Squeezing through the crowd, Zhang Yi arrived near the red house where he previously accepted a quest and found the NPC girl Ling Ling still sitting at the door with a worried look. However, the question mark above her head had turned from yellow to gray, indicating that her quest had been fully triggered and no more tasks could be accepted from her today.
Zhang Yi approached Ling Ling, who was alone, and initiated a conversation.
"Little sister, I've avenged your father and killed those monsters."
Hearing Zhang Yi's words, Ling Ling looked up, her clear, bright eyes blinking at him, and finally, a joyful smile appeared on her face. "Really? Thank you, big brother, thank you for avenging my father!"
As she spoke, the girl took out a crystal blue ring from somewhere and handed it to Zhang Yi. "Big brother, this was a gift from my father. To thank you for avenging him, I want to give it to you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Yi submitted the quest, and a pleasant notification sound echoed from above—
"Ding~ Congratutions on completing the quest [Patricide Revenge], earning 600 EXP, 100 Copper Coins, 10 Level 1 Enhancement Stones, 24 Human Reputation, and receiving the equipment [Lucky Ring] 1! Intimacy with [Civilian] +6!"
Zhang Yi looked at the blue ring Ling Ling gave him—
[Lucky Ring]:
Quality: 1 Star
Physical Attack Power: 9
Css Restriction: None
Level Requirement: 4
Description: This is a ring imbued with the power of luck, said to bring good fortune to its wearer. Moreover, this ring is not just for equipping; it is also a special token...
Besides being used as normal equipment, this ring has a mysterious function, hinted at in the equipment's description...
However, hardly any pyer would deduce this from the description, except for Zhang Yi, who had been reborn.
So, Zhang Yi repced the Level 1 Novice Ring with 3 attack power in his hand with the [Lucky Ring], increasing his attack from 41 to 47 points.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough enhancement stones; otherwise, he could have enhanced the Lucky Ring to level 25 for more attack bonuses.
With the 100 Copper Coins from the quest reward, equivalent to 1 Silver Coin, Zhang Yi now had 11 Silver Coins and over 30 Copper Coins, making him quite wealthy in the Novice Vilge.
Thus, Zhang Yi went to the pharmacy and, while other pyers hesitated to use even a 1 Copper Coin Level 1 Health Potion, he spent 90 Copper Coins to buy 30 bottles of Level 2 Health Potions, each restoring 100 HP.
After restocking, Zhang Yi left the Safe Zone and returned once more to... the Doomsday Factory!
Upon returning, he found many pyers already there, farming Man-eating Bugs for quests. Most of these pyers were only level 2, struggling to solo the level 3-4 Man-eating Bugs, so they mostly formed teams of two or three. Although teaming up greatly reduced the experience gained, it ensured safety.
Zhang Yi's purpose in returning to the Doomsday Factory was not to farm these Man-eating Bugs again.
So, bypassing the Man-eating Bugs and pyers, Zhang Yi headed straight into the factory.
Zhang Yi remembered that in his previous life, a pyer in Safe Zone No. 886 had triggered a rare hidden quest in the Doomsday Factory!
Apparently, an NPC was hiding in the Doomsday Factory, and the hidden quest involved safely escorting that NPC to the Safe Zone.
However, besides finding the NPC, there was a condition to accept the hidden quest from him, which was why Zhang Yi chose the Man-eating Bug quest in the Doomsday Factory among the many tasks in the Safe Zone and didn't directly look for the NPC the first time he came to the factory.
Because completing the previous quest guaranteed the reward of the [Lucky Ring], which was essential for triggering this hidden quest!
After wandering around the factory filled with the smell of chemicals, Zhang Yi indeed found an NPC in a storage room!
It was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, a scruffy beard, and a missing right hand, lying in the corner of the storage room as if waiting to die.
Besides the blue NPC ID beled "Ili," there was no yellow question mark above his head because hidden quests have no visible prompts.
Approaching the barely conscious Ili, Zhang Yi initiated a conversation.
"It seems you've been trapped here for a long time, Uncle. Let me take you to a safe pce."
The sudden voice startled Ili, who was curled up in the dark corner. He looked up at Zhang Yi, surprised. "You... how did you find this pce?"
Skipping unnecessary chatter, Zhang Yi, knowing this part of the game plot, got straight to the point: "I met a girl named Ling Ling in Hope Town. She asked me to help find her father."
"Ling Ling..." Hearing this name, Ili couldn't help but cry.
Looking at his right hand, which had been eaten by Man-eating Bugs, Ili shook his head. "Forget it, I'm already crippled. Even if I go back, I'd be a useless person. I'd rather die here and be done with it."
Relying on his memories from his previous life, Zhang Yi knew that no matter how pyers tried to persuade him at this point in the game plot, Ili would not be motivated to continue living, making it impossible to forcibly trigger the hidden quest to escort Ili back to the Safe Zone, unless...
Zhang Yi took out the Lucky Ring and pced it in front of Ili. "Do you really want to abandon your daughter?"
Only upon seeing the ring did Ili's emotional defenses completely colpse. "Ling Ling, my daughter..."
With that, Ili slowly got up from the ground. "Alright, young man, please take me back to Hope Town."
This ring was more effective than a thousand words, proving that the Lucky Ring was essential for triggering this hidden quest.
At that moment, the system's notification sounded in Zhang Yi's ear: "Ding~ Congratutions on triggering a rare hidden quest. Would you like to accept it? [Guardian] (This quest has a high difficulty level, and the system advises you to consider it carefully)."
Without hesitation, Zhang Yi accepted the quest, and the system notification sounded again.
"You have accepted the hidden quest [Guardian]. Since you are the first pyer in Safe Zone No. 886 to obtain a hidden quest, the system will make an area announcement. Would you like to reveal or hide your ID?"
"Hide."
Area Announcement: "Ding~ Congratutions to pyer *** for triggering a hidden quest. As the first pyer in Safe Zone No. 886 to trigger a hidden quest, you are awarded 1200 Human Reputation and 1 Gold Coin!"
