The Great Thief

No matter how the voices clamoured, the System still presented the results of the match.

6:10!

Glory Capital previously had a lead with 5:4, but the score of the second round was 1:6, leaving them with a final score of 6:10.

With this score, they were basically doomed. No matter how many Glory Capital players were playing, no matter how many pieces of Epic equipment they had and no matter how hard they worked, it would be difficult to come back from this.

You could endlessly analyse the possible scores of the next match, but it wouldn’t mean anything.

You wouldn’t be able to make a comeback within the individual rounds, as the difference between these two clubs wasn’t that large. Even if Glory Capital played superbly, they would likely only end with a score of 5:3. Moreover, the next team round would be a map chosen by Ruling Sword. Glory Capital was unlikely to be able to achieve a score like 6:3 unless if they attempted a strategy that was as dumbfounding as the one they saw today.

Lu Li was actually still dumbfounded too.

The way that the day had played out was completely beyond what he had imagined.

Perhaps Drizzle Court was not a big threat to Glory Capital, and they were confident enough to defeat them. The videos that Lu Li used to watch didn’t feature Glory Capital taking the snow monster buffs.

However, Ruling Sword was clearly different. Glory Capital obviously felt a lot of pressure when facing this new generation club.

Speaking of which, Ruling Sword wasn’t actually that strong. If you didn’t have any money, then you wouldn’t have any players and therefore no development potential. It was really just the one team that was good at doing Instance Dungeons and killing veteran players.

Because they had acquired the First Clear so many times, and it was always announced in the World Channel, the average player knew the name Ruling Sword. Over time, it was natural for these players to compare Ruling Sword to these older clubs, and to think that Ruling Sword had surpassed them.

As for the old clubs, they were just in tears. From the initial Shadow Cup to the Magic Cup and finally the professional league, they had no idea where Ruling Sword had come from.

Ruling Sword’s line up was just wonderful.

The earliest sign of this was iron triangle of Lu Li, Moonlight and March Rain. Sakura Memories was later added with her Bloodlust. They had no regard for their opponent’s line up or tactics. They would just cast Bloodthirst and frantically deal their damage. It was quite a useful strategy at the time when no one else had a Shaman with this skill.

Later, when the players acquired more damage reduction skills, the Bloodlust effect was not as game-changing. However, Ruling Sword found Fat Monkey and Kitty Likes Meat.

If Lu Li, Moonlight, and March Rain were already stable star players, then Kitty Likes Meat and Fat Monkey were their talented newcomers. They had no idea how Ruling Sword found these individuals. When the other clubs trained a batch of new players, it would be considered good fortune if one of them demonstrated potential. However, Ruling Sword seemed to just be constantly running into good players.

This was why Glory Capital was fighting at 120%, because they were afraid of what Ruling Sword could do.

This was also the reason why Sorrowless had chosen to take the buff. He knew that he just needed a few of the buffs to beat Ruling Sword into submission.

If his plan had worked and Lu Li didn’t attract a group of these snow monsters, then an all-out fight between the two sides would definitely result in a clear victory. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up with the changes to the circumstances. The swarming snow monsters made Glory Capital’s contingencies irrelevant.

Sorrowless: My technique is still the best.

Lu Li: But you’ve lost.

Sorrowless: We are all equipped with Epic equipment, and I even have a Legendary item.

Lu Li: But you’ve lost.

Sorrowless: We’ve developed a variety of tactics…

Lu Li: Buy you still lost.

Regardless of what Sorrowless said, he couldn’t respond to this. In any case, Glory Capital had lost the team round on their home turf.

Even though the results of the competition had been released, the players still had to come out of the arena to see the people. The virtual audience wasn’t counted, but there were still tens of thousands of viewers gathered in the stadium to watch them.

As the winners, the Ruling Sword players walked out first and the audience’s cheers reached a climax.

No matter how they had won, they had won nonetheless. Lu Li wasn’t crying about it and neither were the Ruling Sword fans. In fact, there was a loud cheer as the whole venue erupted.

As this was a home game, there were obviously more Glory Capital fans. It was likely that more than 80% of audience were Glory Capital fans.

According to social conventions, even if your team lost, you still had to be graceful and applaud. Unfortunately, many of these players didn’t want to clap, which left the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

Glory Capital players had now come out too.

These players hadn’t experienced what it was like to lose very often, as they had not lost for the last several years.

Since they were the losers, it would have been better for them to leave earlier, but this would make the people think that they were unsportsmanlike. They had to stay for a while and endure the cheers for the winners.

Sorrowless had actually raised his head and was clapping too.

His team members hesitated for a second before following the applause. The applauding sound seemed to have a magical power as it filled the entire room.

In the spirit of having some kind of friendship beyond the match, the two teams also had to say something.

“Congratulations – that was quite a beautiful win,” Sorrowless said, as he and Lu Li shook hands. His expression was sincere and he put forward a demeanour deserving of a major club leader.

“Oh, it was just a bit of luck,” Lu Li dismissed as he smiled bitterly.

Luck? It was perhaps a bit of luck, but Sorrowless took that as Lu Li taunting him, although it wasn’t his intention to do so.

Master Huang also saw that Sorrowless’ face was a bit pale, so he came over and said a few words for Glory Capital before taking them off stage. This stage was for the winners, and no matter how graceful they were, they couldn’t but feel sorrow while standing there.

However, they weren’t finished yet. There was still a press conference this evening and both sides had to attend.

The result of the game was so abrupt that all the media outlets had arrived and the interview would be quite intense. They had all expected to see another round, but who would have thought it would just become a formality?

The game company hadn’t issued a statement, but following the practice of previous years, they wouldn’t say anything unless there was the possibility of cheating. In other words, the champions of this competition were basically Ruling Sword.

At the press conference in the evening, Lu Li didn’t see Sorrowless when he arrived.

After asking the staff, he learned that the press conference would be led by Master Huang. Sorrowless wasn’t able to attend the press conference because he had to deal with some guild matters.

Lu Li was a little anxious. It wasn’t that he was worried about Sorrowless. He felt that if he hit Sorrowless too hard, they would start using Ruling Sword as their primary target. Ruling Sword wouldn’t fare too well if he did.

At this time, Glory Capital was a huge organisation. They had the focus of the entire gaming industry and their influence even extended into other industries.

Sorrowless’ energy wasn’t even completely focused in Dawn, let alone Ruling Sword. At best, Sorrowless was the focus of Ruling Sword, but now that something like this had happened, Glory Capital obviously didn’t want to lose and would do anything to get back into the game.

The others didn’t think that far head, and even the old veteran Cat Dad was smiling.

As soon as they entered their respective positions, the press conference began. There were some reporters from various media outlets that had just rushed in from the airport.

“Hello Master Huang, I am sorry that Glory Capital lost the game. Can you talk a bit about your opinions on this game?”

This opening question was usually first asked to the home club. The question would be the same regardless of whether they won, so it was nothing unexpected.

“We trained very hard and played very well, so the outcome is regrettable,” Master Huang answered diplomatically. He was very experienced when it came to matters like these.

“Excuse me, but before this game, did you think that the match would play out like this?” someone couldn’t help but ask. This was just something reporters had to do.

“Nope. To be honest, we hadn’t even considered the possibility of losing this game,” Master Huang said calmly.

“So, are you saying that Glory Capital is not convinced on the outcome of this competition?”

No one could understand why, but this reporter’s questions were becoming less friendly. Perhaps he had placed a lot of money on Glory Capital to win.

Every match had a bet associated with it, especially the finals. Although gambling was illegal, that didn’t stop it from being ever pervasive.

However, professional players were definitely not allowed to gamble.

The first time you were caught doing so would result in a one-year suspension. The second time would result in disqualification unless you paid a large sum of money. If you were caught for a third time, then there was no way to get back into the arena, no matter what.

Master Huang’s expression didn’t change when he was met with such a question and calmly responded, “This is just what happened in the match. There is nothing to be convinced about.”

They all immediately understand what he was trying say. If Glory Capital had said that they were not convinced of the results, then all the major media outlets tomorrow would describe them as sore losers.

“Everyone still thinks that Glory Capital isn’t the weaker party. What do you think?”

This media outlet was obviously on Glory Capital’s side.

They were such a deeply-rooted club, so they obviously had some friends in the media. It could be said that at least half of the hundreds of people here had received something from Glory Capital.

“Although this is a bit of a slap in the face, if we tried again, I don’t think we would lose so badly. From a pure strength perspective, I don’t think Glory Capital has changed. We definitely have an advantage in the individual rounds, but in the team rounds we lost because of a lack of understanding of the map. Strength had nothing to do with it,” Master Huang spoke firmly.

“But in these Individual Rounds, you lost to someone from a younger generation. Isn’t that a gap in strength?”

This reporter seemed unsatisfied with the answer.

“I don’t feel any embarrassment from losing to someone from a younger generation. I am very happy that he had defeated me, as it made a perfect end to the final game of my career. I hope that the professional circle will continue to gain more newcomers to defeat their predecessors as it shows the that the game is heading in a good direction,” Master Huang answered smoothly.

“What do you think about Lu LI?” a reporter asked.

“I think he is an outstanding player,” Master Huang said without hesitation.

“How does he compare to Sorrowless?” The reporter wasn’t going to be satisfied with that answer as everyone knew Lu Li was an outstanding player.

“The two have different styles, so there is no need to compare them. They are both great players.”

Master Huang was the same as he was with his two axes when Lu Li had fought him in the arena. No matter what they asked, he would perfectly block them.

“What about Fat Monkey?”

Fat Monkey had been called one of the best players by Four Seas Dragon after his challenge against Sorrowless, despite the fact he lost.

“A promising newcomer who just lacks some systematic training,” Master Huang said after a pause, then added, “If he is willing to join Glory Capital and with the personal guidance of Sorrowless, he would definitely have the opportunity of standing at the peak of his profession. To be the Mage God might be something that could definitely be achieved in his life.”

The people that were present almost choked when they heard this. Master Huang was attempting to poach Ruling Sword’s player right in front of their faces.

Lu Li looked at the old guy with sorrowful resentment, and actually want to fight him in real life. However, Fat Monkey laughed and didn’t say anything. He wasn’t happy because he had been given a chance to go to Glory Capital; he was happy because a highly respected senior like Master Huang had given him such high regard.

There were probably no more than ten newcomers who had been personally invited like this by the youth training camp instructor.