Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-140

Chapter 140 - Monetary Assault

Royal God Call had the habit of freezing up whenever he saw a lady, especially a top-notch beauty like Xi Xiaotian. At this moment in time, his two legs turned jelly as he fell upon the stool behind him with a pull.

“Aren’t you doing your quest?” Gu Fei asked him.

“There’s no hurry. None at all,” Royal God Call calmly answered, adding, “There are only a few left, and I still have two more days.”

“What quest is it?” the ladies asked curiously.

“‘Bounty Mission’. Consecutively completing it for one hundred times will award you with a pair of pretty good boots. Miles, take yours off and let them have a look,” Royal God Call ordered.

Gu Fei was enraged! Royal God Call acted snappishly whenever there was a lady present. He was salivating non-stop when he saw his Windchaser’s Boots, yet it was reduced to nothing more than ‘pretty good’ right now. He even commanded Gu Fei to take off his boots.

Gu Fei knew that Royal God Call considered it a fate worse than death to lose face in front of ladies, so he swallowed his anger and took off his boots to show them to everyone.

“Are you selling them?” was Svelte Dancer’s question when she saw the Windchaser’s Boots.

Gu Fei stared at her as he slowly wore the boots once more, using his action to signify his answer to her question.

“Hmph!” Svelte Dancer pettily turned her head away, saying, “They are just a bit better than what I have, anyway.” With that, she took off her boots and showed them to everyone.

Boots of the Nimble Cloud: movement +58, increase movement speed by 35%.

“He he! Nuh-uh! It’s worse than mine by +2 movement!” Gu Fei remarked in an aggravating tone. Despite knowing that ‘+2 movement’ was largely insignificant by all counts, the bickering nature of the two parties involved made this ‘+2 movement’ seem so perfectly oppressive.

Svelte Dancer could of course not swallow this bitter pill. Nudging her Boots of the Nimble Cloud closer to Gu Fei, she said, “Why don’t you sell the boots to me at market price; I will even gift you this pair once our transaction is completed.” No market price existed for equipment as rare and as precious as the Windchaser’s Boots, which naturally meant that Gu Fei could quote a high price for them. Svelte Dancer even promised to gift Gu Fei the Boots of Nimble Cloud in return. This was as good as spending an exorbitant amount in exchange for ‘+2 movement’, clearly proving her moniker as the Mightiest Pay-to-Win Warrior. She had money to spend, after all.

The transaction was as good as a windfall from heavens even to someone like Gu Fei who had low desire with regard money, so he was momentarily moved by the offer. However, it was as good as him losing to Svelte Dancer’s monetary assault if he agreed to it. I can’t give her this chance to beat me, even if it is something this superficial, Gu Fei thought to himself as he immediately rejected her offer.

Svelte Dancer was visibly disappointed by his answer, yet she did not pester him further. Gu Fei more or less had an understanding of her personality. She was not exactly flushed with cash to the point of spending it arbitrarily on a pair of boots better than hers by a measly ‘+2 movement’. Only, her desire to win against Gu Fei was stronger than his desire to win against her, so she felt indignant that her boots were not as good as Gu Fei’s, causing her to clobber up a foolhardy plan of buying them from him outright. Sadly, that plan failed.

Sigh. Bickering with her over such a small matter... How immature of me. Gu Fei was thinking this and was just about to agree to her proposition when Royal God Call, who was beside him, quipped, “I’m about to get this pair of boots from my quest, too. I’ll sell them to you.”

Svelte Dancer was elated, “I’m holding you to your word!”

“Of course!” Royal God Call nodded his head vigorously. Since Gu Fei did not want to pick up this sudden windfall from the heavens, Royal God Call would naturally swoop in to get it instead. He reckoned today would be so exciting that he would not be able to fall asleep later.

Gu Fei heaved a long sigh. A monetary assault was truly a frightening thing; even an innocent youngster like Royal God Call was easily corrupted by it.

To prevent the matter from getting dragged further, Royal God Call actually abandoned these ladies before him and got up, “I shall hurry and finish my quest, then.”

“Don’t you dare ask for my help!” Seeing Royal God Call’s elated expression over the turn of events, Gu Fei felt obliged to sober him up a little.

Royal God Call immediately exclaimed, “Big bro, don’t do that to me!”

That’s more like it! As Gu Fei was feeling pleased with himself, Svelte Dancer suddenly jumped in, “I’ll help you with what he’s supposed to do.”

Royal God Call was beside himself. Which god was it that was shining favorably upon him today? Not only did he make such a profitable deal, he also managed to get a beauty like Svelte Dancer to help him in his quest; it was truly a dream come true. What more could a man want if there were beauty and money? Thus, Royal God Call dismissively waved at Gu Fei, “Alright. I’ll leave you to your business, then!” With that, he left together with Svelte Dancer. Before leaving, Svelte Dancer threw a provocative glance at Gu Fei.

“What’s happening?” Xi Xiaotian was at a loss.

“That brat is bickering with Miles,” Luo Luo chuckled.

“Why’s that?” Xi Xiaotian asked, curious.

“Miles pushed her down,” Luo Luo said without elaborating any further.

Xi Xiaotian was slightly shocked, “That’s too much!”

“Nah,” Gu Fei explained, “She tried to ambush me, so I pushed her over.”

“Sure! You pinned her down to the ground and did not let her get up,” Luo Luo added, snickering.

“That’s legit defense,” Gu Fei protested.

“Ha ha! I’m not so sure about that,” Luo Luo gazed appreciatively at Gu Fei’s embarrassment. Xi Xiaotian’s eyes were already wide like saucers.

“Come to think of it… Why did she ambush me?” Gu Fei suddenly asked.

“I’ve got something on, so I’ll take my leave first! Have fun chatting!” Luo Luo quickly got up and started to head out the door.

“Stay right there! Did you sic her into doing that?!” Gu Fei was hot on Luo Luo’s heels and the two headed out the door just like that.

Xi Xiaotian was left all alone in her seat. She was now more clueless of everything that that had unfolded before her, “Just what is going on? Why did she even ask me to meet her here?”

The weekend passed by very quickly, and the PvP tournament officially began on Monday at 7 P.M. Because many players joined a mercenary group as well as a guild, the mercenary PvP tournament and the guild versus guild tournament would be conducted alternately. On Monday, the first event would be the mercenary PvP tournament. The six members of Young Master’s Elite mercenary group were currently gathered at Ray’s Bar, engaging in their final round of strategy meeting.

“The rules for the tournament have been announced,” Brother Assist said, elaborating, “There’s one point to note: Based on the total number of participants in this contest, a suitable map will be chosen from a selection of twelve maps available. This means that the maps are all fixed. Studying these maps should improve our odds of victory.”

“Furthermore,” Brother Assist continued, saying, “The limitations for a Thief’s Stealth skill are announced: There is a time limit of thirty seconds and a cool-down period of three minutes for the skill, so it is impossible to play a game of hide and seek.”

“Let others worry about this matter! Our goal is total victory,” Young Master Han declared.

“Keep a low profile. We are just a mercenary group of six men against a group of one hundred men, how do you think what you said makes sense?” Brother Assist asked.

“With my battle strategies, this sort of problem isn’t a big deal. HA HA HA HA HA!” Young Master Han laughed uproariously, looking at the time once he was done. “There’s still half an hour left; is everyone good and ready?”

Before anyone could answer, the room’s curtain was shoved to the side by someone rushing inside like a gale of wind. A right leg suddenly crashed upon the table as a person pointed at it, “Look what I’ve got!”

“Ray, what’s going on?” Young Master Han gazed at Ray, who was still picking at the curtain by the room entrance.

Ray shrugged his shoulders, “Can’t help it. The price she paid me to leak your position is better than your hush money.”

“Who are you looking for?” Young Master Han wrinkled his brows and asked.

Svelte Dancer’s leg was right in front of Gu Fei, yet his lowered head did not elicit any reaction. She gave him a shove, “Oi! Are you playing dead?”

Gu Fei suddenly started, his whole body perking up, “Is the meeting over?”

Young Master Han was enraged, “You’re asleep again! You’re always sleeping in our meetings lately!”

Gu Fei showed a bitter expression on his face, “I’m so tired at hearing you all talk about rules and whatnots.”

“Ah! That’s right. It’s so unbearable!” Svelte Dancer expressed her agreement.

It was only now that Gu Fei realized that someone had her foot on the table in front of him, “You! What are you doing here?!”

“Look. My boots!” Svelte Dancer answered by pointing her boots to Gu Fei.

“I know. Royal God Call already told me,” Gu Fei answered monotonously.

All their gazes turned to Royal God Call. Young Master Han’s face had already darkened to a shade beyond black.

Brother Assist nudged Royal God Call, “Royal, wake up.”

“Ah? Are we done with the meeting?” Royal God Call perked up as he straightened his body. His reaction was just like Gu Fei’s.

“Are you all pieces of sh*t sleeping?!” Young Master Han bellowed this question.

“Sleep. Who’s asleep? Not me!” War Without Wounds quickly answered. His eyes suddenly lingered at one spot as he abruptly got up, “Beautiful woman, how may I address you?” For him to just register Svelte Dancer’s presence now, who would believe him in his claim of not sleeping?

Brother Assist swept his gaze around and counted the people in this room, “Wait a minute. Where’s Sword Demon?” There were only six players in the room including Svelte Dancer.

“He came! I remember that he came!” Brother Assist insisted.

“Mhm-mhm. He was beside me just now. When did he leave?” Royal God Call said as he patted the empty seat next to him. “OH!” Royal God Call exclaimed in shock the next instant.

With that, a figure slowly appeared from the seat as Sword Demon calmly said, “I’m here.”

“Sleeping while on Stealth! That’s too cunning!” The three other men berated Sword Demon as Young Master Han sent a death stare their way.

Actually, they could not prove that Sword Demon had been sleeping while on Stealth. But given Sword Demon’s honest personality, he did not make an excuse for himself and just asked, “Is the meeting over?”

Young Master Han’s glass of alcohol had already been drained, while Brother Assist’s face was helplessly affixed with a wry smile.

“Is this your mercenary group?” Svelte Dancer asked Gu Fei.

Gu Fei nodded his head.

“They are all over the place; you should just join our guild’s mercenary group, instead!” Although she was discontented with and harbored resentment toward Gu Fei, she evidently still considered him as a talented individual. As for the other members of Young Master’s Elite, she treated them as a bunch of rabbles.

The reactions of these five experts were worth relishing.

Brother Assist simply smiled without uttering a word. Royal God Call would usually go up and boast about his prowess in such moments, yet he opted to act mysterious instead since the person who had said this was a female. War Without Wounds adopted a congenial expression similar to Royal God Call’s. Sword Demon merely stared at Svelte Dancer, not saying a word. As for Young Master Han, he actually stilled his expression of rage moments before and smiled amiably, “How should I address you, miss beautiful? Which mercenary group are you from?”

“Svelte Dancer; Amethyst mercenary group,” Svelte Dancer answered.

“Oh. I guess we’ll meet in the tournament, then!” Young Master Han said cheerfully.

“Oh…” Svelte Dancer suddenly felt that the atmosphere was very odd. She originally wanted to persuade Gu Fei some more, but she decided to keep her mouth shut and reply to Young Master Han with just one word before taking her leave.