Retrograde Gaming - Chapter 49
Chapter 49: The Stubborn Li Huailin
Li Huailin got up and looked around the place, he realized that he was in a cave. Although the cave was lit up by red magma, it was still relatively dark.
He had absolutely no idea where he was.
All of a sudden, a voice startled him.
“You… how did you get here?” A male voice exclaimed in surprise.
Li Huailin looked back and found that the male wasn’t a player, but an NPC. The young human was in his early twenties and looked quite weak from starvation. Above his head was a green name, Martin Colt.
“Ah, I was lost. I came here by accident.” Li Huailin said with a smile.
“How did you come here? You’re not wearing my elder brother’s suit for diving in magma.” Martin said with a look of surprise.
“Your elder brother?” Li Huailin realized that this might be a strange hidden quest. A player was supposed to find Martin’s elder brother first in the main city and get the magma diving suit before coming to this place. In fact, this didn’t matter to Li Huailin.
“Anyways, I got lost. I didn’t mean to come here in the first place. I’ll leave you alone, I’ll just see if I can swim back.” Li Huailin left everything in his bank including the Scroll of Town Portal, he realized that this was definitely a mistake. Now, he had to swim inside the magma again to see if there was a way out.
“Wait! Do you have any food in your bag? Give me some please,” Martin Colt hurriedly asked him.
Most players kept food in their bags in order to recover their health points faster when they weren’t fighting. In fact, various foods and dishes were available in the main city. The game was able to stimulate the brain cells in control of taste and make players feel that the food was delicious.
However, Li Huailin only had the 15 sets of health potions given by Night Flyer on him.
“I don’t have any food,” Li Huailin said frankly.
System Notice: You don’t have the items required by Martin Colt. Martin Colt’s Favorability towards you has been increased by 5. Current Favorability, Friendly.
“Thank you for not bringing me food,” Martin Colt happily said. “By the way, can you do me a favor?”
“I don’t have any time, I’m leaving.” Li Huailin really couldn’t care less about the NPC.
“Hey! Wait! You can’t get out of here without a magma diving suit,” Martin Colt hurriedly cpmtomied. “I can’t get out of this place either. The suit needs a Fire Essence to power it. Since I’m running out of it, I’m trapped here. I guess you faced the same problem as well. I already checked out the area yesterday. Along this way, when you go further into the cave, you’ll find a place where many Fire Elementals are gathering. I’m sure the Fire Essences are there. I’m just a craftsman and I don’t know how to fight. If you can go, brave warrior, we’ll both be saved.”
System Notice: Martin Colt has issued an A-rank hidden quest, I Need Power. Do you accept, Yes or Mo?
“I accept my ass!” Li Huailin was still looking for the World Destruction guild. He had no time for this silly charade and didn’t care about a few hundred reputation points. “I can find a way back. Don’t worry about me, I’m leaving.”
“Wait, hero!” Martin Colt hurriedly pulled on Li Huailin’s arm and begged him, “Please save me! I’ve been trapped here for three days and I’m going to die here if you just leave me here. If you can take me back, my brother and I will be very grateful. My elder brother is Mike Colt. You must have heard his name, right? He’s a great craftsman well-known in the entire City of Divine Protection — no, in the entire kingdom! If you can take me back, my elder brother is going to give you some very precious engineering recipes.”
“Engineering recipes?” Once he heard this, Li Huailin decided to give it some thought. Even though he couldn’t learn any Supporting Classes, the ladies could. If the recipe was worth the money, they could possibly make a fortune out of it.
However, on second thought, Li Huailin knew that the rewarded recipe must be around the advanced or master level. Therefore, there would be more prerequisites again, for example, some lower level recipes. Within a short period of time, those advanced level recipes would be quite useless.
“It’s okay. You can keep the recipes, I’m leaving,” Li Huailin waved his hand.
“Don’t, hero!” Martin Colt couldn’t believe his ears. What was wrong with this person?
“The quest will give you lots of experience. You can certainly level up when you complete it.”
“Sh*t…” Li Huailin’s face suddenly became dark. He was so close to Level 17 right now, and he definitely didn’t want to go back to being Level 15. Absolutely not!
“I’m not going to do the quest, no.”
“Please… Please… If you take me back, I’ll give you lots of money. A lot!” Martin Colt hurriedly begged some more in fear of Li Huailin leaving.
“Seriously? Now you’re trying to take away my money?” Li Huailin only had a few Gold Coins left in his bag after buying the slots in the bank. If he really did the quest, he would have nothing left.
“Stay away from me or I’ll slap you in your face!”
Martin Colt had no idea what was wrong with this unbelievably stubborn player. After momentarily thinking about something, he opened his mouth, “Hero, the cave in front of us is a secret realm. Most people can’t find it, but the first player who clears the place will be rewarded by the system, it has some good equipment! Make sure you give it a try!”
“What?” Li Huailin showed a bit of hesitation. This reminded him of the land titles he had been seeking for. Earlier, Red Moon and the ladies mentioned that so far in the game, nobody had found a land title. And perhaps, the land titles could only be found in secret areas. This place was indeed worth searching.
“You just said this place is a mysterious realm?” Li Huailin asked him.
“That’s right! I found this place when I was trying to do some geological research. I started my research right away and then found that my diving suit was out of power. Please save me, hero!” Martin Colt noticed Li Huailin’s hesitation and instantly burst into tears.
“Do you think I can find a land title here?” Li Huailin wondered.
“Land title? What’s that?” Martin Colt shook his head. Then, he quickly added, “Is that something rare? If it is, please try and search the cave! It’s full of rare treasures! Please!”
“I see.” Li Huailin nodded.
If he really did manage to find a land title here, he wouldn’t have to chase after the World Destruction guild anymore. He could just go in the cave and check around, being killed wasn’t a big deal to him anyways.
“I’ll give you the quest,” Martin Colt excitedly said.
“Please don’t,” Li Huailin quickly refused him. “I’m getting the Fire Essence for you but don’t give me your quest.”
“I have to give you a reward,” Martin immediately said.
“I don’t like to leave my name after doing a good deed. You can call me Young Pioneer if you want to.” Li Huailin proudly puffed up his chest.
“This won’t work…”
“Shut up! Do you really want to deduct my experience points that badly? It’s never easy to earn experience, you know?! One more word and I’ll leave!” Li Huailin said angrily.
“I see… Alright.” Although Martin couldn’t understand what he was saying, he still nodded.
“You stay here and wait for me. I’ll go and check what’s inside.”
After Li Huailin told Martin to wait, he then walked into the cave