"Young Adventurer, I'm really grateful to you for bringing my daughter back to me. As a reward, I'm letting you keep the Lont Knight armor. After all, I don't need it," Gul laughed out warmly as he shook Malik's hand after receiving his daughter from him.
"I'm happy I was able to be of help to you... Please take care," Malik replied as he turned to leave. He had completed his quest, so he had no business with the NPC.
"I'm sorry I couldn't see you off. I still need to look after my daughter," Gul apologized, and Malik nodded, then turned and departed instantly.
'See me off? Old Man Gul is a smart entity—probably it's the game setting.' Malik mused, finding the offer of the NPC a little bit absurd.
"Oh, I've been hearing a lot of notification sounds. Let me check it out now," Malik said to himself as he pulled up his system interface.
---
[Congratulations on completing the hidden quest – Retrieve Gul's Daughter.]
[You've completed the quest flawlessly and your prestige in Lont Town has been increased by 10.]
[Quest Reward —> Lont Knight Armor, Gul's favorability +50, and 7 stacks of herbs.]
"Stacks of herbs? Aren't those the herbs that I took from Gul's daughter? To think that the system would give me those as a reward."
"Inventory."
[Herbs of Taila ×7]
Description —> Herbs that were gathered by the brave daughter of the retired knight. These herbs were to be given to the Old Healer of Lont, who's currently in need of them.
"The Old Healer, huh? To think I also picked up these herbs on my way here."
[Herbs of Taila ×20]
"It's filled up my inventory, which has only thirty slots. It's no garbage after all. I need to locate this Old Healer of Lont."
"Map."
A map of Lont appeared in front of Malik as he surfed through the interface.
"It must be here. The potion-making street."
"If I turn in these herbs, I would receive rewards, isn't it..? So what on earth am I waiting for?" Malik smiled sheepishly to himself before making his way toward the direction of the Old Healer.
---
(Potion-making Street)
"Hey, I'm looking for the Healer," Malik asked a Level 3 player as he got to the potion-making street.
"You, this noob... Don't you have respect for your seniors?"
"Why would I respect a Level 3 trash like you?" Malik replied, stepping forward, and the Level 3 player turned to his Level 4 companion.
"Brazen. You're truly brazen. If it wasn't because this is a safe zone and fighting is prohibited, I would have put you in your place," the Level 4 player replied, causing Malik to grit his teeth.
"Alfred... Pray we never meet on the field or you'll regret ever joining God's Realm," Malik whispered before walking away in a swift movement. Unlike him—whose class and name had been hidden by the system—the other players' information was displayed, and every high-level player could see it. Although Malik was just at Stage 2, he had the Eyes of Insight to make up for the gap.
The moment he called the Level 4 player's name, the duo was overwhelmed by a fearsome aura, and in less than a second, they were both sweating buckets.
"What was that feeling?" the Level 3 player asked his companion.
"Is he really a noob?"
Malik didn't answer them. He couldn't bother with such minor characters.
"I'm here to see the Old Healer," he declared in front of the potion-making shop, and some players and NPCs present couldn't help but look at him.
"Foolish noob. Doesn't he see that we're in line waiting?"
"Does he think we're just standing here for fashion?"
"Hey noob... Get in line. You can't just come to see a Big Shot as you like."
"All these foolish players. They won't mind their own business, huh?"
Malik smirked, dumbfounding all of them as he stepped forward.
"Hey, what did you say?"
"This fellow is truly brazen."
"He called us players. Isn't he one too?"
"Now that I see it... it seems he's wearing Knight armor."
The players were all watching Malik as he stepped to the front. Many of them had ill intent toward him, but they couldn't act because it was against the law of the town. They could only resort to verbal attacks.
"Seems like he's one from a wealthy background."
"Let's just see how he makes a fool out of himself."
"These stupid players... You think you can just see a Healer because of a Level D quest? Those bastard NPCs are proud beings, but I, Malik... I've got a trick up my sleeve," Malik mused in his mind as he stepped in front of the others.
"I'm here under the request of Old Man Gul. I'm here to deliver the herbs to the Old Healer. I hope the Old Healer would grant me access."
Malik said softly, and in less than two seconds, the door opened and an old woman came out of it.
"Come in," she waved at Malik, who quickly rushed inside. The other players, on seeing this, quickly dashed forward, but before they could get there, Malik and the old woman were already inside with the door closed behind them.
"He really did it," exclaimed one of the men with a shocked expression on his face.
"Is he some big shot? He got the old woman to appear."
"Quickly... check who this Old Man Gul is. Maybe that player stumbled across some hidden quest."
"Did anyone see his name?"
The players were all confused as they started searching for information.
"CrimsonFlame, huh..." a Level 13 player muttered while watching the scene from a corner.
---
"It's truly the Herb of Taila. To think she managed to get it," the old woman said with an excited face, but her excitement disappeared in the next moment.
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to use it."
"Why? Is there something wrong with it?" Malik hurriedly asked, fearing something might have happened to the herb.
"No... It's just that I requested seven, and seven won't be enough."
"Oh, is that so?" Malik heaved a sigh of relief as he pulled out the herbs from his inventory, causing the eyes of the Old Healer to glitter with light.
"How come you have so many?" she asked, unable to contain her shock, and Malik just laughed out loud as he took a seat.
'I'm the one who holds the trump card. I should make myself comfortable.'
"Hehehe," he laughed in his mind, deciding to ignore the question of the Old Healer.
"Young Adventurer, there are 27 stacks here, but I only need 20. I'll take each stack for 2 gold coins."
"2 gold coins..." Malik's eyes widened. "Getting 40 gold coins in the Beginner's Village will automatically make me the richest Tier 0 player. Goddess of Luck, you're too much."
"His eyes lit up... Thank goodness he's going to accept my offer," the old woman beamed with joy—until Malik shook his head.
"Nay... I don't agree. Five gold is the minimum," Malik said, showing the NPC his hand.