Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Gu Fei took two steps back, rubbed his nose, and grimaced. “It’s not fun. You’re not gonna be interested.”
“How do you know? What is it?” Svelte Dancer was still acting hostile.
“Making money,” Gu Fei answered.
“Urgh…” Svelte Dancer was stunned. Sure enough, what Gu Fei had just said was something she had the least interest in. While it was a fact that professional gamers and workshops could earn quite a bit of money from gaming, it was not an incredible way of earning money. It would be far too fantastical if someone could surpass Bill Gates’ level of rich by farming gold or selling equipment through the game. After all, the game itself was just another means for people to make money, and it was definitely not a technology that would help people achieve prosperity together fast. It might be too much of a tragedy if the MMO players themselves could earn money faster playing the game than the game developers for operating this game.
Thus, for someone like Svelte Dancer who had thousands of gold coins to her name in the game, all her money would be spent entirely for entertainment purposes, which meant she must surely have a more effective way of earning money in real life to help balance out her expenditure here. As such, there was no need for her to waste time in the game earning money. Even Sword Demon and the others did not want to waste too much time earning money, so someone like Svelte Dancer, who had no lack of it, would of course have no need to do this as well.
When the crowd of men saw that Svelte Dancer was suddenly silent, all of them could not help but feel envious. To not worry about money, that was a life plenty of people could only dream about!
As everyone fantasized about this, they suddenly saw Svelte Dancer turn around grandly and glared at Southern Lone Blade with rage-filled eyes. “Time to die, you curr!”
Southern Lone Blade puffed his chest out forward as he deftly unequipped his gear. In the eyes of gamers, right now, Southern Lone Blade was in a state of stark nakedness.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Svelte Dancer was immediately left dumbfounded; that dagger of hers, which was lunging toward the man, stopped mid-flight when she turned to face Gu Fei for an explanation.
All Gu Fei could do was laugh bitterly. “He said that he’s gonna let you kill him once as a sign of his sincere apology.”
“What sort of sincerity is he showing if he’s gonna be naked?!” Svelte Dancer was incensed.
Southern Lone Blade hurriedly explained, “I’m only thinking of making it quicker for you to kill me off.”
This was not the first time Sword Demon and the others had witnessed Southern Lone Blade do such a full unequip in the face of death, so Royal God Call immediately blew the whistle of this. “Aren’t you doing this in fear of dropping your equipment upon death?”
In the end, Southern Lone Blade smiled. “I would be afraid under normal circumstances, but today’s special; those present are all acquaintances, so there’s really no need to worry about losing any of my equipment in front of everyone.”
Everybody realized the truth in his words. It was more or less settled that Southern Lone Blade and his men would be working with Young Master’s Elite, so even if he really did drop a piece of equipment upon death here, whoever picked it up would be sure to return it to him. Otherwise, it would just be awkward for them to do anything together in the future.
“So I really just wish to help you kill me quicker.” Southern Lone Blade said to Svelte Dancer.
“Fine!” Svelte Dancer nodded. “You wanna die once without resisting, huh! I shall grant your wish, then. You’re gonna retaliate the next time I kill you, right?”
Southern Lone Blade was surprised. “Why will there be a next time?”
Gu Fei, however, was already chuckling bitterly at the side. He had thought too simply of Svelte Dancer, believing that Southern Lone Blade’s stance here would cause the lady to lose her interest in her opponent. He had not expected that, not only would she still do the deed, she would not even bother counting this one time and would simply find another opportunity to try for his life again.
It was not just Southern Lone Blade; Wven Glue, Flame Singed Clothes, and his other mates were all questioning her. “That’s right? Why will there be another time? Big South only slew you just once!”
That woman scowled. “It’s none of your business. Shut up.”
The six men were in tears. Why must all experts have the habit of being so supercilious? Are we really so nondescript? The six were still prepared to stand up for Southern Lone Blade, but none of them knew if they should be laughing or crying when they learned that Svelte Dancer did not hold even the slightest regard for any of them.
It was at this time when Southern Lone Blade realized what Svelte Dancer meant. She would definitely get her kill, and she would not care a hoot about his cowardly surrender. Such a death would not count, and she would just come for him again.
Southern Lone Blade sighed. “I am earnestly extending my apology here.”
However, Svelte Dancer callously expressed her disdain. “This is a game. Killing each other is all part of it; why apologize for killing someone, anyway?”
Southern Lone Blade was at a loss himself. He turned to look at Gu Fei, but the man turned his head to avoid his gaze. In the end, Southern Lone Blade’s message was just as quick as that look of his. “What now?”
“Do what you want,” Gu Fei replied.
“So do I don my equipment and fight with her?” Southern Lone Blade asked.
“That’s up to you!”
“What if she gets killed by me; then, what?” Southern Lone Blade asked.
“Why don’t you ask her that yourself?” Gu Fei responded.
Thus, Southern Lone Blade really posed this question to Svelte Dancer. “Okay. I’ll seriously have a PK match with you, but what if you’re no match for me again? Then, what?”
Svelte Dancer found that word ‘again’ extremely grating, angrily answering, “Then, that means you’ve got the skill; I’ll come looking for you again!”
When the crowd heard this, they immediately thought Southern Lone Blade would surely go easy on the lady, only for Svelte Dancer to mention in advance. “Hmph. Don’t let me find out that you’re going easy on me, or else there will be no end to this business between us.”
Everyone began to pity Southern Lone Blade even as they all shared the same thought. Women sure are difficult to handle.
Southern Lone Blade was helpless, but he already had all his gear equipped once more; no one had any idea just what plan he had in mind. The team of seven had collectively lost plenty of their levels to Gu Fei due to the assignment they had picked up, but Southern Lone Blade’s level was still intact; at the moment, he was still at level 40 as he assumed his mysterious weapon configuration of a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left hand. With his shield propped forward and his sword hidden behind, this was the usual technique he used when PKing, showing absolutely no signs of holding back.
“Hey, don’t you two fight here! My lesson is still ongoing!” What had been happening here clashed with the lesson, upsetting Brother Assist, who was still in the middle of instructing the students below, quite a bit.
Svelte Dancer also felt that fighting in the midst of all these people would make it hard for her to go all out, so she waved her hand. “Over there.”
Everyone followed to watch the show, with some of the students attending Brother Assist’s lesson moving along to take a look as well. In the end, Brother Assist had to bark crossly. “There are no supplementary lessons for anyone who leaves!” That stopped these people from walking away. They all paid good money for this chance to learn the fighting routine, so these people could only curb their curiosity and continue with their lesson.
Meanwhile, Gu Fei’s lot circled to the back of the 9527 outcrop where nobody could have a view of Brother Assist, so there was naturally no other players about. The circle of men stood firmly, leaving just Svelte Dancer and Southern Lone Blade in the center. Southern Lone Blade was still maintaining that same posture, while Svelte Dancer was standing a little more casually. She flicked her wrist to the people around. “Stand a bit further. Don’t affect my movement.”
The crowd quickly stood further away, even as Southern Lone Blade stood within the circle and quietly asked, “Can we begin?”
“Come on, then!” In the moment when Svelte Dancer said this, she had already dashed forward herself. She was never the sort to wait for her enemy to attack first and retaliating accordingly, so she utilized her Fleetfoot-adapted attack style in this assault at once. The speed she possessed after activating her Fleetfoot was all the more indomitable, and with how the two were not far apart from each other, it was as if she had appeared right behind Southern Lone Blade in the blink of an eye, with her dagger slipping right out at him.
Southern Lone Blade might not have a quick movement speed, but his reaction was fast enough. Furthermore, having homed in on Svelte Dancer’s attack strategy, he readily unleashed his Cyclone even before his head turned to face her.
But Svelte Dancer merely ignored the skill and continued her stab, undeterred. The players watching all heaved a sigh when they saw this; everyone was hoping to see some high-level PK and maybe pick up some techniques from the match, but Svelte Dancer’s style of PKing was something no one could learn – not even Gu Fei! This was all because no one would dare to just stand and take the damage from a Warrior’s Cyclone unwaveringly; this lady was just that confident when it came to her equipment.
The cutting whirl of blades from Southern Lone Blade’s Cyclone painfully lacerated her body when she closed in, but Svelte Dancer did not care for it as long as the damage it dealt to her HP was at the level at which she could still survive. As a result, it was Southern Lone Blade who had come away losing more of his HP from that one stab she delivered. The only regret Svelte Dancer had was of how quick Southern Lone Blade was at turning while executing his Cyclone. It was to the extent that she could not get a grasp of when Southern Lone Blade’s back would be shown to her. As such, she was unable to inflict a Backstab on him.
Southern Lone Blade’s HP dropped a chunk after taking that stab. Had his equipment been worse or had he possessed a lower HP, he would very well have been insta-killed with that one attack. The shock from this caused him to break into a bout of cold sweat. Canceling his Cyclone, Southern Lone blade immediately lifted his weapon and Charged right at Svelte Dancer.
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This change-up was swift, showing great acuity in his grasp of direction; anyone could tell that the man had plenty of practice in this particular maneuver. This time, Svelte Dancer was too close to defend herself from this and was immediately thrown out by Southern Lone Blade’s Charge.
However, Svelte Dancer was not Dazed when she struck the ground from the blow. Her Fleetfoot was currently on cooldown, so she activated Stealth at once, but in the process of her disappearing, she saw Southern Lone Blade run over and suddenly kick up a cloud of white all over her, producing an amount of dust far more than how much a toss would have. Gu Fei and the others, all non-natives, lowered their heads to take a look at that small pithole Southern Lone Blade had kicked out and realized that it was the White Dust Baishi City was famous for.
Southern Lone Blade, who had completely utilized the terrain advantage that they were in, thought that he had already interrupted Svelte Dancer’s Stealth, but who would have expected for her Stealth not to be interrupted once the dust settled and to remain imperceptible, despite being covered in powder? Southern Lone Blade, of course, was unaware that Svelte Dancer possessed the Shadow Walk skill that could forcibly put the user in the Stealth state. As Stealth could not be interrupted while that skill was in use, the White Dust he kicked up was useless as well.
Momentarily unable to understand what had happened, Southern Lone Blade did not dare to advance any further, so the man turned tail and ran.
Most Thieves would see a significant drop to their movement speed once they were in Stealth and would be unable to give chase to any level 40 character. However, Svelte Dancer was decked out from head to toe with extremely powerful Agility-boosting equipment, and she had also chosen the Rogue Job Class Advancement, which was a whole tier better than Assassins when it came to sneaking around. Its movement speed when Stealthed was revised, making it such that Rogues possessed a faster movement speed than which a Thief or Assassin could normally demonstrate. Thus, she had little to no difficulties when it came to chasing after a Warrior like Southern Lone Blade.
With how Shadow Walk would continue to consume mana while active, Svelte Dancer did not waste any time as she strove to pursue Southern Lone Blade.
Southern Lone Blade’s goal here was rather clear cut; he was hoping to make it to the rocky outcrop and prop his back up against it in order to avoid giving Svelte Dancer the chance to use her Bludgeon or Backstab – the two powerful skills Thieves had in their arsenal.
Everyone was originally gathered beside the 9527 outcrop, so Southern Lone Blade very quickly got near the outcrop. Once there, he immediately pressed his back against the rocky surface even as he shrank himself. His left hand was holding the shield protecting his body, even as his right hand whirled that single-handed sword as he extended the weapon forward.
By adopting such a stance, it would be a lot more troublesome for Svelte Dancer to attack him. The shield afforded him a complete defense of his left, and while the sword in his right hand might not provide as consummate defense as a shield, the fact that Svelte Dancer’s weapon was a dagger meant that she would have to be very close to Southern Lone Blade in order for her hits to connect. Since Southern Lone Blade’s wingspan exceeded Svelte Dancer’s, and he was able to extend and brandish his sword like this, it would be tough for her to dart past it without being struck, which meant that her Stealth would be interrupted and Southern Lone Blade would be able to see how she was attacking and, therefore, be able to react accordingly.
Gu Fei glanced at the time. He knew that Svelte Dancer’s Shadow Walk would consume 7% of her mana every second, which meant that she could at most sustain it for 14 seconds. As long as it was within this timeframe, Southern Lone Blade would have sorely miscalculated if he intended to use that sword of his to interrupt Svelte Dancer’s attack. Hopefully, the man would not be so astonished that he panic when nothing appeared before him after he slashed the target.
People who knew of Svelte Dancer’s skill all thought that Southern Lone Blade had a lapse in judgement, while those who were unaware of the lady’s skill thought that his defense was perfect, but his sudden step forward and unleashing of Cyclone was definitely a move beyond everyone’s expectation.
“Not bad!” someone exclaimed approvingly. Gu Fei turned to look and saw that the one who had uttered this was Young Master Han; For that person to offer praise so openly, it was truly as if the sun had risen from the west.
Back to the battle, Southern Lone Blade looked completely surprised after he whirled out a Cyclone, but he did not stop his spinning.
Flame Singed Clothes and the others had no idea what was going on, but Gu Fei and the rest knew very well. Southern Lone Blade had managed to cut Svelte Dancer with that attack, but the man was completely taken aback by the fact that she remained in Stealth after receiving damage.
Even though her Stealth was not interrupted, there was no doubt that Svelte Dancer had been damaged by it since this meant that she had taken damage from Southern Lone Blade’s two whole Cyclones. Evidently, Svelte Dancer was not having a good time dealing with it, so she quickly cancelled her Stealth as she moved to distance herself. Cyclone was actually a skill that dealt continuous damage, so anyone who tried going head to head with it would see their HP dwindling fast, unless the victim was immediately sent flying away upon first contact.
“What was that? Was Southern Lone Blade able to see Svelte Dancer?” War Without Wounds wondered aloud.
“It was premeditated. That man made a skillful calculation, as he had already determined just how fast Svelte Dancer would be moving after going into Stealth. Moving toward the outcrop and putting up that defensive stance was his way of numbing the woman, and by calculating Svelte Dancer’s movement speed and the distance between them, the man already considered when Svelte Dancer would arrive right beside him if she kept at that pace she was going, and that was the opportunity for him to strike!” Young Master Han gave his breakdown of what had happened.
“Not bad, indeed,” War Without Wounds marveled. “If it were Sword Demon, he would probably be dead by now, right?” It was apparent that, aside from Svelte Dancer and her outstanding equipment, there would not be any Thief out there that could take two of Southern Lone Blade’s Cyclone and a single Charge but still survive.
“If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t eat that first Cyclone, and there’s no way I’d get hit by that Charge, too,” Sword Demon quietly analyzed.
“Sister Svelte’s being far too impatient. It’d have been better if she had slowed down a little,” Royal God Call commented.
“It can’t be helped; that skill of hers lasts for a limited time, so she has no choice but to go fast.” Sword Demon shook his head.
“So what would you do in her place?” Royal God Call asked.
“I would cancel Shadow Walk the moment Southern Lone Blade got into that defensive posture. I’d use Stealth to get close to him and wait,” Sword Demon answered.
While these experts discussed their battle strategy, the state of the duel saw even more changes.
Just as Young Master Han had said, Southern Lone Blade had properly calculated everything, and what he had considered was far more detailed than what Young Master Han had imagined. Southern Lone Blade had made preparations against Svelte Dancer because he knew that the woman would be holding a grudge against him. Thus, carefully studying the entire process of their previous exchange, he had estimated Svelte Dancer’s Attack Power, total HP, defense, and, of course, speed – seeing as this was her most congenital stat.
When Southern Lone Blade realized that he would be going against Svelte Dancer for the assignment, he was honestly not that afraid of dueling with her. This truth was reflected in reality as well, so even though he did not expect Svelte Dancer to remain in Stealth despite him dealing damage to her, this barely affected the overall situation of the fight.
Such an indomitable act like going head on against the damage from Cyclone and offering an attack of her own was something Svelte Dancer could do just once, and she must avoid this second Cyclone that Southern Lone Blade had just unleashed. Meanwhile, there was no way her movement speed while Stealthed would allow her to escape the skill, so even if her Stealth was not interrupted upon contact, she would still have to cancel it in the face of the attack; otherwise, she would just be signing her own death warrant.
Thus, the follow-up attack from Southern Lone Blade was already underway even as Svelte Dancer cancelled her Shadow Walk and was about to escape from the Cyclone.
Charge. It was another Charge.
He might not have plenty of moves, but all that mattered was how versatile it could be used.
In such a close range, even if Svelte Dancer knew that a Charge was coming straight for her, she would also have great difficulty avoiding it. This situation was just like the first time this had happened, except this time, Svelte Dancer no longer had enough HP to take the damage from another Charge.
Dead again! Svelte Dancer was absolutely miserable at this point. Just as she watched Southern Lone Blade’s sword come crashing straight at her, something suddenly blurred right past her, and a figure appeared right before her.
With his Moonlit Nightfalls placed horizontal before him, the sword perfectly blocked Southern Lone Blade’s sword tip which had come diving right toward the lady.
The crisp clash of metal upon metal rang, but how could what little Strength Gu Fei possessed be enough to block a Warrior’s Charge? As such, the man was sent flying out along with Svelte Dancer when they collided.
However, it was at this moment when Gu Fei did something only he was capable of doing. In the moment he lost his balance when the impact occurred, Gu Fei’s sword swiftly retaliated with a cut of his own, and flames happened to flicker as the blade brushed past the attacker’s body. Before Southern Lone Blade could even fully express his astonishment, he had already disappeared in a flash of white light.
Even though the attacker was no more, the two that were struck by his Charge continued to hurtle out in the same trajectory. Gu Fei was the one who took the blow, and he was not so weak that he would be insta-killed from a single Charge. Svelte Dancer had been sent flying along with Gu Fei, but because Southern Lone Blade’s Charge was not powerful to the point that its damage could penetrate right through an entire person, even though the lady got launched into the air as she did, the damage she had sustained was negligible, and she was, therefore, still alive.
In the end, everyone around was flabbergasted, none of them expecting Gu Fei to leap out at this time to lend a hand. It was fine if the man wanted to save Svelte Dancer, but to retaliate with a slash of his and insta-kill Southern Lone Blade… While that cut of his was a brilliant move, even Sword Demon and the others felt that Gu Fei had gone a tad overboard with it.
“To think that rascal would actually not go easy on her!” Gu Fei climbed up to his feet and began dusting himself.
“F*CK! That’s too d*mn shameless! To actually come out and lend a hand like that!” Glue and the others, who had been enduring it all this while, were ultimately unable to tolerate it any longer.
“It was never explicitly stated that we couldn’t do that! Why didn’t you guys step out to aid him?” Gu Fei asked.
The six were visibly upset. “Isn’t this supposed to be a fair match?”
Svelte Dancer did not reciprocate, either. “Who asked you to lend a hand?”
“What else could I do? You two were being obstinate. It would be too unseemly if you got slain by him,” Gu Fei retorted.
“But you didn’t have to cut him down like that, either!” Svelte Dancer argued.
“It was expedient! Didn’t you want to get your revenge and kill him? I simply helped you with the deed, so how about it? There’s no need for you to continue hunting him down now, right?” Gu Fei asked.
“Fine. Forget it…” Svelte Dancer sighed. She found it too embarrassing for her to continue pestering Southern Lone Blade endlessly at the moment.
“Alright!” Gu Fei nodded even as he pulled out his friends list and sent a message to Southern Lone Blade. “It’s settled.”