Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

“The Black Hand mercenary group. It is currently the most well-known, independent mercenary group in Yunduan City. It is at level 5 and has filled up the player limit of one hundred. The mercenary group’s leader is called Black Index Finger, a level 40 Warrior. The group has maintained a steady progress ever since its establishment, consistently accumulating successes due to the leader’s solid management.” After reporting all this, Brother Assist stopped speaking and joined his fellow mercenary group members on squinting at Young Master Han.

Young Master Han was unfazed by their actions and continued to leisurely sip his liquor, “So the group is called The Black Hand and the leader is called Index Finger? Does that mean there is a Thumb, Middle Finger, and Pinky?”

Brother Assist shook his head, “No other players in the mercenary group have similar naming conventions.”

Young Master Han opined, “Maybe they are in other in-game cities. The Black Hand might be the unified name they share, since the name of a mercenary group can be reused in different in-game cities.”

Brother Assist nodded his head in agreement, “Indeed, it can be repeated.”

Gu Fei interjected, “Yueye City has The Black Hand mercenary group, too.”

“What’s the group leader’s name?”

“I don’t know... but it seems like the average small mercenary group,” Gu Fei answered.

“Let’s not bother about that now. The gist is that we are facing a group of one hundred men. Continue, Brother Assist,” Young Master Han said.

“The second largest mercenary group in Yunduan City is Four Seas mercenary group. Just as the name says, it’s the mercenary group of Traversing Four Seas. It is also at level 5 with one hundred players. The group leader is Youthful Reflection. We have faced him before,” Brother Assist said.

“Who’s that person?” Gu Fei asked.

“It’s the guy you tricked into entering Oolong Cave before,” Royal God Call reminded him.

“Oh...” Gu Fei recalled him now. It was not that he forgot about the person, but that he did not even know the guy’s name in the first place. He was different from Brother Assist and the other experts who had known some of these IGNs even before. It was just that there were so many online games that had various servers out there, so even though many expert players existed in the online gaming community, they had yet to meet one another. With the emergence of Parallel World, all these first-rate experts from the various MMOs gathered in this first ever VR game, creating a situation that had never been seen before.

“The members of Four Seas mercenary group are from Traversing Four Seas. In terms of raw strength, I feel that Four Seas is better than The Black Hand. However, I’ve based this report on everyone’s model when discussing mercenary groups, which focuses on their quest completion rate, so Four Seas is ranked number two,” Brother Assist added.

“No matter if they are first or second, they are still our enemies,” Young Master Han commented.

“Besides them, there is also the level 4 Water Flower mercenary group with eighty members under the leadership of Brave Surge. This group belongs to Carouse, the second biggest guild in Yunduan City. Young Master is a member of this guild, right?” Brother Assist asked Young Master Han as he introduced this third-ranked mercenary group to the gang.

Young Master Han nodded his head, “This guild’s name is to my liking, so I changed my mind about not joining any guild.”

“Then, I won’t introduce them anymore. You should be more familiar with them,” Brother Assist said.

“Brave Surge is our guild leader, as well as the Water Flower mercenary group’s leader. While on the surface it appears that this mercenary group is set up to safeguard the interest of Carouse’s guild members, the likely reason for its establishment is to gather the experts within the guild and form an elite team. All the skilled members, except for me, of Carouse are part of this mercenary group,” Young Master Han shared.

“Since you know those people, what are you gonna do when the time comes?” Royal God Call asked.

“No one will recognize me as long as I wear a mask; I know what I have to do!” Young Master Han replied.

“Does this mean that you’ll be participating in the guild versus guild tournament as well?” Brother Assist also asked him a question.

As Young Master Han nodded his head, Brother Assist looked at the others, “Besides Young Master Han, Miles, Wounds, and Royal are members of other guilds, too. I take it that you are all participating in the upcoming guild versus guild tournament?”

The three nodded their heads; War Without Wounds and Royal God Call gazed enviously at Gu Fei, “Amethyst Rebirth, right?”

Gu Fei nodded his head again, turning to look at Sword Demon, “You’re not in any guild?”

“No,” Sword Demon replied. Gu Fei’s heart tightened. Did his past PvP with Sword Demon destroy the latter’s dream of forming the Heaven-Defying Guild, and the reason why he was distancing himself in any guild-related topics?

“Let’s not talk about guilds anymore. With regard to mercenary groups, those are the three most distinguished in Yunduan City. If we can settle those groups with just the six of us, I doubt the rest will be a problem,” Brother Assist concluded confidently.

The other five members also revealed a confident expression on their faces as if that outcome was already guaranteed; the atmosphere in the room was thick with the experts’ arrogance. People would definitely laugh until their teeth fell off if they were to find out that a mere six-person mercenary group viewed the three largest mercenary groups in Yunduan City as worthy opponents. Nonetheless, these six men continued to discuss the matter with great severity.

“Among all those groups, there is a special one.” Brother Assist swept his gaze at them all before saying, “Silver Moon.”

“Silver Moon, the guild leader of Past Deeds in Yueye City?!” Royal God Call asked in shock.

Brother Assist nodded his head, “The very same. I don’t know when he arrived in Yunduan City, but he has created a mercenary group called Symphony of the Night. Although it is just at level 2 with only forty members, I’m sure that everyone here remembers that Silver Moon possesses a skill for group buffing, so we must be on our guard toward him.”

“Got it. Pass me all the information you’ve gathered about those mercenary groups and I’ll pore over them,” Young Master Han said.

Brother Assist handed his information booklet over to Young Master Han.

“Is that all?” the other four men asked in unison. Their discussion today was actually not something that the four needed to participate. Although planning out group tactics with more people is better, their extremely cunning group leader, Young Master Han, was so good at coming up with battle strategies and tactics that they doubted if any of their ‘brilliant’ suggestions would be accepted given his narcissistic personality.

“That’s all. You guys can go and grind more; and look for scrolls and equipment which are worth purchasing while you all are at it!” Indeed, Young Master Han clearly did not think that having four heads was better than his one head as he readily dismissed the four men.

Royal God Call invited Gu Fei to help him with his ‘Bounty Mission’ after they exited the bar; his progress had been smooth sailing that he only had thirty-one left until he hit his one-hundred-consecutive ‘Bounty Mission’. His goal was to acquire the boots before the PvP tournaments began, which was two days away. Gu Fei believed that if he spent a little more time online in these two days, he could help Royal God Call complete his quest.

As for Gu Fei himself, he would have already made it to level 40 instead of having his current “I don’t think so” status if he had not been running around and helping Royal God Call.

Bidding the others farewell and promising to help Royal God Call at a later time, Gu Fei rushed toward the Amethyst Rebirth’s headquarters. He received an urgent request for his presence from the guild while he was participating in their group meeting at Ray’s Bar, so he could only put the summon on hold by claiming that he was busy with an important matter. Asking if he was still needed at the guild once their mercenary group’s meeting ended, he surprisingly received an affirmative reply.

When he entered the Amethyst Rebirth’s guild house, he saw that a bunch of ladies was inside the room. Just as he was about to say an excuse for his late arrival, he felt a strong killing intent directed toward him.

It was obviously a Thief on Stealth since there was no one beside him. Gu Fei could not pull out his sword in time so he used his arm to firmly grasp the hidden enemy’s wrist. Before the Thief could materialize, Gu Fei already restrained the person’s hand holding a weapon with his left hand as he grasped the Thief’s throat with his right hand and shouted at the ladies, “Stay away!”

These silly ladies actually let someone infiltrate the guild so easily, Gu Fei berated the women in his head. Sweeping the enemy with his leg, he readied himself to exert strength on his right hand to pin the person to the ground. At this moment, the figure’s Stealth began to wear off on the person’s descent to the floor. The person’s right hand was being held in place by Gu Fei’s left hand and the person’s throat was being gripped by his right hand, leaving the enemy’s left hand free to flail about.

Gu Fei saw the hand tearing toward him and knew that this was an instinctive reaction when falling. He wanted to dodge the wildly flailing hand, yet its speed was beyond Gu Fei’s expectation. The hand gained a purchase on him firmly.

Gu Fei was very shocked. Despite his weak physique as a Mage, taking someone down with a leg hook was easy, yet this person actually retaliated by pulling Gu Fei down as well. He had no way of resolving this sudden motion. Gu Fei originally intended to release the person’s throat, but his falling body and bending over legs caused his hold to tighten more instead, slamming the figure down to the floor with his body’s weight.

Dirt scattered everywhere as the person was successfully pinned by Gu Fei to the ground. And yet, he was actually lamenting inside the fact that his assault barely caused any damage to the person. Moreover, his initial intention of pinning the person to the ground and taking out his sword from his dimensional pocket was thwarted by the figure’s fast reaction speed.

Right now, his left hand was holding on to the assailant’s right hand, which was still clutching on to a dagger, while his right hand was choking the person’s throat. Gu Fei did not have faith in his Strength and did not believe he could hold the person in place for long, so he immediately put his right knee on the person’s stomach and yelled, “Xiaoyu, come here and give me a hand!”

June’s Rain was a Warrior with a full-Strength build, so her one hand alone could exert more force than all of Gu Fei’s four limbs combined.

However, everything remained silent. Gu Fei could even feel that the atmosphere was frigid. Lowering his head, he finally saw that the Thief on Stealth was already visible. The lady’s prone figure on the ground was svelte, with her left wrist being held tightly by Gu Fei’s right hand and her lower abdomen being pressed down by his right knee.

As for how the lady looked? Gu Fei did not have a clue as his tight grip on her throat had caused her face to lose all color and her features to become awry. If not for her very figure, it would be impossible to tell her gender.

Gu Fei hesitated. Left hand, right knee, right hand... He relaxed his hold on each of them. With the pressure all around her instantly lessening, the lady’s grip on Gu Fei’s hand also slackened. She lay spread eagled on the floor as she gasped for breath.

"What’s going on?” Gu Fei asked with wrinkled brows while looking at the unfamiliar-looking lady. Although he could not recognize each of the fifty or so ladies at a glance, this lady’s outstanding looks alone would surely leave quite an impression on him.

Luo Luo chuckled as she emerged from the crowd of ladies. Standing by the still prone lady’s head, she lowered her own head to look at the Thief, “Xiaowu1, that’s no good. You got pushed down by Miles with just that.”

“He’s too vicious!” The lady said as she continued to gasp for breath, adding, “He nearly choked me to death.” She touched her neck as she said that; Gu Fei’s hand grip was visibly imprinted on it. The ladies near her were thankful that she could not see herself right now.

Gu Fei looked around him, clueless. Some of the ladies gazed at him with glee, others with surprise, and a few with wonder, yet none of them look at the lady on the ground with hostility. He asked, “What’s going on?”

“Let me introduce you. This lady here just joined our guild and she’s called Svelte Dancer,” Luo Luo smiled.

Svelte Dancer... the historically known, mightiest pay-to-win Warrior! Young Master’s Elite mercenary group members mentioned her recently. Never did he imagine that he would get to meet her in person this soon. Rich and beautiful. If Royal God Call and War Without Wounds lay eyes on her, the resulting craziness of the two would be hard to predict. Gu Fei almost lost himself in his nonsensical thoughts.

Svelte Dancer, who was still motionlessly lying on the ground, slightly lifted her right hand to wave at Gu Fei, “Hello.”

“Hi...” Gu Fei helplessly replied.

“Stop playing dead and get up quickly,” Luo Luo said to Svelte Dancer.

Svelte Dancer quickly sat up and glanced at her right wrist. Just like her neck, Gu Fei’s hand imprint was visible on it.

“Don’t mess around next time. Hiding behind the door to scare people is very dangerous,” Gu Fei lectured her sincerely.

Svelte Dancer flashed him a bright smile, “I’ll have to try it again, then.”

“What?” Gu Fei was startled. The next thing he saw was of Svelte Dancer suddenly standing up and propelling herself toward Gu Fei with a raised dagger.

Fast! Gu Fei exclaimed to himself in shock. Svelte Dancer was clearly faster than him, be it her movement speed or hand speed, proving that her grip on him before was not by accident.

Comprehending this situation was actually not hard. After all, Svelte Dancer was dubbed as the mightiest pay-to-win Warrior. No matter how weak she was, her equipment would definitely be top grade. A body equipped with top-grade equipment from head to toe... Even the noobiest player would be reborn as a phoenix. Svelte Dancer was a Thief that had an advantage in the Agility stat. With a body full of top-grade items, it was not surprising for her speed to be faster than Gu Fei.

Nevertheless, Gu Fei did not move to dodge or evade Svelte Dancer’s incoming stab. She stopped her hand mid motion and curiously gazed at him, asking, “Why aren’t you fighting back?”

Chapter Notes:

[1] Xiaowu – (小舞), nickname for the new character Svelte Dancer (细腰舞,) where Wu(舞) is actually the Chinese character for ‘dance’.