The Support Ate it All

After hearing what happened in the inner world, I finally understood where the “Kim Ho’s type” controversy had come from.

It was because Dang Gyu-young’s sparring opponent had been coated in gothic fashion from head to toe.

“That’s a set item.”

“……What? So that’s what it was?”

“It’s insanely good, too. All S-rank.”

Dang Gyu-young’s expression deflated a little.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she shot me a sidelong glance and asked,

“……So you don’t hate it, right? Gothic.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“Mm. Okay, got it for now.”

“The intent behind that question is extremely suspicious.”

“It’s not that suspicious. Anyway, who were those people?”

Dang Gyu-young pivoted topics fast.

I didn’t press it. I just answered.

“You probably already figured it out, but they’re old connections.”

“The ones you met while graduating over two hundred times?”

“That’s right.”

“Knew it. You really are a mega-senior.”

I’d said I’d introduce them someday if I got the chance.

Now that I had [Invitation], that had basically become possible.

Dang Gyu-young nodded, then asked again.

“If I go back in, do I see them again?”

“Probably.”

Besides the “gothic young lady,” there were a few more S-rank umbramancers—results of taking different builds.

Still, for the time being, instead of rotating through a bunch of them, it seemed more likely that one person would keep meeting Dang Gyu-young.

“No, but seriously—how do you beat someone up the moment you meet them?”

“Maybe they thought it was necessary.”

Even if you got invited, you couldn’t stay in the inner world forever.

There had to be some kind of restriction.

And the “gothic young lady” seemed to be moving in a way that helped everyone, within that restriction.

Dang Gyu-young nodded like it made sense.

“She did show me a bunch of stuff. What was that skill at the end? When all the shadows turned the same?”

“It was probably [Standardization].”

A general-purpose skill—and obviously useful for an umbramancer, too.

The effect was exactly what the word implied.

If your slots kept increasing and you kept registering shadow undead, there would eventually come a day when “variety” tripped you up.

If you learned [Standardization], you gained more options for situations like that.

Dang Gyu-young asked with a sparkle of excitement.

“So you can do stuff like four Lab Directors, four Dark-Shadow Commanders?”

“Of course.”

“When do I learn it?”

“Later. It might show up while you’re doing [Austerity].”

“What, not now?”

“Right now you should focus on something else.”

We were still way too slot-starved to start talking about diversity.

Dang Gyu-young pouted.

“Still… I guess I went in there and learned something.”

“You’ll learn a lot more from now on.”

Right now, the gap in skill was so huge she’d basically gotten kicked out immediately.

But as she got stronger, she’d be able to last longer.

And the longer she lasted, the more she’d learn.

‘It’ll help with insight, too.’

The umbramancers—including the “gothic young lady”—were already walking the path Dang Gyu-young wanted to walk.

If they passed on what they’d gained, it would bring forward the day she broke through her wall.

‘And beyond that… EX-rank, too.’

Ghost Demon Grandpa had explained it kindly.

The reason the Blood Cult leader kept grinding up subordinates and stirring up chaos all over the place was to break the wall of EX-rank.

More specifically, he wanted to increase the number of powerhouses that could rival him—

and gain insight through life-and-death duels with them.

I’d already been seeing some possibility in that method, too, but…

‘And then I went and learned [Invitation].’

There were already more than enough powerhouses prepared inside my inner world.

No need to suffer and wander around like some people—just use the skill once a week and you’re done.

‘And I can make it even faster.’

Because I can shorten cooldowns with [Time Allocation].

‘Still, for now it’s better to focus on [Austerity].’

Especially with the challenge added on, it guaranteed a more reliable stat jump.

Managing [Invitation] cooldowns would start once the party members began drawing close to S-rank and the importance of insight grew.

‘Before that, I should expand my tools for cooldown management.’

If I completed the golden pocket watch—or a lower-tier version of it—

I’d be able to comfortably manage both skills.

‘The [Minute Hand] is something Nether King Dragon said it would make for me, and I raised [Greedy Selection Ticket] up to C.’

I was thinking about what item I should go after next when Dang Gyu-young spoke.

“Hey. But I’ve got something I’m upset about.”

“What is it?”

“If it’s your inner world, that means your inner thoughts are in there too, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Then why is it packed with mega-seniors, but there’s nothing about us?”

At that, Seo Ye-in peeked her head ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) out from under the blanket.

“……Upset.”

“Were we never even on your radar?”

“Not on it.”

When someone asks that kind of question, the faster you answer, the better.

The longer you take, the more it sounds like you’re making up an excuse.

So I answered honestly, with whatever came to mind first.

“I still don’t really understand the inner world myself, but one thing’s for sure.”

“What?”

“There’s no way there’s only one room.”

“How would you know th— ah!”

Dang Gyu-young’s face brightened right away, just as she was about to sulk.

If there were more rooms, that meant there was at least a little space in there for the two of them.

She started smacking my upper arm.

“Heh-heh-heh. I almost got upset.”

Seo Ye-in nodded too, looking satisfied.

“……Pass.”

Then Dang Gyu-young’s eyes sharpened like a detective’s.

“……Next time I go in, I should look for the Gyu-Gyu Room. There might be a gothic Gyu-Gyu inside.”

“Let’s not slander me.”

“I’m joking. Still, I’m curious what might be there. I’m going to try looking.”

“Even if you look, won’t it be hard to get in?”

Dang Gyu-young tilted her head at my question.

“Why?”

“Because the mega-seniors will stop you. If you run around looking for random stuff instead of sparring.”

“……Yeah, that’s true.”

After a moment of thought, Dang Gyu-young exchanged a look with Seo Ye-in.

Then she declared in a solemn voice,

“From now on, the seniors are our enemies.”

“Down with the seniors.”

“Defeat them and claim it.”

“The… Gyu-Gyu room.”

They’d set a new goal.

*****

Once the [Invitation] experiment was wrapped up,

Dang Gyu-young and I were summoned by the Dang family head and attended a meal.

Even though they’d been insanely busy due to the Blood Cult attack, he’d made time for it.

The atmosphere stayed warm from start to finish.

Still, the Dang family head kept glancing at me now and then with an awkward look.

“Ahem……! Couldn’t you have used it a little earlier?”

Right after leaving his last words, I’d revived him with [Retrocovery]—

so he’d banked an absolutely catastrophic black history.

I answered smoothly.

“I didn’t delay it on purpose. But thanks to that, you were able to say what you truly meant, so I hope you’ll take it positively.”

“Ahem! Of course. I am grateful for that.”

He cleared his throat again, then looked at his daughter with warm eyes.

After that, he turned serious and asked,

“No matter how much thanks I give you, it won’t be enough. But at the same time… I’m worried.”

“…….”

“If it’s a skill that powerful, I imagine the cost must not have been small.”

A healing skill strong enough to clean up severe injuries in an instant—

and I’d used it across dozens of people.

He was worried I might’ve suffered damage from backlash.

I answered like it was nothing.

“I did pay a cost in my own way. But I think it was more than worth it.”

Thanks to it, I’d massively increased Main Quest contribution—

and gotten two powerful Unique Skills.

But the Dang family head still looked weighed down.

“Can you tell me what the cost was?”

“Cooldown.”

[Cooldown 61 days 21:23:17]

The cooldown of A-rank [Bestowal] was twenty minutes.

But I’d chained [Octopus Arms], and it had applied as the square of the number of targets.

At this rate, I’d be bound for a while even after school started back up, but—

“I’ve prepared a countermeasure.”

[Magic Scroll – Time Leap (S)]

The moment you used it, it reset the cooldowns of all skills and traits.

I was saving it for now, because I planned to use it after I’d pulled a bunch of other skills forward first.

The Dang family head nodded.

“I see. Including that as well, I want to repay you. If there’s something you want, say it. Anything.”

“Anything” wasn’t a word people should toss around lightly—yet he emphasized it even more.

That meant his will to repay me was strong.

At times like this, refusing was actually rude.

So when I named a few items—

“There are things I need.”

The Dang family head listened with sharp eyes.

“I’ll send people at once to investigate. If it exists anywhere in Sichuan, it will be yours. And if it doesn’t… we’ll find a way to obtain it, no matter what.”

“Thank you.”

None of it was easy to get, but I decided to trust the Dang family’s information network and funding.

Then the Dang family head moved on to the next topic.

“Could you show me the soul-summoning bell for a moment?”

“Here it is.”