Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Svelte Dancer had traveled all the way to the Bounty Assignment Hall in Stealth mode. Interacting with the system to get a mission would normally cancel a Thief’s Stealth, but Svelte Dancer fortunately had the Shadow Walk skill! Ten seconds were more than enough for her to grab a mission. And while it was inevitable for someone to step or bump into her given how packed the hall was, her Shadow Walk basically prevented any issues from cropping up because of that.

Moreover, this move of hers had caused quite a few fights to erupt inside the hall. These players were unaware that a Thief in Stealth mode was passing by and accidentally bumped into them, so their immediate reaction was to glare daggers at the nearest players to them. Given the mentality of most players in Yueye City, unless the players glaring had the Ten Guild Alliance’s emblem, it was almost certain that such an act would result in a few repercussions.

The perpetrator, Svelte Dancer, completely ignored all this and merely exited the Bounty Assignment Hall with her mana spent. Although Shadow Walk had run its course, her Stealth state remained, so not one bounty hunter managed to pinpoint her exact location. It could be said that this sojourn of hers had been extremely easy.

Gu Fei had even met with Sword Demon and Royal God Call in hopes of either of them lending Svelte Dancer his Windchaser’s Emblem. Royal God Call was most agreeable to this once he learned that the beauty Svelte Dancer was the one who wanted to use it. Arranging a location for a covert meet-up, Royal God Call handed over his Windchaser’s Emblem to Svelte Dancer. Instead of thanking him, she asked, “Are you selling this?”

Royal God Call was taken aback, but he still consciously answered, “How much are you offering for it?”

“How much do you want for it?” Svelte Dancer asked.

Royal God Call hesitated. The value of Windchaser’s Emblem differed from person to person; a PK maniac like Gu Fei would consider it a treasure, and a player in Yueye City might find the item rather convenient given this place’s PvP culture, but the average law-abiding player would certainly not think of this item as having any value.

Royal God Call was considered as someone who would not consciously look for trouble, but he still felt that owning this rare equipment somewhat demonstrated his value as an expert. Just as he was about to reject her offer, Svelte Dancer actually proposed, “Will you sell it for 500 gold coins?”

Royal God Call immediately reached his hand out, “Sold!” All it took was 500 gold coins for Royal God Call to sell out his dignity as an expert....

Equipping Windchaser’s Emblem, Svelte Dancer filled up her mana by consuming fruit and proceeded to search for her ‘Bounty Mission’ target while in Stealth mode.

Gu Fei started heading toward the Bounty Assignment Hall at his fastest speed after receiving messages from Sword Demon and the others who were currently at the establishment.

Young Master Han reckoned that this was the perfect opportunity for Gu Fei to obtain a ‘Bounty Mission’ since the Bounty Assignment Hall was currently in chaos due to Svelte Dancer’s Shadow Walk. Gu Fei used Blink to arrive at the establishment’s entrance and darted inside to obtain a ‘Bounty Mission’ with practiced ease. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the Wanted Players list while he was obtaining a mission, but he had no time to properly process this, since the players inside the hall had begun to take notice of his arrival and were now calling for their comrades to help attack him.

Gu Fei wove through the crowd and exited the Bounty Assignment Hall. Turning around and lifting his sword, he cast Electric Wall right by the hall entrance.

Two players that came right out the door after Gu Fei were instantly trapped, convulsing in the crackling electricity and drawing everyone’s attention. Gu Fei took advantage of this confusion to escape the premise. Fleeing to a relatively quiet place, he quickly sent Svelte Dancer a message: “Hey. Your ‘Bounty Mission’ isn’t someone with 27 PK points, right?”

“Of course, not! Aren’t you the one with 27 PK points?” Svelte Dancer asked back.

“Whew! That’s good, then,” Gu Fei sighed in relief. He had spotted a target with 26 PK points as he was selecting ‘Bounty Mission’ just then and had almost picked it up by reflex. Fortunately, he realized in time that that target would most likely be Svelte Dancer, but he started worrying whether Svelte Dancer had obtained the ‘Bounty Mission’ for him without realizing it. That was why he had immediately asked her about this upon successfully fleeing from the Bounty Assignment Hall.

Thankfully, it seemed that women were truly more attentive to details than men. Had any of those men of Young Master’s Elite been in her shoes, they would have most likely forgotten about this particular detail and immediately picked up the target with the highest PK value.

Feeling reassured on his end, Gu Fei made a beeline for his bounty target. A long trail of men was still chasing after him, so Gu Fei once more relied on the rooftop route to travel about. His target was fortunately located at the heart of the city, so he managed to make his way toward his target in relative ease. However, just as he reached his target’s location, he witnessed a scene that almost left him tears!

Fugitive 56197 and his friends were walking down the street when a shrill cry was heard. The target looked behind him but saw no one there. In the end, he disappeared in a flash of white light with eyes full of confusion and shock.

The man’s buddies were at a total loss at what had just happened. Looking around them, they finally spotted Gu Fei who was standing on a rooftop. They pointed at him in unison and lambasted, “Oi! Are you the one who killed our friend?!”

“Would be great if it really were me.” Gu Fei smiled wryly. He was too lazy to explain himself to them and merely turned to leave while sending Svelte Dancer this message: “Hey! Did you pick up Fugitive 56197 with PK value of 5 points?”

“Yes, I did!” Svelte Dancer was pleased with herself, “I figured you would choose that person who topped the list, so I chose the second person; this way our targets won’t clash!”

“I knew it!” Gu Fei sighed. Killing someone without a trace... Svelte Dancer was possibly the only player capable of doing so with her Shadow Walk skill. Any Thief capable of assassinating a target with one strike would surely reveal himself or herself to the victim when his or her Stealth got forcefully canceled. There would have been no way for that man to die without knowing his assailant if the attacker had not been Svelte Dancer!

Gu Fei could only lament that he did not put much thought into things when he picked up this ‘Bounty Mission’. He had assumed that Svelte Dancer would pick the first target on the Wanted Players list, so he had picked this particular target to avoid clashing with her.

That was when Svelte Dancer realized something: “Hang on. Did you pick this target, too?!” There was no way Gu Fei would know such detail if he did not choose this target as well.

“What else?” Gu Fei replied glumly, saying, “Once you pick your next ‘Bounty Mission’, tell me its serial number.”

“Tsk!” Svelte Dancer expressed her disapproval. Having completed this ‘Bounty Mission’, she promptly activated the teleportation skill of Windchaser’s Emblem and used Shadow Walk. Once more, she was able to easily pick up a ‘Bounty Mission’.

“What’s your serial number?” Gu Fei asked.

“115493,” Svelte Dancer reported over.

“Got it,” Gu Fei replied as he once more made his way to the Bounty Assignment Hall.

His utilization of the rooftops to travel about in Yueye City made the locals feel mystified over his existence and wonder about his identity. Gu Fei rushed inside the Bounty Assignment Hall, picked up another ‘Bounty Mission’, and dashed off to accomplish it.

Gu Fei eventually managed to complete two ‘Bounty Mission’, lowering his PK value to 17 points. Meanwhile Svelte Dancer completed three ‘Bounty Mission’, and she was now down to 11 PK points.

The other five men of Young Master’s Elite thought at first that the two would require their assistance, yet they saw the two handling everything quite expertly. The five men who had originally positioned themselves vigilantly by the entrance to the Bounty Assignment Hall eventually became lax, squatting by the opposite wall all lined up. If any of these men had bowls lying in front of them, others would probably mistake them for people begging for alms.

Only Young Master Han, who was standing upright, seemed to be taking this matter seriously. After watching Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer do ‘Bounty Mission’ for quite a few times, he nudged the others with his foot, “Get up. Things are about to get messy.”

“Eh?” The rest looked at him questioningly.

Just as Young Master Han had expected, the entrance to the Bounty Assignment Hall suddenly stirred as people began arriving. It was as if the place had become the new gathering point for these players. From their stance, it was apparent that they were waiting for someone, and that someone was most likely Gu Fei or Svelte Dancer.

These people had gotten the ‘Bounty Mission’ for Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer. Seeing the two’s PK value rapidly decrease, they immediately realized that Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer were doing ‘Bounty Mission’ as well! Gu Fei thought that using Blink was enough to confuse these bounty hunters, yet he forgot to consider what these men would think upon seeing their PK value rapidly decrease. There was just no way to quickly lower one’s PK value besides doing ‘Bounty Mission’.

“Tell Svelte Dancer not to head back to the Bounty Assignment Hall once she completes her current mission. And the same goes for you,” Young Master Han sent Gu Fei this message.

“Why?” Gu Fei asked.

“The bounty hunters after you guys have gathered here upon noticing how low you two’s PK value has become,” Young Master Han explained.

Gu Fei finally understood what Young Master Han meant and he quickly relayed this information to Svelte Dancer, who was quick-witted enough to figure it out as well.

The whole city was swarming with their pursuers just moments ago, but it suddenly became devoid of such people at the moment. The trail of people that they could not seem to lose no matter how hard they tried had all disappeared.

“What now?” Svelte Dancer asked Gu Fei.

“Uh... Let’s just take a break in a tavern for now!” Gu Fei suggested.

“Great idea!”

Following this conversation, the two met up and randomly chose a tavern to have a few drinks. While the two were happily imbibing their drinks, many players were forlornly waiting for them at the Bounty Assignment Hall.

These players were actually competitors, so none of them thought well of one another. This was the first time these people realized just how many people had picked up the same ‘Bounty Mission’ now that all of them were gathered together by the entrance to the Bounty Assignment Hall. The first thing they would ask before starting to chat one another up was: “124785 or 125987?”

Serial number 124785 was Gu Fei, while serial number 125987 was Svelte Dancer. After asking around, these people learned that there was actually an equal division of bounty hunters between the two bounty targets. Some simply targeted the person on top of the Wanted Players list, while others picked up the second person on it after thinking that many people would likely choose the top fugitive. Everyone looked at one another, uncertain of what to do.

Sword Demon, Brother Assist, Royal God Call, and War Without Wounds were currently at a loss as well, finally asking Young Master Han, “There’s no way we can take care of all these men, can we?”

“What are you talking about? Just watch!” Young Master Han folded his arms and leaned on the wall with the others following suit.

Shortly after, several players began to leave. Seeing many people competing for the two targets, those players that were not confident of besting the others for the kill decided to give up on this ‘Bounty Mission’. More than half of the gathered players left the area, and plenty of those that remained were sitting on the fence.

At this moment, those who had been closely monitoring Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer’s coordinates noticed that the two had not changed location for a really long time. Remembering those that had left earlier, these men’s expression quickly changed. They leaned in and whispered to one another. Before long, more began to sneak out of the hall.

Young Master Han laughed derisively as he faced the others and lectured, “See that? It is as I said: nothing can be accomplished without unity.” With that, he sent Gu Fei this message: “Alright. You two can come back now.”