Should he join the Ice Flower Adventure Team?
Linda fell into deep thought.
Objectively speaking, the captain of Ice Flower was enthusiastic and powerful, and she had led her team to clear the eleventh floor.
During the challengers' press conference, Linda had seen the members of Ice Flower a few times and could feel the great atmosphere within their adventure team.
Compared to the Snow Goose Adventurer Party, it was a world of difference.
However.
Linda summoned his personal status panel.
Aside from basic information, there was an option on the left called [Party Module].
Clicking it brought up a prompt: To unlock this template, you must form a party of your own.
Within the game's Secret Realm Continent, the party module provided many attribute bonuses. Missing this module was equivalent to having an incomplete system function.
Besides, Linda looked into the distance at the towering, verdant tree that reached the sky.
Whoever ascended to the top floor of the World Tree would obtain the strongest weapon, the Sword of the Brave, and the opportunity to make a wish to the Goddess of the World Tree.
The person who obtained the Sword of the Brave would be the captain, and the person who obtained the wish would likewise be the captain.
To defeat the Demon King, the Sword of the Brave was indispensable.
Without that [Specialized in Demonic Race Attack] trait, the game's difficulty would increase dozens of times.
Thinking of this, Linda shook his head and politely declined: "Sorry, I plan to build my own adventure team."
Isha frowned, assuming this was Linda's excuse: "Do you think the Ice Flower Adventure Team's salary is too low? How much does Leia pay you? I guarantee I can raise it by twenty percent based on that."
Leia only gave away junk, believing that a level 15 Healer wasn't worthy of good equipment.
Linda couldn't bring himself to say it; it was too pathetic, and he was afraid of being laughed at.
"It's not a matter of compensation." Linda smiled. "I have certain reasons why I must create my own team. Furthermore... since I've dropped to level 0, joining the Ice Flower Adventure Team would only hold them back."
"Ah, level 0?" Isha looked at Linda in surprise. "I see. No wonder you were kicked out by that Leia..."
Isha completely misunderstood.
She assumed Linda had suffered an accident inside the World Tree and was thus kicked out of the team by Leia.
Linda didn't offer too much explanation either, saying modestly: "That's how things are. Thank you for your kindness."
The invitation from the Ice Flower Adventure Team was certainly tempting, but Linda still wanted to create a team of his own.
After parting ways with the regretful Isha and walking just a short distance away, Kafuni curiously sidled up to him.
"What's going on with the Snow Goose Adventurer Party? Who is Leia? Why did your expression change as soon as that Isha mentioned her?"
"None of your business," Linda said testily.
Yet Kafuni refused to give up on getting to the bottom of it. She caught the scent of juicy gossip from Linda and was determined to get to the truth.
"We're partners fighting the Demon King together, aren't we? Is there anything we can't talk about?"
"Talk, hurry up and talk!"
"This deity is asking you a question, you know?"
The less Linda said, the more excited Kafuni became.
Annoyed beyond endurance by her pestering, Linda finally had to give a brief summary of what had happened with the Snow Goose Adventurer Party.
A moment later.
"Ha? You were basically just a simp! Doing their laundry, cooking for them, and preparing strategy guides for free? Even a dog couldn't simp as hard as you!"
After listening to Linda's account, Kafuni was dumbfounded.
Before her eyes, she could practically picture three troublemakers and a male mother.
Team captain Leia frequently came into conflict with other adventurers and beat people to the point where they couldn't take care of themselves, with Linda stepping in every time to clean up the mess.
The female Mage had problems with her legs and needed daily massages.
The Heavy Armor Warrior was an overgrown brat with a foul mouth who liked to call Linda a useless trashy old man.
If Linda didn't cook the specific meals she ordered for their three daily meals, she would refuse to eat, forcing Linda to accommodate the child every single time.
It wasn't as if she had never seen a good person, but Kafuni had never seen anyone like Linda.
Serving a dog was easier than serving that bunch of spoiled mademoiselles!
"Simp, simp Brave! How did this deity end up choosing someone like you to be the Brave? Sigh, I really want to swap you for a Brave who respects this deity, is powerful, and isn't a simp."
Kafuni put her hands behind her back, puffed out her chest, cast a side-long glance at Linda's darkened expression, and taunted him with the hateful, smug expression of an obnoxious brat.
"Alright, shut your trap!"
Linda was somewhat irritated: "You don't have balls, so naturally you don't understand a man's thoughts! Besides, back when we first formed the team, Leia was a normal person. It was only after the team became famous that she started changing."
Kafuni refused to show weakness and retorted:
"Who do you think is to blame for me not having balls? Anyway, I think the abnormal one is actually you. Weren't you the one who spoiled them into that state?
If someone cooked three meals a day for me every single day for a consecutive year, and then suddenly stopped one day, I'd naturally curse that person out.
Why did they always cook before, but stopped doing it now?
They didn't take you seriously at all; it's purely because you simp too hard!"
Linda frowned. "You not having balls is none of my business! If you had told me in advance that the deity must fulfill the wish made by the Brave, why would I have made such a useless wish?
Besides, I don't simp at all. I just did what I was supposed to do—I couldn't just let them starve to death, could I?"
"That's why you're called a simp!"
Kafuni clutched her sides and laughed out loud.
She had thought she was miserable enough turning into a girl, but Linda seemed even more miserable than her.
Those teammates of his, by Linda's own account, had never treated him as a teammate at all—they were just using him, knowing that as long as they pushed forward a single step, he would back down.
After backing down so many times, Linda simply got used to it, coming to feel that doing all those things was his duty and his responsibility.
In other words, Linda had been mentally manipulated!
A dignified Brave, yet he couldn't even figure out something this simple!
Kafuni casually addressed Linda's other topic: "What do you mean by saying this deity is useless? If this deity had told you in advance that I needed to use all my strength to fulfill the Brave's wish, a simp like you definitely would have made an even more ridiculous wish! Like simping for someone to increase affection points or something, hahahahaha!"
"What? Don't look down on people, you damned deity!"
Linda was thoroughly enraged, and the two of them started a fierce battle right on the street.
Passersby looked with surprised expressions at this strange combination.
A tall man with short black hair was angrily chasing a female with long blonde hair.
He had the fierce momentum of someone who would ride her into the ground the moment he caught her.
The latter wasn't afraid at all; she stood on the edge of the fountain's stone basin, crossed her arms, and taunted the former: "Simp, simp Brave!"
"Damn, damn it!"
Even though Linda ran until his lungs felt like they were about to explode, he still couldn't catch up to Kafuni, who possessed the Thief class.
He used his sleeve to wipe the sweat beads from his forehead and panted heavily.
Despite being exhausted, somehow, after running hard like that, he actually felt a bit refreshed, as if all the murky air and gloom trapped inside his chest had been completely expelled.
This couldn't help but remind Linda of when the Snow Goose Adventurer Party was first established, back when the members would similarly laugh and chatter, chasing and hitting each other all the way.
Sure enough, he still felt a certain nostalgia.
Linda let out a soft sigh.
To say he didn't feel a bit of sadness after leaving the team he had stayed in for three years and built up with his own hands would definitely be a lie.
At this moment, he looked ahead at Kafuni, who was standing on the edge of the fountain basin with her hands on her hips and a triumphant look on her face, her soft pandas swaying in the wind.
It gave him the feeling of returning to three years ago, carefree and untroubled.