The Great Thief

It was the last of a three-day Dragon Slayer’s Roar buff. If they were unable to take the little Red Dragon down, then …

Lu Li could already imagine the image of them spending a fortnight as the First Clearing Team – the sustained, repetitive movements, day after day. He reminded himself to think more optimistically. If he had only viewed it pessimistically, it would have been months before it was possible for them to succeed. Lu Li would essentially admit to himself that what he created would be akin to a castle built on sand – unable to sustain even the slightest degree of adversity.

As the regular holder of First Clears when it came to Instance Dungeons, there was nothing more attractive than that.

Upon first entering the Instance Dungeon, everyone had immense energy. In fact, they were all initially quite successful. While promising benefits, Lu Li also placed pressure on the team’s competitive spirit.

“We are team number one. If we let team two or three overtake us, what is the purpose of our existence?”

Virtually no one died during the first stage, and only few died during the second stage. The main point was that they were all still alive. After entering the third stage, everyone felt even more awake. Lu Li had shouted so loudly that he ended up losing his voice. His only fear was that someone would have a moment of clouded judgement and thereby make a mistake.

It was a shame that their collective progress could not be sustained until the very end.

1%!

It was unbelievable. They were on the Boss’ last remaining trace of HP. There was only 1% HP left before everyone was wiped; the Boss didn’t even go Beserk!

If Lu Li saw hope when the group died while the Boss was on 4%, then today’s 1% made Lu Li despair.

It was not just because they had lost the opportunity to eliminate the Red Dragon, but they had also suffered significant battle costs. They had exhausted all the Darkmoon Cards – of which they had only a few to begin with. One of those cards could only be used once, while another had only two uses left. Such a loss caused Lu Li more heartache than the combined cost of replacing lost potions and of repairs.

As for the current group, it was impossible for Lu Li to organise multiple Druids and Warlocks, in addition to eight Thieves and Priests. They had lost 24 members. The remaining team had to include, by necessity, a few Paladins. This was because it was impossible to gain an Aura without them.

The importance of the Darkmoon cards was beyond words.

As such, it was now time for the second group. It was not important which group did it – they needed to clear the little Red Dragon today. The Club was going to give them bonuses regardless of who achieved that goal. Lu Li decided to calm himself down. Although the team had only fought once today, their general low mood suggested that their results would only worsen if they continued.

This was a significant defeat. It was unavoidable that they would be affected.

He finally understood why he had, in his previous incarnation, heard of so many groups disbanding because of their inability to defeat the little Red Dragon. This Boss was, for a long period of time, the golden standard for whether a particular Guild was qualified or not.

In short, a Guild couldn’t be considered a major Guild if it couldn’t defeat the little Red Dragon.

When Lu Li was competing, he had switched off all of his means of contact. Now that he had re-opened his notifications, a few messages instantly appeared.

One contained an update from Square Root 3 on the status of their equipment preparation. Lu Li scanned it. Because three guilds had agreed to work in tandem, there was nothing to worry about concerning the preparation of potions. There were enough for at least four groups. This was perhaps the marker of an established or wealthy Guild. They did not have to worry about problems surrounding logistics, which was in stark contrast to the meticulous calculations that Lu Li had to undergo to guarantee precision.

Square Root 3’s message made Lu Li slightly calmer.

However, it wasn’t long before Lu Li became excited over another person’s message.

This one was from Unforgettable Maple, the leader of Majin Temple. He brought to Lu Li surprising news.

“According to my view, he wants to connect with you. It’s still an idea now.”

After receiving Lu Li’s request to communicate, Unforgettable Maple explained his prediction. He explained how Innocent Child was prepared to fight in Survival and Escape alongside Lu Li.

He also added that Innocent Child was now prepared to leave Gangnam Royals.

Lu Li did not know why Innocent child suggested that they fight together, especially when he was in the middle of breaking an agreement.

“I recall that he has a strong relationship with you. Why didn’t he just go to Majin Temple?” Lu Li enquired out of confusion.

“Innocent Child was previously, on all accounts, a core-member of the Gangnam Royals. Although he partially lost favour because of Dancing Star Dream, he is still beyond what Majin Temple could accept,” Unforgettable Maple said with a wry smile. His remarks seemed over-exaggerated.

However, it was undeniable that there was logic to his words.

From the Gangnam Royals to Majin Temple, Innocent Child would have to succumb from one veteran player to another. He would be mad to go to the Gangnam Royals.

Even if the situation was considered simply from the perspective of financial gain, Majin Temple did not have the funds to invite Innocent Child to join them. They were very poor and weak. Even if Innocent Child were to handicap himself, he would still be able to kill the so-called ‘God Mage’, Unforgettable Maple, in a split second.

Even though the Gangnam Royals had many negative traits, they were wealthy. The individual worth of their players was at the peak of the industry.

Furthermore, even from the perspective of development, Innocent Child could not go to the stagnant Majin Temple. It was a conflict between whether one’s future was more important, or one’s existing relationships.

“Oh, Innocent Child …” Lu Li hesitated, before slowly calming down.

Within Lu Li’s memory from his previous incarnation, he did not remember Innocent Child leaving the Gangnam Royals so early. However, he ultimately still ended up leaving. He changed his own talents, and entered into Blood Red War Flag to become a Druid. Blood Red War Flag had given him a main position. Innocent Child proved to be brilliant in battle, and delivered the outcomes that would have been expected in light of his high salary.

Lu Li could not anticipate that within this life, Innocent Child would decide to leave the Gangnam Royals so early.

However, it also wasn’t that difficult to understand. Ruling Sword could be said to have used the Gangnam Royals as a stepping-stone to get to where they were now. The Gangnam Royal’s precarious position only worsened by the day. Despite this, Heart of War remained infamous for never taking responsibility, often deflecting liability onto others. He had, for instance, attributed all the failings of the competition to Innocent Child, who had been in charge as commander of the team.

This made Innocent Child depressed. It had gotten to a point where he could not handle it anymore, and needed to find a new path.

He didn’t, however, directly get in touch with Blood Red War Flag. After some analysis, Innocent Child determined that Blood Red War Flag would be a suitable backup. To put it differently, he had added Ruling Sword as a backup. Because Ruling Sword was ranked quite highly, he hoped that contacting his old friend Unforgettable Maple might give him a way in.

Neither Innocent Child nor Unforgettable Maple had much of a relationship with Ruling Sword.

Since the commencement of Ruling Sword, the Gangnam Royals, of which Innocent Child had been an affiliate of, had been their sworn enemies, both on the battlefield and off it.

Hundreds if not thousands of Ruling Sword players had died under Innocent Child’s hands. Many, upon hearing of Innocent Child’s name, would clench their teeth in hatred. It was therefore unlikely that they would come directly to Lu Li. That said, now that there was a middleman, even if there were to be underlying conflict, it would not manifest in public.

If Lu Li had no interest in Innocent Child, he could immediately reject Unforgettable Maple.

Alternatively, if he had interest, he could find a time to meet Innocent Child in order to further discuss the matter.