Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Nobody had that superhuman reaction time and deftness Gu Fei possessed, so plenty of the players in the way of this unknown contraption were shot by it. This was except Broken Water Arrow, of course.

Indeed, this man was skilled.

In the moment Gu Fei dove to the ground, he did not fail to keep an eye on Broken Water Arrow. He saw the man nimbly shifted his body to the side and skillfully evade that unknown shot. If Gu Fei did not have Sword Demon to save with his tackle, he would certainly choose a similar method to dodge the mysterious projectile.

Broken Water Arrow’s gaze also drifted over to the two men. While their dive to the ground was rather ungraceful, they were the only other players here that had been able to dodge that shot among the crowd present.

“No need to panic, you two. That attack doesn’t deal any sort of damage.” A man slowly got up from the brush; he was clearly addressing Gu Fei and Sword Demon. While the face paint on the man’s face made it difficult to read his expression, everyone could hear the effortlessness from his tone, and they easily pictured the warm and kind smile that was probably on his face. Perhaps, it was a smile of smugness…

Ginkgo Tea. There was a clear difference between his voice and Onesie’s, so everyone easily identified him as the former. Meanwhile, the previous attack’s damage was just as he had said: it was akin to a mosquito bite the way the players, who had been struck by the blow, quickly recovered from their moment’s alarm. They were currently eyeing Gu Fei and Sword Demon with disdain, who were both on the ground, for their overly exaggerated reaction. Broken Water Arrow was the only one who stared at them a little differently.

“Onesie, get out already, will you?” Ginkgo Tea called out in the same casual tone.

The countdown was disrupted by that sudden attack, but the three seconds left in the duel had clearly passed and the match had been decided. If nobody sprung any traps, it would then go down to the number of arrow hits to decide the victor. There was no suspense to this end. Since only three arrows were fired off throughout the battle, everyone saw that none of these shots managed to land on either target. Ginkgo Tea was certainly unharmed. That strange attack at the conclusion of the battle was clearly executed by Ginkgo Tea. If even the onlookers were unable to dodge that attack, it was even less likely that Onesie would be able avoid it being so much closer to the source.

Unsurprisingly, Onesie wordlessly stood up upon being called. It would no doubt be extremely satisfying to take in that look on his opponent now, but the face paint they wore regrettably made it difficult to see this. Ginkgo Tea was unable to enjoy this particular delight; he probably found it as somewhat anticlimactic for everything to end on such a silent note, so he simply flung this statement: “There’s always a higher mountain out there. Learn how to be humble.”

Onesie continued to be silent. It was apparent that this loss had left him feeling rather dejected. Meanwhile, the people on his side looked as if they had all been slapped. Each of them buried their heads with a downcast look.

“Wait a minute!” Everyone, including Gu Fei, was astonished when Sword Demon suddenly spoke up.

Ginkgo Tea turned to face Sword Demon. The part where his mouth was supposed to be strained, probably, to smile. Unfortunately, it only looked as if he were having a stroke. The Hunter politely said, “I hope this brother here didn’t get hurt by that… Apologies if it did.”

“What skill did you just use?” Sword Demon asked seriously.

Players had two different approaches regarding such an unfamiliar skill. One would be to boast; they would openly brag about the prowess of its effect, its damage, and its usage to the world. This was to garner the envy and worship of others. Second would be to keep it under wraps. Despite using it, some players did not wish for others to learn too much about the skill and would not see a need to divulge any information about it. Ginkgo Tea’s attitude right now was precisely that of the latter. The veteran gamer Sword Demon was well-aware of the mentality behind this. The first sort of players would often begin boasting without a need for prompting, while the second sort would not say a thing even when directly asked about it. Thus, it could be said that Sword Demon was asking something of a veteran like him that needed no asking. Ginkgo Tea was currently staring at him as if he were a newbie who did not understand how the world worked.

“I don’t wish to hear too many details of it. At the very least, the skill you used should be a trap, right?” Sword Demon asked.

“I’m not exactly required to give you an account of that, am I?” Ginkgo Tea snapped.

“You’re not giving me an account; you’re giving it for the sake of this duel. If it’s a trap, can you explain the mechanics of how you triggered it? Can you demonstrate it to the crowd?” Sword Demon insisted.

It was now Ginkgo Tea’s turn to be quiet.

“Did you perhaps step on your own trap to trigger its activation?” Sword Demon relentlessly pressed on his line of questioning.

The crowd started. Even Onesie realized what that meant, and he turned to regard Ginkgo Tea. “Did you cheat?”

“Cheat? How is that cheating? Who set the rules that you can’t trigger your traps?” Ginkgo Tea retorted.

“So you admit to it, then? That’s as good as saying you triggered a trap first, which means it’s your loss!” Onesie suddenly perked up at this.

“Tsk. I stepped on my own trap and not yours. What are you putting on airs for?” Ginkgo Tea countered.

“The rule says the first to trigger a trap is the loser; it never mentions anything about whose trap it has to be,” Onesie argued.

“B*llsh*t. That’s because there’s no need to even mention it. Who would step on their own traps unless they were touched in the head?!” Ginkgo Tea shouted.

The entire jungle was suddenly quiet. In the next moment, uproarious laughter exploded, with the people from Onesie’s side being exceptionally rowdier. Meanwhile, Ginkgo Tea’s lot was feeling entirely embarrassed. Ginkgo Tea accidentally insulted himself in his hurry to prove that stepping on his trap would not count as going against the rule.

Among everyone present, only Sword Demon was not laughing as he gaze steadily on to Ginkgo Tea. “From what you just admitted, accepting that a player stepping on his or her own traps as not infringing the rules is only on the premise that no one sees a need to step on their own traps. Yet, that is precisely what you have intentionally done, which is a violation in itself.”

“Hmph. Losers will always have plenty of excuses.” Ginkgo Tea scoffed.

“You’re the loser in this scenario!” Onesie shouted.

“You seem dissatisfied with the result. Since that’s the case, why don’t we just have another round? Why waste time on idle chat?” Ginkgo Tea expressed his derision openly.

“Come on, then; I ain’t afraid of you!” Onesie was not one to back down from a challenge.

Gu Fei, who was standing at the side, could only muster a facepalm. Young man; oh, young man, you truly have experienced little of the world. Even such a simple provocation got such a reaction from you. Even though Ginkgo Tea did not explicitly admit it, everyone present had a clear idea on who was the victor and the loser of this face off. It just happened that Ginkgo Tea was thick-skinned enough to deny the truth even after his duplicity was exposed. He was just the sort of dead pig that would not be afraid of boiling water ¹ – unscrupulous to no ends. Even if Onesie managed to emerge victorious fair and square, Ginkgo Tea was sure to have thousands of excuses ready to be used against him. It was extremely difficult to properly convince such a person of the final verdict. Moreover, Ginkgo Tea had pretty much indirectly admitted his deceit from that showdown moments before. Onesie, who had not seen the other demonstrate any powerful means to obtain victory, still impulsively agreed to a rematch. This was clearly the typical thought process of someone not thinking the entire matter properly.

“Forget it.” Gu Fei stepped forward and held Onesie back just as the youngster moved to step into the circle anew.

“Eh? Are you afraid?” Ginkgo Tea goaded.

“Don’t stop me; I’ll be certain to beat such a man till he is contented of his loss.” Onesie was provoked.

“Only someone with the strength to much such a bold statement has the right to say that. Be honest with yourself; do you have a 100% confidence in defeating him?” Gu Fei asked.

Onesie went silent. If he had that certainty, he would have already achieved victory in that recently ended duel; Ginkgo Tea would not even have the chance to wait until the final three seconds to pull his dirty trick.

“See; if you don’t have the confidence to do this, just how are you going to beat him till he is contented of the loss?” Gu Fei asked Onesie.

The man was quiet.

“All right. Head back!” Gu Fei gestured Onesie over back to his pals. The man dazedly followed Gu Fei’s’ order, mulling over the latter’s words. In the end, it was Gu Fei who rolled up his sleeves as he addressed Ginkgo Tea. “Come; let me beat you till you are contented!”

“F*ck!” The crowd buzzed as everyone began raising their voices in unison. Even Sword Demon felt that what Gu Fei had just said was a little shameless. Ginkgo Tea was laughing even more maniacally now. “Twerp, you’re being wildly arrogant!”

Gu Fei smiled. “You’ll know that it is not arrogance but truth once I’m done with you.” With that, he undid his camo and pulled out his sword from his dimensional pocket. However, in the next moment, he heard the deep rumbling voice of a man behind him. “ENOUGH!”

Everyone turned to the source of the shout and saw just a single man standing there: Broken Water Arrow.

“This sort of duel is entirely meaningless,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“How can you say that it’s meaningless? It helps improve our PK standards!” Ginkgo Tea argued.

“What sort of use is there for this? On the battlefield, no one will give you a wide empty space to frolic about in a one-versus-one fight. There’s not just one enemy on a battlefield. Danger lurks in every inch of the land on the battlefield. This so-called showdown you are having is nothing but a meaningless game. If you truly wish to be victorious in the upcoming City War, it’s best if you think of how you to utilize your maximum potential in a chaotic situation and achieve an overall victory. What does your individual ranking have to do with the City War?” Broken Water Arrow debated.

“Hmph. We’re leaving.” There was no way for Ginkgo Tea to refute Broken Water Arrow’s words, so he turned and led his men away in response.

Conversely, the lot with Onesie was very reverent of Broken Water Arrow’s performance.

Gu Fei was a little rueful over how his duel against Ginkgo Tea had been spoiled by Broken Water Arrow’s intervention, but he still benefited from this as he had learned something rather interesting from the attitude of either group toward Broken Water Arrow.

“Did you see that?” Gu Fei asked Sword Demon as he kept his gaze on to Broken Water Arrow’s departing figure.

“What do you mean?” Sword Demon asked back.

“That lot with Ginkgo Tea seems to be disapproving of Broken Water Arrow,” Gu Fei explained.

“Hmm…” Sword Demon had naturally noted all that had transpired as well. “While what Broken Water Arrow said makes sense, I don’t exactly agree with how he went about advocating it. This is just a game; even a guild leader won’t say things so bluntly. Everybody should be friends, brothers-in-arms, and on equal footing with one another. His tone and attitude sounded like a boss reprimanding his workers!”

“But there’re quite a lot of guild leaders out there who are the forceful sort!” Gu Fei said.

“A leader needs to demonstrate good morality in service of the individual while seeking to convince the people with logic. As long as the message is said right, there is nothing wrong with what is being proposed. Many people will end up agreeing even if the tone used is heavy-handed. I’m simply saying that I’m not a fan of his method,” Sword Demon explained.

“And you’re not alone in that thinking. Ginkgo Tea and his men are not fans of his method, either,” Gu Fei said.

“Yes. That appears to be the case…” Sword Demon agreed with his assessment.

“Now, considering Deep Water’s personality, what sort of leader is he?” Gu Fei asked.

“Of course, he’s the sort that I’ve previously described,” Sword Demon replied.

“‘Birds of the same feather flock together.’ If that is the sort of leader Deep Waters is, that means the members he attracts will be similar, which naturally indicates that plenty of these players agree to his leadership style. So what happens if a leader with an opposite style joins the guild and proceeds to command its members? Do you think the people will still be contented with that?”

“Just… Just what are you trying to get at?” Sword Demon suddenly felt a mild bout of fear creep up on him.

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