The Support Ate it All - Chapter 597: Strike the Grass, Startle the Snake (2)

If you had to pick the few somewhat active hobbies Depresso-Sloth had, they’d be things like baking cookies, wandering around the entertainment district, and hanging out at an arcade.

A question happened to pop into my head, so I lifted my fist up to Seo Ye-in’s mouth like a microphone.

“Why do you like the arcade so much?”

“It’s not that ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) I like the arcade.”

“Then what?”

“I like playing together.”

Seo Ye-in answered while looking me straight in the eye.

Yeah—if she liked the arcade itself, she would’ve gone to the entertainment district alone at least once, but up until now, she’d always gone with someone.

I nodded slowly.

“So that’s what it was. I’m moved.”

Even Dang Gyu-young, hiding in my shadow, couldn’t hold back and scribbled a few words.

[That one was good!]

Seo Ye-in went right back to staring at the arcade.

“…I want to play together again.”

“Right now, the situation’s really not good.”

We were in the middle of an operation to find hidden Blood Cult.

And I added one more thing.

“It’ll probably be less fun than the entertainment district, too. The games are kind of bland, and there aren’t many kinds.”

The entertainment district arcades cranked up the difficulty on their mini-games to squeeze points out of Dragonslayer Academy students.

They even rotated the game lineup regularly so you couldn’t get used to anything.

But around here, since things were less cutthroat, the mini-games were relatively easy.

With less stimulation, there was a high chance it’d be less fun.

“And most importantly, there aren’t any prizes.”

“That’s a shame.”

“When the semester starts, let’s go to the entertainment district.”

“Let’s do it.”

Dang Gyu-young scribbled from the shadow again.

[Let’s do it!]

Soon, I led the group inside the arcade.

Despite the building’s size, the interior was extremely sparse—just a few people walking around, and a few people sitting in front of machines.

It was a weekday afternoon, so it was natural there wouldn’t be many people playing… but to me, it felt like there was another reason.

Cold.

It felt similar to Jinmu Gate, and the temporary Blood Cult bases we’d passed through after that.

In some ways, it felt even worse.

Either there’s someone strong here, or there are a lot of them.

Take this guy playing a mini-game.

He’s dressed like an ordinary person, but both hands pounding the buttons are packed with scars and calluses.

And like he hasn’t properly suppressed it, I can feel a sharp, blade-like presence.

Even the people walking around kept pretending they weren’t looking while watching us out of the corners of their eyes—and there was a faint killing intent mixed into their gaze.

This one’s bigger than the last few.

Even just the “ordinary people” (not) I could spot right away were more than one or two.

It might even be that an entire armed group is stationed here.

I fell into a brief dilemma.

Do we fight, or do we pull out?

Right now, I’m leaning slightly toward the latter.

If there’s an armed group, then there’s probably a squad leader-level expert leading them, and taking them all at once feels like a burden.

Let’s at least see their face.

I can decide whether it’s worth doing after that.

And if things go bad, pulling out should be completely doable.

So I made a lap around the arcade, as if I were just sightseeing to see what machines they had.

That was when my “veteran detector” reacted violently to one particular target.

Just to confirm, I asked Seo Ye-in too.

“Strong?”

“Strong.”

With that confirmation in hand, I observed the target even more carefully.

A man who looks like a fragile scholar type.

In more modern terms: a glasses-wearing kid who sits in the front row of class, or that “church boyfriend” vibe.

He was sitting at a cabinet, completely absorbed.

The genre was a fighting game.

He’d gotten past the beginner stage and was pulling off flashy combos, but to the eyes of a mini-game demon king like me—

He’s still a baby.

Sure enough, he was getting hit more than he was hitting back, his health gauge got shaved down little by little, and in the end, he went down.

A word popped up in the very center of the screen.

[K.O!!]

“……”

Even so, there wasn’t a trace of emotion on the man’s face.

He naturally fed another coin into the machine and kept playing.

Then he spoke, like it was an offhand murmur.

“Doesn’t look like you came here to play.”

“I thought about playing a bit, but there was nothing but boring stuff.”

“Is that so? I liked it.”

He scanned the arcade and continued.

“Each game contains every joy and sorrow there is. It’s quite helpful for training the mind.”

“For something like that, your face doesn’t move at all.”

“That is precisely the ultimate state I seek. If a martial artist holds an unshakable calm, it is like raising an unbreakable sword inside the heart.”

“Sounds like you’ve stepped into the realm of enlightenment.”

If my read was right, this man was near the upper edge of A-rank.

Like the Dang family head, he was facing the wall of enlightenment.

And to cross that wall, he was putting himself through various emotions here at the arcade.

If he kept at it, he might reach S-rank someday.

“…!”

Maybe it surprised him that I’d seen through his level—his eyes took on an unusual light as he looked at me.

He’d looked away, so his character on-screen took a helpless beating, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“…I’ve been feeling a strange sense of dissonance for a while. I couldn’t grasp the cause at all, but now I think I understand a little.”

“……”

“You… are looking down on me. Like a cult leader—standing in a sky-high place.”

“Isn’t that just your imagination? Anyway, have you cooled off a bit?”

[K.O!!]

That unpleasant message popped up again, but the man’s gaze stayed locked on me.

Then he waved a hand through empty air and pulled something up for me to see.

[Geas – Clear Mirror, Still Water]

▷Bonus to all skills and traits

▷Condition 1: Do not get angry

▷Condition 2: Increased effect when shared with an enemy

Geas.

A trait that grants beneficial effects in proportion to the restrictions you impose on yourself.

For someone like that man—who’d practically castrated an entire emotion—the effect would be pretty powerful.

And the fact that he shared it without the slightest hesitation meant he had that much confidence.

As if to confirm my guess, he added an explanation.

“It’s been quite a long time since I obtained it, yet it hasn’t shown even the slightest sign of breaking. It won’t, either.”

Will it, though?

Maybe it didn’t “hold firm no matter what”—maybe he just hasn’t met the right person yet.

Me.

Kim Ho, ruler of emotions.

If I can break his Geas…

Not only could I erase the skill/trait bonuses of a council-elder-level fighter, I could likely drive his stats down even further through backlash.

So I smiled softly and said,

“What a coincidence. My hobby is making people mad.”

“…!”

“How about it—shall we see a match between spear and shield?”

“…That sounds tempting.”

For him, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

He was in the middle of craving enlightenment, so having a special experience once in a while wouldn’t be bad.

And if he endured my needling to the very end and maintained his calm, he might gain something from it.

So he didn’t hesitate long before nodding.

“Fine. How do you intend to fight?”

“Why go far?”

I answered like that and jerked my chin toward the cabinet.

It meant we’d settle it with the fighting game he’d just been playing.

His expression grew even more pleased.

“Excellent. Prepare yourself.”

“Before we start, want to introduce ourselves? Dragonslayer Academy first-year, Kim Ho.”

“…I see. I thought you didn’t match your age, but so it was Dragonslayer Academy.”

“It’s not that big a deal. And you—what group are you leading?”

“I am the squad leader of this manor’s Asura Blood Sword Squad.”

Just like I’d guessed when I first scanned the arcade, he wasn’t an easy opponent.

Most sword squads are stronger than typical armed groups—because when there are many sword-using martial artists, competition gets fiercer.

If you compare picking ten people out of a hundred to picking ten people out of a thousand, wouldn’t the latter be stronger?

Anyway, I decided I’d just call him the Blood Sword Squad Leader for short.

I sat down at the cabinet across from him.

Ahn Jeongmi asked carefully,

“Kim Ho, will you be all right?”

“You don’t need to worry. At least for now.”

If I break the Blood Sword Squad Leader’s Geas?

It goes exactly the way I want, and I profit massively.

If I fail to break it?

I leave a warm greeting and run. That’s all.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred, I’ll succeed.

If it were some other mini-game, maybe not—but now that we’d chosen a fighting game, that was the case.

Out of all the genres, it’s optimized for making someone mad.

With that thought, I fed a coin into the machine, and the character select screen came up.

A bald old man with hair only sticking out at the sides, a guy with long bangs like a rock star, a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves….

And among them, just like any other fighting game, there were evil characters that existed solely to give nightmares to low-level players.

For my “first” pick, I chose a female monk.

Wind swirled around her upper body, and her legs were long and firm.

Just by looking, you could tell she’d do wind stuff and kick well, couldn’t you?

My favorite character.

Meanwhile, the Blood Sword Squad Leader picked a very standard, orthodox fighter.

It was the same one as before—looks like he only uses that one character.

Of course, it didn’t matter what he did.

Because he’s going to get beaten up all the same…

The screen changed, the two characters took their positions on opposite sides—

—and a message appeared in the center.

[Ready?]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

“HYAH! HYAH! HYAH! HYAH!”

The instant the match started, my monk began firing off wind blasts nonstop.

The Blood Sword Squad Leader’s fighter reacted calmly.

He blocked the blasts and advanced little by little.

So you’ve at least got the basics.

Then how about this?

I threw the blasts off-beat.

“HYAH! HYAH-HYAH! …HYAH! HYAH! …HYAH-HYAH!”

He clearly hadn’t dealt with this—he kept blocking, but he’d eat a blast here and there.

Even so, he kept advancing steadily like a turtle, and finally reached my monk.

But from the moment the distance closed, it was the real beginning.

“HYAH! HYAH-HYAH-HYAH! HYAH! HYAH-HYAH!”

My monk started throwing out kicks nonstop with those long legs.

Trip, trip, low kick, low kick, sometimes a high kick! Trip, trip!

His fighter lost health little by little, but he stubbornly kept guarding—and finally found an opening to counterattack.

That flashy combo I’d seen earlier.

But unfortunately—

“I can see it allll~”

The monk blocked the combo flawlessly with even flashier defense motions.

His fighter exposed another opening.

And I didn’t miss it.

“HYYYAAH!!”

“BAM!”

The monk’s near-ultimate detonated.

Wind exploded, and his fighter went whipping across to the other side of the screen.

And once the distance opened up, the match returned to the same situation as the start.

“HYAH! HYAH-HYAH! …HYAH-HYAH! HYAH!”

A nonstop, off-beat barrage of wind blasts.

The people watching—our group—looked at me.

“……”

“……”

For some reason, their stares felt… cold.