Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Svelte Dancer heard what he said and was about to lift her dagger and charge in, only for Gu Fei to hold her back again, “This way.”

“Why?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“It’s closer,” Gu Fei said.

“What do you mean closer?” Gu Fei had already dashed out, so Svelte Dancer could only follow right behind him, asking her question as they ran. The pair was running right toward the masked players who were entrenched in the spawn point, while their numbers suddenly increased. This increment was all the players who originally did not have their faces covered, who all donned their respective masks and cloths when they saw it was time to act. It was critical that Thousand Miles Drunk could not recognize any of their faces.

Their numbers were just over 100, and all of them were attempting to intercept the two players that were charging toward them. Gu Fei was sprinting exceptionally fast, whirling his sword as he cried out ‘Twin Incineration’. The flames had not even blazed into life when the over half of the 100 or so enemies had already squatted down to tie their shoelaces. The other half was still charging but suddenly realized that there was a significant reduction of comrades diving into battle with them. When they turned their heads back and saw that about half their people were pretending to be busy while squatting down, they openly berated them for their shamelessness, not even saying a word about their need to tie their shoelaces.

But that was when everyone realized that Gu Fei had only been falsely yelling out that spell of his. He was not even actually doing his ultimate move at all! Those players who were scared into tying their shoelaces were extremely ashamed. When they got up and were about to continue their charge, this time Gu Fei really made his way right up to them, directly Blinking into their midst as he unleashed his Twin Incineration in all its glory, insta-killing a circle of players around him.

“Wait for me!” Svelte Dancer was yelling from behind. She did not have such tricks up her sleeves, so she would have to solely depend on killing the players if she wanted to dive into the enemy formation as he did. With so many enemies present, this became quite a laborious undertaking for her.

“I know!” Gu Fei responded as he turned around and killed his way back to Svelte Dancer’s side. He went back and forth freely, as if the 100 players in his way basically did not exist.

“Hurry up!” Gu Fei told Svelte Dancer when he came around.

“What’s the hurry?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“My PK Value is about to reach 30 already,” Gu Fei turned his head around after he said this, his sword dancing in his hand as he slashed his way back yet again. The energetic manner he engaged in this endeavor made it no longer seem like PK in the eyes of the players, but the level of enthusiasm that most players would have when they were off to grind for equipment.

Svelte Dancer was right behind Gu Fei and was more than capable of taking care of herself. Gu Fei had easily broken through this encirclement of 100 or so players, but when he looked up, he could already see more and more players gathering further down the street in the time it took for him to deal with everyone. Furthermore, this team was nothing like the hastily cobbled together team they had just engaged in the confusion. With a proper job class composition and legitimate positioning, they prioritized distance, having the Archers and Mages attacking in successive waves, ready to block the way forward. The Warriors and other such job classes were also ready to deal with any melee combat at any time, and there seemed to be not many Thieves in sight, which probably meant that they had already activated their Stealth and scattered themselves all around the area.

Svelte Dancer was no stranger to such large scale setups. A glance at this scene in front of her told her that this would not be a blockade that they could run through in a hurry. Adding to the fact that there was another army of players behind them in pursuit, she knew that they would soon be trapped if they delayed any longer. She very quickly tugged at Gu Fei, who was still charging forward, “We won’t be able to get through, let’s turn back!”

“Hell no are we turning back. Turn your head,” Gu Fei said.

“Where to?” Svelte Dancer asked even as she turned her head. In doing so, she was left speechless. The Warrior Encampment was right next to them. The entrance to the safe zone beckoned.

“Were you planning to take cover in the spawn point from the start?!” Svelte Dancer said.

“What else could it be?” Gu Fei said even as he slew two more players. At the same time, he cried out “I can’t kill anymore” while dragging Svelte Dancer into the spawn point.

When the players all saw the two of them head toward the spawn point, that was when they knew they were scared as well. The players that had always been wanting to tie their shoelaces were also perked up by this, waving their weapons as they charged for the spawn point, yelling loudly when they got there. According to observation, these players who had been calling out remained as cautious as ever, only starting to yell for Gu Fei to come out after they made it safely inside, so even if Gu Fei did show his face, he would at least be unable to slay them.

“Hmph, Thousand Miles Drunk, do you think you’re going to be fine hiding out in the spawn point like that? Do you really think you’re able to get away now?” Black Index Finger was also inside the spawn point, boldly goading Gu Fei because he was safe in its confines.

“I’m sorry Blackie, but I don’t have the time to chat with you. I’ll see you again very soon! What level are you at, by the way? 39? Dear me, watch out behind you,” Gu Fei shouted back.

“Blackie…” Black Index Finger felt completely uneasy hearing Gu Fei call him Blackie, and he was even more puzzled by what Gu Fei meant when he told him to watch out for. Before he could even ask, he felt a powerful force strike him from behind. All Black Index Finger could feel was surprise: how could there be anyone who was able to launch an attack from behind inside the designated safe zones?

Just as he was wondering about this, he felt another blow struck him from behind and Black Index Finger was already sprawled on the ground. Lifting his head to look, he saw that the assailant was a guard stationed in the Encampment who had charged forward in a hurry, knocking aside Black Index Finger like he was nothing. He was lucky that it had not stepped on him in the process.

Looking at where the guard was charging toward, who else could it have been but Gu Fei?

Gu Fei had a PK Value that was over 20 points by now, and that was enough to cause the guards to take the initiative to attempt to apprehend him. There were quite a few guards that were stationed in here, and all of them were currently busy with this very task. However, Gu Fei was already prepared as well, pulling out a teleportation scroll and activated it. In the next moment, Gu Fei was waving toward Black Index Finger as he and Svelte Dancer were transported away from the Warrior Encampment.

The guards nearly made it in time, but all of them quietly dispersed the moment their target disappeared. Those players blocking the exit outside the spawn point were also very annoyed, for they had been busy for nothing this entire time.

However, Black Index Finger was somewhat excited inside. He teleported! Black Index Finger was aware of the plan that the workshop had set up, who had provided some teleport scrolls that would transport the user to ambushes. As long as Thousand Miles Drunk used one of them, he would be instantly eliminated the moment he materialized.

Come on, die die die die die die! Black Index Finger was cursing Gu Fei as he pulled out his messages in a hurry. In the end, after finding out that Gu Fei had not teleported to any of the ambushes that were set up, it appeared as if he did not use any of the targeted scrolls.

“D*mn, guess that guy got lucky,” Black Index Finger spat.

The players outside the Warrior Encampment had already begun to leave begrudgingly, heading off wherever they were supposed to go. When Black Index Finger saw that Gu Fei had finally left, he heaved a long sigh as well. Making his way out of the Warrior Encampment, he saw that his 300 underlings were also outside, and he quickly waved his hand toward them. Just as he was about to walk over and address them, a black figure suddenly came out from nowhere. The glow of flames and electricity appeared. Black Index Finger felt himself receive an extremely powerful attack from behind, and there was only a single person out there who could dish out so much damage. Before Black Index Finger could even turn his head around, he respawned. Back in the spawn point, he did manage to see the man who did the dirty deed, Gu Fei. He had turned his head over and beamed, “I’m back again! I’ve saved a PK point just for you!”

With that, Gu Fei once more shouted out at the players around him that were surprised by this attack and were about to lunge over, “This will be your end.” With that, he moved into a corner inside the spawn point where no one could interrupt him and the guards that were making a beeline toward him were also unable to reach him in time, used a teleportation scroll, and departed from the place once again.

Black Index Finger nearly collapsed right there in the spawn point. The man had actually come back, and that was something that Black Index Finger had not considered. Right now, he did not dare to head out of the spawn point anymore. Thousand Miles Drunk had just appeared with such perfect timing that it was as if it was at the same moment when he stepped out of the spawn point. Not only did it seem like they had a line of sight here, but they had also left someone behind as well. Will he come back if I were to take a step out from here again? Black Index Finger was frightened, so in order to play it safe, he ultimately sent a message out to everyone, “Go, get me a teleportation scroll as well.”

“So, is he coming out again?” Gu Fei was incorrigible. He was actually really considering making the same move again.

“Nope, he’s standing stationary inside the spawn point. I think he might not dare to take the risk anymore, so I don’t think your plan is going to work again.”

The man replying to Gu Fei was Paddy Scented Pastures. Just like Young Master Han, he had lost a level when he returned back to the Priest Academy. But with how experienced he was in such things, and given the fact that he was not a familiar face here in Yunduan City, he and the other Priest Verdant Timber had first removed their guild emblem right before Gu Fei slew them, before they proceeded to pretend that they were just any normal player and swaggered right out of the Priest Academy undetected by anyone.

Afterward, the two men had each secretly observed the situation unfold throughout the city and it was Young Master Han who finally got in touch with them later. Stalking and spying on players was something that these two Priests were very adept at, so they continued to stick to this reconnaissance task. When Gu Fei was audaciously beating Black Index Finger around, the Warrior Encampment would most likely end up becoming the place where they could make an issue out of. Paddy Scented Pastures had rushed over to secretly keep an eye on everything until he finally found the chance to collaborate with Gu Fei. Meanwhile, this plan that Gu Fei had enacted made Paddy Scented Pastures blush with shame, despite being someone who followed Southern Lone Blades to eliminate plenty of players as part of the team. This was truly very deadly! Furthermore, the cost of execution was very high, since he would be using two teleportation scrolls at once! Paddy Scented Pastures could feel his heart ache just watching it unfold. This method of killing would naturally waste plenty of gold, which was no wonder why Young Master Han had collected ‘military expenses’ from the two of them. While the two men were in pain doing so, they knew that this was not the time to say ‘no’, and only hoped that it would be used less, so they could see returns in the future. But seeing Gu Fei kill the man, expending two scrolls for a single level, all Paddy Scented Pastures felt was his own money being thrown in the wind, and that only made him hate Black Index Finger and his men even more.

“So there isn’t any chance at all? Then I’ll go and clear my PK points first,” Gu Fei busied himself. Svelte Dancer had also gotten some PK points on herself as well, so she was off to clear her points as well in order to play it safe. However, she did not have the ability to do a series of Bounty Missions like Gu Fei, and the Bounty License was unlike the Winchaser’s Emblem, meaning there was no way it could be lent out to another player. It was unavoidable, but Gu Fei was actually the first to finish clearing his PK Value despite having more than Svelte Dancer, even while the lady was still running about chasing after her targets agonizingly.

“How many points are you off? I can come and help you,” Gu Fei had hailed Svelte Dancer after he was done with his.

“When are you so kind?”

“I was just thinking that if you were finished as well, we could return back to Yunduan City together and save on using an extra teleportation scroll,” Gu Fei said.

“You… Do you even have a heart?!??!?” Svelte Dancer was pissed off.

————————————————–

“We’ve finally made it!” Outside a certain gate in Yunduan City, Dusky Cloud let out a sigh. After a long and arduous trek, he had finally brought his comrades along to Yunduan City. Even though Dusky Cloud and his men were strong, their economy was another story altogether, and for some unknown reason, the prices for teleportation scrolls from the workshops were exorbitantly high. Dusky Cloud was unwilling to spend the coins for it, so his only option was to make the journey with his comrades over to Yunduan City on foot.

Indubitably, the comrades that Dusky Cloud had brought were all his old friends and battle buddies, each of them sharing the same intention as Dusky Cloud. The moment he told them about what was happening to Thousand Miles Drunk, all of them expressed their wish to make their way over and lend a hand. Dusky Cloud was very gratified as he vaguely recalled the feeling of the past. As for whether the other members in their guild were interested in coming along, Dusky Cloud did not even ask them. He knew how difficult this battle would be, and that death and losses would be inevitable. More importantly, this was a friendship matter and there would be no tangible benefits from participating. He knew that his comrades would be able to understand this, but for the new members that joined them after, they might treat it like a vacation coming over, they would most surely be full of resentment when they died and got sent back to Yueye City. Dusky Cloud had no wish to become a subject of ridicule over this.

Turning around to look, he had brought along a total of 197 comrades with him. Their numbers were not low, and they were all people who had stood side by side to fight against Silver Moon’s guild, Past Deeds. They had heard Silver Moon that scoundrel was no longer playing the game anymore, and there were plenty of his own friends that had actually come online more and more infrequently. Such is life!

Dusky Cloud had suddenly sighing forlornly when he stood under Yunduan City’s gate, and this continued until he heard a comrade behind him yell, “Old Cloud, what are you standing there sighing like an idiot for? Have you contacted Thousand Miles Drunk?”

“What are you in such a hurry for, aren’t I sending one right now?!” Dusky Cloud’s melancholia had been seen through by those buddies of his, and the shame he felt turned into rage.

What should I say to Thousand Miles Drunk? Dusky Cloud hesitated just as he was about to send a message to Gu Fei, ultimately deciding to be straight and to the point. ” We’ve arrived.”

“Ah?” Gu Fei was currently helping Svelte Dancer settle her final Bounty MIssion when he received Dusky Cloud’s message that he had ‘arrived’ from out of the blue. He had even believed that the man had sent the message to the wrong person.

“We’ve reached Yunduan City, here to help you,” Dusky Cloud said.

Gu Fei was momentarily stunned, and was really touched by this. He did not have a particularly deep relationship with these people, but because he had helped them vanquish Yueye City’s Silver Moon back in the day, they had always treated Gu Fei as a friend, always giving him face whenever they had the opportunity to do so. They had not once backed off when they were able to help, and this time around was no exception.

“It’s just that there’s isn’t too much of us here, barely 200 of us here. However, we are all comrades that are well acquainted with each other,” Dusky Cloud was afraid that Gu Fei had thought he had brought along all 4000 members in their Ten Guild Alliance, so he hastened to explain himself first.

Gu Fei was thankful for the concern they had shown and was completely indifferent to how many men he had brought. At the moment, Gu Fei was thinking about how he could not cause trouble for them, but knowing the personality of these people, he knew that there was no way they would accept his rejection. The determination and style in which they had executed this plan was obvious from the fact that they had not said a word and immediately made the trek over to Yunduan City before messaging Gu Fei about it.

“Miles bro, if you need us for anything, go ahead and give us the order,” Dusky Cloud said.

“Mmm, we’ll have to discuss this properly,” Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer had both finished clearing their PK Value. They swiftly teleported back to Yunduan City and messaged Young Master Han right after, “Just what are you up to?”

“Keeping an eye on their manpower distribution,” Young Master Han had not been idling by.

“Dusky Cloud from Yueye City had brought 200 of his friends to help us,” Gu Fei told Young Master Han.

“Oh? You got them to come?” Young Master Han asked.

“I had previously erased a few of their men when I was over at Yueye City clearing my PK points. In the end, he contacted me to ask what I was up to, so I told them about our present situation,” Gu Fei replied. He then suddenly cried out. “Wait a minute. You were the one who had arranged for me to head over there and clear my PK Value in the first place. Was this all part of your plan?”

“You’ve become profound,” Young Master Han answered.

“Was that not it?”

“You’re now profound enough to catch up to me,” Young Master Han replied.

“Hey, is there a need for all that? You can just directly ask them if you want their help,” Gu Fei said.

“Who would go tell them? You?” Young Master Han asked.

Gu Fei was left speechless. Of course, he would not head over to do that, while the relationship between Young Master Han and Dusky Cloud was not in a good spot in the first place, so of course it was even more impossible for him to be the one to do it. Thus, the man had very deviously arranged for Gu Fei to clear his PK Value in Yueye City once, using Dusky Cloud and his men’s temperament to hook them into the churn. He managed to achieve his goal, but the method he had employed to reach such a conclusion would make anyone feel extremely uncomfortable.

But what else can he say aside from deeply despising the man? Dusky Cloud and the others could not possibly leave, even if he told them that Young Master Han had intentionally manipulated them into the matter, Gu Fei reckoned they would just say, “There’s no need for that. A message was all you need to get us here.”

“Okay, let’s move on from this subject.” Young Master Han messaged over. “With these 200 men along with Sakurazaka Moony and the others, we can try to do something big.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve traveled all over the city, and their manpower is mainly concentrated outside the Jail, the Bounty Assignment Hall, and the main spawn points. Their numbers are not as high as when they tried to surround us, so I believe it must be because they realized the situation was under control, so quite a good number of them must have left to go about their own business. After all, we only total up to just around 50 people by this point. Gathering ten thousands of players was merely just to scare us. There’s absolutely no need for so many of them if they were to launch an attack,” Young Master Han said.

COMMENT

“So?”

“If they are just camping out the places as per normal, expecting a total of around 50 players, leaving just dozens of men behind in these various locations would be more than enough. But the enemy has also considered that you are out roaming freely, so each of the spawn points now has hundreds of players, afraid that you would wipe them all out if they had any less. However, the enemy did not temporarily consider that we would rally a new force of our own, so what I mean to say is that we can find a spawn point and serve a side up to them.” Young Master Han explained.

“Oh, which spawn point would this be?”

“Any would do. It’s funny now that you mentioned it. In the beginning, they had the Mage Academy heavily surrounded, all in an effort to trap you inside, but when they later discovered that you are freely moving about the city, the various spawn points were all bolstered such that they had enough manpower to resist your own strength. Otherwise, they would be in trouble. As a result, the other spawn points were also reinforced like the Mage Academy. You’ve passed by the Warrior Encampment. How is their combat strength there?” Young Master Han asked.

“Nothing too difficult. It’s just the PK Value that works to restrict me. If this was during the City Wars event…”

“Which is why the enemy must have considered this point as well, so there’s a chance they would still try to lure you to cross your 30 PK threshold, allowing them to borrow the strength of the city guards and hunt you down with their help. You ought to be careful about this particular point,” Young Master Han advised.

“I know. That is why I don’t wait till I hit 29 PK points. Most of the time, I would be more than happy to take a step back once I’m in the early 20s,” Gu Fei said.

“They would also know that you might have your reservations to this point, which is why their manpower isn’t too extreme. Otherwise, given the name you made for yourself cutting down the 100 players of Carouse, no one would probably dare to stop you if they don’t have at least 1000 players on their side,” Young Master Han said.

“That’s just overly exaggerated. There’s no way I can hold back 1000 players,” Gu Fei said.

“With all the players we’ve gathered now, we should be completely capable of killing everyone stationed in any one of the spawn points,” Young Master Han reiterated.

“Then let’s randomly choose one and begin!” Gu Fei was ready to go.

“Let’s make it the Archer Range then!” Young Master Han said.

“Oh? Is there any reason for that?”

“The comrades from Yueye City won’t be registering their accounts here, so they would be sent straight back to their hometown upon death. But if anyone from Forever In Flowers were to be killed, they would find themselves in the Archer Range, and maybe someone would notice and camp them. Let’s simply take the Archer Range for ourselves and save us the hassle.”

“Okay, then it’s decided.

“I’ll go get on the point. I’ll send you coordinates after I’ve found a spot for myself. Get everyone to disperse and rendezvous when the time is ripe.”

“Let’s go!”

“We’ll let them have a taste of what a group wipe is like,” Young Master Han said. “When all this is done, we can go grind levels, log off, or rest up. We’ll leave them to continue camping outside the Jail!”