Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-279

Chapter 279 - Single Rope Bridge

War Without Wounds was hanging between two wooden planks like a sausage, but his weight prevented him from swinging with the breeze. Since he was busy trying to escape death, he failed to notice that all the men with him on the bridge had fallen down the abyss as a result of his action!

“Hold on tight, Wounds!” Royal God Call knelt down before him, grinning from ear to ear.

War Without Wounds severely gripped the wooden planks as he growled through gritted teeth, “Quickly pull me up!”

“There’s no space!” Royal God Call said as he looked to his left and right. Indeed, there was no reason for space to suddenly free up on this mountain path just because a dire situation had erupted, so the players remained as packed as ever. And while squeezing in a man or two would be fine, none dared to do so for fear of causing further problems to develop.

As such, War Without Wounds could only hang in there precariously while everyone gawked at him like he was a piece of exhibit; some even started placing bets on how long he could last hanging like so.

“How long do you think he can hold on for?”

“Five minutes. I’ll bet for five minutes.”

“Six minutes for me!”

“Seven!”

“Taking in bets now! All bets are final!”

The adorable players were always able to find enjoyment in the game no matter what happened.

War Without Wounds was tougher than what was presumed, however. Ten minutes had passed, yet he was still hanging on without trouble. It even looked as if War Without Wounds would have no problems holding on for another hour or so. Strength was not what mattered in situations like this but Resilience. Parallel World’s projection of the Resilience stat was rather mystifying, as players received aid from various avenues of the game system for this particular stat.

Thankfully, the reality was not so cruel, and after a dozen or so minutes, the crowd over by Royal God Call’s side began to ease up, allowing the players nearby to pull War Without Wounds up on solid land.

Those that did not have the Strength, including Gu Fei, did not dare lend, knowing that they would likely end up getting pulled down by War Without Wounds, instead. Through the concerted effort of June’s Rain and another Warrior, War Without Wounds finally managed to escape death. War Without Wounds was very depressed; it was already embarrassing to be hanging like that, and he had to somehow be saved by a lady as well! How was going to face the world from here on?

Players on both sides of the mountain pass cheered when War Without Wounds got saved. It was then that the players began to ask another question: How were the remaining half of the mercenaries still stuck on the other side of the mountain pass going to cross now that the bridge was destroyed?

Before everyone could think further on this, several players emerged from Gu Fei and company’s side, sized up the situation, and communicated with those on the other side of the mountain pass. Both sides ensured that long wooden planks were properly placed and began building another bridge.

“Are they from Traversing Four Seas?” everyone wondered.

Young Master Han nodded his head. Youthful Reflection had already told the mercenary leaders about this. “Traversing Four Seas came prepared,” Young Master Han told those people around him, adding, “Last time, this is where they could not continue onward when they attempted the mission. They hired many mercenary groups this time and brought this set-up to pass through this eroded mountain path.”

“They made these themselves?” Everyone looked at the Traversing Four Seas’ members who were bringing out wooden boards to lay on top of the wooden planks.

“Yeah. It sure isn’t simple!” Young Master Han sighed. Parallel World did not have a Carpentry crafting profession, so it was unknown how Traversing Four Seas had managed to create the wooden boards necessary in the first place.

The construction of a new bridge was very quickly finished. Learning their lesson from the previous bridge, the players were very careful when it was their turn to cross it. No one pretended to be bold this time around, patiently waiting for their turn as they gingerly made their way across.

Meanwhile, Gu Fei and company followed the crowd that was slowly advancing on the path. They soon got to the second bridge, with everyone crossing it one by one just like last time. When it was War Without Wounds’ turn, countless players sincerely requested, “Bro, can you be the last one to cross?”

War Without Wounds nodded his head even as tears streamed down his face. He squatted by a corner and waited for everyone to cross the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge, Gu Fei and the rest of their party waited for him to cross. In the end, War Without Wounds did not have to cross the bridge last, as a player of Traversing Four Seas indicated for him to go ahead first. Thankfully, the perilous situation before did not repeat itself. After War Without Wounds successfully crossed the bridge, the last member of Traversing Four Seas pried off each piece of the wooden boards from the bridge while making his way over. Finally, he stuffed the two long wooden planks into his dimensional pocket as if he were performing a magic trick, which left everyone watching amazed.

The throng of players then continued to advance slowly. They crossed four crevasses before their forward advance was once more halted for a long while. The mercenary leaders informed their members of the reason for the hold up: The crevasse this time was wider than before and Traversing Four Seas was currently trying to find a solution since the planks that they had prepared were not long enough to bridge the gap.

Eventually, the Traversing Four Seas’ player who was in charge of keeping the bridge-construction materials approached Young Master's Elite and addressed Gu Fei, “Miles bro? Our guild leader wishes to invite you to the front for a while.”

“Why me?” Gu Fei asked, puzzled.

Young Master Han revealed elation as he patted Gu Fei’s shoulder, “Let’s go. I’ll accompany you over.”

“Our guild leader said that only you are capable of crossing the crevasse without using a bridge,” the player supplied.

Gu Fei nodded his head in understanding. Although he had been using the man-made bridges just like everyone else, he could actually choose not to do so by teleporting himself through the crevasses. It was not just him, either. The first crevasse that they came across was only three meters wide, and anyone who did long jump could cover that distance. However, the psychological barrier created upon seeing the deep abyss was not something any person could easily overcome.

Together with the Traversing Four Seas’ player and Young Master Han, Gu Fei made his way to the very front of the regiment like a prophesied savior. The crevasse looming before him looked to be about seven or eight meters wide, and the mist pervading this gap somewhat obscured the mountain path ahead. Oathless Sword, Youthful Reflection, and Gale Force, the Traversing Four Seas’ three core members, were squatting ahead with miserable expression on their faces. Once they spotted Gu Fei, they promptly got up and met him.

“The wooden planks are not long enough. We didn’t expect that there would be such a wide ‘gutter’ here,” Oathless Sword said directly. Plenty of players had begun calling this particular crevasse a ‘gutter’ to alleviate the the fear in their hearts by making it sound less scary.

Gu Fei asked, “What’s the plan, then?”

“We're gonna use ropes,” Oathless Sword answered.

“So you want me to secure the rope on the other side for everyone to cross using it?” Gu Fei asked.

“That’s right.” Oathless Sword nodded his head.

Gu Fei stood by the edge of the crevasse, swept his gaze around, and smiled, “Aren’t you guys afraid of suspending from it?”

Oathless Sword sighed. “Many of us are naturally afraid… but we don’t have a choice. Can Miles bro cross this ‘gutter’?”

“I think so!” Gu Fei nodded his head.

“I will have to trouble you, then,” Oathless Sword said.

“Mmm! Get everyone to make some space for me!” Gu Fei said.

“Eh?” Oathless Sword was nonplussed.

“It’s too wide, so Blink won’t be enough to get me to the other side; I’ll need to jump to extend my range,” Gu Fei explained.

Once more, Oathless Sword was stunned before flicking a thumbs-up, “Miles bro is truly a bold man.”

The players around were from Traversing Four Seas, so Oathless Sword easily got them to free up space for Gu Fei.

Gu Fei backed several meters away from the edge and rubbed his palms together. Young Master Han approached Oathless Sword at this moment, rubbing his palms as well, “Boss Oathless, I believe this can be considered as a unique contribution that falls under the terms of the contract we have previously agreed on.”

Oathless Sword helplessly nodded his head, “I’ll note it down.”

“Heh!” Young Master Han folded his arms, stood by the side, and nudged his head toward Gu Fei, “Go on, then!”

“Naturally!” Gu Fei was already in position. Unhesitatingly sprinting toward the cliff edge, he launched himself forward and cleared almost half of the crevasse. Halfway through his flight, he finished his incantation, disappearing and reappearing by the opposite end; his legs were firmly planted to the ground.

Thunderous applause resounded.

Everyone was not applauding Gu Fei’s flawless execution of the Blink skill but his courageous leap to the crevasse. Not many were brave enough to leap into certain death with an abyss looming below like him even if they had access to Blink, yet Gu Fei merely exchanged a few words with Oathless Sword, and in the next moment, he was casually leaping over the crevasse while casting a spell.

“Rope!” Gu Fei shouted from the other side.

Oathless Sword took out a huge axe, tied a knot to its handle, revved up, and hurled the axe toward Gu Fei. Gu Fei did not reach out to grab it; instead, he waited for the huge axe to plant itself right into the ground.

The mountain path on Gu Fei’s end barely had anything to tether the rope with. Oathless Sword’s plan was to tie either ends of the rope to the axe’s pommel before hammering the axe firmly into the ground.

Naturally, it was hardly safe for only one set to be driven into the ground. Oathless Sword reached his hand out and his underlings handed over three more huge axes to him. The generic axes were the sort used for manual labor. A majority of the players were at level 40, after all, so collecting inferior axes was not particular easy.

Once that was done, someone else threw a hammer over to Gu Fei. The latter then busied himself with firmly securing the axes to the ground. He had low Strength, so this work was accomplished at a slow pace. Meanwhile, Oathless Sword and several other Warriors worked on their end and easily managed to drive five huge axes to the ground, with the rope firmly winding around their handles. Gu Fei was still busy on his end; he hammered far more than anyone else, yet his efficiency was still far lower in comparison.

The handles of the axes were not sharp, so they were unable to firmly lodge themselves into the ground. While hammering them into the ground was easy at the start, Gu Fei had to put more effort into his hammering the deeper the axes went into the earth. Gu Fei worked on them for a long time before finally securing the four axes and their pommels into the ground. When that task was accomplished, he tied the rope around their handles as everyone anxiously looked on.

“Miles bro, put your back into it! Wind the rope a few more times to make it secure!” Oathless Sword hollered.

“Tie a dead knot!” Young Master Han reminded.

Eventually, a single-rope bridge could be seen stretching across the crevasse.

“Who’s gonna go first?” the people on the other side looked at one another, with not one volunteer in sight.

“I’ll do it!” As the guild leader, Oathless Sword showed off his bravery by volunteering to test the single-rope bridge’s sturdiness. Dusting his hands off, he grabbed on to the rope and leaped down.

Just like how War Without Wounds had managed to last holding on to the wooden planks previously, Strength was truly not what these players needed in situations like this but rather Resilience to hold on. Thus, this was not a particularly difficult task for the players in the game. Oathless Sword tightly held on to the rope with his two hands as he wormed his way across. It turned out that the climb back up onto the ledge was what required a lot of effort, and Gu Fei’s Strength was just too weak! There was only so much he could do to help, so Oathless Sword wasted quite a lot of time before managing to climb back up. Exhaling his exhaustion, he turned around to shout, “Come on over! It’s very well made; there won’t be any complications!”