Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-164

Chapter 164 - Pointless Effort

Amethyst mercenary group was established right before the mercenary PvP tournament started, so it had yet to reach level 2. Since each level added another twenty members to the mercenary group member limit, all of Amethyst Rebirth’s fifty plus ladies could not join the mercenary group even if they wanted to.

Young Master Han swept his gaze through the report and dismissively tossed it back onto the table, “I don’t see how these women could see through my intentions.”

Gu Fei smiled and simply replied, “It’s not ‘see through’, but ‘disregard’. Get it? They have always been ignoring any sort of strategy.”

“The expert realm!” Brother Assist chuckled, saying, “That is the unchanging yet adaptive realm of the experts.”

Out of everyone else, only Sword Demon took the matter seriously and read the information provided carefully. War Without Wounds and Royal God Call were currently competing with each other on who knew more of the listed women in the report. Gu Fei turned his attention over to these two and said, “Compare with me!”

“Scram!” the two said together.

Young Master Han’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Royal God Call and War Without Wounds would lose themselves whenever they met women, while Gu Fei’s relationship with the Amethyst Rebirth’s women should not be taken lightly either. He suddenly felt uncertain on how these three would perform during the upcoming fight. Did Young Master’s Elite finally meet its match? This group of simple-minded ladies would simply ignore all kinds of strategies, after all. Young Master Han turned his gaze toward Brother Assist and Sword Demon. Sword Demon was still wordlessly reading the report while Brother Assist was looking at Gu Fei, Royal God Call, and War Without Wounds with worry etched on his face.

“Hmm… The strength of Amethyst mercenary group may be average, but Svelte Dancer is one of the Five Unyielding Experts. Wearing top-grade equipment all over her body, her strength is certainly OP, so we need to remain cautious,” Brother Assist said.

“Ha ha!” Royal God Call laughed gleefully, “I know fifteen of them, and you only know eleven. You’re getting old, Wounds!”

“M*th*rf*ck*r!” War Without Wounds shredded the report in his displeasure.

Gu Fei did not make a sound by the side. This was because he had just realized that out of the twenty ladies listed, he could only recognize eight of them. Gu Fei felt somewhat ashamed when Royal God Call and War Without Wounds enviously gazed at him, as they were probably thinking that he knew the twenty ladies very well.

Royal God Call took out a fresh set of the report and pointed toward a name, “Nobody can kill this beauty!”

Gu Fei popped his head over and glanced at the name. Grape… Who’s this again? He did not recall her at all even after thinking about the IGN for quite some time.

War Without Wounds also glanced over, “Oh? Are you interested in Grape?”

Royal God Call puffed his chest spiritedly and smiled, “She is beautiful, but more importantly, I think she has feelings for me.”

“Bleh!” War Without Wounds showed his disdain.

“Miles, you better help me in making her notice me more often!” Royal God Call said to Gu Fei. With him being a member of Amethyst Rebirth, the two were thinking that Gu Fei must be closer to the ladies than the two of them since he had plenty of chances to mingle with them.

“I will, I will,” Gu Fei replied as he thought to himself, F*ck! Who the hell is this Grape, anyway? Pulling out the guild tab, he saw that Grape was a level 37 Priest. Gu Fei barely took note of the non-combat job classes, so the only Amethyst Rebirth’s Priest he knew was Luo Luo.

As the three continued to while their time by casually going through the information in the report, the heart of the Priest sitting across them was getting filled with resentment fast. These three men would usually be asleep – if not daydreaming – whenever they had this sort of meeting. Today, the three were quite attentive for a different reason and one already requested for Young Master’s Elite to go easy on a particular lady. It seemed that he should not expect too much from the three for today’s match. Young Master Han finally hated not having an indomitable combat job class; otherwise, he would be able to brutally knock some sense into these three. “Sword Demon, better make your preparation. Looks like it’s gonna be up to you today,” he faintly said this to Sword Demon.

After looking through the information provided, Sword Demon placed the document back onto the table and nodded his head.

Over by the Amethyst Rebirth’s side, the ladies had been feeling excited ever since they found out who they were matched up to this time around. Quite a few them who had not signed up for the mercenary group were feeling very remorseful right now. Raising the mercenary group’s level was not possible at the moment, and even if they could do so, the participants for the upcoming match had already been set, so the additional members could not participate in it still.

“Ahhhhh!” many of the ladies moaned in dismay. Of course, the reason why these ladies were feeling disappointed was not that they wanted to meet all of Young Master’s Elite’s members, but it was because they wanted to lay eyes on the legendary character: Close Combat Mage 27149. After all, the other members of Young Master’s Elite had long been revealed to these ladies. July and a few others did not leak this information to the guild; instead, Royal God Call and War Without Wounds were the ones who had intentionally ‘leaked’ this truth to the ladies in hopes of projecting themselves as mighty and glorious individuals. Although the awesomeness of Young Master’s Elite that existed in the ladies’ hearts was something that the two would often exploit, the two resolutely kept Gu Fei’s identity as the Close Combat Mage hidden from them.

The ladies viewed the Close Combat Mage as the most outstanding player in every manner, so Royal God Call and War Without Wounds were positive that they would be unable to ‘scavenge’ even a bit of the ladies’ adoration if they found out the truth about Gu Fei. After working their butts off for so long, the two were naturally unwilling to let Gu Fei take these ladies away from them.

There were many mercenary groups in Yunduan City, so who would have thought that Amethyst would serendipitously meet Young Master’s Elite in the mercenary PvP tournament? With this, 27149 would no longer be able to hide his identity from them.

“Ha ha ha ha!” 27149’s number one fan, Lie Lie, was of course the most elated by this. “I can finally meet my idol!” she happily declared.

“He he he…” Will-low and Luo Luo laughed dryly together. In Amethyst Rebirth, only the two knew that Gu Fei was Young Master’s Elite’s Close Combat Mage.

“Hmph! Is that person really that great?” Svelte Dancer asked skeptically. She had only recently joined Amethyst Rebirth and these ladies’ most common topic in their conversations was this Close Combat Mage 27149.

All the ladies vigorously nodded their heads: “He is super awesome! He hunted that despicable Thief and dropped his level by eight!”

“Who is that useless Thief?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“No Smile.”

“Oh, that damn huckster! Don’t let me meet him in person,” Svelte Dancer menacingly wiped her dagger.

“There is still one hour,” some of the ladies excitedly counted the time.

“Hey! This is a match; not a fan meet up session,” Svelte Dancer reminded.

“Of course, I wanna let him see how awesome I am!” Lie Lie bumped her fists together.

Both sides were counting down the time in their respective locations. When the match was only half an hour away, everyone stood up, “Let’s go!” Amethyst mercenary group left the guild house, while Young Master’s Elite mercenary group left Ray’s Bar.

The two locations were near each other. Since both sides were heading toward the same location, they would inadvertently meet along the way. Royal God Call sharpened his eyes. Seeing the ladies walking out from the opposite alleyway, he hurriedly gave a look to War Without Wounds.

War Without Wounds was surprisingly attentive as well, and the two instantly walked up together.

“Miles!” War Without Wounds reached his hand out and patted Gu Fei.

“Eh?” Gu Fei did not dodge that pat as he never thought that War Without Wounds would use his strength to hold him in place and would proceed to push him to the side. Thus, Gu Fei was easily pushed right into a side alley where Royal God Call skulked about.

“What’s the matter?” Gu Fei asked, perplexed.

“The Amethyst Rebirth’s ladies are here!” Royal God Call said in a hushed tone.

Gu Fei momentarily did not understand what he meant.

“If they see you with us, your identity as 27149 will get exposed!” Royal God Call reminded him.

“Then so be it! It doesn’t really matter at this point...” Gu Fei actually regretted having to hide his other identity. If not for that, those people harboring hatred toward him would have long come to PvP with him. Going through those days without PvP was really tough!

“B*llsh*t! If they find out that you are 27149, we won’t have any game left!” Royal God Call immediately spat out the truth.

Gu Fei could not help but laugh bitterly when he thought of how these two had sworn to July and the other ladies that Gu Fei was not 27149 and was just someone aspiring to be a member of Young Master’s Elite.

“Won’t the babes still find out that it's Miles once they enter the map?!” War Without Wounds worriedly asked.

“We need to give Miles a makeover! Hold him down!” Royal God Call said to War Without Wounds.

War Without Wounds used one hand to press Gu Fei against that wall.

“Are you two asking for a quick death or something?” Gu Fei emotionlessly stuck his hand into his dimensional pocket. His fellow mercenaries were well aware of how fearsome Gu Fei’s Twin Incineration was, so the two knew that they would surely die if he successfully pulled his sword out. The two hesitated in carrying out their plan as their hearts filled with trepidation. “What do you guys want me to do?!” Gu Fei relented in the end after seeing their pitiful-looking faces.

“Just cover your face, change your attire, and don’t use that sword,” Royal God Call knew that it was useless to force Gu Fei, so he resorted to pleading instead.

“Fine! I’ll do as you say!” Gu Fei no longer cared whether he was concealing his identity or otherwise. Since they earnestly requested it, he decided to help his fellow brothers-in-arms this one time! With that thought in mind, Gu Fei took off Midnight Spirit Robe and put on the Flaming Robe that he had last worn in Yueye City. He next took out the triangular black cloth he had worn ages ago and covered his face with it, “Will this work?”

The two patted him on his shoulders in satisfaction, “That’s what I call brotherly!”

“You mustn't pull out Moonlit Nightfalls no matter what,” Royal God Call reminded him once more.

“Hey! Neither of you will purposely go easy in this match, right?” Seeing how these two were acting, Gu Fei could not help but express his concern.

“Don’t worry. We’re not that despicable,” the two said in unison.

Gu Fei sighed deeply in relief, “At least you guys are aware that you’re despicable.”

“You gotta be despicable when it comes to flirting; let me tell you—”

“Scram! You rascal!” Gu Fei waved his hands off to Royal God Call. When he saw that War Without Wounds was about to say something, he quickly interrupted him: “Old men without gravitas can also get away from me.” With that, Gu Fei stalked off.

“Do I really look very old?” War Without Wounds had a crestfallen look on his face as he asked Royal God Call this.

“Not just your appearance, you’re really old. This a young man’s world now,” Royal God Call answered.

“F*ck off!” War Without Wounds picked up Royal God Call and threw him to the side.

Since the three were busying over Gu Fei’s identity inside the alley, they all failed to see what was happening outside the alley. Young Master Han, Sword Demon, and Brother Assist continued moving forward and eventually met up with the Amethyst Rebirth’s ladies. Both sides knew that they would be fighting in the upcoming match, so they maintained distance from one another as they walked toward the Hall of Mercenaries.

“Hey! Where’s Miles! Why isn’t he with you guys?!” Svelte Dancer suddenly asked the three men.

“Miles?” All the ladies asked, stunned.

“Don’t you girls know? Miles is in the same mercenary group as these guys!”

“They… But they’re Young Master’s Elite!” the ladies exclaimed stiltedly.

“Eh?”

“Miles is the Mage in Young Master’s Elite? The Close Combat Mage?! Fugitive 27149?!” There was uproar among the ladies; only Will-low and Luo Luo stayed by the side with a forced smile on their faces. The ladies exchanged glances as the three men calmly chose to walk forward without talking to any of them.

“Miles is Close Combat Mage 27149?” Lie Lie had the most intense reaction out of all the ladies and tears rolled down her cheeks unabatedly. Ever since that incident by the street, she had stopped talking to Gu Fei altogether. Their relationship had evidently become frigid. Knowing his identity now clearly did not help to change this status at all.

“So it really is him!” July muttered to herself. She had always suspected him, only he had always managed to cover everything up. With the solid evidence this time, all the suspicious points she had detected on him once more became proofs of his other identity.

Only Svelte Dancer did not have any clue at what was going on, “Didn’t you all say that 27149 is a hidden character? Why would he suddenly be Miles?”

“That’s right! Miles can’t even defeat me, so how can he be such a mighty person?” June’s Rain usually took some time before she could make sense of things.

“Miles couldn’t beat you? Are you sure?” Svelte Dancer had fought with Gu Fei side by side many times and she had yet to see anyone survive his spells, be it his AOE attack or his melee attack.

As June’s Rain told Svelte Dancer all the incidents in the past, the other ladies discussed the issue of Gu Fei being 27149, almost forgetting that they were supposed to head to the PvP tournament venue. Finally, the sober Luo Luo and Will-low reminded everyone how much longer they had until the match started.

Over by the Young Master’s Elite’s side, Young Master Han and the two finally met up with Gu Fei, Royal God Call, and War Without Wounds in the ‘changing room’. When the three saw Gu Fei’s getup, they expressed their surprise. Young Master Han asked, “Just what are you up to this time?”

“Ask those two,” Gu Fei glumly replied.

The two happily told them everything. Young Master Han laughed coldly by the side as he patiently listened to their recount. Once they were done, he slowly and methodically dropped the other shoe on the two men, “Don’t busy yourselves with things that don’t matter. They already know Miles’ other identity.”

“What?! How can that be?!” The two leaped up in their surprise.

“When Svelte Dancer barged into our meeting that time, she learned that we and Miles are in the same mercenary group,” Brother Assist reminded the two.

“Why would she inexplicably barge in like that?!” War Without Wounds asked, enraged.

Royal God Call disappointedly slapped himself, “It’s my fault for being so greedy!” Had he not been greedy and traded his Windchaser’s Boots away to Svelte Dancer, she would not have excitedly run into their meeting and flaunt it to Gu Fei, which meant that no one would have found out Gu Fei’s other identity.

“Hmm... Looks like wanting both wealth and love isn’t a simple thing,” Brother Assist voiced out his epiphany about life.

“Since that’s the case, I don’t need this anymore!” Gu Fei eagerly took the black cloth off his face.

Royal God Call felt hurt, while War Without Wounds was despondent.

As Gu Fei busied himself with changing his attire once more and readying his Moonlit Nightfalls, he failed to notice that the Amethyst Rebirth’s guild channel was being bombarded with messages. The ladies were animatedly discussing the matter of Gu Fei being the Close Combat Mage 27149. Gu Fei was clearly online, yet he did not say a peep.

“Does this guy ever look at the guild channel?” a lady asked earnestly.

“He kept us in the dark for so long!” another lady sighed.

“We must get Miles’ signature when we head back!” a diehard fan declared.

“He he. So it turns out that we’re already acquainted with 27149 and have long seen his face. It’s not really a loss even if we don’t participate in the mercenary PvP tournament!” Some of the ladies who had been fretting over this matter no longer felt very dejected.

Gu Fei did not show himself on the guild channel, so some of the ladies decided to send him messages directly.

“Hey! Your identity has been exposed!” Will-low had the good sense to be worried for Gu Fei.

“Do you have anything else to say now?” July was quite resentful of Gu Fei denying her allegations time after time.

“Sigh… Looks like I won’t be the only one teasing you after this,” Luo Luo did not intend to reveal Gu Fei’s identity, probably for the same reason Royal God Call and War Without Wounds had chosen not to do so.

“Hmph! You sure hid it well!” Even Svelte Dancer had something to say.

“Miles, how can you be 27149?” June’s Rain had still not gotten there yet!

As for the guild’s Mages, they were inquiring about how Gu Fei had managed to become a close combat Mage. Gu Fei’s hands were full trying to answer them, and he felt very troubled by this. He finally realized the many advantages of hiding his identity. “Just come and kill me already…” was what Gu Fei truly wanted to say to them.

This carried on for quite some time. Gu Fei tried to reply to quite a few of them yet new messages kept on coming in. The match timer started as the scene changed. The players were all teleported into the PvP arena, but Gu Fei’s message notification never stopped pinging. Young Master Han swept his gaze over to the three dejected mercenaries of his and did not bother with them afterward. Looking around and seeing a vantage point, he promptly told Sword Demon and Brother Assist, “Let’s head over there and have a look.”

The two nodded their heads in agreement. All three headed off toward the high ground as Brother Assist worriedly said, “If those three don’t put in any effort, this match is gonna be a little troublesome!” Just as he said this, Gu Fei caught up to them. With a hand tugging his sleeve and killing intent emanating from him, he asked, “Are we starting already? Why didn’t you call for me?!”