Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Nightmare of Death was very clear that he had to find Gu Fei and retrieve Lasting Sentence and Dying Breath from him. Since this was just a ‘Bounty Mission’ to Gu Fei, it was not something he must accomplish.

After their encounter at Suoyun Village, Gu Fei would certainly be on guard against Nightmare of Death. Currently, the wisest move for Gu Fei was to wash his hands off this matter entirely and to not bother with Nightmare of Death. After all, he already had quite the haul from him. At the very least, this was what Nightmare of Death would have done in Gu Fei’s place.

Nightmare of Death had already been thinking of how to reel Gu Fei in ever since he had come up with the scheme, and finding the manpower to set up the traps had only been a secondary worry of his. After hearing his companions’ opinions back in the city gate, his feelings had been all over the place.

While Nightmare of Death was afraid of people hunting him, as his death would lose him equipment and levels due to his 5 PK points, he was more hopeful of someone looking for him, as that would mean that Gu Fei had not given up on him and that he still had a chance to take down Gu Fei.

That was also why Nightmare of Death had previously chosen to activate Stealth and loiter at the city gate instead of leaving the area at the first opportunity. He actually did not need to wait for his friends by the city gate at the risk of his life, as they could easily contact one another privately. Nightmare of Death’s real goal back then was to verify if Gu Fei was still after him.

There was naturally no need for him to sacrifice his life just to confirm this; hence, he had constantly been changing his position. And yet, he had not been able to find any suspicious person until it was too late. For a Thief on Stealth to appear behind him in that way, Nightmare of Death had felt all sorts of extreme human emotions back then.

At the cost of his equipment and level, he was able to confirm Gu Fei’s intention to relentlessly hunt for him.

Ever since then, Nightmare of Death was suspicious of Sword Demon being beside him, yet he still had no way of dealing with him. Actually, Sword Demon was easier to deal with compared to the formidable Gu Fei. Nightmare of Death only had to ask his colleagues in the gaming workshop to ambush Sword Demon and reduce him to nothing more than a blip on his radar. His coworkers were skilled PvPers, after all.

Nightmare of Death could be said to have purposely allowed Sword Demon to keep watch over him all for the purpose of fooling Gu Fei into thinking that he no longer had any schemes left. Sword Demon and Nightmare of Death were unable to see each other right now, but if Sword Demon had been near him all this time, he would be able to ascertain where Nightmare of Death was heading and draw his conclusions from it.

Since his friends were now setting up traps for Gu Fei, Nightmare of Death had to bring his tail away from their place of ambush by constructing a believable narrative through his movement. For instance, he could head over to the Auction House to check for suitable equipment... Since Nightmare of Death lost all his equipment, acquiring new ones should indeed be his first priority.

Just like how the cities in reality had their prosperous and destitute sides that many were unaware of, the cities in-game also had these sides. Nightmare of Death’s two friends followed Sakurazaka Moony to a T-junction far from the bustling city’s main streets. The streets here were in poor condition; the cobblestones were missing a few in some places, revealing the dirt beneath as weeds and wild plants grew all over.

“Going through here, taking the first turning on the right... followed by the second turning on the left, you will find yourself at the Archer Range. This is the shortest route to the log-off point from the south gate,” Sakurazaka Moony explained to the two men.

“Tsk! York Alley is the shortest route, man!” someone dissented. About ten players arrived to join the group as they spoke, and all of them were sleazy-looking Hunters.

“B*llsh*t! Rick Street is the shortest!” Many contrasting opinions were given on this matter.

When Nightmare of Death’s two friends heard them argue about this matter, they felt as if they had not truly lived their lives thus far. The two might have been hanging in Yunduan City for as long as them, yet they had never once heard any of the mentioned street names.

“Guys, stop squabbling and be professional!” Sakurazaka Moony admonished.

No one clearly heard his words as they continued to argue among themselves, even posing a question amid the chatter, “Where’s that b*st*rd gonna come from, anyway?”

Sakurazaka Moony turned his gaze on the two men, “We need to know which way you guys are expecting the target to emerge from.”

“We may need to see how the situation develops first,” the two men hedged. Actually, they were unsure of how to answer the question, since the place Nightmare of Death was at would be where Gu Fei would probably show up. Who knows which way he’s gonna come from? Plus, the place we are at is rarely frequented by players. There’s no telling if Thousand Miles Drunk will even show up, was what the two were currently thinking.

“In that case, let’s go with this!” Sakurazaka Moony formed a triangle using the two corners of the street that they were in as its bases and the wall opposite them as its head. He then drew a cross in the middle of the triangle and said to Nightmare of Death’s two friends, “This is how we plan to do it. We only have one request, and that is to make sure that the target takes the turning. As long as he turns in from any direction, I guarantee that he will step on the traps.”

“Oh?” The two voiced their doubts, urging Sakurazaka Moony to elaborate.

“Look here, you two...” Sakurazaka Moony began to draw circles within the triangle, “We’ll place our traps here... over here... in this spot... and finally... here.” Sakurazaka Moony drew more than ten separate circles.

“No matter which way the target goes, as long as he takes this turn, he will step into our triangular zone trap. This T-zone trap may not look very dense, so you two can give it a try!” Sakurazaka Moony lifted the stick he had used to draw on the sand and declared, “No matter which way the target enters the T-zone, even if the first step misses, or the second step, then there’s the third step. If the third step misses, or even the succeeding steps... We’ll give you a full refund!”

The two of them were stunned as they stared at the triangle with the crosses and circles.

“Come on; give it a shot. See if you can avoid stepping on the circles. Go about any way you want! We haven’t set the traps yet, so you guys have nothing to worry about!” Sakurazaka Moony encouraged.

The two then tried it out, attempting to come into the triangular zone from any of the three directions, on the left as well as on the right. It was exactly as Sakurazaka Moony had said; no matter which way they walked through it, they would step on to a marked circle in three or fewer steps.

“The circles... Will the traps really be that large?” one of the two asked as he stepped on to a circle.

“He he... This is a game; what else do you take it for? Even traps have AOE. As long as the target’s foot lands somewhere in the area, the trap will activate and restrict the person’s movement. Do you guys think that a person must step on a trap dead center to activate it?” Sakurazaka Moony asked.

“Oh....”

Sakurazaka Moony continued to happily explain, “Actually, if we have enough men on our side, this T-zone can be enlarged further. In that way, he’ll trigger a trap even if he’s just walking in a straight line. Unfortunately, we currently don’t have that many men. This is the best we can do that still have a 100% guarantee of success. Since we can’t stretch it all the way to the wall, our target must take this route. Only in that way can we catch him with surety. Can that person who’s acting as the bait do this?”

“This... It shan’t be a problem!” the two players felt that this particular aspect was something they could control.

“This is how we’re gonna set the traps, then.” With that, Sakurazaka Moony ordered the bickering players behind him, “Pipe down and stop your petty quarreling! Place your traps!”

Except for setting the traps, none listened to Sakurazaka Moony’s order to stop their bickering. It was at this point that Nightmare of Death’s two friends thought of something, “Wait a sec.”

“What is it?” Sakurazaka Moony gazed at them questioningly.

“While your T-zone is 100% guaranteed to work, our friend who is doing the luring of the target will also be unable to escape once he turns to this corner himself. What then?” the two asked.

“Oh! So that’s how you’re luring the enemy. You should’ve said something earlier!” Sakurazaka Moony rearranged some of the circles inside the triangle and pointed at a particular spot, saying, “There wasn’t such a Y-shaped empty space originally, but since you want your friend to walk away unscathed, I’ll leave this path here free of traps for him. Tell him to be careful. It’s not my responsibility if he still steps on a trap.”

“This... How are we supposed to relay this to him?” The two were alarmed. The coordinates in the game were for an area. This entire triangular zone that Sakurazaka Moony had created was part of one set of coordinates. Telling Nightmare of Death of the area’s coordinates would not work. These two men felt at a loss on how to express in words the workings of the triangular zone.

“How about this...” Sakurazaka Moony used the stick once more to draw out a faint Y shape on the ground. “Tell him to step on the line drawn out here when he arrives; he definitely won’t trigger anything this way. Still, I can’t make it too obvious, so tell him to look closely. Is that guy’s vision alright?”

“It’s absolutely fine!” the two hurriedly replied.

“It’s settled, then! We’ll set the traps now, so you guys can lure the target over. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can finish the mission!”

Sakurazaka Moony showed unwavering self-confidence as he spoke, which made Nightmare of Death’s two friends believe that he was a true expert. The aura he exuded changed once he started talking about the traps. It was just as Nightmare of Death had said; this person was indeed the number one expert trapper despite him dropping a level and temporarily being unable to set traps.

The two relayed all the information pertaining to the triangular zone trap to Nightmare of Death, reminding him to look for the Y-shaped outline on the ground. “You certainly won’t step on a trap if you tread on this outline to get across, so you better be careful!”

At this point in time, however, Sakurazaka Moony was bickering with the members of his guild and mercenary group.

“F*ck me, Moony. What T-zone? Fabricating something like that... You’re such a sleazebag!”

“You even drew all those circles and crosses inside the T-zone. How shameless and despicable can you be?! No wonder you can’t find yourself a girl!”

“The AOE of Hunting Trap isn’t that wide; you’re just cheating these strangers!”

“F*ck*ng swindling our clients... How are we gonna continue doing business at this rate? We’ll surely fold and go under one of these days!”

“Stop your d*mn nagging and just get to work!” Sakurazaka Moony cursed on the mercenary channel.

“F*ck! Just where should I put it?! Why did you draw such a large circle?!” someone complained.

“Who told you guys to put it in the circles? Stuff them all in that Y-shaped outline!” Sakurazaka Moony ordered.