"A Maiden's Affection," after all, must have its reasons.
Though an abstract concept, it always belongs to someone originally, and the maiden before him was precisely the one who bestowed this gift.
"Shana..."
Li Mingyou softly called her name. As the only character in the tutorial village that could be pursued, this blonde-haired girl held a very special place in his heart.
She was neither as powerful as the Dragoness nor as commanding as the Vampire Queen, standing at the pinnacle of this world, but this delightful young girl was undoubtedly his indispensable guiding light during his early days.
Whenever he returned defeated, Miss Shana would always comfort and care for him with meticulous gentleness.
Had it not been for Shana's exquisite and adorable character art and her melodious voice, he probably wouldn't have persisted through such a difficult game and would have deleted it long ago.
Fortunately, there was Shana, and fortunately, he persevered. Otherwise, if he had descended into this challenging instance world as a novice, he likely wouldn't have survived half a month.
The blonde-haired girl looked at him with teary eyes, pouting slightly, her on-the-verge-of-crying expression shattering to the heart.
"Hey, don't make our Miss Shana cry!"
A burly man drinking nearby grumbled discontentedly, casting an unfriendly gaze towards Li Mingyou.
Shana was quite popular in the tutorial village; seeing her in tears naturally prompted adventurers to stand up for her.
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Roland, I didn't..."
Shana instinctively tried to stop him but quickly realized and froze, dumbfounded.
After a while, she opened her mouth wide in surprise, coming back to reality.
—This isn't a dream?!
"Shana, I've returned."
Li Mingyou's voice also carried a hint of emotion. In the game, Shana was just an NPC, and even if their affection level was maxed out, she couldn't leave the tutorial village or depart from this place, while he, as a player, had to advance to new places, hence the inevitable separation.
But now things were different. In this real world, she was no longer a string of cold data, and he would no longer be the "heartbreaker" who left little Shana behind.
"Waaaah—!"
The girl in front of him dove into his embrace like a returning swallow, and Li Mingyou tightly hugged her, gently stroking her back, feeling her incredibly real warmth.
"Don't cry, it doesn't look good to have a tear-streaked face."
He lifted his hand to gently wipe away her tears, and Mr. Roland and his fellow adventurers tactfully sat back down, watching the reunited couple with interest.
Shana sniffled, quickly stopping her tears, greeted the adventurers, and then hurriedly led Li Mingyou away from the front desk.
Following her, Li Mingyou was brought to Shana's rest room at the Adventurer's Guild.
"Dear, how have you been recently? Did everything go smoothly outside? Did you encounter any terrifying monsters, did you get hurt..."
The girl excitedly asked all sorts of questions, holding his hand, while Li Mingyou could only respond with somewhat awkward smiles, "I'm fine, but due to some reasons, I'm now a rookie adventurer again."
Shana stared closely and finally noticed his level, revealing a surprised expression: "Really... But dear is very capable, not just any ordinary rookie adventurer~"
"Haha, that's true."
Li Mingyou confidently smiled, then remembered something and took out the "Maiden's Affection" from his backpack.
"By the way, why did you give me this?"
Shana followed his gaze and quickly flushed red, letting out a startled cry.
"Yaah—! This, this..."
She shyly lowered her head without further explanation.
So does this mean she tacitly agreed to something?
Li Mingyou didn't ponder over it; besides reminiscing, he had important matters to discuss with Shana. "Shana, can I ask you for a favor?"
"What can I do to help dear?" The girl's face lit up with joy, making Li Mingyou unable to resist pinching her cheek.
"Buy me a set of adventurer leather armor, and I'll pay you later."
He had no money at the moment, but Shana was quite wealthy. The salary at the Adventurer's Guild was decent, and having worked there for three years, she had saved quite a bit.
"No need, dear, Shana's things are yours."
The blonde-haired girl sweetly smiled, her eyes full of affection for her beloved.
Li Mingyou scratched his cheek, feeling a bit like he was mooching off her.
But wasn't this feeling rather enjoyable?
Adventurer leather armor was available at the guild, and soon Li Mingyou got what he wanted.
[Adventurer Leather Armor]
Level: 1
Quality: Black Iron
Attribute: Defense +4
[Adventurer Leather Pants]
Level: 1
Quality: Black Iron
Attribute: Defense +4
[Adventurer Leather Boots]
Level: 1
Quality: Black Iron
Attribute: Defense +2
Together, these three pieces provided a total of 10 points of defense. Don't underestimate these 10 points; they significantly boost survivability in the early stages. With this gear, even an average novice player could tough it out against monsters.
Of course, the value of this set for a newcomer was quite steep, requiring a full 1000 copper coins. Even with Li Mingyou's discount at 30%, it still cost 7000 copper coins, equivalent to three months of Shana's salary.
And this was just the lowest quality black iron gear.
In the world of "Infinite Dungeons," equipment was both rare and expensive.
Materials from a level 1 monster were worth about 200 copper coins. For an average newcomer to earn enough to buy this set of adventurer leather armor, they would need to kill dozens of monsters to save up the money.
But given the strength of monsters, if one had the ability to kill dozens, they wouldn't need to buy this low-level gear in the first place.
"Dear plans to go outside the village?"
Seeing Li Mingyou change into the leather armor, Shana asked.
"Yes, it's still early, planning to go out and hunt some monsters... Don't worry, with the leather armor Shana bought me, I'll be fine."
Seeing the girl's worried expression, Li Mingyou stroked her shiny blonde hair, soft and smooth to the touch, making him somewhat reluctant to let go.
"Mmm... Then Shana should get back to work too..."
She nodded, walked a few steps, then turned back: "Will dear come back to see Shana later?"
"I will."
Li Mingyou smiled. Of course, he had to come back; he didn't want to return to that shabby little wooden house and hoped Shana would take him in for the night...