âMiss, you seem to be quite happy.â
A towering Minotaur donned in a black suit spoke respectfully.
âOf course, I am the leader of the Phoenix Tail Flower Fan Club.â
The young lady smiled faintly, her gaze lingering on Luluâs departing figure, a playful smirk outlining her lips.
She was dressed in a Gothic black dress, her hair long, black, and neatly straight. Her complexion was a touch pale, and her right eye, seeming injured, was covered by a white eye patch. She wore black lace gloves on her hands and held a parasol, lightly resting it on her shoulder.
âYoung Lady, the sun is about to reach its strongest. Let me take you back to your room to rest.â
The Minotaur said.
Ever since visiting White Dove City a few months ago, the young lady had decided to settle here for a while, even establishing the bizarre Phoenix Tail Flower Fan Club, truly baffling to observe.
But now, he was beginning to understand a bit.
That Lin Da actually survived the closed off Great Mystery Continent and even broke through to Star Rankâ¦
Such achievements, even placed amongst the top adventure teams in the Royal Capital, arenât something every team can accomplish.
The girl in the black dress carefully stuck her head out from under the parasol, glanced at the sunlight, and said, âMm, itâs indeed time to go back, thank you for the trouble.â
The Minotaur took out a wheelchair from the Space Ring and pushed the girl in the black dress away.
â¦
Letâs rewind to yesterday evening.
After finishing the millet porridge, Lin Da, holding the Recording Stone passed to him by Lulu, listened to that strange request, his eyes clouded with confusion for a moment.
âââI, the dean, am a mature adult.â
âââThe teacher is my future husband!â
âââThe teacher is cruel and evil, a big baddie!â
Got it.
Lin Da totally got it.
âGood, my careful nurturing wasnât in vain! Bailuo is truly an outstanding child, having become the dean of Azure Sky University. The good days for Phoenix Tail Flower are coming!â
Lin Da slapped the bed and sat up straight, his fatigue vanishing.
A Light Rank teammate would undoubtedly be a significant boost to the Phoenix Tail Flower Team.
But Luluâs next line was like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head.
âTeam, leader, you did promise Bailuo to retire together and live an ordinary life, didnât you? Why donât Monica, Tasya, and I know about this?â
âIs it only your so-called âFive-star Characterâ who knows about this?â
âThose of us with lesser talents probably donât deserve to know, right?â
Luluâs face wore a gentle smile as she took a handkerchief and wiped off the grains of millet sticking to Lin Daâs mouth after he finished the porridge.
âCough cough cough, I was blinded by power back then, itâs better left unmentioned,â Lin Da said.
Even though he was currently one level higher than Lulu, the gentle touch of the handkerchief on his lips caused Lin Da to shudder. There was no hint of smiling in Luluâs eyes as if in the next moment, her small mouth would open wide, revealing sharp teeth ready to bite into his head.
Flesh is flesh, but continuous attacks were hard for Lin Da to bear.
He coughed awkwardly.
But then he thought about it.
Something wasnât right about this situation!
He indeed promised Bailuo to retire.
The condition was, after clearing the World Tree, defeating the Demon King, and the continent was at peace.
Considering what Bailuo had previously said about agreeing to retire immediately,@@novelbin@@
How could that be?
Lin Da really liked the character Bailuo,
but he wouldnât abandon all other team members for Bailuo.
âI didnât promise her,â Lin Da said.
âNo?â Lulu was taken aback.
âThere must be some misunderstanding,â Lin Da said.
Lin Da propped his chin, carefully recalling his earlier gaming experiences.
A spark of realization flashed through his mind.
Could it be⦠because of that power outage?
The moment he clicked the option, the rented room suddenly plunged into darkness,
and the screen went black.
When he logged back into the game, the plot had disappeared, automatically skipped over.
Bailuoâs favorability increased from 80 to 90.
Perhaps this caused Bailuo to only hear the first half of the option.
The words following âbutâ cut off due to a power outage in the rental apartment.
âThis really is⦠a huge blunder.â
Lin Da couldnât help but cry and laugh.
âWhat do you plan to do?â Lulu asked worriedly.
âIn the short term, I canât let Bailuo discover my identity. She seems easy to talk to, but actually, sheâs the type to stick to her guns. Iâm worried I would be forced to go to Cyan City and get married, and that would be trouble.â
Lin Da sighed, âAt least wait until everyone in Phoenix Tail Flower Team reaches Moon Rank, or until I have a Shadow of Darkness⦠cough, anyway, tell Bailuo that Iâll look for her in three years to keep her at bay, and we can decide the rest later.â
Without an Experience Card for Shadow of Darkness, once those veteran team members learn that his strength has greatly diminished, just thinking about the consequences makes Lin Da shiver.
The game Mystic Continent was designed to fulfill playersâ various experiences and had set up many different types of beautiful female teammates.
Among them were yandere types, playful people, and ambitious folks who wanted to ride on the captainâs head⦠If Lin Da didnât have the strength to protect himself, going to meet those teammates with a smile would definitely be more terrifying than being eaten by Magical Creatures.
Time returns to the present.
After spending a night restoring his energy, the dizziness from traversing Void Space completely disappeared for Lin Da.
After eating breakfast in the morning, he was full of energy and performed a Purification on Tasya.
As Tasyaâs trust level reached 90, the strength of the Purification was unprecedented.
Just after resolving it, he came out of the bathroom with Tasya.
They were greeted by the dayâs first visitor.
Dawen from the Scarlet Adventure Group.
âLin Da, thank you for saving Lia and Tasya in the Great Mystic Realm!â Dawen bowed deeply.
âItâs what I should do; Lia was my old captain, and Tasya has a special connection with me.â
Lin Da invited the genius Swordsman from Red Heart City into the guest room.
Tasya served tea to the two and stood quietly behind Lin Da with a tray in her hands.
The morning sun shone on Tasyaâs silver hair, making it glisten. Next to her, Lin Da, dressed in white home clothes and wearing a gentle smile, created a painting full of lifeâs essence.
Dawen could tell that the emptiness was gone from Tasyaâs eyes, and she had transformed from an emotionless Magic Puppet into a normal person.
It was the same when he had visited Lia not long ago. The moment Lin Daâs name came up, Lia became animated, cursing Lin Da as the shrimp head who threw manure on her boots.
Dawen didnât know whether to cry or laugh, as the women of The Mandalas family all seemed to have been swayed by the young man in front of him.
âWhoa, you reached Star Rank?â
Having a sip of the steaming tea, Dawen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
âBy a stroke of luck.â
Lin Da modestly smiled.
âLuck that took you up five or six levels? No wonder Tasya chose to follow you.â Admiration appeared on Dawenâs face, âEven Iâm not confident about returning alive from the Great Mystic Realm.â
Lin Da shook his head, âIt wasnât just my doing; thanks also to Lia and Tasya.â
âLia⦠haha, itâs pretty good that she didnât hold you back.â Dawen chuckled and said, âThe second reason Iâm here is to give you this.â
Dawen passed over a document.
It was Tasyaâs contract to leave the team.
By noon, Lin Da bid farewell to a dejected Dawen.
Then, he and Tasya went to the Adventurersâ Guild to process her team entry contract.
Upon opening the team panel again, there was indeed an additional memberâs avatar.
Tasya, level 35.
The avatar showed a silver-haired doll with arms crossed, a shadow over her face, looking down on others.
It was identical to the gameâs chibi style.
Finally.
Storm Tasya, officially joined the team!
Lin Daâs Diamonds, now could be used on Tasya.
No sooner had he finished the procedures with Tasya than the second wave of guests arrived at the villa.
âBuddy, weâve come to visit you!â
Oru, carrying a box of milk and a bag of health supplements, laughed heartily as he pressed the doorbell.
Leading the group was Lia, in a black suspender dress, walking briskly with the vigor of a young girl.
Aiko was sitting in a wheelchair, her white dress fluttering and her golden hair flowing like a waterfall, smiling and waving at Lin Da.
âYoung Miss here is just paying a courtesy visit, so donât get any wild ideas!â Lia said, hands on her hips and puffing with anger.
âLin Da, I was so worried about you. Hearing that you didnât come out of the Great Mystic Continent, I couldnât eat well, and I even lost weight⦠Iâm relieved youâre all right.â Aiko took Lin Daâs hand, squeezing out a few tears.
Klyne and Phyllis also greeted Lin Da politely. Only Klrona kept her head down, looking distracted.
âDonât stand around, everyone come on in,â Lin Da said with a smile.