolly, Goblin Reputation -5. Your relationship with the Goblins has dropped from 'Neutral' to 'Hatred'…

"Alright, Sea Breeze, start attacking. Everyone else, follow suit." Lu Li took a few deep breaths before yelling to his teammates.

Azure Sea Breeze's face fell as he pleaded, "Big bro, I'll call you big bro, alright? I've never done anything to make you angry. I also saved you 10% EXP today, so why do you have to do this to me?"

"Cut the crap, get to work!" Lu Li said as he stabbed Krolly with his dagger.

-1!

Almost as soon as he was injured, a green 1 appeared.

Although he had barely been hurt, Krolly's reaction was incredibly surprising. He helplessly started screaming, as if he was a little girl being violated.

Lu Li didn't say anything as he ran behind Krolly and start stabbing at his behinds.

The other people started to realise that something was off. This Goblin Businessman didn't retaliate when being attacked, and because of the weight of the things he was carrying, his speed was incredibly slow.

However, he regenerated his HP almost instantly.

"Stop standing around, hurry up and help me. We still need to go do an Instance Dungeon!"

The others all hesitated for a moment before also attacking.

The moment they started attacking, they almost all started crying.

System: Because you have attacked the Goblin Businessman Krolly, your relationship with the Goblins has dropped to 'Hatred'…

"Goddammit Lu Li, go die!" Azure Sea Breeze inwardly screamed. He had already offended an entire race; how would he survive in this game?!

The Goblins were a neutral faction, and were famous for their business and scroll-making. They were one of the biggest races.

Everyone else's faces also weren't pretty, but they held it in.

"Don't worry, it's easy to earn reputation with the Goblins. Just find a random Goblin NPC and give him a few gold coins. You'll be able to get your reputation back up." Lu Li comforted them.

The others were speechless- he wasn't sure if they were surprised by what he said, or if they didn't believe him.

"It's a small bug. However, getting to 'Worship' is a bit hard." Lu Li quickly explained.

The Goblin race's reputation was the easiest to earn out of all the different races. As long as you had money, you could quickly raise your reputation with them. It was just that being on friendly terms or being worshipped by them didn't have much point- the greedy Goblins wouldn't give you any discounts, no matter what.

"Unbelievable… wouldn't we be able to kill as many Goblins as we want and earn their equipment?" Northern Tang Dream's objections were now gone, and was even considering slaughtering Goblins for a living.

"Not every NPC is as easy to bully as Krolly. He's a special case. In future, we won't bully any more cute little Goblins."

"We can't kill him, he regenerates too quickly." Drinking Alone yelled.

"The point isn't to kill him," Lu Li calmly replied, "Just keep attacking. We're nearly there."

After yelling for a while, Krolly finally couldn't take it anymore. He roared, then took something out of his bag and threw it at Lu Li's head.

Lu Li quickly picked it up, but didn't stop attacking.

[Small Health Potion: Instantly restores 50HP, is not restricted by battle. Cooldown Time: 30 seconds. Potion Resistance: 20.

Potion Resistance can be explained like this: If a Potion has a Potion Resistance of 80, then using the same type of Potion next time will have 20% reduced effects, and the Cooldown Time will be increased by 20%.

Of course, the more Potion Resistance, the better.

A Potion with a Potion Resistance of 20 was simply trash. However, at the current stage of the game, the only option most players had was to escape from battle to sit down and eat Bread. Being able to instantly recover 50HP was already not bad.

When Lu Li shared the Potion's stats with everyone, they were all filled with motivation.

After throwing out an item, Krolly soon found that his weight was still too heavy to be able to run away, and could only continue to throw items out.

It was a pity that they were all Potions. After a while, he had already thrown out 5 bottles of Potions, but still wasn't fast enough to run away. He screamed, "Krolly won't forgive any of you. You will suffer under the flames of the great Goblins!"

After screaming, he threw out an item, which smashed into Northern Tang Kitty's face. She yelled out, then quickly picked it up, and shouted in joy, "Aiya, it's a Bronze grade equipment!"

[Whisperer] (Bronze): 10-18 Damage, Intelligence2. Level Requirement: LV4. Durability: 17/20.

What an incredible Bronze grade Magic Staff!

"Woohoo!" Azure Sea Breeze whooped, and everyone began to attack even more furiously.

After throwing out another few Potions, the Goblin Businessman once again threw another Bronze equipment in front of Lu Li.

[Night Leather Armour] (Bronze): 8 Armour, Constitution1. Level Requirement: LV4. Durability: 11/20.

The stats of this piece of equipment were quite average, and couldn't compare to the Magic Staff from earlier. However, none of them complained- this was a piece of Armour, and could save their lives in the Instance Dungeon.

After throwing out 2 pieces of equipment, the Goblin Businessman could finally start to jog.

"Northern Tang Kitty, Bind!" Lu Li called out.

Northern Tang Kitty immediately scrambled into action, and unleashed one of her Druid skills, Bind, on Krolly.

Success, rooted for 3 seconds.

Another Potion!

"Sea Breeze!"

Pa, Charge, stunned for 2 seconds, Potion!

Pa, Shieldstrike, stunned for 2 secoinds, Potion!

Northern Tang Dream's battle sense was pretty good. Just as the Goblin Businessman recovered from a stun, she immediately stunned him again.

It was a pity that it was another Potion!

Northern Tang Dream and the others all started to give up, seeing that Krolly was about to escape.

The Great Thief

Chapter 11: Elite level Instance Dungeon

At this moment, Lu Li quickly moved. By using Shadowmeld to disappear from the battle, followed by Stealth and Ambush, he was able to stun Krolly again!

Dawn was quite different to other games. To use a Racial Passive to leave the battle, then instantly enter stealth and use the Ambush skill…

This was unique!

No less than expected from an expert.

When Krolly recovered from the stun, he threw out another item. Unfortunately, it was a Potion.

Everyone had used up all of their Crowd Control abilities, and looked at Lu Li helplessly, as if they hoped he would be able to conjure up some sort of miracle.

Lu Li didn't let everyone down. The dagger in his hand flashed, then spun through the air and stabbed into the back of Krolly's head.

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 83%, caused 95% Skill Damage, target stunned for 1 second.

Although it was only for 1 second, when Krolly recovered, he threw out another item, and then continued to run away while screaming.

Equipment!

[Azure Wolf Leather Shoes] (Bronze): 4 Armour, Agility1. Level Requirement: 3. Durability: 7/10.

Undoubtedly, this piece of equipment was for Lu Li.

Since the Druid was the only Magic profession out of all of them, the Magic Staff went to Northern Tang Kitty.

Northern Tang Kitty equipped the Bronze grade Magic Staff, and the way she looked at Lu Li became completely different. She had been completely mindblown today - never before had she seen anyone earn equipment like this before.

"This NPC will never appear here again. Don't ever think of doing this to other NPCs." Lu Li said as he looked at the disappointed look on Northern Tang Dream's face. He didn't want to see this beauty dying a silly death.

"How did you know that this NPC wouldn't retaliate, and would even drop items?" Having big breasts didn't necessarily mean one had small brains. Naturally, Northern Tang Dream wouldn't neglect to ask the most pertinent question.

This was the original place where Krolly was, and after being attacked, he would always change places. That meant that this was the first time Lu Li had attacked Krolly. How did he know all this? This was the question on everyone's mind.

"I have a friend who joined the beta test, and accidentally…" Lu Li instantly entered 'I have a friend' mode. After all, this was the only plausible explanation. Otherwise, how would he know this? He was only a "Gold Collection Unit" member, not a high profile member in his company.

"What was that skill just then?" Northern Tang Dream suddenly asked.

"Which skill?" Lu Li pretended that he didn't know what she was talking about.

A look of annoyance flashed across the beauty's face. Evidently, she wasn't too pleased with Lu Li's feint of ignorance.

Normally, every man would seize every opportunity to get on her good side, unlike Lu Li who was being difficult.

For example… Azure Sea Breeze. He smacked Lu Li on the back of the head as he stuck up for the goddess, "Stop acting dumb. The skill you used at the end, that stunned Krolly for 1 second. I don't remember Thieves having a skill like that, but it looked like Shadowstrike."

"That's right, it was Shadowstrike." Lu Li helpless said.

"Are you using Manual mode? If you have a high Skill Completion, will there be a special effect? What was your Skill Completion just then?" As expected from an expert. Drinking Alone immediately got to the crux of it.

Drinking Alone had also tried out the Manual mode, and knew about Skill Completion.

When casting a skill and obtaining Skill Completion over 50%, there would be a system announcement. For a person who had just tried out Manual mode, being able to obtain Skill Completion over 50% was quite impressive. It seemed that he lived up to his reputation.

"83%, Skill Damage was 95%, with a 1 second stun." Drinking Alone had left a good impression on him, so Lu Li honestly answered him, "If you're interested in the Manual mode, you should try it out from time to time."

Their group chatted as they walked towards the entrance of the Spider Lair Instance Dungeon.

While walking, they took inventory of the items they had obtained from the Goblin Businessman. There were 13 low level Health Potions and 3 low level Mana Potions. The Mana Potions were all given to the Druid, Northern Tang Kitty, and everyone received 2 Health Potions, with Azure Sea Breeze receiving the rest.

The Night Leather Armour was also given to Azure Sea Breeze. Since he was the highest level out of all of them and had the Shieldstrike ability, he was the best candidate for being the team's tank.

The entrance to the Instance Dungeon was on a mountain. It was a hole that was about one and a half times as tall as a person, and behind the light blue energy shield, many large spider webs could be seen.

As the leader of the team, Lu Li tasked with choosing the difficulty of the Instance Dungeon at the Assembly Stone.

The Assembly Stone looked like a tombstone covered with mystical signs and symbols, and sometimes had the background to a quest. It could also assist with finding teammates, as well as choosing the difficulty of the Instance Dungeon.

Very soon, the team heard the system announcement, "Your team has chosen the Elite level Spider Lair…"

Elite level…

There were two types of Instance Dungeons in Dawn. There was one that everyone could enter- it was a Public Instance Dungeon that had a Cooldown Time. The other was an Adventure Instance Dungeon that required a teleport scroll- this was usually called a "Private Instance Dungeon."

Instance Dungeons had different levels of difficulty. Whatever was written on the teleport scrolls for Private Instance Dungeons, that was what the difficulty would be.

The Public Instance Dungeons had 4 levels of difficulty: Normal, Elite, Hero and Nightmare. Low level Instance Dungeons such as the Spider Lair, they did not have the Hero or Nightmare levels.

"Heavens, the Elite level… yesterday, I died in the Normal level so many times. Wuu… my EXP…" Although Northern Tang Dream usually acted like a cool beauty, she could also be quite dramatic.

"Hey beauty, don't worry, I'm here…" Azure Sea Breeze said.

"Why did you choose the Elite level? Are we really up for this?" Drinking Alone was much more collected. He wasn't thinking about the potential EXP loss, but the possibility of them actually succeeding.

"The Elite level Instance Dungeon isn't that hard; don't scare yourselves. Our tank is already LV5, and has Shieldstrike and Charge. We'll be fine as long as we're careful." Lu Li refuted.

Everyone had been scared by the word 'Elite'. The monsters in Elite level Instance Dungeons had an extra 10% Attack and Defence compared to those in Normal Instance Dungeons, and had an extra 20% HP.

The real reason Lu Li wanted to clear an Elite level Instance Dungeon was because the things he wanted to find couldn't be found in Normal level Instance Dungeons!

If Lu Li wanted to upgrade the Supreme One Ring, he would need lots of precious materials. Most of these materials couldn't be bought with money- for example, the Jade Spider Web, which was a LV5 Blue Material, could be found in the Elite level Instance Dungeons but had an incredibly low drop rate.

Moreover, the Jade Spider Webs were essential items to Tailors and Craftsmen for Advancement. Teams that were strong enough to obtain these items never had enough for the whole team- who could have any to sell?

As such, Lu Li could only make his own team to find these materials.

"I agree with doing an Elite level Instance Dungeon. I heard that the first team that clears an Instance Dungeon gets to go on the World Announcements." Azure Sea Breeze excitedly said as he waved the one-handed sword in his hand.

When most players had upgraded their equipment and levelled up, and as long as they had a decent 5 person team, they would be able to clear the Normal level Instance Dungeon. However, this was not the case for the higher difficulty Instance Dungeons. These were mainly attempted by elite teams, and teams would be ranked by their clear times, allowing them to create new records.

Every time a new record was created, or a team tied with the record-holders, the new team would receive an extra piece of equipment, and would have the glory of a World Announcement.

The Great Thief

Chapter 12: Entering the Instance Dungeon

"There's something I want to say before we go in," Lu Li calmly said, "As the team leader, I want one of the items we obtain."

We haven't even started, but he's already talking about wanting one of the items. The two girls looked at him while pouting. This guy didn't act like an expert at all.

"I'm fine with it." Azure Sea Breeze said. Because of Lu Li, he had obtained a Bronze grade Ring and a Bronze grade Armour, so he was already satisfied.

"What is it?" Drinking Alone was curious.

"Jade Spider Web, a Blue Material. It's something only Bosses drop." Lu Li explained.

"How do you know the Boss will drop it?" Northern Tang Dream asked with wide eyes.

"I have a friend…"

"Cheh!"

The rest of the team couldn't even be bothered to "cheh" at Lu Li, and they entered the Instance Dungeon.

The Spider Lair was dark and damp, and had a slightly rotten smell. There were spider webs everywhere, and the scuttling sounds of spiders' legs echoed in the distance.

In front of them was the first wave of monsters - two spiders that were as large as small dogs. Their 8 furry legs were covered with spikes, and they savagely looked around with their countless eyes, causing everyone to shiver.

The LV5 Spider Lair was the lowest level Instance Dungeon, and its main purpose was for players to become used to the mechanics of Instance Dungeons. The first few waves of monsters were all normal monsters, which were slightly stronger than the monsters outside. The five man team quickly disposed of them.

After defeating 5 waves of monsters like this, they arrived at a brook.

Above the brook was a bridge, and a jade-green spider that was at least twice the size of the normal monsters was sitting on top. It was called a Spider Lair Guard.

"This is an Elite grade monster, it should be pretty strong." Northern Tang Dream and Drinking Alone had tried out this Instance Dungeon the previous day, and both held a lingering fear towards Elite monsters.

"It's not that bad. It just has an extra Venom Spit skill," Lu Li dismissively said as he started to give out orders, "Sea Breeze go and draw aggro. When the charge bar for its Venom Spit is about two thirds full, use your Shieldstrike to interrupt it."

If he used it before two thirds, the Guard would start to charge it up again. If he used it after two thirds, he wouldn't be able to interrupt it.

These sorts of things were impossible to find out without trying a few times. However, Lu Li had experienced rebirth, and didn't need to waste time on things like this.

After 30 seconds, the Spider Guard started to howl.

"Get ready, it's starting to charge up…"

Just as Lu Li spoke, a light grey charge bar appeared above the Guard's head.

Azure Sea Breeze held his breath, and as soon as the charge bar was two thirds full, he smashed into the Guard's head with his shield.

The Guard was stunned, and its charge up was cancelled.

Things went smoothly from there. The Guard soon ran out of HP, and fell to the ground.

It was a pity that it didn't drop any equipment, only a Mana Potion.

That was to be expected; the drop rate was quite low, and it was rare for even Elite monsters to drop equipment.

"This was even easier than trying to clear the Normal Instance Dungeon yesterday," Northern Tang Dream's eyes flashed with excitement, "Lu Li, how about you join our Union, and join the main group?"

The main group only had 100 people, and to a large Union with thousands of people, they were the elite of the elite. This was an excellent offer.

However, Lu Li shook his head and replied, "I'll think about it." He had joined the Star Moon Union for the game helmet. As soon as he had enough money to buy the game helmet, he would immediately leave them, but he didn't plan on joining the Grand Hegemony either.

Comparatively speaking, the Grand Hegemony would offer him better treatment than the Star Moon Union, but it was less than ideal. After all, the thousands of people there all had their own agendas and goals.

Seeing that Lu Li had rejected her offer, the beauty didn't seem offended, and continued to walk. However, Lu Li called out to stop her.

"Everyone, put your weapons into the brook." Lu Li went around the bridge and put his Dagger into the brook.

What could be special about the water in a spider's lair? The black water looked incredibly dirty, and had a striking smell to it. The two girls' faces both became pale.

"After soaking your equipment in there for 30 seconds, you'll gain a Buff which increases damage to Spider-type monsters by 20%..."

Hearing this, everyone charged over.

"This doesn't work for Druids and Warlocks; only melee professions benefit from this…"

Drinking Alone and Northern Tang Kitty looked depressed.

This was why Lu Li said having a melee team wasn't so bad. In Lu Li's 'past life', everyone knew about the effects of the water here. People who were farming Spider-type monsters would come to the Instance Dungeon just to get this Buff, even though it only lasted for an hour.

After passing by the bridge, more and more monsters appeared. Sometimes, a wave would have two Spider Lair Guards, but with the Buff, the speed at which they advanced did not fall at all.

One of the elite monsters dropped a Bronze grade Bracer, which gave 3 Armour and 1 Strength. Northern Tang Dream graciously gave it to her fellow Warrior Azure Sea Breeze. After all, the stronger the Defence of the main tank, the easier the Druid's job would be in healing him.

The Spider Lair had 2 Bosses. One of them was a big spider called the Fallen Spider Chief. The other was a man-faced spider called Mandelin.

The team stood in front of the Spider Chief. Team leader Lu Li was LV3, Azure Sea Breeze was LV5, and everyone else was LV4.

The Spider Chief was a LV5 Boss, and had 12,000HP.

"The Spider Chief isn't very hard to beat. There are two stages that are important," Due to his experience from his 'past life', Lu Li didn't need to work out the Boss' attack patterns bit by bit. He started to give out orders, "Every time it loses 20% of its HP, it will summon a wave of smaller monsters. We don't have any Crowd Control, so don't try to attack them. They'll explode after 5 seconds, so just keep away from them. When its HP drops to 5%, it might go berserk. Our Druid needs to heal everyone as much as possible, and Azure Sea Breeze needs to prepare a lot of Potions to drink."

"How did you know this? Oh, right, you have a lot of friends." Northern Tang Dream was curious to the point of exploding, but she knew that Lu Li wouldn't tell her. As such, she could only vent using some sarcasm.

"How much HP does the Boss in the Normal level Instance Dungeon have?" Azure Sea Breeze felt quite a bit of pressure. He had never heard of anyone killing the Spider Chief before. After all, only 5 people could enter this Instance Dungeon.

If the main tank's equipment or skills weren't up to scratch, or if the healer couldn't heal enough, or if the attackers couldn't deal enough damage, they were finished.

"The Normal Instance Dungeon's Boss has about 10,000HP, and looks a bit smaller," Drinking Alone bitterly smiled, "We only got the Boss down to 70% HP yesterday. I don't think we'll even be able to see this one go berserk."

"Alright, let's start. As long as you listen to my instructions, we'll be fine." Lu Li didn't think that this Instance Dungeon would be difficult at all. If it wasn't because of his equipment and lack of good Skills, he would even dare to solo this Instance Dungeon.

Azure Sea Breeze used Charge on the Boss, dealing 5 damage and a 1 second stun.

Even Lu Li was shocked by the damage taken by the Boss. He remembered that in his 'past life' when he had faced off against the Boss, the main tank's equipment wasn't much better than Azure Sea Breeze's, but still dealt a lot more damage.

The truth was that in the beginning, the Spider Chief was very strong. It was only later that its Defence had been nerfed.

Although he was surprised, since they had started this, they would have to finish it.

Ambush, Shadowstrike…

The Boss' Defence was higher than Lu Li had expected, but its Attack Power was about the same as what he had expected. Azure Sea Breeze wasn't in much danger from this Boss.

Since Azure Sea Breeze could hold up as the tank, it all came down to the Druid's healing and the attackers' DPS.

Their Druid was quite experienced, but didn't have any good healing skills yet, and didn't have enough MP either. After healing 10 or so times, she was out.

This was when the Potions that Lu Li had 'earned' with everyone came into play.

Just as Azure Sea Breeze liked to say, "A Potion in the hand means no fear in the heart."

The Great Thief

Chapter 13: Baiting

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 80%, caused 89% Skill damage, stunned for 1 second.

Boom!

-14!

The Big Spider shrieked twice, and raised its back…

"Don't worry about the boss anymore. Other than Sea Breeze, everyone gather next to me. After 4 seconds, Sea Breeze should use Charge on me" Lu Li calmly walked away from the boss, reminding everyone else of what to do. They quickly followed Lu Li away.

At this time, a large number of small spiders spawned out of the spiders back. They were the size of a fist and were all rushing towards everyone.

"…3, 4…" When Azure Sea Breeze counted 3 he had already started turning his body, and by the count of 4 he had already cast Charge.

The small spiders were rushing towards them like flowing water. The others turned pale with fear.

Drinking Alone's party had mostly died because of these small spiders. Each small spider could deal significant damage to a player, and when multiple of them exploded, this could instantly kill them.

However, dealing with them was easy; you just needed to move around and stay out of range of them.

Lu Li led the small spiders around the boss. After a few seconds, the small spiders started to explode one by one. On the other side, Azure Sea Breeze had already started to lead the others to start hitting the boss again.

After experiencing that once, it was dealt with much more calmly when the Boss did that again.

In the second stage, when the Boss dropped to 5% HP, it went berserk as expected.

Northern Tang Kitty worked hard to keep healing in addition to the potions that Azure Sea Breeze had in hand. In the end, the Boss' berserk mode wasn't enough, and after a final cry it lay dead on the ground.

Lu Li was already about to level up. His whole body lit up as the exp bar completely filled, raising him to level 4.

"Can I loot the corpse?" He took a deep breath, really curious to know what items the Boss would drop.

"Stop!" said Azure Sea Breeze and Northern Tang Kitty with one voice. Drinking Alone and Northern Tang Dream didn't say anything but looked worried nonetheless.

"What is it?"

"Are you sure you want to loot it" Northern Tang Kitty quickly said: "All this time, your roll points have never exceeded 20."

Up till this point, there not many bronze equips had dropped. There had only been 3, but there were many commons and materials. While there were several rolls that had happened, with Lu Li undoubtedly performing the best, his rolls were 6, 13 and 2 successively. He hadn't received a single piece of equipment.

"Just because I've rolled low numbers doesn't mean I can't loot the body. Generally when I loot corpses I find good things" Lu Li had a dark expression and tried to defend himself.

Many years ago, there was someone called Lei Feng. He took pleasure in serving others, putting other people before himself.

And Lu Li clearly was someone who was hurt for the benefit of others.

When he looted he always found good things, but could never win in rolls.

The others were doubtful, but they didn't want to put their team leader to shame.

Everyone just thought it would be fine to let him be unlucky this one time.

After a long gaze, Lu Li slowly squatted and reached over to the Boss with both hands.

"Silver Light Crossbow (Steel): Damage 12-20, Agility 3, Attack Speed 1, Level Requirement LV4, Durability 16/25"

A Steel weapon, probably the first in the game, too bad… it was a crossbow.

Although a crossbow could be used by melee classes, only in the hands of a hunter could its true potential be unleashed. Other people could only use it as bait.

"How come it's not a Magic Staff, how unlucky" Northern Tang Kitty couldn't hold in her disappointment.

"Please, you already have a bronze weapon. I'm still using a common and you're sad it's not a Magic Staff" Northern Tang Dream had a nasty expression on her face.

"Shadow Cloak (Bronze): 2 Armour, Intelligence 1, Level Requirement LV3, Durability 14/18. And one potion, that's it."

Druid Northern Tang Kitty and Warlock Drinking Alone's eyes immediately lit up. Although the cloak was just general equipment, cloak drop rates were extremely low. They hadn't even seen a common cloak before.

"Did the Jade Spider Web you want not drop?" Northern Tang Dream was somewhat disappointed, but she was also curious as to what exactly the material Lu Li wanted was.

"Drop rate is low" Lu Li was not disheartened, "Silver light crossbow, 3 occupation specific items to roll for, I'll just go for it."

23 points.

"Pfftt" Northern Tang Dream laughed, and casually rolled an 87.

"It should be mine, just so you guys know. Sea Breeze big brother is not only handsome, I also roll with power" Azure Sea Breeze said complacently.

99 points.

Oh my, so he does, everyone stared at him viciously, wondering if his luck came from the heavens.

Azure Sea Breeze was also surprised, laughing: "Split it amongst yourselves, 3 points of agility is more useful to you guys, count it as a payment of your compassion."

In Dawn, any occupation could equip a ranged weapon. Physical professions equipped crossbows, Magic professions equipped magic wands and other special profession had their own ranged equips – like the Shaman's totem, and the Paladin's Holy Covenant…

Lu Li then bluntly equipped it on himself, his recent level up allowing him to do so.

"Have you guys already exchanged rings…?" Northern Tang Kitty said peculiarly: "I didn't think you guys had that kind of relationship…"

Rotten girl…

Then, Drinking Alone successfully rolled the Cloak. Northern Tang Kitty was fuming, resolving to practice rolling when she got back.

They continued onwards, and with the increase in level and additional equips, it wasn't long before they faced the final boss – Mandelin.

Mandelin was a massive spider with a human face with 8 Guards protecting it.

"The difficulty of this Boss lies in the guards." Lu Li recalled his previous experience and said: "The damage of these guards is not less than the Boss itself, we have no choice but to wipe them all out."

Azure Sea Breeze laughed: "That also means we can only take them on one at a time?"

"You're smart" Lu Li didn't wait for him to be satisfied but continued: "But the aggro on these Guards is very sensitive, if we aggro one, we will have to face all 8. If we try to bait it like normal, well, there isn't a way to only get 1"

"Since you know this, surely you know the solution as well?" Drinking Alone had full confidence in Lu Li.

The 8 Elites were circling together, if there wasn't a shortcut past them then they currently had no solution to this difficult problem.

"I'll go pull them, you guys stay back until we reach around the corner. There it won't draw agro" Lu Li changed his weapon, taking out the recently equipped Steel crossbow.

The crossbow arrow drop rate was high; everyone's backpack usually contained over 100 of these. They were used mostly as a distraction or as a baiting tool.

Everyone else fell back, poking their heads out from round the corner. They were all curious as to what Lu Li was going to do.

Lu Li simply shot an arrow at one of the Guards.

The boss didn't move, but the 8 Guards immediately called out and started rushing towards him.

Lu Li turned to run, rushing till he turned the corner before stopping. The 8 Guards then lost aggro and turned back to leave.

Lu Li then walked a few steps forwards, and shot an arrow at the last Guard. The 8 turned their heads to pursue him once more.

This happened over and over, going back and forth.

"No way, brother, what are you doing, do you plan to kill the Guards with exhaustion?" Azure Sea Breeze asked unbearably as he couldn't see any positive effects.

Lu Li ignored him, and continued what he was doing.

Finally, as everyone was getting impatient, Lu Li shot an arrow and this time only that Guard turned its head. The others all returned to the Boss.

"What are you guys staring at, go attack!"

The Great Thief

Chapter 14: First Clear

The 8 Guards each needed to be pulled quite a few times before they could be killed. While this seemed very troublesome, it in fact did not use up that much time. Moreover, this method made a difficult boss easy to defeat.

As for the Boss itself, after all the Guards were dead, its HP quickly dropped.

"Keep at it! So far there hasn't been a world announcement. We are likely to be the first to clear an Instance Dungeon. This is a matter of getting an entry in the historical record, I'm feeling a little excited" Azure Sea Breeze spoke incoherently: he wasn't just a little excited, he was in fact very excited. He almost bashed Lu Li in the face with his shield.

Just for fun, Dawn had a historical record. In addition to recording some NPC related background events, it also recorded player actions. Of course, it had to be a big enough event for it to be recorded.

Speaking of the historical record, the other players also started to get excited. The steady teamwork between them started to get messy; Northern Tang Kitty cast Heal twice, wasting some magic points.

"Steady, steady, if this keeps up we could get a record" Lu Li was sweating, reminding everyone:

"Careful of the area of effect attack"

Only then did everyone put their full attention on the Boss, but before 3 seconds had even passed, Northern Tang Kitty called out again: "I hear that the first time an Instance Dungeon is cleared, it gives everyone an item rather than just dropping one. Is that true?"

"Ah, Heal, heal!" As the healing stopped, the Boss conveniently made a big attack, Azure Sea Breeze was shocked and started shrieking.

So once again everything was thrown into confusion.

"That should be the case" Lu Li responded, seeming to agree with what Northern Tang Kitty was saying.

In the previous generation, he hadn't ever broken a record before, let alone participate in this unprecedented occasion of clearing an Instance Dungeon for the first time. Thinking about how everyone would get an item, he also started to get excited. Maybe he could get the Jade Spider Web in one go.

Upgrading the Supreme One Ring to the Supreme Two Ring had 2 requirements: to be at the Sacrificial Altar and to have the right material.

The Sacrificial Altar was in the Whispering Forest. The monsters around the forest were no issue, and when you had all the items there was a shortcut you could take. However, to upgrade it this time, there were 7 rare items that were needed. All these items were also highly versatile so no one would sell them in the market.

Lu Li had planned on learning the Craftsman Trade Profession to make jewelry. Levelling it up to an Intermediate level required 2 Jade Spider Webs. In total, that meant he needed 12 Jade Spider Webs. Who knew if the Boss would even drop any, or if the person who got it would want to give it up?

As he was thinking, the Boss HP feel down to 5%.

Azure Sea Breeze called out in alarm again, "It's gone berserk, heal! Woah its damage is quite high, and Shieldstrike missed, heal, heal…"

The Boss going berserk was expected; most Bosses in Dawn would go berserk in the final moment, unless of course if you could kill the Boss in a very short window. But with the equips they had now, this was impossible, and berserk bosses had a strong resistance to crowd control skills.

The additional attack damage, attack speed and aggression by the berserk increased the strength of the Boss by a significant amount. Azure Sea Breeze who was originally holding the boss back as steadily as a mountain was being pushed back. His body had a trickle of red; there were clear remnants of blood.

"Main Tank fall back for a bit, Druid cast bind…" Lu Li's voice was still calm.

"It didn't hit" Northern Tang Kitty was in a mess trying to read her skills, not to any great effect. But this wasn't anything new for her, at least she knew to go back to healing Azure Sea Breeze.

Azure Sea Breeze had been hit and was bleeding out. He raised his head to drink a HP restoring potion. His HP was mostly restored, and he immediately charged back into battle.

Lu Li took a breath, his wrist twitching, throwing out daggers seemingly at random. Damage values started to float up one after another, and the others who were watching were so dumbfounded they almost forgot to keep attacking.

If you looked carefully, every time he attacked it seemed like he didn't use all his strength, doing just enough to maximize the limits of his attack.

This technique was not something Lu Li made up, but was developed by a famous Dawn player - the female goddess "Water Fairy".

The beauties in Dawn were extremely beautiful, but those who were experts were very few. Northern Tang Dream for example had attractive cheeks and great stature but her technique was at best second class.

However, this wasn't absolute. There were two notable exceptions, with one of them being the female Thief, Water Fairy.

Water Fairy was a legend in Dawn.

First of all, she was a beauty, but also an expert. Moreover, and most importantly, she was a tycoon.

When others were searching for their first legendary equipment, half of her body was already covered in legendary equipment. To her, money was just a number. As long as there was something she wanted, she would just pay for it.

With such good equipment, her damage was naturally extremely high. It was said that the ordinary attack of Water Fairy was comparable to a big trade union's main force using the Thief's final skill together.

Lu Li had personally seen Water Fairy use a skill; it was an incredible scene that could only be described as cutting corners.

Taking a complex skill as an example; the Thief's Bonestab. When this skill was performed it was very beautiful, with an exaggerated action and high damage. Generally, every Thief who wanted to maximize damage dealt would carefully observe all of the details.

However, for Water Fairy, only the most important parts were performed. As such, the skill wouldn't fail but would also not have high skill completion.

While other people took 3 seconds to cast Bonestab, she could do it in less than 1. But, because her equipment was insane, the damage difference wasn't much.

As of now when there weren't many skills, Lu Li could raise his attack frequency in this moment, but the effects of doing that were not generally good.

The berserk Boss had less than 800HP, and with that round of attacks, they had already taken out half of its remaining HP.

The situation wasn't looking good, however. Azure Sea Breeze had to retreat again and could not keep drinking the potions due to the potion resistance.

"Northern Tang Dream cast Charge, Drinking Alone stop, you're almost OT" Lu Li mechanically took over the situation, his voice was monotone: "Stand firm, the Boss only has a little bit of HP left, but don't get greedy"

Drinking Alone had been standing back, unaffected by the Boss, but for a while he had been drawing the aggro of the boss.

The charge of Northern tang Dream was similarly resisted by the Boss. What was even more unfortunate was that Azure Sea Breeze suddenly got hit by a big attack again, dropping HP as quickly as water flows…

"I'm almost out of mana" Northern Tang Kitty stamped her foot, feeling helpless.

Mana was a slang term that referred to magic points used to cast spells.

"It's over," Lu Li smiled, as the shade cleared and he cast Cheap Shot out of Stealth. The Boss was successfully stunned on the spot. Behind the Boss, he stabbed the dagger into the back of its head with all of his strength.

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 87%, dealing 100% of Skill damage, Stun for 0.8 seconds.

The Boss then recovered from its stun, immediately crying out before crumpling into a pile of 8 legs, unmoving.

Before he could even take a breath, Lu Li received a system announcement.

Honorable player, your team has successfully cleared the Spider Lair (Elite) Instance Dungeon. The system will now make a global announcement. Would you like for your name to be announced?

The Great Thief

Chapter 15: Battle Loot

"Of course we want our names to be announced!" Azure Sea Breeze said loudly: "Unless you want to hide our names?"

"Some people are afraid of being famous. Once your name goes onto the global announcement, there will be many people looking to cause trouble with you." Lu Li thought otherwise; the real world and the virtual world were different - the cost of crime was significantly lower.

Lu Li remembered a poor kid named "Rowing Poetry" in his previous life who had been announced on the global announcements. He was bullied by the other players because of this and couldn't leave the beginner village for a few months.

Even a strong thief like Water Fairy was taken down by being ganged up on, after a 100,000 real money bounty was placed by I am Richy Rich,

The reputation of the first people to clear an Instance Dungeon would be good for a big organisation, but for a ragtag group of players it was useless. It would only open themselves up to harassment.

"After being identified, the large unions will all extend their offers to you" Drinking Alone guessed that a master such as Lu Li wouldn't stay with Star Moon Union. Grand Hegemony was also afraid of being looked down upon by others.

"I don't plan to join any union, I plan to be a professional player." No matter what other people believed, Lu Li had no intention to join any unions.

The welfare treatment within a union was good, but good things don't fall out of the sky. If you wanted something, you would have to work for it. Joining a union would mean that he would be earning money for them.

Dawn's growth would be very rapid; even the game company would not be able to anticipate its growth. An entire industry would form around the game and as it grew, Lu Li would be able to make so much money that he wouldn't be able to spend it all.

"If you want to be a professional player, then you have to be famous" Azure Sea Breeze said dismissively, "Don't not say it: you led a team to clear an Instance Dungeon. If this is known, there are definitely many people who would want to recruit you. Professional players are very valuable."

Lu Li's brow wrinkled, unable to produce a rebuttal and trying to comprehend how this guy who was normally not very quick witted could come up with such convincing points.

In actuality, this had something to do with the previous life. The top players didn't really dare offend anyone, it was really the ordinary people that you needed to be worried about. Even Water Fairy, the tycoon goddess, was ambushed by the 'Steel Blood Alliance' Union. The great thief appeared and disappeared like the wind, and in a short period was killed up to a thousand times. But the Steel Blood Alliance Union wasn't acting alone: they had the influence of other big organisations.

"If the Jade Spider Web is dropped, what do we get for giving it up?" Drinking Alone earnestly said: "Northern Tang Dream and I are well known players. If we are recorded in game history it would be great for the development of our union…"

"Later on if you need our assistance, we will definitely spare no effort" Northern Tang Dream's face was also full of hope.

To the union, acquiring a player with expertise was better than 1000 regular players. Lu Li was such a player, destined to never stay amongst the crowd. One day, when he would be famous, people would naturally remember when he cleared the first Instance Dungeon with members of the Grand Hegemony. It was just like sticking their label on Lu Li.

Lu Li smiled bitterly and shook his head. He didn't want to enter the lime light at this time, but at the same time he wasn't afraid of public opinion.

System: Under the leadership of Lu Li, Azure Sea Breeze, Northern Tang Dream, Drinking Alone and Northern Tang Kitty is the first team to clear the Spider Lair (Elite) Instance Dungeon!

It was simple and trite, but everyone's name was on it.

Next was gaining the exp from clearing the Instance Dungeon. Because it was the first clear, not only was all the exp doubled, but extra equipment was rewarded as well.

Lu Li looked in his bag and saw that he had obtained a dagger.

Broodmother's Kiss (Bronze): Damage 8-15, Agility 2, Level Requirement LV3, Durability 18/18.

The damage of a single handed weapon could not be compared to the likes of a two handed Magic staff like the Whisperer. However, it added 2 points of Agility, making it an equivalent bronze equip.

The others also inspected their rewards and their faces lit up. What was unfortunate was that Lu Li wasn't awarded with the material that he needed.

"Let's see what the Boss dropped", Northern Tang Kitty was keen on looting the Boss.

The others looked at Lu Li, unsure if he wanted to loot the Boss. The current game rules were that if there wasn't a special designation, the leader would loot and distribute the battle loot.

"Go for it" Lu Li said casually with a shake of the head.

His words were very unusual and no one believed him.

"waa…"

The first time they killed a Boss that had a small chance of dropping something good, he was like an excited little girl, refusing to let go of the item.

Suddenly, Lu Li's communication device began to manically vibrate.

This was to be expected, but he didn't know that people would react this quickly. After a brief check, he found that they were all friend requests.

Lu Li thought for a while, then refused all the friend requests. He resolved to not add anyone.

Even though he could make money by opening treasure chests, the most important thing right now was training. He didn't want to be disturbed by too many people.

After he got rid of all the friend requests, only 2 entries remained. One was the Star Moon Union chatroom and the other was from Square Root 3.

Lu Li watched Northern Tang Kitty inspect her equipment while opening up the chatroom.

The moment he entered, he was immediately assaulted by a messy chorus of 6 or 7 voices.

"Lu Li, you got the first clear right?" It was Ao Jian, Star Moon Union's president.

"It was just luck" Lu Li replied.

Spider Silk Hood (Steel): 5 Armour, Intelligence 2, Constitution 2, Special Effect: Dark damage effects increased by 10%, Equipment Requirement Lv 5, Durability 21/25

The chance of a Steel Item being dropped on the elite difficulty was not high, so it seemed like the bonus of the first clear was truly significant.

On the other side, Ao Jian was so angry he couldn't speak: "What do you mean lucky, that was an Elite Instance Dungeon! You didn't find people from our union, instead gathering your own team of players. Do you have no sense of pride or honour in our union?"

"Drinking Alone led, and just brought me along." Lu Li assigned the hood to Drinking Alone. This was typical Warlock or Shadow Priest equipment. As expected of an item dropped by the Boss, its attributes were very powerful.

"You…" As you can imagine, Ao Jian's complexion was terrible. It didn't take much to figure out that Drinking Alone was a high-ranking member of the Grand Hegemony Union. If he was the one who truly led them, then Lu Li would not have been assigned party leader.

Generally speaking, 2 kinds of people can be party leaders. An officer or a team leader.

"Don't give me this rubbish. Say what you want, but once you've handed over the equipment it won't be your responsibility any more. Once the Union is established, you can hand it in to the warehouse." I Am Richy Rich obviously cared the most about the Elite difficulty Instance Dungeon equipment.

The Boss truly dropped some good items; this second item was also Steel grade.

Weaver's Leather Armour (Steel): 12 Armour, Agility 4, Strength 2, Equipment Requirement Lv5, Durability 7/25.

Compared to the previous item, it lacked a special effect, however, this didn't mean that it was necessarily bad. The Armour value was 2 times the previous one, adding 6 points to its best attribute, but for a Thief, this increase wasn't really practical.

Other than these two, there were 2 more pieces of equipment that were both Bronze. Although the attributes of these were good, both of them weren't used by thieves, so they were rolled for by the other players.

After all that, Lu Li casually sent the information of the equipment to the Star Moon Union office.

The chat room fell silent for a second, then an immense commotion boiled up.

"I want that Spider Silk Hood, no one take it." Quickly realising that what he said was not quite appropriate, I am Richy Rich hastily added: "Wait till I earn some money to collect some gold, our union must be established as soon as possible"

"I guess it'll just be like this, everyone start collecting gold. Do not fear the high prices, you will be compensated" Ao Jian said soon after: "Lu Li, give that Steel Hood to Richy. As for that Steel Leather Armour, you can use it for now"

The Great Thief

Chapter 16: Leave!

"Whoops, you gotta be earlier next time. All the items have been given out." The last item that was looted by Northern Tang Kitty was the Jade Spider Web; Lu Li's spirits were high and he spoke thoughtlessly.

"Taking random players into the Instance Dungeon is one thing I can let go of. But you gave the rewards the outsiders as well? Lu Li, is there something wrong with your brain?"

The world definitely contained people like this: those that are completely self-centered and take issue with anything that doesn't go their way.

"Leave!" his voice was monotone, but the words were rude.

Gasps could be heard in the chatroom; did they hear that wrong? It was I am Richy Rich being told to leave. This wasn't something that had happened in a long time.

The game was currently in its peak period, and the previous announcement had received the attention of almost everyone who played the game. The Star Moon Union had about 300 to 400 people, and in front of all these people, a Gold Collection Unit player was saying this to a high-ranking player.

Leave!

I Am Richy Rich's skill was average, but he was rich and willing to spend money.

He was followed by Ao Jian and played dozens of games, spending millions in each one. As such, he eventually became Ao Jian's number 2, even if someone like Square Root 3 didn't care much about him.

Right now, his dignity was being trampled.

The chatroom was dead silent for a good few seconds and all that could be heard was labored breathing. The leader of the union was surprisingly silent.

In fact, Ao Jian was actually rejoicing.

Last time he squared off with Lu Li, he had spent 25,000 real money to get one skill book. Every time he thought back to it, he felt more regret, but from another perspective, he also understood. Compared to these rich 2nd generation people, Lu Li was of a different breed.

This verbal slap to the face could have easily been directed towards Ao Jian.

Ao Jian looked over to the side; he was training with I am Richy Rich. Feeling a shared distaste towards Richy Rich, he felt a sense of satisfaction to see his misfortune.

"O-o-okay…" I am Richy Rich was so angry he couldn't form a sentence.

"Who I do Instance Dungeons with is none of your business. Who the items are rewarded to within our party is none of your business. The items that I choose to use for myself are none of your business." He didn't mention that he had over 20,000 real money on his bank card. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't mention something like that to cause more trouble.

"Why you... you know I can stop you from continuing in this game" Richy Rich said with hatred.

"If there was someone who could stop me, it definitely wouldn't be you", Lu Li wasn't particularly good at this back and forth insulting, but he could remember some people from the previous generation who really could stop him.

At that time his sister had gotten sick, and he needed sell all the equipment he had for money. But he was tricked, so not only did he not receive his money, he was also hunted by several unions.

He had run away and begged before, but to him, what was more important than his life was his precious sister. To other people, this kind of sacrifice wasn't something special to behold. They regularly watched it on TV, which demonstrated the thrill of such a thing.

After experiencing this rebirth, Lu Li refused to accept such a compromise again.

Even if he couldn't earn the money to buy the helmet, he would not join any union.

"That's enough", seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Ao Jian stepped in. Otherwise, the dignity of the union would be at stake.

All this time, the union was a privilege for its members and their performance was above that of an average person. If someone discovered that they had a bit more money and was convicted enough, a Gold Collection Unit member would be able to take a strong stand. Then, more and more people would start to follow from this example.

"In one week, I will return the money for this violation. You won't need to wait long" Lu Li didn't wait for Ao Jian to speak, he quickly spoke and left the chatroom.

Raising his head, he saw Azure Sea Breeze and the others who he thought had already cleared the dungeon but were still looking worriedly at him.

Then he remembered that everything he said in the chat room was spoken aloud and the people nearby could hear him.

"Is everything alright, Lu Li?" Azure Sea Breeze kindly asked. The other 3 people were blankly staring, looking very strange.

"Everything is fine, let's get out of this dungeon" Lu Li equipped his dagger.

"You had a falling out with the Star Moon Union? And you need to pay a penalty fee?" Drinking Alone clenched as he straightforwardly asked his question.

"Yeah something like that, those people are nuts. At first I thought I could just ignore them, but I didn't realize I was so impatient." Lu Li laughed; he didn't look anxious at all.

In reality, the penalty wasn't a small amount. The cost of the helmet and the penalty fee was about 60,000 altogether. It was basically the cost of 2 helmets.

"If you are willing to come to our union, we will pay for your penalty fee. There will be no other conditions. All you have to do is take our people to do these kinds of Instance Dungeons. If you need something, just ask. We will not refuse."

Drinking Alone already thought that Lu Li was an expert when he achieved an 80% Skill completion and when his attacking daggers were dancing like snowflakes. Only when the system detected that they were the first to complete the dungeon did he realize that he had been underestimating this young man who looked as plain as water.

The strength of a union is far greater than that of a single person. Lu Li understood this, as the Star Moon Union sent out 5 parties of 5 to find the 'Seal Transformation' Skill Book within an hour. If Lu Li was on his own, he couldn't have done this.

Lu Li needed a large amount of materials to upgrade his Supreme Ring. If there was a whole union to help him look for these materials, then it would be so much easier. But there was an issue.

The Grand Hegemony wasn't a very suitable union for him. Its President, "Emperor Hegemony" was a very ambitious person, but he didn't have the ability to bring the union to its peak. Perhaps he could make some fame for them in "Shadow Realm" but it would be too difficult in a game like Dawn.

They were continuously suppressed by a few large unions working together. Once their members left the safety zone, they would be ruthlessly attacked.

In this place, things were clear and simple. But it didn't suit Lu Li, it didn't suit a professional player and it didn't suit a Thief.

"Sorry, I don't plan to join any union. But if there's a chance next time, we can do Instance Dungeons again" Lu Li shook his head: "You guys can go ahead and grind the Common Instance Dungeon - it is far easier than the Elite level. You can find anyone to join you guys."

It was as if he had expected this. Drinking Alone sighed and let go of the topic, "Why don't you continue farming with us. The Elite Instance Dungeon has a 3 hour cooldown, but you can do the Common Instance Dungeon whenever you want. You just offended the Star Moon Union, so going out to train now seems like a good idea.

"I have something to attend to, you can continue," Lu Li said nicely, but he had already made up his mind. The others could only watch helplessly as he left.

"How unfortunate", Nothern Tang Dream started speaking: "Before he came, I thought Drinking Alone was exaggerating. I never thought he would be stronger than you described. I've never heard of this person before, it seems like he just came out of nowhere."

She was only 20 years old, but was an experienced player already. A while ago she had done research on every expert there was, but there wasn't someone whose style was even close to being like Lu Li's.

"He is stronger than you can imagine, do not underestimate him." Drinking Alone said.

"Do we want to share the strategy to the Instance Dungeon?" Northern Tang Kitty responded, for they hadn't mentioned this matter.

In successfully clearing out an Instance Dungeon, other than gaining fame and equipment, you could also sell the strategy for clearing it out for a large sum. This was especially the case for a small ragtag group like them, as they didn't need to be afraid of a union monopolizing the resource.

Their fellow union members saw them get the first clear on the Instance Dungeon, but because none of them were the party leader, no one asked for the clearing strategy. Emperor Hegemony was someone of extreme principle.

After contacting Lu Li, his response was simple. They could handle it however they liked, but if a Jade Spider Web was dropped, they needed to sell it to him.

Now Lu Li was cautiously moving through the woods trying to stay hidden. In the previous generation he heard that there was a mine in the forest, he wanted to try to see if he could get in. There is an NPC in there that he is interested in.

The Great Thief

Chapter 17: Cynocephalus Mine

As Lu Li was carefully advancing using Stealth, the rest of the Dawn players were in an uproar.

Everyone had the same question on their minds: who was Lu Li?

Lu Li was so low-profile that no one had even heard of his name before. There were hundreds of thousands of players who had currently bought a game helmet, but no one knew who he was.

Only the few people who had seen him try to sell the Bronze grade equipment and Skill Book remembered him. As it turned out, that ordinary-looking Thief hadn't obtained all those pieces of equipment by pure luck.

There were so many Unions and elite groups in Dawn- if he didn't have some skill, how would he have been able to clear it, and not them?

Currently, it wasn't just Lu Li's team who were attempting Instance Dungeons.

In actuality, there were thousands of teams attempting the Elite level Instance Dungeon. Large unions in the top 10 unions, such as "Glory Capital", "Drizzle", "Blood-red War Flag", etc, had all send at least 10 teams to attempt the Instance Dungeons.

Many of them were able to defeat the first Boss, but the second Boss had far too many Guards. As such, they couldn't go according to the normal plans, but had to try again and again.

None of them had expected to hear that system announcement.

If it was another large union's elite team, that would have been acceptable. However, they had never heard of this guy before.

Very soon, this information was passed through private chats to high profile members of different unions.

"Northern Tang Dream isn't a surprise. I'm sure big sister Water Fairy is familiar with her." A female player wearing a white Priest robe read out the information while looking at her beautiful teammate who was squatting down and using her dagger to dissect a spider leg.

The woman was as beautiful as a goddess, and she didn't even look up as she gave a soft harrumph.

"It's only been a few days, but people have already started making a 'Beauty List'. It's expected for big sister Water Fairy to be on there, but why is Northern Tang Dream ranked higher than big sister?" Another teammate wondered out loud, surprised.

The female Thief didn't say anything, and put the dissected spider leg inside her bag. She then pointed her dagger towards the spider's poison sac. Her dissection of the spider made her cold demeanour feel even colder yet, causing everyone else to gulp in anxiousness.

"Drinking Alone and Northern Tang Kitty are also in the Grand Hegemony," The Priest continued to speak, "There isn't much information about Azure Sea Breeze, but was a little famous in Shadow Realm. There was a period of time where he sat at the top of the Player Level Rankings. He was probably an expert hired by the Grand Hegemony."

"What about Lu Li?" The female Thief carefully put away the poison sac, unable to hold herself back from asking.

"We don't know anything about him." The Priest bitterly smiled.

"I might know something, but I'm not sure if it's that person," One of the people in the team hesitantly said, "I saw a player called Lu Li selling things on the street before, and he was also a Thief like big sister."

"Speak!" The Thief addressed as "big sister Water Fairy" was expressionless. Her voice was very pleasant to the ears, but she spoke in short sentences.

None of the other players found this weird, though. This was one of the Drizzle Union's legendary players- Water Fairy. Not only was she on the 'Beauty Rankings', but if there was an Expert Ranking, she would definitely be on that as well.

"Last night, he was selling things at the Moon Shadow Valley. He had 2 Bronze grade equipment, as well as a Skill Book…" The player described the 3 things Lu Li were selling, causing everyone to breathe in sharply.

"There's actually this sort of skill book?" Water Fairy's face was full of disbelief. For someone who enjoyed fighting other players in games, she knew just how powerful this skill was.

Not only was it a Crowd Control skill with an AOE of 12 yards, but its duration of 8 seconds, was incredible. Currently, the longest Crowd Control skill was the Thief's 4 second Ambush. However, compared to this, Ambush was nothing. Of course, the advantage of Ambush was that after stunning their target, they could continue to attack them normally.

"That Thief should be part of the Star Moon Union," The person reporting looked a bit confused at this point, "But seeing how they interacted with each other, it seemed that he didn't have a good relationship with the people there. After all, he didn't choose people from the Star Moon Union to do the First Clear of the Instance Dungeon with him."

Although Water Fairy was a high profile member, she didn't care about the union's matters, and wasn't very interested about this.

Female tycoons were only interested in experts.

She was only interested in experts to buy good equipment, or to cut them down.

And now Lu Li had entered her field of vision.

Other unions were also investigating Lu Li, so they could pull him to their side, or to ask him for the strategy to clear the Spider Lair Instance Dungeon.

Currently, Lu Li was slowly advancing into the mine.

There were many mines in the forest, and this was one of them. There were many dog-headed people, called Cynocephali wandering around that ranged between LV8 to LV10. They sometimes dropped equipment, but they always dropped a lot of money. After a day or two, this place would become filled with people.

Lu Li didn't come here to earn money. It wasn't that he wasn't strong enough, but earning money this way was too inefficient. Moreover, if he faced off against more than 2 of them at once, he would be finished.

After using Stealth to wander around for a bit, Lu Li finally found the NPC he was looking for.

Explorer Tap, Moon Shadow Valley Guard, LV13, heavily injured.

"Greetings, my kinsman. There's something I need your help with." Tap got straight to the point, and issued out a quest.

It is worth mentioning that after leading his team to the First Clear of the Spider Lair, Lu Li gained a suffix to his name in the eyes of NPCs.

Lu Li the Spider Lair Pioneer. This was similar to a Title, but it didn't give him any bonus stats. However, when he had enough reputation, NPCs would start to take the initiative to offer him quests. Although Pioneer was a low-grade suffix, it was still a symbol of power.

"Of course, it would be my honour." Lu Li slightly bowed. He was much more familiar with etiquette than other players.

Tap nodded in satisfaction, took out a mask, and gave it to Lu Li, saying, "There are some strange noises in one of the mine tunnels. Please take a look for me."

System: You have received a quest, Check the Mine Tunnels… Quest Rank F, Quest Reward: 1 silver coin.

This was a very ordinary quest, and had the lowest Quest Rank. Although the Quest Reward was decent, it wasn't a fortune by any means.

There were many LV8 Cynocephali walking around, and Lu Li was only LV4.

The key lay in the mask in his hands.

Cynocephali Mask: This piece of equipment has mysterious illusion magic, causing the wearer to look like a Cynocephali.

Lu Li put on the mask, and instantly transformed into a Cynocephali soldier. He had a ferocious looking dog-head, a muscular body clothed in some tattered Leather Armour, and was holding a crude wooden club.

With this mask, Lu Li didn't even need to use Stealth anymore. Just like this, he walked past a small group of Cynocephali. They looked at him dumbly, but didn't react at all.

If there was anyone else present, they would have seen an incredibly independent Cynocephali swaggering into the mine tunnel.

All of the Cynocephali he passed by acted as if they hadn't even see him.

It was much darker inside the mine tunnel, and there were many Cynocephali working inside. However, there weren't as many as outside, and most of them were mining with pickaxes. Practically all of them were working separately.

Lu Li ignored them and went further into the tunnel.

The Great Thief

Chapter 18: Superior Quality Copper Ore

Lu Li wasn't here to kill Cynocephali.

Dawn's EXP system gave bonus EXP for killing monsters higher than the player's own level. When killing a monster than was 1 to 3 levels higher, a player would receive an extra 5% to 15%. However, when killing a monster that was more than 3 levels higher, the bonus would be set at 10%.

Moreover, when a monster was more than 3 levels higher than a player, damage dealt was greatly reduced, so it was almost impossible to even damage those monsters. As such, very few people tried to kill monsters that were more than 3 levels above their own level.

This was to prevent rich people from gaining too much of an advantage by hiring people.

After all, if a group of people attacked an incredibly high level monster and let the rich boss deal the final blow, the rich boss would be able to take 20% of the EXP. If the bonus was too high, this sort of method would be game-breaking.

The mine tunnel winded around, and was now very high. There were lots of rocks on the ground, mixed with mottled pieces of ore. These were all the lowest quality of ore, and were worth roughly 1 copper each.

They were also quite heavy, so Lu Li completely disregarded them.

After walking for a minute, his eyes lit up. There was a depression in one of the walls, and there seemed to be something rectangular hidden there.

Nearby, a Cynocephalus was striking the wall with his pickaxe. Every time it had hit the wall a few times, he would turn to look at the rectangular object, as though it were in a hurry.

Lu Li took a few steps back, took off the mask and used Stealth.

This Cynocephalus was LV9, and was a whole 5 levels higher than Lu Li. When Lu Li was close, it stopped striking the wall and looked around, trying to see what was making it feel uncomfortable.

Lu Li did his best to calm down his heart, and silently attacked.

Ambush successful!

He now had 4 seconds, to attack first.

Lu Li didn't use Shadowstrike, although it was his most used skill. It was no longer difficult for him to achieve a Skill Completion of 80%, giving him a 1 second stun. Instead, during those 4 seconds, he used normal attacks.

-6, -7, -6…

The damage he was dealing was simply pitiful. The current Lu Li not only had the Supreme One Ring, but also had 2 pieces of Steel grade equipment - his Armour and Bow, as well as 3 pieces of Bronze equipment, one of which was his dagger. With this sort of equipment, he should have been dealing at least double digits, but the gap of 5 levels was simply too vast.

However, this didn't mean that Lu Li wasn't able to kill this LV9 normal monster.

In less than a minute, Lu Li had killed the Cynocephalus.

The 300 EXP he received was nice, but he had also used a Basic Health Potion in the process.

When he finally retrieved the rectangular object, the Potion he had just used didn't seem like much anymore.

A treasure box!

There was a pile of coins inside. According to the system announcement, there were 43 silver coins in total.

Clearing an Elite level Instance Dungeon, not including the Boss, would yield about this much money. However, that money would be split among 5 people, so these 43 silver coins was quite a fortune for Lu Li.

Now, Lu Li had 60 or so silver coins.

In real life, this would be worth about $1,000.

Before, even working as a menial worker, he wouldn't be able to earn this much in a month.

Treasure boxes usually contained 2 items. Lu Li dug around, and found something that felt like a band.

It was a bracelet!

Lu Li was overjoyed. Bracelets were different to Bracers- anyone could equip Bracers, but only female players could wear Bracelets, which replaced Bracers.

Because they were exclusive to only some players, they were much more valuable!

As a gift, Bracers were much better than even Rings.

[Astromancer's Bracelet] (Bronze): Intelligence4, increases bag space by 6 spaces. Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 20/20.

Instantly, Lu Li felt as though a sea of coins was raining down on him.

In the Emporium, a bag with 6 bag spaces could be bought for 80 silver coins. Not only did this Bracelet increase bag space, it did not take up any of the 5 set bag slots that players had. It also gave a bonus 4 Intelligence, which people would go crazy over.

Priests, Magicians, Warlocks, Druids, Shamans… all professions that required Intelligence would want this piece of equipment.

What's more, this Bracelet looked incredibly beautiful. Astromancers were a specific type of Magician, and the reference to an 'Astromancer' was definitely referring to the High Astromancer Solarian. She was an upper-class Elf, and was a noble of nobles who loved beautiful and luxurious things.

The Bracelet evidently reflected this.

Although this piece of equipment was not worth as much as the Frost Nova Skill Book, if he met a tycoon who desperately wanted it he would be able to sell it for at least 5 gold coins.

Think about it: with your girlfriend or wife looking at you with a pleading look in her eyes, would you really be able to say no?

$60,000 in the real world seems like a lot of money, but I've lived this life before, and I won't walk a normal path. I'll definitely be able to earn that much in a week.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Lu Li continued on.

There was definitely more than 1 treasure box in this mine tunnel. In his 'past life', Lu Li had read a guide for levelling up the Thief skill Unlock. That guide had mentioned that there were many low grade treasure boxes here.

Not long after, he saw another treasure box.

In Lu Li's eyes, its crude and dusty exterior couldn't block the golden light it was radiating!

This treasure box only had Bronze grade equipment. One of them was a pair of Shoes for Magicians which gave 2 Intelligence. It wasn't too good or too bad.

The other piece of equipment was a Shield for Protection Warriors. Not only did it give a fair bit of Defence, it also gave 3 Constitution. Although it wasn't as good as the Bracelet, it was still worth a lot.

For a team to take down a Boss in an Instance Dungeon, the main tank's HP and Defence was one of the deciding factors.

"Lu Li, we've obtained a Jade Spider Web. Where are you right now? We'll take it over." Drinking Alone had sent him a voice message.

"Just send it over to me. I never thought that you would've cleared the Elite level Instance Dungeon again so quickly." Lu Li replied.

Anyone could mail things at inns. The delivery cost was 5 copper coins, which wasn't much.

"Eh, you turned off your Friend Function? Our boss asked me to thank you. If it wasn't for your guide, we wouldn't have known about the Buff from the brook, or how to take down the Boss at the end. Who knows when we finally could have cleared that Instance Dungeon!" Drinking Alone earnestly said.

"How many teams do you have doing the Instance Dungeon?" Lu Li asked.

"We have 10 in total. All of them are above LV4, but only 4 teams cleared the Instance Dungeon, and only 1 team found a Jade Spider Web. Its drop rate is way too low. Plus, the equipment they got were all quite average." Drinking Alone was worried that Lu Li might think that they had kept some for themselves, so he explained in detail.

"That's pretty normal. Keep working hard." Lu Li didn't continue to chat, and went back to looking for treasure boxes.

Lu Li soon found that there weren't as many treasure boxes as he had expected. After having a thorough look, he confirmed that there were only 3 in total.

3 treasure boxes with a refresh time of 24 hours. Only fools with heaps of time on their hands would use this method to level up their Unlock skill.

This was actually due to changes Lu Li was unaware about. What Lu Li was relying on was his experience from his 'past life'. However, many things had changed from the beginning of the game to when he had actually started playing. For example, in order to calm down the countless protesting Thieves, the company had, later on, increased the number of treasure boxes in many locations. Of course, the treasure boxes in those areas were quite mediocre.

The mine was one of those places.

The current mine only had 3 treasure boxes!

The third treasure box gave an average Bronze grade equipment, as well as a piece of Copper Ore. Its Quality was a whopping 86, and was graded to be "Superior Quality".

Minerals and ores had 4 levels of Quality: Normal, Good, Superior and Perfect.

Good Quality ores weren't that hard to come by, but Superior Quality ores and minerals completely depended on luck. If one was lucky, they could find one on their very first swing of a pickaxe. If they were unlucky, they might only find one after 2 years.

With this Superior Quality Copper ore, Lu Li suddenly formed a new plan. With this ore, he would be able to receive a good quest.

The Great Thief

Chapter 19: Sap

However, before going for that quest, he would complete the one he had right now.

Lu Li had already run around the entire mine tunnel, and had finished the quest given to him by Tap.

A few Cynocephali Magicians were gathered around an altar, calling their god.

That's right- their god!

The Cynocephali in Dawn were the lowest creatures, but they deeply believed that they were chosen by the greatest evil god- Saron.

The Cynocephali Magicians chanted as they made sacrifices, "O Great Saron, descend upon us with your immeasurable glory and destroy those arrogant Elves."

When he went back to Explorer Tap, Lu Li described the altar, completing his quest.

Lu Li originally wanted to delay completing the quest- that way, he would be able to use the mask for a few more days. However, it was a pity that the mask would be taken back at night, and Lu Li would receive a penalty of a reduction in reputation for not completing his quest.

Fortunately for Lu Li, players only started taking this sort of quest after they were LV8. To the LV4 Lu Li, 300 EXP was a tremendous amount.

He had risen to LV4 in the Instance Dungeon, and had received EXP from 2 Bosses. Adding on the EXP for clearing the Instance Dungeon, the bonus EXP for the First Clear, as well as the EXP from a LV8 quest, Lu Li's level shot to LV5.

LV5!

Currently, most players were still LV4, and only some exceptional players were LV5, or even LV6. Out of these people, the only one Lu Li knew was Azure Sea Breeze. Even if there were other levelling-freaks, they would be few in number.

In order to obtain the Supreme One Ring, Lu Li had spent quite a bit of time. He had also used a lot of time in clearing the Instance Dungeon, as well as travelling to this mine through the forest. Within the mine, he had spent more than 1 hour looking for treasure boxes. Out of these first 2 days, at least half the time he spent could be described as 'mucking around'.

And yet, Lu Li's level was still on par with that of other experts.

"Wait, my kinsman, I'm sure you can see that I'm heavily injured, and can't return to the Village." NPC Tap called out to Lu Li.

Lu Li's heart sank. Could it be that he had to take this injured Elf back to his village?

Escorting Quests were quite common in Dawn, and required players to protect a character or thing to their destination. Players would battle monsters the entire trip, and sometimes even NPCs.

And this place was filled with LV8 monsters.

The worst thing was that Escort Quests weren't easy to refuse. Once refused, the NPC would take it as the player abandoning them to die. This was particularly bad for Lu Li, since Explorer Tap was his kinsman- the drop to his reputation with Elves would be terrifying.

"Respected kinsman, can you please take this letter to the Moon Shadow Valley's Sentinel Captain Carolina?" It seemed that Explorer Tap had some intelligence, and was mercifully sparing Lu Li from death.

However, how the hell did he write a letter without Lu Li even noticing?!

By the time Lu Li returned to the Moon Shadow Valley, it was already late. Lu Li first headed over to the Profession Trainer.

A LV5 Thief and a LV4 Thief were worlds apart- this was because of the skill Double Dagger Proficiency.

Double Dagger Proficiency: When using 2 Daggers, Physical Attack Damage40%, Attack (Skill) Success Rate5%. Proficiency: 1/1000.

Although at low levels, Lu Li's offhand damage couldn't be maximised, an extra 40% wasn't too bad. Moreover, with normal attacks, 2 Daggers simultaneously attacking quickly could sometimes seem like an Attack Speed Bug.

The Double Dagger Proficiency skill not only drastically increased Thieves' Attack Power, but also had a hidden skill- Parry.

The offhand Dagger could be used to parry enemies' attacks. Even some Magic Attacks could be parried. If the Parry was successful, the damage received would be greatly reduced. Of course, parrying greatly relied on one's experience and battle sense.

Furthermore, there were 2 other skills that he could learn.

Sap: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 10 seconds. Incapacitates a target for a maximum of 20 seconds. Can only be used while Stealthed, and can only be used on a humanoid target not in combat. Any damage will cause the target to awaken. Only 1 target can be incapacitated at a time. Proficiency: 1/1000.

In the distant future, there would be a thread on the official forum dedicated to cursing the most disgusting skill in Dawn.

No one could protest against the Thief Skill 'Sap' hanging at the top of the Skill Rankings.

Imagine if you were doing a quest, and suddenly found that you couldn't move at all. Goddammit, is it possible to lag in a virtual game?!

Before you could realise what was happening, your HP would start to empty out.

It was also possible that the Lord Thief didn't want to kill you- but this depended on the Lord Thief's mood. Female players would often be harassed by this skill.

Of course, all the Thief would be able to do was look. They could look at breasts, butt, face, etc, but as soon as they touched, the system would allow the female player to retaliate.

And afterwards, you would appear back at the spawn point.

There was another skill that Lu Li could learn: Backstab.

Backstab: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 30 seconds. Stabs the target in the back, causes 150% of Equipment Damage. Must attack from behind the target, and the main hand must be equipped with a Dagger. Awards 1 combo point. Proficiency: 1/1000.

This skill's damage was not bad, but its Cooldown Time was quite long. Only Lu Li knew that although this Backstab skill seemed very ordinary, if he could obtain the Backhand Backstab and the Enhance Backstab Skill Books, this skill would become the Enhanced Backhand Backstab. Not only did it deal a huge amount of damage, but if its Skill Completion was high enough, it would also cause Paralysis.

After learning those skills, Lu Li planned to go and clear the 2 remaining LV4 and LV5 quests.

The Hunter Trainer had a "Pet Betrayal" Quest. Apparently one of his pets, a wolf, had escaped, and his request was for players to kill the wolf and bring back its head. The Quest Reward and EXP were all decent, and also gave 2 pieces of Pet Food which could increase Pet Loyalty. They could sell for 1 silver coin each, which was decent.

The other quest was a Collection quest, and required him to look for a plant called the "Silver Leaved Grass". This quest allowed players to learn the Herbalism Skill for free, and the Quest Reward was the Alchemy Skill. These skills were essential to Thieves.

Also, Lu Li still had the "Tap's Request" quest that he needed to complete. The Sentinel Captain Carolina wasn't stationed in the village; she was somewhere in the wilderness, so doing these 2 quests meant that he would also have a high chance of running into her.

The Collection quest was quite easy. Silver Leaved Grass was one of the most common herbs, and while looking for the escaped wolf, Lu Li quickly found 20 of them. However, he still couldn't find the Sentinel Captain.

A scream sounded out, and Lu Li instantly entered into Stealth and rushed over.

A gigantic black wolf was mauling a player, who quickly turned into a white light and flew off.

The face of the little girl next to him was completely pale, and she didn't even dare to move.

The Great Thief

Chapter 20: Kill Stealing

The escaped pet!

Seeing the target of his quest, Lu Li stared in shock for a few moments.

This thing was a bit too different from what he had seen in his 'past life'.

The wolf in front of him was gigantic and towering, whereas the one in his 'past life' had been the size of a small husky and didn't have much HP. This was the difference between a normal monster and an Elite grade monster.

However, he realised that this was normal- in order to allow players who had started later to catch up, the game company had reduced the difficulty of many of the quests. By the time Lu Li had joined the game, the escaped pet could easily be killed.

"Hey, do you want to form a party?" It would be difficult to fight by himself and there was no one else around, so Lu Li casually asked the girl in front of him.

"But, but my big brother's… dead," the little rabbit-like girl said with watery eyes.

"It's just a game; it's not like your brother's permanently dead. He'll be back soon." Lu Li sent over a party request. It was accepted by a player called "Lonesome Flower". The other player in the party, "March Rain", was evidently the little 'rabbit' in front of him.

Who would have thought that this scared little rabbit would be one of the members of the champion team of the 5v5 team fights in 2 years' time.

"Bro, wait for me, I'll be right there." Lonesome Flower was the player who was just killed.

A party of 3 people against an Elite grade monster wouldn't be too hard.

"Flower, you're a Magician, so start attacking at full power once I start attacking. March Rain, when I tell you to heal, make sure you heal immediately." After chatting for a bit, Lu Li started to give out orders.

"Don't call me Flower. If you have to shorten my name, at least call me Lonesome." The Magician sounded quite annoyed.

"Alright, Flower, get ready." Lu Li used Stealth and went to the back of the monster, and used Cheap Shot to stun it. He and Lonesome Flower began to rapidly attack it.

Lonesome Flower evidently hadn't cleared any Instance Dungeons before, or killed any Elites. He didn't have a single piece of Bronze grade equipment, and his damage was simply pitiful.

"I say, bro, what hack are you using?" Seeing that his skill damage couldn't even compare to Lu Li's normal attacks, Lonesome Flower couldn't stay calm.

"I'll tell you for 1 gold coin. Deal?"

"1… just 1 gold coin?" Lonesome Flower was quite disappointed. If Lu Li had wanted a higher price, he might have accepted. 1 gold coin was far too little for something so precious; Lu Li was definitely joking.

System: Backstab Skill Completion 65%, caused 72% Skill Damage.

Lu Li successfully used his new skill. However, it was not executed very well, so he only dealt about 20 or so damage.

Seeing his maxed out combo points, Lu Li could only inwardly sigh. Once a Thief reached LV5, they experienced profound changes. However, what truly made a Thief strong was their Ultimate Skill.

Ultimate Skills required combo points to use. Right now, if Lu Li had an Ultimate Skill, he would be able to insta-kill a Magician with Common grade equipment like Lonesome Flower. It wouldn't even require a Critical Hit.

"Heal me!" Lu Li commanded.

"But… but you're still at full health." March Rain felt quite confused.

Just as she spoke, she saw Lu Li's health being reduced by half, and she hurriedly healed him 3 times to return him back to full health.

Lu Li wasn't angry, and patiently explained, "Healing requires intuition and prediction. You need to predict when a Boss will attack, and start healing just as your target starts receiving damage. This wolf's attack damage isn't that high, and isn't very tricky to deal with. Otherwise, if it continuously attacked me twice, I would already be dead."

"No wonder you told me to heal when you were at full health. But how do I tell when the monster is going to use its skill?" March Rain seemed to really like her Priest Profession. Normally, she didn't dare to say much to Lu Li, but as soon as he mentioned skills for being a Priest, she instantly became excited.

"Normally, only Elite grade monsters or NPCs can use skills. These sort of characters have fairly good AI systems, so their movements, expressions and words all have meanings. For example, the giant wolf's howl was slightly longer than normal. That meant it was going to use a skill. Plus, the amount of HP it has left indicates that it's probably in its 'struggling' state.

"You know so much…" March Rain paused, "Even more than my big brother."

Lonesome Flower's face fell. Was this guy here to steal his little sister?

"Make sure you spend time and effort practicing. Healing takes a lot of skill, and will often determine the outcome of a battle."

March Rain had always been interested in being a Priest, but she had never felt that Priests were strong or important. However, upon hearing Lu Li say this, she felt a spring of hope well up inside her.

Lu Li didn't know how much of an impact his words had had on this little rabbit. Back then, she had joined at least half a year earlier than him, and for games, half a year was incredibly important.

"The escaped pet is over here. Big brother, come over quickly; it's about to be killed!" They suddenly heard a few players and soon saw them appear.

The giant wolf's HP had fallen to 20%, and neither Lonesome Flower nor March Rain had expected any other players to barge in. Their faces turned a bit pale.

"Flower, go and lead the giant wolf somewhere else. Go with your big brother, March Rain. I'll kill these guys first and then meet up with you." Lu Li retreated a few steps, and entered into Stealth. The Boss' aggro was instantly transferred onto Lonesome Flower.

"They haven't done anything though." March Rain said in a small voice.

"It's going to happen sooner or later." Lu Li said in the Party Chat, then stopped speaking.

The newcomers were a small party made up of a Priest, Warlock, Hunter, Magician and a Druid. From how much HP the Druid had, it seemed that he was the main tank.

Druids were Jacks of all Trades, and could play a variety of roles. The Bear Transformation could greatly reduce damage taken, which helped in tanking.

The group of people came over while sniggering. They didn't view Lu Li's party as a threat at all. Seeing Lu Li enter into Stealth, the Magician commanded the Druid and Hunter to gather around the Priest to protect him.

As long as the Priest didn't die, he could continuously heal back the damage the Thief dealt, reducing Lu Li to an insignificant threat.

However, just as they got into position, the Magician found that there was something wrong with the Warlock next to him.

His eyes were clouded, and was slightly swaying, as if someone had smashed his head with a stick.

Sap!

The Magician immediately prepared to release a Blizzard around himself and the Warlock. AOE skills were incredibly effective in forcing Thieves out of hiding.

Blizzard was an Instant Cast skill, and only required a hand gesture. It was fast and easy to activate.

This Magician had pretty good reactions, and had good judgement. It was a pity that he had run into Lu Li. Just as he started to raise his Staff, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.

Swish swish swish…

-67, -82, -74… a chain of terrifying numbers quickly arose. By the time the Hunter had pulled out an arrow, the Magician was already dead.

Lu Li had 2 pieces of Steel grade equipment and 3 pieces of Bronze grade equipment. The Magician only had a single ordinary piece of Bronze grade equipment. Not only was there a great gap between their equipment, Lu Li was also 1 level higher than him. Lu Li had finished him off with just 5 normal attacks.

After the Magician fell, Lu Li sprang towards the Warlock, who was still incapacitated.

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 89%, caused 112% Skill Damage, target stunned for 2 seconds!

The Great Thief

Chapter 21: Massacre

After only a Shadowstrike, the poor Warlock was already at half HP, in addition to being stunned. After 2 normal attacks, the Warlock followed the fate of the Magician before he could even summon a small demon.

The party's priest had raised his Magic Staff twice, but still hadn't cast a single skill.

His expression was pale, what kind of Thief was this? Both of his friends were already level 4, and they didn't even stand a chance against him.

The party of 5 watched as 2 of them fell. There was only the Druid, Hunter and Priest remaining.

The Druid as the Main Tank put all his points into Constitution for the sake of survival, so his attacks were pitiful. The Hunter had no pets and he hadn't reached level 5 yet. As such, he didn't have Bow Proficiency so his attack speed was greatly inhibited. As for the Priest, would you expect him to use his Magic Staff to beat someone to death?

"Big brother, this is a misunderstanding" The priest called out: "We were only passing by"

Lu Li completely disregarded him, picking up the Common Equipment that the Warlock dropped and slowly disappearing.

With his opponent going invisible, this told him that Lu Li had no intention of sparing anyone.

The Priest's face darkened and called out: "We are all part of the Imperial Secret Service, please examine us objectively and don't mess with people you don't know…"

The Imperial Secret Service sounded funny, but those who ran into these people would be unable to laugh. Their union was great in number and they all enjoyed PVP, so being targeted by them would be very troublesome.

Lu Li tightened the grip on his dagger and took a deep breath.

So it was them!

The Imperial Secret Service!

The dagger flashed before the Hunter's neck released a spray of blood.

The Druid let out a roar and started charging towards Lu Li, but Lu Li circled around the Hunter to dodge and go back into hiding.

This time, the Priest had finally found a good opportunity.

Hunter: 35, -62, the heal wasn't as much as the damage taken. Who says that having a Priest means you'll never die? In the face of all these skills and equipment, anything could happen.

In close range, the Hunter could only use melee weapons or engage in hand to hand combat with Lu Li. The Druid on the other hand, who busying circling the Hunter to chase Lu Li, couldn't find a way to engage him.

After the 6th hit, he had only managed to achieve 50% on Backstab's Skill Completion. But it was still more than the Hunter could bear, and he yelled as he fell onto the ground.

"Run!" The Priest despaired and turned around to escape.

Lu Li sprinted forwards; he was behind the Druid and he used both daggers to repeatedly attack the back of his head. 3 down 2 to go, and after attacking the Druid to death, he moved onto the Priest. He could only Heal and had short legs, so there was no way he was going to make it far. Lu Li quickly ended the fight with the use of his 2 daggers.

Now that he had cleared out the area, he continued fighting the Giant Wolf.

"They were from the Imperial Secret Service and you didn't give them any dignity." Lonesome Flower sighed; she had only been in the game for 2 days but she knew that messing with the Imperial Secret Service was a bad idea.

"Yeah I killed people from the Imperial Secret Service." Lu Li's eyes were a little bloodshot. There seemed to be a glint on the dagger in his hands and he obviously was affected.

In the previous life, he had many unions hunting him, one of which were the Imperial Secret Service. For the sake of raising money to treat his sister's illness, he asked a friend to be a middle-man to apologise to a high level Imperial Secret Service member. He apologised and even promised to do the same on a public forum, but he never thought that the Imperial Secret Service member would agree and then later set up an ambush to kill him once.

Until this day, he still hadn't understood how he offended this Union, and would take that question to the grave.

In terms of who he hated, the Gangnam Royals were first and the Imperial Secret Service was definitely second.

What those unfortunate eggheads didn't know, was that once they spoke the words Imperial Secret Service, they had sealed their fates. As long as a person was part of the Imperial Secret Service, Lu Li was determined to immediately kill them.

In this life, this was one of the reasons he chose to play Thief.

The Thief was not the strongest in PVP, but in terms of mobility, or quickly eliminating someone, he was unrivaled.

The escaped Giant Wolf didn't have much HP left and after short flurry of attacks, it cried out before falling onto the ground.

The wild Elite Monster didn't drop things that were as good as the Elite Instance Dungeon, but he was lucky. It dropped a Bronze equip, and three "Head of escaped Pet".

Obviously within the game, it was impossible for the players to take out a knife an actually decapitate the wolf.

"We just need to take the quest item, we don't want the equipment" March Rain timidly said. He didn't even dare look at Lu Li and was completely scared, not knowing if he was going to have nightmares about him.

"This is a Priest item, you can have it." Lu Li picked up the items and lightly said: "PVP is a very normal thing in the game. Go quickly, there's going to be many Imperial Secret Service members here soon. You didn't enter a war so they won't be able to find you."

"I still need to find an NPC for a quest" Lu Li said.

"What kind of NPC? We've explored this nearby area, and we're quite familiar with it" March Rain didn't dare participate in PVP, but he didn't want to just leave, instead looking for other ways to help out.

"Moon Shadow Valley's Sentinel Captain Carolina" Lu Li responded.

"Carolina? We've seen her before, she was by the small river saddled on a horse. If you walk west along the main road, you should be able to catch up to her. "

"Let's add each other as friends, we can play together later if we're free." Lu Li put the Quest Item in his bag and slowly escaped back into the shadows.

"Goodbye Big brother Lu Li" March Rain bit his lip, and made a fist: "Next time we will definitely be stronger, we won't hold you back."

"Okay, if you want to be stronger, next time, I can take you to an Instance Dungeon" Lu Li's voice sounded from afar, slowly dissipating.

The breeze ruffled the grass, undoing the footsteps that he left behind. The yellow flowers in the grass waved in the wind and you couldn't tell that someone had walked through this area.

"Oh" Lonesome Flower pat her thigh: "Speaking of Instance Dungeons, was brother Lu Li the one who got the first clear on the Spider Lair? It had to be him: his equipment was so good and his technique seemed too strong."

With such a big gap in skill, March Rain's eyes darkened but quickly lightened up again: "I will definitely learn to play the Priest well; I want to be Dawn's number 1 Priest!"

Occasionally you could see Silver Leaved Grass by the side of the road, but Lu Li didn't stop to pick them. He quickly moved while invisible, wanting to find the NPC quickly and hand over the letter. Then he could return to kill those Imperial Secret Service members who were doing their job.

His equipment was good, but that didn't mean that he was immortal. As long as the party was ready for battle, it was possible that he would be affected by crowd control until his death.

However, as Lu Li understood better than anyone: becoming an expert comes only from killing others. In Dawn, PVP accounted for a large proportion of gameplay. It taught skills that could not be learnt by merely training with the NPC.

Carolina was riding a white leopard, leisurely walking along the road. There were a few players following behind her.

Carolina was a famous Demon woman; her stature was fantastic and she only wore enough clothes to cover the important parts. There were many perverted people here who would just follow her all day, not doing anything else.

Of course, her beauty was one thing, but her temper was considered bad.

Those who gathered in front of her were killed instantly and their deaths cost double exp.

"Your excellency, I have brought news from Tap" Lu Li revealed himself in front of Carolina with a hand on his chest. Her expression was solemn as he performed this act of courtesy. In the face of a superior demon, politeness would only serve as an advantage.

"Oh, so it's a Thief. It has been a few days since I have seen Tap, how is he?" Under the gaze of numerous players, Carolina not only did not instantly kill this person obstructing the road, but instead sat up from her saddle and spoke with a delightful voice.

The Great Thief

Chapter 22: Kills In Ten Steps

"I'm very sorry to have to tell you; my kinsman has found himself in trouble and has sent me to deliver this letter." Lu Li took out the letter Tap gave him, using the game function to organise his sentences.

In the previous life, there were countless experts who wrote guides which all basically said: Interacting with an NPC in this way is the best way to garner approval, thus resulting in more quest clues and bigger quest rewards.

For example, if an NPC had a piece of Steel equipment and Silver equipment in hand, both could potentially be quest rewards.

To them, they would be equally worthless, but to the players, these two items were significantly more valuable.

Carolina's gaze only stayed on Lu Li's hand for a moment before she started to open the letter.

"I'm surprised those low life Cynocephali could hurt Tap; it looks like the Sacrificial Altar in the mines could summon something else. Thief, are you willing to help me?"

"Esteemed Carolina, your wish is my command," Lu Li said without hesitation, though he knew this could be troublesome.

Other people might have thought that Carolina was just a Sentinel Captain and a beauty of the Night Elves, thus not issuing any good quests. Lu Li knew better because of his rebirth.

In two years' time, a band of Orcs would enter the Whispering Forest with the intention of invading Darnassus, but on the way there they would run into the sentry team of the Moon Shadow Valley.

This was a team of three that could vanish with the wave of a hand. Together they almost destroyed the entire Orc band.

Carolina had summoned a Moon God!

Moon God Elune, was one of the Gods that the Night Elves believe in. There were many Gods that appeared in Dawn, but a large majority of them were demigods or demons. There were only a handful of real Gods like Elune.

If it weren't for the fact that Elune never killed, there wouldn't be a single Orc that would have left the Whispering Forest.

Speaking of which, the Supreme One Ring on Lu Li was actually forged by the Moon God's son, Cenarius - a demigod with supernatural power.

Some people say that Carolina was actually Tyrande Whisperwind- the Night Elves' great leader and wife of Malfurion, a strong Druid. However, this has never been officially confirmed.

Carolina smiled at Lu Li as she said: "My subordinate is stuck in a dangerous situation, but I have a quest that I need to complete so I am unable to save him. Can you go and bring him back?"

System: Accept Quest: A female Priest's request: go to the Cynocephali mine and escort Explorer Tap back to Moon Shadow Valley. Time Limit: 24 hours. Reward: Unknown.

As expected, Lu Li bowed without hesitation: "Moon God on high, Esteemed Female Priest, as an Elf I will pursue this wholeheartedly!"

This quest was going to be difficult because Lu Li was only level 5, but needed to fight level 8 monsters. In addition, he would need to get through a forest that was densely packed with monsters.

However, this wasn't the end of the road. It was not an Instance Dungeon, so he could ask for others to help him.

"@#*!@!..." Carolina said something in Elven that was incomprehensible to Lu Li before mysteriously leaving.

Lu Li respectfully took two steps backwards, before fading out of sight.

Where he was standing was now covered in arrows and signs of magic.

The formalities took so long that members of the Imperial Secret Service had received news that he was with Carolina.

When Carolina was there, no one dared to do anything, but once she left, no one could wait any longer.

The dozens of members of the Imperial Secret Service immediately attacked, but Lu Li also immediately withdrew. To stave off evil required constant vigilance; if he was 2 or 3 seconds late he would have been killed.

In the previous life he didn't play as a Thief, but he experienced a lot of PVP, so this ability to hide and escape was one that was very convenient to have.

"Everyone spread out and search, but be careful. The moment he shows his face begin attacking" The commander directed his subordinates, while also loudly exclaiming to the surrounding players: "The Imperial Secret Service is performing its duties. Those who don't want to die, leave the area immediately"

"Crazy, thinking you're so great," Soy Sauce Party scolded, but only loud enough for the 2 to 3 people near him to hear.

"Don't mumble, and quickly get out of here. The Imperial Secret Service are the most unreasonable. If we aren't careful they might attack us."

"I don't even know how the Thief from before offended these people, but it doesn't look good at all." Most people who were watching joked about it; only some people were sympathetic with Lu Li.

"With so many people searching, they'll find him sooner or later" a busybody said. "I bet this Thief won't last more than 5 minutes"

"Rubbish. If you want to bet on something, bet how long it'll be before he gets killed," another busybody said, rummaging around for a copper coin to gamble with.

Nobody thought that Lu Li could run away, let alone kill anyone.

On the other side, the Imperial Secret Service had over 20 members present, all wielding weapons. They were densely packed and swinging all over the place, hoping to flush out Lu Li from hiding.

After 2 minutes, when the Imperial Secret Service players were about to lose their patience, a miserable cry came from behind a tree.

Several nearby Imperial Secret Service members rushed over, but all they saw was a corpse that was disintegrating into data.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, trying cast some area of effect spells, but to no avail.

"Look, on that side!" Soy Sauce Party who was nearby called out, pointing in the direction for his friend.

His companion saw where he was pointing, and saw a Warlock player with his head low, completely still. Behind him was a Thief wielding his dagger; there was a spray of blood and in one burst the Warlock was killed.

The entire process took less than 10 seconds!

But this the 10 seconds was enough for the Imperial Secret Service players to discover where Lu Li was.

Seeing a Thief rush at him, he smiled before rushing towards him as well.

The Stealth skill was on cooldown, so both Thieves directly confronted each other. Neither of them cast Stealth.

System: Successful parry, damage caused is reduced by 50%!

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 81%, causing 92% damage, target will be stunned for 1 second.

When the skill had been cast, the dagger was put back into its sheath. As it was sheathed, a bloodstain appeared on the back of the other Thief. Before he could even draw, Lu Li had turned and plunged the dagger into him.

During the stun duration, Lu Li performed 3 normal attacks. When the other Thief finally came to, he could only feel the coldness in his throat before falling to the ground.

Lu Li picked up some equipment that fell on the ground while the person underfoot disappeared. Before he even stood up, he had faded away once again.

The viewers around who were whooping were now speechless, with shocked expressions on their faces. Most of them were staring at the body of the Thief who was taken down in one shot as it faded into light, returning to the spawn point.

They were the same occupation; was the disparity between a master and an ordinary player so large?

The shock was unexplainable.

They all knew that masters would be very strong, but they had never seen one battle in person.

The uniformed commander of the Imperial Secret Service roared: "Mages, spread out and cast Blizzard. Warlocks cast Charm. Those who have the Charge skill don't save it. All Thieves go into Stealth and wait for an opportunity"

After several minutes, the members of the Imperial Secret Service hadn't done or said anything and the viewers surrounding were getting impatient.

Could the Thief have secretly run away?

The Great Thief

Chapter 23: Tutorial

Even if Lu Li had secretly escaped, no one would blame him.

In Dawn, the specialties of the Thief occupation was hotly debated, but most people would concede that these dishonorable moves were definitely one of them.

Kills in ten steps and travels great distance with ease!

The former describes the burst potential of a Thief while the latter describes a Thief's mobility.

"Come out if you're worth anything!"

"This hiding business takes no skill, come out and fight…"

"Go home to your mother, stop pretending to be Sun Tzu!"

The Imperial Secret Service members were clamoring, but neither Lu Li nor the surrounding players paid attention to them.

After a good few minutes, the Thief still hadn't shown his face.

Some people thought that he had already left, and yet some were still here foolishly searching.

They may as well have used this time to go and surround Carolina once again.

The surrounding players were watching and laughing as they slowly left, as the Imperial Secret Service members continued with shame and resentment. They didn't have a choice in all this; they wanted to train instead of wasting time too, but this was a greater priority.

"Let's return; this one person isn't worth the trouble. We'll wait for another opportunity to take him," the commander ordered, but politely this time.

There were 30-40 members of the Imperial Secret Service that turned up so quickly. Even with this many people, they weren't able to drive Lu Li into a corner and had instead turned into a laughing stock. No one wanted to continue this futile effort, and upon hearing the instruction, they started to take out their Hearthstones and activate them.

The activation time for the Hearthstone was 15 seconds with a cooldown of 30 minutes. It allowed the players to return to their designated village or city.

While the Hearthstone was being cast, light is shone around the user to signal their return.

The commander watched the changing sight before him as he teleported and in his vision, buildings materialized before the trees of Moon Shadow Valley. After relaxing, he found himself tired, letting out a sigh. This was truly a failed task.

Hearing that his members had been killed by the same person who got the first clear in an Instance Dungeon, he immediately set out to take revenge, hoping to also gain some respect from the players in the area. This had backfired badly, and now the reputation of the Union had been destroyed.

The members of the Imperial Secret Service didn't stand a chance against the guy who took the first clear of an Instance Dungeon!

If he was able to take the first clear, he must have received good equipment. He also must have cleared the dungeon a few more times after that.

Who thought that they would find themselves in this kind of situation?

As he was muttering these reasons for his defeat to himself, a cry could be heard from his members.

"It's that Thief, he hasn't left!"

"Help, I can't move!"

"Dammit, my return port was disrupted. Everyone don't return yet, quickly come and help!"

There were 3 people; one was hit by Sap, another by Cheap Shot and the last was kicked, so all of their return ports were disrupted. The others had started their ports so early that they had all returned to Moon Shadow Valley.

What is this!

How can you play like this?

The return point was densely packed with members of the Imperial Secret Service. In such a small space, this was enough to display their strength, causing ordinary players to keep their distance.

But today, there was a chill in the air around them.

Until now, there were members who were arrogant about their ability, even though they hadn't done anything. Numerous members had this mentality, however, now that they had faced that Thief, they were too ashamed call themselves experts.

He was the real expert.

He first killed an entire party, and then, under the noses of dozens of other members, he had butchered another three!

Can we not play with you anymore?

Nope!

They had to ask the expert whether they could leave!

Lu Li kept 3 Mages behind. He didn't need to manage the ones that had been hit by Sap or Cheap Shot because of the stun. The one he was facing was the most important; he needed to finish the fight in 20 seconds before the other player returned from the effects of Sap.

Mages learned a teleportation skill at level 10 called 'Flash'. Before they cast it, their movement would be significantly reduced. If someone were to come into close range, they would have no hope of escaping. Their only option was to keep at it.

What Lu Li found was strange was that the target that he was attacking right now was not only in a complete mess, but didn't know how to retaliate at all.

Lu Li didn't know how strange what he had done to the other player was. After disrupting his port and immediately attacking his face, he had no idea how to respond.

After 6 seconds, the second player who used Ice Arrows woke up. Lu Li had already dealt with the first Mage.

The Ice Arrows hit Lu Li's body, exploding into shards of ice and dealing 35 damage. It also applied a 20% movement speed debuff (it was a debuff spell, the opposite of a buff).

This didn't matter, as Lu Li was already close by and could easily approach the Mage. He stabbed the opponent in the stomach like a viper and immediately pulled back. Lu Li then disappeared as he tumbled and reappeared behind him, casting Shadowstrike!

The other player had just finished loading the next Ice Arrow when Lu Li had disappeared from view. He then felt like he had been stabbed, which interrupted his skill and stunned him.

This Mage that had been stunned was not bad; the moment he recovered from the stun he knew exactly what he needed to do and immediately began his attack when the opportunity presented itself. It was too bad that his opponent was Lu Li. It was as if his mind was read, and when he quickly turned around after he recovered, Lu Li was already behind him again.

With your back to a Thief, this was one of the most brainless ways to die!

Immediately after Lu Li had killed his target, he immediately entered Stealth.

The last player that woke up was nervous, brandishing his Magic Staff and calling out: "Don't come over here, don't come here…"

After a few seconds, a light shone behind him and the Cheap Shot skill was successfully cast. He was stunned for 4 seconds!

The result had already been determined/ Lu Li quickly dealt with this kid who was scared out of his wits and picked up the items that were dropped before fading into the shadows…

This time he really left.

It sounded like this all happened over a while, but the process of Lu Li interrupting their return ports and killing them actually occurred in under a minute.

In the return point, the three unlucky kids appeared. Their faces were sullen and restless.

The others were completely silent; no one made a sound in that return area.

The commander looked at everyone and shook his head as he said: "Forget about today, everyone should go back to training. If you see this Thief then run away and wait for a later opportunity. However, we should all pay extra effort to gather more information about him."

The morale of the troops was lost, so any further attempts would only be humiliating.

"Boss, quickly check the forums!" Just as he was about to tell them to disperse, someone called out.

In Dawn, you could directly access the game forums. You only needed to instruct the interface and it would appear before your eyes on screen.

The hottest post currently on the forums, with a hit rate increasing at over 1000 per second read:

Moon Shadow Valley God level Thief, tutorial included!

The Great Thief

Chapter 24: Enchantment

A PVP incident had occurred today at Moon Shadow Valley, which was fairly common. But what the original poster of the forum post saw was absolutely extraordinary!

The poster and a few other enthusiasts were gathered, watching the beautiful NPC, Carolina. Suddenly, their surroundings were filled with 41 members of the Imperial Secret Service, all with the intention of getting rid of some nameless Thief. It was 1 v 41, and in plain view of everyone there, the Thief managed to kill 3 people while taking less than 100 damage himself before escaping…

The original poster saw this with his own eyes and was shocked; his hands were still shaking as he made the post.

The original poster was actually recording Carolina at the time, and so was fortunate enough to record the whole scene.

He said that this Thief was godlike, and every move he made was worth studying.

There was link that followed, and when you opened it, it would play the scene before the members of the Imperial Secret Service ported home.

The video had only been up for a few seconds, but comments were already appearing.

1: Jade Flower Lover – As someone who is a professional gamer part of the 'MLG', seeing this gives me the chills. Did this guy edit the video so it looks like this?

2: Painted Feathers – SECOND!!!!

3: Roman Vanguard – The Great Qin Empire Union are hiring. If you are the brother who is in the video, please add me as a friend. The yearly salary is greater than that of elders in a big company and our union consists of people who are strong and ruthless. Together we will dominate Dawn!

4: Midnight Melody – The Imperial Secret Service got smashed, woo hooo!

…

68: Water Fairy – To the one in the video, do you want to meet up somewhere to PVP?

…

71: Storm Warrior – To the 68th comment, Water Fairy, you are beautiful and I love you!

72: Interstellar boy – I have a car, room and all sorts of household appliances. My bank balance exceeds 8 figures. Please be my girlfriend Water Fairy!

73: Old man next door – How many PVPs does Water Fairy want to participate in, 3 or 4? Count me in…

…

320: Amusing Funeral – The original poster's video is incomplete, it gets even better at the end. Please see my post: The wretched way is king, the ultimate path of the Thief!

The lower the comments, the crazier they became, but there were still numerous people who could see the value of this Thief, including renowned Thieves such as "Midnight Ghost", "Blood Dagger" and "Song of Sorrow". They all praised Lu Li's technique and positioning, and each one held it to high esteem. But the top Fairy Thief, Water Fairy, in asking for a battle caused discussion to ignite in this forum.

The Imperial Secret Service then became an example of what not to do, and for a long time, their members had to keep their heads down when facing other players.

As Lu Li's appearance was brief, while the video was taken from afar, no one could clearly see his name and so for a long time they just called him 'nameless'.

Lu Li didn't know about any of this, and after he left, he went straight to the Moon Shadow Village.

He was afraid that he was being followed, so he stayed in stealth. He only revealed himself when he had entered the Dwarf's blacksmith.

"You sneaky Thief, are you here to steal something?" the Dwarf's blacksmith could be found commonly in the game: after all, Dwarves forge the highest quality metals. However, in this kind of place like the Moon Shadow Valley, only Qum's Blacksmith could be found.

The other blacksmiths in Moon Shadow Valley were all managed completely by elves.

"Master Qum, you misunderstand." Lu Li took a step forward and saluted the Dwarf.

"Humph, Elf hypocrite, there's nothing for you here." There were large swords and shields hanging on the walls of the blacksmith; he wasn't lying.

"I heard you've reached some troubles in your research, so I specifically went and looked for a piece of Superior Quality Copper for you." Lu Li turned his wrist and pulled out the Superior Quality Copper Ore from the mines, placing it gently on Qum's workstation.

"Superior Quality Copper ore?" Qum chuckled with disdain: "How can the deserted Whispering Forest produce a Superior Quality Copper ore? Ever since I was sent to this damned place, I haven't seen any high quality ores."

Although his mouth spoke with spite, his hand still reached out and picked up the ash covered copper piece.

"Well" Qum was surprised as he felt it, hastily picking up his magnifying glass to study it.

"Quality 86, it's pretty good even for a Superior Quality Copper Ore" Lu Li said.

"You have a good eye…" the Dwarf gripped the copper ore tightly, clearly satisfied.

This wasn't true though, as the system directly told the player the grade of the ore. No visual observation was required of the players, but he obviously didn't tell the NPC that. Lu Li smiled as he took out a dagger from his backpack. "Master, you can keep the ore. All you need to do is enchant this weapon of mine."

Enchantment, involved using magic to attach an effect to a weapon, helmet or other equipment, either temporarily or permanently.

Lu Li did not know whether Qum from the Moon Shadow Valley was an Enchanter, but according to the guide he knew, Qum was the only one willing to undertake tasks for the player.

"What a surprise, you know about enchantments?" Qum asked.

"It is a great art, graciously given by the Gods," Lu Li patiently flattered. In fact, the current players hadn't even heard of enchanting. The life occupations that were officially listed only included Forger, Potion Crafter, Tailor and Forager (picking medicinal herbs, mining or hunting for skins).

Others such as Enchanter, Jeweler, Scribe, Builder and Cook would only appear in the next update of the game.

When the players reached a big city, they would come into contact with an Enchanter. With a ridiculously high price, they could add an attribute to a piece of equipment. This could make a small or big difference and could also be good or bad.

Lu Li's flattering made Qum feel more comfortable; the Elf before him didn't seem so bad. He picked up the dagger and flicked the blade with his finger: "Crafted by Elves, looks good but functionally useless."

Broodmother's Kiss (Bronze): Damage 8-15, Agility 2, Equipment Requirement LV3, Durability 18/18.

This bronze weapon wasn't too bad; it was a weapon that could be used when you were level 3, but was nothing compared to what the Dwarves could produce. Lu Li didn't really address the criticism, just smiling with embarrassment: "Master Qum, can you give it a new life?"

"Of course, I'm not only a Dwarven Blacksmith." Qum was also a special Enchanter.

"Khaz'Goroth on High, your generosity is to be admired." Lu Li bowed in gratitude, successfully enticing the Dwarf to take on the job.

Dwarves place great importance on their image, and as he had already been praised in addition to being given the ore, it wasn't too difficult for him to accept the request.

After taking out a few odd pieces from behind his workstation and laying them in a certain order around the dagger, both of Qum's hands emitted a colored light, the outline of his fingers flickering. Symbols then appeared and flew towards the dagger without entering it.

After a while, Qum sighed with relief and returned the dagger to Lu Li: "The original material isn't too great. This is best I can do."

Broodmother's Kiss (Steel): Damage 10-22, Agility 4, Special Effect: Target will be poisoned if they are hit, dealing 20 damage per second, lasting for 5 seconds. Equipment Requirement LV5, Durability 30/30.

Woah, in the blink of an eye the sparrow had become a phoenix; the Bronze equipment became Steel. If this was considered bad, what kind of Enchanter was? Lu Li had never heard of enchanting that changed the rank of an item.

Lu Li was completely filled with gratitude this time: "Master Qum, this is the best dagger I've ever seen. The greatness of your enchantment is amazing."

The Great Thief

Chapter 25: Aegwynn's Tome

"The art of Enchanting has been on the decline," the old Dwarf said dejectedly, as if Lu Li's words caused him to remember something sad.

"No way, there are lots of people who know about Enchanting. There'll be more and more Enchanters in the future. Don't worry maestro, you won't be lonely," Lu Li said.

"Those Enchanters," Qum said as he shook his head, "They have blasphemed Enchanting, and blasphemed our Ancestors."

Lu Li had no idea what Qum was saying. In his 'past life', he liked to read guides, but none of them could explain this Dwarf's inexplicable words. However, his experience in games told him that this was an opportunity!

"Maestro, I can't quite understand what you're saying. I am but a young Elf, and do not know much."

Perhaps it was because Qum had been holding all of this within him for so long, and upon seeing Lu Li's respectful attitude, he replied, "The history of Enchanting started with a Magician in the ancient times, and has been developed for tens of thousands of years… modern Magicians strive for efficiency, and try to minimise materials used while maximising their effects. But they're wrong. As the quality of materials go down, Enchanting will become more and more worthless…"

"The glory of Enchanting has been instead covered with dust and dirt. What a pity." Lu Li didn't really know what to say in response.

In the olden times, the materials used for Enchanting were far too valuable, so Enchanting was a very limited discipline. As time passed, Magicians researched how to use lower grade materials or less materials, causing Enchanting to become more widespread and popular.

There were advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but to Qum, those modern Magicians had ruined Enchanting.

Young Elf, thank you for listening to my story. When one grows old, it's hard to see from a new perspective." Qum was indeed quite old. Although Dwarves had quite a long lifespan, even they were not immortal.

"It was my honour. You are a great and respectable Enchanter." Lu Li sincerely said.

Even in his 'past life', Lu Li had never even heard of an Enchanter being able to raise an equipment's grade simply by Enchanting.

"The river of time has washed away the past; I wonder how many Enchanters there are who also stick to the olden ways. Elf, are you willing to follow my path and continue walking down it for me?" The Dwarf's eyes were filled with a slight look of helplessness and hope. Lu Li wasn't someone he was extremely satisfied in, but there were no other options available to him.

Who would have thought that things would have turned out like this? Lu Li came here simply to Enchant his Dagger, but now he had been presented with a rare opportunity.

A rare Trade Skill!

If he said no, he would definitely be a fool. Of course he was extremely willing! "That would be my honour. I am willing to devote my life to this path."

This seemed to move the old Dwarf and the last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanished. Qum limped into one of the inner rooms of the smith. When he came back, he was holding an incredibly thick and ancient-looking book.

"A Lord Magician gave this Enchanting book to my ancestor, and it was passed down to me. Now, I will pass it to you, Elf. I hope that you will take good care of it." He passed the ancient book to Lu Li and instantly looked like the burden on his shoulders had been greatly eased.

System: You have received Aegywnn's Tome (Special). With this book, you can learn the ancient discipline of Enchanting.

The book was very old, but it was not torn or missing any pages. The title page was quite plain, and there was a small string of words in the bottom right corner.

My life belongs to myself, and I make all my decisions willingly and freely. I have never been controlled by anyone; not even gods can do so! I lower my head to others out of respect and admiration, but never out of subservience! – Magna Aegwynn.

What a domineering quote!

Aegywnn… Aegwynn… Lu Li's mind was blown.

He had guessed that it was some grandmaster who wrote this Enchanting book, but he never would have thought that it was actually Aegwynn.

Aegywnn was called the most powerful Magician and was the Guardian of Tirisfal. She had protected this continent by killing monsters and demons. Together with the Blue Dragonflight, she defeated the strongest Boss in Dawn- the Dark Titan Sargeras, who was described to be the source of all evil. She then sealed his corpse under the Abyss.

Within the players' hearts, this female Magician was the pinnacle of all existence.

Grand and majestic!

However, Aegywnn decided that she did not want to continue being controlled by the Tirisfal Council and wanted to pass on her power to alter generations. As such, she chose a man- Nielas Aran, the genius court Conjurer. They gave birth to an even greater son- Medivh!

This Aegywnn's Tome didn't have any stats, and apart from Enchanting offered nothing else. Nevertheless, it was worthy of its name.

Of course, when Lu Li opened this Enchanting book, what he saw was not only powerful Enchanting formulae, but also lists of required materials that shocked him. He completely understood why the ancient ways of Enchanting had been abandoned.

It was a pity that he was not a Magician- if he was, he could have maximised the potential of this incredible book.

Who would have thought that the Novice Village in the Moon Shadow Valley held so many secrets.

In actuality, there were many secrets hidden in Dawn. Every race had powerful heroes who had left behind secrets to be found in various villages.

Lu Li knew that he did not have much of a lead on other people, and that there were definitely other players who also had incredible equipment and items.

However, he knew more than others, and put in more effort!

After saying goodbye to the Dwarf Qum, Lu Li left the smith and handed in the Collection quest for the Silver Leaved Grass.

As expected, the reward was the Alchemy Skill. This skill was important for any player, and especially essential for any solo Thief.

This was because Alchemy had a branch called Poisons. This allowed players to create poisons which could be applied on Daggers, causing them to deal extra damage. Some poisons could even apply Debuffs, such as lowering Movement Speed, Paralysing the enemy, lowering the effect of healing, etc.

From morning until night, Lu Li had been online for over 12 hours. He hadn't eaten or rested, and was completely worn out.

After learning the Alchemy skill, Lu Li planned to log off, but the World Announcement suddenly shone out with a chain of gold letters.

System: Under the leadership of player Indifference, Capcoman, Yew, Still Water Flowing and Hunderhunch have set a new record for Spider Lair (Elite level). Current record: 1 hour 12 minutes 32 seconds!

The Great Thief

Chapter 26: Surprise

Lu Li stared for a few moments before recovering.

At this point, it was normal for their record to be broken. However, for the new record to be a whole 10 minutes faster than theirs was a bit surprising.

The people in this World Announcement weren't just any ordinary players - they were part of one of the most famous unions- the Blood-red War Flag!

This union was ranked 3rd in all of China, and 9th in the whole world. It was said that the boss of the union was an army veteran, and many of the members were also veterans. If it wasn't because their requirements were so high, resulting in them not having as many players as the other unions, their ranking would be even higher.

To Lu Li, creating new records for Instance Dungeons didn't have much point. After all, it was just an extra Bronze grade equipment. However, creating new records was important for large unions- they would rather exchange 10 pieces of equipment in order to bring more fame to their union.

Indifference was the Blood-red War Flag's Commander of the Instance Dungeon group and was said to be the god of PVE. Yew was also famous within the Blood-red War Flag, and was an expert in PVP. Apart from newbies, there wasn't anyone who didn't know of him.

Them appearing on the World Announcement was the equivalent to the Blood-red War Flag appearing on the World Announcement.

Everyone was also wondering why the top ranked Glory Capital and the second ranked Gangnam Royals had fallen behind by so much.

Perhaps it was because they had bought his guide. Lu Li bitterly smiled to himself. He had said that his teammates could do whatever they wanted with the information, so of course they would have sold the information as a guide.

Lu Li had been planning to log off anyways, and seeing this, he didn't feel much motivation to continue playing for the day. As such, he decided to log out.

Lu Li received a fright when he took off his game helmet.

His little sister, Lu Xin, was looking at him with an expression of fury. He hadn't seen her so angry in a long time, and it made him feel reminiscent.

"Big brother, you played for a whole day!"

Lu Li looked over, and saw that he had been given a plate of untouched egg fried rice.

Lu Li stretched out and stroked her little head, "Big brother's in the wrong. I'll definitely eat properly from now on. By the way, Xin Xin, big brother's already earnt some money in the game."

"Really?" The little girl's attitude immediately changed. She simply couldn't help it- the Lu brother and sister had never hidden their desire for wealth, due to their poverty.

"Realer than real!"

"Liar," The little girl pouted, "I heard a few of my classmates say that this game is really hard, and it's really difficult to earn money in there."

"There are people in your school playing?" Lu Li felt a bit guilty. He didn't have the money to send his little sister to a good school. She was currently studying at the Slum District's Primary School. Not only was the teaching inferior to other schools, but the environment wasn't great either.

"They're like big brother. They joined unions to earn money, and receive $800 per month. Big brother, can I play as well?" Whenever Lu Xin talked about money, her eyes would always sparkle.

Lu Li shook his head, went over, and poured the leftover egg fried rice into the bin.

"Big brother, what are you doing? You can still eat it if you heat it up… I put a whole 2 eggs in!" Lu Xin was quite annoyed at Lu Li's behaviour.

"I just said I've already earnt money, but you don't believe me. Let's go out to eat." Lu Li took his little sister's hand as he started to walk out.

Lu Xin could only reluctantly look at the egg fried rice in the bin, and walked out of the house with her big brother.

They lived in a small alley which was extremely cramped. However, there were many, many people living there. Many people called this sort of place a 'doghole'; it was only 1 step up from homelessness.

Lu Xin was incredibly pretty and cute, while Lu Li was young and strong and would always help out his neighbours. Seeing the Lu brother and sister, the neighbours would always greet them warmly.

"Oi, Lu boy, why didn't I see you picking up Xin Xin today?" An old uncle yelled out while pouring out a bucket of dirty water.

"Hello Uncle Zhao, something came up today, so I couldn't go." Lu Li explained.

"You can't do that," Uncle Zhao stopped Lu Li, angrily saying, "You know how unsafe this place is. If it wasn't for me today, Xin Xin said she might have been bullied. Such a pretty girl walking by herself in this sort of place just isn't safe."

What Uncle Zhao had said was true. After all, the Slum District was where the lowest members of society lived.

Lu Li looked at his little sister in shock, "Xin Xin, those bullies from the rubbish dump followed you again? Why didn't you say anything?"

Lu Xin looked down with a bit of guilt, "I didn't get the opportunity to tell you."

"Look after your little sister properly. You should know that girl from the eastern alley was nearly violated. If I wasn't…" Once people reached a certain age, they liked to talk a lot and nag. However, this was out of the kindness in his heart, and Lu Li sincerely thanked him many times.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Zhao, Lu Li walked out of the alley, and turned to walk towards the rubbish dump.

Lu Xin quickly stopped her brother, anxiously saying, "Big brother, don't be rash. I'm fine, right? Don't fight with them… if someone dies, then you'll go to jail…"

Lu Li didn't want to worry his little sister, so he could only put that thought away. It seemed that the beating he gave them a few days ago was too light; these people healed way too quickly.

"Alright, I won't fight with them. Let's go eat for now. Tomorrow's Sunday, so let's go and find somewhere else to move to." Lu Li was originally planning to give the Star Moon Union the penalty for breaking the contract, and then rent a better place to live when he had saved up a bit.

However, seeing what had happened today, which happened regularly, Lu Li decided that it would be best for them to move as soon as possible.

Lu Xin's eyes widened, "Big brother, you really earned money?"

Lu Li gently patted her head and said, "You little rascal, did you really think that your big brother would trick you? I've really earnt a lot of money, so tonight you can eat whatever you want. Let's have a good meal."

After eating, Lu Li had a shower and immediately entered the game

This week, Lu Li not only needed to earn enough money to cover the contract penalty, but also enough to move to a better home. He had to give it his all.

There were only 2 hours until night fell in the game, but he still hadn't opened the treasure boxes at the bottom of the Moon Reflection Lake. However, he decided to raise his level first.

Before he even left the village, his communication device rang- it was Azure Sea Breeze.

"Lu Li, you're finally online." Azure Sea Breeze said.

"I was having dinner. What's up?"

"I have some things to give you. Where are you right now?"

"What is it? Let's meet at the place where we first met." Lu Li decided that it would be easier for them to meet at a familiar place.

"Alright, just meet me there. I'll be there soon." Azure Sea Breeze said and ended the call.

Not long after, Lu Li saw Azure Sea Breeze, the Elf Warrior, jogging over.

"What is it? You were being so mysterious." Lu Li said.

Azure Sea Breeze immediately opened up a trade window, and threw a pile of things in.

"Holy crap, where the hell did you get these?!" Lu Li simply couldn't stay calm.

The Great Thief

Chapter 27: Buying Loyalty

Within the Trade Window were 4 Jade Spider Webs!

Jade Spider Webs only spawned in the Elite level Instance Dungeon for the Spider Lair, and had an incredibly low drop rate.

Yet Azure Sea Breeze had suddenly taken out 4.

"Don't worry, they all came by legitimate means." Azure Sea Breeze sent them over as he explained, "After clearing the Instance Dungeon, I contacted some of the big unions, and planned to sell the guide to clearing it. After comparing the compensation they each offered, I decided to sell it to…"

"The Blood-red War Flag?" Lu Li realised what was going on.

"That's right, I sold the guide to them. We agreed that they would give all of the Jade Spider Webs to me, but I couldn't sell the guide to anyone else." Azure Sea Breeze said.

"4 Jade Spider Webs… that's amazing," Lu Li sighed in awe, "The Grand Hegemony only obtained 1."

The Blood-red War Flag was much more powerful than the Grand Hegemony, and they had probably invested at least 100 teams into clearing the Instance Dungeon. Assuming that they didn't keep any for themselves, a 4/100 drop rate was simply astonishing.

"How many do you still need?" Azure Sea Breeze didn't ask Lu Li what he needed them for. He knew that to require so many of an incredibly rare item, Lu Li was definitely planning something big.

"I still need 2 more," Lu Li said as he patted Azure Sea Breeze's shoulder, "Thanks bro!"

He would be a liar if he said that he wasn't touched. No words could express the gratitude in his heart, so he could only say a simple "thanks".

Azure Sea Breeze was good friends with him in his 'past life' as well. Azure Sea Breeze's character was bold and refreshing, and wasn't the type to plot against others. Once he saw you as a friend, he would be completely loyal and devoted to you. Otherwise, Lu Li would have never known about the secret of the Supreme One Ring.

Lu Li couldn't be as open as Azure Sea Breeze, but that didn't mean he didn't want a friend who would be open with him.

"Alright, alright, just take it. I wasn't this courteous when you gave me your equipment." Azure Sea Breeze punched Lu Li, "If you're grateful, then help me level up."

"You sure you want me to help you level up?" Lu Li didn't think he was much stronger than Azure Sea Breeze, who was a Warrior. In Dawn, Warriors, Magicians and Hunters were the kings of levelling.

After what happened in the Instance Dungeon, I've come to enjoy playing as the main tank. I'm going to lean more towards Constitution in the future, so I won't be able to deal as much damage," Azure Sea Breeze said.

"Being a main tank is good; you'll have lots of potential in the future. If you have good equipment, you'll also be strong in PVP. In his 'past life', Azure Sea Breeze had also been a main tank, however, he had been dragged down by the Supreme One Ring and his attack was even weaker than Lu Li's who was a Druid.

"Levelling up is going to be a pain." Azure Sea Breeze sighed.

"The Public Instance Dungeons can be repeatedly cleared, and there'll be more and more Instance Dungeons in the future. Just level up through doing Instance Dungeons and quests. If you can make a good team, it'll be even more efficient than killing monsters," Lu Li advised.

There were very few quests in Dawn, and relying on them wasn't enough to get to high levels. As such, most players relied on killing monsters to level up. The monsters in Instance Dungeons were harder to kill than monsters outside, but they gave more EXP. If Azure Sea Breeze could form a team with high efficiency, just like Lu Li had said, he really would be able to get on the Player Level Rankings.

The two of them walked as they talked, and soon arrived at a LV8 Stone-skinned Boar Territory.

There were two types of boars here- one was the Stone-skinned Boar, which had high Defence and average Attack, while the other type was called the Stone-toothed Boar, which had high Attack and average Defence. Both types had high HP, so players generally preferred not to train here.

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze both had quite a few pieces of Bronze grade equipment, so that bit of HP was nothing to them.

The most efficient way to train was to not share monsters with anyone else.

Azure Sea Breeze usually spoke a lot, but was incredibly focused while training. He was like a silent monster-killing-robot.

While killing monsters, Lu Li would also practice using his skills, slowly applying the things he had learnt in his 'past life' to his current playing style.

Continuously testing and continuously improving.

On the forums, everyone revered Lu Li, saying that "he had opened a door for Thieves and melee professions." However, most of the things he used were not his own - he had absorbed many skills and tricks from other Thieves that he had read about in his 'past life'.

If one didn't want to fall behind, they would have to continuously improve.

It was getting closer and closer to night in the game world, and Lu Li soon stopped, "Alright, let's go. I want to take you somewhere before it's night."

Lu Li wanted to go and open the treasure boxes at the bottom of the lake.

The game was progressing quite slowly, but he didn't know when other players would start to obtain items that could allow them to breathe underwater. The power of a large union was not something a solo player could compete with.

Most players had reached LV4 by now. It was much more efficient to form a team and hunt high levelled monsters, so there were barely any players at the Moon Reflection Lake by now.

Azure Sea Breeze was completely in the dark as to why Lu Li had wanted to come here.

What made him even more curious was that Lu Li told him to stand on the shore, then looked around and jumped into the water.

Suicide?

Before Azure Sea Breeze could yell out, he saw a seal break out of the water and nod towards him.

The Elf Warrior was completely shocked and his eyes widened as his world collapsed.

Lu Li grinned, then dived into the water.

Not long after, he found one of the respawned treasure boxes.

There were 2 pieces of Bronze grade equipment, both of which had average stats.

With treasure boxes, the more there were together, the worse the items inside would be.

However, during the early stages of the game, any equipment was good equipment. A Bronze grade piece of equipment that had a decent bonus stat would definitely sell for at least 50 silver coins. Equipment that weren't gender or class specific and had 2 good bonus stats could sell for at least 1 gold coin.

Normal players couldn't afford that sort of equipment, but a team definitely could. A group of people could pool together their money to buy good equipment for their main tank or main attacker, and upon earning more money, they could buy the rest of their team equipment.

This was how non-affiliated players played.

There were water plants everywhere, and it was difficult to find the other 2 treasure boxes. Lu Li looked around the bottom of the lake, but couldn't find any, so he could only go back to the surface and wait for the skill to refresh again.

Upon reaching the surface, he saw Azure Sea Breeze anxiously looking down.

"You finally came out. I thought you drowned!"

"I opened a treasure box down there, but there should be 2 more. I'm going to go down again after my skill refreshes." Lu Li replied.

"Goddamn, you're frickin' overpowered. Even GMs might not be as overpowered as you." Azure Sea Breeze could not help it, as the crude words rolled out of his mouth in shock. Even receiving 4 Jade Spider Webs hadn't made him this shocked.

This guy Lu Li was simply incredible. He had turned into a seal and dived down to open treasure boxes.

Perhaps he was the only person in the game to do this.

Lu Li was speechless. He didn't really know what to say. Inwardly, he was muttering, "It's because of the item you got in my 'past life', but as a Warrior, you wouldn't have been able to open the treasure boxes anyways."

Lu Li could only take out a few pieces of equipment saying, "Have a look, and take what you need!"

What magnanimity!

Azure Sea Breeze nearly got down on his knees and called Lu Li 'big bro'.

The Great Thief

Chapter 28: Underwater Boss

Azure Sea Breeze seemed like a carefree person who said things offhandedly, but he had a good sense of what was and wasn't appropriate. As such, although he knew Lu Li could go into the water, he didn't ask why.

Since Lu Li had offered him the equipment, he didn't hold back and chose a valuable shield, as well as plate pants. If these equipments were sold, they could definitely fetch a price of at least 3 to 5 gold coins.

If someone told you their secret and trusted you to be their friend, refusing their goodwill would simply be an act of rudeness.

Friends who always acted extremely courteously and did not accept each other's goodwill could not be said to have truly deep ties.

Lu Li had considered the potential consequences of telling Azure Sea Breeze his secret, but after thinking it through, he still decided to tell him.

Lu Li had received a lot of help from Azure Sea Breeze in his 'past life', and he felt that he owed him for the Supreme One Ring. After getting to know him for 2 years, he knew that as long as he didn't let Azure Sea Breeze down, Azure Sea Breeze wouldn't let him down either.

Moreover, Lu Li had some plans of his own.

Dawn simply wasn't a game that could be played as a solo player. Instance Dungeons were incredibly important, as many rare and valuable equipment and materials could only be found within them. Take the Jade Spider Webs for example: there was great demand, but only the Elite level of the Spider Lair spawned them, and they had a horrendous drop rate. Waiting to buy that sort of material for a decent price would take at least 1 or 2 years.

Joining casual groups temporarily was fine, but it wasn't good for the long term.

Seeing that Azure Sea Breeze was keen on once again embarking on the path of a main tank, Lu Li decided to recruit him for his team.

The main tank was usually the core of the team. Azure Sea Breeze was skilled, and was also a decent person. It would be difficult to find a main tank like him.

A Permanent Party didn't necessarily mean that every single person was a permanent member, but the main members had to be able to work together efficiently, as well as be amicable in splitting the rewards.

If everyone got along, then they wouldn't have to worry about disagreements and people trying to take advantage of each other.

In actuality, the 4 Jade Spider Webs that Azure Sea Breeze had given Lu Li were worth far more than the 2 Bronze grade equipment that he had taken. When Trade Professions became more popular, a single Jade Spider Web could be worth as much as 100 gold coins!

Then again, these Jade Spider Webs were exchanged for Lu Li's guide to the Instance Dungeon.

All in all, this was a good transaction for Lu Li. If they really became a Permanent Party, this would have happened anyways.

Lu Li once again dived to the bottom of the lake and searched for treasure boxes. As he searched, he suddenly saw a ridiculously large turtle- one that was bigger than most Elites.

It had a dark-green shell, 4 grey limbs and a thick and powerful looking body.

Could it be a Boss?

This was entirely possible - after all, Bosses in Dawn could appear on land, in the water, or in the sky. However, despite doing his best to recall, he couldn't remember there being a Boss in this place.

Bosses had a certain drop rate for rare materials, so large unions would always try to keep them a secret. Whenever a Boss spawned in the wild, they would always chase non-affiliated players away. As such, Lu Li had never been able to kill a Boss in the wild before.

However, it was different now- currently, no one knew that there could be Bosses in the water.

Lu Li ignored the turtle for now, and went to find the other treasure boxes.

After half an hour, Lu Li finally found the other 2 treasure boxes. He received a valuable material and 2 pieces of Bronze grade equipment, as well as a Hunter Skill Book - Trueshot Aura.

It was a pity that it wasn't Tame Beast!

[Trueshot Aura: Passive Ability. Cannot be levelled up. Increases the Attack Power for both melee and ranged teammates within 100 yards by 10%.

This was a strong Passive Ability, and was very useful for team situations.

Although it was valuable, it couldn't be compared with Tam Beast.

Currently, there were people advertising that they were willing to buy a Team Beast Skill Book for $20,000 in the real world, which was about how much Lu Li had sold the Frost Nova Skill Book for.

This Trueshot Aura Skill Book was very suitable for Hunters who worked in teams. It would definitely be able to sell for at least 5 gold coins.

The rare material was called Crocodile Scale, and was a high-quality material used in creating heavy armour. There was even a chance of it giving the armour a special effect. However, since no one would be using it soon, Lu Li could only put it into his storage.

One of the Bronze grade equipment was a hat which had average stats, but Lu Li could at least equip it immediately.

[Black Velvet Cap] (Bronze): 5 Armour, Agility1. Level Requirement: LV4. Durability: 12/20.

Lu Li swapped out the Fisherman's Old Felt Cap for this cap. Not only did it look better, it had a few more Armour points and a point in Agility. Lu Li was extremely pleased.

The other piece of equipment was a Magic Staff.

Moon Shadow Magic Staff (Bronze): 15-22 Damage, Intelligence3. Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 28/28.

This Magic Staff's Damage was quite high - higher than the Whisperer Lu Li had obtained from the Goblin Businessman. Moreover, it gave a whole 3 points in Intelligence that even most LV5 weapons could not compare to it. Lu Li was sure many Magicians would be willing to pay a high price for it.

When Lu Li came out of the water, Azure Sea Breeze was killing Grells. These LV4 monsters had no chance against a LV6 Warrior - it was pretty much 1 hit, 1 kill for Azure Sea Breeze.

It was a pity that they gave very little EXP, and rarely dropped anything.

"Done?" Seeing Lu Li come out, Azure Sea Breeze's eyes lit up, "Did you find anything good?"

Lu Li shared all the equipment on the Party Channel and replied, "There's a Boss underwater- do you want to kill it with me?"

"Boss? How would I kill it? I can't go underwater like you." Azure Sea Breeze was excited, but soon became deflated.

"I'll lure it up here and you draw aggro. Do you have enough Potions? Don't be too reluctant to part with them." It was Lu Li's first time hunting a Boss in the wild, so he was a bit nervous.

Will we be able to kill it? And do we need a healer?" Azure Sea Breeze asked.

"I'm not sure, but let's try. Don't let anyone know that I can go underwater though," Lu Li replied.

Apart from players that he wanted to form a Permanent Party with, Lu Li wasn't considering telling anyone else his secret. When Potions and items that allowed players to breathe underwater became more common, it wouldn't matter if he revealed it then.

One of the reasons why Azure Sea Breeze had been hunted down in Lu Li's 'past life' was because many people knew he was a Warrior who could turn into a seal.

"If we can kill it, we'll kill it. If we can't, we'll run away. Alright bro, go lure it over." Azure Sea Breeze was quite open with trying new things.

After Lu Li's Seal Transformation refreshed, he dived into the water and carefully edged towards the Boss.

It turned out that the massive turtle was indeed a Boss and it even had a name- 'Kleig'. As soon as Lu Li swam into its aggro range, it immediately charged towards the little seal.

[Seal Transformation: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 30 minutes. You turn into a seal, and can swim in water. The effects last for 20 minutes. You receive Swimming Speed50%, draw 30% less aggro, and can also breathe underwater. While transformed, you cannot use any Attack Skills. Proficiency: 23/1000.

If it wasn't for the bonus 50% to his Swimming Speed, Lu Li probably would have been caught very quickly. Lu Li could only swim as fast as he could as he watched the turtle Boss closing in on him.

The little seal furiously swam for its life!

The Great Thief

Chapter 29: Keep Grinding Until It Dies

-7！

The Seal Transformation actually had a very dangerous hidden effect; after transforming, the effects of Lu Li's equipment would be nullified. This meant that he had 0 armor.

What would happen if you had 0 armor and were hit by a Boss?

Death!

It was only natural that he felt anxious.

The blueish green lake appeared dim and ripples could be seen across its surface. Just as Lu Li thought he was about to get hit, a red light shone down from the setting sun and he broke through the surface with a splash.

An arrow shot through the air, hitting Kleig directly in the head. Although it only dealt a little bit of damage, there was still a noticeable spray of blood. Kleig wailed and abandoned the small seal at the surface, instead charging towards the damned Elf Warrior near the bank.

"Dammit. This monster's defense is insane; I barely even damaged it," Azure Sea Breeze cried out in surprise. He changed his weapon from the crossbow to a long sword and shield as the turtle rushed towards him.

While this was happening, Lu Li had climbed back onto shore and stabbed Kleig in the tail.

-7!

He was shocked - what kind of defense was this? When he hit Bosses from Instance Dungeons, he would deal at least 10 to 20 damage. When he PVP'ed with other weaker players, he could deal up to 100 damage. Kleig was only a level 3 Boss, but he could only deal 7 damage.

Kleig sobbed like a baby; its cry was high pitched and sad.

It opened its mouth which was densely filled with teeth and began attacking Azure Sea Breeze. Each tooth looked lethal, like the tip of sharp knife.

"I was scared earlier, but it turns out it has very low attack." Azure Sea Breeze breathed a sigh of relief after he was attacked, putting away the potion he was about to take.

It was only after Lu Li had checked the Battle Announcement that he understood why he said that.

Battle Announcement: Azure Sea Breeze's Charge deals 4 damage to Kleig; Kleig deals 8 damage to Azure Sea Breeze…

The damage that Kleig was dealing to Azure Sea Breeze was not Boss-status-worthy.

However, when they saw Kleig's HP, Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze's faces both went dark. 30,000HP!

This was 2 times higher than a level 5 Instance Dungeon Boss!

How many potions would they need!?

No one would give up on a Boss just because they were afraid of using too many potions. They simply had no choice: for the sake of better equipment and materials, they had to do it.

Kleig was powerful in the water, but when it reached the shore, it became somewhat slow and weary. It lay on the ground unmoving, while Lu Li stood still and attacked it. This allowed him to attain an extremely high Skill Completion value, which in turn allowed for the Boss to be stunned often and gave Azure Sea Breeze some breathing space.

After fighting for 30 minutes, Azure Sea Breeze had used 10 potions and the Boss had lost more than half its HP.

In the midst of the struggle, Kleig suddenly moved and rushed towards the lake.

"Dammit, it's going to recover!" Lu Li really wanted to slap himself.

Most amphibians and other monsters with a similar biology had the ability to return to a more suitable environment and recover large amounts of HP.

Under Lu Li's and Azure Sea Breeze's angry stares, Kleig's HP bar slowly increased by 10. Not only did this mean that they had lost several minutes of their time, but there could be an even greater effect that they didn't know about.

"It's okay, let's pull it to the small forest to fight it." They both felt exasperated, but the system didn't make any further announcements. They had already gotten this far and couldn't give up now.

Kleig was slow in following, as they travelled further and further away from the Moon Reflection Lake.

By the side of the lake, there were many similar trees that were all densely packed together. Kleig was having trouble getting through them, but the aggro system forced it to follow them.

When they felt that they had gone far enough, Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze once again began to attack.

This time, when it reached 50% HP, Kleig didn't try anything new. It simply made a futile effort to hit Azure Sea Breeze's Bronze shield. Not knowing what would happen if it spent too long away from the water, its damaged was reduced by a significant amount. Its HP went from 50% to 30% without taking a single critical hit.

When it reached 30% HP, Kleig began to twist its body and clumsily attempted to return to the lake.

"Block it and pay attention to your positioning." Lu Li rushed over, blocking the front of the Boss, but the Boss knocked him aside.

Kleig's knock-aside skill might have had a cool down, so Azure Sea Breeze quickly copied Lu Li. This time they were able to successfully block the Boss.

They didn't know how long it would stay in this agitated state, but after 30 seconds it calmed down once again. This signaled the continuation of their struggle in depleting its HP.

Azure Sea Breeze's potions were almost completely used up. He had used 11 potions in this fight alone, and if it weren't for Lu Li helping him loot the Goblin Businessman, this fight would have been impossible.

"I still have 6 bottles, it should be enough." Lu Li took a few bottles from his own bag and threw them onto the ground.

"You keep one, just in case the Boss goes berserk. I'm not sure if I can tank it all," Azure Sea Breeze said.

Victory was in sight, but neither of them could guarantee that an accident wouldn't happen.

"If we kill the first wild boss, we could get on TV!" Lu Li laughed, his hand movements continuous. He regularly produced an 85% Skill completion on Shadowstrike that stunned Kleig for 2 seconds.

"Ever since I got to know you, getting on TV doesn't seem like that much of an accomplishment anymore." Azure Sea Breeze used to think that he was an expert, but now that he knew Lu Li, he realized that were players so strong it was almost unnatural.

"I'm just lucky." Obviously, Lu Li couldn't say that he had experienced rebirth, which would be even more unnatural.

"Your luck is one thing, but what is most important is how diligent you are. Every time you fight a monster you are practicing; it seems like every time I see you you've significantly improved. With such great leaps of progress, how can you mix with people like me?"

"I have no choice. If I don't work hard, I'll be eliminated quickly. To most players this is just a game, but to me this is my job, my hope," Lu Li responded.

"Work?" Azure Sea Breeze was surprised: "You have to earn money by playing this game?"

"Yep, it looks like you aren't a newbie yourself - you must have played games for a few years already. What do you think of Dawn?" Lu Li already knew this about Azure Sea Breeze, but he couldn't show it. The story needed to slowly play out.

Azure Sea Breeze had a shield equipped and struck Kleig on the head with it with a Shieldstrike. The Boss was stunned as he heard Lu Li ask the question and he immediately replied without hesitation: "I think this game is good compared to the others."

"The business opportunities in this game are finite and the money that can be made is comparable to work in real life. Are you still studying or are you working?" Only someone who had experienced rebirth would know that Dawn's market was big. In one year's time, it would expand across the world, spawning a rich professional scene.

"I studied in the big four, and am about to start looking for work." Azure Sea Breeze was somewhat serious; university graduates were basically just unemployed people. This was a phenomenon that had appeared 200 years ago. With the development of better intelligent systems, finding employment was becoming more difficult.

Welfare had become a large part of people's living income, which was a severe social problem. That is, until Dawn had appeared.

"How about we band together to make money in this game?" Lu Li was 80% sure that Azure Sea Breeze would agree because most of this generation couldn't find a job. As such, they spent most of their days playing these video games.

The Great Thief

Chapter 30: Bountiful Reward

"I've previously tried to work part in time in games. It's easy to earn money." Azure Sea Breeze still hadn't graduated yet and didn't know how difficult it was to find a job, so he didn't accept the offer too easily.

"I sold a skill book yesterday and made 25,000 in real money," Lu Li said casually.

Azure Sea Breeze immediately responded: "You sold a book for 25,000?"

"I still have some equipment in my backpack and if I sold them, I could probably make several thousands more. Even if I was really unlucky and sold them all at their minimum price, it would still be 20,000 in real money." Lu Li was fanning the flames of Azure Sea Breeze's interest.

Azure Sea Breeze's breaths were short and the sword that he was gripping was shaking. His blood surged as Lu Li showed him a whole new world.

Currently in society, everyone was becoming 'smarter', which resulted in needing less manpower. A marketing student like Azure Sea Breeze could only earn 10,000 per month at most, by working from early morning until late at night. He would also need to accept the various difficulties with leadership, making the whole experience stressful.

Moreover, Azure Sea Breeze was not part of a rich family. While he didn't live in a slum, his parents were just ordinary workers who rented.

"I'm planning for a group of around 10 people…"

"Count me in!" Lu Li hadn't finished speaking but Azure Sea Breeze had already called out.

"I told you all this so you would join me. Now focus on the boss - you don't know when it's going to go berserk. When it does, protecting your HP is the top priority," Lu Li reminded him.

These two had been in a fight with Kleig for over an hour now. It was almost night, but they still hadn't killed it yet. Maybe it didn't want to waste any more time, as it had reached 5% HP and was still not in berserk mode. It even transformed into a weaker state. A straightforward announcement was then made by the System.

System Announcement: Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze have successfully achieved the first clear of a wild boss - Kleig!

This announcement had not yet been made to the World Announcements or the Faction Announcement, but once it was made in the Local Announcements, many people immediately came out from the bushes.

Elegant Village Sister: "What kind of things does a Wild boss drop, let me see…"

Grinning Laugh: "It shouldn't be that much weaker than an Instance Dungeon boss, but the fact that these two people could kill it is pretty impressive."

Festive Sacrifice: "The people who completed the first clear of an Instance Dungeon also included these two experts. I've heard of Azure Sea Breeze who is an expert in the game 'Shadow Realm', but I have no idea who this Lu Li is."

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze didn't have any time at all to bother with these players' comments. They were too busy staring at the loot!

A wild boss dropping items was especially magnificent, with a bloom of equipment and materials flying everywhere.

They hastily picked up all of the items, afraid that a stranger would appear and steal them.

"You pick things up really quickly!" Azure Sea Breeze exclaimed.

"I have a lot of bonus Agility," Lu Li responded. In his previous life, he had stolen many things by picking them up quickly, which led him to offend many unions.

"Well, I don't know how to respond to that." Azure Sea Breeze was speechless.

"Let's see how good the items are. After all, this is the first Wild Boss," Lu Li said with anticipation.

He really needed more money; it was 60,000 for the penalty fee, in addition to finding a new house, changing schools for little sisters, food and clothes…

4 Equipment:

Bloodseeker's Axe (Steel): Damage 18-36, Strength 5. Special Effect: Attacks with this weapon have 10% armor penetration. This effect cannot be stacked. Equipment Requirement Lv 5, Durability 30/30.

Snake Skin Bag (Bronze): 10 Spaces, reduce weight by 5%.

Jungle Herdsmen Helmet (Bronze): Armor 6, Intelligence 2, Equipment Requirement Lv 5, Durability 30/30. (One piece of the Jungle Herdsmen suit, exclusive to Druids)

Jungle Herdsmen Leg Guard (Bronze): Armor 10, Intelligence 2, Equipment Requirement Lv 5, Durability 30/30. (One piece of the Jungle Herdsmen suit, exclusive to Druids)

1 Skill Book:

Shield Wall: Instant Cast, 60 second cooldown. All damage received is reduced by 60%, lasting for 5 seconds. Need to have a shield equipped. Proficiency 0/1000.

There was also 1 piece of material:

Horn of Kleig: Forging Material, provides 5% additional armor piercing for weapons. Requires high level forging.

There was also a significant amount of money that was dropped. Between the two of them, they received 13 silver coins and several potions. However, the Boss was only level 3, so the potions weren't of a very high level.

The axe was clearly the best item and by far the most valuable.

The Snake Skin Bag was currently not very valuable, as two 6 space bags didn't sell for more than 1 Gold. Lu Li planned to hold on to the Snake Skin Bag, as he regularly opened treasure chests which required him to have a large storage space.

As for the two bronze equips, it was hard to say.

Even though they were bronze equipment, their attributes were good. In addition to this, when both were equipped, there would be an additional effect: Recover skill duration increased by 6 seconds.

Recover: Instant Cast, consumes 30 mana to restore 15 HP on a target, subsequently restores 5 HP every 3 seconds for 9 seconds.

Recover was one of Healer Druid's most used spells. This suit extended the skill duration, which was valuable in a combat situation.

"Are you interested in the Axe? It's pretty useful while training." Lu Li passed the axe to Azure Sea Breeze.

Azure Sea Breeze brandished the axe and returned it to Lu Li: "This is more useful for a warrior playstyle and not at all for me. Go sell it for money, I'd like the skill book."

This axe was suited to a Berserk Warrior, but Azure Sea Breeze had taken the defensive route. However, the skill book was clearly useful for him.

After using Shieldstrike to draw aggro, a Defense Warrior could then use Shield Wall to guarantee the safety of the whole party. Azure Sea Breeze didn't hold his interests back.

Lu Li had no qualms with giving it up; the skill book's value wasn't even close to that of the Steel Axe.

"You can take this 6 space bag. I have a 10 space one already." Lu Li took out the bag and threw it at him. "I'll sell the rest and split the money with you later."

"Don't do that." Azure Sea Breeze waved his hand. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even found the boss. All I did was spend some of my time. Taking this skill book is already more than enough."

"We fought it together, we have to split it evenly," Lu Li responded.

"What I'm saying, Big brother, is that since you formed the party, you are the leader. You can't lead by just splitting everything evenly - you have to look at the members' contribution and what they want." Azure Sea Breeze started to sweat profusely, "Friendships have unspoken rules, and the party will need to be the same."

Hearing how serious he was, Lu Li kept the rest of the items.

Azure Sea Breeze was more passionate about the group that he was, and didn't stop talking about it, asking: "What now? Do we need to recruit more people?"

"We can slowly recruit people. Tomorrow, our first order of business is to help someone break an Instance Dungeon record. Aren't you in touch with a few large unions? Ask them how much they are willing to pay to improve the record by 5 minutes."

Lu Li had many ways to make money in mind, but unable to carry many of them out. As of now, the market of helping other people grind was still in its fledgling stages. Most unions were just trying to survive.

"Let's go back. We don't have much time left." When the game went into night, the wild was significantly more dangerous. They both took out their Hearthstones and activated them.

The Great Thief

Chapter 31: Setting Up a Stand For Auctions

The Dark Ravine was very lively at night. The elves who preferred the quiet couldn't stop players from entertaining themselves and having a good time.

A bonfire had been lit in the open area, and cheap wines that were sold in the grocery were the most popular item amongst the players. Everyone's dramatic fantasies were all satisfied here; there were even some young girls dancing and singing.

There were also many people who set up stalls. The Elven Bodyguards acted as if nothing was happening, not caring about the influence that these foreigners had on the city's image.

Returning to the Dark Ravine, Azure Sea Breeze went about looking for Unions to talk to while Lu Li went around looking at the stalls. He checked if there was anything he could use and scoped out the market prices.

After some investigation, Lu Li discovered that the equipment being sold here was more expensive than what he expected.

A bronze equip that added 1 bonus attribute sold for at least 20 silver coins. An equip that added 2 bonus attributes was worth around 35 silver coins. As for Steel Equipment, there wasn't a single one to be found.

After giving it some thought, he realized that this was normal, as the Elite difficulty Spider Lair was the only place where Steel Equipment could be dropped. Those that could beat this Instance Dungeon would most certainly use the equipment for themselves. Those who couldn't use it had a long queue of people in their Union waiting to trade with them. There was no way any Steel equips would end up in a stall.

After a leisurely stroll, he had only found a Ring that added 1 point of Agility being sold for 1 Gold. What a rip off!

Lu Li didn't think about it much longer and immediately set up a stall of his own.

The last time he set up a stall he was attacked by other people, so this time he was smarter about it. He cut a while cloth with his offhand dagger, making a makeshift mask and covering his face with it.

There were 7 bronze equips, including two pieces that made one Druid set. In addition, there was a brace, a Steel Axe and a Hunter skill book: Trueshot Aura.

Anything that added 1 bonus attribute he priced at 25 silver, while anything that added 2 bonus attributes was set at 40 silver. The Magic Staff that added 3 Intelligence was priced at 80 silver, while the brace was priced at 1 gold. With some hesitation, Lu Li marked the two Druid set pieces to be 2 Gold each. Of course, no one would buy it at this price, but Lu Li planned to wait until someone asked about it to discuss a price. As for the Steel equip, he set an exorbitant price of 10 gold.

The skill book didn't actually have much innate value, but as no one currently had one, Lu Li marked it to be at 2 gold.

After setting up the Booth, Lu Li squatted behind it and read through the forum. Some posts contained techniques, some analyzed different parts of the game and others introduced the large Unions.

The video of him PVPing sat in the highest position, with over 100,000 comments on it. It was simply unsurpassable.

Like the day before, it wasn't long before Lu Li heard someone call out in alarm because of the equipment and skill book.

Yesterday they called out in alarm because of the Bronze equipment, but today it was because of the Steel equipment!

"Oh my, it really is a Steel equip. This is the first time I've even seen one, how lucky." People who saw it were shocked, drawing attention to the stall and causing more people to see it. Eventually, more people were called over to look at it.

Soon enough, even those who couldn't afford anything began crowding around Lu Li's stall.

"Can you give me a discount for this Magic Staff?"

"How can this Steel equip be so expensive!"

"How much would you sell the 2 pieces of the Druid set for in real world currency? I want them!"

"25 silver for a Bronze, how are they selling these for so cheap? I'm already prepared to buy them!"

The clamoring was a sea of voices; it was difficult to clearly hear what was being said.

Two of the ordinary Bronze equips were bought first. Bronze equips were already worth quite a few silver, so they were a profitable purchase at this price, regardless of whether they were for personal use or for selling. Those who had money on hand immediately bought the equips, leaving those who were too slow frustrated and angry.

Seeing that the sales had begun, the better Bronze equips quickly disappeared from Lu Li's stall. He didn't even know who bought the Brace, but the items that were left behind seemed to be of interest to no one. Despite this, the number of people crowding his store kept growing.

On the local channel, some people had announced that the Moon Shadow Valley had a Steel equip on sale!

There was a masked man who had set up a stall in Moon Shadow Valley plaza with a pile of high quality equips for sale!

Who could keep their cool after hearing this news? People who were doing Instance Dungeons, or out in suicide squads all made a return trip to see this.

Some even went offline to make some phone calls with their rich acquaintances.

Dawn had done well: their large player-base meant that there were also many tycoons. Many people were trying to trade for more gold to scrounge together more money. However, Steel Equips weren't something you could purchase even if you were rich.

"Step aside, step aside, those who aren't buying anything please step aside." There was a Mage who was being escorted. By the looks of it, he was definitely rich.

"Can you make this Magic Staff a little cheaper?"

"Nope."

"It's not even a Steel equip and you're selling it for 80 silver. That's a bit of a rip off."

"Steel equips are at least 5 gold each. I sold a skill book yesterday for 20 gold."

"Oh, so it was you who sold the skill book. Brother, add me as a friend. If you ever find good Mage items, you can message me directly." It appeared that this Mage called Holy Thunder was truly rich, as he bought the Magic Staff at its original price.

Lu Li couldn't reject a tycoon like this, immediately adding him as a friend.

His approach to the friend's list was to reject anyone that added him, however, he allowed himself to add other people.

In such a short period, he had managed to make 3 gold. If you included the items that he received from the treasure chests and the Boss, his total profit would be 4 gold.

Lu Li opened the Trade Window and was stunned.

1:1000!

It wasn't 1500 for each gold coin anymore! Lu Li shook his head and bitterly laughed. No wonder the equip prices had increased by so much. The tycoons must have realized that yesterday's gold conversion rate was just too much.

In reality, even 1000 for 1 gold was crazy. However, the gold exchange rate would continue at this level as long as the big unions kept accepting it.

When the prices settled down after the 3rd soft reset, 1 gold would not even be worth 100 real money.

"Can I trade the pieces of the Druid set for real money? No one is going to pay 4 gold for it. Brother Thief, if you don't need gold, how much real money are you willing to sell it for?" A leather clad Druid pushed in, his heart set on the two pieces of the Druid set.

"We also would like to buy the 2 pieces of the Druid set for real money, so go ahead and make a bid." Others had also taken a special interest in the Druid equips. Once they saw that Lu Li was about to yield, they also started yelling.

Lu Li never thought that the interest for these two 2 Bronze equips would be greater than the Steel equipment. It appeared that he had underestimated the demand for healing equipment among parties.

The Steel equip would increase one's DPS and overall attack strength, but the healing equip could increase healing for the whole party. It looked like they were all aware of this, as most of them were Druids, but were trying to buy it for their own party.

"The 2 pieces of the Bronze Druid set were dropped by the Wild Boss. The suit's special effect increases the duration of Recover by 6 seconds. I will begin the auction for it now, but I want to be paid before I give you the goods." Lu Li thought of his previous life, and suddenly had the bright idea of starting an auction.

Upon hearing what Lu Li said, the surrounding crowd quietened down.

The Great Thief

Chapter 32: Warrior God Moonlight

"How do we know that you won't just run away after you get the money?" someone queried.

Before Lu Li could even respond, someone shot back: "Get out of here, this guy is an expert who has gotten 2 First Clears. Why would he want your small bit of money?"

No one could respond to that, as he truly was incredible. He had sold a skill book yesterday and everything on sale had been obtained today. This made all the ordinary players feel useless in comparison.

This was probably the first Steel equip that had been put on sale!

This was probably also the first Bronze suit that had appeared in game!

"For these two Bronze equips, I bid 200 real money." The crowd was silent for a moment, before someone shouted out a price.

"Let's not mess around. For those two Bronze equips, we the Great Qin Empire bid 2000 real money." Lu Li didn't even need to say anything before someone raised the price significantly.

This was a textbook seller's market, without any fear that no one would want to buy it.

The price that Lu Li had set was 4 gold together, or 2 gold per piece. According to the current trade market, gold had an exchange rate of 1000 to 1. As such, a bid of 2000 real money was just to test the waters.

"We the Gods of Dusk bid 4000 real money, but would also like to remind everyone not to bid too highly. These attributes are good, but it is only level 5. Let's not hurt each other but be amicable instead." This was spoken by a senior player who was experienced and reliable. He accurately pointed out a key issue - these equips were too low level.

Several unions in the crowd hesitated, as they needed to consider this.

"5000 real money." The silence didn't last long before another bid was called out. The price had now surpassed Lu Li's original marked price.

Lu Li followed the voice to find Drinking Alone standing in the crowd. He was obviously attempting to buy it for his Union, and if no one increased the bid, he would happily take it at 5000.

"10,000!" A cold, yet magnetic voice sounded from the crowd. It had a mysterious charm to it.

Water Fairy!

The name was shouted and like magic, the crowd split to make way for her.

This was the first time that Lu Li had seen Water Fairy in person. However, he wasn't unfamiliar with her. She would later become Dawn's first competitive representative, with her image being placed on a large promotional poster.

Water Fairy as an extremely beautiful woman in every sense, with long legs and a charming, slender waist. She maintained a youthful appearance with her immature facial features, but her demeanor was cold and arrogant. As such, she had gained the image of a goddess to the players.

It wasn't clear whether it was because of Water Fairy's presence, or that 10,000 well and truly exceeded the value of these items, but no one placed any further bids.

"Add me as a friend." Water Fairy's voice was actually very soft, like a typical Japanese girl. It was too bad that this was ruined by her monotone intonation.

Lu Li gawked for a moment, before attempting to send Water Fairy a friend request. However, he was met with a system message which told him that the player he was trying to send a request to forbade friend requests…

"Ah… I can't"

So, she was also someone who didn't accept friend requests.

After a second, Water Fairy responded: "It'll work now."

Lu Li didn't receive a cold system prompt this time and successfully added Water Fairy as a friend.

"Water Beauty, I worship you, please add me." Other people saw that Lu Li and Water Fairy had added each other, so they also quickly sent their invitations. However, they were all disheartened when they rejected by the system.

How could this Thief who was hiding his face add her, but a genuine person couldn't?

"Water Beauty, I am from the Gangnam Royals, please add me. Perhaps my union could work together with Drizzle Court sometime." Gangnam Royals were ranked 2nd among the unions, but upon hearing a proposition like this, one couldn't help but chuckle.

A player like Water Fairy had no regard for unions.

A union would provide its resources in exchange for a person's allegiance - it was a mutual relationship.

High-ranking players like Water Fairy, Beast King Hunter, Glacial Autumn Wind and Berserk Warrior Moonlight usually did not engage in union matters, regarding themselves as equals to the unions. They usually spent more time on their own matters.

Only Drinking Alone and Indifference were the kind of people to regard matters of their union to be their primary occupation. However, they would be unable to rise and become the best of the best.

"When can we PVP? You can choose the time and place." This was the reason for the friend request. The female tycoon was showing her aggressive side, and if he were to decline, she would probably scream and attack him.

"Wait until I'm free." Lu Li wanted to tell her that as of now, she wasn't a match for him, but he was scared that he would be killed by her nearby supporters.

Water Fairy seemed to trust that this 'expert' was in the middle of something, and left after completing the transaction with several other members of the Drizzle Court Union.

Spending this kind of money just for a PVP match was something that only Dawn's first female tycoon would do.

"Next is this big Steel axe for a Berserk Warrior. Everyone has already seen its attributes. If you have it, it doesn't matter who you fight in a PVP. You will be the one reaping the rewards!" Lu Li didn't say anything more and announced the starting price.

The Elven race was unsuitable to be a Main Tank and those who played Warrior as an Elf would mostly follow the Berserker Warrior path. As this was Elven territory, this typical Berserker Warrior weapon would almost certainly be sold.

Elf characters were also beautiful, which is something that tycoons loved. Elf Berserker Warriors had therefore made a name for themselves in being extremely wealthy.

"Wait!" Suddenly, someone called out to Lu Li.

"Woah, who do you think you are? Just because you say wait, should we all just wait?" Those who were about to name a price were all startled by the shout and nearly choked on their own saliva, while others began to shout back at her. If it weren't for the fact that you couldn't attack anyone here, they would have started fighting long ago.

"I am Moonlight." The voice was firm and steady, unaffected by the scolding.

Others were laughing, but Lu Li didn't even crack a smile.

Within 2 or 3 years, Moonlight would quickly rise up within the game community.

There were too many Thief experts, so there was too much dispute over the title of Thief God, but the Warrior God was absolute. Many people used this to refer to Moonlight!

Some people said that he possessed an evil spirit because of how bloodthirsty he was. He once picked a Union called Twilight Gloom and fought them. In that battle, he had completely broken all his equipment and lost several levels, but had also managed to kill several hundred of the opposing players.

With such a glorious outcome, should you just accept your victory?

No!

It wasn't many days before he was re-equipped with a full set of high quality equips and killing people from that union.

No one knew how the situation was resolved, but Moonlight had shocked the entire player-base, and no one dared to offend him from then on.

Others claimed that Moonlight was some Godlike player with a smurf, because his technique was too good and his levelling speed was too fast. The equipment on his body was also the best, which was not the mark of an amateur.

Who knew that today was his lucky day? Two future experts had unexpectedly arrived. Lu Li was a little shocked.

He was curious, however, as to why Moonlight had told him to stop the auction.