The Great Thief

Chapter 1279: Betting On The Underdog

Translator: Halcyon Translations Editor: Halcyon Translations

Of course, Lu Li could also ignore Fat Monkey’s words to the reporter.

He could even shamelessly arrange for a person who countered Sorrowless to go first. Given his ruthlessness, he didn’t feel any guilt over this option. In this history of the league, this wasn’t an uncommon thing. Lu Li just wasn’t sure if Glory Capital would even respond to this challenge.

All was fair in war, but this sentiment had been the topic of conversation recently.

For the sake of money, victory and the Championship, what did personal honour and shame matter? Lu Li could just completely ignore the challenge that Fat Monkey had set before the reporters.

However, doing this didn’t come without consequences, otherwise, he wouldn’t have thought twice.

First of all, if Fat Monkey came out in a later round, his reputation would become an issue. He would face harsh criticism even if he played exceptionally, let alone normally. No one else in Ruling Sword could replace Fat Monkey’s position; Lu Li couldn’t even find an Ice Mage at this point.

Since this was such an important point, Lu Li really had no choice.

Rebirth didn’t mean he was invulnerable. Even if Lu Li could find more players, Ruling Sword still had to raise them up to capitalise on their potential.

Lu Li was a little uncomfortable with today’s events, but he could understand Fat Monkey’s perspective. Any Mage, especially someone like Fat Monkey, would regard Sorrowless as their ultimate goal. If Fat Monkey didn’t have such ambitions, he wouldn’t really have a future.

The main reason for Fat Monkey’s outburst today was because of his impulse, and the reporter had been slightly manipulative at the press conference.

“Monkey,” Lu Li said as he put his hand on Fat Monkey’s shoulder and hesitated.

“Boss, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have said that,” Fat Monkey apologized dejectedly. After calming down and thinking about it, he didn’t feel like he was ready to challenge Sorrowless. He didn’t have any hope of defeating him, so there was naturally no confidence either.

“Next time, don’t be so rash with your words,” Lu Li sighed, “But you will be going in first. Now go get ready.”

“Alright then. Boss, you can rest assured... wait, going first?”

Fat Monkey didn’t understand what Lu Li had said at first. However, after a few moments, he realized that Lu Li said he was the starter. Did this mean he was going to challenge Sorrowless?

“Now that you’ve said it, you have to commit to it. A man must always keep his word,” Lu Li said as he patted Fat Monkey’s shoulder. “Go on – don’t let us down.”

“I...” Fat Monkey’s words lingered in his throat; he didn’t know what to say. It seemed that language couldn’t express his current mood. He was ready to be treated as a joke, because all newcomers that were arrogant were treated as such.

“Stop lazing around – don’t you want to challenge him? This is a good opportunity. I wasn’t as lucky as you when I was your age,” Moonlight chimed in.

Fat Monkey glanced at him gratefully, as it was obvious that Moonlight was also on his side.

Ruling Sword was a new club, which meant that the systems in place weren’t perfect yet. In addition, Lu Li refused all investments, so management was taken care of by people he knew. His words were authoritative, so when Fat Monkey stood up to start the fight, no one questioned it.

When Fat Monkey stood in the ring, he didn’t receive the taunting that he thought he would.

All the Mages were interested in seeing the outcome of this fight. Regardless of whether it was Sorrowless or Unforgettable Maple, they had all seen and conquered for their titles. All Warriors had thought about challenging the top players in their profession, but not many actually went out to do it, so the actions of Fat Monkey were particularly remarkable in their eyes.

As for Ruling Sword, who had decided to let Fat Monkey go first, the audience respected them more now.

They dared to let a newcomer Mage challenge Sorrowless. No club had dared to do this in recent years.

Moonlight looked at Fat Monkey’s excited face and knew that this guy wasn’t going to play normally, but he did not regret his decision to encourage Lu Li to let Fat Monkey go.

He used to do the same stupid things as Fat Monkey. At that time, he wasn’t as stable as he was now. He had just debuted, but he already felt like he was strong, so he challenge the God of War at the time.

If he didn’t defeat the God of War, how could he become the God of War!

However, he didn’t have Fat Monkey’s luck, and his club didn’t dare bet on him.

In that game, they lost very badly and only he was the highlight of the entire team. After a few months, Moonlight had joined another club and planned to defeat the God of War in another match.

Unfortunately, before the start of the new season, the God of War announced his retirement.

As such, Moonlight never got to defeat his idol in the end. Since then, there had been several Warrior competitions and Moonlight went on to become the idol of many other Warrior players, but he would never have to chance to defeat the God of War.

It was this that gave him a soft spot, and he would always support Fat Monkey even if he was bound to lose.

There would only be one champion, but there was more than one opportunity to win the championship. Both Moonlight and Lu Li knew that this arrangement was irrational, but they didn’t regret putting Fat Monkey in.

Lu Li was probably more utilitarian when considering this point.

Ruling Sword had to continue expanding and there were many new players with potential out there. Even someone who had experienced rebirth was helpless here. The biggest source of new players was actually from the training camps. These newcomers were trained in batches and could either be selected or eliminated.

This was an opportunity for Lu Li to give Fat Monkey the chance to convey this message to the outside world.

“As long as you have the skills, I want to give you the best opportunity. Even if you want to challenge the best player in the game, that is possible.

Look at Fat Monkey, who was unknown a few months ago. He has been given many opportunities in the arena and now even has the opportunity to challenge Sorrowless. So, what are you waiting for? Where else can you find such opportunities while you are young? Do you want to give all this up just so you can make a bit of money in your career?”

In short, this was them betting on the underdog for advertising purposes.

When Fat Monkey got on stage, Glory Capital had no choice but to respond and Sorrowless also appeared. He didn’t have any contempt for Fat monkey. Everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared.

In fact, Sorrowless was helpless in this situation too.

Fat Monkey challenged him. If Fat Monkey lost, everyone would understand – after all, he was a newcomer with the courage to fight.

However, once Sorrowless lost, he would hypothetically start facing a wave of other challenges. After all, he would have become a stepping stone for a newcomer and if Fat Monkey could defeat him, then many other players would think they could too.

After the signal was given for the start of the match, both sides began throwing skills at each other.

They were both Mages, whose fire attacks could deal more damage, but ice attacks had more crowd-control and mobility.

Sorrowless’ equipment was definitely better than Fat Monkey’s.

If you thought about factors like equipment and skills, it was actually cheaper to be a Fire Mage.

An Ice Mage’s main crowd-control effect was to restrict the movement of their opponent. This gave them an overwhelming advantage against melee players. However, if two Mages had an attack range that was the same, limiting the movement of the other Mage wouldn’t stop them from casting their skills.

This was the general impression that the players had, but today, Sorrowless was going to give everyone a Mage lesson.