Chapter 9: It Smells Good Here

The Bunny Girl Tavern, the only underground tavern in the Beginner Village, could also be considered a den of thieves. 

Here, as long as you have money, you can buy everything you want. 

As a seasoned veteran, Li Si was familiar with all sorts of intelligence about the Kingdom of Minos, but there were times when she couldn’t recall something on the spot, so every time she went out, she would come here in advance to buy a piece of field intelligence.

Although the environment had suddenly changed and the magical beasts were rioting, this strongest intelligence station in the game was still doing booming business.

Of course, not just anyone could buy intelligence from the Bunny Girl Tavern. 

To purchase information from this underground intelligence station, one had to follow their rules and win an underground boxing match.

Li Si was very familiar with this procedure. 

She came to the ring and started putting on her boxing gloves without hesitation. 

But before she could even fasten the gloves, her opponent suddenly fell to his knees with a “thud.”

“This big sister… Please spare me…”

A ferocious face with a knife scar instantly put on a mask of pain.

He never expected that just after returning to the hideout and stopping his nosebleed, he would run into this incredibly powerful silver-haired beauty again.

He had originally run all the way back, and when he heard someone wanted a boxing match, he rushed to volunteer, hoping to regain some face in front of his underlings. 

But after signing up, he looked up and saw the silver long hair and blue eyes smiling like a cat that had seen a mouse.

There was no need to go up. 

He would be lucky if she didn’t beat him to death right there in the ring.

Li Si smiled, took off her gloves, and looked at the busy bunny girl nearby. 

The bunny girl immediately came over and, without a word, handed over the latest intelligence.

Outside the tavern, Lili Ya sighed in relief. 

She had thought Li Si really meant to bring her into this kind of shop to relax, which was a famous adult store in the Beginner Village.

“Lili Ya, do you have any special skills?”

Li Si glanced at the intelligence, tucked it into her waist pouch, and looked at Lili Ya thoughtfully. 

To become stronger, one had to fight, and in battle, the stronger the ability, the better. 

The Kind Mother Talent had some kind of special resonance with Lili Ya.

The resonance was unclear but very unique, and it seemed to be able to trigger the Strict Father Talent. 

If the Kind Mother was a talent for rapidly gaining recognition and favor, then the Strict Father was a talent for transformation and explosive increase in combat power. 

The Strict Father Talent could perceive each teammate’s strengths and weaknesses.

After forming the party, although Lili Ya seemed to have only weaknesses, there was faintly an undiscovered powerful trait. 

Li Si had actually sensed this strange feeling for a while, but it had never been clear, so she occasionally helped Lili Ya before. 

Now that they had truly formed a bond, she could be sure Lili Ya definitely had something special about her.

“Special… skills?” Lili Ya was a bit embarrassed and blushed, “Running fast… does that count?”

Li Si’s mouth twitched. 

It seemed asking wouldn’t get her anywhere. 

The Strict Father Talent could only be fully utilized in battle; she would have to observe directly in actual combat later.

Although personal abilities couldn’t be developed for now, consumables and combat supplies needed to be fully prepared. 

Previously, in the wild and dungeons, there was unlimited resurrection, so these consumables were rarely used. 

But now they couldn’t revive, so consumables were absolutely essential.

Health potions, magic potions, beast-repelling powder, antidotes, camping tents, portable fire starters, maps, portable food, combat traps…

They bought everything they could carry.

In the end, Li Si nearly walked the entire Commercial Street.

After leaving, both she and Lili Ya had an extra large beast-hide backpack.

Li Si wasn’t in a hurry to go to the wild. 

Lili Ya had just become the team leader and was still visibly excited, and coupled with her strong obsession with getting stronger, rushing out for adventure in this state could easily lead to recklessness. 

Earlier, she had said she would take her to Amusement Street to relax, and it wasn’t just empty talk.

When it was time to relax, they should relax.

However, Lili Ya was too famous. 

On the street, every few steps, someone would scream at her. 

Although she didn’t run away, it was clear she was very nervous.

Li Si decided not to relax outside. 

She bought a large amount of alcohol and snacks, packed them up, and went home to hold a two-person party to celebrate forming the team. 

She didn’t like parties, but she did this purely to help Lili Ya relax and to let her know that this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was a very formal team formation.

“Li… Li Si… can I know… why are you so good to me… I’m clearly so useless…”

The two had just finished a bottle of tequila. 

Lili Ya was clearly a bit drunk and couldn’t help asking the question she had been holding back all day.

“Is it… because of the Saint… and them… hiccup~”

“Want to… prove something to them…”

Lili Ya’s words were intermittent, and lemony-scented hiccups came from her mouth one after another.

Li Si took a sip of the flame-colored alcoholic drink, tilted her head in thought, then abruptly threw her head back and gulped down a big mouthful.

“Three months. I worked so hard to level them up. I gave up the chests that needed giving, the experience that needed giving. I even left the dungeon early so they could split the boss’s experience four ways. And yet, all three teams kicked me out without exception.”

“The first team, that hot-blooded crazy hero, was full of self-importance. She said I was too low-level to keep up with them, the geniuses chosen by the goddess. She said they were rushing to Soronwell and kicked me out. I endured it. I could understand, because I still had things to do in Border Town, and Yi Li Sha Bai’s team had just arrived.”

“The second team, Yi Li Sha Bai… ah… I don’t want to talk about it. That arrogant brat, I really couldn’t stand her. She insisted on using tablecloths and knives and forks even when eating outdoors, as if she were on a picnic. Does she think that’s a picnic? Yes, she was strong, the core of Minos was in her hands, and she was very proficient in the empire’s secret arts, but that was a dungeon! How many people died from that one picnic? How much experience was lost? She never learned! In the end, she kicked me out. I could tolerate that too, at least it got me away from that even more disturbed Mei… ah, I can’t mention that name, she might have planted some weird mark on me again… I retreated from the second team too, and I could tolerate that…”

“But… Ao Li An Na, why? I was very patient with them, but in the end, they kicked me out of the group just for doing a review. They all seemed so nice on the surface, but in the end, I was just being sentimental.”

“Think I’m cold?”

“How am I supposed to talk with them?”

“Every one of them is either an elf saint or a noble. They talk about either Xisotu’s crystal gems or Suoya’s glass furniture, elegant elven etiquette, and dishes so delicate they use dragon scales as a base. I’ve never even heard of such things, let alone fit in with them.”

“Is that being cold? I’m just a shut-in who only knows about Gundam, Demon Slayers, and the Red King. How can I chat with them? Every day, I think about how to make them stronger, how to level them up faster.”

“After all that effort, I succeeded. I got everyone to successfully change classes before the most dangerous Holy Court fell, letting them officially walk the path of the chosen. And then I was kicked away.”

“‘You’re too fatherly, like a father not a friend.’ Is that really true? Hiccup~ I’m a bit dizzy… I’m going to take a bath first…”

Li Si staggered up, and after a few hiccups, she had already slipped into the bathroom.

Lili Ya lay on the sofa, her head buzzing. 

She seemed to have heard some strange words, but more than those strange words, she suddenly felt like she kind of understood Li Si’s feelings. 

Li Si was clearly so good, yet those highnesses and princesses repeatedly group-kicked her.

Before, Li Si always wore armor, so everyone thought she didn’t care. 

But in reality, she was just an ordinary adventurer, right?

Hiccup~

Lili Ya burped, and when she turned her head, Li Si had already staggered out of the bathroom. 

She seemed to have changed into a one-piece nightgown, and her whole body exuded the moisture of a fresh shower.

“So, hiccup~ I’m going to make those bastard geniuses regret it! I’ll let them know that they’re not the only chosen in the world! I’ll let them know that status means nothing, what’s truly strong is always the heart!”

“Lili Ya, hiccup~ I just want them to take off their lofty clothes and say a proper thank you to me… hiccup~”

Lili Ya could relate. 

She also had such an obsession. 

She persisted in adventuring time and time again, just to prove that she too could become a great priest.

She suddenly took a big swig of alcohol in recognition.

“So… you found me! You want to use me! Just like you said to He Zi… hic! Li Si… I support you!”

“Ah no… Lili Ya, it’s not like that… you are chosen… it’s not like that…”

Li Si staggered and casually grabbed a bottle, chugging directly from it.

Lili Ya raised her hand to take a swig too, but when she brought her hand to her face, she found the glass bottle had been swiped by Li Si. 

She stood up to get another bottle, but suddenly a mass sat on her, and Li Si’s voice came intermittently.

“Li… Lili Ya… hiccup~ it’s not like that… I… think… you are actually… amazing… hiccup~”

Lili Ya suddenly felt something warm on her nose, as if something was pressing against it, and something seemed to be pressing on her stomach. 

She looked down to see, but her vision was covered by a curtain-like gauze. 

Inside the curtain, there was only a mass of pinkish mist, fragrant… like the sea…

“Hiccup~ Lili Ya… I’ve actually… been watching you for a long time…”

A faint voice came from her stomach. 

Lili Ya kind of understood and reminded, “Li Si… you’re facing the wrong way. That’s… the place for peeing… hiccup~”

“Ah… is that so… whatever… Lili Ya, I’m not drunk… the Red King is coming… I want… to eat a hamburger…”

“Hamburger… what’s that… hiccup~ It smells good here~”