Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Chapter 340 - Take care of your drinking expenses

“What speed!” This one stab scared Deep Waters to the point of breaking out in cold sweat and he tumbled backward to dodge the attack. Fortunately, the movement-speed increase his equipment provided as a fellow Unyielding Expert was on par with Svelte Dancer’s, and this allowed him to somehow dodge the move. He turned back to look again, yet the lady’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Deep Waters was shocked. He had just interrupted her Stealth, so how was she able to re-enter Stealth mode again?

“Dust!” he quickly yelled. Plenty of his men were watching this fight, and since Whitestone Dust was a mandatory item for them, his men carried some. The entire street was instantly filled with white powder as his men scattered Whitestone Dust, yet they still saw no trace of the lady.

The veteran Deep Waters quickly realized that his opponent must be using a special skill or specific equipment, so he did not dawdle. Knowing his opponent’s intention to eviscerate him, he quickly made his escape. No matter how powerful this enhanced equipment or skill was, she should be unable to attain Fleetfoot’s speed while in Stealth, right?

“Everyone, disperse!” Deep Waters shouted. He quickly bolted away for several meters before abruptly stopping to look backward and watch his comrades scatter. He had no intention of entangling with these players from Yunduan City any further. Although the enemies suffered substantial losses from today’s clashes, his guild suffered quite a lot as well.

Take Deep Waters’ original plan as an example; using traps to ensnare Yunduan City’s players and making it difficult for them to move even the merest inch were Deep Waters’ method of forcing them to abandon their quest to minimize the losses and deaths... Who would have guessed that the enemies would have an indomitable player that could capture him alive a whole thirty meters away from their position when he came forward to negotiate? They even took inspiration from that embarrassing moment of his life to employ that inhumane human minesweeping method and extricate themselves from that earlier mess.

“F*CK!” Deep Waters subconsciously rubbed his nose when he thought of this, as though the pain from that trap biting on his nose still lingered.

The players from Yunduan City somewhat wished to continue fighting with those from Linyin City, but their opponents did not give them the chance to do so. It was obvious that these Hunters’ movement speed was superb. Now that the enemies had scattered all over the city, the Yunduan City’s players could not even hope of catching up to them.

Deep Waters happily propped his one hand on the wall as his other hand continually rubbed his nose. As for that lady who was after him, she finally appeared before him ten seconds later with her dagger a mere centimeter away from his throat.

“He he!” Deep Waters calmly patted the wall he was leaning on and said, “Safe zone.”

The lady audibly gritted her teeth. “If it isn’t logging off, then it’s fleeing to a safe zone; you’re all so useless.”

“How should I address this lady before me?” Deep Waters asked.

“Svelte Dancer,” Svelte Dancer curtly answered as she sheathed her dagger. Her target was clearly right before her, yet she was unable to kill him. This was one of the most painful situations in MMOs, for the furthest distance that could exist between a hunter and prey was when the latter was inside a safe zone while the former was just outside it.

“Oh...” Deep Waters gave a long sigh when he heard her reply. “I’ve heard so much about you.” Svelte Dancer was considered by many as the apex expert. Despite Deep Waters being part of the esteemed ranks of the Five Unyielding Experts in Parallel World, he did not have the kind of prestige Svelte Dancer had had in other MMOs.

“Hmph!” Svelte Dancer snorted at that. She then turned to call another lady and took their leave together. Given how the Amethyst Rebirth ladies’ nosiness, there was no way they would miss this show. Unfortunately, they needed fast movement speed to keep up so, in the end, only Svelte Dancer and an Archer with a full-Agility build managed to chase their way through. The other ladies, such as the Thief Will-low, had been left halfway.

“You shouldn’t be like this when we next meet. After all, we’re fellow Unyielding Experts!” Deep Waters shouted after Svelte Dancer as he remained where he was – inside the safety of the safe zone.

Svelte Dancer turned her head over and said with much aplomb. “You’re two levels under me!”

Deep Waters was depressed!

Gaining levels in Parallel World was difficult, but losing levels in this game was easy. Deep Waters was truly dealt a painful blow this time around. Although he only lost a level, he technically dropped by two levels since he was just about to reach level 42 when he died.

The Five Unyielding Experts were able to maintain their positions on the experience leaderboard mainly because none of them had lost a level before. Not only was today the day he lost a level, he also dropped a significant amount of experience. Level 40... This was the level many players reached after the PvP tournaments. In fact, just in his guild alone, there were a few who were already at level 41.

Deep Waters sighed with deep regret. As he was leaving the safe zone, he suddenly sensed something. He hurriedly retracted his step and shouted, “Who’s there?!” He then threw a handful of Whitestone Dust.

The man caught in the cloud of dust coughed loudly. This person was a little further to him than Svelte Dancer was, nicely positioned within an arm’s swing of Deep Waters. Thus, when he scattered the Whitestone Dust, or more accurately, flung it out, the person got hit straight on the face.

“Oh, it’s you!” Deep Waters dusted his hands. The person whom he had caused to eat a mouthful of Whitestone Dust was Sword Demon.

Sword Demon’s expression was placid as he wiped the dust off his face. “You have a skill that counters Stealth?”

“Peep! It’s a skill Hunters have,” Deep Waters answered.

“What’s the point of you using this, then?!” Sword Demon began dusting his clothes after he was done wiping his face clean of the dust.

“The skill informs me that there are people in Stealth nearby, but it won’t tell their exact location. Whitestone Dust is the only way I can find those who are invisible. Ha ha ha!” Deep Waters laughed as he helped Sword Demon with dusting his clothes.

“You’re very cautious,” Sword Demon commended.

“In this city, traps are hidden everywhere. Thieves in Stealth are about; it’s better to be safe than sorry.” After saying this, Deep Waters asked him, “You can just directly approach me. Why bother using Stealth?”

“Because the streets here are filled with traps and Thieves in Stealth are everywhere...” Sword Demon still had that blank and emotionless look on his face.

“He he!” Deep Waters chuckled as he finally stepped out of the safe zone. He slung his arm around Sword Demon’s shoulders and left the premise together. “Where’s Drinking Addict?”

“The tavern.”

“Ha ha ha!” Deep Waters was in awe.

“He no longer goes by that name, though,” Sword Demon said.

“Oh? What’s he changed to?” Deep Waters asked.

Sword Demon was quiet for a good moment before saying, “Young Master Han....”

Deep Waters was also silent for a moment before saying, “That’s a really flashy name, don’t you agree?”

“I agree!” Sword Demon said coolly.

The two men chatted all the way to the tavern. The taverns in Linyin City were also different from the ones in other cities in that they looked like the laboratory of a witch. Pushing the door open and entering after, the sight that greeted them was an interior that was entirely made of wood except for the glasses, which people used to drink the liquid in the establishment.

“It’s pretty special, eh?” Deep Waters asked. He had already spotted Young Master Han and the rest. He waved his hand in greeting as he made his way over.

Sword Demon followed closely behind and introduced to the other men seated on the table, “They are Royal God Call, War Without Wounds, and Brother Assist.”

“F*ck me, f*ck me, f*ck me!” Deep Waters cursed repeatedly in his astonishment. The exaggerated look on his face really satisfied these experts’ vanity.

“The clouds in Yunduan City are truly filled with experts!” Deep Waters exhaled.

“You humble us!” The three men happily downplayed his words.

“Such a pity that that guy isn’t here!” Deep Waters’ next words betrayed the complicated feelings he had inside.

“He he...” Royal God Call and the others laughed dryly at this. Ever since Gu Fei began hanging out with them, these grizzled gamers got used to being obscured in his shadow. No matter where they went, Gu Fei would always be the focus of everyone’s attention whether he liked it or not.

These men took their seats, drank their liquors, and exchanged pleasantries. Eventually, Deep Waters asked, “Have you guys settled that thing yet?”

“Don’t try and dig out information from us,” Young Master Han quietly said.

“He he...” A dry laugh. It was yet another dry laugh.

“Speaking of which...” Sword Demon seized this chance to change the topic. “I don’t think you started off in Linyin City!”

“Yup. I made my way over quite a while after,” Deep Waters replied.

“Why here?” Sword Demon asked.

“Is there a need to ask? I’m sure Coco’s here!” Young Master Han said.

Royal God Call and the others had no clue what they were talking about, blankly staring at these three men.

“Eh? Your girlfriend?” Brother Assist proved how well-informed he was when he guessed the answer.

Deep Waters nodded his head.

“Wow! Bro, you’ve got the moves!” War Without Wounds and Royal God Call leaped up when they heard this. They loved this sort of gossip.

“He he...” Deep Waters had a surprisingly shy smile on his lips. The mischievous look on his face showed that his feeling was genuine, and it was not the playful words of ‘hubby’ and ‘wifey’ that players would usually share with one another in jest.

“Where is she?! Where is she?! Get her to come out and let us meet her!” Royal God Call and War Without Wounds pestered, craning their necks to look around with palpable excitement, as though the lady in question were already present but Deep Waters were just hiding her away.

“She’s offline,” Deep Waters answered.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...” Young Master Han’s fingers shot up one by one as he counted. “This should be the sixth MMO you’re playing together!”

“Yup!” Deep Waters blissfully nodded his head.

“You’re my idol!” War Without Wounds and Royal God Call continued to gush, as though they were the ones tying the knot.

“One more and you’ll get the seven year itch.” Young Master Han nodded.

“F*ck your ancestors!” Deep Waters cursed.

“We’ll surely come and meet you two if we’ve got the chance!” War Without Wounds and Royal God Call were really looking forward to this meeting. They really wanted to see how a couple with such a solid relationship looked like to better develop their budding ‘business’.

“Oh, when are you guys leaving?” Deep Waters asked.

“AHEM,” Young Master Han interrupted.

“Man, you’re still such an irritating person!” Deep Waters sighed.

“I am proud of my ability to remain unchanged despite doing the same thing every day.” Young Master Han toasted himself.

“Well, you’re paying for your alcohol expenses.” Deep Waters rolled his eyes as he turned to Sword Demon. “Have you heard? There’s a rumor going around about a player with the Chemist crafting profession who discovered a tobacco plant, which can apparently be used to make cigarettes.”

“Are you for real?” Sword Demon’s eyes brightened.

“Is that true? Why haven’t I heard a word about this before?” Brother Assist was extremely astonished by this news. There was rarely ever a thing that broke without him knowing. The feeling he had right now was exactly like someone witnessing the execution of an ultimate move that insta-killed someone during a PvP match.