Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

The day before, as every guild sent members over to the Main Hall of Guilds to pick up some quests, they each received a letter directly from the system. The content of the letter was not much; all it mentioned was that the day when the war for the city was coming, and this early notification was a reminder to every guild to make good use of the remaining time and make the necessary preparations.

This was akin to a situation where sinking a stone could create thousands of ripples. It might only be just a few words, but the fact that it came from the system made all the difference. After confirming that the date of the day was not the first of April, nobody else dared to dispute the authenticity of the letter. What did it mean when it said it was ‘coming’? A week? Two weeks? Or was it a month? Players were all speculating over this even as they seized what time they had to prepare what they could.

Grinding out levels, acquiring equipment, increasing skill proficiencies... Everyone felt that there were plenty of things that they must do in such a limited time. Development in MMOs could be considered as an endless task that required daily input; not doing anything like those experts in Young Master’s Elite these past few days would only result in their rankings to drop.

Meanwhile, Deep Waters and his men had already spent several days going through this jungle warfare training. He felt that they were really lucky to receive that letter detailing about the upcoming City War. Having ultimately suffered a defeat at the hands of Traversing Four Seas during their guild quest, Deep Waters discovered that there were many aspects in his guild he was lacking. It was impossible for him to expect his men to reach the level of indomitability that Gu Fei had shown, but as a guild, Deep Waters felt that it was important for each member’s capabilities to be fully utilized. In the course of them going head to head against the enemies, it was the teamwork demonstrated through Traversing Four Seas’ archer formation that had left the deepest impression on the man.

Deep Waters’ guild largely comprised of Hunters, so he originally wanted to try and train the coordination of everybody’s archery, believing that it would be really powerful if they could incorporate that into their trap formation.

However, while that might be what he had hoped to achieve, Deep Waters felt that the terrain around Linyin City, with many trees and foliage obstructing their field of vision, would make it difficult for that formation to apply in actual combat. After all, this terrain was the reason most of the Archers in Linyin City chose to advance as Hunters.

Just as he was thinking that he could not continue further down this path, that military expert joined his guild.

After joining the guild for a short while, the expert showed his expertise quickly as he began to theoretically explain a few key elements of jungle warfare to Deep Waters.

Deep Waters first needed to understand the immutable objective factors of the jungle warfare. For example, the cover the tree trunks provided made it unsuitable for large-scale tactical insertion, and it also weakened the strike range of long-ranged attacks; the stationary trees themselves severely affected formations and overall coordination; furthermore, large war weaponry would be unable to make it into the jungle, yet this issue was relevant only in the real world and not something that needed to be considered in Parallel World...

This man’s words Deep Waters grounded him back to reality. Deep Waters had some awareness of this, but he could not put his idea into words and make sense of things, yet this pro managed to do so succinctly. Deep Waters’ trust for this man increased exponentially as a result, and proceeded to seek his advice in making improvements.

This expert made his suggestion after melding what he learned in real life and his understanding of this game. The disadvantages players faced within the jungle was shared between friends and foes alike, so victory lay in reducing the drawback this terrain had on them by using it to their advantage.

Brother Assist would surely be able to record an entire book worth of notes regarding the theories this expert had elaborated on if he were present. This was no longer simply about gaming experience or skill, but it was essentially a well-established scientific methodology. Given the amount of knowledge, it was impossible for these gamers to absorb everything the man had said over such a short time. Besides, there were still many aspects of the game that differed from real life.

Ultimately, Deep Waters was the final discretionary filter; he felt that this camouflage thingy was the only combat method they could drill in with the limited amount of time they had left. Just this one method had allowed them to see the fruit of their labor immediately after they had tested it. Wearing this type of handcrafted outfits did not affect the original stats and traits of their equipment, and fashioning their outfits in this color indeed perfectly blended with their surroundings, which made it easier for them to stay hidden. Another unexpected benefit of this was that the enemies would be unable to tell their job class at a glance and would have to rely on their Appraisal skill...

This was the difference between a game and real life. Players in Parallel World had different job classes, and each job class would be fought differently. It was really unconventional for there to be noobs or world-class experts like Gu Fei that would attack without even clearly appraising their targets.

Besides, Deep Waters no longer planned to engage in a large-scale coordinated battle after hearing the expert’s suggestion. After all, with the issue of the line of sight players had in the jungle, no genius commander would be able to effectively observe the changes in the battlefield. Therefore, that person would be unable to make the best command in accordance to how the battle unfolded. Was it not Young Master Han’s dependency on holding the vantage point that had allowed him to win time and again during the PvP tournament before?

As such, the jungle would only depend on the individual players’ capability to fight, and if they were to engage in a group battle, the size of their party should not be anything sizeable. Having more would only be detrimental to them; the lack of a unified command meant it would not work with a lot of members in a group, after all.

Deep Waters found this to be immensely agreeable, and he proceeded to divide his guild members into 10 parties of 15 to 20 players, specifically for jungle warfare. He had come across plenty of issues while dividing these parties as friends preferred to be grouped together, and Deep Waters did not wish to go against their wishes. In the end, many of these parties were unable to achieve the ideal distribution he had envisioned. This was still a game, after all. If they were really in military, these players would never go against a direct order from their superior.

Once everything was settled, Deep Waters began to lead these men into the jungle as they continued to grind and practice drills.

Positioning! That was something the expert had emphasized heavily on when it came to long-range job classes in jungle warfare.

Obtain a good position and the trees trunks would become their friends; poor positioning would only lead to the tree trunks getting in their way.

This became the newest motto of the guild, and the acquisition of an excellent position became the ultimate pursuit for everyone. Furthermore, this was something no one could simply impart by teaching, and it required the players to experience it for themselves in actual combat. Just how to stand in a way that they were most comfortable with yet made it immensely difficult for enemies to nail down.

Deep Waters talked to Gu Fei and Sword Demon endlessly as they walked; at the same time, his men continued to stand still and keep their eyes on the three as they proceeded onward. After so many days of drills, their personal discipline had unknowingly seen improvement, and the ways of the military had slightly rubbed off on them.

However, honestly speaking, Gu Fei and Sword Demon were not particularly interested in what Deep Waters was rambling on. Gu Fei was already a peak existence when it came to individual combat, so much so that he was a full-fledged squad all by himself; meanwhile, Sword Demon had come with a different purpose in mind. Besides, he was no longer a guild leader himself. He did not really have much of a heart to research and study how to better coordinate and take command of group battles like such.

“Oh, yeah...” Gu Fei could see how happily Deep Waters discussed this that he had forgotten to ask their reason for reaching out to him. Knowing Sword Demon’s personality, Gu Fei knew the man would have difficulty broaching the subject in such a situation, so he saw fit to give the conversation a shove in the right direction.

“What?” Deep Waters had been chattering away this entire time, yet the two men merely listened and did not contribute to the conversation. Just as he was feeling a little lonely, he saw that Gu Fei wish to ask him something, so he happily turned around immediately.

“You seem busy, so we shan’t take up your time any further. Bye.” Gu Fei attempted to advance the conversation by taking a step back. Any normal human being would have picked up on the cue and immediately asked, “Oh, yeah. Why are you looking for me?”

In the end, Deep Waters was overly passionate about this topic to the point that his happiness made him abnormal as he immediately said, “No, wait! Let me introduce you to Old Broken first!”

Old Broken was the expert helping Deep Waters in their jungle warfare techniques. Gu Fei and Sword Demon were almost numb hearing Deep Waters mention this man’s name constantly throughout this one-sided conversation.

“Maybe next time...” Gu Fei laughed dryly. He had truly dug himself into a pit here! Their colleague Deep Waters had completely short-circuited today he had even forgotten how to act like a normal human being! They were about to leave, yet he did not show any intention of asking them the reason for their visit to him.

“Oh, come on; you’ve come all the way here. Why don’t you meet and learn from him? Knowledge is power!” Deep Waters continued.

Helpless, Gu Fei glanced at Sword Demon, who was showing a similarly helpless expression, and casually asked, “What’s the name of this Old Broken!”

“His IGN is Broken Water Arrow—”

“What?!” Deep Waters had not even finished his sentence when the two exclaimed in astonishment.

“—What’s the matter?” Deep Waters scratched his head, perplexed.

Gu Fei and Sword Demon exchanged glances. What an eerie coincidence...

“What’s up with the two of you?” Deep Waters asked.

“Nothing...” Gu Fei answered even as he saw the current downcast look on Sword Demon’s face. He reckoned that Sword Demon had most likely given up on the ‘Daily Mission’ by now; otherwise, he would not be Sword Demon but Young Master Han.

“Come; Old Broken isn’t too far ahead.” Deep Waters was still as enthused as before in wanting to introduce his new member to the two. Right now, he was like a child who was excited to flaunt to his friends the limited-edition toy he had just gotten.

“Since we’re here, let’s see who this person is!” Gu Fei privately messaged Sword Demon.

“Fine,” agreed Sword Demon.

“Do you still intend to continue with your mission? If you do wish to continue, we’re gonna have a chance soon. A slash from me and a stab from you, and we can immediately take the man down before we make our escape.” Gu Fei laid the option out.

“Forget it.” Sword Demon did not even hesitate. Plus, it was just a ‘Daily Mission’. He could always abandon it today and pick up another tomorrow.

Following Deep Waters deeper into the jungle, the man was already calling out, “Old Broken, where are you?! Let me introduce you to the two experts I know!”

A player stepped out from the foliage and looked over. Gu Fei and Sword Demon returned the gaze as well. Broken Water Arrow was not particularly tall, but he stood there with a calmness of a stone Buddha. He had a buzzcut and a squarish jawline, and the camouflage he had on was nothing distinct. He wore a camouflage outfit on top of the equipment he had on, but Gu Fei could tell from a glance that this person was well-built.

That’s quite the fearsome figure. There’s no way this man’s ordinary! Gu Fei presumed that the man was just a military geek from the way Deep Waters spoke of him, so it was acceptable for him to have a good grasp of some theories, but it was evident from this man’s body that he had undergone intensive training, and there was no way he was just the average gamer.

Could this person really be once part of the military? Gu Fei wondered.