Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-72

Chapter 72 - No Cowards in Kung Fu

“Kung fu produces no cowards! Your discerning eyes are worthy of my praise for recognizing the Mantis Fist Style!” remarked Coward’s Savior. His eyes shone brightly upon hearing Gu Fei’s earlier exclamation.

Gu Fei was speechless. The fighting stance for the Mantis Fist Style was very distinct, especially since this person had posed in such a proper manner. It was, therefore, not worthy enough to be complimented about having “discerning eyes”, as anyone who had seen movies featuring the style could also recognize it from a glance.

“If that’s the case…” Gu Fei put Sacred Flames of Baptism back into his dimensional pocket and assumed a fighting stance as well.

“Mantis Fist Style, too?” Coward’s Savior was stunned, immediately retorting, “Hey, man. Don’t just go around casually copying others! That’s too shameless!”

“I’m not copying you,” Gu Fei said, feeling shocked.

“Not copying me? Then, what’re you doing?” Coward’s Savior stretched his arms vertically and faced seemingly fractured fists forward. He then leaned his body forward and started swaying back and forth.

“I didn’t copy your—” Gu Fei was about to explain, but he was rudely interrupted by a yell from Coward’s Savior, “I don’t care! Let’s fight!” With that, he dashed toward Gu Fei and threw a punch right at his face.

“Your moves are a mess,” Gu Fei deflected his attacker’s fist with an open palm.

“Not bad, punk. You’ve got some moves!” Coward’s Savior’s Agility was clearly not low, as he was able to throw out a hook when his first jab had been deflected.

Gu Fei paid particular attention to Coward’s Savior’s footing and felt bewildered at what he saw. Gu Fei ducked to avoid the incoming fist and extended his leg, performing a basic sweep kick that toppled Coward’s Savior straight to the ground.

“Do you really know the Mantis Fist Style?!” Gu Fei asked. His voice filled with skepticism.

“Of course, I do! HI-YA!” Coward’s Savior still assumed the Mantis Fist Style even while he was on the ground. With a roar, he kicked up from the ground and resumed his previous stance.

Gu Fei retreated a few steps and Coward’s Savior immediately dashed toward him.

“Stop!” Gu Fei shouted as he extended his hand in front of him.

Coward’s Savior stopped in his tracks and asked absent-mindedly, “What?”

Gu Fei walked up to him and patted his arms, “While your upper body maintains the Seven Stars Mantis Fist Style stance, your lower body…” Gu Fei used his leg to tap each of Coward’s Savior’s calves and said, “Don’t you know your Seven Stars footwork? Have you even properly learned the Seven Stars Mantis Fist Style?”

“What footwork?”

“Seven Stars footwork.”

“What’s that?”

Gu Fei was dumbfounded at this revelation. He took two steps back and pulled out Sacred Flames of Baptism once more, “Just take your weapon out!”

“Real kung fu expert depends on his fists!” Coward’s Savior clenched his fists.

Gu Fei dashed toward Coward’s Savior and swept the latter off his feet once more. He then began stomping on him, “I dare you to insult kung fu again! I dare you!”

“Oww—ouch! Stop stomping on me! I’ll get angry if you persist!” Coward’s Savior yelled. Gu Fe was an all-Agility Mage. When it came to close combat, his damage mostly depended on his weapon. Hence, his unarmed attacks, like stomping, were obviously not enough to penetrate Coward’s Savior’s defense. Although the player was looking pathetic at the moment, his HP remained the same.

“I’m already angry!” Gu Fei bellowed. He was well aware that his unarmed attacks dealt no damage to his opponent. But this actually meant that he did not have to worry about accidentally stomping this idiot to death and increasing his PK value. He even pulled out Moonlit Nightfalls to increase his Agility, so that he could stomp quicker on Coward’s Savior.

“YAAHHH!” Coward’s Savior howled, as his two hands held on to Gu Fei’s stomping right foot. Gu Fei was stunned when he felt the surge of a large amount of strength. He had no way of fighting it and could only watch himself be tossed high off the ground.

Gu Fei had intended to regain his balance while mid-air, yet he discovered that he did not have the strength to fight inertia. This astonishing moment lasted only for a short while, as he quickly found himself crashing onto the ground.

His HP immediately dropped by half. The fall alone had inflicted such a high damage on him. However, Gu Fei did not feel surprised by this, as he was quite familiar with this particular job class.

Coward’s Savior was a Fighter, and he had just unleashed the level 30 Fighter skill, Seismic Toss.

Coward’s Savior had used the skill while he was on the ground, so he probably did not use the move’s full strength. Halving Gu Fei’s HP with not even the skill’s full strength made it more or less comparable to an Archer’s Snipe or a Thief’s Backstab. It was a skill that could easily insta-kill low-level and low HP players.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Coward’s Savior immediately stood up. With his arms akimbo, he laughed uproariously, “You forced me to use my killer move. Now you know my greatness!”

Indubitably, even calm players would have moments when they lost their temper just like how Gu Fei had just had. Gu Fei was irate by Coward’s Savior’s thoroughly unimpressive posing of the Mantis Fist stance. Because of his strong desire to stomp onto Coward’s Savior as if he was a cockroach earlier, he had thoroughly forgotten that the latter could fight back.

Gu Fei slowly got up. He dusted himself off, returned the sword back into his dimensional pocket, and turned around to leave.

Coward’s Savior stood there frozen with his fists clenched for a beat, before finally shouting as he chased Gu Fei, “Stop right there! Where do you think you’re going?”

Gu Fei turned his head, “I originally thought you know kung fu. Turns out you’re nothing but a braggart! Fine... Do whatever you want, but I’m leaving.”

“The heck! You’re totally looking down on me! Receive my attack!” Coward’s Savior yelled as he unleashed his Spurring Meteor at Gu Fei.

Gu Fei turned sideways to let the hurtling figure go past him. Coward’s Savior reacted nimbly at this by turning around and delivering an uppercut. Gu Fei took a step back, just as Coward’s Savior hurled a kick toward him. The person ended up hitting naught but air. Gu Fei then stepped in and grabbed the leg that still hung in the air and gave it a light push.

Coward’s Savior, who was standing with one leg, immediately toppled over. However, he did not actually fall far from Gu Fei, as the latter’s strength was not that great to cause that.

Coward’s Savior was a little stumped. The uppercut and kick he threw just now were not part of the Mantis Fist Style he had shown earlier. They were the level 12 and level 18 skills of the Fighter job class. In Parallel World, a Fighter could hurl his opponent upward using Uppercut Punch and follow it up using Thrusting Kick. Spurring Meteor could then be unleashed against the opponent before he or she hit the ground. This was the Fighter job class’ specialty: combo attack.

In the end, Gu Fei easily dodged all of them with just two steps.

“You know kung fu!” Coward’s Savior suddenly shouted.

Gu Fei nodded.

“Please accept me as your disciple!” Coward’s Savior pleaded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gu Fei said.

“I won’t get up if you don’t accept me!” Coward’s Savior said as he continued to lie on the ground. He even started rolling back and forth.

The times really have changed! Gu Fei sighed. In the past, people would stay kneeling when they hoped to be apprenticed. Now, kneeling was no longer the rage. Instead, this person in front of him resolved to indefinitely roll on the ground. The action might have changed, but the words did not. They were still: “If you don’t accept me as your disciple, I’ll never get up!”

“Please accept me! Accept me, please!” Coward’s Savior devoutly rolled on the ground as he shouted. He lifted his head to take a look, only to find that Gu Fei had already left.

Coward’s Savior did a kip up and raised a clenched fist, “I’ll definitely apprentice myself under a master and learn kung fu. Because… kung fu produces no cowards!”

At this moment, Gu Fei was already two blocks away from Coward’s Savior. It’s rare to find someone so passionate toward kung fu like him. Too bad there’s something wrong with his head, Gu Fei sighed regretfully. Instead of embarrassing himself together with that man over there, it was better for him to get away as soon as possible.

Asking a few more players along the way, Gu Fei finally got to Yueye City’s 4th Night Main Street. The Bounty Assignment Hall was huge, yet it was crammed with players. This was not surprising given the players’ passion for PvP in Yueye City. Many of them often gathered in the hall with different intentions, poring over the list and waiting.

Everyone in the hall was still raining praises toward the top fugitive, 27149. Although Gu Fei’s PK value had decreased by 5 points, no other players in-game had a two-digit PK value, making his 10 PK points stand out. Gu Fei was very worried that the players around him would pick up the ‘Bounty Mission’ targeting him. Luckily, such a scenario did not occur.

Gu Fei checked the Wanted Players list and arranged it by region. The player ranked first on the Wanted Players list for Yueye City had a PK value of 4 points, with serial number 29527. Gu Fei did not hesitate and took this mission.

The system immediately informed Gu Fei about the pertinent rules of the ‘Bounty Mission’.

‘Bounty Mission’ could not be canceled, and only a single target could be chosen each time. The mission would automatically be suspended when the target’s PK value was reduced to 0 or when another player accomplished it.

The coordinates of 29527 were sent to Gu Fei not long after he left the Quest Assignment Hub.

Gu Fei braced himself and ran toward the indicated coordinates.

Based on the direction he was going and the changes in the coordinates, Gu Fei deduced that the target was somewhere within the city. Five minutes had passed, so the coordinates refreshed, and Gu Fei was taken aback by what he saw. The coordinates displayed were still the same, which meant that the person had stayed in the same spot for the entirety of the five minutes.

That’s way too arrogant, Gu Fei thought to himself, I absconded from Yunduan City due to my PK value, yet this person here just squats in the same place. Is he not afraid of being hunted?

Gu Fei felt that this was strange and suspected that it was a trap. While he was considering the possibility of this, Gu Fei found that he had arrived at the coordinates. He looked up and saw a tavern ahead.

Is he really drinking in the tavern? Or is this a trap? Gu Fei did not immediately enter the tavern. He circled the establishment twice first.

Gu Fei watched quite a number of players come and go, appearing quite normal. He decided to re-evaluate the situation. Gu Fei was able to spot a person with serial number 29527 inside. The person seemed oblivious to the fact that someone had taken up the ‘Bounty Mission’ to subdue him. Because of this, Gu Fei’s assumption of this being a trap was somewhat dispelled.

Gu Fei entered the tavern after preparing himself mentally. The system-operated tavern’s lounge was filled with many tables and chairs. Gu Fei’s eyes swept through the crowd until they stopped at Fugitive 29527 who was sitting, drinking, and chatting with a group of people. The players entering and exiting the tavern would at most sweep their gazes over that group. Gu Fei did not know whether these players knew that the most wanted fugitive in Yueye City was among them or not. All he knew was that nobody cared about the player’s presence.

Just what’s going on here? Gu Fei tried to understand the current situation, as he walked up to the bar and ordered a glass of liquor from the NPC bartender. He drank a mouthful of it and turned to look at 29527 once more. The person was still sitting and chatting with some people in that table. Gu Fei was within two meters of him, and was almost an arm's length away to ending his life.

Screw it! Gu Fei made up his mind. Although he felt that the whole thing was a little strange, he still had to brave this den of tigers for the sake of reducing his PK value.

Gu Fei walked straight toward Fugitive 29527 and struck with all his might using the Sacred Flames of Baptism in his hand. Fugitive 29527 fell down to the ground with that cut. Loud exclamations could be heard from the surrounding players. Fugitive 29527 lay sprawled on the floor beside his flipped over stool, yet he made no attempt to resist Gu Fei’s attack. His face displayed a look of confusion.

What’s with that look? Did he not make any preparations and just sit here awaiting capture? Although Gu Fei felt that this whole matter was beyond strange, his hand did not stop attacking. He immediately followed up his initial slash with two more cuts as he shouted, “You’re 29527, right?!”