At a little past eight in the evening, the Sparrow District on the city's edge had already fallen into silence, while the affluent White Dove District was still brightly lit.
The bustling shopping streets glowed with various magic lantern signs, and there were many stylishly dressed men and women. Occasionally, one could also see the unusual sight of beastmen and elf couples walking hand in hand.
Since a divine decree from the World Tree Goddess three hundred years earlier, the wars across the continent had ended, ushering in an era of peaceful coexistence among multiple races.
As indicated by the divine decree, the 'Demon King Satan,' sealed by the previous generation of heroes, was about to return from the Bottom of the Demon Realm. To select a new hero, the World Tree Goddess had placed the strongest weapon, "Hero's Sword", at the top level of the World Tree Secret Realm.
This further elevated the status of adventurers, and all intelligent beings living on the Mystic Continent aimed to reach the top of the World Tree and pull out the Hero's Sword.
At that moment, in a luxurious mansion in the Inner City District.
In a lavishly decorated living room, a young girl wearing a loose, orange long dress had fallen asleep on the couch.
Her red hair, as smooth as satin, spread out like a waterfall touching the floor.
Lia, having just come out of the bath, was relaxed and had planned to rest on the couch for a while but had unexpectedly drifted into deep sleep.
"—Without a doubt, the continent flourished because of the World Tree!"
Lia dreamt of ten years ago, hiding outside the windows of the Noble Academy, eavesdropping on a teacher's lecture.
"But what I need to clarify is, the World Tree we see is not its main trunk."
Is it not? Lia thought to herself.
She leaned in closer.
"The World Tree's roots spread across the continent. Those roots that break through the ground become smaller World Trees, which are what we see. Each World Tree has a different maximum number of levels, some only 5, some 20, but only the sacred World Tree in the center of the continent, in the Sanctuary, reaches the top level!"
"With each World Tree as a nucleus, the original adventurers gathered, multiplied, established villages, and as the population grew, these places gradually turned into towns and cities."
"That is the origin of our Red Heart City!"
"Do not dishonor the legacy of your city's founders. Strive to become adventurers, aiming to reach the top level of the World Tree!"
"Oh oh oh oh oh!"
The exhilarating shouts of children burst through the window.
The descendants of the founders are so great?
Beneath the window, Lia, dressed in grubby commoner's clothes, clutched her straight wooden stick tightly, her eyes filled with resentment for her own circumstances.
She thought, one day she would become a top-level adventurer, a person respected by all, not someone hiding under someone else's classroom to learn.
Time seemed to accelerate by tens of thousands of times, and after a dizzying spin, Lia realized she had left Red Heart City and arrived in a dirty, rundown rental in White Dove City.
A pitted redwood round table, and a persistent musty smell that never dissipated.
A bunch of people squeezed together, the air so thin it seemed one had to struggle with each breath.
Those poor memories prickled at Lia's nerves every time she recalled them.
"Please take everyone with you, without exception, and conquer the top level of the World Tree!"
The sudden sound of a familiar voice made Lia's eyelids twitch; she saw, not far in front of her, among five people gathered around the round table, a red-haired girl, noticeably younger than herself, suddenly stood up and bent over to plead with the Healer in their team.
Lia's face darkened instantly; why did it have to be that day?
She woke up from the nightmare.
Groggily sitting up from the couch, she touched her forehead, which was covered in sweat.
'Take everyone with you, without exception, and conquer the top level of the World Tree?'
How naive she had been back then, and Lin Da had actually agreed with a serious face.
Lia found it a bit funny, anyone in the adventure team knew that it was impossible not to have personnel changes when summiting the World Tree.
With a total of fifty layers in the Mystic Realm, each layer had several random maps, populated by various types of Guardians.
Relying on just a few fixed team members wasn't feasible to handle all the Guardians.
Personnel changes were too normal, the main members of the Snow Goose Adventure Team had not changed for three years, which in the eyes of other adventurers was "abnormal".
As the leader of the Snow Goose Adventure Team, Lia should have kicked out Lin Da, a 15th-level member, a long time ago, but out of old loyalty, she had kept him, paying him the salary of a main team member.
After returning from the World Tree, Lia thought about it all afternoon but still couldn't understand the reason Lin Da had quit the team.
She sulkily took out a bottle of juice from the refrigerator and began to sip from it with both hands held around it.
Lia recalled that before she had asked Lin Da to lead everyone to the top of the World Tree while in the rental house, Lin Da had been amazing, capable of guiding the team through higher levels with lower ranks.
But since she had asked him, although the team's level had already surpassed the recommended strategy level of the Adventurer's Guild, he still refused to progress, insisting that everyone master the level to handle all bosses without getting injured.
If Lin Da had used his previous capabilities, they could have easily moved on, right?
The more Lia thought about it, the angrier she got.
"Is dinner not ready yet?"
Having finished her juice, she banged the table in frustration.
When no response came after waiting for a long while, it was the first time this had ever happened.
Lia was stunned for a moment, then looked around and realized that the living room was empty, just her alone.
Aiko and Klrona were probably in their rooms, Klyne and Oru, the couple, had bought a house in installments and didn't live here.
"Where's the food, the food!"
Lia bit her lip in frustration.
Normally at this time, Lin Da would have already prepared dinner, and all they had to do was eat, but Lin Da had suddenly left the team, and she hadn't had the time to hire a new cook.
With her stomach growling non-stop, Lia, full of resentment, went to the fridge to look for something to eat.
From the storage level equipped with a freezing array below, she dug out a few bags of dumplings.
"We'll just eat this tonight."
Lia saw the hand-written label on the packaging, which was pork and chive filling, and felt a bit calmed.
This strange delicacy, wrapped in dough, she often used as a midnight snack.
It's just that before, she only had to yell and someone would boil the dumplings; now, she had to cook them herself.
Lia found it quite fresh and entered the kitchen, full of zest, with the dumplings in hand.
It was her first time doing this, giving her the thrill of an adventurer entering a new Mystic Realm.
After some fiddling, she finally managed to light the stove; a pale blue flame rose up, next was to pour water into the pot... Although she had never seen Lin Da do it, she could guess how it was done.
After pouring in the water, Lia poured a big bag of dumplings into it with a splash.
This much was enough for three people to eat.
Lia tied on an apron, crossed her arms over her chest, and smugly imagined the scene where Aiko and Klrona would be in disbelief, praising her.
Gurgle, gurgle, not long after, the cold water heated up to boiling and started to bubble.
Lia stared with wide eyes in confusion. What happened? The dumplings had all burst open, and the filling was spilling everywhere!
"Aiko, Aiko, come here, there's a problem!"