Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-11

Chapter 11 - Flying Dagger! Yet another Flying Dagger!

“Hand it over now!” Gu Fei extended his hand.

“On what grounds?” the lady shamelessly demanded.

Gu Fei frowned, Do I really have to give her the 'Stealing is wrong, and you shouldn’t covet other’s property’ speech before she returns what she took? He was a school teacher after all, so he was used to giving such lectures. The lady opposite him looked to be about his age. Her smooth and practiced actions a while ago made Gu Fei suspect that she was a professional thief in reality. Was there any worth to talking about morals with this kind of person?

Since logic would surely not work on her, he decided to let his fists do the talking. Gu Fei’s thoughts were heavily influenced by his father’s teachings. Except for their different opinion about the purpose of learning kung fu, the two were very alike.

The lady’s expression changed when she saw Gu Fei assume a battle posture, “What are you planning to do? Beat a woman like me? How despicable!”

“Give back the Frost Memories if you don’t want to get hurt. Or else I can’t guarantee the safety of your pretty face,” Gu Fei said.

The woman’s face showed some fear. After considering for a while, she gritted her teeth and said, “Fine. I guess this just isn’t my day. Here, take it.” She reached into her pocket and flung a dagger fiercely toward Gu Fei.

Gu Fei would not have the face to call himself a kung fu expert if a thrown dagger could easily hit him. He deftly caught the handle of the dagger that had been rudely flung at him. Gu Fei was about to question the lady more when he saw her turn around and flee fast.

I have a bad feeling about this! Gu Fei thought to himself as he hurriedly checked what he was holding in his hand. It was not the Frost Memories! He had been duped! Gu Fei quickly gave chase.

Gu Fei thought he could easily catch up to the frail-looking woman with just a few steps. However, he soon realized just how wrong he was. Although everything in Parallel World was programmed to closely resemble reality, there were still things that it would not replicate; one of those was the physical differences between a man and a woman.

The so-called gender distinctions in the VR game were very similar to any MMORPGs – they were purely an aesthetic choice. In terms of in-game stats, everyone was given equal amount whether a player was a male or a female. This was even more the case after the issue of sexual assaults on women had occurred on the first day of beta testing. In order to promote sex equality and to tackle the problem, the game officials had made large modifications in Parallel World’s settings. Now, one’s job class was the deciding factor in a player’s in-game life! If a male Mage wished to act upon his evil thoughts toward a female Warrior, he should be prepared for the consequences. It did not matter how high his level was, since sexually assaulting someone would have to be done in close proximity to each other. Even if he unleashed his strongest spell and overturned an entire map, he still would have to get close to his target to do the deed, right?

The issue between gender needs fixing, Gu Fei thought frustratedly.

The lady he was chasing was the perfect example. Only one word was apt to describe her running: fast.

Gu Fei poured every stat point he had gained in his sixteen levels to Agility, yet his speed was nothing compared to her who had a bonafide speed-based job class. She even had the leisure to make those silly faces at Gu Fei as she ran. The distance between the two was gradually lengthening.

Gu Fei felt enraged but could do nothing about it. The game lacked mechanics for accessing an individual’s innate talent. Although players could utilize superhuman abilities based on stat point distribution, making sudden breakthroughs was impossible.

When the lady saw that Gu Fei’s distance to her was far enough for her to shake him off completely, she purposely halted at a bend and ridiculed Gu Fei, “Hurry up and catch me, slow-poke! I’m about to disappear from your sight!”

“Stay there if you dare!” Gu Fei tried to use reverse psychology on her.

Many researchers claimed that women had an instinctive resistance to taunting and teasing. But Gu Fei’s attempt was no better than throwing a stone into a vast sea; she completely ignored his words and even blew a kiss at him, “I had fun playing with you, Mage. Bye!”

As the lady was about to merrily head out of sight, Gu Fei fiercely said, “Go to hell!” He then hurled the dagger on his hand with enough force at her.

Speaking of throwing daggers, the most well-known figure for this skill was called Xiao Li Fei Dao.

To say his dagger’s flight speed was fast was great, but what was really admirable about this expert was his target accuracy.

A unique skill of throwing daggers that had 100% accuracy, and even when used in an online game would be impossible to dodge.

Naturally, the speed was the reason behind its precision! It was so fast, so no one could dodge it.

Only a true expert could unleash the technique’s full potential. Such experts’ usual targets would be equally skilled individuals who could disappear from sight in a flash, so their techniques obviously required speed.

The lady might be fast on her feet but she neither had the ability nor knowledge to deflect or dodge a flying dagger; the dagger’s swift speed alone was enough to hit her.

Gu Fei was a person who could blind someone’s eye with just a rock, so questioning his accuracy with a dagger was pointless.

Swish! The dagger flew out of his hand.

“Ahhh!” The dagger struck the lady’s calf, causing her to collapse on the ground on all fours.

Gu Fei gleefully approached the lady at first, yet his feeling of schadenfreude quickly faded disappeared when he heard her painful cries.

It was truly difficult to watch a beauty cry. Gu Fei felt his actions were somewhat excessive especially when he saw the pool of blood soaking the ground.

Although no real damage had been inflicted on her real self, but the pain the dagger caused was still unbearable. Gu Fei reckoned he himself had never suffered such a deep wound.

“You… You’re too much!” The lady remained sprawled on the ground bawling her eyes out as she pointed accusingly at Gu Fei. Gu Fei felt truly guilty now, but he reminded himself that she was a criminal. He had to treat her coldly. His face turned stern as he reached into his pocket, taking out his bundle of carving knives and threatened, “Mock me again and I’ll stick all of these into your body.”

The lady shut her mouth fast. After being struck once, she didn’t doubt that Gu Fei was capable of doing what he had just threatened to do.

Actually, Gu Fei was merely scaring her. He already regretted hurting her once, so how could he bear to stab her again?

The lady lay sprawled on the ground; her hand putting pressure on her injured leg. No sound came from her mouth aside from her loud weeping.

Gu Fei moved to pull the dagger stuck on her leg out.

“Ahhh! What are you doing? You bast*rd!” Pain racked through her body when Gu Fei made accidental contact with the dagger wound, causing her to scold him boldly.

“I’m just trying to pull it out! It’s pretty hard to look at you with a knife on your leg,” Gu Fei reasoned.

“Won’t it hurt if you pull it out?” she asked sillily.

If this were in reality, as long as the knife did not stab a fatal part of the body and there was not much bleeding, there was no need to pull the knife out as it was basically not life threatening. Doing so might hasten blood loss instead. Perhaps pulling out the knife in the game would be fine? With such a thought, Gu Fei nodded his head toward her and said, “The pain will disappear once it’s removed.”

“Pull it out, then!” she said while gritting her teeth.

“Alright!” Gu Fei replied. He raised his hand and pulled the knife out without a warning.

“Ahhhh!” she screamed. The pain remained and the blood flowed unceasingly. It would appear that the game had replicated reality in this aspect as well.

“My HP is decreasing!” the lady suddenly said.

“Ay, that’s not good!” Gu Fei panicked, “Quick, hand me any cloth! Bandage will do as well. I have to dress your wound fast to stop the bleeding.”

Surprisingly, she actually gave him a bandage roll. Gu Fei stared at it in surprise for a minute before taking it. It was an in-game item called Bandage of Staunching. Tearing off a portion, he quickly helped her bandage her wound properly. Gu Fei didn’t know whether it was his wound-dressing skill or the in-game item’s effect that helped staunch the bleeding.

“Is your HP still dropping?” Gu Fei asked.

“Not anymore,” she answered.

“That was close!” Gu Fei sighed in relief. Had her HP dropped to 0, he would have no idea how to find her when she returned to a spawn point.

The lady’s scandalous crying turned into demure whimpering as her condition stabilized. She would occasionally glare at Gu Fei as she sobbed quietly. Gu Fei no longer felt as guilty as he did before and confidently extended his hand to ask the lady, “Okay, hand over the Frost Memories!”

Her pocket was within an arm’s reach yet Gu Fei was clear that even if he had reached in for the dagger, he would not find anything given how the in-game inventory system worked; only the owner had access to the stuff inside one’s pocket.

The lady no longer seemed to be in as much pain as before as she responded briskly, “Is it yours?”

“Uhhh… Nope!” Gu Fei said.

“Then why should I return it you?”

“It belongs to my friend!” Gu Fei said.

“Friend?” the lady chuckled, “If he is a friend, why were you not seated together with him in the bar? Don’t think I didn’t notice you. You and that lecherous guy on that table are definitely villains.”

Gu Fei recalled how Fireball’s eyes back then glowed with lust. Lecherous was a fitting word to describe him.

“You’re no better. You steal from others,” Gu Fei countered.

“I never said I am,” the lady admitted honestly.

“Just give me the dagger already!” Gu Fei insisted.

“No!”

“I’ll stab you again!” Gu Fei raised the dagger which he had just pulled out from her leg.

“If you want to, then stick it in!” She had that beguiling look and smile at the tavern once more.

This f*cking woman! To think she saw right through me! Gu Fei was frustrated. Despite the situation, he could not bring himself to knife her again.

“Actually, I know what’s your intention!” the lady said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you that guy at the hillside earlier staring at what the owner of Frost Memories was holding?” she said.

It seemed that she really was the female player Gu Fei had seen back at the hillside. He now understood everything. She had been eyeing Sword Demon’s dagger from the very beginning, following him all the way to the tavern and easily stealing it under everyone's nose.

“This is a top grade rare weapon! Given the game’s soaring popularity, I am sure I could fetch a good price for it. Let’s split the profit fifty-fifty, alright? You don’t want me to return the dagger now, right?” the woman suggested.

“Hmph!” Gu Fei flared his nostrils as he treated her suggestion with disdain, “I don’t want money. I want to return that item to my friend. Don’t try to dirty my good intentions with your despicable mind.”

“Stop pretending to be the good guy. A real man should always stay true to his desires. You don’t even have half the guts I have,” she spat.

“I am being truthful,” Gu Fei said resolutely, “Give that item to me and I won’t make things difficult for you. You should seriously stop doing this sort of stuff.”

“Oh?” the woman’s eyes twinkled, “Are you saying you’re a genuinely good person?”

“Of course!”

“Alright then good guy… Could you bring me to where the Medic is? You’re not thinking that bandaging the knife wound will heal it just like that, right? Bring me there and I’ll give you what you want,” she said.