After accepting the Candlekeeper’s quest to guide the newbies, Brother Mangzi gave the two a brief introduction and led them out of the cave.
As soon as they stepped out, they saw the trio in the distance messing with the Fish People.
As the last Beach Fishman Leader fell, the veteran players waiting for the next wave to respawn noticed the two people behind Brother Mangzi.
"Whoa, you scared me! I thought a monster had respawned."
"’I do Bull’s Push-ups’... What a name..."
Seeing the two of them, Li Miao was taken aback for a moment, then found it hard to keep a straight face.
"More newbies! Yay, I’m not the newest one anymore! Welcome, welcome!"
Guagua had seen it all; she’d encountered far weirder custom characters and nicknames than these.
"Welcome," Faraway said with a smile and a nod.
"Thank you, everyone," Mushroom replied politely. "Does this game have an official website or a forum?"
"Nope." Li Miao shrugged with a smile. "Probably because the game is still in testing or something."
"Testing?" Niuniu was surprised. He glanced at the surroundings in disbelief. "This game doesn’t feel half-finished at all... With tech this strong, how is there no marketing?"
"ROAR—"
Just as they were talking, a new wave of Beach Fishmen emerged from the surf.
"Brother Mangzi, they’re all yours."
After calling out, Li Miao and the others went right back to decimating the Fish People.
Their time was tight, and they had to make every second count.
In the time it took Brother Mangzi to respond, Faraway had already dispatched two Beach Fishmen with clean, decisive strikes, leaving the two newbies dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, is that expert called ’Poems and the Faraway Place’ really that strong?"
"And that Brother Miao isn’t bad either..."
’But these fish-head monsters don’t seem that tough...’
"If they’re this good, then what are the top players like?" Mushroom exclaimed, looking at Brother Mangzi.
Brother Mangzi found this rather amusing.
"You’re overthinking it, buddy. Including you two, this game only has a total of seven players right now."
"Brother Miao and Faraway Lord are the top players."
After hearing this, the two were surprised. This game really was keeping a low profile.
"The game is just randomly giving out spots right now. Otherwise, I bet it would’ve been full a long time ago. You two should cherish this opportunity."
"You should join our group chat when you log off. It has guides and tips written by Brother Miao and Faraway Lord. Reading them will save you a lot of effort."
Brother Mangzi gave them the group ID.
Even though there had only been five players before these two, given Spirit Candle’s quality, the veterans had long since recommended it to their friends and classmates.
So, there were plenty of people on the outside wanting to get in and check it out, but for the life of them, they couldn’t get a spot.
"Alright, enough talk. Since I accepted the Candlekeeper’s quest, the next part is..."
"Combat!"
As he spoke, Brother Mangzi pulled out his heavy Wolf Fang Club.
...
After explaining some of the basics to the duo, Brother Mangzi started them on practical combat.
The enemy was a single Fishman that Brother Mangzi had pulled.
"Don’t underestimate them," Brother Mangzi warned, having learned the hard way himself. "These Fish People are pretty tricky for newbies."
His warning, however, clearly fell on deaf ears.
"Psh, it’s just a starter mob, right? I’ll go first!"
Niuniu raised his Longsword, puffed out his chest, and charged.
’It’s just cannon fodder. I’ll kill it in one hit!’
His heroic moment didn’t last three seconds. One moment he was brimming with confidence; the next, the Fishman pounced, knocking him to the ground and mauling him.
"HOLY SHIT AHHH—HELP! HELP ME!"
BAM!
Seeing this, Brother Mangzi rushed over and sent the Fishman flying with a single, mighty blow from his club.
But by then, Niuniu had already turned into a pile of Wax Ash.
"Huh?"
Niuniu’s Wandering Soul floated in mid-air, looking down in utter disbelief.
The Fishman looked like cannon fodder, but one pounce had been enough to put him in his place.
Mushroom, watching from the side, was also dumbfounded. ’He’s gone after just one pounce?’
’And you call *that* cannon fodder?’
Shouldering his Wolf Fang Club, Brother Mangzi grinned. "The Fish People are the perfect cure for a tough guy."
He remembered going through the exact same thing.
His Talent was [Heavy Strike], which added a point to Power and slightly boosted his Attack Power.
Such a fitting Talent had filled him with confidence. At first, he’d thought it was just a simple hack-and-slash leveling game and had charged right in, Wolf Fang Club in hand.
And then... the Fishman "instructors" had cured him of his mindless recklessness.
"Your turn, Mushroom."
Brother Mangzi said with a smile, poking him on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
With Niuniu’s cautionary tale still vivid in his mind, Mushroom had understandably become much more reserved. He felt a pang of fear and swallowed hard.
"Aw, don’t be scared! It doesn’t even hurt. Just go for it! You can do it!"
Brother Mangzi, who loved nothing more than watching the chaos unfold, gave him no time to refuse. He threw a stone to pull another Fishman, then quickly retreated to stand behind Mushroom.
Seeing this, Mushroom took a deep breath, grit his teeth, let out a low growl, and charged as well.
"AH!"
A moment later, a terrified scream rang out. Mushroom had also become a Wandering Soul, now floating side-by-side with Niuniu.
Seeing his partner in suffering, Niuniu couldn’t help but chuckle.
...
「A day passed quietly.」
Luo Ge silently observed his players.
Li Miao and Faraway had already collected enough Bone Forks and moved on to the Poisonous Mist Birds’ nesting grounds, racking up kills at an incredible rate and making rapid quest progress.
Meanwhile, under Brother Mangzi’s supervision, Niuniu and Mushroom were gradually getting the hang of combat.
As for Brother Yu... frankly, Luo Ge was at a loss for words.
The guy was completely obsessed with fishing.
After grinding Sand Worm Kings all morning to collect ten pieces of Fine Meat Bait, he’d immediately run off to fish without a second thought.
You couldn’t call him weak; he could solo areas swarming with Sand Worms, take down a Sand Worm King by himself, and rarely died.
You couldn’t call him lazy, either. His enthusiasm for fishing was actually helping Luo Ge fill out the creature compendium, so that wasn’t it.
But the ridiculous part was that Luo Ge watched him right up until he logged off, and he had only caught seven fish.
And keep in mind, the Fine Meat Bait was incredibly attractive to fish; putting it on a hook was practically a guaranteed catch.
Even with that, he still came up empty three times. It was so pathetic even a dog would shake its head...
’Watching him happily run over to the Spirit Candle to get his catches appraised before logging off,’ Luo Ge thought, ’I’m tempted to tell him... maybe you should just give up fishing.’
’If you put this much energy into grinding monsters, you would have contributed so much Wax Oil to me by now...’
"Candlekeeper? Candlekeeper?"
Just as Luo Ge was grumbling to himself, he heard a voice calling from the Spirit Candle.
It was Guagua.
Luo Ge was a bit confused. ’Doesn’t she have work during the day? What is she still doing online?’