Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

None of the six spoke of this to Southern Lone Blade. While they knew that he bore a deep-seated hatred against Silver Moon as well, they were also aware how much he valued their group’s reputation and image in their field. Harming the employer just because they were unable to complete the given assignment, their team would be adversely affected if word got out. However, none of the six was able to stomach this any longer, and they badly needed to vent. Randomly finding a passerby to PK would not be enough; they needed something fiercer that could really ignite their souls, and no one was more suitable a target than Silver Moon right now.

“Let’s finish that man off!” Blackwater gritted his teeth. Flame Singed Clothes was the one who had received the most damage from all this, yet it was Blackwater who was in the prime position to compete after today.

“We need to do it in such a way that it can’t be traced back to us,” Glue said. “It will be too obvious if all of us go together. That twerp might even see through our intentions.”

“So, what do we do?”

“Let’s pick a number of us to go!” Glue suggested.

“I’ll go! I’ll go!” Each of them raised their hands; everyone was enthusiastic.

“Let’s draw lots!” Paddy Scent Pastures suggested. “We’ll pick out four; the remaining two will remain on standby. Four men should be more than enough to take care of Silver Moon.”

“Didn’t you mention that Silver Moon’s mingling with quite a few experts right now?” Unrivalled Lucky Star reminded.

“Don’t worry; Silver Moon won’t dare let those guys know of the deal he has with us, so he’ll surely come by himself,” Glue said.

“Are you saying that we’ll have to meet the man in person? Wouldn’t that be a little too obvious?” Unrivalled Lucky Star asked.

“It’s inevitable for us to meet him at this point.” Glue sighed.

The crowd was quiet for quite some time.

Finally, someone spoke, “Are you saying that we will announce that we’ve failed this mission?”

“We’re all actually already in agreement of this, right?” Glue asked back.

The men heaved a heavy sigh. Indeed, that was what everyone had thought when they got online today. It was just that Southern Lone Blade had received a letter from Svelte Dancer, and it somehow got their hopes up that they had a chance to turn the tables on their enemies. Who would have guessed that Gu Fei would still be making a mess of things by doing the opposite of what Southern Lone Blade had believed would happen and continually harassing them with no end in sight? There was essentially no difference to their situation at all.

“But how are we going to tell Big South about this?” All of them naturally had a good understanding of their boss Southern Lone Blade. To put it nicely, the man was someone who would not rest until he achieved his goal; to put it bluntly, the man was the sort who would not shed a tear until he was at death’s door. Seeing how he was even willing to be insulted by the crowd at the Auction House right now, it was apparent that the man still believed he needed not give up just yet.

The handful of them were quiet once more. They were all unwilling to see Southern Lone Blade suffer his current fate for naught, and since he still wished to persevere on, they should also support him to the end as fellow comrades.

“Actually, we don’t need to use our names to stage a meeting with Silver Moon. We can try using the mailbox or log-off method!” Paddy Scent Pastures proposed.

The principle behind the mailbox or log-off method was one and the same. They would utilize these two activities that every player had to do at fixed locations, and that was the simplest and most effective method to ascertain their target’s movement. No matter how indomitable a player was, as long as they could make out who the target was, the two methods aforementioned could be used to find out just where their target would be. It was in the same vein with the auctioning method. While it was obviously harder to meet Silver Moon in such a crowded place like the Auction House, this might not be the case for the other two locations, especially if they went with the log-off method; the hit rate for that was 100%.

“Given Silver Moon’s current situation, even if he appears in those two locations, he’s sure to keep his face covered. Is everyone confident that they can recognize him even through that?” Glue raised a potential problem; this was also why he had not suggested this method from the start.

“Actually, him keeping his face covered is a distinguishing feature for the man. Since we know his level and job class, given our caliber, I’m sure none of us will have trouble identifying him,” Paddy Scent Pastures said.

The rest nodded. They might have lost their levels, but the experience they had accumulated when it came to larceny remained. There was no way that they would lose their ability in spotting their targets no matter how many times they died. They might have problems if their level had dropped so low to the point where they were unable to appraise their target, but it just so happened that Silver Moon was still lower in level to them.

“Great. Let’s position ourselves, then.” Glue took out a map of Baishi City. This was not something that this game provided, but as the knowledge of Parallel World’s players deepened by the day, those who had the particular skillset for this sort of thing started making use of them, and the map of Baishi City that Glue was holding in his hands right now just so happened to have come from a professional cartographer.

“The grinding maps that’s suitable for Silver Moon right now should be the following three locales: Baihe Valley, Yinsha Shore, and Baihua Forest. Given his current plight, he is sure to avoid the more populous areas, so if we exclude those, the places he should be located are here, here, and here…” Glue used his finger to tap each of the spots he mentioned in his speech.

“Returning to the city to log off from one of these locations, the closest route will take him through the east gate, so he will choose to log off at either the Thieves’ Union or Archer Range.” Paddy Scent Pastures crooked his neck and looked at the map.

“With the present situation in Baishi City, if Silver Moon bumps into anyone, there’s no doubt that they’ll kick him while he is down, but there’s also no one out there searching or springing a trap specifically for him, so all he needs to do is disguise himself properly. There’s no need for him to be so vigilant as to take detours or such, so taking the shortest route to the nearest designated log-off point will be the most prudent option for him. Staying online longer than necessary will only put himself at greater risk, after all,” Glue said.

“So, are we setting up an ambush in those two places?”

“Singed, Verdant and I shall head to the Archer Range together as one team; Blackwater, Paddy, and Unrivalled will take the Thieves’ Union. That should settle it! Everyone should keep their identities hidden as best as they can. Message each other if any news crops up. Let’s go!” Glue announced.

For most of their activities as a professional team of larcenists, there was no need for wisdom. Instead, they depended on their experience to make out a clear plan in a short time, completing the necessary arrangements to spring a trap on Silver Moon. The two three-man teams headed to the two spawn points respectively; they were reassured when they saw that neither of these locations was the first choice for players coming from the Auction House or Bounty Assignment Hall to log out; this meant that they were not in danger of bumping into Gu Fei or Eternal Dominion while they lay in wait at each location. This news really made all of them feel rather encouraged.

“If we manage to loot his King’s Blade…” At the end of the day, they were still a gang of robbers. While they were doing this for the sake of venting their pent-up frustrations, they would of course still be considering the potential loot that they could gain from the kill now that they had earnestly begun their work.

“I guess that’ll depend on who has the most luck!” Glue laughed. Even though he did not know how long they had to wait, none of them was a stranger to the circumstance that they were in. More importantly, there was absolutely no challenge when it came to killing Silver Moon. It had been a long time since they had experienced having such a relaxed atmosphere that they were able to laugh and hold conversations while on the job. Indeed, the atmosphere had seen an immense improvement. Everybody felt that it was a wise decision to use Silver Moon in venting their frustration.

Southern Lone Blade was, of course, still in contact with these men. At the end of the day, none of them hid their plan to ambush the scumbag Silver Moon from him. Southern Lone Blade was originally reluctant to execute this idea, but when he saw the surge of morale in his comrades as a result of this plan, which was precisely what he had hoped to happen, he figured that he should not be so petty and just sacrifice the scumbag Silver Moon now that it had come to this point. Even though such an act would go against their professionalism, it was nothing in the face of the extraordinary significance that this plan was to them. They could always rebuild that particular quality of theirs next time!

In contrast, the six men were more worried about the situation Southern Lone Blade was experiencing over at the Auction House, yet the man simply replied with: “It’s fine.” On his end, the players at the Auction House came wave after wave. The two robbers, who had been the subject of this mobbing yesterday, unfortunately escaped when they teleported away, and this had the crowd feeling a sense of satisfaction inwardly. However, the one today was truly arrogant. Facing against the thousands chastising him, this man remained unperturbed, and his expression was placid. They did not know where he had gotten the two cotton balls he had plugged his ears with as the man sat himself on the floor, even going so far as to pull out a manuscript of Butterfly Blue’s work ‘Pioneering the Horizons Solo’ and was reading it with great relish.

The players were all in a frenzy when they saw this, but there was nothing they could do against the man since they were in a safe zone! Some even used the term ‘GM’ to threaten Southern Lone Blade, but all he did was laugh at their childishness. Their act of larceny was different from stealing accounts, as the former could be said to be part of MMO gameplay. Since the game had designed it such that the penalty of death came with the loss of levels, equipment, and in-game currency, everything the larcenists did was well within the rules of the game. How was anyone supposed to judge the concept of malicious intent when it came to PK-ing? Would they require witnesses or physical evidence? Southern Lone Blade had spent plenty of time within the MMO community and refused to believe that there would be a GM who would be bothered by all this. Getting a reply of ‘let the players themselves settle among themselves’ would be deemed as good treatment already.

Do you take me for a noob? Trying to intimidate yours truly like this. Southern Lone Blade thrust his middle finger toward the player who raised the ‘GM’ term and continued reading his book.

The entire Auction House was livid, and it was chaotic within. Gu Fei within the crowd had also been angered by this to the point of hurting a little inside. This guy sure is shameless. The fact that he remains so poise even in the face of this scene shows how much conviction he has toward larceny as a whole! The voice of public opinion was entirely incapable of defeating this man. A quick glance to this spectacle in the Auction House, and anyone could tell that the normal operation of the place had been disrupted. There was no way the player would bother to retrieve the Utopian Magic Staff today even if that was his or her wish, the NPC was near where Southern Lone Blade stood, which was also the core of the mob. How would anyone manage to make their way over? The buyer would have to possess superhuman endurance and perseverance for them to succeed.

Gu Fei was pissed, yet there was nothing he could do, either. He did not wish to waste his time here with Southern Lone Blade, so he struggled to push his way out of the Auction House.

Svelte Dancer and Vast Lushness were secretly watching everything unfold near the Auction House, and the former stuck her tongue out at this moment. “This is too much. To think he exposed their identities, how vicious!”

“That Young Master Han actually did the same thing yesterday,” Vast Lushness said.

“‘Birds of the same feather’, I say!” Svelte Dancer lamented.

“Southern Lone Blade is pretty flagrant himself for not leaving despite the scene he has caused. I heard that his two lackeys had teleported right away in fear when this had happened them last night.” Vast Lushness continued to compare.

“Death is all that awaits the man even if he teleports away now. Eternal Dominion isn’t here, so I reckon he is waiting over at the Bounty Assignment Hall, which is probably why Southern Lone Blade is stuck here at an impasse. I believe that he’s thinking of waiting till Miles log off.” Svelte Dancer easily guessed the arrangement Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion had employed this time because she had heard of how the two little lackeys had died last night.

“At this rate, Miles really doesn’t have any way around this matter,” Vast Lushness said.

“Yes, yes. Quickly go to sleep!” Svelte Dancer prayed, but she ended up seeing Gu Fei walk straight to the two ladies’ hiding place.

“Crap! Have we been discovered?” Vast Lushness hurriedly shrank her head behind their cover.

“There’s no way!” Svelte Dancer did the same. “He’s able to sense others through the thing he calls killing intent. Are you leaking out killing intent?”

“Killing intent – what sort of killing intent will I have toward him?!”

“Neither do I!”

The two ladies were still wondering to themselves when Gu Fei made it over and stood right before them.

“Hi….” The two waved their hands at him.

“What’s up?” Gu Fei asked.

“Ahem! It’s getting pretty late; aren’t you heading to rest yet?” Svelte Dancer asked.

Gu Fei had already seen through what this girl was thinking and chuckled. “What’s the hurry?”

“You gotta go to work tomorrow!” Svelte Dancer reminded him.

“Haven’t I told you before? I’m a teacher,” Gu Fei said.

“So what of you being a teacher?!” was what Svelte Dancer wanted to blurt out, but Vast Lushness stopped her in time by glumly saying, “It’s the winter holidays.”