Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

The funds were quickly collected. Gu Fei and the others also took out 200 gold coins each as a show of solidarity. In no time, they had managed to raise a total of 34,624 gold coins. Blue Ease was sweating as he held a bill record, madly doing the math to account for the money he and his men had put up, only sighing in relief when the total sum of gold coins matched the number of men perfectly.

“Everything good?” Young Master Han asked when he saw his relieved expression.

Blue Ease nodded. Young Master Han looked at the time and got up. “It’s about time.”

“Are you going to complete the transaction?” Blue Ease had his doubts. Young Master Han had the right job class; still, had he not mentioned that they should not be using anyone Southern Lone Blade and his men would recognize before?

“Nope. There’s someone else.” Young Master Han turned to gaze at Vast Lushness, who nodded slightly to confirm this.

The others still had their doubts, for it looked as if Vast Lushness and Young Master Han had some sort of secret plan in place.

“Then, it’s time we move out, too!” Gu Fei rubbed his hands in anticipation.

“How are we going to set up our men by the spawn point? Do we have to leave a team of men in each of the six job class spawn points?” Blue Ease still held on to that style of ruthlessness he cultivated during his time in Yueye City. Could it be considered as a proper hunt if the target died just once? The enemy would not know what he or she was going up against if they did not at least camp them out for days on end at the spawn point.

“Anything goes!” Young Master Han said; that unconcerned attitude of his made this seem like it was a fool’s errand, causing Blue Ease to feel a wave of doubt wash over him once more.

“It’s like this.” Finally, it was Vast Lushness who patiently explained everything to the crowd. “The auction will be over right at the stipulated time, but we can delay the retrieval of the staff by up to a whole week, which is why I’m prepared to store the magic staff there during this time.”

Blue Ease was shocked as he proceeded to ask, “Southern Lone Blade and his team must want to know where the staff ends up, so they’ll surely stake out the Auction House for a full week – all 24 hours?”

Vast Lushness nodded.

“That’s way too vicious…” Blue Ease sighed. It was no wonder that, despite being a vice guild leader during those days back in Yueye City, his position in the guild was incomparable to that of Vast Lushness. Beyond the fact that she was the guild leader’s wifey, just a look at this plan demonstrated the disparity between the two; forcing the enemies to hang there for a week was far more sinister and crueler than crudely camping the spawn point.

“Doesn’t that mean that there’s no need to fight today?” Everyone had been readying themselves for a fight the entire night, but they had not even considered that this kind of situation they were now facing would crop up.

“There’s no need,” Vast Lushness said.

“Aren’t we luring Southern Lone Blade out?” Eternal Dominion had no idea what had happened or what was going on, so he did not have a clear understanding of the entirety of the plan, but he was at least able to make out that there would not be any fight today.

“That’s not what I said,” Young Master Han answered.

Eternal Dominion turned to look at Gu Fei, who had a somber expression. “There’re changes to the plan.”

“Then—” Just as Young Master Han was about to say something, someone suddenly burst through the tavern door and yelled, “NOT GOOD!”

Blue Ease turned around, and when he saw that the player was one of his comrades, he was immediately angered. “Why are you only here now? It’s not that we won’t be returning you your coin after chipping in. Is there a need for you to hide?!”

“No. Something happened!” That man was still yelling.

“What happened?” everyone asked.

“There’re a lot of players over at the Auction House!” this man answered.

Everyone went silent, waiting for him to elaborate further, but that man had nothing else to say. Blue Ease was about to reprimand this man when Young Master Han’s expression changed abruptly. “SH*T!”

“What’s wrong?” The others turned to look at him.

“If there’re too many players, we might be unable to get ourselves an auction console if we start to make our way over now!” Young Master Han explained.

“CRAP!” Everyone finally realized the gravity of the situation. They had actually glossed over this cruel and realistic problem.

“QUICK! WE’RE LEAVING!” Blue Ease bellowed, as the whole lot of players bolted out of the tavern. Vast Lushness was all the more anxious. It was evident that if they failed to get an auction console in time, it would be pointless no matter how many gold coins they had on hand; the magic staff would still change hands once the auction ended.

The crowd of men rushed to the Auction House, and they could tell at a single glance how hopeless the situation was.

Every auction console in the Auction House looked to have gathered a throng of crowd. And just like the crowd waiting for the bus during peak hours, everyone was jostling with one another to use it. While there appeared to be gaps between the players, that was the empty space the system provided for each player in a designated safe zone, restricting players from physical contact between each other.

Furthermore, even though the Auction House and Trade Exchange were not designated as log off points for players, it was actually a safe zone that was a lot safer than the designated log-off points. In these two areas, players were unable to even use their skills or spells at all. Even ‘Bounty Mission’, which was not restricted by the designated log-off points, was sealed here. There was really no way to even make their way in, considering just how crowded the place had become.

This problem that often happened in real life suddenly appeared in a MMO, momentarily blindsiding even Young Master Han as a result. After all, it was impossible for such a problem to surface in conventional games. No matter how many players there were, separating the interface would do the trick, so why would there even be a need for players to squeeze into a building like this? However, the scene before them was just like that, everyone was eyeing each other, unable to do anything about it.

The Auction House was in an uproar, but because no one could make any move, everyone did their best to unleash their communication skills, and curses rang about endlessly. Gu Fei and the others walked two whole rounds and realized that there were many like them that were unable to interact with the auction consoles. Currently, all these players were wearing troubled looks as they lambasted the others, similarly powerless to the situation. In this super safe zone, there was no difference between a powerhouse like Gu Fei and a level zero noob.

“What do we do now?” Everyone had this question upon their lips. Vast Lushness looked at the time and saw that there was only 20 minutes left before the auction ended.

“Looking at the situation, there’s a chance that we won’t be able to get that magic staff back, but you’ll at least be able to sell it for a very high price.” Sakurazaka Moony already started consoling her.

“Yeah… I’ll treat everyone to drinks once I receive the payment for it.” Even though Vast Lushness was smiling at Sakurazaka Moony when she said this, anyone could tell that it was forced. There was no doubt that this lady was someone who valued sentimentality, be it in people or with her possessions. This was a magic staff that she had with her for a long time, and now that it was really going to change hands, no amount of money out there was enough to soothe her unsettled heart. As for the value she could get for the equipment itself, it was nothing more than an improvement for this sadness.

Blue Ease could not bear to watch it any longer, pulling out a big pouch of gold coins, he sought to negotiate with the players around, hoping to buy themselves a way in. In the end, the players in the outermost circle were also feeling annoyed at being unable to find a way in to place their bids! All of them only had one word for Blue Ease’s attempted bribery: “SCRAM!”

Why would any of these players that dared to bid for this magic staff be short of coins themselves? Others had already used the method Blue Ease was using now, and that bloody path they had carved out for themselves with gold was stopped right by the layer of players in touching distance to the auction console; none of them was willing to let go of their position even in the face of death. Those players essentially paid a heavy price only to end up in the prime position to watch others bid, and that only served to add to the feeling of desolation in their hearts.

Blue Ease heard such talks after going around a few times and no longer dared to try the same. He returned to the group, dispirited at his failure to find a way in, and shook his head at Vast Lushness.

Vast Lushness did not say anything. All she did was to heave a light sigh, before turning to Gu Fei and the other experts. “Let’s head over to the pick-up point and see if Southern Lone Blade and the others are around!”

It was apparent that the situation had gone out of hand, and all they could do was watch their act become a reality. This time, they really had to kill Southern Lone Blade.

“Whoa, are you for real? Such top-grade equipment, I’m gonna drop 3000 gold coins on it!” A loud cry was suddenly heard. Everyone turned around and saw that it was Fireball there shouting to nowhere in particular. Meanwhile, on a raised platform before him, Gu Fei had set up a stall, calmly putting his Moonlit Nightfalls on display.

Fireball’s shouting had the effect of drawing the attention of the surrounding players who had nothing to do. After scowling in disdain, they instinctively swept their gazes over Moonlit Nightfalls, which was on display. As an item that was displayed on a stall, the stats would automatically be revealed to all, and the eyes of these players could not bear to peel them off after that single glance. Adding the fact that Fireball continued to call out, “Sell it to me! Sell it to me!” more and more players’ gazes began to be drawn over it.

There were plenty of Priests that had rushed over to bid over the Utopian Magic Staff, but at the same time, there were many other job classes that had come over to spectate. With how shockingly high Moonlit Nightfall’s magic damage was, as well as the physical damage inherent to the sword far outstripping the standard of level-40 equipment currently in use, plenty of job classes were tempted by what they saw, including the minority of Dark Priests among the Priest folks. With that single glance, plenty of Mages and Warriors instantly surged forth to surround the stall, as shouts of “How much?” filled the air. Perhaps, these people were entrusted by their friends to help buy the Utopian Magic Staff, but upon seeing that they no longer had the chance of even making a bid for it, and something far stronger than the Utopian Magic Staff that was suitable to their job classes promptly popped up, why would they not come flocking like moths to a flame?

Gu Fei was instantaneously energized by this, bellowing, “I can’t make my way to the auction console, so I’ll just do the auction out here! Shout if you want to make a bid; make sure to be louder!”

“3000! 3000!” Fireball was the closest, and he continued to shout madly right under the platform.

“3000, your head!” Someone openly mocked Fireball; calling out 3000 was simply an insult in the face of such a top grade equipment. “I’ll raise it to 3100!” that man shouted.

“Tsk!” The crowd thought he was going to say something impressive, yet all he did was raise the bid by 100 gold coins.

“3300… 3400… 3500… 4000…”

The price continued to rise, each higher than the last. Gu Fei did not care if these players were like Fireball, shouting for the sake of creating a ruckus, and continued to repeat the highest price whenever it came up.

In no time, the price was well beyond that of the Utopian Magic Staff, which was originally what drew all the Priests across Parallel World over here. Those players that were initially dedicated to this particular auction only treated the commotion around them to be no more than a distraction, but upon hearing the price had gone beyond the equipment that they first had their eyes on, these men could not stand it any longer and turned back to have a look.

Moonlit Nightfalls was ultimately a combat weapon; Priests were able to maintain their calm in the fact of this, but other players could not sit still after catching a glimpse of it. This was especially the case for those non-Priests that were in the inner circle nearest to the auction consoles, busily bidding over the Utopian Magic Staff. Most of them were asked by their friends to do so, or perhaps they were players who had been asked along by someone they knew to help increase the chances of successfully acquiring the magic staff. Right now, every fiber in their bodies were straining over this temptation, for the appearance of a more suitable piece of top-grade equipment than the Utopian Magic Staff had appeared behind them. They felt that there were a hundred claws scratching at their hearts, with the temptation they felt itching unbearably.

The price was still surging upward, and it was far more intense than the bidding war for the Utopian Magic Staff offered by the auction console in the Auction House. The bids for Moonlit Nightfalls increased at a rapid speed, as players fought over it with one another, with some just directly using real-world currency to bid and others inviting the seller to complete the transaction over at the Trade Exchange.

This is a chance not to be missed!! That was a sentiment shared by many. Gritting their teeth, they abandoned their scramble to purchase the Utopian Magic Staff. These players turned their backs and dashed right into that mob of players, struggling to wave their hands to catch the attention of the seller, yelling out a high price at the same time. There were even players who felt that they were either too far, or the crowd was too noisy for the person to hear, so they took out paper to write down a sum on it, sticking it to their weapons and raised it high above the crowd.

“Okay! That bro over there just offered 9700 gold coins, are there any higher bids, friends?” Gu Fei shouted as that Priest, who was in charge of making the bid for the Utopian Magic Staff for Vast Lushness, grasped on to the opportunity of this debacle and managed to get a position by an auction console with the help of everyone. This person flashed a thumbs-up at Gu Fei.