The Great Thief

“I… I…”

March Rain was a little nervous, especially when her older brother Lonesome Flower is not around. It took her awhile for her to finally muster up some words. March Rain had been in contact with some sponsors and representatives, and although she rejected their offers, they were still persistent in trying to convince her because she was bad at shutting people down completely.

“What about you?” Lu Li asked Moonlight.

“I had a gathering with some old friends. Some of them are reps from other guilds,” Moonlight said, completely unfazed.

Although it was the free agency season, it would be rude to decline a dinner with old friends just because of their job. They kept bringing up their younger days and Moonlight felt rude to decline.

“They probably want to poach you,” Lu Li nodded.

“Oh,” Moonlight responded, but did not explain himself. Everyone thought that he would pat himself on the chest and promise that he wouldn’t leave. Even though he said nothing to back himself up, Lu Li wasn’t too worried about him.

Moonlight was a key member of Ruling Swords, as both one of the top star players and a top three Warrior in the game. Lu Li, March Rain, Moonlight were considered to be the pillars of Ruling Sword. Although there were other outstanding members, most of their team compositions and play styles were centered around these three players.

As long as Lu Li, Moonlight and March Rain are present, then Ruling Swords could easily put together a decent team.

Lu Li had memorized all the top players in his past life who had yet to show themselves in this life. There were some that he could not convince to join or others that he did not get along with. However, there were still many top players who had not even joined the game.

“I actually don’t want to be a tournament player anymore.”

It was obvious that this was very hard for Sakura Memories to say.

“You’ve always strived to become a star player though.”

Not only were the other players surprised, and even Cat Dad was taken aback. He tried his best to hide the anger in his voice.

She had been training a lot with Cat Dad recently, and although she was not the most talented, what impressed him the most was her determination and willpower to improve.

Being able to top the Level Ranking Boards in the game as a non-Mage was very impressive and showed how tough and determined she was.

“I realized that I’m not really into it anymore,” Sakura Memory explained, “When I stand on the victory platform, I don’t feel the joy of winning. I open the Level Rankings so many times a day, but no matter how hard I try, I can never catch up and be first on the leaderboard again.”

She needed to participate in dungeons, prepare for tournaments and attend training sessions with Cat Dad. She barely had any time to level up and catch up to others.

She was now level 57 and ranked around 40th. The gap between her and first place was too wide now.

“Uh… I’ll try to organise more time for you to Level up.”

Lu Li was sweating; he didn’t know what else to say to convince her because she was determined to be first.

Some girls liked to dress up and wear makeup to attract guys, while other girls preferred to focus on their career to earn more money so that they could dress up and attract guys…

Perhaps all girls wanted the same thing.

But what kind of a girl would want to be the first on the Level Rankings?

“Besides, tournaments are exhausting. When I log off I just immediately go to bed until the next day. I haven’t even written anything for my Boy Love novels recently,” Sakura Memories added.

Everyone in the room nodded quietly except Kitty Likes Meat, who looked at Sakura Memories with a surprised face and asked, “Sister Memories, you write BL novels??”

“Uh… yeah…”

“Wow, what have you written? I love BL novels! Which website do you publish them on?” Kitty asked, then continued with a number of questions that no one else understood.

“Oh, so you write novels in your spare time? Just keep going right now. I’ll reduce your playing time next season so that you have time for your novels.”

Lu Li wasn’t much of a reader, but he was very impressed that Sakura had such a cool hobby.

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t get in touch with anyone,” Mu Qiu said defensively upon seeing that everyone was looking at him.

He was someone that had joined the guild half way through. He wasn’t a talented player that Lu Li scouted like Kitty Likes Meat or Fat Monkey, which was why Mu Qiu would make extra effort to participate in guild events, act politely and rarely complain about anything. Most people in the guild would rate him highly.

“So… it was all a misunderstanding,” Square Root Three sighed in relief.

Players being poached from other guilds would not be as detrimental as it would be to Ruling Swords. As a relatively young guild that had only been established for a few months, if they were to lose out on a few players, it would be hard for them to assemble an equally strong team.

They just had to make it through this free agency season and develop more younger players so that they could establish an even stronger foundation.

“So are we eating or not? It smells so good; the cook must be almost ready,” Fat Monkey said as he pulled up his sleeves, then added, “Big Boss will shout the meal today and it’s restaurant quality as well. Everyone order as much as you want; we’re not going home until everyone’s drunk.”

“I’m dieting…” Kitty Likes Meat said as she slapped him.

“You need to eat so that you have the strength to lose weight,” Fat Monkey joked.

Lu Li signaled the waiters to bring out the food because he was starving as well. They were dining at a restaurant owned by a famous cook who specialized in cooking in the game.

Lu Li also remembered to order some food specifically for his little sister, as well as Remnant Dream and Hachi Chan.

Remnant Dream and Hachi Chan had both transferred to a school near Gangnam City. Lu Li even hired tutors for them and he promised their parents that he would make sure that they prioritize their studies before the game.

The food was great and although they all had different personalities, everyone got along fine and they enjoyed themselves.

After the dinner, Fat Monkey suggested that they should go to karaoke.

Lu Li did not attend because he was tone deaf and sucked at singing. Even his own sister would mock him, so he decided to stay back with Cat Dad and a few others to continue drinking.

“Brother Cat, you shouldn’t scheme and be cunning like this to your own guild. Look what you’ve done; even Kitty Likes Meat is mad at you.” Square Root Three joked around as he poured some alcohol for Cat Dad.

Cat Dad picked up his cup and sighed, “Everything I do I do for her sake.”

“I totally understand.”

Square Root Three wasn’t planning on giving him a hard time; he was only complaining a little. He and Lu Li were very stressed because they thought that no one would even show up to the dinner today.

“Tournament Players usually don’t have a very long and stable career. I have to ensure that everything she does is advantageous for her. Look how bad those 30+ year old players are doing,” Cat Dad said as he took the bottle, poured himself a shot and downed it immediately.

He was right about this. Even though there were a few decent 30+ year old players, most of them were usually washed up and not as mechanically skilled.

Unforgettable Maple was known as one of the older players, but in reality, he was still only in his twenties. As for players that were 30+ years old, they could only reminisce upon their past glory and achievements while training up some younger players.

“Look how you’re doing – you’re doing quite well,” Wandering encouraged as he downed another shot with Cat Dad.

“I guess I’m doing ok, but only because I invested the money into some businesses. Otherwise, I would be out begging for money. I just want my daughter to have a stable and comfortable life.”

Cat Dad wasn’t a very heavy drinker and was already a tad tipsy.

“Where else could you take her besides Ruling Sword?” Wandering asked, getting straight to the point.

“You’re right – there’s not really anywhere else that we could go,” Cat Dad admitted. He was very well-connected with the gaming community and could organize a position in another guild, but they would not have as much potential as Ruling Sword.

Ruling Swords was one of the best up and coming guilds in the game.

“I won’t do it again,” Wandering promised as he put his arms around Cat Dad.

Although they were able to survive this free agency season, it was like a tumor, waiting to spread at any time.

For Ruling Sword, it was over, but for other guilds, the story was different.

As more rumors come out, smaller players began jumping teams and major guilds shopped for players just like aunties shopping for groceries in a supermarket.

The first decent player that was poached was Songs of Fries from Drizzle Court.

Songs of Fries was originally from the Glory Capital youth development program, and had been in the professional league for over six years. He played for Glory Capital, Brotherhood and Wings of Dawn, but had been in Drizzle Court for the longest. It was quite surprising that he would leave at such a crucial time.