Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-97

Chapter 97 - Gu Fei wants to quit the guild?

Gu Fei and everyone finally made it back to Yunduan City after a three-hour arduous journey through the Oolong Mountain Range. During this journey, the busiest person among them had been Royal God Call, as he tried every possible method to show off in front of Will-low. Not one monster was on the mountain road to kill, so Royal God Call could regrettably not use this most obvious method in online games to woo a girl. This made things difficult for him. With no other choice, he resorted to cracking almost forty terrible jokes throughout the whole trip.

This kid is childish. Truly and utterly childish! Gu Fei was unimpressed by Royal God Call’s actions, so he deliberately walked far behind the pack to avoid him and his not-even-funny jokes. However, it was obvious who Will-low would choose to walk with among the group. Wherever Gu Fei was, Will-low would be right next to him. And where Will-low would be, Royal God Call would also be around. Therefore, Gu Fei did not miss even one of Royal God Call’s forty plus horrible jokes.

Finally, they arrived in Yunduan City! Powerful emotions surged inside Gu Fei at this moment, as he hurriedly stepped through the city’s archway entrance. He no longer had to hear Royal God Call’s terrible jokes.

Royal God Call seemed to have been waiting for this moment as well. He deepened his voice and said to Will-low, “You won’t be familiar with the places in Yunduan City since you’re new; how about I give you a quick tour?” This fox had long abandoned his fellow mercenaries and was hoping to land himself a date with Will-low.

Unexpectedly, Will-low sniggered, “No need. I’ve got plenty of friends in this city.”

“Oh, is that so? Why don’t you introduce me to your friends, then?” Royal God Call said without missing a beat.

Gu Fei and the rest could only watch Royal God Call shamelessly follow Will-low to meet her friends.

“Send me a message,” Will-low singled out Gu Fei before leaving the group.

Gu Fei nodded his head in acknowledgement. He understood what she had asked him to do. As the two walked away, he could hear Royal God Call saying to Will-low, “No need to trouble Miles. Just look for me if you need anything….”

Although Gu Fei had no intentions toward Will-low like Royal God Call, he still wished to tell Royal God Call: “You f*ck*r!”

“Shall we leave as well?” Young Master Han probed the others.

“Let’s!” Sword Demon affirmed.

“Anyone looking to have a drink can join me,” Young Master Han headed toward the direction of a tavern. The rest did not bother to look at him as they left to settle their personal matters.

Young Master’s Elite mercenary group only gathered for two reasons: They had a mission or they wanted to drink at Ray’s Bar. When it came to grinding, everyone would do it alone. Gu Fei found this strange because all the players he had met thus far always grouped up to grind together.

Sword Demon explained that their mercenary group’s idiosyncratic behavior was due to everyone’s professionalism as well as old habits, “While party grinding definitely increases efficiency and makes everyone suffer fewer setbacks, it makes one more dependent on his or her teammates. For us professionals, such reliance on others is detrimental. It’s essential for us to have the ability to stand on our own two feet in all settings and circumstances.”

Gu Fei received quite the shock. It was not due to Sword Demon’s sound reasoning that had similarity to Gu Fei’s belief as a kung fu practitioner. What shocked him was Sword Demon’s seriousness regarding the whole matter. Gaming was often regarded as a pastime, yet Sword Demon did not have that kind of mentality. Gaming seemed to contain his goals and ideals. Gu Fei was impressed by Sword Demon’s ability to treat games with such seriousness.

As Gu Fei turned around after watching the gaming experts disappear from his field of view, he heard someone calling his IGN. He turned his head back and saw July and Luo Luo of Amethyst Rebirth Guild approaching him. He quickly greeted them, “Hey, it’s been a while.”

“Yes! What’ve you been up to these past two days?” Luo Luo was all smiles as she spoke to Gu Fei, somewhat implying that she knew very well what he had been up to.

Gu Fei had already expected this and had even taken sufficient precautions to prevent the exposure of his identity. And yet, no amount of preparation could prevent a determined person from uncovering the truth.

Fugitive 27149’s appearance in Yueye City had already been revealed on the game forums. This did not mean anything to others, yet it was a clue to people who knew Gu Fei but did not know of his identity as Fugitive 27149. In fact, no players had traveled between Yunduan City and Yueye City before Gu Fei and Xiaoyu. There was hardly any difference between the two in-game cities, after all. Who would actually spend three hours journeying from one place to another similar place?

Thousand Miles Drunk left Yunduan City and Fugitive 27149 surfaced in Yueye City. Just this was already a damning evidence of Gu Fei being Fugitive 27149. Although many people did not know who had left Yunduan City for Yueye City, the ladies of Amethyst Rebirth did. Ultimately, Gu Fei and Xiaoyu had left for Yueye City together.

Seeing July and Luo Luo’s expressions right now, Gu Fei deduced that the two had a hunch that he was Fugitive 27149. But since Gu Fei had come prepared, he readily answered Luo Luo’s question, “I left with Xiaoyu to complete some quests over at Yueye City.”

“Oh? What sort of quest could that be?” Luo Luo’s smile remained unchanged. They knew that only Xiaoyu, the quest fanatic, would be willing to travel to another city three hours away for a run-of-the-mill quest. Gu Fei going to another city for the same reason did not seem probable.

Unfortunately for them, he actually had something of great value: a chain quest. Among all quests, it was the most sought-after by many players. With a chain quest, let alone three hours of traveling to another city, many players would be even willing to travel for thirty hours just to obtain it.

Once July and Luo Luo heard the two words ‘chain quest’, their facial expressions changed abruptly. Obtaining and completing a chain quest was a shocking affair, after all. If his reason for going to Yueye City was that, then they could not tell for sure that Gu Fei was Fugitive 27149.

“Are things good over in Yueye City?” July asked another question.

“Chaotic. Extremely chaotic. Players over there are PvP fanatics. All it takes is a few words for people to get into a fight. Dozens of guilds started warring in those two days I’d been in Yueye City. There’s so much killing all over the city that no players dared to take a step out. Do you know that Mage that killed No Smile from this city? He’s in Yueye City, too. I even saw him! It's a pity he’s kept his face covered,” Gu Fei rambled on.

While July and Luo Luo were exchanging looks, Gu Fei was pondering hard, Since my PK value is gone, no one can surely bring forward evidence that I was Fugitive 27149 once. If I’m gonna do such things next time, I’ll make sure to keep in mind the PvP rules. That way, I can avoid attracting so much attention. Too bad for future players unluckily assigned serial number 27149, though.

Serial number 27149 of a ‘Bounty Mission’ was randomly assigned by the system to a player. It merely indicated that a player was the 27149th PKer in Parallel World at a given moment. Any player that would get assigned this number from now on would surely have quite a rough time ahead of him or her.

The atmosphere became slightly awkward when the three stopped exchanging words for quite a while. After a bit, July changed her line of questioning, “Where’s Xiaoyu? Didn’t you return with her?”

“Nope. She’s still doing quests over there. She actually wanted me to ask you guys if moving the guild over to Yueye City is possible,” Gu Fei laughed.

“That Xiaoyu!” July shook her head, as she showed a forced smile.

“Oh, that’s right!” Gu Fei suddenly slapped his forehead, recalling something, “I met a lady who’s interested in joining your guild.”

“‘Your’ guild?” July said, “Don’t forget; you’re a member of it as well. You should be saying OUR guild, instead.”

“I’m just waiting for you lot to get your twentieth member before leaving the guild!” Gu Fei reasoned.

“Oh. No wonder you’re in a hurry to introduce her to ‘our’ guild,” July remarked dryly.

Gu Fei simpered, neither admitting nor denying her allegation.

“When do you plan to have her come over, so that we can get to know her?” July sighed before asking.

“Immediately is good,” Gu Fei replied, asking back, “How about you two? You guys free right now?”

“If we’re busy, will we be chatting idly with you right now?” July asked sarcastically.

Gu Fei could sense that July’s tone was off. She seemed to not be happy about something. For a moment, he was unsure whether he should call Will-low over or not.

July realized that she had forgotten herself. She hurriedly pulled herself together and maintained her usual impassive expression, saying, “Call her over now! We’ll wait at this tavern right here.”

Gu Fei nodded his head in acknowledgement and quickly sent a message to Will-low. The three then entered the tavern and secured some seats for everyone.

“You guys go ahead. I need to head to the warehouse to organize my items. I’ll be back soon,” July stood up just as they sat down.

Watching July leave the tavern, Gu Fei quickly asked Luo Luo, “Is July angry?”

“So you can tell.”

“Mhm….”

“Of course, she is. You’re in such a hurry to leave the guild with this look of dislike on you. She’ll naturally feel offended. Even I’m fuming,” Luo Luo said a bit crossly.

Gu Fei was confused. They were the ones who were angry that he had gotten into the guild. Now that he was finally leaving, they were still the ones getting mad. A woman’s thought was indeed a turbulent affair. It was comparable to the evilest kung fu technique with multiple facets.

“Say. Why’re you in such a rush to leave our guild?” Luo Luo asked in a slightly chiding tone.

“I’m in a rush? Am I?” Gu Fei answered with a question, perplexed.

“You’re not the only one who can grasp people’s thoughts. Others can do so as well!” Luo Luo said exasperatedly.

“Uhm… I’m in no rush. Me leaving Amethyst Rebirth is what you guys want, right?” Gu Fei reasoned.

“Wanting you to leave is because you’re a male player. Not wanting you to leave is because you’re Thousand Miles Drunk,” Luo Luo alluded.

Gu Fei wrinkled his brows, “What’s the difference?”

The tavern door opened before Luo Luo could answer. Gu Fei waved his hands to get Will-low’s attention as she walked into the establishment. She had left the area not too long ago, so it was natural for her to be able to get back fast. When he spotted Royal God Call following behind Will-low, he suddenly had the urge to pull his sword out.

“Miles!” Royal God Call cheekily greeted Gu Fei with a wide grin on his face. He stood in a daze for a bit when he saw Luo Luo, before blurting out, “Ah, it’s another beauty!”

“See?!” Luo Luo said, “That’s the difference between male players and Thousand Miles Drunk.”