The Great Thief

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

“Mr Harris, I completed my quest thanks to your potion,” a player said as he squeezed in, which attracted the glares of some who were in the queue. However, the players mostly didn’t care because he was completing a quest.

“Oh, it’s my friend, Phone Cover. Congratulations – I will now teach you Kidney Shot,” Lu Li said as he smiled slyly.

The quest was difficult and rewarding. Not only did Lu Li teach the other player a skill, but he also gave him some EXP and Prestige. He had the authority to do so, but unfortunately, he couldn’t keep the rewards for himself. Otherwise, he definitely would have been greedy and kept half for himself.

The business was actually getting better and better.

When Lu Li finally got off duty, he found that he had entered the top 20 on the Level Rankings. He felt like the half a day he had spent doing that had given him more EXP than one full day of farming.

Moreover, he was also gaining Prestige at the same time. There was no need to worry about the next time he wanted to learn an Enhanced skill.

However, Lu Li couldn’t do this forever. Even if he could easily reach the top of the Level Rankings in this way, this shortcut would weaken his fighting ability. He would just be strong in level, but not in technique. It would be a waste.

After all, levels were not the only thing that mattered in this game.

This period of time had been the most relaxing day since Lu Li experienced Rebirth. It was also the happiest day he had.

His sister’s condition was improving every day. She could now run and jump without Lu Li worrying about her. They had seen a few more experts, who had said that she was a healthy young girl. As long as she continued on like this, she would have no problems growing to a 100 years old.

Lu Li could barely even remember the days when his sister would be sickly and lying in bed.

She was so thin and her body was so bony. She was pale like paper and it seemed difficult for her to breathe.

But now, she was a little girl who would run wildly through the garden with several other girls her age. She was even more cheerful than when they were in the Common District together.

Although Lu Li was short of money, he wasn’t poor.

He had status. The secretary of the City Council had been in contact with Ruling Sword. If there was anything wrong, he could have it resolved. Even the schools in the Common District were now becoming better, as he had helped to find a few teachers for them.

The gangsters of the Common District, despite their reluctance, were sent into the game.

In that dark and barbaric place, Lu Li didn’t want to be their godfather anymore, but he also couldn’t let them continue down that path. It was better to send them into the game than to send them to jail.

In this era, the Common Districts that were produced as a result of two world wars should have already been eradicated by now.

In fact, the Government had been supporting virtual games so fervently because they could solve some social problems. When smart machines replaced human workers, the humans would grow restless if they didn’t have something to do.

Lu Li would occasionally play the role of an NPC, go levelling with Water Fairy, deal with some matters regarding the club or spend some time with his sister. He didn’t have time for much more.

However, he also knew that he had to defeat many of his rivals before he could properly enjoy the things he had established.

As such, he had form a new and even more powerful team.

After level 60, the players would be ushered into an era of multi-person Instance Dungeons. Most mainstream clubs would grow to a size of 40 members to meet this demand.

The first player to source was the Main Tank. Lu Li needed a high-defense Warrior and an off-tank. This wasn’t an issue as Azure Sea Breeze and Wandering had been partners for a very long time. They understood each other and how to work together.

The next were the Thieves, as they would be the main damage output professions in the Molten Core.

However, in the Molten Core Instance Dungeon, the level of the monsters would be around level 62. This would greatly reduce their attack power, and the fact that Thieves didn’t have much HP but still attacked from close range meant that they would be sacrificed the most in as well.

As such, the Thieves needed to be very experienced. They needed to know how to use various skills while commanding excellent control of positioning and aggro.

If they were to complete the Molten Core Instance Dungeon, they needed at least three Thieves to participate in damage output. Lu Li planned to select one from his own guild and then invite Water Fairy to join their Molten Core run.

The strength of two clubs was always better than a single club.

Priests were the most suitable healers here, as they could shield the team and dispel any debuffs. The most important skill was their ability to dispel debuffs, so even having two Priest Healers wasn’t excessive.

Like some other healers, the status of Shamans in Molten Core was a bit awkward.

This time, in addition to the damage output Shaman Sakura Memories, Lu Li planned to find another Shaman healer with Bloodlust. A Shaman’s healing skills required a lot of mana and Purification could only be used to remove an enemy’s buff. It couldn’t be used for your own debuffs.

Druid healers were largely unaffected in this Instance Dungeon, and another damage output Druid could be brought onto to team. Lu Li also liked the Druid’s Resurrect skill.

The Paladin Healer Darkness was someone who had been trained in the Glory Capital Youth Training Camp. Her battle awareness was relatively good, and her techniques were solid. She was the best choice for a healing Main Tank.

Lu Li actually wanted to find another tank healer, as two of them would come in handy.

Because of their association with the Night Watchmen Legion, Ruling Sword attracted many Paladins. However, most of these were damage output Paladins, and there weren’t many tank healers that satisfied Lu Li’s requirements.

When the time came, he would probably have to borrow someone from Drizzle Court. They likely had at least one strong tank healer.

For the Molten Core Instance Dungeon, Lu Li also planned to bring a few Mages.

He didn’t have the expectation that they would produce a high damage output. When the Mages entered this Instance Dungeon, they had to change their expectations. In the Molten Core, they were there as the Healer’s assistants and not as a mobile turret.

Lu Li wasn’t trying to deny the damage output status of Mages in Instance Dungeons, as most of the time they would deal far more damage than Thieves would.

However, this Instance Dungeon was different. If a Mage tried to deal as much damage as they could, there would only be two possible outcomes. The first was Over-Threat, which would result in the monsters rushing over to attack them. The second was running out of mana, and becoming a waste of space. Even worse, they wouldn’t be able to dispel debuffs if they were out of mana, and that would mean the group would be wiped.

In fact, Lu Li even planned to replace Fat Monkey with another Ice Mage as Fire Mages had little purpose in the Molten Core.

As a magic profession, Warlocks were also quite important in this Instance Dungeon.

For most of the Molten Core monsters, the Warlock’s Exile was the only viable means of crowd-control. Sesame Rice Ball’s Bloodstone would give the team extra HP if they couldn’t be healed in time. HP potions, Bloodstones and Bandages were all useful things to have to keep their teammates alive.

Additionally, the binding of a Soulstone also gave a Healer or a Main Tank the equivalent of one extra life.

Hunters could finally find recognition in this Instance Dungeon.

They were one of the best ranged damage output professions in the Molten Core, and could provide considerable DPS with their normal attacks even if they ran out of mana. Because of their long range and their Feign Death skill, they could easily save themselves in a Boss battle too.

Their various traps were also very useful.

While Paladin Healers were a necessity, Lu Li also had another serious problem to deal with. He had to bring enough Defensive Paladins. Forty players meant that they would be split into 8 teams, but a Paladin’s aura could only cover one smaller team.

This meant that if you added all the Paladin Healers and Defensive Paladins, Lu Li would have 8 Paladins.

Fortunately, most of the Paladins wouldn’t be wasting any space. The benefits of the Paladin Healer and Defensive Paladins were obvious. If a damage output Paladin had good items, their damage was actually not much worse than a Thief or a Warrior.

The basic composition that Lu Li decided on was three Priests (two Healers and one Shadow Priest), three Warriors (two defensive Warriors and one damage output Warrior), two Ice Mages, three Warlocks, three Thieves, two Druids, two Shamans, three Hunters and an uncertain number of Paladins.

That was the general composition, but it would be subject to change for certain Bosses.

As such, he also had to arrange for some players to be on standby outside the Instance Dungeon. The Molten Core was deserving of such a careful arrangement because this was Dawn’s largest and most difficult Instance Dungeon.