Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Chapter 729: Chapter 729 – Leveling the Guild

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

There was no doubt that Young Master Han’s deployment specifically targeted each and every one of the unique characteristics of their enemy, but the whole group of men that Moonless Water had led from Colored Cloud was still feeling rather unassured deep down. This was because there was something very different about the confrontation this time. Even though they had formed teams of 30 players, but because Ray’s Bar was only a level 1 guild with a limit of 50 players that were evenly spread out across the 10 teams, each team had 5 players and there was even one that only had 4, something that the team leaders were keenly aware of when choosing their members.

During the actual battle, these were the players who would be able to attack, while the remaining 270 were still considered by the system to be neutral third party players. The moment they attack the other city defenders, the system would most likely view them as potential aggro targets and send their city guards to eliminate them.

In this sense, while they were teams of 30 players each, only 5 would really be attacking, while out of the remaining 25 players, Priests would be the most useful, followed by Knights, and all the other job classes after. In such a scenario, no one had any idea how they could coordinate with each other since nobody had ever played like this before.

But because Young Master Han was their commander, these people would rather die a couple of times rather than to ask for help from such a person like him. That was why this issue was actively being discussed in each of the team’s party channels as they split up in various directions.

Where were they going to find the players from Amethyst Rebirth and Extremely Heaven Defying?

This question had actually been answered by Young Master Han, “These people would appear anywhere that there is a quest nearby, so now that these 50 men from Colored Cloud we’ve sent are also city defenders, they would be able to receive the quests and missions as well, so all everyone has to do is to be more vigilant whenever we’re near the NPCs that bear quests and missions.”

In the end, the nine teams left just like that. The remaining 30 players were very dispirited; forget that they were the players that were not picked, the fact that their team leader was also Young Master Han only highlighted how misfortunes never come singly. However, these 30 men did not really know anyone. This only showed just how quiet and taciturn these people were inside the guild, which was why even though none of them were feeling comfortable with the arrangement, they never really showed it. All of them were just standing there quietly in front of the Hall of Guild Creations, ready to hear what Young Master Han had in store for them.

“Okay, what this team here is mainly going to do, is guild quests!” Young Master Han finally opened his mouth.

“What?” The 30 of them were astonished.

“Our guild is currently level 1, so our goal is to get this guild right up to level 2 in the shortest and fastest time possible, so we can increase the membership limit to 150 players. At the moment, we only have 50 players serving as the attackers, and that probably might not matter in the beginning, but as the enemy becomes aware of our presence, they will begin to gather together, and we would be overwhelmed with just the 50 players. That is why it is imperative for us to upgrade our guild to level 2,” Young Master Han said.

“But… But there’s only the four of us who belong to Ray’s Bar here,” someone expressed his doubts.

Young Master Han nodded his head, “I know that. The 30 of you will split into 4 groups and it happens to be 4 groups with perfect job class combinations to boot. We’ll leave it to the 4 of you to pick up the quests, and opt for the quickest and most efficient choices. It’s not hard to get the guild up to level 2.”

The men from Colored Clouds nodded as what he said was true. Raising a guild’s level was just like how players increase their own levels, and the higher they climbed, the more experience points would be required. Naturally, what guilds needed to accumulate in order to level was not experience points, but something called Guild Prestige, which was mainly obtained through guild quests and missions. Meanwhile, the method by which the system limited the speed of leveling for the high level guilds was firstly to increase the amount of Prestige needed, making extremely tiring for players to earn it all through repeatable quests alone; and secondly, by limiting the amount of quests offered here in the Hall of Guild Creations, while making sure that the guild quests that rewarded players with an abundant amount of Guild Prestige would not be repeatable. The system would promptly refresh a set number of available quests every day here in the Hall of Guild Creations, making it so that even if they were a large guild, whether people were able to grab such quests would all just be a matter of luck.

Then there were some quests that were not limited by guild levels, but small guilds completely lack the manpower to accomplish them. Nevertheless, the small guilds would opt to vie for the quests first before discussing the matter further. Plenty of large guilds had voiced their disapproval regarding such practices, as a large number of guilds still remained obstinate on this front, happy with letting these quests go to waste even if they were unable to accomplish it themselves.

That was how the inside story of a small guild in a certain city got exposed not too long ago. It was uncertain if the guild was simply so lucky or whatever the reason, but they frequently picked up vital large scale quests. However, they had been unable to accomplish them with their own members, nor did they hire outsiders to aid them, and this persisted to the point that it was revealed that this one guild had somehow managed to obtain 27 large scale quests that all the large guilds sought after so desperately. After this matter was revealed by a guild member that had quit said guild, all the large guilds in that city flared up when they learned about it, and sentenced that small guild to death even to this day. They even demanded the system to come up with countermeasures against such delinquent conduct from happening. The officials had also expressed their intentions to attach great importance to this matter and promised to introduce certain measures in an update in the near future.

The matter of leveling guilds, after a storied past that was filled with countless tales of celebration and sorrow, was finally trending toward banality. All the guilds that were on the right track of progress would stipulate every guild member to grind out some trivial daily quests every day, and it was through such a method where the guilds could ensure that they make steady progress toward leveling at the very least, and large guilds were ultimately competing over their good fortune to chance upon large scale quests.

But there were presently just 3 guilds inside Yunduan City, and there were essentially no competitors when it comes to the guild quests available. The 30 elite players from the top guild would surely be more than capable of picking out the more difficult and better rewarded quests to complete. As such, getting a level 1 guild to level 2 would indeed be a very quick and easy affair. Otherwise, if they were to depend on grinding the trivial quests and missions… It was not like this guild was their own, and was only one that they borrowed temporarily for their operation right now. These players were definitely not inclined to do something as horrible as grinding trivial quests.

After Young Master Han had gotten the 30 players to thoroughly understand the various factors and perspectives involved regarding this endeavor, all of them truly believed that getting the level 1 Ray’s Bar to level 2 would be no sweat at all. When they next entered the Hall of Guild Creations and took a look, sure enough, there were quests that were being offered as per usual, and several large scale quests were left up there collecting dust. The players from large guilds were salivating freely by this point, each of them already fantasizing just how effortless it would be for Colored Clouds to come into the city and do all these quests at this time.

“Hurry up, everyone!” Young Master Han stopped the four players from any further daydreaming and prompted them to quickly make their selection.

The four men were very much at home with this, and viewing the long list of quest displayed, the four picked out four that were most cost-effective and soon departed as quickly as they could with their own quests. The players who were not in a guild were unable to pick up any of the quests, but that did not prevent them from helping to complete the quest. It was just that such guild quests might bring them to locations beyond the city, which meant they had to leave the city in their current state, which was not really anything too difficult for the players who were designated as city defenders or the neutral third party players.

—

Gu Fei and Fireball had both very leisurely mingled their way out of the city once more. The entire guild population in Yunduan City was calling for Thousand Miles Drunk’s head on a spike, yet it was unfortunate that no one had any recollection of the fact that Thousand Miles Drunk had already walked past several men many times over. Players were unable to take screenshots or photographs, nor did they have access to any recording feature while in Parallel World, and no matter how indomitable someone was, everything was no more than a legend. There was no way anybody could learn details like how somebody looked like without first meeting them in person. At the moment, the large guilds that hated Thousand Miles Drunk to the bones had come up with a brilliant solution, and they wanted to find an artist to do up a portrait for Thousand Miles Drunk before imparting his likeness to everyone in the city. But when they mulled over this at a later time, they realized people might not be able to commit how he looked to memory with just that one glance. As such, they would have to procure one for everyone, and said artist would likely end up breaking his wrist if they pursued this idea, which was why their brilliant plan ended up getting shelved for the time being.

After leaving the city’s vicinity, Gu Fei reached out to contact Svelte Dancer. Fireball was very excited, but Gu Fei’s intentions here was completely incongruent with what Fireball was thinking. Ultimately, Gu Fei refused to give up on his plan to round up all the guild leader kills they needed, and he was determined to travel all the way to the site to inspect the grounds himself.

Svelte Dancer sent them a set of coordinates for them to meet, and Gu Fei made his way over with Fireball tagging along.

Over by Yunjiao Farm, in the low level grinding area, there were a few neutral third party players who were grinding, but the most eye-catching feature was the huge crowd of guild leaders amidst the Chinese cabbage fields, standing in line with rows of vegetables, looking particularly outstanding next to them.

Gu Fei took a rough look and saw that the place was indeed under heavy guard. The guild leaders were all within the encirclement together with the Chinese cabbages, with 400 brave and dignified combatants outside, all elites belonging to the four large guilds that were fiercely staying vigilant as they took in their surroundings.

Gu Fei circled around and observed everything, but he did not see any openings. Conversely, Fireball’s eyes were not even trained on the guild leaders, only concerned with where ‘big sister Svelte’ was. When Svelte Dancer finally showed up, it could be seen that Svelte Dancer was not as imperious as Gu Fei. Will-low and her had both maintained their Stealth, and were nothing like Gu Fei and Fireball, swaggering in plain sight.

“That’s too unrestrained,” Svelte Dancer saw that Gu Fei was not even hiding himself, so she immediately canceled her Stealth as well and appeared out in the open. After eyeing him with scorn for a while, she very happily said, “Will-low and I had managed to eavesdrop when we got a bit closer just now, and out of ten conversations, eight were cursing your lights out. How very thrilling.”

“They must feel very pressured,” Gu Fei expressed.

“But there’s really no chance of us succeeding here,” It was rare for Svelte Dancer to give in.

“I agree with that as well,” Gu Fei nodded his head.

But given how Gu Fei and Fireball had not fought any of the monsters around them and only circled around the farm, their actions had long since attracted the attention of all 400 men. At the moment, both of them had come to a stop and two other players appeared from Stealth and began whispering to each other; it was just too suspicious. Furthermore, Svelte Dancer had not changed her attire like what Gu Fei had done, so the fiery red Thief garb that she wore was very conspicuous, causing the 400 players to become wary of the players and began to observe them closely. When they made out that graceful figure of hers as well, all of them suddenly thought of someone, “Oh crap, Is that Svelte Dancer!?”

“Quick, send the word out that assassins have arrived!!” The 400 players quickly spread the message to each other, and proceeded to report this to the four guild leaders from their respective large guilds. The four guild leaders then informed the other 700 guild leaders, causing the crowd to immediately become abuzz with activity as they scrambled to get up, instantly spoiling plenty of the heads of cabbage in the process.

The 400 guards had been idle for a long time, and even though they knew the enemy included Svelte Dancer, none of them were afraid. They had already discussed how they would deal with potential assassins, and when they saw that the four enemies might even have something planned, they felt that they should attempt to sneak up and surround the enemies to slaughter everyone in one fell swoop. But the disadvantages that came with the location of Yunjiao Farm that they had chosen was made apparent: The field of vision for any player out here was too vast, making it impossible for them to conduct any sort of covert maneuver. Gu Fei and the others definitely noticed what they were doing when they began to form up several squads and spread out.

“They’ve noticed our presence, we should leave quickly,” Will-low said.

“Yeah!” Gu Fei nodded. He was not too attached to fighting either. He did not have any intention of underestimating the common player’s frame of mind. After having suffered so many losses by his hand, he sincerely doubted that these men would recreate the conditions for him to miraculously beat back hundreds of players by himself once more.

The four of them fled, and Svelte Dancer was the fastest, disappearing the moment she turned around. Gu Fei was next, casting his Blink from time to time, making mini spatial jumps every time. Will-low was more average in terms of her movement speed, but she was not exactly slower by too much since she was still a Thief at the end of the day. It was Fireball who had it the worst; he was a conventional Mage, with a weak constitution, baby-legged and his long robes dragging across the ground, each leg seemingly finding a pit with every step he took. In no time, his companions were all gone from his sight, while the enemy behind them had all caught up. Fireball was crying as he quickly sent a message to Gu Fei, “Drunk bro, I can’t get away.”

“Oh. Just die, then!” Gu Fei was calm.

“That’s so unbrotherly!” Fireball’s tears were flowing freely.

“It’s not like you won’t revive after dying,” Gu Fei reasoned.

Fireball was depressed! He was feeling such great remorse! That was when he suddenly thought of a joke. A parrot and a pig both boarded a plane, and the parrot was very cocksure, glaring fiercely and acting all arrogant. It berated anyone it saw, exuding a very prominent presence while onboard. The pig was very envious, so he tried to imitate the parrot. Later, when the people on the plane could not stand it any longer, they ended up tossing both the parrot and the pig out of the plane. As the pig fell to its impending death, the parrot had flitted right by on its descent, “Aren’t you too much of a fool? Yours truly can fly!” Fireball suddenly discovered that he was the pig in this story, and having emulated everything Gu Fei had done, now that they were all on the run, he was the one who ended up leaving his life behind.

But a pig also had the wisdom of a pig, and he was not about to fold his arms and accept his death so easily. Fireball discovered that there was a wheat field right in front of him, and without hesitating, he went diving with great ferocity right into it.

The players from the guilds had spotted four targets, and chased them all one by one. In the end, all they had left was a slow moving Mage that seemed unwilling to run, as if he was goading them, and that made these people all the more agitated. All of them could clearly see Fireball dive into the wheat field and so they immediately organized men to dive right after him.

“Wait a minute, take care; this might be a trick,” The more sensible players among them would voice out their opinions whenever there was a change to the situation.

The wheat in the field was about half a man tall, and when someone squatted low and delved into it, no one from the outside could see anything within. A gust of wind blew, and the wheat field shook wave after wave, similar to bobbing sea waves, so deep nobody could see the ground beneath them, hiding the threat of death within. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Sure enough, this must be a trick, and they nearly fell for it.

“What are you afraid of? We can take on any possible ambush together!” There were also those who were very daring, gathering several comrades to make their way in. The 400 players present were ultimately from 4 different guilds that would not deal with each other. The moment their opinions differed, the players would naturally stick to their own guilds. The other guilds felt that they should not be arguing now that their enemy was upon them, while others did not think so, planning to let them go in while the rest stood aside and watched as the others become the laughingstocks they were.

“Actually, is there a need for us to go in after that guy? With such strong winds and how dry the wheat is, we can just use flames to burn it all,” someone suddenly suggested.

“A fire attack?” Every gamer here knew about the fire method, and since someone actually made the suggestion here and then, everyone immediately thought of the glorious times during the Three Kingdoms era.

“That’s right, who cares if he has an ambush awaiting us or otherwise, let’s just use the wind to set everything ablaze,” that person very confidently said.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Quite a lot of people began to support this idea.

“Fire attack, FIRE ATTACK!!” More and more people supported this idea, as everyone began to get busy. The Mage’s fire spells would use mana to burn, and it was different from how burning worked in the natural world, so its effect was worse than that of a lighter. Everyone each produced the in-game fire starter kits and stood by the wheat field, going along in the direction of the wind as they looked forward with keen eyes, waiting for the command.

“Light it up!” someone shouted as all the players each started their flame, but that was when the lack of common sense toward basic living in a gaming nerd’s daily life became evident. Just how much water content would plants that grew out in nature contain? Even if the wheat here looked yellow and ripe for harvest, it was not the color that came with being dry. Just how huge a joke was it for them to try lighting them up like kindling?

A whole bunch of them tried to set it ablaze, but not one of them set anything on fire, and even the best attempt merely burnt off a few stalks. The splendid sight of how sparks of fire catch on and set the sea of yellow alit did not appear at all.

“We need a stronger fire source,” someone said.

Thus, some people began to gather dried up branches and kindling, but most did not move, because they suddenly felt that what they were doing seemed to be an extremely foolish thing…

Fireball did not rest after he dove into the wheat field as he followed the motion of the rustling wheat. When he poked his head out to look behind him, he froze. The players from the four large guilds were all standing by the end of the field, and he had no idea just what they were up to. Why isn’t anyone chasing after me?

“What are you in a daze for, hurry up quick!?” Someone else suddenly appeared inside the wheat field, and Fireball had quite a fright. He quickly wanted to attack, but suddenly discovered that this newcomer was actually Gu Fei.

“Drunk bro, what are you doing here?” Fireball exclaimed.

“What nonsense. Did you really think I would leave you in the lurch!?” Gu Fei spat.

“Strange, why aren’t those guys giving chase?” Svelte Dancer had also followed Gu Fei into the wheat field. When they saw Fireball dive into the wheat field, they immediately came over to aid him. In this setting, they were able to get several decent assassinations opportunities, but neither had expected for the men from the four guilds to just stop before the field and stand right there, not looking like they intend to give chase. As such, Gu Fei could only approach Fireball regretfully.

“They must have identified me,” Gu Fei said.

“Yes, that must be it!” Fireball was quick to flatter his idol, and Svelte Dancer made to gag when she heard this.

“Where’s Will-low?” Fireball was forevermore concerned with the ladies.

“She’s up ahead waiting for us. Let’s go!” Gu Fei said as the three departed.

Finally, a Sharpshooter from the other side of the wheat field finally spotted them, “They are over there!”

“Oh no, don’t let them get away!”

“D*mm*t, there was no ambush in the field at all.”

“They were bluffing!”

“We got tricked.”

“They are too sly.”

Everyone tried to give themselves excuses, and nobody mentioned another word about the fire attack that they tried to pull off moments ago as they returned back to their original post, guarding all the guild leaders. When some of the guild leaders asked about the matter, the men all proudly replied, “We’ve successfully chased away the assassins. Relax, as long as we are here, there’s no way that they will have any chance of making a move.”

Gu Fei and the others left Yunjiao Farm, and discussed if there was an opportunity for them to strike as they made their way to the next destination. In the end, none of them made any headway on the matter, and soon found themselves over by Yunjiao Lakeside. Fireball got very excited, “Everyone, in order to not cause any rather disgusting misunderstandings, let us very clearly split up into two teams. Drunk bro will be together with Big Sister Svelte and I’ll go with little Willow here.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Gu Fei asked.

“Sure, definitely and absolutely certain.” Fireball stated.

“Then what will happen when a fight breaks out? Who’s going to protect the two of you?” Gu Fei asked.

“Don’t worry Little Willow, I’ll gladly give my life for your protection,” Fireball did not care about how close they were, throwing out any word that came to his mind without a second thought.

“Save it! We’ll all go together!” Gu Fei spat out even as he restrained himself from puking.

Fireball was extremely dejected now that he had failed to create a private world of his own together with a lady.

The scene by Yunjiao Lakeside was forever the same. It looked perfectly tranquil on the outside, but it withheld some searing hot passion that could set firewood ablaze. As usual, Gu Fei reminded everyone to be wary of stepping on other players as he led them in the direction of the little log cabin.

“Guild leader, they’re coming!!”

“Good lord. I’ve almost died waiting for them, and now they are finally here!” Skygazing Under the Tree had been lying in wait for a really really long time here in Yunjiao Lakeside, and he was very excited when they finally saw Gu Fei and his friends appear.

“But there’s four of them. Will it work?” His men were skeptical.

“Don’t forget, this is Thousand Miles Drunk we’re talking about!” Skygazing Under the Tree held some very huge expectations toward Gu Fei because he was essentially his only hope by this point. Without him, there would really be no one else who could come and wreak havoc to the quest. Skygazing Under the Tree’s plan to fish in troubled waters hinged entirely upon Thousand Miles Drunk at the moment.