003 Parting Ways
Yuhua Rune Academy. Inside Activity Room 8911.
Aside from Wu Wei, the other four team members who usually wouldn’t have come until 9 AM had arrived in the activity room early for the first time ever.
They were all quietly waiting for Wu Wei’s arrival.
Soon, they heard the sound of footsteps, followed by the electronic alert.
Zhou Hong and the others perked up.
“What do you guys think he will do next?”
“Probably get on his knees. He’ll beg us to accept him. After all, apart from us, no other team will accept a Summoner dumb enough to contract with a [Yellow Turban Soldier]!”
“He’ll definitely cause a scene!”
“Regardless of whether he begs or causes trouble, we can’t accept him anymore. Sister Hong, you have to be firm when the time comes. Don’t be soft-hearted even if he says he saved you yesterday!”
“Don’t worry, I know what to do. Wu Wei could not keep up with us in the first place. Now that his summon has died, he is even weaker and will only drag our team down. We can’t keep him no matter what.
As for saving me? That doesn’t even count. I would have been able to react even without his Yellow Turban Soldier. On the contrary, all it did was disturb my rhythm of attack. Still, no matter what, I’ve already compensated him.
One Yellow Turban Soldier summoning rune is enough compensation. I don’t owe him anything anymore!”
“Then, it’s decided: we’ll kick him out!”
Zhou Hong HoHoGHongng and the other three wrapped up their discussion and paid attention to the situation outside the room. However, they soon realized that nothing seemed to be happening. Exchanging looks, they opened the door and were startled.
Wu Wei was quietly standing there staring back at them.
However, he wasn’t wearing the usual naïve smile they were familiar with. Instead, Wu Wei appeared so calm and composed that he gave them a very unfamiliar feeling.
The sudden change in his demeanour left Zhou Hong and the others at a momentary loss of how to react.
In the end, they decided to be frank.
“Wu Wei, don’t blame us. Your summon is just too weak to keep up with us, and you aren’t any better. Dragging you around is hindering us!”
“Just look at the battle yesterday – you couldn’t even do anything of much use!”
“That’s right. Also, your personality doesn’t suit us. It’s pointless for us to stay as a team, so I’m sorry. Go look for a team that will accept you!”
Upon hearing his teammates’ words, the corner of Wu Wei’s mouth twitched.
Too weak? Can’t do anything of much use? My personality doesn’t suit you? Dragging you guys down and hindering you?
At this moment, Wu Wei was flabbergasted.
“I admit that I’m weak, and I agree that my personality is not that compatible with the team. However, I am unable to agree with the other two points. I’m useless in battle? Only recently, after you all levelled up, my Yellow Turban Soldier stopped being able to tank, right? But what about before – was Yellow not always tanking on the frontlines? We take the brunt of the damage and get the least amount of experience and earnings for your benefit, but, oh, now that you’ve grown stronger, you despise me for being weak? For being useless? Do you guys even have a shred of conscience?
“Although Yellow can’t tank for us anymore, isn’t he still contributing his fair share through crowd control, aggro-ing, and scouting?! Just look at yesterday with the Wild Boar King – how we were able to steadily take it down and how Zhou Hong survived. All of you should know this much. Therefore, I can’t agree on this point!”
“I know I’m a burden, but that’s exactly why I’ve been working hard to improve. I’ve always tried my best to contribute through my exploration and tactical abilities, so I don’t think you can say that I haven’t contributed at all!”
“Moreover, I’ve always been the one who takes the least share of the loot. I get the least resources, but I do the dirtiest work – how am I dragging you down?!”
“As for your lack of growth, can you blame me for that? Other people stay in Runic World for a few days at a time, but what about you guys? Once in a blue moon, you grind until 9 you think you’ve worked hard as if you performed overtime. To you guys, hunting a mini-boss is an occasion worth celebrating.”
“Normally, I don’t even see you guys training your skills, so honestly, it’s not my fault that you are not improving. The problem is you guys do not have a plan for your own future!
“Listen to my advice. This mindset of yours is not suitable for being a Runemaster. You would be better off selling potatoes in the countryside! At least, that way, you won’t have to worry about dying one day!”
Wu Wei’s words were especially harsh, causing the faces of Zhou Hong and the other three to change.
“Yeah, that’s right, this is exactly how you always act! You’re clearly more useless than us, yet you look at us every day with contempt! You think you’re great just because you carry a few old books with you every day when all you do is try to boss us around in battle. Who do you think you are?! You’re nothing but a trash summoner who contracted with a Yellow Turban Soldier!”
“You’re so hardworking and upstanding, but you just rely on us in the end! Without us, you wouldn’t even dare take a step into Runic World!”
…
In truth, the biggest contradiction between Wu Wei and the team wasn’t the contrast in strength.
It lay in the attitude of both parties towards the profession of Rune Master.
Wu Wei sought to do his best to become stronger, and he was willing to put in the hard work for it. However, Zhou Hong and the others were the kind of people who took things for granted and just lived by the day.
Yet, they were somehow still able to feel that they had worked very hard but simply had poor luck regarding talent and background. They felt that if given the resources, they would easily surpass those so-called prodigies.
In short, they were two completely different types of people.
How could such people ever gel? If Wu Wei were a little stronger, they might have admired him. However, Wu Wei’s strength was far from impressive. Therefore, in their eyes, Wu Wei’s efforts were nothing but futile, and the mismatch only served to make him seem like a person full of himself to them.
The way that things had played out was actually a foregone conclusion.
Looking at the teammates he had provoked, Wu Wei, having vented his grievances, suddenly felt that further arguing would be pointless, so he waved his hand dismissively.
“Alright, I don’t want to and don’t have the time to argue with you guys. Kick me, right? Fine, just give me compensation for being kicked and share the loot from yesterday. Yesterday, I was still a member of the team, so don’t think of taking what’s rightfully mine!”
“No way we would be so despicable. Take your things and get lost!”
Zhou Hong immediately threw a backpack toward Wu Wei.
Wu Wei caught it. When he opened it to check, he saw an unopened [Common] drop inside. There was also an unopened orb that contained the Runic Armament, Wild Boar Crossbow, and a stack of Runic Stones.
Wu Wei did a rough calculation. After confirming that the value of the items was his rightful share of the loot, Wu Wei decided not to waste his breath further and turned around to leave.