There are too many teammates who are complete losers.

Chapter 19: The Loser's Preparation

"It's you, An."

Good evening!

Shen Yaoxing, who had just been talking big, suddenly fell silent, hugging her juice and bouncing around as she rapidly approached Lu Ren from the opposite side.

There are outsiders around, and she's not very bright right now; the more she says, the more mistakes she'll make, so she'd better pretend to be mute.

This is her way of surviving at night!

An Yourong smiled and said, "I didn't expect to run into you again. I really owe you all a lot today. I was in such a hurry when I left that I didn't even have a chance to thank you properly!"

Lu Ren waved his hand: "How could that be? We're just showing you the way."

"If it weren't for you leading the team, we'd still be in the forest right now, wouldn't we?"

An Yourong was a bit of a show-off; she sat down boldly in front of them, baring her tiger teeth.

"Our advisor gave us a summer break, but we finished in just one day. Most of us will be spending the night in the forest tonight, hehe."

Lu Ren also smiled and said, "After all, there aren't many professionals with reconnaissance skills in this virtual world camp."

In the past two weeks, Lu Ren discovered that reconnaissance skills are more important than most combat abilities, even more important than medical skills. The fact that they had such an easy time in the past two weeks was all thanks to Shen Yaoxing.

"This restaurant is so popular! It's only a little past eight o'clock and there are no seats left. Can we sit with you?"

Just then, the male mage appeared from behind, saying, "If you know you should ask for someone's opinion, don't wait until you sit down to ask."

The man looked at An Yourong with a helpless expression, then nodded apologetically to Lu Ren in greeting.

"It's alright, sit down with us. Besides, this restaurant is really good, and it's always busy. You should definitely try it since you've come all this way."

The male mage was named Lin Huanghu. He wore round-framed glasses, was refined and easygoing, and had a scholarly air about him.

Behind the man was a petite girl who looked like a primary school student, probably not even 1.5 meters tall.

The little girl was also wearing a large mage's robe. She was a mage whose profession was "fire mage," and her name seemed to be... Jiang Yueying?

"Huh! Why...why are you staring at me?"

The little girl, who was originally rather innocent and timid, became a bit flustered under his gaze and became as wary as a little squirrel.

"Um, sorry..."

Lu Rencai realized he had indeed drunk too much and had done something rude, so he quickly apologized:

"I just felt today that Jiang looks even younger than my sister, yet she's already a professional."

"How...how rude of me..."

The little girl snorted, raising her hands in front of her, her wide sleeves concealing her wrists. She said with a hint of pride, "I've been a professional for almost half a year now, and I'm already a fully-fledged, independent professional... Woohoo!"

"You think so too, right?"

However, Jiang Yueying was caught in a hug by An Yourong halfway through her sentence.

"Yuekage hasn't changed at all since fifth grade. Isn't she cute and petite?"

The tiny girl was like a doll, being held and fondled in someone's arms.

Lu Ren was unsure who to envy more, but in the end, it was Lin Huanghu who saw that Jiang Yueying was about to suffocate that made An Yourong release the little girl.

"Hey, what were you guys talking about just now? I think I heard something about heartbreak?"

An Yourong, her eyes full of curiosity, asked, "Has anyone here broken up with their boyfriend?"

"Um, this..." Ever since his student days, Lu Ren has been unable to stand this kind of overly familiar girl.

"You Rong." Lin tugged at her in a daze.

An Yourong realized that she seemed to have gotten a little carried away again, and apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, talking about heartbreak is a heavy topic, isn't it? Let's skip it."

"If you're talking about love and relationships, feel free to ask me anything. I'm quite knowledgeable in that area..."

Huh? Who's talking?

After searching for a while, the group finally looked at a little girl in the corner.

As Jiang Yueying was being watched by everyone, she slowly lowered her head while speaking, her hands clasped together under the table, her two thumbs spinning wildly.

Her voice grew softer and softer until it was completely inaudible; it sounded like she was talking to herself.

It seems like they're saying that they're very knowledgeable about love, that they're very skilled, that they understand men very well, and that they're experts in all sorts of things.

An Yourong looked at her strangely: "Why does Yueying know so much about this? Do you have someone you like?"

Even if there is, it's probably some remote corner where the characters in the story are given to them?

Lu Ren sensed a similar aura in this somewhat gloomy little girl, a feeling reminiscent of his own adolescence. But, Jiang, reality is cruel. Talking to boys won't bring up options, and giving gifts to someone you like won't necessarily increase their affection level.

However, Lu Ren didn't expect that after being asked this by her friend, the little girl did panic for a moment, but after stealing a glance at Lin Huanghu next to him, she pursed her lips, her face flushed, and whispered like a kitten, "Yes, yes..."

An Yourong looked on in disbelief: "Eh, really?!"

Not only was An Yourong shocked, but even Lin Huanghu was taken aback and looked at her, asking:

"Tsukikage, do you have a boy you like? Is it a male classmate from our Magician Class 2?"

When pressed by her companion, Jiang Yueying felt a little shy, but seeing how nervous Lin Huanghu seemed, she suddenly smiled playfully and said, "It's a secret."

"..." Lu Ren, who was sitting across from her and had seen everything, seemed to know something at this moment. He chose to quietly watch the show, while filling his young lady's juice and sparkling water, and taking out a Rubik's Cube from his pocket to keep her entertained.

"Really? But you're always hanging out with us, the three of us are childhood friends, how could you keep such a big thing from us!"

An Yourong crossed her arms, looking furious: "Ah Huang, tell me, what should we do about Yueying?"

"You Rong, actually..."

Lin Huanghu was a little embarrassed and said, "Actually, I also have a girl I like."

"What?!"

"Yes, and actually... Tsukikage knows too."

An Yourong was struck dumb, feeling betrayed. She was furious and demanded that the two people who had betrayed their revolutionary friendship confess their crushes.

Lin looked at her in a daze, sighed helplessly, and then said mysteriously that he would tell her the truth after he returned to school after completing this training.

"Why aren't you telling me now?"

"When I return to school this time, I want to confess my feelings to her."

Lin looked at An Yourong with a gentle smile on his face and said, "If it succeeds, I'll tell Yourong then, okay?"

"Is he really going to confess his feelings? Will he succeed?"

"Does You Rong hope I succeed?"

"Hmm... Even though you're both hiding things from me, as your childhood friends, I definitely hope you succeed!"

Meanwhile, Jiang Yueying, listening to Lin Huanghu's words, seemed lost in thought, occasionally letting out soft chuckles and quietly repeating things like "confess," "complete training," and "should I say yes?"... She seemed completely immersed in her own fantasy world.

After dealing with Lin Huanghu, An Yourong grabbed her again and made her confess honestly.

Jiang Yueying let out a strange cry, then said, "I, I'll... I'll tell You Rong after I've vaguely mentioned it..."

"You two, you absolutely have to treat me to a meal when you get back..."

Lu Ren was completely absorbed in watching the whole thing... Wow, this is exactly what I wanted to see!

He didn't want to miss a single detail about the three of them. Lu Ren took two sips of tequila with his left hand, while his right hand unconsciously scratched the puppy's chin. Unfortunately, there were no sunflower seeds in the store, but he quickly realized that there were no puppies in the store either. This was his damn young lady.

Just then, An Yourong looked at the two of them and said happily, "By the way, since we've run into you here again, we'd like to ask you for another favor!"

"You Rong..." Lin seemed to want to say something but then stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"……fine."

"Any other assignments?" Lu Ren asked curiously. "Didn't your group project involve hunting down a mud monster?"

"The Yellow Mud Monster was just a group project. This time, we want to hunt down a spirit corpse for Moonshadow."

"Is Jiang a mage? Is the spirit body in this virtual world suitable for mages the 'Sludge Cannon' of the Sludge Monster?"

The mud monster is one of the four types of void beasts in the Linjiang Void Realm that Lu Ren hasn't seen in the past half month. It can spray out a large amount of mud, and the mud has a strong adhesive force. Once hit by the mud cannon, it is difficult to break free.

Moreover, this monster is very cunning. It likes to hide in the shadows and ambush people. Professionals often don't have time to defend themselves and are hit by its mud cannon. Then, several mud cannons cover the person's entire body, and in the end, they suffocate to death because they can't break free.

However, with Shen Yaoxing around, this monster could hardly harm them.

"It's not a sludge monster."

An Yourong shook her head and said, "What we want to hunt is... the Swamp Mud Monster."