The Support Ate it All
Chapter 65: No.388 Feathered Serpent Altar (4)

The priest must be defeated, but in truth, a D-rank dungeon boss was still too formidable an opponent for Go Hyeon-woo to confront directly.

It was clear that this was a task for me.

Before unleashing my inferno fist,

I should make a copy first.

[Activate ‘Copy-Trait’.]

[Registering the target’s trait ‘Priest (D)’ in the slot.]

▷Copy-Trait [2/2]

1. Elemental Resistance (S)

2. Priest (D)

It was the main trait of the Feathered Serpent Priest.

This trait was a combination of several complex abilities, of which “Increased Mana Sensitivity” alone was very useful for mages.

“Bastard!!”

When the priest extended his staff, a cluster of golden light fell once again.

I had been dodging successfully until now and had no intention of getting hit.

I lightly stepped to the side and avoided the attack while closing in.

With one hand clenched into a burning fist, I extended my other hand forward.

[Wind Force]

Whooosh!

A wind imbued with physical force blew from all directions at the same time, pressuring the priest and leaving him immobilized.

“What is this…?!”

When the priest squirmed futilely in place, I steadily closed the distance between us.

At the same time, the fist I was gripping blazed even more fiercely.

Realizing his imminent doom, the priest spat out a line befitting a third-rate villain.

“Do not think this is the end. I will surely—!”

“Sure, we’ll meet again.”

The Inferno Fist struck the priest’s face.

And a storm of flames engulfed everything in front before swallowing him whole.

Kaboom!

“Kim-hyung!!”

Go Hyeon-woo arrived shortly after.

He looked quite startled, probably thinking something serious had happened to me after witnessing the explosion of flames.

He was immediately relieved when he saw that I was fine.

“Ah, you’re here.”

“It seems everything’s finished.”

“Just before you arrived.”

The timing was perfect.

Go Hyeon-woo glanced down at his sword.

Since the sword had just absorbed the priest’s soul, it was obvious what the enhancements were without even looking at it.

[Feathered Serpent Magic Sword (C)]

▷High-Level Durability Protection

▷Automatic Durability Recovery

▷Elemental Resistance (F)

For a C-rank sword, the abilities weren’t particularly that great.

However, in terms of durability alone, it could be considered as C-rank or higher.

Additionally, the inclusion of even the F-rank [Elemental Resistance] would provide some help when dealing with magic.

It was, in every sense, an item tailor-made for Go Hyeon-woo.

His face lit up as he reviewed the sword’s abilities.

“Such abilities…! All thanks to Kim-hyung’s arrangements. I’ll make good use of it.”

“We did this together. But this, I’m keeping for myself.”

Four wooden boxes were now placed where the priest had once stood and each one of them was exuding a mysterious aura.

[Feathered Serpent Altar Random Box (D)] *4

Go Hyeon-woo nodded his head in agreement.

“Is this what you mean? For me, this sword alone is more than enough.”

“Right. Let’s get out of here.”

The dungeon began to crumble slowly.

Having defeated the priest, who was both the core and the boss monster of the dungeon, its collapse was inevitable.

There was no benefit in staying any longer so we needed to hurry out.

When we came out, Shin Byeong-cheol greeted us.

“Oh, it really didn’t take you that long?”

“Told you it would be quick.”

Even though it was a D-rank dungeon, we completed it perfectly in a short amount of time.

It was thanks to the seamless cooperation between Go Hyeon-woo and me.

When I came out and looked back, the dungeon entrance which had been the size of a large door had shrunk to the size of a fist and lost its color, turning black and white.

A dungeon whose core had been destroyed would close its entrance like that, making entry impossible until enough time had passed for the core to regenerate.

By then, the Feathered Serpent Tribe we had defeated would be fully resurrected and they would roam the inside of the dungeon once again.

This would inevitably lead to someone else entering the dungeon to conquer it; the core would be destroyed, and the cycle of regeneration would repeat endlessly.

Nevertheless, this marked the successful completion of our first underground dungeon level.

But it was too soon to let our guard down.

After all, we still have the return journey to make.

We entered the underground dungeon without following any official procedures and secretly destroyed its core.

Even though Shin Byeong-cheol did his best to erase our tracks, the fact that the dungeon had been destroyed could not be hidden.

Soon, someone would come down to investigate the situation.

It was very likely to be one of the faculty members managing the dungeon building.

Leaving as quickly as possible was the best course of action.

Shin Byeong-cheol took the lead while urging us on.

“Let’s head back quickly. We might get caught if we stay.”

***

Climbing stairs was always harder than descending them.

The descent had felt endless, but retracing our steps back up was no small feat.

By the time we emerged back onto the surface, even our mana-enhanced bodies were protesting in pain.

The only slight consolation was that we didn’t encounter any faculty members or a member of the disciplinary committee on our way up.

At least, not until we got outside.

No sooner had we stepped out than we found ourselves face-to-face with Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi.

Han So-mi greeted us cheerfully with a wave of her hand.

“Hello, hello!”

“……”

We quickly exchanged glances.

It seemed they hadn’t noticed us coming from the underground, so we decided to act naturally and continue on our way.

When I waved back, Han So-mi’s waving became even more enthusiastic.

On the other hand, as soon as Shin Byeong-cheol came into view,

Fzzzzt

Song Cheon-hye’s hand sparked with electricity.

It seemed like a reflex for her to suspect him of mischief at every encounter and perhaps wonder if he was up to no good just by being there.

He accumulated a lot of bad karma, starting with stealing bald people’s wigs so it wasn’t entirely unfounded.

Shin Byung-cheol also had thicker-than-normal skin and offered a greeting with a friendly smile.

“Ah, members of the disciplinary committee, good evening to you.”

“What brings you here?”

Shin Byeong-cheol responded as if the question was absurdly obvious.

“What else would bring us to the dungeon building but to tackle a dungeon?”

“I find that hard to believe.”

Song Cheon-hye narrowed her eyes.

The unspoken implication behind her gaze could roughly translate to,

You? Embarking on a strategy battle? On a Monday? Seriously?

Shin Byeong-cheol put on an aggrieved expression of unjust accusation.

“Ah, have you only been deceived in life? Can’t trust what people say, huh? Hey, don’t just stand there; back me up.”

And just like that, I was called upon for reinforcements.

I decided it would be better to offer help if I wanted to get out of this situation quickly.

I posed a question to Song Cheon-hye.

“Were you also on your way back from a strategy battle?”

“That’s right, and?”

“What’s your clearance rate?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“I see.”

If she didn’t want to talk about it, that was fine by me.

My question wasn’t driven by curiosity but by a desire to change the subject.

It seemed Shin Byeong-cheol had shaken off the suspicion, so it was time to say, “Good work and have a good night!” and leave.

Just as I was about to offer my farewells,

“Aye, why ask her such a thing? If their score wasn’t great, they might not want to talk about it.”

Shin Byeong-cheol had unwittingly thrown a damper on the situation.

Though his intention might have been to help, it seemed to have taken a wrong turn, judging by the prominent veins bulging on Song Cheon-hye’s forehead.

Song Cheon-hye suppressed her anger and spoke to us.

“I’m not sure what percentage you’re at, but I’m likely higher than you.”

“I doubt that.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Because I’m at 100%.

After all, it’s impossible to exceed 100% in a clear dungeon.

Unless the other party was to create monsters just to defeat them.

However, I decided to hold my tongue.

It seemed more advantageous to do so.

“It’s just a hunch.”

“Your intuition seems lacking.”

“Shall we make a bet, then? To see whose clearance rate is higher.”

“What’s at stake?”

As expected, Song Cheon-hye didn’t back down.

It seemed she really hated to lose.

“How about a simple wish?”

“A wish?”

“Yes. Just do me a favor or tell me something I’m curious about.”

Song Cheon-hye furrowed her brows in contemplation for a moment before she agreed to the bet.

She probably thought that, since it was just a light-hearted bet on a wish, losing wouldn’t be too problematic. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Alright.”

“Shall we say it at the same time on the count of three?”

“Let’s do that.”

“Then I’ll count. One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“100%.” “97%.”

A crack appeared on Song Cheon-hye’s face.

***

Song Cheon-hye remained in a daze for a while.

It was a trivial bet, yet the fact that she lost seemed to have shocked her.

Perhaps it was the shock of having a lower overall strategy score than mine.

Either way, we took this opportunity to quickly say our goodbyes and hastened our steps.

Han So-mi would take care of the rest, I hope.

I decided to keep the right to a wish as a debt in my heart for the time being.

After all, the bet wasn’t made with the intention of making any grand requests, so I planned to ask about the latest developments in the disciplinary committee later on.

The next day.

After lunch, during a brief moment of free time,

Seo Ye-in, Go Hyeon-woo, and I gathered in a secluded spot.

Shin Byeong-chul was too busy with his errands at the center.

With both of their gazes fixed on me, I pulled out four wooden boxes from my inventory.

[Feathered Serpent Altar Random Box (D)] *4

“…….”

Go Hyeon-woo looked down at the boxes with evident interest, and Seo Ye-in was also unusually curious as she poked at the boxes with her finger.

Go Hyeon-woo asked,

“What comes out when you open these?”

“I’m not sure. There are so many different items.”

That’s right, a myriad of items could spring forth and with no disclosed odds, even I wasn’t fully aware of what each box contained.

But there were a few items that were known to appear quite frequently, and among these, my goal was to find items prefixed with “Priest’s~”.

As long as an item carried this prefix, it would be a D-rank item, and I would be satisfied regardless of its type.

“I’ll now begin the unboxing ceremony.”

Clap, clap—

Seo Ye-in gave silent applause.

It might have seemed lackluster, but that was the most animated reaction she could muster.

I picked up a random box and showed it around as if doing a magic show, and then I lifted the lid with a solemn expression on my face.

Flash!

The emanating glow wasn’t particularly bright.

Still, the contents remained a mystery until they were examined.

[Rank Up (E)]

Not bad.

Considering the rank of the random box, this was a decent find. The Rank Up was a very important item to me.

I gratefully accepted it.

“Next.”

I proceeded to open the second box.

This time, I simply lifted the lid while leaving the box in place.

Flash—!

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Go Hyeon-woo and I both exclaimed in admiration.

It was because a glow far more intense than the first burst forth.

[Priest’s Black Bracelet (D)]

It’s here.

I silently cheered to myself.

It was a “Priest” item, and moreover, one that fell into the category of accessories I favored.

Considering the Rank Up that had appeared before, this was definitely more than breaking even.

With that in mind, I made an offer to the two of them with a more generous heart,

“Would you like to try opening one each?”

“Would that really be alright?”

Go Hyeon-woo had conceded all the random boxes to me and was content with just the magic sword, but it seemed he was still curious about what the boxes contained.

Go Hyeon-woo carefully picked up the third box.

After taking a deep breath, he lifted the lid.

Click.

[Feathered Serpent Tribe’s Wooden Cup (F)]

“Ahem…”

Go Hyeon-woo seemed to be embarrassed and started to clear his throat repeatedly.

From the moment of opening the box, not a single beam of light was visible and just as expected.

Occasionally, daily life-related items that have nothing to do with combat appear in random boxes, and this was a case like this.

I nodded indifferently.

“Bad luck.”

“I’m ashamed in front of Kim-hyung.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. These things happen all the time.”

In the world of random draws, it’s normal to accept whatever outcome one gets without blaming others.

Even if Go Hyeon-woo was unlucky, I was the one who decided to leave it to him.

He decided to use the wooden cup as a teacup.

Now, only one random box remained.

Go Hyeon-woo and my gaze shifted to Seo Ye-in.

It was natural to feel pressured by the atmosphere, but Seo Ye-in casually brought the last random box in front of her and opened it with the utmost ease.

Fl——ash——!

********

TN: Some people are just lucky…

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