The Great Thief

Translator: Halcyon Translations, Exodus Tales  Editor: Halcyon Translations, Exodus Tales

After Ruling Sword decided the battlefield, Glory Capital conceded the Championship match!

This was the new headline for the media.

In any case, Ruling Sword had now become the new championship team. It had only been 6 months since their establishment. This speed was second only to Imperial Palace, who had burst onto the scene over 20 years ago.

Imperial Palace only took three months to take the championship title. There was basically no difference between these two events, but no one really remembered them anymore. There were just a few older players that kept it in their memory, and you could read about it in some old books.

Ruling Sword was different from Imperial Palace.

Imperial Palace was created by a local tycoon who had spent a lot of money to gather a number of professional players at that time. They had no club foundation, no long-term planning, and no rules or regulations. They didn’t even have a guild building. They were just like a sandcastle on the beach as they disappeared overnight because of a lack of funds.

Although Ruling Sword hadn’t been established for long, they had completed all the necessary preparations.

Looking back, Ruling Sword wasn’t as powerful as the older clubs, but they currently had a very strong foundation and their elite group was rapidly growing. They had also formed an alliance with Drizzle Court and Peerless City, which meant they were going to keep developing. They were even in the process of establishing training camps.

Lu Li was always reminding himself not to go down the same path as Imperial Palace.

He looked at his elated but tired teammates and knew that there was still a long way to go.

When they returned to headquarters, there was another celebration. After the busy night, Lu Li finally had some time to meet with the club members and seniors for a meeting.

“So we actually won – it feels like a dream. Everyone has worked hard.”

Their victory still felt surreal for Square Root 3.

From the Star Moon Guild’s treatment of Lu Li, he now saw the narrow and short-sightedness of that group of rich, second-generation college students. If Star Moon Guild had treated Lu Li with sincerity and gave him a sense of belonging, they would likely be receiving the glory today.

He hadn’t even needed that much convincing when he was invited to leave Star Moon Guild to join Ruling Sword.

Square Root 3 was tired of the traditional style of that guild. He wanted to try a different way and see how it would go. Even if it failed, it would only have set him back by one or two years. He wasn’t a professional player either, so his age didn’t matter as much.

However, he didn’t think that in such a short period of time he would be managing a champion’s guild.

“Take it easy. Although we did win and are happy, don’t forget the large gap between us and Glory Capital,” Lu Li said, bringing everyone back to reality.

“Even if Glory Capital didn’t concede, we still would have beaten them,” Fat Monkey said.

“No, that’s where you’re wrong. If we had to fight another match, we would probably lose,” Lu Li sighed as he shook his head before taking out a slip and feeding it into a machine. A string of data was read out as Lu Li explained, “This is what Mr Shen passed to me today. Now you will see what a major club truly is.”

The string of data being read out was from a purchase list. There were transactional records of materials, potions and equipment of varying levels from Gold to Epic. There was so much of everything and the rough value of all these transactions totalled at least 100 million.

Shen Wansan had first formed a relationship with Lu Li which later became a relationship with Ruling Sword. He was Lu Li’s best business partner.

All of Ruling Sword’s transactions basically went through Shen Wansan. After more than half a year of cooperation, everyone cherished this relationship. However, Shen Wansan was getting worried that Lu Li would become complacent from this victory, so he acquired this list from his peers.

At they present, Dawn was a game in which all the major clubs were still in the early stages of investment.

If you ignored the other factors, the guild with the most money and influence was still clear. There was no doubt that Lu Li had built this guild from scratch, but it was still impossible for him to compete with the other rich guilds.

“This transaction list has been made from 120 large Mercenary Groups. The number of rare materials involved are at least three times more than we are carrying. Do you think we could defeat them in a straight fight?”

Lu Li’s hand was empty now as the machine read out the full transaction record.

“And with these 16 Epic equips, Glory Capital managed to empty the largest stock that the gaming circle has ever had…”

“There is a fire resistance potion that is very useful for the next Instance Dungeon. Glory Capital has purchased the Alchemist that made the potions. I was shocked when I discovered this.”

“We had acquired many different items to give ourselves advantages in the competition, but we couldn’t use them all. For example, March Rain couldn’t show her trump card. The others also have something and even I do, but Glory Capital has even more…”

They had thoroughly enjoyed the day with all of its celebrations, but now it was time to cool down.

“We are still very far behind, so we need to keep working hard,” Lu Li said, then paused before asking Square Root 3, “How much money do we have, and how much can we get this time?”

“We are out of money,” Square Root 3 admitted, but there wasn’t any frustration in his voice. In fact, he was actually excited as he continued, “But we will be receiving income soon because we won the championship. We should have double the amount of normal ticket income, in addition to the various bonuses. 80 million is a conservative estimate.”

Lu Li’s eyeballs almost fell out at the sound of 80 million dollars.

“It’s just a pity that Glory Capital conceded on our home match, so we lost quite a bit of extra ticket revenue,” Square Root 3 said painfully.

Glory Capital had to pay the tournament organizers a penalty for pulling out, but Ruling Sword wouldn’t see any of that money. After all, Ruling Sword had won without fighting, which meant that they didn’t have to expend the effort.

“We should be content with what we have. It’s better than always wishing we had more,” Lu Li said optimistically.

Before he experienced rebirth, he only had enough money for food and clothing. He didn’t have the money to improve himself so that he could earn more. The little money he could save up wasn’t enough to help his sister. It wasn’t even enough for a doctor’s consultation, so he had no choice but to

watch as she slowly died.

After experiencing rebirth, he was still poor and relying on the little bit of money he had. The money he received in the beginning to obtain the helmet had to be borrowed Star Moon Guild.

But things were finally different now!

Ruling Sword had never been so rich. They never had more than 10 million in funds, and they usually only earned a few hundred thousand dollars, which usually had to be immediately spent. With this money, they could feel a little more relaxed and not worry about asking Water Fairy for funding to stay afloat.

Of course, Lu Li couldn’t use all 80 million dollars for the development of the guild.

They first had to pay 8 million to the government; it was a 10% tax for organizing the competition. Fortunately, there had been tax cuts to support the national gaming industry. Otherwise, the corporate tax that they would have needed to pay would have shrunk the money even further.

Then, some of it would need to be taken out as bonuses for the players.

According to common practice in the professional circles, this ratio was variable and was somewhere between 10% to 50%.

However, it wasn’t as easy as just choosing to give 10%. Only a small club that didn’t make any money or a unanimous agreement between the members would result in such an outcome. If a major club only gave 10%, the players wouldn’t be able to pay for their day to day expenses, let alone have enough to develop their strength.

When Glory Capital won the championship, they gave 50%, which meant that each of the players had plenty of money to strengthen themselves.

“Regarding the matter of the bonuses, I’m sorry, but you might be offended by the proportions.”

Lu Li could have let Square Root 3 make this announcement, but he decided to be the one to hurt their feelings. He couldn’t have Square Root 3 doing it all the time.

The meeting room fell silent; no one knew how to receive this announcement.

Although everyone in the room was willing to do whatever it took for their leader, they were also interested in making money. Everyone needed to eat and they also wanted to have the money to buy whatever they wanted without worrying about it.

If they went back to celebrate Lunar New Year and their relatives asked about how much they made, they would be embarrassed to say that they had made nothing.

Here, no one would have openly stood up to say that they didn’t want to get their bonuses. Even if they thought it, they wouldn’t say it.

For example, Fat Monkey didn’t really need this money. He felt like he just stayed inside all day playing video games and eating food that the club provided. On the surface, it seemed like he didn’t have much to spend the money on, yet he didn’t say that.

Although he didn’t necessarily want the money, he couldn’t stop others from making it.

Moonlight also lived quite a frugal life as he still continued to buy three-dollar packs of cigarettes. It would have been perfectly reasonable for him to take the money to improve his life and help his old friends.

Mu Qiu was playing to support his family.

The others also wouldn’t be able to happily get by on a meagre wage; many of them planned to buy their own house in Jiangnan City.

Lu Li saw that no one was talking so he just announced the proportions.

“This time, the club will take 50% – 30% for development and 20% for bonuses. We will all decide together on what to do with the remainder. Everyone can contribute their opinions. I’m not a dictator so I want to know your thoughts. Let’s not hide anything that would affect our relationship in the future.”

“In my opinion, this is a bit much,” Cat Dad said. He was one of the most experienced there, so his opinion was important. “As I see it, everyone could take this money, but it would soon be spent. I doubt that anyone here knows how to invest?”

If the players weren’t already offended previously, they were bound to say something now.

“We can still give it out, but if the guild needs money, I will be looking to borrow it from you guys.”

It wasn’t that Lu Li didn’t want the money, but he didn’t want everyone’s loyalty to be hurt because of short-term interests.

“How about we leave you to it? Square Root 3 and Wandering should stay here?” Cat Dad suggested.

“Okay, we’ll go to the small meeting room next door. Everyone, please discuss this matter on your own,” Lu Li said as he stood up and followed cat Dad out. As he exited the room, he told everyone to relax.

Square Root 3 also felt like this had to be further discussed while Wandering didn’t even hear what Lu Li said.

After the high-level executives left, the conference room was silent for a while.

All that was left now were the professional players. Regardless of whether they admitted it, there was a certain gap between them and Lu Li. When it came to these matters, it was difficult to talk about it directly.

“We all still want the money right?” Fat Monkey asked daringly.

“The guild is currently lacking money for development, especially in this trying time,” Moonlight said as he touched his chin. He had just shaved that morning and he felt a dull pain.

Moonlight had grown up as an orphan. Apart from smoking and drinking, he had no need for money as he was used to living in poverty. He was raised in his orphanage and had never forgotten about his experience there. The old friends that brought him into this virtual world were not doing too well and he regularly sent them money…

“I don’t mind. I almost have enough money to buy a house anyway.”

March Rain and Lonesome Flower were veterans with a share in the guild’s securities, so they had been receiving constant dividends.

Although it wasn’t much, they were able to buy an apartment together in the same neighbourhood as the club.

The others also shared their own opinions, but the consensus was that they still wanted to be paid. They had been working so hard, so why couldn’t they be compensated in return?

Some people wanted a home while others just wanted some spending money. Money that was just being held in their accounts wouldn’t do much good for anyone. Eventually, they came up with an idea. Those who wanted to spend the money on something would take it while the rest would be left to Lu Li for guild development.

Lu Li and the others were also discussing what to do with their new funds.

“According to what you’ve said, 50% won’t work,” Wandering said as he shook his head. “Just do the math – if you subtract 8 million from 80 million in taxes, there is more than 70 million left. If you split that by half, you’re left with 36 million. Of this 36 million, you have to set aside at least 10 million for guild welfare…”

“About 8 million will also need to be divided among the top shareholders,” Lu Li added.

“So the club would be left with less than 20 million. What can the club do with this? Go to a gaming café together?” Wandering unceremoniously mocked the outcome.

“20 million won’t get us very far. It might not even get us to the next competition, unless we allow for external financing,” Square Root 3 smiled bitterly as he rubbed his hands. They were actually able to do quite a bit with 20 million under normal development speeds, but they had just taken the championship, so why wouldn’t they try to accelerate development?

“External financing,” Lu Li sighed but still shook his head resolutely.

Whether it was because of his upbringing or his stubbornness, he would never accept the help of those capitalists.

“In fact, I have always wondered why you didn’t just get some virtual stocks?” Cat Dad couldn’t help but raise this matter for discussion. “I know external financing has many drawbacks, especially in the current market, but we can still release virtual stocks.”

“Virtual stocks?” Lu Li felt like the term was familiar.

He had previously studied this topic, but unfortunately, he only partially understood it and couldn’t learn much from his studies.

“There are many clubs that make use of virtual stocks. It is a virtual equity issued by the club for specific incentives. The class of stockowners would enjoy a payout of dividends and appreciation, but no ownership. They would have no voting rights, transfer or sale rights and their right to the stocks would lapse if they left the club…” Cat Dad explained.

Lu Li was quite tempted by this solution, as it could solve his concerns while also benefiting everyone.

“All you have to do is decide the amount of virtual stock you want to release. You can’t release too much as it would make the stock worthless. Although the stock is virtual, the money behind it is real,” Cat Dad reminded.

After discussing this method further, Lu Li decided to adopt it.

In fact, there was no need to release too many virtual stocks. As long as the money invested by everyone had a safe appreciation, it would be better than a bank with less risk than an investment. If it worked out, it would be a good result for everyone.

When they returned to the meeting room to propose this, they received unanimous consent.

They had originally already decided to lend the club the money without any expectations of dividends. For someone like March Rain who had been there since the beginning, their dividends had always been a point of envy among the others.

The payment of dividends by the club was not only to satisfy the individual’s financial interests but also to give the people a strong sense of belonging in the club.

The harder they worked, the more money they would make.

This way, the money that could be used to develop the club was increased to 50 million, which was significantly more. All they had to do was think about the problem from the different angle.

Although dividends came with some cost, this was negligible compared to the 50 million.

With this 50 million, Lu Li finally felt some confidence.

Regardless of how Glory Capital intended to fight, Ruling Sword would be able to meet them. No matter how things went, regardless of whether it was a fluke, the champions were undisputedly Ruling Sword.