Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

With a flash of light, Nie Yan teleported back to Okoron. As he walked down the bustling streets of his city, he sighed with emotion. Finally, he was going to return to Asskickers United in glory!

Nie Yan was about to announce his return anyway, so he disabled appear offline mode. On the level leaderboards, he immediately shot up from the hundred millions to rank 93.

The players in the Righteous Faction quickly caught wind of the change on the level leaderboards, shock spreading among them. They rubbed their eyes in disbelief. How was this possible? How did Nie Yan level up from Level 156 to Level 202 in under four months? This was simply insane!

The news of Nie Yan’s updated level quickly reached the Evil Faction, causing an enormous uproar.

The forums erupted with discussion. Those who previously claimed Nie Yan had no chance of catching up quietly shut their mouths. They couldn’t wrap their heads around how he managed to level up at such an insane speed! It didn’t take long before someone linked the footage of a Thief soloing the Umbra Demon Kings to him. All of a sudden, everything made sense.

At Level 202, there was only a four or five-level difference between Nie Yan and Plenty, meaning the level suppression was negligible. At that point, victory would be decided by skill and gear quality.

The players took Nie Yan disabling appear offline as a declaration of his return. The throne of number one player in the game once more had its master!

The phrase ‘monarch overlooking the heavens’ perfectly described Nie Yan. At this moment, no one believed Plenty could beat him. His undefeated record was engraved deeply in the hearts of countless players. Even to this day, it still remained standing!

After finding out Nie Yan was already Level 202, the entirety of Asskickers United broke out in celebration. The guild chat flooded with messages as everyone expressed their excitement. Some old veterans felt their eyes tickling with tears. It had been three whole years. Everything seemed like a dream.

At some point, word of Nie Yan walking down the streets of Okoron towards the guild headquarters started going around.

The Abernathy Great Grasslands, Calore, Orc King City, Blaze City, Chaos Temple, Sword of the War God, countless guild members stopped what they were doing and activated their Return Scrolls to teleport back to the closest city, then made their way to Okoron.

Players from Asskickers United were flocking from all over towards Okoron. There were also quite a few non-guild members rushing over to witness the occasion. The city was large enough to contain tens of millions of people, but it was still packed to the brim, even more so than usual. Everyone was brimming with excitement. They were here to witness the return of the Mad Rogue, the return of the king! This was sure to be a historic moment.

Three years, an entire three years! When news of Nie Yan being shot came out, countless guild members felt a huge blow to their hearts. Many even cried. He had guided Asskickers United down the path of glory, going from nothing to becoming the ruler of the Righteous Faction. Many people joined the guild as nobodies, slowly maturing over the years. The feelings these old veterans had for Nie Yan were extremely deep. Finally, he was coming back! He hadn’t forgotten about them!

...

Sword of the War God.

Smoke Stub glanced at the guild chat, then turned to the others with a faint smile. “Looks like Nie Yan is coming back. How about we go back and welcome him home?”

“You sure this information is legit? If he’s planning to come back, you’d think he would tell us first. Someone might just be spreading rumours,” Bladelight said.

“It doesn’t really matter. He has already disabled appear offline. With so many people gathering in Okoron, he has no choice but to show himself.” Smoke Stub laughed.

Bladelight thought for a moment. It made sense. “Alright, let’s head back!”

The rest of the team erupted into cheers. Sun, Undying Scoundrel, Lustboy, all of them were excited beyond belief. With a flash of light, they teleported back to Okoron.

Watching Bladelight and the others appearing in Okoron, everyone was even more sure Nie Yan was making his return. Their boisterous cheers shook the city to its very core.

...

Nie Yan made a run to the Starry Night Potion Shop. He originally wanted to take care of a few things, then get in touch with Bladelight and the others. But by simply appearing online again, he had caused such a huge commotion. He was a little taken aback.

It seemed futile to keep hiding. So, Nie Yan sent Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and the others a message. Taking off his cloak, he walked straight past the Starry Night Potion Shop and toward the Asskickers United guild headquarters.

Seeing a player in the middle of the street revealing himself to be Nirvana Flame, all the players in the vicinity stared at him in shock before quickly parting ways to let him through.

“Boss!”

“Boss, do you remember me?”

…

Some Asskickers United players in the surroundings yelled out to him. They didn’t expect Nie Yan to reveal himself here. They could hardly contain their excitement.

Nie Yan nodded back with a faint smile. It had been three years. Even though he had forgotten the names of many of the people before him, he still recognized them. His heart was filled with a myriad of feelings. Three years ago, he had briefly died. Fortunately, he was given a new lease on life. Seeing these people again, he couldn’t help but sigh with deep emotion.

As Nie Yan continued walking towards the guild headquarters, from everywhere people started following behind him.

Even though Nie Yan knew his return would cause a huge reaction, he didn’t expect it would be to this extent. Okoron was even more packed than usual, tens of millions all here to see his return!

In the blink of an eye, the entirety of Asskickers United knew of Nie Yan’s return.

Nie Yan glanced at the guild chat. It was moving so fast he couldn’t possibly keep up, only seeing a few messages.

「Boss, welcome home!」

After catching a glimpse of this message, Nie Yan fought back the urge to let his tears come out. He wondered how Bladelight, Smoke Stub, Sun, and them were doing.

The players following behind Nie Yan started taking notice of his equipment. He’d hidden the stats of his equipment, but they could tell from its appearance what grade it was. Their minds trembled in shock. All Sacred-grade, and it looked like a set!

All six pieces had a sleek and stylish appearance and sparkled with a metallic lustre. Just above their surface circulated streams of azure light, which gave off an ice cold aura. They couldn’t help but shiver.

Thinking back to the video of Nie Yan soloing the Umbra Demon Kings, they guessed this equipment set had an astonishing aura or domain type ability as well as that ice rupture effect. As they thought about that monstrous damage, they couldn’t help but shudder in fear.

Nie Yan leisurely strode forward, wearing a calm expression on his face. Yet the players around him felt an untouchable prestige. The person before them was the undefeated legend, the Mad Rogue who accomplished countless impossible feats! His name alone gave off a sense of pressure.

A few minutes later, the entrance to the guild headquarters was already within view. Gathered there were several thousand of the guild’s elites standing in rank and file. Seeing these passionate faces, Nie Yan couldn’t feel more at home. He recognized many of them by name. Three years ago, they had fought shoulder-to-shoulder with him in leading Asskickers United to glory!

“Boss!”

“Boss, you’re back!”

…

Many players let their tears run freely as their emotions got the better of them.

Nie Yan spotted Bladelight, Smoke Stub, Sun, King of the World, and the others.

Bladelight walked up to Nie Yan and gave him one big bearhug. Afterwards, he stepped back and patted him on the shoulder with a hearty smile. “You lil’ punk. You finally have the nerve to show yourself, huh?”

“Big Bro!” Sun excitedly walked forward, his face full of snot and tears.

Tang Yao and King of the World were more calm. After all, they still interacted with Nie Yan regularly in real life.

Nie Yan’s heart was deeply moved. He swept his gaze over the crowd gathered around him. Smoke Stub, Undying Scoundrel, Young Seven, Mistaken Smile… seeing all these familiar faces, he fought back the urge to holler at the top of his lungs that he was finally back.

“The king has returned, the monarch overlooking the world!”

“All hail the Mad Rogue!”

…

No one knew who was the first to yell out these words, but the rest of the crowd quickly followed suit. Their passionate cheers rumbled like thunder, threatening to bring all of Okoron down. One could imagine how loud they were. All the non-guild members in the scene paled in fright. They finally understood why Asskickers United always came out on top in an impossible situation and how they rose up to become the ruler of the Righteous Faction.

Even though Asskickers United remained relatively stable over these past three years, everyone in the guild felt like something intrinsic was missing without Nie Yan. With his return, all of them lost themselves in excitement. He was the spiritual pillar of the guild. As long as he was there, they felt invincible. This was the power of a leader!

The Mad Rogue was the glory of Asskickers United, their symbol of invincibility.

Okoron descended into a state of merriment. Countless Asskickers United players surged through the streets and gathered around the guild headquarters. Several million players were packed so closely together around the guild headquarters that their feet didn’t touch the ground anymore.

Nie Yan climbed to the top of the highest tower in the guild headquarters. He looked over the sea of people, all of them eagerly looking up and waiting for him to speak.

Even the roofs of nearby buildings were packed with players! They were all cheering.

“Long live Asskickers United! Long live Nirvana Flame!”

Nie Yan’s heart stirred with emotion and a sense of pride. This was the feeling of overlooking the world! As long as he gave the word, millions of players would sweep through all enemies in his path!