The Great Thief

The building in the Green Garden area that the club was going to rent would soon become their base of operations. Five floors would serve as accommodation, while the lower floors would be the office area. Square Root 3 was going to place the Ruling Sword logo in front of the building.

They had established a guild in-game and a company in real life, the specific process of which Square Root 3 was quite familiar with.

Before long, this would officially become Ruling Sword’s headquarters.

A hundred full-time players would soon be assigned here, becoming Ruling Sword’s first elite group.

These players would be given a base salary of $5000 and some additional bonuses like equipment, based on their degree of contribution and other factors. This was far more favorable than the industry standard. Lu Li and Square Root 3 had no problems challenging the industry’s unspoken rules with such good treatment of their players.

Man is a strange beast. Paying him $2000 wouldn’t guarantee that he would work particularly hard or be motivated.

Lu Li was quite ignorant when dealing with such matters but Square Root 3 was a veteran.

However, a mere contract couldn’t bind everyone. It was hard to guarantee that none of the 100 players would be spies sent from other guilds.

Even so, if someone betrayed them after signing the contract, there was a possibility of imprisonment. As such, any rational undercover player had to consider whether that was truly worth it.

After logging back online, Square Root 3 published the requirements for the elite group and enthusiastically welcomed everyone to register.

Instant Millennia: Ah, they’re finally being formalized. I’ve been waiting for so long. Three Bro, count me in.

Can Cat: Three Bro, I’m still a kid! I need to go to school!

Before Square Root 3 finished speaking, some players had already started to call out.

Square Root 3: Can Cat, you study well. You can join the elite group when you graduate.

Can Cat was young, but he had good technique. Square Root 3 thought it was a waste that he couldn’t enter the elite group, but he couldn’t change the rules now.

Can Cat: No, I’ll need to change schools. Where is the closest high school?

Square Root 3: There is one affiliated with the Jiangnan University.

Can Cat: I’ll go there then. I’ll go register for it now.

Just like that, he had logged off. Square Root 3 thought that the kid was a little overzealous, but he didn’t say anything.

Little Star: Three Bro, can I bring my spouse?

Worldly Cruiser: Dammit, that’s not fair. This star guy wants to bring his wife…

Little Star: Just say so if you’re jealous. Big bro, my wife is just a little low-levelled, so she hasn’t made it into the guild. She is currently working hard to level up; she will almost be the same level as I am soon. Please accept her, even as an ordinary member.

Square Root 3: Okay, her situation is noted.

Majestic Moon: Why did it have to be in Jiangnan City? I’m still working in the Capital. Screw it, it’s a few thousand dollars a month and I’ve long since wanted to quit this laborious job. Square Root Big Bro, sign me up. Please take care of me.

Square Root 3: I can’t guarantee anything, but we’ve calculated the future prospects of our elite group and I believe you will not regret this decision.

Of course, Lu Li was currently the best Instance Dungeon commander. As long as they followed his Instance Dungeon strategies, any elite group could make large strides in fame and fortune.

Empty Words: Three Bro, what about accommodation? What if someone is a girl?

Everyone in the area quietly sighed. Surely girls weren’t as vulnerable as this person made them out to be.

Square Root 3 took out the floor plan and some pictures of the accommodation floors. It mainly showed the five-bedroom layout, the fine decoration and all the facilities that were included. This was the reason why he had chosen this building in the first place.

After seeing the pictures, their worries of living in bunk beds like students were put to rest. More than a hundred people quickly registered.

Square Root 3 didn’t stop them. Just because they had registered didn’t meant they would be selected. It seemed like they had to pick one person for everyone 100 people. There were at least a thousand people they needed to screen out.

Soon, the statistics were out. Of the eight thousand members in the guild, over two thousand had registered. This was a very high proportion and some had already been directly selected by Square Root 3.

Although professional gamers were still criticized, professional gaming wasn’t the low-level job that it once was.

True professional players didn’t have a low income. You couldn’t just look at Ruling Sword’ basic income of $5000 – the actual value they were receiving was closer to $10,000. However, if their base income was $10,000, the elite group would last for very long.

Guilds like Glory Capital and Blood Red War Flag paid a salary of over $10,000 to their elite groups. A $100,000 annual salary could easily be counted as a high salary.

”I’m done selecting them. Take a look – these will be your subordinates from now on,” Square Root 3 told Lu Li.

”I’ll just have a quick look; I’m farming right now and I can’t leave.” Lu Li couldn’t be bothered going to the Web Winder Hollow to farm. It was quite a distance from Astrana and it wasn’t an easy trip.

Square Root 3 uploaded the list directly onto the chatroom.

Virtual technology had advanced to an earth-shaking degree. With this simple action, not only could Lu Li see their names, but he could also see their images and some of their personal information as well.

”The first 57 are strong enough to compete against any other elite group other there,” Square Root 3 explained. ”The remaining 40 or so either joined the game late or had some reason to be slowed down, but they are very promising players.”

”Huh, why isn’t Nuo Yu here?” Lu Li had done a guild challenge with him and he had left an impression.

”He said he couldn’t come to Jiangnan, but based on the tone of his voice, there is probably something else,” he was one of the first people Square Root 3 went to look for, that’s why he introduced him to Lu Li in the first place. The fact that he had rejected the offer was completely unexpected.

System: Nuo Yu has been added to the chat.

Nuo Yu was doing a guild quest; this would be his seventeenth quest for today. With a few more quests, he would soon be third in the guild.

As Lu Li was the president, he could directly invite any guild member from the guild panel to join any chatroom.

Nuo Yu was hesitant but agreed.

”Are you refusing the offer to join the Elite group because of Gangnam Royals?” Lu Li got straight to the point and asked.

He had the impression that this person had been hunted by the Gangnam Royals. He didn’t know the specifics, but he was definitely being threatened by them.

It was actually quite difficult to send someone back to level 0.

If they died outside of the city, they would only lose 20% of their EXP. It wasn’t like they couldn’t continue playing within the safe areas either; they could start a business or even do Instance Dungeons.

”Gangnam Royals,” Nuo Yu said as he breathed in sharply. After Lu Li suddenly said that, he simply couldn’t keep calm.

”So it really is the Gangnam Royals?” Lu Li frowned.

He really didn’t like that guild. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that he hated that guild.

”How did you know I was an undercover player for the Gangnam Royals?” Nuo Yu usually only contacted Gangnam Royal’s Heart of War. There were less than a handful of people that knew what he was doing.

Lu Li was silent, as if there was some misunderstanding.

He wasn’t an enemy, but an undercover agent…

But that couldn’t be right. An undercover agent would happily accept the offer to join the elite group. The closer they got to the core of the guild, the more secrets they would be able to learn.