Gu Fei continued walking down a paved road devoid of any pedestrians except for him. Out of boredom, he pulled out the sword, Moonlit Nightfalls, from his dimensional pocket and gazed admiringly at it once more. As a kung fu practitioner, Gu Fei did not care much about his fashion, yet he had a picky taste when it came to his weapon. He found that Moonlit Nightfalls was to his liking, as its weight, size, shape, and design seemed to be custom-made for him. Even in reality, he had never had a weapon that suited his taste this much.
While Gu Fei was taking in the sword's beauty, a disturbance down the street reached his ears. A bunch of men, all brandishing a variety of weapons against one another, came into view from the street ahead. Before long, their chaotic fight filtered into the lane Gu Fei was in, with someone yelling out, "Don't let them get away!"
Gu Fei furrowed his brows. He had decided to take the shortcut indicated by that player from before due to laziness. The lane he was currently in could not exactly be considered as an alleyway but more like a narrow gap between two rows of houses. These people, who had brought their fight into this cramped walkway, effectively blocked the only way out. Gu Fei knew that even if he continued walking forward, they would not pause their fight just to let him through.
Should he turn back? Gu Fei looked back and immediately felt exhausted just from seeing the distance back. Having no wish to backtrack, Gu Fei decided to keep going forward on the cramped walkway. While maintaining a firm grip around the hilt of Moonlit Nightfalls with his right hand, he took out Sacred Flames of Baptism with his left hand.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Fei arrived at the scuffle. The combatants had of course noticed Gu Fei, but they gave off the vibe that they were slightly holding back as they clashed their weapons with one another.
In contrast, Gu Fei appeared to have not noticed their presence as he plunged headlong through them.
"Ack! Be careful!" a person on the left warned. The person was currently thrusting his dagger toward another person when Gu Fei forcibly squeezed his way through the gap between them. Despite shouting a warning, the person's hand did not stop its attack at all.
Gu Fei did not bother about the person's contradicting action. He simply raised his left hand holding Sacred Flames of Baptism to parry the stab as he passed through the gap between the pair. Gu Fei's next step brought him out of the two's range of fight.
"Ah!" The shout this time came from a person on the right. He was swinging a claymore downward from above his head.
Gu Fei did not dare forcefully block this swing from a player who seemed to be a Warrior. As he was considering how he should deal with it, he noticed that the pair ahead had momentarily stopped exchanging blows. Gu Fei nimbly stepped forward, and the claymore narrowly brushed past his nape with a whoosh.
At the next moment, Gu Fei lifted his two swords and blocked the attacks coming from both sides. Swiftly propelling himself forward with another step, he shunted past this pair as well.
In an instant, Gu Fei had passed through three pairs of combatants unscathed by simply dodging and parrying.
Placing Moonlit Nightfalls and Sacred Flames of Baptism back into his dimensional pocket, Gu Fei dusted off his sleeves and folded his hands inside them. He then continued toward his destination without sparing the skirmish behind him another glance.
After a bit, the fighting in the walkway had stopped as well, and the group of brawlers could be seen standing frozen on their spots.
All their faces displayed a look of disbelief. They could not wrap up their minds around what had just happened.
"Where's that guy? Where did he go?" Someone dazedly looked at his weapon as he tried to comprehend what he had just seen.
"Did… he just… walk through?" another asked for confirmation with a voice filled with incredulity.
"But how?" someone expressed his doubt as well.
"It was like this—then that—and then—arghhh!" This person tried to simulate Gu Fei's moves. The actions looked rather similar, yet the person suddenly clutched his waist with a pained expression.
"What's the matter?!" everyone asked in shock.
"I twisted my waist. This particular move is rather difficult. You guys try it, too," the person wailed.
Thus, everyone went about copying that particular move by Gu Fei. The end result was half of them not being able to do it and the other half spraining their waists from the overexertion of their muscles. The degree of their sprain varied on how much strength they had used.
"Ouch! Owwwww…" Half of them gritted their teeth as they cried out in pain.
"What's the matter?" A running figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was the guy who had earlier given Gu Fei direction. Due to his reduced speed while on Stealth, he could only watch Gu Fei get further and further away. By the time he arrived into this walkway, Gu Fei's figure had long vanished from view. He immediately canceled Stealth when he saw all his buddies crying loudly in pain.
"Where did that guy go? How come he still escaped with so many of you here?" he asked in shock. Half of the ten ambushers in the walkway seemed to be suffering from injuries as well.
Everyone felt flustered. They were tongue-tied on how to explain the situation. Should they say that they had unknowingly allowed Gu Fei to pass through them? Or that their injuries were embarrassingly self-inflicted as they tried to recreate the earlier incident?
"What's that guy's job class?" one of them asked as he tried to divert the topic.
"Yeah! What's his job class? He's got some strange moves!" Gu Fei's unfathomable display made everyone assume that he possessed a special skill that none of them had yet.
"That guy? I think he's a Mage," the 'guide', who had given Gu Fei direction, answered with uncertainty.
"Didn't you fail to appraise him before?" someone probed, "Then, how sure are you that he's a Mage?"
"He's wearing a mage robe, right?" the guide threw this question back.
"Wearing a mage robe doesn't guarantee that he's a Mage! Everyone here thinks he's not a Mage!" someone insisted.
"Agree! That guy's definitely not a Mage!"
"Come to think of it; what he's wearing may not even be a mage robe. It's black! Your Appraisal failed on him as well," another chimed in.
Since the game's open beta launching, there had yet to be a black mage robe. A majority of the players considered the Mage and Priest as wholesome job classes that would never be issued black attire by the system. In their minds, black attire was reserved for the Thief job class, which sounded rather loathsome just from its name alone.
The guide did not say anything for a beat, before finally commenting, "If not a mage robe, then what?"
No one answered him, although someone commented, "That guy's sword looks super rad. I've never seen anything like it before."
"D*mn! What're we still gabbing about here for?! Let's chase after him!" someone hollered to remind everyone of their goal.
"Let's! Quick! Show us the route he's taking!" another said as he pulled out a map.
"I directed him to this route, so he should be passing this way," the 'guide' answered as he traced a certain path on the map with his index finger.
"But he's already seen us. He'll surely recognize us when he sees us again," someone commented.
"Guess we can't fake a scene anymore. Let's be straightforward about this, then," another suggested.
The rest nodded their heads.
"Masks!" someone reminded.
All excitedly pulled out a piece of triangular cloth, as a devout expression crossed their faces.
"We thank that player in Yunduan City who thought up of such an ingenious method to hide a player's identity. We'll now walk the path toward riches!" a man recited with gravitas.
"Utmost gratitude!" everyone sincerely agreed.
"We're using this for the first time, so let's do our best. We don't want to be the laughingstocks of the players in Yunduan City," the same man stated.
All nodded their heads solemnly.
"Alright!" The man pulled his buddies to huddle together, taking out a strip of paper with the numbers 27149 written on it using large font.
"This is the benefactor who has paved the way for our group. Although we don't know his name or his appearance, his glorious record of attaining 15 PK points in a few hours is forever etched in Parallel World's history. May he protect us," With that, he burned the slip of paper.
All clasped their hands in front of them and silently said their prayers.
Someone broke this solemn silence as he said, "Boss, I heard that that guy did not pick up the dropped equipment after killing his target. We don't seem to be walking the same path as him."
"Don't worry about the minor details. Just accept it!" the boss snapped.
Everyone continued to pray until the ceremony ended. Gu Fei, who was hundreds of meters away, sneezed his loudest sneeze ever in-game.
"Can you guys really handle this mission?" the boss asked some of the gathered people. Half of them had the same posture: one hand holding a weapon and the other rubbing the waist. They were the few that had sprained their waists while trying to imitate Gu Fei's moves.
"We're fine! It's the first time we're doing a masked operation. We'll definitely participate!" the few said resolutely.
"Very well," the boss nodded his head, "Everyone get ready. Masks!"
With that order from the big boss, all covered their faces with a piece of cloth.
"Let's go! We'll show the players in Yunduan City that we're Yueye City's masked professionals!" the boss bellowed.
"Yeah!" While the group of highwaymen set off in high spirits, the boss was furrowing his brows. Half of his followers had one of their arms akimbo, looking extremely ugly as they limped forward. They somewhat ruined the image of his mercenary group with their awkward movements. Suddenly, he thought of something, Does it matter? Everyone's wearing a mask, anyway.
Wearing a mask is truly great! Can't lose our face even if we want to! The boss heaved a relieved sigh, as he once again praised the man who had come up with the method.
"I'll add another piece just in case!" The boss added another piece of cloth on top of the one currently covering his face. He felt pleased for coming up with something that their benefactor had not thought up of yet.
As they rushed out of the walkway, the players on the street were immediately drawn to their astonishing sight.
The group of highwaymen obviously understood the concept of not being able to lose face even if they wanted to, as they completely ignored the look everyone was throwing their way. Instead, they focused on following the path that they had previously discussed.
"Who are these people?" a player asked curiously.
"The Black Hand mercenary group," someone answered.
"How did you know?"
"Someone's wearing the mercenary group's emblem," he explained.
"What's the point of masking themselves if their emblems can be seen? Are they stupid?"
"Most likely…."
The group was steadily advancing forward when a player from a side-alley grabbed one of them, "Coward, there you are! Didn't we make a deal that you'll get me two bandage rolls, yesterday? Hand them over!"
"I'm no coward!" the man's voice stated calmly.
"I know. Your name's Coward's Savior! Two words are one too many. Coward is just easier and nicer to say," the player mocked.
"How did you know it's me?" Coward's Savior asked, feeling shocked.
"I recognized your equipment! What're you lot up to, anyway?"
"None of your business!" Coward's Savior retorted. He then bitterly reported on the mercenary channel, "Boss! I've been exposed!"
"To think you couldn't even hide your identity. I'm sorry but you're not qualified to be a part of this special mercenary group," the boss remarked coldly.
A cruel system prompt sounded next. [Coward's Savior has been kicked out from The Black Hand mercenary group.]
"D*mn! I'm going to f*ck you up!" Coward's Savior tore off his mask and dove straight for the player who had revealed his identity.
"Don't bother with him. Let's continue onward," the boss ordered the few hesitant players.
"Boss, I have that guy in my line of sight. He's just right ahead," one of the players in front reported.
"Alright, break up! We'll surround him stealthily. Don't let him reach the safe zone. This is our last chance," the boss commanded.
"Go! Go! Go!" someone shouted and everyone split up.