Niuniu on the Verge of Tears

On the outskirts of Candlewood Island lay the endless Dark Boundary, a place even Rogue had never set foot in.

And when Niuniu, one of the players, jumped directly into the Dark Boundary with his Candle Spirit Physique, the terrifying power annihilated him almost instantly.

It was not just his Candle Spirit Physique.

Even the Spirit Candle could not preserve his wandering soul with its power. Everything about him vanished completely.

There was no need to say any more about how terrifying the Dark Boundary was...

"This idiot, couldn't you have stuck in a hand or a foot to test it first? Did you really have to jump in...?"

"I'd only just saved up some candle wax, and now it's gone again."

Niuniu's Candle Spirit Physique had been directly wiped out, everything fading into nothingness. This was no simple death—it was practically account deletion.

Even Rogue could not revive him with the Spirit Candle's power. He could only summon him anew.

"You brat needs to bear some of the loss too."

Rogue thought as he reforged Niuniu's Candle Spirit Physique.

If he did not punish him a little, this guy would probably forget the pain as soon as the wound healed.

"Niuniu? Niuniu!"

Mushroom swallowed nervously. He called for ages, but heard no response from Niuniu.

Holy shit!

Mushroom immediately sensed that something was wrong. Even if Niuniu had croaked, he should at least have been able to see his wandering soul.

His soul was gone too. Could the game have bugged out and crashed?

"Damn it."

Thinking of that, Mushroom could not be bothered to return to the Spirit Candle before logging off. He forcibly logged out on the spot.

After he left,

the Candle Spirit Physique, which should have stood motionless after losing control, slowly turned its head as though lured by something. Its eyes stared fixedly at the dark boundary...

[Warning! You have entered an extremely dangerous area! Leave immediately!]

A blood-red message flashed past, foretelling the arrival of terrible danger.

But Niuniu had no attention to spare for that now.

In that instant, he seemed to see all manner of horrifying, bloody scenes and despairing emotions crashing toward him like a colossal tsunami, ready to swallow him whole.

He was like a lone boat facing a storm. Simply looking at it filled his heart with despair, while pain began to grow wildly within him.

But in the next moment,

it felt as though a huge hand reached out from behind him, grabbed him, and dragged him back, swiftly fleeing from all that horror.

When he came to again, all he could see was darkness, with only the Spirit Candle game interface giving off a faint glow before his eyes.

"Phew!"

"Phew... phew..."

Niuniu, still shaken to the core, gasped for breath as though he had survived a disaster. Only slowly did the vacant look in his eyes return to normal.

"Holy shit..."

"If you don't want people going to the edge of the game world, you don't have to make it this terrifying!"

Niuniu swallowed, his breathing still ragged. The feeling from that brief instant was something he would likely never forget for the rest of his life.

Every instinct in his body resisted remembering that moment.

"Fuck it, I'm done. I'm done..."

Niuniu wiped away his sweat. He was willing to try things, not eager to get himself killed.

After calming down, he was just about to enter the game again when he heard his phone ringing.

Surprised, he exited the waiting space and found that Mushroom was calling.

"Hello? Niuniu, you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just got disconnected. I'll be back right away."

After hanging up, Niuniu put on his helmet again and reentered the game.

However, what awaited him was a string of notifications.

[Attention, after entering the Dark Boundary, your body was annihilated. Your strength will be reduced after reforging.]

[Your remaining candle wax has been reset to zero.]

"Holy shit?"

Niuniu was dumbfounded.

No, was scouting the edge of the map really punished this severely?

It even wiped out all my candle wax!

Niuniu was on the verge of tears.

After entering the game, he was still in the familiar body, but he could keenly sense that its strength seemed to have declined somewhat.

Sure enough, when Niuniu opened his personal information,

[I Do Push-Ups with Niuniu]

[Rank: Cinder]

[Level: 3]

[Ability Score: (View Details)]

[Talent: Sneaky]

[Skill: Dodge]

Dear heavens, my original level-seven character got reduced to a level-three newbie...

Niuniu immediately put on a mask of pain.

This time, he truly behaved himself.

Over on Mushroom's side,

after learning that Niuniu was all right, he logged back in.

The moment he regained control of his body, he was startled by the Dark Boundary right in front of him and hurriedly controlled the Spirit Fire Raft to retreat.

"I almost drifted into it myself."

Mushroom was still frightened.

He had thought that, after he logged off, the waves had caused the Spirit Fire Raft to drift on its own, drawing it closer to the Dark Boundary.

With that in mind, Mushroom did not linger any longer. He hurried toward Candlewood Island with a pile of items.

Behind him, the darkness remained deep and unfathomable, like a gaping abyssal maw waiting for prey to arrive...

Time gradually passed.

The number of players on Candlewood Island continued to increase day by day.

With more and more laborers, Rogue naturally had less and less work to do.

At first, as one of the Candle Keepers, he still had to kill monsters to earn candle wax. Now, he had turned losses into profits, and the players had begun providing him with a steady stream of candle wax.

Naturally, Rogue could devote his energy to many other matters.

One of them was using the Spirit Candle's perception.

After some research, he discovered that the Spirit Candle's perceptive power could not only cover a vast area, but could also be concentrated for precise exploration.

Thus, during this period, he had been using the Spirit Candle's power to sense monsters in the nearby seas, then recording their information in the Spirit Candle just as he did with the monsters on Candlewood Island. That way, the players could see it and would not be completely in the dark when encountering them for the first time.

"This monster seems a little unusual..."

Rogue frowned slightly as he sensed an unknown monster.

It was a strange fish resembling a manta ray. Its belly was covered in long, glowing roots, while its head bore an odd periscope-like appendage. Rogue could sense a faint, peculiar power from it.

It was another powerful monster. Like the Giant-tailed Sea Monster, it could be regarded as an elite monster or a minor world boss.

"I'll go take a look tonight. It might drop something special..."

Rogue silently made a note of it, intending to go once there were fewer players around.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he planned to post an announcement on the forum saying that new slots would temporarily stop being issued.

However, a player post caught his attention.

Call Me Tall Plant: "My godson said this game is super fun, so I came here because of the hype, but why are there no slots available?!!! I've waited so long! I'll pay! Isn't paying enough?! If you can give me a slot, I'd even be willing to make my godson unable to play this game! Please give me a slot, I'm begging you! @Spirit Candle (crying) (crying) (crying)"

Quite a few players below expressed their agreement.

"..." Rogue did not know whether to laugh or cry. Bro, we've already transmigrated into another world. What use do I have for your money? If I want anything, I want candle wax...

Wait... candle wax?!

An idea suddenly flashed through Rogue's mind.

Hiss... Li Miao, Yuanfang, and those old players seemed to have quite a lot of candle wax saved up in their pockets?

Perhaps... it was time to find a new way to scam—no, earn—the candle wax in their hands back!

A new book sets sail! Please bookmark, recommend, and send monthly tickets!

(It seems the college entrance exams are coming up. I wonder if any readers are taking them. If so, I wish you success on the golden list!)