Chapter 1038: Rejected and Resented
In the eyes of Asude, Arya, and Sangui, Ling Zhan and his group were clearly just freeloading.
They weren't even willing to give them a single buff.
Seeing this, Yun Man, Chang Yue, and Meng Shuang were so angry they almost laughed.
To be honest, this was their first time seeing their master being treated like a freeloader.
Back in the Lower Realm, no matter which team their master joined, he was always the main carry.
And besides…
People were practically begging their master to join their parties.
After all, most of the dungeon clear records in the Lower Realm were still held by their master.
Now they had just arrived in the Upper Realm and were already being looked down on like freeloaders—this pissed off the three divine beast girls while also amusing them.
To this—
Ling Zhan remained calm as ever, not even bothering to take action.
If people want to underestimate him, so be it.
He'd long outgrown that hot-headed stage.
Ling Zhan's mental age was already in his twenties, and after crossing into this world for so many years, he had matured far beyond that.
There was no way he'd get pissed off over just a few words.
Honestly, he was happy not to have to fight. Let someone else do the grunt work.
But to be fair—
Asude, Arya, and Sangui's performance was… not great.
To Ling Zhan, who demanded high standards for combat techniques, these four teens weren't handling the monsters properly.
For example—
Arya, as a Priest, should be applying buffs to teammates in a way that conserves her mana and keeps the team's sustain at peak levels.
But during heavy monster waves, she'd panic and lose her composure.
In short, her mental fortitude was lacking.
When flustered, her skill rotation would get messed up.
That, of course, led to problems in skill cycling.
As for Asude—
His range control as a Gunner was weak. He always overextended for damage, causing poor spacing between him and the monsters. That got him into danger constantly.
He had to be saved multiple times by Sangui, the frontline Warrior, or he would've been swarmed.
Everyone knows that Gunners are a ranged class and suck at melee. Once monsters get close, it's a huge problem.
And since today's Fallen Angel Ruins dungeon had max-level mobs—
That meant the monsters here were way stronger than usual.
Sangui, as the frontline, wasn't doing that great either.
His skill rotation was a mess. A competent Warrior should keep their battle shout buff active at all times.
But in his defense, many times he had to break his rotation to save teammates.
Oddly enough, Kurna—the fox girl Mage—was the only one performing decently. At least she was doing her job: blasting monsters and pushing back the tide.
All in all—
This squad was mediocre at best.
Even if Ling Zhan was freeloading, if the others had the skills, four people could've still handled it.
And the worst part?
They were only on the second stage.
Even before they entered the Fallen Angel Palace, they were already struggling.
At the very least, Arya, Asude, and Sangui were looking pale.
They, too, had realized the dungeon mobs were way too strong today.
It showed in their HP and defense. These mobs were far tougher than the ones in past raids.
Normally, trash mobs should die in one or two hits.
But now, it took four or five skills to kill one.
More skills meant faster mana drain.
And it threw off their skill cooldown management.
Sometimes, before a small skill was even ready, a mob would charge in, forcing them to blow big cooldowns just to survive.
At this rate—
By the time they finished the second stage…
The four teens were pale-faced and exhausted.
Their stamina was seriously depleted.
They rested in the safe zone.
Some dungeons had safe zones, some didn't.
Here, resting gave a weak regen buff for HP and mana.
They could wait here until fully recovered before pushing forward.
Of course—
If a dungeon didn't have a safe zone, teams could rest in place after clearing a stage—but without regen buffs.
Right now—
Seeing their current state, the outside spectators couldn't help shaking their heads.
"No need to watch—this squad definitely won't clear the Fallen Angel Ruins today."
"Yeah, this dungeon today probably needs at least five level 300 Professionals."
"Even five would struggle. If that final boss shows up, it's over."
"And don't forget, their team has a freeloader..."
"Exactly. This dungeon's already tough, and now they've got dead weight. It's doomed."
"..."
In the eyes of the other Professionals, Kurna's squad was already finished.
Inside the dungeon—
In the safe zone—
"Damn it..."
"Why are these mobs so hard to kill?"
Asude grumbled darkly.
He had thought, even with tougher mobs, it wouldn't be this bad.
Turns out, he was dead wrong.
Spectacularly wrong.
This dungeon had five stages total.
And they were only on the second.
Already in this state.
If the third stage was just as hard, then forget clearing it.
They might not even reach the boss.
"The main problem is that we've got freeloaders…"
Sangui muttered under his breath.
He said it quietly, but his voice carried.
Everyone heard it—Ling Zhan, Yun Man, all of them.
Kurna narrowed her eyes, about to speak—
But Arya jumped up first, glaring angrily at Kurna. "Kurna sis, I get that you wanted to carry him, but this dungeon's too hard. With that freeloader, we're down a damage dealer or tank. It's too much pressure. I say we exit now, rest up, and re-enter with a new ticket."
"Also..."
"That freeloader's gotta go."
"We bring in someone who can actually fight."
"If you don't agree, I'm teleporting out!"
Kurna frowned deeply at that.
Asude stepped in, adding, "Arya's right. With dead weight on the team, there's no way we're clearing Fallen Angel Ruins today."