The Price of Experience and the Shadowy Invitation

“Ah… I don’t get it. Where exactly did I violate the rules?”

“Bloody? Violent?”

“There’s no blood, only flowers, you know~”

Saint Lily sighed, rubbing her face. Was her wrestling match with a giant gorilla truly considered violent?

She couldn’t really argue with that. Perhaps if it had been a swift, one-shot kill, it might have been better.

“Saint Lily.”

“?” Feeling a little downcast, Saint Lily let her arms drop, then looked up slightly at Red Spider Lily standing beside her.

“It was very cool,” Red Spider Lily said, touching her nose and looking away.

“……”

Saint Lily blinked once, then blinked again.

“You mean… ‘cool’ as in?”

“Yes, Saint Lily under the lily flowers was very cool.”

“(˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)”

Saint Lily, hands clasped behind her back, gazed expectantly at Red Spider Lily and chuckled,

“Red Spider Lily~~”

Red Spider Lily found it difficult to meet such an intense gaze. She gently pushed away the face that was leaning closer.

“I was just stating a fact.”

‘She recovered her spirits so quickly. All it took was one sentence?’

Red Spider Lily curled the corner of her lips, pleased. Then, as if remembering something, she asked, “So, Saint Lily, after defeating that Calamity Beast, did your experience points increase?”

“Eh? I haven’t checked yet, but there should only be a little experience, right?” Saint Lily only just reacted, not paying much mind to it. However, after checking for herself, she gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.

“Th-this… this… that can’t be, can it?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Red Spider Lily, the experience bar… it jumped up a segment.” Saint Lily gestured with her fingers, indicating the length of the experience bar. Red Spider Lily looked, noting it was about the width of a one-yuan coin.

“This is absurd, truly absurd! How many Calamity Beasts like that would I have had to defeat before to get even one segment?”

Listening to Saint Lily’s subsequent words, her shock was palpable.

Red Spider Lily pondered for a moment.

“Saint Lily, defeating monsters in a dungeon grants experience. Although we haven’t encountered it before, it’s still common knowledge, isn’t it?”

“?” Saint Lily was puzzled but nodded nonetheless.

“And your experience value for leveling up is structured by your understanding, isn’t it?”

“Ah… mm…” Saint Lily looked up, nodded, mused, then nodded again.

“……”

Red Spider Lily looked at her, then spread her hands. “Then isn’t the answer quite obvious?”

“Uh…” Saint Lily hesitated.

“This means that this is the true experience value gained from defeating a Calamity Beast. It’s just that you, having never encountered it, limited your own understanding significantly.”

Red Spider Lily raised her index finger, explaining clearly.

“……”

Saint Lily froze, then opened her mouth. “Eh?”

“Ah…”

“Is this how it’s supposed to be?”

As Saint Lily voiced her doubt, the experience bar began to fluctuate forward, albeit slowly.

“If you’re still unsure, try fighting another Calamity Beast,” Red Spider Lily suggested. “Practice reveals truth, doesn’t it?”

“Oh~ mm, it does!” Saint Lily was filled with excitement. So, if this was true, did it mean her potential wasn’t limited to just ‘blooming’?

****

As Saint Lily’s livestream was shut down, viewers who had entered with relaxed spirits couldn’t help but worry about what was happening.

Although the livestream was quickly unblocked, it seemed Saint Lily had already ended her broadcast.

‘Hey! This makes us even more worried!’

‘What happened?’

‘Supervisors! Platform! Come out and give us an explanation!’

‘What’s going on? Who told you to block it? And what content was even inappropriate?’

A group of people waited in the livestream room for a long time with no activity, then moved to Tieba, Weibo, and other platforms to spread the news.

****

“Restore it! Immediately, right now!” An Lan hissed like an enraged cat. “What were you thinking? Shutting down the livestream? No matter what, that was firsthand information!”

“……” An Lan paused. “Not you guys, um… the platform is also looking for the reason. It might have been a supervisor’s accidental operation?”

An Lan’s expression was hard to decipher.

“So, have you fixed it?”

Upon receiving the information that the broadcast had ended, she completely lost her composure.

Her phone was covered in an icy frost, and its bright screen dimmed instantly.

Her blue eyes stared for a long time, calm and unruffled; her previous rage seemed to have been an illusion.

She sat back on the sofa. “Perhaps none of this was an accident?”

“Someone painstakingly designed this situation and is quietly hidden behind the scenes.”

“From the initial message received to this broadcast interruption, everything indicates that someone is closely monitoring the ‘large-scale dungeon’.”

“If they can infiltrate the official network, then creating a livestream incident would be effortless, wouldn’t it?”

“It’s just…”

She curled her slender fingers and crossed her legs, lost in thought. “The target must be me, right?”

“The Villain Alliance, or perhaps Su Mo is also involved.”

“They are inviting me, and that dungeon should be this time’s stage.”

A smile of interest bloomed on her face. “Excellent, excellent. This is precisely the stage suited for us.”

****

“White Rose, is this truly your decision?” Dandelion asked her.

“Saint Lily is no longer part of ‘Lucky Garden’. We have no obligation to help her,” White Rose said, crossing her arms and looking away.

“But we haven’t yet announced Saint Lily’s departure from the team. Even if Saint Lily isn’t the captain, in others’ eyes, she’s still a member of ‘Lucky Garden’.”

“Then announce it now. Use my phone to send it,” White Rose said indifferently.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you truly not understand the terror of public opinion? If you announce it now, do you know what your image will become?” Dandelion frowned, looking at her.

“The strong never care about worldly opinions.”

“……”

Dandelion watched White Rose, who kept spouting ‘the strong’ yet acted like a spoiled child. Her vexation and disgust intensified. If not for this person touching Saint Lily’s bottom line, Saint Lily would never have abandoned ‘Lucky Garden’.

This entire situation was caused by this ‘self-important’ individual saying things that shouldn’t have been said.

“Since that is your wish, then so be it.”

Dandelion turned to leave.

“Stop! Dandelion, a captain’s order…”

“You can do as you please; there’s no need to inform me.”

Her words were cut short. Watching Dandelion turn and leave without hesitation, White Rose’s face flushed crimson.

She clenched her fist.

“Saint Lily, Saint Lily, why her?”

She coldly scanned the two remaining people. “What? Are you two going to follow her? Do you want to say I’m the only heartless villain here?”

“……” Redbud, who had been about to speak, timidly closed her mouth again.

Hyacinth, standing nearby, looked at White Rose. “White Rose.”

“What?”

“I think we should go.”

“Hyacinth, even you are going to side with her?” White Rose bit her lip, forcing a strained smile.

“No, Frost Snow Sovereign has taken an interest in this matter,” Hyacinth sighed, explaining.

“…Really?”

“Yes, I imagine that compared to your trivial grudge with Saint Lily, White Rose, you’d rather meet Frost Snow Sovereign, wouldn’t you?”

“Mm… that’s true. Alright, then let’s go see!”

Hearing this, and seeing White Rose immediately stand up and walk away, Hyacinth smiled faintly. She understood White Rose’s character; she wasn’t truly bad, just unable to let go of her pride. Sometimes, a small step was all it took to resolve an issue.

Saint Lily, though gentle and caring, had her own principles. Once they were involved, she would stubbornly refuse to compromise.

Dandelion was adaptable, but her gaze was always fixed on Saint Lily, never intentionally trying to please others, often speaking in terms of benefit.

White Rose was at fault, but did these two seniors bear no responsibility at all?

Hyacinth tugged at Redbud beside her. “Redbud, let’s go!”