The Great Thief

The virtual stocks solved a problem that Lu Li had been unable to solve, while also providing the club with the funds that it desperately needed. The players were also able to have the spending money that they wanted, which meant that the meeting concluded quite happily.

However, just because the competitions were over didn’t mean they were able to slack off. Just as Lu Li concluded the meeting, he reminded everyone to continue levelling diligently.

“How are Cold Chill’s fire resistance potions coming along?” Lu Li asked.

“They’re almost ready; we have enough for one attempt in Blackrock Tower,” Square Root 3 reported. He had been very busy with the competition recently and almost forgot about this.

Although the competition was important, they couldn’t slack off on clearing Instance Dungeons. Ruling Sword had only gotten this far because Lu Li had helped them with so many First Clears. Otherwise, they would have just been bullied out by Glory Capital’s superior equipment.

“Everyone take some time to prepare. We will be going in for an Instance Dungeon run,” Lu Li announced.

The others had no reason to oppose this plan. After bidding farewell, they all went back into the game. Lu Li and some others stayed to continue the meeting, which was mainly to discuss how the club could be developed next.

“The first thing to do now is to establish a training camp. Let’s come up with a name for it,” Lu Li said.

“Isn’t it just called a training camp? Why do you want to give it another name?” Wandering asked.

“Most training camps don’t have a name. There is no way to distinguish between them,” Lu Li sighed. “I hope that one day, players that graduate from our training camp will be respected at the mention of its name.”

“I agree that we should have a different name from the others,” Cat Dad said, supporting the idea.

Square Root 3 waited for everyone to finish speaking before waving his hand to give a suggestion.

“How about junior’s class? We should have gotten the others to pitch in. I knew I shouldn’t have let them leave so early.”

Most people weren’t dumb, but they struggled to come up with a good name. Square Root 3 was one example. The name he created for himself didn’t mean anything but had been stuck with him for so many years. Lu Li also faced a similar issue. He had no idea what to call himself in the game, so he just used his real name.

“What about Star of Hope?” Cat Dad suggested.

“That’s a good name, but not very suitable for our training camp. People have to know what it is when they hear it. Glory Capital’s Youth Camp is pretty good and so is Blood Red War Flag’s recruit training camp. Seventh Heaven’s Special Training Camp is quite ordinary but also gets the job done,” Lu Li said.

“The Great Seminary?” Cat Dad asked after some thought.

“Something like that, but a little more grounded,” Lu Li said with some hesitation.

“What about Death College? That sounds cool.”

Cat Dad seemed to be happy with coming up with name after name. Square Root 3 kept silent and Wandering just looked awkward. This obviously wasn’t something he was good at and he didn’t like using his brain.

“That isn’t cool – it’s just pretentious,” Square Root 3 mocked.

“How about Novice Village? Ruling Sword’s Novice Village. Novice Village is usually the place where players are spawned in the new world. It’s quite profound…”

“I think its identity still needs to be a bit clearer,” Lu Li said again with some hesitation.

“Dammit, you won’t take any of my suggestions. How about you just pose the question to the guild. I’m sure ten thousand players will be able to give you the name you’re looking for. You didn’t seem to have this much trouble when coming up with the name of the Mercenary Group,” Cat Dad muttered. “I doubt you would have chosen that name if your standards were this high then… Xin Xin Mercenary Group, humph, I hate sister-cons.”

As such, the naming of the training camp was temporarily put on hold.

However, the plan to do make it happen was not delayed just because they couldn’t agree upon its name. First, they had to invest some money in it. An investment of 20 million would allow for a quick establishment of the training camp.

They couldn’t just recruit a ragtag of teenagers for training either. They had to ensure that the quality of the trainees was excellent. They were looking for the most talented players in all of China. These players couldn’t be too old either; they had to be somewhere between 12 to 18.

These people had to leave their homes and go to Jiangnan City.

There, Ruling Sword would provide food, clothing and accommodation. They had to wear the same uniform, but this wasn’t a shameful matter. Ruling Sword’s elite group reputation was quite good, and these new recruits would go with them for their meals and company.

The most important issue was the issue of education.

No parent would be willing to let their child spend their lifetime pursuing a dream of becoming a professional gamer.

There was currently little discrimination against gamers, but they would often forget about other hobbies like drawing and swimming. At the very most, the parents would only allow the child to do this as a means of specializing in this skill.

This meant that the most important thing was that they were still able to receive a complete education.

Therefore, Ruling Sword needed to communicate with the nearby educational institutions. This could be accomplished with little effort. After all, taking the championship had given Jiangnan City a greater influence in e-sports. This was well known among the youth of Jiangnan City, so the issue should be resolved relatively easily.

However, even if they lived with Ruling Sword, they couldn’t mix in with the elite group. If the child had yet to come to a decision on what they wanted to do, they still needed to be properly guided.

Square Root 3 said that he would rent the apartments nearby to house these children.

The real cost was for hiring coaches. Cat Dad couldn’t handle a few hundred students on his own. Even if he could handle the smaller numbers in the beginning, he wasn’t an expert in all areas of training.

Every training camp required at least one or two experts to teach the children solid gaming theory.

“I have a personal suggestion. I used to deal with this person, but he is quite old. I’m not sure if you mind,” Cat Dad suddenly recalled.

“It doesn’t matter too much that they’re old. What are they good at?” Lu Li asked.

“Uh, he is actually a friend of mine. He was the oldest person in the youth training camp. At the time, he had already graduated from work and was a physical education teacher…” Cat Dad responded awkwardly.

The others who heard this were unsure. Who was this person?

The youth training camp actually recruited someone that was this old?

There were quite a few university graduates in the current professional circle, and they weren’t too old for it. However, this was a training club, where they would have to stay for three years at least, with an average stay of 7-8 years. How much time did he have left to play after leaving?

“How was his performance as a professional player?” Lu Li asked.

“He was eliminated when he graduated, so he failed to become a professional player,” Cat Dad mumbled. He was now even more embarrassed.

The others were even more speechless. Was he making fun of everyone? This was supposed to be a reputable training camp; how could such a person be a teacher? It would be a joke to invest in that person.

“I doubt you recommended this person for no reason. How about you tell us more about him?” Lu Li thought that Cat Dad was being serious and chose to listen to what he had to say.

“When he entered the youth training, he had been specifically approved by the Glory Capital Club Leader Scarlet Tiger. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to enter the youth training camp at 26. Scarlet Tiger thought that he was a genius when it came to theory, but an incident occurred and the Club leader was replaced. The new leadership naturally rejected him. When he was dismissed, he went to a small club and tried to use his knowledge to push the club to success…”

“Did he succeed?”

“Of course not. If he was successful, then why would I be helping him find a job?”

“If you count it up, starting the youth training camp at 26 would mean… wow, he’s about 40-50 years old now. Why is he still looking for a job at such an age…”

“He isn’t looking for a job. He is still a physical education teacher, but he has continued to conduct research into these games. He wanted to me to help him find a job with a training camp,” Cat Dad said. He had no ill intention and just wanted to help out an old friend.

Moreover, the theoretical development of gaming had occurred so rapidly that it was almost impossible to keep up with. You would have to study it diligently for at least 30-50 years.

“Although there is no shortage of spots, the training camp is very important, so I can’t make any promises,” Lu Li said after some thought. “How about you invite him in and we can have a conversation? We need some time to recruit the students anyway so there is no rush.”

“For combat training, I actually have a good candidate. Can it be a retired professional player?”

“Of course. They just have to be of high quality so that they can teach the students. They also can’t be too old, as I’m worried that they won’t be able to keep up with the developments in the game. It would be even better if they play Dawn,” Lu Li said, then gave a list of his own suggested requirements.

Square Root 3 didn’t want to be left out so he added his suggestion.

“I know of a retired professional player that has been an instructor in several training camps. They taught Stellar Union’s Silver Radiant and Floral Paralysis.”

Theoretical experts were hard to find as they could lie, but all professional players were semi-famous and would already be known.

Stellar Union’s Silver Radiant and Floral Paralysis weren’t as good as the top players like Moonlight or Sorrowless, but they were still star players.

After entering the professional circle, they might feel like they were worthless, but no one else would think that. A player that was in a well-known club like Gods of Dusk would have an even better reputation than a better player in a worse club like Wood Fearing.

“Xing Xiao Feng, I’m sure everyone is familiar with this name?” Square Root 3 finally revealed.

Lu Li suddenly realized that Cat Dad had already guessed who this person was from Square Root 3’s initial words. Xing Xiao Feng might not have been comparable to Master Huang, but he was still considered one of the top instructors.

“Three Bro, how do you know this guy?”

“Star Moon Guild once tried to hire him for a high price. He declined the offer but we remained in contact and he has been a good friend to me,” Square Root 3 explained.

“In that case, you should talk to him.”

Lu Li wasn’t familiar with Xing Xiao Feng, and he didn’t know how to deal with training camp instructors, nor was he good at teaching students.

“Compared to Xin Xiao Feng, the person I want to recommend isn’t bad either. She is also a beautiful woman,” Cat Dad said. He wasn’t convinced.

“How beautiful are we talking?’ Wandering’s sleepiness instantly disappeared as he demanded, “Tell me how she looks; I want to know if I have met her. You know, Cat Bro, not all women can be called beautiful. Take your family for example – they can only be considered as cute…”

“I will not be discussing this topic with this demon,” Cat Dad said as he turned his head and asked, “Have you heard of Butterfly Dancer?”

The three other people nodded. Everyone had heard of this name before, and even Wandering couldn’t deny that she was beautiful. Butterfly Dancer was a very popular name that was used by many players, but in this context there was only one relevant person – Ghost Butterfly Dancer.

‘Ghost’ referred to Midnight Ghost, a professional Thief player in another game called Eternal Kingdom.

Butterfly Dancer was once a beauty of Eternal Kingdom, but one day, she stopped. No one had heard of her joining any new clubs in the last two years. Had she now planned to become an instructor?

“Huh, Cat Bro, does your wife know that you are familiar with Butterfly Dancer?” Wandering asked coldly.

Cat Dad shrank back as he said, “Don’t spout nonsense. I was once her instructor and recently bumped into her. I know that she doesn’t want to play games any longer, but she is finding something to do.

“I heard that she had a bad temper. What if she is bad at teaching?” Square Root 3 asked. Of course, Square Root 3 wanted to work with her. Who didn’t want to work with a beautiful woman, especially one who was on the beauty rankings? At first sight, Butterfly Dancer seemed like a kind and caring wife or mother.

“Tell her to come over and talk about it if she has the time,” Lu Li said.

If these three instructors were confirmed, they would have four instructors including Cat Dad. They still had a long way to go when compared against the youth training camps, but they were off to a good start. Ruling Sword had just established this camp so there was nothing to be ashamed of.

They seemed to be heading in the right direction, so Lu Li didn’t have to worry too much.

After making all these arrangements, he immediately re-entered the game. During this time, he had spent so much time making management decisions that he had grown much in strength since the Battle of Hillsbrad. Perhaps he had already dropped out of the top 100.