Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Sword Demon had been playing solo in Parallel World most of the time, so he did not have many people in his friends’ list. He had all lost contact over time with all his friends of old he once had when his original guild had been disbanded so quickly after the game started up. Veteran gamers like Royal God Call would, of course, have their old friends as well, but because Parallel World had split people up across the different cities in quite a cataclysmic fashion, everyone was in the same world, though the difference was no better than being on a different server. People still tried to keep in contact in the beginning, but as time went by, with everyone making new friends in their new surroundings, the interaction between one another dwindled, and all the new friends that Royal God Call had made in Parallel World were all presently right in front of him…

As for Southern Lone Blade, the gang of seven were his best friends, and all the other acquaintances that he had were all back in Linshui City. As for his clients, they were even more scattered across the world. Besides, the contact that he had with them were simply purely transactional in nature, so asking them for help with something like this was hardly in order.

Having already gathered almost a dozen players, everyone looked through what network they had, yet they ended up coming up with nothing much. Brother Assist was still adamantly not accepting private messages; actually, he was someone who had quite an expansive reach of networks and contacts. He would often be found recommending his friends every other time he spoke, so if they were able to make contact with him, they would surely be able to get the help they needed.

“Royal, go in the mercenary channel and send a message, ask Brother Assist for his location. Tell him you want to play with him,” Gu Fei said.

“What’s the point of being so secretive?” Royal God Call asked.

“We can’t let Young Master find out about this. Given his reaction, he would very quickly guess that we have designs to take down the encampments, and if he were to take precautions against it, there’s no way we would be able to take on tens of thousands of players even if we have the manpower from a guild backing us!” Sword Demon was being very serious.

“Then you’ve already made a huge mistake. Do you really think that chatterbox War Without Wounds would help keep your secret?” Royal God Call shook his head. The two of them were a pair of bad company. They took joy in mocking and disparaging one another, but they actually had a very good understanding of one another as well. After all, how would they be better able to make digs of the other where it hurts the most if they lacked an in depth comprehension of each other?

“No way… Right?” Just as Gu Fei and Sword Demon said this, War Without Wounds had broadcasted over the mercenary channel, “Hey, Miles and Sword Demon. What’s this about you guys looking to establish a guild?”

The entire channel was silent. Gu Fei and Sword Demon were beating their chests with great remorse. They had truly overestimated War Without Wounds’ intellect, believing that he would understand just how crucial it was to not leak what they had discussed to anyone else. In the end, they actually saw him continue, “Young Master? Have you joined them?”

“Oh? Starting a guild? Who was it that came up with such a genius idea?” Young Master Han chatted.

“Ahem, are you in?” Gu Fei asked.

“We’ll talk about it after I kill the both of you,” Young Master Han answered.

“What for? We’re all friends after all, haha!” Gu Fei tried to laugh it off.

“You must feel that you lack manpower if you’re looking to establish a guild, right? Are you thinking of taking down the northeast encampment?” Young Master Han wondered aloud.

“Sure enough, we got exposed!” Gu Fei and Sword Demon were both in tears when they cried this out in person. If War Without Wounds was beside them right now, Gu Fei would not hesitate to lash out at him. Perhaps, even Sword Demon would not hesitate to do the same.

“Haha, yeah, you guys will have to be careful,” Gu Fei replied.

“Is this a misdirection?” Young Master Han asked.

“You’ve seen through it again,” Gu Fei answered.

“Do you think that bit of wisdom you have is enough to hide this from me?” Young Master Han scoffed.

“Then make a guess when I will head over to Yunjiao Lakeside to find Guillermo?” Gu Fei quipped.

“Oh? You know Guillermo is there? That makes no sense, who told you this? Someone from Disembodied Souls Under the Tree?” Young Master Han asked.

“Brother Assist, stop pretending to be dead and come on out!” Gu Fei had decided it was best to change the subject.

“I’m here…” Brother Assist had finally shown himself. He already knew what was happening, and the moment he joined the new guild, his position on this matter would be firmly rooted. Thus, he did not hesitate as he unblocked his messages and called out in the mercenary channel, “We’ll take this private.”

“Brother Assist, you’re truly a very transparent person!” Gu Fei praised.

“Establishing a guild is a great idea! Why did I not think of this from the start!?” Brother Assist’s message had immediately came flying in.

“Yeah, it’s not bad, but we still do not have the manpower. We haven’t even gotten the 20 members needed to first create our guild. Do you have anyone on your end who would be suitable for this?” Gu Fei asked.

“Let’s meet and talk!” Brother Assist was apparently rather excited about all this.

“Brother Assist should have ideas,” Gu Fei said to the others upon closing the chat window.

“War Without Wounds…” Sword Demon sighed, still angry over that man.

“Forget it, it’s just an encampment,” Gu Fei consoled.

“I can let it slide if it was just a little bit of advantage, but the problem is if the news of our guild being established were to be propagated, think about it; currently, the players are aware that only the two of us are the enemy, so if there were suddenly so many more people on the city defender’s side, we would have an actual advantage as long as they are kept in the dark about it. But right now, everything is essentially exposed. And since this is Young Master we’re talking about, how would he not think of BIg South and all the others…” Sword Demon said.

“Ah… That…” Gu Fei realized that after they create their guild, the level of fighting would instantly increase, and his brain had problems scaling with it; this was no longer a battlefield where one person’s bravery would be able to turn the tide of the fight. A guild acted as support, but it was also shackles for the individual. Gu Fei might be able to calmly take on hundreds and thousands of men, but what about the others? The hordes of players from all the guilds might not be able to contain Gu Fei, but they could always vent their frustrations on his compatriots.

Gu Fei suddenly realized that he was actually no different from Xi Xiaotian; he was also a bomb when in a guild, someone who could very well blow up in the faces of both friends and foes alike. Tears were flowing freely down Gu Fei’s cheeks; Why is it that I always find myself sharing similar circumstances with that swindler? We’re clearly two people with two different quirks! In the next moment, Gu Fei had also realized that the guild he was in right now, Amethyst Rebirth, was actually a guild that suited him perfectly. No matter how much the other players from all the different guilds hated him, they would still feel awkward venting their resentment on a group of peaceful ladies. Of course, No Smile was the top tier scumbag that was the exception to the rule.

“Not good, I gotta quickly message Big South and his men,” Sword Demon suddenly exclaimed.

“Message them about?” Gu Fei and the others were confused and they saw Sword Demon was already staring blankly into space as he privately messaged Southern Lone Blade, before sighing in relief. “That was really close!”

“What happened?” everyone asked.

“They nearly got tricked by Young Master… Had they went off to them like this, do you guys think we’ll ever see them again?” Sword Demon wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Hot d*mn*d. That guy is absolutely despicable,” they were all appalled hearing that. The actual fight had not even officially started, yet the mind games were already underway. Young Master Han’s trick here was simple; he of course knew about the unique feature of Southern Lone Blade and the others share being the neutral third party since they were not part of any guild yet, so all he had to do was pretend to be a friendly, and ask to meet them in some other coordinates. By then, it would not be difficult for him to kill those men repeatedly one hundred times over if required. It was a good thing that Sword Demon had reacted quickly, deducing that Young Master Han would make such an attempt.

“Quick, think of what other loopholes are there that he could exploit,” Gu Fei said.

“We’ll need to be extremely cautious with anyone who knows Young Master, in case he or she becomes a fraud,” Sword Demon warned.

Everyone nodded, before Gu Fei suddenly ask, “Brother Assist isn’t at risk of being a fraud, right?”

Curses rang out.

Everyone had the sudden urge to kill Gu Fei. Why must he complicate matters like so?

The situation was extremely peculiar when they met up with Brother Assist, as everyone stared at the man of the hour like they were keeping an eye on a saboteur. Brother Assist had originally come running over with great excitement, but he felt completely ill-at-ease when he saw the scene before him. Nobody spoke for a good while, as they were all very furtively sizing him up.

“Hey, I’m here,” Brother Assist begun.

Everyone nodded.

“Aren’t we forming a guild?” Brother Assist asked.

Everyone nodded once more.

“What’s with you guys?” Brother Assist was better off dying for him not to ask questions when there were doubts.

“Honestly, Brother Assist. Being a spy really isn’t a job suited for you,” Gu Fei began.

“S—Spy?” Brother Assist sputtered in his bewilderment.

“Stop pretending. We already know that Young Master had sent you,” Royal God Call laughed mirthlessly.

“WHAT?” Brother Assist exclaimed in shock.

“Death is the only outcome if you insist on being so stubborn till the end,” for even the honest and upright Sword Demon to say this, the threat beheld within his words was palpable. Brother Assist was almost brought to tears.

“Alright everyone, I think he’s not compromised,” Xi Xiaotian declared.

“How do you know?”

“Call it a swindler’s intuition.”

Everyone began to scrutinize Brother Assist once more.

“I really came here on my own!” Brother Assist felt aggrieved.

“Why don’t we trust him for the moment?” Everybody was discussing this as Brother Assist stood by the side and waited for their verdict.

“I’ve got an idea. Brother Assist, send a message in the mercenary channel. Type out ‘Young Master Han is a son of a gun’,” Royal God Call ordered.

“Royal, that’s really too much,” Brother Assist’s face greened.

“Yeah, it’s too much,” Gu Fei and Sword Demon each agreed, before turning to ask Brother Assist, “So are you sending it or not?”

“You guys are sending me to my death!!!” Brother Assist looked 45 degrees up to the sky, tears already blurring his vision. The sky was truly beautiful, but why must my future be filled with such turmoil and chaos, he thought to himself.

“Hello… Everyone…” It was at this time when a timid voice rang out from the side to greet everyone. Even Gu Fei, who had been focused on observing Brother Assist, did not actually sense that someone was closing in toward them. He quickly pulled out his sword and turned around to bellow, “Who are you?”

Behind him was a lady, who had already lost the rosiness of her cheeks. Instead, it was Fireball who exclaimed upon seeing this newcomer, “Drunk bro, don’t attack. She’s one of us, one of us!”

“Ah?” Gu Fei was stunned.

Brother Assist was also looking at this lady by this time, and turned his gaze to Fireball in surprise, “You know her as well?”

“Of course I do. The inner shirt I’m wearing right now was made by her, am I right, Bashful?” Fireball had immediately slid right up to her.

The lady had jumped back a step in her astonishment when Fireball made his move, staring at him in horror, “You’re someone from Forever In Flowers! I don’t know you!”

“Hahaha, how would you know I’m from Forever In Flowers if you don’t know me!?” Fireball burst out laughing. Just as he was going to continue teasing this lady, Royal God Call had come over to push him aside, courteously addressing the lady with faux gallantry, “There are hooligans about in these parts, but there’s nothing for you to worry about, big sister, I shall protect you. The name’s Royal God Call.”

“Royal God Call?” The lady had very evidently leaped to her feet when she heard the name, “The lecher Royal God Call that calls every woman he meets big sister?”

Royal God Call was startled when he heard this, but he quickly regained his composure, “There’s actually a lot of pressure being an apex expert, because there would always be jealous people out there that would create salacious rumors about me to sully my good name. Sis— Miss, please don’t take it to heart. Look, I’m not someone who would call every woman I meet big sister.”

“But you already called me that before!”

“I did? No, you must have heard wrongly,” Royal God Call corrected her.

“Hey hey hey, Royal God Call, do you even know the rules!?” Fireball, who had been pushed aside by Royal God Call, came dashing right back to express his displeasure, and the two were quickly struggling with each other.

“Why did this lady appear out of nowhere for no rhyme or reason, will anyone explain to me what’s going on first?” Gu Fei could no longer stand this and wanted to exercise his sword hand already.

“Let me explain!” Brother Assist hurriedly stepped in. “She’s my cousin, Bashful Countenance.”

“Your cousin?” Everyone was shocked.

Royal God Call and Fireball had both already sprinted right over, looking here, there, all over, before finally calling out to Brother Assist at the same time, “Uncle!”

“Go to hell! I’ll kill the both of you!!” Brother Assist was enraged.

“Wait wait wait, everyone STOP!!!” Gu Fei waved his sword and a monster that was passing by was reduced to ash and light. Nobody dared to make any noise as everything quieted down.

Sword Demon quickly rushed over to preside over the conversation, “Brother Assist, you have a cousin? You’ve never mentioned this before!”

“Yeah, I’ve never mentioned it before, but I did tell Miles about her once,” Brother Assist said.

“You did?” Gu Fei was astonished.

“Yeah, I told you about her, the player who made clothes in Yunduan City. In fact, I even said that I would like to introduce you to her to help alter your equipment,” Brother Assist recounted.

“Oh, that’s right! I told you about her as well,” Fireball very quickly interjected.

“But you didn’t mention she was your cousin then!” Gu Fei exclaimed.

“Well… I really wanted to properly introduce the both of you after the two of you met in person!” Brother Assist said.

“I see… So do you mean to bring your cousin along to join our guild as well now?” Sword Demon asked.

“It’s not an issue, right?” Brother Assist asked.

“Of course not!” Royal God Call and Fireball both trumpeted.

“Cousin, let me introduce you to everyone; This here is Thousand Miles Drunk, that one is Sword Demon. This lady here is Xi Xiaotian, and those two are just passersby. There’s no need for you to remember their faces,” Brother Assist said.

“HEY!!” Both Fireball and Royal God Call were very disgruntled with the introduction they got. It was a good thing that the two men had already taken the initiative to introduce themselves moments before.

“There are already two babes in our guild!!” The two were thrilled.

“I believe that this guild has a bright future ahead of it,” Fireball whispered to Royal God Call.

“I feel the same as well,” Royal God Call concurred.

“The future will be a long one too!” Fireball said.

“It’s a good thing we are still young,” Royal God Call affirmed.

“Youth is great!” The two cheered, shedding tears of happiness.

After Brother Assist introduced Bashful Countenance to everyone, she still kept her head bowed, timidly sneaking glances at everyone before quietly shifting over to stand beside Xi Xiaotian.

“You should maintain a certain distance from her. She’s a swindler,” Gu Fei quickly reminded.

Bashful Countenance had the fright of her life, quickly ducking away in fluster after glancing at Xi Xiaotian. She looked at the others, the two lechers, an eager killer, then there was the last one, while a little hurtful to say out loud, but a really ugly looking man… Bashful Countenance instantly felt as if there was nowhere good to head toward. Cousin, just what are you up to, mixing around with this bunch here… Bashful Countenance had the impulse to just run away.

“Cousin, don’t be afraid. These people are all essentially good people,” Brother Assist came over to her side and said.

“Hey, what do you mean essentially!?” these ‘good’ people had strong opinions about his choice of words.

“Hey lil sis, you can come and stand next to me. I promise I won’t cheat you or anything,” Xi Xiaotian called out.

“I think it’s better if I stay with my cousin!” Bashful Countenance was still as apprehensive as before.

“What are we going to do? Won’t she die of fright when those larcenists come over?” Gu Fei wondered out loud.

Bashful Countenance’s face went pale almost instantly. What? There’s still a gang of robbers? Just who are these people, this is too frightening… Brother Assist was by her side explaining there was nothing to be afraid, that they were all good people, saying it so absentmindedly even as he wondered himself, come to think of it, are those guys good people?

Brother Assist, and including Bashful Countenance, meant they were still missing 7 players to complete the 20 they need. Gu Fei and Sword Demon immediately asked Brother Assist if he had any more friends that could come over to help.

“There is someone, but I don’t know if any of you remember him,” Brother Assist said.

“Who?”

“He’s called Cirrus, a Mage,” Brother Assist said.

“Who’s that?” Gu Fei asked.

“I seem to vaguely remember that name,” Sword Demon muttered.

“Have I slain him before?” Gu Fei asked.

“During the mercenary group PvP tournament, do you remember going up against High Clouds mercenary group?” Brother Assist asked.

“Oh! I remember now. It was that guild leader who quit the guild after, who said he wanted to join us, but nothing came out of it afterward. What, did you keep in contact with him?” Sword Demon asked.

“That’s right. He added me as a friend and has always told me to consider him if we ever express a wish to add another to our numbers,” Brother Assist explained.

“But he was referring to our mercenary group. Does he not have a guild as well?” Sword Demon asked.

“I’ll ask him now and find out,” Brother Assist said.

“Ask away.”

Brother Assist quickly contacted that man, and very quickly got a reply, “He just so happen to not have a guild right now. How is it? If there are no problems, I can call him over right now.”

“We don’t really know this person. Brother Assist, what are your thoughts about it?” Sword Demon asked.

“He’s not too bad,” Brother Assist said, looking at everyone around before finally repeating himself with surety, “Not bad at all.”

“Hey, what do you mean while giving that look of yours?” Royal God Call barked.

“Why does it look so provocative?” Fireball asked.

“If we’re making comparisons against you two, he obviously meant that this Cirrus person is much better than either of you,” Gu Fei said.

Both men wanted to retort with the statement ‘you aren’t any better yourself’, but it would forever remain lodged in their minds, never voiced out.

“Then let’s call him over!” Sword Demon nodded.

Brother Assist swiftly sent out a message before he began to search through his friends’ list. He was glancing through the names even as he softly muttered to himself, “This one won’t do, she has a guild already. That one won’t work too, he’s too trash. This one is a no, his personality is atrocious; This one isn’t good either, too much of a hassle…”

Brother Assist was talking to himself for a good half hour, which only demonstrated just how long his friends’ list went. By the time he was done and concluded his perusal, Gu Fei and the others were already barbecuing meat by the side, and Southern Lone Blade and his men had already arrived. Cirrus had also arrived and was getting to know everyone present. Meanwhile, Xi Xiaotian lived up to her name as a swindler, her terrific communication and diplomacy skills on full display, having already gotten the confidence and trust of Bashful Countenance, and was discussing the new clothing styles fashionable this spring season. Gu Fei came over to remind her to be wary of the swindler, only for Xi Xiaotian to remind Bashful Countenance to stay vigilant with the violent PK slayer. The swindling profession was all about secrecy, so what sort of failed con artist would she be if anybody was capable of identifying her as a swindler from sight? Meanwhile, Thousand Miles Drunk was notorious throughout the entire Parallel World for his identity as the apex PKer. It was evident that Bashful Countenance was even more horrified of the man, actively keeping a good distance away from Gu Fei the entire time.

Gu Fei was at a loss at this point as well. That was when Brother Assist had also finished sorting through the information from his friends’ list and called everyone over to discuss everything. Gu Fei got a sudden system prompt and saw that it was the sisters Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu that had gotten online. He quickly added, “Oh yeah, I have two more with me, I’ll ask if they are interested to join us.”

“Who?” the crowd asked.

“Slyris and Yan Xiaozhu,” Gu Fei answered.

“All hail Miles!!!” Royal God Call and Fireball lauded.

“I knew that there would be skirts to chase if I follow Drunk bro,” Fireball animatedly squeezed Royal God Call shoulder, shaking him with visible excitement.

Gu Fei sent a message to the pair of sisters, and the two were originally neutral third party players without any guild affiliation, so when they heard about this new plan, the two felt it was rather interesting and very happily agreed to the idea.

“That’s 16! We still need 4 more!” Boss Sword Demon announced.