The Great Thief

They couldn’t kill Lu Li in time and their healer was being ganged up on. Majin Temple had no other choice but to surrender this match.

When Fat Monkey was killed, everyone assumed that Ruling Sword would lose because they had lost their main DPS. Who would have thought that Lu Li, who had missed the past couple of matches, would show up to be their substitute?

When Lu Li entered the arena, everyone was surprised, but no one thought that his entrance would turn the game around this dramatically.

No one understood why he had sprinted so quickly towards the enemy Mage until everyone realised that he was able solo kill him.

After he killed the Mage, he was placed in a 1v2 situation. The crowd expected him to used Gale Steps to escape and regroup with his team, then take advantage of the numbers difference in the team fight.

Instead, he hung around and fought in order to stall for his teammates.

During this time, his teammates were able to ambush Majin Temple’s healer from behind, taking the victory. Ruling Sword displayed their team work and their complete trust in Lu Li’s strategy.

Unforgettable Maple and others left the arena early, surrendering the match before they were killed to save some pride.

He knew that in terms of being a leader and a strategist, Lu Li was on a completely different level. The strategy that Ruling Sword executed displayed Lu Li’s talent and his impact on the game to the spectators once again.

Casual players would say obvious things such as ”make the substitute Mage walk faster” or ”tell the Priest to keep up with the rest of the team”.

However, only the experienced players would understand how sophisticated the strategy was and how difficult it was to execute perfectly.

”Congratulations to Ruling Sword who have qualified for the Magic Cup semi-finals.”

Fireworks filled the arena and the system congratulated the winner of this match.

The Magic Cup was a long and gruelling tournament; it took several days just to determine the teams that would qualify for the semi-finals.

Lu Li grouped up with the rest of the team, but didn’t teleport out. They advanced forwards and destroyed the four remaining archer towers, then began fighting the mini Boss.

Teams needed to defeat the mini Boss to secure the victory.

The mini Boss in this map added another dimension to the game. For example, when the enemy team was fighting the ally Mini boss, teams could take this opportunity to surround and ambush them.

However, Unforgettable Maple decided to give up instead of utilizing the mini Boss to its fullest potential. Since they were already down two players and had no healer, he thought it was impossible to win and surrendered.

The mini Boss was relatively easy to defeat. Without any distraction from the enemy team, it would only be a matter of time before a team of five players defeated it.

Lu Li wanted them to kill the mini Boss because it would reward them with a considerable amount of EXP.

This was a bonus for teams that fought in this map. However, the mini Boss didn’t drop any gear or give other rewards besides EXP.

The mini Boss lasted for about a minute under the relent attacks of Ruling Sword. After this, Lu Li’s EXP bar increased very slightly.

”Lu Li, can we get an interview?” The media was following the team as they walked away from the arena. Fat Monkey was also with them.

Before they had even entered the tunnel, there were already reporters asking for an interview.

They all wanted to be the first to report Lu Li’s return from his absence.

”Go ahead.” Lu Li stopped; he needed to maintain a good relationship with the media.

Reporters that could enter the team tunnel were all the big names in the industry. They were all reporters from major media companies or famous gaming bloggers on the internet.

”I’m a reporter from the Game Nation; can you tell us why you were absent from so many matches?” The reporter was a female Mage and she was quite pleasing to the eye.

”Sorry, that’s private.”

Lu Li remained truthful and straightforward even though the reporter was beautiful.

She hesitated for a second then recovered and asked, ”There’s a rumour going around that you were absent because you wanted to train up the rookies. What do you have to say about this?”

”No, that’s not true.” Lu Li was bothered that she was still asking about the same thing.

He wanted to keep his life private, but didn’t want to lie about it either.

”What are your thoughts on your new teammates? Ruling Sword has already lost two matches in the Magic Cup Tournament. If you weren’t here to turn the tables around today, it might’ve resulted in another loss.” The female reporter was unsatisfied with Lu Li’s previous answers and asked another sharp question.

”No,” Lu Li disagreed as he shook his head sternly, ”You can never predict what the outcome will be. However, all I can say is that I am very pleased with some of the new guys we’ve added to the team. They each have their own speciality and they work hard to improve themselves. We need more guys like them in Ruling Sword.”

”Uh, the community blamed Fat Monkey for messing up the tempo of your team. Without him, you guys might not have lost those two matches. What do you have to say about this?”

Lu Li’s answer was quite unexpected.

Fat Monkey was often used as the scapegoat for Ruling Sword’s losses and many speculated that there would be chemistry problems between him and the rest of the team. However, Lu Li publicly announced that he was pleased with his teammates, their individual playstyles and their work ethic.

”Every player has room for growth,” Lu Li said without elaborating.

”What about Mu Qiu signing a $1.8 million contact to Ruling Sword? What are your thoughts?” the reporter asked.

”He’s worth the money,” Lu Li said.

Although it was simple praise, Mu Qiu was touched by Lu Li’s words.

When he was a free agent that no one wanted on their team, he wanted to sign a cheap contract so that he could prove everyone wrong in tournaments. However, not only did Lu Li raise his salary, but he also developed him into a player that was worthy of being a starter on their PVP team.

”Where do you think Ruling Sword will place in this year’s Magic Cup?”

”We’ll be the champions,” Lu Li said without hesitation.

”You’ve already lost two matches, so it’s not possible for you guys to win the championship.” The female reporter was almost speechless. She thought that Lu Li was messing around with her.

”Yes, but our hearts will always aim for the championship.” Lu Li forgot where he had heard this line, but thought it was fitting for this situation.

”Ok…” The female reporter was starting to get annoyed. Instead of asking about their next matchup, she began asking questions that would put Lu Li in an awkward position. ”It’s obvious that your relationship with Water Fairy is more than just normal friends. When did you guys start dating?”

The female reporter had a way with her words, especially when it comes to gossip.

Instead of asking whether he was dating Water Fairy, she asked when.

”We’re not dating…” Lu Li was annoyed with the word ‘dating’ and felt like he was in high school again.

”Then do you dislike Water Fairy? She’s on the Top Beauty Rankings in the game.” The female reporter wanted to bait out a controversial statement from Lu Li.

”I don’t hate her,” Lu Li said truthfully.

”Ok, thank you. That is all; thank you for your time.”

Lu Li and the others were finally released from the interrogation.