3. Deity's Invitation

After leaving the Snow Goose Adventure Team, what next?

Lin Da gazed at the starry night sky, feeling a hint of bewilderment.

It was like a prisoner who had served three years and was finally released, holding freedom but clueless about what to do.

In the cool night breeze, he walked out of the affluent neighborhood.

Lin Da gradually made a decision.

He truly needed to continue being an adventurer.

With a plethora of strategies and clearance experiences in his mind, finding a few teammates who would follow orders, reaching the top floors might be uncertain, but making it to the thirtieth or fortieth floor was possible.

If his future team could surpass the Snow Goose Adventure Team in terms of floors—would Lia be so angry that she would bite him?

Lin Da had never held a grudge against her nor seen her defense break.

He found himself quite curious about it.

Ding-dong.

He heard a phantom sound.

An icon resembling an email popped up in the lower right of Lin Da's field of vision.

"Is this shabby system of mine starting up?"

Lin Da's eyes brightened, and his mood improved slightly.

During those three years, the system had remained gray and unresponsive to clicks; he had almost lost all hope in it.

Thinking of opening the email, a golden envelope popped up.

A line of text appeared before Lin Da:

Item: [Deity's Invitation]

Quality: Fantasy

Content: An invitation from the Divine Realm has been sent to you, do you accept?

Yes/No

Lin Da unhesitatingly chose 'Yes'.

The invitation's quality was Fantasy Grade—it would be too wasteful not to use it.

After clicking 'Yes', the invitation disappeared from the system interface, transforming into a golden light that enveloped Lin Da.

In the eerily quiet night, Lin Da's figure vanished from the spot.

The scenery in his field of vision changed.

Holding his slightly dizzy head, Lin Da looked around.

Darkness surrounded him, no stars or moon overhead.

It was as if he had entered a black sheet of paper.

In this eerie space, there was a stone chair placed directly in front of him.

A man sat regally atop it.

An authoritative voice came:

"Hero, you have finally arrived, I, the deity, have waited for you for millions of years!"

Hero?

Me?

Lin Da blinked in confusion.

So, after three years, the benefits of being a transgressor had finally come to fruition?

...

Meanwhile, at the Snow Goose Adventure Team's villa, in Lin Da's room.

Papers filled with various data were scattered all over the floor.

The water in the cup on the table had long since gone cold.

Lia stood there in a daze, her fiery red hair looking somewhat disheveled.

She had been standing with her back facing the room door for nearly half an hour, yet Lin Da had not returned.

A wave of panic rose in her heart.

She couldn't help but think, was Lin Da serious?

Had he decided to leave the team just because she had reprimanded him a few times?

Hearing Lin Da mention quitting the team, Lia was confused for a moment and felt some discomfort in her chest, nearly turning around to pull him back.

—Thankfully, she restrained herself.

Why should she bow down to that Lin Da? Clearly, it was Lin Da who couldn't keep up with the level, so why did it feel like she was the one in the wrong?

Besides, she hadn't planned on kicking Lin Da out; she only brought out Phyllis's resume to scare him, to make him agree to enter the ninth level tomorrow.

Was such a big reaction really necessary?

Lia looked at the scattered papers on the floor, casually picked one up, and only a moment later felt a headache coming on.

What were all these? Was Lin Da filling up her time with this stuff every day?

It was written with many things she couldn't understand—something about HP, MP, STR, T, aggro, phase two... and a mass of formulas that started to blur her vision after a while.

Lia slammed the door irritably as she walked into the living room.

"What's going on here, who has displeased our mighty team leader?"

Aiko was applying cucumber slices to her face and glanced over to see Lia with a stern face, looking like everyone owed her eight million Gold Coins.

It immediately filled the air with a heavy atmosphere.

Lia didn't speak, just sulkily sat on the couch and started flipping through a comic book of Klrona's, clearly distracted. Her eyes weren't even on the pages; she just kept turning them.

Aiko, recalling Lin Da's odd behavior just moments earlier, sensed something was amiss.

After a while, Lia finally spoke in a casual tone, "Lin Da is quitting the team."

"What?"

Aiko was stunned for a moment, nearly blurting out to ask what had happened in the room. But catching sight of Lia's dark expression, she forcefully swallowed her words.

As one of the veteran members of the Snow Goose Adventure Team, Aiko knew Lia's personality well: willful, hot-tempered. She somewhat understood what might have happened just by thinking a little.

Lia's poor attitude towards Lin Da wasn't new. Everyone thought Lin Da, with his high tolerance, wouldn't quit over such trivial matters.

"Lin Da is quitting? That's great!" Klrona, who was busy building a monster out of blocks, suddenly cheered.

She excitedly ran back to her room, grabbing a big box of board games with sparkling eyes, "Let's play this? Forget about that useless Small Fry Uncle Lin Da, it's better if he's gone!"

Seeing someone supporting her, Lia's mood eased quite a bit.

Apart from the Snow Goose Adventure Team, no other top-tier team would take a level 15 Healer like Lin Da.

Once that guy gets a taste of rejection outside, he will surely come crawling back.

Right... no need to worry.

Lia started laughing, sitting opposite Klrona, "What game is this? It looks fun."

"Brave Fight Against the Dragon, I'll be the Hero, and you're the Evil Dragon," Klrona excitedly held a Hero figurine and pushed the Dragon figurine towards Lia.

"Is it okay to just forget about Lin Da?" Aiko, dressed in a pristine white gown with her majestic blonde hair, hesitated a bit, "At least Lin Da has contributed to the team."

This complaint was soft, but Lia's ears were as sharp as a cat's.

Aiko highly suspected that Lia wasn't really playing the game with Klrona; she was just using her ears like radar, checking to see if anyone would blame her for driving Lin Da away.

"Hmph, Lin Da quitting the team? Just watch, in a few days, he'll come back begging me to take him back!"

Lia deliberately raised her voice to sound justified.

Aiko lowered her head to hide the smirk on her face, silently cursing Lia to the high heavens.

Dream on!

With his good-natured personality, he wouldn't leave unless pushed to the limit.

Usually, Aiko would indirectly tell Lia to tone it down, that Lin Da was already trying his best, that everyone should be understanding.

Otherwise, where would she find such a useful and fun toy if Lin Da were driven away?

His health was failing, yet Lin Da would wash her feet every night!

Looking down at the back of Lin Da's head, the way he diligently massaged her feet was just heavenly, both spiritually and physically.

Lin Da also cooked, strategized, and accepted the least amount of rewards among the main members.

Such a nice person wouldn't be found again.

Thus, Aiko harbored a great resentment towards Lia the Shar Pei.

But at that moment, Lia was laughing, feeling quite justified in her statement.

That cricket Lin Da would probably return by tomorrow night.

Lia picked up the chess piece, swiftly capturing several of Klrona's pawns.

"Ah, defeated!"

Klrona pouted, reluctantly suggesting, "Another round!"

"Sure, sure, I'll win no matter how many times we play," Lia flipped her fiery red hair, her face full of confidence.