Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 8

So we are continuing from chapter 8, and we’ve made some changes in the terms used. From now on, Ghost Blade will be SwordGhost, the skill class Thief is changed to Rogue, and Against the Gods Guild will be Against the Heavens Guild. And I’ll be translating some of the author’s blather or comments because some of them are interesting or funny, but I don’t know if I should keep the ads for other books…

Translated by: Effyis

Edited by: Stbunbun

Chapter 8: No change as the answer to all changes

At this point, the current state of mind of SwordGhost, as compared to Gu Fei, was a totally different story. The last three hits left him in cold sweat. In particular, his own block to that last hit was done completely subconsciously as to protect himself.

His opponent was a mage, and he was a rogue. He was supposed to be the one trying to get near his opponent, while the latter would find ways to keep his distance, attacking with long-range spells.

But now, the actual situation is that the mage wields a dagger toward the rogue instead, which resulted in the rogue keeping him at a distance after blocking three hits. Even with SwordGhost’s rich online gaming experience, he never once had thoughts that he would one day experience such a scene. At first, he was still quite wary of the primary level spell Fireball, which could still cause as much damage as being slashed a few times. Yet what he received were not spells but instead slashes from blades! This was just absurd!

Both parties had reached a deadlock. No one moved a step.

SwordGhost contemplated his tactics quickly. He had no long-range attack moves yet, so if he was to defeat Gu Fei, he must get close to him. But the thought of closing the distance made SwordGhost break out in cold sweat again.

“Hey, Fireball…” Gu Fei spoke to the crowd suddenly. A fireball swiftly rose in front of him.

Oh no. Too caught up in fearing Gu Fei’s close combat ability, he had forgotten that this guy was still a mage after all. As soon as SwordGhost saw the fireball, before it was even fired, he had begun moving in an irregular s-shape route. He had seen mages cast fireballs. After a fireball was shot, there would be a short period where the fireball would track the target in a very small range. If you were careful enough to not to get hit by it or managed to run out of its area of attack during this time, you would have successfully escaped.

SwordGhost twisted about deliriously on the open space in the middle of the crowd, waiting for Gu Fei to say the word “Shoot!” However, unexpectedly, Gu Fei looked at the fireball in front of him, stunned. He then muttered: “I’m not calling you, I’m calling that Fireball.”

“Phew” the first fireball went out, but then a second ignited. SwordGhost twisted about more crazily. Yet, Gu Fei’s fireball remained unfired. He looked as if at a loss of what to do, and the fireball self-extinguished moments later.

Fireballs were a nuisance for fighting at a distance, but he also could not gain the upper hand for close combat. What other choices are there for fighting under this situation? There is no way other than this now! SwordGhost thought that Gu Fei’s repeatedly ignited fireballs were to constrain his movement, so before Gu Fei could call up a third, SwordGhost resorted to his proprietary skills as well. His silhouette gradually became as thin as the fog, and in no time, vanished from the sight of all.

“Stealth!!” shouted someone in the crowd.

Stealth is certainly an ace amongst a rogue’s professional skills, which is not at all surprising. The real surprise was that this skill can only be learnt at level 24. Although the crowd knew that the level of SwordGhost was certainly higher than theirs, they did not expect it to be so much higher. He was indeed the number one player in the online game field. The crowd, which had just been worried for SwordGhost after Gu Fei’s three strokes with a heavy heart, instantly regained confidence.

In the online gaming world, a player’s level determines it all.

In a battle between a level 24 and a level 10, the disparity appears to be so huge that there is no need to even fight!

SwordGhost disappeared from the eyes of all. He hid at a certain position on the field, paying close attention to Gu Fei’s movements.

The only reason why SwordGhost did not use Stealth from the start was because of the level 6 skill of a mage: Resistant Ring of Fire.

The characteristic of the skill Stealth is that once the user attacks or is being attacked, the effect will die off immediately, meaning that the user will appear once again. Although the power of Resistant Ring of Fire is minute, the area of effect radiates a slight distance from the caster’s body. Thus, there is no way for rogues to get close to mages without them discovering if they use Resistant Ring of Fire.

Of course, the Resistant Ring of Fire also has weaknesses. It has up time and cool down time, and the time difference between the two means that a mage cannot make sure that they have the fire ring on themselves at all times. And so, during this time gap, it is a good opportunity to launch a close attack in secret.

SwordGhost had deduced two points from his experience. First, when he PKs an amateur mage, the mage would start off by using the Resistant Ring of Fire; second, the mage most definitely would not have dreamt that he had mastered the skill Stealth, which can only be used by rogues at level 24. Thus, his original intention was to wait for Gu Fei’s Resistant Ring of Fire to be depleted, and then he would close the distance and deliver the deadly blow.

But now, it seemed that both his inferences were wrong. Gu Fei did not use Resistant Ring of Fire, nor did he show the slightest surprise to his Stealth. In addition, it was totally unimaginable for a mage to have better close combat skills than a rogue. Had SwordGhost not experienced it personally, he would never have believed it possible for a mage to move like that.

Under such circumstances, SwordGhost could only resort to using Stealth to hide himself. He believed that after seeing his usage of the Stealth, this mage would immediately use the Resistant Ring of Fire in any case. As Stealth lasts works three more seconds than Resistant Ring of Fire, SwordGhost planned to close up the distance first, wait for Resistant Ring of Fire to wear off, then make use of those three seconds to kill him. Unless … the opponent had upgraded his fire ring to have a longer working time than his Stealth. But this possibility might as well be said to not exist, since a level 10 character would not have had enough time and money to upgrade any class skills.

Devising the best fighting plans through his understanding of the game and accurate projections had always been SwordGhost’s gaming style. Even if his opponent was just a level 10 mage, he would not look down on him.

Unfortunately, he made another wrong judgement.

Gu Fei still did not open his Resistant Ring of Fire or move around to avoid the enemy whom he could not see. He continued standing still, motionless.

“Could it be that he hasn’t learnt Resistant Ring of Fire? Or, he is really just a genuine newbie?” SwordGhost felt alarmed and uncertain, but the opportunity could not be missed. He approached Gu Fei quickly, predicting several possible routes that Gu Fei might take.

Gu Fei did not move, not even one finger. SwordGhost suspected that Gu Fei would only have some sense of crisis if he had pressed up to him and blow a breath on to his face.

In the blink of an eye, SwordGhost was behind Gu Fei, and Gu Fei still had no response. SwordGhost had no time to think anymore; the time for his Stealth to be up was coming, and he was ready to use his current strongest attack, rogue’s level 18 skill: Backstab.

As the name suggests, this move should be performed against the target’s back. It can cause, under normal circumstances, 200% +40 points of damage. Although the effect of Stealth will disappear and the crowd would warn Gu Fei with their exclamation, by then, his dagger would have pierced his heart. With a level difference as vast as fourteen, SwordGhost could not think of another result other than instant kill from a rogue using Backstab on a mage.

None of the onlookers understood the changes in the field. No one knew that at this moment, SwordGhost was right behind Gu Fei.

But just then, Gu Fei turned around abruptly and quickly stretched out his left hand. The crowd let out gasps of incomprehension. Immediately after, the figure of Sword Ghost emerged from thin air: his stretched-out right hand clutched a dagger tightly, but his right wrist was held firmly by Gu Fei’s left hand.

The scene in the crowd’s mind stopped at this instant, but the situation on field did not stop changing.

Gu Fei’s left hand quickly gave a twist, inducing pain in SwordGhost’s wrist. His fingers weakened and his dagger fell. Gu Fei’s right hand swooped downwards, throwing his original knife away and catching SwordGhost’s dagger at the same time. Then with a movement of his left hand and a lift of his right hand, SwordGhost’s right arm was bent to his back and the dagger was held across SwordGhost’s neck.

Gu Fei’s few moves were so fluid that when the crowd came back to their senses, SwordGhost was already completely suppressed by Gu Fei.

The dagger was on the neck. But as this was a game, no one knew if the situation posed a threat. However, the outcome of the contest was certainly set. Anyone with eyes could tell.

“Ah! Nice one!!!” exclaimed Fireball suddenly. He had been the one who was most worried as he would be next if Gu Fei had been defeated. Seeing that Gu Fei had won with style, his spirits rose tremendously and dashed out of the crowd in applause. He got close to the two and clapped SwordGhost on the back, “You are already level 24 right? How does it feel losing to a level 10 mage? Convinced? Hahaha!” Fireball looked so complacent, one would think that he was the one who had defeated SwordGhost.

SwordGhost’s blood drained from his face. This had been a convincing defeat. He was even given the opportunity to use Stealth and Backstab, and yet, he was still overpowered. What was there to be not convinced about? There is only so much that a level 25 rogue can do. What was with this guy? Those moves that he used were definitely not preset!

Losing convincingly was by no means losing happily. SwordGhost had mixed feelings. He had doubts regarding Gu Fei’s skills, and also sorrow for himself. He was once number one in the field of online gaming, and now, he was defeated by a mage with a difference of 15 levels. Was that glory really a thing of the past?

Just as SwordGhost was engrossed in his thoughts, he felt that the hold on his hand suddenly loosened. Gu Fei had released him. SwordGhost turned around, took two steps and looked at Gu Fei, “What is your name?

“ThousandMilesDrunk!” Gu Fei replied.

“Very well, I’ll look for you again,” said SwordGhost.

Gu Fei smiled and nodded. SwordGhost turned to leave, but Gu Fei suddenly called out to stop him. “Wait! Here’s your dagger.” Said Gu Fei as he threw the dagger over to SwordGhost.

SwordGhost had a look of surprise as he caught his dagger. This dagger’s name was Frost Memories. In addition to causing damage, it also comes with a 25-point increment in agility, 30% chance of a fatal blow and 10% chance of third level freeze damage. It was obtained by SwordGhost after he managed to kill off a high-level boss by making use of the topography of the woods. Presently, amongst the weapons revealed on the official website, there was no weapon that had better properties. Half of the reason why SwordGhost looked so pale after losing was because the dagger had landed in the hands of Gu Fei.

But now, Gu Fei had returned the dagger to him. SwordGhost gripped on to it tightly. He couldn’t believe it. There are so many P2W players, nick-named RMB Warriors1, in online games nowadays. Such a high-grade weapon could easily bring back what is a few months’ wages of ordinary people. Does this guy not know this or what?

SwordGhost did not understand, nor knew what to say. He could only turn toward Gu Fei, nod his head, say “thank you”, and then turn and walk away.

1: P2W Players: Short form of Pay-to-Win players, who can change for in-game money with real-life currencies or buy first-grade weapons or equipment without having to spend too much time grinding mobs. Ren Min Bi (RMB) in this case is the currency of the PRC, whereas Yuan(CN¥) is its unit.