Bizarre Voyage: Summoning The Fourth Crisis

Of course, before upgrading the Spirit Candle’s Tier, Luo Ge had to post a routine maintenance and update announcement, as usual.

After the maintenance announcement went out, the players began their usual chorus of complaints.

It wasn’t time for the update yet, however, so Luo Ge wasn’t in a rush. He decided to browse the Spirit Candle Forum.

There, he saw that a video recently posted by the Storyteller had shot back to the top of the forum, generating a lot of buzz.

[A Masochistic Lord? A Whip Mistress? What’s the Real Story Behind Regga Town? After a Week of Non-Stop Grinding, the Storyteller Brings You—The Story of Seaside Town]

It opened with a montage of high-energy clips. Though none of the footage was taken from Spirit Candle itself, it was surprisingly apt and perfectly matched the atmosphere of Seaside Town.

Luo Ge couldn’t help but smile. The Storyteller’s videos were always the perfect accompaniment to a meal.

Too bad he didn’t have a meal to eat right now.

At this thought, Luo Ge sighed to himself and popped a Recovery Wax Block into his mouth, chewing on it like a piece of candy to satisfy his oral fixation.

[...I’m sure that as all you Small Candles explored Seaside Town and came across certain items or bits of cryptic information, you were left with many questions. You were probably often in a state of ’I get it, but I don’t *get* it.’]

[Today, after five days of non-stop grinding and carefully reading every piece of text in Seaside Town, I, the Storyteller...]

SNAP. The familiar sound of a storyteller’s fan snapping shut rang out, and the video feed went black.

[...will explain it all to you, one piece at a time.]

”This is so hype!”

”The Storyteller is updating frequently. We are much pleased. Here, a reward!”

”Mealtime, bros!”

”Let’s eat! Let’s eat!”

”Progress bar warning!”

The Spirit Candle Forum’s video player now had its own live commentary feature. A crowd of players—both those who had gotten into Spirit Candle and those who hadn’t—all gathered to liven up the place, making it incredibly bustling.

As the darkness on screen faded to light, a lone boat appeared, tossed about on a stormy sea amidst a torrential downpour and violent waves.

[...Passing through the mysterious Gray Mist, the clear sky instantly turns grim. A torrential downpour is accompanied by colossal waves, and in the distance, a searchlight emitting an eerie red glow flickers in and out of view...]

[Upon suddenly arriving in such a sea, the joy I felt from getting a new boat vanished completely, replaced by shock and panic.]

[I struggled to steady my boat, just about to head for the shore, when I discovered mad fishermen hurling Blood Blades at me, while monsters in the sea watched with hungry eyes...]

[The red searchlight from the lighthouse no longer guided sailors but instead inflicted players with a terrifying accumulation of status effects, leaving them completely exposed to the monsters’ gazes... Everything felt urgent and bizarre, offering not a single moment of respite.]

[Finally, after braving countless dangers, we successfully made landfall in this storm-battered Seaside Town. In the warm Firelight of a Spirit Candle, we found a brief chance to catch our breath.]

[But, as we continued to explore, we would discover that compared to the sights within the town, the journey to the shore was hardly worth mentioning.]

[The Lighthouse’s Hound and Guardian, the whispering town, the townsfolk with Blood Blades embedded in their heads, the Mad Meatball in the tavern, the Blood Robe Priest in the square, the catacombs, the Gray Wolf Followers kneeling to guard the gate, the scarlet Blood Pool, the final husband-and-wife boss duo...]

[To unravel the complex relationships between all of them, we must first extract the answer to one key question from all the fragmented and scattered pieces of text...]

[...What, exactly, caused all of this?]

The screen went black again. The white text of the question faded away as a tragic, desolate score began to play.

What appeared in the video was a piece of fan art of the [Mad Fallen Lord], drawn by an art student on the forums. His body was covered in scars, and his eyes held a crazed excitement.

[Antonista: Baron of the Country of Dusk Snow, the Red Harbor Cage Blade, the Sea Monster Slayer, owner of Regga Town, and... the Mad Fallen Lord.]

[If you only look at the information in the study of the Lord’s Fortress or on the empty tombstone in the catacombs, you might think he was a selfish Lord who, while possessing immense martial strength and courage, was utterly lacking in virtue.]

[After all, from the important text, *Antonista’s Diary*, it’s not hard to see that he and the Blood Robe Priest, Domitak, caused all of this together.]

At this point in the video, the live commentary began to flood in. Some shared their own takes, summing it up simply as ”S&M really screws people up...”

But the Storyteller quickly changed his tune.

[...But in my opinion, the Lord and Domitak working together was only the direct cause. The true root of the problem is... the bloodline Curse of the Star Family!]

[In the room at the end of the left passage past the Gray Wolf Followers, I found a very important piece of information.]

[A long time ago, the Star Family was afflicted by a Curse from a being known as the ’Curse Master.’ This Curse took root in the bloodline of every child of the family, causing every family member to have defects, to a greater or lesser extent, in their Spirit.]

[This had a profound impact on the Star Family’s development and is the real reason for the current situation in Seaside Town.]

[Because, if not for this Curse, Antonista would most likely have been a dutiful, responsible, and exceptionally rare kind of baron and Lord.]

The Storyteller’s words completely baffled the commenters. A uniform line of ”Huh?” flooded the screen.

Luo Ge was also intrigued, looking forward to what the Storyteller would say next.

[Hearing this, all you handsome devils in the comments are probably thinking, ’Huh? What kind of crap are you spewing, Storyteller? This Lord was so brutal he messed up the entire town and ended up as some kind of monster himself. How could he possibly be an ’exceptionally rare’ Lord?’]

[Hold on, hold on, I’m about to break it all down for you~]