The Great Thief

”Dad, you’ve got nothing to do anyway,” Kitty Likes Meat said as she pulled at her dad’s arm.

”What do you mean I have nothing to do?” he asked, clearly unimpressed. ”When you talk like that, you make me out to be some kind of delinquent. Dad is a good person, okay?”

”Those stores don’t need your work. Let dad become a coach. Otherwise, he’ll go crazy. Please mum?” Kitty Likes Meat pleaded as she turned her head to her mother who was smiling, but not speaking.

Cat Mom hesitated, then looked at her husband and finally said, ”Take the offer if you want to, but it will be difficult.”

”I don’t really need to coach, and I’d rather spend time with my wife. Let’s go to La Plagne next week; we haven’t been skiing in a long time. Kitty is busy, so we don’t need to take her,” Cat Dad laughed.

”Who will buy food for me?” Kitty Likes Meat was a little annoyed; she really hated public displays of affection.

Seeing as her father was trying to please his wife, it was obvious that he would eventually become Ruling Sword’s coach. Lu Li and Square Root 3 now also knew about his glorious past.

Cat Dad was also considered as a pretty good professional player for his time. His ID was Star Spirit and he had entered Glory Capital’s training camp 25 years ago. He was formally recruited and made great contributions to the guild over a three-year period. Later, he joined another guild that was hostile towards Glory Capital out of an internal conflict.

At that time, Glory Capital had nearly destroyed all of their enemy clubs and Cat Dad had played a very important role in that.

In total, Cat Dad had played competitively for over 5 years before retiring and living a peaceful life.

Of course, his love for video games was never lost, as he continued to coach and consult many large clubs over the next 20 years. However, he never returned to the game.

Over the course of the meal, they continued to chat and talk to each other about gaming. When everyone had eaten their fill, Cat Dad was expected to be on duty. However, he had to make sure to take care of his wife, as she didn’t like him being absorbed in video games.

Lu Li sent his sister back home and rushed back to the guild headquarters.

The offices for the guild staff had just been renovated. They took up an entire floor and had several sections. None of this was visible to the public anyway, so there likely wouldn’t be any problems with it.

”This is the integrated training room. Do you think there is anything here that needs improving?” Square Root 3 asked.

”Hmm, it’s not bad… very professional. Who helped you design it? It would be best to add a screen to the place,” Cat Dad commented as he looked around with a satisfied smile on his face.

”Star Moon Guild also had an integrated training room, but they never really used the equipment,” Square Root 3 said in disappointment.

With the rise of the gaming industry, there were bound to be ambitious people, but not everyone’s ambitions were supported by their hard work.

Originally, Lu Li had wanted to spend money on things that even the big clubs didn’t have.

”Equipment is easy to buy, but you’ll probably run into a bunch of problems,” Cat Dad said seriously. ”You will need a video input, which costs a lot of money. It’s probably about a million all up; I hope you’re prepared.”

Official games couldn’t be recorded and could only be watched live. Clubs registered in the game were allowed to purchase game footage from tournament officials. The price of these varied from match to match, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.

If they bought a few hundred of these, the total price would truly be astronomical.

”What are some of the training systems that you have now? Have you found any promising new players?” Cat Dad impatiently asked Lu Li as he walked around.

”It’s not that easy – the members that currently need training are the club members themselves,” Lu Li said in distress.

”Fat monkey is okay, and Kitty is probably about that of a second-rate player,” Cat Dad said. He was quite critical towards his own daughter.

”What about March?” Lu Li asked. He was actually quite curious to hear his evaluation on her.

”Well, that little girl is a treasure. I haven’t seen someone so talented for quite a few years now. The most important thing is her ability to put in the effort,” Cat Dad praised.

”So, you’re saying that these three players need training?’ Lu Li asked.

”How could you miss your little Shaman?” Cat Dad chuckled. ”I know you think that she isn’t particularly talented, but haven’t you noticed that she has quite the mental fortitude and is very good at seeing opportunities in fights?”

”I’m not sure about those things. Cat Dad you’re quite optimistic about Memories,” Lu Li said in surprise.

”Do you know why the proportion of female players is so low?” Cat Dad asked. This seemed to be an unrelated question.

”Because they are generally unsuited for it? If a woman can make it into the gaming circles, they are already considered a top player,” Lu Li responded.

Among the experts, there were players like Wendelian, Deadly Green Orange and Star Baby. They were popular, but were far from being at the top.

”Yes, the general quality of female players is inferior to male players, particularly in terms of mental fortitude. Sakura Memories’s is excellent in that regard and her technique is also not bad. She can probably become a second-rate, or even a first-rate professional player after some training,” Cat Dad explained emotionally.

A strong mental fortitude was the foundation of a good player.

”In that case, concentrate on training those four,” Lu Li nodded.

”You guys can come along too. Moonlight is fine, but Lu Li, you actually need the most training. I’ve seen your matches and have noticed a few problems,” Cat Dad said rather bluntly.

”Please elaborate,” Lu Li replied respectfully.

However, his heart was unconvinced because his experience from his past life and his hard work in this one made him feel like he deserved to be a top player. There wasn’t a single player in Dawn that he didn’t have the confident to challenge.

”You seldom make mistakes,” Cat Dad started by affirming Lu Li but then slowly continued, ”But when you make a mistake, it’s a low-level, common-sense one.”

”Hmm…” Lu Li scratched his head and didn’t have anything to say in response.

He had just been an ordinary player in his previous life. He wasn’t part of the competitive field, so he didn’t understand everything that was happening. As such, after presenting himself on-stage, he had actually made quite a few rookie errors.

Fortunately, he was stronger than most of the players such that these errors weren’t fatal.

What’s more, because these errors were so obvious, his opponents were always afraid to capitalize as they always felt like it was some kind of trick that he was playing.