Virtual World: Close Combat Mage - Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Chapter 71 - Endless Robbery

“Are you there?” Gu Fei asked Fleeting Smile .

“ . . . ” was Fleeting Smile’s reply .

“?” Gu Fei answered that with a question mark .

“One doesn’t visit a temple without a cause . What’s your problem this time?” Fleeting Smile asked .

“Sword Aptitude, Spell Aptitude, and Spell Mastery… I found these additional traits on my equipment . What do they do?” Gu Fei asked .

“This…” Fleeting Smile hesitated .

“You can’t say?” Gu Fei asked .

“No, it's not that . I just never expected anyone to encounter these item traits so soon,” Fleeting Smile explained .

“Tell me about them, then,” Gu Fei requested .

“You know that there’s no job-class restriction on the weapons in Parallel World . That essentially means that anyone can equip any equipment,” Fleeting Smile began .

“Mhm,” Gu Fei replied .

“But that’s not entirely accurate,” Fleeting Smile continued, “Traits on low-grade weapons don’t factor much, so we decided not to put those traits on such weapons . But it’s different for higher-grade weapons; they have something called ‘Aptitude’, which decides how eligible players are to unleash the weapons’ full potential . ‘Spell Aptitude’ and ‘Sword Aptitude’ belong to that category . ”

“How’s Aptitude calculated?” Gu Fei asked .

“A character’s Aptitude depends on its stat point distribution . Each of the job classes has an innate Aptitude bonus for the different in-game weapons . For example, Mages have higher Spell Aptitude, Thieves have higher Dagger Aptitude, Archers have higher Bow Aptitude, and Warriors have high Aptitude for every weapon except for magic weapons . Of course, each weapon has different Aptitude requirement . In short, if a player’s character lacks the necessary Aptitude for a respective high-grade weapon, it will be impossible to unleash the weapon’s full potential,” Fleeting Smile mentioned a lot of details, so he inquired at the end, “Did you understand all that?”

“I see,” Gu Fei realized something . When he had used Moonlit Nightfalls to attack back then, he could feel that it did not deal the maximum damage possible . Since he had always been using his kung fu to achieve maximum damage, Gu Fei just thought that his lackluster moves resulted into reduced damage . As it turned out, it was the weapon’s Sword Aptitude requirement that had caused it . In this sense, Sword Aptitude and Spell Aptitude were not traits that strengthened him but requirements set for the equipment’s use instead .

Fleeting Smile continued explaining, “As for the relation between stat point distribution and a character’s Aptitude, it's related to the job classes . There’s no way I can explain that complex connection in one sitting . To sum all up, the players will be fine as long as they allocate stat points according to their respective job classes’ specialty . As for the other stats, they’ll just have to resolve them through other means . ”

“Wait . Based on this method of calculation, even if someone has the suitable job class, he or she still needs to reach a very high level just to to be able to wield a weapon with high Aptitude requirement, right? The players’ Aptitude will never reach the Aptitude requirement of the weapons if their stats are insufficient, then!” Gu Fei surmised .

“It’s not that a player can’t wield it… but more like the weapon’s full potential can't be unleashed,” Fleeting Smile clarified .

“Isn’t that the same thing? It’s just a different form of level or stat requirement for a weapon,” Gu Fei said .

“That’s not right either . It’s more like a player’s Aptitude decides how much of a weapon’s traits he or she can tap . So a player can still wield a weapon despite not reaching its Aptitude requirement . Let’s say a sword’s Aptitude requirement is 200%, while your character’s Sword Aptitude is only at 180% . With that 20% gap, it’ll be as if the weapon only has 80% of the attack power listed on its traits window . The difference between lacking just 10% and about 20% is significant, you know? With 20% less of the required Aptitude, you can visibly feel the weapon’s reduced damage . And if your Sword Aptitude reaches 199%, you won’t even notice the damage reduction, since the damage that you can cause is almost the same as when you’ve fully reached the sword’s Aptitude requirement . ”

“So how do I calculate my character’s Aptitude?” Gu Fei asked .

“That’s not something we plan to announce . We want the players to research and find that out on their own,” Fleeting Smile replied .

Gu Fei was speechless for a moment .

“Are you doing fine in Yueye City?” Honestly, it was rare for Fleeting Smile to engage in small talk with Gu Fei .

“Why would I be fine here?! The way things are in Yueye City is horrible . Players ambush me without a word even when I’m just walking down the street . Where’s the justice in that? Shouldn’t you guys be keeping an eye on all these?” Gu Fei complained .

“If we’re going to start keeping an eye on things, we’ll probably start with you first . You’re the most wanted player in the entire gaming server, and yet you can walk around freely . Where’s the justice in that? Is anyone keeping an eye on you?” Fleeting Smile countered .

Gu Fei was momentarily speechless once more . After a bit, he replied, “Still, players shouldn’t go around cutting people with no rhyme or reason!”

“You’re a fugitive, so everyone can rightfully kill you…” Fleeting Smile remarked .

“Don’t I even have the right to defend myself if others attack me?” Gu Fei already noticed the issue .

“Originally, you have . But not anymore,” Fleeting Smile pretended to hedge .

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re a fugitive; everyone can rightfully kill you…” Fleeting Smile replied matter-of-factly .

Gu Fei was speechless once again .

“Stay safe out there!”

“I protest! I’m also a player . I shouldn’t be discriminated just because of my PK value,” Gu Fei appealed loudly .

“What do you want us to do? Reward your actions for taking a player’s life eight times in a single day?” Fleeting Smile retorted .

“At least… Give me a chance to atone…” Gu Fei said helplessly .

“You can! Stay in jail to atone,” Fleeting Smile said .

“Besides jail time?”

“The only option left is to resolve your crimes through meritorious service . Accept a new ‘Bounty Mission’ and chase after people with PK value . While players will normally be rewarded with coins and experience points, you’ll be rewarded with PK value reduction . Your targets’ PK value will be the amount deducted from yours,” Fleeting Smile explained .

Gu Fei laughed, “Stopping killings with killings, are we?”

“Nope . It’s killing one another . We’re encouraging bad players like you to mutually kill one another!” Fleeting Smile clarified .

Gu Fei was utterly dumbfounded .

“Oh . You haven’t explained to me what Spell Mastery—”

“I’ve got something on . I’ll explain that to you next time . I’m logging off now,” With that, Fleeting Smile logged off .

Gu Fei’s question was left hanging in the air .

Gu Fei looked around after his conversation with Fleeting Smile . He saw a man huddling in a corner, looking pitifully like a male version of the Little Match Girl . He walked over and asked, “Hey, buddy! How do I get to the place that offers ‘Bounty Mission’?”

The person raised his head drowsily . His breath stank of alcohol as he mumbled almost unintelligibly, “Over by 4th Night Main Street . ”

“Thanks a lot!” He patted the guy on his shoulder, “Just log off if you want to sleep . It’s not comfortable to slouch over here in one corner . ”

“Nah, I’m waiting for someone,” the person said, “He’s a man wearing what looks like a black mage robe . He’s a little good looking, but his actions and demeanor are nothing short of despicable . Have you seen such a person?”

“I’m sorry . That man you’re speaking of, besides the last bit, sounds exactly like me!” Gu Fei said .

“Uh?!” The still sleepy guy forcefully opened his eyes . Now that he could clearly see the person whom he was talking to, he immediately sobered up with a start . Just as he was about to say something, Gu Fei brought out a sword, slashed him once with it, and pointed the tip to his chest . Gu Fei thought that simply pointing the sword’s tip to the player would not be very threatening since they were in a game, so he reduced the person’s HP first .

“The Black Hand mercenary group, right?” Gu Fei asked .

“Ah…” The person felt petrified .

“Why’re you guys looking for me?” Gu Fei pressed on .

“Rob – Robbery…” the person stammered .

“Robbery?” Gu Fei questioned, feeling perplexed .

The person did not respond . Gu Fei noticed the blank look in his eyes . He was most likely calling for reinforcement on the conversation window . Gu Fei immediately put the sword back inside his dimensional pocket and turned around to leave .

Although the person was an enemy, the information he had provided should still be true . Gu Fei left the designated log-off point . After randomly asking a player, he found the direction to 4th Night Main Street . Since the possibility of Gu Fei getting ambushed by The Black Hand mercenary group on his way there was high, Gu Fei decided to get into a secluded corner to take off Midnight Spirit Robe and put on his beginner mage robe .

The opponents had obviously used the black mage robe as the main method to identify Gu Fei . He reckoned that by changing his equipment, the opponents would have a harder time distinguishing him from others .

With that, he strutted out the street . While a beginner mage robe was a sensitive symbol to players in Yunduan City due to the ‘Masked Slayer’ incident, it was just a common sight here in Yueye City . In fact, Gu Fei noticed that a majority of players in Yueye City favored wearing beginner equipment . It was probably because of the rampant PvPs in Yueye City . The players here did not want to risk losing their equipment if they got killed .

As he was walking down the street, he suddenly received a message . He opened it and saw that it was from Brother Assist: “F*ck me . You actually reached level 31! Is there a special grinding area over there?”

“It’s not that . I just finished a chain quest . The experience points I received are quite hefty,” Gu Fei explained .

“Chain quest…” Brother Assist muttered, “Come back and tell me more about what type of quest it is . ”

“Sure . ”

“Now that you’re at level 31, it'll be easier for you to hide your identity,” Brother Assist said .

“Really? Why’s that?”

“Players with lower level can’t use Appraisal on players with a higher level . Since there’re only a few level 31 players in the game right now, you don’t have to worry about the others managing to appraise your equipment or job class,” Brother Assist explained in detail .

“So that’s how it works,” Gu Fei’s eyes shone brightly, “That’s great, then!”

“Yup . If not for the fact that you’re the highly sought after Fugitive 27149, you’d have no problem swaggering down to the Bounty Assignment Hall and obtaining a ‘Bounty Mission’ . ”

Gu Fei laughed, “I may be Fugitive 27149 in Yunduan City, but over here I’m a nobody . Actually, I’m just about to head over to the Bounty Assignment Hall to obtain a ‘Bounty Mission’ . ”

“Where’re you?” Brother Assist asked, curious .

“Yueye City . The players will arrive at this new city once they cross over the Oolong Mountain Range,” Gu Fei said .

“I see . How’re things over there?” Brother Assist asked .

“Extremely chaotic . The streets are filled with fights and even robbery—f*ck! I’m being robbed right now! I’ll talk to you later—” Gu Fei abruptly ended their conversation .

“ . . . ” Brother Assist was left alone on the conversation window .

“Who’re you?” Gu Fei stared at the person before him .

“My name’s Coward’s Savior! I want to clarify to all that I’m not a coward!” the person thundered .

Yet another drunkard! Gu Fei sighed in his heart . “Come at me, then!” Gu Fei said, as he took out his Sacred Flames of Baptism . He decided not to use Moonlit Nightfalls for now to prevent The Black Hand mercenary group from recognizing him . He did not know, however, that the person before him was originally a member of that very same mercenary group .

Coward’s Savior assumed a fighting stance bare-handedly . Gu Fei felt stunned when he saw this . The stance was . . . .

“Mantis Fist Style?!”