17. The rental house three years ago

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Getting the team withdrawal certificate shouldn't be difficult.

Lin Da thought for a moment and then let go, that Lia wouldn't let him stay.

Deliberately holding him up was also unlikely.

According to the Empire's Adventurer's Law Article Thirty-Five: if Lia stalled him, he could apply to the Adventurer's Guild for a forced withdrawal.

Although it might drag on for a few days, just to be annoying, but based on Lin Da's understanding of Lia, she disdained such petty tricks.

Just like her Fire Series Battle Qi, she was as fiery and impetuous as flames.

He figured as soon as he went over, without needing to speak, she would throw the withdrawal certificate in his face.

"That's good, saves the hassle of arguing."

Lin Da, with hands in pockets, and Kafni headed towards their rental destination.

...

"Where's my grand villa, my big swimming pool? You're making me live in a place like this?"

In the middle of a decrepit old neighborhood, Kafni wailed.

What met the eyes was a row of tube buildings with yellowing walls, as old and shaky as an eighty-year-old man on his last legs in the wind.

Kafni learned from Lin Da and that old landlady's conversation that the apartment was only 50 square meters, without a private bathroom, communal, shared by the whole floor.

Bathing with others, no thanks!

Kafni still wanted to hide her big embarrassing bear.

She had never lived in such a rubbish place in her life.

Lin Da, however, didn't care at all and haggled with the landlady: "2 silver coins a month, I plan to stay long-term!"

"Oh dear, if it weren't for 'Eye of Wisdom' sir, I definitely wouldn't agree."

The gossipy rent-collecting landlady looked at Lin Da: "What happened to those girls? Back in the day, you were the only one who could make four girls willingly live in a place like this."

Three years ago, Lin Da was seen every day with four beautiful girls, and it was rumored they partied every day in the house.

Living in a rundown house but still managing to bewitch four girls left a deep impression on the landlady.

"Cough, cough, I came alone." Noticing that the landlady was peeking at Kafni and giving him a knowing smile, Lin Da quickly cleared his throat: "So is 8 silver coins enough? Let's get on with the check-in."

"For 'Eye of Wisdom's' sake, auntie will take one off, 6 coins."

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Lin Da quickly signed the rental contract and, with a dejected Kafni, went to the third floor, hearing her mutter 'don't want to live here', 'too shabby', 'how can a worthless hero treat a deity like this' and other complaints.

"That's enough, not sleeping on the streets is already pretty good; having a house in Sparrow District means you don't have to worry about safety. Look on the bright side, you won't be targeted by Black Uncle."

Lin Da tried to cheer Kafni up optimistically.

"Heh, someone else should have been the hero," Kafni retorted sarcastically.

Ignoring the sullen deity with golden hair, Lin Da took a key from his pocket. It had a worn sticker with unclear handwriting, barely making out '305'.

Huh?

Lin Da blinked in surprise.

Wasn't this the room he and the others lived in three years ago?

The Snow Goose Adventure Team was extremely poor in the early days, and although the girls like Lia came from distinguished backgrounds, each seemed to have their own difficulties. Together, they managed to scrape up a single gold coin.

Now, three years later, coming to rent again, it was the same room.

Coincidence, or was it the landlady's deliberate arrangement...?

Fighting alongside someone new at the place where he once battled might seem quite thrilling to that landlady.

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But the reality was not like that at all. In the early days of the Snow Goose Adventure Team, they spent all day fighting monsters, training, then coming back to eat before crashing into bed. Their minds were solely on the World Tree Secret Realm; there was no time for other activities.

Lin Da couldn't help but frown. Living in this kind of house would only remind him of the old Snow Goose Adventure Team, inevitably making him feel uncomfortable.

"What are you dazing out for? Hurry up and go in!"

Kafni, both tired and hungry, was already displeased, and with Lin Da stupidly daydreaming, she grabbed the key from him in frustration.

With a click, the door opened, and Kafni pushed her way in.

Apparently, the place had not been aired out for too long; a damp and musty smell assaulted their senses as they entered.

Kafni immediately pinched her nose, her face turning bitter.

As for Lin Da, the sight of the familiar old furniture in the small rental room was like overturning a jar of mixed emotions. Many scenes that had been sealed in the corners of his memory seemed to be unlocked by this rusty key, coming at him thick and fast.

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing."

"Oh."

Kafni didn't bother with him anymore and started to look around the room.

One bedroom, one living room, with a separate bathroom.

When the light was turned on, its dim yellow glow made the narrow space feel even more constricting, almost suffocating.

Kafni continued to complain.

Lin Da, as if he hadn't heard, wandered through the dust-covered living room.

He looked at the mahogany round table, which had lost much of its paint and was pocked with dents, and felt a tinge of emotion.

Those dents were made by Klrona, who used an iron ladle to serve food.

With no toys to play with while waiting for dinner, she would bang the spoon on the table. Each time Klrona did that, she'd puff out her little chest with an excuse, "It's because our team is so poor we can't even afford toys, so I have to play with this!"

Across from the door, where the round table faced, was Lia's seat. Lin Da sat opposite, with Lin Xi right next to him, and Aiko and Klrona to each side.

Seeing the objects brought back a flood of memories, vividly coming to life in Lin Da's mind.

He sat down in his own seat.

That moment, it was as if something had come alive. In a daze, he seemed to return to the scene from three years ago, stored in his memory.

"What are you looking at? Aren't we toasting?"

The voice that sounded like an illusion echoed in his ears. Lin Da looked up incredulously.

Across the round table, a girl with fiery red hair and a fresh, youthful face was holding a large oak cup, tilting her head and looking at him oddly.

"Eh? Lin Da, are you tired already? You're such small fry!"

Klrona held the cup with both hands, her snow-white feet stretched out under the table, swinging back and forth like a swing, laughing mischievously.

"Shall I cook next time?" Aiko's tone was a bit worried, as if she felt bad that Lin Da always had to cook.

"Brother?" Lin Xi, a delicate girl with soft black hair, was also looking at him with concern.

Lin Da's gaze lingered on her for a long time.

But the protagonist today was not Lin Xi.

Lin Da thought for a moment about what had happened at that time...

If he remembered correctly, today was the day they failed on the second layer of the World Tree. Luck was terrible; they were randomly sent to a Mystic Realm that was highly incompatible with the Snow Goose Adventure Team. Someone didn't follow orders and broke away from the group, rushing into the midst of the magical creatures. If not for a Town Portal Scroll, the Snow Goose Adventure Team would have been wiped out.

It was from this painful lesson of the second layer that Lin Da started the habit of collecting Magic Potions.

Under his adamant request, from then on the team had to exceed the level recommended by the Adventurer's Guild for the corresponding layer, be skilled in the boss strategies of every random map, capable of a hundred percent success rate before agreeing to attempt a strategy.

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