Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

“How rude of you to actually accuse me of that,” Xi Xiaotian said thusly, even though she did not seem to be particularly angry about Gu Fei’s lack of etiquette. It was as if she had already expected him to say that.

Before Gu Fei could say another word, white knights had already leaped to her aid. Both War Without Wounds and Royal God Call chimed in as they stood up for the pretty lady without hesitation. “Miles, you’re being too rude!”

With how women habitually ran to the aid of fellow women, Coco promptly reacted as well. “How can you say something like that?”

Gu Fei, who was feeling a little helpless, did not expect Young Master Han to stand up for him. “Considering that we’re not close to you, what Miles suggested isn’t outside the realms of possibility.”

Xi Xiaotian chuckled. “Let’s just let Coco and Deep Waters have a good chat, and everything will be made clear. Unless you guys truly believe that Broken Water Arrow, Deep Waters, and I are in cahoots.”

“Could Deep Waters have some sort of unspeakable plan?” Gu Fei wondered aloud.

“Hey! That’s enough out of you! I’m not gonna indulge your cynical inferences anymore!” Coco glared fitfully at Gu Fei.

“All right!” Gu Fei compromised. Turning to Sword Demon in the next moment, he asked, “Are you still doing your ‘Daily Mission’?”

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Coco leaped out after him.

“Have fun, everyone. I’m off to work.” Gu Fei bolted out of the door.

With this operation coming to a close, the only thing left for them to do was as what Xi Xiaotian had suggested: let Coco and Deep Waters have a good talk to the matter to rest. Even if Young Master Han and the others wanted to be nosy, it was impossible for them to continue on as it was time for them to log off for this day, so they each went their separate ways. Sword Demon was the only one who stayed behind. He expressed his desire to talk things through with Deep Waters after Coco and Deep Waters were done on their end. There was no way Sword Demon’s relationship with Deep Waters was comparable to what the couple shared, so he was in quite a very awkward spot. But Sword Demon was brave enough to face this head on, which was what truly set him apart from the others.

Gu Fei was running rather fast. While he seemed to be unaffected on the surface, he was in fact rather unhappy on the inside. He was indeed the person responsible for this matter, only to discover that he was at fault for pursuing something he had no business pursuing. Feeling unsettled and sorry for the whole awkward situation he had caused, he dashed out of the door partly because he was rather ashamed to face everyone.

“What are you following me for?” Having made it to a junction by the street, Gu Fei suddenly came to a stop and turned around.

“Who’s follow you? I’m just passing by,” Xi Xiaotian quickly refuted.

“How heartless of you…” Gu Fei gritted his teeth.

“You’re not resigned to this ending, huh!” Xi Xiaotian quipped.

“Did you chase after me all this way just to make fun of me?”

“I already said that I’m just passing by…” She held her ground.

Gu Fei was helpless. Taking two steps to the side, he extended his hand. “Then, please hurry along and pass by already.”

“Are you giving up just like that?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Even though you guys made a mistake with your initial deduction, the fact remains that this Broken Water Arrow person is a little strange. Don’t you wanna know what’s behind that curtain?” asked Xi Xiaotian.

“I don’t think that is any of my business,” Gu Fei remarked.

“How do you intend to end this whole debacle, then? This affair seems to be your fault. Don’t you intend to apologize with those involved?”

“This doesn’t seem to be any of your concern,” he commented.

“I’m just asking.” Xi Xiaotian shrugged.

“A passerby shouldn’t ask so much questions,” Gu Fei stated dryly.

“I’m a swindler. If I tell you I’m passing by, that’s me lying to you.”

“All right. Then, I’ll be the one who’s passing by. I refuse to be interviewed like this…” Gu Fei walked off.

—————————–

At this time, Coco managed to quickly make contact with Deep Waters, and the two soon arranged to meet at a designated log-off point. Having been staying awake the whole night, neither could mask the lethargy they were feeling. Deep Waters’ tired eyes brought along a sliver of doubt. It was not long since he parted ways with Coco, yet he could tell from her eyes that her attitude had a 180-degree change in the time in between. Looking at her gentle eyes, Deep Waters very quickly realized that something had happened.

I can’t casually compromise on this, Deep Waters thought to himself as he coughed and said, “So you know you’re at fault.”

Coco nodded. “It’s my fault.”

“What’s your mistake?” Deep Waters showed the air of severity a family patriarch would adopt.

“I should not game overnight as it’s harmful to the skin. Very harmful,” Coco replied.

“What?” Deep Waters suspected he had hearing problems.

“I’m going to correct this immediately; I’m logging off now!” Coco’s eyes were resolute as she turned around and entered the designated log-off point to go offline.

Deep Waters was left petrified. After a moment, he came back to his senses.

How crafty… Deep Waters thought. His eyes shifted as he saw another figure. Sword Demon.

“Just what are you two planning to do?!” Deep Waters shouted.

“Apologizing.” Sword Demon’s attitude and tone were truly sincere. He would never do what Coco had just done.

Facing two different personalities in such a short time span, Deep Waters was left distraught at how he should react and spit out, “It’s fine.”

Sword Demon heaved a sigh of relief. The moment between apologizing to someone and hearing the response to this apology was often the most nerve-racking. Fortunately, Deep Waters responded fast, so Sword Demon did not experience the tension much.

“What. So, you all sleuths finally checked out Old Broken and discovered no issues?” It turned out that Deep Waters had more to say.

Sword Demon scratched his head. “It’s all a misunderstanding.”

“That’s why I said that there’s nothing going on there! Look at the mess you’ve made.” Deep Waters was still a little dissatisfied.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Sword Demon asked. At the end of the day, Sword Demon was not one to beg for forgiveness, so when he asked Deep Waters if he needed help in anything, it was his way of making up for the trouble he had caused.

“Of course, there is,” Deep Waters replied.

“What?” Sword Demon asked.

“Didn’t you pick up some mission that’s against Broken Water Arrow? Abandon that!” Deep Waters said.

“Of course.” Sword Demon immediately pulled out his mission log and chose to abandon it. In the end, the system informed him that he needed to find the relevant NPC to complete the process.

“I can’t abandon it outright,” Sword Demon said, “but I’ll take care of it. Is there anything else?” Sword Demon did not consider abandoning the mission as counteracting the trouble he had caused as he already planned to do that even if Deep Waters did not make such a request; thus, he was hoping for Deep Waters to mention something more problematic.

“That’s more than enough.” Deep Waters laughed.

“If there’s a chance, I’ll make sure to apologize to Old Broken,” Sword Demon expressed. Even though going on and on over this would make people feel a little mawkish, Sword Demon knew he would feel uncomfortable if he did not get this out of the way.

“There’ll be a chance.” Deep Waters nodded. He did not say anything like ‘forget about it’; ultimately, he had a good grasp of what Sword Demon was like, and not letting the man give an apology would just leave Sword Demon feeling uneasy…

“If there’s nothing else, have an early rest!” Deep Waters patted Sword Demon.

“Bye.” Sword Demon smiled as he stepped into the designated log-off point.

Deep Waters continued to stay at the entrance. Dusting off his outfit, puffing out his chest, and standing straight, he hid the smile on his face and made his eyes grow cold. He looked all around as he wondered to himself, The third one should be coming, right?

Five minutes passed while he waited, and Deep Waters was soon pondering to himself, That man doesn’t really have any relation to me, and he dropped the levels of quite a number of my fellow guildmates in this one incident. Adding that time he spoiled my big plan regarding the competitive quest, I really can’t find any reason to just settle this half-heartedly. How can I give a proper account to my guildmates if I don’t have a good go at him?

Deep Waters was engrossed in his thoughts when he heard someone say, “Oh, if it isn’t Guild Leader Deep Waters? Why are you standing here by the entrance to the designated log-off point? Are you a signpost?”

To Deep Waters, no one else’s voice in this world was more grating than this speaker. He turned around and the moment he confirmed that the owner of this voice was indeed Young Master Han, he hurriedly spat out, “How unfortunate. I’m already out of luck so early in the morning.” With that, he proceeded to ignore Young Master Han as he looked to his left and right. He gave off the clear vibe that he was waiting for someone.

Young Master Han, who could obviously tell this, chuckled. “I say; you’re just standing there like a signpost, are you afraid that the man looking to apologize to you won’t find you?”

“Why do you care?”

“The problem is that Coco and Sword Demon don’t seem to be online anymore!” Young Master Han said.

“Who told you that I’m waiting for them.” Deep Waters laughed mirthlessly.

Young Master Han appeared to be shocked. “Could you perhaps be waiting for Thousand Miles Drunk?”

Deep Waters did not say a word.

“Are you looking to get slain?” Young Master Han asked.

Deep Waters continued to ignore him.

“Miles has plenty of PK points on him, so he’s gonna get rid of them first. Have fun waiting!” Young Master Han reminded him kindly as he departed with a wave. His face showed a look of amazement, as if he were appreciating the tragedy.

“D*mn, how nosey… Do you think I need you to remind me?!” Deep Waters looked on with disdain as Young Master Han disappeared and continued his wait.

Time passed, and it was already late in the morning, but he had yet to see the hide or hair of the man. Deep Waters was already so tired he was close to falling asleep as he leaned against the wall. He restlessly wondered to himself, Isn’t that man really powerful? Why is he taking such a long time clearing off his PK value? Could he be unfamiliar with the terrain and got himself lost? Yeah, he seems to be the sort that is terrible with directions. Because he was not very familiar with the members of Young Master’s Elite, Deep Waters had mixed up who was the geographically challenged member in that troupe, and he subconsciously pinned it on to Gu Fei.

“Let me send a private message to him… I wonder if he has his friends list unrestricted.” Even though it was shameless for the one receiving an apology to contact the one giving the apology, Deep Waters was being considerate when he figured how pitiful it would be if he had really gotten lost.

In the end, he got the emotionless response from the system: [The account you are searching is currently offline.]

“F*CK!” Deep Waters was so pissed he strode right to the designated log-off point and promptly went offline. He was originally thinking that this would be a triumphant moment of his life; why must tragedy befall him every time? Deep Waters simply could not make sense of it.

When he logged on later in the afternoon, Deep Waters immediately complained to Coco about how outrageously unreasonable Gu Fei was being.

“Apology?” Coco was perplexed. “I didn’t hear him wanting to come over and say anything. It’s only me and Sword Demon who wanted to do that. Did he find you himself? I didn’t peg him as that sort of person.”

Deep Waters threw out a string of expletives. Of course, he was not shameless enough to admit that after he had received Coco and Sword Demon’s apologies back to back, he assumed that Gu Fei would be coming along as well, so he ended up waiting like a fool for hours.

“M*th*rf*ck*r! It’s that guy!” Deep Waters gnashed his teeth. He was originally not planning to wait that long, but after Young Master Han told him that Gu Fei was just clearing off his PK points first and bid him a happy time waiting… the innocent and kind-hearted him readily believed the man, causing him to be duped once more