Candle Keeper's Mysterious Shop

Though puzzled, Rogue revealed himself and spoke calmly.

"Candle Spirit, why have you called for me?"

Rogue had thought Guagua wanted to ask him something.

But to his surprise, the moment she saw him appear, Guagua pulled out a Pearl from her inventory.

"Candle Keepers, do you want this?"

Guagua held out the Pearl with both hands, looking at him expectantly.

She had naturally come to find Rogue to give him a gift. After all, Yuanfang had guessed that giving gifts would most likely increase the Candle Keepers' favorability.

Rogue was a little surprised, but quickly realized that this girl wanted to give him a gift to raise her favorability with him.

He found it both amusing and exasperating.

Still, he began considering whether it was feasible. If he accepted it, he would undoubtedly be sending the player community a new message.

But he couldn't just take gifts without giving anything in return.

After all, Rogue knew exactly what these little players were plotting.

Did they raise an NPC's favorability because they liked the NPC?

No, they were after the quests and generous rewards the NPC might give out. They were clever like that!

Of course, if Rogue was determined to only take and never give, the players couldn't do anything about it. After all, he controlled all the Candle Spirits.

But if that happened, no players would be foolish enough to give him gifts in the future.

So, rather than thinking about how to profit from the players, Rogue should think about how to turn it into a "mechanism" that benefited both sides...

Hmm... most of the little players were still running around in nothing but underpants. That couldn't go on forever...

This would also be a good opportunity to collect some of the wax oil in the players' hands.

After thinking for a moment, Rogue formed a preliminary idea.

But he had no use for this Pearl. For now, it seemed to be nothing more than a decoration.

Rogue chuckled softly. "I appreciate the thought, but I have no need for you to give me things."

"However, you may bring things that interest me in exchange, or earn my approval and use wax oil to purchase these collectibles..."

Forget gifts. Taking what each side needed was the best choice.

As he spoke, Rogue raised a hand slightly.

Following his movement, the Spirit Candle's flame bloomed. Wax oil spread from its base, bringing forth item after item, piece of equipment after piece of equipment, forming a uniquely styled "display case" lined with weapons and gear.

[Wooden Helmet (Common)]

[Type: Helmet]

[Description: A helmet made by the Candle Keepers from wax oil. It offers decent protection.]

[Wooden Bow (Common)]

[Type: Weapon]

[Description: A sturdy wooden bow that allows you to attack enemies from a safe distance. (Note: Arrows required!)]

[Candlelight Saber (Fine)]

[Type: Weapon]

[Description: A sharp, uniquely shaped saber. Its lethality far surpasses that of ordinary weapons. Strength +1 when attacking.]

There were also pieces of equipment such as [Cloth Armor] and [Simple Leggings].

Some of these weapons and pieces of equipment had been replaced after Rogue's past battles, while others had been made recently.

With the Spirit Candle's power, he could spend wax oil to make some simple equipment without any problem.

Of course, the [Fine] Candlelight Saber was already the limit.

As for his Worn Sword, it had come with the Spirit Candle. At the beginning, his attributes hadn't even been sufficient to lift it.

Back when wax oil had been scarce, Rogue could only give the players weapons. Even their underpants had come with the Spirit Candle, making things exceptionally shabby.

Originally, he had planned to use these as rewards or find an opportunity to add a shop feature.

But since Guagua had come, the timing was perfect. He could combine the two and make some adjustments.

He would create the [Candle Keeper's Mysterious Shop].

"Wow..."

Guagua felt as though she had been enveloped in golden light, nearly dazzled blind.

These pieces of equipment certainly weren't god-tier gear, but that depended on the situation.

What kind of lives had they been living before this?

The male players had all been wearing nothing but underpants.

Only Guagua, as a female player, had an extra strip of cloth wrapped around her chest.

The players as a whole looked like savages...

The Fishman and Sandworm equipment drops—one blue and one yellow—were practical, but... their ugliness was a fatal flaw.

Meanwhile, although the pile of weapons and equipment here from the Candle Keepers wasn't particularly stunning, they were clearly a matching set. Wearing them wouldn't look out of place.

So at this moment, Guagua truly felt pleasantly surprised.

She was almost moved to tears. Finally, she wouldn't have to play the game in a bikini anymore!

"How much? I'll buy them!"

Guagua blurted out instinctively.

However, Rogue put all the weapons and equipment away, slowly revealing the formulaic smile of an NPC.

"At present, you do not yet qualify to purchase them with wax oil."

"So, do you have anything that interests me?"

Guagua was immediately disappointed upon hearing this. It seemed she couldn't directly increase the Candle Keepers' favorability by giving gifts.

Qualification... she probably needed to raise her favorability to a certain level first...

It seemed she could only see whether she had anything on her that might interest the Candle Keepers.

With that thought, Guagua pondered briefly, put away the Pearl, then took out the other two items she had caught with Meat Bait from her inventory.

[Mysterious Small Wooden Box] and [Magic Coral].

The name [Magic Coral] sounded intimidating, but in reality, it only possessed a faint trace of special power.

Together with the Pearl, Guagua had caught good things with all three of her remaining Meat Baits.

This undoubtedly formed a stark contrast with a certain fishing enthusiast who could come up empty-handed three times in ten pulls, with the rest all being ordinary fish catches...

Besides that, there were also equipment drops from killing the Fishman Chief, monster materials, and so on.

"Candle Keepers, is there anything among these that interests you?"

Guagua blinked.

Rogue was slightly surprised.

He hadn't expected Guagua to have accumulated so many things.

Still, only the wooden box and the coral were worth trading for.

"These two items can be used for an exchange. Take a look and see what you want." After making his choice, Rogue nodded slightly at her.

Guagua's eyes lit up. She quickly chose what she wanted, reluctantly pulling her gaze away from the other equipment.

"Are these okay?" Guagua pointed at a complete set of equipment and looked at Rogue questioningly.

Rogue didn't answer right away. Instead, he handed her a small candle. "Take this as a memento of our first transaction."

[Obtained: Small Candle ×1.]

[Small Candle (Common)]

[Type: Accessory]

[Description: Slightly extends the duration Wax Ash remains after your death.]

"Huh?" Guagua was pleasantly surprised. "Thank you, Candle Keepers!"

After the transaction was complete, Rogue disappeared once more.

At the same time, he sent the players an information prompt.

[Notice: During appraisal, the Spirit Candle will now mark items that interest the Candle Keepers. Such items may be exchanged with the Candle Keepers.]

Naturally, Rogue sent this information prompt for his own convenience.

Otherwise, if the players came to ask him every time they obtained something new... just thinking about it gave him a headache.

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