"I’ll call you Faraway. You can call me Miaozi or Ah Miao."
The two exchanged simple introductions. Li Miao used a pseudonym; he wasn’t foolish enough to use his real name in a game.
"I’ll call you Brother Miao," Faraway said.
"Suit yourself."
"By the way, how’d you get into the game? The slots for it are supposed to be really limited. My roommate couldn’t even get in," Li Miao asked, a little curious.
"I found it while browsing the store, and then I was in," Faraway replied.
Li Miao scratched his head. ’So the game slots are given out randomly?’
"Well, never mind that." Li Miao stood up, picking up his starter Weapon.
He didn’t put on any airs, saying frankly, "To be honest, I haven’t been playing this game for long either. I’m no expert. I’ve only just scratched the surface. Let’s learn from each other and improve together."
"That still makes you an expert. Your gear doesn’t look like the free stuff," Faraway said with a slight smile.
"No, no..." Li Miao couldn’t help but laugh, though he felt a little guilty.
’Could I possibly tell him that the Candlekeeper actually gave this to me?’
"Next, let me walk you through some of the game’s basic knowledge and important mechanics."
"Okay."
Faraway nodded, his gaze serious.
Seeing Faraway’s eagerness to learn, Li Miao felt a small thrill of satisfaction.
’It feels great to be a veteran!’
"Alright, let’s cut to the chase and get right to it."
"First up is the Spirit Candle. It’s extremely important. It’s basically our respawn point and healing spot..."
"Then there’s combat, where the most important things are dodging and attacking..."
After a moment’s thought, Li Miao began his explanation for Faraway, who listened intently with a thoughtful expression.
When the topic shifted to combat, he suddenly seemed to realize something and looked at Faraway curiously.
"By the way, Faraway, what are your Talent and Skill?"
After asking, Li Miao realized his question might have been a bit intrusive, so he went ahead and described his own Talent and Skill.
Faraway, however, didn’t seem to mind.
"My character’s Talent is [Diligence]. It increases the speed of learning Skills and adds 1 to my Spiritual Attribute."
As for Skills, they both only had [Dodge], which was most likely a default starting Skill for all players.
"So it adds to your Spiritual Attribute..." Li Miao nodded and didn’t press the topic further. He had no idea what the Spiritual Attribute did either.
"...You should go to the Spirit Candle and spend your remaining Attribute Points first. Then we can go kill some monsters and level up."
Li Miao was getting ready to take his newbie friend grinding.
But just then, Faraway posed a question: "Do I have to spend these Attribute Points now? Can I save them for later?"
Li Miao was taken aback by the question.
’Come to think of it... does he really have to spend them right away?’
But he didn’t know if you could leave the cave without spending your Attribute Points. After all, that’s what the Candlekeeper had advised him to do, and he hadn’t questioned it...
"I honestly don’t know... Why don’t you try and see if you can leave?"
Now that he said it, Li Miao’s interest was piqued as well.
Faraway nodded slightly and, without dawdling, walked right out of the cave. From outside, he glanced back at Li Miao.
Seeing this, Li Miao fell silent.
’If I’d known, I wouldn’t have spent my points either. Five Attribute Points! That’s no small number, especially when I only get one point per Level.’
The Candlekeeper did mention that you could re-spec, but there was no sign of that feature yet...
However, Li Miao didn’t dwell on the issue for long and quickly joined Faraway outside the cave.
"If you’re not spending your points, you’ll have to be careful in the upcoming fights. These monsters hit pretty hard."
Li Miao reminded him kindly.
Faraway readily accepted the advice.
From the very beginning, he hadn’t ignored a single word Li Miao said, showing none of the typical impatience seen in many gamers.
"I’ll demonstrate first by killing one of the Fish People for you to watch. Then you can get the hang of it."
"You can start by looking at the monsters’ information."
After speaking, Li Miao picked up a rock and smiled at Faraway.
"Faraway, this game, Spirit Candle, isn’t like other games. The physics engine and logic are incredibly well-developed. I haven’t found a single bug yet."
"For example, this rock. Even though it has no item information displayed, you can still pick it up and interact with monsters to pull them."
"Watch this..."
"HAH!"
After his explanation, Li Miao let out a low shout and fiercely threw the rock at a Beach Fishman’s head.
However... he missed.
"Er... I just logged on. My aim’s a little off. Let’s try again," Li Miao said, a bit embarrassed.
But he quickly adjusted his posture, focused his mind, and threw another rock.
This time, it was a direct hit!
"ROAR!"
The dim-witted Beach Fishman was quickly baited and lunged straight at Li Miao.
This time, Li Miao didn’t mess up. He dodged the pounce with a practiced roll, quickly got to his feet, and decapitated it with a single slash!
[You have slain a Beach Fishman]
"Amazing!" Faraway praised him sincerely.
Li Miao chuckled, his back straightening with pride.
’After all, I’m one of the first players. How could I dare to guide a newbie without some skills to show for it?’
"Thanks, Brother Miao. Your explanation just now was very enlightening."
Faraway also picked up a rock and thanked Li Miao very seriously.
Hearing this, Li Miao felt a surge of pride.
’I guess that makes me the creator of the "rock-pulling method"!’
"You should practice your Rolling and Attack first," Li Miao suddenly advised seriously. "Once you get a feel for it, just jump into a fight. No amount of practice beats actual combat. If your nerves aren’t steady, you’ll forget everything the moment a monster lunges at you."
"You won’t die anyway, and the pain is reduced. Just go for it."
Even though he didn’t have much experience himself, he held nothing back in teaching Faraway.
It wasn’t just because Faraway’s praise felt good.
Firstly, the Candlekeeper had given him a quest. Secondly, in Li Miao’s view, they were among the first batch of players. The "pioneering" phase was next, and it was best for everyone to work together. Hoarding his knowledge was clearly not a good choice.
"By the way, did the Candlekeeper give you a Weapon?" Li Miao asked, seeing his empty hands.
"He did."
Faraway, who had been staring at the rock in thought, replied and pulled a Dagger from his back.
"Why is your Weapon a Dagger? Wasn’t it a sword?" Li Miao was surprised.
"I asked the Candlekeeper if I could choose a different one. He showed me the available Weapons, and I picked the Dagger," Faraway said.
"..." Li Miao felt he had been too conservative. ’This is a realistic game, so why am I still stuck in that rigid, conventional gaming mindset?’
Faraway quickly got to it, practicing his Rolling and Attack.
Seeing this, Li Miao said no more and soon threw himself into the slaughter of the Beach Fishmen.
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