Seeking the Truth

"..."

After hearing him out, Storyteller and A Zheng could not help exchanging a glance, both looking rather dumbfounded.

Rogue fell silent as well.

It seemed... this guy had deliberately acted like a troll on the forum just to attract attention and earn a spot in the game.

...What a grand scheme.

Rogue was a little speechless. He had summoned players at random; he had never expected to summon this guy.

Still, now that things had come to this, as long as the guy did not cause trouble, Rogue could not be bothered to care.

As long as he obediently served as Rogue's cash cow, who cared whether he was a troll?

Rogue glanced over the three men's talents.

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies and A Zheng had nothing particularly special. One increased strength, the other agility—both were very common talents.

What was worth noting was Storyteller's talent, [Heart of Awe]. It increased faith by 1 and reduced the consumption of faith-related skills.

It was Rogue's first time seeing a talent related to faith.

After silently committing it to memory, Rogue looked at the three people before him and began the usual cutscene.

"Flames from afar..."

Once the cutscene ended.

A Zheng and This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies quickly ran out of the cave in high spirits.

Some players outside recognized This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies as that forum troll, and a few started teasing him.

"Yo, isn't this the forum hater? Didn't you say this game was trash and not fun? Hurry up and quit!"

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies did not care in the slightest. Instead, he smugly shouted, "I hereby announce that Spirit Candle is the most realistic and most fun game I've ever played!"

"Whoever dares say it isn't fun will have to answer to me!"

Embarrassed? Not a chance!

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies could bend or stand tall as needed. As long as he got to play the game, what did a little infamy matter?

Hearing that, the other players could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing. "Bro, you changed your tune so fast. If the people on the forum find out, won't they put you on blast?"

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies looked utterly disdainful. "Put me on blast?"

"Then do it. I'm already in the game. All they can do is envy me. Hehehe."

"Hahahaha!"

With that, he raised the wooden staff in his hand and ran excitedly toward the beach, cheering and jumping about as he went, as thrilled as Sun Wukong freshly sprung from a crack in the rocks.

The onlookers could not help twitching at the corners of their mouths.

That troll's skin was way too thick...

Rogue had no idea about the commotion outside.

At the moment, he had a headache.

Because among these three new players, there seemed to be another troublesome one.

"Greetings, esteemed Candle Keeper. May I ask if you know the origins of the Spirit Candle?"

"Why do you protect the Spirit Candle?"

"Why did we come to this world? Are there continents or other islands in this world?"

"..."

Storyteller was exceedingly polite, but he kept throwing question after question at Rogue.

Good questions. I want to know the answers too!

Rogue felt his head swelling.

Yet amid his headache, a thought arose in his mind... This player seemed to possess a strong desire to uncover things.

After pondering for a moment, he had an idea.

Rogue gazed at him calmly before saying, "...Many truths of this world lie buried in darkness and chaos."

"If you desire to seek them out, then try searching for them."

"Find the story of Fire-Igniter Leckmod. If you can find it, I will give you a valuable clue."

With that, Rogue vanished into the Spirit Candle.

He did not issue Storyteller a quest either. After all, it was a simple matter, and Rogue did not know whether this player truly enjoyed uncovering the truth or was merely curious on a whim.

So he would just give him a verbal task to send him on his way for now.

Seeing the Candle Keeper leave without receiving any quest prompt, Storyteller frowned slightly and began to think.

"Could it be a prerequisite quest?"

"Fire-Igniter Leckmod... I should ask the others first."

Thinking as he walked, he left the Reef Cave.

After he departed, Rogue finally had the time to look into his own matters.

Within the Spirit Candle's internal space, Rogue weighed the unknown Bloodline Fruit in his hand. Then he closed his eyes and crushed it.

The fruit did not burst apart as he had imagined. Instead, it transformed into wisps of faint red mysterious energy that dissipated through the space.

There was no doubt that it had merged into the Spirit Candle.

"It seems to have brought some changes... Will it affect the Candle Spirit Physique?"

"Perhaps raising the Spirit Candle's rank will make those changes manifest..."

Feeling the feedback from the Spirit Candle, Rogue silently mused to himself.

After letting out a breath, Rogue stood and looked at the Pink Seashell lying quietly in a small bowl of seawater.

Was it his imagination, or did the Pink Seashell seem to have grown a little larger?

As the days passed, activity on the Spirit Candle Forum came wave after wave.

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies, once a notorious troll, really was put on blast on the forum. But just as he had said, players who had not gotten in could only envy and resent him.

"Fuck, why did this troll get a game slot? Did the game's official team get water in their brains?"

Some clever fool even got an idea and began imitating him, trolling beneath forum posts everywhere. "Retarded game, insane management, dead devs, brain-dead official team. Even dogs wouldn't play your garbage game..."

And whenever such posts appeared, This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies was usually the first to arrive at the battlefield.

"Heh, you want to obtain a game slot too, kid?"

"Don't use such a low-grade old trick. Instead of wasting time typing, why not respectfully call me big brother? Getting a friendship slot would then be as easy as turning over your hand."

It seemed that getting into the game had completely unleashed his true nature.

His replies often combined an extremely disdainful attitude with cringeworthy chuunibyou phrases. They were embarrassing, yet somehow amusing.

It made some players laugh so hard their stomachs hurt, and they gave him the nickname "Brother Aotian"...

While the new players were still getting accustomed to the combat techniques.

The veteran players' exploration of the new Nearshore Cave dungeon was also gradually nearing its end.

Top players such as Li Miao and Yuanfang even posted guides for Nearshore Cave after being urged and pestered by the other players.

[Nearshore Cave: Monsters]

[Overall, Nearshore Cave is a relatively small dungeon with few types of monsters. They consist of Living Bones, sea anemones, and the boss in the main cave at the end...]

The guide analyzed the monsters' characteristics and attack methods. It even carefully listed their drops and the amount of wax oil they dropped. The drops from the boss, Fire-Igniter Leckmod, had also been compiled.

After all, its respawn time was far longer than ordinary monsters', and it was exceptionally powerful. Cataloguing all of its drops would undoubtedly take a great deal of time.

And its drops made people drool with desire.

Battle Thrill: "Knight's Charge! It sounds like an amazing skill, but why hasn't it dropped after I fought it so many times? (angry)"

Before wooden staffs appeared, many players had used melee weapons, and even more believed in the saying that a longer weapon was stronger, choosing spears.

There was no need to say how well this skill suited spears.

As a result, the area around Nearshore Cave was now becoming rather overcrowded...

My Hamster is Called Guagua: "The experts are amazing! I'm still stuck at the boss. This cave is so dark and scary. I've died so many times already. (crying)"

Storyteller: "Thank you, experts, for providing the item information. It has been a huge help to me!"

Scheming Frog: "@Storyteller Heaven is unfair, heaven is unfair! Why did you get in while I didn't?!"

This Venerable One Suppresses All Enemies: "Heaven rewards the diligent; three thousand Yue warriors swallowed Wu. Seeing how devout you are, I shall point you toward a clear path. If you work hard enough to earn my recognition, a precious game slot will be within your grasp!"

Iced Lemon Tea: "You make it sound like you can get one... Offering a high price for a friendship slot. DM me with offers!"

"..."

Besides the highly popular posts from Li Miao and Yuanfang, another post also received numerous likes and replies.

Time to Eat Mushrooms: [What if there are no health potions? This one method will solve it!]

[As everyone knows, Spirit Candle currently does not have the health potion and mana potion mechanics found in ordinary games. This means that after getting injured, we have to run back and forth to recover our condition. When fighting powerful monsters, we only get one chance, leaving very little room for error.]

[However, I can now tell everyone that there is a method that can serve as a substitute for health and mana potions: fishing!]

[...]

What Mushroom meant was the catch obtained through fishing and then processed.

After being processed at the Spirit Candle, fish catches became edible consumables with all sorts of effects, naturally including restoring stamina and mental energy.

Moreover, the rarer the processed catch, the stronger its effects.

Before Nearshore Cave appeared, players had not felt such an obvious need for sustain items, so they had not paid much attention to fish catches.

But now, many players had developed a clear demand for them.

The effects of fish catch consumables might not be ideal... but having something was better than having nothing!

Mushroom also thoughtfully listed the effects of every fish catch he had compiled.

Thus, Mushroom's post quickly received likes and many replies from the players.

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