After studying for an hour, he continued exercising. When hungry, he took a properly proportioned nutrient solution from the fridge. This continued until one o'clock in the afternoon.
The phone at Nie Yan's house rang.
"Hello, who is this？" Nie Yan picked up the phone and asked.
"Nie Yan, come out and play. I'm bored to death staying home."
Nie Yan recognized the voice immediately—it was Tang Yao. Pages of memories flipped open again. Tang Yao was his best buddy; the two had grown up together wearing split-pants. Later, Tang Yao's family got rich and moved to the city. They owned a scenic villa in Ningjiang, where they would stay for a while every summer vacation.
Tang Yao was exceptionally loyal. In his past life, when Nie Yan was in dire straits, Tang Yao secretly supported him at the risk of being discovered by Cao Xu, which made Nie Yan's life much better.
But Tang Yao had one flaw: he loved philandering. Once, while drinking at a bar, he got into a fight over a woman and was beaten to death. Because the other party had too much influence, the case was swept under the rug.
Tang Yao, you're still alive. This is great. In this life, I won't let something like that happen again.
Nie Yan's tears suddenly burst forth, hot tears streaming down.
“Hey, Nie Yan, you kicked the bucket or what? Say something.”
“Where to？” Nie Yan reined in his emotions and asked.
“Let's go to PK Bar. Interested? Faith is really popular lately. Have you played it?”
“I've played it. Level 2 Gale Thief,” Nie Yan said. PK Bar was a gaming entertainment venue where players could pull up their in-game characters and compete in PvP across various scenarios. This kind of PK didn't give character experience or affect game progression, though occasionally players might win a piece of equipment through bets.
“Not bad, kid. You're already level 2. When did you buy the game helmet？” Tang Yao asked, somewhat surprised. He remembered that Nie Yan's family wasn't well-off.
“It's been a while.”
“Come on, let's head to PK Bar. I'm a level 3 Arcanist,” Tang Yao bragged with a hint of pride.
Nie Yan smiled faintly. For an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old kid, showing off a little when you had something was only natural. But he had already passed that age.
At this stage, anyone who had reached level 3 was a fairly skilled player, accounting for about one-tenth of the player base. But Nie Yan knew that Tang Yao's skills were still a bit lacking for PK Bar. There were quite a few experts there—basically all the top players in Ningjiang gathered there.
"It's fine for us to go play, but you'd better not gamble." Nie Yan said. As far as he remembered, Tang Yao was a big gambler and always lost, but he never got tired of it. Fortunately, Tang Yao didn't have much pocket money, so even if he lost, it was no big deal. In today's education, parents wouldn't give their kids too much money, so as not to raise them into spoiled brats.
"Since when did you become so naggy? Come on, I'm heading downstairs."
"Fine." Nie Yan replied helplessly. He knew Tang Yao's personality—there was no way to stop him from gambling. He just hoped he could remind him to restrain himself a little.
In his previous life, he didn't go because he hadn't fully recovered from his illness. He heard that Tang Yao lost over three thousand that time.
Nie Yan wiped his sweaty body, changed clothes, and headed downstairs.
"Why are you so slow, man?"
As soon as Nie Yan reached the ground floor, Tang Yao drove up in a hovercar and stopped beside him.
Nie Yan suppressed his excitement. He hadn't seen Tang Yao in a long time. Right now, Tang Yao was just a short, chubby kid. Like Nie Yan, he didn't start growing tall until senior year. Back then, Tang Yao was handsome and dashing—completely different from now.
"I took a shower."
"Get in, get in, hurry up. I barely managed to sneak out. If my dad catches me, he'll make me help him with work again." Tang Yao urged.
Nie Yan opened the door and got in.
"We haven't seen each other for almost a year, and you still haven't grown."
"Neither have you." Nie Yan smiled. This familiar, warm feeling had returned. Tang Yao, we haven't seen each other for almost three years.
"Yesterday I lost over a thousand at the PK Bar. I'm pissed. I'm gonna win those guys' pants off." Tang Yao said bitterly, stepping on the gas. The hovercar shot off like an arrow.
"Blackie and his gang？" Nie Yan recalled. In his memory, there were those few people—local thugs who had bullied him plenty when he was in school.
"That's them. I was actually thinking of getting back at them for you yesterday." Tang Yao said glumly.
In Tang Yao's mind, Nie Yan had always been weak and timid—the type who wouldn't speak up after being bullied. Tang Yao had always stood up for him. But what Tang Yao didn't know was that the Nie Yan of now was no longer the cowardly, scared Nie Yan of before.
"Yo, Master Tang, you're here, and right on time." A skinny, dark-skinned teenager, who looked about eighteen or nineteen, walked up. His clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in days, and his voice carried a thuggish, uncouth air.
His name was Wei Kai. Because his skin was so dark—the kind that made him invisible in the dark—Nie Yan and Tang Yao had once half-jokingly wondered if he had African ancestry. They secretly called him Blackie behind his back, but when the nickname spread, Wei Kai grew to hate them. However, he was somewhat afraid of Tang Yao since Tang Yao's father was the general manager of Linzhou Airlines, someone he couldn't afford to mess with. So instead, he'd take it out on Nie Yan whenever he could.
Behind Wei Kai were five younger guys, all part of his gang too.
"That punk Nie Yan came too. Tch, didn't we teach him enough last time?"
Those guys gave Nie Yan a look.
In his past life, Nie Yan had heard that Wei Kai got into some trouble and fled to another star system, after which he never heard from him again. Now, after being reborn, Nie Yan psychologically couldn't care less about a few petty thugs. As for the bullying he'd endured back then—was there any point in dwelling on it now？
"Don't worry, I'm here. They won't dare do anything to you." Tang Yao whispered to comfort Nie Yan.
Nie Yan nodded.
Tang Yao couldn't help but take another look at Nie Yan. Nie Yan seemed unusually calm today, thinking to himself, this kid's grown some guts.
“Cut the crap, did you bring the money？” Tang Yao looked at Wei Kai.
“Don't worry, I brought two grand, but you're still paying the court fee today.” Wei Kai pulled out a bank card and flashed it.
“Bitching over a court fee of a hundred bucks…” Tang Yao curled his lip disdainfully, not holding back.
“I'm not as rich as Young Master Tang. Us common folk have to sweat the small stuff.” Wei Kai wasn't the least bit offended, laughing it off.
With the perspective of an adult, Nie Yan took a fresh look at Wei Kai and realized that this guy, though just a rogue, had a shrewd edge to his vulgarity. Guys like Wei Kai had been around in society long enough to pick up plenty of knowledge.
“Damn, isn't it just because he's got a rich dad? What's the big deal?”
The few guys behind Wei Kai couldn't stand Tang Yao and started cursing him out.
Tang Yao was the type who was good to his friends. The reason he was being so sharp-tongued today was mostly because Wei Kai and his crew often bullied Nie Yan.
Tang Yao ignored those guys, walked over to the counter, slapped two hundred on it, and said, “Boss, give me a private room. Keep the change, and have the waiter bring over some drinks—no cola.”
“Room six, here's your room card.” The boss handed Tang Yao a card.
“After you, Young Master Tang.” Wei Kai said with a smirk. His eyes swept over Nie Yan, and as they locked gazes, Nie Yan stared back at him calmly.
Wei Kai was a little surprised. Today's Nie Yan seemed different from usual. Before, whenever Nie Yan saw him, he'd be all timid and scared, but today, he was unusually calm.
The group walked toward Booth 6.
Nie Yan and the others entered the booth, which was divided into two areas, each with five recliner-like machines. Players could do 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5. For team battles, they would need a larger booth.
Nie Yan and Tang Yao entered one area, closed the door, and were separated from Wei Kai and the others by glass.
What level is Blackie？" Nie Yan turned to Tang Yao and asked."
Level 3 Berserker," Tang Yao said. Yesterday he had played ten matches and only won three. After returning, he had one of his father's subordinates get him an Arcane Burst skill book and swapped for a piece of bronze Arcane Mage gear, ready to win a few matches and make up for all his losses from yesterday."
Ten matches, two hundred each.
What skills do you have？" Nie Yan asked. Having played Faith for so many years, even though he'd never played an Arcane Mage, he still knew the basics. He'd PK'd against Arcane Mages countless times, so he had some understanding of the class."
Arcane Missile, Arcane Fireball, Arcane Blaze, Arcane Burst, Arcane Mana Recovery," Tang Yao said casually. He didn't think Nie Yan knew much about Faith. He had already reached level 3, while Nie Yan was only level 2."
How much HP and MP？
One hundred twenty HP, one hundred fifty MP," Tang Yao said. His gear was pretty decent for a level 3 Arcane Mage."
Did Blackie learn Charge？" Nie Yan asked. He was puzzled—with this setup, why had Tang Yao lost in his previous life？"
He did.
No wonder," Nie Yan suddenly understood. After a Berserker learned Charge, if used well, it could counter an Arcane Mage quite effectively."
It's about to start," Tang Yao said, picking up his gaming helmet."
Tang Yao would most likely lose. Nie Yan thought about it and decided to just watch for now. If Tang Yao lost too badly, he would step in.
They swiped their IDs on the device, put on the gaming helmets, and the equipment automatically extracted player data from the Faith database, made a copy, allowing them to compete here. Since it was copied data, it had nothing to do with the original Faith.
Everyone entered the game. Nie Yan and those five youths were assigned to the spectator seats. The arena was random, and the first round was on mountainous terrain.
Mountainous terrain was very advantageous for Arcane Mages.
Tang Yao and Wei Kai got ready. As a system prompt sounded, the two began their battle.
“Hey, kid, long time no see. Not bad, a level two Gale Thief. Interested in a match？” It was one of those five youths speaking. Nie Yan vaguely remembered this guy was called Shi Feng.
A level two Combat Thief！
Combat Thieves and Gale Thieves were fundamentally different. Combat Thieves had a more elegant title—Ranger. Like Gale Thieves, they had stealth skills, but they focused more on fighting, usually wielding short swords and boasting decent close-combat ability.
Different class traits made it impossible to tell who was stronger. In Faith, there were no weak classes, only weak players.
Nie Yan glanced at Shi Feng and said coolly, “You’re not worthy. Choosing a class with no skill required like Ranger is just tasteless.”
“You asking for a beating? Believe me, I’ll smack you as soon as we’re out.” Shi Feng hadn’t expected the usually timid and submissive Nie Yan to talk back, so he cursed.
Nie Yan raised an eyebrow. *Just a few little brats—what did he have to fear?* Although his body was still a bit weak, worlds apart from his peak state in his past life, his fighting skills were more than enough to handle a few brats. These punks were on a whole different level from Wei Kai—just students, dressed flashy and swearing up a storm, thinking they were gangsters. They were still naive. In fact, being a thug was a skill too.
"Come down and have a go if you've got the balls."
"Only one round. I'm not interested if the stakes are too small," Nie Yan said. Dealing with Shi Feng would be a piece of cake for him.
"Kid's got some nerve. I've got three hundred here. How about we throw down？" Shi Feng pulled out a bank card. This Nie Yan kid was getting bolder by the day—if he didn't teach him a lesson, the brat would never know his place.
"Just one match. I've got seven hundred here." Nie Yan took out his bank card and swiped it, showing a balance of over seven hundred. For Nie Yan at eighteen, that was a huge fortune.
"Who's got money? Lend me a few hundred," Shi Feng turned to a few young guys.
"I've got two hundred here."
"I have a hundred."
"I have a hundred."
After borrowing four hundred, Shi Feng finally scraped together seven hundred. He ran with Wei Kai, but he was just a thug after all—didn't have much money on him.
Nie Yan glanced at the fight between Tang Yao and Wei Kai. Since it was a mountainous terrain, Wei Kai's Berserker skills couldn't be used effectively, and Tang Yao took one round. Next was a plains terrain—Tang Yao would probably lose.
"Let's go." Nie Yan withdrew his gaze and said to Shi Feng.
The scenery shifted before their eyes, and they were now in a jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, about fifty yards apart.
"Little punk, watch grandpa teach you how to live."
Nie Yan gave a faint smile, too lazy to argue with Shi Feng.
Shi Feng secretly wondered why Nie Yan seemed so creepy today.
System： The match begins.
Nie Yan and Shi Feng both entered stealth mode at the same time.
Stealth isn't invisibility. When thieves activate their stealth skill, their bodies blend into the background. Without careful observation, it's hard to spot them, but if you focus, you can still see flaws.
Stealth tests a rogue's concealing skills and agility, while anti-stealth tests the player's eyesight.
The two were approaching, Nie Yan stepped lightly, carefully dodging when touching leaves and branches, leaving no trace. Having played as a rogue for so many years, it would be too embarrassing if he were discovered by a newbie like Shi Feng. Nie Yan's eyes were sharp as lightning; a slight irregular tremor in the nearby jungle branches caught his attention. Focusing his gaze, he could make out a blurry human figure, and quickly locked onto Shi Feng's position.
Shi Feng moved slowly and cautiously, observing carefully, but Nie Yan seemed to have completely vanished, with no trace to be found.
A rogue's concealing ability is closely related to the background color. The more complex the background, the easier it is to be discovered. If the background is a single color, it's hard to spot even if the opponent observes carefully.
It was like a stick insect clinging to a bamboo stem, completely blending into the background. Even if predators walked right up to it, they could not find it.
Concealing ability is closely related to the player's control skills. The route and footsteps taken while concealing are very particular.
In Nie Yan's view, he didn't need to deliberately hide his tracks; the stealthy movements were like instinct, deeply ingrained in his bones.
Ten years as a rogue, even a fool would become an expert, let alone Nie Yan, whose comprehension was pretty good.