The two young players soon made their way to the Fish People coast.
By now, they were practically battle-hardened. Against these poor Fish People, their actions could only be described as a "slaughter."
One swung his blade wildly while the other moved like a phantom. The unfortunate Beach Fishmen fell like stalks of chives, cut down at the waist...
"Not bad."
Seeing this, Luo Ge, who was killing monsters elsewhere, couldn’t help but smile.
His "motivational campaign" was undoubtedly effective. The Wax Oil in the Spirit Candle was now rising steadily.
’Hmm... it’s about time I summoned a few more players.’
Luo Ge decided to finish harvesting this wave of "chives" and then go back to add some fresh blood.
...
As time passed, the other players also began to log on.
It had to be said that *Spirit Candle*’s current level of realism and immersion was unmatched among all virtual reality games.
If it weren’t for the small number of players and limited slots, it probably would have caused a huge stir already.
But even so, most players who tried the game and found it to their liking wouldn’t bother playing other games anymore...
Brother Mangzi, who had arrived first, quickly spotted Li Miao and Faraway slaughtering the Fish People.
Guagua and Brother Yu arrived soon after.
"Huh? Why’d you guys suddenly decide to kill Fish People today?"
While the two were waiting for the mob group to respawn, Brother Mangzi asked with some curiosity.
"To complete a special quest from the Candlekeeper."
"The Candlekeeper has an Affinity System. Right now, the only way to raise his affinity seems to be by grinding a lot of mobs. I suggest you all kill as many as you can, too."
Li Miao gave a simple explanation to the group.
Hearing this, everyone had a moment of realization. So that’s why they were slaughtering Fish People—to kill Poisonous Mist Birds more efficiently.
"If we get the Candlekeeper’s affinity high enough, does that mean we can get more special quests with great rewards?"
Brother Mangzi’s eyes lit up.
Guagua suddenly raised a question, "Do you think... giving the Candlekeeper gifts could raise his affinity?"
Hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
’Whoa... That actually makes sense!’
After all, the world wasn’t just about fighting and killing—it’s about connections and favors...
Faraway began to consider the feasibility of this. "...It might work. It’s worth a try. But we’d have to give a lot of gifts, and we should try various types. The Candlekeeper might have his own preferences."
Everyone mentally took note of this.
Then, Li Miao took the opportunity to ask if anyone wanted to group up. He and Faraway could let the others get the final kills to help them stack affinity.
Brother Mangzi and Guagua naturally agreed with pleasure.
Guagua was someone they had to win over. Needless to say, with her around, the drop rate for Bone Forks would be a little higher.
"I’m not gonna grind Fish People. I’m going to grind Sand Worms."
Brother Yu chose not to join them.
Since the goal was to grind mobs, grinding Sand Worms was naturally the best choice.
The Sand Worm King can drop Fine Meat Bait!
Everyone understood the mindset of a fishing enthusiast like Brother Yu, so no one thought he was being antisocial or anything.
Soon, the group of young players began their slaughter of the monsters.
The furious roars of the Fish People echoed endlessly along the coast...
...
"Holy crap... The tactile feedback, the realism, this agile body..."
"This game is truly unbeatable!"
"Isn’t this way more fun than that bullshit *Jianghu Chronicles*? That game lagged so bad for me it was like a slideshow, not to mention the female characters had rock-hard tits. Ptooey!"
"I hope the details in this game are well-done. If there are any bugs, I’ll just consider them a game feature!"
"I’d even accept it if this game had no girls!"
Inside the Reef Cave, two newly joined players were shouting in amazement at the game’s powerful and advanced technology.
Their IDs were "I do Bull’s Push-ups" and "Time to Eat Mushrooms," respectively.
The moment they finished speaking, their eyes met. Then, in unison, their pupils contracted, they did a tactical lean-back, and cried out in alarm.
"Aiyo, what the hell!" "What the hell is that thing!"
...The reason for their reaction was that both of them had created very strange-looking characters.
One was short like a goblin, but with arms that reached past his knees. The other’s body was fine, but his face looked like a clay sculpture that had been punched.
The goblin-like one was "I do Bull’s Push-ups," and the clay sculpture one was naturally Mushroom.
...One could only say that it was a good thing Luo Ge didn’t let these players color their own characters, or the game might have turned into a Teletubbies party.
"Hahahaha, buddy, your character looks like the drunken lovechild of a goblin and a gorilla!"
When Mushroom saw the ID above his head, he instantly understood and couldn’t help but laugh.
Hearing this, Niuniu immediately rolled his eyes. "You don’t get it. This is a look I designed meticulously. It’s definitely going to be very useful later on."
"Besides... you’re one to talk. Your face looks like Thanos mistook your nose for an Infinity Stone and plucked it out."
The two started roasting each other the moment they entered the game. After they spoke, they both couldn’t help but laugh.
Immediately after, the two hit it off as if they were old friends and started chatting familiarly.
"Your ID is hilarious, haha..."
"Sigh, man, let me tell you, you have no idea how much that damn *Jianghu Chronicles* screwed me over. The ads were everywhere, but getting into the game was no different from eating shit..."
"No kidding, right? I was playing some dungeon crawler, and it couldn’t even render the sword model properly. I’d take two steps and a ’Pay to Win’ ad would pop up..."
Seeing the two chatting more and more enthusiastically with no signs of stopping, Luo Ge, inside the Spirit Candle, started to get antsy.
He was checking the two’s Talents.
"I do Bull’s Push-ups"’s Talent was called [Sneaky], while "Time to Eat Mushrooms"’s Talent was called [Antitoxic].
[Sneaky: The sound of your movements is reduced. +1 Agility.]
[Antitoxic: You are naturally resistant to poison. Toxin immunity is slightly increased. +1 Constitution.]
This was the first time Luo Ge had encountered a Talent with such a descriptive name, but its strength wasn’t too over the top; it was within the normal range.
The Talents of these two weirdos were both pretty good.
But...
’They’re still chatting!’
’These two oddballs... At least look at the quest notification I sent!’
Black lines appeared on Luo Ge’s forehead.
He had originally planned to let them find the veteran players on their own so he could slack off a bit. He never expected these two guys to start chatting nonstop the moment they spawned.
So, he quickly revealed himself, spoke in a deep voice, and temporarily restricted their permissions to run them through the tutorial sequence.
Just then, "Battle Bliss"—that is, Brother Mangzi—ran in to heal.
Luo Ge’s eyes lit up. He nodded at him with a serious expression and assigned him a quest with a Wax Oil reward.
"...Well then, Battle Bliss, I’ll leave this quest to you."
"No problem!" Brother Mangzi immediately puffed out his chest and guaranteed it. ’It’s just guiding two newbies, piece of cake!’
After letting them choose their starting Weapons, Luo Ge quickly returned to the Spirit Candle.
He felt like he had just used his own Spirit Candle to create a pair of monsters...
’Hopefully they’ll be of some use. Otherwise, I’ll really have to replace them.’
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