Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

As how the saying went: ‘People in the same line of work are rivals’, the same could be said for people of the same job class in games. Even though there would be differences in their levels, each of them believed that they were the most outstanding players when it came to skill.

At this moment, Left Hand of Love was being ridiculed by Gu Fei. Even though he was compared by Gu Fei to Eternal Dominion, who was the top Fighter in all of Parallel World, Left Hand of Love, nevertheless, felt dissatisfied. In truth, Gu Fei was not disputing over the difference in their skill but was pointing out the fact that, unlike the kung fu practitioner Eternal Dominion, he was just an average human being. That was why even though Arctic Whirlwind had lowered Gu Fei’s speed substantially, it was still more than enough to take care of Left Hand of Love.

Naturally, there was not much of a difference in what Gu Fei meant, as it all boiled down to him dismissing Left Hand of Love’s skill. Discontented, Left Hand of Love turned around to deliver a kick over.

To Gu Fei, facing a normal player that used the in-game skill, was no better than facing an opponent who knew a limited set of moves, so how difficult would this fight really be? Even if the user had a bit of experience in executing these moves, the little changes they made simply could not escape the discerning eyes of the expert Gu Fei. At this very moment, Gu Fei, who could clearly make out Left Hand of Love’s kick, slightly tilted his head to the side and caused that attack to miss him altogether.

Next, Gu Fei dipped his body and extended one hand out to grab Left Hand of Love’s right leg while extending his own leg. He proceeded to unkindly sweep Left Hand of Love’s left leg from under him, which was the leg that planted the Fighter to the ground.

Left Hand of Love’s left leg literally reached a new height as the man flipped backward, falling on to the ground fitfully with his four limbs pointing to the sky.

If Gu Fei were to take this fight seriously, the man would already be dead with a slash of his Twin Incineration at the latter’s back that first moment. He only stayed his blade because he wanted to show mercy on the account that they were acquainted. As such, Gu Fei did not continue to attack the man after tripping him and merely stood over him, saying, “Alright. Let’s not fight any longer. Just tell me what you guys are up to.”

The door was opened with a resounding slam at this moment as well. The doors in this Government City Hall allowed people to enter and exit as they wished. Unless there was a special situation, there would not be any way to ‘lock’ the doors. Gu Fei also closed the door to block that spell and arrow shot before, so Drifting and Right Hand of Cool were able to casually push it open now and enter the room.

The two men rushed into the room and saw Left Hand of Love lying sprawled on the ground. Gu Fei innocently turned around and spread his hands wide to the two. “Just what are you guys up to?”

Caught between the trio, Gu Fei did not seem to be in the least bit concerned. Lasting for only a few seconds, the Freeze effect’s duration was now over; it would be far too potent if it lasted any longer than that.

Drifting was naturally all the more aware of how long his spell effect would last, but he was certain that Gu Fei was still afflicted by the Freeze effect when Left Hand of Love attacked. Seeing that Left Hand of Love had been unceremoniously made to sprawl on the ground like that, was it possible that Gu Fei had been able to knock down Left Hand of Love even with the Freeze effect on him? Drifting took a sharp intake of breath. It turned out that it was not just strangers who underestimated Gu Fei. Drifting had initially thought that he had a good grasp of this man’s prowess, but who would have guessed he was still mistaken? Was there even a limit to this man’s strength?

Gu Fei had backed himself to a wall and was now standing on a spot convenient for him to send out a slash to any of the three men. He beamed. “Speak; why is everyone tongue-tied?”

Drifting glanced at him and could only helplessly answer accordingly, “Quest. We’re here for a quest as well.”

“What quest?” Gu Fei asked.

“Just a normal quest. It’s incomparable to what you’re boldly attempting to do, which is to assassinate the captain of the NPC guards, Giordano,” Drifting answered.

“But to intentionally turn so many others into cannon fodders for you, isn’t that a little too despicable?” Gu Fei commented. He always had a good impression of Drifting, so he could not help but feel a little disappointed at the latter’s willingness to go to such an extent.

Drifting shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “I think you’re slightly mistaken. I’ve never been that much of a good guy.”

“Yeah, a slight mistake on my part,” Gu Fei admitted. He was still a little rueful. He had a rather good impression of Drifting, so learning that the latter was the mastermind of this elaborate scam, he still held a hope that the man could give a proper explanation for all this. Unfortunately, Drifting quickly admitted to the scheme Gu Fei was suspecting him of perpetrating, so he could no longer show mercy to them. Drifting was not a good person, and Gu Fei himself was not a kindhearted person who would show compassion and leniency to others.

“Are you gonna kill us?” Drifting chuckled as he regarded Gu Fei. “Even though I don’t know how it’s possible, you didn’t earn yourself a PK point from killing that Thief before, right? Or is it not enough to reach 20 PK points? Regardless, you are sure to reach that threshold if you slay any one of us right now. I suppose that’s why you refrained from killing Left Hand and merely knocked him out?”

Gu Fei laughed in response. “Looks like you’re slightly mistaken as well. I didn’t kill Left Hand because I considered you guys as my friends; I just wanted to hear your reason for doing all this. As for my PK value, there’s no need for you to worry about that for me; I have plenty of experience dealing with that.”

“So that’s how it is. Does that mean you no longer consider us as friends?” Drifting asked.

“We can still be friends, but an evil deed can’t go unpunished. It has got absolutely nothing to do with our friendship,” Gu Fei replied firmly.

“This is just a game, though; is there a need to be so particular about things?” Drifting continued.

“He he. It’s precisely because it is just a game that I’m not too serious about matters and will still call you my friends. I’m sure you won’t mind if I cut a level off you since it’s just a game, right?” Gu Fei asked.

“How are you going to leave this place if you kill me?” Drifting asked back as he walked over to the window, pointing down to the ground. “Surely, you know what’s the situation down there?”

“I don’t think killing you guys will change anything below,” Gu Fei said.

“That may not be the case...” Drifting flashed him a sly smile.

Gu Fei suddenly thought of something and slapped his forehead. “So that’s how it is?”

“Did you finally get it?”

Gu Fei nodded. “You guys intentionally assembled this group not to use them as cannon fodders but to actually get them into the Government City Hall. That way, as a current member of Flowergazing in the Fog, you easily got their blessing to enter this building to kill off all those people who made it inside. What makes this all the more perfect is how you can just brazenly walk out of here after doing the deed. Those people from Flowergazing in the Fog have never once been a threat to you at all.”

“That’s correct.” Drifting nodded. “At the expense of losing a level, those guys can finish their quests; I help them out with that as a fellow member. Meanwhile, as a member from Flowergazing in the Fog, I am helping the guild take care of this group of troublemakers. As I do all these, I can complete my mission. Everybody gets what they want in the end.”

“You merely want to enter the building and complete your quest; is there a need to make things so complicated?” Gu Fei asked.

“You’ll know why there’s such a need if you join Flowergazing in the Fog yourself. Aside from a few core members in the guild, none of them has any level of trust with anyone else in the guild. That’s why, despite joining them, they won’t allow me to enter the Government City Hall unless it was a crucial moment like this. That’s why I had to orchestrate such a scenario; it’s all for the sake of achieving this,” Drifting explained.

“But I am truly shocked to have found you here in Xiawu City.” Drifting suddenly laughed. “Without you, breaking into the city hall might not be this easy at all.”

“Without us making it into the building, it’s only a given that you guys won’t be able to get in as well,” Gu Fei said.

“Of course.”

“But won’t your guild leader be suspicious of how you had the permission to enter the city hall?” Gu Fei asked.

Drifting chuckled at this. “He won’t as I already have permission to enter the city hall from the get-go.” Drifting pointed to the emblem pinned on his chest. “This is the special reward I got from completing a quest, after I’ve managed to travel to twenty different cities. I possess the authorization to enter any Government City Hall anywhere across Parallel World.”

“Oh. That means Left Hand and Right Hand have the same as well, right?” Gu Fei gazed at the chest of the other two men and indeed saw the same emblem on them.

Drifting nodded. “That’s why we don’t have trouble finding an opportunity to enter this building at this time.”

“We? Didn’t Left and Right Hand come in with the rest of us?” Gu Fei asked.

“That is true, but what I said naturally includes the two of them. After we eliminate everybody inside this building, the two can return to their original appearance and won’t have any problem leaving the premise with me,” Drifting explained.

“Didn’t anybody see either of the two enter the building?” Gu Fei asked.

“The chaos below is far beyond what you imagined. Just consider how long they’ve been doing this quest of theirs; for them to suddenly take such a heavy blow thusly, the whole lot of them are all in a frenzy over this matter,” Drifting explained.

“So that’s how it is. You’ve calculated every possible faucet of this, huh.” Gu Fei sighed.

“Everything except for you...” Drifting eyed Gu Fei as he continued, “It’s a risky move inviting you into the group. With you around, the chances of us making it into the Government City Hall increases, but whether we can clear out this building after or not is a really thorny issue.”

“You’ll soon find out if it is truly a thorny matter.” Gu Fei gripped his sword tightly.

“If you were someone else, I would consider discussing a condition,” Drifting said.

“What condition?”

“Besides the four of us making it into the Government City Hall, there’s still one—”

“Don’t bother about that. The other person is no longer around.” Gu Fei knew that Drifting was referring to Two. Drifting and his two companions had no clue that the man who had been hiding behind the door was long killed off by Four.

“Oh?” Sure enough, Drifting had no idea about this and could only nod. “Well, if that’s the case, all that remains is just us four. The three of us can just walk out and inform the guild that we eliminated all those that had entered. Perhaps, they won’t believe us right away and continue to guard the place, but as long as you are patient enough, they’ll eventually leave, and given your capabilities, I doubt you’ll have any trouble escaping.”

“But I have a feeling that you won’t come to a compromise on this,” Drifting said.

“That’s right,” Gu Fei affirmed. “I am a very short-sighted person that lacks foresight and won’t bother thinking too much about things. All I want to do now is teach you three a lesson. I guess I’ll consider the problem of escaping at a later time.”

“Well, if that’s the case...” Drifting was left with no options as he suddenly raised his magic staff.