Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Besides the Starry Night Potion Shop, which was an unrivalled hegemon in the Viridian Empire’s alchemy industry, Nie Yan was also rapidly developing his businesses in other industries such as Tinkering, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, and Salvaging. However, since these markets were relatively small, there was no widespread recruitment campaign. He only hired enough players to open up two or three shops, but they were all notable in his past life.

For the Starry Night Potion Shop to achieve its current dominance was already impressive. The competition in other markets was fierce. Just gaining a foothold was extremely difficult. You needed absolute assurance for such an undertaking, or you were better off not trying at all. Better slow and steady than quick and rash. Many companies frequently failed because they expanded too rapidly from the start.

After every branch of the Starry Night Potion Shop was upgraded, Nie Yan predicted daily profits would rise to over 30,000 gold. As player demand for potions continued to grow, so too would the profits.

With the Starry Night Potion Shop and Asskickers United both recently making large movements, many players suspected they belonged to the same group, which explained their close relationship. If Asskickers United had the support of the Starry Night Potion Shop, it was no wonder they could last against Bloodlust Blades for so long.

The name Nirvana Flame garnered so much reverence in part because of his outstanding skill but more so his powerful background.

...

Nie Yan headed to the Thief Association to start his class advancement quest, which was divided into five difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert, and Specialist. Clearing it on Hard difficulty or higher gave an additional item reward; otherwise, everything was the same. It was rumoured the reward for beating the Specialist difficulty was a Legendary item. However, he didn’t dare to confirm this. In the previous timeline, countless experts including Sun had tried, but none succeeded.

Specialist was simply too difficult and the penalties for failing too severe, which included being barred from attempting the class advancement quest again for 10 days. Nie Yan didn’t dare to take this risk. At most, he would try it on Expert.

Before long, Nie Yan arrived outside the doorsteps of the Thief Association. The wooden building with a steeple at the top looked worn-down as though it had weathered many centuries. It carried a unique architectural style.

Nie Yan stepped inside and was greeted by a dark hall, filled with rows of shabby desks and chairs and without a single source of light. There were several cloaked NPCs standing up ahead. Their appearances were hidden, with only sharp pairs of eyes revealing their presence in the darkness.

NPC Thieves generally liked to wear cloaks. This was due to a legend passed down by the Thief Association.

One day long ago, a cloaked traveller encountered three Death Custodians carrying out a slaughter while passing through a village. With nothing but his bare hands, he killed one of them and obtained a sharp dagger called Hades’ Nail. He used the dagger to kill the second Death Custodian and obtained a technique to turn invisible. He finally snuck behind the last Death Custodian and pierced its heart, obtaining the power of the shadows.

This action angered the death god. So in order to avoid being hunted down, the cloaked traveler never revealed their appearance again.

This was the origin of the Thief. However, it was only a folktale and not something people took seriously.

Nie Yan walked forward and spotted a slim player sitting in a chair, listening to one of the NPCs. They were probably attempting their class advancement quest too.

There currently weren’t many Thieves who could attempt class advancement. The slim player looked somewhat familiar.

Nie Yan recalled this fellow was Skinny Dog, a player from Victorious Return. It seemed enemies were destined to cross paths time and time again. They could even meet in a place like this.

Nie Yan glanced at the five NPC Thieves up ahead. All of them could give out the class advancement quest.

Nie Yan directly walked forward.

When Skinny Dog heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see Nie Yan. He quickly stood up and greeted in a nervous manner, “B-b-boss Nirvana Flame!” Realizing his slip of the tongue, his face flushed red with embarrassment.

Ever since he had died twice at the hands of Nie Yan, Skinny Dog would repeatedly review the recordings of their battles among others while frantically honing his skills. But every time a new video of Nie Yan appeared, he would feel a deep sense of powerlessness, telling him he would never reach this person’s level no matter how much he practiced. Nie Yan was practically a god-like existence in his heart.

Nie Yan’s techniques were extremely profound. The more Skinny Dog researched them, the more fear and admiration he felt.

Nie Yan couldn’t help but be amused by how Skinny Dog referred to him. After musing the thought, he felt there was no point in making things difficult for the guy. After all, the two of them weren’t even on the same level.

“Ah, you’re here too?” Nie Yan smiled faintly at Skinny Dog before walking up to one of the NPC Thieves.

Seeing Nie Yan’s smile, Skinny Dog gawked as his heart trembled. He never expected Nie Yan to greet him back. Such an esteemed figure could easily ignore a small character like him. Suddenly recalling their hostile relationship, he silently left the Thief Association after receiving his class advancement quest.

Skinny Dog no longer had the face to take revenge. He was nothing more than a speck of dust on the road compared to Nie Yan.

When Nie Yan turned around, Skinny Dog had already departed. He sat down in front of one of the NPC Thieves.

Great Thief Featherston: Level 60

Featherston turned to Nie Yan and asked, “Dancer of the shadows, Nirvana Flame, do you have the determination to advance to a Great Thief?

Do you wish to accept the Great Thief class advancement quest? Difficulty: Expert.

Yes!

You have accepted the Great Thief class advancement quest.

“Avarice leads to depravity. The Nilan Colosseum, situated in the north of the Ishberg Mountains, is a famous gambling establishment. They’ve hoodwinked countless people out of their money. Many rich merchants from the big cities visit and gamble their gold away recklessly. But business came to a stop two months ago, when a group of Thieves from the Evil Faction raided the place. They slaughtered more than 10 civilians and took 100 hostages, locking them up in cages and demanding ransom from their families for their release. Those wishing for quick riches will inevitably fall to evil and suffer the punishment of the temple. Brave Adventurer, are you willing to help us save the hostages?”

“Yes, Sir Featherston. I’m willing!”

Rescued Hostages: (0/100)

The Great Thief class advancement quest was random for everyone. Nie Yan never expected to receive a hostage rescue mission.

“Here, take these 100 Instant Transfer Scrolls. The Evil Faction Thieves are extremely powerful. Remember not to fight them head-on under any circumstances. Just hand the scrolls to the hostages, and they’ll be able to safely escape,” Featherston instructed.

Nie Yan accepted the 100 Instant Transfer Scrolls and stored them in his bag. He had obtained an important clue from Featherston. It appeared the Evil Faction Thieves were far stronger than him, meaning killing them was likely impossible. He would have to rely on stealth to solve this quest.

Stealth was indisputably the most useful tool in a Thief’s arsenal! So the Great Thief class advancement quest testing his stealth proficiency was no surprise.

Nie Yan continued chatting with Featherston to inquire more about the quest.

Afterwards, Nie Yan left the Thief Association and headed to a general store to stock up on consumables.

「Nirvana Flame.」Yao Yao sent Nie Yan a message.

「What’s the matter? How’s your progress with Karsi’s Blessing?」Nie Yan asked. Yao Yao’s sweet voice was like a spring breeze in his mind. He immediately thought of Xie Yao, despite their voices sounding nothing alike since Conviction changed that aspect too.

These past few days, Nie Yan had been escorting Xie Yao to and back from school. The two were much closer than before. However, they deliberately avoided mentioning the embarrassing incident from several days before. Nie Yan was gradually beginning to feel that Xie Yao and Yao Yao were the same person. However, it was only a vague feeling, and he had no way of confirming. Every time he chatted with either of the two girls, he made zero progress in finding out. Directly asking her would also be rude, since she might be keeping it from him for a reason.

「I’ve already finished the second part in the quest chain. Now I’m doing the third,」Yao Yao replied. She had been in a sealed map the last few days, so she had no way of contacting the outside world. As soon as she got out, she messaged Nie Yan.

「Nice! What level are you?」Nie Yan asked. He was surprised Yao Yao actually completed the second quest in the Karsi’s Blessing questline. Its difficulty was extremely high, and many top experts failed it in the previous timeline.

「Level 52.」

「You can do your class advancement quest now,」Nie Yan said. Given she completed the second quest in Karsi’s Blessing, Yao Yao could be considered one of the top players in Asskickers United.

Nie Yan recalled the previous timeline. Although Yao Yao was skilled, she was in no way a peak expert, or even an expert. He never expected his butterfly effect to be so great. She had joined the ranks of top experts because of his influence. This could only mean her talent was in no way inferior to the likes of Bladelight, Young Seven, Undying Scoundrel, and the others.

Yao Yao was slightly annoyed. Nie Yan seemed to only care about matters regarding the game whenever they chatted.

「How’s the guild doing?」Yao Yao asked. She had already ordered the Dragonsoar Financial Group to amass gold nonstop. During this time, they had provided Asskickers United with well over 200,000 gold.

「The crisis has passed. The ones who should be worrying now aren’t us but rather Bloodlust Blades,」Nie Yan said with a faint chuckle.