Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-638

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Gu Fei lifted his sword and dashed forward. This said alleyway, which was somewhere on the street to the right, was close by the Priest Academy’s main entrance. Everyone actually had their backs to it at the moment. This alley would circle around behind the Priest Academy and lead people right to an alley on the left street. The streets in the cities of Parallel World extended in every direction, having different shapes and forms. Brother Assist consulted the map; the mess of streets and paths that greeted him essentially looked like a spider’s web, if not for the words written across every thread.

Everybody ignored the five Archers’ barrage of arrows that Broken Water Arrow was leading. After watching Gu Fei depart, they turned their backs over. Young Master Han quickly took back the spyglass and used it to note how these ex-soldiers reacted to this change. Those men could see what Gu Fei was doing from their current position, and seeing how long it took them to mount this assault, there was no reason for them not to know that that alley connected the left and right streets. Seeing Gu Fei enter that alley, just what sort of reaction would they show?

Nothing. The five did not react at all and just continued to fire their barrage of projectiles, undeterred. They clearly knew how ineffective they were, yet they persevered in harassing Young Master Han’s lot with it. Young Master Han was thoughtful this whole time, so he was not totally focused on his healing, leaving Paddy Scent Pastures and Verdant Timber to patch people up, left and right.

The lot of them looked as if they did not care about the enfilade of projectiles coming from Broken Water Arrow and his men, but that was merely just that; it was nothing but a façade they put on for the enemies. The truth was that their party channel was busy as they got struck by the bolts and arrows; the Priests were having a tough time keeping up. Young Master Han was not really diligently doing his job, so Paddy Scent Pastures and Verdant Timber were faced with a huge pressure, wondering to themselves if this was the time when they should seek cover in the spawn point. However, with no one saying a word about this, they were quite embarrassed to be the ones suggesting it. The two were taking cover behind Southern Lone Blade as they kept their Heals on those struck.

There was only a single person having an easy time: Gu Xian.

That man had moved his rock into the safe zone and was watching the projectiles come flying from the outside. He was seated in a figure 4 posture, asking Ye Xiaowu, “Your guys are here. Aren’t you and your friends getting out yet?”

The three of them kept quiet despite their low spirits. They had been informed of Broken Water Arrow’s plan by now. Currently, they were trying to find the best time to coordinate accordingly, so they no longer paid any attention to Gu Xian’s provocations.

Despite the three men remaining mum, Gu Xian did not seem to be bothered about it and was looking pretty contented just sitting there on his rock. Leaning against the wall, he hummed a little tune as he patiently waited.

Besides the five Archers and two Mages, none of the other ex-soldiers showed up yet. Young Master Han and the others were getting more and more suspicious of what was happening, and they remained in contact with Gu Fei this whole time, asking him about the situation on his end.

Gu Fei kept walking straight after he stepped into the alley. The alleyways were a lot more cramped than the streets outside, only letting five people walk shoulder to shoulder at any one time. There would of course be no players setting up stalls in such a small nook, and for this alley to link the east street and west street, it was a meaningless detour, and there was simply no other use for it aside from diversifying the city’s flow of traffic. There was no one else taking this route at all at the moment, which helped save Gu Fei quite some time. A single glance down the road and he could take everything in. He could tell that there was nothing happening in this alley. As for the different alleys that appeared between this one… He would only know if he glanced at them as he passed by.

“Has anything happen?”

“Nope.”

“Has anything happen?”

“Nope!”

“Has anything happen?”

“Nope!”

Young Master Han and the others kept messaging Gu Fei this question, and his answer was all the same up until they all finally got annoyed. “Why isn’t there anything happening yet?”

“F*ck! Nothing means nothing. Would you rather me make something up, instead?” Gu Fei was helpless.

“Just what are your coordinates exactly? Are you getting out from the left street or not?”

“It’s still too soon!” Gu Fei replied.

“No way… Have you been running at your top speed?” Young Master Han asked.

“Full speed all the way,” Gu Fei answered.

Thus, Young Master Han turned his eyes on to Brother Assist’s map. “This map you’ve got is inaccurate!”

Brother Assist was good at mathematics as well, and the map very pretentiously included a scale, making it easy for players to calculate the distance of this alley. With the knowledge of Gu Fei’s movement speed, he calculated the time according to the distance travelled, and it became obvious; if Gu Fei was running at his top speed, he should be near the exit to the left street at this point.

But from what Gu Fei had told them, it was still too soon for him to reach the exit. Thus, it was evident that there were problems with the map.

“Moth*rf*ck*r! An imitation good masquerading as an original – a shoddily made counterfeit!” Brother Assist was raging. There was really no way of knowing such a mistake on the map without verifying the exact calculations in person.

“What’s your current set of coordinates?” Young Master Han asked Gu Fei.

Gu Fei reported it. Young Master Han approximated and pointed it out on the map… According to Brother Assist’s map marker, Gu Fei was not on a street but inside a wall.

Mortified, Brother Assist awkwardly said, “This… I didn’t really study this map for discrepancy, either.”

Young Master Han furrowed his eyebrows. “Every city has its own map, and there isn’t another version out there, right?”

Brother Assist nodded. “I had specifically studied this very issue, and I have yet to come across any city with two versions on the market. All of them were originally mapped out by a cartographer before others copied them for sale. Some cities don’t even have an original, like Xiawu City. I searched around for a map the last time we were there, yet I didn’t find a single version at all.”

“These maps are created by players, so it’s unavoidable for there to be differences. We need to verify it in such a manner to discover any discrepancies, but what about them?” Young Master Han suddenly asked this.

“You mean Broken Water Arrow and the others?” Brother Assist asked before suddenly freezing. He involuntarily turned back and glanced at the Priest Academy. Although he did not see that person, he had already thought of Ye Xiaowu – the person who had an even better understanding of this game than he did.

“That guy might be able to spot any discrepancies from the map,” Young Master Han stated firmly.

“Possibly…” Brother Assist said.

“Perhaps, he might even have the official game company map in his hands. Although the system doesn’t provide this, there’s no reason for the internal department of the company not to have access to such a thing…” Young Master Han continued.

“So the map Broken Water Arrow and his men have is sure to be accurate,” Brother Assist concluded.

“Furthermore, they know that if we do have a map in our hands, it will surely be inaccurate.” Young Master Han continued to analyze this line of thought.

“This…” All of them were at a loss for words. The ex-soldiers possessed the correct map, while the map in Young Master Han and the gang’s hands were inaccurate. This meant that those ex-soldiers similarly knew their map was inaccurate, which basically meant that Broken Water Arrow’s squad was aware that their command arrangement would be based on this faulty map.

In other words, these ex-soldiers knew precisely where Gu Fei would end up after seeing him enter the alley on the right street.

Conversely, the two Mages stepping into the alley on the left street, from this faulty guide Young Master Han’s lot was holding, might not be what they had actually done.

Seemingly spotting errors with the length of the alleys, who could guarantee that the alley Gu Fei was in was even properly drawn?

————————————————

Gu Fei had been running for quite some time, yet he could vaguely feel that something was off. Even though he did not have the map on him, he did remember the direction the alley would be leading after a quick glance on Brother Assist’s map. At the moment, he felt that the direction he was going deviated more and more from what was drawn. If he continued onward, it seemed that he would not find himself exiting on the left street.

Could I have taken a wrong turn? Gu Fei wondered to himself. Ever since he entered the alley, the number of alleys that cut this one was more than the number depicted on the map as well. Gu Fei did not dare to backtrack haphazardly or go down the alley until the end, yet that was exactly the predicament he was in now.

Is the map incorrect? He wondered about this as well. Seeing the coordinates before him, he felt that he needed to re-determine his route. Thus, he Blinked and appeared five meters in the air.

The house to his side was just a little over two meters high, so this one Blink Gu Fei had cast placed him higher than its roof. He had purposely done this so as to get a higher vantage point.

Five meters in the sky, Gu Fei’s figure hung suspended in the air for a moment before he began his descent. He hurried to look around him as much as he could, and it was in that instant that he caught sight of several hearty figures running toward a certain direction.

Is that them? Gu Fei had this thought when he caught sight of that group, but he already ran out of time to see anything further. Landing himself on a two-meter high rooftop, it was just not enough height for Gu Fei to get a look at what was happening there.

The streets were filled with players running about to do their businesses in-game; it would be too rash of him to presume that those were the ex-soldiers just from that one glimpse. Looking all around him, Gu Fei spotted a higher building a short distance away from him and made his way toward it.

His Blink’s cooldown had not ended by the time he reached the building, so he took out his grappling hook and tossed it right onto the eaves, securing the claw as he swiftly scaled the wall. He proceeded to look at where he had last seen that group of players, but there was no one there at all.

The vantage point this building afforded was much better than his previous position, so Gu Fei once more looked down the alley he had been going; he saw how it twisted and bent all the way to its exit… Stuck amid the sea of houses, he could not make out where it led, but one thing was for sure: it would lead him away from the Priest Academy’s right street. It would be torturous for him to make the trip back.

This was around the time when Young Master Han’s lot started examining the map closely after getting Gu Fei’s coordinates and discovering that it was erroneous; they then hurried to ask Gu Fei about his situation.

“The road forward is truly torturous.” Gu Fei was pretending to be profound, yet Young Master Han straightforwardly said, “The map’s wrong.”

“Eh? How did you guys know that?” Gu Fei was astonished.

“Where are you right now?” Young Master Han asked.

“Didn’t you already ask for my coordinates before,” Gu Fei answered.

“Right now, the crux of the matter isn’t the map being erroneous but the enemies knowing it’s inaccurate. They are using this point to play a trick on us, misleading you to down that alley and wasting your time going around in circles,” Young Master Han said.

“Luring the tiger away from its den!” Gu Fei exclaimed.

“Can’t you be humbler?” the others in the party channel protested.

“I’ll be right back; you guys hold on!” Gu Fei said.

“Scram!” everyone cursed. Even though they had their suspicions, they still did not see anyone from the opposing party make any move. Broken Water Arrow and his Archer team continue to fire from range. Just what exactly are they thinking of doing next?

“Wait a minute. I’ve made a discovery!” Gu Fei suddenly messaged even as he leaped off the building he was on. In that time he looked around him, Gu Fei had spotted several figures sprinting off one after another. This group scaled high walls and leaped between houses. Their every action shared the same cadence and a consistent rhythm. IF he had only seen this bunch of players sprinting like mad men in that previous sighting, he now saw just how coordinated they were, and this spoke volumes of their identity. This level of coordination and discipline could only mean that they were the ex-soldiers.

Gu Fei was now back on the roofs of regular houses, and he ran in the direction he had last seen that bunch. The roofs were all lined but varied in heights; sometimes, it even required him to thread on the top of walls. Simply put, it was quite difficult. Gu Fei would not practice this when he was training his kung fu, so he was walking rather stiltedly the whole way, and his gaze was fixed in the direction he wanted to go. When he saw those figures reappear, all going by that same point and undulating one by one, but this second sighting allowed Gu Fei to realize that they had gotten even further from him. Gu Fei reckoned that they were doing the same thing on the rooftops: going down the streets and alleys when there was no path on the rooftops ahead. They seemed far more adept at this than Gu Fei, looking as if they had training in Qinggong ¹ .

Qinggong was often depicted rather fantastically in novels when it was anything but that in real life. Heroes with Qinggong could fly from wall to wall without stirring any bit of dust or dirt, but what Gu Fei was doing was just scaling walls, often using his hands in the process as well. Dust and dirt? Forget stirring any, Gu Fei would directly be smashing bits of wall and tiles with his steps, disturbing passersby in the process. If Chu Liuxiang ² had done it in the same way as Gu Fei, he would have already been captured many times over; why would he even get the chance to flirt with beauties and chase skirts?

“What’s the situation? What’s happening over there?” Young Master Han and the others had been waiting ever since Gu Fei said he had made a discovery, and none of their follow-up questions were answered. Gu Fei was busy keeping an eye on his targets, and considering how difficult the route this chase was, he barely bothered to respond to any their queries. Soon, Gu Fei discovered that the all-Agility Mage character of his was for naught, as he truly had no way of keeping up with his targets even when he went at his top speed. Thus, he came to a stop and replied, “I saw them. I’m giving chase right now.”

“It’s not a trap?” Brother Assist fretted.

“Doesn’t seem to be the case. They are in a rush,” Gu Fei replied.

“How many of them?”

“I didn’t get a proper headcount… There’s a string of them…” Gu Fei used the word ‘string’ to describe the beauty of those ex-soldiers climbing the houses so deftly. He was doing the same thing, so he knew how tough it was for them to execute this in such a fluid manner.

“Coordinates,” Young Master Han asked.

Gu Fei sent a set over, laughing thereafter, “What’s the point of getting my coordinates? That map you’ve got is wrong, anyway.”

“Which direction are they heading?” Young Master Han asked.

“Southeast,” Gu Fei answered.

Miles’ coordinates… in the southeast direction… Young Master Han was mulling over this when he glanced at their set of coordinates in surprise. “The Priest Academy… has a back door?”

“No way… right?” Everyone was equally shocked. While they were in a different city, the structure of most buildings were more or less the same everywhere. The city they were familiar with never had a safe zone that had a back door. Could Baishi City be different in this aspect?

Everyone rushed to the entrance of the Priest Academy and peered into it. They first saw Gu Xian sitting on a rock right by the side of the door, taking a nap and looking very much like a gatekeeper. They then noticed the two Priests standing next to Ye Xiaowu; the three had been ignored all this while. Right now, they were standing with their backs against the front door, their heads raised to look at the tall building facing the gate.

This building was the actual Priest Academy… To put it another way, if the Priest Academy was viewed as a school, that big and tall building would be taken as the academy’s main building. This was not like a church. Removing those twelve thick white stone pillars, it was indubitably just a normal building facing the southeast. It was hard to tell just how many levels the building had, and there were not many open windows, so this meant that light and ventilation of the place were not particularly good. Anyone could tell that it was a place with a floor plan that most likely provided a poor standard of living, yet those three Priests were staring at it like idiots.

Young Master Han’s heart shuddered. “They can’t possibly be thinking of jumping from that height, right?”

“Can they even do that?” The rest were surprised, for they had never once seen anyone do something so insane.

In the end, it was the ex-soldiers that gave them the best explanation. Several heads poked out from up that building’s roof, and this was followed by a long rope that unravelled from the top, reaching the ground. This bunch was clutching a long rope each and was already sliding down it without a word; five men came down their ropes at one go!

It was no longer just Young Master Han’s gang, even those in the Priest Academy grounds were dumbfounded at what they were witnessing. To think that there would be such a method!

This was a scene that they had all seen in Hong Kong movies, with actors playing the part of Special Duties Unit (S.D.U.) ³ , and the main lead often heroically descending on the criminals to beat them all up before he flew off in a helicopter with the female lead in his arms…

However, because these ex-soldiers had limited exposure to games, their preparation was very basic. Thus, they were not particularly flamboyant in how they acted, merely clutching onto the ropes and sliding down it very plainly. These players were all watching blankly, with some even beginning to contemplate further. Everyone has seen how you guys descend; how will you guys get back up?

“Now what?”

This particular maneuver the ex-soldiers had made surprised everyone. To choose such a method of rescue, they would no longer suffer the handicap of being without Priests! They could simply just march out of this safe zone along with the three Priests. Having learned their lesson at the price of their lives twice, they must now know how important Priests were, so the three men would surely be protected within their formation like precious treasures. Furthermore, having been bullied via such shameless methods by the hands of those experts, would they just stay around and wait to die here?

Just as the experts were all uncertain what they should do, everyone saw another figure, decked out in a black robe and a gleaming purple sword, flash from atop the tall building.

“Miles!” These experts cheered. This man would always appear in such a stunning fashion at the crucial moment!

Gu Fei had a rough journey chasing these ex-soldiers, and when he later came across more rugged terrain along the way, the man decided to just use his Blink to traverse through. Hot in pursuit, Gu Fei at least managed to catch up to the tail end of the squad. After five men slid down, four others were about to follow them, but that was when Gu Fei struck.

He swung his Moonlit Nightfalls at one of the four men, causing this person to do a roll where he stood, but the two men froze in that moment. Gu Fei ruefully said to the players expectantly waiting for him within the academy grounds, “This is still part of the safe zone…”

Players could utter their spell incantations and make the motion to slash at people in safe zones, but players could never hope their attacks to find their target. The two, who had just exchanged blows, noticed this point. Meanwhile, the other three that were originally planning to assist him promptly celebrated when they learned of this.

They finally managed to take advantage of the game rules! The ex-soldiers were happy and ignored Gu Fei as they each grabbed their ropes and went S.D.U.

Gu Fei chased them until the ledge, staring quizzically at these ex-soldiers holding their ropes. “Say, in the safe zone… Only players are safe, and ropes are fair game, right?”

Gu Fei had experienced this before. He had previously used his fire spell to burn off Flame Singed Clothes’ playing cards, which meant that the protection of the safe zone was only exclusive to players. When these ex-soldiers heard him say that, their faces instantly went pale. They watched him pull out a dagger from his dimensional pocket. This white-tier weapon that a level 70 werewolf had dropped was exceedingly sharp, and it was perfect for cutting meat or rope, so a single swipe of his hand…

“AHHHHHH!” The first ex-soldier screamed as he went plummeting to the ground; Gu Fei quickly raised his arm to cut the second rope.