It was already another 20 minutes, but Lein's walk was made even more difficult by the many vines that almost filled the surroundings. It didn't quite end there, almost every single one of the plants had tiny, thin spines that couldn't be seen, scratching his skin, causing annoyance to settle in Lein's brain.
"I feel like I want to kill someone!"
Because of that, Lein only had 150 HP left. If he didn't find something that could recover his HP immediately, Lein had to be prepared to accept the fact as the second most ridiculous death in the world!
"If only this Metamount had an effect that restores HP. However, every potion must have its drawbacks, and Metamount is no exception. It's definitely the most perfect potion if it has an additional effect like that."
Lein could only surrender to face reality. His death seemed only one step away from him. Finding a place for his grave was what Lein would do now. However, his eyes immediately filled with tears when he saw a dark cave in front of him, which was surrounded by flying insects that glow blue like fireflies around the cave door.
"The Cave of Life?!"
In the game Malivic World, there are only 3 Caves of Life in the whole world, and all of their locations are kept secret as hidden treasures for players who are looking for them. However, how could Lein find one of those by chance? According to his memories, the first Cave of Life was discovered by players from Indonesia in the Mazzarri Kingdom. While the other two, have not been found until he finally died.
"What great luck!"
Lein cried before finally entering. When his foot first stepped inside the cave, a notification appeared from the hologram.
TING! [The Cave of Life found!]
TING! [Your HP is restored by 2.5% every second]
TING! [Your current location is rich in mana, your mana increases by 1% every hour]
"It seems, all the luck in my life has been used for this!"
It is said in the game Malivic World, the Cave of Life has many natural resources. In the first Cave of Life, they even found large amounts of mithril; very expensive finest metal, which rich players used to make super quality swords. Even though it's said that each Cave of Life has different natural resources, it doesn't mean that there isn't something like mithril here, right?
When Lein went further, he found a small well emitting a green light. It was too conspicuous due to the dark state of the cave, causing Lein to approach it for a closer look. Inside, he found two bright green koi fish; made him think that the slightly dazzling light was coming from them.
"I'm very hungry now, is this koi fish okay to eat?"
As Lein fell into thought, he decided to abandon that intention. Some things that look flashy sometimes become sacred things. Although it is not always certain, but Lein prefers not to. Better not at all than sorry in the future.
Lein tried to go deeper, looking for something he might be able to eat, and a location that could be used as a bed. The quest floating in the hologram is also not completed. That means he and Anderlecht can not be confirmed safe. Ah, forgetting about Anderlecht, with the damn warriors watching, of course he's safe. This quest is only about Lein himself. For that reason, even though he was very hungry and couldn't find any food in the cave, Lein preferred to stay there while waiting for tomorrow. Maybe, in the morning, there are animals like chickens or rabbits that pass around the cave door. Yes, maybe!
About 12 meters from the well, Lein found a hole in the left wall that was just the right size for his body to enter. Without the light from the well, he probably wouldn't have found it. The hole was dark, but there was a point of light in the middle that seemed very far away; hiding a secret room behind it.
"Is this some kind of secret passage?"
Lein was curious, but he was still at level 9. Then, how come there were one or more monstrous creatures of super-sized that had been waiting for the challengers for a long time? Just imagining it had almost caused Lein to faint.
"Forget it! It feels better if I sleep by that well. At least, it has some light which makes me feel safe." Lein looked down before continuing, "Come on my stomach! I bet you can hold out until tomorrow!"
For now, Lein had to be thankful for the HP recovery effect and mana increase. Even though this place might have hidden treasures, but he had to be patient to unearth them further. Greedy nature can lead to death! He believed he wasn't the main character in a fantasy novel that had lots of plot armor.
Lein lay his body beside the well. The ground was rough and uncomfortable. But, who cares about that now? Still being able to breathe this fresh air is enough to be considered a miracle.
Lein's gaze was currently heading towards the dark passageway. However, because it felt disturbing, as if a hideous monster was hiding there watching it with a sinister expression, Lein changed his gaze. But, at the same time, he realized that there were strange calligraphy written on the ceiling of the cave.
Before Lein could complain about not being able to read the calligraphy, a notification popped up from the hologram.
[Adjustable text, on]
[The greatest treasure is in the green well]
[If you find extraordinary treasure anywhere in the world, always remember the first sentence!]
"Huh?! What does this mean? Is that water, or koi fish?"
Lein then got up, walked towards the well, and looked again at the contents of it. There were only two koi fish, slightly cloudy water, and a mossy well wall there.
"What's so special about this well?"
The well looks like an ordinary well. The two koi fish just circled around each other, as if their only job was to live to catch the tails of other koi fish. One of them was larger, which Lein thought was male, while the other was female.
Judging from the mossy and porous walls of the well, it is estimated that the age of the well is around 5-10 years. However, why are there only two koi fish here? Why don't they reproduce?
"Is this the reason they're just circling each other? Please! Don't tell me they're too stupid?!"
To identify that what he had thought was a mistake, Lein picked up one of the koi fish and changed the direction of the path, so that they bumped into each other. Then, not long after looking into each other's eyes, the two koi fishes mingled with each other.
"Damn it! I didn't expect these two koi fish to have a sky-breaking stupidity!"
A few seconds later, a notification appears from the hologram.
TING! [Male koi fish express their gratitude to you. 30+ strength added]
TING! [The female koi fish expresses its gratitude to you. 20+ agility added]
Seeing the notification, Lein couldn't hide the big smile on his face. "Ah, I understand now! My job is only to take care of these two stupid koi fish, right?"
Just a few seconds later, another notification appeared from the hologram.
[Quest Complete!]
"Huh? That means Anderlecht and I are safe now? It's a lot of luck!"