Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Since he’s come all this way to Linyin City, it seems that they are urgently looking to make their move against us… Brother Assist thought of this before he quickly replied with a location for the meet-up. As for the time of the rendezvous, he gave the excuse of having matters to attend to first to push the meeting to an hour later.

Brother Assist swiftly went online after this exchange and informed everybody of it. Having bought themselves an hour to get the lay of the land before the meet-up, they strove to make it much easier for them to arrange the necessary preparations.

“A tavern? Not bad.” This was Young Master Han’s favorite rendezvous point. Almost all the players would choose to meet in one.

“We should all recognize Silver Moon, but there’s no telling if the rascal is gonna meet anybody with his face uncovered. Everyone should be on the lookout for a level 36 Knight, especially someone with gear that increases Sword Mastery.” Brother Assist reminded the others.

“But he’s gonna recognize us as well!” Royal God Call said.

“We’re all gonna have our face covered. There’s no need for us to enter the tavern as well, and we can just simply wait for the man outside,” Brother Assist suggested.

“Wait a minute. What if Silver Moon isn’t the one to come? What if he asks a friend to take care of the transaction; what then?” War Without Wounds suddenly thought of this point.

“Friend? Does he still have a friend at this point?” Young Master Han scoffed when he heard that. The man had naturally considered all these potentialities and details when the plan was first raised. He made sure not to raise it precisely so that he could wait for someone else to stumble upon it by their own and mock them accordingly. Unfortunately, it was War Without Wounds who had fallen for this and figuratively slapped himself in the face as a result.

D*mn. I’ve really done myself dirty with my words this time! War Without Wounds thought. He swore to himself multiple times never to raise a suspicion, a suggestion, or even a question when this man came up with the plan; why did he keep forgetting it?!

Even Young Master’s Elite had never been to Forest Lane tavern, the proposed rendezvous point, once each of them enquired about its location, they easily located the establishment. Unfortunately, the tavern was entirely unlike how they had imagined it to be.

Not only was Forest Lane tavern in a secluded part of the city, squirreled away in a dead end alley and buried deep in many twists and turns, there was just a trickle of crowd streaming in and out of the entrance. Hardly any players who enjoyed setting up stalls outside the premises were hawking goods in this location, too.

With barely any player traffic in the area, as well as the alley itself not having enough space for people to share a stall, Young Master Han’s plan for them to use such stalls to hide in plain sight to surprise-attack Silver Moon the moment they caught sight of him was, by the looks of things, no longer possible. Setting up a stall here would just serve to raise suspicion, and given Silver Moon’s wily ways, he would most likely sense that something was off right away.

Furthermore, the two houses in this alley were squat. Meaning, there was no way for people to hide themselves atop the roofs as they would be easily spotted from a distance. Thus, the only option they had was to enter the tavern themselves.

“Let’s head in!” After standing by the alley entrance and taking in the place before their sights, Young Master Han led everyone right into the tavern.

Despite the tavern being remote and compact, there was quite a crowd inside it. Compared to the boisterousness and liveliness common to taverns everywhere, this tavern nestled in a quiet corner of Linyin City, which most players hardly made the effort to visit, was actually the favorite dive for lovers.

They all saw plenty of couples holding hands within, seemingly oblivious to the world around them as they whispered sweet nothings to each other, laughing and moving their lips, yet none of them was contributing to the place’s ambience. When the five of them entered in such a blatant manner, it had the effect of drawing everyone’s attention, with each showing a look of shock. It was apparent that the sudden appearance of five men with their faces covered was incongruent to the prevailing atmosphere in the tavern.

Royal God Call and War Without Wounds looked on enviously, while Brother Assist and Sword Demon felt out of place in this type of setting. Young Master Han, on the other hand, showed far more disregard to any of these lovebirds present as his words shattered the tranquility of the tavern. “What are you people looking at? Never seen people with their faces covered before?” With that, he waved his hand and got the attention of the bartending NPC, ordering his drink as he made his way over to the biggest table in the hall.

Everyone surreptitiously lowered their heads, even Sword Demon and the others did the same.

“Ahem. I’ll head over to the door to keep a lookout.” Sword Demon felt uneasy with the atmosphere of this tavern, and after Young Master Han had made a scene, he fired this message on the mercenary channel and quickly made his escape. Squatting at a corner of the dead end outside, Sword Demon entered Stealth.

“I gotta take notes!” Royal God Call expressed, which received a resounding approval from War Without Wounds. The two selected the most harmonious and compatible couple from all the available options before them and seated themselves at a table close by to observe them. Just as they were preparing to prick their ears and properly learn what the two were saying, the couple got up and rushed out of the tavern, leaving the two men exchanging glances.

Brother Assist acted more natural. Humbly making his way over to Young Master Han’s table and quietly occupying a seat, he ordered no liquor of his own and just looked at Young Master Han. “I wanna see how you’re drinking that liquor while your face is covered by a piece of cloth.”

Young Master Han raised his brow at him, as if he was smirking, calmly pulled out a straw from his dimensional pocket, and dropped it down the glass of liquor.

Brother Assist breathed deeply and thrust a thumbs-up at Young Master Han. “Amazing!” With that, he got up and walked over to the second table on the left, which was precisely the position that they were meeting. Once he got himself seated, Brother Assist nodded to Young Master Han; everything was proceeded as they had planned.

Minutes later, Royal God Call and War Without Wounds began to salaciously evaluate every lady in the tavern, scaring away a third of the patrons in the process. Young Master Han continued to suck on his straw to drink his liquor, frightening another third of the players present. Brother Assist sat by himself sans a word or drink in hand, not moving an inch and looking very much like a murderer. The remaining third of the players were scared off as well.

Soon, all that was left in the tavern were the four men.

Outside the tavern, Sword Demon sent a message in puzzlement. “Why are people leaving?”

“The atmosphere,” was the first reply, followed by, “too strong.”

Afterward, another two pairs of lovebirds visited the establishment. The first pair immediately turned to leave upon seeing the strange sight inside, while the second pair reacted much slower. Getting a seat for themselves, it took the couple a while before they realized that something was off and quickly exited the tavern, too, thereafter.

Not one of these men was bothered by those things happening as they stared at the time, counting the minutes as it passed. Only five minutes were left to Brother Assist’s agreed-on rendezvous time with the other party.

“Someone’s coming!” Sword Demon sent a message.

“How many are there?”

“Just one, but he doesn’t look like a Knight.” This figure was off in the distance, so Sword Demon was unable to use his Appraisal. Besides, using the skill would cancel out his Stealth. All he could do was make his assumptions from how the man was dressed.

“If you can confirm his identity, you can just kill him off, Sword Demon. Is there even a need for us to spring into action?” Royal God Call asked from inside the tavern.

“He… He’s a Priest!” Sword Demon was finally able to make out what the man was wearing, and it was without a doubt something a Priest would wear.

“Could that twerp be deliberately obfuscating his true identity?” These people had their suspicions. It was not impossible for a Knight to dress like a Priest, and they knew that Sword Demon, who could currently not use Appraisal, was only reporting the man’s appearance.

In the end, Sword Demon called out this person’s name to the others once this person got closer. “It’s Fleeting Smile.”

“Why is it him?!” Brother Assist was stunned.

“Of course, he can be considered as Silver Moon’s friend now. It’s just unfortunate that we managed to lure someone who’s unafraid to lose a level.” Young Master Han sighed.

“He’s making his way over.”

“He’s by the entrance.”

“He’s going in.”

Sword Demon sent a series of three messages, yet Young Master Han only replied with one: “Maintain your position and remain Stealthed.”

The tavern door opened, and Ye Xiaowu stepped in. He gazed over at the four players scattered in the three table inside the tavern and chuckled. “It’s you guys, all right.”

“Oh? You already knew?” Young Master Han did not seem to be too surprised by this revelation, taking off the piece of cloth on his face and tossing away the straw, it was indeed a lot more enjoyable drinking his liquor straight from the bottle.

Ye Xiaowu’s eyes went around each of their faces and called out, “Who’s the one who contacted me?”

“That would be me,” Brother Assist admitted openly.

Ye Xiaowu shook his head. “I don’t recall this game having a piece of equipment by the name of ‘Commander’s Ring’.”

Brother Assist was shocked, ashamed. To think that this was the flaw that gave their plan away. If he knew that this would happen, he would not loaf off in that step and research for the actual equipment with that stat… Even though this sort of equipment was rare, it would be just like how he had first found out about King’s Blade; he just had to ask Vast Lushness about item Silver Moon had on. The fault in this slip up lay entirely on the fact that he had presumed he was conversing with Silver Moon this whole time.

“You have quite the extensive knowledge about this game. It really seems that you’re someone with plenty of inside information,” Young Master Han commented.

“Just a little,” Ye Xiaowu passively replied.

“All that knowledge in you, yet you’re still delving into the game. Running all over like this, aren’t you afraid of danger?” Young Master Han asked.

Ye Xiaowu naturally knew how to read between the lines and calmly answered, “I know my limits.”

“How are things outside?” Young Master Han asked Sword Demon.

“No change,” Sword Demon replied.

Young Master Han got up and waved his arm casually. “Kill him.”

Ye Xiaowu instead laughed. “It’s not that easy to kill me.” Before Royal God Call or War Without Wounds could make a move, Ye Xiaowu already disappeared in a blinding white light.

“Teleportation yet again!” The two were crushed.

“It could be Windchaser’s Emblem,” Young Master Han said.

“Why would he have—”

“Cool Apple has one, so he can of course borrow it from him,” Young Master Han cut them off.

“That guy came over to say those few words and proceeded to teleport away. What’s that for? Was he intentionally trying to mock us?” Royal God Call was confused.

“Perhaps, there’s already an ambush outside,” Brother Assist supposed.

“That’s right; since he’s already aware that this is a trap, he might very well have a ploy set up to trap us,” War Without Wounds said.

Instead, Young Master Han shook his head. “If that were the case, there would be no need for him to disappear like that as he should have his ambush set up before we made it here.”

“So, what’s the point of him making the trip? It’s as Royal said; was he here to mock us? Aside from a scamp like Royal, who’s so bored to do something like that?” War Without Wounds said.

“Scram, you old coot!” Royal God Call scolded, causing the two men to fight.

“Let’s make our move first.” Young Master Han took the bottle of liquor from the table and left. Outside, Sword Demon canceled his Stealth and stared at the long and narrow alley. They all instinctively felt that it might be safer if they climbed up and over the houses, instead.

The five took turns to make their way up. Looking around them, they found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

“There’s really no ambush…” Brother Assist could hardly believe it.

“Just what is that guy up to?” Royal God Call muttered.

“Could he really be as childish as Royal?” War Without Wounds wondered aloud.

“F*ck you!” Royal God Call cursed.

Sword Demon made no comment as he looked at Young Master Han.

“Relax; everything is well within my grasp.” Young Master Han drained that bottle in his hand.