Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Cool Apple’s emotions were far more distressing right now. Young Master’s Elite was correct in their conjecture about how the Thief had used the teleportation function of the Windchaser’s Emblem to escape. However, in truth, Cool Apple had only gotten the Windchaser’s Emblem recently. The reason he was able to run amok and PK 1600 times without ever losing a level was less about the fact he had the emergency failsafe Windchaser’s Emblem provided, but more of the unique topography of Xiawu City, where he was previously based.

Only after he had obtained the emblem did he realize that the teleportation function could be used to escape a life-threatening crisis as long as he had a completed ‘Bounty Mission’ on his quest log. In fact, it had been his first attempt using this function in such a manner during his failed attempt at Sword Demon’s life..

This was precisely why Cool Apple was feeling despondent right now.

He enjoyed the pleasure of massacring through PK, and the thrill and tension that came along with the act. To him, the ability to escape after being defeated was very exhilarating and interesting. The use of teleportation function should only occur when he had no means of escaping his predicament. Despite that, all he felt now was shame and utter disgrace.

M*th*rf*ck*r… Cool Apple cursed to himself as his hand subconsciously rubbed the spot on his back Sword Demon had repeatedly stabbed. Since he did not truly die, he could still feel the lingering pain in his back right now, and blood actually stained his hand after he had touched the wound, causing Cool Apple to grind his teeth viciously once more.

Cool Apple checked the coordinates shown on the Windchaser’s Emblem and then adjusted his route of advancement accordingly. One thing Young Master Han had not gotten wrong was that even though Cool Apple was unwilling to use that function of the emblem now that it was in his possession, the man would still see to it that the ‘Bounty Mission’ he had picked up was completed. No matter how he looked at it, he would feel more reassured having the function ready at hand than otherwise. While Cool Apple was a little ashamed, angry, and disgraced that he had to teleport to get away from certain death, the man nevertheless felt a little delighted and fortunate for being able to do so.

“He would never expect to find me alive.” That was the biggest consolation Cool Apple could get out of this at the moment.

“Just you wait, Sword Demon; I’ll be back really soon.” Sweeping his eyes on the coordinates once more, Cool Apple took out a scroll and glared at Sword Demon’s IGN on it as well as the series of changing coordinates behind it.

This was precisely the noose that Ye Xiaowu and the rest had tightened on Sword Demon the first time they had met in the forest.

Spell scroll: Inescapable Mark.

This was a Priest spell that imprinted the target with an inescapable mark, allowing the caster to check on the target’s coordinates at any time. And since Ye Xiaowu had used a one-time use skill scroll for this instance, the coordinates were shown on the scroll itself.

Inescapable Mark was a sustained spell that required the caster to maintain a supply of mana to it, and neither the movement of the player or consumption of fruit to replenish the caster’s mana would interrupt the spell. This was where it differed from other sort of spells and skills. With the scroll variant of this spell, all that was required would be a fresh stock of scrolls and the spell could be maintained. Either method could theoretically allow a player to be tracked forever.

To remove this sort of spell, aside from the original caster giving it up of his or her volition, it would require the target, caster, or scroll owner dying or logging off in order to remove the Inescapable Mark. Besides that, the spell could be interrupted when the carrier of the Mark got teleported over a vast distance.

All these scenarios could not happen right now because Cool Apple already had decided that he would immediately hunt for Sword Demon once he slew the target he had for his ‘Bounty Mission’.

Cool Apple quickly ran along the street. As he was still considered to be rather foreign around these parts, he would occasionally have trouble chasing after his target. More often than not, he would end up taking detours or having to retrace his steps as he ran toward the latest coordinates. Cool Apple patiently continued his hunt while he checked his coordinates from time to time, and quickly confirmed that his target was not too far ahead of him when he next checked his own coordinates. Quickening his pace, he could already make out a player in the distance with a string on numbers above his head, walking down the entrance to a lane.

Found him! Cool Apple sighed in relief and proceeded to pull out his dagger from his dimensional pocket quickly. He was extremely familiar with ambushing his enemies, so even without the help of the heavy fog in Xiawu City, he was still more than capable of finding an angle which players would not easily notice his approach. Cool Apple kept his eyes fixed on his target even as he walked up…

This is just too thrilling! Cool Apple’s eyes were aglow with flames of passion. He loved it when he knew that something was in the bag while the opposing party remained unaware of what was about to happen. That moment when he viciously plunged his dagger into his target and the look of inexplicable fear and surprise that would fleet across the person’s face, every aspect of the hunt was utterly satisfying to Cool Apple.

Here I come, bro! Cool Apple muttered this to himself as he activated his Fleetfoot and streaked right behind his target. Unexpectedly, before he could even make it over to the lane entrance, a middle-aged Warrior, who seemed to have been sunbathing by the roadside, suddenly attacked him.

Catching sight of this Warrior’s Charge slicing obliquely toward him from his periphery, the Thief quickly canceled his Fleetfoot, which he was using to sprint straight up to his target.

An expert! Cool Apple quickly inferred this. If he did not manage to cancel his Fleetfoot in time, he would most likely end up colliding right into the Warrior at the speed he was going. When a Fleetfooted Thief and a Charging Warrior collide, death was the only outcome for the Thief.

Furthermore, dropping back to his usual movement speed now that his Fleetfoot was no longer in effect meant that this interloper would zoom past him just a step sooner, allowing Cool Apple to get a good opportunity to smash a Bludgeon right at the back of his head. That was the thought he had as he pulled out a handy big stick. He did not think too much about who this person was, or why he wanted to ambush him. He was passionate when it came to PKing, so he would not bother to ponder on the reason for this interference. He could do all that after he finished the man off.

Who would have thought that the Warrior would stop his Charge after seeing Cool Apple cancel his skill, though? Cool Apple had his stick in hand, yet the Warrior was standing right before him. There was no way his Bludgeon could be executed on the back of the Warrior’s head like this.

The Warrior lifted both his arms, each holding a claymore, and did a cross slash. Cool Apple evaded this attack and took two steps backward, quickly activating his Stealth. In the end, before he completely disappeared, he saw the Warrior swing out with a raise of his hand. Cool Apple had no idea what sort of attack it was; he simply lowered his head to dodge it on reflex and ended up catching a cloud of white dust flying right to his face. While his head remained free of the white powder, it scattered all over his body.

“F*ck me…” It dawned on Cool Apple that, although his Stealth was activated, the white dust all over his body would still give his location away to his unknown assailant, which made the skill essentially useless for he was still visible to anybody looking.

His Stealth right now was as good as not being Stealthed, so Cool Apple quickly canceled it as he once more dodged an attack from the Warrior.

Shadowstep!

Cool Apple had his fair share of experience PKing, and most of his targets quickly become flustered when faced with that skill. Thinking of that, he calmly activated the skill amid his current predicament. The moment he used Shadowstep, all the other party saw was a blurry afterimage of him. In the next instant, Cool Apple appeared right behind the man with a dagger in his right hand and a big stick in his left hand.

Backstab! Bludgeon and then another Backstab!

Using the Bludgeon to CC the target, he waited for his Backstab’s cooldown to be over as he planned to deal two consecutive Backstabs on his opponent. This was the style he often used when ambushing someone. Since he did not have the Dual-wielding Mastery, his left hand was unable to execute the Bludgeon skill, which meant that he would have to quickly swap his dagger with his stick after his right hand stabbed the target with his first Backstab. Cool Apple had practiced this particular maneuver to the point of flawless deftness. Coupled with his equipment enhancing the effect of Bludgeon, the duration of the Dizzy status his target would incur would be lengthened enough for his Backstab to complete its cooldown.

Coordinating this with Shadowstep’s astounding movement, which allowed the user to flit right to the back of a target, this could be seen as a perfect kill-move.

Alas, Cool Apple actually experienced imperfection this time. Just as he popped up behind the Warrior and he brought out his stick, the opponent unleashed his skill!

Cyclone.

Even though those who had chosen the Warrior job class would go through their Job Class Advancement upon reaching level 40, this level 30 skill remained to be the strongest attack skill within their arsenal. Cool Apple instantly felt the keenness of blade upon his skin. Despite his Backstab planting perfectly right onto the man, the fact that it was a hale and hearty Warrior also meant that this one Backstab barely dealt much damage to him.

There was no way Cool Apple could press on to execute the two consecutive Backstabs he was so familiar with, as the Cyclone made it such that he was unable to control which direction he was going. That weak Thief body of his was immediately whirled up into the air, the skill completed its homerun when the sword connected to him, sending him hurtling straight toward the wall.

Cool Apple felt as though the bones in his entire body had disintegrated upon contact, and the damage he took from this one Cyclone was by no means negligible. What made it worse was how this Warrior abruptly stopped his Cyclone after this successful strike, as if he did not wish to waste even an extra second, flashing a thumbs-up at Cool Apple. “I’m pretty sure you’re the first player I’ve met who ate my Cyclone so forcefully at such a close range. Between us men, I salute you.”

“Who are you…” Cool Apple finally dropped this question out of curiosity. This was because he could already tell that this person was not like him – a player who was looking to enjoy some PK – and was instead purposefully targeting him.

It was apparent that the other party was completely on guard with his Shadowstep skill. From the moment Cool Apple had activated it and shifted into position near instantaneously, the Warrior already had his Cyclone at the ready. The latter was evidently aware that Cool Apple would appear behind him.

Shadowstep was not a skill that any random player would have knowledge of, so for this Warrior to be so prepared toward it meant that he already had information about Cool Apple.

Furthermore, this person looked to be a seasoned gamer. Had he activated Cyclone the moment Cool Apple activated his Shadowstep, it was very possible that the Thief would have already been struck by the Warrior’s claymore before he even made it behind the man. While that meant that the Warrior would not take any damage, Cool Apple might be able to preemptively cancel his skill once he noticed what was happening.

That was why this enemy had intentionally waited for the briefest moment before unleashing his Cyclone.

Only by taking that Backstab from Cool Apple would the Thief end up taking a full blow from the Warrior’s Cyclone as well. At the moment, one was more dead than alive at the corner of the wall, while the other stood grandly at the center of the street. The winner and loser of this match were clear for all watching.

“Why aren’t you flying off? I heard you’ve gotten yourself a Windchaser’s Emblem. Couldn’t you teleport yourself away with a pop? Come on. Disappear and show me.” War Without Wounds continued to gloat and gleefully revelled in the man’s misery.

“M*th*rf*ckr*r…” Cool Apple was grinding his teeth. It was fine that he lost, but why must he lose to someone so lacking in character? His PK-style focused on ambushes and sneak attacks. While it was considerably despicable, he would only get a sense of internal satisfaction when he won. Never would he act so high and mighty. This man before him was really rather reprehensible.

Still, he really does have a good understanding of me… Cool Apple stared at this reprehensible middle-aged man before him and suddenly nodded. “Are you War Without Wounds from Young Master’s Elite?”

“That’s right. I’ll have to commend you once more accordingly since you’ve heard of this granddad’s great name.” War Without Wounds nodded, feeling pleased with himself.

“Number one Warrior across all MMOs? I spit on your name!” Cool Apple spat maliciously at him.

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