Newcomers Arrive

Rogue had watched the three of them explore the near sea, and naturally, he had also seen that mysterious sea monster.

Rogue was not surprised.

In his perception, the mysterious sea monster's aura ranked among the strongest in the entire near sea, and there were hardly any other monsters around it.

So this thing was at least a wild elite monster, or perhaps a mini-boss.

For Brother Yu, that unlucky bastard, to precisely plunge straight into its lair on his first voyage... from a certain perspective, that could be considered good luck too...

This monster was indeed not something players should be tackling at their current stage.

"Put off upgrading Spirit Candle for now. First, raise the player count to thirty."

Rogue made up his mind.

There were still too few players at the moment, which meant he was gaining wax oil too slowly.

Therefore, before drawing in a new region, he needed to increase the number of players first.

Although more than two thousand units of wax oil had long been enough to upgrade Spirit Candle, players were the foundation of his wax oil supply—a guaranteed profitable investment.

Besides, the near sea around Candlewood Island was far larger than Candlewood Island itself, enough for these players to explore and develop in for quite some time.

Brother Miao Won't Fail: [Mysterious Sea Monster to the Front Right of Spirit Fire Port]

[Exploration has revealed an extremely troublesome monster to the front right of Spirit Fire Port. It possesses tentacles and a giant tail, can easily smash a Spirit Fire Raft, and can flee. It differs from ordinary monsters. Temporarily named the "Giant-tailed Sea Monster." Proceed with caution!]

I Do Push-Ups with Niuniu: "Candlewood Island map uploaded (image). Does anyone have a soul-drawing artist's rendition of the Giant-tailed Sea Monster?"

My Hamster is Called Guagua: "Giant-tailed Sea Monster? It sounds so scary. Good thing I didn't go fishing over there..."

Lightning Puppy: "Sounds nice. Any doujins?"

Little Ox-Horse: "Unbelievable!"

Flower Face Enchants People Drunk: "This game seems pretty good. Please give me a slot!"

Roses Are Hard to Grow in the Northwest: "Just a pure passerby. This game seems great—I really want to play!"

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies: "Pure hater here. I've determined you're shills. Instead of getting inspiration for posts like this, you might as well become planners for Jianghu Legend. This trash game is definitely some new kind of scam."

Nan Nan: "Above, do you see anyone paying attention to you?"

Bees Don't Like Flying: "Lewd pics, thanks!"

This Account Has Been Banned: "A naval combat game? This is my first time seeing one. I want to play!"

"..."

As time passed, the number of players lingering on Spirit Candle's official website gradually increased.

However, most of them were merely passing players. They were interested in the game, but there were simply too few slots available.

But after Spirit Candle Official posted a message, the players on the forum immediately became excited.

[Announcement: After a new round of testing and sacrificing several code monkeys, we have decided to open a new round of game slots.]

[Reserve here to receive priority access!]

After the forum was opened, its contents had proven quite appealing to passing players, so once this announcement was released, it attracted many reservations.

Of course, the reservation system was just something Rogue had thrown together to make the game feel more authentic.

Still, he could have Spirit Candle prioritize selecting players from among those who had reserved.

Moreover, this time he planned to summon two players at a time, gradually increasing the number. That was the only way to demonstrate that the "game" Spirit Candle had made a technological breakthrough.

Well, it would also reduce the number of times Rogue had to go through the "newbie CG."

If he had to explain it separately to every player who came in... just thinking about it gave him a headache.

After using all the accumulated wax oil to summon Candle Spirits, the number of players on Candlewood Island gradually began to rise.

Quite a few new players let out excited monkey-like shrieks the moment they entered the game.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit..."

"Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!"

"This cold sensation, this body's responsiveness, this incredible hit feedback—it's so damn realistic!"

"The forum veterans didn't lie to me!"

"I want to ride a Spirit Fire Raft! I want to kill the Giant-tailed Sea Monster!"

Inside Spirit Candle, Rogue could not help rubbing his ears and shaking his head helplessly.

Although some players reacted relatively normally, even more of them were so excited that they jumped around like monkeys.

Fortunately, most of them had read the guides. After receiving their beginner weapons, they eagerly went off to experience the game's content.

And the first thing they encountered was naturally their old friend, the Mudflat Merman!

"I'm fucking rolling!"

Bang! Huff, huff...

"Ahhh! Help! Help me!"

Well, Mudflat Mermen were not something just anyone could bully. They could be said to be the best teachers for new players, and they never discriminated against anyone.

Whether you were a newbie or a veteran, a man or a woman, they treated everyone with the same ferocity.

Humans might deceive others with mouths full of lies, but the honest and loyal Mudflat Mermen always opened with a flying pounce, followed with biting, and ended with a low growl.

"Hmm... unfamiliar faces. More newcomers today?" Brother Mangzi was nearly used to the scene before him.

"Yeah. There've been new ones every day lately."

Niuniu shrugged.

Including the newcomers from yesterday and the day before, six new players had already arrived. They were almost catching up to the number of old players.

"Candle Keepers haven't been issuing newcomer-guiding quests lately. I wanted to earn some extra cash."

Brother Mangzi sounded somewhat disappointed.

It seemed that because quite a few newcomers had poured in, and most had read the guides, the game had abandoned that quest.

"Hey, by the way, why aren't you heading out to sea?"

Niuniu had been about to leave when he suddenly raised a brow and looked at him in surprise.

Recently, most of the veteran players had gathered enough wax oil to buy Spirit Fire Rafts and head into the near sea to explore.

As an old player, Brother Mangzi had gathered enough wax oil two days ago. Niuniu had even seen him go out to sea.

Yet he was currently wandering around near Reef Cave, which struck Niuniu as rather strange.

At that, Brother Mangzi immediately looked awkward and said unnaturally, "Uh... I'll go later. I'll go later, haha..."

"All right, then. I'll be going first."

Niuniu gave him a suspicious glance but did not ask further. He headed to the port to find Mushroom.

After he left, a gloomy expression appeared on Brother Mangzi's face.

After seeing the information Li Miao and the others had posted about the [Giant-tailed Sea Monster], he had gone out eagerly.

But the result had clearly not been pleasant. He was even too embarrassed to mention it to anyone else...

He was not afraid of failure or death... but the way he had died was simply too humiliating!

He had set out to find the sea monster, but because he had no sense of direction, he had plunged headfirst into another monster swarm...

After accidentally getting sprayed in the face with ink, he had fallen straight into the sea and died without even catching a glimpse of the Giant-tailed Sea Monster.

Brother Mangzi truly could not bring himself to speak of such an embarrassing death...

Just then, Brother Mangzi suddenly heard an unusual voice from the nearby group of Mudflat Mermen.

"Hey! I block!"

The voice was very childish, sounding like an elementary school student or perhaps some female college student.

Brother Mangzi looked toward the sound, only to see a tall, muscular player holding up a small wooden shield narrower than his own pecs, trying to fend off the Fishmen's attacks.

"Where did that kid's voice come from?"

Brother Mangzi was rather surprised and did not connect the voice to the player before him.

New book setting sail—please bookmark, recommend, and vote with monthly tickets!