Fa Biao De Wo Niu

Chapter 14 Close Friend

Chapter 1 Learning for an Hour

After an hour of studying, he continued to exercise. When he got hungry, he took a portion of pre-prepared nutrient solution from the refrigerator. This continued until one in the afternoon.

The phone rang in Nie Yan’s house.

"Hello, who is this?" Nie Yan asked, picking up the phone.

"Nie Yan, let's go out and have some fun. I'm about to suffocate at home."

Nie Yan recognized the voice immediately. It was Tang Yao. Pages of memories flipped through his mind once more. Tang Yao was his best friend; they had grown up together wearing open-crotch pants. Later, Tang Yao's family became wealthy and moved to the city, but they had a beautiful villa in Ningjiang, where they would stay for a while during summer vacations.

Tang Yao was exceptionally loyal. In his previous life, when Nie Yan was in dire straits, Tang Yao risked being discovered by Cao Xu and secretly provided financial assistance, which made Nie Yan's life much easier.

However, Tang Yao had one flaw: he liked to womanize. Once, while drinking at a bar, he argued with someone over a woman and was beaten to death. Because the other party had too much influence, the case was never solved.

Tang Yao, you're still alive, that's great. I won't let that happen again in this life.

Nie Yan's tears welled up and streamed down his face.

"Hey, Nie Yan, are you dead or something? Say something."

"Where to?" Nie Yan asked, composing himself.

"Let's go to the PK bar, are you interested? Faith is really popular lately, have you played it?"

"I've played it, a level two Gale Thief," Nie Yan said. The PK bar was a gaming entertainment venue where players could bring out their in-game characters and compete against each other in various scenarios. This kind of PK wouldn't increase the game characters' experience or affect the game progress; it was just that occasionally, players could win one or two pieces of equipment through gambling.

"Not bad, kid, you've already reached level two. When did you buy the game helmet?" Tang Yao asked with some surprise. He remembered that Nie Yan's family wasn't very wealthy.

"Some time ago."

"Let's go check out the PK bar. I'm a level three arcane mage." Tang Yao boasted with a hint of pride.

Nie Yan smiled slightly. It was human nature for eighteen or nineteen-year-olds to show off a little when they had something to be proud of, but he was already past that age.

At this stage, being able to reach level three meant you were a pretty skilled player, making up about one-tenth of the player base. But Nie Yan knew that Tang Yao's skills were still a bit lacking for the PK bar. There were quite a few experts there; basically, all the高手 (gaoshou – experts) in Ningjiang gathered there.

"We can go have fun, but you shouldn't gamble," Nie Yan said. In his memory, Tang Yao loved to gamble, but he always lost, yet he never tired of it. Fortunately, Tang Yao didn't have much pocket money, so losing wasn't a big deal. Nowadays, parents didn't give their children too much money, to avoid turning them into纨绔子弟 (wankuzi di – spoiled brats).

"When did you become such a nag? Hurry up, I'm already downstairs."

"Okay," Nie Yan replied helplessly. He understood Tang Yao's personality; it was impossible to stop him from gambling. He just hoped he could be there to remind him to restrain himself a bit.

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 rinsed off his sweaty body, changed his clothes, and headed downstairs.

"Why are you dawdling so much?"

As soon as Nie Yan reached the downstairs, Tang Yao drove over in his levitating car and stopped next to him.

Nie Yan suppressed his excited feelings. It had been a long time since he had seen Tang Yao. The current Tang Yao was still a slightly short and chubby kid. He and Nie Yan had both grown taller during their senior year of high school. Back then, Tang Yao was handsome and dashing, completely different from how he looked now.

"I took a shower."

"Get in the car, get in the car, hurry up. I barely managed to sneak out; my dad will be calling me to help him with work again soon," Tang Yao urged.

Nie Yan opened the car door and got in.

"It's been almost a year since we last met, right? You still haven't grown any taller."

"You're the same," Nie Yan laughed. This familiar feeling of closeness had returned. Tang Yao, it's been almost three years since we last met.

"Yesterday, I lost over a thousand at the PK bar. This young master is pissed. I have to win back those punks' pants," Tang Yao said resentfully, stepping on the accelerator. The levitating car sped away like an arrow.

"Are you talking about the Hei Ren (Blackie) and his gang?" Nie Yan remembered that there were a few people like that, local thugs. When he was in school, he had been bullied by them quite a bit.

"Yeah, it's them. I even wanted to vent your anger for you yesterday," Tang Yao said dejectedly.

In Tang Yao's mind, Nie Yan had always been timid, the type who wouldn't dare to say a word after being bullied. Tang Yao had always been protective of Nie Yan. What Tang Yao didn't know was that the current Nie Yan was no longer the timid and fearful Nie Yan of the past.

"Yo, Young Master Tang, you're here. You're quite punctual," a skinny, dark-skinned teenager, only eighteen or nineteen years old, walked over. His clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in days, and he spoke with a痞里痞气 (pili piqi – hooligan-like) tone.

His name was Wei Kai. Because of his dark skin, it was said that you couldn't see him at all if he was placed somewhere at night. Nie Yan and Tang Yao once suspected that he had African ancestry. Nie Yan and Tang Yao secretly called him Hei Ren (Blackie). Later, the nickname spread, and Wei Kai hated Nie Yan and Tang Yao for it. But he was a little afraid of Tang Yao, because Tang Yao's father was the general manager of Linzhou Airlines, someone he couldn't afford to offend. So he would often make trouble for Nie Yan.

Behind Wei Kai were five younger boys, all part of his gang.

"Nie Yan that kid is here too, tsk tsk, haven't taught him a lesson enough yet."

Those boys glanced at Nie Yan.

In his previous life, Nie Yan heard that Wei Kai had committed some crime and went into exile in another star system. After that, there was no news of him. After being reborn, Nie Yan didn't take those few hooligans seriously at all. As for the bullying he had suffered back then, what was the point of pursuing it now?

"Don't worry, I'm here. They won't dare to do anything to you," Tang Yao comforted Nie Yan in a low voice.

Nie Yan nodded.

Tang Yao couldn't help but take another look at Nie Yan. Nie Yan seemed particularly calm today, and he thought to himself, "This kid has gotten bolder."

"Enough with the nonsense, did you bring the money?" Tang Yao asked, looking at Wei Kai.

"Don't worry, I brought two thousand, but you're still paying for today's venue fee," Wei Kai said, waving a bank card.

"You're still haggling over a hundred yuan venue fee..." Tang Yao curled his lip dismissively, not holding back his words.

"I'm not as rich as Young Master Tang. We common folk can only haggle over these small amounts," Wei Kai said with a grin, not getting angry at all.

Looking at Wei Kai again with the perspective of an adult, Nie Yan realized that although Wei Kai was just a thug, he had a shrewdness about him. Wei Kai and his gang had seen a lot more of the world, and they were more knowledgeable.

"Damn, you're just relying on having a rich dad, what's so great about that?"

The boys behind Wei Kai couldn't stand Tang Yao and started cursing.

Tang Yao was very good to his friends. The reason he was being so harsh today was probably because Wei Kai and his gang often bullied Nie Yan.

Tang Yao ignored those boys, walked to the bar, put two hundred on the counter, and said, "Boss, open a private room. Keep the change, and have the waiter bring some drinks, no cola."

"Room Six, here's your room card," the boss said, handing Tang Yao a card.

"Young Master Tang, please go first," Wei Kai said with a smile. His eyes swept over Nie Yan, and their eyes met. Nie Yan looked at him calmly.

Wei Kai was slightly surprised. Nie Yan seemed different today than he used to be. In the past, Nie Yan would have been very timid and fearful when he saw him, but today, he was unusually calm.

The group headed towards Room Six.

Nie Yan and the others entered the private room, which was divided into two areas, each with five recliner-like machines. Players could play 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5. If they wanted to have a team battle, they would need to enter a larger private room.

Nie Yan and Tang Yao entered one area, closed the door, and separated themselves from Wei Kai and his gang with glass.

"What level is Hei Ren?" Nie Yan asked, looking at Tang Yao.

"Level three Berserker," Tang Yao said. He had played ten matches yesterday and only won three. After going back, he had his father's subordinates get him an Arcane Blast skill book and replaced it with a bronze arcane mage equipment, preparing to win a few matches and win back all the money he had lost yesterday.

Ten matches, two hundred per match.

"What skills do you have?" Nie Yan asked. After all, he had played Faith for so many years. Although he hadn't played as an arcane mage, he had seen enough of them. He had PKed with arcane mages countless times, and he had a bit of understanding of the class.

"Arcane Missile, Arcane Fireball, Arcane Flames, Arcane Blast, Arcane Mana Recovery," Tang Yao said casually. He didn't think Nie Yan knew much about Faith. He had trained to level three, while Nie Yan was only level two.

"How much health, how much mana?"

"One hundred and twenty health, one hundred and fifty mana," Tang Yao said. His equipment was considered pretty good among level three arcane mages.

"Did Hei Ren learn Charge?" Nie Yan asked. He was puzzled. With such equipment, why did Tang Yao lose in his previous life?

"He did."

"No wonder," Nie Yan realized. If a Berserker learned Charge and used it well, it could effectively counter an arcane mage.

"It's about to start," Tang Yao said, picking up his game helmet.

Tang Yao would most likely lose. Nie Yan thought about it and decided to watch. If Tang Yao lost too badly, he would step in.

They swiped their ID cards on the equipment and put on their game helmets. The equipment automatically extracted the players' data from the Faith database and copied it. They could then compete here. Since it was copied data, it had nothing to do with Faith.

Everyone entered the game. Nie Yan and the five boys were assigned to the spectator seats. The arena was random, and the first map was a mountainous terrain.

Mountainous terrain was very advantageous for arcane mages.

Tang Yao and Wei Kai prepared themselves. With a system prompt sound, the two started fighting.

"Hey, kid, long time no see. Not bad, level two Gale Thief, are you interested in playing a match?" One of the five boys said. Nie Yan vaguely remembered that this guy was called Shi Feng.

Level two Combat Rogue!

Combat Rogues and Gale Rogues were fundamentally different. Combat Rogues had a more elegant title, called Rangers. Like Gale Rogues, they had Stealth skills, but they focused more on combat. They generally used short sword weapons and had good melee capabilities.

Different class characteristics, it's hard to tell which is stronger or weaker. In Faith, there are no weakest classes, only weakest players.

Nie Yan glanced at Shi Feng and said indifferently, "You're not worthy. Choosing a Ranger, such a low-skill class, shows a lack of taste."

"You're asking for a beating, you think I won't hit you when we get out of here?" Shi Feng cursed, not expecting Nie Yan, who had always been meek and submissive, to dare to speak so rudely.

Nie Yan raised an eyebrow. They were just a few young punks, what did he have to fear? Although his body was still a little weak, a far cry from his peak state in his previous life, his fighting skills were more than enough to deal with a few punks. These small-time thugs were a level below Wei Kai. They were just students, dressing in a thug-like way, spouting dirty words, and thinking they were hooligans. They were still very childish. In fact, being a hooligan was also a skill.

"If you have the guts, come down and let's fight."

"I'll only play if the stakes are high enough. I'm not interested in small bets," Nie Yan said. It was simple for him to take care of Shi Feng.

"Kid's getting ambitious. I have three hundred here, let's play a match, what do you say?" Shi Feng took out a bank card. Nie Yan was getting bolder and bolder. If he didn't teach him a lesson, he wouldn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.

"Just one match. I have seven hundred here," Nie Yan took out his bank card and swiped it. It showed that there were still over seven hundred yuan in the account. This money was a considerable fortune for the eighteen-year-old Nie Yan.

"Who has money? Lend me a few hundred first," Shi Feng said, turning to the other boys.

"I have two hundred here."

"I have one hundred."

"I have one hundred."

After borrowing four hundred, Shi Feng finally had enough to make seven hundred. Shi Feng hung out with Wei Kai, but after all, he was just a thug, and he didn't have much money.

Nie Yan glanced at Tang Yao and Wei Kai's battle. Because it was mountainous terrain, Wei Kai's Berserker skills couldn't be used effectively, and Tang Yao won one match. The next map was a flat plain, and Tang Yao would probably lose.

"Let's go," Nie Yan said, withdrawing his gaze, and said to Shi Feng.

The light and shadow in front of them shifted, and they were already in a jungle, full of lush vegetation. The two were about fifty yards apart.

"Damn it, Grandpa will teach you how to behave."

Nie Yan smiled faintly. He was too lazy to argue with Shi Feng.

Shi Feng secretly wondered why Nie Yan looked so creepy today.

System: Match Start.

Nie Yan and Shi Feng entered Stealth mode at the same time.

Stealth was not the same as invisibility. When thieves used Stealth skills, their bodies would blend into the background. It was difficult to see them unless you looked closely. If you focused your attention, you could still see flaws.

Stealth tested the thief's concealment skills and agility, while anti-stealth tested the player's eyesight.

The two were approaching each other. Nie Yan lightened his footsteps, carefully avoiding touching leaves and branches, leaving no trace. After playing as a thief for so many years, it would be too embarrassing if he was discovered by Shi Feng, a novice. Nie Yan's eyes were like lightning, and he saw a slight irregular vibration of a tree branch in the jungle not far away. Focusing his attention, he could see a blurry human figure. He quickly locked onto Shi Feng's position.

Shi Feng moved slowly and cautiously, paying attention to observe, but Nie Yan seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving no trace.

The thief's concealment ability was greatly related to the background color. The more complex the background color, the easier it was to be discovered. If the background color was only one color, it would be difficult for even opponents to discover them, even if they observed carefully.

Like a stick insect attached to bamboo, completely blending in with the background, predators could not find it even if they walked right in front of it.

Stealth ability was closely related to the player's control ability. The route and steps taken while stealthing were very particular.

In Nie Yan's opinion, he didn't need to deliberately hide his tracks. The concealing actions were like an instinct, deeply ingrained in his bones.

Ten years as a thief, even a fool would become an expert, not to mention that Nie Yan's comprehension was quite good.

Wearing a big red cotton-padded jacket and a pot lid on my head in the middle of summer, begging for recommendation tickets...