Chapter 172 - 132: How Is It Expensive?

Time flew by, and Spirit Candle’s update was soon complete. A crowd of players eagerly poured in to try out the new features.

"...The members of the Shadow of Deceit have bizarre and complex Abilities. It’s not uncommon to find those like Le Ti, who possessed a puppet double and a second indwelling Soul..."

"Unlike the Firewood Thieves and their violent conflicts, they prefer deception, theft, and even orchestrating grand conspiracies."

"The war began the moment your Candle Spirit Bodies were stolen."

"And from this moment on, they will launch even fiercer assaults. Therefore, I hope you will all help one another to weather this storm..."

Luo Ge gave a slight nod to the players before him, reciting his lines like an NPC.

He had still managed to obtain quite a bit of important information from the burnt-out remains of Le Ti.

The most important piece was that the Firewood Thieves and the members of the Shadow of Deceit had now completely targeted the Candle Spirits. The players would only be encountering more of these NPCs in the future, not fewer.

This was all information he needed to share with the players.

The development of Signal Wax and Candle Charcoal was also meant to deal with the coming crisis.

Putting all this in an announcement would have been too bloated, so he opted to deliver it through narrative dialogue instead.

"Do your best to pass this important news on to everyone..."

With that, Luo Ge added one last earnest remark and prepared to leave.

"Thank you for your hard work, Candlekeeper! Goodbye, Candlekeeper!"

A player piped up, speaking with great eagerness.

Luo Ge heard this and glanced at him. The player’s ID was also very familiar.

’This was the kid who flamed the hardest on the forums. He didn’t just flame the devs and the level design; even I, the Candlekeeper, wasn’t spared...’

’And now he was acting so sycophantic. The contrast between his attitude then and now was laughable.’

’These young players really are two-faced.’

Luo Ge retracted his gaze and vanished.

When the player saw Luo Ge actually glance at him before vanishing, his heart skipped a beat. He felt that the Candlekeeper had definitely remembered him.

’Oh yeah! Another point for making a good impression!’

’Just imagine the secret quests and massive rewards the Candlekeeper might give me in the future... hehe...’

"Hmm..." Storyteller was, of course, also in the crowd.

After a moment of contemplation, he formed his own interpretation.

"So, from the looks of it, the dynamic plot is unfolding this way because the Candlekeeper sensed the upcoming movements of the Firewood Thieves and the Shadow of Deceit. That’s why he rolled out the ’Signal Wax’ and ’Candle Charcoal’ features. His real goal must be to get players to help each other against these hostile NPCs..."

"So that’s it," a nearby player said, the realization dawning on him. He sounded impressed. "Nice. Even the dynamic plot is logical and traceable."

Hearing their analysis, a group of players all nodded in agreement.

’Just as I expected,’ Luo Ge thought. ’As long as the players have their preconceived notions about how a game should work, they’ll interpret all my actions and every world event as ’part of the plan.’’

’Logical. Perfectly logical.’

"This chat channel feature is pretty nice. It’d be even better if there was a group chat function."

One player’s eyes unfocused slightly, his attention clearly fixed on the new chat box that had appeared in his vision.

The chat channel was currently buzzing with activity. Although there was a cooldown on messages to prevent spam, it did nothing to dampen the players’ enthusiasm.

"Selling Weapons, gear, and Magic Potion Bottles! Make way, make way!"

"LF partner, DM."

"Not interested."

"I’m in."

"Tackling the Gulard Warship off the coast of Exile Island! Need a tank Knight, DM if interested!"

"***, you little piece of trash, get over to Exile Peak and fight me to the death!"

"..."

To put it nicely, the world channel was lively. To be blunt, it was a complete mess...

"But there’s a party channel, right? That’s basically a group chat."

Another player nearby chimed in.

The chat channel was, naturally, the collapsible chat box that appeared in their field of vision.

It had a world channel, a party channel, and private messaging for friends—all very convenient.

Like the other features, it could be toggled on and off with a single thought.

"Let’s go, Wa Zai. Let’s check out the other new things."

Storyteller typed up a quick summary of the situation and posted it to the world channel, then dragged Wa Zai away with him.

...

After arriving at the Jinghai Islands, it took them almost no time to find the new NPC, Burton Mage.

This was because players had already surrounded him in a tight circle, chattering away nonstop. The scene was lively and incredibly conspicuous.

"...Hello, Warriors. My name is Burton, and I am a Mage."

Looking at this group of Warriors, who were far more energetic than he had imagined, Burton felt a bit overwhelmed. Still, he didn’t complain, instead greeting each player gently and politely.

"Mr. Burton, I’m here to learn Magic!"

"Coach, I want to play basketball!"

"The guy who wants to play basketball, get lost! Go practice for two and a half years and then we’ll talk!"

Any messages like "Hey NPC, your daddy the player is here!" were instantly blocked by the filter Luo Ge had configured within Spirit Candle.

The players were extremely enthusiastic and had so many questions that they had Burton completely hemmed in.

As for their questions, Burton could barely hear a single one from start to finish.

"One moment, please."

Burton raised a hand, temporarily halting their discussion.

The players’ voices abruptly died down. They watched him with curiosity, wondering what he was doing.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Burton’s fingers danced nimbly in the air as he softly chanted a few words.