Chapter 204 - 148: Now for the Real Fun

"Huh?!"

"HUH?!!!"

"Holy shit, am I seeing things? Who killed the Firewood Thief?"

"Never Air Force Fisherman... Who the hell is that?"

"Are you a fucking spy from a rival company? You don’t even know Brother Yu? But who’s this Tobacco and Alcohol Wanderer?"

"No idea. Probably a tag-along? I heard he’s an older guy too..."

"Damn, a middle-aged uncle team! They’re too strong!"

"I can’t take it. By killing the Firewood Thief, Brother Yu and his friend just slapped two groups of people in the face without even trying... those who were killed by the Firewood Thief before, and all the young players in this game."

"Let me add, the ones who got hurt the most are probably the young players who were killed by the Firewood Thief."

"Hahahahaha, dude, I hear what you’re not saying!"

"Brother Mangzi: What are you talking about?"

"No, for real, that fucking Firewood Thief can be killed? I saw the posts on the forum and thought it was a story NPC with a plot-mandated kill. What’s with that bizarre head-bashing, Heart-digging Skill? It’s so absurdly broken. A monster that freakish can actually be killed?"

"Holy shit, what have you so-called ’advanced’ players been doing? You can’t even beat one Firewood Thief? You had to let a casual player handle it? Two uncles who like to fish, no less? Huh?"

"Come on, at least show some spine!"

"If you can play, play. If you can’t, delete your account. Shit or get off the pot!"

"What’s the special reward for the Candlekeeper? I’m dying to know!"

"In ancient times, three heroes fought Lu Bu. Today, we had the Firewood Thief slaying six elites... and then Brother Yu furiously killed the Firewood Thief... I can’t believe it, this ’twice as strong as Lu Bu’ monster actually got slaughtered by Brother Yu!"

"Okay, I declare a new power-level equation has been established: One Yu > One Mangzi + One Shield + One Krypton Gold."

"LMAO, if you guys keep talking like that, Brother Mangzi is going to explode."

"Brother Yu, our eternal god!"

"This middle-aged uncle team is just too awesome..."

"It’s true what they say: fishermen are good at everything except fishing."

"Hahahahahaha, that’s right, that’s right, all us fishermen are like that. New fishing friends are welcome to join, our group number is 100864396... But don’t listen to their nonsense, we’re actually great at fishing too!"

"Please don’t let an individual’s actions represent the entire group!"

"So shameless!"

"You devious fisherman players!"

"The best recruitment ad for fisherman players!"

"An officially stamped announcement... Oh no, this is a huge embarrassment!"

...

The impact of this announcement, which had deliberately silenced the world chat for a moment, was nothing short of a nuclear explosion. Players all across Spirit Candle erupted in heated discussions.

The world chat channel scrolled by relentlessly, like a screen packed with bullet comments. Each message was a fleeting blur, only legible if you deliberately paused to read it.

...

Meanwhile, Li Miao and his companion, who were taking a break after killing monsters on the outskirts of Seaside Town, also noticed the huge commotion in the chat channel.

"Miaozi, someone’s @’ing you."

"What’s going on?"

Hearing this, Li Miao opened the world chat in surprise.

After they finished reading, they exchanged a look of utter shock. Then, in unison, a sound emerged from the depths of their souls...

"Huh?!" ×2

"...Brother Yu killed the Firewood Thief? I didn’t see him send out a signal for help!"

Shore was in disbelief.

He and Li Miao were both exploring near the anchored Seaside Town, which wasn’t inside an instance. If Brother Yu had lit a Signal Wax to call for help, they would have definitely seen it.

But strangely, there wasn’t a single record of a call for help in the chat channel.

That left only one possibility.

"Brother Yu probably didn’t call for anyone... He and his friend, Brother Yan, killed the Firewood Thief together."

Even as Li Miao said it, he found it incredible himself.

"Come on. It’s not that I look down on Brother Yan, but he was definitely just a tag-along observing. The main force had to be Brother Yu."

Shore clearly had a realistic understanding of Old Yan’s strength.

But his understanding still fell short.

Because in reality, Old Yan hadn’t even been a tag-along...

"Hahahahaha..." Li Miao burst out laughing at that. Then he thought of some people, and his smile widened. "I’m suddenly thinking of three people."

Shore heard him and smiled knowingly. "Haha, what a coincidence. I’m thinking of three people too."

...

In the party channel named "A Debt of Blood is Paid in Blood."

Bron Really Not Deaf: "..."

Black Mountain Little Demon: "..."

Battle Bliss: "(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"

Battle Bliss: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Angry)(Angry)(Angry)"

Battle Bliss: "It’s over. It’s fucking over. We’ve been completely and utterly nailed to the pillar of shame! (Crying)(Crying)(Crying)"

When Brother Mangzi saw the commotion in the world chat, his vision went dark. It felt like the sky was falling.

He wasn’t one for thinking too hard.

But in this situation, he didn’t need a brain to guess what would happen next.

Before, their failure would just be teased by other players, at most serving to highlight how awesome and powerful the Firewood Thief was.

But now, the Firewood Thief who had used them as a stepping stone had been slaughtered by Brother Yu, who used it as *his* stepping stone.

Didn’t that mean they were the stepping stone’s stepping stone?

To put it simply:

’Holy shit, that’s the Firewood Thief that wiped the top player Brother Mangzi’s team! Danger, run!’ That was a player’s reaction to seeing the Firewood Thief before.

Now, a player’s reaction had become: ’Holy shit, it’s the Firewood Thief! That’s an NPC only a player even more top-tier than Brother Mangzi, like Brother Yu, can beat! Danger, run!’

If things went as expected, Brother Mangzi and his group would most likely be overshadowed by Brother Yu’s reputation for a long time...

In the future, his own achievements would likely be used by other players as a yardstick to measure Brother Yu’s strength...

Battle Bliss: "Brother Yu, I hate you!"

...

Bu Long, on the other hand, wasn’t too bothered. Not only was his physical Defense high, but his Spirit was high too.

’What’s the big deal about failure? It’s normal.’

But what he couldn’t stand was that some players were saying he got one-shotted by the Firewood Thief... ’Bullshit! That bastard didn’t even break my Defense, okay?’

’It didn’t even hurt when it hit me!’

This was the only thing that pissed Bu Long off.

Meanwhile, Black Mountain Little Demon was feeling a bit depressed.

’This fucking game is so hard!’

’I suffered all the time when I didn’t spend money. Now I’ve spent money and I’m still suffering. Didn’t I just waste all that fucking money?’

’This is so humiliating!’

’No!’

’It’s definitely not a problem with spending money, it’s a problem of me not spending *enough* money!’

Thinking of this, Black Mountain Little Demon gritted his teeth.

’There’s nothing that can’t be solved by spending money. If there is, it just means I haven’t spent enough!’

’Only more money can wash away my shame!!!’

A golden flame of fury seemed to ignite in Black Mountain Little Demon’s eyes.

...

"That’s so badass!"

"I’m kinda tired of being a Mage. How about we go fishing instead? There’s something mystical about this fisherman class..."

"This is just wild..."

...

「Jinghai Islands.」

Burton Mage watched the chattering group of players before him, a look of surprise on his face as they discussed things he didn’t quite understand.

He could only catch bits and pieces.

It seemed that among this group of Warriors, one of them had done something major...

...

If that was how others were reacting, then Luo Ge, the hidden Fun Seeker, was even more delighted.

’I never would have thought, never...’

He originally thought it would take a long time for the players to escape the shadow of the Firewood Thief.

After all, not only were its Abilities strange, but most of them were high-Tier, and the players’ base Attributes were inherently weaker than the natives’.

So, it couldn’t be helped.

But unexpectedly, on only the second appearance of a Firewood Thief, a player had risen from the ranks and slain one—and had done it single-handedly.

What’s more, it was a middle-aged uncle, a casual-oriented fisherman player!

Of course, there were reasons for this.

As a veteran player, Brother Yu had accumulated a fair amount of Wax Oil through various strange methods. He didn’t have high requirements for gear or Skills, so he’d dumped everything into his Talents and Abilities.

This was the key to his victory; otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Add to that the well-known top-tier buff—the Soul of the Fisherman.

Brother Yu’s victory was, therefore, a little more understandable.

But none of that mattered. The most important thing for Luo Ge was the immense potential for fun this created!

So, Luo Ge directly posted an extremely eye-catching announcement with a cleverly hidden jab, even silencing the channel on purpose to ensure everyone saw the news.

He also hid within it some "friendly" remarks to "motivate" the other players.

Finally, he also prepared a grand gift for Brother Yu.

’This is sure to be even more fun!’

’Heh heh...’

Thinking of this, the corners of Luo Ge’s mouth turned up slightly.