After returning to Candle Island, Luo Ge responded to the confused players.
Spirit Candle Official: "The Candlekeeper is an extremely important story character in this game. All of his actions have a purpose and are closely tied to the progression of the game’s plot. Feel free to keep an eye on him, but it’s best not to disturb him, because the Candlekeeper is also very busy. @Time to Eat Mushrooms."
Time to Eat Mushrooms: "Holy crap, the devs replied to me? Awesome!"
My Son Failed, But I’m On Shore: "What’s going on? What happened?"
Battle Bliss: "Why the hell can’t I use a Wooden Staff?! (furious)"
Poems and the Faraway Place: "Related to plot progression... Does that mean a new map is opening up?"
ThisVenerableOneSuppressesAllFoes: "Garbage. If I can’t play it, it’s garbage. Just another slideshow game that knows how to build hype and nothing else."
TearingTheWound: "The guy above me is a flat-earther and buys snake oil. Case closed."
Iced Lemon Tea: "Hahaha, case cracked, master detective!"
"..."
Luo Ge didn’t bother checking the forums in detail. Instead, after some editing, he posted a new announcement, making it a bit more detailed this time.
Spirit Candle Official: [Spirit Candle 0.2 Update Announcement]
[Dear Candle Spirit Warriors, this game will undergo maintenance for an update tonight at 11:00 PM. The update will bring the game to version 0.2. The maintenance is scheduled to last until 11:30 PM. Please manage your online time accordingly.]
[Update contents are as follows:]
[1. More game slots will be opened, with an estimated 50 new slots available (not including special invitation slots).]
[2. New dungeon added: Near-Sea Cave. Through the Candlekeeper’s tireless efforts, a challenging and dangerous new area has been scouted for players. More powerful monsters and bosses will appear in this dungeon, awaiting the arrival of the Candle Spirits (location details below; a Spirit Fire Raft is required to reach it).]
[3. Story character statuses updated.]
[4. Adjusted fishing probabilities, fixed potential technical issues related to combat...]
[...]
Luo Ge nodded, looking at the update announcement he considered just barely passable.
He had never been a game designer or anything, but he had written web novels for a time.
And although his novels had bombed spectacularly, he had learned the art of writing padded, filler-filled text. He never expected that skill to come in handy...
’I can use the server downtime to research the connection between the Candle Spirit Body and Warfire...’ Luo Ge thought to himself.
If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have bothered with a maintenance update. After all, he lost Wax Oil for every minute the players were offline.
However, researching the Candle Spirit Body and Warfire was absolutely essential, so this small loss was acceptable.
...
Shortly after the update announcement was posted, players who had been putting on their helmets to go to sleep saw the notice.
The update was scheduled to happen soon, so none of them chose to log in.
Some players decided to play other games to pass the time, while others chose to just hang out and shoot the breeze on the Spirit Candle Forum.
Poems and the Faraway Place: "They really are opening a new dungeon."
Never Air Force Fisherman: "They’re finally adjusting the fishing rates?! I knew there was something wrong with the old probability!"
Ding Er Xiang Dang: "Brother Yu... have you ever considered the possibility that..."
Brother Miao Won’t Fail the Exam: "I’m so done. Why can’t I attack with the Magic Ball I conjure? It only has a range of one or two meters. I’d be better off just whacking things with my Wooden Staff!"
My Son Failed, But I’m On Shore: "Haha, you idiot Candle Spirit, and you want to be a Mage? Just stick to melee. @Brother Miao Won’t Fail the Exam"
Brother Miao Won’t Fail the Exam: "You’re getting pretty cocky, kid. The second I log on, I’m going to kill you. (you’re_dead_meat.jpg)"
I do Bull’s Push-ups: "What’s all this? Isn’t this a forum? Why are you all treating it like a private group chat? Go play another game, why don’t you? (trollface.jpg)"
Time to Eat Mushrooms: "When are you guys gonna add a Blood Bottle function? I’m so tired of running all over the map! @Spirit Candle Official"
Bees don’t like flying: "+1. Also, requesting lewds. Thanks!"
Crafty Frog: "Feels like this game has a really unique backstory, doesn’t it? Seems like there’s a lot to uncover... Please give me a game slot, AHHHH!"
...
Unable to log in, the ’homeless’ players could only huddle together on the forums, chattering away.
Meanwhile, Luo Ge was in the Reef Cave, conducting one experiment after another.
Neither the conventional method of using Wax Oil for Enhancement nor the unorthodox approach of touching the corpses of the Fire Ignition Starters in the Near-Sea Cave produced any reaction.
Luo Ge even tried experimenting on his own body, but it was still no use.
The description in the sea journal was still far too vague and general.
’Looks like I’ll just have to wait for the Spirit Candle to increase its Tier first.’
Luo Ge let out a breath. Although he hadn’t achieved his goal, he had at least learned two important things.
That being the case, his current objectives were now simply to keep increasing the number of players and raise the Spirit Candle’s Tier.
After getting everything in order, Luo Ge waited until the maintenance period was over and reopened the game to the players.
...
"Ah, my beautiful Candle Island! It feels like I’ve been away for ages~"
The ever-flamboyant Niuniu spread his arms as he logged back into the game, exclaiming with feeling.
"Idiot, hasn’t it only been half an hour?" Mushroom rolled his eyes. "Come on, let’s go check out the new dungeon."
"Battle! Battle!" Brother Mangzi was incredibly excited. The new dungeon was great news for him. After letting out a couple of roars, he dragged Bu Long with him and set out to sea.
Brother Yu, his eyes as dead as a fish’s, was clearly uninterested in the new dungeon. "You guys go check it out first. If you find any monsters that drop special bait, just let me know."
With that, Brother Yu shouldered his fishing rod and ambled toward the shore.
Meanwhile, other players were also logging in one by one, all rushing excitedly toward the Spirit Fire Port.
Of course, the Near-Sea Cave was surrounded by water, so only the veteran players who owned a Spirit Fire Raft could get there.
Therefore, the new players who hadn’t yet collected enough Wax Oil could only watch wistfully as the veterans sailed off, while they returned to the miserable grind of killing monsters to save up.
As for Shore, the "esteemed" Mage, his unique class made him the team’s designated tag-along, so he accompanied Li Miao and Faraway to the Near-Sea Cave.
After a period of exploration, the players had more or less figured out the monster distribution in the nearby sea. Aided by the map Niuniu had published, the group quickly arrived at their destination.
"Holy crap, that’s a huge whirlpool! Our Spirit Fire Raft isn’t going to get sucked in, is it?"
Li Miao brought the Spirit Fire Raft to a worried stop.
At that moment, they received a notification from the game.
[Attention: You are approaching the entrance to the "Near-Sea Cave." This is a solo dungeon and cannot be explored by a party. Please make the necessary preparations before entering.]
[Jumping into the whirlpool will grant you entry to the dungeon. You will return upon clearing it. If you choose to exit midway, it will cost 5 Wax Oil.]
"A solo dungeon?"
The three of them were stunned.
Li Miao and Faraway glanced at each other for a moment before turning to look at Shore.
"How about... I take you back to the island first?"
Li Miao couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke, because he could already guess how his "dear son" would respond.
As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. Sure enough, before Li Miao had even finished speaking, Shore was already firing back.
"Go back?"
"The hell? Who are you looking down on?"
"See this thing in my hand? You know what this is? It’s a Magic Staff!"
"You think a Mage like me is afraid of this? What a joke!"
"It’s just one game dungeon. Just watch and see if I clear it or not!"
Shore shouted defiantly, his chin jutted out in disdain.
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