I stared at the Low-Rank Disease Cure Potion window, my mind rag.

  Fifty dolrs.

  That was almost everything I had.

  The description said it could cure most non-magical diseases—which sounded perfect for the pgue wiping out this vilge. If this thing actually worked, then I could save people.

  That was… a big deal.

  But also? A massive problem.

  Because what if I needed more than one?

  What if I spent my entire ban this oion, gave it to someone, and then found out it only worked for early-stage symptoms?

  Or worse—what if they needed multiple doses?

  A’s not fet the real issue here.

  I’m broke.

  Sure, I’d made 53.50 from selling literally everything in this house, but that was dumb luck. I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to make that much again.

  And the vilge?

  They were poor.

  Even if I saved one person, what about the rest? Would I have to keep f over my own cash to save every sick vilger?

  For free?

  Yeah. Hard pass.

  I exhaled, closing the description window. “I need a cheaper option.”

  I switched over to my market seard tapped into the medical category.

  Dozens of items popped up—bandages, alcohol wipes, painkillers, syringes, herbal kits. But after scrolling for a bit, two things caught my eye.

  [Item Description]All About Diseases and Curses (And How to Cure Them)Price: 25 Category: Books & Knowledge Stock: Unlimited

  Description: A prehensive medical guide detailing the symptoms, causes, and treatments of various natural and magical diseases. Includes information on herbs, potions, and non-magical remedies that cure afflis.

  Covers edieval diseases, curses, and ailments.

  Includes step-by-step treatmehods.

  Detailed illustrations for pnt and potioification.

  Written by a certified alchemist and royal healer.

  Warning:

  Some information may be outdated due to evolving magical diseases.

  Does not ch-tier magical pgues.

  [Item Description]Medie for Idiots 101Price: 15 Category: Books & Knowledge Stock: Unlimited

  Description: A beginner’s medie guide written in simple nguage for those with no prior knowledge of healing. Perfeateurs looking to uand basic treatments, first aid, and non-magical cures.

  Step-by-step instrus for treating injuries and on illnesses.

  Covers first aid teiques, fevers, iions, and wound care.

  Written with easy-to-follow diagrams.

  No prior medical experience required.

  Warning:

  Does not tain any advareatments.

  Basiowledge only—may not work for plex illnesses.

  I leaned back, rubbing my .

  “So… I could bee a healer.”

  I mean, not really, but if I got one of these books, I could at least pretend.

  Or—better yet—I could sell it for money.

  But whie was better?

  The 25 book covered curses and diseases, which sounded useful as hell, but if it was too plicated, I’d be stuck flipping through pages trying to uand what the hell I was looking at.

  The 15 book was literally for idiots. That sounded perfee.

  But… would it be enough?

  I frowned, shaking my head. I need more information.

  Which meant…

  Alright. Time to level up and turn in this quest.

  And if you’re w what quest—

  I have two.

  Return to the Elder and tell him off for nearly getting me killed.

  Pros: I might get a reward for clearing out the spider.

  s: It could lead to another quest… like more spiders.

  Yeah. Hard pass.

  Go see Matra, return her e, and learn more about this disease.

  Pros: She’s a healer, which means I ask about the disease cure potion and how muething like that would normally cost.

  Bonus: I might be able to sell her some shit.

  Yeah. Option two sounded a lot better.

  I stood up, crag my neck.

  Time to turn in this quest.

  And maybe, just maybe, e out on top.

  I walked through the quiet vilge, gripping Matra’s old e in one hand, my other hand tucked into my pocket as I kept my Buy and Sell interface open in the background.

  Gotta be ho—Matra kind of creeped me out.

  Not in an “I think she’s evil” way, but in an “old dies in fantasy stories always turn out to be way more than they seem” kind of way.

  She could just be a regur, frail old woman.

  …Or she could be a hidden witch who eats people. Fifty-fifty odds.

  Either way, I was about to find out.

  Matra’s house wasn’t as run-down as the others, but it wasn’t great either. The wooden walls looked a, the door hung slightly crooked, and dried herbs were bundled up he windows, filling the air with a mix of earthy sts and weird mystery.

  I kwice.

  Silence.

  I squinted. “She better not be dead. I just killed a spider—I am not ready for a side quest where I have to solve the mystery of an old dy’s murder.”

  Then, just as I was about to knock again—

  The door creaked open.

  Matra stood there, hunched over as ever, her sharp eyes narrowing as she looked up at me. “What do you want, boy?”

  I grinned, holding out her e. “Returhis. Also, I killed the hell out of that spider.”

  Her gaze flickered to the e. Then, slowly, she reached out and snatched it from my grip. “Hmph. Didn’t think you’d actually survive.”

  I scoffed. “Same, to be ho.”

  Matra stepped aside. “Well? Don’t just stand there. If yonna bother me, at least do it inside.”

  I hesitated.

  This was the part in the horror movies where the protagonist walks willingly into the creepy house and never es out.

  But hey. If I was about to die, at least I’d die after winning a boss fight.

  I stepped inside.

  The pce was surprisingly cozy.

  There was a small firepce, a worn-out rog chair, and a wooden shelf filled with bottles, herbs, and books. A thick smoky st filled the air, kind of like what the elder had going on in his house.

  She shuffled over to a low table and sat down with a grunt. “Alright, out with it. What do you want?”

  I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “What, I ’t just visit?”

  She gave me a look.

  “Okay, fine,” I sighed. “I had some questions.”

  Matra snorted. “Of course you do.” She tapped a finger oable. “Well? Spit it out.”

  I paused, debating how to approach this.

  Then, I went for it.

  “What do you know about disease cure potions?”

  Matra stilled. Her eyes narrowed.

  I leaned in slightly, watg her expression. “Is that a weird question?”

  “Depends.” She frowned. “What do you know about them?”

  I shrugged. “Not much. Just w how much a low-rank one would cost.”

  Her lips pressed into a thin line. “You don’t have one, do you?”

  I snorted. “What do you think?”

  She studied me for a moment, then sighed. “Low-rank cure potions are rare. Mostly made by trained alchemists. The cheapest I’ve ever seen one sold for was a gold .”

  I raised an eyebrow. “And how much is that?”

  “For a vilge like ours?” She chuckled darkly. “More than most families see in a year.”

  I let out a slow breath.

  Holy shit.

  Fifty bucks might have seemed steep to me, but if potiohat expensive here, then…

  I was sitting on a goddamn gold mine.

  Matra narrowed her eyes. “Why are you asking, boy?”

  I smiled. “Just curious.”

  For now.

  Because if I pyed my cards right, I wasn’t just saving the vilge.

  I was about to get rich.

  I tapped my fingers against the wooden table, eyeing Matra carefully.

  “So… you don’t happen to have a gold lying around, do you? Maybe, I don’t know, five?”

  Matra blinked.

  Then she burst out ughing.

  Not a polite chuckle. Not a small ugh.

  No—this woman was dying.

  I waited as she wheezed, her body shaking with ughter, her hand smag the table like I had just told the fu joke ience.

  After a full minute, she wiped a tear from her eye and sighed. “Boy, did you hit your head on the way here?”

  I groaned. “I’ll take that as a no.”

  She snorted. “Even if I had a gold , why in the hell would I give it to you?”

  “Because I’m charming?”

  Matra gave me a bnk stare.

  I sighed. “Alright, fine. Let’s talk about the pgue instead.”

  Her expression turned serious. “What about it?”

  I leaned forward. “When did it start?”

  Matra’s fiapped against the table in thought. “It’s been… nearly three months now.”

  “And the symptoms?”

  She frowned. “They’re strange. First, it’s mild fever, nothing too ing. Then coughing, fatigue… some people experience aches and chills, but not all of them. Some get skin discoloration, some don’t. Eventually, the body starts shutting down. It’s different for everyone, but o reaches that stage, they never recover.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “That doesn’t sound normal.”

  “It’s not. Actually, it was around the time we got an influx of strangers visiting.”

  I drummed my fingers against my leg, my brain pieg things together.

  “And this all started after some stranger passed through here?”

  Matra let out a shh. “Well, obviously. That’s not a revetion, boy.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Then why hasn’t anyone done anything about it?”

  Matra shrugged. “Strangers pass through now and then. We’re far from the city—some travelers stop by to rest, some don’t. And we doly have the resources to hunt someone down.”

  Something about that bothered me.

  I frowned. “How far is the city?”

  Matra’s lips curled into a smirk. “A week’s journey. By foot.”

  I blinked. “A week?”

  She nodded. “We have no horses, so walking is the only way. And even if we did—there are monsters in the forest.”

  I stared at her. “So you’re telling me… you guys live in the middle of nowhere, cut off from civilization, with no way to leave, and monsters just casually roam around?”

  Matra grinned. “Aye.”

  I sighed, shaking my head. “How the hell do you survive out here?”

  She chuckled. “Isn’t this what you wished for?”

  I snorted. “No, I wished to wake up to a billion dolrs in my bank at. Somehow, I ended up in a fantasy world instead.”

  Matra raised an eyebrow. “Dolrs?”

  ht.

  “You don’t know what that is.” I sighed, scratg my head. “Long story short—I’m not from this world.”

  She didn’t react. Just kept watg me. “Go on.”

  I gave her a quick rundown of my versation with the elder and Elise—how I went to bed in my apartment and woke up here, how I had no status window, and how my only skill was a scam of a marketpce.

  By the time I was finished, Matra shook her head. “I’ve lived a long life… but I’ve never seen anything weirder.”

  I smirked. “Gd to be your first.”

  She chuckled. “You are the stra man I’ve ever met.”

  I grinned. “Hey! I hope that’s a pliment.”

  She shen ged the subject. “You asked why I ’t cure the disease. If I knew what it was, I might be able to, but I don’t. And it’s not like I just cut open a body, cast a spell, and magically solve it.”

  I squinted. “Why ’t you? You have magic, don’t you?”

  Matra chuckled. “Magic is a tool, boy. It solves problems, but it doesn’t solve all problems.”

  I frowned. “Still. You’re a healer. Shouldn’t you have, I don’t know, a healing skill?”

  Matra let out a loud ugh. “Who told you I was a healer?”

  I hesitated. “Wait… you’re not?”

  She smirked. “Once you reach level 20, you gain minor resistao illhat’s why the elder and I haven’t gotten sick.”

  I blinked. “Level… 20?”

  Matra nodded. “My husband and I settled here years ago, when we were young airing adventurers.”

  I froze.

  “Wait—your husband?”

  She smirked. “Aye. The vilge elder. His name is Garrik.”

  My mind short-circuited.

  Matra. The tiny, old woman in front of me… was a former adventurer.

  Which meant—

  “Hold up.” I rubbed my temples. “You’re telling me you’re not a healer, but instead some retired fighter?”

  She grinned. “That’s right.”

  I let out a slow breath. “So what, you at least shoot fireballs or something?”

  Matra smirked. “Fire bolts. And only when annoying little things piss me off.”

  I paused.

  Then slowly, carefully, took a step away from the table.

  Matra ughed.

  I shook my head. “I swear, this pce gets weirder by the minute.”

  I leaned against Matra’s rickety table, arms crossed, staring at her like I was about to ask the most important question of my life.

  “What if,” I said slowly, “this is just… a really simple disease?”

  Matra scoffed. “I wish it were.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, so it’s probably not. But what if… you could cure it?”

  Matra let out a deep sigh, rubbiemples. “Then I’d need a miracle.”

  I smirked. “What if… some stranger—not me, of course—just happeo maybe have a solution to your problems?”

  Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

  A red glow flickered across her fiips.

  I raised both hands immediately. “Whoa! Hey! Don’t shoot me! I’m just rambling! Tossing out theoretical ideas!”

  Her gre didn’t ease up.

  I coughed. “Hypothetically speaking… what would you pay for, let’s say, a book on how to cure this illness?”

  Matra exhaled, leaning ba her chair. “Boy, do I look rich to you?”

  I frowned. “Well, I mean, you were an adventurer. I figured you’d have some money.”

  She snorted. “I have enough to get by, but this vilge? We’re dirt poor. Always have been.”

  That… was not what I wao hear.

  I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Okay, so let’s pretend you did have money. What would you pay for a book like that?”

  Matra gave me a long, sidering look.

  “…One gold.”

  I blinked.

  “One?”

  She nodded.

  I defted. That was way lower than I hoped.

  But wait—how much was one gold even worth?

  I mentally ran the numbers.

  One bronze = 1. One hundred bronze = one silver. One silver = 100. One hundred silver = one gold.

  Which meant…

  One gold = 10,000.

  My eyes widened.

  Holy shit.

  That was an insane profit.

  I straighterying not to look too eager. “You know what? You’ve got yourself a deal.”

  Matra squinted. “A deal for what?”

  I grinned, mentally purchasing the All About Diseases and Curses and How to Cure Them book for 25.

  A loud thud echoed as a massive, three-inch-thick book smmed onto the table from nowhere.

  Both of us stared at it.

  The cover was jet bck, decorated with an intricately carved skull, its hollow eyes glowing green. A silver dagger was embedded in the skull’s forehead, rug down the bde like veins.

  It looked like death itself.

  Matra’s face darkened.

  She slowly raised a finger, a red light gathering at the tip.

  “So,” she said, voice dangerously low, “you’re a bck mage. You’re the ohat cursed us.”

  My stomach dropped.

  “Shit.”

  I held up my hands again. “This is NOT what it looks like!”

  Matra’s eyes narrowed further.

  I g the book. At the glowing green skull, the deathly aura, the literal cursed-looking dagger stabbed through the cover.

  I swallowed hard.

  “Okay… maybe this is what it looks like.”

  Matra’s fiwitched, the red glow intensifying.

  “But! But!—” I held up a finger. “This is a book on healing!”

  Matra snorted. “That is clearly a curse book.”