Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 47-48

Chapter 47 – Taking the City by Storm

The fleeing Gu Fei suddenly thought of unleashing Repeating Fireball on to the Traversing Four Seas’ guild members who were presently chasing after him. This was the first time he had considered using a spell in a real fight. Initially, he had only been trying to delay them for a bit so that he could make a successful getaway, yet the end result was actually gratifying: Two opponents were eliminated.

Unfortunately, Gu Fei saw players charging toward his direction from every street corner. They were probably the additional backup called here by No Smile. Gu Fei had to give up his plan of returning to kill No Smile, the sole survivor among his three original pursuers, and focused on escaping from the scene of the crime.

Gu Fei threw the pursuers off his track by circling the chaotic streets of Yunduan City, before finding a quiet and isolated corner. He took off his straw hat, removed the black piece of cloth covering his face, and put away the Flames of Baptism, before blatantly walking out of the corner with a magic staff in hand.

More and more players could be seen heading toward the Thieves’ Union, with a handful being members of Traversing Four Seas and the rest being the onlookers. Gu Fei felt bad for them since there was nothing to see over there anymore.

Gu Fei, the culprit, walked nonchalantly on the streets and reached Ray’s Bar in no time. Ray was already quite familiar with their gang of six, especially when two out of the rest could leave a lasting impression with their looks alone. As Gu Fei entered the bar, Ray greeted him with a smile and pointed toward their usual room.

Gu Fei walked over and lifted the curtain to take a look inside. He saw that these five were truly men of their words, as they truly went drinking at Ray’s Bar after saying that they would!

The five raised their heads and saw Gu Fei. Young Master Han looked at the time and said, “Six minutes.”

“Sorry, guys. It’s my win,” Sword Demon said blankly, and then he laid his hand with palm up onto the table.

The other four put their hands dolefully into their pockets, each taking 5 gold coins out and tossing them onto the table. Sword Demon collected the coins with absolutely no consideration for the others, before reaching his hand out again toward Royal, “You should be giving me ten.”

“Oh, come on! It’s just a casual remark! You can’t be taking that seriously?!” Royal God Call was not pleased.

“Of course, I’m taking that seriously. A man should always mean what he said,” Sword Demon’s hand was still hanging out toward him.

“Just give it to him. Otherwise, we can’t continue drinking,” Young Master Han said.

Royal God Call unwillingly handed additional 5 gold coins to Sword Demon.

The five only started paying attention to Gu Fei after settling their little dispute. Young Master Han took the lead and applauded, “Welcome! A warm welcome to our top slayer!”

Gu Fei stared at Sword Demon, who was putting the gold coins into his pocket, and asked, “What’s all this about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really. We’re making a bet on how long it would take you to fight your way out from there,” Young Master Han said.

“Betting, eh? And Sword Demon won?” Gu Fei sat down while saying that.

Sword Demon nodded.

“Well half of that ought to be mine!” Gu Fei laughed.

Sword Demon nodded again. He reached into his pocket and took out the gold coins. After counting the coins thoroughly, he separated 12 gold and 50 silver coins from his pile and pushed them toward Gu Fei, “Half for you and half for me.”

Gu Fei felt stunned, as he was simply joking with Sword Demon. Young Master Han let out a long sigh, “Just take it! Remember not to joke with those who lack a sense of humor next time.”

Sword Demon remained very serious, “You earned it. I’d split the coins with you anyway even if you didn’t say that.”

Gu Fei was laughing dryly at Sword Demon, “In that case, thanks!” He put the coins inside his pocket while Royal God Call looked on with a sorrowful expression.

“So what happened? How is No Smile now?” Young Master Han asked Gu Fei.

“I don’t know. I came here straight after breaking through that blockade. You’re not expecting me to go back and have a talk with him after all that, right? There’re quite a lot of them over there now,” Gu Fei said.

Royal God Call nodded, “Those heading to Yunxia Valley have been summoned back as well.”

“Has No Smile said anything yet on the guild channel?” Young Master Han asked Royal God Call.

Royal God Call stared intently at the chat history of the guild channel, “Hmm… Everyone is either asking what happened to him or the identities of his attackers. But he has remained silent all throughout.”

“Oh, wait! He posted something!” Royal God Call said suddenly.

“What did he post?”

“‘Avenge me, my fellow brothers!'” Royal God Call read it out loud for everyone.

Everyone looked at one another.

“This guy is such a pain in the a*s,” Young Master Han sighed.

“But if he starts holding a grudge against us, he’ll stop messing with Amethyst Rebirth, right? Our mission is complete, then,” Brother Assist reasoned.

“Not likely. He doesn’t know who we are, so how’s he going to hold a grudge against us? In the end, he can only vent his anger on to Amethyst Rebirth,” Young Master Han said.

“I think our approach to this mission might be somewhat skewed from the get-go,” Gu Fei said, “No Smile and July’s Heat’s online drama happened way back. Him being this vindictive after all this time proves just how petty he is. Wasn’t he the one in the wrong for whatever that had happened in the past? Yet here he is, stirring things up in Parallel World by sabotaging Amethyst Rebirth’s guild quest. That means he’s malicious as well. He even said ‘Avenge me, my brothers!’ even though we killed him four times already, which indicated how vindictive he is. He’ll eventually become a scourge if he remains in this game. He’ll probably jump out and harm others whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

“What could we do? Kick him out of the game? That’s impossible no matter how capable we are,” Young Master Han said.

Gu Fei was about to share his thoughts to everyone when Brother Assist said, “Why don’t we check the aftermath of the situation first before we decide on our next step?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. And with that, Gu Fei swallowed what he was about to say.

Meanwhile, most of the people’s conversations everywhere in Yunduan City seemed to revolve around a major affair that had just occurred. The news spread at an unprecedented rate since people were sharing it across various chatting channels.

There had not been any PvP situation involving an entire guild since the game’s released. And yet today, the members of Traversing Four Seas, the largest guild in Yunduan City, were seen rushing toward Yunxia Valley from the city, before hastily making their way back from the valley toward the Thieves’ Union in the city.

According to the eyewitnesses at Yunliao Farm, No Smile of Traversing Four Seas was passing by the central pathway when a Thief on Stealth suddenly revealed himself. The Thief, whose face was covered by a piece of black cloth, killed No Smile before leaving casually.

An onlooker from the Thieves’ Union described what he saw as well. A hotshot, whose face was covered by a piece of black cloth, slashed No Smile to his death with a Chinese broadsword. This masked man left for a while before returning to hack No Smile again, casually leaving the fight after breaking through the encirclement formed by numerous people.

Afterward, an interested player tallied the exact time when No Smile had been executed in the two different places, and realized that there was a connection between the two incidents. Combined with the fact that the slayers had their faces covered with a piece of black cloth, he came to a conclusion: This was a well thought-out and organized assassination attempt that targeted No Smile.

“No Smile” was a famous IGN, so it was not long before someone recalled the previous online drama associated with the name. Everyone learned that “July’s Heat” was still an unoccupied IGN after searching for it in Parallel World. Although there were people who believed that July’s Heat was the mastermind behind all these, they lacked solid proof as she was unavailable for questioning.

This matter had caused quite a ruckus all over the city, so the ladies of Amethyst Rebirth were already aware of it. July had summoned all the members back to the guild house at the first chance she got.

The others, except for Luo Luo, were unaware that the current affair was related to the past online drama. Now that the issue had escalated to such a scale, it was pointless to bury the truth. Nobody, with the exception of Xiaoyu, would believe July even if she claimed that she did this purely because their guild quest had been sabotaged. July received unanimous support from all the ladies after she had come clean to everyone and explained everything about her past conflicts with No Smile and her reason for hiring a mercenary group to deal with him.

July did not intend to associate with him, and it was No Smile who had started this whole mess by interfering with their guild quest. No matter how mild-mannered a lady was, she would still snap when dealing with a prick like No Smile. Take the ill-tempered Lie Lie for example; she had already kicked a nearby stool after hearing July’s confession and told everyone that she was leaving to beat No Smile’s sorry a*s.

Of course, she was restrained by the others immediately. July solemnly said to everyone, “I asked for outsiders’ help because it’s clear that the opposing party is leagues beyond us. What happened in the city just now is probably their doing. But with my understanding of No Smile, simply killing him a few times is not enough to intimidate him. This matter is far from over, so please be careful out there, everyone. It’ll be best if… you can all remain offline for a few days.”

“Sis July, hiding is not the answer! We have to fight as well!” a lady said emotionally.

“But—”

“Sis July, don’t worry about us. It’s just a game! PvP is part of the game. It’s not like we’re trying to trample everyone here. So what if we lose a few levels when we die? It’s nothing scary!”

“Yeah!”

“Everyone, please calm down,” Luo Luo stood up and said, “It’s true that receiving a level drop after dying is not scary. But we can’t just die for nothing! Traversing Four Seas is the largest guild in Yunduan City, with a total of 300 members! The number of level 30 players that that guild has even surpasses the total member of our guild! We’d be facing high caliber players in such a kind of PvP engagement. How much fight can any here bring to the table at such standard? “

Everyone turned silent. Even Lie Lie, who excelled in PvP matches in this VRMMORPG, was tongue-tied. Although she disagreed with Luo Luo’s opinion, objecting right now would make things awkward for Luo Luo. She might have a bad temper, but even she had a soft spot inside her.

Seeing that nobody spoke, Luo Luo continued, “Which is why everyone should listen to July’s advice for now. Be careful out there, and avoid clashing with others. As for what comes next, just leave everything to July, me, Lie Lie, Xiaoyu, and those people that we’ve asked for help. What does everyone think?”

All the ladies nodded. The other three mentioned by Luo Luo conformed as well. This was a natural arrangement as July was the involved party, Luo Luo was the guild’s highest level Priest, Lie Lie was their best PvP fighter, and Xiaoyu had the highest level among them. Speaking of “highest level”, Xiaoyu asked softly, “Are we not calling Miles?”

“What’s the point of calling him?” Lie Lie said impatiently, “He’s just a trashy Mage. What use could his high level be?”

July nodded as well, “Let’s not bother him with this!”

“Let’s go!” Luo Luo said, “I need to contact that mercenary group. Let’s meet up with them first.”

The four left the guild house after saying this. As they arrived on the street, towering shadows from a large crowd could be seen blocking their way. The one leading them was none other than No Smile.

“It’s been a while, July!”

======

Chapter 48 – Not a Zero-Sum Game

The four ladies immediately thought of retreating, but saw another bunch of people blocking the other side of the street. July quickly posted a message on the guild channel, “Everyone, stay put inside the guild house for now.”

When the ladies asked why, July only replied, “Listen to me.” When July and the three ladies looked back, they saw that the people blocking the other side of the street had moved forward. The ladies did not know whether they just happened to stop in front of Amethyst Rebirth’s headquarters or purposely stopped there. July could hear her heart thumping loudly as she reemphasized her message to the ladies inside the guild house. July sighed in relief when everyone followed, huddling together within and making no more rash movement.

One side of the street had been completely blocked off. Although the road over here was spacious, No Smile had brought along quite a number of people. The resulting gaps got filled up quickly by the onlookers as well, making passing through them impossible. Furthermore, the combined strength of the four of them was not enough to breakout from this airtight human net.

“What do you want?” July could only confront the person whom she had always been trying to avoid meeting.

“What do I want?” No Smile spat back, cackling for a while before he replied, “I know you sent those people my way to f*ck with me. But I’m not blaming you. Just tell me who they are and we’ll call it even.”

July laughed coldly, “Once bitten, twice shy. Do you really think I’ll fall for your words a second time?”

No Smile’s grin no longer looked natural, “I’m being honest this time.”

July shook her head and sighed, “Smiling like this after being killed for four times; you’re really quite the actor.”

No Smile’s expression became rigid, as if July’s words had struck a nerve. No Smile momentarily lost his cool as he menacingly threatened, “If you’re not going to reveal their identity, then I’ll just hold you responsible for everything!”

“Fine! How are you going to do it, then? Drop me by four levels as well?” July smiled broadly.

No Smile felt even more aggrieved. Before he could speak, July already added, “I’m not at level 30 yet. So even if my level drops, it won’t be that great of a loss.”

No Smile’s face blanched. What she said was true. Since the amount of experience points needed to level up after reaching level 30 largely increased, No Smile’s drop from 30 to 29 had lost him a substantial amount of experience points. He was among the top-ranked Thieves on the experience efficiency leaderboard, having accumulated quite a lot of experience points at level 30. Now that his level had fallen from 30 to 26, these four levels alone already accounted for almost half the effort he had placed in this game so far! How could he not feel enraged?

No Smile’s entire being was endlessly devastated. He needed someone to vent his pent-up frustration, so he grinded his teeth and said, “Alright! It’s as you said. We’ll talk after I drop your levels! All four of you! One level each!”

Someone among the onlookers tried to rush toward the confrontation, but was stopped by another beside that person.

“What are you doing?” Gu Fei asked Young Master Han.

Just as July and No Smile were about to verbally cross swords, Luo Luo had already sent a message to Young Master Han. Since Ray’s Bar was near this street, the six had quickly arrived over and squeezed into the crowd to watch the spectacle. Seeing that both parties were not reaching an agreement and No Smile was about to kill July, Gu Fei rushed to interfere, only to be stopped by Young Master Han.

“Your interference won’t do any good,” Young Master Han told Gu Fei on the mercenary channel, “They have more people here. Going in now would be suicide. What’s the point of doing so?”

“What do you mean?” Gu Fei asked.

“Just like what that lady said; it’s not a big loss for them to die—”

“To hell with that!” Gu Fei shrugged Young Master Han’s hand off him, “This isn’t a zero-sum game,” With that, Gu Fei squeezed his way past the crowd.

No Smile waved his hand and many players of Traversing Four Seas moved to surround July and the three ladies as they awaited the next order to start the massacre.

“I’m giving you one last chance to think this through. Surely, you don’t wish to see your sisters get killed together with you, right?” No Smile asked mockingly, as if he had anticipated everything. July might know him well, but No Smile had an even better understanding of her.

“Go to hell, you low-life!” someone refused his condition before July could even speak. Lie Lie, who had a feisty personality, found No Smile’s actions absolutely deplorable. Using that moment to interject, she quickly slammed her foot forward and executed the level 24 Fighter skill Spurring Meteor, the one she had used on Gu Fei before.

With her speed and damage boosted, she used Spurring Meteor to head straight to No Smile.

“Lie Lie!” July shouted from behind, as Luo Luo hastily bestowed Heal on Lie Lie. When Lie Lie rushed out with her attack, a person beside No Smile also sprinted out with a similar pose and unleashed the same skill.

Since the two Fighters collided with the same skill, only their Strength and Agility stats would decide whose skill would gain priority1. Lie Lie’s opponent was clearly above her, resulting into her being hit by Spurring Meteor instead. Spurring Meteor had the additional Pierce effect; this caused Lie Lie to be hurled backward, as well as dealt damage to July, Luo Luo and Xiaoyu who had tried to catch her.

No Smile sneered haughtily at their sorry sight. He was about to issue the “kill” order when someone squeezed out among the onlookers and asked, “What’s going on? What’s with the crowd?”

“What happened? Why did Miles rush in?” Young Master’s Elite’s group chat erupted, as everyone queried on their private channel.

“Because this isn’t a zero-sum game,” Young Master Han replied bemusedly, much to the puzzlement of the rest.

“Get ready to fight, everyone. Royal, find a good hiding spot and prepare to Snipe; Sword Demon, activate your Stealth once you’ve covered your face; Wounds, check how long your Cyclone lasts with your remaining Rage; and Brother Assist, tell us the detail of that Traversing Four Seas’ Fighter,” Young Master Han rapidly fired off these commands.

“That Fighter is Gale Force. He’s one of the four core members of Traversing Four Seas,” Brother Assist answered.

“Looks like it’s about to become rowdier! Ready yourselves. Assist Miles once he creates an opportunity for us,” Young Master Han asked.

“What if no opportunity appears?” Royal God Call questioned.

“Guess we’ll just have to go back and keep drinking,” Young Master Han shrugged.

Everyone else had no better suggestions.

The haggard Gu Fei, who had finally managed to barge through the crowd, attracted everyone’s attention. July and the three ladies stared at him in shock. Just as Xiaoyu was about to call him, July covered her mouth and shook her head at Xiaoyu. Although Xiaoyu had no idea what was going on, she still obediently shut her mouth.

“What’s going on? Why’re there so many people here. How am I going to get through?” Gu Fei feigned ignorance as he dramatically looked across to the other side.

“Buddy, please step aside,” No Smile said.

“But I want to get over there,” Gu Fei pointed to the other end of the road.

“Look for another way. We’re currently busy with something over here,” No Smile said.

“What is it?” Gu Fei looked on curiously. No Smile did not know how to explain the situation. Should he fill him in on the grudge from years back that had spanned across games? He naturally was not that patient, so No Smile instead asked imposingly, “Have you not heard of our guild, Traversing Four Seas? We’re busy with something here, so go take a hike or stay and wait.”

“Oh. I guess I’ll wait then,” Gu Fei stepped back and folded his arms, standing beside No Smile.

Everyone immediately gazed at him once more.

“The show’s about to begin!” Sword Demon commented on the mercenary group channel.

“What show?! At most, he’ll just cut down No Smile again. How’s that going to help in the current situation?” Young Master Han could not see any way out of this.

“Quiet. Miles can see what you’re typing on this channel. He might just come up and cut you up instead,” Royal God Call said.

“I’m not afraid of him!” Young Master Han said, although his heart thumped in trepidation. If Gu Fei really wished to send the Flames of Baptism his way, even Young Master Han would not know how to fight back.

No Smile glanced at the stoic Gu Fei standing beside him. He could not help but laughed as he grandly waved his arm once more, “Ignore this guy. Do it!”

“Yes, do it,” Gu Fei raised his hand as well, but his hand suddenly changed direction and went straight toward No Smile’s eyes.

Most people would feel terrified if someone shoved a hand toward their faces. No Smile’s situation was scarier since Gu Fei was poking his fingers to his eyes. A wave of dread came over him and he instinctively lowered his head, raising his arms to cover his face. Gu Fei felt a slight trace of sympathy for him as he grabbed one of No Smile’s wrists and gave it a twist. No Smile’s fingers went lax and the dagger he was holding dropped to the ground. Gu Fei used his free hand to catch the falling weapon, quickly releasing No Smile and retreating at the base of a wall.

Everything happened too fast, and even No Smile only realized that his dagger was gone after five whole seconds. Gu Fei leaned against the wall as he admired No Smile’s dagger in his hand, “Zephyr’s Whisper. That’s some decent damage you got there! +18 Agility, +10% attack speed – it even comes with the additional usable Thief skill Vanish with a 15-minute cool-down time! This dagger is nice! Let me try….”

“…Oh. It says here ‘Skill unavailable due to incompatible job class.’ So it’s a skill only Thieves can use!” Gu Fei voiced his regret openly.

Young Master Han, who was still within the crowd, had a sudden realization. Back then, No Smile had actually used the skill in that dagger, and almost escaped their first ambush. It was not a skill scroll like they had originally thought. This dagger was extremely valuable since none of the players was at the level to learn Vanish. When one considered the difficulty of leveling up in Parallel World, the dagger’s usefulness and value would definitely last for quite a while.

No Smile could hardly believe how easily Gu Fei stole the high-grade dagger from him.

“Do you want this back? Better tell your men to stop if you do,” Gu Fei looked at the sorry state of the ladies who were currently being attacked.

“Stop! Stop! STOP!” No Smile anxiously shouted.

The men immediately stopped and turned toward No Smile in confusion. They had darted forward to fight after hearing No Smile’s command, so they did not notice that No Smile’s dagger was snatched by the person who had yelled “Do it” together with him.

No Smile’s face was as pale as a ghost.

Gu Fei continued to play with the dagger in his hand, looking extremely pleased, “Disperse your men and I’ll return this dagger to you immediately.”

No Smile hesitated. Would someone really give up such a high-grade weapon once they had obtained it? Although it was hard to believe, he had no other choice. Dropping a player’s level would certainly damage his spirit, yet losing equipment was undoubtedly the real incalculable loss. After all, a player’s in-game item was the foundation of their gaming spirit.