Leaving the dungeon, the people around were all watching Ren's commotion. After two incidents, he had already become known to others.
"What happened?" Ren felt something was wrong and hurried back home.
"Ren, you're back. Bell has been kidnapped by people from Apollo Familia." Hestia looked unsettled. With Bell captured and Ren gone all night, she feared something had happened to both of them.
"Kidnapped by Apollo Familia?" Ren hadn't calculated for this. In the original story, he wasn't there, and Bell wasn't famous yet, so nothing like this would have happened.
Now, his butterfly had quietly flapped its wings, and Bell would probably grow in a different way from the original story.
"Hm." Hestia nodded.
"No need to worry, Lady Hestia. They are after me. Bell will be fine. Did you receive any invitation?" Ren remained calm. Since something had already happened, it just needed to be corrected.
"No." Hestia shook her head. Her heart slowly settled. Ren always brought her hope.
"Wait a moment. If there's no invitation today, then tomorrow we—"
"It's useless. They won't admit it." Hestia had already been there, but the other party refused to acknowledge it. She had no evidence, only hearsay.
"Lady Hestia, update my data first." Ren took off his jacket and lay down on the sofa.
Hestia sat behind him and began updating his data. As Ren expected, he was 3S again and could level up to Lv3.
Hestia was numb. With Ren's talent, just a few days had passed and he could upgrade again. Who upgraded so fast? Some people spent years and still couldn't reach Lv3. Even if they did, they wouldn't become a 3S like this.
"Ren, your data absolutely, absolutely cannot be shown to anyone else." Hestia emphasized again. She no longer cared if Ren hid something from her. She only knew he was her Familia, and that was enough.
"Don't worry, Lady Hestia. Absolutely not." Ren promised. He took the data, glanced at it, and then destroyed it.
Then he upgraded. This time, Ren chose the magic branch to strengthen his magic.
"Ren, don't go update at the guild yet." Hestia said softly. She knew hiding it could bring punishment, but being too abnormal would also attract the gods' attention. This wasn't something simple punishment could solve.
"Of course. The upgrade is to save Bell. There has to be a guarantee. Upgrading in just a few days is indeed shocking," Ren agreed.
"I'm sorry." Hestia apologized.
"You haven't done anything wrong, Lady Hestia." Ren shook his head. This time it was mainly his responsibility. Since the other party sent people to ambush him, he should have expected this.
At that moment, the door was knocked. Ren quickly put on his clothes, and Hestia tidied herself. They then opened the door.
Hephaestus spoke slowly, "Humans and gods are destined for no good outcome."
"I didn't do anything," Hestia retorted.
"Hestia, this letter was meant for you, yet it ended up here." Hephaestus handed her a letter.
Hestia and Ren exchanged a glance. Sure enough, the letter had really arrived.
"Thank you, Lady Hephaestus," Ren said politely.
"No problem. But you two should announce your address soon, or else everything will keep coming to me. Also, more weapons have arrived—it's time to sell them." Hephaestus waved her hand and turned to leave.
"Lady Hephaestus, I'll come by after I handle this matter," Ren said. After speaking, he closed the door and, together with Hestia, examined the letter.
It was an invitation—a summons from the gods.
Everyone could bring their best members, essentially a chance to showcase their talents. But Ren understood the true intention: Apollo wanted to force Hestia into a War Game under the watchful eyes of the gods.
"Ren, we have no choice but to accept," Hestia said, thinking of Bell and making up her mind.
"Yes, we'll attend this event from the gods," Ren replied with a smile.
"Ren, promise me—you have to win," Hestia said firmly.
"I will win." Ren wouldn't forgive Apollo. In this war, he would drive him back to the divine realm and prevent him from ever descending again.
Three days remained until War Game. Ren's routine these days was predictable: dungeon, home, Hephaestus' equipment shop.
No updates had appeared in his stats. As he suspected, even if there were no updates, his stats had already reached 3S. He was curious to see his true limits, but it would be absurdly high.
"Ren, do we have formal wear?" Hestia asked anxiously.
"Lady Hestia, we're crashing the party. There's no need to give them face," Ren said after thinking.
"Etiquette is still etiquette," Hestia sighed. She wasn't really concerned about looking fancy—she just wanted to wear something comfortable.
In the end, Ren put on the formal clothes Hestia had prepared, which made her eyes light up. She kept praising him for looking handsome.
Once ready, the two set out for Apollo Familia. Along the way, they encountered many gods, each accompanied by their powerful Familia members.
Upon arriving, the pair immediately drew the attention of everyone present. Other gods' Familia members had already heard rumors—Apollo's event was aimed at Ren.
"That's the human who leveled to Lv2 in just five months? Doesn't look impressive at all."
"Apollo actually organized a gathering of the gods. This newcomer must have done something significant."
"Looks like Apollo suffered heavy losses. He lost quite a few Familia members."
"Lv2 could do that?"
"In a dungeon, who knows."
The scene was already buzzing with discussion. The gods were even planning to place bets, curious to see who would win this time. They all agreed it would be Apollo.
"Lady Hestia, when the time comes, bet all our assets that I'll win." Ren crouched down and whispered into Hestia's ear.
"Alright." Hestia's eyes lit up. This was a perfect chance to make money, and she trusted that her Ren would win.
"Yo, shorty, and Ren-kun." Loki appeared with Ais, greeting them.
Both were dressed in formal attire. Ais's makeup caught Ren's attention—she was already beautiful in her battle outfit, but now, in a dress and with a stoic expression, she looked even more captivating.
"You flathead."
"Shorty."
Hestia and Loki immediately started teasing each other upon meeting.
Ais came to Ren's side and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Already Lv6?"
"Yes." Ais nodded.
"I'll ask you to dance later. You won't refuse me, right?" Ren smiled.
Ais shook her head. She was grateful to Ren. If it had been just her, there was no way she could have faced the 37th-floor floor boss alone and achieved such a feat.
"Hey hey hey, kid, don't even think about making a move on Ais. If you insist, join Loki Familia." Loki immediately stopped bickering with Hestia and turned to Ren.
Hestia couldn't stand hearing that. How dare she try to steal someone right in front of her? She immediately started arguing with Loki again.
**********
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