In Final Fantasy Mystic Quest on the SNES, early in one of your friends gets infected with a deadly poison, and you have to get some elixir from a nearby temple to save her. When you get there, though, a treasure hunter guy has already taken it. At first he tries to sell it to you for 9000 GP (which is a lot in FFMQ, probably more than you need for the whole game). Since you can't afford it, he makes you go adventure with him in the Bone Dungeon to get it instead. At end of the dungeon, he finds the Dragon Claw, one of the best weapons in the game, and gives you the Elixir in exchange for that.
When I was like 10, someone told me that if you had enough money you could actually buy the Elixir, then go to Bone Dungeon by yourself and get the Dragon Claw way, way earlier than you should have it. I spent a whole week grinding money off the early-game monsters at 2 GP per monster, only to find out it was fake
