Chapter 49

Li Huailin stood up and looked around, realizing he was in a cave. The cave was illuminated red by the lava, not completely dark, but not very bright either.

"Where am I?"

Just as Li Huailin was wondering, he heard a voice from the side, which startled him.

"You... How did you get here?" a male voice exclaimed in surprise.

Li Huailin turned his head and saw that it wasn't a player but an NPC, a man in his twenties, with a human appearance. He looked somewhat thin, as if he hadn't eaten for days. His green name, Martin Colt, was displayed above his head.

"Ah, I've been a bit directionally challenged lately. I ended up here by accident," Li Huailin said with a smile.

"How did you cross the lava? You don't seem to have the lava diving suit from my brother in the Craftsmen's District of the City of Divine Blessing. How could you cross such a large area of lava?" Martin asked, his face full of surprise.

"Your brother?" Li Huailin thought for a moment. This must be some strange hidden quest. The first step might be to go to a place in the main city to receive a task from this NPC's brother, get the lava diving suit, and then come here. But he seemed to have accidentally made it here.

"Uh, I just got lost, and ended up here by accident. I won't bother you, I'll go back and see if I can swim out," Li Huailin said, regretting that he had forgotten to bring a return scroll in his haste to earn money. Now he would have to swim through the lava to see if he could get out.

"Wait, do you have any food in your bag? Give me some," Martin Colt said urgently.

Most players always carry some food in their bags. These items increase health recovery speed outside of combat and are essential for leveling up. They are sold everywhere in the main city, in various flavors, and the game directly stimulates the taste cells in your brain to make you feel they are delicious.

However, Li Huailin had cleared his bag at the bank before coming here. He only had the fifteen sets of health potions given by Night Sailing, and nothing else.

"No," Li Huailin said straightforwardly.

System notification: Due to not giving Martin Colt the specified item, Martin Colt's favorability towards you increases by 5 points. Current favorability: Friendly.

"Thanks for not bringing me food," Martin Colt said happily. "By the way, I have a favor to ask."

"No time, I'm leaving," Li Huailin said indifferently.

"Hey, wait, you can't leave without my lava diving suit," Martin Colt said quickly. "I can't leave either. The lava diving suit needs a fire essence to provide energy, and my fire essence is depleted. I'm trapped here, and so are you. I checked yesterday, and if you follow this cave, it leads to a gathering place of fire elementals. I'm sure there's the fire essence we need. But the fire elementals are powerful, and I'm just a craftsman, not a fighter. Hero, will you go there? If you can get the fire essence, we can both leave."

System notification: Martin Colt has issued an A-level hidden quest, "I Need Energy." Do you accept?

"Accept my ass," Li Huailin said. He still had to deal with the End of the World Guild and didn't have time for this. He didn't even care about the few hundred reputation points. "I can get back on my own, don't worry about me. I'm leaving."

"Please, hero," Martin Colt quickly grabbed Li Huailin. "Don't go, save me. I've been trapped here for three days and will starve to death if I stay. If you save me, my brother and I will thank you. My brother is Mike Colt, you've heard of him, right? He's a famous craftsman in the entire City of Divine Blessing, no, the entire kingdom. If you save me, my brother will give you a very rare engineering blueprint."

"Engineering blueprint?" Li Huailin thought for a moment. Although he couldn't learn any secondary professions, the Red Moon group could. If the blueprint was valuable, it might be profitable.

However, Li Huailin had experience. The engineers in his small guild were probably only at the beginner level. The reward blueprint would likely require a higher level or master level, and he would need other blueprints to advance, making it profitable only in the long term.

"No, keep the blueprint for yourself. I'm leaving," Li Huailin waved his hand.

"Hero, don't go," Martin Colt knelt down in front of Li Huailin. "This quest gives a lot of experience. If you complete it, you'll definitely level up."

"Damn," Li Huailin's face darkened. He had just gained 40% experience and was about to level up to 17. He didn't want to be stuck at level 15 again. He immediately made up his mind. "No, absolutely not."

"Please... please... If you save me, I'll give you a lot of money, really a lot of money," Martin Colt said quickly.

"Damn, are you trying to rob me?" Li Huailin didn't have much money left. He had just bought twenty empty slots at the bank and only had a few gold coins left. If this quest took his money, he would be broke again. "Get lost, or I'll slap you to death."

Martin Colt was stunned. What was wrong with this player? Why was he so stubborn? But he still needed to be saved. He thought for a moment and said, "Hero, this cave is a secret realm. No one usually finds it. The first person to clear it will receive a special reward from the system, definitely with good equipment. You should try it."

"Huh?" Li Huailin hesitated, then suddenly remembered the discussion with Red Moon about the deeds. They had said no one had found the deeds yet, and they might be in some hidden place. This secret realm sounded like a hidden place. Could this place yield deeds?

"You said this place is a secret realm?" Li Huailin asked, thinking.

"Yes, yes, it's a secret realm I discovered. I was doing geological research here and got stuck. By the time I realized, my diving suit was out of energy, and I couldn't leave. Please, hero, save me," Martin Colt said, almost in tears.

"Then, could this place yield deeds?" Li Huailin asked quickly.

"Deeds? What are those?" Martin Colt thought for a moment but shook his head. He quickly added, "Are they rare treasures? If so, you should definitely try. Things in secret realms are usually very rare. Please, try it."

"Really?" Li Huailin thought. If this place could yield deeds, it would be more profitable than dealing with the End of the World Guild. He was just going to check, and even if he died, it wouldn't matter. He nodded. "Okay, I'll check it out."

"Then I'll give you the quest," Martin Colt said happily.

"No, please don't give me the quest," Li Huailin said quickly. "I'll get the fire essence for you, but don't give me the quest."

"How can I not give you a reward?" Martin said immediately.

"I just like doing good deeds without leaving a name. You can call me Red Scarf," Li Huailin said, standing tall.

"How can I...?"

"Shut up, do you want to take my experience? It's not easy for me to earn experience. Say another word, and I'll leave," Li Huailin said fiercely.

"Oh, okay..." Martin nodded, though he didn't understand.

"Wait here, I'll go check the situation," Li Huailin gestured for Martin to sit down and walked into the cave.

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