In everyone's mind, those who become summoners are typically from the aristocracy and possess immense power.
Therefore, as soon as Gu Chen appeared, almost everyone looked at him with eager eyes.
However, several students from Lincheng No. 1 Middle School soon recognized him.
"Isn't this Gu Chen? How did he become a summoner?"
"A commoner dares to become a summoner? He must have a crappy summoned beast."
"Tsk, why would a commoner play a summoner?"
"What bad luck! What a waste of joy."
With a few words, the eagerness in everyone's eyes turned to contempt and disdain.
After Gu Chen's commoner identity was exposed, no one wanted to team up with him anymore.
A commoner summoner has almost no damage output, and he still has to share a portion of the experience. Isn't that just going to kill him?
There's no such thing as poverty alleviation.
In fact, Gu Chen hadn't planned to team up. Just as he was about to head towards the dungeon entrance, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Gu Chen!"
Hearing someone call his name, Gu Chen turned and saw a tall boy approaching him.
Lin Yuan walked up and patted Gu Chen's shoulder with a look of surprise. "Hey, it's you! Where have you been this month?"
Gu Chen didn't have many friends at school, and Lin Yuan was one of them.
"Nothing, I just took care of some personal matters," Gu Chen made up.
Lin Yuan looked Gu Chen up and down, puzzled. "Why did you switch to a summoner out of the blue? You can barely support yourself, and you still want to raise summoned beasts?"
Lin Yuan's class was Swordsman, which relied heavily on equipment and focused on single-target attacks and burst damage, making it a relatively good class for civilians.
Gu Chen smiled. "Summoner is the only choice."
Lin Yuan sighed and said nothing, but his face was filled with undisguised worry.
Gu Chen then asked, "Why aren't you going into the dungeon? It shouldn't be hard to form a team for your class, right?"
Lin Yuan spread his hands. "Well, forming a team isn't hard, it's just a shame I don't have good equipment."
"You know that key class monitor, Li Wenhui, actually wore a full set of rare-grade knight gear to the dungeon today. Oh my god, if he did, he'd be killing people in the dungeon."
The quality of equipment and items is categorized the same way as the qualifications of summoned beasts.
Rare is considered upper-middle quality.
The Knight class's novice set consists of seven pieces: the Knight's Longsword, Knight's Shield, Knight's Armor, Knight's Spaulders, Knight's Pants, Knight's Boots, and Knight's Gloves.
Don't underestimate this seven-piece set; the average family couldn't afford it even if they skipped meals for a lifetime.
Lin Yuan took out a superior-grade epee and wiped it carefully. "This is the weapon I just traded for a teleportation scroll. Whether I go to the academy or the factory in the future depends on it."
Without the teleportation talisman, there was no way out once he entered the dungeon.
It was a life-or-death struggle!
But there was no other way. Coming from a lower-class background, if he didn't fight hard, there would be no chance of recovery.
Lin Yuan slung the epee onto his back and asked, "How about... I lead you?"
Gu Chen looked at Lin Yuan with a strange look. With his combat power, did he still need a leader in the novice dungeon?
But then he thought again. The novice dungeon was limited to five players. The more people there were, the more difficult it would be, and the corresponding experience points would increase accordingly.
In order to level up quickly, he had originally planned to do it solo.
But after comparing them, it seemed that the experience points gained from teaming up to complete the dungeon would be higher.
"You have a team?" Gu Chen asked in surprise.
"Well, Li Wenhui is the team leader. I paid him 50,000 yuan and agreed to voluntarily hand over the items and equipment I obtained in the dungeon before he agreed to take me."
"Wait a minute, I'll have Li Wenhui add you to the team."
"Let him add me?"
"Don't worry, I'll tell him right now. If he doesn't add you today, I'll quit."
Lin Yuan sent a message to Li Wenhui, requesting that he add Gu Chen to the team.
Soon, he received a reply.
[Li Wenhui rejected your request and removed you from the team]
"Shit! He kicked me out! It's just one person! What the hell..." Lin Yuan's face instantly fell.
Gu Chen sighed. It was expected.
One was a swordsman with only a heavy sword, and the other was a civilian summoner. Taking one of them was already the limit for an ordinary team.
Any team willing to take them both would have to have a captain who was at least a master of the art.
"We'll recruit our own," Gu Chen said. "Let's say a summoner leads four teammates and strives for an SSS rating."
Lin Yuan was stunned. "Are you kidding me?"
An SSS rating can earn extra points in the academy entrance exam.
Don't underestimate this bonus point. The academy entrance exam is like a battle of thousands, and a single point can mean the difference between winning and losing.
If a team of transfer students can achieve an SSS rating, their chances of getting into a prestigious university will skyrocket.
There's even a chance they'll be recommended for admission.
Coincidentally, Lincheng No. 1 Middle School has a spot for recommendation admission to a prestigious university.
Faced with Lin Yuan's doubts, Gu Chen smiled faintly. "Just tell me whether you believe it or not."
Lin Yuan's expression was torn, but he ultimately chose to believe Gu Chen. He then shouted to the group, "Master Summoner, lead four teammates and strive for an SSS rating. Anyone who wants a recommendation should come quickly."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted in excitement. "Master Summoner? Which one?"
"Striving for SSS-level rank?"
"Since when has Lincheng had such a genius?"
"Is that fake?"
"I found out. He's a transfer student from Lincheng No. 1 High School, a commoner summoner. Hilarious."
"Pfft! He's striving for SSS-level rank! If he makes it, I'll have diarrhea."
"Is this guy seriously ill? Does he have the combat power to reach SSS-level?"
"He's probably too weak. No one wants to team up with him. He's trying to attract attention this way."
"That's it? Only a fool would team up with him..."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion, but no one came forward to form a team.
Especially after finding out about Gu Chen and Lin Yuan's backgrounds, no one was optimistic about them.
Some even jokingly called them the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix Chick, saying that if any ordinary team managed to get even one of them, they wouldn't be able to graduate.
If any team had the help of these two, they wouldn't have to wait for the academy assessment and could just go straight to the factory.
"Fuck! That's a bit too much!" Lin Yuan felt a surge of anger at the constant mockery.
Before today, the term "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick" wasn't used in this way.
Lin Yuan glared around with an annoyed look. "Forget it, I won't waste my time with these idiots. Professional matters should be left to professionals."
"Professionals?" Gu Chen looked puzzled.