Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Gu Fei had no words for Royal God Call, so he turned over to the men from Forever in Flowers, “What’s up with you guys? Aren’t you guys participating in the City Wars?”

“We did participate!” Sakurazaka Moony replied.

“Well… You guys know I’m the enemy, right?” Gu Fei asked.

“Of course we do. Tsk, we don’t care if you’re the enemy or an ally. We’ll come and go, do as we please however we want!” Fireball declared.

“You guys are too spontaneous!” Gu Fei marveled.

“But of course,” Fireball was pleased with himself.

Vast Lushness could not stand hearing this anymore, glaring at the whole lot of them, “The truth is that this guild of theirs can’t even earn any contribution score even if they put in the effort to participate in this City War, which is why they are now messing around!”

“Messing around is great!” Gu Fei continued to praise. He could not possibly berate them after benefiting from their actions, could he? After all, Forever in Flowers had made a mess just so to help him, so of course he had to commend them for this spirit they were now demonstrating.

“Did you manage to kill Oathless Sword?” Royal God Call asked heartlessly.

“His death was rather strange,” Gu Fei explained. His Twin Incineration then had not been able to insta-kill Oathless Sword, and Gu Fei had kept his eye on Oathless Sword even after he ran off. Gu Fei then saw him speak to Young Master Han and Gu Xiaoshang, before suddenly turning into white light while they chatted. It was all very mystical.

“That’s Young Master’s Phantasmic Lifeforce,” Sword Demon said.

“That staff of his?”

“Yup! If that second swing of your Twin Incineration had struck Oathless Sword, there’s no reason why he would not be insta-killed, but it was at that moment when he had used his Phantasmic Lifeforce to fill Oathless Sword’s HP back to full, which explained why your Twin Incineration had not killed him then and there, and he even survived another wave of spells from Colored Cloud after that. But according to the skill description, the target’s HP would be returned back to its original amount and the damage accumulated deducted accordingly. That person did not tell Oathless Sword about this either, so how would he not have died?” Sword Demon expounded.

“Then who would have gotten the killing blow?” Gu Fei asked.

“Probably someone from Colored Clouds!” Sword Demon deduced.

“Are you certain?”

“All I know is that it isn’t you… Our mission is still there!” Sword Demon exclaimed.

Gu Fei took a look. Sure enough, the mission to assassinate Oathless Sword was still shining brightly in his quest logs.

“Oh. I just got kicked out of the guild. Why is that Young Master such a bum, even tattling on me?” Royal God Call scorned.

“There were also plenty of other people around watching everything that happened, right?” Gu Fei said. Some of the comrades that Oathless Sword had brought along from the start had not died, so they must have seen everything that happened!

“Then I’ll be joining you guys,” Royal God Call slung the three bows on his back.

Now that the men from Colored Clouds were on a full withdraw, of course they would not be wasting their time and effort chasing after Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu. The pair of sisters had made their way over at this moment, both a little confused, “What happened?”

“WOW!!” Of course, yells and wolf whistles could be heard when the ladies appeared in front of Forever in Flowers. Adding to the fact that the notoriety of these men had already propagated throughout Parallel World, none of them bothered to keep up the act any longer. Shattering the jar thoroughly after breaking it ¹ , all of these men were all showing frivolous expressions;

it would have been a real miracle if the ladies were not revolted by this display. Even Gu Fei felt ashamed having to explain how they looked, so all he did was a brief introduction, but he saw that everyone ended up flashing their thumbs up to him, expressing their approval in his role in introducing the ladies.

“Wow, experts!” This pack of wolves sounded all the more intense after they were introduced, while Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu were both aware that these men belonged to what was widely recognized as the most shameless guild in Parallel World, Forever In Flowers, and they were greatly surprised. Especially when they saw the passable relationship they had with Gu Fei, and they subconsciously found themselves maintaining a bit of distance away from Gu Fei.

Gu Fei was a little helpless, this was the consequence of making friends indiscriminately. He turned his gaze over to Sword Demon and saw he was rather calm. Vast Lushness glared at the men from Forever In flowers before she walked out and spoke to Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu, “Ignore them. They are always this shameful.”

When Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu saw that there was actually a lady in such a dangerous guild like Forever in Flowers, they immediately regarded her with a look of immense admiration.

“Oh, this is Vast Lushness,” Gu Fei introduced, while Fireball took a huge stride forward, hinting Gu Fei to introduce him as well. Gu Fei made a face and pointed at the Mage, “This is so and so.”

“Eh?” Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu looked at Gu Fei, “So and so?”

Gu Fei did not say another word. Fireball was depressed. He knew his name was not convenient for Gu Fei to say, so he could only throw a pitiful look toward the others. However, why would anyone from this company of bad friends care to help him here? Each of them looked around and pretended they had no idea, even as Yan Xiaozhu spoke up, “His name is So and So? That’s a really strange name.”

Gu Fei laughed. Fireball could no longer stand it and was about to say it himself when the considerate Sword Demon spoke up before he could say a word, “His name’s Fireball. It’s not convenient for Mages to say his name.”

Even Slyris, who was not someone who smiled a lot, nearly sputtered as she held back her laughter. Fireball’s eyes were welling in tears. D*mn this name!

“Alright everyone. Let’s not stand around here and find somewhere else to talk things out,” Gu Fei said.

Now that this disaster had finally ended, the huge rocks that were rolling in every direction had stirred up like a sandstorm. Those who had not been squashed by the rocks were currently submerged in the fine sand. Each of them had dirtied faces, caked in the dirt and dust. These players were all patting down their equipment, emptying out two tonnes worth of sand, not one of them looking in any proper state.

Before Gu Fei and the others left, Gu Fei swept his gaze over toward the city gate and spotted Ray’s figure, and saw how he stood there staring blankly at this battlefield that was in shambles.

He could not have gotten a quest to clean up this entire disaster area, could he? Gu Fei silently commiserated on behalf of Ray.

“Drunk bro, how did you guys turn up to be on the city defender’s side?” Those reprehensible men from Forever In Flowers finally remembered they were gamers, and their curiosity was now honed on something worth inquiring.

Gu Fei casually told everyone everything as Fireball led the way, prepared to head back to the site where they had originally been camping out. Vast Lushness, who had plenty of experience when it came to the struggle between guilds, spoke up at this point, “After the mess we made, we might very well be seen as public enemy number one by all of Yunduan City, so we gotta be wary.”

Gu Fei thought about it and agreed. There was definitely a good amount of players watching the fight unfold, and there was no way to hide Forever in Flowers’ loathsome temperament, so there was bound to be quite a few who recognized them. Gu Fei firmly believed that the players who were in guilds hated them for what they had done, perhaps even to a greater degree than their hatred for Sword Demon and Gu Fei. After all, Gu Fei and Sword Demon had been assigned by the system to be the antagonists, but these lot of men truly had no business even butting in.

“Sorry to have implicated you guys,” Sword Demon was sorry.

“Becoming public enemy number one against the entire city? That sounds very cool!”

“Hey, do you think it’ll be a good idea when we invite some babes to elope with us?”

“Elopement doesn’t sound good at all. How about something like this…” Someone cleared his throat and sonorously said, “Hey lady, are you willing to become fugitives with me?”

The whole group of men clicked their tongues and showed this person the middle finger.

“I think that isn’t too bad,” Fireball expressed his approval. “You just need to practice on your intonation. Gotta make it express the inherent vicissitude and hedonism.”

Slyris could not hold back her laughter once more, quietly said to Gu Fei, “These guys don’t really seem to be as detestable as the rumors make them out to be!”

“Oh, they would definitely be very happy if you tell them that,” Gu Fei said.

“I think it’s best if I don’t,” Slyris broke out in cold sweat upon hearing that suggestion.

“What are you guys going to do next?” Vast Lushness knew there was no discussion to be had with that lot, so she came over to ask Gu Fei.

“Traversing Four Seas should be quite chaotic right now, so why don’t we take this opportunity and kill Oathless Sword off?” Gu Fei asked.

Everyone came to a halt. Their eyes were all on Gu Fei. Even the reprehensible men had quietened down, a look of astonishment hanging upon their faces.

“I agree!!” Royal God Call was the only one enthused with the idea right now.

————————————————————————-

Over by the other side, Oathless Sword had gathered all his guild members inside the encampment. The entirety of Traversing Four Seas was currently mired deep in an extremely gloomy atmosphere. They numbered over a thousand and had lost over five hundred men in the disaster, which was more than half of their numbers. There was only a small portion of those who died that had directly killed by Gu Fei’s hands, and most had been crushed when the pyramid of rocks collapsed, buried alive or smashed to their deaths by the randomly rolling rocks as they cascaded down. Before the ordeal was over, the entire guild channel was filled with people calling out for help. Some had been buried under the rock pile but had not died, and when Youthful Reflection did a count, there were as many as 41 of them. They were all players who had plenty of HP and were Endurance-based.

I need to say something! Oathless Sword looked at the dejected looks around him, as well as the lamentations found in their guild channel, and he did not like the taste of what he was feeling in his heart at all.

Surprisingly, nobody was actively complaining in the guild channel. Everyone was feeling disheartened, so no one really had the heart to dwell on their past failures. They were all lost in their own thoughts, contemplating over matters.

“Guild leader Oathless!!” It was at this time when Brave Surge came over and appeared right in front of Oathless Sword with a look of deep grief.

“What?” Oathless Sword glared at him.

“Are your comrades holding up okay?” Brave Surge showed a look of concern.

“I appreciate your concern,” Oathless Sword said evenly, doing his best to keep his emotions in check.

“Nobody would have thought something like this would happen,” Brave Surge said.

“What are you m*th*rf*ck*ng talking about? What happened?” Oathless Sword was angered.

“Ahem. Oathless Sword, I understand your feelings very well. You should take a rest first, and leave this City War event to us,” After Brave Surge finished saying his piece, he brought himself and his friends away, as the look of grief he was originally showing slowly disappeared until he was just grinning from ear to ear.

“Looks like Traversing Four Seas is going to be finished after this,” Brave Surge happily shared this with his comrade next to him.

“I agree as well. All those people in that guild don’t even have any fire or spark in their eyes,” the man concurred.

“Once Traversing Four Seas disbands, a lot of experts would then be freed up. We’ve got to seize on the opportunity and contest for them!” Another said.

“How are we going to contest for them, our guild is already full. Do you expect us to kick others just for these experts? I doubt that we can do that.”

“Of course we can’t do that,” Brave Surge nodded his head, contemplating for a solution. Suddenly, several of his comrades slowed their footsteps. Brave Surge turned his head over to look out of curiosity, and he saw that they were all blankly staring straight ahead. Brave Surge lifted his head and followed their gaze, and he saw Young Master Han with Gu Xiaoshang leading a troop of men coming over toward them.

Brave Surge recognized Colored Cloud’s guild emblem and noted that everyone present was from the guild. Seeing Young Master Han, who had quit his guild not too long ago, hanging out with these people made Brave Surge feel somewhat disgruntled with Gu Xiaoshang. In his eyes, Young Master Han had no reason to leave the guild, and the current situation naturally made him think that Gu Xiaoshang must have secretly poached his talent. But he soon found this to be strange upon recollection: Most guilds would not hesitate to poach talents, but he had never heard Gu Xiaoshang’s Colored Clouds engaging in such acts before. The membership for her guild was stable, and that was something rarely seen among level six guilds. Furthermore, there were even noobs who had not even reached level 30 who were still in her guild, and that was an entirely a laughable matter to Brave Surge and his men.

“Guild leader Gu,” Brave Surge came forward to greet Gu Xiaoshang, his voice hiding a barbed tone.

“What are you doing here?” Gu Xiaoshang asked.

“Guild leader Oathless had just suffered a major setback, so I was just here to check on his situation here,” Brave Surge chuckled.

“Spending all your time fanning the flames left and right, how have you not gotten tired of it?” Gu Xiaoshang scoffed.

“You—” Brave Surge was not Oathless Sword, so there was no way he would be happy hearing Gu Xiaoshang say something like that.

Gu Xiaoshang no longer cared to entertain the man, bringing her man to circle round past him. What made Brave Surge all the more despondent was how Young Master Han acted as if he had not even seen him at all. In his heart, he felt Young Master Han should at least explain himself now that they had bumped into each other. Even if he was not about to give an explanation, he should at least show a little contrition. In the end, all he showed was a dour expression, like someone had owed him money. From start to finish, Young Master Han had never once even crooked his head over to acknowledge Brave Surge and his men.

“G*d d*mm*t, how can she be so arrogant after poaching away Young Master Han? What’s all that for?” The men beside Brave Surge resentfully uttered their displeasure.

Brave Surge was at least still clear-headed, sighing in response, “Gu Xiaoshang has always been someone who spoke her mind freely, and Young Master Han was also someone who never regarded any player in his eye… They are just acting as they always acted. Nothing has changed.”

“According to the information we’ve recently gotten a hold of, Thousand Miles Drunk and his people had managed to get away, and it was Royal God Call and the people from Forever In Flowers who suddenly appeared and lent him a hand.”

“Hahahaha!” Brave Surge laughed. “No wonder those two were in such a foul mood. Heh, to think there would actually be a guild out there that would come and help the enemy, Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon. This must have been outside their realm of calculation.”

“But it’s a little far too outrageous for Forever in Flowers to actually do that.”

“Those guys originally had no hope of earning any contribution score in this city wars anyway, stirring up a mess like they did was no more than them having fun and getting their kicks as best as they can. There’s no need for us to antagonize them, and they are rather troublesome to deal with too. If we really want to get mixed into all of this, we’ll just be wasting our effort throwing our hat in the ring. And there’s also Sword Demon and Thousand Miles Drunk together with them. Traversing Four Seas sure has struck the jackpot of bad luck here!” Brave Surge commented.

While everyone was discussing this matter as they continued on their way, all of them suddenly received a guild prompt from the system: [The player Wind Seal has left the guild.]

“What’s going on here? Who’s this person?” Brave Surge wrinkled his forehead. The IGN seemed to be rather familiar, but he simply could not recall who it was. Honestly, he was not particularly concerned about who it could be, but he needed to follow up on this because it was someone quitting the guild.

“I don’t recognize this person either,” Someone beside Brave Surge added.

Someone else was pondering over this as well, when he suddenly realized, “Isn’t that the guy who managed to get the quest earlier today!”

Brave Surge recalled this as well when he heard, which then left him wondering aloud, “Why would he leave the guild for no rhyme or reason? Is this a mistake on his part? Ask him.”

“I don’t have him as a friend.”

“Neither do I.”

“Don’t look at me.”

Wind Seal was actually just a nobody in Carouse, while Brave Surge and the others with him were all upper echelon members in the guild, so none of them had bothered to add someone so insignificant into their friends’ list. As such, they had no other option but to ask about in the guild channel, and while everybody in the guild was still confused, Brave Surge asked if anyone knew Wind Seal. How was he supposed to have known that this one question transformed into something like an order as a series of system prompts appeared in the channel, and players left the guild one after another.

This caused the guild channel to explode into activity. Having one or two players leave the guild was nothing strange, considering Carouse was a level six guild that had over a thousand members. However, something must surely be afoot for so many members to have left the guild in such a short period of time.

Brave Surge had merely been trying to find out about the situation with Wind Seal, yet now he was being swamped with players asking him about why so many players had actually quit the guild. Obviously, Brave Surge had no clue what was going on, coldly staring at the list of IGNs that had appeared, not recognizing a single one of those names.

“What in the world is going on?” Brave Surge muttered to himself, knowing very well something must be amiss. But they were not assaulting the city walls at this moment, nor were they in an altercation with other guilds or even cooperating with anyone else. Why would so many players quit the guild, seemingly out of the blue, under such a situation where nothing had happened?

“It wasn’t much. Just eleven players,” someone said.

“Eleven players are indeed very easy to replace, but there must surely be something going on here,” Brave Surge said.

“Could this be Young Master Han’s doing?” Someone conjectured. It was hardly unusual sometimes to see good friends depart together when one of them quit the guild.

“He didn’t really have any friends here in the guild,” Brave Surge was certain of this. “I think this might be related to Wind Seal. Do any of you guys know anyone out of the elven?” Brave Surge asked. He knew none of the named.

“Lemongrass… I know that guy. I’ll ask him,” someone answered.

Brave Surge and the others all expectantly waited for his response, and soon, this person relayed the situation to everyone, “Indeed, they are all friends of Wind Seal. They have another friend who has a guild who was also participating in the City War blaming them for not coming over to help. So they went over to lend a hand. They ask me to express their apologies on this matter!”

This was hardly something new, as most guilds would often experience a more significant loss of members when they either have players transfer to a more famous guild or develop one of their own. Meanwhile, seeing how twelve players had just left the guild, and they were relatively unknown players to boot, it was really not a big deal, especially to a guild like Carouse. The others had already breathed a sigh of relief, though Brave Surge’s forehead remained wrinkled, looking at everyone present, “Is that really the case?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If it was really for this City War event, that person would have long since called them over. Do you really mean to say that this other guild only realized that they didn’t have enough strength after having fought for a time, and called for friends to lend a hand after?” Brave Surge continued.

“That sounds reasonable too!” several of them replied.

Brave Surge, however, shook his head, “It sounds reasonable, but look at the current state of this City War. Which guild would have enough strength? Forget about a dozen men, even if he called on a hundred more of these dozens, what use would that be?”

“Hmm, perhaps they were not having a good time fighting the battle, so they casually complained about this matter to some friends. Wind Seal and the others felt bad, so they had no choice but to head over.”

“Get some men, head over to the previous quest location and take a look,” Brave Surge suddenly blurted.

“What do you suspect?” Someone next to him asked.

“I don’t know yet, but I keep feeling that this isn’t as simple as answering a friend’s cry for help. Oh yeah, do we still have anybody there? I remember I’ve specifically instructed to leave someone over there to find out if there could be any other quest that popped up,” Brave Surge said.

“Yes, I remember you doing just that.”

“Well, where is this person?” Brave Surge asked.

“Who did you ask to stay?”

“I got—” Brave Surge suddenly remembered something, and came to a start, “Wind Seal. I asked him to stay. His quest had failed, so I casually asked him to stay there to see if there would be any new quest appearing after some time passed!”