Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 1)

Chapter 141 - Asskickers United

Fortunately, the surprise Tang Yao had given them before acted as a cushion now; otherwise, the shock Hao Cheng, Zhao Li, and Guo Huai received would've been much more severe. Evidently, Nie Yan's level was a result of him levelling together with Tang Yao.

Today was quite eventful. Hao Cheng, Zhao Li, and Guo Huai were able to meet two experts that ranked at the very top of the leaderboards. Not only that, but these experts were also fellow students from the same school. Most surprising of all was that one of them was Nie Yan, a kid who had been mediocre at everything but studying. To their surprise, in the time that they didn't see him, he had transformed into such an outstanding person. They could barely wrap their heads around this fact.

"Back in middle school, we always knew you liked to keep a low-profile. Even when we took tests, you would usually be around tenth or eleventh place, but after the final exams, you suddenly shot up to the top three. It really is in your style to do this kind of stuff. I should've known it was you earlier when Tang Yao said he was just following someone around. Still, we never really thought of you as a gamer, and rightfully so since you never played any in the past. Who could've known that, as soon as you got your hands on one, you'd be so good at it. Yet, even when you can place in the top three, you still choose to stay hidden. I guess compared to you, we brothers just aren't as restrained or skilled," Guo Huai shook his head and said in a dry manner.

Guo Huai himself was pretty low-key as well. That was why, out of all his schoolmates, only his four best friends-Nie Yan, Tang Yao, Zhao Li, and Hao Cheng-knew that his family was wealthy. Normally, he was considered the most unassuming out of the bunch, but now, it seemed that title belonged to Nie Yan.

"Since it's like this, I guess the five of us are pretty strong. So what do you say, shall we make a guild?" Hao Cheng eagerly asked. His old man ran a martial arts center that plenty of patrons frequented, meaning if they were to start a guild, he would be able to pull in quite a few people.

"I'm up for it. How about we give it a try? I can probably recruit most of my classmates," Zhao Li said. Although he didn't have much to offer, he was a natural smoothtalker. There was almost no one he didn't have a good relation with, particularly with those of the opposite gender.

"If we're making a guild, then we'll have to do it properly. At the very least, we need to make a big splash in the game's community. As for having a stake in the ownership of the guild, you guys can discuss among yourselves and come to me with a proposal," Nie Yan said after thinking for a while. If he shared the burden of management with his brothers, he would no longer have to worry about being overwhelmed by guild affairs, leaving him free to focus on his own matters. Guo Huai, Hao Cheng, and Zhao Li all showed promising potential. They were young and full of drive, not to mention they had all chosen the same starting point. Their first step was to bring all of their friends and schoolmates into the guild, since there would be a sense of familiarity if everyone already knew each other. And even though it would be impossible to prevent moles from infiltrating their guild, this would at least ensure that their ranks would remain pure for a little while. Besides, as youths in their prime, they were generally better at playing video games than older adults.

Zhao Li quickly waved his hands and said, "No, it's fine. I don't want any stakes in ownership. I'm okay with just helping out. We're all brothers here anyway, right?"

Rebuking Zhao Li's statement, Guo Huai shook his head and said, "It's exactly because we're brothers that we're all deciding these things now." Since his own family owned a large business chain, he himself had seen too many situations where entire families fell apart because shares weren't properly divided up, siblings becoming sworn enemies, feuds lasting for decades...