Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 73-74

Chapter 73 – Framing Others

Fugitive 29527 sure was unlucky. Sacred Flames of Baptism’s 30% fire attack got procced in all the three slashes Gu Fei had sent his way. Fugitive 29527 was engulfed by fire before he could speak a word, fading away with a confused look on his face. The disappearing stream of white light was accompanied by the sound of a slamming cell door, which indicated that the player had been sent to jail. If a wanted player was killed by someone who had accepted the ‘Bounty Mission’, he or she would be sent directly to one of the system-managed prisons and would not be subjected to a death penalty akin to dropping a level.

One could say that trying to evade capture in Parallel World was similar to resisting arrest in reality – it was considered as a more serious offense. The imprisonment duration for the fugitives who had been caught was different to the fugitives who had turned themselves in. If the players with PK value turned themselves in, they would lose 1 PK point for every one hour. If the fugitives were killed and forcefully put into jail, they would lose 1 PK point for every two hours. This was the same as dropping PK points while fleeing in the wild; the only difference was that the players would lose their freedom during imprisonment. It was a truly sad fate.

Fugitive 29527 possessed 4 PK points. This meant that he would have to stay in prison for eight hours. His only consolation was that he would not be subjected to the penalty of dying.

Soon after the player’s death, Gu Fei received a system notification. [‘Bounty Mission’ for Fugitive 29527 has been completed! Player can now go claim the reward at the Quest Assignment Hub.] Gu Fei breathed a sigh of relief. The wanted player’s confused look had made Gu Fei wonder whether he got the right person or not. It had even caused him to hesitate in his attacks ever so slightly. Now that he received the system notification, he was finally at ease.

After putting away Sacred Flames of Baptism, he headed to the bar counter while rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. He only took a sip from the drink he had ordered earlier, so he decided to finish it first before leaving the tavern to retrieve the reward.

The people sitting at the surrounding tables near Fugitive 29527 a while ago stared at Gu Fei strangely. He returned their odd gazes with a smile and a nod. As he arrived at the bar counter, he noticed that everyone was still staring at him. He started to consider whether his actions just then were too domineering. As he pondered on this, he lifted his glass toward the other tavern patrons as a sign of goodwill.

Someone kicked a table over, producing a loud bang. The players from the surrounding tables seemed to have been jolted to reality by that sound, as the muddled look on their faces had turned into an angry expression. Their anger was of course directed at Gu Fei. The remaining tavern patrons apparently possessed an acute awareness toward PvPs just like the other players of Yueye City, as they all hurriedly left in bulk upon sensing trouble in the air.

“Oh, hi there, Master Kang! Is that really you? I didn’t notice you’re here, too!” Gu Fei’s eyes sharpened. When he spotted a familiar face among the crowd, he did not hesitate to greet him loudly.

Master Kang’s face paled like a ghost, as he hurriedly replied, “Who are you?! I don’t know you!”

“I’m that guy! You don’t remember me?” Gu Fei answered, as he swiftly approached Master Kang. Once he arrived beside Master Kang, he grabbed him by the shoulder, “What’re you standing still for? Let’s make a run for it!”

“You screwed me up big time, bro!” Master Kang cried as he made his way outside. Gu Fei had reacted faster than him and was already outside.

“F*ck! He ran away!” The bunch of angry-looking people inside the tavern was jolted to reality once more at the sight of the two’s fleeing figures. They continued hollering as they proceeded to rush outside.

Gu Fei was running a few meters ahead of Master Kang. The bunch of players who had hurried outside saw Gu Fei and Master Kang getting further and further away. Someone yelled, “OVER THERE! THERE’RE TWO OF THEM, DON’T LET EVEN ONE ESCAPE!”

Master Kang cried in anguish again when he heard that. He roared to Gu Fei who was in front, “Why did you have to greet me?! Couldn’t you have pretended to not see me?!”

Gu Fei felt very remorseful, “Sorry. I was trying to distract them.”

“Who’re those guys, anyway?” Gu Fei asked as he turned his head around. The group chasing after the two seemed to lack speed. It was clear that they could not keep up with Gu Fei and Master Kang.

“They’re members of Past Deeds, the largest guild in this city. The guy you just killed is called Silver Moon. He’s their guild leader,” Master Kang explained dejectedly. He did not forget to lament at the end, “What’s with you killing him all of a sudden?!”

“I’m doing a ‘Bounty Mission’,” Gu Fei answered.

“Why him?! There’re clearly so many others on the Wanted Players list?!”

“He’s got 4 PK points. It’s the highest,” Gu Fei replied.

“Can’t blame you for that,” Master Kang sighed as they kept running, “IGN isn’t stated on the ‘Bounty Mission’. Plus, you didn’t know Silver Moon since you’re not from around here. Why do you think he had the guts to sit and drink like that when he’s got 4 PK points? He knew that a player could only fall back upon finding out that the mission’s target was him. A ‘Bounty Mission’ isn’t worth that much trouble. How can a player survive if he or she pisses off Past Deeds Guild?”

“Oh… I see, I see,” Gu Fei understood everything now. The reason that guy had such a confused look on his face when he died was most likely this. Gu Fei had of course thought of such a possibility. He just did not care either way. After all, he had always been up for a challenge.

“It’s fine even if you killed him. But you should’ve left once you’re done! You actually dared stay behind and have a drink. You even greeted me! You’ve screwed me up big time! How am I supposed to live here from now on?!” Master Kang wept bitterly.

“It’s fine… You can come with me to Yunduan City two days later. Surely, they won’t pursue us all the way there?”

“It’s not fine at all, and you can never be too sure,” Master Kang answered sullenly.

“Sh*t, really?!” Gu Fei felt shocked.

“You don’t know how those PvP fanatics’ minds work. All they think about is coming up with an excuse to engage in PvPs. It’s even possible for them to consider hunting someone over a span of a thousand miles as cool,” Master Kang explained.

“Cool, my *ss! I think we’ve already ditched them,” Gu Fei looked back and saw that not one of their pursuers could be seen around.

The two’s speed was not slow since Master Kang was a Thief and Gu Fei was an all-Agility Mage. Apparently, the group of pursuers lacked Agility-based individuals, so they could not catch up to the duo.

“What do we do now? We might already be surrounded,” Master Kang asked, terrified.

“Here’s what you do: change your attire and cover your face like this,” Gu Fei instructed Master Kang, as he covered his face with a piece of cloth and put on Midnight Spirit Robe.

“Cover my face? Won’t that be too obvious?” Master Kang asked.

“Nah. Lots of players are wearing masks in the city today,” Gu Fei said, refraining to mention that those who had masked their faces were actually after his life. He was somewhat annoyed that he had attracted those robbers toward him when he had been keeping a low profile all this while. He had gotten rid of a PvP fanatic for the people, yet he ended up provoking trouble for himself. Gu Fei, however, conveniently neglected to consider the fact that he was more of a PvP fanatic than Silver Moon if he compared his PK points with the latter.

Master Kang followed his advice. After changing his equipment and covering his face with a piece of cloth, he swept his eyes around them twice, “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s leave Yueye City and make our way to Yunduan City!”

“No can do!” Gu Fei rejected him on the spot.

“Why?”

Gu Fei confessed, “I’ve got PK points, too. It’ll be troublesome if I return to Yunduan City right now. That’s actually why I’m here in Yueye City. I’m trying to escape from all that heat.”

Master Kang’s expression could not be seen as his face was covered by a piece of cloth. However, he had retreated by a few steps before exclaiming, “So you’re a PvP fanatic, too! Can it be that you’re actually THAT top killer in Yunduan City?!”

“Of course, not! I’ve only got a little PK points on me,” Gu Fei denied vehemently, seeing that Master Kang was very sensitive when it came to PvP. He must have suffered a lot because of PvP, so he had developed a strong aversion toward it.

“In that case, I’ll head to Yunduan City first. I just have to trek through the Oolong Mountain Range, right?” Master Kang asked.

“Yeah!” Gu Fei nodded his head.

“Be careful now! Let’s meet in Yunduan City again if there’s a chance,” Master Kang’s voice sounded as if he would never see Gu Fei again. He turned around and disappeared into a street after saying this.

He even activated his Stealth! Why bother covering his face and changing his clothes when he has that? He’s far too cautious, Gu Fei thought to himself, as he turned around to leave as well. He headed to 4th Night Main Street where the Bounty Assignment Hall was located. He just caught himself a fugitive and had yet to claim his reward!

He hurried toward the Bounty Assignment Hall, which was situated inside the Quest Assignment Hub. The players on the streets looked curiously at his getup.

“I’m from The Black Hand mercenary group,” Gu Fei explained to the confused players.

Everyone was still perplexed. Gu Fei had been saying that on his way to the destination. He felt slightly worried for the members of The Black Hand now. That mercenary group would probably be the main suspect whenever some masked figures caused a scene in Yueye City.

The Quest Assignment Hub was just ahead of Gu Fei. He peeked from a corner of a wall before swiftly retreating to the alleyway he had been hiding. Gu Fei spotted a few familiar faces brimming with killing intent. They were the same Past Deeds’ guild members back at the tavern. They were currently lying in wait at the hub entrance, fiddling with the weapons in their hands.

They seemed to know that the one who had accepted the ‘Bounty Mission’ to slay their guild leader would have to come back here to claim his reward. Hence,they had resolved to wait for Gu Fei’s arrival here instead of chasing after him all over the city. However, Gu Fei could not understand why they chose to make themselves visible in broad daylight instead of hiding inside the hub. Did the players in Yueye City possess relatively low IQ levels?

People with low IQ levels tended to resolve issues through violence just like animals. This was quite similar to how things were in Yueye City. Gu Fei now thought that it should be relatively safe for him to walk over there with the opponents’ levels of IQ.

With that thought in mind, Gu Fei walked out from the alleyway and headed straight toward the Quest Assignment Hub.

The cloth on his face immediately attracted much attention.

“I’m from The Black Hand mercenary group,” Gu Fei said to those who were eyeing him.

“I’m from The Black Hand mercenary group,” Gu Fei specifically said this to the Past Deeds’ guild member who was fiddling with his sword when he arrived at the Quest Assignment Hub’s entrance.

“Scram!” the person said impatiently to Gu Fei.

For the first time in his life, Gu Fei felt overjoyed to be yelled at. He happily walked inside the hub. As he claimed his reward, the system notified him that 4 PK points had been cleared off from his PK value. He proceeded to choose a new ‘Bounty Mission’. Unfortunately for him, there was no longer any big target like Fugitive 29527 on the Wanted Players list. The rest of the fugitives only possessed 1 PK point each. Everyone who was here for the ‘Bounty Mission’ could only sigh at this. They felt embarrassed that the average PK points here were rather low considering that the city had such a prevalent PvP culture.

Gu Fei randomly picked a new ‘Bounty Mission’ and made his way behind the players. He then changed his clothes into the beginner mage robe and covered his face with a piece of cloth when nobody was looking. After changing his getup, he exited the hall and said to the guy fiddling with his sword once more, “I’m from The Black Hand mercenary group.”

“F*ck!” The guy sprang up with his sword in hand, “There’s no end in sight for you lot!”

“I. Slew. Your. Boss,” Gu Fei said every word clearly before promptly turning away to escape.

“Oh, sh*t! It’s that guy! Don’t let him get away!” the guy bellowed.

Chapter 74 – Consequences of Being a Blabbermouth

Gu Fei was… very wrong.

He realized how foolish he was for belittling his opponents’ IQ levels when a single bellow from the guy watching the Quest Assignment Hub’s entrance had caused countless players to emerge from the four corners of the street like a volcanic eruption.

Gu Fei had let his guard down when he assumed that those guarding the entrance were mere knuckleheads. After all, they were just lying in wait for him where he could clearly see them. If Gu Fei had not seen their foolish action, he might have remained cautious. And before daring to enter the Quest Assignment Hub, he would have probably asked someone to check if there were any Past Deeds’ guild members inside.

The opponents must have been wary of something like this happening, so they had arranged for a few dumb-looking members to stand guard by the entrance. Meanwhile, the real ambush had been secretly prepared. A majority of the players would be less alert upon seeing that such an idiotic approach was used to deal with them. They would even think that everything was under control, and they only had to figure out a way to deal with the situation.

Gu Fei belonged to that category, and that was the first reason why his judgment had gone awry.

The second reason, in which Gu Fei was truly at fault, was how he acted like a blabbermouth when he had already disguised himself. The opposing players might have been suspicious of his getup, but they would not have revealed their ambush with just that. After all, they were unsure if it was really him. If they wrongly confronted Gu Fei and the real culprit was lurking nearby, their ambush would be seen through. The opposing players could only test the water by getting one or two to approach Gu Fei. However, doing that would surely cause Gu Fei to be on guard. That was supposed to be the flaw behind their arrangement.

And yet, Gu Fei had unthinkingly revealed himself to his opponents before they even started to test the water with him. Was there still a need to remain hesitant? The opposing players immediately carried out their ambush, and Gu Fei, the fish, was thoroughly hooked.

The Past Deeds’ guild members were very serious in carrying out their psychological warfare against Gu Fei, yet he had treated everything like a big joke, even disdaining his opponents’ intelligence. This resulted into him suffering a huge loss.

Things did not look good for Gu Fei after he had been surrounded by layers of people. However, not giving up until the last minute was Gu Fei’s way of living as well. Either due to time constraints or Gu Fei being alone, but the number of ambushers was not actually that high. Gu Fei found the current situation to be considerably better than when he had been chased by tens of thousands players in Yunduan City.

Gu Fei decided to strike now in order to escape before his opponents’ backups arrived. He pulled out Moonlit Nightfalls from his dimensional pocket.

Due to the restriction of Sword Aptitude, Gu Fei could not utilize the full attack power of his sword. Precise calculation was needed to determine just how high his current damage output. But recalling the sensation he had felt whenever his sword attack connected previously, the current damage that he could deal was probably about half of its maximum damage output. That was slightly lower than the damage dealt by Sacred Flames of Baptism with its additional fire attack. However, Gu Fei needed precisely a weapon that could provide consistent damage like Moonlit Nightfalls right now, as he was in a worrying situation that had him on the receiving end of a group attack. Sacred Flames of Baptism’s inconsistent 30% proc rate might really cost Gu Fei his life if he used it at the moment. Furthermore, if the additional fire damage was excluded in the equation, then its attack power was actually far lower than Moonlit Nightfalls.

Gu Fei jumped down the entrance’s flight of stairs and pointed Moonlit Nightfalls outward.

He was about to attempt one of the unique moves in Gu Family’s Inheritance Arts: Zhao San Mu Si1.

Gu Fei really disliked this move’s name. While naming a kung fu move after a Chinese idiom was elegant, this particular move was not elegant in the slightest.

In truth, the move was a very ancient sword style. The original meaning of the idiom “Zhao San Mu Si” basically described the very move, which meant “to see through the ruse in order to perceive the truth”. And from this, it could be inferred that the move was just a big and flashy trick.

When unleashing the move, the user would have to strike with a sword at his or her numerous opponents swiftly and incessantly. The strikes would be a mixture of feints and real attacks. The feint attacks would be pulled back right before connecting, creating the illusion of an actual attack that just did not successfully connect; meanwhile, the real attacks would be plunged into the targets viciously. A substantial amount of strength would be needed for every pierce made if every attack connected. Considering that the opponents were usually some distance away, it was unrealistic to actually pierce so many of them in an instant. Hence, for this swordplay move, the more feints the user could make, the more opponents he or she could target. Given Gu Fei’s prowess in reality, he could jab at twelve targets with only one real target within a specified time.

With the current restrictions from his limited stat points, Gu Fei figured that he could only pierce six times at most using the move. But if he slightly altered his attacks by not thoroughly piercing a target, he could add two more pierces into the move.

And he did exactly just that. Gu Fei swung Moonlit Nightfalls for eight times and jab at different targets each time, his sword coming alive with every blow. Zhao San Mu Si was a move that could even deceive those who knew real kung fu, so fooling the average players with it was a piece of cake.

In an instant, eight players, who had become Gu Fei’s designated targets, assumed that a sword was about to stab them, causing them to reflexively swing the weapons in their hands to parry it. The surrounding players heard that this person had gotten rid of their leader in just three sword swings, so he was definitely not someone that they should underestimate. What they did not know, however, was that their leader had just been unlucky enough to proc the 30% fire attack in all of Gu Fei’s three swings.

Gu Fei glanced at those receiving his attacks and felt very satisfied with their reactions. As expected of a city where PvP was all the rage, the fighting standard of the players was high indeed. They were astutely blocking his attacks with their weapons. Had this occurred in Yunduan City, half of the noobish players would have probably done something as stupid as stand still to endure Gu Fei’s sword attacks and continue trading blows with him.

The result was gratifying, indeed. Gu Fei had managed to make the eight players retreat with a sword in hand. He matched the combat’s flow and stepped into the opening within the crowd, executing the same move once more.

Gu Fei carried out his assault on six targets this time.

The others would eventually see through Gu Fei’s trickery if he relied on it too much. He no longer dared to underestimate his opponents’ IQ levels, so he hid a real attack among the six sword strikes. As for the target of this attack, it was of course Gu Fei’s favorite prey: the Thief.

The HP of Mages was actually lower than Thieves. However, the ones who would always rush onward to close in on Gu Fei never included Mages. This would leave the Thieves to be the ones with the lowest HP among his melee attackers.

Five feint attacks later, Gu Fei pointed Moonlit Nightfalls at the Thief.

The Thief raised his dagger nimbly to block the sword. Gu Fei revealed a faint smile as he easily changed the angle of the sword; the blade’s tip brushed past the dagger’s tip and landed on the Thief’s forehead.

The Thief screamed at the top of his lungs. Having something stabbed onto one’s forehead was a horrible feeling, after all.

Gu Fei unleashed the same move for the third time after turning the blade’s tip. Zhao San Mu Si had been unleashed in an anti-clockwise direction just then; it was unleashed in a clockwise direction this time. Gu Fei’s very first strike was a legitimate attack, and its target was once again the poor Thief.

The Thief died on the spot after being attacked twice with Moonlit Nightfalls’ allowed maximum damage. Gu Fei’s PK points would naturally increase by 1 point, but that was something he had expected. Could he cause an impact if all he did was unleash flashy moves that neither harmed nor killed the others? Once these players realized that Gu Fei’s swordplay was lacking in power, they would be bold enough to move forward. If the reinforcement arrived at that time, he would be a goner for sure – unless of course he miraculously turned into Superman or Spider-man.

The impact of Gu Fei’s fighting prowess had already taken shape. However, he should not become lax in inflicting mental distress on to his opponents either. Taking advantage of the retreating group of players, Gu Fei carved a circle onto the ground with the tip of his sword. The sword motion’s resulting gust of wind had lifted the dust off the ground, scattering it in the air in all three hundred and sixty degrees.

“This is MY sword cordon! Anyone who steps inside will only find one outcome… DEATH!” Guess I need to act tough at this crucial moment, Gu Fei thought to himself.

The opposing players were visibly shaken, as they stared at Gu Fei’s sword, not even daring to make the slightest movement. They had seen with their eyes how Gu Fei killed their fellow Thief with just two stabs. While Thieves truly have low HP, this man did not even use a skill on our brother! More importantly, what exactly is his job class? The surrounding players were using Appraisal like crazy, but nothing came up.

Gu Fei was not feeling too good either! His opponents had temporarily stopped their movements as they were shaken by his actions. They now formed a circle around him. With how wide the circle was, Gu Fei was unable to kill his way out of it. The opposing players had yet to react properly, but Gu Fei would be done for once they mobilized their Archers and Mages to carry out aerial assaults from a vantage point.

How can I get out of this encirclement?! Gu Fei eyed the various players currently surrounding him. While nobody among them stepped forward to challenge Gu Fei, they did not show a worried look since they had superiority in numbers. They knew that Gu Fei could not slay everyone, yet nobody wanted to be on the offensive recklessly. If it came down to a scuffle, Gu Fei would recklessly struggle to the bitter end. He would probably take down two players with him if he was going down to their concerted attacks. Nobody wished to become one of those ‘two’, so everyone was hoping for someone to come up with a safer approach.

“Where’re the Archer and Mage?!” someone asked loudly.

Upon hearing this, Gu Fei knew that he could not afford to wait anymore. He decided to use his life to bet for his freedom with no other choices left. He swung Moonlit Nightfalls wildly once more after a loud roar. The real attack of Zhao San Mu Si was pointed toward a Warrior this time.

His current move was a little lacking, as he had run out of time to vary his attacks when the targeted Warrior blocked with his claymore. The two swords clashed, and Gu Fei’s purlicue went numb. The Warrior was all fired up upon seeing that he had managed to block Gu Fei’s attack, so he raised his hand to follow up with a slash.

Gu Fei gritted his teeth and held Moonlit Nightfalls horizontally to block the overhead slash. The impact from blocking the attack had shaken loose the tears in Gu Fei’s lacrimal glands. He felt extremely aggrieved when he experienced such Strength difference despite the opposing Warrior possessing a scrawny physique.

Gu Fei was pushed a few steps backward from the clash, yet his hand did not remain idle. He went along with the strike’s impetus as he retreated, reflexively moving his hand holding a sword backward. There was a name for this move as well: Dao Ying Lai. It was specifically used to sneak in an attack on the enemy behind.

A player standing behind Gu Fei was of course unable to block such a brilliant move, and Moonlit Nightfalls stabbed right at him. The player got the shock of his life when he saw that only half of his HP remained. Gu Fei turned his body around in accordance. His other hand had unnoticeably become adorned with a Chinese broadsword as well, and he proceeded to perform a downward slash from the head.

The opposing player was so shocked that he was sweating all over. He reached his hand out in the hope of blocking the attack. He actually managed to stop it by grabbing Gu Fei’s arm before it fully descended.

Gu Fei quickly retracted Moonlit Nightfalls in his other hand and posed to cut his opponent once more. Having already experienced the sword’s attack before, the opposing player knew that one more strike from it would mean his death. Panicking and not putting much thought into the matter, he tossed his arms in the air and yelled, “Go to hell!”

Gu Fei sailed outside with a whoosh, yet he actually felt deeply relieved.

This was what he had been waiting for. Level 30 Fighter skill, Seismic Toss.

Gu Fei had believed that the player was a level 30 Fighter, and that he would reflexively use Seismic Toss when in dire straits to save himself. Gu Fei had finally made a correct judgment this time.

He had been successfully tossed out of the encirclement right now! It was time to run!