Chapter 1 The Beginning

Gu Fei walked out of the alley and onto the street. He could already see the safety zone for logging off in front of him when he suddenly sensed something amiss. He glanced around and saw a figure dart past him, rushing into the alley ahead. Then, half a head peeked out, the target of its attention seeming to be... him.

What's this all about? Gu Fei looked back again, and two nimble heads ducked behind the wall in perfect coordination. Gu Fei turned his head, then suddenly looked back again, and the two heads performed another disappearing act.

Gu Fei was in agony. He couldn't find peace anywhere! Where there are people, there is jianghu (the martial world) – that saying was so true. Thinking this, Gu Fei drew his newly acquired Dark Night Luster Sword.

Knives and swords are often mentioned together. There's a saying that a knife is like a fierce tiger, while a sword is like a flying phoenix. To put it nicely, it means that swords are elegant and refined, emphasizing skill. But the truth is that in actual combat, swords are not as practical or lethal as knives.

Knives are mainly used for chopping and slashing, while swords are mainly used for thrusting. It goes without saying which is easier to cause damage and has greater power.

Although swords can also be used for chopping, in reality, only one side of the blade is used for chopping. And swords have to be double-edged, which not only increases the difficulty of manufacturing but also reduces the impact resistance of the entire blade. Therefore, on the battlefield, the sword was eventually replaced by the knife and ultimately became more of an accessory symbolizing status. Hence the saying, "Scholars wear swords, warriors carry knives."

Of course, Gu Fei's purpose in learning martial arts was not to go to the battlefield. Focusing on research, he dabbled in various types of kung fu. The sword, being the most common weapon, was something he had been practicing since childhood. There's a saying in martial arts, "It's easy to change forms, but difficult to change force." Someone who studies fierce and powerful techniques will often find it difficult to learn tai chi chuan or similar styles. The same goes for switching between knives and swords.

But Gu Fei was considered extremely talented by his family because of his ability in this area. Since childhood, he had been able to integrate all kinds of boxing techniques and moves. Therefore, his family raised him as a kung fu encyclopedia, stuffing him with all kinds of martial arts knowledge. There were some things he wasn't particularly strong in, but after the age of 22, there was nothing he didn't know.

And the Gu family's sword techniques had a certain reputation in the martial arts world. According to the elders, it had been passed down many years ago, and had been modified and improved by several experts in the middle. The original sword manual was still preserved at home, said to be a bamboo scroll version. Unfortunately, Gu Fei never got to see it. When he learned the sword technique, his father gave him a CD directly, saying that the 21st century required 21st-century methods. As for the legendary bamboo scroll version, his father said he would only have the right to see it when Gu Fei took over the family.

When Gu Fei was young and reckless, this mysterious bamboo scroll version was his dream for many years. But now that he was older, his curiosity wasn't as strong as it used to be, and he didn't really care. From a practical point of view, the learning effect of the bamboo scroll version was definitely not as prominent as the vivid and detailed CD version. Otherwise, how could it be said that humanity is progressing?

With the sword in hand, even though the enemies coming for him hadn't shown themselves directly, Gu Fei still performed a sword salute with the tip of his sword pointing to the ground. Then he shouted, "Come out, I've already seen you!"

Immediately, two masked men darted out from behind the wall, but before they could say anything, two quicker hands reached around from behind them and pulled the two guys back with lightning speed. At the same time, a voice loud enough for Gu Fei to hear scolded, "You're so stupid! He's just bluffing, and you're so easily tricked!"

Gu Fei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At the same time, he felt that these people were much more lovable than Bu Xiao.

He looked around, but everyone remained patient, and no one else showed themselves.

The players who were originally walking on the street had also suddenly disappeared. Those who wanted to pass by took one look from afar and detoured. In this respect, they were more professional than the players in Cloud City, who were still at the kindergarten level of immediately surrounding a fight out of curiosity. The players in Moonlit Night City had obviously begun to focus on improving their self-protection awareness.

The street was quiet, and the wind swept dead leaves to Gu Fei's feet. The scene was too cinematic, but the dialogue lacked atmosphere. Gu Fei helplessly repeated, "I really saw you."

"If you don't come out, I'm leaving."

"I'm really leaving."

Knowing where the other party was hiding, he naturally knew which road was unguarded. Gu Fei changed direction and headed into an alley on his left where no one was ambushing. The group was dumbfounded. They were just a few steps away from entering the prepared encirclement, but this guy just wouldn't go that way! Too shameless! Everyone thought with grief and indignation.

As the leader, you must be good at adjusting your state in such awkward moments to meet new challenges. The leader of the Black Hand Mercenary Group stood up resolutely and shouted, "Wait!"

Gu Fei turned his head, and all the guys hiding behind walls, rooftops, and doors came out. The situation was a bit awkward. They had originally wanted to surround Gu Fei, but now it had become a confrontation. Gu Fei on one side, and all of them on the other.

"Who are you?" Gu Fei asked as he backed away.

"Black Hand Mercenary Group! Ouch!" The man had just finished speaking when he was slapped by someone next to him. At the same time, the leader turned his head and glared at him sternly. But it wasn't good to kick people out of the group at the last minute, so he held back.

"What do you want?" Gu Fei asked.

This time, no one dared to say anything more. Even the leader didn't make a sound, just waved his hand, and everyone rushed towards Gu Fei.

But after all, the game has class divisions. Those who rushed up were all melee classes. Gu Fei took one look and saw a uniform of warriors, a class that Gu Fei was currently wary of. Firstly, the warrior's attacks were heavy, and he didn't dare to block them with his weapon. Secondly, the warrior's heavy armor made Gu Fei's attacks seem insignificant.

Besides the warriors, there were also thieves. But they were all cunningly lurking behind the warriors, slowly approaching, thinking Gu Fei didn't know. Of course, Gu Fei knew, but he couldn't feel exactly where they were or how many there were at the moment because the scene was too chaotic. The attacks from the mages and archers at the far end had already arrived.

Not bad coordination! Gu Fei, who had accumulated some practical experience in the game, saw it at a glance.

The archers' arrows were the fastest, some firing Snipe, some firing Double Shot...

An hour ago, the archers' Snipe would have been a major challenge for Gu Fei. But now, holding the Dark Night Luster Sword, and having just leveled up and added Agility, his speed had reached a new level. Gu Fei dodged with a sidestep, followed by a fireball thrown by the mage. This thing had a bit of auto-tracking. It couldn't be dodged by just twisting his body. Gu Fei sprinted a few steps before the fireball lost its direction.

This won't work! Gu Fei felt a sense of urgency. The current situation was different from the one in Cloud City. The enemy's warriors were at the forefront, acting as meat shields. If he couldn't break through their blockade and eliminate the mages and archers who were the main attackers, he wouldn't have a chance in close combat either, not to mention the lurking thieves waiting for an opportunity.

In that instant, Gu Fei thought of the broken cloth hanging on bamboo poles in the leveling area outside Moonlit Night City. These players were indeed from a background of group fights. This formation was well-organized, and the advantage of having a large number of people was too obvious.

He can't fight them head-on, Gu Fei thought, turning back and diving into the alley he had just come from.

"Oh no! He ran away again!" someone in the Black Hand Mercenary Group shouted. Just now, when they saw Gu Fei enter the alley, they all thought he was going to run, but who knew the leader would call out "Wait!" and he would come back. Now, seeing his posture, they thought he was going to fight them to the death, but who knew he would turn around and run again? How could he be so unpredictable! Too shameless, everyone thought.

"Chase!" With the leader's order, everyone chased into the alley.

Gu Fei sprinted ahead with all his might, looking back and revealing a victorious smile.

With this run, the other party's speed differed due to the way they allocated their stat points. The formation was still layered, but in a different way.

With the same Agility, the thief who was willing to use Sprint was running in the front. If it was just at normal speed, the thief's speed would be slightly inferior to the archer's. After these two classes were the mages and knights. The knights were slightly faster. In Parallel World, the knight was a very balanced class. None of the attributes had an absolute advantage, nor did they have a disadvantage. This led to the fact that there was still no unified standard for the knight's stat allocation, and there were all kinds of methods. Some had added Agility, which made them a little faster than the mages at this moment. Normal mages at the moment would not put their points into Agility.

After that were the slow warriors. The class that was originally acting as a meat shield had now fallen to the back and become the rearguard.

Gu Fei ran and looked back. The thief using Sprint was indeed extraordinary, and was already closing in step by step. The other side cheered. They didn't think that Gu Fei was preparing to turn around and fight back. They just thought he was running away with his head in his hands.

Estimating the steps of the thief behind him, Gu Fei silently counted in his mind: one, two, three, turn around!

Suddenly stopping and turning around, he swung his sword in a horizontal slash. It was a move from Gu Fei's family sword technique, called Floating Cloud Slash.

Slashing was not the sword's forte, but this move brought out the sword's characteristics. What characteristics? The characteristic of having blades on both sides.

It was said that when this move was used, it had to be as unpredictable as a floating cloud as to which side would be used to slash. When Gu Fei was young, he didn't understand and thought it was really magical. Now that he had some skill in kung fu, he felt that this move was clearly a bit superfluous. If you want to slash, just slash. Why bother making the move so that people don't know which side you're going to use to slash with? If there was a difference between the two blades of the sword, this move would have some meaning, but the fact is that if the two blades of the sword are made differently, it's called a defective product. Gu Fei estimated that the person who created this move must have been bullied severely by knives, so he worked hard to make the sword achieve effects that the knife couldn't.

In any case, Gu Fei's sword was now slashing out like a floating cloud. The two thieves in Sprint couldn't stop in time and were slashed solidly.

The two screamed and retreated. Gu Fei took a step forward and thrust again. But the sword suddenly stopped in the middle of the thrust, and he changed to thrusting a non-vital spot.

He was still carrying PK (Player Killing) points on his back! If he kept killing like this, when would it end? Gu Fei suddenly remembered.