He checked the time—it was already 3:30. Faith's game hours were from 5:00 PM to 9:00 AM, a total of sixteen hours, so it wouldn't interfere with ordinary people's jobs. Since everyone's playtime was roughly the same, the level gap between players wouldn't widen. Combined with Faith's ultra-realistic simulation technology, the game quickly caught fire, swept the globe, and gradually became an indispensable part of people's lives.
This is a world dominated by virtual technology, a perfect system. Five months later, Conviction completed its integration with real-world currency, fully merging into human life.
The high login rate and such a massive player base drove consumption in the virtual world. The amount players around the world spent in Conviction each year even exceeded their total spending in the real world. This huge consumer group gave rise to numerous service industries, the most notable of which was the professional player community.
Almost every conglomerate had entered Conviction. After Nie Yan's father started his company and saw decent profits, he rode that wave and invested in Conviction, only to end in a disastrous failure. This caused a break in the company's capital chain, giving Cao Xu an opportunity to exploit. He absolutely could not let something like that happen again.
Entering Conviction was necessary; the key was to avoid failure. Nie Yan had to pave the way for his father first, so that when his father invested, he could get it done in one fell swoop. As long as the capital chain stayed intact, no problems would arise.
After spending thirty yuan on a meal outside, Nie Yan got home and it was already almost five o'clock.
He put on his helmet and quietly waited for Conviction to start.
After twelve minutes, the time on the helmet showed five o'clock, and a light, cheerful piece of music began to play. This sound was so familiar—he had heard it countless times in his previous life. The music that used to feel like nothing now sounded incredibly beautiful.
System： Do you wish to create a new account？
Yes！
System： Please select your country.
In Conviction, there are three factions. The Lawful Good Light Faction includes the Greenland Empire and the Satern Empire. The Greenland Empire is a human nation run by a council of elders, while the Satern Empire is a tribal alliance of dwarves, orcs, and elves. The Chaotic Evil Dark Faction consists of the demon tribe and the undead tribe, both ruled by a leader with absolute power. Those who love peace can also choose the Lawful Good Neutral Faction, the giant tribe.
In his previous life, Nie Yan chose the Wind Rogue class of the Glendale Empire. He was familiar with the map of Glendale and knew all the skills and class quests of the Wind Rogue. If he chose another country, the advantage of being reborn wouldn't be much.
Nie Yan had a special attachment to the Wind Rogue. After all, he had poured nearly a decade of effort into that class. A level 180 great rogue represented the utmost glory.
Considering everything, just like in his previous life, he chose Wind Rogue.
System： You choose to be born in the Glendale Empire.
System： You choose the Wind Rogue class.
System： Please name your character.
"Nie Yan！" Nie Yan chose the same name as in his previous life. Nie Yan, Nie Yan—now it sounded like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a rebirth and renewal.
System： Character naming successful. Character Nie Yan created.
Upon entering the game, the real appearance is automatically blurred. The system makes minor adjustments to the player's face. Generally, the characters in the game look very different from reality, making them hard to recognize, but whether they are beautiful or ugly roughly matches real life.
Nie Yan opened the attribute panel and checked his stats.
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Character： Nie Yan.
Level： 0
Attributes： Strength 2, Agility 2, Intelligence 2, Constitution 2, Perception 2, Charisma 1
HP 100/100, Rage 0/100
Defense： 2 （Defense Rate： 21%）
Attack： 3 （Hit： 10）
Tenacity： 1
Reflex： 2 （Class Specialty Modifier）
Willpower： 0
Balance： 5
Focus： 5
Jump： 5 （Minor Action Light Jump 0.9 yards, Moderate Action Mid Jump 1.5 yards, Major Action Heavy Jump 3 yards）
Stealth： 0 （This skill is currently empty）
Hide： 5 （Rogues can easily hide in shadows）
Search： 5
Magic Resistance： 0 （Related to Defense, Intelligence, and Constitution, Magic Defense Rate 0%）
Movement Speed： 5 （Carry Weight Modifier 0）
Attack Speed： 5 （Weapon Modifier 0, Carry Weight Modifier 0）
Carry Weight: /60 lbs （Carry Weight Modifier +10） Light Load: 0-20 lbs （including 20, agile movement） Medium Load: 20-30 lbs （normal movement） Heavy Load: 30-50 lbs （difficult movement）
Racial Trait： Humans possess wisdom that many races find hard to match. Gain Intelligence Check +3 every five levels.
Thief Class Trait 1： Gain a bonus to Trap Save Checks every five levels.
Thief Class Trait 2： Sneak Attack. When attacking an enemy from behind, gain an additional 30% attack bonus.
Human Thief Class Trait： Superb intelligence makes them proficient in using various tools and magical items.
Class Feats： Beginner Agile Movement （+2 Reflex Save）, Beginner Weapon Specialization： Dagger （+1 Attack Check）, Beginner Stealth （+2 Hide）, Beginner Shooting （Can use bows and crossbows）, Nimble Fingers （Gale Thieves can flexibly use their fingers）
（For explanations of attributes, please refer to the Work Related section - Faith Worldview）
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These are the basic attributes. Every human thief starts the same. Additionally, at level 0, the system grants 5 attribute points and 1 feat point.
Nie Yan glanced at the attribute panel. In his previous life, when he selected Gale Thief, to make himself more durable, he added one point to Strength, two to Agility, and two to Constitution, resulting in very weak attack power and very slow attack speed in the early stages, wasting a lot of leveling time. In fact, a thief doesn't need much health in the early game. His failed stat allocation made him shake his head in regret several times, nearly deleting his character and starting over. This time, he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes.
He added three points to Strength and two to Agility—this was the optimal ratio he had deduced from his previous life’s experience, combined with his leveling habits. After allocating the points, he checked his stats: Attack became 6, Hit 10.6, Movement Speed 5.4, and Attack Speed 5.6.
There was also a profession perk. Given the thief class’s characteristics, most human thief players would assign their first perk point to Agile Movement, Weapon Specialization, or Stealth. Nie Yan was just about to add Weapon Specialization when he suddenly stopped. After a moment’s thought, he put the perk into Shooting.
Intermediate Shooting： Fast Reload +3, Range +3, Attack Damage with Bows +3, Ignore Level Difference +3 （Thief Profession Check +1）
Perks are divided into five tiers: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Master. Once reaching the Master tier, no further improvement is possible. However, there are many types of perks, and which ones can be upgraded depends on the class.
Human thieves are already proficient in various tools and magical devices, and bows and crossbows fall into that category. Therefore, Intermediate Shooting receives an additional attack bonus.
After allocating stats, the scene shifted, and Nie Yan found himself at the teleport point of Carol City. Surrounding him were row upon row of towering white buildings, all spotlessly clean. The white obelisk at the city’s center pierced the clouds, and beside it stood a massive white stone statue hundreds of yards tall—a mage holding a staff, with a solemn and dignified expression. That was the guardian deity of the Greenwood Empire, Emperor Jobia.
The streets were bustling with people, lively and noisy.
Real world night was the game’s morning. The dawn light spread over Carol City like a silvery-white curtain, covering every structure.
Carroll City was the capital of the Greenlin Empire, a Sky City suspended above the Carroll Prairie. Countless teleport points connected it to various cities, towns, and villages.
“Top-quality level zero plain white dagger, 2 attack points, 1 point higher than a novice dagger, only two copper coins, just three left, first come, first served！” A level-three Arcane Mage was setting up a stall near the teleport point, with many new players gathered around.
Every newcomer entering the game got a starting fund of ten copper coins. Although it hurt, many bought one for the sake of leveling up a bit faster in the beginning.
Nie Yan scoffed. The same plain white dagger in Locke Town, a map for levels 1-5, cost only one copper coin. New players had free teleportation for the first time—just take the teleport point there, buy a dagger from an NPC, and they’d be done in two or three minutes round trip.
In his previous life, he had foolishly bought one too, only later to realize he had been scammed.
At Link Town’s cloth store, Joseph Town’s hat and shoe shop, and Locke Town’s dagger shop, Nie Yan took three teleports, spending six copper coins, swapping out his novice gear with zero defense for shoes, hats, shoulder guards, and leg guards with 1-2 defense, and cloth armor with 2-3 defense.
These were all seasonings from his past life. He checked his defense—it was now 8 to 13. In the early stages, thieves at levels two or three, if not well-informed or well-equipped, only had this much defense.
After strolling around the market, he spotted a level three Silenced Paladin selling Thief Stealth skill books. There were six books on the stall, each priced at six copper coins. Because of the high price, low-level thieves could only stand back and watch.
That Silenced Paladin looked about twenty years old or so, tall and big in build—not bad as a warrior, and a paladin was just passable.
Paladins are guardians attached to temples. They can learn divine spells passed down by the temple, possess certain magical attack and healing abilities, and have decent melee capabilities. At the same time, they can provide aura support for teammates, making them a well-rounded class. As for Silence Paladins, they can learn divine spells like Silence and Mute to suppress magic-oriented classes like Mages and Priests.
"How much for the Stealth skill book？" Nie Yan crouched down, picked up the skill book on the cloth, and asked. The Stealth skill book is an essential skill for Thieves in the early stages. Luckily, the drop rate for Stealth skill books at various farming spots is high, so the price isn't too steep.
"You can see it for yourself—marked at six coppers." The Silence Paladin pouted his lips.
"You're really trying to rip people off. A Silence Paladin like you, farming Corrupted Warlocks in Link Town, can get six copies of Stealth a day without even spending much health—it's more profitable than farming Goblins. How can you have the nerve to sell it that high? Three coppers, not a single copper more." Nie Yan slashed the price in half right away.
"It's not as easy as you say. How much do I spend on potions in a day？ Selling it to you for three coppers, I wouldn't make any profit at all. The lowest I can go is five coppers." The Silence Paladin was stunned by Nie Yan's words and took a moment to reply. He wasn't the type to be good at haggling, and this newcomer was clearly a well-informed veteran player who wouldn't be easy to fool.
"That's because you're farming the wrong spot. If you go to coordinates 22385.21338.23329 to farm Corrupted Warlocks, you can get at least ten copies a day, and it won't cost you much in potions. Three coppers, not a single copper more. If you won't sell, I'm leaving right now." Nie Yan sized up the Silence Paladin. The Silence Paladin had a square face with a bit of stubble and didn't look too shady.