Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

No way for Thousand Miles Drunk to leave? That was the situation that Ye Xiaowu had initially told Broken Water Arrow about, and Broken Water Arrow had said he did not understand how that was possible. This was a game, there was no way such a situation would exist in a game. All a player had to do was pull out a teleportation scroll and anywhere they stood could instantly be turned into an airport, allowing players to fly off like a jet whenever they wished. How could there ever be a situation where a player could leave and not return?

Gu Fei had also tried to guess the answer to this. He had originally been prepared to use his teleportation scroll to leave the place, only for the teleportation to have failed and the system prompting him that his destination was beyond teleportable boundaries. Gu Fei thought about this and recalled something that Brother Assist had elaborated to him a very long time ago, informing him about Class 2 maps. It was apparent that this huge room that was hidden deep underground was considered to be a Class 2 map, and for the destination of his teleportation scroll to be considered beyond the teleportable boundary, Gu Fei reckoned that there was no way that he would be able to teleport in and out between these two class of maps.

However, the answer that Ye Xiaowu gave to Broken Water Arrow was actually: They are in two different planes.

What he meant by two different planes did not refer to what was called the Class 2 map, but the specific region that Yunduan City’s wastewater hub was in that utilized magic to treat water, existed in a separate magical plane. Because the teleportation scrolls are also considered a magical tool, the existence of this plane meant that there was no way for the teleportation scrolls to transport the player to the indicated destination, as it was impossible for these scrolls to become an intermediary that allowed players to traverse between the planes.

This could be said to be a setting that Parallel World had set up for something as fantastical as the magic system that they had in place. In truth, the introduction of such content had been detailed in the official description, but it was up to the players themselves to make the connections. Most would not be bothered to think too much on this, much less someone like Gu Fei who had never once researched the complicated game setting.

Presently, he was running hard. Turning back to look, he saw the players from Carouse on the opposite of the steps yelling as they came rushing over toward him. Gu Fei laughed. There was no way that any of them would be able to catch up to him given the distance. Arriving at the entrance, Gu Fei lit a torch in his hand. After the chaotic fight, someone had carelessly dropped one on the ground and Gu Fei had very deftly picked it up. It just so happened that it came in handy at this moment.

Ignoring the troops pursuing him, Gu Fei lit the torch and plunged into the tunnel. Broken Water Arrow and the others were still stuck on the narrow steps, lining up to make way, but they were unable to go any faster despite their desire to, and this left them so anxious that some even contemplated jumping off. By the time Broken Water Arrow had managed to get himself over, several minutes had already passed, while Young Master Han and Gu Xiaoshang were already ready to greet the man as he arrived.

“You guys… You guys did this on purpose!” Broken Water Arrow was somewhat agitated. He more or less had a good understanding of how Young Master Han thought and acted, so he had enough reasons to doubt. Naturally, his suspicions were spot on.

That is why Young Master Han did not bother to explain himself, merely chuckling, “The situation is dire now.”

He might have uttered the word ‘dire’, but his expression did not seem to reflect the severity at all, and he was clearly showing a very happy expression.

Broken Water Arrow was so angry, he could almost vomit blood. As a result, Young Master Han was not exactly in a rush himself, even coming over to pat him on his shoulder, “Old Broken, what are we going to do now? You’ve gotta come to a decision about us.”

Broken Water Arrow dodged Young Master Han’s pat with great loathing and stared at him. After a while, however, he could only sigh. What else could he say? Everyone had merely sought what they needed, and Young Master Han had been ruthless with how he used him. But what about Broken Water Arrow? Was he not simply using these large guilds’ mentality of not wanting to lose the City Wars event for himself as well?

“Let’s complete the quest!” Broken Water Arrow decided.

“There’s work to do,” Young Master Han did not even mention the matter of Broken Water Arrow intentionally concealing information pertaining to the quest in order to stall for time, bowing out to let him pass. Gu Xiaoshang did the same as well, pretending like they knew nothing as she called Wing over so he could listen to Broken Water Arrow’s instructions.

Broken Water Arrow shut both his eyes and went into deep thought for a bit. In the end, he still clung onto a thread of hope and sent a message to Brave Surge, “Thousand Miles Drunk ran off.”

“What? Ran off? How did he run off?” Brave Surge was surprised.

“He went into the tunnel we came in from,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“What did you say?” Brave Surge could not believe his ears.

“The tunnel we came in from!”

“Screw me, won’t I end up running into him!!” Brave Surge exclaimed loudly.

“Is that so? You’re already in the tunnel? Then quick stop him!” Broken Water Arrow was stirred.

“Bro, what kind of joke are you trying to pull here?” Brave Surge retorted.

“Do your best and hold him! I’ll immediately bring some men over,” Broken Water Arrow got ready to gather the necessary manpower.

“I’ll hold your sister. I’ve already been sent back to the spawn point,” Brave Surge’s face was black with anger. Beside him stood Black Index Finger, who was seething even more than Brave Surge. Both men exchanged looks with each other, not saying a word for the longest time. They had brought along several players, and all of them were looking particularly despondent as well.

There were quite a lot of players who had died and respawned. Being guild leaders, Brave Surge and Black Index Finger of course had to rush back to the fight, but as for the others… They already had around 2000 players gathered there. Brave Surge felt that he already had enough manpower, so he did not bother to gather all the other players around them beyond the handful in their vicinity. As a result, all of them began to panic when they received Broken Water Arrow’s message just after they had entered the tunnel. This was all because the chances of bumping into Thousand Miles Drunk along this tunnel was a guarantee, and being unable to get into any sort of formation in such a narrow space, no amount of players they brought along would matter; they would simply end up lining up to be killed. The handful of them was sweating bullets when they saw a torch shining ahead. Brave Surge was still messaging Broken Water Arrow when Gu Fei dashed right toward them, not even certain if he recognized he was facing Brave Surge despite holding onto a Torch. Ultimately, they were all wiped out in the blink of an eye, and then he proceeded to do the same to Black Index Finger and his men…

The Guild leaders from level 6 guilds and the experts within said guild were no more than paper soldiers in front of Gu Fei. The man easily stomped on them all, not even sparing another glance as he continued his way out the tunnel.

“Are there any more players outside that you could rally to impede him?” Broken Water Arrow asked.

“It’ll be too late,” Brave Surge sighed.

Broken Water Arrow sighed as well, opening his eyes. The players from Colored Clouds were still waiting for his instructions right now. Broken Water Arrow swept his glance over these players, stopping just as he spotted Wing. “You there, come with me!”

Everyone immediately stepped away to let Broken Water Arrow pass wherever he moved. They saw him lead Wing along until he reached the central pipes. Broken Water Arrow circled around it once, touching and feeling them as if he was trying to count something. Finally, he stopped by a pipe that was not particularly thick or thin, used his hand to rap against the metal tube a few times before turning to stick his ear right up to it.

“What is he doing?” Some players whispered to another. Because there were quite a lot of players gathered, the buzz of the crowd was not particularly low. Broken Water Arrow made the hand gesture to silence everyone as Gu Xiaoshang quickly relayed this to everyone, getting them to keep quiet. However, the players from Carouse were unable to see the message Gu Xiaoshang had sent over the guild channel, so they continued to be abuzz as they were. However, because these players were all on the outer encirclement that formed around Broken Water Arrow, their light chatter did not seem to bother Broken Water Arrow, and he never threw in another suggestion, merely sticking his ear right to the pipe as he carefully listened for something.

Everyone did not know what he was trying to accomplish, and Gu Xiaoshang shot a look toward Wing. Wing quickly stepped up, but it was because there was only that much space available, and Broken Water Arrow was already taking it all up by sticking his ears and self so close to the pipes. Wing was not so tall, so there was no way for him to shove his head right up to Broken Water Arrow’s own, so the man could only tap his shoulders, “Hey, make some space so I can hear as well!”

Broken Water Arrow did not mind this, and stepped back a few paces, revealing a spot for Wing to take up. Squatting himself down, Wing stuck his head to the pipe as he asked, “What am I listening for?”

“The sound of flowing water,” Broken Water Arrow answered.

Wing calmed himself and gave it a listen, and sure enough, he heard the sound of water being transported along the pipe. Excited, he declared, “I hear it!”

“Listen carefully. Some of the sound isn’t coming from that pipe. We need to identify just the sounds from this pipe,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“So what if we hear it?” Wing asked.

“We won’t do anything if we hear the sound of running water in the pipe. What we need is when it is no longer making any sound,” Broken Water Arrow explained.

“I see,” Wing replied. And so, the 2000 players present stared at the two players as they stuck their ears to the pipe and listened intently. This continued until Broken Water Arrow’s eyes finally sparkled, turning over to look at Wing, still crouched under him. “Do you hear anything?”

“There’s nothing,” Wing said.

“That’s right,” Broken Water Arrow nodded and turned to ask Gu Xiaoshang, “Does anyone have a dagger? It needs to at least have an aptitude above 220%.”

Gu Xiaoshang paused for a moment before turning back to lock her eyes on someone next to her. This player was a Thief and possessed a top tier dagger with a 250% aptitude score. The equipment in Parallel World was not restricted by player levels, so the aptitude score could be used to determine the quality of said equipment. However, white tier equipment lacked any traits assigned to them, so no one would care for them no matter how high their quality. Broken Water Arrow was seeking a dagger with an aptitude score of 220% or above, and it would currently be considered as a top tier equipment.

The Thief did not hesitate, pulling out his dagger as he asked Broken Water Arrow, “How do you want me to do it?”

Broken Water Arrow gazed at that dagger he was holding and warned, “You won’t be able to retrieve this dagger of yours after we do this quest.”

“WHAT?” The Thief was stunned.

“Progressing this quest requires the loss of such a dagger with that much aptitude score. An NPC would have provided us with the necessary dagger had we done this quest conventionally, but because we skipped ahead, we’ll have to provide this dagger ourselves,” Broken Water Arrow elaborated.

“Must it be a top tier weapon?” This dagger was heartbroken.

“Nope. We just need a dagger with the appropriate aptitude score,” Broken Water Arrow reaffirmed.

That Thief sighed in relief. He immediately put his dagger away and turned around to send out a message across his guild, “We need a dagger that has an aptitude score of 220 or above, the trashier the better. If you’ve got one, hurry on over here.”

Colored Clouds had quite a lot of Thieves amidst their ranks, and quite a lot of them actually had a dagger that fit the criteria, so everyone each linked their weapon onto the channel. In the end, none of them had indeed kept a white tier equipment, and soon, a Thief that was not even level 40 stepped up with his blue tier dagger. This weapon of his was the worst out of all the daggers that were offered, yet despite so, he was still eyeing the weapon with much longing when he handed it over.

Gu Xiaoshang could feel her heart somewhat ache for the man as she stood on the side and watched this unfold. Even though the weapon being offered was hardly worth mentioning in the eyes of these elite experts, it was still something that this low level player had stashed away in hopes of using it in the future, since his current aptitude was not enough to properly wield it. Clearly, he had bought the weapon in preparation of the time when he could wield after he leveled up. This insignificant weapon could even be seen as his motivation to keep leveling, akin to a goal he had set for himself in-game. Any player out there would be able to relate to this idea he had. Gu Xiaoshang offered her guarantee, “the guild will help to settle your equipment once we get back to the city.”

This noob was elated after hearing this, immediately offering his dagger with great zest.

Broken Water Arrow nodded his head, and called out to find a player with more than 220 Strength.

In the end, that Thief beside him nodded, “I’m one.”

“A Strength focused Thief?” Broken Water Arrow examined the player quizzically. The main stat that Thieves focused on was Agility, with Strength as a secondary. In order to reach 220 Strength at their current level, they would have to devote all their stat points toward Strength, and most Berserkers would be the one who did that. However, there would always be players with strong individuality that play MMOs, and presently, this barbaric Thief that devoted all his stats toward Strength was one such example.

The barbaric Thief took the dagger from Broken Water Arrow’s hand, “How do I do this?”

“Stab it here,” Broken Water Arrow knocked a particular pipe.

“Just like that?” The barbaric Thief gestured toward the pipe and Broken Water Arrow nodded. The barbaric Thief turned back to look at Gu Xiaoshang, and only after seeing her nod did he stab the dagger right down, hard.

There was a muffled sound and the dagger was simply plunged right in.

“What now?” the Thief asked.

“Pull it out and remember, don’t twist or wiggle it out when pulling. Just don’t create too big a gash when doing it,” Broken Water Arrow instructed.

The barbaric Thief nodded to acknowledge this, acting exactly as he had been told. He had to exert quite a bit of force, but he ultimately managed to complete the task according to Broken Water Arrow’s wish, pulling the dagger straight out without much of a fuss.

Broken Water Arrow took the dagger away from that player’s hand and turned to Wing, “Give me the thing.”

Wing was immediately vigilant, “Would it still be considered our quest if we hand it over to you?”

Broken Water Arrow looked and saw that the enemy would not be in the least bit careless about this matter. It seemed like he would not be able to pull off this little trick in the end after all, so he could only chuckle mirthlessly. Inserting the point of the dagger into the gash, he pointed, “You know how to pour the contents of the test tube down here, right?”

“Of course I do! Do you take me as someone who had never been to school?” Wing eyed Broken Water Arrow for a bit. Anyone who has attended school would surely be able to apply such a common scientific experiment technique. Taking the dagger in hand, he raised the test tube, as Broken Water Arrow reminded, “You cannot even spill a drop of the solution.”

Wing immediately tensed up. Under the watchful gaze of the 2000 players present, he momentarily froze, maintaining his posture rigidly. Broken Water Arrow looked at the time and began hurrying, “Quick, the water flow will only stop for a while. You need to do this before the water flow starts over again.”

Stay calm! Wing was shouting to himself as he finally began his task. Very cautiously, he poured the solution in the test tube right down that pipe. Through that gash, it was as if the sound from the pipe became clearer, as the rumbling sound of water could be heard as Broken Water Arrow anxiously hurried, “Quick, you’re running out of time.’

“I’ll end up spilling it if I go any faster!” Wing shouted back, ignoring Broken Water Arrow as he continued to focus on his task.

The sound became clearer and clearer as the seconds passed, the sound distinctly coming from that gash, becoming louder. All the players could not help but become nervous as well. Even though the gash made was small, what would happen once the pressure of all the liquid came passing through? Furthermore, what sort of liquid was this pipe for? Was it the wastewater that Broken Water Arrow had previously mentioned which had been tainted by magic? What was going to happen to them if any of it spilled on them?

“Hurry up! Faster!” Broken Water Arrow was yelling at this time.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Wing had actually become even more composed as someone urged him.

“Done!” As Wing retrieved the test tube and dagger, the sound was already so clear that he could almost hear it in his ears.

“STAB THE DAGGER BACK IN, QUICKLY!” Broken Water Arrow shouted at the barbaric Thief. The person was startled, instantly understanding what Broken Water Arrow had meant, as well as why he had said that he would most definitely lose the dagger doing this quest. Snatching the dagger from Wing, the barbaric Thief jammed it back into the gash, further putting more force into the act just as Broken Water Arrow beside him yelled “Harder!”

The sound of sloshing water could be heard as the barbaric Thief stabbed the dagger in at the same time the water arrived, and a bit of the wastewater ultimately spurted out from the gash before the dagger was lodged in. The people around had already ducked for cover, and the barbaric Thief had managed to quickly seal the water flow in the pipe. But the spurt still ended up on him a little.

The barbaric Thief somewhat tensed. He turned to look at Broken Water Arrow and realized that he was staring at him like he was looking at a dead man.

“What’s gonna happen to me?” The barbaric Thief was on the verge of tears.

“Nothing. You’ll just die,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“Tsk, and I thought what might happen!” The Thief scoffed.

“It’s complete death,” Broken Water Arrow clarified.

“You mean to say…” the barbaric Thief froze up.

“You’ll be removed from the City Wars event,” Broken Water Arrow nodded.

“I…” Looking at the barbaric Thief with his full Strength build, anyone could tell he was a fan of having a brutish output. He had planned to go up and fight his heart out for contribution points after he was done with this quest, but he never would have thought that a bit of water would result in such a tragic turn of event.

“Is this wastewater that powerful?” The barbaric Thief reached out to his right hand that was soaked in that wastewater because he reached out to clutch the dagger, only to lose color from his face, “What in the world? My right hand!!”

Everyone stared at this strange scene. The barbaric Thief’s right hand had not merely broken off, but it had disappeared entirely. His wrist was glowing green, and that glow was also slowly engulfing his arm.

“F*ck me, just what in the world is going on?” The barbaric Thief was quite horrified, looking down again, he saw that quite a lot of his body was glowing in that sickly green.

“It’s nothing. It’s just a more peculiar way of dying…” Broken Water Arrow consoled the man. Meanwhile, there were friends in Colored Clouds that were a lot closer to the Thief, and they were all guffawing as someone jumped out to ask, “How is it? What sort of sensation are you experiencing? Does it hurt?”

“Go to hell,” the barbaric Thief waved his missing hand as he pretended to beat this person up. This caused him to flick out a few green droplets in the end, which happened to land on that person’s face. This person cried out in astonishment, clutching his head exaggeratedly as he began crying out loud, “Oh crap, I’m about to die as well. Where’s my face? Is my face still there?”

Everyone could clearly see that his face was still where it was supposed to be, and that person had naturally felt it as well. The panic that he showed in the beginning was real, and it was only when he touched his face and realized that it was still there that he pretended to continue as if it was all an act.

“Stop fooling around,” Gu Xiaoshang barked before expressing her appreciation for the soon to be disappearing barbaric Thief.

“Guild leader, give me a bit more DKP!” That was the last words the barbaric Thief expressed before disappearing.

“What about me, do I have a cut as well guild leader?” His friend had stopped his performance and was cheekily asking Gu Xiaoshang this question. Gu Xiaoshang raised her arm, looking like she was about to give the player a good slap, when Broken Water Arrow shook his head, “You’re not going to die, but you ought to check your status.”

“My current status?” the man was skeptical, pulling out his character window to take a look. “CRAP!” The display window was dyed scarlet red, and all the stats depicted were incongruent with his original numbers, evidently showing a very significant reduction.

“This will be the status that the NPC city guards will find themselves afflicted with; an overall 80% reduction across all their stats. This will happen among them all in about an hour’s time. You guys ought to make your necessary preparations!” Broken Water Arrow announced.

“Thank you for your hard work, Old Broken,” Young Master Han happily came over to pat him on his back, but Broken Water Arrow dodged it again, expressionlessly uttering the words “you’re welcome” before jogging right for the exit from the hub.

“Everyone, head on back to the City Wars battlefield with full speed!” Gu Xiaoshang gave the order and Colored Clouds became a flurry of steps anxious to withdraw from this underground room. The players from Carouse were naturally not too far behind themselves as both parties began to race against each other.

Back over by the encampments, Traversing Fours Seas, The Black Hand Syndicate and all the other guilds around had already finished gathering all their members for a final push. They were all presently throwing out probing attacks, trying to test to find out the strength of the city defenders.

Meanwhile, back over in the underwater water treatment system, a player once more returned to the tunnel. Carefully extinguishing the torch in hand, he poked his head through and saw it was pitch black inside.

“Eh? Why isn’t there anyone here?” Gu Fei found this extremely odd.