Chapter 190 - 141: The Firewood Thief Reappears

Thanks to the relentless promotion from players of various other builds, the enthusiasm for the Explosive Bull had waned among both new and existing players.

Some players even chose to abandon the build outright after using the Explosive Bull to farm enough Wax Oil.

After all, as strong as the Explosive Bull build was, its appearance was truly not something the average person could stomach.

As the saying goes—’I had no choice before, but now I want to be a decent person...’

The sheer number of Skills in the Two Races Battlefield Ruins also allowed players to develop some new, minor builds. While they weren’t as sensational as the Explosive Bull, they at least broadened the players’ gameplay options.

And as time went on, the Storyteller, who focused on uncovering the game’s lore, finally succeeded after a period of tireless effort. He compiled his findings into a video.

However, for some reason—perhaps because he hadn’t landed any sponsorships, or maybe something else entirely—the Storyteller’s video was surprisingly concise and free of filler...

But to get back to the story.

Kasa City State, on the Casa Peninsula.

It’s worth noting that it was a small vassal state of Gulard and had managed to retain its own religious Faith.

Because it was remote and possessed no particular riches, none of the other powers among Gulard’s vassal states paid it much mind.

If it had one unique feature, it would have to be the well in the center of the peninsula.

According to a clichéd Legend that the Storyteller had unearthed from some documents found in a pile of houses, an evil Wizard once lived beneath this well.

Perhaps for that very reason, it had long been under the control of Kasa City State’s successive City Lords, who forbade the residents from opening it. The City Lord even hired a group of Strongmen to guard it strictly, though no one knew what lay buried beneath.

This state of affairs was tenuously maintained for a long time.

Until the arrival of the Dark Soul Witch.

This Witch seemed to have studied the secrets beneath the well, so upon arriving in the city-state, she sought out the City Lord with a clear purpose. After meeting at a ball, they happily began their ’transaction’.

The City Lord was a hopeless simp. He couldn’t control himself when faced with the Dark Soul Witch who delivered herself to his doorstep, to say nothing of her ’fancy moves,’ and he immediately fell at her feet.

Afterward, the Witch began to spread propaganda, telling the residents that the well was actually a sign of good Luck and a source of blessings.

The residents heard this and thought, ’Alright, you’re that gorgeous, you must be telling the truth.’

Naturally, the well was opened without a hitch.

As it turned out, whether it brought Luck or blessings was unknown, but the opened well did not bring any obvious Celestial Calamity.

It did, however, bring a man-made one.

The Witch’s goal from the start was clearly to open the well, find the special Array within, and obtain its Power.

Without a doubt, she succeeded.

After obtaining greater Power, the Witch decisively kicked the useless old geezer to the curb, replacing him with a group of young, virile Knights and indulging in nightly revelries.

This old geezer was, of course, the City Lord of Kasa City State. The Storyteller had found him in an underground cell within the city-state, completely emaciated and looking as if he’d been sucked dry.

...Who knows if the Witch’s particular school of magic enhanced certain... appetites.

Although the story of the Kasa City State wasn’t complex, for the players, uncovering the background lore by piecing together item descriptions and map text was one of the game’s great joys.

The first two of the four current dungeons were not only easy, but they also contained little text or information. Their only value was providing players with a small number of Skills and Fire Seeds.

As exploration of the peninsula map was gradually completed, the players’ attention began to shift toward the uncharted sea map...

...

"Damn it, bros! I think I’m being discriminated against!"

"I was fishing with my best bud in Sea Zone One when this Deep Sea Worm bit me and then spat me right back out! What the hell is that about? This is outrageous..."

A player lamented his unlucky experience on the world channel.

Sea Zone One was a name the players had come up with—simple and blunt.

Other players didn’t hesitate to mock his misfortune.

"LMAO, wild guess, you’re one of those ’Old Eight’ players."

"See? Even a Deep Sea Worm won’t eat him. Just imagine how disgusting that Ba Ba Fire is."

"Speaking of which, the monsters in this game are pretty smart, huh? They can actually distinguish between what’s tasty and what’s not?"

"Isn’t that an advantage? We ’Old Eight’ players are just too powerful!"

"On that note, the Explosive Bull build isn’t always effective. It’s a real pain to fight this Deep Sea Worm; you really have to coordinate with your teammates."

"Are you sure you mean ’coordinate with’ and not ’inflict friendly fire on’ your teammates?"

"..."

There was no shortage of banter on the world channel.

The most active among them were the fishing enthusiasts.

Before world chat existed, these anglers could only shoot the breeze with their fishing buddies. Now, they could just flood the channel, chatting away while they waited. It was a blast.

However, just as the players were happily spamming the chat, a notification suddenly appeared on the world channel.

[Player "Law-Abiding Citizen Li Si" has lit a Signal Wax and left a message: Pros, help me! I’m being corpse-camped by a Firewood Thief!]

The moment this message appeared, all the players watching the world channel went into an uproar.

Firewood Thief!

This group of NPCs, which had appeared once before but then gone silent for a long time, had actually shown up again.

A small number of new players didn’t even know what this group represented.

But this time, they had the Ability to help other players by burning Candle Charcoal.