Around 8 p.m., the Sparrow District on the outskirts of the city had fallen silent, but the Pigeon District, where the wealthy gathered, was still brightly lit.

The bustling shopping street is lit up with colorful magical signs, and there are many stylish men and women on the street. Occasionally, you can also see the strange sight of orc and elf couples walking hand in hand.

Starting with a divine decree from the Goddess of the World Tree three hundred years ago, the wars on the continent ended, and a peaceful era of coexistence among multiple races began.

According to the oracle, the 'Demon King Satan', who was sealed away by the previous hero, is about to return from the bottom of the Demon Realm. In order to select a new hero, the World Tree Goddess placed the strongest weapon, the 'Hero's Sword,' at the top of the World Tree Secret Realm.

This further elevated the status of adventurers, and all intelligent life living on the mysterious continent aimed to reach the top of the World Tree and pull out the Hero's Sword.

At this moment, a luxurious villa in the inner city.

In the luxuriously decorated living room, a young girl wearing a loose orange dress was asleep on the sofa.

Her long, red hair, as smooth as silk, cascaded down like a waterfall onto the ground.

Leah felt completely relaxed after taking a shower. She planned to rest on the sofa for a while, but unexpectedly drifted off to sleep.

"—Without a doubt, the continent prospered because of the existence of the World Tree!"

Lia dreamt that ten years ago, she hid outside the window of the prestigious academy, eavesdropping on the teacher's lecture.

"But I want to clarify that what we see of the World Tree is not its trunk."

Isn't that right? Leah thought to herself.

She brought her ear closer.

"The roots of the World Tree are spread across the continent. Those roots that break through the ground become smaller World Trees, like the one we see here. Each World Tree has a different maximum number of layers; some have only 5 layers, while others have 20. Only the Sacred World Tree in the Holy Domain at the center of the continent can reach the top!"

"The first adventurers gathered around the World Trees. They multiplied, formed villages, and gradually grew into towns and cities."

"This is the origin of our Red Peach City!"

"Don't let down your identity as descendants of the city's founders. Strive to become adventurers and aim to reach the top of the World Tree!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

The children's excited shouts burst through the windows.

Are the descendants of the founders so great?

Below the window, Leah, dressed in dirty civilian clothes, seemed to be provoked, gripping a straight wooden stick tightly in her hand, her eyes filled with resentment towards her own situation.

She thought that one day she would become a top adventurer, someone everyone respected, instead of hiding under someone else's classroom listening to lectures.

Time seemed to be sped up tens of thousands of times. After a nauseating spin, Leah found herself in a dirty, dilapidated rental house in White Dove City, having left Red Heart City.

The pitted and uneven mahogany round table has a lingering musty smell.

A group of people were crammed together, and the air seemed to be thinned out, requiring great effort to breathe each time.

Those memories of poverty always stung Leah's nerves whenever she recalled them.

"Please lead everyone, without missing a single one, to the top of the World Tree!"

The sudden, familiar voice made Leah's eyelids twitch. She saw that among the five people gathered around the round table not far in front of her, a red-haired girl whose appearance was obviously younger than her suddenly stood up and bowed to the healer in the group, pleading.

Leah's face darkened instantly. How could it be that day?

She woke up with a start, as if from a nightmare.

He sat up from the sofa in a daze, touched his forehead, and found it covered in sweat.

'To clear the top of the World Tree without missing a single one?'

She was so naive back then; Linda actually agreed with a serious expression.

Lia found it a bit funny; any adventurer knows that climbing to the top of the World Tree inevitably involves personnel changes.

There are a total of fifty secret realms, and each level has several random maps, each containing various guardians.

It's impossible to deal with all the guardians by relying on a fixed group of team members.

Personnel changes are perfectly normal. The main members of the Snow Goose Adventure Team have remained unchanged for three years, which is considered 'abnormal' by other adventurers.

As the captain of the Snow Goose Adventure Team, Lia should have kicked Linda, who was level 15, out of consideration for her old teammates, but she kept Linda and paid her the rewards of a main team member.

After returning from the World Tree, Lia thought about it for an entire afternoon, but still couldn't figure out why Linda left the team.

She took a bottle of juice from the refrigerator, held it in her hands, and sipped it slowly.

In Lia's mind, before she asked Linda to lead everyone to the top of the World Tree in the rented house, Linda was very powerful and could lead the team to clear the higher levels with low levels.

But ever since we asked him for help, even though the team's level has clearly exceeded the level recommended by the Adventurers' Guild, they still refuse to go in, insisting that everyone be proficient enough to deal with all the bosses on the current floor without taking any damage.

If Linda just uses her old skills, she should be able to get through this easily, right?

Leah grew angrier the more she thought about it.

"Is the food ready yet?"

She finished her juice and slammed her hand on the table in a huff.

After waiting for a long time without any response, this was the first time such a thing had happened.

Lia was stunned for a moment, and after looking around, she realized that the living room was empty and she was all alone.

Eko and Chrona should be in their own rooms. Kaine and Oruna, a couple, bought a house on installment and don't live here.

"Where's the food? The food!"

Leah bit her lip in anger.

Linda should have finished cooking dinner by now, and the girls could have just waited to eat. But Linda suddenly left the team, and she didn't have time to hire a new cook.

With her stomach growling incessantly, Leah went to the refrigerator to find something to eat, still feeling resentful.

In the lower storage layer containing the freezing magic array, she found several bags of dumplings.

Let's have this for dinner tonight.

When Leah saw a handwritten label on the packaging that said it was filled with chives and pork, she calmed down a little.

She often ate this strange delicacy, which consisted of dough wrapped around fillings, as a late-night snack.

In the past, you could just call out and someone would cook the dumplings for you, but now you have to cook them yourself.

Lia found it quite novel and excitedly carried the dumplings into the kitchen.

It was her first time doing something like this, and she felt the thrill of an adventurer entering a new secret realm.

After fiddling around for a while, she finally managed to turn on the stove. A pale blue flame rose up, and then she poured water into the pot... Although she had never seen how Linda cooked, she could guess what she was doing.

After pouring in water, Lia dumpled a large bag of dumplings into it.

This is enough for the three of them.

Leah tied on her apron, crossed her arms, and smugly imagined Echo and Chrona praising her incredulously.

Glug glug, and in no time, the cold water was heated to a boil and began to bubble.

Lia stared blankly, wondering what had happened. All the dumplings were broken, and the filling was spilled everywhere!

"Aiko, Aiko, come quick, something's wrong!"