Inside the Cave

Splash!

A great spray of water erupted from the cold, silent pool. In the pitch-black cave, the only sound was water dripping.

Rustle!

Spirit Candle Flame rose from the center of his palm, illuminating the surroundings and allowing Rogue to see where he was.

It was a cold, spacious stone cave. The surrounding walls were exceptionally solid and damp on the surface, while directly above Rogue's head was the Gray Fog flowing with mysterious power.

Below the cave was pooled water, reaching roughly up to Rogue's calves.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly, as though he had sensed something.

He calmed himself and focused on probing and understanding the Nearshore Cave.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, his expression grave.

The Nearshore Cave was rejecting his presence—or, more precisely, rejecting the Spirit Candle.

Because he was bound to the Spirit Candle itself, even though only his Candle Spirit Physique had entered this place, he was still being rejected.

Moreover, from the feedback the Spirit Candle gave him, he learned an extremely important piece of information.

The space—and even time—within this Nearshore Cave was chaotic!

However, due to the pulling effect of the Traction Fire, time had been fixed at a certain stage. Space was what suffered the greatest impact.

This meant that if multiple players entered the Nearshore Cave at the same time, then after passing through the Gray Fog barrier, every player would enter the Nearshore Cave, but they would not end up in the same place.

Simply put, this place was a... single-player dungeon. Every player who entered could only explore it alone.

"This isn't good news..."

Rogue rubbed his temples. Even time and space in this world had probably already shattered.

If that was the case, these dungeons would pose an enormous challenge to the players.

After all, in solo exploration, they would lose the advantage of teamwork...

Huff... huff...

The Spirit Candle Flame in Rogue's hand flickered continuously, and his body began to blur and flash like a video dropping frames.

This area's rejection of him was extremely strong!

Rogue frowned. After thinking for a moment, he began using the power of candle wax to try to suppress the rejection.

Fortunately, he succeeded. Consuming candle wax could temporarily calm this force of rejection.

Rogue let out a breath.

If every area drawn in by the Traction Fire was like this, then the chaos and strangeness of this world were simply unimaginable...

Having temporarily resolved the rejection problem, Rogue began walking forward in the direction his senses guided him.

Although candle wax was constantly being consumed, since this was the first area drawn in, he had to investigate as much detailed information as possible.

There was a cave exit ahead, emitting a faint glow. It was about ten meters away.

Rogue quickly waded through the pool toward it.

Gurgle, gurgle...

A faint bubbling sound suddenly rose from beside the pool near the cave exit.

Splash!

"Roar—"

The pool at the end of the passage suddenly exploded. A massive figure concealed in the darkness twisted its joints and let out a terrifying roar. Foul breath burst forth, shaking the mind.

Whoosh!

A flash of azure Flame passed by, and the monster's roar came to an abrupt halt.

[You have killed (Unnamed)]

The monster's severed body parts slid to the ground. Rogue put away the Worn Sword, walked over calmly, and crouched down.

"Yelling that loudly... players with weaker nerves would probably be scared out of their wits..."

After muttering to himself, Rogue examined the monster as a whole.

"It looks a little like a sea anemone, but it's kind of disgusting..."

Rogue observed it carefully.

But before long, the monster's corpse dissipated, leaving behind only a few drops of candle wax.

Rogue looked toward where it had appeared and extended his senses.

After waiting for a while, the sea-anemone-like monster indeed appeared again. It was basically no different from the monsters on Candlewood Island.

After changing the monster's name, Rogue looked toward the shallow pool where he had first landed.

After pondering for a moment, he made a decision.

Not long after, a Milestone Spirit Candle appeared in his hand. He placed it in the middle of the pool, which was also where he had appeared earlier.

He had added a resurrection function to this Milestone Spirit Candle.

The Milestone Spirit Candle flickered in and out of view, as though it were unreal.

Rogue touched the Spirit Candle and connected it to his Candle Spirit Physique.

The next moment, the Milestone Spirit Candle became solid, and the power within it established a connection with Rogue.

Because of the spatial disorder and rejection, the Milestone Spirit Candle could only manifest in an illusory form.

But if the Candle Spirit needed it, it could appear to restore the Candle Spirit's condition or provide resurrection.

"Next, let's see whether this single-player dungeon has anything good..."

Rogue had already figured out the basic situation of the drawn-in area, so what came next was simple.

Holding the Worn Sword, Rogue headed forward.

On the Spirit Candle Forum, Guagua posted a thread.

My Hamster is Called Guagua: "Guys, I just saw the Candle Keepers touch that black-and-white Flame at Spirit Fire Port. Then he took a Spirit Fire Raft toward the back of Candlewood Island. Is this some important story cutscene?"

Even though it was a workday, there were still quite a few active people on the Spirit Candle Forum.

Iced Lemon Tea: "It's Guagua Sis! Wifey, let me hug you!"

August Chang'an: "Why didn't you follow him and take a look?"

I'm Still Waiting for It to Get Dark: "Probably. When I was fighting monsters just now, it felt like Candlewood Island shook a little. I wonder if it was because of the Candle Keepers' actions."

Time to Eat Mushrooms: "What? I was just about to log in, and some huge news happened again? Where's the official announcement? @Spirit Candle Official"

The players began guessing and discussing it one after another.

Some thought it might be part of the Candle Keepers' routine, meant to flesh out the world's background. Others said it was a preview of the next version, some kind of little Easter egg, and so on.

Meanwhile, Rogue, who was inside the Nearshore Cave, also learned of the players' discussion after being tagged.

However, he did not have time to reply right now.

At that moment, he stood at the end of a cave branch. Before him lay a skeleton corpse that was about to dissipate.

The skeleton wore tattered clothing, held a dagger, and still had scraps of a face covering hanging from its face. It looked like a thief.

This thing had been alive just moments ago, moving about in skeletal form—a classic Skeleton Soldier.

Of course, it was no match for Rogue. After all, all of his attributes had already been raised to the current maximum.

It was worth mentioning that, aside from candle wax, Rogue had also obtained a key from it.

[Acquired: Rusty Small Key ×1]

[Rusty Small Key]

[Type: Special Item]

[Description: A small key with a slight trace of rust.]

That description was a little boring...

Rogue shook his head slightly and modified it.

Afterward, he continued onward and gradually figured out the monster situation within the Nearshore Cave.

The monsters here were roughly divided into two types. One was humanoid monsters, such as Skeleton Soldiers revived after human death. Judging by their tattered clothing, they seemed to have been members of either a pirate ship or a merchant ship.

Then there were the sea-anemone-like monsters Rogue had encountered at the start, as well as some mutated algae...

There were no shortage of powerful individuals among them, scattered throughout the various caves.

Interestingly, if the two sides encountered each other, they would attack one another.

Rogue did not yet know why.

Finally, at the end of the cave's main path, was the largest open cavern...

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