Luo Ge watched the trio’s exploration of the coastal waters, so naturally, he saw the mysterious Sea Monster as well.
Luo Ge wasn’t surprised.
In his perception, the mysterious Sea Monster’s aura was among the strongest in the entire coastal region, and there were hardly any other monsters nearby.
That meant the creature was, at the very least, a wild Elite Monster or a mini-boss.
For that unlucky fellow Brother Yu to have stumbled right into its lair on his very first voyage... in a way, you could call that good luck.
This monster was indeed not something the players were ready to take on at their current stage.
’I’ll hold off on Promoting the Spirit Candle for now. First, I need to raise the number of players to 30.’
Luo Ge made up his mind.
There were still too few players, which meant his Wax Oil acquisition rate was slow.
So, before pulling in a new region, he felt it was necessary to increase the player count first.
Even though the two thousand-plus Wax Oil he had was more than enough to Promote the Spirit Candle, the players were his fundamental source of Wax Oil—a surefire investment.
Besides, the coastal waters around Candle Island were much larger than the island itself, which was more than enough for the players to explore and develop for a long time to come.
...
Brother Miao Won’t Fail the Exam: [Mysterious Sea Monster Northeast of Spirit Fire Port]
[We’ve scouted a very tough monster northeast of Spirit Fire Port. It has tentacles and a giant tail, can easily smash a Spirit Fire Raft, and will flee from battle. It’s different from ordinary monsters. We’re temporarily calling it the "Giant-tailed Sea Monster." Approach with caution!]
I do Bull’s Push-ups: "Candle Island map uploaded (see image). Anyone got a terrible MS Paint drawing of the Giant-tailed Sea Monster?"
My hamster’s name is Guagua: "Giant-tailed Sea Monster? Just the name sounds terrifying. Good thing I wasn’t fishing over there..."
Lightning Puppy: "Sounds interesting. Are there any doujins of it?"
Little Ox Horse: "Dude, that’s wild!"
FℓσωєяуFαcє~: "This game looks awesome, I want a beta key!"
It’s hard to grow roses in the Northwest: "Pure Deer People here. This game looks great, I really want to play!"
This Venerable One Suppresses All Foes: "Just a hater here. Identified as paid shills. If you guys have enough creativity to write these posts, you should go work as designers for ’Legends of Jianghu’. This garbage game is definitely some new kind of scam."
Nannan: "Hey, poster above me, see anyone taking the bait?"
Bees don’t like flying: "Lewd pics, please and thank you!"
ThisAccountHasBeenBanned: "A nautical-themed combat game? Never seen one before. I want to play!"
"..."
As time went on, the number of players lingering on the official Spirit Candle website gradually grew.
Most were just passersby who were very interested in the game, but the number of available slots was just too small.
However, an announcement from the official Spirit Candle account sent the players on the forum into a frenzy.
[ANNOUNCEMENT: After a new round of testing and sacrificing the souls of several of our code monkeys, we have decided to open up a new wave of game slots.]
[Sign up here for priority access!]
Since the forums were open to the public, the content was quite appealing to passersby. As soon as the announcement went live, it attracted a large number of sign-ups.
Of course, the sign-up system was just something Luo Ge had thrown together to make the game feel more authentic.
He could, however, have the Spirit Candle prioritize summoning from the pool of players who had signed up.
He also planned to summon two players at a time and gradually increase that number. This would serve as proof that the "game," Spirit Candle, had achieved a technical breakthrough, right?
’Yes, and this will also reduce the number of times I have to go through the "newbie cutscene,"’ Luo Ge thought.
’Having to explain everything to each new player one by one... Just thinking about it gives me a headache.’
...
After using all his accumulated Wax Oil to summon Candle Spirits, the player population on Candle Island began to grow.
Many of the new players let out excited, monkey-like screeches the moment they logged in.
"HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT..."
"OOH! OOOOOH!!!"
"This cold sensation, the agility of this body, the incredible impact feedback—it’s so damn real!"
"The veterans on the forums weren’t lying!"
"I’m gonna ride a Spirit Fire Raft and kill the Giant-tailed Sea Monster!"
Inside the Spirit Candle, Luo Ge couldn’t help but clean out his ears and shake his head in resignation.
While some players reacted normally, most of them were so excited they jumped around like monkeys.
Fortunately, most of them had read the guides. After receiving their starter Weapons, they couldn’t wait to dive into the game.
And the first to bear the brunt of their enthusiasm was, of course, their old friend: the Beach Fishman!
"I’ll do a goddamn Roll!"
THUD! *PANT, PANT...*
"AAAAH! Help me, help me!"
Yes, the Beach Fishman wasn’t a pushover. You could say they were the best teachers for new players, and they never discriminated.
Whether you were a newbie or a veteran, man or woman, the Fish People were equally ferocious to all.
Furthermore, while humans might deceive you with a mouth full of lies, the simple and honest Beach Fishman always opened with a pounce, followed up with a bite, and finished with a low growl.
"Hm... New faces. More newbies today?" Brother Mangzi, who was passing by, was already getting used to the scene.
"Yep, we’ve been getting them every day recently."
Niuniu shrugged.
Including the ones who arrived yesterday and the day before, a total of six newbies had shown up. That was almost as many as the veteran players.
"The Candlekeeper hasn’t been giving out ’guide a newbie’ quests lately. I was hoping to make some extra cash."
Brother Mangzi sounded a little disappointed.
It seemed that with the influx of new players, most of whom had already read the guides, the game had done away with that quest.
"Anyway," he sighed, "why aren’t you out at sea?"
Niuniu, who was just about to leave, raised an eyebrow and looked at him in surprise.
Recently, most of the veteran players had gathered enough Wax Oil to buy a Spirit Fire Raft and were exploring the coastal waters.
As a veteran player, Brother Mangzi had gathered enough Wax Oil two days ago. Niuniu had even seen him set sail.
But here he was, loitering near the Reef Cave, which Niuniu found a bit strange.
Hearing this, Brother Mangzi looked awkward. "Er... I’ll head out in a bit, yeah, in a bit, hehe..." he said, his expression unnatural.
"Alright, well, I’m heading off then."
Niuniu shot him a suspicious glance but didn’t press the issue. He headed to the harbor to find Mushroom.
After he left, a gloomy expression clouded Brother Mangzi’s face.
After seeing the post from Li Miao and the others about the [Giant-tailed Sea Monster], he had eagerly gone to check it out.
But the results were clearly less than ideal. In fact, he was too embarrassed to even mention it to anyone...
It wasn’t that he was afraid of failure or death... it was that his death had been so pathetic!
He had been looking for the Sea Monster, but thanks to his terrible sense of direction, he’d blundered right into a different mob of monsters...
After getting a face full of ink, he’d fallen into the sea and croaked, without even catching a glimpse of the Giant-tailed Sea Monster.
Brother Mangzi found such a pathetic death too embarrassing to talk about...
Just then, Brother Mangzi heard an unusual voice coming from the nearby mob of Beach Fishmen.
"Hah! I’ll block!"
The voice was very high-pitched, sounding like a grade-schooler or maybe a college girl.
Brother Mangzi followed the sound and saw a tall, burly player trying to fend off a Fishman’s attack with a Small Wooden Shield that wasn’t even as wide as his pecs.
’Where’s that kid’s voice coming from?’
Brother Mangzi was surprised, not connecting the voice to the player in front of him at all.
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