Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Cool Apple was successfully slain by Gu Fei, but the latter had no idea just what sort of penalty would be mete out to the former for being a ‘Daily Bounty Mission’ target. Would he be sent to prison? He had no idea how long the sentence would last, as the huge amount of information he had gotten from Giordano included Cool Apple’s full PK history, yet it did not list what was his current PK value. He had no idea how the calculation would work out if that rascal got spirited off to the prison.

Gu Fei did not really bother to put too much thought into this matter, as he still had the suspicious Three to pursue. He dashed into that room he had seen the man head into. Pushing the door open with a satisfying shove, he saw a man with his face covered standing calmly before him just beside a window.

Gu Fei quickly planted himself firmly to the ground, not in any rush to step any closer. Given how calm this person was, could there perhaps be some sort of trap here?

He had his hand on the door to keep it open as his eyes searched through the room.

Guards. There were plenty of guards in this room. However, that was not anything surprising as the guards seemed to be the busiest NPC in this Government City Hall. Aside from this, Gu Fei simply could not sniff out any trap of sorts, nor did he sense any hidden killing intent. He could not help but feel a little anxious as a result, since the scariest type of trap was the sort he was unaware of.

Gu Fei stared right at that man with his face hidden, registering each and every action he was making, as he guarded against any possible trick the latter had up his sleeve. It was a pity that Gu Fei did not have Two’s talent of discerning who the enemy was just by looking at his physique. Come to think of it; Gu Fei would not even recognize Three even if he had his face cover off, since he had no idea who Three really was anyhow.

What made Gu Fei even more uneasy was the vibe that the man before him was giving off. The letter looked extremely self-assured to the point that Gu Fei doubted he was faking it. This man was sure to have a plan of some sort.

Gu Fei thought of this even as he heightened his focus and alertness, yet he never once took the initiative to strike, for he was afraid that that was precisely the outcome the man was hoping to achieve. Sometimes, in this game, it was not just about equipment and skills but more about knowledge, instead.

The tension in the air mounted, or at least, that was what Gu Fei felt. This went on for quite a while before Gu Fei glanced at the time. D*mn, it’s only been a minute.

He had already come to a decision to take care of this person. If this masked man continue to remain unmoving, Gu Fei was also confident he would not lose to him in this contest of patience.

However, the situation for the opponent seemed to have changed over the course of this minute as he began to lose that calm and composed demeanor from before. This made Gu Fei a little disappointed, for what he had thought to be a shrewd opponent began to reveal a look of defeat after only a minute. In the end, Gu Fei felt that he was no longer having a match of wits with this opponent, but was instead just playing with himself…

The eyes of this man began to betray his impatience before turning to suspicion as he gazed at the whole lot of guards in the room curiously.

Is there something special about these guards Gu Fei casually peered over as well, slowly making his way into the room as he closed the door behind him.

The guards did not do anything out of the ordinary as Gu Fei moved, acting exactly like any ordinary NPC guards, and just stood rigidly at their posts with their stern expression. Gu Fei simply could not make sense of what was so intriguing about these guards that made his opponent stare at them so strangely.

It was his opponent who was the first to break the silence by impatiently asking, “How can this be?”

Another question his enemy did not understand?

Gu Fei subconsciously wanted to tell the man to ask away! What a severe case of occupational disease he contracted; a teacher’s role was to inspire, impart, and instill doubts1…

“Why? Shouldn’t your PK value be at 20 points?” the man continued to wonder.

Gu Fei instantly understood what was going on.

It was no wonder this man had entered this room willingly and essentially trapped himself in it. It was now apparent why he had this immeasurable self-confidence despite having been cornered in this room without any escape.

This man was indeed not playing the game but knowledge, instead.

From the start, he had already witnessed Gu Fei helping Two enter the Government City Hall by reaching 20 PK points. Afterward, he made a mental note of the passage of time and figured that Gu Fei had dropped 1 PK point, which allowed him to run freely in front of these guards.

He had ducked into this room in advance precisely because he spotted Cool Apple getting ready to ambush Gu Fei by the stairs and figured that Gu Fei would earn a PK point after finishing that man off. If Gu Fei proceeded to chase him into the room, he would instantly be killed off by the guards in the room.

It was an intentional, yet untraceable trap. Gu Fei noted the close shave he had, for he had indeed forgotten all about his PK value. Fortunately, Cool Apple happened to be his ‘Daily Bounty Mission’ target, so that kill did not count toward his PK value. If that had not been the case… Gu Fei glanced at the many guards before his eyes as his heart shuddered.

Furthermore, Gu Fei noticed a particular detail. He turned to regard the man and asked, “Who in the world are you?”

The man did not answer.

This person knows me! Gu Fei boldly asserted.

After seeing what Cool Apple was attempting to do to Gu Fei, he did not even watch the outcome of the fight and instantly determined that he would be the victor of the fight, earning himself a PK point as a result, and just waited for the guards to apprehend a Gu Fei with a PK value of 20 points.

This man probably did not notice this particular detail himself. Seeing that Gu Fei was about to face off against another opponent, he subconsciously assumed that Gu Fei would earn that PK point. This was not a call someone would make unless they knew who he was.

In this ensuing silence, Gu Fei was only left with the option to take the initiative. Since this man is someone that knows me, all I have to do is unmask him… With such a thought in mind, Gu Fei darted right over to the opponent. This room was not very large, and since the door was already blocked by him, his opponent essentially had no opportunity to flee.

That was what Gu Fei had thought, but how was he to know that his opponent would do something entirely unexpected? The man turned around, pushed open the window, and proceeded to leap right out of it.

“F*ck! That’s some conviction!” Gu Fei cursed. He had not even thought that this person would rather kill himself than let him know who he was. Was it so important for the man to keep his identity hidden?

The floor they were now on was even higher than the height of the wall that enclosed the Government City Hall. A fall from this height was almost a certain death, and even if he were to survive, the players from Flowergazing in the Fog would not let him live. Gu Fei hurriedly ran to the window and looked and, instead, found that he was mistaken once again.

The man went out the window but did not fall to the ground. It was unknown where that man found a foothold after falling a floor, but he suddenly leaped up and headed right in after breaking a glass window with a kick.

Gu Fei was astonished.

He might be unable to differentiate people through their physique, but how could he not discern the utilization of a Fighter’s skill?

Swallow Dropkick. That was clearly a Fighter’s Swallow Dropkick.

He could not help but feel surprised.

That was because he was giving chase to the caster of that Fireball, yet the person before him was actually a Fighter, so where was that Mage earlier? Did he chase the wrong target?

Gu Fei did not have the time to ponder over this too much. He quickly hurtled toward the door in a move to head down a floor and resume his chase after that man. In the end, an Arctic Whirlwind came to him from the side the moment he stepped out of the doorway. Gu Fei had no means to avoid it and had no choice but to bear the full force of that spell.

The damage from the Arctic Whirlwind was only secondary, and what was really devastating was the spell effect that saw a reduction to his speed. Gu Fei felt the blast of wind from an arrow that followed that Arctic Whirlwind, which he was unable to evade either, given how his speed had been reduced. All he could do now was tough it out and take the damage dealt from the arrow as well. Gu Fei, having lost his physical deftness, did not dare to face these enemies head on. He quickly ducked into the room and slammed the door shut. Gu Fei heard an explosion and a loud thud, which were evidently the very sound made by the spell and a second arrow as they struck the door.

That was dangerous… he thought to himself.

Arctic Whirlwind was a spell that a Mage could control at the expense of mana. Parking it right beside the door as that Mage had done made it impossible for anybody to escape that wintery buffet, which was waiting to envelope Gu Fei once he stepped out. Meanwhile, the arrow that the Archer had sent his way was fired the moment Gu Fei was slowed by the spell, making it near impossible for him to dodge the joint attacks as he normally could.

This was a perfect demonstration of a seamless coordination and was most definitely synchronized with that Fighter who had lured him into this room in the first place.

A Mage who was capable of dishing out huge damage and flawlessly coordinating with a Fighter and an Archer that all knew of his identity – it was easy to guess just who these people were after putting everything together.

Drifting, Left Hand of Love, and Right Hand of Cool!

After guessing their identities, Gu Fei now had greater clarity of the entire situation.

Three, who had formed that ragtag group, was the Fighter Left Hand of Love, and the person who got him to join that very group was the Archer Right Hand of Cool.

Gu Fei was originally suspicious of Six for being able to tell that he had picked up a competitive quest against the Flowergazing in the Fog. Did he deduced that from the hubbub he had created when he first appeared in the courtyard before? Now, he knew that it was Drifting who had arranged for the man to wait for him outside and deliberately lure him into joining this group. Just what was Drifting’s intention? How did that man get access to the Government City Hall?

Gu Fei had so many questions floating in his mind, and he could not wait to uncover the answers to them, so he decided to send a message over to Drifting: “Just what are you up to?”

Before Gu Fei even got an answer, he heard a crash as he witnessed a window in the room got kicked open. That man who had leaped down from before entered the room via the window with a Swallow Dropkick.

“Hello… Left Hand? Or is it Right Hand?” Gu Fei knew the two players but had yet to associate their names and their job classes.

“It’s Left Hand; Left Hand of Love…” answered the man and proceeded to take off the bandana covering his face.

“What are you guys doing?” Gu Fei simply could not fathom why they had gathered this group and brought them all to the city hall to finish them all off.

“This… We’ll discuss this next time!” Left Hand of Love suddenly hurtled over with a punch. He clearly knew that he needed to utilize this time, when Gu Fei’s speed was still reduced, to beat the man.

Left Hand of Love was extremely confident when he tossed out that punch, yet just as he thought that his punch would knock over Gu Fei, Gu Fei took a sidestep and delivered a backhanded slash to Left Hand of Love’s back.

Left Hand of Love was shocked. Has he recovered already? That’s not possible! There’s no way he could recover so quickly! Left Hand of Love carefully ruminated over Gu Fei’s movement just now and realized that, while his speed was slowed, the precision he displayed was perfect.

“You’re underestimating me yet again.” Gu Fei sighed with a shake of his head. “You think you can beat me all by yourself just because you’ve reduced my speed? Do you think you’re Eternal Dominion?”