The Great Thief

Oftentimes, you would just have to admit that some people were luckier than others. You could work tirelessly to achieve something, but for others, it would be simple and easy.

From another perspective, you could only see what they won. How would you be able to understand how much effort they had given in the first place? As such, Lu Li never really bothered paying attention to what tricks the others had used.

His rules were simple; he just aimed to do the best that he could.

He logically combined his skills and special effects so that he could maintain a steady pace throughout the whole competition without using up all of his stamina.

The Hunter who was originally ranked first place clearly didn’t have a solid foundation like Old Man Power. He quickly used up all of his movement speed boost skills and still couldn’t resist against the fate of being overtaken. Not only did Old Man Power overtake him, but even Lu Li quickly passed him too.

The audience was divided into three parties.

One party supported Old Man Power from the Gangnam Royals. Another supported Lu Li, who was from Ruling Sword, while the rest were hanging around to see the results. Whoever won the championship in the end didn’t really matter to them at all.

Compared to the other parties, Lu Li was slightly more popular.

After all, he was an average player from an average background who had managed to create miracle after miracle. In the hearts of the ordinary, Lu Li was like their textbook to success. Who knew? They could become the next Lu Li.

On the other hand, the Gangnam Royals had always kept a high profile. No one knew how many people they had crossed over the years.

It was not hard to find threads on forums that badmouthed the Gangnam Royals, or players in particular from the guild. The playerbase was nothing more than a herd of blind sheep who loved to follow others. It wasn’t hard for them to turn their backs against the Gangnam Royals.

Regardless of how they felt, they couldn’t influence the results of the competition anyway.

“More than half of the last stage has already been finished, but there is still a gap in between them. Is the champion for today going to be Old Man Power?” Jiang Gu was just a trading skill player. In this last stage, he could only analyze based on his own instincts.

“What makes a competition exciting? A comeback – I think Lu Li still has a chance,” Li Yidong said. He was already saving some of Jiang Gu’s face for him.

Any average player could tell that Old Man Power had casted too many skills and special effects too frequently. It wouldn’t be long before he couldn’t keep up anymore, but Lu Li had only used two to three average movement speed boost skills in the fifth stage.

The gap between them was steadily closing.

The fans who cheered for Old Man Power didn’t sound so enthusiastic anymore. Perhaps they had seen something, or perhaps they were just tired.

“Then, Lu Li can still win?” Jiang Gu wasn’t unhappy at all; he wanted to hear the analysis of a professional too.

“It’s hard to guarantee a 100% victory, but Lu Li definitely shouldn’t be performing like the way he is now. He must still have some incredible aces up his sleeves,” Li YiDong said with a weird expression, then added, “But if he’s planning to make a final sprint, I’m worried that he might not succeed.”

This wasn’t a real marathon after all. In a match in real life, it wasn’t hard to make a good estimate on how much stamina a competitor had left, and if they could make another sprint at the end.

However, this was a different story in a game. If Lu Li planned to make a final sprint as his comeback, but Old Man Power was withholding an ace, then he would not necessarily succeed.

“He’s speeding up,” Jiang Gu said, raising his voice.

With one third of the track remaining, Lu Li began to increase his speed.

He used anything that he could – Wirt’s Third Leg, teleports, flashes – it seemed like a personal show for Lu Li. All the audience could see was a player constantly flashing forward at a rapid speed on the tracks.

Old Man Power panicked; he couldn’t keep his ace anymore.

A light emitted from him as he transformed into a Fire Druid and his speed received a big boost.

Old Man Power’s new transformation was certainly powerful; it was even better than Child of the Forest form with another stack of Stampeding Roar on top. His overall speed was more than doubled.

At this rate, he would be able to reach the final goal in less than a minute, so he still had some hope of winning.

Phantom Cloak (Dark Gold): Armour 65, Agility +40, Strength +20, Constitution +10, Movement Speed +15%. Special Effect 1: Phantom Swiftness, increases movement speed by 200% for 30 seconds after use. 2-minute cooldown. Can only be used out of combat. Special Effect 2: Phantom Assault, three illusions appear behind a target. Each phantom has 40% attack power and lasts for 20 seconds. 30 minute cooldown. Special Effect 3: Hidden Mirage. Enters Stealth upon use. Stealth effect is increased by 200% and movement speed increased by 300%. Equipment Requirement: Level 45. Exclusive for Thieves. Durability 150/150.

Lu Li used special effect three first, ignoring the Stealth. The most important aspect of this special effect was the 300% movement speed boost.

After six seconds, he had successfully passed by Old Man Power.

When the movement speed buff ran out, he used the first special effect.

This was a cape that he had borrowed from Water Fairy. He didn’t get to use it last time during the preliminaries, but this was his real ace.

A competition was a double test on both stamina and wisdom. You didn’t necessarily have to run fast – you just had to run faster than the others.

Lu Li believed that Old Man Power still had other aces. After all, he had never felt like he was facing any real threat from anyone else. Although Old Man Power never underestimated Lu Li, he was still baited by his temporary advantage.

No one would use all of their aces in one go; this was the same for competitors.

Even though this was just a marathon match, no one was specifically exposing their equipment, skills, attributes or techniques. Even so, you would still find a number of analysis threads on the forums later.

These threads would detail Old Man Power’s jumping tactics, the possible equipment and skills that could match up against Lu Li’s seven movement speed boost effects, the eight-skill combination that could beat a mobile competitor…

They would analyze you from the inside-out under a microscope.

It wasn’t the best feeling at all, and if they got anything right, this was a handicap that your competitors could potentially use against you.