Chapter 6: Professionals Really Make Money Easily

"We have no choice but to pay for a carry. I just hope they won't charge too much," Lin Yuan said, tapping away at his phone.

Pay for a carry?

Gu Chen was rendered speechless by that statement. Was it really that easy to make money as a professional? He was the one leading people to level up, yet he had to pay them? It was absolutely absurd!

He glanced around. All the other students were keeping their distance from the two of them. Right, they were being ostracized. Under the current circumstances, it seemed there was truly no other way forward but to pay for help.

Lin Yuan worked quickly. Not long after he posted on the forum, his inbox was flooded with private messages discussing terms and prices. However, the moment those potential carries realized that the team leader was a commoner Summoner, the conversations would abruptly end.

Surprisingly, a "leech" reached out to Gu Chen.

Yes, a leech. The kind of player who just chats and goofs off, never needing to enter combat, and ready to exit the dungeon the moment things look grim. In short, someone who lacked the strength and was paying to piggyback off someone else's experience. In a typical dungeon run, the leader takes the lion's share of the experience, while the leech takes a small portion—but even that was still more profitable than solo grinding.

So, you pay for a carry, but you get paid for a leech.

"How much do people usually charge to be a leech in a beginner dungeon?" Gu Chen asked Lin Yuan.

"Beginner dungeon leech... I'm not sure..." Lin Yuan frowned, thinking for a moment. "Maybe four or five thousand credits per person."

Gu Chen nodded and sent a quote of eight thousand to the other party, leaving room for negotiation. To his surprise, they agreed immediately, though they noted there were two of them and insisted both be brought along. Gu Chen was, of course, more than happy to agree. Eight thousand per person meant sixteen thousand total—more than his entire year's living expenses.

*Hmm... professional money is really easy to come by.*

Once the deal was struck, Gu Chen pulled the leech, Lin Qingqing, into the party. She was a female Warrior. She then brought in another girl, an Assassin named Su Ran.

The Warrior class was notoriously unfriendly to commoners; without high-quality gear, the early leveling process was agonizing. Moreover, when it came to official dungeons, Warriors were rarely recruited unless they were at least two levels higher than other classes. As for the Assassin class, it was even less forgiving for commoners. They had low defense, were quite fragile, and their early-game damage output couldn't compare to Mages or Archers, making them level even slower than Warriors. It was no wonder they were willing to pay to join Gu Chen’s team.

It was no exaggeration to say that if you took any of these four people and left them standing in the dungeon plaza for an entire day, they wouldn't receive a single party invitation—unless they paid for the privilege.

For Lin Qingqing and Su Ran, eight thousand credits each was expensive, but at least it offered them a chance to clear a beginner dungeon. Still, Su Ran remained uneasy.

"Qingqing, are you sure about this team? I just heard someone say the leader is a commoner Summoner!"

"He's actually claiming he wants to aim for an SSS-rank rating? I hope he doesn't end up wasting our teleportation scrolls."

Lin Qingqing was just as anxious, but she was out of options. "We have no money. Every other team starts at fifteen thousand. This is the cheapest one."

"Besides, the leader has already declared he's aiming for an SSS-rank rating; he must have something up his sleeve. Let's try it. If we don't, we'll never get a chance."

They had already sent dozens of applications, but all had vanished into the void, without exception. No one wanted to party with them unless they hired a professional carry, and they couldn't afford market rates.

Su Ran sighed in resignation. "Fine, let's gamble. Even if we lose, we have the teleportation scrolls to save our lives."

Although it was a beginner dungeon, the fatality rate was not insignificant, as a professional had to be out of combat to exit the instance. The only way to break combat was to put a significant distance between oneself and the monsters or to kill them. If a player made a mistake and got tangled up by the beasts, they would be worn down until they perished. Since leeches didn't need to join the fight, they could exit the moment things turned south. With that convenience, eight thousand credits for a dungeon run was well worth it.

After Lin Qingqing and Su Ran, another familiar face joined the party. It was a tall, handsome boy wearing a set of "Excellent"-grade Fighter armor.

"Class monitor? You want to join our team?" Lin Yuan asked, stunned.

Gu Chen looked at the familiar face, feeling just as surprised. The tall, handsome fighter was Wu Ziyi, their class monitor. Wu Ziyi was usually quite arrogant; although he was a commoner by birth, he looked down on his own kind. His family was well-off, though not quite wealthy enough to be considered nobility. While he wore a set of "Excellent" Fighter gear, the surface was covered in mottled battle scars—clearly picked up from the second-hand market.

Hearing Lin Yuan’s question, he answered in a detached tone: "That's right. I'm joining your team as a leech. But let me be clear: if you encounter a situation you can't handle, I will step in. In that case, I want two-thirds of the team's total experience."

A smirk touched the corner of Gu Chen's mouth. So that was it. No wonder someone as haughty as Wu Ziyi would suddenly want to join his team as a leech—he was here to pick up scraps. Wu Ziyi’s gear, while flashy, wasn't enough to support him in soloing a dungeon to keep all the experience for himself. So, he had set his sights on Gu Chen. Joining was a gamble that Gu Chen wouldn't have the capability to clear the dungeon.

Gu Chen decided to play along. He agreed to Wu Ziyi's terms and, once the price was settled, promptly added him to the team.

Finally, the party was complete: one Warrior, one Swordsman, one Fighter, one Assassin, and one Summoner, all at level 1. There were no damage dealers like Archers or Mages, and no support classes like Priests or Paladins. All in all, the party composition was baffling.

Wu Ziyi understood this, but he didn't care. He was betting that a commoner Summoner like Gu Chen lacked the power to lead the team. Once Gu Chen faltered, Wu Ziyi would only need to exert minimal effort to pocket two-thirds of the team's experience. Wasn't that much better than splitting the experience evenly in those five-man teams outside? And even if he miscalculated and Gu Chen actually managed to clear the beginner dungeon solo, the worst-case scenario was losing eight thousand credits.

Actually, it wouldn't be a loss—it would just be paying eight thousand to buy the experience of a solo dungeon run. It wasn't a bad deal.

"Check your status. Once everyone is ready, we enter the dungeon," Gu Chen said in the party channel.

[Lin Yuan (Swordsman LV.1): Ready!]
[Lin Qingqing (Warrior LV.1): Ready!]
[Su Ran (Assassin LV.1): Ready!]
[Wu Ziyi (Fighter LV.1): 1]

Gu Chen stood before the spatial vortex at the dungeon entrance, opened the option panel, and selected "Difficulty: Hard."

Instantly, a brilliant blue light erupted from the vortex, engulfing the five of them, and their figures vanished.

Seeing them disappear, the surrounding crowd began to buzz.

"Whoa! That commoner Summoner actually took people into the dungeon? Isn't that just setting them up to die?"

"Looks like he chose the Hard mode. They're definitely in for a rough time."

"Aiming for an SSS-rank rating? Heh, he should worry about how to stay alive first."

"Just watch, he won't last two hours. I hope they don't come out as minced meat."

"I've seen plenty of stubborn idiots, but this is the first time I've seen someone actively seeking death."

"What a menace to himself and others..."