Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-539

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Gu Fei focused on noting his left and right. He saw nothing, and he was unable to sense any killing intent, either. However, that did not mean that Broken Water Arrow had left, or that he no longer had his eye on Gu Fei. Gu Fei knew that Broken Water Arrow was also armed with the knowledge that a professional kung fu practitioner like himself would be able to locate his position through his senses alone, but the area of this perception he had was not large, and the range a Sharpshooter could attack easily surpassed that. Thus, Broken Water Arrow could completely keep himself hidden somewhere far beyond where Gu Fei could sense him, even as the former continue to spy on the latter from a distance.

Having no choice, Gu Fei could only focus on his hearing in hopes of catching the slightest sound Broken Water Arrow would make when he moved. The jungle ground had plenty of twigs and dried leaves, so it would not be easy to conceal the sound of footfalls.

“D*mb*ss, over here!”

This sudden shout caused Gu Fei to jump in his skin. Even though Broken Water Arrow was the enemy, he was not the sort to trash-talk like this. He turned to look in the direction of the shout in his astonishment, and this was when Gu Fei realized his mistake. They were in the training grounds of Deep Freeze, and the direction where this shout had originated from had a group of players setting up their traps. As they were dealing with a monster, it was only natural for them to have no fear that their shouts and calls would be heard by the monster. Brazenly yelling to one another so openly, that ‘d*mb*ss’ cry was from the group’s leader who was chiding a member for his incorrect positioning.

The jungle was not in the least bit quiet; trying to discern Broken Water Arrow’s footsteps from the noise around here would be no more than a fantasy.

Just as Gu Fei was feeling troubled, he saw Deep Waters wave right over at his end. The noisy group in the distance suddenly went silent, looking over in their direction and nodding before they abruptly disappeared.

Furthermore, in a short period of time, even the vague din a good distance away from them all went silent. Gu Fei was stunned. He realized that Deep Waters had probably sensed his difficulties, so he helped out by clearing the area. Gu Fei quickly thanked the man with a quick glance.

Unfortunately, Deep Waters was still busy sending out his messages, so he did not catch his look of appreciation. Gu Fei did not bother harping on this any longer than he had to. Concentrating once more, he carefully listened for any movement in his surroundings.

Quiet! There was not a single sound made, and the silence he heard was akin to that of the dead. Gu Fei believed that in such a setting, as long as Broken Water Arrow made even the slightest sound, there was no way it would escape his ears. With that thought in mind, he slowly closed his eyes and devoted everything to his hearing, so as not to let his sight distract him.

CRACK!

This sound suddenly registered in his ears, and Gu Fei, who had attuned all his senses to his hearing, immediately determined where the sound had come from. Opening his eyes to look over, he Blinked with a wave of his hand and looked all around him. He was confidently thinking that this would force Broken Water Arrow out from his hiding spot, but what he saw, instead, was a crossbow bolt flying right toward him.

This bolt was very sudden, and Gu Fei was unable to block it in time, so he could only turn to the side and let it fly past. This bolt streaked past him, but a second one soon followed, flying straight at the position he had stepped into. Gu Fei turned his body to dodge it once more, causing him to turn consecutively for three rounds. As he corrected his footing each time, bolts came brushing past him one after another.

Whoosh! At the fourth shot, Gu Fei was finally unable to continue dodging in this fashion. A tree was blocking the path he kept turning toward, and another turn would have him crashing into it. This sudden obstruction that came out of nowhere disrupted Gu Fei’s tempo, all while his opponent’s firing pace remained unchanged. Thus, that fourth shot found its mark without any contention.

Gu Fei took this bolt head on and followed along its trajectory as he leaned backward. With his feet still firmly planted to the ground, Gu Fei felt another bolt graze past his cheek. Gu Fei propped himself with his palm on the ground for support and bounded back upright. Just as he flipped himself in reverse, the enemy’s attack suddenly stopped.

Gu Fei did not dare to relax and just hurried to hide behind the tree. The damage he had sustained from that shot just then was not insignificant. Out of the five shots that Broken Water Arrow had released, the fourth bolt happened to be a Snipe, and it was that very shot that succeeded in finding its mark thanks to the tree…

“That guy!” Hiding behind the tree, Gu Fei munched on a loaf of bread he was holding. To think he was not attempting to replenish his mana during battle but to recover his HP, instead; this was essentially the first time he was thrusted into such a situation while attempting to PK someone. He realized that he truly could not afford to underestimate Broken Water Arrow, as that man had plenty of advantages over Gu Fei in this dense jungle. It was almost similar to how Gu Fei had his kung fu to bully the average player.

Take what had happened before as an example; that first cracking sound Gu Fei had heard was not Broken Water Arrow exposing his position out of folly. That man must have also noticed their surroundings becoming quiet and immediately tested the waters, drawing Gu Fei into a position where it was convenient for him to attack. That first crack was probably a shot that Broken Water Arrow had intentionally fired at a tree.

As for the series of dodges that Gu Fei did in response, he did not believed that Broken Water Arrow was so omniscient as to have predicted that. Still, the fact that Gu Fei’s tempo was interrupted while he was dodging and the man’s ability to capitalize on it to fire off a Snipe was truly a feat worthy of praise. Using the parlance of kung-fu practitioners like Gu Fei, he had accidentally revealed a flaw in that moment thanks to the tree getting in the way, and Broken Water Arrow instantly seized that opportunity and exploited it. It was just a pity that his attack power was limited. Had his power been at that insta-killing level that Gu Fei possessed, that one mistake Gu Fei had made could very well be what sent Gu Fei to his death.

Therefore, even though Gu Fei had managed to hold on to his dear life by hiding behind that tree and munching on the bread, he was not happy about it in the least. To him, he had already lost in that previous exchange. The only reason why he could still carry on was entirely because this was a game. If this were in real life, he would quite possibly lose his life taking that blow, and he would most likely be dying from a loss of blood if he stayed here.

“What a pity…” Hiding somewhere, Broken Water Arrow regretted that he was unable to take down Gu Fei with that one shot. He had already done all he could when he used his Snipe with that fourth shot and firing that fifth shot as soon as he could. Unfortunately, Gu Fei had simply reacted too quickly, such that he had been able to evade that fifth bolt despite his circumstance. Furthermore, his actions afterward made it such that even if Broken Water Arrow could fire another bolt, there was no way he would be able to hit him again.

A single shot to fool the opponent, while the other five were fired in rapid succession, yet only a single shot found its target… This was simply too fearsome. Broken Water Arrow realized that, even when he held such overwhelming advantage over Gu Fei, taking the man down was still hardly even easy. The key factor here was that this was a game. Had it been real life, and the weapon he was holding was a gun…

Broken Water Arrow sighed and softly removed the magazine cartridge to reload the bolts in it. The entire process had to be done carefully and without a sound. At the same time, he continued to watch what Gu Fei was doing as he needed to maintain a certain distance from the man. He was well-aware that, after some of these kung-fu practitioners had honed their kung fu to a certain degree, they were capable of detecting where people were hiding just through their senses alone. To think that this ‘Thousand Miles Drunk’, young as he was, had already attained this level of accomplishment. Broken Water Arrow had no idea what his real name was, but he was certain he was not just a nameless hick.

What will this guy do next?

From that attack just now, he should have a good idea where I’m positioned, but that guy didn’t spare so much as a glance here even after hiding himself behind that tree.

Could it be that he hasn’t been able to determine where I’m at?

Impossible! It’d be far too outrageous for someone as accomplished as him, a person who could evade four out of my five shots, would fail to even notice where I’m hiding.

He’s probably not moving because he’s waiting for his Blink cooldown to end!

Yes. He must be waiting to do what he did before, Blinking over here to kill me when I least expect it.

Broken Water Arrow nodded to himself, believing his deduction to be correct. If this was the case… then the entire situation was well within his grasp. As long as the initiative remained on his side, he could try a second or even a third time. It would be a matter of time before he took down the man here in this jungle.

Harboring such thoughts, a thin smile could not help but grace Broken Water Arrow’s lips. However, in the next instant, that smile he had froze in place. That was because he spotted Gu Fei, who was supposed to be peeking cautiously like him or appearing near him with Blink like what he had expected, simply walk out from behind the tree and very casually make his way in his direction, instead.

“What…” Gu Fei’s action was beyond Broken Water Arrow’s expectations. Do I attack? As he asked himself this question, he noted that the position Gu Fei had appeared from was perfect. But seeing the man walk out so openly without any sign of fear or concern for his attacks… On second thought, had it not been for Gu Fei’s poor choice of position, which had him almost crashing into a tree as he dodged, that Snipe Broken Water Arrow had unleashed back moments before would have been entirely for naught.

There was not much time left, for every moment he wasted hesitating, Gu Fei moved a bit closer to his location.

Should I attack or withdraw?

Broken Water Arrow knew that he could not continue dawdling like this. If Gu Fei grew any nearer, he could very well end up within the range of his senses. At that point, he would be detected no matter how well he hid himself as long as he looked at the man.

So, will I be fine if I don’t look at him?

If Broken Water Arrow was not too confident with making the attack, he would only end up exposing his current position.

Withdrawing might result in him becoming exposed, too, given how sensitive Gu Fei’s ears were and how quiet the jungle had become.

In the end, that was precisely how he had come up with the idea of continuing to keep himself hidden.

If he could continue hiding, Gu Fei might think that he was no longer around. If he exposed himself, he could immediately change his position, and that was not much different from changing his position now.

Having finally made his decision, Broken Water Arrow ended his surveillance of Gu Fei and turned his back on the latter’s approaching direction as he carefully shrank behind the cover of the tree.

Deep Waters, who was standing stationary as he spectated this duel, was astonished at the skill Gu Fei had shown when the latter was dodging those crossbow bolts; he was equally surprised right now when he saw this Mage recklessly step out from behind the tree he was behind moments ago. The way Deep Waters saw it, the gist of the jungle warfare relied on the logic of keeping the enemy in view while keeping one’s self out of sight. Concealment was the key, and whichever party ended up being exposed first would naturally become the loser of a match. This was the method that Deep Waters was accustomed to. What Gu Fei was doing now, if it were not for the man being an indomitable expert, Deep Waters would criticize him and call him a ‘d*mb*ss’. However, since it was precisely Gu Fei who was using such a method, Deep Waters simply could not make such thoughtless remarks. When it came to fighting, this person possessed deep profundity, after all.

Deep Waters kept an open mind as he continued to witness this duel, only to see Gu Fei brandish his Moonlit Nightfalls and call out, “Broken Water Arrow, let’s have it out, once and for all!”

“F*CK!” Deep Waters threw his hands in the direction where Gu Fei was standing

So, that’s his tactic in the end! Deep Waters was in tears right now, for this was simply just Gu Fei disregarding the opponent entirely! Sure enough, this was a method that most people could not execute. However, the problem was that Gu Fei obviously had plenty of trouble just dodging those shots before! Where did he suddenly find so much confidence after such a short while? He is truly an expert!