Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Aside from Gu Fei standing by the window, admiring the scenery outside, the other ten players were all chipping in all over as they tried to describe the looks of Southern Lone Blade and his team. Every adjective drifted into Gu Fei’s ears, yet he was entirely unable to make out the face in his mind. However, he saw how that player’s brush danced, occasionally asking a question or two as he exuded an air of professionalism while at work.

Half an hour later, this person announced the completion of his work, and several people behind him squeezed to take a look, each of them ending up dumbfounded. Blue Ease darted right over, snatching that man’s drawing paper, to have a look.

“F*CK YOUR GRANDDAD! What is this?! The Calabash Brothers?!” Blue Ease did not pass the drawing to others. Instead, he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it right at that man.

That man was miserable. “What? Is that not how they look?”

“How they look, my foot! Posing as an artist, get out of my sight!” Blue Ease berated.

“D*mn! How do they not look alike?” the man muttered, smoothing out his drawing and passing it to Sword Demon and the others. Their group just so happened to be curious of what had been drawn, so they quickly craned their necks to take a look. They immediately admired this man’s courage when they saw the drawing, for it was no longer a question of likeness but rather a question of the man’s ability to draw in the first place. To volunteer gutsily for this task despite his lousy capability, his bravery was really commendable.

“F*ck! Stop disgracing yourself!” Blue Ease immediately felt ashamed for his comrade. Lunging over and shredding the drawing into pieces like a starving tiger, he even looked as if he regretted being unable to swallow each piece afterward.

“So? That’s not gonna work, yeah?” Gu Fei, who had been looking out the window this whole time, was now gloating. If most of these people were unable to identify Southern Lone Blade, that naturally meant that it was impossible for them to leverage on their numerical superiority and bully the less, so it was better to just lure them out like what he had done before.

Unfortunately, Young Master Han quickly shattered this dream of his. “Even if we can’t do it this way, your method won’t ever work, either. What do you take Southern Lone Blade for – a fool? Do you think that he’ll still fall for your ploy when he already knows of it?”

“You can’t really say that as he did really go through with the deed in the end last night. Our intentions last night were telegraphed openly, yet he still dared to make a move. Don’t look down on Southern Lone Blade; that man’s really ballsy. Aside from me, I don’t really know if he fears anyone else,” Gu Fei invalidated.

Quite a number of players in this tavern had no idea who Gu Fei was, so they all stared at the man, thinking how shameless he was, when they heard him toot his horns so loudly.

Sword Demon and rest of Young Master’s Elite knew the truth of that statement, while Svelte Dancer and the others knew that they were no empty words after what they had experienced last night. When Gu Fei was around, they saw not a soul even as they walked about in those two hours. However, in the few minutes that Gu Fei was gone, that team of larcenists immediately sprang into action. The original trap they had set was actually all for show, since both parties were well-aware what the other was doing. At the end of the day, it was nothing more than a game of cat and mouse between Southern Lone Blade’s team and Gu Fei.

“That was yesterday; today is today. If they find out your use of Windchaser’s Emblem to teleport nearby instantly, do you really think that they’ll still attack?” Young Master Han asked.

“Which is why we need to make some adjustments today. We won’t be using the Windchaser’s Emblem but a teleportation scroll, instead. I’ll make sure to be far away, while you guys will lure them to a set of coordinates we choose prior to the ambush. I’ll teleport back the moment they show themselves,” Gu Fei replied.

“Changing the form but not the content, you’re still relying on teleportation at the end of the day. Considering what you’ve done yesterday, why would Southern Lone Blade not be on his guard against it? Teleportation Scrolls are something everybody knows about, so he’s bound to think of it as well,” Young Master Han rejected still.

“But he’s still gotta act!” Gu Fei said.

“Of course, he will, but since he’s so afraid of you, he can just wait until he’s certain that you’re not around before he attacks. Are you telling me that you’re able to use that Teleportation Scroll from your bed and directly teleport yourself right into the game?”

Gu Fei really had no comeback this time. The limited time he had playing this game was a solid fact. Meanwhile, players like Vast Lushness would of course be unable to do what he did of playing a mere three hours every day.

“That is why, from here onward, if you really want to take down Southern Lone Blade, the only method you have will require you to look for him by your volition. If you really want him to make the first move, it’ll only be when you’re offline. Why don’t you take a shower and go to sleep right now?” Young Master Han asked.

“You made matters sound so contradictory when you put it like that!” Gu Fei was very dejected.

“Then, what do you suggest?” Blue Ease was annoyed as well. According to what Young Master Han had said, there was no way that they could passively draw Southern Lone Blade and his team out. Conversely, they simply did not have sufficient manpower to take the initiative. Would there ever be a resolution to this whole affair?

“Actually, there’s a very simple solution that will solve this once and for all. I just don’t know if you’re willing to do it,” Young Master Han suddenly addressed Vast Lushness.

“What is it?” Vast Lushness asked.

“Abandon the staff,” Young Master Han replied matter-of-factly.

“F*CK!” The crowd cursed in derision. Equipment and skills were the two things MMOs depended on. Why not just directly delete the account if the solution was tossing out a piece of equipment over such matter?!

In the clamor that resounded, Vast Lushness instead appeared to have realized something as she gazed at Young Master Han. “What you mean to say…”

“That’s right. Don’t just toss it out on the street but toss it to someone,” Young Master Han affirmed.

The entire tavern became really quiet very quickly.

A crude and simple solution, but it would no doubt be very effective. However, it would also touch upon the Achilles’ heel of players in MMOs: the issue of trust.

No one in the tavern spoke a word. While a good majority of them had no idea what this magic staff was, the fact that it could instigate someone to pay good money to rob it off her surely meant that it was a rare item in Parallel World. The whole lot of them gathering here in this tavern was ultimately to protect this very piece of equipment. Would Vast Lushness agree to hand it over to someone else just like this? A number of players were staring fixedly at Vast Lushness, while the remaining players all did the same to Gu Fei.

That someone that Young Master Han had mentioned was obviously referring to Gu Fei.

It was just that this was simply too sensitive a situation; if Vast Lushness rejected it, then that would imply a lack of trust, and it would make things inevitably awkward between the two. In order to avoid this sort of awkwardness, it would be best if Gu Fei made the move to reject this suggestion, especially now that Vast Lushness had expressed her reluctance to the matter.

Vast Lushness’ reluctance here was unavoidable. After all, she was not particularly familiar with Gu Fei at the end of the day.

However, as everyone waited for Gu Fei to diffuse the situation, the man, instead, slapped the table in a show of approval. “That’s a great idea!”

Everybody figuratively fainted over when they heard this. The more devious players felt that Gu Fei was being a wolf with a savage heart; while those not as dark-hearted felt that Gu Fei simply had no idea how he should be acting when it came to such matters.

Vast Lushness, however, burst into laughter when she saw how Gu Fei looked. Nodding her head without a trace of hesitation, she agreed. “Indeed, that isn’t a bad idea.” With that, she took out her magic staff, ready to hand it over to Gu Fei.

People had a hard time grasping Gu Fei’s deftness in skill, but his character was pretty much an open book. The reason Vast Lushness had hesitated that moment was because she was recalling the tumultuous history they shared. In truth, handing over a piece of equipment did not actually depend on the closeness of the relationship between the two but rather the conduct and behavior of the receiving party. Silver Moon was close to her, but what had happened in the end? She and Gu Fei were strangers, and even started out as enemies, yet he would lend a hand time and again whenever she was in trouble. This kind of person, whether a friend or otherwise, would always have the conduct of someone dependable.

Thinking up to this point, Vast Lushness no longer had a shred of doubt when she handed over the magic staff to Gu Fei.

“Wait a minute.” Young Master Han suddenly stopped them.

“What now?” Gu Fei asked.

“What’s the point of doing it now? This handing over should be done for Southern Lone Blade to see,” Young Master Han replied.

“There’s no need for that,” Vast Lushness said plainly. “It’s not too bad if they end up wasting their effort, only to discover that the staff isn’t on me.”

“Why not just give it to me? I’m still waiting for a chance to take my revenge on him!” Svelte Dancer suddenly leaped to her feet.

“Shoo! What has this gotta do with you?!” Gu Fei waved his hand dismissively.

“Lushness, give it to me!” Svelte Dancer ignored him and directly implored for Vast Lushness to give her the item.

This time, Vast Lushness was in more of a quandary than before. Either wanted the staff, so who should she give it to?

“What are you squabbling over for? What’s the point of handing it over right now? If Southern Lone Blade doesn’t witness the hand off with his eyes, do you expect me to run off and tell him who the magic staff ends up with?” Young Master Han scoffed.

“There’s no need for you to run and tell him; I have him on my friends list,” Brother Assist interjected.

“You’re a real comedian.” Young Master Han’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he expressionlessly gazed at Brother Assist.

“How are we gonna let him witness this? If we can let him see this, why don’t we just directly slay that man, instead,” Gu Fei asked.

“It’s very simple: head over to the Auction House and register it for a day. Afterward, everyone should spread the word about it all over the city. He’ll soon learn of it,” answered Young Master Han.

“But the Auction House will only show the price of the auction and not the buyer’s name,” Brother Assist mentioned.

“Such a minor detail isn’t going to be too difficult for a talented professional like Southern Lone Blade, right? Think about the transaction process of an auction,” Young Master Han said.

“It is first placed for auction and bid over. When the time is up, the goods can be retrieved,” Brother Assist said.

“That’s right. The time duration of the auction is depicted as clear as day on the auction panel, which means anyone can find out what time the player will retrieve the said item. In order to find out who buys the magic staff, Southern Lone Blade is bound to keep an eye on the distribution NPC when it’s time to retrieve the item and takes note of who ends up becoming the owner of the equipment,” Young Master Han explained further.

“Oh… that makes sense.” Brother Assist nodded.

“At this rate, once Southern Lone Blade sees that the magic staff is in my hands, he can come looking for me to get a hold of it.” Gu Fei nodded as well.

“Who said it’s gonna be yours? I’ll be the one holding on to it!” Svelte Dancer contradicted.

“No, it’s me!” Gu Fei insisted.

However, Svelte Dancer smiled. “Unfortunately, there’s no way that I am going to lose to you this time.”

Gu Fei paused for a moment before realizing what she meant; tears streamed down his cheeks as a corollary. The place they were putting the magic staff was the Auction House, and it only recognized cold hard cash. Even though Vast Lushness would end up returning every coin back to the owner at the end of this situation, the rule of the Auction House made it such that the highest bidder would be the final owner of the staff. If Svelte Dancer had her eye on this magic staff, would there really be anyone out there who could fight with her in possessing the magic staff in a venue like the Auction House?

Seeing how determined Svelte Dancer looked, Gu Fei had no choice but to admit defeat. In the end, it was Young Master Han who sighed deeply. “Like I’ve said before, does it really matter who ends up holding the magic staff?”

“OF COURSE!” the two answered in unison.

“It might matter for anyone else, but it definitely cannot be either of you.” Young Master Han shook his head.

“What do you mean?” The two were confused.

“Comrades, since Southern Lone Blade will surely be at the Auction House to find out who the buyer is, why don’t we take this chance to simply kill him off? Why must we frolic right in front of him with the magic staff in hand and wait for him to locate you again?” Young Master Han asked.

“Huh?” The two were stunned.

“This is a plan to lure out Southern Lone Blade in the open through the use of the trade panel; there’s absolutely no need for either of you to do anything. Constantly treating yourselves as the protagonist, the two of you had better get yourselves cured from your Protagonist Syndrome!” Young Master Han said.