The Support Ate it All

An Jeong-mi seemed apologetic throughout, but I truly wasn’t bothered at all.

When we had set out to conquer the Feathered Serpent Altar, the “Priest” item was my target, but I had already acquired and melted it down a while ago; and I had no further expectations afterward.

Besides, even if there had been something I wanted, a random box isn’t exactly an item that behaves as one wishes.

So, I was quite relaxed about it and thought it would be fine either way.

And after all, the main reward is the dagger.

[Feathered Serpent Magic Dagger (C)]

▷Automatic Durability Recovery

▷Memorize (C)

1. Stores magic twice

2. The rank of stored magic is reduced by 1

Memorize.

Most magic skills require time to cast, whether it would be long or short, but magic stored with Memorize can bypass this casting time and activate instantly.

However, it’s not as if one can store and freely use magic without limits; with a C-rank Memorize, you can only use magic twice per day.

Once you’ve used it twice, Memorize would be sealed until the next day.

If you store an A-rank magic, it manifests as B-rank when instantly activated with Memorize,

And while there is the advantage of instant activation, the strength of the unleashed magic is somewhat reduced.

If you store D-rank magic, it manifests as E-rank.

The rank decreases by one step according to the C-rank standard of Memorize.

These limitations could be mitigated by increasing the rank of Memorize. Unfortunately, skills imbued in equipment rarely grow.

Still, a C-rank would prove quite useful for a while.

I separated the blade and the handle of the magic dagger and attached the detached blade to the end of the [Root].

This resulted in a very short lance with a black shaft and a golden blade.

[Root(A)]

▷ Very high mana conductivity

▷ Damage protection (A) applied

▷ Automatic durability recovery.

▷ Levitate zone (C) constantly activated.

▷ Upgradeable

▷ Upgradeable

▷ Upgradeable

I’ve made sufficient use of the Priest trait by now.

▷Copy-Trait [2/2]

1. Elemental Resistance (S)

2. Priest (D)

It was fine now to overwrite the second slot with a different trait.

If I’m to copy a skill or trait, taking it from third-year Dang Gyu-young would be most ideal.

So, during last week’s duel battle and the [Distortion] training, I closely observed her abilities, but unfortunately, everything I identified was from either the thief or shadow caster classes.

A versatile skill like [Thief’s Step] wouldn’t be noticeable if I copied and used it,

But using [Shadow Butterfly Flight] would instantly raise suspicions about me since a truckload of people would start doubting me.

This was because a shadow caster itself is extremely rare, and Shadow Butterfly Flight was almost like Dang Gyu-young’s signature skill.

The same went for her traits.

For these reasons, I decided to put off copying anything from Dang Gyu-young.

Next, I turned my attention to Song Cheon-hye.

She was also a mage class like me and since she also belonged to the disciplinary committee, she ranked among the top of the first-year students.

Last week, I was slowly progressing in the defensive strategy battle at Song Cheon-hye’s pace, but half of the reason for that was to observe any special traits she might have.

The other half was because of the [Close Combat] and [Commander] rules, so I needed to raise Song Cheon-hye’s skills to a certain extent rather than doing it everything on my own.

It’s almost complete now.

I had already chosen the trait to copy from her, and after continuously practicing in practice mode, we had developed a sufficient level of proficiency in defense.

It was time to start scoring in the real dungeon defense.

***

After school.

In the dungeon building.

While Song Cheon-hye was waiting for Kim Ho,

She paced around deep in thought. She was obviously thinking about this week’s defense strategy battle.

I managed to watch it and block it at least…

She had succeeded in reading the Beheader Goblin’s pre-movement and blocking the thrown cleaver.

On her sixth attempt.

“Of course I would succeed in one attempt,” she had boldly declared to Kim Ho and though it was an embarrassing outcome, Song Cheon-hye chose to ignore that fact.

…Anyway, the important thing is that I succeeded, right?

Isn’t it all good if the outcome is good?

The fact that the cleaver no longer embedded itself in the statue meant that there was no longer the fear of losing a chunk of health in one go.

Thanks to this, she was able to significantly improve her best record.

However, after the seventh and eighth attempts, the statue’s remaining health still hadn’t surpassed 70%.

For Song Cheon-hye, who was aiming for over 90% or even a perfect defense, this was a disappointing performance.

I at least want to surpass Hong Yeon-hwa.

Currently, the best record held by the Hong Yeon-hwa—Kwak Ji-cheol pair was in the low 80%. They were consistently outperforming the Kim Ho and Song Cheon-hye pair.

In Song Cheon-hye’s mind, she pictured Hong Yeon-hwa’s cold and mocking laugh. It was a version significantly more malicious than reality.

Ugh…!

Song Cheon-hye trembled with frustration.

Outwardly, she pretended not to care, but she harbored a sense of rivalry just as deeply.

She still harbored resentment from being beaten 1 to 0 in their previous face-to-face sticker battle.

I have to win this time. Especially over Hong Yeon-hwa.

But what more could she do here?

That was exactly why Song Cheon-hye was deep in thought.

After repeating similar actions eight times, she was slowly realizing something.

That this might be her limit.

There might be a little room for improvement but it was unlikely to exceed 80%.

Should she press her partner Kim Ho?

That wouldn’t make sense either.

Song Cheon-hye had some sense of decency.

It was he who had pointed out the Beheader Goblin’s preliminary movements she had missed, and it was he who had consistently covered for her every time she didn’t catch the cleaver.

Moreover, it would prick her conscience too much to say “Try harder!”

“What should I do now?”

Thus, her dilemma went round and round before returning to the starting point.

No clear solution came to mind.

Song Cheon-hye could neither do this nor that and was merely spinning in place like a puppy chasing its tail.

Suddenly, she sensed someone approaching and turned her head.

Her eyes met Kim Ho’s as he walked toward her from a distance.

She wished he would walk a bit faster now that their eyes had met, but Kim Ho maintained his relaxed pace as he approached her.

“You arrived?”

“How about Hong Yeon-hwa’s team?”

“They went in ahead.”

The two stared at the closed teleportation portal for a moment.

Kim Ho was the first to look away and asked,

“Shall we go into the actual battle?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to refine our skills a bit more?”

She was not yet mentally prepared to enter the actual battle.

It would be better to continue practicing until the weekend and conclude on Sunday.

However, Kim Ho seemed to have a slightly different opinion.

“I think it’s pointless to practice anymore at this point.”

“Are we going to settle for a 70% score?”

“No, I didn’t say 70%.”

“Then what?”

Kim Ho asked again.

“What’s your target score?”

“Hong Yeon-hwa— I mean above 90%.”

Song Cheon-hye almost blurted out “Just higher than Hong Yeon-hwa” but quickly caught herself.

The fact that she saw Hong Yeon-hwa as a rival was her own secret.

Kim Ho didn’t seem to care about her minor slips of the tongue and just focused on the latter part.

“90% is definitely worth trying.”

“…. How?”

How does that calculation work?

Where does the missing 20% come from?

Instead of answering, Kim Ho pulled something out of his inventory.

A very short spear with an overall black color.

“I’ve just acquired it.”

At first glance, it was clear that it was a high-quality item.

It appeared more like a well-crafted weapon than a magical item, but the true nature of an item wasn’t known until its effects were checked.

It might even have effects specialized for this particular battle.

Still, Song Cheon-hye was somewhat skeptical.

“It seems like a good item, but isn’t 90% a bit too optimistic? I would understand 75%.”

“No, 90% is correct.”

“I’d say at most 80%.”

“I’m confident about it. Want to bet? Whether we exceed 90% or not.”

Song Cheon-hye’s competitive spirit was ignited.

“…What are we betting?”

“The same as last time, a wish ticket.”

“You already have one.”

“If I win, I’ll have two. If you win, it’s a tie.”

“……”

Song Cheon-hye quickly reviewed their conversation and tapped away at her internal calculator.

In the worst case, it would be status quo.

Since she would be scoring it just like in practice mode, ensuring at least 70% of the goddess statue’s health was guaranteed.

She didn’t trust this man very much but he wasn’t the type to make up stories or boast excessively.

Thus, while it was unclear exactly what he had prepared, setting a new record to some extent was possible.

90% seemed just nonsense to her, but up to 80% was feasible.

And at that level, they wouldn’t be too far behind Hong Yeon-hwa’s team.

It would not be a loss in terms of scoring and she would win the bet.

Song Cheon-hye reached a conclusion.

I need to raise the stakes.

Pretending she couldn’t win, she made a counteroffer.

“Okay, but if you fail to reach 90%, let’s make it two.”

“Two wish tickets?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Kim Ho paused to look at Song Cheon-hye while deep in thought.

His expression was hard to read but there seemed to be a trace of pity in his eyes.

Soon he agreed with a somewhat resigned nod.

“Let’s do that. Two wish tickets.”

Done.

A faint smile appeared on Song Cheon-hye’s lips.

With two wish tickets, not only would she eliminate the one Kim Ho possessed but she would also gain one for herself.

She planned to use that wish ticket to ask him about the suspicious circumstances during the time he was found in the dungeon building.

Perfect.

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