Chapter 1 The Meeting

Nie Yan met with the NPC Kleimy.

"Young man, have you found the magic rune stones?" Kleimy asked when he saw Nie Yan.

"Yes."

"Give them to me. Since you're the first to guess all the riddles, you'll receive double the reward," Kleimy said, beginning to receive the magic rune stones Nie Yan handed over.

Hearing Kleimy's words, Nie Yan was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected such an unexpected reward. This way, handing in the magic rune stones to level up would be even more worthwhile.

Nie Yan handed the magic rune stones to Kleimy in groups, obtaining Kleimy's reward. The experience points began to skyrocket, and a dazzling light shone on him, raising him to level eighty-nine. He had only used 62 sets of magic rune stones so far, and Nie Yan still had a full backpack of them.

Many players came and went nearby. Seeing Nie Yan, who was wearing a black cloak, chatting with Kleimy and the brilliant light of leveling up shining on him, they cast surprised glances.

They knew about this Kleimy, a strange old man who wandered around here all day. No player had triggered a quest on Kleimy yet. Nie Yan was the first.

"Does that Kleimy have a quest to issue?" A player in the distance asked his companion in confusion.

"I don't know. If you chat with that Kleimy, he'll ask some strange questions. You have no idea what he's asking. Could that guy have triggered Kleimy's quest?"

Just as they were discussing, another white light shone on Nie Yan.

The players were stunned, revealing incredulous expressions.

"Damn, another level up. Did that guy level up twice in a row?"

"Maybe his level is very low?"

"Impossible, Kleimy won't even acknowledge players below level sixty, let alone issue a quest!"

Above level sixty, what quest could raise you two levels in a row?

Just as they were stunned, streaks of white light fell on Nie Yan, three times in a row. All the surrounding players were stunned, watching the direction of Nie Yan in disbelief.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"What the hell is this quest, it can raise you so many levels at once."

"Who is that guy?"

Nie Yan, wearing a black cloak, appeared even more mysterious.

Nie Yan checked his level. He was already level ninety-three, two levels higher than he had expected. He was only one step away from the hundred-level mark. Once he broke through level one hundred, Nie Yan would be able to successfully advance to Shadow Dancer.

This was his wish for so many years. Would he be able to achieve it in this life?

Recalling the frustration after failing to advance to Shadow Dancer in his previous life, Nie Yan clenched his fists. He must succeed in this life!

Nie Yan remembered that the Shadow Dancer quest required going to the Thieves Guild. There, the elders of the Thieves Guild would guide you to trigger a quest clue related to Shadow Dancer. The quest to advance to Shadow Dancer would take about two months to complete. However, Nie Yan had another option, which was to skip Shadow Dancer and go to the Holy Church to advance to Holy Shadow Dancer. Holy Shadow Dancer was much stronger than ordinary Shadow Dancer, but of course the difficulty of the quest was also higher.

Since he had the opportunity to advance to Holy Shadow Dancer, Nie Yan would definitely not miss it. He had to give it a try, even if he failed, he would have no regrets.

If he could successfully advance to Holy Shadow Dancer within two months, Nie Yan would definitely be the number one thief, the first person to achieve Shadow Dancer.

Doing the Shadow Dancer quest at level one hundred was relatively difficult. It was generally more suitable to do it at level one hundred and fifty or sixty. However, Nie Yan's equipment was better, and his various attributes were very high, so it should not be a problem.

After handing in the magic rune stones, Nie Yan walked towards the personal warehouse.

Even long after Nie Yan left, many players were still constantly chatting with Kleimy, wanting to extract some quest clues from him. Unfortunately, everything they did was in vain. Ordinary players simply could not solve those five riddles. Those five riddles contained many allusions, and it required finding a lot of information to determine the answer, otherwise it would be difficult to solve.

Kleimy's riddles spread, and more and more players began to study the answers to the riddles.

Guo Huai was still constantly helping Nie Yan collect magic rune stones. As long as they were magic rune stones, he kept buying them. It was estimated that in not too long, the magic rune stones he had purchased would be enough for Nie Yan to level up one or two more times.

Nie Yan went to the personal warehouse to prepare some necessary consumables, and then rushed towards Hilton Fortress.

Brilliant Knife Light and the others had already arrived at Hilton Fortress. They were still in the city, not daring to leave the city easily. They sent people to inquire about information, first finding out the movements of the guilds such as the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians. Guo Huai was also constantly collecting intelligence.

In addition to the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians, guilds such as the Light and Darkness Empire and the Sword of Divine Punishment had also sent a large number of players over.

Although Hilton Fortress was still in ruins, buildings were being rebuilt on top of the ruins. Player capital had also begun to participate in the reconstruction, and more and more players, guilds, and groups were buying land there to build shops. Of course, the Mad Rogue Tribe was also involved, and Starry Night Pharmacy opened a branch there.

Nie Yan rode the Falkner Warhorse at a gallop, sweeping across the plain. At his fastest speed, it would take at least nearly half an hour to reach Hilton Fortress. Ordinary players would probably take about an hour to get there.

This was a fortress city isolated outside. Currently, only about one in ten thousand players dared to come to this map. The monsters that spawned near Hilton Fortress were not something ordinary players could deal with.

The top players of the major guilds were gathered in Hilton Fortress. They were collecting equipment here to prepare for the upcoming breakthrough to level one hundred.

On the plain outside Hilton Fortress, five thief players appeared. They were setting up something in the jungle.

"Ming, are you sure Mad Rogue Nie Yan will come here?"

"This is the only way to Hilton Fortress. The top elites of the Mad Rogue Tribe are all in Hilton Fortress. I don't believe he won't come."

"That's true, the intelligence over there is too unclear, causing us to not have confirmed Mad Rogue Nie Yan's whereabouts until now."

"Mad Rogue Nie Yan wouldn't be so easily fooled, otherwise the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians wouldn't have offered such a high reward. Those guys who hired us wouldn't be so painstaking."

The five thieves chatted while setting up some traps nearby.

"Are the scrolls all prepared?"

"Prepared."

"Listen to my command when the time comes."

After the five thieves had prepared everything, they entered stealth one after another, their bodies gradually disappearing.

Nie Yan's Falkner Warhorse was like a gust of wind. In just a few more minutes, he would reach Hilton Fortress.

Nie Yan was riding his horse when suddenly a sharp whistling sound came from behind him. Nie Yan's heart tightened. Looking back, he saw an arrow shooting towards the Falkner Warhorse beneath him.

Nie Yan wanted to drive the Falkner Warhorse to dodge, but it was too late.

With a *poof* sound, the arrow pierced into the Falkner Warhorse's abdomen. The Falkner Warhorse let out a miserable cry, its front hooves raised high, and a huge force came, threatening to throw Nie Yan off.

Nie Yan jumped off the horse's back, landing steadily. The Falkner Warhorse didn't have much health left and fell to the ground, dead.

Just as Nie Yan had just landed, a giant net fell from the sky.

Nie Yan's gaze quickly locked onto a thief in the distant jungle. The thief was probably in his thirties, with a strong body, wearing gray leather armor, and holding a giant crossbow in his hands. The size of this giant crossbow was similar to the Headless Horseman Doro's Mounted Crossbow, and it used super-large arrows.

It was this giant crossbow that killed the Falkner Warhorse. Fortunately, the Falkner Warhorse could be summoned again after it died, otherwise he would have suffered a great loss, but the loyalty would definitely drop somewhat.

On Nie Yan's side, about thirty yards away, another thief swept past. He was slightly younger, wearing silver-white leather armor. It was him who used a high-level Spider Web Technique the moment before Nie Yan landed.

Just as the Spider Web Technique was about to envelop Nie Yan, he used a Gale Step to fly out, dodging the Spider Web Technique.

A Light of No Escape fell from the sky, and white light enveloped an area of ​​more than fifty yards. In the white light, Nie Yan's body appeared. The moment Nie Yan was exposed, five figures pounced on him.

When being attacked, Nie Yan had enough time to use a random teleport scroll, but he decided to stay and play with these people.

When the five thieves approached him, Nie Yan saw their faces clearly. They were people from Bloodfiends.

Nie Yan was no stranger to these five faces. In his previous life, he had studied videos of these five people. Their names were Ming, Lie, Ying, Su, and Feng. These five people entered the game together. They all belonged to Bloodfiends, an organization that made people change color upon hearing about it. All of their names had only one character, which was their code name. These five people were the top players, and they all advanced to Shadow Dancer in the end.

With five Shadow Dancers, it would be difficult for the Bloodfiends organization not to be famous. In his previous life, several large guilds had extended olive branches to Bloodfiends, offering high prices to recruit them, but they were all rejected. In his previous life in Faith, they were legendary existences.

At that time, Nie Yan was just an unknown soldier. Even if he met them, they might not even pay attention to Nie Yan. But in this life, Nie Yan was the president of the Mad Rogue Tribe, Mad Rogue Nie Yan, a name that countless people looked up to.

Nie Yan had been mentally prepared for Bloodfiends coming to his door. He had no intention of avoiding them at all.

The five thieves were like pouncing cheetahs, surrounding Nie Yan from all directions, their momentum resolute, with a posture of never-ending death.

Facing five against one, and five legendary thieves who were famous, Nie Yan did not dare to be negligent. He quickly retreated backwards, the Zannard Sword in his hand blazing with flames, spitting out a soul-devouring light.

The thief named Ming used a thrust, the dagger in his hand heading straight for Nie Yan's throat.

Parry!

Nie Yan held up the Zannard Sword horizontally, blocking the dagger in Ming's hand. With a *ding* sound, the dagger and the Zannard Sword made a crisp collision sound.