The Great Thief
chapter-296

Chapter 296: A Sense Of Danger

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The changes in the level rankings had given Lu Li a sense of danger.

He had been able to speed past the other players in the early stages of the game, whether it was in

terms of levels or First Clears, because of his rebirth.

However, he had since learnt one crucial thing: rebirth wasn’t the be all and end all.

As time went by and the other players’ technique improved with disciplined training, the gap between

them was closing.

Skill Completion was one example of this. When he was hitting 80% Skill Completion in the Novice

Village, the high-level players at the time could only hit 50% Skill Completion, even after intense

practice.

While he was able to perform a 95% Skill Completion now, there were many people who were able to

reach 90% Skill Completion.

Slowly but surely, the other players would close in on his 95%.

Because it was really hard to get past 95%, he would inevitably be caught up to or even overtaken.

When they caught up to him in Skill Completion and when he no longer had a significant advantage in

levels or equipment, what would Lu Li use against the other players?

As such, Lu Li didn’t let the 2 million dollars go to his brain. The first thing he did after getting the money

was go levelling, rather than indulging in his desires.

There were some monster areas near the Deadwind Pass. Lu Li chose a quiet spot and started grinding.

Just like when he first started playing the game, he continuously practiced every skill, from the simplest

to the most powerful. Every dagger had a different shape which meant a different style…

This was a really boring process, but Lu Li didn’t feel tired at all.

As someone who grew up poor, he had developed an endurance that an ordinary person didn’t have. He

could take suffering and endure loneliness.

He kept up these repetitive movements until the System told him that the day was about to end.

It was only then that he felt completely exhausted.

The journey through the qualifiers, the regular competition and the top 100 had been a blur. It was now

the fifth day of the Shadow Cup Tournament.

Those who had managed to get into the top 100 were either from strong guilds, or were really well

coordinated teams. The teams from the Xin Xin Mercenary Group were quite unique in that regard.

They were similar to fireflies in the darkness and had received a lot of attention.

It was said that these two teams had become really popular in the underground gambling ring. There

were countless people waiting for them to win or to lose.

This attention also made them even more popular, making admission tickets even harder to get.

The top 100 was nothing like the qualifying rounds. Now, the system would allocate teams for each

match and the match would only begin when both teams entered the arena.

The content of the matches had also changed.

The new match consisted of two elements – an individual element and a group element.

The individual element required teams to send out one member each to fight. Winning this round would

earn that team one point.

After a one-hour break, the two teams would then fight each other and the winner of that fight would

earn that team two points.

Using this point system, the 16 teams with the highest points would proceed to the finals.

Lu Li was first in the top 100 and unfortunately had to go up against the Gods of Dusk’s team.

Gods of Dusk was the third-ranking guild in China and had sent their star player, ‘Wood Fearing’. Wood

Fearing was an aggressive thief and was quite strong.

However, two of their teams had entered into top 100 and Lu Li wasn’t facing the main team. As such,

he had lost his opportunity to face Wood.

“The other team has a Warrior, Warlock and Druid. Who do you think they will send out?” Moonlight

asked.

“I don’t know.” Lu Li shook his head.

“Actually, we don’t really need to know,” Moonlight smiled and said with fearless confidence. “You go,

I’ll go next round.”

It was true – it didn’t really matter who the other side sent. It didn’t matter whether it was the Warlock

or the Warrior, as they wouldn’t have any advantage against Moonlight or Lu Li.

Lu Li didn’t waste any time. He coated his dagger with poison and began to observe the map.

The jungle terrain was generally considered to be a home to Thieves and Druids. The God of Luck had

really unnecessarily blessed him this time.

After Lu Li wandered the jungle for a while, he quickly discovered his opponent.

It was a Warlock with a Succubus pet standing in an open space in the jungle. The place where he was

standing was surrounded with water puddles.

This player had a good eye. He had been able to find a favorable location, even in the jungle

environment. He didn’t know if he was going to be up against a Warrior or a Thief, but he couldn’t go

wrong by leaving an open field of view.

Lu Li headed towards him and stopped 30 yards short of the Warlock.

The puddles on the ground could affect his Stealth, but Lu Li had two equips on him that gave him bonus

Stealth, so the effect was probably negligible.

Lu Li slowly closed in on his opponent and the audience who had paid to watch this match held their

breath. A portion of the audience were Thieves who were intently watching to learn some techniques.

These matches were the best place to learn new techniques.

Those who were able to get to this point in the competition were the best in their professions. These

players were also unable to hide, especially with the keen eyes of the commentators analyzing them, so

this was the perfect time to learn.

Of course, how much you could actually personally gain was dependent on the person.

“He’s walking very conservatively, which is perfect for an environment like this.” Dark Wind had even

analyzed Lu Li’s walking method.

Everything from Lu Li’s target selection, to observing the opponent’s field of view, to closing in on the

opponent was analyzed.

Even the dumbest of noob Thieves and other professions could benefit from this analysis.

Lu Li’s opponent, the poor Warlock, had all of his precautions rendered pointless by Lu Li. He simply

couldn’t see someone continuously closing in on his back.

“This Warlock player from the Gods of Dusk is finished,” Dark Wind concluded with a sigh.

Before he knew it, Lu Li was behind him and had made his first attack. The Warlock quickly ordered his

pet to attack him, but the Thief who had activated Shadow Cloak simply didn’t care about the pet’s

attacks.

After a couple of seconds, the Warlock was a corpse and Lu Li had barely lost a third of his HP.

The next round was the group match. It was clear that Lu Li was very powerful individually, but their

opponents had a very conservative composition – a Warrior in the front and a Warlock at the back with

the Druid. The three of them were itching to fight together.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that they were definitely going to lose.

Their composition had no dispelling skills, nor did it have any defensive skills. Their whole strategy was

based around the Warlock’s Fear and the Warrior’s attacks. Their defense was simply terrible.

Moonlight cast a damage reduction skill and rushed right at them, while Lu Li applied some crowd

control. This unexpected sudden burst threw the other team into chaos.

This time, Lu Li and his team didn’t focus-fire the Druid, but chose the Warlock as their target.

Without enough protective skills, the opposing Warrior had no way of saving the Warlock from this

focus-fire. As for the Druid, his specialty was in mobility, not in his ability to save.

The Warlock could only think of one thing, “Why is it always me?”

As he continued to flail in vain, he was cast out of the arena 1 minute and 22 seconds after the match

started.

Lu Li’s team had won again and had gained two more points.

They had won both the individual and group portion of the match and had gained a perfect three points.