The Support Ate it All

On Monday.

I had breakfast with Seo Ye-in and was on my way to class when I felt a stinging sensation on the back of my head.

Glancing back, I noticed that some people were following me.

One male student and one female student.

They weren’t discreetly following me but rather blatantly made it obvious that I was their target.

There was no way I became popular overnight, so they must be coming after me because of the [Cube of Life].

They must have caught on to the bait I threw to Park Nari.

Even so, their blatant attitude was surprising.

Someone in the Emerald Magic Tower or the Mother Nature Club must be very impatient

Even if I continued to go to classes, they couldn’t do anything from their end.

However, this only meant that whatever was going to occur would simply be delayed until after classes.

I always found it better to resolve things immediately.

It was also less bothersome that way.

“Seo Ye-in, you go ahead.”

“…..?”

“Something suddenly came up.”

Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly and then glanced behind me.

She spotted a man and a woman and looked back at me.

Are they the reason? She seemed to be asking this question.

“It’s nothing serious. I’ll just deal with it quickly and come back.”

“…. Mhm.”

Seo Ye-in headed back to the classroom first and I made my way to a deserted alley.

By then, one of the two presences I had sensed had vanished; they have probably gone ahead.

The other one kept a certain distance and continued to follow me.

Just as I was about to emerge from the other end of the alley, a male student blocked my path.

The female student appeared behind me, cutting off my retreat path.

I was surrounded from both the front and back.

“To think you would come to such a place on your own; you’ve saved us the trouble.”

The male student struck a confident pose as he introduced himself.

On the other hand, the female student briefly stated her name.

“I am Kwak Ji-cheol of the Emerald Magic Tower.”

“Jeong Soo-ji.”

“Ah, yes. So, what brings you to such a rundown place?”

Kwak Ji-cheol replied to my question in an arrogant tone.

“Our club president wants to see you. Follow us to the club room.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“?”

Kwak Ji-cheol blinked his eyes in surprise as if he didn’t expect such a response from me.

“…What?”

“Do I have to go just because your club president says so?”

“Don’t you understand? We are from the Emerald Magic Tower.”

“And I am not from the Emerald Magic Tower. Don’t order me around. Or I will beat you up.”

“……!”

Kwak Ji-cheol’s mouth slowly opened as if he had heard some outrageous insult.

Soon, his expression turned into one of pure anger.

Jeong Soo-ji who was standing behind me sighed deeply and tried to persuade me.

“Just follow us this once. Nothing bad will happen to you.”

“Forget it, Jeong Soo-ji.”

Kwak Ji-cheol seemed to have already decided to use force.

The large emerald embedded in his staff began to emit a greenish glow.

“You should have listened when I was speaking nicely. There’s always someone who only learns the hard way.”

“Exactly. But can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Your name Kwak just reminded me of something. Do you perhaps have a brother in the disciplinary committee?”

“Kwak Seung-jae. He’s my respected and proud older brother.”

I had a hunch because they both share the Kwak surname and even look alike. So I asked him, and indeed, the two were siblings.

But you know what?

Your respected brother went straight down to the ground with a single inferno fist, dude.

Unaware of the hidden intentions behind my question, Kwak Ji-cheol became even more agitated at the mere mention of his older brother.

“This is your last chance. If you follow along quietly now, you won’t suffer any harm.”

“This is your last chance too.”

“….?”

“If you turn around and leave right now, I’ll let you off with just one punch.”

“You’re still talking nonsense until the very end—!”

Kwaahh—!

The ground in front of Kwak Ji-cheol surged and about a dozen earthen hands reached out towards me.

They tried to grab my limbs, but I skillfully maneuvered through the gaps between the grasping hands with the help of the [Thief’s Step].

At the same time, I gracefully avoided the dirt projectiles coming from behind leaving Jung Sooji in astonishment.

“How is this–!”

I slid toward Kwak Ji-cheol like a shadow and swiftly kicked him right in the face.

He tried to block with his staff but his defense was far from perfect and he received a solid blow.

His brother used to block this so easily though.

“Ugh…!”

Kururur

As I kept pursuing him, all of Kwak Ji-cheol’s earthen hands retracted and transformed into a large earthen fist.

He swung the earthen fist at me, but I quickly stepped back and dodged it before gracefully sidestepping the incoming dirt projectiles from behind.

A hummingbird flew from my hand.

As it darted toward Kwak Ji-cheol’s side, he transformed the earthen fist into a wide dirt shield and swung it at the hummingbird.

“What a cheap trick!”

“Where are you looking?”

Thud!

My foot struck deeply into his abdomen.

His focus had been solely on blocking the hummingbird, so he neglected defense in other areas.

“Coo…ugh!”

He bent over and stumbled backward, then swung the earthen fist to keep me at bay.

I effortlessly dodged and grabbed Kwak Ji-cheol’s head before forcefully slamming it into the alley wall.

Bang!

His body clung to the wall and then slumped down.

He seemed to have lost consciousness as only the whites of his eyes were visible.

But since he had the school uniform’s protective magic, he probably didn’t suffer any major injuries.

Some light trauma might remain though.

“!!”

Jeong Soo-jii who had been diligently supporting Kwak Ji-cheol suddenly found herself alone.

When our eyes met, she grew startled and quickly cast [Earth Gatling].

But those were the same spells I had effortlessly dodged without even looking just moments ago, so I didn’t have any issues with dodging them head-on.

I closed the gap between us in an instant and snatched Jeong Soo-jii’s staff with a swift pull, easily disarming her.

They are completely unprepared for close combat.

For a moment, Jeong Soo-ji wore a look of dismay and then attempted to chant a spell with her bare hands.

Bang!

The staff crashed down on her head.

I spoke to Jeong Soo-ji who was tenderly rubbing her sore head.

“Go tell your president. If they need something, they should come in person instead of sending someone else.”

“…Okay. Sorry.”

As Jeong Soo-ji began to stealthily retread, I called her back.

“Hey.”

“Wh-what?”

“Are you going alone? What about that?”

“That” referred to Kwak Ji-cheol who had become one with the alley wall.

Shouldn’t she have some loyalty as his fellow club member?

Jeong Soo-ji did as I told her and whined while carrying Kwak Ji-cheol, but despite exerting all her mana, she could barely move from her spot due to her abysmal physical strength.

It was clear that she urgently needed close combat training.

“There shouldn’t be any injuries, so he should be able to go to class when he wakes up. I’m leaving first.”

“Uh, Mhmm…”

***

“Hey, wake up quickly. We’ll be late if we don’t go now.”

“Ugh…”

Kwak Jicheol regained consciousness not long after Kim Ho had left.

His head throbbed in pain and he clutched it with both hands while groaning

Once he had gathered his wits a bit, he couldn’t contain his rage and began to tremble.

“I can’t believe I fell for such a dirty trick…”

“He fights well though; maybe it was just a difference in skill?”

“What difference in skill! It was all trickery and a lucky punch that did it!”

Kwak Jicheol exploded in anger.

He simply couldn’t accept the fact that he had been outmatched by a “coward” in terms of skill.

Rationalizing it this way seemed to ease his mind a little.

Kwak Ji-cheol gritted his teeth before vowing revenge for next time.

“Next time, for sure!”

Bang!

Right at this time, a magic bullet, seemingly coming from nowhere, struck him right on the temple.

The whites of his eyes became visible again as he fell backward.

“A sniper?!”

Jeong Soo-ji frantically scanned her surroundings.

But the alley remained desolately empty, with nothing in sight.

Bang!

The next moment, a magic bullet hit Jeong Soo-ji’s forehead as well.

As her consciousness faded away, Jeong Soo-ji thought to herself.

Why me too…?

And then she lay down comfortably next to Kwak Ji-cheol.

Both of them ended up being late for class.

***

“How come you went to class before me and arrived even later?”

“…….”

“……Are you sleeping?”

“…….”

How can someone fall asleep so quickly?

***

The time when Teacher Seo Cheong-yong started to make a name for himself as a dungeon strategy expert was relatively recent.

He appeared out of nowhere and consecutively conquered dungeons deemed impossible, gaining fame. He was then invited to be a strategy lecture teacher at Dragon Slayer Academy.

His amiable appearance and easygoing personality made the students feel comfortable with him. His strategy lectures were conducted in a much more relaxed atmosphere compared to other subjects.

“Let’s think about why dungeons were created.”

A map of an unknown dungeon appeared on the blackboard.

An adventurer party entered through the dungeon’s entrance.

As they navigated through the intricate dungeon to reach the center, a boss monster was found clutching a treasure chest.

“Why doesn’t the boss room appear right away? Why must dungeons be as complex as a maze? Anyone want to answer?”

A girl in the front row raised her hand.

She opened her mouth after being pointed out by Seo Cheong-yong.

“…Because it makes intruders struggle.”

“That’s correct.”

The dungeon map was dotted with monsters and traps.

With obstacles added to the already maze-like environment, strategizing became even more challenging.

“The complexity of the dungeon is designed to exhaust you before you reach the core. Your resources, like equipment or items such as potions, magical power and physical energy, or even your party members, might be exhausted. And if all resources run out before reaching the destination…”

The adventurer party on the blackboard was overwhelmed by monsters and collapsed.

“Your strategy fails. You’d have to retreat, or in the worst case, face the annihilation of your party.”

“…….!”

“The key to conquering a dungeon is how efficiently you use the resources you have and how much you save. So! The resource you’ll focus on conserving this week is,”

MAP: [Goblin Swamp]

RULE: [Time Attack][5 Minute Limit]

[Single/Double Dungeon][Strong Enemy]

“Time. The time left after clearing the dungeon sharply reflects how efficient your actions were.”

The map on the blackboard was erased, and in its place appeared a crudely carved goblin statue made of logs.

This represented a Goblin Totem.

“To clear the dungeon, you need to reach the destination within five minutes and destroy the totem. Of course, the journey there won’t be smooth sailing. Be careful; taking a wrong turn into a swamp or getting delayed by monsters will extend your clearing time.”

“A question, please.”

A student raised their hand.

Seo Cheong-yong nodded his head with a smile, prompting the student to speak.

“What does the [Strong Enemy] rule mean?”

“There was a hint about that in Teacher Jo Ok-soon’s lesson. I hope you’ve done your homework.”

“I have… yes…”

Their hand sheepishly lowered.

They must have dozed off during class.

With a slight smile, Seo Cheong-yong continued his explanation.

“Now, this is important. The ground-level dungeons can be attempted multiple times in ‘practice mode’.”

Because they were all artificial dungeons, entering, exiting and retrying were completely unrestricted.

“However, you only get one chance to score. So, it’s best to find the most efficient route, practice it several times until you’re familiar with it, and then enter the real dungeon. That’s all for today’s lesson! Enjoy your lunch, everyone!”

As soon as Seo Cheong-yong left the classroom, Shin Byeong-chul hurried over to Go Hyeon-woo.

“Hey, hey, hey! Go Hyeon-woo! Let’s do a double-person dungeon together!”

This strategy battle was divided into single and double dungeons and each one of them was scored separately.

To score high in a double-person dungeon, choosing the right partner was important.

That’s why Shin Byeong-chul quickly attached himself to Go Hyeon-woo who ranked first in the strategy battle session back in the placement test.

“Hmm…”

Go Hyeon-woo sneaked a glance in my direction while humming.

It looked like he was seeking permission.

As soon as I gestured that it was okay, he nodded in agreement.

If they were heading to the [Goblin Swamp], the combination of these two should work quite well.

“Alright. Let’s team up with Shin-hyung this time.”

“Shall we go right after lunch?”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

Even if they weren’t scoring immediately, the more practice mode they did, the better.

And my partner was…

It was Seo Ye-in, who was subtly tugging at my sleeve.

“Come with me.”

“Let’s do that.”