Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

“He’s definitely bored...” everyone concluded.

“Do you know this chick called Vast Lushness?” Royal God Call asked Gu Fei on the mercenary channel.

“Do you guys know her as well?” Gu Fei answered with a question, feeling very astonished.

“You know her?”

“Not really. But I did slay her before,” Gu Fei replied.

“How cruel!” everyone lamented, “To think you’re actually willing to attack such a pretty lady!”

“The largest guild in Yueye City is called Past Deeds. Its guild leader is called Silver Moon. She’s his wife,” Gu Fei summarized her background to the group.

“Not bad. You’re actually well informed. You remind me of my younger self,” Brother Assist commended.

“You think too highly of me. I just happened to slay those two before,” Gu Fei downplayed.

Everyone did not know how to respond to his shameless low-key boasting. Young Master Han cleared his throat and asked Vast Lushness with a bright smile, “We’re here to look for Fugitive 27149. Are you perhaps also intending to kill him?”

The other mercenary group members immediately felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing Young Master Han’s smile. This person rarely smiled. Only either of the two conditions could make him display such an amiable smile: He was trying to pull a fast one over someone or he had drunk too much liquor. And even if Young Master Han had drunk liquor earlier, he should have sobered up by now after walking for about three hours from Yunduan City to here. Meaning, his affable smile right now was due to the other condition. Vast Lushness appears to be out of luck, everyone thought. Unfortunately, they did not have a clue what Young Master Han was up to this time around.

“Yup!” Vast Lushness promptly answered Young Master Han’s query.

“But... Just you alone? You’re a Priest to boot,” Young Master Han said with mock sympathy, “That person is truly cruel. Savage, even.”

That’s too fake! everyone collectively thought, He clearly knows that she’s the wife of the biggest guild’s leader in Yueye City, yet here he is, pretending to be concerned about her welfare.

“He he he!” Vast Lushness giggled, “He’s just one man. My guild mates are all nearby!”

“Is that so?” Young Master Han still had that hypocritical smile plastered on his face, “That incident just now was a close shave, then!”

Too shameless! everyone thought, Trying to build rapport with her by mentioning his heroic deed a while ago, he clearly harbors ill intention!

Vast Lushness immediately expressed her gratitude toward Young Master Han’s timely rescue. “You’re a Priest, too!” she gushed. The two instantly left the other four players by the side as they animatedly discussed their experiences as Priests.

“What do you guys think?” Brother Assist asked the others.

“I wish for that Thief from before to reappear and kill these two. If that happens, we’ll not lift a finger to assist the two and just let them keep healing each other,” Royal God Call proposed. After five minutes had passed, he whined, “Why is that Thief not making a move?! I can’t take this anymore!”

“How about I go ahead and do it myself?” Sword Demon asked, preparing to activate his Stealth.

“Forget it!” the experienced and dependable War Without Wounds held the two hot-blooded youngsters back.

Young Master Han and Vast Lushness began to discuss the current situation after concluding their chit-chat regarding the Priest job class. “Uhm... You and the others; what’s your grudge with that person in there?” Vast Lushness asked.

“We’re a mercenary group. Someone promised to pay us an exorbitant amount if we hunt him down,” Young Master Han explained.

“How should I address you?” Vast Lushness asked.

“Young Master Han!” Young Master Han introduced himself and pointed to the four men by the side, “And these are my lackeys.”

War Without Wounds had to exert immense strength to restrain the agitated Sword Demon from charging forward. Brother Assist had to prevent Royal God Call from firing an arrow upon hearing Young Master Han’s words as well.

“Not bad. They look pretty lively,” Vast Lushness regarded the lot.

“They’re passable. I guess they’ll do!” Young Master Han remarked.

Another round of struggling from the two pairs occurred.

“Actually, it’s not a good idea to wait for Fugitive 27149 here,” Young Master Han finally broached the main topic.

“Oh?”

“You tried to enter the level 50 grinding map and did not fare well, right?” Young Master Han asked. As Vast Lushness nodded her head, he continued, “That’s precisely why that guy’s hiding inside; he wants to clear off his PK value undisturbed. Currently, he’s at 9 PK points, which means he’s got eighteen hours left. Are you prepared to wait for that long here?”

“He’ll get tired staying in there, eventually. I’m sure you understand as well. No matter how strong that Mage is, he’ll still have a tough time staying alive inside a level 50 map,” Vast Lushness said.

“Miles, are you feeling tired?” Royal God Call asked on the mercenary channel.

“Tired? Why would I? I’m roasting meat right now! It smells amazing!” Gu Fei answered.

They felt some touch of pity for Vast Lushness, “I really want her to wait here for eighteen hours, only to see Miles walk out of the valley licking his fingers after eating his fill of roast meat,” Royal God Call whispered.

Young Master Han was still giving counsel to Vast Lushness, “If he gets tired and exits the valley, where do you think he’ll go?”

“Back to the city to get offline,” Vast Lushness swiftly answered, since she had thought of this before as well.

“That’s right!” Young Master Han said, “But if he leaves the valley and sees you standing here, what do you think he’ll do?”

“Probably kill me,” Vast Lushness stated miserably.

Young Master Han nodded his head, “And then, he’ll return into the valley after cutting you down. It’s because he’s certain that a Priest isn’t his only ambusher. He’ll expect more people to be lying in wait for him.”

“Uhmm... What do I do, then?” Vast Lushness asked.

“Retreat. Leave this valley by a few hundred meters. Set your men up somewhere halfway back to Yueye City. Find members whom he has never met before. Finally, don’t wear your guild’s emblem,” Young Master Han gave a detailed advice.

“There’re no grinding spots at the halfway point from here to the city. It won’t be easy assigning people there!” Vast Lushness exclaimed.

“What has that got to do with anything?” Young Master Han smiled, “As long as he sees no ambushers around, he’ll boldly exit the valley. That’s when you call for people to block the valley entrance. As long as he can’t find a way back inside, his new coordinates will be displayed in five minutes. He still has several hours left, so where else can he run off to?”

“Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about the coordinates refreshing every five minutes,” Vast Lushness slapped her forehead, as she sheepishly explained to Young Master Han, “It’s because his coordinates have remained the same for hours.”

Young Master Han laughed politely, “It’s not too late to remember about the coordinates now.”

“Let’s do it your way, then!” Vast Lushness decided, “Thanks for your advice!”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve the same target, after all,” Young Master Han said.

“Right. How many levels do you need to drop him for your mission?” Vast Lushness asked.

“It’s flexible. We’re rewarded for every level he drops,” Young Master Han lied smoothly.

“You’ll have a huge payout, then!” Vast Lushness laughed, “We’re totally killing him back to zero.”

“That’s wonderful!” Young Master Han exclaimed in fake delight.

In no time at all, Blue Ease and the other members of Past Deeds Guild gathered once more outside Youye Valley. “What’s the matter, Lushness?” Blue Ease asked as he hurried over.

“We can’t keep waiting for him like this.” Vast Lushness began to lay out the plan Young Master Han had suggested to her, “Everyone here who hasn’t met that Mage, head to this halfway mark once you get the signal and intercept 27149. The rest of you, block the entrance once he exits the valley.”

“Wait a second!” Young Master Han suddenly interrupted.

“What’s the matter?” Vast Lushness looked at him.

“Did all of you guys pick up the ‘Bounty Mission’ for 27149?” Young Master Han asked as he gestured to all of them.

“Of course!” Vast Lushness answered.

Young Master Han laughed bitterly, “If a guy who has taken up the mission kills him, 27149 will automatically be sent to jail. How do you guys plan to drop him back to level 0, then?”

“Ah!” Vast Lushness once again slapped her forehead, “I forgot about that part, too. How annoying! I was very impulsive back then.”

“Maybe some here already have a different ‘Bounty Mission’, so they didn’t pick up the one for that guy,” Blue Ease said.

“Is there anyone here who didn’t pick up the ‘Bounty Mission’ for that Mage?” Vast Lushness asked aloud.

No one replied. Past Deeds was too united. Even those who had originally not picked it up finished their ‘Bounty Mission’ at hand to take the ‘Bounty Mission’ for 27149. It had already been more than three hours since then. All members no longer had their original ‘Bounty Mission’ and had long changed their target to 27149, putting all their effort to the guild. Since the system had set a rule that a ‘Bounty Mission’ could not be canceled unless the target cleared off all the PK points or was imprisoned, all of them were stuck to their current mission.

“Is there someone here who has just gotten online?!” Vast Lushness changed her question.

“It’s no use. Even if there’re some like that here, I’m afraid that just a few players won’t be able to deal with that guy,” Young Master Han said, “The mission-takers can’t participate in killing him, as they will just end up sending 27149 to jail.”

“So what do we do?” Vast Lushness asked him.

Young Master Han sighed deeply, “Looks like my group can’t slack off for this mission. We’ll help you guys out, then!” Young Master Han visibly showed his despondence.

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m the only one in my mercenary group to take up the mission. I’m a Priest, so I won’t be needed in the frontline,” Young Master Han explained.

“See, everyone? They’re what I call professionals. We need to learn more from these people,” Vast Lushness lectured her guild members.

“In this case, we’ll leave the task of blocking the valley entrance to you guys while we do the actual killing. How does that sound to you?” Young Master Han asked.

“Great,” Vast Lushness vigorously nodded her head.

“Tell your people not to attack that guy when they see him. I’m worried that they’ll end up killing him off after we significantly lower his HP,” Young Master Han reminded.

Vast Lushness immediately passed the instruction to her people.

“Oh, right. Have someone man the underground prison to prevent 27149 from turning himself in,” Young Master Han said, “It’ll be impossible to trace him once he leaves the prison after doing his stint inside. It’s convenient when we have his coordinates like now, so we don’t want this advantage to disappear.”

Vast Lushness quickly nodded her head and delegated the necessary manpower to the task, “Guys, head to the underground prison to block its entrance once 27149’s coordinates start to move. There’s no need to fight with him. Warriors will just tank1 his attacks, and the Priests will heal the Warriors.”

All nodded their heads.

“Did we leave anything out?” Young Master Han thought aloud.

Blue Ease raised his hand, “I’ve something to ask.”

“Speak.”

“Can I know who you guys are?” Blue Ease asked.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce them,” Vast Lushness was the one who spoke, “These guys specially made their way from Yunduan City to hunt down 27149; Young Master Han and his lackeys.”

Lackeys! The four entangled among themselves for the third time.

Chapter Notes:

[1] Tank - Gaming term. Refers to how one would endure or redirect enemy attacks or attention toward one’s self in order to protect other characters or units.