The Support Ate it All - Chapter 586: If Poison Doesn’t Work

Dang Eunbi showed up at the training grounds the next day, and the day after that too.

Bringing snacks and drinks and the like.

“This is something our Clan Head gave me, but it’s kind of a lot, so I thought it’d be nice to share.”

“Aren’t you cold? Please have some tea.”

“Try one of these~”

Dang Eunbi’s main interests were, of course, Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in.

And now it seemed Hyeseong Group’s employees were included too.

She kept firing off questions about the new city.

“Is there really a dragon nearby? Meteor Dragon?”

“More precisely, a defensive city was built near the Lair. The intent is to restrain it and be prepared.”

Ahn Jeongmi explained calmly.

Since Hyeseong Group’s alliance with Meteor Dragon wasn’t publicly known, they seemed to be avoiding that part.

Dang Eunbi’s eyes sparkled as she asked again.

“Has it ever invaded?”

“Since the new city was built, there haven’t been any major clashes. But dragons and we have different concepts of time.”

“Ah…! You mean you don’t know what’ll happen later?”

“Yes. We must be prepared at any time.”

Given the vibe of Seo Ye-in’s family and that Nether King Dragon guy, it’d probably be fine for decades.

Still, it was true that you never know what might happen in, say, two hundred years, so Ahn Jeongmi wasn’t lying.

Dang Eunbi seemed to feel my gaze and turned her head.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

‘Yeah, she really hates me.’

Even if a first impression is bad, seeing someone every day usually makes you get a little closer, but she didn’t look like that type at all.

‘It’s probably the poison.’

More precisely, it was because she’d failed to poison me repeatedly and—on the contrary—had suffered the humiliating experience of getting poisoned by her own stuff.

If that problem got resolved, the relationship might change too.

‘Not like I can just let myself get poisoned.’

My poison immunity doesn’t have an on/off switch.

And even if it did, I wouldn’t flip it even a little.

So there was only one solution.

‘I’ve gotta make her knock herself out on # Nоvеlight # her own.’

I’d eat whatever poison she handed over, and let her feed it too.

I looked at Dang Eunbi again.

‘She’s been quiet for a few days, but…’

It felt like deliberate peace.

She’d move soon.

*****

BOIL BOIL BOIL….

Inside a cauldron, a suspicious liquid was bubbling.

Unlike the medicinal ingredients she normally handled, it was purple— and every so often, it even gave off a faint glow.

Watching that, Dang Eunbi thought to herself.

‘I basically have to assume poison barely works.’

Kim Ho’s resistance was far higher than she’d expected.

Even after adding Poison-Assist Powder to her masterpiece, “inner-thought-leak poison,” there had been no effect at all.

‘He’s not… immune to all poisons, right?’

No matter how she thought about it, that sounded ridiculous.

He was only a couple years younger than her—immune to all poisons, my ass.

But when you make plans, you always have to account for the worst-case scenario.

If Kim Ho really was immune to all poisons…

‘…What poison is even usable?’

Her options narrowed to an extreme.

Only a few that were either absurdly powerful or absurdly unusual would even have a chance.

And most of those were lethal poisons that would cause fatal harm—completely incompatible with her purpose.

While she was clutching her head and agonizing, something suddenly crossed her mind.

‘Magic potion.’

She’d gotten it a few years ago from a peddler wandering around near the Dang family.

At first she’d bought it thinking it might be useful for something, but when she really thought about it, “potion brewing” seemed like a totally different field from hers.

And looking back, the peddler’s pitch had been sketchy as hell too.

— Try putting it in once when you’re making something!

— Then what happens?

— I don’t know! It changes randomly!

— If you don’t even know, why are you selling it?

— Isn’t that the fun of it? They say life is a series of uncertainties!

— …….

— Just try it once! If you don’t like it, I’ll refund you!

Then the next day, the peddler vanished without a trace.

Refund? Not a chance.

That magic potion had sat buried in a corner of her Inventory for years, but now her choices were far too limited.

‘Either a lethal poison or this. One of the two.’

And since Dang Eunbi didn’t actually want to harm Kim Ho, she chose the latter.

The result was the bubbling liquid in the cauldron.

A mixture of “inner-thought-leak poison,” Poison-Assist Powder, and “a medicine that changes randomly.”

‘Wouldn’t this make it work better?’

Being immune to all poisons was, at best, a trait that granted immunity to various “poisons.”

It might just be wordplay, but if this purple mixture counted as a “potion,” it seemed entirely possible it could slip through a loophole.

Then an exclamation point popped into Dang Eunbi’s mind.

‘…Wait. If it’s come to this, then why not just—?’

What if she added a “beneficial effect” so it wouldn’t be “poison” at all?

That would raise the success rate even more.

Dang Eunbi searched her memory while rummaging through her Inventory, and found a small wooden box.

When she opened it, inside were golden fragments that must’ve originally been a small pellet.

‘Gold… some kind of Gold Pellet, but…’

It had been hidden away so long she couldn’t remember.

And since it had been split into multiple pieces, she couldn’t even check the item description.

After a brief pause, Dang Eunbi shrugged.

‘The name doesn’t matter.’

What mattered was that “whatever Gold Pellet” was a precious medicine, and that it added beneficial effects.

‘…But it feels like a waste, giving it to that guy.’

Still, it was better than something that didn’t work at all.

If she could get even the minimum effect, it would be her victory.

She could also save face in front of the head of the Medicine Hall and the Elder Council, who were watching the situation.

‘Yeah. This is an investment.’

Dang Eunbi threw away her hesitation and shook the golden fragments from the box into the cauldron.

HISSSSS—!

Smoke rose in a rush, and the purple liquid gradually took on a golden glow like a precious pellet.

The amount also shrank dramatically, leaving only a few spoonfuls at the bottom.

As Dang Eunbi poured it into another container, she suddenly swallowed.

“…Gulp.”

The soft gold glow and the scent felt like they were calling to her.

It was enough to make her want to drink it right now.

If there was this much, wouldn’t a teaspoon—no, even just a single drop—be fine?

But Dang Eunbi shook her head hard.

‘No. I have to endure it.’

With potions, even reducing the amount a little can cut the effect in half.

She couldn’t ruin all the work she’d put in.

“…Gulp.”

Swallowing again, Dang Eunbi tucked the golden potion into her clothes.

Then she clenched her fist and made her eyes shine.

‘This will definitely…!’

*****

WHOOOOO—!

A sudden high wind lashed Seo Ye-in.

The moment her body lifted into the air, mana BB pellets fired in from all directions.

TIK-KONG TIK-KONG TIK-KONG, TIK-KONG TIK-KONG TIK-KONG,

Hyeseong Group’s four employees were even firing in bursts, so there were dozens of shots.

Even so, Seo Ye-in’s gray eyes stayed calmly lowered.

“…….”

She moved her legs again and again, like there were invisible footholds.

And while changing her posture multiple times midair, she escaped the barrage.

The moment she landed lightly, a notification message appeared.

[Sub-Quest – Sailboat] (Completed)

▷Objective: Move along the flow and evade (1,000/1,000 times)

▷Upon being hit, subtract 20

▷Equipment deactivated: Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot

▷Random high winds occur

With a blank face but an unmistakably proud attitude, Seo Ye-in told Kim Ho,

“…I cleared it.”

“You worked hard. Let’s see what reward you got.”

“Yeah.”

▷Reward: [Sailboat], Additional rank increase for movement-type skills/traits

[‘Sailboat (F+)’ has been acquired.]

[‘Sailboat’ rank has increased. (F+→C+)]

Right after learning it, it jumped three ranks straight to C+.

For reference, that bonus came from the effect of [Cloudstep].

And even though its rank didn’t rise immediately, it would’ve helped a lot with ranking up [Featherstep] too.

Kim Ho grinned.

“See? When you go hard, it goes up a lot.”

“…True.”

She didn’t like the process, but the result was good, so Seo Ye-in nodded slowly.

Then Kim Ho strode closer.

The way he smoothly pulled out that “red book” was deeply ominous.

“Shall we do Challenge Austerity now?”

“…….”

Seo Ye-in quietly turned her body and stared up at the sky.

From the way clouds were thickening, it looked like snow might fall soon.

But pretending not to notice might work on Ahn Jeongmi sometimes—on Kim Ho, it did absolutely nothing.

Smiling brightly, he kept asking.

“You said you’d do your best, right?”

“…….”

“You promised, right?”

Seo Ye-in kept dodging with distractions, but then her eyes landed on Hyeseong Group’s four staff watching their scuffle with interest.

If the butler joined in too, she’d have no escape—she’d be forced into Challenge Austerity.

Or she’d get dragged to the Hyeseong new city.

So Seo Ye-in quietly grabbed Kim Ho’s sleeve.

“…Go easy on me.”

Kim Ho raised an eyebrow at the unexpected request.

“Go easy on you? Specifically what?”

“Need rest.”

“You mean you’ll do it after resting a bit?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“How long?”

“…Two days?”

She wanted to propose a month, but from experience there was no way that would work on Kim Ho, so she offered two days realistically.

He thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Fine. But you won’t be completely resting for two days. You’ll keep training [Sailboat]. How about that?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll talk with the butler for a moment.”

He looked like he was going to discuss what kind of training to use.

Left alone, Seo Ye-in stared around blankly.

“Senior~”

At some point, Dang Eunbi had appeared and spoke sweetly.

Unlike usual, she wasn’t carrying a tray—just a single glass cup filled with juice.

“You must be tired from training. Please drink this.”

“…Thanks.”

Seo Ye-in accepted the glass and tipped it slowly.

When she’d drunk about a quarter of it, Dang Eunbi produced another glass like a practiced magician.

Then she spoke in an awkward tone.

“This one is for Senior Kim Ho, but I have to run somewhere urgently. And I’d feel bad interrupting while you’re talking… could you pass it along?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you! Train hard!”

The moment she handed over the juice, Dang Eunbi fled like she was running away.

Watching her go, Seo Ye-in suddenly felt something off and tilted her head.

“…?”

The source of the weird feeling seemed to be the juice she’d just been given.

It looked a little different from what she was drinking.

It almost looked… faintly golden…

Seo Ye-in’s gray eyes glittered with curiosity.

“…Challenge.”

*****

After finishing discussing training with Ahn Jeongmi, I turned my head—

Seo Ye-in was trudging over.

She had two half-finished cups of juice in both hands.

Then she held one out to me.

“Dang Eunbi said to pass you juice.”

“Thanks. But why is it only half full?”

“I drank a little on the way.”

“You left yours and drank mine on purpose?”

“It felt like something might change.”

Hearing that, it really did seem like something was different.

I stared at Seo Ye-in for a few seconds, then said,

“You… got chattier?”