Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

There were also plenty of capable individuals among these thousands of players. After studying the clues that they had on hand, they had managed to determine that the new coordinates should be the nearby Yueye City. Be it Black Index Finger or anyone else, it was apparent that none of them had thought that Gu Fei would use such a luxuriant method to clear his PK Value.

Head over to Yueye City and set up their ambush there? There were people who suggested this, but even more people very quickly chided them for their idiocy. There was no way that anyone would feel at ease without having at least several hundred players lying in wait together, so how would so many people make their way over? Making the physical trek over to the city would be far too slow, and using teleportation scrolls for this operation was more than simply an expensive investment. More importantly, Yueye City was not their stomping grounds, and adding to the fact that everyone had heard the Ten Guild Alliance over in Yueye City has an existing relationship with Thousand Miles Drunk, who would end up being the one doing the ambushing if he were to borrow some of their men for this matter?

Upon thinking of this issue of connection, several players continued to put more thought into this. Even if Thousand Miles Drunk had gone to clear his PK Value, with so many cities out there, why must he just so happen to end up choosing Yueye City? Could this one trip by Thousand Miles Drunk have been to clear his PK Value, but also to borrowing reinforcements?

Anyone would most definitely value the strength the Ten Guild Alliance would bring to the table, so while they were no more than 4000 strong in terms of their manpower, it was reportedly said that these 4000 were pretty much all considered elites in Yueye City.

Conversely, what about this collaboration of guilds here in Yunduan City? They were pitting themselves against a bunch of men who were viewed as the most elite players in Yunduan City, and while the people who made up this coalition were nowhere as prestigious, there were still packs after packs of them joining in just to skirt by and were hardly putting in any effort to the cause. They would be very pressured going up against a company of 4000 strong players.

If someone could imagine such a situation from occurring, there would of course be someone who would most definitely make mention of it as well. All of a sudden, these players were all very depressed. Just what would they do if something as frightening like this were to occur?

As thousands of players were agonizing about this possibility, Gu Fei had very successfully cleansed himself of his PK Value over in Yueye City. After he took the Bounty Missions he needed, he proceeded to cut them down in one go. He was very happy that he did not even need to repeatedly make his way back to the Bounty Assignment Hall like last time. IT was when Gu Fei was down to his final two Bounty Missions when he suddenly received a message and saw that it was actually from Dusky Cloud, “Drunk bro, are you in Yueye City?”

“That’s right! How did you know?” Gu Fei was making his way to his next target as he replied.

How did I know? Dusky Cloud laughed bitterly. He had already received messages that there was someone in his guild that was sent to Jail by someone collecting the Bounty on his head. Given how renowned the Ten Guild Alliance was in Yueye City, which player out here would dare to be so arrogant and bold to do something like this, and Dusky Cloud had already suspected it was Gu Fei’s doing. In the end, there were even eyewitness accounts that the perpetrator should most likely be Thousand Miles Drunk. Even though Gu Fei’s face was not labeled with his name, his outfit was really famous all throughout Parallel World.

Dusky Cloud had already tried to get in touch with Gu Fei early on, but the man was heartily engrossed in doing his missions, causing Dusky Cloud to be utterly puzzled, unable to make sense just how they ended up offending this distinguished sovereign. Just as he was trying to come up with a solution, he abruptly received Thousand Miles Drunk’s reply, and from the words used, it did not seem like Thousand Miles Drunk was purposely here to cause trouble!

“Uhhh, why is Miles bro in the mood to run all the way out to Yueye City and pursue the Bounty Missions here?” Dusky Cloud had learned how to act high-classed by now, so he did not directly ask for the answer from Gu Fei, but had chosen to make oblique references in hopes of uncovering what was Gu Fei’s intention for his actions here.

“I’m here to clear my PK points!” Gu Fei answered truthfully.

“Clear your PK points? Has Miles bro finished up all the Bounty Missions found in Yunduan City?” Dusky Cloud could not think of any other reason aside from this particular explanation.

“Oh no, not that. We’ve run into a spot of trouble over at Yunduan City, so I’ve got no choice but to teleport out here to Yueye City and do this,” At least Gu Fei had the patience to explain himself, but in the time they were having this conversation, he had already thought about how he might have been hunting down the members of the Ten Guild Alliance through all the Bounty Missions he had picked up here, otherwise there was no reason that Dusky Cloud would suddenly ask him about this matter for no rhyme or reason.

“Oh? To think there would still be people out there who would not give face to Miles bro? What’s this all about?” Dusky Cloud really knew how to act the part, not even mentioning a word about how his own guildmates had been slain and sent to Jail by Gu Fei’s hands.

“Well, it’s an inter-guild struggle…” Gu Fei could only provide this overly simplified summary, otherwise there would have been too much to cover if he were to get into the nitty gritty details.

But saying those words were all Dusky Cloud needed to understand what was happening. He was an expert on such things, after all! Everyone across Parallel World knew of the story about how the city defenders of Yunduan City emerged victorious and how they ended up monopolizing the generous reward from the event. Even the news about how the two winning guilds had merged together today to further concentrate all the rewards under a single banner was already well known as well, despite having just happened not too long ago. The moment Dusky Cloud heard the term inter-guild struggle, he knew that given just how splendorous Thousand Miles Drunk’s guild was, they must have sown the seeds of envy with other players and guilds that culminated in becoming beleaguered with an encirclement. Furthermore, seeing how Thousand Miles Drunk had been forced to do his PK points cleansing here in Yueye City, it probably meant that the opposing party this time might not simply be just the involvement of one or two guilds.

Dusky Cloud was now a guild leader who had ideals of his own, and if the enemy was just one or two guilds, he would surely be heading over to lend Gu Fei a hand based upon brotherly loyalty alone. However, he could not help but hesitate a little upon knowing the current situation Gu Fei was facing. Dusky Cloud was also feeling much pain as well. He really missed how he was before, someone who would not care if there was a great disparity in strength between himself and the opposing party. As long as his comrades were being bullied, he would most definitely give his all to aid them. But presently, just how many of the 4000 members in his alliance would actually be willing to contribute to this matter?

—————————————

Over by Yunduan City, the coalition of guilds were still very worried that the 4000 members from the Ten Guild Alliance would be making their way over, though they had no idea that they were also struggling with this same thought as well. While it was true that the Ten Guild Alliance consisted of 4000 elite players, assisting a foreigner like Thousand Miles Drunk would completely be incompatible with the majority of these people in terms of the benefit that they could reap from assisting. Even if their boss Dusky Cloud wanted to do this, he would still have to weigh the pros and cons of such a move. Honestly speaking, forget about heading over to help Thousand Miles Drunk, there were already many who were very upset about the fact that Thousand Miles Drunk had come over to Yueye City and hunted down four of their guild mates thus far. While they knew that their Ten Guild Alliance shared a backstory with Thousand Miles Drunk, these people had viewed Thousand Miles Drunk’s Bounty Hunting as quite the thoughtless act on his end.

Oh. It’s now five… Dusky Cloud had promptly received the latest report. Gu Fei had been trying to save as much time as he possibly could while having this conversation with Dusky Cloud, and he had managed to locate one of his remaining targets and finished that player off. Voices clamored once more within his Alliance; even Celestial Pig, that old comrade of his, had come asking Dusky Cloud for an explanation as to what was happening.

“Explanation? What sort of d*mn*d explanation is there… The g*dd*mn*d Bounty list would not state the target’s guild or even the players’ name, so how was Thousand Miles Drunk going to know who he was hunting down? The blame can only be on those of you who would act too flagrantly, waddling around with a butt full of PK points. It’s a bit too late to be scared now, huh?” Dusky Cloud was still vacillating between his choices when Celestial Pig actually became a target for his own frustrations, so of course Dusky Cloud ended up giving Celestial Pig quite the tongue-lashing.

Celestial Pig was of course someone who was not in the least bit afraid of Dusky Cloud, so he immediately retorted, “You m*th*rf*ck*r, are you telling me you don’t have PK Value on yourself either?”

Dusky Cloud immediately felt somewhat hypocritical the moment he heard this, as he glanced over to the 3 PK points that he had on him; plus, it had even been quite recently obtained. His team of guildmates had been grinding just now and ended up in an altercation with someone else. It just so happened that Dusky Cloud was passing by and he did not bother to say a word, slaying three players from the enemy’s side in a very domineering manner which scared off everyone from the other party. He had been feeling quite pleased and debonair back then, but now… Dusky Cloud suddenly felt the words that he had let fly on Celestial Pig were echoing right beside his own ears.

Dusky Cloud did not say a word for quite some time, so Gu Fei took the initiative to message, “Boss Cloud, did I end up targeting some of your men from your Alliance? Sorry about that, I couldn’t tell who I would be picking up back in the Bounty Assignment Hall, but I’m left with a final Bounty before I’m done here.”

“You’re not to blame…” Dusky Cloud quickly replied.

“But… there’s a good chance that I’ll be back again, so you better remind your fellow brother-in-arms who still have PK points!” Gu Fei had said this, and as for his usage of the word ‘remind’, it was his way of telling them to better cleanse their PK Value, avoid him entirely by logging off the game for the night, or gather what reinforcement they have to attempt and repel him through a counter ambush. Gu Fei did not care about which option they chose, though he did feel that given his bit of friendship with Dusky Cloud, he would be more than a little bit inconsiderate for using people from his Alliance to clear his own PK Value without giving them a heads up. After all, there was no lack of Bounty targets with PK Value here in Yueye City; it was just that it appeared as if those with high PK Value were all from the Ten Guild Alliance, so it was quite a pity to take care of them like this. Gu Fei was actually very conflicted about this as well, though the degree of his contradiction was nowhere near that of Dusky Cloud.

Dusky Cloud had also made his decision this time that if he could not help out using his guild’s name, he would at least have no problem lending a hand as a private individual. Dusky Cloud believed that among the players in the Ten Guild Alliance right now, there would still be people like him who would recall the favor that Gu Fei had done for them back then, and would therefore treat Gu Fei like an old comrade.

“Hahaha, there’s no need for that. I’m already on my last bounty, and I’ll be heading back to Yunduan City once I hand it in,” Gu Fei said.

“May I know who you are going up against right now? And how are Boss Sword Demon and the others doing?” Dusky Cloud asked.

Gu Fei got a little angry when this topic was mentioned, but he still maintained his cool and calmly answered, “They are very safe right now. There are plenty of enemies this time around, so we’re still unsure who we are truly up against.”

“I see,” Dusky Cloud did not press further, as he proceeded to wish Gu Fei and the others a victorious outcome. Meanwhile, he turned his head and began contacting his old buddies from all the guilds in his Alliance, telling them about what he learned.

Gu Fei located his final bounty target, and he did not waste any time to exchange words, simply dashing right over to slay that man. Gu Fei swiftly patted his Windchaser’s Emblem and teleported himself back to the Bounty Assignment Hall, handing in all the missions that he had completed and saw his PK Value disappear, feeling a refreshing wave of energy flood himself as he felt energy fill every limb on his body. In order to get back to Yunduan City, he of course utilized another teleportation scroll. He did not have many teleportation scrolls on him by this time, however their destinations were all set to coordinates inside the city. Gu Fei randomly grabbed one of them in his dimensional pocket and left Yueye City in a flash of light.

—————————————–

Currently, all the players who had picked up the Bounty Mission for Thousand Miles Drunk inside Yunduan City suddenly found themselves failing it, so it was evident that Thousand Miles Drunk had already finished clearing all his PK points. All of them had felt it was inconceivable for him to have achieved such high efficiency. Truly, Thousand Miles Drunk lived up to his name as the King of Bounty Missions, to actually be able to accomplish Bounty Missions to such a degree that made people harbor such deep resentment and rage.

“He’s coming…” That was the problem everyone was quietly confronting right now.

“Everyone gather up and work together, don’t go off on your own,” This was the final choice they made when facing Thousand Miles Drunk.

The moment Gu Fei returned and stepped onto the soil of Yunduan City, he immediately checked his surroundings to see if there were players who were not wearing a guild emblem and keeping their faces covered, only to regrettably note that there was no one fitting this description around.

Next, he contacted both Young Master Han and Svelte Dancer. Young Master Han had told him that he had already reached out and gotten plenty of teleportation scrolls. Even though they were slightly pricey, all of them already had their destination coordinates recorded.

“There’s a situation you need to understand,” Young Master Han had continued to message Gu Fei after telling him about all the scrolls that had arrived.

“What sort of situation?” Gu Fei asked.

“Evidently, this transaction that I’ve gone ahead and accomplished was done through the various workshops. However, haven’t we been suspecting that there was a high likelihood for a workshop to be a participant in this matter as well? Thus, there is a chance that this teleportation scroll transaction will be compromised. Because they would know the purpose for our acquisition of these scrolls, there is a possibility that the destination for these scrolls to have ambushes set up,” Young Master Han said.

“So what you mean to say is that this would be the perfect opportunity for us to sound out the identity of a workshop that might be causing trouble for us?” Gu Fei asked.

“That’s right.”

“I can’t believe you’d still be scheming…” Gu Fei sigh.

“It’s just a little intrigue,” Young Master Han expressed.

“Getting them to provide us the scroll while also setting up a ruse of your own. You’re really something, alright!” Gu Fei said.

“But of course.”

“However, I gotta ask you something. Are you asking me to risk myself to trigger a powerful trap that would be solely set up to counter me after I’ve obtained a PK Value that’s over 20?” Gu Fei asked.

“It’s quite difficult,” Young Master Han nodded.

“Indeed. Actually, there’s no need for me to do the probing; You can go and do it as well. All you have to do is utilize one of the teleportation scrolls from each of the workshops; I believe that even if the enemy won’t attack you, I’m sure a trap that would be used to snare me would be quite sizable, so you should most definitely be able to identify it through observation alone. Even though you will die right after, we could at least take solace in the fact that your level isn’t worth anything,” Gu Fei said.

“You’re right, that would be the safest method,” Unexpectedly, Young Master Han did not disagree with Gu Fei’s assessment and readily accepted it.

“You’ll need to hurry up. I’ll need to cleanse my PK points very soon enough. It would be a disaster if I end up having bad luck and teleport right into a trap.” Gu Fei urged.

“Did you actually fail to set any of the scrolls to coordinates in Yueye City when you were there just now?” Young Master Han asked.

“Ah, you’ve actually guessed it correctly…” Gu Fei sheepishly admitted.

“Idiot…”

Gu Fei was helpless; he had truly forgotten.

“Just go over to the mailbox and retrieve your scrolls first,” Young Master Han informed him.

“How did you go about doing this transaction? Be it a face to face transaction or one done through mail, you would clearly have to reveal your identity, so why didn’t any of these people make their move on you?” Gu Fei asked.

“Actually, I had originally wanted to sound out all the workshops through this method, but it was like what you said, my level just isn’t worth it. The other party could be using a longer line in order to bait bigger fish, first making a bit of money off us while using this opportunity to solve the top priority problem that you represent at the same time. Their calculations on their end aren’t so superficial either,” Young Master Han explained.

“Yes, they are truly a suitable opponent for you. As for me, I’ll go and fulfill my job and help create trouble for them!” Gu Fei said.

“In order to make it seem more realistic, I’ll begin checking once your PK Value goes over 20 points.”

“That won’t take long.”

Gu Fei had already received Svelte Dancer’s message, that more and more players were gathered right by the Jail. Meanwhile, Svelte Dancer was further and further away from her target’s coordinates in order to keep herself hidden, complaining with great gusto about Gu Fei’s slowness.

Gu Fei asked for Svelte Dancer’s position and swiftly ran over to rendezvous. The coordinates that she gave were very far away from the Jail’s entrance, but it was a very safe hiding spot. Facing enemies that numbered in the thousands, Svelte Dancer did not dare to make her move even as she stood by anxiously, and all she could do was grumble and grouse over why Gu Fei had not arrived yet.

“Okay, enough yakking. Here I am,” Gu Fei was too lazy to reply to Svelte Dancer with a message and had directly said it to her when he was standing right behind her.

“Where did you go? What took you so long?” Svelte Dancer was testy.

“I went over to Yueye City and cleared my PK points,” Gu Fei was taking in the scene in front of him even as he answered her.

“Must you go over to Yueye City to do that? What sort of costly bounty did you pick up?” Svelte Dancer wondered.

“The Bounty Assignment Hall here was blocked,” Gu Fei explained.

“Because of you?”

“Most probably.”

“See, it’s all because of your d*mn thing here that had caused so many problems for players here in Yunduan City. What are those who wish to do Bounty Missions going to do now?”

“Head off to Yueye City of course!” Gu Fei answered nonchalantly, leaving Svelte Dancer speechless.

“Where is that guy, Black Index Finger?” Gu Fei was completely unable to get near despite having his coordinates. As the one pursuing the Bounty, Black Index Finger’s Bounty Mission number should have been visible to Gu Fei’s eyes, but he was unable to see it anywhere in this massive crowd that gathered.

“Isn’t it all your fault? There would not have been so many people if you got here sooner,” Svelte Dancer said.

“Don’t panic. Let’s think of a solution,” Gu Fei said firmly.

“What other solution could there be?”

“Look, all of them have their faces covered and not wearing their guild emblems. If we were to dress just like that, find some angle for us to blend in, do you think we would be discovered?” Gu Fei asked.

“You want to just blend your way right up to your target this way? I feel like the enemy would not be so careless. Perhaps they have some other way to identify one another?” Svelte Dancer said.

“But there’s no way they could be careful when it is in chaos,” Gu Fei offered.

“Chaos? How are we sowing chaos?”

“Like if I were to suddenly appear and attack them.”

“So what you mean to say is that you’re going to launch an assault and throw them into a state of chaos, and I’ll use this chance to assassinate Black Index Finger?”

“What do you think?”

“You’re such a d*mb*ss. How am I supposed to know who he is if I don’t have the Bounty Mission? How will you help point out the target to me if you’re outside, causing a scene?”

“There will be NPCs who will help point the target out for you,” Gu Fei smiled.

“NPCs?” Svelte Dancer was startled.

Gu Fei had already spotted two city guards that were standing not too far away from them. Stepping forward, he showed them his Bounty License and the two city guards immediately saluted. The unmistakable voice of an NPC could then be heard, “What orders do you have for us, my liege?”

“Liege?” Svelte Dancer was nonplussed.

“Ahem… At ease…” Gu Fei quickly gave the two NPCs instructions to engage in a Bounty Mission. While the strength that these two city guards possessed might not be the same as the helpers that he had gotten when he was doing the quest during the City Wars event, their intelligence should be at the same level. After hearing Gu Fei’s orders, they saluted their liege Gu Fei once more and headed off.

The two NPCs were proper city guards, so they would not raise anyone’s suspicion at all. No one seemed to have any issues as the two NPCs headed in the direction of the Jail.

“This… This…” Svelte Dancer was completely tongue-tied.

“Cover your face and change out your equipment. I’ll go and draw their attention in a moment, so use that time to blend in and follow those two guards. Their target is Black Index Finger,” Gu Fei said.

“What’s the set of orders you gave them?”

“It’s very simple. Advance slowly and attack the Bounty target,” Gu Fei said.