Chapter 52: Mission Accomplished!

"Alright, let's go. The cave dwellers won't be catching up to us anytime soon," Lu Kuan let out a long sigh of relief and smiled with ease.

The Stinging Herb was an ordinary medicinal plant with a pungent flavor. In later days, it wasn't until players generally reached level 30 that someone discovered cave dwellers were extremely afraid of it—who would have thought that NPCs already knew this secret?

It seemed the siblings' grandfather was a shrewd old fox, having long planned to hide the treasure there and even thought in advance of ways to restrain the cave dwellers.

Hearing Lu Kuan's explanation, everyone felt at ease. They followed the hillside, leaving that perilous place. After walking a good distance, they looked back, only to find the entrance they had just used was barely visible. If someone unfamiliar came by, it would be nearly impossible to uncover the secrets of this terrain.

The rest of their journey was uneventful, and they passed through a small town before reaching Lava Fortress.

Though only a day had passed, it felt like an eternity. When they once again saw the familiar gates, the throngs of players, and the scent of cakes wafting from the tavern, the three girls couldn't help but wear expressions of utter delight, their moods soaring.

Once inside the city, Lu Kuan headed for the bank, retrieved all the mana-recovering gear he had stockpiled, and dumped it all into the auction house.

Most guilds had now set their sights on the Black Desert, and the sharpest among them had come to realize just how valuable mana-recovering gear would be in this instance.

Before logging in, Lu Kuan had browsed the forums and saw that many guilds were already buying up mana recovery equipment. Now was the perfect time to sell.

Items that were once worthless—just a few silver or even copper coins—he listed at fifty silver each. For those with additional attributes, he boldly set the price at ten gold or even higher.

Watching Lu Kuan shuttle back and forth between the bank and the auction house, pulling out equipment piece after piece, the three girls beside him watched on with keen interest.

"So this is what they mean by a professional player—stockpiling goods, buying low and selling high?" Bai Keke clasped her small fists to her chest, her voice bubbling with excitement.

A Que snorted, reaching out to tap Bai Keke on the forehead. "Hmph, a black-hearted merchant! We can't afford equipment, can't afford potions—it's all because of people like him driving up the prices!"

A Que said this in the party channel. When Lu Kuan was done with his business, he gave A Que an innocent look, then laughed, "Alright, time to turn in the quest!"

To the north of Lava Fortress, in the commoners' district.

The four of them escorted the siblings home. The family reunited, and both the siblings and their mother were reduced to tears. A Tang's mother thanked Lu Kuan and the group repeatedly, her gratitude overflowing, making the scene deeply moving.

The three girls' eyes were a little red as well. It was no surprise—the game's main AI designed the NPCs, and if it came to acting, every NPC could win an Oscar.

Once emotions had settled, Ellie wiped away her tears and turned to Lu Kuan. "It seems that barrier was useless against adventurers like you, wasn't it?"

Lu Kuan simply smiled and shrugged, indicating his agreement.

Ellie pouted. "My grandfather put the treasure there on purpose—he didn't want us to get it... Hmph! But since you saved my brother, I'll let you have it this time."

Lu Kuan would never argue with a young girl, so he just smiled without reply. The three girls all looked at him, for as team leader, only he could complete the final step of the quest.

With a gentle smile, Lu Kuan approached A Tang's mother. "Ma'am, I heard about your difficulties from A Tang and Ellie. I have a small suggestion."

He leaned toward Ellie, whispered a few words, and her pale green eyes lit up with surprise. "Is that really true?"

"Of course," Lu Kuan grinned.

Then, Lu Kuan formally handed in the quest to A Tang's mother.

The reward was modest—a fine short sword and 400 bonus experience points—but if you counted the treasure, it became quite a haul.

The rewards were so generous because, after triggering Ellie's plotline, the quest difficulty rose from B+ to A, which brought an increase in rewards.

For a moment, golden light swirled in the little house. Qing Yi, A Que, and Bai Keke all rose to level 11 at once—they had participated in all the earlier stages, so their experience reward was certainly greater than Lu Kuan's.

What surprised the trio even more was that the quest completion reached an astonishing 90%! That meant every key point had been uncovered—a true happy ending.

The girls' gazes once more settled on Lu Kuan. There was no doubt: reaching this stage in the quest would have been impossible without him.

Lu Kuan, oblivious to their gazes, lowered his head to check the system notifications.

Most of it was routine, but the last line caught his eye: "Ellie's favorability toward you +100." He couldn't help but glance at Ellie in surprise.

In "Echoes of the Gods," NPCs were generally divided into two categories: commoners, who were background characters and only interacted with players for certain quests; and functional NPCs, like the ranger mentor Lore or the blind appraiser, with whom players interacted most and who had favorability ratings.

Could it be that the little girl Ellie had some as-yet-undiscovered identity?

Lu Kuan considered this only briefly before brushing it aside. With the three girls, he took his leave from Ellie's home.

Five minutes later, in a room at an inn.

Morning sunlight streamed through the window, making the coins on the table glitter dazzlingly.

Three blue-grade items, 350 gold coins, and a mountain of experience points—this was the entirety of their spoils. With so much spread out before them, the girls' eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Sis Que, I still can't believe we actually did it!" Bai Keke clung to A Que's sleeve, murmuring, "This was an A-rank quest! Even if it only became A-rank halfway through, it's still A-rank. Do you remember that B+ walkthrough someone posted on the forum? That thread had tens of thousands of replies!"

A Que rolled her eyes at Keke, trying to maintain a calm facade, but the smile in her eyes betrayed her real feelings. Qing Yi simply stood by, smiling quietly, waiting for their leader Lu Kuan to begin the distribution.

Lu Kuan cleared his throat, picked up the staff, and handed it to the grinning A Que. "This staff is quite something..."

Before he could finish, A Que had already snatched the staff, hugging it and examining it with delight.

The staff was a straight birchwood rod, inscribed with simple magical patterns that extended all the way up to the flamboyant head—a pair of outstretched bird wings, like a human raising their arms to embrace the sky. Every ten seconds or so, sparks would leap between the wings, dazzling and brilliant.