Chapter 199 - 146: This Dude, Don’t Tell Me...

The world channel was buzzing with chatter from the players.

Meanwhile, on the coast of Candle Island, a group of players was staring in disbelief, completely dumbfounded.

Before them, a player with the ID "Gray Sky" was putting on a show that seemed nearly impossible.

A fresh character with a sliver of health, soloing a mob of Fish People. And the most crucial part? He was bare-handed!

But even so, Gray Sky moved with incredible ease, weaving through the mob of Beach Fishmen like a graceful dragon.

His ability to find the perfect opening was also top-notch.

POW!

After leaning back to dodge one Fishman’s lunge, Gray Sky used the momentum to land a hard punch right in the face of the one behind it.

"ROAR!"

The Fishman was stunned for a second before roaring in fury and attacking him frantically, seemingly even more enraged than before.

The other Fish People swarmed him one after another, trying to tear him to shreds.

But through it all, Gray Sky showed no hint of panic. His face was calm, and his eyes held nothing but a relaxed confidence.

"...Damn, are all the new guys this hardcore now? He’s making a fool out of the Fishman Coach..."

"A sliver of health and bare-fisted, too. This is insane."

"Those punches look like the real deal. Is that some kind of martial art? Tai Chi?"

"Tai Chi my ass. No way."

The spectating players were utterly flabbergasted, watching in a stupor.

"Newbie? This guy’s clearly a pro, alright? Even veteran players who’ve already reached the Scorching Charcoal Tier probably can’t do this..."

"Eh, you never know. Top players like Faraway Lord, Brother Miao, or Brother Niu could probably do it easily."

"Whoa, don’t just pull me into this. I’m not so sure I could do it," Li Miao, who had just been enjoying the show, said with an embarrassed wave of his hand.

Other players might not know, but Li Miao was keenly aware of his own skill level.

’He was almost certain he couldn’t last ten seconds with this kind of zero-margin-for-error, sliver-of-health playstyle.’

’Of course, part of it was probably his inexperience with combat techniques like dodging and positioning. After all, he played a Blood Bull Knight, a class with a high margin for error.’

’But he had no doubt that Faraway could pull it off.’

Having sorted this out in his mind, Li Miao couldn’t help but grow curious about the newcomer before him.

’What was this newbie’s story? Was he a pro from some other combat game?’

The players continued to chatter among themselves.

Meanwhile, Gray Sky’s battle raged on without a pause.

However, despite the fight, he seemed to have enough spare attention to notice the players watching him.

After glancing away, he seemed to make a decision. No longer content to just play with the Fish People, he began a real counter-attack.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The sound of fists hitting flesh echoed one after another.

「A short while later.」

To the utter astonishment of the players, whose eyes were practically popping out of their heads,

Gray Sky killed the last Fishman with a single punch. He flicked some slime from his hand, gave the crowd a traditional fist-and-palm salute, and nodded slightly.

"Excuse me, everyone. Where can I find the ’Brother Lang’ mentioned on the forums?"

"Brother Lang?" The players exchanged confused glances, then all started talking at once.

"Why’s this dude talk so formally? You don’t think he’s actually from some reclusive martial arts family, do you?"

"What does he want with Brother Lang?"

"He can’t be planning to fight Brother Lang on a fresh character, can he? That’s just feeding!"

"Feeding my ass! This guy’s ridiculously strong. How could he possibly lose?"

"You’re thinking too much, bro. The Fishman Coach’s stats aren’t high enough to just steamroll you, but Brother Lang’s definitely are. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are if you can’t even react in time. If you’re completely out-statted, your skills are useless..."

"..."

"You have to go to the Seaside Town instance first. Find the warehouse and enter the catacombs to find Brother Lang," Li Miao kindly explained, then pointed. "The anchored Seaside Town instance is over that way. You can use a Milestone Spirit Candle to teleport there, but if you want to enter the instance itself, you should probably buy a Spirit Fire Ship first."

He gave a detailed explanation.

He’d seen plenty of newbies like this before.

’Some just refused to read guides, some only read them halfway, and others were like bots who could only follow a guide step-by-step and would panic at the slightest deviation.’

’As for Gray Sky... Li Miao figured he just hadn’t read the guide very carefully.’

Li Miao then enthusiastically explained some basic game knowledge to him, after which they tried to add each other as friends.

But it failed.

"Huh? What’s up?" Li Miao scratched his head. He glanced at the notification and it dawned on him. "Ah, my friends list is full. Hold on a sec, bro."

With that, he scrolled through his friends list, picked one, and deleted Shore.

They successfully became friends.

"There we go. I’m heading to Seaside Town myself, so how about we go together?" Li Miao said with a smile.

"Alright," Gray Sky nodded and fell in line behind Li Miao.

Seeing that the show was over, the other spectating players began to disperse.

Li Miao led Gray Sky toward the nearest Milestone Spirit Candle.

Recently, instances like Seaside Town had all been anchored.

After being anchored, most of the surrounding sea became explorable as well.

Combined with the introduction of the Spirit Fire Sail, this naturally gave players new avenues for exploration.

Li Miao, for one, was planning to do some exploring.

That’s why he was heading in the same direction as Gray Sky.

Soon, Li Miao teleported to the anchored Seaside Town.

After being anchored, the torrential downpour that had plagued Seaside Town had stopped. But even without the rain, the place still looked bleak and gloomy.