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

2. 33

The Great Thief - Chapter 33: Trade Light Novel Pub

The Great Thief

Chapter 33: Trade

"I'll trade you a Steel grade equipment for Thieves, how about that?" Moonlight took out a piece of equipment and showed Lu Li its stats.

[Swift Leather Boots] (Steel): 8 Armour, Agility4, Special Effect: Swiftness- when Stealthed, Movement Speed10%. Lasts for 10 seconds. Cooldown Time: 120 seconds. Effects cannot be stacked. Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 30/30.

Lu Li's eyes constricted. This piece of equipment would be fantastic for PVP battles.

However, it definitely wasn't worth as much as Lu Li's Axe. The Bloodseeker's Axe was a weapon, whereas the Swift Leather Boots were Armor. It would be impossible to directly trade them.

Moonlight wasn't an idiot. He saw the hesitation in Lu Li's eyes, and hurriedly added on, "If you want money to cover the difference, I can transfer money in real life."

All the spectators fell silent. Both of these Steel grade equipment were incredible, and were things that most players could only dream of. To be able to take out a Steel grade equipment to trade? It was likely that both of them had more.

Truth be told, Lu Li did indeed have another 3 pieces of Steel-grade equipment. One was his bow, one was a piece of Armor, and the other was the Dagger that had been Enchanted by the Dwarf!

"No need for the money. Help me with something and I'll trade with you." Lu Li thought for a moment before giving up on the real life money.

He lacked money in real life, but his $45,000 in his account gave him some breathing space. His priority now was the Escort quest given to him by Sentinel Captain Carolina - the 24 hours time limit was quite short. As well as this, he would forfeit his rewards if he exceeded this time limit and there would be further penalties if Tap died.

Moonlight was quite skilled and was a powerful Berserker. He was an excellent attacker and had quite a bit of HP and Defence too. Getting his help for this quest would be crucial.

Lu Li had considered asking Drinking Alone and the other people from the Grand Hegemony to do the quest with him, but seeing as he had rejected their offer to join them, he didn't feel that it was right to ask them.

"Deal." Moonlight had already thought for quite a long time, and Lu Li thought that he would refuse. However, in the end, he nodded.

What was there to think so long about? Just what was going on in this guy's head?

Lu Li didn't bother signing a System Contract. He knew that although Moonlight had a reputation for being extremely bloodthirsty, he wasn't a liar or a scammer.

Moonlight was so shocked that Lu Li trusted him this much, that he directly gave the equipment to him. After thinking for a few moments he also sent Lu Li a friend request, but was coldly denied by the system.

Lu Li immediately sent over a friend request and they both appeared in each other's friend lists.

The spectators could only watch as the Steel grade equipment in front of Lu Li disappeared. The last remaining item was the Hunter Skill Book.

If it was just a regular Hunter Skill Book, only Hunters would be interested. However, this Trueshot Aura skill would give an entire team a Buff to their Physical Attack Damage. Moreover, melee teams were currently quite favoured due to the Spider Lair Instance Dungeon.

As such, many rich people were interested in buying it for the purpose of strengthening their union.

"We'll swap a Thief Skill Book with you. How's that?" If Lu Li decided to accept, then he wouldn't auction. Auctions were simply too savage - items and equipment would often be sold at many times their actual value.

"That's fine, but it has to be an Ultimate Skill or an Enhancing Skill for Thieves." Lu Li knew that if he wanted be strong in Dawn, he had to think towards the future.

He desperately needed money, but making himself stronger was the top priority.

"What's an Enhancing Skill?" Everyone had blank looks on their faces. Moonlight, who had decided to hang around was looking confused as well.

Everyone knew about Ultimate Skills. Thieves' skills gave combo points, which could be used for Ultimate Skills. However, no one had ever heard of Enhancing Skills before.

Lu Li could only patiently explain. "Enhanced Skills are extensions of normal skills. For example, there's Enhanced Charge, Enhanced Stealth, Enhanced Blizzard and Enhanced Backstab. There are also some skills that aren't quite Enhanced, but are similar. For example, there's a Druid skill called Little Leopard Transformation which is similar to the Cheetah Transformation skill, but its stats are even better.

"My friend found a Chain Lightning Skill Book. Does that count as Lightning Arrow's Enhanced Skill?" asked someone in the crowd.

"One's a single target skill and the other is an AOE skill. Chain Lightning is very valuable, but it's not the Enhanced Skill of Lightning Arrow," clarified Lu Li.

"As expected of an expert." Everyone was in awe of Lu Li's knowledge. Many people sent out friend requests to Lu Li, but all of them were, as usual, were coldly rejected by the system. Yep, he was definitely an expert - only experts were this hard to add as friends.

"I have a Backhand Backstab Skill Book. Is it different to Enhanced Backstab?" a female Hunter timidly asked.

"Backhand Backstab isn't an Enhanced Skill, but is an Ultimate Skill. Would you like to trade with me?" Lu Li calmly asked.

"I… I train by myself, so… so wouldn't it be a bit of a waste?" The Hunter was a young girl, and didn't have a full set of equipment. The drop rate in Dawn was incredibly low, but as long as one had the patience and skill, it wouldn't be too difficult to obtain a full set of Common grade equipment. This girl was definitely a newbie.

"In the future when you have pets, this skill will also Buff you pets. Plus, once you have this skill, it'll be easy to get into a good team," Lu Li patiently said.

The early stages of the game were often the most difficult for Hunters. This was because Tame Beast Skill Books were incredibly rare, in addition to having low accuracy and low attack speed. If a Hunter didn't have any good equipment, it would be almost impossible for them to find a good team. The girl in front of him obviously fell into this category, but he was curious as to how she had obtained a Skill Book like Backhand Backstab.

[Backhand Backstab: Instant Cast. When you are at your target's side, consume all of your combo points to backhand backstab your target, causing Equipment Damage x (1 30% x number of combo points) worth of Damage. Proficiency: 1/1000.

This Ultimate Skill was quite powerful, but if one had to point out a drawback, it would be that Backhand Backstab required difficult positioning. As such, most Thieves in Dawn chose to use Eviscerate as their Ultimate Skill. However, to Manual mode players, this skill was easier in being able to achieve surprising effects.

The Hunter girl was convinced by one of Lu Li's reasons, and then nodding, opened up a Trade Window with Lu Li.

Lu Li let out the breath that he had been holding and traded with the girl.

Lu Li felt a bit guilty, perhaps because he felt that he had taken advantage of this girl. He sent her a friend request, hoping that he would be able to make it up to her in the future.

Trueshot Aura was quite a good skill and was very rare. However, it simply couldn't be compared to the Backhand Backstab. At least to Lu Li, he had received much more than he had given, and thus the exchange hadn't been very fair to the girl.

The Hunter girl was very surprised that Lu Li would add her as a friend. However, being added by an expert made her quite happy, so she accepted the request without hesitation.

The Great Thief

Chapter 34: House Searching

After selling all of his equipment and the Skill Book, Lu Li sent a message to Azure Sea Breeze to see how things were going on his end. After confirming that all was well, Lu Li logged off and went to sleep.

The next day was Sunday. Lu Li and his little sister ate some breakfast, then left to look for a new home.

From a sociological standpoint, once private ownership was established, people were bound to be divided into the 'rich' and the 'poor'. Despite how advanced technology was, this was something that could not be changed.

The wealth gap between the rich and the poor was still as present as ever in the 23rd century. There were 3 main Districts: The Slum District, Commoner District and the Rich District. Although these weren't their official names, that was how reality was.

The people who lived in the Slum District were mostly unemployed and barely scraped by on government handouts. Most of them didn't have the right to education or healthcare. The reason why the Lu family lived in such poverty was because Lu Li wanted his sister to go to school, so that one day she might be able to find a good job and marry into a good family.

Those who lived in the Common District were mostly the working class who earned low incomes. Although they didn't have much money, they were handed more rights than those in the Slum Districts and lived in much better conditions because they could at least contribute to society.

As for the Rich District, they were the minority who controlled the majority of society's wealth, and enjoyed much more in terms of rights and power.

Lu Li now had more than $40,000 in his bank account. It was impossible for him to buy a house even in the Commoner District, but renting a house would be no problem.

Currently, they were looking for a house in the Commoner District with a nice and safe environment, that was close to a school and wasn't too expensive…

"Big brother, look, there are police here even though it's still daytime," pointed out Lu Xin in curiosity.

Lu Xin was a little beauty but had always lacked a feeling of security since she was young. Luckily, her big brother was good at fighting, so she was able to safely grow up in the Slum District.

"It's because this side of the Commoner District is close to the Slum District," Lu Li explained. This was quite ironic - Lu Xin was excited to see the police, but the people they were here to guard against were people like Lu Li and Lu Xin.

"Big brother, if we find a house to live in over here, we won't count as poor anymore, right?" The little girl asked with a look of hope on her face.

"Xin Xin, we weren't poor because we lived in the Slum District, but because we didn't have any money. Now that we have money, we aren't poor anymore." Lu Li swore to himself that he would never let his little sister feel inferior because of her social status ever again.

"Oh! Big brother's so awesome; you earnt that much money in just 2 days!" To Lu Xin, her big brother was always the strongest and the most awesome person. A certain bro-con's eyes were filled with little stars.

"Xin Xin, let's not look for a house here." A certain sis-con's heart started racing as he proudly said, "Let's go to the Rich District!"

"Big brother, are you sure?!" Lu Xin burst into excitement, but then became doubtful. "Big brother, will we really have enough for that? If… if one day we don't have enough money, what will we do?"

It was normal for the little girl to worry about this.

However, what she didn't know, was that sis-cons hated being doubted by their little sisters. What? Not being able to earn enough money? Impossible!

The more Lu Li thought about it, the more he wanted to move to the Rich District. The living conditions there were simply too good. The Slum District was a crappy area that should have been demolished 200 years ago, while the Commoner District was equivalent to the normal suburbs. Only the Rich District could match the 200 years of advancement in technology.

Lu Li and Lu Xin sat in a hover car as they set out for the Rich District.

The Rich District was quite large, but there were not many people. Apart from some special regions, the residential area was filled with trees and some rare plants that had become extinct 200 years ago.

Plant DNA that had been preserved for 200 years had finally been reconstructed using technology. It was very fitting for them to be growing in the gardens of the Rich District.

"You want to rent a house here?" Most of the receptionists came from the Commoner District, so they didn't have the same condescending attitude that most people of the Rich District had. The receptionist kindly said, "The government regulations require that your account needs to have at least $1,000,000 in order to live here."

"$1,000,000…" Lu Li's hopes were instantly dashed.

"Big brother, let's forget about it then," Lu Xin softly said as she pulled Lu Li's arm.

"You could try out the region near the Higher Education Mega Centre," the receptionist suggested.

"Right!" Lu Li suddenly realised that it wasn't just the Rich District that had a good living environment.

Seventy years ago, when the location for the Higher Education Mega Centre was being chosen, there had been some complications.

The government had wanted to put all of the universities in the same location to save money and space.

They had originally been planning to build the Higher Education Mega Centre in the Rich District, as all the members of the committee were from the Rich District. After all, who wouldn't want universities to be close to where they lived?

However, no one thought that those from the Commoner District and Slum District would be so outraged. Factory workers went on strikes, teachers went on strikes, electricity and water was cut, transportation was blocked, and even the military fell into chaos. Soon, members of the committee began to be assassinated.

As such, someone suggested that the Higher Education Mega Centre should be built between the Rich District and Commoner District.

Although some people were still unhappy, most of the chaos ceased, and the Higher Education Mega Centre became a buffer between the Commoner District and the Rich District. While it was affordable for most people of the working class, the conditions there were almost as good as those in the Rich District.

By the time the Lu brother and sister arrived at the Higher Education Mega Centre, it was already 11am. Lu Li decided to go to the Villa District where the Star Moon Union was, since he was familiar with its surroundings.

This was a Garden Villa District. In the front, there were 4 office buildings, and behind them was the residential area.

Lu Li held Lu Xin's hand as they walked past a Real Estate Agent's office and into the residential area.

"Big brother, I heard that Real Estate Agents can show you around and give you some information. Why didn't we go in there?" Lu Xin turned around, wanting to look back at the office.

"Silly girl, Real Estate Agents are all swindlers. They always start with the worst house and work their way up from there. If you meet a really bad one, they sometimes even collude with the landlord to cheat you of your money. So remember, never, ever find a Real Estate Agent," Lu Li said, as he passed on essential knowledge to his little sister.

Lu Xin completely trusted Lu Li, and she looked at the office with wariness.

"Then how will we know which houses are for rent?"

"There are 2 ways: we can either look online, or look at the District's bulletin board." In his 'previous life', Lu Li had also moved out of the Slum District with his little sister. However, they had only been able to move to the Commoner District, and the living conditions still weren't that great.

"Are we going to look online?"

"Most of the photos online are fake. It's better if we go and take a look in person. We'll have a look at the bulletin board first," Lu Li replied. Even after hundreds of years, some things had never changed. Beside the digital bulletin board were some empty spaces for people to put up their own ads.

There were those wanting to buy second hand game helmets, clinics advertising their medicine, as well as advertisements for renting rooms.

The brother and sister pair squeezed in front of the bulletin board together, looking for an ad that caught their eye. Just as they were about to choose one to call, they heard someone impatiently saying, "Are you guys done or not? Can you let me stick something on?"

The Great Thief

Chapter 35: My Beautiful Landlord

The person's voice was slightly hoarse, and Lu Li turned around, he was that it came from a beautiful woman.

Her clothes were not very orderly and she had eyebags as well as an impatient expression, however, she was definitely a beauty. This went to show just how stunning she was.

The Lu brother and sister took a few steps back to make way for her. She was holding a sheet of paper with a sticky back, and she carelessly stuck it onto the bulletin board. She didn't even bother to look at it after, and yawned, then shakily left.

"Big sister." Lu Xin called out to the beauty.

The beauty turned around in annoyance. However, seeing that it was the cute little girl who had called out to her, her voice became somewhat more amicable. "What is it little sister?"

Lu Li had been completely ignored.

"Big sister, you stuck your ad upside down!"

The beauty seemed to waken up, and walking over, she saw that it was indeed upside down.

Villa overlooking the Little Mirror Lake. Renting out 3 rooms. Includes a private bathroom, shared gym, kitchen… IV-6 network port for gaming… Monthly rent: $8,000-12,000. For more information, please call 182*001.

After turning it the right way up, Lu Li was able to read the ad, and immediately called out to the beauty who was about to leave.

"What is it now?" The beauty frowned and her eyes filled with annoyance. Her attitude towards Lu Li was completely different.

"The room you're renting out has an IV-6 network port for gaming? Are you sure it's an IV-6?" Lu Li asked.

The IV-6 network port was designed especially for gaming and costed quite a bit of money - about $2,000 per month. Furthermore, because of the network resources it took up, the installation of such network ports was strictly limited. Even if one had money, they might not necessarily be able to access one.

"That's right, you want to rent?" The beauty gave him a strange look, "Sorry, but we only want to rent to females."

"Big brother, it's so expensive," Lu Xin said as she held Lu Li's hand. She was simply astounded by the monthly rent. The government handouts given to those in the Slum District would be around $8,000 per year, and it would rarely be given in cash.

"This price is actually quite fair. You know, Xin Xin, it would be quite hard for us to find a cheaper and better place than this in the Higher Education Mega Centre," Lu Li replied.

"How about we go back to the Commoner District? We'll come back when we have enough money." Lu Xin didn't want her brother to overwork herself. She would already be happy living in the Commoner District.

What a good girl. Lu Li couldn't help but stroke his little sister's head. "If we live over here, I can send you to a good school. That way, you'll be able to go to the No. 1 Affiliated Middle School. I heard that the enrolment rate there is quite good, and the minimum mark for passing is alright. Big brother wants you to get into the best school and best university, alright?"

"But…" Lu Xin wanted to say something, but was cut off by Lu Li. "Don't worry about money. Big brother will take care of that."

These people probably weren't looking for male tenants because there were females living there already. It would be quite awkward for them if he moved in. As such, Lu Li did not push it, and instead continued to look through the ads, searching for one that had an IV-6 network port.

An IV-6 network port was simply too important, especially to a Manual mode player.

A virtual reality game depended on the game helmet, as well as the network port. Only with a decent game helmet and network port would the game run smoothly and actually appear like a virtual world. Lu Li's game helmet was one of the worst, and combined with the network port in the Slum District, he could definitely feel the effects.

"Oi, you two." The Lu brother and sister were muttering together about the different ads when they heard the woman call out to them.

"Eh, you're still here?" Lu Li was a bit surprised.

"Didn't you say you were looking for a place to rent? Come with me." Without waiting for them, the beauty started to march forwards.

From behind, the beauty's figure was quite impressive. She had long, slim legs and had a thick waist with a well-rounded bottom. Even without trying, she was quite sensual.

Lu Li hesitated for a moment before taking Lu Xin's hand and following her, as he asked, "How much rent do I have to pay at once?"

"Pay for 3 months plus the next 3 as security." This time, the woman didn't sound as annoyed at them.

"No problem, but can we start next month? I'll need to prepare during this month," Lu Li said.

"Why do you need to start next month? Are you going to become rich in a month?" The woman's thinking process was a bit strange. Most people wouldn't have agreed to such a thing, but instead, she had asked them why.

"I won't be able to become rich, but renting a place should be fine." Lu Li replied.

As they talked, they had come to the entrance of the Villa. No wonder they said that it was overlooking the lake - this villa had 2 storeys and was right next to it. There was also a decently-sized balcony that extended out over a bit of the lake.

"If you've found a good job, then let me see the contract. Otherwise, how can I trust you… wait here." The beauty opened the door and walked in. However, after taking a few steps, she immediately ran out and turned around while yelling, "I brought some people who are interested in renting; hurry and clean the place up. There's a guy…"

Lu Li started sweating. He could almost imagine a bunch of almost-naked girls sitting in the living room.

There was a flurry of movement inside and someone yelled back, "Alright, big sis Huan Huan, you can come in now."

The living room was quite large, but was a bit messy. However, at the very least, there wasn't any underwear lying around. There were two women sitting on the sofa, looking at the Lu brother and sister in curiosity.

As the saying goes, 'birds of a feather flock together'. These two women were also exceptional beauties. One of them was wearing a light blue shirt and was quite a lot shorter than the other two women. Her large and sparkling eyes, coupled with her sizeable chest made her appear like a 'kawaii' girl from a manga.

The other looked much more delicate and quiet, as if she was from a painting.

"Please take a seat. What were we talking about just then?" the woman who was called 'big sis Huan Huan' said, as she found a spot on the sofa and curled up.

"Big sis Huan Huan, didn't we say that we'd look for a female?" the kawaii girl said unhappily.

"Ah, I saw that he treated his little sister really well, and I felt touched at the time," Huan Huan said, as she messed around with messy hair, evidently feeling conflicted.

The kawaii girl looked at Lu Xin and suddenly realised something, saying, "Hey, at least she's shorter than me and she's super cute. Let's let her stay."

"Dou Dou, she's still young; she'll definitely still grow," the delicate girl reminded her.

Although Lu Xin was already in grade 10, she was only 14 years old. She was incredibly pretty, but was only about 1.5 metres or so tall.

"Big sis Yi Yi, will you die if you just agree?" The girl referred to as Dou Dou yelled out furiously. The delicate beauty looked away, and didn't say anything else.

"Alright, be quiet you guys," Huan Huan cut them off as she looked at Lu Li and said, "You said that you wanted to start renting next month, right?"

The Great Thief

Chapter 36: I'm a Professional Player

"That's right." Lu Li didn't feel as though there was anything wrong with this. If he was still living in poverty, he might feel a bit ashamed. However, after earning over $40,000 in 2 days, he felt more confident than anyone else.

Those who were truly confident in themselves could face reality head-on.

"You don't look like you're a student. Where are you working now? Do you have any proof of your income?" Huan Huan and the other girls looked at the calm Lu Li. Could he really have found a good job?

"I'm a professional player." Lu Li thought for a moment, and decided that the most suitable job title for him would be a 'professional player'. His status as a member of the Gold Collection Unit had ceased the moment he had decided to leave the Star Moon Union.

"Professional player!" the three girls said at the same time with a strange look on their faces.

"So you're a professional player. What game do you play?" The kawaii girl Dou Dou curled her lip as she asked, "Are you sure you can earn enough money?"

"Dawn."

"Ah, so you play Dawn as well. What level are you?" Huan Huan seemed a bit more awake.

"LV5."

"Huh, LV5. Not bad, Dou Dou's also LV5." Huan Huan thought for a while before asking, "It's been 2 days since the game opened; how are you so confident that you'll be able to earn enough money? How many gold coins do you have?"

"I've only got 10 or so gold coins now; I've exchanged most of it into real money," Lu Li truthfully answered.

The kawaii girl leapt up and said, "Big sis Huan Huan, don't listen to him. It's super hard to earn money in Dawn. How can he already have 10 gold coins?!"

"You seem to have sold a lot of things," Yi Yi said in a small voice.

She was completely right - not only did he have 10 or so gold coins, but he had sold A LOT in the past few days.

"How much did you earn from selling your things?" Huan Huan was doubtful. Although she hadn't played this game, she had heard Dou Dou yelling quite a bit about how difficult it was to play and earn money. She even had to borrow money to repair equipment.

"About 40 gold coins. I sold them for about $45,000." In order to convince them to let him rent a room here, he had to show that he had money in the game and also in real life.

He didn't know that he had just poked a hornet's nest.

"Impossible, impossible!" Dou Dou was tearing at her hair as she rolled around on the sofa, as if her mind was on the verge of collapse.

"Mister," Huan Huan calmed down and said, "It's not that we don't believe you, but to earn $45,000 in real money in just 2 days is inconceivable. What proof do you have?"

"I can show you the screenshots of my trades and exchanges. One exchange was with the Star Moon Union: I sold them a Skill Book for $25,000. The other was with Water Fairy: I got $20,000 from that," Lu Li explained.

"Wait, you sold that Skill Book to the Star Moon Union? And Water Fairy? Are you... are you… that Lu Li?" Dou Dou yelled out as she stopped rolling around.

"Madman, Dou Dou has been calling you a madman for the past few days," Yi Yi added softly.

This girl was incredibly beautiful and looked harmless, but she liked to hit those who were down.

"Be quiet, you," Dou Dou and Huan Huan said at the same time.

Yi Yi curled up into a ball, her eyes glimmering as if she had been wronged. She looked extremely pitiful.

"Can you tell us how you earnt so much money?" Huan Huan climbed up from the sofa and ran over to sit down next to Lu Li, while Dou Dou sat on his other side. The two girls sandwiched Lu Li in between them and stared at him intently.

"Ahem, these screenshots should be enough to prove that I'm able to pay the rent, right?" This was the first time he had been so close to 2 young, beautiful women, and he felt quite a bit of pressure.

"Of course, of course," Huan Huan quickly nodded, "Now can you tell us?"

"I don't really know what you mean… I'm just here to find a place to stay," Lu Li felt that there was something not quite right about these women.

"Alright, I'll tell you why we want to know so badly…" Huan Huan's face fell and she started to explain to Lu Li.

They had rented this house in the first half of the year. Seven university students had formed a game studio in order to do well in the game 'New World'.

It was a pity that things did not go as planned. 6 months after New World was released, many players moved to Dawn. As such, the girls' investments in New World and the villa had all gone down the drain.

The passion they felt for the game quickly disappeared and everyone else left. Soon, it was just these 3 girls.

Huan Huan's surname was Zhou and was the boss of the studio. She had invested the most money, but when the others had left, she had given back some of what they had invested. She had taken the biggest loss.

Yi Yi's surname was Yang and her real name was Yang Liu; Yi Yi was her nickname. She had been close friends with Huan Huan since they were young, so naturally, she hadn't left.

As for Dou Dou, her name real name was Dou Jing Jing. However, she didn't like her name at all. This was because her name (Jing Jing) meant 'to calm down'. Whenever someone said they needed 'to calm down', she would always be made fun of. As such, everyone called her Dou Dou, since it sounded much cuter.

After what had happened, it was only natural for them to feel dejected and low-spirited. Huan Huan and Yi Yi didn't even want to play Dawn. Only the heartless Dou Dou entered the game, but she hadn't done well for herself.

"Back then, we were completely confident and signed a 3 year lease on the house. Now, we can only sub-lease to minimise our losses," Huan Huan grudgingly said as she told Lu Li the reason why they were renting out the rooms.

Rich, filthy rich. This was an awesome villa in an awesome location. It was large, and had its own garden, swimming pool and balcony. It was probably worth at least $100,000 per month and yet they had leased it for 3 years. Lu Li felt like his head was about to explode.

He quickly comforted the 3 girls who were grasping at straws, "Let's talk about the rental terms first, then game matters. I'll definitely help you all, but don't expect too much - I'm just a normal player."

"Mmm got it, got it, that's what all experts say," Dou Dou rapidly nodded.

Lu Li didn't know what to say. Lu Xin suddenly realised just how powerful her big brother had become and a look of worship appeared in her eyes.

"There are 3 rooms in total, 2 big and 1 small. The big ones are $12,000 per month and the small one is $8,000 per month. If you can teach us how to play Dawn, we can reduce the rent by $2,000." After gathering together for a while, the 3 girls made a decision.

The rooms were all very large: even the smallest one was twice as big as the entire unit the Lu brother and sister had occupied in the Slum District.

"Big brother, let's share the smaller one," Lu Xin suggested in a small voice. She had never seen such luxurious rooms before and felt like she was dreaming.

"No way." The first person to reject this was actually Dou Dou. She furiously pointed at Lu Li as she yelled, "How can you do this, you pervert? Your little sister's already so big, but you still sleep with her, you pervert."

She was clearly had a hyperactive imagination. Lu Li was speechless and the other 2 girls pretended that they didn't know her.

After ranting for a bit, before convincing Lu Li to rent 2 separate rooms, she finally calmed down.

"We'll charge you $15,000 per month for the 2 rooms. Yi Yi and I will join the game next week. When that time comes, you need to give us some basic equipment and tell us what we should do." These students were all very rich; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to rent such a place. After finding out that their studio had failed because they chose the wrong game and discovering a new hope in the form of Lu Li, they were willing to give him a sizeable discount.

"If you join our studio, we can let you guys stay here for free," Yi Yi said in a small voice.

The Great Thief

Chapter 37: Escorting As a Party

"Yes, yes." Dou Dou who had just been scolding Lu Li suddenly became eager, as she was actually the one who respected him the most. Even though she wasn't an Elf, she knew that Lu Li had sold a skill book worth 20 gold on the first day and even more equips last night.

He had even gotten the first clear of the Elite-difficulty Instance Dungeon, as well as the wild Boss. This had made global news and he had become a well-known name on TV.

If she knew that the first PVP video on the forums was about him, she would be even more surprised.

"I don't think I'll be joining your studio, I don't have plans like that at the moment." Even with the beauties before him, Lu Li was clear and straightforward with his rejection.

"What about the rooms? Have you decided?" Huan Huan looked at Lu Li, wholeheartedly hoping that he would choose to stay. This was a gaming god, one that ranked among the best in China and perhaps even the world.

Even if he didn't join their studio, a few tips here and there from him would be greatly beneficial.

If Lu Li still thought it was too expensive, the rent could be further reduced.

"I can pay for the first month's rent, but the rest of the initial 6-month payment will have to take a little longer." Lu Li didn't plan to stay for free, but he had to find a way to earn 60,000 for the Star Moon Union by next Wednesday.

"Of course, that's not a problem. You guys can pack your stuff and move in today," the three sisters all nodded in agreement.

Moving out didn't take very long as he and his sister didn't have much; they only brought their clothes and daily necessities, leaving the rest behind to be taken by their neighbors.

Lu Li stayed in the bigger room on the second floor, which was farther away from the girls, while Lu Xin stayed in the smallest room, which was closest to Dou Dou. The landladies had already warmed up to her and had dragged her out to go window shopping in the afternoon.

Lu Li turned down their offer; he still had a very important Quest to complete in game.

When he logged in, it was already 3PM. The sky was sunny today in Moon Shadow Valley and the sunlight rested on the green grass, reflecting a golden light. The valley didn't look dark at all.

After sending a message to tell Azure Sea Breeze to come over, Lu Li looked for a few monsters near Moon Shadow Valley to try out his new network connection and equipment.

The IV-6 game network had instantly made him more powerful. His original 80% Skill Completion on Shadowstrike had been increased by 2-3%. This was with the worst game helmet as well and when he upgraded to the best helmet, there would be a further increase.

An independent player like him needed the best equipment he could get.

He had already used the skill book he had obtained from the day before. While Backhand Backstab dealt a lot of damage, the hardest aspect of the skill was the required positioning.

However, Lu Li had read guides about this in the past and had PVPed with other independent Thieves, so executing it wasn't hard. He would have to spend a long time practicing though, if he wanted to increase his Skill Completion.

"I've been waiting for a while," Azure Sea Breeze said as he walked up and patted Lu Li's back with his shield. "Why did you only just come online? I'm almost level 7 now. Doing Instance Dungeons last night to level up was just too good."

"I was looking for a house to move into this morning and only managed to find the time to log in now," Lu Li said.

"I've already done what you told me to do yesterday. Many of them are interested, but I chose Drizzle Court because they offered us 3 Jade Spider Webs and any Steel equips if they're dropped. The only thing is, we will need to join their Guild," Azure Sea Breeze said.

"Guild?"

"Don't you know? This morning several Guilds were established. Within the Chinese region there are currently 7 which are on our side: Drizzle Court, Gangnam Royals, Blood Red War Flag and Seventh Heaven. On the evil side, there is Glory Capital, Gale Legion and Stellar Union. The first one to establish their Guild was Glory Capital."

"They really are quick; this is not a simple task." Lu Li didn't think that so much would have changed in the one morning he was gone.

"Boss, your equipment is a little overpowered don't you think? These people only just gathered enough money to establish their Guilds today and your equips are already worth several gold coins," Azure Sea Breeze cried out loudly, causing people around them to look at him.

"Shh keep a low profile. Don't help them farm yet, I still have a quest I need to complete." Lu Li turned on his communication device and called Moonlight, the Warrior that had traded Steel equips with him.

Moonlight was currently doing an Instance Dungeon. However, when he received Lu Li's message, he left and ported home, appearing before them.

After mutual introductions, Lu Li told them about the Quest, "This is probably not unique and you guys should be able to get it as well. When we complete it, we'll see if there are any follow up quests."

"Is it okay if we don't have a healer? I don't have many potions left." Azure Sea Breeze's face was bitter; the Boss from yesterday had taken up way too many potions. If it weren't for the rewards, his bag would be empty.

"Check your friends list to see if there's anyone suitable; we can get a few more people. But just tell them that it's an escort quest and not about the materials and rewards," Lu Li said.

Lu Li said that with a certain truth in mind. When asked to help with a quest without the promise of a reward, most people would come up with an excuse. Azure Sea Breeze was one of the few friends that was here without a reason.

As someone who was proud to have such a large social network, he didn't realize how many were fair-weather friends. Azure Sea Breeze looked hurt and squatted to the side, not saying anything.

In contrast, Lu Li's friend list was small, but there were quite a few people who were willing to join.

March Rain the Priest and Lonesome Flower the Mage were the ones who had completed "Pet Escape" with Lu Li. Upon hearing that Lu Li needed help, they had asked for his location and immediately headed over.

In his friends list, there was also Holy Thunder the Mage, Water Fairy and three people from the Grand Hegemony. Lu Li decided against contacting them as he wasn't very close to them and didn't want to trouble them.

Finally, his eyes stopped on one name - Remnant Dream, who was the one who traded the skill book with him. After receiving the news, the little hunter obediently presented herself. Her skill was average and she was unsure if she could be of any help.

Lu Li was looking for an opportunity to compensate her for the skill book, so he planned to take her.

With many monsters on the way, the experience gained would not be much different from those that were training in parties. As for the danger level, they would be completely safe as long as they stayed together.

Dawn's parties had no max number, so the 6 of them could form a group.

Azure Sea Breeze and Moonlight were level 6, Lonesome Flower and March Rain were level 5, and Remnant Dream was level 4. They were all young people so they quickly warmed up to each other and went on their merry way.

The Great Thief

Chapter 38: Let's Go!

The party had killed many monsters before reaching the level 6 Spotted Forest Panther and had received a considerable amount of loot.

However, now that they had entered Spotted Forest Panther territory, they were starting to feel some pressure.

"Remnant Dream, how long until you level up?" Lu Li made a misstep and a shadowy figure closed in. He quickly twisted his dagger and plunged it into the back of the monster's head. He then heard the system prompt: Backhand Backstab Skill Completion 71%, dealing 79% damage.

"Ugh… still missing 1 percent," the little hunter said as she uncoordinatedly drew her bow and fired a weak arrow. Azure Sea Breeze waved his long sword to block it as it flew towards him. He was quite familiar with this action as this wasn't the first time.

"Hmm, you'll be strong when you learn Trueshot Aura." Lu Li didn't have the same nasty look in Azure Sea Breeze's eyes, instead comforting the little hunter that was about to cry.

Lonesome Flower was using Automatic mode, which was fairly normal for anyone wanting to do well. Later, when he had more skills and a full set of good equipment, he would be a force to be reckoned with. Lu Li hadn't seen March Rain for a day, but her improvements were already significant. As for Moonlight, there was only one phrase for him: killing machine!

He wielded one of the finest Steel weapons - the Bloodseeker's Axe, and he wore another piece of Steel equipment on his body. In addition, he had also learned a skill with an incredibly low drop rate - Whirlwind. All this complemented a Berserker Warrior's high attack and he was dealing more damage than Lu Li.

After walking for half an hour, they reached the Cynocephali mine, which was a forbidden area to the players. The mine was filled with Cynocephali patrols, so there was currently no one training here.

Remnant Dream had now reached level 5, finally learning 'Trueshot Aura'.

[Trueshot Aura: Increases melee and ranged attack of all party members within 100 yards by 10%. Passive Skill. Not upgradeable.

All party members gain a benefit: attack strength is increased by 10%

"Yes! This skill is really good for parties." Not too long ago, Azure Sea Breeze thought Remnant Dream was a burden and had only just realized her value.

Moonlight's expression also changed and he looked at Remnant Dream with awe, like she was a high-quality equip.

Remnant Dream had always been bullied; no one ever wanted to party with her. To be valued by an expert was a completely new experience for her. It didn't matter whether it was Azure Sea Breeze or Moonlight, as she looked up to both of them.

"Alright, stop talking. Get ready to attack. Even though the Cynocephali are high level, our party's attack strength is pretty high too. This shouldn't be a problem, but we can use this time to practice. March Rain, heal us well." After a rest, Lu Li tried to get everyone ready to work.

Lu Li went into stealth first and cast Sap to stun one of them. The rest of the party ambushed the target and focused it down. The poor Cynocephali was killed in just a few seconds.

This was a level 10 monster!

"Woah, the exp is higher than in an Instance Dungeon!" Azure Sea Breeze exclaimed.

The monsters here were all 2 to 3 levels higher than he was, which granted the maximum bonus exp. This meant that they gave more exp than the level 4-5 monsters in the Instance Dungeon.

Spirits were high and they rushed in headfirst, even when there were 3 or 4 monsters grouped together. The pressure was on March Rain to heal, but the stubborn girl didn't protest, instead clenching her teeth and continuing to support. Lu Li occasionally gave some tips, but her technique was becoming good.

After over an hour, they had cleared a way to Tap. Azure Sea Breeze had also been pulling monsters from the surrounding area so they could increase their level.

Coming before Tap, they all received the Exploration Quest.

"The goal of the quest is to find the Sacrificial Alter in the cave. You guys go ahead. I'm going to open some treasure chests." Lu Li already knew where they could go, and turned invisible before entering the cave.

"No wonder Lu Li's equipment is so good. A Thief can go anywhere he wants, and can't he just open any treasure chest he wants?" Lonesome Flower said with envy.

"Don't think about it; you have to consider who it is as well. Look at other Thieves. Some of them are really bad," Azure Sea Breeze said with disdain. "Those who play as a Thief are also playing with their heart. There are so many monsters here, but Lu Li had already explored this place yesterday."

"His technique is pretty good too; his Skill Completion is very high." Although you damage dealt couldn't be seen, they had been together long enough for Moonlight to make an estimate on the damage Lu Li was dealing.

"Moonlight, do you play with your friends?" Azure Sea Breeze asked casually while attacking a monster.

"No, I'm alone right now, just playing however I want." Moonlight's voice was low and deep and it sounded like there was a story to him.

Azure Sea Breeze smiled: "It's no fun playing alone. Whenever you do an Instance Dungeon you have to find a random party. The chance of you running into 'unique' people is really high. You know, I ran into quite a few of them just last night…"

Azure Sea Breeze was someone who could make good small talk and was a bit of a chatterbox. As long as he was around, there would be no fear of silence. Whenever he met a stranger, he would quickly be able to find a common topic to talk about.

Lu Li went alone and moved quickly, as he didn't need to fight any monsters. Before the others had even completed their quest, he had already opened all three treasure chests and returned.

"Lonesome Flower, you can have this Magic Bracer. I don't mind how you decide between you and your sister." Lu Li had obtained a few Bronze equips from the treasure chests, and if anyone here could use them, he would just give it to them.

Lonesome Flower and March Rain tried to politely decline, but eventually took it anyway.

"Remnant Dream, you're pretty lucky, there's two things here for you." Lu Li gave her two equips that added agility.

"This… this is too precious, isn't it?" The little hunter was shocked.

Azure Sea Breeze saw what was happening and was also shocked. "This can't be what you just got from the treasure chests right? This crossbow looks familiar… oh, that's right, it was from when we got First Clear on the Elite Spider Lair…"

Once Remnant Dream heard that, she was even more reluctant to take it.

"I have no need for a crossbow and your aim with the bow isn't very good. Try the crossbow, it's easier to operate. With Automatic Mode, the system will adjust the speed of the arrows," Lu Li decisively confirmed the transaction, but worried that the other party wouldn't accept, he added: "Think of it as a loan. When you have better equipment you can return it to me, otherwise you can keep it."

The others were shocked by Lu Li's generosity and Remnant Dream was so excited she couldn't speak.

Even the stone-faced Moonlight who didn't get along well with others was affected. He always thought that Lu Li was very good in doing business, never taking a loss. He never thought that he would just give away a Steel weapon.

Silver Light Crossbow (Steel): Damage 12-20, Agility 3, Rate of fire 1, Level Requirement 4, Durability 25/25.

Although its attributes were weaker than Bloodseeker's Axe, it was still a Steel equip, which made it better than a Bronze equip in every way. It was not very useful to someone like Lu Li, but he could easily sell it, as there were Hunters out there who were willing to pay a very high price.

"Finally, there's this. See if you can use it."

When Lu Li placed the Bronze pants in front of him, Moonlight got an even bigger shock. He did not expect this at all. If he put it on, it would increase his strength by 1, giving him a total of 2 bonus strength.

This was the first time someone had gifted him an equip since he had started playing games!

This feeling, was really weird…

The Great Thief

Chapter 39: Cynocephali Elder

"Hello, Carolina sends her regards. She hopes that my friends and I will escort you back to Moon Shadow Valley." After waiting for everyone else to complete the Exploration Quest, Lu Li went up and interacted with Tap.

"Send my thanks to Chief Carolina. O brave Elf, you are finally here." Upon seeing Lu Li, Tap regained some strength and stood up before saying: "Your friends have brought me some new information. The Cynocephali are trying to transport something from the other side of Sacrificial Altar. Go with your colleagues to destroy them. A couple of years ago I found a few skill books; they can be your rewards."

Skill books!

Everyone's eyes lit up.

All of them were only here to help out Lu Li with his Quest; they had no expectation that would yield such high exp and potentially net a skill book.

There were both newbies and strong players here, but this was the first time that any of them had heard of a quest with a skill book as a reward.

Only Lu Li who had experienced 'rebirth' knew that Dawn Quests didn't have a set pattern. There was no guarantee that if you completed a quest with a certain number of stars you would receive a skill book. Sometimes, a quest that only required killing a few monsters could reward you with a skill book or a skill point. Other times, a quest of high difficulty would not reward you in this respect at all.

Skill Points would be part of the update next Monday. Every 2 levels, a Skill Point would be gained. Otherwise, you could gain them by getting lucky in quests or beating bosses. With these Skill Points and some gold, you could increase your skill level.

When Lu Li was reborn, he found out that many quests that gave Skill Points were currently compulsory. However, the current players had no idea about them.

Of course, that was something to be considered next Monday. Lu Li gawked for a bit, before decisively saying: "As one of the Elves, we will defend the dignity of Master Elune with my life. The dirty Cynocephali sacrificial offering will be completely torn to pieces."

"Moon Goddess be with us." What Lu Li had said was so inspiring that Tap began shaking with excitement. If not for the fact that he was determined by the system to be wounded, he would have already rushed into the Cynocephali mine.

The others had never seen a player talk to an NPC like this before and were dumbfounded. They slowly realized that Lu Li's success wasn't just because he was lucky; he played this game with a certain kind of earnestness.

"Let's go," Lu Li didn't say any more, leading his party back into the mine.

The way to the Sacrificial Altar was clear, but after they had taken the quest, the Sacrificial Altar had changed significantly. Other than the 8 Cynocephali Mages that were gathered around the altar, there were 4 more level 12 Cynocephali Priests.

"There are 8 of them with shared aggro; I'll stun one and kill another. Then, we'll focus-fire one of them together, and after I've gotten aggro, we'll just attack the closest ones. Remnant Dream, you can take one on, Azure Sea Breeze and Moonlight should be able to take 2 each." There was not much strategy involved in this situation; they just needed DPS and healing.

"I can't do this." March Rain was the most nervous.

"Don't worry about me or the other two Warrior's HP. Just take care of your brother and Remnant Dream. Let's go." Lu Li went invisible and Sapped one of the Mages. He then turned around and used Cheap Shot on another.

Everyone else then selected their targets and started casting all of their spells.

March Rain who was the most worried found that after the fighting had started it wasn't so bad. Azure Sea Breeze and Moonlight had a full set of equipment and a high level of armor. Even when they were hit by the Cynocephali Mages who were 3 to 4 levels higher than them, they only lost a little bit of HP.

Lu Li was responsible for two of the monsters; one of them was completely motionless and the other completely stunned, unable to raise its staff.

With Lu Li and Lonesome Flower both attacking, it quickly keeled over and died. After dealing with that, Lu Li escaped from the fight by going invisible and giving the target that was sapped another Sap (Sap can be chained but the stun duration will be reduced by a third). His next target was the monster that had already been taken to half-health by Moonlight.

Before long, the 8 Mages were all killed before they could do anything. Although the Priests were high-levelled, this didn't translate into their attack damage. What was challenging about defeating them was their ability to restore HP.

However, this wasn't really an issue either as there were 3 who could be considered experts in this party. Whenever, they saw a Healing skill being cast, they immediately stunned the caster to interrupt the skill.

Even if they missed a few times, this didn't have much of an impact on the overall situation. Soon enough, all the Priests lay dead on the floor too.

"The power of darkness is coming and you insects will soon bow down to the Great Yogg-Saron," the last priest said before falling into the Sacrificial Altar, his blood flowing like a river.

"Too bad they didn't drop anything," Azure Sea Breeze disappointedly said as he kicked the body of the Mages.

"You can't be sure, maybe it's not over," Lu Li shook his head.

Even though he hadn't done this quest in his previous life, his experience told him that it wouldn't be this easy.

"Are you talking about the blood?" Moonlight was similarly curious.

"This blood flow is definitely more than usual." The others were beginning to become suspicious.

The 4 Priests that were killed on the altar weren't moving. However, their wounds hadn't stopped bleeding after they died. The whole Sacrificial Altar was now filled with blood.

The symbols on the Sacrificial Altar gradually lit up.

"Oh no, there's no way Yogg-Saron will really be summoned right? That's just too insane." Azure Sea Breeze held his shield tightly, somewhat anxious.

"Yogg-Saron was one of the Old Gods, dubbed The Beast with a Thousand Maws. Even the Titans couldn't destroy its evil, they could only imprison it deep underground. There's no way it would be so easy to summon," Lu Li thought otherwise.

In his previous life, 25 people who were level 40 couldn't even defeat the Tentacle of Yogg-Saron, which was the final Boss of an Instance Dungeon.

The dark light on the Altar shone unceasingly, before finally gathering together to form a Cynocephali Elder—Cynocephali Elder Allen.

"Why is it a Cynocephali?" Azure Sea Breeze had been anticipating something bigger, but was disappointed.

"Don't underestimate it, this is a Boss." Lu Li suddenly thought of something that he had read before about Bosses, one of which was Cynocephali Elder Allen. One of its skills was Charm, which possessed players.

For players, Charm was a Warlock skill that made the target aimlessly wander around for a while.

But for Allen, it was different: he could directly control the players. He could control a healer to heal him or force a damage dealer to attack a teammate.

Other than Allen, there was a level 15 public Instance Dungeon boss that knew this skill. When Lu Li was fighting this boss in his previous life, he became so frustrated that he wanted to kill himself.

At the moment everyone was only level 5-6, but they had bumped into Allen who was level 10. Even Lu Li felt a bit of despair.

The Great Thief

Chapter 40: Charm Skill

"Have you fought this Boss before? Is this Boss difficult?" Moonlight saw that something was wrong based on Lu Li's facial expression and sent him a private message.

"I have a friend who was in the beta that ran into this Boss. Its attack and defence is very ordinary, but it has a skill that is very hard to deal with…" Lu Li generally described what the Boss could do and saw that Moonlight was also frowning.

But Moonlight wasn't disheartened, messaging back: "I heard from Azure Sea Breeze that you intend to make a fixed group. If you are, you will need someone to take on the role of commander. You cannot be hesitant like this. The question is simple, what do we give up and where can we attack back? Even if we lose, we only lose some exp. On this trip today, I've already gained more than 50% exp."

Upon hearing this, Lu Li felt like his mind had cleared. That's right, it was only some exp. He didn't feel nervous anymore, instead clapping his hands and saying, "Let's give it a shot. If anyone has any ideas speak up!"

"We're waiting for your direction; how do we fight it?" This was the blind trust that Azure Sea Breeze had for Lu Li.

Lu Li waved his hand, saying, "Main Tank attack the Boss and receive healing, everyone else deal damage."

"That's it?" Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"It's my first time too; I don't know what to do either. This Boss probably has Charm, so whoever is controlled will either heal it or attack us. If that happens, don't panic. If a healer gets controlled, then we can use crowd control to stop it, but if an attacker gets controlled, we should all hide."

The text that he read didn't have any strategy written to beat the boss; it only described its despicable skill. As such, Lu Li could only arrange a countermeasure based on that description.

Although they were unwilling, they could only attack it with the standard method for now.

Azure Sea Breeze charged in and successfully stunned the Boss for a second. It looked like the Boss wasn't immune to Crown Control.

Some Bosses in Dawn could be Crowd Controlled, but others had attributes that stopped this from happening. All you could do was hit them when they cast a spell, or counterattack with a Mage to cancel it.

There had been people who tried to take Professions with a higher number of crowd control abilities to control Bosses. However, they soon discovered that some Bosses were immune to crowd control skills. Moreover, attempting to use these skills on a Boss may cause it to go into berserk mode earlier and wreak havoc.

After Allen was stunned by Charge, Lu Li's cast Cheap Shot, which only stunned for 2.5 seconds out of the usual 4 seconds. It appeared as though the Boss had some kind of gradual immunity to crowd control skills.

Fortunately, most Cynocephali's had weak defense, and the Elder was no exception. Azure Sea Breeze could deal 3 damage, while Lu Li's normal attack could deal around 5 damage.

However, its total HP was 45,000!

Not accounting for any incidents, it would take an hour if the 5 of them kept attacking it.

They didn't have a choice though; the highest-level member was not even level 7 and the Boss was level 10. The difference in level was simply just too great. If the Boss was a wild beast that had high defence, there would be no chance of them ever taking it down.

"Dammit, this dog's hits hurt. It's much stronger than the turtle boss." Azure Sea Breeze was knocked down by the Cynocephali Elder and lost 23 HP.

"Of course, it's a level 10 Boss," Lu Li responded.

"I'm really curious as to how yout beat the first Wild Boss," Moonlight said.

"How else? The two of us just kept hitting until it died," Azure Sea Breeze answered, "But that Boss was easier to kill, because its attack wasn't very high and it didn't have such a special skill. It just had high defence and a lot of HP."

"That Boss lives in the water and when its HP reached a certain level, it would return to the water to heal. So we pulled the boss into the woods…"

"You guys are so vulgar, what did you do to the Boss in the woods?" Lonesome Flower hadn't said anything all day, and this was what he contributed when finally did.

"Hehe, just the same as before." Azure Sea Breeze was just as bad.

"For the two of you to be able to kill a Boss is something to be proud of," Moonlight said emotionally. He was an expert and had played several games in his career, but he had never heard of two people killing a Boss on the second day in a game. He could already feel Dawn's developers crying about this.

They talked while they fought the boss so they wouldn't be bored.

Occasionally, the Boss would use its stick to cast a spell that was like Blizzard. It dealt a lot of damage; Lu Li was hit and he lost over 30 HP. If not for the fact that it only occasionally cast this spell, they would have already given up.

When the Boss HP dropped below 70%, it held up its stick (Magic Staff) and started an incantation in an obscure language. Remnant Dream slowly aimed her Crossbow at Lonesome Flower with a stone face.

"Sister, why do you resent me? Why are you pointing your weapon at me?" Lonesome Flower stepped aside and put on a long face.

"Help, help, what do I do? I can't control myself" Remnant Dream was already nervous, but this made her unable to speak properly.

"Don't panic, the Boss is using its skill to control you. Look at your own UI; how long does it last for?" Lu Li calmly called out, attempting to comfort the nervousness of his party members.

"There's 52 seconds left," Remnant Dream immediately called out after checking.

"Get out of here, don't let Remnant Dream hit you." It was the good thing that the respawn time of the monsters wasn't very fast, so they had some space to fight.

The little Hunter now had a Steel Weapon equipped, so her attacks would be something to watch out for.

While casting Charm, the Boss didn't attempt anything further, which was good news in their current predicament. The pressure on Priest March Rain to heal had finally been relaxed for a while.

Lu Li attacked Allen while explain to her, "When you are healing don't panic. If you can, don't over-heal, especially when someone receives a minor wound. Don't heal every time Blizzard is cast; we can be hit 2 or 3 times before we die. But make sure to keep everyone relatively healthy as well, you never know what the Boss might do. The best you can do is keep everyone above half health."

"If one of the damage dealers is controlled, the Healer can go and drink a mana potion," Moonlight added.

Although Lu Li's damage output wasn't very high, this wasn't the biggest problem with this Boss. The biggest problem was healing!

After fighting for over an hour, it became apparent that managing the mana potions was key. Each mana potion needed to be used to its maximum restoration potential. March Rain over healed a lot, which meant that they were safe, but a lot of the healing was also wasted.

As these two experts were giving advice, Charm was cast a second time. This time Lu Li was the target and March Rain decisively ran off to restore mana.

This was the difference between fighting a Wild Boss and an Instance Dungeon Boss. The aggro range was different: a Wild Boss' aggro range was much smaller, while an Instance Dungeon Boss' aggro range was based on terrain and vision. Some of them would stick to you for as long as you were in their Instance Dungeon.

After Lu Li had been controlled, the person that he started chasing after was Lonesome Flower.

The Great Thief

Chapter 41: Charm Heart

"It's definitely your luck. Bro, keep running," Azure Sea Breeze said with mischievous glee.

Lonesome Flower looked back as he ran and soon started to yell, "Crap, captain's Movement Speed is faster than mine. Someone help me!"

"Sea Breeze, use Charge on me," Lu Li instructed. Azure Sea Breeze immediately used Charge on Lu Li and stunned him. Because most of the equipment that he had gave Constitution, he only damaged Lu Li for about 20 HP.

After Lu Li recovered from being stunned, his target did not change, and he continued to chase after Lonesome Flower.

"Goddamn, have mercy. Is my first death really going to be because of captain?" Lonesome Flower desperately ran. However, an Intelligence profession simply couldn't outrun an Agility profession.

"Shut up you idiot. The first time I saw you, you were being killed by a wolf." Lu Li was becoming annoyed by his yells and seeing that his Dagger was about to stab Lonesome Flower, he could only yell out, "Moonlight, stun me!"

Moonlight used Charge and stunned Lu Li, giving Lonesome Flower some more time to escape.

"Sea Breeze, use a Shieldstrike on me." What a situation! Lu Li never thought that he would have to instruct his own teammates to attack him.

They patiently endured until Lu Li could control his body again. By now, the Boss' HP had fallen to about 60%. Luckily, March Rain's MP was more or less recovered.

As long as the healer had the opportunity to run off, recover their MP and drink some Potions, they wouldn't become a burden to the team.

Luckily, Azure Sea Breeze was the main tank. He almost had a full body of Bronze grade equipment and was nearly LV7. That was the main reason why he could survive for a long period of time without being healed. Any other tank, even that of a large union's, would have to be constantly healed by the healer.

But then again, how could a large union possibly go up against a LV10 Boss with 6 people?

Players on the Forum were claiming that the Evil Faction's Stellar Union had made a team of 100 players who were all LV5 and above, to challenge the LV20 Boss Lubbers. However, they had apparently all been wiped out, due to the main tank not being strong enough.

The Cynocephali Elder they were facing was quite a difficult Boss. He would use Charm every 5 minutes and the person affected would change every time. Despite this, they soon managed to reduce his HP down to 50%, albeit with some difficulty.

"Goddamn!" The players suddenly screamed out inwardly.

March Rain had been controlled!

This was the worst-case scenario!

March Rain immediately stopped moving, and started to furiously heal the Boss!

The Boss' HP wouldn't be healed very quickly - in the 1 minute that charm lasted, it would probably only be healed by about 4,500HP. However, this wasn't the main point of frustration.

"I'm out of MP." In less than 50 seconds, March Rain's Mana bar had been completed depleted.

"Sea Breeze get ready to use Potions to recover; March Rain, once you're free from the Charm, immediately retreat and drink Mana Potions. Recover as much MP as you can." Lu Li knew that he couldn't panic, otherwise his party would be finished.

In his 'past life', Lu Li had been part of many teams led by experienced captains. From all of his experience, he had learned one important lesson: the captain could never panic!

Allen roared and used his staff to smash down on Azure Sea Breeze's head. Azure Sea Breeze's HP fell down to half, but he drank a HP Potion and was healed by March Rain before the next attack.

They now faced a new problem - March Rain's MP definitely couldn't last for the 5 minutes between the Boss's charms.

Even if they had more Mana Potions, they wouldn't be of much use because of Potion Resistance. Lu Li thought for a moment before saying, "March Rain, retreat outside of the Boss' range and recover your MP. Azure Sea Breeze, don't use your Taunt. When Azure Sea Breeze has about one third of his HP left, Moonlight should draw aggro."

This was a fairly safe method. The difficult part would be for Moonlight to draw aggro in time. Otherwise, if their main tank fell, taking down this Boss would be virtually impossible.

Lu Li had always suspected that Moonlight was an expert, and so far, Moonlight hadn't let him down. When Azure Sea Breeze's HP fell below half, he started using his skills to damage the Boss and by the time Azure Sea Breeze's HP fell below one third, a high-damage Whirlwind from Moonlight drew the Boss' aggro to himself.

However, Moonlight was not a tank and his points, as well as equipment, were all focused on Strength. Every hit from the Boss cost him 50-60HP and he would be down in just a few hits.

During this whole process, Lu Li was gathering combo points. Once he had 5 combo points, he moved into position and successfully used his Backhand Backstab.

System: Backhand Backstab Skill Completion 79%, caused 101% Skill Damage, Rank 1 Armour Pierce Effect, lasts for 30 seconds.

Moonlight's Axe also had an Armour Pierce Effect, but it wasn't as good as the one Lu Li had just triggered.

Seeing that Lu Li had triggered the Armour Pierce effect, Moonlight showed his experience by backing off. This afforded Lu Li the opportunity to deal a large amount of damage and draw the Boss' aggro. Lu Li's Defence was low, but he had high Agility and Evasion. Combined with his ability to move unpredictably, he was able to last even longer than Moonlight.

"I'm back!" Just as Lu Li was in danger, Azure Sea Breeze, who had recovered about half of his HP, came charging in like a tank. He smashed into the Boss and drew aggro to himself using his Taunt.

March Rain's MP was now fully recovered. The crisis was over.

After knowing what would happen if their healer was controlled, they were no longer in suspense. At most, they would just have to continuously attack the Boss and play it safe for a while. From beginning to the end, not a single member of their party died.

The shameless boss was surrounded by even more shameless players, as they slowly wore him down.

The poor Cynocephali Elder was a Boss that could easily destroy a 100 man team, but had now fallen pitifully at the altar. It didn't even get to say anything before it was killed.

System: Players Lu Li, Azure Sea Breeze, Moonlight, March Rain, Lonesome Flower and Remnant Dream have achieved the First Kill of the wilderness Boss Cynocephali Elder Allen!

"I finally got onto the World Announcements," Lonesome Flower said with tears streaming down his face.

"It's not that amazing; you get used to it." Azure Sea Breeze was acting cool, but upon seeing all of the comments in the Public Chat, he could help but feel proud as well.

The instant the Boss died, Lu Li, Lonesome Flower, Moonlight and March Rain all levelled up. The EXP from such a Boss was incredible.

What's more, the very sight of the items and equipment that the Boss dropped reinvigorated the spirits of the entire party.

"It dropped a lot of equipment, so let's all try our luck and see who gets the better equipment," Lu Li said as he stepped back. His luck was average, so he let the others try first.

Azure Sea Breeze grinned as he picked up a piece of equipment. However, after looking at its stats, his expression fell and he threw it to Moonlight.

"I think I forgot to wash my hands; it's a Bronze grade piece of equipment. You can have it."

"Just because you washed your hands doesn't mean you'll get a good draw; it's your luck," Lonesome Flower laughed.

Moonlight took the equipment and also picked another piece up.

"Hmm, not bad. It's a Steel grade Priest's equipment."

The equipment boosted healing and therefore was given to March Rain.

Everyone else also drew a piece of equipment. Most of them were Bronze grade and only Lonesome Flower drew a Steel grade piece of equipment. It was a helmet suitable for tanks and was extremely valuable. Of course, the team gave it to Azure Sea Breeze.

"Thanks, bro. Your real name wouldn't happen be Lei Feng, the icon of selflessness, would it?" Azure Sea Breeze said as he laughed his head off.

To draw such a good piece of equipment for someone else, Lonesome Flower almost cried.

Lu Li received a piece of equipment for his shoulders. It was Bronze grade and gave 5 points of Agility, but he could only use it after he was LV10.

The Boss they had just killed was LV10, which meant that the lowest Level Requirement for the equipment it dropped would be LV10. All of the players could only keep the equipment until they could use it at a later date.

Furthermore, under the insistence of his teammates, the materials dropped from the Boss also made their way into Lu Li's bag. One of them was the Charm Heart, which was exactly what he needed to upgrade the Supreme One Ring. Originally, he had believed that it could only be obtained from a LV15 Instance Dungeon.

The Great Thief

Chapter 42: Double Skill Books

Everyone else was of the opinion that without Lu Li, they wouldn't have gone on this quest and wouldn't have been able to kill this Boss. Seeing that Lu Li wasn't able to obtain a single piece of Steel-grade equipment, they were insistent that he could have the materials. To Lu Li, just receiving this Charm Heart made everything worth it!

LV15 Instance Dungeons were incredibly hard: even a team with ten LV20 players would struggle to successfully clear one. Moreover, the Charm Heart only dropped in the Elite grade Instance Dungeon and had a drop rate even lower than that of the Jade Spider Webs.

In his 'past life', he remembered that Azure Sea Breeze had told him that in order to obtain the Charm Heart, he had cleared the LV15 Instance Dungeon for 3 months!

The main materials required for upgrading the Supreme One Ring to the Supreme Two Ring were the Jade Spider Webs and the Charm Heart. The other 5 types of materials were rare, but most of them could be bought from the market. All it would take was some time and money.

Lu Li estimated that if his luck was good, he would be able to take the ring to an altar to upgrade it before LV10.

The Supreme One Ring's stats simply couldn't be compared to that of the Supreme Two Ring's. The gap was too wide.

"Let's go and hand in the quest." After handing out their spoils of war, the party left the mine. They encountered a few monsters on the way back, but easily killed them all.

"Elf, I hope that you have brought back good news." Tap was still in his half-dead condition. He had obtained a broken gun and leant on it, using it as a crutch.

"There were some complications, but luckily we were all able to survive," Lu Li said, then proceeded to describe the intense battle.

The others were worried; Azure Sea Breeze wanted to say something, but Lu Li stopped him with a stern look.

They didn't know why Lu Li had done this. Everyone knew that the Quest Rewards were linked to the Quest Difficulty. The Altar Sacrifices weren't even Elites, so it would be difficult to get good rewards for killing them. However, they hadn't only killed some Altar Sacrifices, but a Boss with close to 50,000HP.

A Cynocephali Elder!

It was possible that the rewards would be a bit better for killing that Boss.

"Complications?" Tap looked serious, "What sort of complications? Can you tell me in details? Monitoring the Cynocephali is my duty, so I can't overlook anything."

Only now did Lu Li mention the Cynocephali Elder Allen. After speaking, their whole party received notice of a quest completion.

System: Completed Tap's Request: Kill the Cynocephali Sacrifices. Received Reputation Reward. Received EXP Reward. Received a Skill Book of Player's Profession.

System: Completed Tap's Request: Kill the Cynocephali Elder. Received Reputation Reward. Received EXP Reward. Received a Skill Book of a random profession. Received an Equipment of Player's Profession.

Apart from Lu Li, everyone was dumbfounded. They all understood why Lu Li had separated his interactions with Tap into 2 stages.

Unexpectedly, they had just cleared 2 quests, and both of them had excellent rewards.

The second quest's rewards were especially good. The EXP from that quest alone gave each of the party members half an entire bar of EXP.

What made them even happier was that they had also received a Skill Book for their own profession, as well as any Skill Book of their choice. In addition to this, they had even received a piece of Equipment for their profession!

None of them had ever received such awesome Quest Rewards before. These past few hours had seemed like a dream to them: they had killed LV8-9 monsters and a LV10 Boss, which was topped off by completing an incredible quest.

"Lord Tap, please allow us to escort you back to the Moon Shadow Valley so you can recuperate." Lu Li didn't ignore the NPC and even offered to escort him back.

Tap was very happy with Lu Li's words and warmly said, "I indeed need to go back to recuperate. However, after I'm fine, I'll still need to return here. After all, this is my job."

Lu Li suddenly understood why Tap's quest was different to the one in his 'past life'.

In Lu Li's 'past life', Tap had been a very ordinary NPC who would give out 2 quests every day. One involved investigating the mine tunnel, while the other required the player to kill 20 Cynocephali. The rewards were just EXP and silver coins.

Lu Li concluded that the quests they had just done were limited to the first player or players to successfully complete them. In the future, these quests wouldn't be available to anyone else anymore.

Tap could move by himself, but he moved incredibly slowly and drew aggro from monsters within 80 yards. Lu Li and his party had to constantly shield him the entire way.

Their job was much easier after getting out of Cynocephali territory, as the monsters outside had much lower levels.

The party finally had time to have a good look at their spoils of war.

[Vanish: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 2 minutes. You vanish and enter into an enhanced Stealth state. The effects last for 5 seconds. For the first 3 seconds after vanishing, damage received and damaging effects will not cancel the Stealth. All Movement Restrictions will also be removed. Proficiency: 1/1000.

Lu Li almost yelled out in joy. It was actually this skill!

The Boss of the LV30 Instance Dungeon Scarlet Monastery (Library) at Elite level or higher had a certain chance of dropping the Vanish Skill Book.

This was an Instance Dungeon that every player would clear every day. If one could obtain a Vanish Skill Book, their entire team would be able to earn a handsome sum by selling it. There were often captains of teams who would take the Skill Book for themselves and immediately leave. Who cared about their reputation when they could sell the Skill Book for so much money!

Back then, there were around 40 million Thieves in Dawn, but less than 1,000 of them had the Vanish skill!

Vanish was the symbol of an expert thief. It was viewed in the same way as the Magicians' Ice Block.

Evidently, this Skill Book was very valuable.

However, at the moment, it could only sit around in Lu Li's bag. If it wasn't for the LV10 requirement, Lu Li would have learnt it immediately to prevent it from dropping if he died.

Before Lu Li could take a look at his second Skill Book, he heard a loud yell.

"Wuu, I finally have Tame Beast, Tame Beast!" It was the little Hunter Remnant Dream. She was so excited that she was jumping around and was almost shedding tears of joy.

Without Tame Beast, Hunters couldn't obtain pets. No matter how skilled they were, they would never be able to match up to other Hunters or players of other professions. Once a Hunter had their own pets, their strength rose significantly.

A Hunter with pets was the king of the wilderness!

In Dawn, apart from armoured professions, Hunters were the best counters to Thieves.

Remnant Dream's luck was comparable to Lu Li's. She had finally obtained the Tame Beast Skill Book that she had been dreaming about.

"Polymorph." Lonesome Flower didn't sound too happy.

"Shield Block. Looks like I really am cut out to be a main tank," Azure Sea Breeze said bitterly.

"Mortal Strike. It can reduce healing on the target." Seeing that everyone else had declared what skills they had received, Moonlight didn't hide his either.

"Revive," March Rain said, with her head tilted up, face beaming with pride. Priests who could Revive were very valuable. Everyone knew how important reviving was to a team.

"Vanish." Lu Li didn't offer any explanation. He said the name and looked at his other Skill Book.

[Shadowfiend: Instant Cast, Cooldown Time: 5 minutes. Summons a Shadowfiend to attack a target for 15 seconds. When the Shadowfiend successfully attacks the target, the caster will receive 10% of their current MP back. Proficiency: 1/1000.

Although Tap was just an Explorer, he was an Elite grade NPC who had a name. His rewards were all incredibly generous.

The Great Thief

Chapter 43: Child of the Forest

Shadowfiend was an incredibly rare Priest summoning skill.

Its strength wasn't in the bit of damage that it could deal, but rather in the effect of the Shadowfiend.

Every time the Shadowfiend successfully attacked, the caster would regain 10% of their MP. If they were lucky and got in 4 or 5 attacks within those 15 seconds, the Priest would be able to recover around half of their MP.

With this skill, March Rain's sustain would be much better, and she wouldn't have to run off while fighting Bosses to recover her MP.

Shadowfiend was worth a lot of money and although it couldn't compare to Lu Li's Vanish, it was much more valuable than Remnant Dream's Tame Beast. This sort of skill could ensure continuous healing for a team and many unions would be willing to pay a high price to create a self-sustaining healer.

Lu Li thought about it for a long time before painfully giving the Skill Book to March Rain.

He wasn't a very generous person, but this skill was much too important to March Rain. She had readily joined him when he needed help. He simply couldn't go and sell the Skill Book secretly.

"Ah, this skill…" March Rain was quite smart and immediately worked out how important this skill was to her. She was filled with gratitude and took out her second Skill Book.

Child of the Forest: Instant Cast. You turn into a cheetah, raising your Movement Speed by 50% and gain the ability to climb at 45 degree angles. Allows you to use all skills available to the Cheetah Transformation. The caster becomes immune to all Polymorph effects and fall damage is reduced. Transforming removes all Movement Restrictions on the caster. Proficiency: 1/1000.

When Lu Li was selling things at the Moon Shadow Valley, he had explained what Enhanced Skills were to the spectators. The Enhanced Skill for Cheetah Transformation was the Child of the Forest.

This skill added a bonus 20% Movement Speed to the Cheetah Transformation, as well as the ability to climb at 45 degree angles.

The Dawn players often called Druids in the Child of the Forest form 'Meow People'. This was because they were smaller than normal cheetahs and looked closer to cats. Furthermore, they were so fast that even players with Movement Speed buffs couldn't catch up to them.

Druids had great survivability. Although they didn't fare well in PVP battles, they were adept in running away.

Despite Lu Li being a Thief, he was still able to learn this skill because of the Supreme One Ring. It was a skill that he had been quite keen to learn.

The last time he had been wandering around in the Moon Shadow Valley, he saw a player selling a Cheetah Transformation Skill Book for 5 gold coins. He didn't even hesitate to buy it, as it was essential to him learning Child of the Forest.

Seeing them exchange Skill Books, Azure Sea Breeze took out his Skill Books to see if anyone wanted to trade.

If there was anyone else around, their jaw would have hit the ground. Who in their right mind would gift another person a Skill Book worth tens of thousands of dollars in real life?!

No one else had any Skill Books of use to Lu Li, so they all exchanged them among themselves. Their sense of camaraderie instantly grew and they truly began to feel like a party.

The equipment that Lu Li received was actually Steel grade!

[Death's Shadow] (Steel): 12-25 Damage, Strength5, Attack Speed10%. Level Requirement: LV6. Durability: 32/32.

Currently, Lu Li had a LV5 Common grade Dagger, as well as the Enchanted Dagger Broodmother's Kiss.

[Broodmother's Kiss] (Steel): 10-22 Damage, Agility4, Special Effect: Upon successfully attacking a target, there is a chance of the target be poisoned and taking 20 damage per second for 5 seconds. Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 30/30.

Lu Li felt that the Broodmother's Kiss suited his playing style more and it also had a cool special effect. It had been of great help to him in both Boss battles he had experienced in the wilderness. However, this didn't mean that Death's Shadow was inferior to it.

The Death's Shadow was more suited for Warrior Thieves, as it had high damage. However, this didn't mean that Agility Thieves couldn't use it - after all, it gave a bonus 10% Attack Speed.

Lu Li unequipped his Common grade Dagger and equipped Death's Shadow. His Attack Power rose tremendously; this sort of damage was enough to strike terror into the hearts of light-armoured professions. Even a player like Moonlight who used heavy-armour wouldn't be too confident with facing the current Lu Li.

No one else had as much as Lu Li. Apart from March Rain who had obtained a Steel grade Magic Staff, the rest of them had only received 'top class' Bronze equipment.

'Top class' Bronze equipment wasn't too bad - many people didn't even have normal Bronze equipment. Top class Bronze equipment could be sold for around 3 gold coins, worth about $3,000 in the real world. As such, everyone was still quite happy with what they received.

On the way back, Azure Sea Breeze received a message from the Drizzle Court. They were asking when they would clear the new record and what they would need.

"We're not in a rush. No one's beaten the Blood-red War Flag's record yet, right? That means their record was achieved with a bit of luck. Next time, we'll use a different method. Tell them to prepare 3 Magicians with good equipment," Lu Li said.

"Didn't you say that a melee team would be best?" Azure Sea Breeze was a bit surprised by Lu Li's words.

By now, practically everyone knew the way to clear the Spider Lair Instance Dungeon. Because melee professions could gain a buff from the brook, they had been greatly sought after for Instance Dungeon teams. On the other hand, the traditionally favoured professions had been completely ignored.

Near the entrance to the Instance Dungeon, there would always be Magicians begging to join teams. Even if they were accepted, they would be treated with disdain.

Magicians had never been treated like this before in any game. As such, when they heard that the famous expert was going to take a team of Magicians to break a new record, the Drizzle Court's Magicians all shed tears of joy. They assembled 3 of their best Magicians with the best equipment and who were all LV7!

Magicians were the fastest in levelling. One of the most common levelling methods involved a Thief dragging over a large mob of monsters to a Magician, who would cast a Blizzard and annihilate them instantly.

If it weren't for there being so many players and so few monsters, there would probably be a few LV10 Magicians by now.

After escorting the injured Tap back to the village, Lu Li and his party went to find Carolina to complete the quest. It was a pity that this Escort Quest was given to Lu Li alone and none of the others received any EXP or rewards.

After Lu Li handed in the quest, he was only 10% away from LV7. He was almost the same level as the Magicians from the Drizzle Court and could almost qualify to go on the Player Level Rankings. This was all because of the recent few quests that had given him an enormous amount of EXP.

Apart from EXP, Carolina also gave him something that looked like a command medallion.

"Number 17 Administrative Order…" Apart from these Elvish words, there was nothing else. Looking at this command medallion, Lu Li felt quite confused.

"What's this thing? Administrative Order? Are they going to give you a job as an Official?" Azure Sea Breeze said as he looked at it. He also had no idea what it was.

The Great Thief

Chapter 44: Guild Upgrade Order

"Your Excellency, Carolina, please forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is this Number 17 Administrative Order?" Lu Li asked as he walked forwards.

Carolina stroked her White Leopard's soft fur as she smiled and replied, "In the near future, you will become an important force in fighting back against the Burning Legion. You must unite…"

"Guild Upgrade Order!" Lu Li immediately understood where this was going.

In his 'past life', Lu Li had never seen this item before. The players had given this item a different name, so he didn't immediately recognise it. This was what was called a 'Guild Upgrade Order'.

The requirements for establishing an official guild in Dawn were not too high: 20 gold coins. Sooner or later, as long as the members worked together, they would be able to officially establish their guild. When a guild was first established, it would be LV1 with a capacity 1,000 people. The only way to improve the guild was to upgrade it.

Not only could upgrading increase the number of players, but it also gave special effects. For example, a LV2 guild gave its members an extra 5% EXP, while a LV5 reduced the 30 minute cooldown for players' hearthstones.

Upgrading a guild wasn't actually very difficult. As long as a guild could gather the required materials and present them to the Administrative Hall, it could be upgraded.

As well as this, there were also some special items, such as the Number 17 Administrative Order, that could upgrade a guild. These were called 'Guild Upgrade Orders' by players.

All Administrative Orders with the number '7', such as 7, 17, 27, 37, were all related to guilds. For example, the Number 7 Administrative Order allowed one to establish a guild for free. The number 17 Administrative Order allowed one to upgrade a guild to LV2.

After levelling up to LV2, the guild could spend 5 gold coins and unlock the special effect, which would allow all members to gain a bonus 5% EXP.

This 5% made a massive difference - it was extremely attractive to levelling maniacs and experts.

If a guild wanted to recruit people, all they would have to do was yell "We're looking for experts; we have a 5% EXP bonus!" Soon, there would be many experts signing up.

Currently, all guilds were only LV1!

"Sea Breeze, contact the heads of the large unions. Tell them that we have an item that can instantly upgrade their guild to LV2. We'll do an auction at night at the Moon Shadow Valley," Lu Li said while grinning. "We've struck it rich! We'll share the profits equally when the time comes."

"Is it worth a lot?" Azure Sea Breeze was also quite excited.

"Wait," Moonlight interrupted, "Look, I helped you with your quest, so me receiving some equipment and Skill Books was fair. However, what I gained in this trip was far more than I had expected, so I don't think that I should take any of that money."

"I don't need any either," Remnant Dream quickly said as well, "I really don't know what I should say. My equipment is bad, my level is low and I'm not very skilled. Normally, no one's willing to train with me, and yet you took me to fight a Boss. I even received a Steel grade piece of equipment and lots of Bronze equipment. There's also those 2 Skill Books, one of which is the Tame Beast skill. I already feel bad about taking all that, so I really can't take any more."

It was quite rare for the shy girl who usually stuttered when she spoke to say so much at once.

Lonesome Flower and March Rain also shook their heads, expressing that they didn't want to take any of the money either.

"Why are you all looking at me? I didn't say I wanted any money. I was just curious as to how much this little command medallion could sell for," Azure Sea Breeze said, feeling wronged.

"How much it could sell for…" Lu Li thought for a while before saying, "It should be worth at least 50 gold coins. Are you sure you don't want any?"

"So much money!" Everyone drew in a breath of air.

Although the money was enticing, the rest of the party were all determined not to take any of it.

Lu Li felt quite emotional and was finally able to put away his worries. He had been keenly observing his party members the entire trip and had concluded that they were all good people. In the future, when he made a Permanent Party, he would definitely consider them all.

"Did you guys know that there's a patch next Monday?" Lu Li asked.

"Of course. Since it's the first patch, there'll probably be a lot of changes," Lonesome Flower said.

"There's a little secret I want to share with you all. You know how the official website was encouraging players to give feedback and report any issues…" Lu Li said.

Azure Sea Breeze couldn't help but interrupt, "We know about this. Pretty much every game encourages feedback, but in reality, they never implement any of those suggestions. I feel that at the very most, they might increase drop rates and EXP."

"They probably won't change the drop rates and EXP in Dawn, but they really are sincerely asking players for feedback and to report issues," Lu Li said as he shook his head.

"Any rewards?" Moonlight suddenly asked.

This was expected from a seasoned player. He had picked up on the fact that Lu Li hadn't mentioned this so everyone could complain about the game company.

"Bonus EXP." Lu Li was surprisingly calm. "As long as you give a good piece of feedback or raise an important issue they'll give you quite a bit of EXP, even if someone else has already mentioned it…"

As soon as Azure Sea Breeze heard Lu Li say this, his expression became completely serious. If they really gave quite a bit of EXP, then this might be worth it.

"What sort of feedback are they looking for?" Lonesome Flower was quite frustrated. He was always complaining about some aspect of the game, but he wasn't sure how to suggest improvements.

"I'll give you some examples. Everyone think about it individually as well - we'll collate our answers tomorrow so that we can all give a lot of feedback. After all, the company said that it didn't matter if other players also raised the same things." Lu Li then provided some examples of changes he had seen in his 'past life'.

For example, there was creating an Auction Hall, creating more stalls and markets in towns and cities, players being able to see the stats and attributes of items and equipment in the Trade Window, etc.

More examples included increasing Proficiency gain rate, fixing the Hit calculation for Automatic mode players, adding more NPCs who could teach Trade Skills, adding weather effects that could affect battles…

The other's eyes all clouded over and they even started to suspect whether Lu Li was an employee of the game company.

"You guys should find some other people and clear the Elite level Instance Dungeon a few times. I'll give you the complete guide in a bit. Azure Sea Breeze and I are going to help Drizzle Court clear a new record, so we'll have to part with you guys now." Lu Li didn't bother to check how much his teammates had remembered: telling them this much was already more than enough.

The other people were still absorbing what Lu Li had said. They didn't feel as though that Lu Li saying that he would create a new record was very surprising and they all said their goodbyes.

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze organised their equipment and items and met up with the Drizzle Court's 3 Magicians, preparing to break a new record for the Instance Dungeon.

The Great Thief

Chapter 45: What Kind of Experts Are These?

On the same day that Lu Li had achieved the first clear of the Elite Spider Lair, Azure Sea Breeze sold the strategy to Blood Red War Flag. Blood Red War Flag then sent out their elite teams under the godlike leadership of Indifference in Dawn and shortened the record to 1 hour 12 minutes and 32 seconds.

This record was created yesterday and given that most players had only levelled up once since then, no one had beaten the record yet.

Now Drizzle Court had invited Lu Li to set a new record, at the price of 3 Jade Spider Webs and all the loot in the Instance Dungeon.

There were two types of public dungeons in Dawn, those that were open to everyone and those in a restricted area that required a payment before entering. The Spider Lair was in the Whispering Forest, an area where everyone could enter.

The three mages from Drizzle Court, Lin, Ling and Beautiful Moonlight, were standing by the transmission area, waiting for Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze. Someone who had money obviously wouldn't need to save the few copper coins required for transmission.

Among the three of them, Lin and Ling looked exactly the same: they were both twins. This was the first time Lu Li had seen twins in a video game and it was a strange sight.

These three Mages were all at level 7, making Lu Li the lowest level member of the party. He was still 10% of EXP bar away from reaching level 7.

The highest level was Azure Sea Breeze, as he was only a few monsters away from reaching level 8.

"Is it alright to not have a healer? Stopping to drink pots is a waste of time," Beautiful Moonlight asked.

"In order to break a record like this, there an aspect of luck, but it is also important to shorten the time taken to do things wherever you can," Lu Li said affirmatively, "We won't be needing a Healer for this round."

Since Lu Li insisted, no one else protested. Beautiful Moonlight seemed to be high-ranking within the Drizzle Court, as she immediately added Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze to the guild.

If all members of the party were from the same guild, the System Announcement would broadcast the name of the guild. The reason that Drizzle Court wanted the record was for this advertisement.

"Have any of you learnt crowd control skills?" Lu Li asked.

All three of them shook their heads, with a look of shame on their faces.

The point of Mages in Dawn was for Area of Effect attacks. Blizzard was one of the skills that a Mage could learn, which enabled them to attack large groups. However, Area of Effect crowd-control skills were gained based on luck.

If Mages were all capable of area attacks and area crowd control, why would anyone bother playing the other classes?

"That's okay, you guys just have to manage your damage. Don't worry about not having an off-tank; Sea Breeze's skills and equips are good enough. Even if you guys wanted to play off-tank you couldn't," Lu Li spoke the truth, but the girls were offended and secretly talked amongst themselves. They vowed to give it their all to deal as much damage as possible.

After entering the Instance Dungeon, Lu Li asked for the rewards of his services.

"We always pay our debts." Beautiful Moonlight was angered.

Female gamers were no longer a rarity, but in the virtual world, everyone appeared like their real selves. A beautiful woman like her, one who was part of a top ten nationwide union – Drizzle Court, would never have been questioned like this before.

"I can't relax until I've got it in my hands," Lu Li spoke plainly and without thought.

Beautiful Moonlight traded the three Jade Spider Webs to Lu Li, who internally breathed a long sigh of relief. When he was doing the first clear, he had received one Spider Web. The Grand Hegemony had then given him another and Azure Sea Breeze had given him 4 more. Now, with an additional three, he had nine spider webs in total.

He needed 7 to upgrade his Ring and 2 to study the Trade Skill. This was perfect!

"Make sure you bring enough potions, but control your mana consumption. Try to minimize your time spent taking potions." Lu Li was formally giving out orders, "You don't need to carry too many HP potions; everyone should only need 3. Trade the rest to Sea Breeze, as we don't have a healer…"

You said we didn't need a Healer, but now you're using it as a reason to take our HP potions?

The girl's hearts were indignant, but for the sake of the record, they gave Azure Sea Breeze the potions.

If they really were a big guild, then someone must have learnt how to make potions already, which meant that they would have extra potions. Azure Sea Breeze grinned from ear to ear and Lu Li also kept some of the potions for himself, for safety purposes.

"Follow at the back, but don't attack anything. Let me pull them together before you begin." Lu Li's first decision almost shocked them to the point of crying.

How long would it take to pull them all together?

Lu Li didn't mind them, baiting the 2 little monsters by the entrance and taking them deep into the Instance Dungeon.

At the entrance of the brook, there were a total of 4 waves of 8 monsters. Lu Li pulled them to the entrance of the brook and signaled Azure Sea breeze to draw aggro.

Azure Sea Breeze immediately charged into the group of monsters and cast Taunt, successfully drawing aggro of the 8 monsters.

After being hit a few times, the nervous Azure Sea Breeze felt calm. He had barely lost any HP and didn't even need to take a potion.

He hadn't considered his current level or equipment; he had only been thinking of when he had come.

The three Mages had decent skills; when they saw that aggro had been drawn, they immediately cast Blizzard into the group of monsters.

Attacking large groups like this felt good and was much more satisfying than only using blades.

Of course, one or two Mages would be unable to achieve this effect. Furthermore, only Lu Li would dare to not bring a Healer into an Instance Dungeon. However, because of that, the Blizzard skill could be used to its highest potential.

When he noticed that the aggro was fading, Azure Sea Breeze would take the opportunity to attack the monsters or cast Shieldstrike. If that didn't work, he would use Trample: a strong aggro drawing skill.

The Trample skill book was traded to him by Remnant Dream and drew the aggro of a crowd, making it an essential skill for a Main Tank.

Azure Sea Breeze had an unusual talent for PVE; this aggro drawing technique could be shown in big guilds as a tutorial video.

It would normally take quite a few minutes to clear the four waves of monsters, but they had completed this task in just over a minute. The three Mages finally believed that Lu Li was here to beat the record and not to steal their potions.

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze soaked their weapons to gain the attack buff and pressed on.

From the Brook to the first Boss, there were 6 waves of monsters, with a total of 16 monsters and 4 elites. Lu Li didn't worry too much; it didn't matter how many monsters there were. He continued to pull them all together and soon reached the boss.

"He's not thinking about pulling the Boss into the group as well is he?" Beautiful Moonlight's voice trembled.

"You're thinking too much; if we included the Boss we wouldn't be able to fight it. Big brother is a tactical mastermind," Azure Sea Breeze smiled complacently. He charged ahead before Lu Li gave the instruction to, stopping just in front of the crowd of monsters that Lu Li was leading.

"Move around while you aggro them. Everyone else don't worry and attack it with all you've got." Lu Li waited for Azure Sea Breeze to draw aggro, then went behind the monsters. He didn't kill any of them, instead gaining enough combo points for his Ultimate Skill before moving on.

The 4 Elites were his main targets. While he was attacking, at least one of the Elites would be under the effects of crowd control.

Azure Sea Breeze persistently pulled the group around, carefully stepping backwards while making sure the Elites weren't hitting him. Even though his HP was steadily reducing, he always kept it above half and was never affected by potion resistance.

The crowd of alarmed spiders seemed to quickly fall before the players. Beautiful Moonlight and the two others discovered that they had all simultaneously fallen.

Thinking back, that was probably why Azure Sea Breeze and Lu Li had kept changing targets.

Without thinking about how surprised they were, the two helpers quickly picked up two Bronze equips and some materials that had dropped.

Now they were heading towards the boss, but Azure Sea Breeze was only at half HP!

The Great Thief

Chapter 46: Breaking The Record

Is he crazy?

Of course not!

In fact, the person who had started the attack wasn't Azure Sea Breeze, but Lu Li.

A LV5 Boss facing a LV7 Thief was unable to block much of the crowd control. With one Cheap Shot and a Shadowstrike at 85% Skill Completion, the Boss was stunned for 6 seconds!

Lu Li was then hit 4 to 5 times and lost a third of his health. He drank a potion, allowing him to withstand another two hits without dying. Azure Sea Breeze then cast Taunt, causing the Boss to give up on the Thief that was about to die and start hitting the Defence Warrior that was at full HP!

The three Mages from Drizzle Court were firing Ice Arrows at the Boss while dealing with inquiries from the higher-ups in the union.

"Yes, I'm sure. I have no reason to lie to you, President. We are fighting the first Boss now. The monsters before this? They were split into two groups and cleared out. The Main Tank is very strong. Who is stronger? The Main Tank or the Thief? I think the Thief is a little stronger; his damage is so high. He just stunned the Boss again; I don't know how he has so much crowd control. Oh, that's right, he also has armour piercing which has affected the boss…"

"The minions have been summoned, President, but there's no need to hide. Once the Main Tank stomps, all of them are stunned and after the three of us cast Blizzard, there isn't a single one left behind…"

"The Boss is at half HP, yeah, it's being done without a healer. The Thief and Main Tank are taking turns healing and tanking damage… the minions are back… now they're dead… the Boss just went berserk… the Boss is dead."

Six minutes!

It had taken more than ten minutes to deal with the Boss last time. With four DPS characters and one powerful Main Tank, it had only taken six minutes to kill it. It could only use its signature move, the little explosive spiders, twice.

"Let's keep going. You guys eat some bread to recover. Find a good spot and I'll pull the monsters over." Lu Li restored some HP, before going back to luring the monsters.

The monsters were still spiders, but each wave now consisted of two Elites and two ordinary ones. The move speed of the Elites were slightly higher and some of them accelerated really quickly. Once Lu Li left the three Mage's field of view, he turned into a small yellow leopard.

This wasn't his first time transforming, as had previously played as a Druid. The rocky and uneven terrain was no problem for him and soon, he was drawing more and more monsters within the Instance Dungeon.

The little Leopard's move speed was 30% faster than usual; this was unnaturally fast. Even if the Elite monster quickly accelerated, all they could reach was dust. However Lu Li didn't want to lose the aggro of the monsters lagging behind, so he regularly turned back towards the crowd.

In total, there 13 waves with 52 monsters altogether and half of them were Elites. There was no way that Azure Sea Breeze could tank all this.

As planned for earlier, there was a cavern in the Instance Dungeon that had partially collapsed, leaving behind a narrow alley. Azure Sea Breeze was already there in position and the three Mages stood behind him ready to cast their skills.

A small yellow leopard then brought a large group of spiders over from the distance, like flash of lightning.

The girls stared, dumbfounded by the leopard that ran past Azure Sea Breeze and stopped before them. There was a flash of light as it transformed back into Lu Li.

"It's… so cute…" said Lin.

"It's… a ghost…" Ling nervously remarked.

"Lu Li… you…" stuttered Beautiful Moonlight, was also frightened silly.

Who could explain what just happened? They thought that he was a Thief, as he was using Thief skills and techniques. If anyone had tried to tell them otherwise, they would have cut them to shreds.

But this Thief had suddenly transformed into a small leopard, which was a transformation skill that belonged to Druids.

They were utterly dumbfounded. Beautiful Moonlight secretly took out a Priest skill book, 'Quick Heal', and attempted to study it.

System: Sorry, you are not a Priest, skill learning failed.

"It's just a special item from this Instance Dungeon," Lu Li sighed. "What are you guys gawking at? Can't you see that Sea Breeze has drawn aggro? Quickly attack!"

Yes, it's a special item, it must be a special item!

Beautiful Moonlight's gloominess was suddenly filled with joy, as she imagined hearing elves everywhere showering her in glory…

Azure Sea Breeze served as a blockade, standing before the group of monsters with Lu Li beside him. There was only a maximum of 4 monsters that could attack them at once. The three Mages blotted out the sky with Blizzards and their HP values rapidly decreased.

In just two minutes, the only monsters left alive were the 78 Elites, each with only a sliver of health left.

"You guys continue. I'll go ahead to deal with the guards." Lu Li didn't wait to finish off this wave, instead going straight ahead.

By the time Azure Sea Breeze and the rest had finished and rushed over, the second Boss of the Spider Lair, Mandelin, only had 5 guards remaining. Three corpses lay at Lu Li's feet.

"I'll draw them over and we'll clear them out in one go."

Lu Li lifted his hand and the guards immediately rushed over, eyes red.

But of course, death was the only thing waiting for them.

The Boss was no exception.

Mandelin had no idea why it existed— it would forever be recorded in Dawn's history as one who was utterly humiliated.

System: Under the leadership of Lu Li, Drizzle Court's guild members Azure Sea Breeze, Beautiful Moonlight, Lin and Ling have broken the record of the Spider Lair (Elite) Instance Dungeon. Current record time: 32 Minutes 45 Seconds!

The record that Blood Red War Flag had set of 1 Hour 12 Minutes and 32 Seconds had been cut down by more than half!

Lu Li could proudly say that unless someone knew his strategy, or was abnormally over-equipped with Steel equipment, there was no way that his record would be broken. Even if it was, it would not be by much.

In Dawn Instance Dungeons, players who were 5 levels higher could not participate in setting records. After 10 levels the dungeon would no longer drop equipment, and after 20 levels, they would not be allowed to enter.

In his previous life, the fastest record of this Instance Dungeon was 29 minutes. This was achieved by four Hall of Fame players working together.

These Hall of Fame players were all the best in their field, ranging from PVE experts with the title of the most first clears, or PVP experts whose very names would cause people to tremble, like Moonlight.

Water Fairy was also a Hall of Fame player, but she was in there for her beauty. This meant that her skill alone was not enough to put her in the Hall of Fame.

The Great Thief

Chapter 47: Boosting

"Uh…. Our President has a question." After recovering from their surprise, the three Mages no longer meant any disrespect to Lu Li and asked very carefully, "Will you break this record again, if another Union pays a higher price?"

"Nope," Lu Li replied succinctly and touched his heart to vouch for it, not mentioning that one day the record would be broken again. For some reason, Beautiful Moonlight unquestioningly accepted what he said. In this world, there were people that didn't lie, not because they were morally righteous, but because they felt as though lying was beneath them.

As per the agreement, all the rewards in this Instance Dungeon were to be given to Lu Li. After that conversation, the three Mages said their thanks and left the Instance Dungeon.

"The first Boss dropped Plate Armour for a Main Tank, so I'll take that. You can take whatever was dropped by this Boss." Azure Sea Breeze looted the corpse and found a hammer.

Mandelin's Redemption (Steel): Damage 8-16, Strength 4, Healing Effect 25, Level requirement 5, Durability 25/25.

This hammer's damage wasn't' very high, but because of the 25 Healing Effect, it was a very good one-handed Healer weapon. Healers weren't concerned with damage anyway.

"Good," Lu Li threw the equip into his bag to be sold in the evening.

"The minions dropped 3 Bronze equips. Both Bosses dropped two each and there is an additional one for breaking the record. You can go sell them. There were 2 rare materials dropped as well, but unfortunately, they weren't Jade Spider Webs." Azure Sea Breeze handed all the equips to Lu Li.

"I'll split the money after I sell them; we beat this Instance Dungeon together," Lu Li said.

"Sure, but I'll just take a third since the strategy was yours. You don't need to be polite with me." Azure Sea Breeze was insistent on his share.

Lu Li indulged him. After leaving the Instance Dungeon, he asked Moonlight how they were going in the same Instance Dungeon. They had only just beaten the first Boss.

The two of them spent some time idling, before Azure Sea Breeze suggested that they do the regular difficulty Spider Lair. At their current level, they could take 2-3 players in without affecting the entry conditions.

Lu Li needed money, so he didn't refuse.

"Expert players to boost in the Spider Lair at regular difficulty! One gold coin for entry, equips will be calculated separately. First come first serve," Azure Sea Breeze roared and immediately was surrounded by players.

Just because Lu Li had earned some gold didn't mean that regular players were able to as easily. In reality, a gold coin was no small amount; most players were unable to even afford that.

There were countless gold collection members, but all of their gold was given to their respective unions. These gold collection members were simply unable to afford the $30,000 helmet. All they could do was continue waiting and hope that the game helmets would become cheap enough to afford.

After finding out that this was a fixed price, those without money quickly dispersed, leaving behind the players who had a few gold coins in their bags.

These people slowly earned their money in this game, one silver coin at a time.

"Take me, I'm a level 4 Mage, I'm even able to help out."

"I'm a Warlock that's already level 5. If there are any Bronze equips, I will definitely buy them. Take me."

"Level 5 Hunter, I already have 2 Bronze equips on me. I'm very strong, so please take me through the Spider Lair. Brother please just once okay?"

Who said that earning gold was hard? All these people were willing to give up a gold coin for an ordinary level Spider Lair. They were even making all sorts of promises…

"You know, this is your fault," Azure Sea Breeze said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lu Li was bewildered.

"Because you made that strategy, all the parties who enter the Spider Lair Instance Dungeon want close-range DPS members. Magic and Ranged players can't find a party. Even for public parties, only a small portion of Magic and Ranged players are able to enter."

"Oh…" Lu Li blushed with shame, "This is the game company's fault, nothing to do with me."

"My guess is that next week's new players will mostly choose close combat occupations. I don't know what the game company will think about that," Azure Sea Breeze said.

"Relax, they aren't going to be replaced," Lu Li shook his head and started a party.

Lovable Bookworm has been added to the party.

Xx has been added to the party.

King has been added to the party.

Two Mages and a Warlock. All of them were of the Magic Occupation.

"Pay first. When the items are dropped, there will be an auction between the three of you. The starting price of each Bronze equip will be 20 Silver. Common equips will be rolled for between the three of you and all the materials will be taken by me," Lu Li said straightforwardly while entering the Instance Dungeon.

"We don't even know if we can complete this Instance Dungeon." King put on a long face, thinking he had been deceived. He thought that this was some kind of fraud, as there were three clearly rich people in this group. They didn't even have a healer.

"That's right. Brothers, please don't trick us. We've all spent money on this game, so our skills are pretty average. We can't keep up with your non-healing attack team," Loveable Bookworm said.

"If you don't believe me, you're free to leave. No one is forcing you to come," Lu Li explained lazily.

"Wait…" the other Mage xx suddenly called out, "You're Lu Li, the one who got a couple of first clears and just set a new record. That Lu Li?"

"Yep, any other questions?" He didn't think his fame would have this kind of use.

"Of course not." The three of them quickly traded a gold coin to Lu Li, in fear that if they too were slow, they would be kicked out of the group.

So, this ordinary looking Thief was Lu Li: Dawn's most regarded player. Unfortunately, the expectations that they had of Lu Li were bound to fail.

Other than his deep eyes, this person didn't really have the appearance of an idol.

"How do we do this?" Azure Sea Breeze asked.

Lu Li knew what he was asking; he wanted to know if they were going use the same record-breaking strategy. The ordinary difficulty was much easier than Elite, so even without the help of three strong mages, Azure Sea Breeze and Lu Li could easily clear the monsters.

"Just do whatever and push to the end. If you guys want to fight, then hit whatever you want. If you don't want, you can also just follow." Lu Li had absolutely no faith that the other members were able to properly DPS. They would probably unleash all of their damage on a single small monster.

Azure Sea Breeze shrugged and cast Charge, successfully drawing the aggro of a little monster. He hit it as he lured it, ignoring the other one on Lu Li's side. The three members looked at each other and decided to help.

To improve one's skill requires immense practice. After performing well in front of an expert, maybe you too would be able to attain First Clears or break records.

The regular Instance Dungeon's chance of dropping Bronze equips was much smaller: the waves before the first Boss didn't drop anything. Once the first Boss was dead, a Bronze Magic Cloth Armour was found.

The three Magic players fought over it and eventually sold it for 50 silver coins.

They really were tycoons. For a piece of Bronze equipment, they were willing to pay several hundred real dollars. Lu Li's backpack actually contained several Bronze equips at the moment.

Before fighting the second Boss, an Elite monster dropped a Magic Belt which sold for 60 silver. It was too bad that the last Boss' two Bronze drops were not what the members were looking for. Instead, they went straight into Lu Li's bag.

All this took no longer than 50 minutes, which was more efficient than a random party. The members were mostly content and Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze received 3 gold for their boosting fee. They had also managed to sell over 1 gold's worth of dropped equips, in addition to the two Bronze equips. In total, their profits were about 5 gold.

Lu Li looked at the gold price on the trading platform. Currently, it was 1 to 800. They had earned $4000 in a single boosting service.

In reality, boosting wasn't very profitable. Strong teams could only take 1 person at a time and there was a chance that they would not even succeed. Only someone like Lu Li could take three at a time while clearing it faster than a normal team.

Two of the members wanted to continue farming, so Lu Li found one more person and did it again. This time, the income was slightly less, but still totaled 4 gold.

After the second round, there was not much time left. Lu Li was LV7 at 60% exp while Azure Sea Breeze had already hit LV8. They met up with Moonlight who had just finished the Elite Instance Dungeon and went to the plaza together.

Lu Li was going to sell the Guild Upgrade Order and a Steel Weapon, in addition to the pile of Bronze equips.

The Great Thief

Chapter 48: Still Short of Money

If it was the Number 7 Administrative Order (the one that was used to establish a guild), it wouldn't sell for much money. A LV1 guild only needed 20 gold coins, but could only accommodate 1000 people. Most guilds couldn't even fit their own members, let alone begin recruiting more.

However, the Number 17 Order was different: this could double a guild's member limit to a maximum of 2000 members. This allowed them to accept many more people.

After finding out that Moon Shadow Valley was hosting an auction for a guild level-up, many guilds had sent out their representatives. Even players from Evil Faction guilds would pay attention to this.

Inter-faction transactions were prohibited in Dawn, but this didn't mean that items could not circulate between them. The next update would include a Black Market, but an alternative was to kill another player and take the dropped items.

"He's coming, Lu Li is coming, and he's coming to sell equipment."

"I don't know what kind of equipment will be there today, but I have exchanged money for 2 gold."

"You dare show off with only 2 gold coins? I exchanged 9 gold in one go."

"Haha, some idiots bought from the stall I set up. I bought gold for 800 in the morning and sold it for 1000 at night. For some reason, people are buying. I've made over $2000 this way."

…..

As night fell, Lu Li set up his stall. He priced the Bronze equipment at 20 silver each, except for the especially good ones which were set at 50 silver coins. There were 14-15 people just waiting around to quickly pick some stuff up.

"A Steel Hammer for a Healer Priest, Paladin or Shaman is available. There's also a Guild Upgrade Order, which shouldn't need explaining. These two items will be auctioned together, with a starting price of 1 gold. Please place your bids. If you want to use real world currency, you will need to pay an additional 20% on top of the normal exchange rate." Lu Li wasn't particularly good at auctioning, but this was absolutely a seller's market. There was no worry that it wouldn't be sold.

The players looked at each other in dismay, trying to work out how much their opponents could pay.

Currently, the most valuable equips were for Main Tanks, followed by Healing and DPS. An item that increased Healing caused a great deal of excitement amongst the people.

Of course, a single Steel item was not enough to attract the big Guilds' attention. These guilds had been sending parties to complete the Elite Spider Lair every day, acquiring at least 1-2 Steel equips per day in the process. However, the needs of the Guild were too great, so they would never sell them.

"5 gold." The bidding had begun.

Suddenly, the price was five times more, but this didn't mean that this person was rich. Everyone knew that the starting price of 1 gold was a joke.

"10 gold." Since the bidding had started, some compulsively felt that they had to bid, regardless of the outcome. Even if they couldn't get it, they could take peace in the fact that someone else had to pay even more for it.

Needless to say, this dark, human mentality tremendously helped Lu Li.

From then on, the bids came continuously and the price kept rising until it was at 30 gold. After this point, only the large guilds remained.

The first guild that levelled up would be a target for the others. If they weren't strong enough, the losses wouldn't be worth it. Only those guilds who were in the national top 100 would be able to put the reputation of 'first guild to level-up' to good use.

"It's 30 gold, but it doesn't cost much more than 20 gold to upgrade your guild. Everyone, please relax." What the guilds required for an upgrade was stone, lumber and gems. It would be cheaper to send members to harvest these materials. However, if they were to buy them from the market, there was no way they would be able to obtain these all for 20 gold.

"Get out of here. If we relax then you'll get it. 40 gold: we the Iron Blood Brothers want this today," a player called out loudly.

"Iron Blood Brothers? What nonsense, does Glory Capital take us to be fools? Extending so far from the Evil Faction, you should watch yourselves." Iron Blood Brothers sounded like Blood Red War Flag, because their names were closely related. But in reality, this was the Blood Red War Flag's greatest competitor, Glory Capital, masquerading as a Light Faction guild.

Dawn was an online game, and there would always be leaks of information. As such, players had already known this for a long time.

"Blood Red War Flag bids 80 gold. If the Iron Blood Brothers dare to bid again, we will ensure that your guild members will never be able to leave the safe area," a Night Elf Druid said with a stern voice, pointing directly at the person who just bid. His tone and action reinforced the threat.

Lu Li's brow furrowed, but he still hadn't said anything. Although Blood Red War Flag's representative was a little much, he was sincere. He had doubled the price, which was way higher than he had envisioned.

A virtual good that sold for 100,000 was very rare.

As expected, after Blood Red War Flag placed their bid, no one further bids were placed.

This guild was third in the nation, but their strength was incredible. They were able to go toe-to-toe with the rank 1 Glory Capital for years without collapsing and were also able to defeat the rank 2 Gangnam Royals. There weren't many people who dared to mess with them.

Lu Li suddenly realized a drawback to these kinds of auctions. If guilds like Blood Red War Flag made such massive bids, he wouldn't be able to sell these items for ridiculous prices. However, this wasn't that big of a problem, as the next update would introduce online and allow all players to participate.

After giving Azure Sea Breeze his portion, Lu Li still had 20 gold on hand and the $80,000 that Blood Red War Flag transferred to him.

Blood Red War Flag didn't have 80 gold, so they had to transfer real money instead. Today, the exchange rate was fluctuating at around 800. After adding on the additional 20%, the total amount came to $80,000.

Lu Li thought for a while and decided not to exchange the gold he had.

Next Monday's update would introduce online trading. Chances are, there would be some uninformed players who would trade rare items away as worthless. Knowing what would happen in the coming 2-3 years meant that Lu Li could pick up some of these items with ease.

Lu Li had planned to send the $60,000 penalty fee tomorrow. At first, he couldn't afford a game helmet, but with the portion of money that he had made and the promise of 20 gold per day, the Star Moon Union had sent a game helmet straight to him.

After that, everyone had become angry when Lu Li rejected the offer to turn in the 20 gold for that week. As a penalty, he needed to pay double of what the helmet cost, which was $60,000.

This seemingly impossible quest had now been excessively completed.

After giving up $60,000, he still had $30,000 that he urgently needed to use.

Due to the popularization of intelligence, society's demand for skilled laborers grew smaller and smaller. At some point and in some way, the government would downplay the importance of compulsory education, forcing the people to spend a lot of money to enjoy a more 'lasting' education.

In the slum area where Lu Li went to school, there were two middle schools. One catered for compulsory education, which allowed for entry at a very small fee. The percentage of graduates from this school going into high school was 0%, but the other school wasn't much better. There were only a handful of students that could make it into high school every year. This was the school Lu Xin went to. It cost 10,000 every year and most attendees were recipients of social welfare.

But now that the Lu siblings had moved out, they didn't need to go to the slum area schools any more.

Lu Li had taken a liking to the suburban area's best school, which naturally was the most expensive.

After checking the website, he found that the second half of the school year cost $30,000. Adding up all the additional costs, Lu Li worked out that the total cost would be $100,000 per year. This was the cost of a typical high-class school. Even people in the working-class area may not have been able to afford this, let alone slum-area residents.

There were also the 2, 3 and 7 middle schools which were close to the university as well. These were significantly cheaper, particularly the 7 middle school. This was the first choice of the working-class residents. However, he wanted the best for his little sister, so these average schools weren't worthy in his eyes.

He needed to start the formal transfer between schools next Monday, so this $30,000 would be used for that.

Finally, Lu Li had also planned to bring his little sister to a hospital for a full body check.

Just like that, the $100,000 that Lu Li worked so hard to earn was used up. There was not much left.

He was still short of money!

The Great Thief

Chapter 49: Great Gods Group

After the auction ended, Lu Li went to the Moon Reflection Lake to open another three treasure chests, then logged off and went to sleep.

The next day, when Lu Li logged on, he immediately received a message from Moonlight.

The message was short and simple: let's fight.

Lu Li was happy to be able to fight and train against someone else, so he did not refuse. He had been waiting for an opportunity like this.

Although Azure Sea Breeze was an expert, he was better suited for PVE. He was strong in Instance Dungeons, but was not a very powerful PVP opponent. In Lu Li's 'past life' as a Druid, Azure Sea Breeze lost more challenges against him than he won.

However, Moonlight was different - he was one a PVP master.

The place they decided on was fairly remote and the land was quite flat. There weren't any monsters or any forests, so many players chose to fight here.

Moonlight was currently trying out one of his skills. He gently waved his Axe, testing different angles and trajectories.

For melee professions, PVP wasn't just about positioning, but was also about attacking style. This meant figuring out a way that could render their opponent defenceless, while attaining a high level of Skill Completion. Everyone had their own techniques and Moonlight had been pondering on what sort of path he should take. He was uncertain as to whether he should continue with the strange and tricky style, or the unrestrained and direct style.

After hanging out with Lu Li for a few days, he had received some inspiration.

As such, he wanted to fight with Lu Li to confirm what he had been thinking.

"Who is it?" While deep in thought, Moonlight suddenly heard a rustle and instinctively ducked down.

Damnit, it was a Thief!

Lu Li!

However, the danger had not passed. The Dagger's trajectory changed and stabbed into the back of his head.

Cheap Shot successful!

Being hit with a successful Cheap Shot by a Thief with Steel grade equipment would mean instant death for most people.

Luckily, Moonlight was a Warrior and also had quite a few good pieces of equipment.

After recovering from the stun, Moonlight whirled his Axe and successfully parried Lu Li's Ultimate Skill, Backhand Backstab. Had he not parried this, the fight would have been over.

After receiving the system announcement that his skill had failed, Lu Li did not panic. His Dagger twirled and left a few cuts on Moonlight's waist.

His movement was incredibly complex and relied on his superior Movement Speed. He always tried to position himself behind or to the side of Moonlight. His attacks were also lightning fast and although he couldn't deal as much damage, he had a significant advantage in the number of attacks he could deal.

Moonlight roared and started to spin.

Whirlwind!

Lu Li took 2 blows and lost about 20% HP. He hurriedly turned and retreated.

After escaping from the range of Whirlwind, Lu Li saw a black shadow charging towards him. It turned out that Moonlight had cancelled Whirlwind and instantly casted Charge.

Lu Li was stunned and saw that he was about to be hit by a Hamstring skill.

Hamstring was one of the Warriors' most famous skills. It reduced the target's Movement Speed and added a Bleed effect if the Skill Completion was high enough. However, it took time to cast and execute, so he didn't use it before using Whirlwind. Instead, he chose to use it when Lu Li had been stunned with no escape.

Just as the Axe was about to chop into Lu Li, he suddenly vanished into a puff of green colored smoke.

"Damnit, the Vanish skill!" Of course, Moonlight remembered the Vanish skill book that Lu Li had obtained.

The Hamstring skill was now useless, but Moonlight didn't give up. He chopped down with his Axe and kicked out with his foot, after forcing Lu Li into the direction he wanted.

Moonlight relied on his wealth of PVP experience to force the Stealthed Thief out of hiding. This showed that he was indeed quite the expert. However, it was a pity that he had lost too much HP at the beginning.

Lu Li stopped attacking and retreated, ending this fight.

"You won," Moonlight calmly admitted his loss.

"I began with a surprise attack, so let's call it a tie," Lu Li said.

"Haha, you're a Thief; are you meant to fight openly with a Warrior like me?" Moonlight put away his weapons as he laughed, "I'll add you to a chat room with heaps of PVP experts. You can fight with them in the future if you want."

Lu Li received a system announcement which told him that he had been invited to the "North Sea Kindergarten" chat room. This name was worthy of face-palming, but since Moonlight had invited him, he didn't refuse.

Chat rooms were an important way for players to socialise. Players could either use voice chat, or type, with some people using both. In the North Sea Kindergarten, people used both - even if someone used voice chat, a corresponding text message would appear in the chat.

"Hey, there's a new person." A person called Hornet's Nest was the first to find out that a new player had joined their chat room.

Lu Li was quite shocked. Could this really be the legendary Hornet's Nest? Hornet's Nests were dangerous in real life and the one in this game was even more dangerous. Once provoked, he would immediately react and would not give up until he had exacted his revenge.

"It's someone the Blood Demon brought in. Whose fake account is it?" said Green Flag Wine, who was yet another famous player.

This was the future champion of individual PVP battles. His Paladin was believed to be invincible and his nickname was the 'Tire Killer' - he could kill you by simply tiring you to death.

"I've never met anyone called Lu Li before. There's still some people who haven't joined the game yet; they should be joining next week. At this level, I'll be able to wreck them repeatedly, heheh. I'll kill them so many times that they won't even get out of the Novice Village, hahaha." Hornet's Nest's laughter was incredibly arrogant.

24 hours after Dawn was opened, players were barred from registering and new game helmets couldn't be used. This lasted until the next week, when players could start registering and joining again.

However, those who joined later weren't at much of a disadvantage. They were all given double EXP for the first 3 days they played.

Lu Li… Lu Li… the Lu Li who set a new record yesterday?" asked a player called Wild, who had suddenly burst in.

"Heheh. Wild, you don't accept it? He didn't just clear your record, he beat it by half." Hornet's Nest was filled with glee.

"Of course I accept it. If it was just a few seconds or minutes, I'd be able to contest that… but that half an hour gap is something the people in the union greatly respect." Wild seemed quite calm.

Lu Li suddenly recalled that Wild was one of the Blood-red War Flag's experts and was also a PVP pro.

"Lu Li, LV7 Thief. I just lost to him. If anyone's not convinced, you can fight him yourself," Moonlight cut the people off and introduced Lu Li.

"How could I let this opportunity go by? I'll fight with you." Hornet's Nest was evidently a PVP maniac. In fact, everyone in this chat room was a PVP maniac.

The Great Thief

Chapter 50: A Hunter With A Pet

"He's a Night Elf and you're a Dwarf. How are you going to fight with him?" Moonlight asked. Hornet's Nest didn't know what to say in reply.

Currently, none of the racial territories had been opened up and there were no teleportation channels. It was simply impossible for them to be able to fight.

Lu Li looked through the list of players in the chat room and felt numb as he saw all of the famous names he had heard about in his 'past life'. They were all legends in the PVP world and were known by virtually every player.

The expert Magician Twilight specialised in AOE skills in dealing with teams.

The expert Shaman Empty was highly skilled in Strengthening. His playstyle was called the textbook for melee professions.

All of the PVP experts had things they specialised in. Furthermore, there were players from both the Light Faction and the Evil Faction.

It was funny and shocking to see players from the Glory Capital and Blood-red War Flag co-existing in the same place.

Moonlight was referred to as the Blood Demon in this group, which sounded familiar.

Dawn was the only game that Lu Li had played, but if he had played others, he definitely would have known of 'Blood Demon'. He was a true veteran who had risen to prominence in more than 10 games.

As for the 'North Sea Kindergarten' chat room, it was a world that normal players couldn't even hope of getting close to.

In the PVP world, all of these people were legendary existences.

After arranging a few PVP battles with the players, Lu Li asked Moonlight if he wanted to go with him to earn some money from Boosting.

Moonlight wasn't very interested in earning money. Rather, he said that he had gotten into a conflict with a union yesterday. There were quite a few experts who he wanted to kill.

Lu Li was speechless; he and Moonlight lived in different worlds. He could only go and find Azure Sea Breeze.

"Clearing Instance Dungeons is so tiring. It's way more relaxing farming monsters outside." Azure Sea Breeze loved clearing Instance Dungeons, but he didn't love them to the put of running them all day, every day. A single mistake could result in the entire team being destroyed, so it was quite mentally taxing. Furthermore, he was 3 levels higher than the monsters in the Instance Dungeon, so he earned very little EXP. To a levelling maniac, this was simply operating at a loss.

"It's not like we're trying to break a record today. Plus, are you really going to waste your Instance Dungeon Cool Down for today? You never know, you might even get a piece of Steel grade equipment," Lu Li said, trying to convince Azure Sea Breeze.

"Steel grade… hmm, ok, let's go." Gaining equipment would still make it worth it.

Lu Li looked through his friend list, adding Remnant Dream, Lonesome Flower and March Rain to his party.

"Actually, we can bring some clients," Azure Sea Breeze said, as he thought of the money they had earned the previous day from Boosting.

A Guild Upgrade Order could be sold for 50 gold coins, while Boosting could earn them up to 10 gold coins!

"There isn't much of a difference in clearing Normal level and Elite level Instance Dungeons for clients. The EXP is more or less the same and if we charge too much, no one will want to pay. Let's just avoid all the trouble and hassle."

There was an unspoken rule in Dawn: if the Boosters couldn't clear the Instance Dungeon, or if the client died, the Boosters would have to provide a full refund.

Even Lu Li didn't dare to take two clients for the Elite level Instance Dungeon. It would only be worth it for him if he charged 2 gold coins, but = not many people could afford this price. As such, it would be better to just Boost people through Normal level Instance Dungeons.

March Rain arrived with Lonesome Flower. The brother and sister duo had good equipment and were quite skilled. They were the sort of people that Lu Li definitely wanted to consider for a Permanent Party. This was especially so for March Rain - she would impress him every time they met.

The four of them waited for a bit before Remnant Dream came.

Remnant Dream's entrance was much grander than anyone else's.

"Holy crap, there's a pig following this Hunter!" someone yelled out.

"Idiot, that's her pet," another said condescendingly.

"There are actually Hunters who have pets already? This is probably the first one and she's cute, heheh…"

"Apparently there are already two Hunters in the Evil Faction who have pets. I don't think there's been anyone in the Light Faction who have gotten pets yet except for her. Hey, Hunter babe, do you want to do an Instance Dungeon with us? We've got 2 melee players and just need another damager. We've got a really strong main tank and healer."

Remnant Dream had always been looked down on and neglected, using her mediocre archery skills and Dagger to train. No one even wanted to form a party with her in the wild to train. Who would have thought that she would become so popular after gaining a pet?

"I… I have a party already. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry…" Remnant Dream felt so guilty rejecting all these people that she almost started to cry.

"You have quite the choice in pets… a pig?" Lu Li simply couldn't understand why Remnant Dream had chosen such an animal.

"I thought that the little pig was really cute, so I caught it. The Hunter Uncle also said that little pigs have high Defence and don't die easily. It will also be a good companion for me. He told me to treat it well and care for it," Remnant Dream said, sticking up for her pet.

"How's that black ball cute. Look at its tusks and the boils on its body. It's even drooling."

Hearing Lu Li's words, Remnant Dream began to question her sense of aesthetics. The little pig started to look less cute and less like the pet pig she had at home.

"In future, I'll take you to catch some rare monsters to be your pets. Just keep this one for now." After cheering up Remnant Dream, Lu Li took them into the Instance Dungeon.

With her pig, Remnant Dream was now much stronger. Although it was just an ordinary pet, it had skills of its own: Slash and Charge. Slash could cause a bleeding effect, while Charge could stun.

With her little pig using Slash and Charge, she was able to easily kill monsters now.

Lu Li took it fairly easy this time. He attacked while giving pointers to March Rain and Remnant Dream, giving them healing and attacking tactics.

Remnant Dream wasn't a very talented player and wasn't able to pick things up quickly. However, she was passionate and enjoyed everything she was doing.

By now, March Rain had become quite proficient at healing. Their party didn't run into any danger, as she would always heal at exactly the right time and didn't waste any MP.

Lu Li felt that even if this girl was put in a large union, she would be able to take on the role of the main healer. She had only spent a few days learning and training - this was true talent.

The first Boss dropped a piece of Steel grade equipment. It was Chain Mail Armour, so they gave it to Remnant Dream.

The second Boss also dropped a piece of Steel grade equipment. It was a piece of Leather Armour and an exquisite one at that.

[Spider Silk Gloves] (Steel): 10 Armour, Agility5, Attack Speed5%. Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 28/28.

In Dawn, the quality of Gloves depended on its secondary stat. Attack Speed was a pretty good stat for melee professions, while Cast Time Cooldown was a good stat for Magic related professions. Even better stats could be obtained by successful reforging. Stats like Parry and Evasion weren't very useful - it would be better for that stat to be a Primary Attribute.

Lu Li took these Gloves for himself. Although Remnant Dream could also use them, they were much more suited for Lu Li.

Upon reaching LV10, all professions would unlock Proficiency in certain types of Armour, which would give them bonus stats. For example, Thieves and Druids could gain Leather Proficiency, Hunters and Shamans could gain Chain Mail Proficiency, Warriors and Paladins could gain Plate Proficiency…

In order to gain the corresponding Proficiency, one had to have a full set of the corresponding Armour.

As such, Leather Armour usually wasn't given to Hunters.

The Great Thief

Chapter 51: Snake Valley

After coming out from the Instance Dungeon, Lu Li had planned to Boost to earn some money. However, he figured that the gains would not make up for the losses.

In Dawn, being 3 levels higher than monsters reduced EXP by half, while being 5 levels higher gave you no EXP at all. Azure Sea Breeze was now LV8 and out-levelled the Elites and Bosses in the Instance Dungeon by 3 levels. The amount of EXP that he earned was less than what he would receive from farming normal LV8 monsters outside. Even Lu Li and the others didn't receive too much EXP.

In any game, level was the utmost priority, then equipment, then money.

Sacrificing a long term benefit for a short term gain was taboo for players. If Lu Li wanted to earn big money, he had to out-level the other players.

Currently, his level wasn't that high. There were many levelling maniacs who were now LV8 or LV9. Those who joined later had also received three days of double EXP, helping them catch up to everyone else.

"Let's form a party to train." Azure Sea Breeze was quite embarrassed by his current level. There wasn't much EXP to be earnt in the LV5 Instance Dungeon and most parties in the wilderness didn't need a tank. A strong healer would be more than enough and adding any unnecessary roles would simply reduce the amount of EXP everyone received.

"It's not too hard to find a place with lots of monsters. I'll take you guys to a place, but it depends if you want to go or not," Lu Li said hesitantly.

"Why wouldn't we want to go to a place with lots of monsters?" March Rain felt confused.

"Are you afraid of snakes?" Lu Li asked.

"Snakes?!" March Rain and Remnant Dream both yelled out.

"Well, you can change the visual effects in the settings. You're allowed to change a type of monster's appearance into a cartoon for a short period of time." Even so, the visual effects still looked quite real. After all, it was a virtual reality game, so it was impossible to make monsters completely look like they were from a cartoon.

"Are there really lots of monsters there?"

"Yep and the respawn time is quite fast. We won't have to share the monsters with anyone else and there should be a Boss there as well."

"Wait are we waiting for then? Let's quickly go!" As soon as they heard that there was a boss, the team immediately became excited. Even Remnant Dream, who was a newbie, became quite eager. It seemed that they had become addicted, after taking down Bosses with Lu Li.

It was a pity that the turtle in the Moon Reflection Lake had been discovered by other people when it surfaced to breathe. There were now groups of people waiting there for it to respawn. As such, Lu Li always went to open the treasure boxes at night. Luckily, there were many Glow Stones at the bottom of the lake, so he didn't have to blindly search for them.

The team followed Lu Li to the supposed monster treasure trove.

They followed a path into the forest, passing a grassy plain with small white flowers. Lu Li then led them off the path and into a forest of thickets that were half as tall as a person. There were a few small swamps on the way and they saw crocodiles submerged within them.

"Those are LV16 monsters. If Hunters can't find any rare monsters, they like to catch those to be pets. They have good Attack and Defence, as well as good stats."

"I thought there weren't any monsters above LV10 in the Novice Village."

Azure Sea Breeze was flabbergasted.

"They never said that on the official website."

Lu Li couldn't understand the thought processes of these supposed veteran players. However, this was true for most games; monsters in and near the Novice Village usually only went up to a certain level.

After walking for 10 minutes or so, they saw another path extending from the depths of the forest. Who knew where it led to?

"Why is there a path here? When will we get there?" They had already been walking for half an hour. Did they really have to go so far just to train?

"This path goes to the Grey Valley, which takes about 3 hours to get to by horse," Lu Li explained. "The opposite direction goes to the coastline. We aren't very far from where we're going. It should just be another ten minutes."

"Alright, we're here." Ten minutes later, Lu Li and his party were standing near a canyon crevice. The canyon crevice was quite narrow. If it weren't for where they were standing, it would have been extremely difficult to find this place.

Everyone else was speechless. They just wanted to kill some monsters for EXP. Who would have thought that they would have traversed past what felt like half of the world? Then again, this place was quite remote and would have been extremely hard to find.

"Elves are friends of Nature and we treat plants and animals with kindness. However, there were some Druids who didn't like snakes, so the Druid Council confined them here. As such, it's called the Snake Valley," Lu Li said as he squeezed into the canyon crevice.

The party followed him through. What greeted their eyes when they got out was completely different to what they had expected.

Everyone imagined the Snake Valley to be an eerie and terrifying place, filled with blood, bones and venomous snakes. In reality, the Snake Valley was quite a beautiful place.

There were trees with jade-green leaves, lush grass and colourful flowers. Bird song echoed throughout the valley and it was even more beautiful here than outside.

"Most of the snakes in the valley use venom attacks, which deal a lot of damage. Don't worry though: they drop something called Snake Bile, which is used to create antidotes," Lu Li said.

When he learned Alchemy, the system had given him three recipes. The first was for Basic Health Potions, another was for Basic Mana Potions and the other was for Basic Antidotes. All of three of these could be created at LV0. While he hadn't practiced any Alchemy yet, creating Antidotes would be a good way to raise his Proficiency.

Lu Li had not come here only to kill snakes, but also to find a type of grass called Snake Trust Grass. It was an important ingredient in upgrading the Supreme One Ring. It could also be used for creating Intermediate Health Potions.

Although Snake Trust Grass could be found in other places, it was abundant in places where venomous snakes resided.

"Where are the monsters?" How could there be snakes in such a beautiful place?

Lu Li didn't say anything. He rushed into the valley and soon, there were three large snakes chasing him, all as thick as a child's arm.

The sharp cries of 2 girls rang out. Evidently, they hadn't changed their visual settings yet.

Azure Sea Breeze had good mental fortitude and reaction speed, and he quickly attacked the three snakes.

Everyone else started to nervously attack. The visuals in Dawn were simply too realistic - there was no difference between these snakes and snakes in the real world.

These snakes were called 'Black Ring Snakes' and were LV10. Their attacks were devious and they were hard to hit. However, they had low Defence and not much HP - it only took a few hits to kill them. Thus, they were very suitable for Lu Li's party to farm. This was made especially easy with Lonesome Flower's Blizzard. As soon as they were slowed, killing them became as easy as slaughtering sheep.

The only troublesome thing was their venom which they could rapidly spray. The range was quite far and it had a large area of effect. This attack was also almost impossible to dodge and dealt a great amount of damage. Azure Sea Breeze and Lu Li could only rely on Potions to survive.

Eventually, the three large snakes were killed, dropping a Snake Bile, as well as some copper coins. Taking into account the number of Potions they had used, the party had suffered a marginal loss.

"The EXP here is so good. We're getting way more than we did in the Elite level Instance Dungeon." Azure Sea Breeze instantly fell in love with these gruesome snakes. He charged forward to draw the aggro of more snakes, while Lu Li took the opportunity to create a Basic Antidote.

[Basic Antidote: Cures LV10 and below Poison effects. Grants immunity to Poison for 15 seconds.

"Crap, why are there suddenly so many of them?! Help!!" Suddenly, there were more than ten Black Ring Snakes chasing after Azure Sea Breeze.

"Don't heal him, just run," Lu Li called out, as he grabbed the terrified March Rain and Remnant Dream.

"Lu Li, you traitor! I thought we were brothers!" Azure Sea Breeze was furious. He felt that he could still be saved. After all, there were only ten little snakes.

"I'll visit your grave and pay my respects. Hurry up and run, the Poison can stack!"

The Poison can stack?!

Azure Sea Breeze's face went green and he tossed out any plans of fighting. He, too, started to desperately run.

The Poison effect dealt 50 damage every 3 seconds. If that could be stacked, it would simply be too terrifying.

The Great Thief

Chapter 52: Party Annihilation

Training in the Snake Valley was quite efficient and easy. It was just bad luck that Azure Sea Breeze had drawn the aggro of a massive group of Black Ring Snakes. Remnant Dream, who was the lowest level out of all of them had just levelled up to LV6, while everyone else filled up their EXP bars by around 50% in a mere 2 hours.

After nearly clearing out the current wave of monsters, Lu Li entered Stealth to scout out the Boss and look for more Snake Trust Grass.

Snake Trust Grass was fairly rare and it took Lu Li quite a while to find two of them. There were many Silver Leaved Grass, however, which were an ingredient used in creating Basic Health Potions. These could be sold for 40 copper coins each, so collecting a lot of them could be quite profitable. When they went back, Lu Li planned on buying some Peacebloom Flowers to create Basic Health Potions. He could use them for himself, while raising his Alchemy Proficiency.

Two hours after they had started training, Lu Li finally found the Boss.

Gallaher: that was the name of this venomous python that was covered in colourful blotches. It was as thick as a tire and was about half as tall as a person when it raised its head. Its mouth was extremely wide and contained four pointed fangs, making it look incredibly monstrous.

It was LV12, and had 35,000HP.

"This thing could probably swallow me in one gulp."

Azure Sea Breeze wasn't afraid of snakes, but he definitely didn't want to be eaten by a massive one like this.

"Go and test the waters for us."

Lu Li only knew that this was a Boss. As for how they were going to fight it, he had no idea.

"Goddamn, so you reveal your true colours! Are you trying to make me commit suicide?!" Azure Sea Breeze felt quite depressed.

"March Rain, stay back. If we can't handle it, we'll need you to save us," Lu Li ignored him and reminded their Priest to keep herself safe.

Azure Sea Breeze could only look at his teammates pitifully, as he heroically charged towards the Boss.

"I dealt 13 damage…"

That wasn't too bad. For a tank who had put most of his points into Constitution and whose equipment mainly gave Constitution, being able to deal 13 damage to a Boss meant that its Defence was quite average.

"It hit me for 35 damage…"

Its Attack wasn't very high either. In fact, it seemed quite weak for a LV12 Boss.

"Everyone start attacking!" Lu Li still wasn't feeling quite confident, but they couldn't just give up. Thinking of what Moonlight had said to him in the past, he gritted his teeth and rushed towards it!

The Boss roared, sweeping out with its body and dealing AOE damage to the melee attackers. Lu Li's Defence was much lower than Azure Sea Breeze's and he lost about 100HP in a single strike.

Luckily, it didn't attack very frequently with its tail, so their Healer was easily able to replenish their HP.

Lu Li did his best to damage the Boss while observing it. He felt that the Boss was more complex than it seemed.

All the Bosses in Dawn were notorious for being hard to kill. Bosses in the wild were much harder to kill than Bosses in Instance Dungeons. Even large parties could be completely wiped out by a single Boss.

After losing 10% of its HP, Gallaher became furious. It raised its body up and its neck became incredibly flat, as if it was charging something up…

"Everyone run, the Boss is going to release a powerful move!" Lu Li yelled as he ran.

Unfortunately, none of the others had his intuition and reaction speed. Only March Rain, who was focused on healing Lu Li, subconsciously began to run with him.

The Boss spat out a massive wave of venom, which seemed to cover the entire sky. It completely covered all of those who didn't run, regardless of whether they were melee or ranged.

"Goddamit," Lonesome Flower only had time to curse before he died.

Next was Remnant Dream. She could only helplessly blink as her world turned black.

The Antidote bottle in Azure Sea Breeze's hand fell to the ground as he yelled, "Aargh, the Antidotes are useless against its poison!"

Azure Sea Breeze had a lot of HP and high Defence. He was only able to strike an impressive pose before he collapsed to the ground.

Slither, slither, slither. Although the massive Boss didn't have any feet, it was even faster than Lu Li!

It was coming for them!

As it came closer and closer, they could clearly see its fangs. It was about to catch March Rain.

Forget it. Lu Li breathed in and yelled to March Rain, "Keep running, I'll block it for you!" He stopped running away and instead fearlessly charged towards the Boss.

"No, I won't run. If you all die, then I'll die with you!" March Rain actually stopped running.

Lu Li almost spat out blood as he furiously yelled, "Do you think you're in a drama or something? You've got Revive, so you can save us all. Watch less of those war dramas for goodness' sake!"

March Rain could only awkwardly smile and continue to run towards the exit.

Lu Li rushed in front of the Boss and was sent flying by its tail. After landing, he only had a third of his health remaining.

In order to give March Rain a few more seconds to run, he took out a Potion and drank it.

Just as he finished drinking it, the second attack came, and Lu Li was once again sent flying. There were many hidden features in the game. For example, having high Constitution gave additional resistance to being sent flying, knocked back or knocked down. As such, Azure Sea Breeze could steadily take hits from the Boss and would at most take a step or two back. Lu Li, who didn't have a single point of Constitution, was sent flying around like a shuttlecock.

He was lucky that the great system god didn't let him endure this for too long. He was hit again and glowed white as he turned into a corpse.

If it wasn't to save March Rain, Lu Li could have escaped. His Child of the Forest transformation would have allowed him to easily outrun the Boss.

After dying, players had two choices: they could either be sent to a nearby respawn point and meet the big sister goddess, or they could be revived on the spot. This was only if they accepted the Revival once it was cast on them.

Lu Li waited for roughly 1 minute before the system asked him if he would like to accept being revived.

After confirming his acceptance, the black and white world was once again filled with colour. However, he had lost 10% of his EXP. Before dying, he would have been able to reach LV8 after killing a few more monsters. What was even worse was that he had actually dropped his Steel grade Armour.

If March Rain had also died, and they were all sent to the respawn point, the equipment definitely would have been erased by the system.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness," Lu Li and Lonesome Flower, who had both dropped Steel grade equipment cried out in relief.

Lonesome Flower happily hugged March Rain to express his joy and gratitude. Lu Li thought for a few moments before rejecting the idea of doing the same thing. He couldn't just go and hug someone else's little sister.

"We definitely won't be able to kill this Boss," Azure Sea Breeze said, as he sat down on the grass.

"Actually, we can put up with its normal attacks. The problem is its venom - it's simply too powerful. It looks like we'll only be able to deal with it after we have Intermediate Antidotes," Lu Li concurred. Basic Antidotes were only effective against Poisons from monsters under LV10. This Boss was LV12, so they needed Intermediate Antidotes.

"Forget it, let's just farm the normal monsters and avoid the Boss." After nearly losing his precious Steel grade equipment, Lonesome Flower was quite scared.

"Lu Li, try to level up your Alchemy as fast as possible and get the First Clear for this Boss before everyone else," Azure Sea Breeze said.

"No problem." Lu Li was all too happy to invest in his Trade Profession.

The Great Thief

Chapter 53: Intermediate Antidote

Lu Li and the others continued to grind in the Snake Valley from the morning until the afternoon. On average, everyone gained half of their EXP bar. Lu Li was now LV9 and he had found 11 Snake Trust Grass. He only needed 5 to upgrade his ring, so the rest could be used to make Intermediate Health Potions.

The NPC did not teach him how to make anything higher then Basic Potions, so if he wanted to make Intermediate Potions, he would need to find the recipe on his own. The Intermediate Health Potion restored more health and had more value, considering the relatively low crafting cost.

Because of his rebirth, Lu Li knew where to find the recipe, but that would have to wait until next Monday's patch. For now, his goal was to make an Intermediate Antidote.

The Intermediate Antidote recipe wasn't hard to find; as long as a monster used venom, it could potentially drop it. Lu Li had already found 4-5 copies. If he sold them he could make quite a few silver coins.

As for the materials required, the Basic version required one Snake Bile, while the Intermediate one required two. This had an 80% success rate.

"Do you need anything else for the Intermediate? Is there a quest?" Azure Sea Breeze was determined. Even after half a day of training he still wasn't tired.

"You don't need to from Basic to Intermediate; only from Intermediate to High would you need to do a quest. I'm just missing 3% EXP." Alchemy couldn't be performed repeatedly - even if you did have the materials, there was a cooldown period. Throughout the day, Lu Li would immediately start making potions as soon as the cooldown refreshed. If you made many of the same potions, the required proficiency for it would decrease.

After half a day, Lu Li's Alchemy was finally Intermediate level.

Now his Trade Skill would start to show its usefulness!

System: You can now manufacture Intermediate Antidotes, Alchemy Proficiency increased by 1.

Intermediate Antidote: Cures LV20 and below Poison effects. Grants immunity to Poison for 15 seconds.

One or two Intermediate Antidotes were not enough to beat the Boss, but after 2 hours, Lu Li had made over 30. Four of them had failed, which matched the 80% success rate.

"Everyone take 7 bottles. Sea Breeze you take 2 more. We'll the give the boss one more try and if it fails, we'll let it go for today." Looking at the time, there were less than 2 hours before night fall when the wild would become very dangerous.

They started attacking the monster as usual; Azure Sea Breeze led the charge and drew the aggro of the boss.

Lu Li refrained from yelling out every profanity he knew. It was too bad that this Boss was immune to stuns. Even a 90% Skill Completion on Shadowstrike could not stun it. However, the that Lu Li damage dealt surpassed his expectations.

Performing an 89% Skill Completion would deal 112% damage. However, the damage suddenly spiked to 150% when he attained 90% Skill Completion. Skill Completion was one of the least talked about subjects in his previous life. It was reserved exclusively for the experts and seemed forbidden to the masses. There had only been a handful of forum posts which seriously talked about it. After 90%, it was a completely new playing field.

The advantage of rebirth was that his knowledge was one step ahead of the other players. However, Lu Li knew that to become a true expert, he still had a long path to walk.

After all, in his previous life he was just an ordinary player!

He suddenly focused and shrugged off his exhaustion. Azure Sea Breeze looked at him curiously and mumbled, "Why are you suddenly trying so hard, did you have some potency medication?"

Lu Li ignored him, diligently trying to make every Skill Completion as high as possible.

Under his leadership, the others also gave much of their strength. They quickly took the Boss down to 90% HP.

The Boss whined and raised the first half of its body.

"Get ready to take the potion…3, 2…1, do it!" Lu Li stopped attacking and threw his head back, staring at the Boss' big mouth.

The pale-green venom erupted out of it at the same time as Lu Li's command, surrounding the area around him.

"Dammit," Lonesome Flower cried out, throwing aside the Intermediate Antidote bottle and taking a Basic Healing Potion.

"Careful everyone. Listen to my instructions or you won't last more than a few seconds," Lu Li said.

"I almost died, I only have 10-20 HP left. Give me some HP!" Lonesome Flower patted his chest in fear.

Mages have naturally higher Magic Resistance and later on, he would gain shields to defend from physical attacks. However, his resistance to poisons was relatively low and Lonesome Flower had put all his points in Intelligence. The poison that the Boss released dealt 250 damage initially and 50 damage afterwards every 3 seconds. He wouldn't be able to survive that.

"The duration of the Intermediate Antidote might not be enough. Everyone pay attention and take them appropriately," Lu Li calmly instructed, while trying to estimate how much damage he was dealing to the Boss.

"If it releases the poison every 10% of its HP, we won't have enough potions, as we only have 7 each." Lonesome Flower put on a long face; this Boss was particularly effective against Mages, so he could die at any moment.

"Continue dealing damage and let me observe it. At worst, we could give up, but would you be satisfied if you gave up after only dealing 10% of its HP?" Lu Li asked.

"Continue, continue," Azure Sea Breeze called out and increased the frequency of his attacks.

Wild Bosses would definitely drop a Steel armour. They had been grinding for this Boss the whole day and Lu Li had even learned Intermediate Alchemy. If they gave up now, it would be incredibly unsatisfying.

The second spray of poison was about to go off, right when the Boss' HP was reduced to 80%. Lu Li saw the Boss draw its body back and immediately shouted, "Everyone except for Healer and Main Tank, run!"

Lonesome Flower had long anticipated these words and he took many more steps than even the Thief. With the threat of the Bosses poison, the normally slow Mage ran as fast as his short legs could take him.

As for Lu Li and Remnant Dream, the two Agility occupations, they ran even faster.

March Rain had added points into Constitution and Intelligence, while Azure Sea Breeze had added all his points into Constitution. These two lost less than 50% HP when hit by the Poison, so this strategy didn't need to be explained by Lu Li.

In reality, they were fighting this Boss really early. After a few weeks, when this portion of the map became known to the public, several guilds would send their elite parties to farm this Boss. They would not have the same flexibility of being able to leave the fight whenever.

To successfully beat a Boss in Dawn, one had to be aware of their competitors.

Basic materials could be used from early to late game and could be quickly snatched after the Boss had been beaten. The old turtle at Moon Reflection Lake was only a level 3 Boss, but over 100 players were now there, waiting for it to spawn.

The third time it released the poison, Lonesome Flower ran too slowly, so he took an Intermediate Antidote and a Basic Heal Potion. He barely made it through this dangerous phase.

This was not the only way; he could have exchanged some equipment with Azure Sea Breeze. This would net him about 100HP and increase his Defence, improving his survivability.

Of course, this would mean abandoning his Offensive Mage build. He would have less damage than Remnant Dream.

Remnant Dream's pig died after the third wave of poison. If she wanted to revive it, she would need to wait another 3 minutes. If they had to solely rely on Lu Li to hit the boss, this would take a long time.

The Great Thief

Chapter 54: Thrilling Strike

Eventually, Azure Sea Breeze came up with a great idea. Lonesome Flower would fight until the Boss' HP was down by 9% before running. As the Boss' attacks were very consistent, this would keep him completely safe.

They fought the Boss all the way down to 50% HP using this strategy.

This time the Boss changed its pattern; not only did it release poison, it also flung its tail immediately after.

Remnant Dream thought she could bear the poison, so she didn't run this time. Unfortunately, the poison and the tail whip was too much and the little hunter yelped as she fell.

Her Steel Crossbow also unfortunately dropped.

Lu Li's situation was better; he still had some HP left after taking the antidote. As well as this, he had many Steel equips on him.

"What do we do?" Lonesome Flower asked as he ran back.

"Pick up her things; we will continue. After we finish fighting, we'll revive her."

Lu Li did not falter, calmly continuing to deal damage.

It was just one person and not the whole group. The sky was darkening and they didn't have time for another try.

There was only Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze left, but they were still quite strong. After a few minutes, the Boss reached 41% HP and was about to spurt poison again.

"Lonesome you go, I'll be right behind you. March Rain protect yourself, Azure Sea Breeze prepare to take the potion."

Lu Li now planned conservatively. After all, they only had 4 members left and couldn't lose anyone else. If he knew that this would happen, he would have invited Moonlight.

Lonesome Flower didn't mind and took off. He didn't look back to check on the others, as he didn't want to die.

March Rain thought for a bit and also retreated, but the Boss' last two-hit combo also took her out. She remembered Lu Li telling her that the Priest must never die.

Even if the group was annihilated, there needed to be someone to loot the corpses!

Azure Sea Breeze shook his head and sighed, "How come I get abandoned every time?"

"We have complete trust in you."

Seeing that the Boss was about to spray the poison, Lu Li turned around and dashed off.

If the Boss could speak, it would definitely scold them. It had never seen such terrible thing: if they wanted to fight, they should stand and fight…

Azure Sea Breeze was covered in an oily green mess, but he was still standing strong. He wasn't even knocked aside by the tail.

After this, they continued to DPS the Boss. When it reached 21% HP, Lu Li was waiting for the signal, but he didn't expect the it to open its mouth and take a deep breath.

The suction was powerful: other than the Main Tank, no one would leave the Boss' side.

"It'll suck us in first before spraying the poison?"

"What a shameless Boss," was a thought shared by everyone.

No matter how much they struggled, the four of them were stuck within 8 yards of the Boss!

Then, with one thick green spurt, they were all covered in poison.

In the mist shone a white light, where Lonesome Flower had turned into a corpse.

March Rain was drinking an Antidote and a Healing Potion, while simultaneously healing Lu Li.

The Heal saved Lu Li's life, allowing him to survive the tail attack that came from the Boss afterwards.

When the poison had worn off, Lu Li only had a sliver of HP left!

March Rain was also the same, while Azure Sea Breeze was doing slightly better with about 20% HP.

"Stand firm, give yourself and Sea Breeze HP!" Lu Li loudly reminded March Rain. Disregarding the potion resistance, he threw his head back and downed another one, restoring over 30 HP. It was good that the Supreme One Ring had some life steal. Usually, the 4-5 HP was negligible, but now it was actually quite important.

A Healer, a Main Tank and a DPS. Lu Li's downed party members, Lonesome Flower and Remnant Dream, were still in the fight, unable to leave their corpses. They could only helplessly look on.

"Keep going, we won't not give up."

Lu Li sounded steady; he was unwavering, he had not complained and he was not exhausted.

He was grateful for his past experience as a gold collection member. That boring, desperate and time-consuming job made his impatient self slowly become the Lu Li he was today.

19%, 18%, 17%... 13%, 12%!

"I don't need to hide, don't worry about me. Take care of your own HP."

Last time, he hadn't died to the poison, so this time he was definitely prepared for it.

The Boss took a deep breath once again, sucking in everyone within 8 yards before spurting poison and whipping its tail...

Lu Li didn't immediately drink the antidote, instead waiting for a little over 2 seconds. Just after this, he drank the antidote and the damage that was about to be dealt was immediately cancelled by the system.

The poison damage was for 20 seconds, while the Antidote lasted for 15 seconds. If it was used early, the potion would lose its effect early. With 2 ticks to go, this totaled 100 damage.

By waiting two seconds before drinking the antidote, there would be less than 5 seconds of poison left when it wore off. This meant that he only took 1 tick of poison, which was 50 HP.

However, after this attack Lu Li's HP, was only a little bit more than 50. If the tail whip was a little stronger and he didn't have this 50HP, he would have died.

Even though he had passed this wave of attacks, he couldn't relax.

Most Bosses go berserk when reduced to 5% HP!

The Boss managed to wipe their team when it dropped to 90%, but that wasn't too bad. If the Boss annihilated them at 5% HP, even the most confident person would feel a little depressed.

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze made eye contact and laughed bitterly, hoping for some kind of divine intervention.

Its HP was now 1750, which was 5%. The Boss had really gone berserk!

The big snake turned red and was maliciously pounding against Azure Sea Breeze. Its tail began to pull at people, even tossing March Rain aside at one point.

Its attack damage and attack frequency increased!

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze were surprisingly relaxed.

As long as it didn't spray any poison, a damage increase wouldn't kill anyone. This wasn't a problem.

Night Elves have a skill called Shadowmeld, which would instantly give them Stealth. To Lu Li, this was perfect for him to escape. However, for warriors like Azure Sea Breeze, it was used to reduce aggro.

Azure Sea Breeze, who was now at 20% health, cast Shadowmeld.

After being dragged around twice, Lu Li also cast Shadowmeld. The Boss now faced March Rain and rushed towards her.

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze pursued the Boss from behind, when they saw that March Rain was about to be hit. The Main Tank cast Taunt to redraw the Boss' aggro. March Rain looked like she didn't even see the Boss charging at her, instead taking a step back and giving Azure Sea Breeze some health. Her calmness was incomparable!

System: Players Lu Li, Azure Sea Breeze, March Rain, Lonesome Flower and Remnant Dream have successfully achieved the first clear on a Wild Boss, Gallaher!

The Great Thief

Chapter 55: Rager Equipment Set

In addition to the System Announcement, Lu Li also received a large amount of exp. There was so much that it was hard to believe, but when he thought about it, it was to be expected. This was a level 12 Boss and there was only 3 people to split the EXP with. Those who had died did not receive any exp.

The Boss showered the ground with items. One didn't even need to look to know that there was a huge reward!

Lu Li and Azure Sea Breeze relaxed and sat on the floor, while March Rain worked on reviving Lonesome Flower and Remnant Dream.

Not only had Lonesome Flower and Remnant Dream lost 10% of their EXP, they also didn't receive any of the LV12 Boss EXP. It would be unusual if they weren't a little sad, but they were all excited to look at the loot.

"Remnant Dream, go get the equips and see what they are."

Lu Li didn't want to move, instead assigning the looting to the little hunter.

The little hunter really liked doing that, so she happy picked it all up.

She didn't know that her luck would be so good; the first item she picked up was a Steel Hunter Bracer. It had a level 10 requirement, but added 8 Agility and 2 Constitution. It perfectly matched her needs.

The second item was Lu Li's. Once he heard the name, he already knew its attributes.

Rager Bracer (Steel): Amour 15, Agility 6, Critical Hit 5%, Level Requirement LV10. Durability 32/32 (One of the Rager set, Exclusive to melee)

In his previous life, Lu Li had this equipment. At that time, the game had been out for a while and there were countless players who were already LV10. Its price was very low, but Lu Li still had to work for 2 weeks to buy 2 pieces of the Rager Equipment Set.

Besides this Bracer, there was a Rager Necklace that could be dropped by Wild Bosses from level 10 to 20. Unfortunately, it wasn't dropped this time.

When both pieces of the Rager Equipment Set were equipped, the set would produce an effect.

Rager: Travelling Speed increased by 20%, Attack Speed increased by 20%, Defence reduced by 20%. Lasts 30 seconds.

The first two were buffs, while the last one was a debuff. Together, they made up the most common Equipment Set for newbies.

Compared to the Jungle Herdsmen Equipment Set, this set's effects were like night and day. Melee players who used this set wouldn't need to change their equips until they were LV30.

The Boss only dropped these two Steel equips. The other 3 equips were Bronze and fit nicely for the three others who didn't get a Steel equip. There were two materials left; these could be used to make level 20 Silver Equips and were very valuable. Their value was not far from Steel equips.

Lu Li gave one of them to Azure Sea Breeze and the most valuable one to Lonesome Flower, which was more or less a fair distribution.

This was one of Lu Li's problems; he always wanted things to be equal. Azure Sea Breeze disagreed with Lu Li's method of assignment, but he didn't want to say anything in front of everyone. He put away the material that Lu Li had given him, but returned the equip, claiming that he was too lazy to sell it.

The five of them formed what could be considered the basic part of the permanent group. Normally, they would train separately, but when it came to fighting Bosses or doing Instance Dungeons, they would join together. Moonlight's skill was high, but he had a greater interest in PVP. Most of his time would be spent fighting other players, so he unfortunately became an optional member of the group.

Lu Li planned to set up a small mercenary group after some time.

Mercenary groups were officially recognized and did not conflict with Guilds. Members of different groups could join the same Mercenary group. This was going to be introduced in the update the following Monday. The cost of setting one up was fairly low as well: for just 1 gold, you could add up to 100 people.

However, Lu Li had no intention of being in charge, and when the time came, he would recommend the position for Azure Sea Breeze.

Firstly of all, their personal friendship was good and second of all, Azure Sea Breeze was capable.

Azure Sea Breeze had even more experience in previous games than Lu Li. He knew more about creating teams and wasn't like Lu Li in trying to make everything equal.

Moreover, Lu Li had too many secrets that he couldn't just share with everyone.

There were many things he couldn't explain by saying that he had a friend on the inside. Who knew what people were thinking? If anyone went to talk to the game company, he would have some problems.

Most of the time, he needed to do things on his own.

After gathering some money by taking advantage of rebirth, he would be able to save enough to treat his sister's illness. He could also go to the battle area and practice his PVP techniques.

After fighting the Boss, it was already nighttime. The party members started channeling their Hearthstones to return home.

The party had not yet been dismissed; everyone still had to give their feedback for the game. According to Lu Li, if their feedback was accepted there would be an EXP reward. Everyone firmly believed this.

After a while, Moonlight was also added to the party.

He was still level 8, which was not far behind Lu Li. This was one problem with PVP - you don't increase your level and if you die, you also lose EXP.

They said it was a discussion, but it was really Lu Li directing everyone on what direction to take.

An example was skill promotion. The players had been playing for such a long time, but even their most commonly used spell was not level 2. For Lu Li, this was Shadowstrike, which was currently at 466/1000. He was still missing over half the EXP required.

This was a very big issue, and the game company would want to address this for the sake of the ordinary players.

The suggestion that Lu Li offered was that one would gain a Skill Point every 2 levels. By using a Skill Point and a gold coin, you could increase a Skill's level. This way, all people would have the opportunity to try higher level skills.

Another example was the arena, which was the most requested part of the game. A game without an arena would struggle to attract people. At the moment, players weren't actually sparring with each other because if they died, they would lose EXP.

There was also the matter of an Auction Room, but even if no one suggested this, it would inevitably appear in the game. This could be a 'suggestion' that allowed one to receive some EXP.

Lastly, there was the issue of syncing up the days and nights with real days and nights. This didn't really matter to Lu Li, but most of the players who needed to get up early wanted to strangle the game design team because of this.

Showing damage taken by party members, daily quests, changing EXP lost upon death, increasing stats shown, additional Trade Skills, weather effects, changing hits under Automatic Mode, adding a bounty function, changing Stealth tracking, stacking materials in inventory…

Lu Li knew that most of them had played many games. Even with Lu Li's 2-3 years of experience, everyone added their own opinions and they quickly reached about 100 suggestions.

Lu Li knew that many of these were not going to be accepted, which meant that there would be no EXP reward. These were called invalid suggestions.

However, they couldn't just send in the suggestions that they knew would be accepted. If they sent in 30 suggestions that were all accepted, the game company would suspect insider information being leaked. If that were the case, they would have some trouble.

According the previous life, the most submitted suggestion from this round from a player called "Brother Yang is Here" who was a Paladin. He gave 300 suggestions which was astonishing. However the person who got the most accepted was not Brother Yang is Here but rather a hunter called"I No Understand". This hunter submitted a few more than 60 but over half of them made it into the game.

Lu Li calculated that of their 92 suggestions, if all goes to plan they should have 48 of them accepted. That doesn't sound too crazy.

After submitting the feedback to the official site, Lu Li took advantage of the system that is yet to be updated and set up a booth at Moon Shadow Valley to sell the Bronze equips from today. In addition, he has also raised a sign which indicates a few things that he is looking to buy.

The Great Thief

Chapter 56: A Hilarious Journey

After returning to the Novice Village, Lu Li figured that the Treasure Boxes in the Moon Reflection Lake would have refreshed, so he left to open them again. As for the Treasure Boxes in the Cynocephali Mine, he didn't bother with them anymore. Each of the Boxes were surrounded by Thieves who were waiting for each refresh, because they would rather not fight monsters.

Everyone had their own play style; it was best not to think too much about it.

When Lu Li reached the lakeside, he discovered that there were still people around. He was curious - the Boss didn't respawn at night, so what were these people doing?

He went into Stealth and found a private place, before transforming into a Seal and diving deep underwater.

Before he reached the bottom, Lu Li encountered a problem. There were other people here…

There were roughly five or six Druids swimming around. Lu Li hid amongst the thick grass, taking advantage of the Glow Stones to try and understand what they were doing.

It turned out that the crowd's goal was also to find Treasure Chests.

It was too bad that the chests in the water were all locked and they were Druids, so they would be unable to open them.

This group of Druids were using their claws and heads to attack the Treasure Chest. The result was disappointing, as the treasure box remained shut.

Suddenly, one of the Druids transformed back into human form and reached out to grab the chest, attempting to lift it up and bring it back to shore.

Lu Li almost let out a laugh.

The Treasure Chest was part of the map; it wasn't something that could be destroyed.

If not, one could simply take out an axe and the Thief's unlock skill would just be irrelevant. The Druid's plan of moving the Treasure Box was purely a fantasy.

The greedy Druid that had transformed into a human quickly paid the price.

He was probably about to drown and desperately tried to swim to the surface, but there was no time left. Lu Li had previously calculated that the distance between the surface and the bottom was about a 3-minute swim. It was quicker the other way, requiring only 1 minute to swim from the bottom to the surface. However, in 30 seconds he would start losing HP.

The greedy Druid quickly changed into a corpse and the other Druid's skills were about to time out as well. They looked at each other and all floated to the top together.

It turned out that when they were waiting for the Boss to respawn, a Druid went into the water to look for it and happened upon a Treasure Chest. The Druid that saw this didn't say anything and waited for everyone to leave at night. He then called over his guild members to tell them about it.

Unfortunately, this didn't go as planned, as they were unable to open them.

Lu Li was curious as to why these few players thought they could get what was inside the treasure chests. Did they want to drag the treasure chest ashore and break it open with a rock?

After they left, Lu Li dashed towards the treasure box. He saw the whole thing unfold and went straight towards it and cast Unlock.

One Bronze equip and a piece of Silk Cloth.

The second treasure chest was slightly better; there was a Bronze equip and a skill book.

Slit Throat: Instant Cast, uses up all Combo Points and attacks the throat of the target dealing 1 20% * Combo Points. If the target is below 20% HP, this attack will definitely be a critical hit. Skill Proficiency 1/1000.

Lu Li was surprised. This was the Thief's version of the Warrior's Execute!

This skill wasn't necessarily rare because everyone could learn it. When one reached level 20, there was a relatively easy Thief Quest in Warsong Valley that became available. The reward of this quest the Slit Throat skill book.

From that time on, all the Thieves had an ultimate skill.

Currently, he was level 9 at 40% EXP. He tried to learn the skill and the skill book vanished from his hands in a flash of light.

Lu Li didn't move for a few seconds. He didn't dare to believe it, quickly opening the skill panel and confirming that Slit Throat was in it. There was a shining label on it: Ultimate Skill. He was filled with joy!

He wasn't even level 10 and he had learned a level 20 skill book!

Slit Throat was a very strong skill. Although its regular damage couldn't compare with Backhand Backstab, it crit against targets at low health. The probability of it being a critical was very high; someone in his past life had used the skill over 1000 times to test it. He found that the critical rate was around 70%.

If he was PVPing another player, they would be as good as dead once their HP reached 20%,!

Only an idiot would sell this skill book!

The third chest dropped two Bronze equips, one of which was a Magic Staff that he conveniently needed to upgrade his ring.

The Treasure Chests found in Moon Reflection Lake had been much better than those in the Cynocephali Mine. Lu Li had found two high quality skill books here. However, he wouldn't be able to maintain a monopoly on this area for much longer.

Since other players had found out about this, they would sooner or later find a way to open these chests. Underwater Breathing Potions were one example.

After opening all the treasure chests, Lu Li immediately returned. He could imagine the look on the faces of those people when they return to find the chests gone.

"Who touched my treasure chest!"

[Supreme One Ring] (Silver grade): 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.

This was Lu Li's only Silver equip. Bronze equips were primarily being used by regular players, while Steel equips were being used by the experts. If he took this out, everyone would definitely marvel at it.

But, Lu Li knew better than anyone that this equip didn't actually give him much additional strength.

He looked at his Rager Equipment Set; the one piece gave him 6 stat points. Remnant Dream's Steel Bracer gave her 10 points, while the Supreme One Ring gave him a measly 2 points. As for the Vampirism stat, it depended on how much you have. If you only had a bit of it, you may as well not have any at all.

The Special Effect was no doubt the best part, but it couldn't be used in battles.

The final Boss in the LV10 Instance Dungeon on regular difficulty could drop rings. The attributes of these varied, but even the worst one would give an additional 3 to 5 points. This meant that Lu Li's attributes would be the worst when that time came.

As such, he needed to upgrade the Supreme One Ring to the Supreme Two Ring as soon as possible. The Supreme Two Ring was overpowered.

The upgrade needed to be done at a Sacrificial Altar with 7 other materials. The 7 Jade Spider Webs, a Charm Heart and 5 Snake Trust Grass were things he had already found.

He now needed 3 Bronze Ingots, which could be attained by a Blacksmith combining Copper and Tin ore. Bronze ingots weren't very rare. He just needed a few Copper and Tin Ore which would cost around 60 silver. If Lu Li bought it with 1 gold, it would probably be accepted as a fair deal.

Additionally, he needed 6 Green Agate, which was found when mining and was considered to have a high value. The use of Green Agate was quite widespread, but the Moon Shadow Valley didn't have a Mining Trainer nor many mining resources. He would have to buy it from a player of another region and ask them to mail it through.

The market price of this item was hard to say, so Lu Li has temporarily set his price at 30 silver.

The Great Thief

Chapter 57: Professional Businessman

Upgrading the Supreme One Ring also required a piece of Bronze grade equipment to act as a medium. Bronze grade Magic Staffs could be used, and he had coincidentally found one at the bottom of the lake. There were no requirements for its stats – the item quality was enough.

The final items that Lu Li needed were Magic Amplification Materials. A common type of this were Gale Fangs, which dropped from Gale Wolves in the Moon Shadow Valley. They were LV6-LV7 Magic Beasts and could use Arcane Balls to attack.

In Lu Li's 'past life', Azure Sea Breeze had used these, so Lu Li decided to follow suit.

The drop rate for Gale Fangs wasn't very low. Lu Li only needed 20 of them, which wouldn't take too long to gather.

"This piece of equipment's stats are pretty good, but it's a bit expensive. Can I buy it using Gale Fangs? I have 30 or so," a Thief asked him, as he pointed at a piece of Leather Armour that Lu Li was selling.

"Sure." Lu Li was unable to decline an offer to instantly obtain so many Gale Fangs. Even if he suffered a bit of a loss, it was still acceptable to him. Bronze grade equipment now only sold for around 2 gold coins, and the time he would save could be used to earn even more money.

Now, Lu Li was only missing the Bronze Ingots and Green Agate.。

"Hey brother, you want to buy Green Agate?" a passing-by Druid asked, when he saw Lu Li's sign.

"That's right," Lu Li replied.

"Are you willing to pay a bit more? Green Agate isn't easy to find and mining takes a lot of effort. Sometimes it takes hours to find a single Green Agate and there's quite high demand for it. There are a lot of Trade Skills that need it."

It seemed that this person was a businessman - he sounded extremely eloquent and convincing.

Any newbie would have been won over by his words.

"How much do you want?" Lu Li casually asked.

"3 gold coins for one." It was audacious of him to ask for such a large amount of money. He probably assumed that Lu Li was quite rich, based off what he was selling.

"Sorry, I'm not interested; I'll continue to wait for offers."

Lu Li coldly laughed to himself. Did this guy think he was an idiot?

"There isn't much Green Agate over in the Night Elf territory. The monsters at the Cynocephali Mines are all quite high levelled, so not many people are brave enough to mine there. I only have a few Green Agate and they were all mailed to me by my friend from the Dwarf Mountains," the Druid continued, as he tried to persuade Lu Li.

"50 silver coins for 1 is already a fair price. The price over at the Dwarves' side is probably the same, but I just don't know anyone over there," Lu Li replied.

He wasn't completely out of options yet - he could ask Drinking Alone for help, but owing a favour for a few gold coins wasn't quite worth it.

"How about this: 6 Green Agate for 10 gold coins. You must be an expert, seeing as you're selling so many Bronze grade equipment. I'm guessing that you have the money to afford it. I'm called Shen Wansan; how about we be friends?" The Druid's seemingly kind and amicable smile started to look more and more vulgar.

Shen Wansan was a prominent businessman in the early Ming Dynasty who was incomparably rich. For a player to name himself after that man showed quite a bit about himself.

"Your asking price is a bit too high for me. If you really want to be friends, I'm willing to buy 6 Green Agate and 3 Bronze Ingots for 10 gold coins. If I need any materials in the future, I'll definitely come to you first," Lu Li said resolutely.

"That's not too good."

Although he said this, Shen Wansan was seriously considering the offer. As someone who had his sights on being the biggest businessman, he was much more acquainted with the selling prices than Lu Li. Green Agate could be bought for 35 silver coins at the Dwarf Novice Village and even the most expensive prices wouldn't go over 40 silver coins.

As for Bronze Ingots, if it weren't for Tin Ingots (which were required to make Bronze Ingots) being so rare, they would be worth less than 1 gold coin.

Shen Wansan asking a Dwarf friend to buy some for him would cost him about 50 silver coins per Agate.

Altogether, these things would cost him less than 7 gold coins. Lu Li offering him 10 gold coins was incredibly profitable for him.

"Well, if you don't want to sell it, that's fine."

There was no way that Lu Li would accept a higher price. 10 gold coins was equivalent to $6,000-7,000 in the real world, which was half a month's rent for him!

"I'll sell! I'll sell! Brother, you're quite a quick-tempered one. I'm guessing you want to be friends then?" Shen Wansan asked with a grin.

"Do you have the goods on you?" Lu Li asked.

"Of course not - my bag's way too small. It's in my post-box; I'll go get it immediately. Just wait a few minutes."

Shen Wansan didn't waste any time. After adding Lu Li as a friend, he ran off to get the goods.

The bags in Dawn were simply too small. A professional businessman like Shen Wansan would take advantage of the mail system by leaving items in there, without having to worry about the system erasing them.

After waiting for a long time, Shen Wansan still wasn't back. Lu Li had already sold 2 Bronze grade equipment before he saw him running back as he huffed and puffed.

"What took you so long? You only just bought those things, didn't you?" Lu Li asked.

"Heheh, you can't blame me for doing so. Alright, let's trade - I've got everything here. Now, I'm not boasting, but the only person in all of the Moon Shadow Valley who would be able to get what you want is me, Shen Wansan."

Shen Wansan had indeed put in a lot of effort to obtain these things. He definitely deserved the profits he had made.

Because of how urgently Shen Wansan had requested the materials and the fact that the system was being updated the next day, the price at which he had bought all of the things was now 9 gold coins. Since there were many players who would be joining soon, many of the players with the goods didn't mind waiting and ended up selling the goods to Shen Wansan for a price that was higher than normal.

No matter how much money he spent, Shen Wansan was determined to make this deal happen!

The reason was simple - when adding friends, he could confirm the identity of the other person.

There was a person who Shen Wansan deeply respected and wanted to get to know. That person wasn't the Water Fairy or even the Glory Capital's head, Sorrowless, it was Lu Li!

When he added Lu Li as a friend, he simply couldn't believe that it was actually him.

It was the same Lu Li who had sold an incredibly rare Skill Book on the very first day of the game, the same guy who had sold Steel grade equipment on the second day, the same guy who had sold a Guild Upgrade Order on the third day… what couldn't this guy achieve?

If it was just once, it could be dismissed as luck, or even heaven-defying luck if it were twice. However, saying that he only had good luck was childish.

What attracted Shen Wansan the most was good equipment and players who could obtain good equipment.

As such, he was determined to get on Lu Li's good side, even if it meant operating at a loss.

Lu Li looked at the items and straightforwardly handed over the 10 gold coins.

"Hey, don't leave yet. Brother, destroying a bridge after crossing the river isn't good at all," Shen Wansan said as he pulled Lu Li over, "Bro, you're quite mysterious - I can't even imagine how you obtained all those things. Look at my name - I'm a professional businessman. In the future, if you have any good items or equipment, can you let me sell them for you?"

"Why?" asked Lu Li.

"If you let me handle it for you, you'll definitely earn more. Take that Guild Upgrade Order for example. You sold it for 50 gold coins, right? If it was up to me, the minimum would have been 120 gold coins," Shen Wansan said excitedly. To him, Lu Li's auction was much too amateurish.

All businesspeople could see was money. What was the Blood-red War Flag? If they dared to stand between him and money, he would make them pay.

The 'loss' that Lu Li had suffered could easily be avoided by having a trusted agent.

The Great Thief

Chapter 58: Night Ghost (1)

Not every expert was backed by a union, but all of them had to have a professional businessperson as a friend.

This was something that Lu Li had heard another player say in his 'past life'. At that time, he hadn't given that much thought. After all, he was only a member of the Gold Collection Unit. Although he had eventually become more powerful, he was a second-rate expert at most.

It was only today that he finally understood the significance of that sentence.

He finally understood why Moonlight, who only had Common grade equipment, could instantly obtain an incredibly rare set.

Experts needed a businessperson to support them in financial matters. Businesspeople were much more responsible and committed than unions. After all, they relied on their experts to supply them with rare items and equipment. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Lu Li gave the two remaining LV10 Bronze grade equipment to Shen Wansan to sell and said farewell.

Agreeing that he would go to Shen Wansan first when he found something good didn't mean that they had established an official business relationship. This required observing the other person over time. After all, they needed to be able to work together towards the same goal.

The system was going to be updated in a few hours. The updating would last from nightfall until the night of the next day. Apart from helping Lu Xin to complete some of the paperwork for transferring schools, he could use the rest of the time to sleep. As such, Lu Li had no plans of sleeping early.

By now, he couldn't earn any EXP from the LV5 Instance Dungeons, so he planned to find a safe place to train.

Training alone, especially at night, wasn't as efficient as when they had been training as a group in the Snake Valley. However, gaining a little bit of EXP at a time would add up. At the very least, it would be more than he would receive from sleeping.

There were many players who had the same thought: the wilderness was quite busy and screams could occasionally be heard. Evidently, there were Nightcrawlers around.

After the game entered night-time, Nightcrawlers that were 10 levels higher than the highest-levelled player in that region would spawn in the wilderness. They had fast regeneration, decent Attack, and would kill everything in sight.

If Lu Li bumped into a Nightcrawler, he could transform into a Little Leopard. With his Movement Speed, even the LV20 Nightcrawlers wouldn't be able to catch him.

It was a pity that Lu Li didn't have any equipment that gave him night vision. He could only stumble around in the dark, following the route he had taken when he went to obtain the Supreme One Ring. He walked up the familiar path to the back of the mountain. There were 2 types of monsters there: the 'Injured Wild Wolves' and the 'Old Wild Wolves'. They all had average Attack and Defence and were suitable for Lu Li to train on.

In the forest, there were packs of wolves, each containing 20 members and at least one Elite-grade monster. According to the system settings, the Alpha Wolf of this pack was the victor of many death battles, with the loser of each being chased out. Each loser eventually became an 'Injured Wild Wolf'.

As for the Old Wild Wolves, these were wolves that had been evicted from the pack because of their age.

They were all between LV8 to LV10 and travelled alone. They were much easier to deal with than other wolves.

There were many trees growing close to each other here and their leaves covered the sky, reducing visibility. The monster population was quite sparse, so it wasn't an ideal place for parties to train.

Lu Li picked a spot that was fairly remote and looked around for wolves to kill.

The wolves could only deal around 20 to 30 damage to him, while he could hit them for 70 to 80 damage. If he used his Ultimate Skill, he could 200-300 damage.

The Supreme One Ring's normally unnoticeable Vampirism effect was now a great help. Lu Li essentially didn't need to drink any Potions at all.

He used Stealth to move behind a Boss wolf and stunned it with a Cheap Shot, before unleashing a barrage of normal attacks. As soon as the Boss woke up, he dealt a Shadowstrike chained with a Backstab to the wolf's unprotected waist. By now, Cheap Shot's cooldown had now refreshed. The second Cheap Shot put him at exactly 5 combo points.

Lu Li's Dagger flashed across the wolf's throat.

Slit Throat!

If he got a Critical Hit with Slit Throat, it would instantly kill his target. Even if he didn't get a Critical Hit, he would only need to hit the target another 2 or 3 times.

It took Lu Li about 20 seconds or so to kill a monster. The rest of his time was spent on actually finding monsters to kill.

He didn't know that there were people secretly watching him and discussing.

"His Attack is so strong. When did LV10 wolves become so weak?" More than 30 yards away were two people hidden in the grass, quietly muttering to each other.

"Luckily we didn't immediately go and attack. Let's just observe for today," the other person said reluctantly. His intuition told him that this person would not be easy to deal with. Even with this expert Thief beside him, they probably wouldn't be able to take him on.

These two people were both Elite Thieves from the Imperial Secret Service Union: 'Swirling Left Eye' and 'Staring Right Eye'. Their teamwork was seamless and even experts had to be careful around them.

"I bet he has quite a few pieces of Bronze grade equipment on him, as well as a piece of Steel grade equipment or two."

Comparing Lu Li to themselves, the two Thieves both felt admiration and anger. The world was simply too unfair: why did he have such good luck?

"Who cares what equipment he has? He's going to drop it all soon. We'll kill him once today, once tomorrow, and again and again until he's back to LV0," Staring Right Eye said vehemently. Members of the Imperial Secret Service were infamous for killing players until they were LV0 again.

"Exactly. Boss Seethe is going to be here soon. No matter how strong this Lu Li is, he won't be able to escape," Swirling Left Eye said with hatred in his voice.

He had been in the fight with Lu Li a few days ago and was killed in a mere few moments, becoming a stepping stone to Lu Li's fame.

From that time onwards, the Imperial Secret Service hadn't stopped monitoring Lu Li. Seeing that Lu Li had ventured out at night by himself, the two Thieves immediately contacted their union while cautiously following him.

They had been planning on finding an opportunity to kill Lu Li, like when his health was low from fighting monsters.

Who would have thought that Lu Li's health would never drop in the slightest and that he would be able to clear the monsters so quickly? His equipment was much better than theirs, so they gave up on the idea of attacking him and instead waited for everyone else.

The monotonous process of farming monsters caused Lu Li to become less wary of his surroundings and he didn't notice himself being observed. He also didn't notice ten or so players entering the area around him. A fireball quickly flew towards Lu Li's back and he only had time to turn around.

The fireball exploded and if it wasn't for the game's settings, it probably would have burned him and the entire patch of Forest.

Lu Li did not immediately enter Stealth, because he would be damaged again in 3 seconds from the Fireball's Burn. If he went into Stealth immediately, he would be revealed as soon as he took the Burn damage again.

Many other attacks were launched at him and ten or so shadows sprang towards him.

The Warrior in front raised the sword in his hands. Once he entered his attack range, he would instantly use Charge. As long as they could stun this despicable Thief, they could stun-lock him up until they killed him.

There was no sense of justice or fairness, only murder!

Lu Li had to die, no matter what!

The Great Thief

Chapter 59: Night Ghost (2)

Lu Li slightly regretted letting his guard down. He, who's profession had the highest sensitivity, had allowed so many players to come within 30 feet of him. This was unacceptable!

Thirty feet was the range from which most ranged professions could attack.

A faintly burning damage figure rose up from Lu Li's body. It was only 2 points of damage, but these 2 points of damage took away the opportunity for him to enter Stealth.

The Warrior's Charge was about to hit him and the Warlock had cast a Charm skill.

The players attacking Lu Li were confident of their success. After deploying so many people, they had finally corned the Thief.

After their fight with Lu Li was posted on the forums, the Imperial Secret Service had been greatly affected.

As the stars of the video, they had been mocked and ridiculed by other players. The guild that had lived in glory in many other games became a joke and in less than 3 days, they had lost hundreds of players. Even a few experts that they had recruited left.

20-30 people had been toyed with by a single Thief, who had killed quite a few of them and forced the rest of them to return to town. Only a retard would join such a guild.

However, if they could kill this Lu Li and post a video of this on the internet, they would be able to recover and become even more prominent.

The consequence of messing with the Imperial Secret Service? Death.

Even the title for the post had already been thought of. It was incredibly domineering and cool!

However, the grins on the faces of the Imperial Secret Service's players soon disappeared. Lu Li turned into a puff of green coloured smoke and vanished.

"Force him out of hiding! Use anything you have!" The leader of this expedition, 'Raging Wolf Blood', didn't know how Lu Li vanished, but his experience informed him as to how to counter it.

He knew that some thieves could instantly use Shadowmeld and Stealth to slip away. However, that didn't matter. As long as they could continuously hit him with skills, he wouldn't be able to escape.

The players who came this time were not the same as the ones from before. The previous group had been pulled together quickly, while the players here now represented almost all of the experts that they had in the Moon Shadow Valley.

Ten or so ranged attacks spread out, covering the ground, while the melee players swung their weapons around. They were all left disappointed. There were no signs that any of them had hit Lu Li.

Where did he go?

A small golden cheetah hid in the thickets while eating a piece of bread.

Lu Li shivered as he looked at his HP.

A single round of attacks had brought him down to critical HP.

Just then, he had dodged all the melee attacks, but he had been hit by quite a few ranged attacks.

If not for the fact that being damaged in the first 3 seconds of Vanish did not cancel the stealth effect, and if not for his equipment, he definitely would have died.

After returning to full health, Lu Li activated Stealth and walked out.

The trees and thickets within the Forest made it difficult to look for someone, but they also gave Lu Li cover.

He silently crept behind a Magician and stabbed his Dagger into the back of his head. Luckily, it was just a game. Otherwise, their brain fluids would have probably started to leak out. With a single strike, Lu Li had dealt around half of that player's HP.

System: Shadowstrike Skill Completion 92%, caused 180% Skill Damage, target stunned for 2 seconds!

In those 2 seconds, Lu Li could attack with his normal attacks 3 times, dealing more than 100 damage each time.

The Magician reacted quickly after he recovered. He immediately used Shadowmeld to avoid Lu Li's next normal attack, then lifted his hands and prepared to launch an Inferno Impact.

If Lu Li was hit by the Inferno Impact, he would probably be Blinded.

Lu Li shook his head and sidestepped as he spun, stabbing the Dagger in his right hand into the Magician's back.

A Backhand Backstab with a Skill Completion of more than 70% cleared out the Magician's remaining HP.

The feeling of attacking and killing like this was quite thrilling. Lu Li took a deep breath and picked up the equipment on the ground, then once again melted into the darkness.

Just then, he hadn't used Cheap Shot, because he wanted to experience what a real PVP battle was like. If he had used Cheap Shot, he definitely would have been able to kill the Magician before he could even retaliate.

Once he heard that a member of the team had died, Raging Wolf Blood immediately knew it was Lu Li.

From where the battle had happened, he made a guess of Lu Li's current location and a few Magicians immediately surrounded the area.

None of them noticed the little cheetah stealthily slipping away. At night and within the Forest, it was much more convenient to move around as the little cheetah.

The next player to be assassinated was the Warrior. This poor Warrior had accidentally drawn the aggro of a Wolf. If there was anyone to help him, he would have been able to finish it off quickly. However, no one paid him any attention because of Lu Li's reappearance.

It was just a normal monster. Surely a Warrior would be able to take care of it.

That was only true, however, when there was no one else interfering.

A Cheap Shot stunned the Warrior for 4 seconds. With the combined attacks from the Wolf and a Thief, the Warrior was finished off in less than 3 seconds.

A few Imperial Secret Service players hurried over, only to see the Warrior and a dead Wolf wrapped together in an intimate embrace.

"Damn Thief. Face us like a man!"

There were many shameless players, but this guy was special. Even his comrades rolled their eyes when they heard this. With so many players trying to find and kill him, only a retard would step out into the open.

Just as the Warrior's body began to grow cold, a shout came from elsewhere.

A group of players quickly ran over, but only found another corpse.

Raging Wolf Blood could empathise with the frustration and helplessness that the previous group's leader felt. He finally understood why that leader had made those decisions that day.

He had 2 options: they could either give up, or all die.

A black shadow flitted past and he saw 2 Daggers criss-cross, as they repeatedly stabbed into an isolated Hunter.

The Hunter was stunned and when he awoke, he saw his comrades running towards him before his vision darkened.

Lu Li backflipped and shrank down into his cheetah form as he hid in the thickets. He would transform into the cheetah and activate Stealth, not giving the other players any opportunity to catch him.

He was a Night Ghost, the Phantom of the Forest!

"Let's go!" Raging Wolf Blood closed his eyes as he sighed and gave the order to retreat.

"Should we revive our fallen players?" someone asked.

A cry of surprise sounded out from the distance, then abruptly stopped. After a few moments, Swirling Left Eye's voice sounded in the chatroom.

"It was two of us against one of him. Right Eye even launched the first attack, but we failed. Boss, we should retreat!"

"Everyone, start channelling your teleport. If you meet this person in the future, don't fight with him." Raging Wolf Blood did not waste any time, telling everyone to immediately leave.

Had they underestimated their enemy? Or were the time and location unfavourable towards them?

Even if they could choose the time and location and bring a team of elite players, how could they defeat this incredibly stealthy Night Ghost?!

The Great Thief

Chapter 60: Slight Disappointment

Lu Li sent off another Thief with a Slit Throat and picked up the dropped equipment. Just as he was about to enter Stealth, he saw a group of people gathered together with a gentle light surrounding them. There were people channelling their hearthstones?

Lu Li transformed into the little cheetah and crept over. What he saw left him dumbfounded.

30-40 people were huddled together, channelling their hearthstones.

The scene actually looked quite spectacular.

Wait!

Just as he was about to interrupt them, Lu Li suddenly stopped.

For so many people to channel their hearthstones together, it had to be a trap!

Perhaps, they would cancel the channels and launch a volley of attacks at him as soon as he appeared.

What an insidious leader!

Just as Lu Li was about to celebrate how wise he was, the players that were channelling their hearthstones all disappeared.

They left?

Lu Li stared in shock for about 10 seconds before walking over.

There was not a single player left, and the system had restored the grass to its normal condition. It was as if they had never been there and the battle that Lu Li had just been in was simply a hallucination.

Lu Li's Daggers danced around in his hands like butterflies. After thinking for a while, he shrugged. He could only accept that those people had retreated.

Such lack of dedication!

He didn't feel relieved, but rather, quite disappointed.

200 years ago, there had been a ridiculous TV series that spent five minutes opening and introducing the characters, and another five minutes closing with a preview of the next episode. Another ten minutes were spent on repetitive fighting and only the remaining ten minutes contained the actual plot.

That wasn't the point though. In that TV series, there was a phrase that was very relevant to what just happened: "I didn't even use my strength but you've already fallen!"

Were these people just playing around?

Lu Li had seen and heard about quite a few PVP battles in Dawn, all of which were incredibly exciting and thrilling. No one cared about the potential loss of EXP or equipment; the only thought in their minds was "KILL!"

Take, for example, the battle that had caused Moonlight's name to rise to prominence. He had fought from morning to night and every person involved had dropped many levels. Furthermore, his equipment that was worth hundreds of thousands of gold was all lost.

So why then, had things turned out like this?

The last time he had encountered the Imperial Secret Service, they had also fought for a while before huddling together to channel their hearthstones.

These two groups of people were quite similar. Could it be that they were also from the Imperial Secret Service?

If the Imperial Secret Service players knew that Lu Li had figured out their identity not because of their fame, but because of their cowardice, they probably would have committed suicide out of shame.

The Imperial Secret Service players weren't bad by any means. For example, if they were to fight Moonlight, it would be possible to kill him by overwhelming him with numbers, despite his skill or equipment. After all, even though Moonlight was a 'war god', he had been killed many times and Lu Li would often hear of him being killed. However, Lu Li was different. He was a Thief - a very crafty Thief.

Last time, he had hidden away for many minutes before doing anything to find a good opportunity. When everyone thought that he was gone, he had suddenly reappeared and killed many players. After killing someone, he immediately disappeared.

The same thing had happened this time. Lu Li's equipment were better, he was more skilled, and he was more cunning. Apart from the initial volley of ranged attacks that he was hit by, the Imperial Secret Service players couldn't even touch him.

This sort of battle had caused them to despair. They were facing a Night Ghost, an untouchable phantom. As such, Raging Wolf Blood had quickly given the order to retreat. Otherwise, their numbers would be continually whittled down until their entire group perished.

After killing five players, Lu Li had obtained two pieces of Bronze grade equipment and a piece of Steel grade equipment. He was quite satisfied with these rewards.

The Bronze grade equipment were both for Magic professions and he could sell these for money. The Steel grade equipment was dropped by one of the Thieves he had killed at the end and had excellent stats.

Spellbreaker's Leather Pants (Steel): 10 Armour, Strength4, Critical Chance10%, Level Requirement: LV5. Durability: 18/25.

This was a fantastic piece of equipment for a Warrior Thief. Upon seeing the 10% Critical Chance, Lu Li immediately equipped the pants. No matter if he was an Agility Thief or a Strength Thief, Critical Chance was something he could never have enough of.

With this, Lu Li now had 1 piece of Silver grade equipment (Supreme One Ring) and 6 pieces of Steel grade equipment (Spider Silk Gloves, Swift Leather Boots, Weaver's Leather Armour, Spellbreaker's Leather Pants, Broodmother's Kiss, Death's Shadow). This placed him above almost all other players. Even experts with the support of big guilds probably would not have anything comparable.

After all, no one else had killed 3 Bosses in the Wilderness, obtained the First Clear for an Instance Dungeon and obtained a new record for an Instance Dungeon. This even include the equipment he had found from the many chests he opened every day.

Lu Li did not change to a different place to train. After all, the Forest was very suited to Thieves, especially at night. If anyone wants to die, come at me. However, Lu Li did not let down his guard. This time, he kited the monsters towards the thickets before he started fighting them.

If anyone attacked him, he could instantly dive into a thicket and escape.

Currently, only Druids could dive into thickets and bushes like that. No one would expect a Thief to be able to transform into a cheetah.

Lu Li farmed monsters until 12am, filling up 70% of his EXP bar. The system notified the players that the update was about to begin and told them to safely log off. Otherwise, they would be responsible for any loss if they continued to play.

After logging out, Lu Li was shocked to find that there were many people in his room.

His three female landlords and his little sister who should have been asleep were all looking at him in awe.

Luckily, he at had a pair of boxers on.

"Xin Xin, what are you all doing here?"

"Big brother, I heard that you committed murder in the game again. So cool!" the little girl said with an expression of admiration.

What the heck? Shouldn't little sisters usually have eyes filled with tears?

"Big brother, you committed murder. Let's run… I'll be with you forever…"

"That's not called 'murder', it's called 'PVP' - something that people do for fun. You have school tomorrow, so you should rest early, alright?" Lu Li did his best to correct his little sister. He couldn't allow her to go around telling everyone that her brother had murdered people.

"Heheh, if the Imperial Secret Service's people knew that you killed them 'for fun', they'd probably cry," Dou Dou said with an expression of fake compassion.

"Don't you dare corrupt my little sister. Who knows what sort of things you were telling her."

Lu Li put the game helmet away and put on a shirt, covering his muscular and scar-ridden chest.

The bespectacled and delicate Yi Yi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, as she reluctantly looked away from Lu Li's chest.

"You're drooling, you pervert," Huan Huan said as she nudged Yi Yi, feeling embarrassed because of her friend. She looked so prim and proper, but she acted like this.

"The video has already been uploaded to the forum and they got your face this time."

Dou Dou jumped in front of Lu Li with an 'I caught you' expression.

The Great Thief

Chapter 61: Videoed Again

"What video?" Lu Li had an uneasy feeling.

Were there so many bored people taking videos everywhere?! Last time, it was during the day and there were many people passing by. It was only natural that the scene would be filmed. However, this time, it had been at night and in such a remote location. Who could have possibly taken this video?

Indeed, the top thread on the forum had changed.

The God Thief reappears: the birth of the Night Ghost!

There was no other description in the thread, just a video.

From the videographer's perspective, a group of 30-40 players sinisterly marched into the Forest. They were made up of all sorts of professions and there were even close-ups of some players and their equipment.

"This is the Imperial Secret Service's 'Sorry I'm Stronger Than You'. He's quite skilled at PVP and is ranked in the top 10,000 in China's Steel Blood Rankings (PVP Rankings). This is…" Dou Dou pointed out some of the players, introducing them to Lu Li.

Top 10,000? He was so weak?

Lu Li felt that he hadn't fought anyone who was particularly skilled last night. Only the two Thieves at the end were relatively well known.

The scene in the video changed to two Thieves lying in the grass, silently watching another Thief farm monsters in the distance. The Thief who was farming looked incredibly efficient and powerful.

"One of them is called Swirling Left Eye and the other is called Staring Right Eye. They are a very scary duo and have defeated many people in the top 100 Steel Blood Rankings," Dou Dou explained.

"Wait, this video seems fake," Lu Li said with a face of confusion, "The scenes are changing too fast. Maybe there's something wrong with the angle, or maybe…"

"What's the matter? I don't think anything is fake," Dou Dou said as she glanced at him.

"This video was made by the Imperial Secret Service," realised Lu Li.

The battle was very entertaining, shot from different angles and edited by an expert to the standards of a Hollywood movie. The members of the Imperial Secret Service did not slander Lu Li in the video, but seemingly praised and flattered him.

There were a few dodge-moves that looked clumsy, but were edited by the Imperial Secret Service to look graceful.

In the video, Lu Li was the main actor and all of the attention was on him. His face and hid actions exuded a sense of fierceness and power.

There weren't any other players present to be witnesses at the time, so it must have been The Imperial Secret Service who made this video of their own guild members being killed. Then, after some weird editing, they posted it on the forum for all to see.

"Did they not use an umbrella in the rain? Are their brains filled with nothing but water?" Huan Huan asked sarcastically.

"No, they're very clever."

Even though the Imperial Secret Service players were not very skilled in PVP, Lu Li was impressed with what they had done today.

"Why? I think every one of them is stupid."

The girls did not understand why Lu Li thought so highly of them.

"After defeating the Imperial Secret Service players last time, they lost a lot of their reputation," Lu Li speculated. "This time they must have wanted revenge and initially intended to record a video of me being killed, but that didn't turn out as expected."

"Then why did they still post the video?" Dou Dou asked.

"They want everyone to know that the person who defeated them is very strong. The stronger that person seems, the more understandable their failure is," Lu Li said.

"That's true. Maybe they're not as useless as they are known for," Huan Huan nodded in agreement.

"Also," Lu Li rewinded the video, pointing at the robe of a magician, "This is a Steel grade equipment from the Spider's Lair Instance Dungeon, with very good defence. However, it could only last a couple seconds against me. He didn't even have an opportunity to retaliate. What does this tell us?"

"Wow, your attack is so high!" Dou Dou exclaimed with a face of admiration.

"Your attack is high; therefore, you must have a lot of good equipment on you," Yi Yi said calmly, collecting herself after being impressed by Lu Li.

"Exactly, they want to tell everyone that I have a lot of Steel grade equipment. In doing this, they not only explain the reason for being unable to defeat me, but they also encourage people to hunt me for drops," Lu Li said.

"Big brother, you must be in danger."

Lu Xin held onto Lu Li's arms with a worried expression.

"Especially from those thieves who enjoy PVP for the fun of it. You must be careful in the future, because anyone could strike you from behind and take your equipment," Yi Yi said, taking joy in his misfortune.

Lu Li felt slightly uneasy but ignored them. He yawned and said, "Ok, are your curiosities satisfied? Everyone go back to sleep. Xin Xin, you're going to a new school tomorrow, do you want others to see your eye bags? Also, don't enter my room without my permission next time. "

"Do you feel uncomfortable with a couple of beautiful girls coming into your room?" Huan Huan said teasingly.

"Tsk Tsk, you have a nice body, boy."

Dou Dou approached Lu Li, wanting to caress his chest which remained visible under his shirt. She was an extroverted and naughty little girl, who seemed to be able to sense that Lu Li had no ill intentions towards them.

"You never go to the swimming pool and it's such a waste that it's just sitting there. We don't mind if you use it; we could even go together since we don't normally skinny dip anyway," Yi Yi said with evil intentions.

Lu Li could not handle them anymore and chased them all out of his room.

The next morning, Lu Li politely refused the 3 girls' requests to come along and took his sister to the No.1 Middle School to handle the admission procedures.

The Higher Education Mega Centre was basically a small city. Several universities surrounded the Central Business District and the streets were filled with people. Lu Li felt deeply moved, coming here with his sister.

He found it miraculous that the Heavens had given him another chance. This time he would protect and guard his sister well.

The No.1 Middle School had a great location, next to the best universities and had a great school environment. The students seemed to have more energy and spirit compared to the Common District.

"I've made a call before. This is my sister's grade report."

Lu Li had a clear goal as he entered the enrolment office. He handed the forms to the enrolment director, an old man dressed in plain and simple clothes who looked to be nearing his 60s. According to Dou Dou, he used to be the principal of a Normal University and had been a teacher for his entire life. After his retirement, he continued to serve in the enrolment department at the No.1 Middle School.

"Grades like this from that place. Not bad, not bad."

The old man was impressed.

After this, he asked Lu Xin a few more questions, to which she all cleverly replied.

"Why do you want to come to No.1 Middle School? Our enrolment standards and our school fees are much higher than other middle schools?" the old man asked sincerely.

"Our living standards have improved by quite a bit, so I wanted to give her a better education and environment. I know that No.1 Middle School has higher enrolment standards, but my sister's grades are not bad. She is very mature and is willing to put in the effort," Lu Li said.

"To strive to create a better learning environment for your sister is commendable. Have you studied at a school before?"

The old man's attention suddenly turned to Lu Li.

The Great Thief

Chapter 62: Real Life Great Thief

"I only attended 2 years of primary school. After that, things happened, and I haven't set foot in a school since," Lu Li said calmly.

No one could understand how unfortunate that year was for them.

Their parents left them and there were no relatives that were willing to foster them. The only orphanage near them was found to have been associated with a child abuse scandal. Eight-year-old Lu Li and his baby sister had to persevere to survive.

Not only did he raise his sister and send her to school, he did this without committing a single crime.

"Not only were your past records clean, you have even received many awards for the good deeds you've done," the old man said, with Lu Xin's social profile and their family's information in his hands.

"Done good deeds…"

Lu Li felt slightly uncomfortable with that phrase.

There were many more good deeds he had done over the past years. However, favours would only be recorded by the Social Credit Bureau if they were submitted by someone. Many of the other good deeds that he had done over the past years had all gone without record.

"Ha ha, young man, don't mock the system. There are reasons for recording individual social credits," the old man laughed. "We haven't accepted a student from the Slum District for 13 years. Even if their grades were good, they were all sent to the No.7 Middle School. They have a class catered to students from the Slum District.

Lu Li's expression changed slightly. A few days ago, he had compiled his household's information, as well as Lu Xin's grade report and sent them off to No.1 Middle School. He received a notification of acceptance on the same day. Lu Li was oblivious to the inside enrolment stories of Slum District students and how difficult it was to be accepted.

"You have a very high social credit, especially for someone from the Slum District," the old man said. "Our society has become more and more corrupt, so it's rare to find people like you."

"Thank you."

Lu Li thanked him genuinely.

"If you are interested in attending school, I can help you with that as well."

The old man took out a business card from his drawer. "This is Principal Liao's business card from the Normal University. I can send in a good word for you. You can go and attend some lectures at the university and listen in on them," he offered.

"And for my sister…?" Lu Li slid the business card into his pocket.

"Grade 1 Class 5. I will speak with the teacher in charge of that class. You can start attending class today." The old man must have been someone of importance. Lu Li had done some background research and found that the first 5 classes were almost impossible for normal people to get into.

"Do you have any questions regarding the school fees?" the old man asked

"No, all good, thank you sir."

Lu Li shook his head; he did not intend to apply for any reductions.

Lu Xin was from the Slum District. She would be mocked by her classmates if they found out he had applied for one.

Many schools jumped the gun and tried to do things to help the disadvantaged students. Although their intentions were good, they did not realise the impact it had on the self-esteem of their students and how they were viewed among their peers.

His sister did not need that!

"Ok."

The old man smiled, impressed with Lu Li

He had no education and no official job, but was still able to provide for his sister. He had even helped her to be accepted into the top middle school. This kid seemed to have great potential.

Lu Li said his goodbyes and figured out that Lu Xin's class was located at the front of the campus. When they arrived, there were many students in the classroom for the morning self-study session.

"You're the new student, right? Come on in."

A female teacher gestured her to come in. She wore black framed glasses and dressed very professionally.

Lu Xin stood next to the teacher and shyly introduced herself to the class.

Lu Li was worried about his sister and stood at the door to observe. He had to make sure that Lu Xin had settled in before he could leave.

"The new student is so cute."

The students whispered to each other as their attention turned to Lu Xin.

"Damn, is she a loli from the 2D world? Her voice is so gentle and so cute; I think I'm going to die."

"Sit next to me! There's a spare seat next to me!"

The commotion was mainly from the boys, however, there were a few girls who were also into lolis. Naturally, there were also others who disagreed.

"Her looks are ok, but look at the way she dresses. It's so random and out of place," some girls commented sourly.

"It looks familiar; is that the CC brand from last years' catalogue? No, it looks like the knockoff version. Wow, she's wearing imitations."

The girls laughed mockingly to mask their jealousy.

No.1 Middle School was catered to the Rich District. Most students come from a wealthy background. Lu Xin's background instantly created a socio-economic divide between her and her classmates.

The teacher said sternly, "Lu Xin was accepted in our class by Principal Fan. I hope that you'll all get along in the future. If someone gives her a hard time I will be contacting your parents."

Principal Fan was the old man from the enrolment department. He was not only the enrolment officer, but also the famous principal of No.1 Middle School.

He had been a relief teacher at No.1 Middle School for 10 years, the Education Director, vice principal, principal of No.2 Middle School, professor at Hua Xia University of Industry and Commerce, Head of Department, Chair of board and the Principal of Normal University. He had many accomplishments and wealth of experience. He was well respected and had a good reputation among other educators.

Many rich and powerful people from the Rich District had either been his classmate, his student or had attended his economic lectures. Many students from the Rich District were taught to be respectful of Principal Fan. If they did not listen to Principal Fan, they would probably be skinned alive by their parents.

When they realised it was Principal Fan that organised her admission, many of the students became quiet.

"You, outside the door, are you a new student as well?" the teacher asked, seeing Lu Li standing outside the door.

Lu Li shook his head and pointed in the direction of Lu Xin, replying, "I'm her older brother and accompanied her here. My sister is quite shy, so please take good care of her."

As Lu Li spoke, he caught the attention of the students.

The bitter girls wanted to mock him because of how tacky his clothes were. His sister was at least quite cute, but he was dressed overly formal on such a hot day.

But before they could begin their mocking, someone shouted loudly.

"What the heck, it's Lu Li!"

"I must be blind, it's actually Lu Li!"

"Am I imagining things? I can't believe that I get to see the legend himself!"

Normally the students were afraid of the teacher, but this time, they didn't care. It was not only one or two, but as many as ten who continued to yell and shout.

"Shut up! All of you! What are you being loud about?! Get out if you want to be loud!" the teacher sternly commanded with a serious face. The piercing stare behind her glasses was almost like an AOE skill, able to immediately annihilate every student.

Normally, if she got angry like this, the classroom would be dead quiet. Even the naughtiest of students would shut up.

But today, everything changed.

As soon as the teacher stopped speaking, a few of the boys jumped up and ran out of the classroom.

The Great Thief

Chapter 63: Goodbye, Star Moon

Four students rushed out of the classroom and surrounded Lu Li. Their over-excitement made him feel uneasy.

You weren't able to alter the way that you looked in Dawn: your in-game avatar would look like your real life self. However, most players would add further customizations to their character, which made them unrecognizable in addition to the changes in race.

When Lu Li joined the game, he didn't change anything for the sake of saving time.

He was now regretting that decision. In the future, he would wear a mask in game.

"Gu… Guru, I'm playing Thief too. Can you… give me an autograph?" a pimple-faced boy stuttered.

The teacher of the class was concerned; it was one thing for these kids to play video games, but for it to reach a point where they would be chasing celebrities was too much. A meeting with their parents needed to be set up tomorrow to talk about this obsession.

"I don't play Thief, but I really admire you Guru. I'm so happy to meet you… so happy!" another loud voice of a boy rang out.

The admiration for video gamers was so strong. This kid's father was an internationally renowned musician and didn't even receive half of this respect.

"Guru, are you taking apprentices? I would like you to be my master," a third student asked politely.

The teacher's face had already turned green from betrayal. Her students were being stolen from her before her own eyes.

She looked to see what the last boy, the top student in the class, was going to say.

"Guru, please take care of me."

The last boy only muttered a few words, as everything else had already been said by the others.

The teacher stumbled before grabbing onto a table. It was… an illusion, it must be!

"We'll talk some other time."

Lu Li saw that Lu Xin had found a place to sit, so he waved and started to leave.

The boys looked at Lu Li and back at the pale complexion of the teacher. In this moment of calm, they all moodily returned to the class.

Guru's gone…

Don't be afraid!

He can run now, but he'll be back sooner or later.

We're now Guru's little sister's schoolmates. It'll be easy to see Guru again.

Lu Li left the campus and strolled along the street, shopping for the daily essentials. He also bought his sister two complete sets of good-quality clothing. Everything from head to toe was branded, even the underwear.

Now that he had more money, he naturally would give his sister better things.

After dropping everything back home, Lu Li went to the Star Moon Union office.

He imagined that there would be a group of people mocking him, but instead, he was greeted by only Square Root 3.

Square Root 3 looked the same in game and in real life; he was a handsome young man. The only difference were the glasses that he wore, which looked elegant and refined.

"I'm honored to meet you Lu Li," Square Root 3 said, as he shook Lu Li's hand and invited him to sit.

"Here is the 60,000, as per the agreement," Lu Li passed the cash over saying, "I'm thankful for this contract, which gave me the opportunity to enter Dawn."

To this rich second generation, 30,000 wasn't even enough to take a stroll in the night markets, but to Lu Li, this was truly the start of his gaming career. When the game had just been released, there was no way for him to buy a game helmet. He had to join Star Moon Union as a Gold Collection member, but he didn't think that his contract would come to an end this quickly.

"I also appreciate this contract very much. Without it, Dawn would have one less expert."

Square Root 3 passed on the money to a nearby accountant, who nodded before leaving. He then picked up the Relief Agreement and signed his name on it.

He was the Guild's legal representative and had the authority to sign this kind of contract.

Lu Li didn't expect this, initially thinking that Square Root 3 had volunteered to see him.

"I've been in Star Moon for 5 years, ever since High School. At the time I was young and didn't know anything, but after so many years I now understand," Square Root 3 sighed emotionally, laughing bitterly, "They told me to escape, because there was a bigger world out there, but I was unwilling."

Lu Li understood what he was saying, but didn't respond. Everyone had to live with their own choices, no matter what they were.

"Star Moon Guild has many issues that can't be resolved. If you really tried to resolve them, the guild would probably be unable to go on," Square Root 3 sighed and continued, "Because of these issues, I won't convince you to stay. I only hope that if we need some help, you'll look at these papers and extend a helping hand."

"That's not a problem, as long as I'm compensated appropriately," Lu Li responded.

What was originally a hostile meeting was instead carried out in an amicable and united atmosphere. Both parties recalled their initial struggles together, but now shared a fine outlook on their potential future business interactions within Dawn.

In reality, Square Root 3 never wanted Lu Li to stay.

Currently, most guilds were chasing after experts, the most popular of which was Lu Li. They weren't particularly interested in his PVP ability, in fact, they weren't interested in PVP experts at all. What were looking however, were PVE experts.

To the big guilds, Lu Li was a talented party leader. How else could he have attained the first clear of the Spider Lair and then broken the record by such a staggering amount?

He had taken three Wild Boss First Clears. No one was unconvinced of this.

Some were even questioning the Chinese Party Leader Rankings. Lu Li's ranking was one question that no one could answer.

However, the most important thing was that Lu Li didn't have an official guild!

He was open for anyone to attract him to their guild.

Many people wished to be subordinates under Lu Li's party leading expertise, except for Square Root 3.

After the few interactions that he had with Lu Li, Square Root 3 knew that Lu Li wasn't one to cater for public interest. He has his own pride and would not bow down to you because your family was rich or if you were a brilliant student from a good university.

Star Moon Union was made up of these rich, second generations and elite university students.

Both of these kinds of people were too proud, so they were not compatible.

I am Richy Rich actually wanted to legally attack Lu Li, but Square Root 3 had strongly advocated for a peaceful resolution.

Things that happened in-game were best resolved in-game.

To offend an expert in the heat of the moment was unwise.

This wasn't what Richy Rich would have liked, but he had series of nightmares of Lu Li appearing from the shadows and holding a knife to his neck after watching last night's video.

There were no skills in real life and no such thing as Stealth, but even then, one should be wary of someone who had that kind of patience and ability.

If you backed someone into a corner, you had to be ready when they came out swinging.

Without a care in the world, Lu Li strolled through the streets, enjoying himself without a care in the world. All the normal things that he saw were brilliant in his eyes.

The Great Thief

Chapter 64: System Update

After the System Update, the night and day within Dawn was almost the opposite of reality. The days were always long, while the nights were always short. The night was set to be exactly 8 hours, from 10AM to 6PM real time. During this time, the Nightcrawlers would roam the wilderness and the public Instance Dungeons would be closed. Those who wanted to train had to do so in the wild and at the risk of death.

In order to adapt to this reversed time, Lu Li forced himself to sleep well in the afternoon.

After he woke up, he found his landlords at his door.

"What?"

"Hey, I would say that we are considered beauties. How dare you speak to us like you saw a cockroach?" Dou Dou's personality was unlike the meaning of her name, which meant reserved. Once she caught on to something, she couldn't keep quiet about it.

"Okay, I'm sorry. What seems to be the problem?" Lu Li asked insincerely, while thinking about making some food.

"We would like to take you out for some food and bring some home for Xin Xin."

Knowing that their looks wouldn't work, Yi Yi resorted to luring him in with food.

"Okay, how about we go to the Dragon Szechuan restaurant?" If someone was offering to pay, he would be happy to accept. This would also let his sister try some better food, so he had no reason to reject the offer.

"You're ruthless. Do you really want to go the Dragon Szechuan restaurant? Do you want to eat all our money away?" The sad looks of the beauties were a sight to behold. Of course, this was just a pretense, as the Dragon Szechuan restaurant was an extremely popular restaurant. On average, it would cost each person less than 100 dollars.

However, they wanted something in return and waited until the food had arrived before revealing their true intentions.

"Lu Li, you're an expert. What kind of profession should I play?" Zhou Huan Huan asked.

"This is a complex question; it depends on your ability, hobbies and what kind of playstyle you have."

Lu Li could already roughly guess what they were going to ask. These three girls were very reasonable in giving him and his sister such low rent, so he had no reason to avoid the question.

"We just play however. As long as it's fun we don't mind," Yi Yi said.

"Oh, are you not going to maintain the game studio?" Lu Li was surprised.

"Playing casually doesn't mean that we can't earn money."

Dou Dou's mood changed quickly and she happily said, "Who knows? Maybe I'll find a high quality skill book."

"Wipe off your saliva. What profession do you want to play?" Lu Li asked.

"Paladin." Dou Dou placed her hand over her chest. "May the light keep you!" she declared.

"Sure, what about you guys? Are there any professions that particularly interest you?"

The Paladin was one of Dawn's most popular professions. However, this profession was hard to play without skill.

"I want to tame pets, but I heard that the Tame Beast Skill Book is hard to find. If that's a problem, then never mind," Yi Yi said.

"I have a hunter on my friends list who has already learned Tame Beast. If it appears again, I'll hold onto it for you, so don't worry. After level 10, its really easy to grind the skill book. Otherwise, the profession would be unplayable."

Lu Li supported her choice of hunter.

"I don't know what to play, but I definitely don't want to play Priest," Huan Huan sadly said.

"Not priest?" Lu Li asked.

"I just don't want to play Priest, but I still like being a Healer."

"Then play Shaman - Healer Shaman can restore health, give buffs, drop various totems, transform into a Shadow Wolf and it also has a variety of strong support skills. Together, the three of you have ranged DPS, melee DPS and a healer. Once Dou Dou gets a set of defensive equipment, you won't even need to find a Main Tank."

The Shaman's wolf was somewhat similar to the Druid's cheetah transformation. After transforming, it gave a 20% movement speed increase and a stealth ability. If you were lucky, you could also learn the increased speed skill. The only caveat was that it didn't have any offensive abilities.

"Picking a profession isn't actually that complicated. The players on the forums have barely learnt any skills, so they can't speak for picking one profession over another," Lu Li said with disdain. He had forgotten that he was only aware of this because of his previous life's knowledge.

After dealing with the issue of food and clothing, it was almost day-time in Dawn when they got back. Lu Li washed up and logged into the game, which was now bright and beautiful like a painting.

Lu Li didn't have time to appreciate the beauty of it; he quickly found a hiding spot and transformed into a small leopard. He ran past the Moon Reflection Lake, sending a message while he went.

"Quickly go to the small forest next to the Moon Reflection Lake. I have led the turtle to the other side!"

This was something that only Lu Li knew. The system update would refresh all kinds of things, including Bosses and Treasure Chests!

Originally, he had planned to go the Cynocephali mine and open the three chests, but after some thought, he decided that fighting a Boss was more worth it. The items produced in those chests were generally common, but there was a possibility of the Boss dropping a Steel item.

There was no one else in the wilderness other than Lu Li, as he rushed towards the Moon Reflection Lake. His gold yellow fur shone in the sun, making him look like a bright gold streak.

Wow!

The little leopard dove into the water and instantly turned into a seal.

Worried that someone would take the Boss, Lu Li didn't open the Treasure Chest that he saw. He pulled the aggro of the Boss and took it back to the surface. After breaching the surface, he transformed into the leopard again and pulled the Boss into the forest.

The turtle Boss reluctantly looked at the Moon Reflection Lake as it was forced to slowly follow Lu Li according to the rules of the system.

Although the forest area was small, it was much easier to kill the monster here than by the lake. They only had 6 people, but that was better than competing against the huge army of people that were gathered to fight the Boss.

Azure Sea Breeze, Moonlight, Lonesome Flower, March Rain and Remnant Dream were already online to receive Lu Li's reminder. They wanted to fight a Boss as soon as they entered the game, so they waited vigilantly for this message.

"Sea Breeze, take aggro. Everyone else start dealing damage."

Lu Li rushed into woods and turned back into humanoid form.

Azure Sea Breeze used Charge and Taunt to draw the Boss' attention to himself. While doing so, he asked, "Lu Li, we answered so many things, but we didn't get any EXP rewards."

Before the game opened, the official website had been updated to announce the updated content. A staggering 48 of those things were suggested by them; the 6 of them were tied for first place.

The first thing Azure Sea Breeze checked when he came online was how much he had levelled up by. But to his disappointment, he was still 30% EXP from hitting level 10.