Oh wow, it maxed out.
Lili Ya’s affection maxed out.
Whether it was the shock of being made team leader, or the overly intimate gesture of pretending to wipe her mouth while eating ice cream and then casually licking it off her own finger, in any case, Lili Ya’s affection maxed out, directly increasing by 50%, and after leveling up, an extra 40%.
Li Si looked up at the sky with a sense of loss, already too moved to know what to say.
In three months with the heroines, she had only gained fifteen disdainful glances. But with Lili Ya, in one night, she almost understood the correct way to use her golden finger.
So this is how satisfying it feels to have a golden finger after transmigrating. The previous Strict Father was no golden finger at all—it was just being the heroines’ nanny and punching bag.
“Th-Th-Th-That! L-Li-Li-Li-Si! What are you saying!!!”
Lili Ya suddenly shouted.
Behind the counter in the guild hall, a clerk was holding out a party crystal, waiting for the team leader to name it.
Lili Ya had been in a daze ever since she came from the Commercial Street. It was only when she saw the party crystal that she suddenly realized—Li Si had actually sent her a party invitation!
And! She wanted her to be the leader!
This is too absurd! Isn’t this exactly the story that every stay-at-home adventurer dreams of—a powerful, beautiful girl dropping into their lives and leading them to the pinnacle of success?!
“Lili Ya, are you going to reject me?”
Li Si blinked, slowly revealing an expression that was one part pleading, one part resentful, one part displeased, and ninety-seven parts ‘please don’t reject me’.
“No no not at all! That’s not what I mean!”
If before she had frozen up, now Lili Ya was completely fried.
She could no longer understand what was happening.
She only remembered that afterwards, under Li Si’s suggestion, she seemed to have given it a name—Fairy Tail.
Then Li Si shouted at her, “Captain Lili Ya,” and then the entire guild hall erupted.
“Holy crap? Someone partied up with Lili Ya?”
“Holy crap? That Lili Ya who only knows Level 1 Heal became the team leader?”
“Holy crap? The Holy Court collapsed, the Goddess is gone, it’s the end of the world, and she became the leader?”
“Let me see which brave soul dares to party with Lili Ya at a time like this.”
“Whoa~ It’s a top-tier beauty!”
Even after leaving the guild hall, Lili Ya still hadn’t come to her senses. But soon she had to face reality—many adventurers gathered around, eager to see what changes had occurred in Lili Ya.
Lili Ya felt a bit panicked being stared at, and instinctively wanted to grab Li Si’s hand, but when she turned around, she found Li Si was already gone.
Only then did she vaguely remember that a Cat Beastman had come to find Li Si, and then Li Si had gone to a quiet alley nearby to talk with that person.
Lili Ya quickly extricated herself from the crowd and chased after her.
“Li Si, what are you thinking? You want to party with her?”
In the quiet alley, He Zi looked incredulous.
She had come to persuade Li Si to rejoin the team, but because she had been stunned for a few minutes on the Commercial Street, by the time she turned around, Li Si had already formed a new party.
Although there was no penalty for leaving the party now, leaving the party now had a cooldown period. Whether by voting to leave or leaving on one’s own, it required a 30-day waiting period.
At a time of such world upheaval, time was extremely precious. Only by leveling up faster and increasing combat power could one gain enough safety in this world where resurrection was impossible.
But Li Si, at a time like this, chose to party with a Level 1, famously useless priest—this was practically asking for trouble!
He Zi was both angry and frustrated. She shouldn’t have been daydreaming earlier, but Li Si shouldn’t have been so reckless.
She grabbed her black cat ears, saying discontentedly, “Are you sulking at us? You’re expressing your unhappiness in this way, but this isn’t like before. You can’t be resurrected immediately. You should know how serious this is, right?”
“When we were adventuring, you always said to stay calm and have a long-term perspective. So how could you do this now!”
Li Si stood at the entrance of the alley, back to the sunlight, just calmly looking at He Zi.
She had heard this kind of reproach too many times.
Things like ‘mind your own business’—that was what they used to say to her the most.
But now, it was their turn to meddle.
“He Zi, do you also think I need your protection? That the gap between a Level 10 and a Level 15 Job Changer is insurmountable? Just like you look down on Lili Ya, you look down on me too.”
“Lili Ya is very weak, but she has something that you all don’t.”
Li Si’s gaze was steady. Watching He Zi’s restless and agitated demeanor, as if she was about to explode but forcibly calmed down using her Assassin nature, she shook her head and sighed, “Thank you for your kindness. Yesterday, I didn’t mean to ignore your messages—I was simply discussing matters with Lili Ya and didn’t have time. If you only came to persuade me to return to the team and help me get stronger, then I’m happy, but I don’t need it.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now. Lili Ya is waiting for me. Also, tell Orianna and the others that I won’t be coming back. You’re right, this is my discontent. Lili Ya is very weak, but she will become very strong—stronger than you all.”
He Zi angrily bared her two sharp fangs. She completely couldn’t understand how that rational, calm Li Si who never liked mistakes could suddenly become like this. Wasn’t it Li Si herself who said that accepting weakness and correctly facing weakness was a rare virtue? But now that she herself had become the weak side, she refused to accept their protection.
If it were before, when resurrection was possible, He Zi would never be this serious. But now it was different. She was afraid that Li Si might end up like those adventurers’ bodies displayed in the Holy Hall, never to move again.
He Zi gritted her teeth and said angrily, “Why! Why are you always so cold to us! Can’t you just face reality!”
In almost an instant, a dagger slid from her waist into her hand. He Zi instantly melted into the shadow of the alley, turning into a fierce gust of wind.
Li Si’s gaze was calm. Outside the alley, a pink-haired figure happened to run to the entrance.
That figure suddenly cried out in alarm, “Watch out!”
Li Si’s expression didn’t change. With the fierce wind at her back, she turned on her heel, drew her sword, and the blade quietly pressed against a snow-white neck.
“I told you, if you don’t get rid of your contempt, you’ll make a mistake sooner or later. He Zi. Anger, joy, sadness—these emotions can be turned into strength, but they cannot be an excuse for recklessness.”
Beneath the blade, He Zi maintained her lunge posture, silently stopping just before the edge. Her amber eyes looked up at Li Si with discontent.
Those eyes were full of disdain and defiance. As an Assassin, her greatest strength was burst power, and under that burst, she couldn’t control her own strength well. So if she really used full force, Li Si wouldn’t be able to block her and would even be seriously injured.
She was just angry, but hadn’t lost her reason yet.
Li Si sheathed her sword and shook her head, not caring about that disdain. She was just a bit puzzled—He Zi usually had a good temper, so why had she suddenly blown up upon meeting today?
Seeing He Zi like this, it was clear she wouldn’t listen to reason for a while. Li Si didn’t say much more, turned around, and walked toward Lili Ya.
“Li Si, are you okay!”
Lili Ya was so scared that she broke out in a sweat. She had heard the entire conversation.
Although she didn’t know the grievances between Li Si and her former teammates, it sounded like their relationship was very bad, and she herself seemed to be caught in the middle.
This made her feel a pressure she had never felt before.
“Hey, what are you doing to our boss?”
“Isn’t this the useless priest Lili Ya? Heard you became team leader. How come you made our boss He Zi kneel?”
A thief seemed to have seen something. He swaggered over aggressively, leading a group of thieves.
The surrounding adventurers had already been watching Lili Ya for entertainment. Seeing someone about to target Lili Ya, they got hyped up, whistling wildly and ready to watch the show.