Su Yu

After dealing with another wave of monsters, Kurumi knew that, at this stage, she had no chance of finding so many high-level NPCs to serve as her thugs. She stepped forward and said to the leader, "Mr. Theodore, since we can safely clear the monsters along the way, why don't we do our best to clear out more? I'm sure the Adventurer's Guild will reward us once they learn of it!"

The quest rewards were few and mattered little to Kurumi, but quests that could raise an Elemental Sprite's affinity were not always available!

Theodore pondered for a long while, then discussed it with his team members.

When they learned that they would clear more monsters before heading to their destination, they became excited. They had encountered several battles with magical creatures without suffering any injuries, which was extremely rare!

With Kurumi's help, they were willing to spend more time clearing the magical creatures they encountered. The materials on magical beasts were worth a lot of money too.

"Aah~" The little sprite had no idea what everyone was happy about, but she excitedly cried out as well.

Over the following day.

Aside from logging off to eat and bathe during breaks, Kurumi spent all her time following the NPCs and clearing the magical creatures along the road.

Because the gap in speed between the two sides was too great, only a few NPCs suffered minor injuries when they failed to evade in time. Kurumi and the Elemental Sprite remained completely unhurt.

The Elemental Sprite's affinity continued to rise steadily.

Kurumi's City of Eating Time allowed her to sustain herself through battle, but aside from taking medicine and resting, these NPCs had no other means of recovery. By now, all of them were somewhat exhausted.

They found an open area and quickly set up a temporary camp, cooking the hunted magical creatures into a pot of meat soup.

They rested in contentment.

System Notification: Your strength has earned the favor of the Elemental Sprite Axi. Affinity +1. Charm Talent activated. Additional affinity +1. Current affinity: 10 (She has remembered your name and plans to share the impressive things she encountered with her companions after returning to her tribe).

System Notification: Your care for the Elemental Sprite has spread your reputation among these little ones. Elemental Sprite racial reputation +100!

The system notifications arrived just as Kurumi sat down to rest.

The affinity was rising a little too slowly. After grinding for an entire day and killing at least a thousand magical beasts, she still had not broken past the stranger stage. Without the Charm Talent, it would probably have taken two days to reach this point.

Compared with humanoid NPCs, these little ones' affinity truly increased slowly.

Still, this was enough. After reaching 10 affinity, it would enter the next stage, which required time to improve.

Theodore walked over with a bowl of meat soup and said sincerely, "You're very capable. Thanks to your help, we were able to hunt so many magical creatures."

He handed her the soup and continued, "Although we would like to continue the quest, everyone is tired. We hope to finish it as soon as possible. After all, we need to save our strength for the dangers on the way back."

Kurumi nodded. "All right. Once we've rested, we'll go complete the quest."

Theodore breathed a sigh of relief, then took out a bottle of nectar and handed it to the Elemental Sprite, making the little one happily spin in a circle.

"Aah~"

After drinking the nectar, Axi flew to the center of the camp. Her tiny body radiated light as she slowly floated in the air.

Then a cool sensation washed over everyone's hearts, and the fatigue in their bodies immediately diminished by half.

System Notification: You have received the blessing of an Elemental Sprite.

*Axi's Blessing* Lv. 1

Effect: Increases stamina recovery speed, reduces skill consumption, and restores a small amount of health. Lasts ten minutes.

Description: This fool is sincerely blessing you all!

Damn, a buff skill that lasts ten minutes?

Although the boost was small, that duration was ridiculously excessive!

This buff made Kurumi's gaze firm up. She had to grind affinity until it reached admiration, then snatch one away as a pet.

Who wouldn't want such a buff-tool pet?

By nighttime, after Theodore arranged for people to keep watch, Kurumi logged off to sleep as well.

"Meta World" was still in its early stages. Before the Prelude to the Anomaly quest was completed and Mind Net had taken shape, players still needed to eat and sleep in reality like before.

The next day.

Su Jiang had just woken up and was planning to go back to sleep when his doorbell was bombarded.

His ex-wife had brought Su Yu over.

The moment he opened the door, Lin Jing shoved past Su Jiang without a care, brazenly inspecting the layout of the apartment.

Behind her, little Su Yu struggled to drag an enormous suitcase.

Su Jiang hurried forward and took the suitcase from her.

A flattered and startled expression appeared on Su Yu's little face.

She was only a little over five years old, yet she already knew how to read people's expressions.

Seeing how sensible she was, Su Jiang suddenly felt that he was truly awful!

Since he lived alone, Su Jiang had always followed the principle of making things as convenient as possible. The furnishings in the house had barely changed; only time had left its marks on them.

Lin Jing could not help mocking him. "Look at you. What use are you without me? Oh my, look at this sofa. It's falling apart, yet you still can't bear to replace it. Tsk, tsk."

Even without looking at Lin Jing's expression, he knew it was full of ridicule.

Su Jiang said angrily, "The suitcase is so heavy, and you made a five- or six-year-old child carry it? What kind of mother are you?"

"Tch. Everything in the suitcase is hers, so of course she should carry it herself!" Lin Jing rolled her eyes as if it were only natural.

"Then why didn't you wait at home for me to drive over?" Su Jiang frowned as he pulled out a tissue and wiped the sweat from Su Yu's forehead.

Su Yu shrank back slightly and said weakly, "Dad, I can do it myself."

Su Jiang did not let her refuse and directly wiped it away for her.

Lin Jing sneered, "If I didn't come in person, how could I see how you're living now? Very good, just as I expected. Without me, you've become even more useless."

"Starting next month, remember to send the money. Otherwise, I'll take Su Yu back."

Lin Jing left in satisfaction.

Only then did Su Jiang say to Su Yu, "Now that you're here with me, you can rely on me. I'm your dad, and I won't refuse to help you. Whatever happens, remember to tell Dad. Don't bear it all alone!"

He remembered the maturity and numbness on Su Yu's face in his previous life.

Su Jiang knew that her life at his ex-wife's home definitely had not been good.

If children at this age were not properly cared for, their personalities could easily become warped, and their thoughts could easily fall into dead ends.

Su Yu was still somewhat afraid. It was her first time staying at her father's home, and she did not know whether her mother had abandoned her. But she knew that making a fuss would only make things worse, so she quietly said, "I understand, Dad."

Su Jiang told Su Yu to go into the other room and put away her belongings.

Su Yu was somewhat sensitive, so Su Jiang did not dare help her settle her things. If there were any little secrets of hers in that suitcase and he saw them, it might make her withdraw even further.