"Guess we'll have to pay for a carry," Lin Yuan sighed, fiddling with his phone. "Hope they don't charge an arm and a leg."

Pay for a carry? Gu Chen was momentarily struck silent. Was it really this easy to make money as a Class Holder? He was the one planning to carry the team, and he was expected to pay them? That was utterly ridiculous!

He glanced around; all the other students were consciously keeping a noticeable distance from him and Lin Yuan. Yep, they were being completely ostracized. In the current situation, it seemed paying for a carry might indeed be their only viable option.

Lin Yuan was quick. Not long after he posted on a forum, private messages inquiring about the details and price started pouring in. However, as soon as the potential carries found out the party leader was a commoner Summoner, the interest evaporated, and the conversations died.

Instead, Gu Chen received a private message from an "Actor." That's right, an Actor. The kind of player who just tags along, shoots the breeze, avoids combat entirely, and is ready to bail at the first sign of trouble. Put simply, they lacked the strength themselves and paid to leech experience. In a typical run, the carry took the largest share of the XP, while the Actor received only a small fraction. However, even this small share was often better than what they could earn soloing. So, hiring a carry cost money, but recruiting an Actor meant earning money.

"How much does one usually charge to take an Actor through the Novice Dungeon?" Gu Chen asked Lin Yuan.

"An Actor for the Novice Dungeon... hmm, not really sure..." Lin Yuan frowned, thinking. "Maybe four or five thousand coins per person?"

Gu Chen nodded, then quoted the interested Actor eight thousand, expecting some haggling. To his surprise, the other party agreed instantly but mentioned there were two of them who both needed a spot.

Gu Chen readily agreed. Eight thousand per person meant sixteen thousand total—more than his entire living expenses for a year back in Lincheng. Hmm... Making money as a Class Holder really is easy.

Once the terms were settled, Gu Chen invited the Actor, Lin Qingqing, into the party. She was a female Warrior. Lin Qingqing then invited her companion, a female Assassin named Su Ran.

The Warrior class was notoriously difficult for commoners; without decent gear, the early leveling process was excruciatingly slow and painful. Furthermore, for actual dungeons later on, Warriors often needed to be at least two levels higher than other classes just to be considered for a party slot. As for the Assassin class, it was even less suited for commoners. Assassins were inherently fragile with low defense, and their early damage output lagged behind Mages or Archers, often resulting in even slower leveling than Warriors.

No wonder they were willing to pay just to join Gu Chen's party. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that if any one of the four current party members—Gu Chen the commoner Summoner, Lin Yuan the poorly geared Swordsman, Lin Qingqing the Warrior, or Su Ran the Assassin—were to stand in the plaza all day, they wouldn't get a single invite. Unless they paid others to take them.

For Lin Qingqing and Su Ran, eight thousand coins each was steep, but it represented perhaps their only chance to actually clear the Novice Dungeon. Su Ran, however, still had reservations. "Qingqing, are you sure about this team?" she whispered. "I just heard people saying the leader is just some commoner Summoner!" "How can someone like that dare talk about SSS rank? What if he just gets us killed and makes us waste our teleport scrolls?"

Lin Qingqing didn't feel particularly confident either, but she truly felt out of options. "We can't afford it!" she whispered back. "Other carries are charging fifteen thousand minimum. This guy's the cheapest offer we've gotten." "Besides, he announced publicly he's going for SSS. He must have something going for him, right? Let's just give it a shot. If we don't, we might really not get another chance."

They had already sent out dozens of requests to join other parties, but every single one had gone unanswered, like stones dropped into the ocean. Absolutely no one wanted them. Their only other option was hiring a proper carry, but they simply couldn't afford the going rate.

Su Ran sighed in resignation. "Alright, fine. Let's gamble. Even if it goes south, we still have our teleport scrolls to get out alive."

Even though it was just the Novice Dungeon, the death rate wasn't negligible. This was because Class Holders had to be completely out of combat to activate their exit scrolls. Getting out of combat required either putting significant distance between oneself and any pursuing monsters or killing them outright. A single mistake could lead to being pinned down by monsters and slowly worn down to death. Since Actors weren't expected to fight, they could usually bail out immediately if danger arose. This convenience alone made the eight thousand coin fee seem worthwhile for a chance at XP.

Shortly after Lin Qingqing and Su Ran joined, another familiar face approached the group. It was a tall, handsome boy clad in a full set of Superior-tier Brawler equipment.

"Class President? You want to join our team?" Lin Yuan asked, astonished. Gu Chen recognized the face too, feeling equally surprised. The tall, handsome Brawler was Wu Ziyi, their class president.

Wu Ziyi carried himself with a certain arrogance; despite being a commoner himself, he fundamentally looked down on other commoners. His family wasn't poor, but they certainly didn't meet the standards of nobility. Although he wore a full Superior-tier Brawler set, the numerous scuffs and marks on its surface clearly indicated it had been purchased second-hand.

Hearing Lin Yuan's question, Wu Ziyi replied coolly, "That's right. I'll join your party as an Actor. But let's get this straight: if you run into trouble you can't handle, I will step in. And if I do, I'll be taking two-thirds of the total party experience from that point on."

A faint smile played on Gu Chen's lips upon hearing this. No wonder. Why would someone as proud as Wu Ziyi suddenly offer to join his team as an Actor? He's planning to swoop in and take advantage if we fail. While Wu Ziyi's gear was decent, it wasn't nearly good enough for him to confidently solo the dungeon or carry his own team while hogging all the experience. Therefore, he had targeted Gu Chen's group. He was essentially betting that Gu Chen, the commoner Summoner, would inevitably fail.

See through it, but don't call it out. Gu Chen agreed to Wu Ziyi's terms. After quickly settling on the (Actor) fee, he efficiently added him to the party.

With that, the party was finally full. One Warrior, one Swordsman, one Brawler, one Assassin, and one Summoner—all Level 1. The composition lacked dedicated ranged damage dealers like Archers or Mages, as well as traditional support roles like Priests or Paladins. In short, the team composition looked... unconventional, to say the least.

Wu Ziyi recognized this, but he didn't care. He was placing his bet entirely on the assumption that Gu Chen, the commoner Summoner, lacked the power to actually lead them. Once Gu Chen inevitably failed inside the dungeon, Wu Ziyi just had to make a show of stepping in, and he could claim a whopping two-thirds of the experience. Wasn't that a much sweeter deal than splitting the XP five ways in a regular party? Besides, even if he miscalculated and Gu Chen somehow did manage to carry the team through, the worst-case scenario was simply losing the eight thousand coin Actor fee. No, wait, it wouldn't even be a loss, Wu Ziyi mused. It would be like paying eight thousand coins for the experience gain of basically soloing the dungeon. Not a bad deal either way.

"Everyone check your status. We enter as soon as you're ready," Gu Chen announced in the party chat channel.

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

Standing before the swirling spatial vortex marking the dungeon entrance, Gu Chen opened the options interface and selected 'Hard Mode'. Instantly, a brilliant blue light erupted from the vortex, engulfing the five party members, and their figures vanished.

As Gu Chen's party disappeared into the vortex, the surrounding crowd immediately buzzed with renewed chatter. "Holy crap! That commoner Summoner actually took a team in! Isn't he just leading them to their deaths?" "And it looked like he selected Hard Mode! They're definitely screwed now." "Aiming for SSS? Heh, they should be more worried about just making it out alive." "Just watch. They won't last two hours in there. Let's just hope they don't get spat back out as mincemeat." "I've seen plenty of reckless idiots, but this is the first time I've seen someone actively trying to get themselves killed." "Seriously, dragging others down with him..."