Candle Spirit? Player!

[You have slain a Tidal Sandworm]

[Obtained: Wax Oil ×2]

Rogue pulled the Worn Sword from the monster's flesh and sighed in slight relief.

At that moment, he was on a lonely island shrouded in darkness.

Of course, if it had merely been an ordinary isolated island, he might even have considered himself fortunate.

But unfortunately, this was an island infested with monsters.

What drove Rogue even further into despair was... the environment.

The familiar sun was gone. Sunrise and sunset, the evening glow over the sea—these had become impossible luxuries. Warm sunlight existed only in Rogue's memories.

Darkness covered every corner of the island, while the boundless ocean trapped him here completely. Only a faint afterglow offered him a blurred view of his surroundings...

Such circumstances were undoubtedly despairing.

But Rogue was not entirely without hope...

He lowered his head slightly and looked at the wound on his abdomen.

What should have been a bloody, mangled wound was now like a candle that had been gouged. Only a white indentation remained, with pale yellow wax oil slowly seeping out.

After gathering his spoils, Rogue returned to his shelter.

It was a Reef Cave, barely sufficient to block out most of the sea wind.

He walked over to a rock, crouched down, and held out his hand. A pure white candle burning with flame appeared in his palm.

After placing it on the rock, Rogue leaned against the stone wall and let out a soft breath.

[Spirit Candle]

[Rank: Cinder]

[Remaining Wax Oil: 103]

[Spirit Candle Building: Spirit Fire Port (Not Constructed; requires Anchor Island)]

[Anchored Island: None (requires 300 Wax Oil)]

[Summoned Candle Spirits: 0 (requires 100 Wax Oil)]

[Spirit Fire Port: A port burning with spirit fire, granting your Candle Spirits the ability to operate in nearshore waters.]

[Anchor Island: Use the Spirit Candle to anchor an island, stabilizing the island's environment.]

The reason Rogue had survived until now on this resource-starved, perilous island was this candle.

More precisely, the Spirit Candle.

It had given Rogue a body forged from wax oil, allowing him to rapidly recover from injuries and even... resurrect.

All of this required a basic resource known as "Wax Oil." Even constructing certain miraculous buildings required massive amounts of wax oil.

And to obtain "Wax Oil," he had to kill those frenzied monsters.

He had no idea how much time had passed. Relying on the residual power of the Spirit Candle, he had finally mastered the art of combat through repeated recovery and even death.

Rogue did not know what would happen if he died after running out of wax oil, nor did he intend to find out. It certainly would not be anything good.

After one hunt after another, his nearly depleted wax oil had finally begun to accumulate again, slowly.

Perhaps the only good news was that those frenzied monsters respawned over and over like weeds!

But that only gave Rogue an even worse headache.

What kind of absurd, bizarre world was this?

"The Candle Spirits should be able to help me find the answers faster..."

Rogue took a deep breath.

Summoning Candle Spirits was one of the Spirit Candle's functions.

Based on the information provided by the Spirit Candle, Rogue believed they might be something like puppets with simple consciousness.

Once he had accumulated enough wax oil, Rogue could use the Spirit Candle to create wax bodies capable of housing Candle Spirits.

They possessed traits similar to Rogue's and should be able to help him with quite a few things.

"I just hope these so-called Candle Spirits are a little smarter..."

If I summon a bunch of idiots, then my hundred wax oil will have gone to waste.

"Let's summon one first and test the waters..."

Rogue sighed softly, then reached out and touched the Spirit Candle's flame...

[100 Wax Oil consumed. Summoning Candle Spirit...]

[Deathly silence and darkness fill every corner of the world...]

[The frigid ocean imprisons life upon lonely islands...]

[Agonized wails arrive with the biting sea wind...]

[Flame that has come from afar...]

[Take on a Candle Spirit Physique and become a pioneer in exploring the darkness...]

"The CG is pretty good. Not very artistic, but it feels incredibly real..."

Li Miao stroked his chin as he commented on the scene that had just appeared.

As a veteran gamer, he had bought a neural interface the moment virtual reality gaming technology became available.

In the game store, he had discovered a game called "Spirit Candle." Its description mentioned combat, which immediately caught his interest.

[Please enter your name]

[Please adjust your appearance]

[Notice: Your appearance will affect your character's combat performance. Please configure it carefully!]

After the CG ended, Li Miao arrived at the character creation screen amid darkness.

"No option to use a female character?" Li Miao shook his head, immediately disappointed. "Still, physical traits affecting combat... that makes sense."

After setting his name to "Brother Miao Won't Fail," he began adjusting his appearance.

"Make the face more handsome, and give him bigger muscles too..."

"No, no, not the trapezius..."

After fiddling around for a while, Li Miao finally nodded in satisfaction and touched [Confirm].

The darkness before him began to churn.

After a surge of pulling force, Li Miao's vision plunged into complete blackness...

"Hm?"

"No, this... isn't this a player?"

Rogue, who had witnessed everything firsthand through the Spirit Candle's power, was left somewhat dumbfounded.

He had watched Li Miao's entire process of creating his character in the preparation space.

And throughout that process, he could sense the Spirit Candle shaping the Candle Spirit alongside Li Miao's adjustments.

There was no doubt that this player, Li Miao, would soon descend into the newly created Candle Spirit Physique.

Now that you mention it, I'm wide awake!

As everyone knew, "players" possessed unimaginable creativity, terrifying aggression, and utter unpredictability. They feared no death in pursuit of their goals.

They also possessed a title that made the natives of game worlds tremble in fear...

The Fourth Catastrophe!

If he could make such a group work for him...

"Then I'll have a powerful vanguard force to explore this world!"

Rogue's heart jolted.

Very quickly, he began considering whether this was feasible.

"I need to figure out how to guide him..."

Rogue rapidly calculated in his mind.

A moment later...

"Drip..."

The faint sound of water droplets falling onto rock came from behind him.

"Welcome, flame that has come from afar..."

A somewhat deep male voice rang out.

Li Miao opened his eyes and saw a weathered man holding a Worn Sword, leaning against a stone wall.

The man stared intently at the candle flame without looking directly at him.

[Listen to the Candle Keeper's guidance]

At that moment, a quest prompt also appeared in the upper-right corner of Li Miao's vision.

He tried to stand and move his body, only to discover that he could not control it. He could only sit cross-legged where he was.

"My movement is temporarily restricted? Fine..."

Though he was eager to move freely and experience the fun of virtual reality, Li Miao was not in a rush. He patiently began listening.

Good thing I came prepared... Rogue thought to himself.

Having once been a gamer himself, he understood players fairly well.

As the starting area, if he did not impose some restrictions, there was no telling what trouble these players might cause...

Though that was what he thought, Rogue's expression remained calm as he fulfilled his duty as an "NPC."

"You may call me the Candle Keeper..."

"As you can see, my duty is to protect the Spirit Candle."

"And you, as Candle Spirits born from the Spirit Candle, exist to bring the Spirit Candle's light and warmth into this dark world..."

"But your flame is still very weak."

"If you wish to grow stronger, you must kill those monsters that have fallen into madness and obtain the wax oil they leave behind after death."

"The Spirit Candle will store the wax oil you obtain, heal your injuries, or reshape your body after you die..."

After saying this, Rogue willed it and used the Spirit Candle's power to update the guidance information.

[Use your thoughts to view your personal information]

Seeing this, Li Miao willed it and eagerly opened his personal information.

[Brother Miao Won't Fail]

[Rank: Cinder]

[Level: 1]

[Ability Score: (View Details)]

[Talent: Robust]

[Skill: Dodge]

Each entry came with a detailed explanation, and Li Miao eagerly began reading them.

[Cinder: Not even a complete ash, merely leftover scraps from the world's construction.]

[Robust: Slightly increases stamina recovery speed. Constitution +1.]

[Dodge: A gift from the Spirit Candle. When you roll, jump, or crawl, there is a 50% chance of becoming immune to the next damage received.]

A new book sets sail!

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