Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

He could no longer be bothered to read his book further; his bottle also tipped and his food spilled onto the ground as Gu Fei’s students demonstrated a verve that he had trouble handling. Pitting himself against these youngsters, he felt as if he were already an old man.

“Sir…”

“Sir…”

“Sir…”

Their questions were still flowing without end, and the lack of having a public channel for Gu Fei to shout over and address all his students at once made him feel as if he was about to go insane from anger.

“Everyone, one at a time.” Gu Fei repeated this line eighty times, but all the students thought themselves as the ‘one’, so their questions kept coming.

Besides going offline, he simply could not think of any way to escape from this harassment; he packed up all his things in a hurry and sprinted down the safe zone. Meanwhile, even though Glue and the other two players had seen Gu Fei depart, the three men were not in the least bit careless. Seeing how sensitive Flame Singed Clothes was after having experienced misfortune twice under explicable circumstances, all of them opted to stay in the safety of the spawn point and continued to play Landlord. In the end, they all got quite the fright when they witnessed Gu Fei dashing to the safe zone like a mad man, but before anyone could even utter a word, they watched as that man merely nodded his head to acknowledge the three of them and logged off immediately.

The three men’s eyes sparkled. Just what sort of even greater expert could there be that could hunt Thousand Miles Drunk down until he was in such a state? They could hardly wait to find out. Dropping their cards, these men dashed right to the entrance, but all of them saw that it was deserted outside, save for a few random passersby that did not exude even a bit of an expert’s air.

The three were stunned for quite a time before turning to stare at where Gu Fei had vanished – utterly confused again.

Gu Fei did not log off for good, though. Merely faking going offline, he logged back on soon after; this time, however, he appeared offline. The good thing about going online without appearing to be online was that his name would not light up, and the system would not announce to everyone on his friends list that he had logged on, letting him slowly contact his students by his volition. Thinking about how he and his students would equally have plenty of time for the coming month, Gu Fei had no choice but to engage in this cold war.

Glue and the others were really confused when they saw Gu Fei log on anew with a flash of white light five minutes later. The three were dumbfounded even as Gu Fei smiled at these men and began sending his messages.

“He probably had an urgent call from nature…” Flame Singled Clothes suggested.

“Oh, yeah. Probably…” Having rushed to get offline for five minutes like that, there really was nothing else they could think of that could cause such a reaction.

Gu Fei originally did not wish to message Ah Fa as that twerp, who had previously betrayed him, was not worthy of trust. But a quick sweep of the IGNs made Gu Fei realize he was having difficulties matching their names to their faces, so he had no choice but to contact Ah Fa after standing there in a daze for quite some time.

“Don’t tell the others that I’m actually online; otherwise, you can forget about clearing your physical education grade next semester!” Gu Fei first threatened, for there was no way he would feel assured without intimidating that kid.

Apparently, Ah Fa did not realize that his teacher was a principled person, for the boy nearly pissed himself in extreme fright, hastily expressing himself, “Sir, it’s not my fault! Your name just flashed, and everyone saw it.”

“I’ve been on for quite some time; why did you guys come looking for me only at 2 AM?” He found this to be very strange. There was no way that his students had just gotten online at 2 AM.

“Oh. We have a few classmates that came to play today as well, and all of us went to carry them. Everyone’s gotten tired after playing the whole night, so we thought to ask you, sir, and play for a while,” Ah Fa explained.

Gu Fei was very embarrassed. He realized that he had really come down with a bout of Protagonist Syndrome, believing that his students would immediately seek to contact him when they got online. However, the fact was that he and his students would always have an age and professional difference – a generational gap that the MMO game might dilute, which could not be eliminated completely in this sort of fully simulated environment. Adding the fact that both parties in this scenario knew each other in real life, the result meant that the dynamics they had were imported entirely right into the game.

Evidently, none of these kids would really treat him like one of their bosom friends, and today’s incident was a great example of that. When the whole lot of them was done playing for the day and was feeling tired, they suddenly saw someone appear in their friends list and were then reminded that their teacher Gu Fei was in this game as well.

Most of the comments the students made to him were requests for coin, equipment, or to be carried while questing. Some even wanted him to perform for them. In summary, they were all just seeking him for fun!

“This bunch of brats!” Gu Fei did not know if he should be laughing or crying.

“Sir, are you in Baishi City? How do we get there?” Ah Fa again sent this question.

Having made sense of all that, Gu Fei more or less knew that, while these students were voicing their desire to visit Baishi City, they were not solely intending to do so because he was there. Gu Fei was just a P.E. teacher, so their relationship with him was nothing so dear at all. Thus, he replied, “What are you guys coming over to Baishi City for?” Gu Fei already decided that if that brat replied with ‘to see you’, he would ensure to give him a great time next semester.

Sure enough, that youngster did not have anything so complex, as Ah Fa came clean. “We’ve been playing in Yunduan City for so long, and we’re thinking of changing to a different city. We heard that the various cities in-game are all different.”

“Sure enough, that “Sir, where are you? We’ll tag along as well!” was no more than a convenient excuse. Gu Fei was not at all their reason for coming over.

“Well, if you’re talking about Baishi City, you’ll first have to pass through the Oolong Mountain Range of Yunduan City, then go through Yeguang Village of Yueye City, and walk down the main road all the way to get here,” Gu Fei offered.

“Are there any dangers along the way? Some of us aren’t even level 10 yet!” Ah Fa was worried.

“Hmm… Anyone under level 10 will be very safe, but anything past that…” His voice trailed off.

Ah Fa was surprised. “Why is that?”

“Yueye City is filled with hooligans, and the streets are teeming with murderers. Any stranger they meet will be stripped of their equipment, have their pockets emptied, and their levels be bottomed out. Players under level 10 are protected by the system, so they are very safe.

“Are you being serious…” Ah Fa was vacillating.

“Pretty much! At least, that’s what they were like when I was over there.” Gu Fei was being very hypocritical. He was someone who would leave a trail of bodies wherever he went. It was amazing how he likened himself to these obedient kids as if they were one and the same.

“What now? Is there anywhere else we can go?” Ah Fa was afraid. He was still the highest-level player among his fellow classmates, so he would surely be at the forefront if they stumbled onto anything dangerous. Ah Fa was a Mage, yet he still had to shout out “I’m the Main Tank!” every time, all the while doing so in tears. Hearing that the place they were about to go would actually be so murderous, and with how the lot behind him would readily send him to die, Ah Fa felt as if he would really end up like what Gu Fei had said, losing all his equipment, money, and level.

“There’s no need to be afraid. You guys go ahead, and teacher here will make the arrangements for you all,” Gu Fei replied.

“How would you do that?” Ah Fa asked.

“You guys will make a large banner and ensure that the signet is drawn clearly on it. Pull out that banner the moment you get out of Oolong Mountain Range, and I’ll inform my friends about your arrival to have them secretly take care of you all. That should ensure your safety,” Gu Fei said.

“Bearing a banner… That’s really ugly, sir.” The youth always placed value on their image, be they male or female.

“It’s at least better than taking off all your equipment and running about in the nude!” Gu Fei exclaimed.

Ah Fa was speechless for a good moment, probably discussing the matter with the other students. This discussion very apparently exposed his online status as he immediately received several questions from them. “Sir, is Yueye City that frightening a place?”

“Of course, you absolutely need to be on your guard,” Gu Fei warned.

“Then, is there no other way to get there?” another asked.

“Nope!” What Gu Fei had said could be considered as the truth. The world map for Parallel World only showed Yueye as the only city linked to Yunduan City.

“Okay…” After a period of silence, it was apparent that the students were discussing this matter on their end once more. Soon, Gu Fei got their reply. “All right. So, what should we write on our banner? Do we write your IGN?”

“Most definitely not!” Gu Fei hurried to say. “Teachers’ friends have enemies as well. Writing my name out would be a bad thing. Just randomly writing something easily recognizable will do.”

“We shall write the number ‘3’, then. After all, we are class 3!” Ah Fa said.

“That works. Inform me once you guys get on the road,” Gu Fei said.

“Got it!” These students began to get busy on their end, leaving Gu Fei sniggering on his side. Just thinking about a bunch of players flying a banner, even Gu Fei found such an act to be really foolish. Seeing as how those twerps keep looking to get their enjoyment off me, it should be fine to tease them a little! He had no qualms in doing such sort of harmless pranks on others.

However, his series of expressions as he thought of all these really frightened anyone looking. Glue and the others had been staring at Gu Fei this whole time since he came back online, and when they saw him not moving after getting back beyond showing that vacant stare, they quickly realized that he was messaging others. Still, when his expression oscillated from embarrassment and malevolence to delight which seemed to be born of treachery, they felt that it was too suspicious!

Before the three men even finished analyzing what they had witnessed, Gu Fei’s eyes suddenly drifted over to them, and because the conversation had just ended, even that treacherous smile of his was flashed at those men.

Oh, no. That guy seems to have set up some sort of trap for us! The three could not help but think of this. Flame Singled Clothes, who could no longer bear it, asked aloud, “What are you thinking of doing?”

Glue and Verdant Timber gave him the side-eye. Flame Singled Clothes sounded very threatening when he said that cliché line, especially with how he had intoned it with so much gusto.

Gu Fei was not even jolted by it, however, and only showed his astonishment at the question. “What?”

“Just what tricks are you up to this time?” Flame Singled Clothes demanded.

“Eh, you could tell?” Gu Fei asked.

I knew it! The three men each sucked in cold air.

“You guys had better be careful. I’ve already gathered reinforcement to come and take you guys out. You’ll lose all your equipment, coins, and levels. Tragic. How very tragic,” Gu Fei said even as he made to leave the Archer Range.

The faces of Glue and the two men paled as they rushed to inform the others of this development.

“We’re in deep trouble; Thousand Miles Drunk has actually gathered helpers to come take care of us!”

“Helpers? Don’t blame me for praising the man… but can any of us honestly say that he needs helpers against us?” Paddy Scent Pastures asked.

“Which is why it’s so frightening! If he calls for reinforcements, can you imagine just how cruel the next bit can get?” Glue asked.

“How did you guys learn of this?” Southern Lone Blade asked.

“He just said so himself!” Glue answered.

“How can you believe him just because he said it?! Seriously, you guys!” Paddy Scent Pastures felt as if they had been overreacting over nothing.

“It did not sound as if he were lying. Thousand Miles Drunk stood there for quite some time sending out messages, so it’s very likely that he’s truly calling for more manpower,” Glue said.