Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 4)

Chapter 625 - A Rift

After the events of the school-wide gathering in Conviction, Zhao Shiyu and her clique managed to gather enough people to form a team. Of course, she was the leader. They ran dungeons regularly and obtained quite a bit of decent equipment. However, as time went by, small annoyances turned into internal conflicts until no day went by without heated arguments. The main issue was that the loot was not being divided up fairly. Zhao Shiyu believed as the ones who created the team, she and a few others deserved a larger portion of the spoils. This, of course, didn't sit well with the other members. It was the topic of numerous arguments. Before long, mutual distrust built up and a clear rift formed within the team.

Zhao Shiyu had personally spoken to a few of the disgruntled members and temporarily quelled the discourse. Since those ill-treated had nowhere better to turn to, they could only swallow their grievances and stay in the team. However, a deep seed of resentment had long since taken root in their hearts.

Zhao Shiyu, for all her arrogance, had little to no self-awareness. She, Fu Guangtao, and Bai Jun thought they were being smart by pulling small tricks and secretly hogging the good equipment for themselves. However, no secret could be kept forever. Several members of the team were actively looking for a way out.

Zhao Shiyu and the 17 other members in her clique were discussing strategy for their next dungeon run at the back of the classroom. The desk was piled high with sheets of paper. The dungeon they wanted to run had long since been fully explored, cleared countless times over by the elites of the various major guilds. So, there were many tips and tricks floating around on the internet, which they had compiled together in one place. After making some more preparations inside the game, they would be ready to set out.

Even though Zhao Shiyu and her team weren't good enough to be considered top elites, they were still fairly strong among second-rate players. In addition, they didn't blindly run into harder content, instead making comprehensive preparations for every next dungeon run. At this moment, however, there were a few voices of dissent.

"I still don't think we're ready to run Arachnid Abyss. That dungeon is clearly too difficult for us to clear. We don't have the DPS! I say we need to run Mysterious Cavern at least 20 more times to better equip our Mages. Only then do I think we'll be ready to challenge such a high level dungeon!" a somewhat chubby male student said. His face and ears were somewhat flushed from arguing back and forth. His name was Chu Chenghao. He played a Paladin and was only slightly behind Zhao Shiyu, Fu Guangtao, and Bai Jun in level. Since he was generally amiable and did things fairly and openly, many students had a good impression of him.

"No need! Our damage is already good enough. As long as we can clear Arachnid Abyss, our gear will rise to another level. Continuing to run Mysterious Cavern is only a stupid waste of time!" Fu Guangtao fired back.

"You guys are really full of yourselves. It's pretty obvious we'll wipe if we run Arachnid Abyss in our current state. A team that only goes at the pace of its few strongest members won't last long. Have you ever heard of something called teamwork? If we go to Arachnid Abyss now, what will we need just to survive? Hmm, let see-Poisonbite Necklaces, Ivory Life Rings, Flame Gems... need I go on? Do you think anyone in our team but yourselves could possibly afford these things? Why risk our lives in Arachnid Abyss for so little gains? We should grind in Mysterious Cavern for a bit longer, so that our weaker members can replace their current shabby weapons and armour with better ones. Like this, the entire team will grow stronger, not just you few."

Many of the weaker members sunk into deep thought. Items like Poisonbite Necklaces and Ivory Life Rings were all fairly precious. They definitely couldn't afford the burden. In the end, all the benefits would go to the stronger members like Zhao Shiyu, Fu Guangtao, and Bai Jun anyway. Meanwhile, they would be lucky to get table scraps even after overworking themselves to death. Realizing Chu Chenghao was standing up for their interests, they were deeply moved.