"Team... Team Leader, you haven''t, like, abandoned Monica or anything?"


    "What do you mean, she''s left?!"


    "Without the Team Leader, they, like, all pick on Monica."


    As she spoke, Monica''s eyes grew redder and little pearls of tears started falling one by one.


    When Lin Da saw the girl''s face, that familiar broad forehead, the brown long hair, and the thin, delicate braid, the socially anxious and frustratingly helpless facade of hers, it all came back to him.


    ''ss Cannon'' Monica, Four-star SR, the constion prize in some Five-star SSR powerful character pool.


    Deal damage as high as the sky, as flimsy as paper, the early-phase war god of the World Tree Secret Realm, and sundered inter stages!


    Lin Da once rmended in the strategy guide created for the yermunity to use Monica for the first fifteen floors, and then you could stash her in the warehouse to gather dust.


    Over time, he almost forgot about this Four-star character.


    The girl''s face, wet with tears like a pear blossom in the rain, and her continuous, grievous whimpers, couldn''t help but make Lin Da feel a sense of guilt.


    In the game, Monica''s affinity had three events:


    1. A Glimmer of Light in the Darkness.


    2. I want to be an excellent adventurer.


    3. For the Team Leader, Monica can do anything.


    In the first event, Monica was sunny and cheerful, with a harmonious family. However, due to her mother''s misguided sympathy for a beggar Beastman, an incident of extreme malice transpired.


    It was then the yer, taking the role of an adventurer, appeared, ying the Beastman and taking in Monica, who had be an orphan.


    In the second event, the yer trained Monica''s body and forged her spirit, helping her step out of the shadows to be a proficient warrior.


    Then came the third event, when the affinity gauge was full.


    Under the starry night, the yer stroked Monica''s head, and with her face turning red, she shyly smiled, saying, ''For the Team Leader, Monica can do anything.''


    Monica hopes to use a special nickname for you in private; please input ____


    Lin Da.


    That was the text Lin Da entered.


    So Monica had previously asked if he was ''Lin Da'', not the game ID ''Dai Lian''.


    With a heavy sigh, Lin Da nced over the filthy house and Monica, trembling and uneasy like a young animal, feeling a surge of paternal protectiveness well up inside him.


    It was he, as the yer, who had rescued Monica, but then ''mysteriously'' disappeared three years ago. With the personalities of the other team members, they were definitely not going to treat Monica kindly.


    Which led to three years passing, and her reverting to the reclusive girl she had been at the start.


    "From now on, as your Team Leader, I will once again fill you with sunlight and shatter the darkness in your soul!"


    Ovee with emotion, Lin Da embraced the sobbing Monica, hisrge hands warmly holding the young girl.


    Suddenly, he was struck by a thought,


    How fragile this body was, like a trembling tower of Jenga blocks that could copse with the slightest carelessness!


    Living in a dimly-lit little house, making a living from sewing handmade dolls, with meals that were hit or miss and nutrition supplemented only by turnips... and so thin, with nothing left but dark circles under the eyes.


    Determined, Lin Da whispered in Monica''s ear: "Join the Phoenix Tail Flower adventure team. As your Team Leader, I will never let you go hungry again."


    "Team, Team Leader Lord..."


    Monica stammered as she looked into his eyes.


    Originally, Monica had already given up on being an adventurer, but when Lin Da''s voice rang out, a scene emerged in her mind,


    A ck-d swordsman wearing a mask, revealing only a pair of cold eyes, entered the room, ying beastmen thugs and rescuing the girl from despair.


    All adventurers might harm him, but Monica believed, only Team Leader Lin Da would not!


    "Yeah." Monica nodded her head vigorously, wiping away the tiny pearls at the corner of her eyes, "If it''s Team Leader Lord, then it''s okay."


    The girl''s soft voice was like honey to Lin Da''s ears. He knew this affection was nothing more than the pure bond betweenrades, but as he held Monica''s frail, willowy waist, he, the "Old Mage", was almost losing control.


    Aisant "okay" led Lin Da''s thoughts straying into dangerous territory.


    He gazed at Monica''s delicate, petite face, and the scent of her sweat exuded a strange fragrance, standing out in the filthy, dingy house—only the girl''s skin shone dazzlingly white.


    Even a ripe peach could not seem to be one percent as tempting as the sight before him...


    "Why isn''t it done yet!"


    Suddenly, Kafni''s disgruntledint sounded from outside.


    Lin Da snapped awake.


    He opened his eyes wide, with a sense of horror, he almost couldn''t resist doing something inappropriate to his own teammate!


    "Team Leader Lord?" Monica looked at him puzzledly, not at all aware she had just skirted "The Gate of Hell", blinking her big eyes in confusion.


    "Cough, cough, we need to pack up and leave this ce,"


    Lin Da turned around subtly, pulling up his trousers, and said with a serious expression, "I''ve scared away those debt-collecting beastmen, but they mighte back."


    Talking about beastmen, Monica''s little face turned pale, and with a whimper, she threw herself into Lin Da''s arms.


    I don''t remember Monica having a Bear Charge skill?


    "We''re all adults here, no hugging or clinging to the Team Leader!" Lin Da said sternly, "What my team needs are adventurers with independent characters, and you, as you are now, clearly don''t qualify. You still need more training!"


    Reluctantly, Monica let go of her hold, her voice weak, "Monica will work hard not to be left behind by Team Leader Lord."


    Talking about this, Lin Da felt guilty once again.


    He sighed and asked, "How have you spent these three years? I remember you were a warrior profession, so why did Lulu tell me you''ve be a mage?"


    "It''s like this..." Monica remembered those awful days, her gaze turning dim and lifeless.


    Through the girl''s recounting, Lin Da learned what had happened to the Primordial Adventure Team after his mysterious disappearance, and the reason for Monica''s current condition.


    Firstly, the Primordial Adventure Team had once been the Southern Fire Empire''s premier young team, famed for being the most promising to reach the top.


    Unfortunately, three years ago, the team leader known as "Dark Shadow", Dai Lian * Zhaowo vanished as if evaporated from the world, without a trace to be found.


    The self-proimed proud members, leaderless, couldn''t agree on a new leader.


    So, they vented their frustrations by smashing the team leader''s bedroom to pieces and divided all the adventure team''s assets among themselves, each going their own way.


    These were all five-star SSR level members of the Primordial Adventure Team, whom Lin Da had spent a fortune to recruit through 648 draws. As for those four-star SR characters he had kicked out, Monica wasn''t too clear on that.


    Monica, who had been oblivious to the outside world while staying in the warehouse, content with food and drink, was thrown out when the team disbanded.


    Penniless and desperate, having lost the shelter of her team leader and feeling like any adventurer could harm her, she decided to use "change profession" to end it all.