Chapter 207 - PvP in a VR Setting
Killing off a man just because his foot had been stepped on; such a farfetched yet tyrannical reason was not very convincing to others. The quick-witted players at Ray’s Bar could naturally tell that Gu Fei was just looking for a reason to eliminate the man.
Furthermore, Gu Fei’s current execution of his moves was far more vicious than his execution of them before. With his attack connecting to the target better and Silver Moon’s lackey being weaker than the guild leader moments ago, Gu Fei managed to finish the man off with that one strike powered by Twin Incineration.
“How domineering!” all the leaders exclaimed in unison. Still, they could not fathom Gu Fei’s reason for slaying the man. Was he intending to kill everyone here? Suspecting Gu Fei, they kept their distance from him and took their weapons from their dimensional pockets to respond in kind if the need arose.
However, Gu Fei merely stowed away his sword after slaying the man, waved his hand toward Young Master Han, bade the Amethyst Rebirth ladies goodbye, and even flashed Drifting a smile, showing everyone good etiquette.
“Hey, hold up!” Svelte Dancer moved to stop Gu Fei from leaving, but she was too late as he had already disappeared in a flash of white light.
“Ah! Did he fly off?” Everyone looked up the ceiling in confusion, sharing a sense of loss with one another after.
Young Master Han took pity on them and decided to offer them a piece of information, “Distinguished guests, that rascal’s name is Thousand Miles Drunk. I wish you all the best at befriending him!”
All the leaders felt that such a conclusion to this matter was already enough. Svelte Dancer’s piercing glare made them uncomfortable to ask further about the Mage, so they just opted to leave the premise and do their individual sleuthing after. Those leaders who were chatting with Drifting also suggested finding a more private place to continue their conversation. Being able to converse with Parallel World’s number one Mage Drifting, personally witnessing the Insta-kill Mage’s fighting prowess, and managing to acquire the Insta-kill Mage’s IGN... These leaders deemed their trip here today as very worthwhile. Truly, their 100 gold coins had been spent well.
All these leaders had come to Ray’s Bar in a hurry for the ‘meet and greet’, and now that they were leaving, they did it quite reluctantly. Eventually, the only ones who were still in the bar were the few inquisitive patrons who had stayed to watch the whole affair, the Amethyst Rebirth ladies who were staring with hostility at two individuals, and the said two individuals were Young Master Han and Brother a.s.sist. With the crowd of leaders gone, the two men left the corner that they were boxed in moments ago and randomly found a table to occupy.
“Oi!” Svelte Dancer discourteously came up to them, “Why did you tell them his name?”
“Heh... Are you afraid of them poaching Miles?” Young Master Han asked as he glanced at her.
“Of course! Miles is a member of our guild,” Svelte Dancer seriously answered.
“Relax. All they know is his IGN; how are they gonna poach him with just that?” Young Master Han asked.
“Why would they not be able to? This is an online game, Mister. Names are like phone numbers; wouldn’t he be hara.s.sed to death at this rate?” Svelte Dancer replied with a question.
“Everyone in Parallel World knows your name, so how come you"re not being hara.s.sed to death?” Young Master Han asked.
“Oh!” Svelte Dancer finally got it as she mumbled, “Miles has also set his account in a way that random people can’t add him as a friend, right?”
The question caused Young Master Han’s confident smile to turn rigid. Gu Fei might be an exceptional player, but he was not as prominent as the players ranked high on the leaderboards, so there would be no need for him to set a restriction to his ‘friend request’ setting. Since Young Master Han and the ilk had the habit of doing just that, he somehow a.s.sumed that Gu Fei would also do the same. With that thought in his mind, Young Master Han hurriedly sent Gu Fei a message, “Have you set your account in a way that random players can’t add you as a friend?”
“I did! I did!” Gu Fei replied, “Why is everyone asking me this?” It seemed that Svelte Dancer had also asked him the same question.
Young Master Han sighed in relief, not knowing if he should laugh or cry at the moment. This charade today might not have caused any fight, yet it still had been fraught with danger at every corner until the very end. “My brain has worked overtime on this,” Young Master Han muttered to himself, gesturing at Ray for two bottles of liquor.
Wonder how things are going for those guys who are still busy at work… Young Master Han thought to himself. He then sent Sword Demon, Royal G.o.d Call, and War Without Wounds a message each. The plan to hunt down Silver Moon was naturally something he had ordered them to do.
“I’m looking for an opportunity to strike,” Sword Demon quickly replied. He already had his Frost Memories in hand and was just waiting for a chance to strike his target. He had been tailing Silver Moon since the latter left the sp.a.w.n point. He was not like Svelte Dancer or Gu Fei that possessed high Attack Power. In fact, he might even lose in terms of Attack Power to the well-equipped Thieves out there.
Frost Memories might have superb additional traits, yet the dagger was already considered as a low-tier weapon by the current standards of the game. But despite Frost Memories’ Attack Power being lower than the available level 40 daggers’ Attack Power out there, Sword Demon continued to use the dagger as his main weapon due to his reluctance to part with its wonderful traits. Fortunately, Sword Demon had made quite a small fortune during the game’s official release, which had allowed him to purchase some equipment that boosted his Strength as well as Attack Power. With all those pieces of equipment on him, Sword Demon’s Attack Power was at least not too far off from the acceptable standard, although he was definitely no longer top-notch in terms of damage output.
He had no means to take down Silver Moon instantly like how Gu Fei could, so he refrained from making a move when Silver Moon left the sp.a.w.n point, as he was worried that the latter would be able to slink back into the safe zone if he failed to finish him off in a timely fas.h.i.+on.
Silver Moon was also someone who had been part of countless fights in online games, so he was already on guard for any possible ambush after reviving at the sp.a.w.n point. Once he left the safety of the sp.a.w.n point, Silver Moon readied himself to rush back into the sp.a.w.n point if things went south.
Sword Demon had chosen to tail him for two reasons. First, he was waiting for Silver Moon to let his guard down. Second, he was waiting for Silver Moon to get far from the sp.a.w.n point. This was to prevent the latter from escaping him by entering a safe zone.
Sword Demon calmly made this judgment and did once underestimate Silver Moon, despite knowing that the latter had already dropped by two levels. At the same time, he was confident of his ability, so he did even plan for what he should do if he happened to lose to Silver Moon.
Silver Moon had experienced being hunted back in Yueye City, so his counter-tracking awareness was very sharp and he maintained a careful pace even after leaving the safe zone. After walking for quite a distance, he suddenly turned around and yelled out, “Come out! I’ve already discovered you.”
Sword Demon was stunned. He did not expect that Silver Moon would have the ability to detect someone in Stealth like Gu Fei. He readied himself to enter combat. Usually, a Thief would launch their attack once he or she got discovered by the enemy. Sword Demon, for his part, slightly s.h.i.+fted his body, and this small movement allowed him to see through Silver Moon’s scheme.
Despite changing his position, Silver Moon’s eyes still stared at where Sword Demon was originally at.
If he were any other Thief, he might be unable to discover the other’s trickery in time. However, the memory of Gu Fei seeing through his Stealth was already deeply carved into his bones, so he was very sensitive to this sort of thing. The unusual rigidness in Silver Moon’s action clued him in on the fact that the man was merely testing the waters.
Sword Demon stopped what he was doing. He then silently watched Silver Moon glare at thin air for several seconds before turning around and continuing his way. Sword Demon followed.
Silver Moon seemed to have gotten addicted to performing the ‘I have already discovered you’ act as he did it twice more after. Each time, he would affix a self-a.s.sured expression on his face. Sword Demon yawned and continued to watch Silver Moon perform each bluff, all the while calculating how far they were from the sp.a.w.n point. He would sigh deeply after every calculation, as they were still quite near the safe zone, which meant that Sword Demon would have to trail Silver Moon longer, and that was a nauseating thought.
Fortunately, Silver Moon eventually got convinced that he was relatively safe from any ambushers after performing the act thrice and settled to periodically checking his surroundings for any players who would suddenly jump out to attack him. Sword Demon could not help but be impressed by his dedication to take precaution against an ambush. Silver Moon hailed from another in-game city, so it was hardly believable that he would be familiar with Yunduan City.
Silver Moon eventually chose to walk on a deserted alleyway where he could spot anyone entering it whichever direction the person took. Just as he thought that he was safe from any ambushers, a sudden pain blossomed from his waist and a portion of his HP was gone in an instant. Sword Demon had finally struck.
Silver Moon’s expression turned to shock. He did expect that a Thief would patiently stalk him like this. He was carrying King’s Blade in his hand along the way, so he quickly slashed it to his attacker as he turned around. However, his a.s.sailant was much faster than him, and before his sword could even chop down, his waist already got skewered for the second time.
Silver Moon bellowed. He put all his strength into his slash to vent his pent-up frustration, hoping to cleave the person in two. His one slash cut nothing but air, however. And when Silver Moon completed his turn, he found no one in sight.
“Who’s there?!” Silver Moon exclaimed. He could barely believe his eyes. The Stealth state should have ended once the Thief had executed his attack, yet he was unable to find this unknown a.s.sailant now that he had turned around. Could this be the rumored Vanish skill? Blink… Vanish… Possessing those skills that would only be available at a later stage of the game, were all the players advancing so quickly now?
In his state of surprise, he felt another stab puncture the back of his waist once more. Silver Moon was even more horrified now. His a.s.sailant actually did not possess Vanish but was just fast enough to get behind him in the time it took for Silver Moon to turn around. That was right. This opponent was indeed quick on his feet, as he managed to quickly position himself at Silver Moon’s rear once more.
Silver Moon’s shocked exclamations and panicked expression were a surprise to Sword Demon. He had always considered Silver Moon as an expert fighter, yet now that he was actually fighting him, Sword Demon could see that the latter’s PvP capabilities were nothing remarkable. He quickly understood why with a deep sigh. Silver Moon was ultimately a Knight, and his job cla.s.s provided him limited exposure to fights like this.
He might have acc.u.mulated a lot of experiences in other MMOs, but he was now inside a game with a VR setting. The full-immersion technology of Parallel World had forced all the players to readjust their past gaming knowledge and adapt to the new environment this game provided, essentially requiring everyone to start from scratch. Gu Fei’s prowess lay in his twenty-year worth of experience being in actual fights in reality. As for Sword Demon, his a.s.siduity for studying online games was a match for Gu Fei’s pa.s.sion toward kung fu. Just based on his fighting moves right now, it could be said that he already had a thorough understanding of the Thief job cla.s.s – as expected of a first-rate gamer in the online gaming community.
Although Silver Moon tried to fight back, he was ultimately unable to defend against Sword Demon’s a.s.sault. In no time at all, Silver Moon was sent wailing all the way back to his sp.a.w.n point without even catching a glimpse of his a.s.sailant’s face.
Sword Demon yawned, sheathed his dagger, and left quietly. In his eyes, this was not a PvP worth mentioning as his opponent was simply too weak.