The Support Ate it All - Chapter 645: I Came to End This War
Soon, Seo Ye-in stepped onto the second-floor terrace.
But she did not come any closer. She simply stood there in silence, staring at Kim Ho.
“……”
And at some point, a pot had appeared in one of her hands.
At that, the same thought passed through everyone’s minds.
She must be mad.
She’s really mad.
Normally, she was practically a permanent member of Kim Ho’s party, but this time they had gone and finished the raid battle while leaving only her out.
Even if there had been reasons for it, it was understandable that she would feel hurt.
Kim Ho seemed to be thinking something similar, because he walked up to Seo Ye-in himself and spoke first.
“Why are you standing there like that?”
“……”
“Come eat some cake with us. We just got it, and it’s good.”
“……”
But still, no answer came back.
Instead, the closer the distance between them got, the higher the pot slowly started to rise.
The tension on the terrace kept climbing.
Meanwhile, Kim Ho asked as casually as ever,
“Why are you in such a bad mood?”
“……”
—CLANG,
Seo Ye-in lightly set the pot on top of Kim Ho’s head.
No matter how you looked at it, set it on felt more accurate than hit him with it.
Instead, it was once for every line exchanged.
It seemed she had changed strategies. If she took a full swing, he would obviously dodge, so she had decided it was better to hit him lightly, but many times.
Kim Ho seemed fine with at least that much, because he kept asking questions while taking the pot hits.
“Did the raid battle end well?”
—CLANG,
“Yeah.”
“And Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi treated you well?”
—CLANG,
“I was tired.”
“Even if you were tired, they still treated you well, right?”
—CLANG,
“They did.”
“They probably went straight to the training center.”
—CLANG,
“They did.”
“They’ve been busy with Austerity lately.”
—CLANG,
“You.”
“I did well too, with those two.”
—CLANG,
“What did you do.”
“Remember Tosik? I went to see him.”
—CLANG,
“Why do only you get to see him.”
“Then go with me next time.”
—CLANG,
“I’m upset.”
“I know. I am too. But there were reasons for it.”
“……?”
Right as Seo Ye-in was about to launch into another barrage with the pot, Kim Ho leaned close to her ear and began whispering quietly.
“……”
The more the devil’s tongue rolled on, the more visibly Seo Ye-in’s dissatisfaction eased.
She even looked a little tempted.
Somehow, Hong Yeonhwa felt like they knew exactly what he was saying.
It’s probably a dungeon.
Raid-battle week lasted two weeks, but they had wrapped up the practical evaluation portion in no time.
That meant there was more than enough room to enter one or two more dungeons.
He was probably offering to take Seo Ye-in there instead, since he had not brought her along this time.
……Is he inviting me too?
I need to do some rank grinding too……
If he calls me, I know I can work hard……
Hong Yeonhwa stole glances at the two of them, their eyes filled with a mix of envy and anticipation.
Meanwhile, Song Cheonhye was thinking about something a little different.
Tosik?
She had already felt something strange from the moment they entered the dungeon.
If she replayed the things the rabbit in the gentleman’s suit had said to Kim Ho—
—SKREEEEEE—! I told you not to call me Tosik!
—He’s not just your average wicked bastard.
—He tied a rope around my neck and threw me!
—it was obvious the two of them were bound by a long, ugly grudge.
And the place where that grudge had begun was, clearly enough,
another dungeon.
But according to the records gathered by Song Cheonhye, collector of Kim Ho replays and owner of the full-series VIP archive, there was no record of him ever clearing a rabbit-related dungeon.
So the only conclusion she could draw was—
He sneaked down there.
And not only that. Asking Seo Ye-in, Remember Tosik? meant she had cleared that dungeon with him.
Judging by it, whatever he was whispering into her ear right now was probably related to that unauthorized clear too.
Song Cheonhye’s eyes gleamed.
So he’ll be showing himself soon enough.
During winter break, her grandfather had passed down stealth techniques to her.
She would make full use of them, arrest Kim Ho and his group, and hand out discipline and demerits.
Then it would become perfectly clear who the weak one really was.
It was, in truth, a flawless and perfect plan.
For now, I should keep my patrols focused underground.
Just as Song Cheonhye was running simulations and drafting plans in her head, Hong Yeonhwa sent her a strange look and asked,
“Why are you smiling?”
“……Me?”
“You were grinning just now.”
“I wasn’t. You must have seen wrong.”
Song Cheonhye denied it flatly, but Hong Yeonhwa’s stare only turned more suspicious.
“You were thinking something weird.”
“I wasn’t?”
“Kim Ho?”
Song Cheonhye flinched for an instant.
She hurriedly fixed her expression and recovered.
“……I said no.”
“Then why’d you pause?”
“Because you said it out of nowhere. Why would he even come up?”
“You were looking at him while you were grinning.”
“I wasn’t grinning. And I wasn’t looking.”
Fortunately for Song Cheonhye, the questioning did not last long.
Kim Ho had succeeded in soothing and persuading Seo Ye-in and returned to the table.
“Thank you for understanding~”
“Such a generous heart.”
“Try the carrot cake. Ah~”
Kim Ho scooped up a little cake with a fork and held it out.
And whenever he did, Seo Ye-in accepted it obediently, pecking at it like a baby bird.
Then, perhaps noticing Hong Yeonhwa staring with obvious envy, Kim Ho grinned and held the fork toward them.
“You want some too?”
“M-Me too……?”
But before Hong Yeonhwa could happily open their mouth—
Seo Ye-in suddenly grabbed Kim Ho’s arm, then popped the fork right into her own mouth.
“Mine.”
“……”
Normally, theirs was the kind of relationship where they gave way to each other and shared things.
But today, it seemed she had no intention of allowing that and meant to monopolize him completely.
Whether he intended it or not, he had entered a dungeon without her.
Hong Yeonhwa understood that much, but that did not stop them from feeling disappointed.
Once a fair amount of carrot cake had gone in, Seo Ye-in looked as though she had completely calmed down.
As if he had been waiting for exactly that moment, Kim Ho pushed the random boxes toward them.
“Now then, shall we open the boxes?”
Seo Ye-in quietly looked down at them, then took one for herself and handed the other to Kim Ho.
“Here.”
“You want us to open one each?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go first.”
Since Lucky Charm herself had designated it, the smartest move was to try it whether it worked or not.
So Kim Ho opened the random box without the slightest hesitation, and—
—WHOOM—!
[Rank Up(D)]
“Not bad.”
He nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
Like the carrot cake, it was a consumable.
But unlike the carrot cake, a rank increase was permanent.
In some ways, that made it more useful than equipment.
Last came the long-awaited turn of Lucky Charm.
With everyone’s eyes fixed on her, Seo Ye-in abruptly grabbed the lid of the box and lifted it straight off.
—WHOOOOOM—!
A dazzling radiance filled the terrace.
And what appeared a moment later was a tightly rolled magic scroll.
[Rank Boost]
If there were two of them, it would almost count as a B-rank-or-higher reward. One would be about C-rank.
Even if you rated it lower than that, it was still better than carrot cake.
Then Seo Ye-in added one more comment.
“I went easy.”
“You can do that?”
And at Kim Ho’s question, she tilted her head as if she did not really know herself.
“……That’s just how it felt.”
“And what do you plan to do by going easy?”
“Save up my luck.”
“You’re saying you’ll make it explode big later?”
“That’s right.”
And later almost certainly meant the random-box cracking they would do in a higher-rank dungeon after this one.
After all, hitting the jackpot in a B-rank dungeon was far more profitable than hitting it in a D-rank one.
But Hong Yeonhwa and Song Cheonhye were focused on a different part.
……Going easy got her a C-rank?
……We lost.
At least in that moment, both of them were losers.
*****
After discussing it, it was decided that I would get both the [Boost] and the [Rank Up].
Neither Hong Yeonhwa nor Song Cheonhye seemed especially attached to dungeon rewards.
Well, that made sense. The support they got from the Mage Tower and the Discipline Committee alone was already plenty.
Also, the reason we had cleared this dungeon so quickly and easily was largely thanks to my walkthrough, so they had given me a bigger share on that front too.
[‘Rank Up(D)’ will be used.]
[‘Diamond Freeze(D)’ rank will increase. (D→C)]
▷The next freeze effect applied becomes ‘cannot be dispelled’ for 30 seconds instead of 20.
▷Cooldown: 8 minutes
Looks like it’s climbing steadily, one step at a time.
Next, I brought up the notification message.
[Sub Quest: Weeks 2–3 Raid Battle] (Complete)
▷Objective: Clear a dungeon with a capacity of 4 or more people (6/4 people)
▷Condition 1: Clear it with a party of 3 or fewer people (3/3 people)
▷Condition 2: Party composed only of mages
▷Condition 3: Clear within 10 minutes (7 minutes/10 minutes)
▷Reward: [Bond] Slot +1
Since it was a challenge quest, and I had even surpassed the target conditions, the reward was fairly generous.
▷Bond [3/4]
It’s a little disappointing that it’s the people side.
Right now, I did not have anyone to register.
Go Hyeonwoo was tied up with the sacred relic challenge, and Song Cheonhye and Han Somi still needed a lot more trust built up first.
Still, it’s not a bad thing.
I would definitely use it someday. Expanding it ahead of time was guaranteed profit.
And the fact that the reward this time was a [Bond] slot meant—
next time, there’s a high chance it’ll be the [Shared Trait] side.
Most of the time, they alternated.
Unless the need for one side suddenly spiked.
If the shared slots increased, I would be able to pull up everyone’s specs again with another powerful trait.
Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in was still plastered to my side like glue.
So I said to her,
“Now then, shall we plan what comes next?”
“Challenge Austerity.”
[Sub Quest: Stage 16 Austerity] (In Progress….)
▷Clear a B-rank dungeon in cooperation with your mirror image
This was the card I had prepared in order to soothe angry Seo Ye-in.
I had started with I already decided last weekend that I’d be going down with you~ and worked my mouth hard.
A moment later, Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly.
“Where are we going?”
“I narrowed down a few options, but I was going to build the party first.”
Among the B-rank dungeons, there were only a very few we could clear by ourselves.
Since we had to sneak down there, the number of people was limited.
If one or two more people dropped out here, our options would narrow even further, so the smartest move was to lock in the party first and then choose the dungeon.
So I sent a message, and not long after, the second party member appeared.
First-year Dang Gyu-ri.
Since they had the highest specs among all of us, they would greatly increase the stability of the party.
And if we were going to sneak all the way down to the deeper levels, we absolutely needed at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) least one guide.
“Seeeniooor~ You called for me~?”
Dang Gyu-ri asked with a bright, smiling face.
There was mischief smeared all over that expression. They very clearly intended to tease Seo Ye-in.
“……”
But contrary to expectations, Seo Ye-in simply stared at Dang Gyu-ri in silence.
Then she tilted her head.
“……Gyu?”
“What, how did you know?”
The one who was actually startled was Dang Gyu-young, the one who had come planning to play a prank.
I was just as curious, so I asked Seo Ye-in,
“You saw through it?”
—shake shake,
I had thought maybe her eyesight was so good that she had pierced the disguise too, but apparently not.
Well, it would be strange if an item prepared by Dragonslayer Academy could be seen through that easily.
“Then how did you know?”
“Instinctive instinct.”
“What did you instinctively sense?”
“Gyu vibes.”
“You mean they had a distinctive vibe?”
—nod,
Seo Ye-in jerked her chin once, then added,
“Deductive deduction.”
“And what was that based on?”
“You looked close.”
If they had a distinctive vibe, and they also looked close to me, then the odds of them really being a freshman were very low.
I exchanged a glance with Dang Gyu-ri.
“What a detective.”
“I told you she’s sharper than she looks.”
At that, Seo Ye-in puffed up a little and said,
“There’s only ever one truth.”
“Where do you keep learning lines like that from?”
There was a very high chance it was the Nether King Dragon.
Anyway, I explained what was going on.
That I had to clear a B-rank dungeon for the Challenge Austerity objective, and that I was gathering party members.
At that, interest rose on Dang Gyu-ri’s face.
“Then I’ll get to see them again after a while? The fast one.”
“Probably.”
Since it said clear in cooperation with your mirror image, the hologram Seo Ye-in would probably appear from the moment we entered the dungeon.
There was no guarantee it would be Fast-Luckless, though.
Dang Gyu-ri nodded easily.
“Of course I’m going. Who else are you calling?”
“I was thinking of asking Go Hyeonwoo too.”
And Han Somi while I was at it.
Unexpectedly, whether or not they joined would have a major impact on which dungeon we chose.
