Chapter 133 106: The Spirit Candle's Second Promotion

[Next, the Storyteller will be discussing this episode's second tragic figure—Vico, the Gray Wolf Follower Warrior.]

At this point, the Storyteller posted another sketch from an art student. It depicted the back of a burly werewolf, kneeling on one knee, the picture of loyalty to his master.

[In the game, information about the Gray Wolf Follower Warrior is hidden within various item descriptions and texts. You can only begin to piece together his story by connecting all the dots...]

[As the Storyteller mentioned earlier, piecing together fragments from books in the Lord's study reveals that the Gray Wolf Follower was brought back by Lord Anthony from a fighting cage in a place called Red Harbor. The text also states that "Red Harbor is an outlet for sin."]

[Combine that with the title "Red Harbor Cage Blade" on Anthony's tombstone, and it's not hard to deduce the following story...]

[In his youth, Anthony set sail on his travels and came to Red Harbor. After discovering Vico fighting brutally in a cage, he chose to join the fights himself. He made a great name for himself and brought Vico back to his own territory, making him his follower...]

[However, due to his long time spent in the cage fights, Vico was extremely quiet. As a gesture of goodwill, Anthony gave him a Strawman Doll he had made himself and also replaced his old weapons with a brand-new pair of dual blades.]

[Vico silently accepted them, throwing away the dual blades he had used to fight in the cage.]

[These peaceful days must have lasted for a long time. Anthony inherited the title of Lord and gradually grew from a young man into one on the cusp of middle age.]

[And Vico quietly enjoyed the peaceful life he had never known in the cage.]

[Until... the day the Lord's wife fell ill.]

"Huh? That ornamental Strawman Doll was a gift from Anthony? And the dual blades too? How did he even find that out? The Storyteller's attention to detail is insane."

"You guys might not believe this, but you can actually open and read all the books on the shelves. The amount of text is massive. Besides stuff about the Regga territory, there's a ton of lore on the Country of Dusk Snow, but it's a bit difficult to read."

"Holy crap, no wonder this boss has the longest crowd control duration."

"When you look at it that way, Anthony really was a kind person... It's such a shame."

The players were shocked by Spirit Candle's massive amount of text, and at the same time, they were moved by the story between Anthony and the Gray Wolf Follower.

Of course, Luo Ge also saw comments cursing the development team, but he remained completely unfazed.

'It's not like I'm the one who did it. I'm a planner, at most...'

But then again, more and more players were paying attention to Spirit Candle, yet Luo Ge still hadn't received any strange messages. He had gotten some business inquiries and questions from players, but that was it.

It seemed Spirit Candle still held plenty of secrets yet to be discovered...

But for Luo Ge, no news was good news. He still needed the players to be his Palu and explore the world for him.

The Storyteller's narration continued.

[Everyone knows the rest of the story, so the Storyteller won't go into excessive detail here.]

[However, not long ago, I received a private message from a fellow player, and he provided me with a brand-new discovery.]

[Using this, the Storyteller dug up another piece of the plot that is truly thought-provoking.]

[And this part of the story must begin with a line of dialogue...]

As he spoke, the Storyteller described the Gray Wolf Follower's hostile reaction and unique dialogue that triggers after a player becomes associated with the Blood Robe Priestess of Fire.

[...From this, we can see that after this event, the Gray Wolf Follower Vico will most likely mistake the player for a Blood Robe Priest. Judging from his reaction, there seems to be significant animosity between them. It's even possible they have fought before.]

[This inevitably raises a question: why would the Gray Wolf Follower have a conflict with the priest?]

[In this Storyteller's opinion, the reason is quite simple: a conflict of ideals.]

[After leaving the Red Harbor Cage with Anthony, the Gray Wolf Follower saw only a just, brave, kind, and gentle Lord. Naturally, he himself was influenced by this.]

[But after the Lady of the Manor fell gravely ill, Anthony's mental state gradually became more extreme. After coming into contact with Domitak, he descended completely into madness.]

[And the Gray Wolf Follower witnessed it all.]

[But unlike Anthony, the Gray Wolf Follower, Vico... remained lucid the entire time.]

[And yet, he did not choose to intervene.]

[As for why, this Storyteller has thought about it for a long time. The Gray Wolf Follower Vico perhaps knew about Anthony's situation all along and knew that Anthony was doing this to cure his wife.]

[He personally witnessed the once gentle, kind, heroic, and benevolent Lord transform into his current, pitiful state.]

[The Gray Wolf Follower was internally conflicted. He didn't want to see Anthony become this way, but he couldn't bring himself to stop him. Because to him, his master was the only thing that mattered... In the end, he could only choose to stand by and watch...]

[You can see his internal struggle in his final words when he is killed by a player...]

[Some of what follows is this Storyteller's speculation, but the conflict between the Blood Robe Priest and the Gray Wolf Follower definitely exists. There's an in-game character who proves it without ever having to say a word.]

[After careful inspection, this Storyteller discovered that the corpse in the Blood Pool died from blade wounds and claw marks. There were also bite marks, which are clearly different from the other gnawed-on Sacrificial Living Corpses.]

With that, the Storyteller directly posted the detailed information for the Mad Assassin Dagger.

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized.

No wonder there was the corpse of an assassin in the Blood Pool!

So that guy was taken out by the Gray Wolf Follower, Vico!

"Whoa... When I was looting the Blood Pool following a guide, I didn't even dare to look up at those Living Corpses. The Storyteller actually dared to inspect them up close... He's got guts."

"I knew it! I thought it was weird when I first read the dagger's description. I was wondering who killed that guy. Turns out it was Brother Lang..."

"Brother Lang... even though he just stood by, he was suffering inside the whole time. So loyal... He really... I'm crying, this is too much!"

"Didn't see him struggling much when he was trying to kill me."

"Brother Lang's power level is honestly insane. To be frank, I feel like if the Gray Wolf Follower wasn't standing guard up front, who knows how the story would have turned out."

[Finally, there's the Lady of Tyranny, Jona.]

[There is less information available about the Lady of Tyranny. Even the notes Anthony left from when he was lucid rarely mention her, but you can still tell that the two of them were truly in love.]

[The reason the Lady of Tyranny became what she is was likely also due to Anthony's bloodline curse.]

[Right before the Mad Fallen Demon Ghost dies, you can all clearly hear Jona's gentle voice. Then, the couple walks hand in hand toward death...]

[A kind and brave Lord, who caused a mad slaughter because of a bloodline curse...]

[A brave warrior, loyal to his master, who could only stand by, powerless, in his master's greatest time of need...]

[The downpour in Regga Town cannot wash away the blood of sin...]

[The raging sea breeze cannot blow away the stench of blood from below ground...]

[And the crashing thunder in the sky cannot strike down the madness...]

[Such madness, such sorrow...]

At this point, the video came to an end, and comments like "I'm tearing up" scrolled across the screen.

"The poor Lord and his wife, the poor Gray Wolf Follower, the poor Regga Townspeople, and that damn Blood Robe Priest!"

"Anthony even made a Strawman Doll for Brother Lang... Waaah, there's sand in my eyes..."

"No wonder Brother Lang ignores us. Turns out he just doesn't want to get involved. He only wants to protect his master."

"That's blind loyalty from Brother Lang. If he'd just killed the Blood Robe Priest, none of this would have happened, right?"

"Are you kidding me? If he killed the Blood Robe Priest, how would the couple be reunited? The Lady of Tyranny was probably already dead."

Of course, for everyone immersed in the story, there were those who were completely impervious to it.

"How dare you! Slander my Blood Robe Priest again and you will all die!"

"What's all this mumbo jumbo? Me no understand. Me play low-INT Warrior. (glares)"

"Kill 'em all!"

"Speaking of which, I have to call out certain players. Dying to the Mad Fallen Lord is one thing, but how do you manage to die so many times to the Lady of Tyranny? You get stepped on to death every single time... Are you fighting the boss, or are you just enjoying it? @I do Bull's Push-ups"

"..."

The Storyteller's video this time was very long, and the content was well-produced.

Luo Ge could see that he had been grinding like crazy recently, poring over those books and documents. There were even some sentences and words that Noxia didn't quite understand, yet he had the patience to read through it all and find the information he needed.

The only shortcoming, perhaps, was that some of the video clips in the latter half of the Storyteller's video were a bit repetitive and not entirely accurate, but that wasn't his fault.

At the end of the day, it was because there were too few promotional videos for Spirit Candle on the forums.

'...Maybe I should give this Storyteller kid some exclusive access?'

'And while I'm at it, I should offer some rewards to the guide-makers to encourage them. Without them, my workload would be so much bigger...'

Luo Ge thought for a moment, then jotted it down, planning to implement it in a future version update.

Then, he closed the Storyteller's video. Although he didn't give any coins, he did give the post an official "Featured" stamp.

Now, it was time to get to business.

...

One by one, the players logged off, some voluntarily, some not.

Night fell on Candle Island.

Noxia stood silently outside the Reef Cave, her hands clasped in front of her. She tilted her head back slightly, gazing at the stars in the night sky.

She was, of course, aware that Luo Ge was doing something important.

But as long as Mr. Luo Ge didn't call for her, she would just continue to stand guard outside.

Inside the cave, Luo Ge reached out and touched the flame.

[Wax Oil required to promote Tier: 10,000. Consume 10,000 Wax Oil to promote the Spirit Candle's Tier?]

[Promoting Spirit Candle Tier...]

The flames of the Milestone Spirit Candle all bent in one direction. The space trembled slightly once more, becoming even more stable.

The disturbance was smaller this time. Luo Ge still expanded Candle Island a bit, since there would likely be more new players in the future.

[Spirit Candle Tier promotion complete.]

[Unlocked Spirit Candle items: Demon-Harboring Cottage, Sin Furnace (Tier Two)]

[Unlocked Candle Spirit Abilities: Block, Spirit Candle Teleportation]

[Candle Spirit Temperature limit has been increased!]

[Spirit Candle]

[Tier: Molten Slag (Promotion Cost: 100,000 Wax Oil)]

[Remaining Wax Oil: 2690]

[Spirit Candle Buildings: Spirit Fire Port (Tier Two), Sin Furnace (Tier One, can be promoted), Demon-Harboring Cottage (Not built, requires 2000 Wax Oil)]

[Anchored Islands: Candle Island (small isolated island), Exile Island (medium isolated island)]

[Summoned Candle Spirits: 517]

After reviewing all the new features from this Spirit Candle upgrade, Luo Ge was a little surprised.

'The Tier Three name is "Molten Slag." That Golden Bull Guard in the ruins must have been a monster of this tier. No wonder it was so strong...'

With that, Luo Ge applied the Wax Oil to himself and began another upgrade.