73 Chapter 73 - Framing Others (1/2)

Fugitive 29527 sure was unlucky. Sacred Flames of Baptism's 30% chance of a fire attack got procced in all the three slashes Gu Fei had sent his way. Fugitive 29527 was engulfed by fire before he could speak a word, fading away with a confused look on his face. The disappearing stream of white light was accompanied by the sound of a slamming cell door, which indicated that the player had been sent to jail. If a wanted player was killed by someone who had accepted the 'Bounty Mission', he or she would be sent directly to one of the system-managed prisons and would not be subjected to a death penalty akin to dropping a level.

One could say that trying to evade capture in Parallel World was similar to resisting arrest in reality – it was considered as a more serious offense. The imprisonment duration for the fugitives who had been caught was different to the fugitives who had turned themselves in. If the players with PK value turned themselves in, they would lose 1 PK point for every one hour. If the fugitives were killed and forcefully put into jail, they would lose 1 PK point for every two hours. This was the same as dropping PK points while fleeing in the wild; the only difference was that the players would lose their freedom during imprisonment. It was a truly sad fate.

Fugitive 29527 possessed 4 PK points. This meant that he would have to stay in prison for eight hours. His only consolation was that he would not be subjected to the penalty of dying.

Soon after the player's death, Gu Fei received a system notification. ['Bounty Mission' for Fugitive 29527 has been completed! Player can now go claim the reward at the Quest Assignment Hub.] Gu Fei breathed a sigh of relief. The wanted player's confused look had made Gu Fei wonder whether he got the right person or not. It had even caused him to hesitate in his attacks ever so slightly. Now that he received the system notification, he was finally at ease.

After putting away Sacred Flames of Baptism, he headed to the bar counter while rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. He only took a sip from the drink he had ordered earlier, so he decided to finish it first before leaving the tavern to retrieve the reward.

The people sitting at the surrounding tables near Fugitive 29527 a while ago stared at Gu Fei strangely. He returned their odd gazes with a smile and a nod. As he arrived at the bar counter, he noticed that everyone was still staring at him. He started to consider whether his actions just then were too domineering. As he pondered on this, he lifted his glass toward the other tavern patrons as a sign of goodwill.

Someone kicked a table over right after that, producing a loud bang. The players from the surrounding tables seemed to have been jolted to reality by that sound, as the muddled look on their faces had turned into an angry expression. Their anger was of course directed at Gu Fei. The remaining tavern patrons apparently possessed an acute awareness toward PvPs just like the other players of Yueye City, as they all hurriedly left in bulk upon sensing trouble in the air.

”Oh, hi there, Master Kang! Is that really you? I didn't notice you're here, too!” Gu Fei's eyes sharpened. When he spotted a familiar face among the crowd, he did not hesitate to greet him loudly.

Master Kang's face paled like a ghost, as he hurriedly replied, ”Who are you?! I don't know you!”

”I'm that guy! You don't remember me?” Gu Fei answered, as he swiftly approached Master Kang. Once he arrived beside Master Kang, he grabbed him by the shoulder, ”What're you standing still for? Let's make a run for it!”

”You screwed me up big time, bro!” Master Kang cried as he made his way outside. Gu Fei had reacted faster than him and was already outside.

”F*ck! He ran away!” The bunch of angry-looking people inside the tavern was jolted to reality once more at the sight of the two's fleeing figures. They continued hollering as they proceeded to rush outside.

Gu Fei was running a few meters ahead of Master Kang. The bunch of players who had hurried outside saw Gu Fei and Master Kang getting further and further away. Someone yelled, ”OVER THERE! THERE'RE TWO OF THEM, DON'T LET EVEN ONE ESCAPE!”

Master Kang cried in anguish again when he heard that. He roared to Gu Fei who was in front, ”Why did you have to greet me?! Couldn't you have pretended to not see me?!”

Gu Fei felt very remorseful, ”Sorry. I was trying to distract them.”

”Who're those guys, anyway?” Gu Fei asked as he turned his head around. The group chasing after the two seemed to lack speed. It was clear that they could not keep up with Gu Fei and Master Kang.

”They're members of Past Deeds, the largest guild in this city. The guy you just killed is called Silver Moon. He's their guild leader,” Master Kang explained dejectedly. He did not forget to lament at the end, ”What's with you killing him all of a sudden?!”

”I'm doing a 'Bounty Mission',” Gu Fei answered.

”Why him?! There're clearly so many others on the Wanted Players list?!”

”He's got 4 PK points. It's the highest,” Gu Fei replied.

”Can't blame you for that,” Master Kang sighed as they kept running, ”IGN isn't stated on the 'Bounty Mission'. Plus, you didn't know Silver Moon since you're not from around here. Why do you think he had the guts to sit and drink like that when he's got 4 PK points? He knew that a player could only fall back upon finding out that the mission's target was him. A 'Bounty Mission' isn't worth that much trouble. How can a player survive if he or she pisses off Past Deeds Guild?”

”Oh… I see, I see,” Gu Fei understood everything now. The reason that guy had such a confused look on his face when he died was most likely this. Gu Fei had of course thought of such a possibility. He just did not care either way. After all, he had always been up for a challenge.

”It's fine even if you killed him. But you should've left once you're done! You actually dared stay behind and have a drink. You even greeted me! You've screwed me up big time! How am I supposed to live here from now on?!” Master Kang wept bitterly.

”It's fine… You can come with me to Yunduan City two days later. Surely, they won't pursue us all the way there?”

”It's not fine at all, and you can never be too sure,” Master Kang answered sullenly.

”Sh*t, really?!” Gu Fei felt shocked.

”You don't know how those PvP fanatics' minds work. All they think about is coming up with an excuse to engage in PvPs. It's even possible for them to consider hunting someone over a span of a thousand miles as cool,” Master Kang explained.

”Cool, my *ss! I think we've already ditched them,” Gu Fei looked back and saw that not one of their pursuers could be seen around.

The two's speed was not slow since Master Kang was a Thief and Gu Fei was an all-Agility Mage. Apparently, the group of pursuers lacked Agility-based individuals, so they could not catch up to the duo.

”What do we do now? We might already be surrounded,” Master Kang asked, terrified.