VRMMO: Passing of the Sword

Blue Maple left the ‘crime scene’. However, he didn’t know that Old Man Fang and Old Man Wen were watching him throughout.

……

“How? This kid is impressive, isn’t he? Once he’s focused, such a mission can’t bog him down at all.” Old Man Fang was delighted as he said to Old Man Wen.

“Hmph, I know that this kid is impressive. I also know that he’s lazy. I’m just curious about something. How did you find him so quickly? I don’t believe you are so lucky.” Old Man Wen wasn’t very pleased with Old Man Fang’s reaction. He wanted Blue Maple to be his disciple, especially after watching this fight.

“Hehehe…I can tell you, but I want you to analyze his performance for me first. If I’m happy, I’ll tell you.” Old Man Fang cheekily laughed. The more discontented Old Man Wen was, the more delighted he felt.

“Hmph! Screw off! If I’m being generous with my praises, it’s towards him and not you!” Old Man Wen snorted. He wanted to give Old Man Fang a tight slap.

“But he’s my disciple. I taught him everything.” Old Man Fang was shameless. However, he wasn’t wrong. He was the one who imparted all the Skills to Blue Maple. But it was still important to know that Blue Maple’s reflexes and agility were innate or perhaps self-taught.

“Pssht! Going by your logic, I’m half his master!” Old Man Wen retorted.

“He’s still my disciple, not yours.” Old Man Fang continued to argue. The look on his face was so sleazy that Old Man Wen wanted to bash him up.

“You…hmph! Tell me how you found him once I give my analysis.” Old Man Wen admitted defeat eventually. He knew that Old Man Fang could make him question his own life once he ‘unleashed’ his shamelessness.

“Hehehe, that’s right. Quick, give me your analysis.” Old Man Fang giggled. He knew that this was going to be the result and was very pleased.

“Hmph! That rascal observed the enemies first. His prudence and cautiousness are indeed commendable. If he didn’t use the Vanishing Shadow from the beginning, he would have been discovered by the detector on the scout.”

“Even after spotting his target, he still continued to observe the situation. I believe he wouldn’t have made a move if the time wasn’t right. It’s not that he’s lazy, but that he’s prudent. God knows why he became so serious all of a sudden.”

As he spoke until here, Old Man Wen slightly furrowed his brow. He looked at Old Man Fang, who was still cheekily smiling at him.

“Hmph, everything was good with his timing. In fact, you’ll probably do the same as him if you aren’t dumb. I believe that he was just testing waters. After all, he didn’t know how strong the enemies were. Then, he relied on the explosiveness of the Heavenly Fire to activate the pearl. Finally, he continued to observe everything in stealth mode.”

“Seeing that the fire could spread and was violent, he decisively came up with a plan. He didn’t even wait for the Vanishing Shadow to cooldown before he took action. When they were panicking, he exploited the opportunity to attack. His decisiveness and perfect grasp of the opportunity were flawless.”

Old Man Fang was grinning even more when Old Man Wen spoke until here. It seemed like he believed he was the one who taught Blue Maple all these.

Old Man Wen only glanced at him before turning away. After this, he continued to analyze.

“The critical thing was that the target he chose. The enemies weren’t familiar with the fire, so he chose to attack the first transport vehicle. This move drew all the demons over. As for his fighting, I won’t harp on it. You should be well-aware.”

Old Man Wen was referring to the quest at the Newbie Village.

“However, the technique that he used to knock the sword off the leader was impeccable. It seemed as if he is well-trained in it. Don’t tell me he always uses close-combat weapons? He’s only Level 59 and the enemy was Rank 90. Furthermore, he’s still in a sealed state.”

As he spoke until here, Old Man Wen looked like he admired Blue Maple even more.

“When he burned the second transport vehicle, he brazenly left behind the pearl, which was also what he’d planned. After doing that, he quickly shifted to the third vehicle. To distract the demons as he moved over, he fired his Spatial Fiery Chop into the air and masked it as a signal. This confused the demons and left them stunned for a moment. That gave him the time to reach the third vehicle and light it on fire. It was also then that the Vanishing Shadow had completed its cooldown, giving him the chance to disappear.”

“The entire sequence only took thirty seconds!”

Old Man Wen sounded a little agitated as he spoke until here. However, he soon recovered his composure and even creased his brow.

“The last point I want to talk about is the ice-type leader who tried to put out the fire after thinking that it was different from the fire earlier. That caused him to stimulate the pearl and make the fire more explosive. Don’t tell me…it’s all the kid’s plan?!”

As he reached this point, there was an astonished expression on his face.

“If that’s the case, it’s terrifying. He managed to predict that the leader would discover something was amiss and even stop at the second vehicle. He had to stop at the second vehicle too. It’s only then that the violent fire could spread to the other two vehicles.”

“I even suspect the kid even intentionally knocked the sword off, causing the leader to be infuriated. This also led to the leader to lose emotional control and abruptly use frost to extinguish the fire without paying closer attention to the burned transport vehicles. That finally resulted in the stronger fire!”

Old Man Wen was also a little too emotional at this point.

“If I’m right, this kid is…a…”

“Genius!”

Old Man Wen’s eyes lit up.

“I refuse to believe that this kid is experienced. He’s too young. Even if he’s experienced, he must be a genius to pull it off so immaculately!”

After he finished speaking, Old Man Wen appeared hopeful. He stared at the giggling Old Man Fang.

Old Man Fang was beaming after Old Man Wen finished speaking and looked at him in such a manner.

“Hehehe, that’s my disciple. So how? Are you convinced? I still found you an impressive disciple.” Old Man Fang wore his delight on his face.

“Hmph, cut the crap. Quick, tell me how you found him. You told me you found him when the game just began. I don’t believe you were so lucky.” Old Man Wen was annoyed.

Old Man Fang immediately retracted his grin just after Old Man Wen finished speaking. He turned serious.

Even Old Man Wen was taken aback by his sudden change of expression.

“I’m sure you recall the original purpose of this game.” Old Man Fang solemnly asked.

“I do. To ensure that five years wouldn’t be wasted on sleeping.” Old Man Wen was confused as to why Old Man Fang brought this up.

“It’s not just on the surface, but there’s a deeper meaning to it.” Old Man Fang was uncharacteristically serious at this point. It was as if he was a different person than he was normally!

“You mean…in terms of selection?” Old Man Wen was unsure as he asked. At the same time, he also turned serious.

“Yes, I met a little girl when the game just started. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.”

“I do. But didn’t she mention that she wouldn’t meddle in such affairs? Why did she help you?” Old Man Wen was puzzled.

“She didn’t. She only made a bet with me.” Old Man Fang chuckled as a mysterious look flashed across his face.

“Bet? What bet?” Old Man Wen was lost.

“She only took out a gold coin that had two sides and asked me to guess heads or tails. She even said that I could use my own gold coin if I wanted. Then, she would toss the coin. If I guessed correctly, she would introduce the perfect disciple to me!”

Old Man Wen lost his composure before Old Man Fang even finished speaking.

“And you guessed correctly?”

“Listen to me.” Old Man Fang asked Old Man Wen to hold his horses.

“If I guessed incorrectly, I’ll need to find a disciple within a day. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to find a disciple for the entire duration of the game!”

“So vicious? You used your own gold coin eventually.” Old Man Wen was astonished. Then, he squinted his eyes as he looked at Old Man Fang. He knew exactly what Old Man Fang’s morals were like.

“Yes, but I still lost.” Old Man Fang smiled as he replied.

“Lost? You…”

“Mm, I lost. I guessed heads, but it came out tails…I had to find a disciple then. I could only stay true to my promise of finding a disciple within a day or go the entire game without one.” As he spoke until here, he sounded a little helpless.

That was the reason why he was so anxious back then.

“How? You didn’t tamper your coin?!” Old Man Wen was shocked as he asked.

“Eh?! What kind of question is that? Am I that sort of a person?” Old Man Fang was displeased seeing how astonished Old Man Wen was.

“Cheh, don’t I know you? You took such a huge risk with that bet. That must mean you had the guts to do so. It’s unlike you not to do any tampering, just like how it’s unlike you not to seek merry!” Old Man Wen was scornful.

“Cough…tampering is…eh! No, what merry? Explain it! Don’t accuse me!” Old Man Fang was already in an awkward position, but he immediately attempted to counter Old Man Wen’s last sentence.

“Alright, let’s stop the bickering. Quick, tell me!” Old Man Wen was annoyed and tried to return to their earlier topic.

“Hmph! It should have been heads, but I don’t know what happened. I was convinced that I’ll get the perfect disciple, and you should know that she wouldn’t scam me. But this left me too arrogant and I failed to control the coin at the final moment. It landed on tails.”

Old Man Fang furrowed his brow. He still didn’t fully get what happened.

Old Man Wen wanted to say something, but he stopped.

“I’m sure she didn’t do anything to interfere. I was just too caught up and got a little over my head.”

Old Man Wen went silent after hearing this.

“Mm…although you might have gotten a little over your head, you can’t dispute where your morals stand. However, it’s still surprising that you were a little too eager…” Old Man Wen shook his head as if to say he still couldn’t phantom what exactly happened.

“Cough…stop criticizing me. Do you know what she said when I finally went to find a disciple?” Old Man Wen posed a rhetorical question.

“What?” Old Man Wen seemed tense.

“She said: you can’t accurately guess which side the coin will land on. If you don’t control the result, the final result will always be an unknown…just as…an unknown fate…” Old Man Fang did his best to mimic her tone of voice. He didn’t rush his words but sounded very calm.

“After hearing her ridiculous words, I randomly teleported to another place. It wasn’t disrupted either. You should know how strong I am. It’s impossible that she would have done something without me knowing about it!”

Old Man Fang was abnormally serious by now.

“But eventually…”

He was completely serious by now.

“What happened eventually?” Old Man Wen was anxious as he probed. He was already drawn by Old Man Fang.

“But eventually…I strolled around randomly for half an hour and found that rascal! Hahaha! I’m lucky! Hahaha…”

Old Man Fang laughed in delight. He was asking for a beating!

“You…”

Old Man Wen stoned in position.

He started to tremble and looked like he was about to explode.

Old Man Fang quickly fled seeing that things were not good!

“Old Gangster, stop!”

Old Man Wen didn’t expect Old Man Fang to flee so quickly. He was furious as he gave chase…