Strange Voyage: Summoning the Fourth Disaster.

Chapter 829 Snail, you're not dead?

In a room of the Candlelight Hall.

A pink snail shell floated on the water, from which came soft sobs. Big Iver stood by, at a loss.

Xiaoluo was heartbroken. The departure of such an important person in her life made her truly feel the pain of death and separation.

She suddenly felt a strong sense of unease because she realized that even those who were always by her side, such as Nonia, Burton, and even Roger, might leave her one day in the future.

Thinking of all this, she couldn't stop crying, and her tiny body curled up even tighter inside the snail shell.

Then, a familiar voice suddenly came.

"Little snail?"

Wowo pushed open the door and tentatively called out into the room, but due to the angle, she only saw Iver.

"Hey, you're Ivor, right? Do you know where Little Snail is?" Since Little Snail had taken him out to play quite a bit before, Wowo recognized him and asked.

Upon seeing her, Ivor was startled, but after rubbing his eyes, he quickly turned his surprise into joy and shouted at Little Snail.

"Little snail, Little Snail Boss, Little Snail Boss!"

"She's alive! She's alive!"

"Still alive!"

Even without him saying it, Little Snail had already seen the familiar figure at the door. She lay by the snail shell, staring at Snail for a long while, seemingly unable to believe it.

"Ah, there you are! I've finally found you."

Wowo's eyes lit up, and she stepped forward to hold the little one, patting her head with her fingers.

"Don't be sad, I didn't die. I was saved by the Candlekeeper, and I'll have to live here from now on."

"So, can you put it this way, Little Snail Boss, protect me?"

The familiar feeling brought Xiaoluo back to her senses instantly, and her tears, which had almost dried up, welled up again along with her intense grievances.

"Wowo!"

"I miss you so much!"

"Little Snail will play with you from now on!"

"Woooooooooooo..."

Overjoyed, she flew to Wowo's face and hugged her tightly, unwilling to let go.

It took a while for the little guy to finally calm down.

"Wowo? Why didn't you go to the dark place?"

"Are you lying to Xiaoluo again?"

Little Snail wiped away her tears, feeling that she might have been deceived again, and angrily questioned him.

Wowo thought the little guy might have cried himself silly: "Didn't I tell you? The Candlekeeper saved me."

"However... my physical body is indeed dead, and I will have to stay in this place from now on."

"So, Little Snail Boss, you have to protect me. You can't let anyone else bully me, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoluo immediately put her hands on her hips, still angry, but now targeting someone else.

"That despicable bastard Roger lied to Little Snail! He could have helped you, but he made you cry so much. How awful!"

"Don't say that. The Candlekeeper is doing this for your own good. He wasn't even sure he could succeed," Wowo explained the reason why the other party did this.

"Okay, then Little Snail doesn't hate him anymore. He's a good guy." After thinking for a moment, Little Snail withdrew her dislike.

Then she cheered up and circled around the other person, saying, "Wowo just said she'll stay here forever? That's great! Don't worry, Xiaoluo is the boss here. Xiaoluo will protect you, and no one will dare to bully you!"

Little Snail patted its chest proudly and made its promise.

"..."

Although I transmigrated and was reborn, this world is no good place at all. Monsters are everywhere, and horrors lurk in every corner...

To better answer other players' questions, WoWo has a very good understanding of the background of this world.

Currently, only Candlelight Island can barely be considered a pure land...

Thinking about this, Wowo didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

However, since I've already died once...

Why be picky? Just make do with what you have...

……

A few days later.

A new player who had just started playing ran to the familiar spot and instinctively wanted to ask a question.

"Sister Wowo, Sister Wowo! Do you know about that..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was startled when he saw the empty space in front of him. He suddenly realized that Sister Wowo, who had patiently answered their questions, was no longer there.

I personally watched her say goodbye to everyone a while ago, and then I saw an obituary on the official forum.

At that time, although he felt a little uncomfortable, he didn't have any deep feelings.

He thought he was a cold-blooded person.

but now……

"..."

A player nearby witnessed this scene but did not laugh at him; instead, he silently sighed inwardly.

As players discussed and spread the word, more and more players learned about it.

After learning about the situation, some players had certain ideas.

Soon after, some players voluntarily stayed at the location where Wowo was and began to answer questions for new players in her place.

Players can see them on many servers.

However, no matter how crowded the seats were, they all tacitly left a vacancy in one place.

That was the place where Wowo often sat when she was alive.

……

after a while.

Lingzhu's official website suddenly released a notice about a non-stop update.

[Non-Stop Update Notice]

【Dear Candle Spirit Warriors, this game will begin...】

Update content:
In light of recent events in the game and player feedback, our development team, after consulting with relevant personnel and obtaining the consent of the family, has decided to add a new permanent guide character, "WoWo," to commemorate and pay tribute to this loyal player who deeply loved the game. She will live forever in our hearts.

"Everyone has moments of weakness and helplessness. Being needed by others is my greatest joy."

——Snail】

After seeing this announcement.

Some players burst into tears.

May you rest in peace...

"Waaaaah... Sister Wowo, I miss you so much... (crying)(crying)(crying)"

"It's like needing healing potions. You get hit by the boss in the game, and then you get hit again after you leave the game... (ouch)"

"They actually created a separate AI just for one player? The Spirit Candle development team really put their heart into it... Sigh."

"Tears welling up, may there be no more illness in the world. (Praying)"

"Even the most realistic AI is still AI. I don't think I can ask questions like I used to..."

Most players were downcast, but they were also moved by Lingzhu's actions.

……

Inside the Candlelight Hall, Wowo was practicing in the air with a smile on her face.

"Hello, I'm Wowo. Feel free to ask me any questions."

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying.

I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question.

She studied very diligently, rehearsing the scenarios in her mind while giving the corresponding answers.

Rogge walked slowly over.

"How's the practice going? If you're not confident, then I'll send a clone over."

“I’m fine, let me go.” Wowo quickly composed herself, indicating that she would go herself: “I don’t feel quite used to staying here all day.”

"Okay, let's go."

Roger nodded. Although the training was short, he wasn't worried. "Don't be too nervous. I've set some restrictions on the language."

"If it really doesn't work out, there's no need to force it. You can just do what you always do."

"However, if any players ask, just say what I taught you. Some people will fill in the blanks, so don't worry."

He didn't hide these things from the other party. Even if they were from the same hometown, he couldn't just let them talk nonsense.

He also made many considerations and thorough preparations to deal with possible situations.

However, he wasn't too demanding about the disguise, as it was quite easy to explain.

"Hmm..." Wowo nodded, but couldn't help scratching her head and muttering, "Humans pretending to be AI, that's so abstract..."

"Wowo, hurry up, hurry up!"

"We need to go to work!"

Little Snail perched on her shoulder, urging her on.

"It's me who should be at work." Wowo rolled her eyes. "You little rascal, you only cause me trouble and make things worse."

Upon hearing this, the little snail wasn't angry at all. Instead, it happily spun around, making popping noises.

……

The update was completed quickly.

Many players had already positioned themselves where WoWo usually was, waiting for the arrival of the new NPC.

Sure enough, a moment later, a blue flame flickered in that familiar spot, and a familiar figure appeared before them.

Seeing a group of players surrounding her, Wowo was still a little surprised, but she didn't falter and smiled and nodded to everyone.

"Hello, I'm Wowo. Feel free to ask me any questions."

After saying that, she quietly sat back in her original spot, seemingly no different from before.

However, her original player badge and ID have now been replaced by an NPC badge.

“It seems so…”

"It feels exactly the same... The spirit candle is really made with great care..."

"Yes, their expressions and mannerisms are just like..."

Because I am real...

Wowo felt a little uncomfortable; she really wanted to laugh.

Back when she was just a player herself, she was just like those players, marveling at the skill of the Spirit Candle.

But now that it has become an "NPC", this completely different perspective naturally brings a completely different feeling.

Thinking of this, she tried her best to suppress her laughter, and her face twitched slightly.

Seeing this, some players shook their heads.

"Look at you, you've lost control of your expression, haven't you? You stupid AI."

"Indeed, the spirit candle was made a bit hastily. Hopefully, it can be improved further."

"Sigh, fake is fake, it has no soul at all, I'm leaving."

What?
Soulless?

Upon hearing this, Wowo found it both amusing and speechless.

You can call AI stupid, fine.

But to say she has no soul... all I can say is that the only thing she has left that's truly original is her soul...

Yes, she can tolerate all of this.

But one player's words were something she couldn't tolerate at all.

"This isn't done well. Sister Wowo's breasts aren't that big. They should be smaller."

"You're talking nonsense!" Wowo looked at the player and retorted urgently, "It's always been this big!"

See this.

The surrounding discussion abruptly ceased, and the players stared at her in disbelief.

"What the hell?"

"Wo, you're not dead? You're still alive?!"

"Really? AI can insult players?"

The players were immediately in an uproar; this reaction was so "human-like" that it left them utterly astonished.

Seeing this, Wowo didn't panic and simply followed Roger's instructions to deal with it.

"Who died? I've been here the whole time."

Subsequently, when players asked her other questions, as well as questions about reality, she responded with "I don't know," "I've never heard of it," and "I don't know it."

Soon, the players' enthusiasm gradually died down.

"Ah, I see. This is the main AI created by the Candle, just like the Candlekeeper, Nonia, and Burton, and it's much more intelligent than the clones."

Some players quickly drew parallels to the situations of other important characters.

Upon hearing his words, the other players suddenly realized what he meant.

"Oh, I see..."

"It looks like they even incorporated Wowo's usual personality into the design... Holy crap, that's amazing."

"Yes, yes, she gets all worked up every time we mention that snail. She really knows how to do that!"

"Ah... it really is AI. But it's good that it's so intelligent; it always makes me feel like she's still here..."

The players all chimed in with their own opinions.

Soon, WoWo was kicked back into the ranks of AI.

Seeing this, Wowo felt a sense of unease.

Damn it, that Candlekeeper is such a cunning guy, he's planned everything out of the blue, no wonder so many players didn't notice.

Of course... this statement is made excluding some players.

Wowo was too lazy to argue with them anymore. After sitting back down, she straightened her back and continued her work.

But players remain incredibly curious.

Even when the little snail flew over to play with her, some players saw how close the two of them were and started complaining again.

"This little snail is having so much fun playing with a fake AI. It's so fickle and heartless."

The player sighed and left.

The little snail, however, was angry and waved its little hands wildly, crying loudly, and rolled around in the air in grievance.

"You strange fellow, you're talking nonsense! You're wronging Little Snail!"

"Little Snail doesn't prefer new things and dislikes old ones; this snail is clearly the old one!"

Unfortunately, no matter how aggrieved she felt, she couldn't tell the players that it was an agreement she had made with Rogue.

"..." Wowo.

What do you mean by "this is old"?

……

Soon after.

The Spirit Candle welcomed two true veteran players.

They were Wowo's parents, who had obtained the game access and wanted to see what their daughter's favorite game was like.

Roger also arranged for them to meet.

However, what's really heartbreaking is that Roger couldn't allow Wowo to show a sufficiently authentic side of herself.

If they really did that, it would not only affect the entire Candlelight Island, but it would also be a unique kind of cruelty to Wowo's parents.

Even so, they were very satisfied to see their daughter remain in another form.

Roger also allowed Wowo to hug them and say a few words, which could be disguised as an Easter egg or something similar.

After that, Wowo's father stayed.

Perhaps he just wanted to see Wowo, or perhaps he wanted to experience his daughter's world.

In short, he would log on every night, come to the location of WoWo, and, like other players, answer questions for those who needed them...

……

(End of this chapter)