Make me leave the team? My beast girl and I can win easily.

not long ago.

Beijing, Tsinghua and Peking Universities, Special Abilities Training Base.

At the entrance to the level 15 hard dungeon "Twin Wastes", a five-person team is preparing for their fifth challenge of the day.

The young man in the lead was about eighteen or nineteen years old, about 1.8 meters tall, and had a decent appearance.

He wore a suit of light, fiery red armor, with a similarly crimson longsword at his waist.

What is most striking is the faint red aura emanating from his body—a sign of his battle aura being released outwards.

Xiao Huo.

A second-year student at Tsinghua and Peking University, an S-rank professional "Flame Saint", and the captain of the "Ethereal" squad.

A top eight finalist in the National Youth Ability Competition, he is hailed as one of the most promising talents of this generation in China to compete in the world championships.

At this moment, he was staring at the data panel at the entrance to the instance, his eyes sharp as knives.

[Instance: Twin Wastes (Level 15, Hard Difficulty)]

[National Record: 7 minutes 11 seconds (Kyoto University "Strong Luck" Team)]

[Team MVP: 7 minutes 13 seconds]

"Just two seconds short," Xiao Huo said in a low voice, his voice filled with resentment.

Four teammates stood behind him.

The muscular giant at the front is the team's tank, an A-rank "Iron Guardian" named Iron Mountain.

On the left are a pair of twin siblings who look alike. The older brother is named Yang Feng, an A-rank class "Flame Messenger".

My younger sister's name is Yang Yu, and her class is "Stormbringer" (A-rank).

The tall, thin young man on the right is the team's support, an A-rank "Scholar" named Wen Yuan.

This team boasts a truly impressive lineup: an S-rank class as the main damage dealer, two A-rank mages, an A-rank front-line tank, and an A-rank support.

This would be considered top-tier among any university in the country.

But at this moment, their expressions were all solemn.

Because they have already attempted the "Twin Wasteland" four times, with their best time being 7 minutes and 13 seconds, they are 2 seconds away from breaking the record.

Two seconds may seem insignificant to the average person.

But in the competition among top teams, 2 seconds is an insurmountable barrier.

To break this record, Xiao Huo sought out his family's pharmacist to create six bottles of A-grade enhancement potions.

The market price of each bottle is no less than 200 million.

In the previous four challenges, I used one bottle each time.

But his best result was only close to the record, and he was unable to surpass it.

Today is their last chance—all five of them are already level 20.

It's impossible to stay stagnant and wait until the reward count refreshes next month.

Only in this last and desperate attempt will we take a gamble.

"You two drink this time," Xiao Huo ordered Yang Feng and Yang Yu.

As an S-rank class, Xiao Huo's individual damage output surpassed that of the brother and sister duo.

Every time, I'm the one waiting for the two of them to fight in the arcade.

Although Yang Yu's main focus was on controlling the situation, the effects of taking the medicine were limited.

But this is the last time, and Xiao Huo must do it perfectly.

"Let's begin." After watching the brother and sister take the potion, Xiao Huo activated the fifth "Twin Wasteland".

"This time, no one can afford to make a mistake!"

A flash of white light, and the five people entered the instance.

A gray sky, desolate fields, and foul-smelling air.

Everything was exactly the same as the previous four times.

But this time, the "Ethereal" team's pace was noticeably faster.

Zone 1, Zone 2...

Each region is progressing faster than the previous ones.

Even if it's only a fraction of a second faster.

When the five people reached the finish line of the fourth zone, the timer showed: 5 minutes and 46 seconds.

It's a full two seconds faster than the previous four best times!

"Final stage." Xiao Huo took a deep breath and looked at the two tall figures in the center of the rocky ground. "According to plan... move in!"

"clear!"

The five people dispersed.

Iron Mountain charged toward Owen, its tower shield slamming heavily against the opponent's magical barrier with a dull thud.

Xiao Huo brandished his epic-quality longsword and joined the battle.

On the other side, about 30 meters apart, Yang Feng and Yang Yu began flying kites.

This is the most dangerous part—two fragile mages have to run back and forth while pulling a boss with extremely high physical damage.

The current strategy for teams aiming for the "Twin Wastes" record is to assign two magic-based DPS characters, maintain a safe distance of more than 50 meters, and take turns attacking to alternate aggro.

In order to set a new record for the level 15 hard dungeon, the brother and sister went all out this time.

20 m.

The range of the Arcane Strike skill is 15 meters, and the range of the Whirlwind Slash skill is 10 meters.

A distance of 20 meters means that if your reaction is 0.5 seconds slower, you could be caught up and hit by a skill.

"Ice Ring slows you down!"

"Flame Bomb!"

The two moved swiftly across the open, rocky ground, as if dancing on the edge of a knife.

The massive body of the Owu ran back and forth between them, each turn creating a whistling sound.

On several occasions, Oobu's attacks had already hit one of them.

The shield was instantly depleted, leaving only a sliver of health on the health bar.

But they had no time to be afraid.

It can only take a roundabout approach, and can only output.

He then took the medicine when he had time to help Wen Yuan restore his blood volume.

"Brother Xiao, Irving only has 8000 HP left!" Tieshan shouted in the team voice chat, his voice filled with excitement.

"6000 Arcane Power left!" Yang Feng's voice came at the same time.

The most crucial moment has arrived.

Both bosses have very low health, but you must control the time between their deaths to be within 3 seconds.

"Yang Feng, take down Ao Wu as quickly as possible!" Xiao Huo said in a deep voice.

He gripped his sword with both hands, and his entire body surged with crimson battle aura, which condensed into a gigantic phantom of a fiery wolf behind him.

At the same time, he kept a close eye on Aowu, who was 30 meters away.

The enormous figure was chasing Yang Yu, its giant sword raised high, about to strike.

But in that instant, both Yang Feng's and Yang Yu's skills hit it.

It's now!

A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Huo's eyes.

"Battle Aura Transformation - Azure Wolf!"

The phantom wolf howled to the sky, then pounced on Owen following Xiao Huo's sword strike.

This is one of Flame Saint's signature skills; it consumes a huge amount of resources but deals terrifying damage.

The fiery wolf crashed into Owen's magical barrier.

At the same time, Xiao Huo turned around gracefully and sheathed his longsword.

He didn't even look at the results.

Because I believe in my output.

Irving's barrier shattered, and his health bar was emptied.

Almost simultaneously, Owu also fell to the ground.

[System notification: The Wasteland Twins have died]

silence.

Only the heavy breathing of five people could be heard.

Then, Xiao Huo nervously looked at the timer.

The time displayed above is 7 minutes and 09 seconds.

It's 2 seconds faster than the national record!

"Success!" Xiao Huo clenched his right fist, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

Those two seconds were incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, it finally succeeded.

"Brother Xiao is awesome!" Tieshan was the first to rush over, excitedly patting Xiao Huo on the shoulder.

Yang Feng and Yang Yu also came over, their faces pale, but their eyes were full of excitement.

"The record is ours now!"

The five men huddled together, celebrating their hard-won victory.

They didn't even bother to look at the dropped equipment—the joy of breaking the record had surpassed everything else.

"Let's go out first and wait for the system announcement," Xiao Huo said.

The five players took turns using the instance exit function.

The scene before them changed, and they returned to the training base of Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

but...

The expected system announcement did not appear.

"Huh?" Yang Yu asked in confusion, "Why hasn't the announcement of the record-breaking yet?"

"Maybe it's been delayed?" Yang Feng guessed.

Xiao Huo frowned, a vague unease creeping into his heart.

Just then, a group of staff members in white uniforms surrounded them.

They are a training and guidance team hired by the Xiao family at high salaries, specifically responsible for monitoring the training data of the "Ethereal" squad.

"Young Master Xiao, why don't you and your teammates take a rest?" said the middle-aged man in the lead.

The five people were taken into a giant truck parked inside the base.

The interior of the carriage has been converted into a luxury lounge, with five airline-style seats and professional masseuses on standby.

After they lay down in the chairs, various instruments scanned their bodies—

This is a routine procedure; after each high-intensity training session, we check our physical condition to prevent any hidden injuries.

The test was completed quickly.

"Your physical condition is good, but you are a little tired. I suggest you rest," the doctor concluded.

The five people lay on the chairs, and the masseuse began to relax their tense muscles.

But Xiao Huo's unease grew stronger.

He picked up the tablet computer on the small table next to him and opened the query system.

Then, he froze.

First place: Lin Yu's team - 7 minutes and 02 seconds

Second place: Misty Squad - 7 minutes 09 seconds

Third place: Strong Luck Team - 7 minutes 11 seconds

......

It turns out the announcement wasn't delayed.

However, while they were playing the dungeon, someone had already broken the record.

Faster than them.

"Lin Yu's team?" Xiao Huo murmured, his voice filled with disbelief. "7 minutes and 02 seconds?"

It's 7 seconds faster than their previous record of 7 minutes and 09 seconds?

"This is impossible..." Xiao Huo stared at the screen, his mind blank.

He exerted all his strength, using up 6 bottles of Grade A medicine, and risked casualties by operating at the limit to push the record forward by 2 seconds.

And this "Lin Yu Team" is 7 seconds faster than them?

Are you kidding me!

"Brother Xiao, what's wrong?" Tieshan noticed Xiao Huo's unusual behavior.

The other three also looked over.

Xiao Huo didn't say anything, but simply handed over the tablet computer.

The four people gathered around and saw the data on the screen.

Then, the carriage fell into a deathly silence.

A few seconds later, Yang Yu asked hesitantly, "Lin Yu... is her surname Lin? Is she from the Lin family in Hangzhou?"

"Could it be... that the ancient family has finally lost its patience?"

Wen Yuan quickly operated the tablet to search for information about the "Lin Yu Squad".

"Wujiang Supernatural Abilities Vocational Technical College?" he read the school's name, looking puzzled. "What kind of school is that?"

Yang Feng also searched online: "It says online that it's a 'near-first-class' university in Hubei Province..."

"Near-top-tier?" Tie Shan's eyes widened. "Such a powerful team comes from a near-top-tier school?"

This completely overturned their understanding.

Tsinghua and Peking Universities are the top universities in the country for students with special abilities. Only the most exceptional geniuses can study there.

Their "Ethereal" team is the cream of the crop, with only a handful of teams in the entire country able to rival them.

Now, an unknown school has a team that has also been unknown, and they have crushed them in the dungeon records.

"Look!" Yang Yu suddenly exclaimed, "A new record has been broken again!"

Everyone immediately looked at the tablet.

On the screen, the time for first place has changed: 6 minutes and 59 seconds.

It's still the "Lin Yu Squad".

"6 minutes and 59 seconds..." Wen Yuan murmured, "I've broken the 7-minute mark..."

"How did they do that?"

"Could there be a new tactic?"

"How is that possible? The current tactics are the optimal solution, and the route has been optimized to the extreme."

The five of them racked their brains but still couldn't figure out what method the other side had used.

However, reality gave them yet another surprise.

In the next half hour, the record for "Twin Wasteland" was broken three times in a row.

Each time it was 4-6 seconds faster than the previous one.

The final record was 6 minutes and 44 seconds.

It's a full 25 seconds faster than the 7 minutes and 09 seconds just set by the "Ethereal" team.

"They..." Tieshan swallowed hard. "Just who are they?"

A 25-second difference is a complete crushing defeat in the competition between top teams.

"In this squad..." Wen Yuan pushed up his glasses, his voice a little hoarse, "there's probably more than one S-rank professional."

"At least three," Xiao Huo finally spoke, his voice low, "and their coordination is terrifying."

"If we were to face this team in the national tournament," he continued, "our chances of winning... would probably be less than 3%."

Silence fell over the carriage once again.

"I have a question," Yang Yu suddenly said, "Are they just breaking records for fun?"

"Yeah..." Yang Feng also realized, "Why not give it your all every time? Maybe you can set an even faster record that way!"

"Is it possible," Wen Yuan pondered, "that they did this for the reward of breaking the record?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Tieshan immediately retorted.

"Why would a team with such strength care about such paltry rewards?"

"I think..." Yang Yu said, "They did this entirely to demonstrate their strength."

"Look at the leaderboard, their team is in the top five! Isn't that amazing!"

"That's possible."

Wen Yuan said on the tablet: "I just checked the 'Crimson Desert' dungeon, and the leaderboard is dominated by Lin Yu's team. They're in the top ten."

"This squad is really arrogant!" Tieshan said angrily.

At this moment, Xiao Huo suddenly stood up from his seat.

"Shut up!" he growled, his eyes sharp. "All of you, be quiet!"

The carriage fell silent instantly.

The four looked at Xiao Huo and found that his expression was more serious than ever before.

"They're arrogant because they have the power!"

Xiao Huo said, enunciating each word clearly, "If we don't want to be defeated by them in the national competition, we have to push ourselves!"

He looked around at the four men: "Starting tomorrow, all recreational activities are cancelled. Training will be at least 12 hours a day!"

"If anyone has any objections, let me know. I agree to his leaving the team!"

"If there are no objections, then let's work together and do everything we can to improve ourselves!"

His eyes burned with a fierce flame.

That was the fighting spirit that had been ignited, the stubbornness that refused to admit defeat.

"The other party is so arrogant, it's obvious that they are too talented and everything came too easily."

"Therefore, those with fickle minds are not down-to-earth people."

Xiao Huo clenched his fist.

"In that case, my 'Ethereal' team will make up for the difference in talent with sweat and willpower, and defeat you fair and square!"