After studying for an hour, he continued exercising. When he felt hungry, he took a well-balanced nutritional drink from the refrigerator. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon.
The telephone at Nie Yan’s home began to ring.
“Hello, who is this?” Nie Yan answered the call.
“Nie Yan, let’s go out and play. I’m going crazy staying at home all day,” the voice on the other end said.
Nie Yan immediately recognized the voice—it was Tang Yao. Memories surged back into his mind. Tang Yao was his best friend since childhood. They had grown up together, playing bare-bottomed pants together. Later, Tang Yao’s family became wealthy and moved to the city, but they still had a beautiful villa in Ningjiang. They only came to stay there during summer vacations.
Tang Yao was a person of great righteousness. In Nie Yan’s previous life, when Nie Yan was in a difficult situation, Tang Yao secretly supported him financially, risking being discovered by Cao Xu, which made Nie Yan’s life much easier.
However, Tang Yao had one flaw—he was a bit of a womanizer. Once, in a bar, he got into a fight over a girl and was killed. Because the other party had too much influence, the case was quietly dropped.
Tang Yao, you’re still alive. That’s great. This time, I won’t let that happen again.
Nie Yan’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Hey, Nie Yan, are you dead? Say something!” the voice from the phone said impatiently.
“Where to?” Nie Yan composed himself and asked.
“Let’s go PK. Interested? Faith has been really popular lately. Have you played it?”
“Yeah, I play. I’m a level-two Swift Thief.”
“Wow, not bad! You’ve already reached level two. When did you buy the game helmet?” Tang Yao asked, surprised, as he remembered Nie Yan’s family wasn’t rich.
“A while ago.”
“Come on, let’s go to PK Bar. I’m a level-three Arcane Mage,” Tang Yao said proudly.
Nie Yan smiled slightly. At the age of eighteen or nineteen, it was normal for kids to show off a little, but he had long passed that stage.
At this stage, reaching level three indicated that one was a fairly proficient player, and such players accounted for approximately one-tenth of the total player base. However, Nie Yan was aware that Tang Yao’s skills still fell somewhat short for PK Bar, where numerous elite players gathered. All the top players in Ningjiang congregated there.
“We can go play, but you should avoid gambling,” Nie Yan said. In his memory, Tang Yao loved gambling but always lost, yet he remained enthusiastic. Fortunately, Tang Yao didn’t have much allowance, so even when he lost, it wasn’t a big deal. Nowadays, parents didn’t give their children too much money, to prevent them from becoming spoiled brats.
“When did you become so nagging? Hurry up, I’m coming downstairs.”
“Alright,” Nie Yan reluctantly agreed. He knew Tang Yao’s personality well—asking him not to gamble was impossible. He just hoped he could remind Tang Yao to be more cautious.
In his previous life, Nie Yan had skipped out because he hadn’t fully recovered from an illness. He had heard that Tang Yao lost more than 3,000 credits that time.
Nie Yan quickly showered and changed clothes before heading downstairs.
“Why are you so slow?”
As Nie Yan reached the bottom of the stairs, Tang Yao arrived in a hovercar, stopping beside him.
Nie Yan suppressed his inner excitement. It had been a long time since he last saw Tang Yao. The current Tang Yao was still a short, chubby kid. Like Nie Yan, he only grew tall in their senior year of high school. Back then, Tang Yao was handsome and charming, very different from now.
“I took a shower.”
“Get in, get in, hurry up. I barely managed to sneak out. My dad will call me to help him soon,” Tang Yao urged.
Nie Yan opened the car door and got in.
“It’s been almost a year since we last saw each other. You haven’t grown taller.”
“Neither have you,” Nie Yan smiled. This familiar and warm feeling returned again. Tang Yao, we haven’t seen each other in almost three years.
“I lost more than 1,000 credits yesterday at PK Bar. I’m furious! I must win those guys’ pants off,” Tang Yao said angrily, stepping on the gas pedal. The hovercar shot forward like an arrow.
“Was it those guys from the black gang?” Nie Yan recalled, remembering a few people from his memories. They were local hooligans who had bullied him many times when he was in school.
“Yeah, them. I wanted to take revenge for you yesterday,” Tang Yao said, frustrated.
In Tang Yao’s mind, Nie Yan had always been timid and cowardly, someone who endured bullying without saying a word. Tang Yao had always protected Nie Yan. What Tang Yao didn’t know was that the current Nie Yan was no longer the timid and fearful one from before.
“Hey, Master Tang, you’re here. You’re pretty punctual,” a dark-skinned, thin teenager approached. His clothes hadn’t been washed for days, and his speech carried a rough, streetwise tone.
His name was Wei Kai. Because of his dark skin, he was nearly invisible at night. Nie Yan and Tang Yao had once suspected if he had African ancestry. They secretly called him Heiren (Blackie), and the nickname eventually spread. Wei Kai hated Nie Yan and Tang Yao for it, but he was a bit afraid of Tang Yao because Tang’s father was the general manager of Linzhou Airlines. So he often picked on Nie Yan instead.
Behind Wei Kai were five younger boys, all his gang members.
“Nie Yan is here too. Tsk tsk, we haven’t taught him a lesson yet.”
The boys glanced at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan had heard in his previous life that Wei Kai had committed some crimes and fled to another star system, and there had been no news of him since. In this reborn life, Nie Yan psychologically didn’t take these small-time hooligans seriously. As for the past bullying, was it meaningful to pursue it now?
“Don’t worry, I’m here. They won’t dare do anything to you,” Tang Yao whispered reassuringly to Nie Yan.
Nie Yan nodded.
Tang Yao gave Nie Yan a second glance. Nie Yan seemed unusually calm today, thinking to himself that Nie Yan had become braver.
“Less talk, do you have money?” Tang Yao asked Wei Kai.
“Relax, I brought 2,000 credits, but today’s venue fee is still on you,” Wei Kai said, waving a bank card.
“You’re haggling over a hundred-credit venue fee…” Tang Yao sneered disdainfully.
“I’m not as rich as Master Tang. We common folks can only haggle over small change,” Wei Kai replied cheerfully, not getting angry.
From an adult perspective, Nie Yan re-examined Wei Kai. Though just a hooligan, Wei Kai had a shrewdness in his street smarts. People like Wei Kai, who had lived rough on the streets, had seen a lot.
“Pfft, you’re only so proud because of your rich dad. What’s so great about that?”
The few boys behind Wei Kai looked at Tang Yao with disdain and started cursing.
Tang Yao was a good friend, and his sharp words today were mostly due to Wei Kai and his gang’s constant bullying of Nie Yan.
Ignoring the boys, Tang Yao walked to the bar counter, threw 200 credits on it, and said, “Boss, open a private room. Keep the change. Have the waiter bring some drinks, not cola.”
“Room six. Here’s your room card,” the boss handed Tang Yao a card.
“Master Tang, please,” Wei Kai smiled, his eyes glancing at Nie Yan. Their eyes met, and Nie Yan looked at him calmly.
Wei Kai was slightly surprised. Nie Yan today seemed different. In the past, Nie Yan would show fear and timidity when seeing him, but today, he was unusually calm.
The group headed toward room six.
Nie Yan and the others entered the private room, which was divided into two areas, each with five reclining machines. Players could engage in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 matches. For team battles, a larger room was needed.
Nie Yan and Tang Yao entered one area, closed the door, and were separated from Wei Kai and others by glass.
“How many levels is Blackie?” Nie Yan asked Tang Yao.
“Level-three Frenzy Swordsman.” Yesterday, he played ten matches and only won three. After returning home, he had his father’s subordinate get him a skill book for Arcane Blast, switched to an Arcane Mage bronze set, and was ready to win back what he lost yesterday.
Ten matches, each worth 200 credits.
“What skills do you have?” Nie Yan asked. He had played Faith for years, although he hadn’t played Arcane Mage. He might not have eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run. He had fought against Arcane Mages countless times and had some understanding of them.
“Arcane Missile, Arcane Fireball, Arcane Flame, Arcane Blast, Arcane Regeneration,” Tang Yao listed casually. He didn’t think Nie Yan knew much about Faith. He had already reached level three, while Nie Yan was only level two.
“How much health and mana?”
“120 health, 150 mana,” Tang Yao replied. His equipment was quite good among level-three Arcane Mages.
“Did Blackie learn Charge?”
Nie Yan was puzzled. With such equipment, why did Tang Yao lose last time?
“He did.”
“No wonder,” Nie Yan realized. After learning Charge, a Frenzy Swordsman could be very effective against an Arcane Mage if used properly.
“The match is about to start,” Tang Yao said, picking up the VR headset.
Tang Yao would probably lose again. Nie Yan thought for a moment and decided to watch. If Tang Yao lost too badly, he would step in.
They swiped their IDs on the equipment, put on the VR headsets. The equipment here would automatically extract the player data from the Faith database, make a copy, and they could compete here. Since it was a copy, it had no relation to Faith itself.
Everyone entered the game. Nie Yan and the five boys were assigned to the audience seats. The battlefield was random. The first match was in the mountains.
Mountainous terrain was very advantageous for an Arcane Mage.
Tang Yao and Wei Kai prepared themselves. With a system prompt sound, the match began.
“Hey, kid, long time no see. Not bad, level-two Swift Thief. Want to play a match?” One of the five boys said. Nie Yan vaguely remembered this guy’s name was Shi Feng.
Level 2 Combat Rogue!
Combat Rogue and Swift Thief were fundamentally different. The Combat Rogue had a more refined title, known as the Ranger. Like the Swift Thief, they possessed stealth skills, but they focused more on combat, typically wielding short swords and excelling in close-quarters combat.
Different class characteristics, with no clear superiority or inferiority. In Faith, there was no weakest class, only the weakest players.
Nie Yan glanced at Shi Feng and said indifferently, “You’re not worthy. Choosing a class like Ranger that lacks technicality, you really have no taste.”
“You’re asking for a beating. Do you think I won’t beat you up outside?” Shi Feng didn’t expect Nie Yan, who had always been timid and obedient, to dare to speak disrespectfully, so he cursed.
Nie Yan raised his eyebrows. What was there to fear from a few little kids? Although his body was still a bit weak, far from his peak condition in his previous life, with his martial arts skills, dealing with a few little kids was more than enough. These little hooligans were even a level below Wei Kai. They were just students who dressed roughly, spoke dirty words, and thought they were gangsters. They were still very immature. In fact, being a gangster was also a technical job.
“Have the guts to come down and fight me.”
“Just one match. I’m not interested if the stakes are too small,” Nie Yan said. Dealing with Shi Feng was easy for him.
“Kid, you’ve grown some spine. If I don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t know your place,” Shi Feng said, taking out a bank card. Nie Yan had become bolder lately. If he didn’t discipline him, he wouldn’t know his limits.
“Just one round. I have 700 credits here,” Nie Yan said, taking out his bank card and swiping it. The display showed more than 700 credits. For eighteen-year-old Nie Yan, this was a significant sum of money.
“Who has money? Lend me a few hundred first,” Shi Feng turned to the other boys.
“I have 200.”
“I have 100.”
“I have 100.”
After borrowing 400 credits, Shi Feng finally had 700. Shi Feng followed Wei Kai, but he was just a hooligan with no money.
Nie Yan glanced at the battle between Tang Yao and Wei Kai. Due to the mountainous terrain, Wei Kai’s Frenzy Swordsman couldn’t fully utilize his skills, so Tang Yao won the first match. The next one would be on flat terrain, and Nie Yan estimated Tang Yao would lose.
“Let’s go,” Nie Yan said, turning his gaze back to Shi Feng.
The scenery in front of them changed, and they were now in a jungle filled with lush plants. They were about fifty yards apart.
“Little brat, watch me teach you a lesson.”
Nie Yan smiled faintly. He was too lazy to argue with Shi Feng.
Shi Feng felt a bit uneasy. Why did Nie Yan seem so eerie today?
System: Match begins.
Nie Yan and Shi Feng simultaneously entered stealth mode.
Stealth was not invisibility. When thieves used stealth, their bodies blended with the background. If not observed carefully, it was hard to spot them. However, if one focused, one could still find clues.
Stealth tested a thief’s concealment skills and agility, while counter-stealth tested a player’s vision.
They were approaching each other. Nie Yan moved lightly, carefully avoiding leaves and branches, leaving no trace. After playing thief for so many years, it would be embarrassing if a novice like Shi Feng discovered him. Nie Yan’s eyes were sharp. A slight irregular tremor in the jungle branches nearby caught his attention. Focusing, he could see a blurry human shape and quickly locked onto Shi Feng’s position.
Shi Feng moved cautiously and slowly, observing carefully, but Nie Yan seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving no trace.
A thief’s concealment ability was greatly related to the background color. The more complex the background color, the easier it was to be discovered. If the background color was a single shade, even if the opponent observed carefully, it was hard to detect.
Like a stick insect attached to a bamboo pole, completely blending with the background, predators could walk right in front of it and still not notice its presence.
Concealment ability was also greatly related to a player’s control skills. The route and steps taken during stealth were very particular.
In Nie Yan’s view, he didn’t need to deliberately hide. His concealment movements were like instinct, deeply ingrained in his bones.
Ten years of being a thief—even a fool would become an expert. Let alone Nie Yan, whose talent was quite exceptional.
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