There are too many teammates who are complete losers.

Chapter 24 Lu Ren Goes into Battle

Hearing that no decision had been made yet, Jiang Yueying breathed a sigh of relief, but a vague unease lingered in her heart.

Her training meant she couldn't team up with Lin Huanghu. It would be fine if she could team up with An Yourong, but if she teamed up with complete strangers, then... then she would definitely have to postpone her graduation!

She might never graduate. No, that's not right. Maybe twenty years from now, An Yourong's child will come to Linjiang Vocational School and team up with her for graduation internship.

Jiang Yueying thought about how, twenty years later, a boy who looked somewhat like An Yourong would say in the same hot-blooded, silly tone as An Yourong: "Aunt Jiang, don't worry, Mom told me to make sure you graduate..." She wanted to die. Just thinking about that made her think that it might be better to die sooner!

Why is she shaking like that?

"She's lost in her own world, isn't she? Tsukikage does this from time to time. Just rubbing her face like this will help her recover."

An Yourong reached out and pinched her cheeks, rubbing them hard.

"Huh, what, what happened?" She returned to the human world.

"Let's go find the Mud Monster, I've rested enough."

"That internship."

"Don't worry, how could I abandon Yueying? You can come with me then. Let Ahuang go find someone else, or you can go with Brother Lu and the others."

Jiang Yueying breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat apologetic towards Lin Huanghu.

Why am I a mage? I wish I were a warrior so I could apprentice with Haze.

Thinking about Lin Huanghu's confession, Jiang Yueying's face turned red, and then she couldn't help but secretly look at his back.

Suddenly, someone appeared beside them: "You like that Lin Huanghu?"

"Whoa—!"

She was startled, and upon recognizing the person, she immediately became angry and said, "Why, why did you suddenly appear next to me!"

"What do you mean 'suddenly appeared'? I've been standing next to you for quite a while, and you've been staring at Lin Huanghu like she's in love, without even noticing me."

"W-What do you mean by 'spring fever'? That's utter nonsense!"

"Did I guess wrong? You don't like him?"

Jiang Yueying's face flushed red, and she finally managed to stammer, "What...what are you doing here?"

"Here's your game console back, here you go."

Lu Ren returned the handheld console to her and said, "Although this model feels a bit old, it's still pretty good. I'll buy one when I get out of here."

"What do you mean by 'old-fashioned'? This, this is the newest model this year... the latest generation!"

"Okay, then."

Lu Ren returned the game console and then left it at that, preparing to go and give the young lady a shoulder massage and foot rub to win her favor.

After all, he had just been severely criticized. His work experience told him that the timing of admitting his mistake was crucial. Making a statement immediately after being criticized by his boss would seem impulsive, but delaying for too long would seem like he didn't take it seriously enough. He needed to give both parties a window of time to allow the boss's emotions to switch from "blaming mode" to "problem-solving mode." This window of time was about 30 minutes.

It's been exactly 30 minutes now, and he's getting ready to lick—oops, I mean, get ready to apologize—slurp!

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Lu Ren turned around and found Jiang Yueying tugging at his clothes, but her gaze was fixed on the ground.

The girl seemed troubled and stammered, "You...you mustn't tell anyone."

"What did you say?"

"Keep your voice down... you idiot!"

"What did you just say?"

Jiang Yueying's face flushed red, and she whispered something about liking someone.

"So, you really like that Lin Huanghu? But didn't he say he also has someone he likes? He even said he'd go back and confess after completing this training."

"Hmph, hmph hmph, hmph hmph hmph..."

The little one let out another cryptic laugh, saying, "The one who seems to want to confess is actually me."

"You..." Lu Ren said with a hint of pity, "Can't you distinguish between the game and reality anymore?"

"No, it's not that. We...we were secretly...secretly..." Her voice trailed off.

Lu Ren said, "A crush?"

Jiang Yueying let out another strange cry, like a hamster being pinched by a human. She looked around anxiously, then made meaningless arm twisting motions with her hands, her face burning red.

Why did you say he has a crush on you?

Jiang Yueying had become somewhat immune to his constant provocations.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, then chuckled and said, "It seems like half a year ago, he would often ask me what girls liked, what they liked to eat, what kind of clothes and cakes they liked, what kind of jewelry they liked, and so on..."

Lu Ren looked puzzled: "Didn't he say he has a girl he likes? You're his friend, so isn't it normal for him to come to you for advice?"

"He would ask for my advice, and then he would give it to me in the end."

Lu Ren looked at Lin Huanghu and An Yourong in front of him, and then at the little girl with a face full of girlish longing.

He really wanted to ask if Lin Huanghu had also given a gift to that girl named An Yourong, in addition to the one he gave to you.

But this question seems a bit too cruel for this little girl.

He sighed, "Well, maybe."

The girl was absolutely certain, waving her arms: "That's definitely how it is, that's how it is in every nook and cranny."

Jiang Yueying was absolutely certain that after years of immersing herself in the world of wood, she had mastered the art of love and men to an unparalleled degree!

This is a hint, really. He could have just confessed anytime, but he kept hinting at it. When he confesses, she should tell him that she already knew, and then she should make fun of him.

However, the thought of them having to separate and train again made her sigh.

I and Huang Hu are truly a pair of star-crossed lovers!

Well, good things come to those who wait, good things come to those who wait, let's wait until later...

Just as she was about to drift into her fantasy world again, Lu Ren interrupted her once more: "Do you like Lin Huanghu because you think he likes you?"

The little girl's expression darkened: "W-what do you mean, 'I think'?"

"Okay, okay," Lu Ren surrendered. "You like him because he likes you?"

"Of course...no...it's really, really early..."

Jiang Yueying lowered her head, and this time her voice was still very soft, but she didn't stumble or fall into a stammer, nor did she stop halfway through her sentence and only move her lips without making a sound.

"I liked him a long, long time ago..."

"Is that so..."

If Lu Ren initially approached it with amusement in mind, at this moment, seeing the girl's somewhat sweet smile, he felt a pang of pity and reluctance.

Indeed, love is something that only brings harm.

However, this is an essential part of youth.

He sighed and comforted her, "If you feel you really can't hold on any longer, just open two corners for Mu."

"Why are you suddenly offering comfort?"

"This is advice from someone with experience; it will make you feel much better."

Just then, someone suddenly jumped up next to them.

An Yourong, who was originally walking at the front, looked at Lu Ren and then at Jiang Yueying: "You two are actually whispering here? When did you become so close!"

"Who, who's on good terms with him?!"

Jiang Yueying was most afraid of this kind of misunderstanding. What if she was misunderstood by that woman with scary eyes?

Based on her years of experience in dealing with people in remote corners, she was certain that the woman was interested in Lu Ren. Oh, sure enough, she looked over here!

Seeing the line stop, Lu Ren asked, "Why did you suddenly stop?"

An Yourong said, "Miss Lu has scouted that there is a group of mud-eating monsters about 400 meters ahead, numbering around 20."

"Should we go around it?"

"We've decided to take action and wipe out these mud-eating monsters."

"Okay, we'll wait for you here."

"This time it wasn't me who did it."

"Was it not An who made the move, but Lin Huanghu?"

"No, I already said it, it's just a dozen or so mud monsters, you could have just sent me..."

An Yourong looked unhappy and turned to Jiang Yueying and Lu Ren, saying:

"But Ah Huang told Miss Lu that it should be left to Brother Lu and Yueying to handle."

Upon hearing An Yourong's words, Jiang Yueying's face turned completely pale: "I...I...I...let me go?"

Lu Ren looked at him strangely: "The two of us?"

Shen Yaoxing, who was in front, nodded to them: "Yes, it's the two of you."

Lu Ren only then realized that he had missed the perfect 30 minutes in the workplace because of Jiang Yueying's interruption!

It's pretty obvious. The boss is unhappy that he didn't come to apologize so late and is going to make things difficult for him!

"We'll be there to support you, and we'll intervene if things get bad. Of course, whether or not we intervene is our decision, and it's inevitable that you'll get hurt."

Shen Yaoxing looked at them and said, "If you don't want to get too badly hurt, you'll have to use all your strength. Of course, with me here, you don't need to be afraid of getting hurt."

Lin Huanghu, who was standing to the side, nodded and said, "Yueying, you've already reached the Candle Illumination Realm. It would be really unreasonable if you didn't experience battles."

The two were pushed to the front without any room for rebuttal.

Lu Ren wore a bitter expression. He could tell that this was a training exercise, and that there was money to be made from hunting mud monsters, which was part of the job.

But nearly 30? That's way too much for him. Thirty mud-eating monsters are definitely not something he can handle. Even with a gun, he could only manage 5 or 6 at most. After all, these things are fearless and their reckless charging at you is disgusting.

He could only pin his hopes on the little guy next to him, whose elemental stats were as high as 400.

If this value were given to Lu Ren, his swamp gas explosion could obliterate all 28 mud-eating monsters over there in one go.

He looked at Jiang Yueying, who was trembling and cowering behind him, and asked:

How powerful is your skill "Burning"?

One of the little creatures was shaking so badly, it looked like it had cyberbullying, and it was almost unrecognizable as human.

There's no need to be so afraid, is there?

He turned back to look at the three people hanging 50 meters behind the two, and suddenly understood why they wanted to give this little guy some training.

Even though you've reached the Radiant Realm, it's definitely not good to be this afraid of the Mud Eater.

But why should he go? Wouldn't it be better to let An Yourong accompany her?

Do you think I need to train too?