Novice

"You can call me Yuanfang. You can call me Miaozi or Amiao."

The two briefly introduced themselves. Li Miao had used an alias; he wasn't stupid enough to play a game under his real name.

"I'll call you Bro Miao," Yuanfang said.

"Whatever."

"By the way, how did you get into the game? There should be very few slots available. Even my roommate didn't get in." Li Miao was curious.

"I found it while browsing the mall, then I got in," Yuanfang replied.

Li Miao scratched his head. So the game slots were distributed at random?

"Forget it." Li Miao got to his feet, picking up his starter weapon.

He didn't put on airs and said frankly, "I haven't been playing this game for long either. I'm no expert—at most, I'm a little familiar with the basics. Let's learn from each other and improve together."

"That still makes you an expert. The equipment you're wearing doesn't look like it was handed out for free." Yuanfang smiled faintly.

"No, no..." Li Miao couldn't help laughing, though he also felt a little guilty.

Can I tell you this stuff was actually given to me by the Candle Keepers?

"Next, I'll walk you through some of the game's basic knowledge and important mechanics."

"Okay."

Yuanfang nodded, his gaze serious.

Seeing how eager Yuanfang was to learn, Li Miao felt rather pleased with himself.

Being an expert really does feel great!

"Alright, let's cut the nonsense and get to the point."

"First, the Spirit Candle is extremely important. It's basically our respawn point and healing point..."

"Then there's the most important part of combat: dodging and attacking..."

After thinking it over for a moment, Li Miao began explaining. Yuanfang listened carefully, a thoughtful look on his face.

When the topic turned to combat, Li Miao suddenly seemed to realize something and looked at Yuanfang curiously.

"By the way, Yuanfang, what are your talent and skills like?"

After asking, Li Miao realized that the question might have been a little inappropriate, so he explained his own talent and skills first.

Yuanfang, however, didn't seem to mind.

"My character talent is [Diligence]. It increases my skill-learning speed and gives me +1 Spirit."

As for skills, they both only had [Dodge], which was most likely a starting skill all players received.

"Spirit, huh..." Li Miao nodded and didn't pursue the topic. He had no idea what the Spirit attribute did either.

"...Go add your remaining attribute points at the Spirit Candle first, then we'll go kill monsters and level up."

Li Miao was planning to take his newbie friend out to grind.

But Yuanfang raised a question. "Do I have to spend the attribute points now? Can I save them for later?"

Li Miao froze when he heard that.

It seemed... there wasn't necessarily any need to spend them immediately?

But he didn't know whether it was possible to leave the cave without adding points. The Candle Keepers had suggested it back then, and he hadn't questioned it...

"I honestly don't know... Why don't you try seeing if you can get out first?"

Now that he thought about it, Li Miao was curious too.

Yuanfang nodded slightly. Without wasting any time, he walked straight out of the cave and looked back at Li Miao from outside.

Li Miao fell silent at the sight.

If he'd known, he wouldn't have spent his points either. Five attribute points weren't a small amount—he only got one point per level.

The Candle Keepers had said it was possible to respec, but there was still no sign of that feature...

Still, Li Miao didn't dwell on it for long. He soon went outside the cave and joined Yuanfang.

"If you don't add points, you'll have to be careful in combat. These monsters still hit pretty hard."

Li Miao kindly reminded him.

Yuanfang readily accepted the advice.

From the beginning until now, he hadn't ignored a single thing Li Miao said. He showed none of the impatient habits common among gamers.

"I'll demonstrate first. I'll kill a Fishman so you can watch, then you can get familiar with it slowly."

"You can check the monsters' information first."

With that, Li Miao picked up a stone and smiled at Yuanfang.

"Yuanfang, Spirit Candle is different from other games. Its Physics Engine and logic are especially well-developed. So far, I haven't found any bugs."

"Take this stone, for example. Even though it has no item information, you can still pick it up and interact with monsters with it, using it to pull aggro."

"Watch closely..."

"Ha!"

After finishing his explanation, Li Miao let out a low shout and hurled the stone in his hand fiercely at a Mudflat Merman's head.

However... he missed.

"Uh... I just logged in, so my hand's a little off. Again." Li Miao looked embarrassed.

But he quickly adjusted his stance, focused his mind, and threw another stone.

This time, it hit dead on!

"Roar!"

The dumb Mudflat Merman immediately took the bait and lunged straight at Li Miao.

This time, Li Miao didn't mess up. He dodged the pounce with a practiced roll, sprang to his feet, and swiftly beheaded it with one slash!

[You have slain a Mudflat Merman]

"Amazing!" Yuanfang praised sincerely.

Li Miao chuckled, straightening his back a little.

I was the first player in the server, after all. How could I lead a newbie without some real skills?

"Thanks, Bro Miao. Your explanation just now gave me a lot of inspiration."

Yuanfang also picked up a stone and thanked Li Miao very seriously.

Li Miao swelled with pride at his words.

That makes me the founder of the Rock Aggro Technique, doesn't it?

"Practice rolling and attacking first." Li Miao suddenly reminded him seriously, "Once you're familiar with them, just jump straight into combat. No amount of practice compares to real battle. If your nerves aren't steady, the moment a monster pounces, you'll forget everything."

"You won't die anyway, and the pain has been reduced. Just go for it."

Although he didn't have much experience himself, he still taught Yuanfang everything he knew.

It wasn't just because Yuanfang's flattery made him feel good.

First, the Candle Keepers had given him a quest. Second, in Li Miao's view, the two of them were among the first batch of players at launch. The next stage would definitely be exploration, and it would be best if everyone worked together. Keeping knowledge to himself was clearly not a good choice.

"Oh, right. Did the Candle Keepers give you a weapon?" Seeing Yuanfang empty-handed, Li Miao asked.

"Yes."

Yuanfang, who was still staring at the stone in thought, answered and pulled a dagger from behind his back.

"Why is your weapon a dagger? Didn't they give you a knife?" Li Miao asked in surprise.

"I asked the Candle Keepers whether I could switch. He laid out the weapons for me to see, and I chose the dagger," Yuanfang said.

"..." Li Miao felt that he had been too conservative. This was already a realistic game, so why was he still stuck in rigid, conventional gaming mindsets?

Yuanfang quickly began practicing his rolls and attacks.

Seeing that, Li Miao said nothing more and soon immersed himself in slaughtering Mudflat Mermen.

A new book sets sail!

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