Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

That was quick!

Gu Fei sighed. This was all thanks to those eight other players. Had the first of them honestly admitted to the rest that there were plenty of people below and that he was spotted, the rest would no longer have had to expose themselves and Flowergazing in the Fog would not have known that there were nine players hiding on the wall’s walkway, which meant that they would not have immediately called for reinforcement. This would also provide more time for Gu Fei and the gang to break through the backdoor. Right now, however, they only managed to cover half the distance to the back door, yet a good majority of their enemies was already there to pincer them from two sides.

The arrival of this reinforcement helped in raising the flagging morale of the players originally defending this entry point. The fear that was originally created upon witnessing Gu Fei’s uninhibited slaying of those players around him dissipated, as everybody rallied and came forth to surround Gu Fei and the others.

“Quick! Continue to press on!” Gu Fei realized that the gang beside him seemed to be wavering the moment they saw the reinforcement arrive, so he hurriedly bellowed for these men to gather their wits about them and to avoid letting their minds wander.

In the end, it was One who was the first out of the nine to take a step back, muttering, “No way. This is surely impossible. I already told you guys that this is impossible.” The man turned around to make a dash for it after saying all that, intending to get back to the rope hung by the wall and escape.

Gu Fei knitted his eyebrows yet did not move to stop the man. All he did was turn to regard the others. “Those who wish to flee, now’s your chance, or you won’t be able to make it any longer.”

The men hesitated and wavered, but a scream from behind soon forced them into a decision. “Let’s continue onward!”

One, who had turned around to flee, was immediately decimated. Some of the ranged players from Flowergazing in the Fog hurled a salvo of their attacks over to that man in unison, instantly turning him into white light.

Even though they had no wish to PK within the city hall grounds, men from Flowergazing in the Fog had already been slain by someone else, so they were no longer following this particular guideline. Even Three Sighs of Flowing Maple gave them this directive: “Do not leave a single one of these men alive. Prioritize killing those who attempt to flee.”

Now that the situation had escalated to such a stage, there was no need to show any bit of mercy; otherwise, if words got out that players could breach their defense on a whim and escape unscathed, that would only attract even more potential troublemakers to the Government City Hall. Three Sighs of Flowing Maple was extremely decisive when he came to this conclusion.

It just so happened that One had unwittingly been in the crosshair of this command and gotten annihilated as a result. Once the rest realized that retreating was far more dangerous than advancing forward, all they could do was steel themselves and charge toward their goal.

“We can make it for sure!” Gu Fei encouraged them, taking the lead of this charge with that weak Mage body of his. The Warrior among them felt a little ashamed at this and was inspired by his bravery, so he strode forward and advanced with Gu Fei as well.

“Don’t let them get anywhere near the door!” Three Sighs of Flowing Maple yelled this over the guild channel. There were several members stationed right before the door. They could not help but break out in a cold sweat when they saw Gu Fei brave the enfilade of ranged attacks as he sprinted right toward them, his killing intent emanating threateningly. These members clustered together in hopes of supporting one another; the ranged job classes among them were the first to launch an attack, but Gu Fei easily shrugged off this attempt and soon came right up to them. Many of them tried to wield their weapons to attack the Mage, but somehow, Gu Fei managed to effortlessly weave his sword through the web of their attacks when his sword swung forth.

To Gu Fei, these normal gamers waving their weapons menacingly were so full of flaws that he could not even count them all at one glance. He would simply be insulting his 12 years of grueling kung fu training if he was unable to take all these people down in one move.

A flash of flames appeared as Gu Fei easily broke through that clump of players.

Three Sighs of Flowing Maple slapped his thigh when he saw the glaringly bright white light in the distance, wishing he could just fly over to Gu Fei and block his advance. Right now, he was feeling that Drifting’s words were simply unacceptable. How could anyone even underestimate this man in any capacity; he was essentially an existence whose power went well beyond anyone’s imagination…

Even though the road ahead was clear, some of the players accompanying Gu Fei were unable to match his speed, while the others had been constantly evading the enemies’ ranged attacks the entire time, so they were unable to be as quick as him as well. However, once they saw that the obstacles in their way were now gone, these men disregarded everything else and made a mad charge forward.

This was the only path left for them.

There was no time for any of them to test anything. Death was all that awaited anyone who did not have the permission to enter the Government City Hall. Even if they successfully made it into the building, what could the players from Flowergazing in the Fog do? The gang had no idea, but Gu Fei had already predicted that the players from Flowergazing in the Fog did not have access to the building. That was because they had never once stood in line with the NPC guards by the door.

Safety was guaranteed as long as they made it into the Government City Hall.

“Come on! You’ll be safe once you’re inside!” Gu Fei shouted. He had basically done all that he could; it was now up to them to successfully make their way into the building. Everything hinged on their job classes, equipment, reaction, and luck.

At the same time, Gu Fei’s eyes searched throughout the backyard for traces of Three, Seven, and Eight.

The attention of the members from Flowergazing in the Fog were all concentrated on Gu Fei and the others as they did their best to stop them. Seven was running about in the backyard, hiding from time to time, yet nobody seemed to note his presence. Meanwhile, the thicket that Eight had dove into was trembling ever so slightly. Seeing the branches and leaves rustle, Gu Fei reckoned that person was probably crawling his way toward the main courtyard.

As for Three… Gu Fei was unable to see any traces of Three after quickly scanning through the courtyard once.

Gu Fei recalled that the man had been searching with Seven at the start, so where was he right now? Was he slain? Gu Fei had not noticed this…

At this time, the four other players from the gang following Gu Fei finally made it over without losing their lives in the process. Among them, Four was already staggering over, looking as if he was tethering on cusp of death. Gu Fei rushed over to him with a swipe of his sword, helping them swat away several arrows as he turned his head. “Quickly get in!”

These men were touched and slightly remorseful when they saw that Gu Fei did not abandon them and was even coming to their aid. As these players hurried into the Government City Hall, the NPC guards by the door remained unmoving like wooden dummies.

“You guys have permission to enter!” Gu Fei was happy for them.

As these men followed one after another through the door, the arm from one of the guards suddenly shot forth at the last player. That man anxiously leaped back in the last moment, turning over to look at Gu Fei with sadness. “I don’t seem to have permission to enter…”

This person was Two. Gu Fei was disappointed as well. It was impossible to force their way through with the guards stationed here, but there was no option to retreat, either. Death was the only outcome if they stayed there.

Gu Fei turned back and saw the look of terror on Seven, who was still searching frantically through the backyard. According to the plan, he would attempt his quest while the Flowergazing in the Fog was focusing on the others that were making a dash for the back door. Once this opportunity passed, he would easily be located by the members of Flowergazing in the Fog. Now that this moment was potentially upon him, he hurriedly thought to locate a hiding spot near him, but was unable to make a decision in that split second. What made it worse was the fact that the moment the players from Flowergazing in the Fog saw these trespassers enter the Government City Hall one by one, somebody shifted his gaze away in frustration and coincidentally discovered Seven standing there.

Nevertheless, Gu Fei had already come up with a plan in that moment as he patted Two. “Stay here and wait. The two guards will be leaving soon, so you can use that chance to enter. Don’t move once you enter and immediately hide behind the door; got it?”

“What?” Two was in a bit of a daze.

“Just do as I instructed!” Gu Fei did not have the time to explain in detail and just promptly turned around and dashed out.

“Where are you going?!” Two yelped in his astonishment. His eyes followed close and realized that Gu Fei was running toward where Seven was standing.

“Is he running over to help him…” Two was moved. He held quite a bit of hope for this haphazardly formed ragtag band at first and felt that their common goal, which was also what was holding everybody together as they worked in secrecy to achieve them, was interesting and mysterious. However, he quickly realized that the distrust toward one another and their honest relationship of using one another left a bad taste in his mouth, and what made it scarier was how it seemed as if his sentiment was shared by everybody else.

Was reality really so different from the fictional world of manga? Just as he was feeling rueful over this fact, a ninth player suddenly joined their ranks.

Originally, he did not think much of this newcomer as well, but Gu Fei at least paid a little attention to the poncho he had sewn and even continued to wear it. Two felt rather consoled by this. Now, seeing Gu Fei’s selflessness in this battle, it really made him feel as if he had found that feeling he wanted to experience…

Reality was not uninteresting, after all!

Meanwhile, Gu Fei, who had no idea that someone had just been inspired by him, rushed over to Seven’s side in a hurry. Waving his arms, he shouted, “What are you standing there in a daze for?!”

Seven snapped out of his daze, but he was still at a loss on what to do when he saw men dashing toward him from all sides.

“KEEP LOOKING FOR YOUR QUEST!” Gu Fei spat out the apple in his mouth. After he had taken care of all the obstacles along the way, he immediately began consuming fruit to replenish his mana. It was not fully restored right now, but at least he had enough to provide support.

“I don’t know where it is!” Seven was a little hysterical at this point.

“What nonsense?! Why would your quest-giver ask you to search if you already know where it is? What’s your quest?” Everybody had only given a brief description of their quests back then and did not go in depth about them.

“The Lethargic Assassin,” Seven replied.

“What?” Gu Fei did not get what that had to do with what Seven was searching for.

Seven anxiously explained in detail, “It wants me to search for a slumbering assassin.”

“You’re looking for a living breathing NPC? How haven’t you found it after searching for all this time?!” Gu Fei exclaimed. Seven’s objective was huge!

Seven felt ashamed.

“Use your head; who would fall asleep in the open field like that? What’s more this NPC is an Assassin, so it’s sure to have hidden itself well! Concentrate on areas like that!” Gu Fei shouted even as he turned around, for those players from Flowergazing in the Fog had made it to where he was.

Gu Fei stepped forward as he swung his sword out. The man quickly moved his dagger to block the blow, but this strike from Gu Fei was only a feint, and he had already adjusted his attack to land on the next person. Several of the enemies fell for this trick and raised their weapons to meet his attack. Gu Fei took two steps backward, and these men walked forward in one step, which happened to line them all up, allowing Gu Fei to perform a soul-stirring Twin Incineration…

Seven was stupefied by what he had just witnessed. Gu Fei’s way of fighting seemed as if he were pulling monsters, gathering them together, and slaying a group of them in one fell swoop. Does this guy treat the enemy players like monsters? Nine is seriously too scary!

Gu Fei turned his gaze over to the two guards stationed right by the Government City Hall. “My PK value has already risen to 20 points; why aren’t those two coming over?”