Chapter 1 The Beginning

Looking at the time, it was already 3:30 PM. *Faith's* game time was from 5:00 PM to 9:00 AM, a total of sixteen hours. It wouldn't affect ordinary people's work. Since everyone's game time was roughly the same, the level gap between players wouldn't be too large. Plus, *Faith's* ultra-perfect simulation technology caused it to quickly become popular, sweeping the globe and gradually becoming an indispensable part of people's lives.

This was a world dominated by virtual technology, a perfect system. Five months later, *Faith* completed the connection with real-world currency, completely integrating into human life.

The high percentage of online players and such a huge player base drove consumption in the virtual world. The annual consumption of players worldwide in *Faith* even exceeded the total consumption in the real world. The enormous consumer base spawned a large number of service industries, the most notable of which was the professional player group.

Almost every consortium had entered *Faith*. After Nie Yan's father started his company, the company's profits were good, and he also took advantage of that trend to invest in *Faith*, but it ended in a disastrous defeat, leading to a break in the company's capital chain, allowing Cao Xu to take advantage of the situation. He absolutely could not let such a thing happen again.

Entering *Faith* was necessary, but the key was not to fail. Nie Yan had to pave the way for his father first, so that when his father invested, it could be done in one fell swoop. As long as the capital chain didn't break, no problems would arise.

After spending thirty yuan on a meal outside, Nie Yan returned home when it was almost five o'clock.

He put on his helmet and quietly waited for the launch of *Faith*.

Twelve minutes passed, and the time displayed in the helmet was five o'clock. A lively melody sounded. This sound was so familiar; he had heard it countless times in his past life. Music that he had previously felt nothing for now sounded so pleasant.

System: Do you wish to create a new account?

Yes!

System: Please select your country.

*Faith* was divided into three camps. The good, lawful, and light camp included the Greenland Empire and the Saturn Empire. The Greenland Empire was a human nation with a council of elders, while the Saturn Empire was a tribal alliance nation composed of dwarves, orcs, and elves. The evil, lawful, and dark camp was composed of the Demonkin tribes and Undead tribes, with dictators as their leaders. People who loved peace could also choose the good, lawful, and neutral camp of the Giant tribes.

In his previous life, Nie Yan chose the Gale Thief class of the Greenland Empire. He was more familiar with the map of Greenland and knew all the skills and class quests of the Gale Thief. If he chose another country, he wouldn't have much of an advantage from being reborn.

Nie Yan had a special affection for the Gale Thief. After all, he had devoted nearly ten years of his life to that class. A level 180 Great Thief represented supreme glory.

Considering all the factors, he chose the Gale Thief like in his previous life.

System: You have chosen to be born in the Greenland Empire.

System: You have chosen the Gale Thief 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, reborn.

System: Character name successful. Character Nie Yan has been created.

After entering the game, the system automatically blurred the real appearance. The system made subtle modifications to the player's face. Under normal circumstances, the characters in the game and the real appearance in reality were very different, making it difficult to recognize them, but the level of beauty or ugliness was roughly the same as in reality.

Nie Yan opened the attribute panel and looked at his own attributes.

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Character: Nie Yan

Level: 0

Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Intelligence 2, Constitution 2, Perception 2, Charisma 1

Health 100/100, Rage 0/100

Defense: 2 (Defense Rate: 21%)

Attack: 3 (Hit Rate: 10)

Tenacity: 1

Reflex: 2 (Class Specialization Modifier)

Willpower: 0

Balance: 5

Focus: 5

Jump: 5 (Small Amplitude Action Light Jump 0.9 yards, Medium Amplitude Action Medium Jump 1.5 yards, Large Amplitude Action Heavy Jump 3 yards)

Stealth: 0 (This skill is currently empty)

Hide: 5 (Thieves can easily hide in the shadows)

Search: 5

Magic Resistance: 0 (Related to Defense, Intelligence, and Constitution, Magic Defense Rate 0%)

Movement Speed: 5 (Weight Correction 0)

Attack Speed: 5 (Weapon Correction 0, Weight Correction 0)

Weight: 60 pounds (Weight Correction +10) Light Load 0-20 pounds (inclusive, easy to move), Medium Load 20-30 pounds (normal movement), Heavy Load 30-50 pounds (difficult movement)

Character Race Characteristics: Humans possess wisdom that many races cannot match. They gain Intelligence Check +3 every five levels.

Thief Class Characteristic 1: Gain a bonus to saving throws against traps every five levels.

Thief Class Characteristic 2: Sneak Attack. When attacking an enemy from behind, gain an additional 30% attack bonus.

Human Thief Class Characteristic: Their superb wisdom allows them to be proficient in using various tools and magic items.

Class Specializations: Basic Agile Movement (+2 Reflex Check), Basic Weapon Specialization: Dagger (+1 Attack Check), Basic Concealment (+2 Hide), Basic Shooting (Can use bows and crossbows), Nimble Fingers (Gale Thieves can use their fingers with dexterity)

(For explanations of attributes, please refer to the work-related section – *Faith* Worldview)

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These were the base attributes, the same for every human thief. In addition, the system gave 5 attribute points and 1 specialization point at level 0.

Nie Yan looked at the attribute column. In his previous life, when he chose the Gale Thief, he added one point to Strength, two points to Agility, and two points to Constitution to make himself more resistant to damage. This made his attack very weak and his attack speed very slow in the early stages, wasting a lot of leveling time. In fact, thieves didn't need too much health in the early stages. His failed early-stage stat allocation made him sigh with regret several times, wishing he could delete his account and start over. This time, he would not repeat the same mistake.

He added three points to Strength and two points to Agility. This was the best allocation ratio he had deduced in his previous life, combined with his leveling habits. Looking at the attributes after the stat allocation, his attack became 6, hit rate 10.6, movement speed 5.4, and attack speed 5.6.

There was also one class specialization point. With the thief's class characteristics, human thief players would mostly add their first specialization point to Agile Movement, Weapon Specialization, or Concealment. Nie Yan was about to add Weapon Specialization when he suddenly stopped. After thinking for a moment, he added the class specialization to Shooting.

Intermediate Shooting: Fast Reload +3, Range +3, Attack Damage +3 when using bows and crossbows, Ignore Level Difference +3 (Thief Class Check +1)

Specializations were divided into five levels: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Master. After reaching the Master level, they could no longer be improved. However, there were many types of specializations. Different classes could improve different specializations.

Human thieves were proficient in various tools and magic items, and bows and crossbows were one of them, so Intermediate Shooting gained an extra attack bonus.

After allocating the attributes, the scene switched, and Nie Yan appeared at the Carol City teleportation point. Surrounding him were rows of tall buildings. All the buildings in Carol City were white and spotless. The white obelisk in the center pierced straight into the clouds. Next to the obelisk stood a giant white stone sculpture hundreds of yards high, depicting a mage holding a scepter, his expression solemn and dignified. That was the patron saint of the Greenland Empire, Emperor Jobia.

The streets were bustling with people.

The night in reality was morning in the game. The dawn's light sprinkled on Carol City, like a layer of silvery-white light, enveloping every building.

Carol City was the capital of the Greenland Empire. It was a sky city suspended above the Carol Grasslands. There were countless teleportation points here leading to various cities, towns, and villages.

"Excellent level 0 White Dagger, 2 Attack, 1 point higher than the newbie dagger, only two copper coins, only three available, while supplies last!" A level 3 Arcane Mage was setting up a stall near the teleportation point. Many newbies were gathering in front of his stall.

Every newbie who just entered the game had ten copper coins as starting capital. In order to level up a little faster in the beginning, many people bought one despite the pain.

Nie Yan scoffed. The same White Dagger only sold for one copper coin in Locke Town in the level 1-5 maps. Level 0 players could teleport for free. It only took two or three minutes to teleport there, find an NPC, and buy a dagger.

In his previous life, he was also foolish enough to buy one, only to later discover that he had been scammed.

The cloth store in Locke Town, the shoe and hat store in Joseph Town, and the dagger store in Locke Town. Nie Yan teleported three times, spending six copper coins to replace his non-defensive newbie equipment, exchanging them for shoes, hats, shoulder pads, and leg guards with 1-2 defense, and a cloth armor with 2-3 defense.

These were all experiences he had gathered in his previous life. Looking at his defense, it reached 8-13. In the early stages, second or third level thieves who didn't have enough information and whose equipment hadn't kept up only had this much defense.

After strolling around the market, he found a level 3 Silence Paladin selling Thief's Stealth skill books. There were six books on the stall, priced at six copper coins each. Due to the high price, low-level thieves could only stop and stare.

The Silence Paladin looked to be in his twenties, tall and sturdy. It would have been good for him to be a Warrior, but Paladin was also acceptable.

Paladins were guardians affiliated with the temple. They could learn the divine arts inherited from the temple, possessing a certain amount of magical attack ability and healing ability, as well as good melee ability. At the same time, they could provide aura support to teammates, making them a relatively balanced class in all aspects. As for Silence Paladins, they could learn divine arts such as Silence and Mute, suppressing magic classes such as Mages and Priests.

"How much for the Stealth skill book?" Nie Yan squatted down, picked up a skill book from the stall, and asked. The Stealth skill book was an essential skill for thieves in the early stages. Fortunately, the Stealth skill book had a high drop rate at various monster spawn points, so the price wasn't very expensive.

"You see it, priced at six copper coins," the Silence Paladin said, nodding his head.

"You're really trying to rip people off. You're a Silence Paladin, you can farm Fallen Wizards in Locke Town and get six Stealth books a day, without even losing health. It's more profitable than farming goblins. How can you have the nerve to sell them so expensive? Three copper coins, not a penny more." Nie Yan immediately lowered the price by half.

"It's not as easy as you say. How much do I have to spend on medicine a day? I can't make any money selling it to you for three copper coins. Five copper coins at the lowest." The Silence Paladin was stunned by Nie Yan. It took him a while to reply. He wasn't the kind of person who was good at calculating. This newbie looked like a well-informed veteran player. He wasn't easy to fool.

"You're farming in the wrong place. If you go to coordinate 22385.21338.23329 to farm Fallen Wizards, you can get at least ten books a day, and you won't spend much on medicine. Three copper coins, not a penny more. If you're not willing to sell, I'll leave immediately." Nie Yan sized up the Silence Paladin. The Silence Paladin had a square face with a bit of stubble. He didn't look too wretched.