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 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."
Chapter 98 - Begin Research
"So that's how it is!" Seeing Royal God Call's lewd expression, Gu Fei was of course unwilling to be labeled as the same sort of person.
Luo Luo continued speaking, "That's why our attitude toward you has changed. As for you staying in our guild, that boils down to whether you're happy to be part of it or not. We'll let you decide on that. If it's me, I won't stay in a guild if I'm unhappy."
"If that's the case, then I guess I'll stay!" Gu Fei smiled. Deciding whether to leave the guild or not based on his happiness was ludicrous, as he had never taken to heart something like being a part of a guild. Actually, he had never expected to find himself socializing in a guild and playing the game with a bunch of people. Since he felt that it would not affect him much, he would just stay in Amethyst Rebirth. In any case, Gu Fei only wanted to leave the guild after he had seen how unhappy the ladies were with him in it. Now that his departure would instead garner their ire, the easygoing Gu Fei would naturally not mind staying.
"He he! That's much better," Luo Luo giggled.
"I'll take my leave first," Gu Fei smilingly said as he got up, pointing at Will-low, "This lady here is the one I'm planning to introduce."
"Hello! My IGN's Will-low," Will-low genially introduced herself as she walked over.
"I'm Royal God Call—ah—f*ck, Miles! What're you doing? Let me go!" Royal God Call was about to approach the seated Luo Luo, but he was strong-armed by Gu Fei into leaving. However, an Archer's Strength was higher than that of a Mage. No matter how much force Gu Fei used, he could not make the struggling Royal God Call to even turn around. In the end, Royal God Call managed to free himself from Gu Fei's grasp.
"I want your help in researching about Mages," Gu Fei told Royal God Call.
"Oh? Just ask me if you've got anything you don't understand," Royal God Call announced loudly; nobody knew who he wanted to hear that.
"Let's first find a place to fight monsters and study!" Gu Fei suggested.
"Ah…" Royal God Call looked at Gu Fei before looking at the two ladies, as if he was making a truly difficult decision. Finally, he walked toward Will-low and said, "I'm leaving with Miles first. Let's keep in touch!"
Will-low nodded her head.
Royal God Call followed Gu Fei out of the tavern and quickly asked, "Where did you meet so many beauties?" He began to count with his fingers, "There's one, two, three… I've met three ladies that seem to be pretty chummy with you. Quick, share to me how."
"We simply know one another. We're not that 'chummy'," Gu Fei said.
"How humble! Miles, you're really humble," Royal God Call complimented, continuing, "Tell me how you get to know them, then."
Gu Fei nodded his head and suddenly threw two gold coins to the ground, shouting, "Hey, ladies!"
The two female players walking in front of them turned around reflexively.
"You dropped your gold coins," Gu Fei pointed to the ground.
The two ladies looked to the ground and shook their heads, "Those aren't ours."
"No way. I saw these gold coins drop from your bodies," Gu Fei claimed.
"That's not possible!" The two were dumbfounded. Their gold coins were inside their dimensional pockets, so it was impossible for them to accidentally drop anything.
"Is that so? My mistake, then." Gu Fei walked forward and picked up the two gold coins.
The two ladies continued to fix their gazes on him, so Gu Fei asked, "Shall I share these with you two?"
The ladies hurriedly shook their heads. Gu Fei then placed the two gold coins back inside his pocket and strutted off. When they were a bit far from the ladies, he said to Royal God Call, "See that? That's how I get to know the ladies."
Royal God Call was speechless.
"If you want to get to know the ladies, you should strike up a conversation with them. Speaking with them is considered as getting to know them, right? It's like asking others 'What time is it now?' But you'll need to invest a little; if those ladies were audacious, they would pocket the gold coins then and there," Gu Fei taught Royal God Call.
"They're definitely not audacious, but you've looked like a fool," Royal God Call retorted.
"That's just an example of how it's done. I wasn't after the results. You should try doing it when you get the chance! It's just basic knowledge," Gu Fei explained.
"That's how you usually carry yourself?" Royal God Call asked suspiciously, "Aren't you a teacher?"
"So what if I'm a teacher? If you, students, can have your puppy loves, why can't we, the teachers?" Gu Fei countered.
"Teacher… I think you're not the least bit honest," Royal God Call muttered.
With that, Gu Fei stopped pulling Royal God Call's leg. Now that the two had exited Yunduan City, he seriously asked Royal God Call, "Where's the best grinding map for Mages?"
"Yunwu Basin. The monsters there are slow and have low magic resistance," Royal God Call answered.
"How do we get there?" Gu Fei asked.
"This way," Royal God Call led the way.
After half an hour passed, the two were lost.
"It should be here!" Royal God Call mumbled, as he took out a small booklet.
Gu Fei was startled at the sight of his booklet; the thought of Royal God Call being possessed by Xiaoyu even crossed his mind. He drew closer and took a look. While it was a booklet similar to Xiaoyu's, the content of it was vastly different. Xiaoyu's booklet was filled with records of various NPCs and their relevant information, as well as clues regarding quests. Royal God Call's booklet, on the other hand, was filled with coordinates of NPCs and locations.
"Let me have a look," Gu Fei took the booklet and flipped over to Yunwu Basin's coordinates.
Thinking that Yunwu Basin was not just a point but a large piece of land, using just a set of coordinates did not seem logical. Leafing through Royal God Call's booklet, he saw that Yunwu Basin's coordinates actually took up two full pages.
"What are these?" Gu Fei's body shuddered. He had been fooled; Royal God Call's intelligence was not high at all. Gu Fei thought that he could learn from Royal God Call about the Mage job class. At this rate, would Gu Fei not just degrade himself if he actually learned from him?
"All these coordinates are part of Yunwu Basin! Why couldn't we find it?" Royal God Call grabbed his booklet back and gripped it tightly, looking all around him.
Gu Fei no longer expected anything from him and sent an inquiry to Brother Assist.
When Brother Assist directed him to the correct way, Gu Fei could not help but complain about his situation with Royal God Call. Brother Assist guffawed, "Don't place your hopes on him. That guy's got no sense of direction. If Royal took forever finding his way with simpler coordinates from an MMO, what more with the coordinates from this full-immersion game? Can he even tell his cardinal directions?"
"Royal, where's east?" Gu Fei asked.
"Over there, I think," Royal God Call pointed toward the south.
Gu Fei sighed. It was exactly as Brother Assist had said. How would a person who could not even tell the cardinal directions find his way using general coordinates? He took the lead after this, and the two quickly arrived at Yunwu Basin.
Yunwu Basin was indeed the most suitable map for Mages to grind. Mages were running all over the place with packs of monsters trailing after them. The Mage closest to Gu Fei and Royal God Call zigzagged across the field, amassed a lot of monsters after a short distance, and turned around to cast Descending Wheel of Flames. As the leftover monsters closed in on the Mage after his magic bombardment was over, he quickly ran off to attract more monsters.
Gu Fei looked around. Many Mages all over the place ran in ludicrous patterns and shapes, and each was more brazen than the other. However, the most brazen was still the person together with Gu Fei.
Now that Royal God Call no longer had to worry about searching for this place, the bitter expression on his face disappeared. A look of utmost concentration was now on its place as he put a hand beneath his chin, pointing and evaluating each Mage around them. Almost all the Mages in the area received criticism from him, such as "F*ck! That guy's an idiot. He's pulling the monsters so far that half of them have stopped chasing after him", "That guy's another idiot! He's bombarding the monsters when they're not densely packed yet", "Holy f*ck! Fireball, Repeating Fireball, and another Fireball! The heck is that grinding method", "Ha ha ha ha ha! I've finally seen all kinds of noobs! That guy's running too far away that the monsters are outside his casting range", and so on….
Finally, Royal God Call snapped, "I spit on all of you. None of you are fit to be seen!" He then turned to Gu Fei and asked, "What are you researching about that you need me here? Are you trying to offend my eyes with this spectacle?"
Gu Fei stopped himself from conking Royal God Call and answered, "I want to try weaving spells into my kung fu. I feel that it would make things more interesting."
"Kung fu? What kung fu?" Royal God Call was at a loss.
"This kung fu!" Gu Fei slashed a clean curve in the air.
"Stop teasing me," Royal God Call chortled as he slapped Gu Fei's blade aside, "What kung fu? I think you've read too many wuxia novels."
Gu Fei did not say another word and just sent Sacred Flames of Baptism cleaving toward Royal God Call.
"What are you doing?!" Royal God Call felt terrified by that sudden attack. Even if he knew nothing about Gu Fei's sword skill, he at least knew of his battle record. Moreover, Archers were notoriously terrible at close combat. He had no doubt what would happen if he and Gu Fei PvPed.
Gu Fei did not reply as he used his Chinese broadsword to chase Royal God Call's neck.
Royal God Call evaded for quite a while before finally realizing that Gu Fei's blade would stop short of connecting to his neck by three centimeters. No matter how he moved, Gu Fei's blade would follow his neck as if it was an extension of Royal God Call's body. Royal God Call immediately stopped moving, and Gu Fei's blade stopped moving as well, merely three centimeters away from his neck. Royal God Call yelled, "Peak control! That's what Sword Demon mean when he said peak control!"
Gu Fei did not say anything further. He did not know how to communicate properly with this gaming shut-in. It's tiring to explain my kung fu; might as well let him think it's this peak control thingy!
"Uhh... yeah, peak control. How do you reckon I can weave spells into it?" Gu Fei did not hesitate to ask the simpleton.
"That… Are you thinking of incorporating spells into your melee combat?" Royal God Call had an epiphany, "That's too OP! Spells from close range!"
"So what do you think? Interesting, right?" Gu Fei asked.
"That… It's kind of..." Royal God Call felt stunned, "Using spells when you're in melee range… That's something I've never researched about."
"You did not?" Gu Fei was quite disappointed by his revelation.
"Mhm. Death usually comes once a Mage is forced into melee. The closest thing that I've researched about is how to increase my survivability after engaging in close combat. This… This…" Royal God Call trailed off as his expression slowly became trance-like.
"What's the matter?" Gu Fei asked.
Royal God Call was in tears, "Why did I not choose to be a Mage this time?! Why didn't I think of trying such a method to play a Mage?!"