The Support Ate it All

Even in the world of the game, trains were an extremely common means of transportation.

If human feet could reach a place, there were tracks laid there more often than not, and you could even get close to frontline fortresses by rail.

But out of all those countless trains, the ones going in and out of Dungeon Island were somewhat limited.

There were security concerns, for one thing, and once the semester started, whether you were a student or related to Dragonslayer Academy, there was rarely any reason to leave for the outside world anyway.

So we got off at the transfer station and started walking toward the train bound for Dungeon Island.

I could see Dragonslayer Academy uniforms here and there, and they seemed to be in the same situation as us.

They were gathered in little groups, chattering away.

“Are we really going the right way?”

“Yeah, look, there are upperclassmen over there too.”

“How can you tell they’re upperclassmen?”

“You can tell by the tie pin.”

“Oh, you’re right. Is silver third-year?”

“No, silver is second-year and gold is third-year. But aren’t you staring a little too hard?”

Judging by the conversation, they seemed to be freshmen.

We glanced over them and kept walking, then approached the station employee standing near the train.

‘Back in first year, it was the wig guy.’

Shin Byeongcheol had committed the semi-inhuman crime of stealing that man’s wig, which had caused quite the uproar.

He paid for that karma by getting electrotherapy from Song Cheonhye.

The station employee in front of us, on the other hand, had an ordinary, unremarkable face without any particular quirks.

After mechanically checking the tickets we held out, he gestured to one side.

“Second-years are over there.”

“Thank you.”

The reason the cars were divided by grade was to minimize incidents and accidents.

After all, it was probably less awkward to sit with your classmates than to get mixed in with underclassmen and upperclassmen alike.

Soon we boarded the second-year car and walked down the corridor.

We peered into each compartment through the little windows in the doors.

I spotted familiar faces now and then: Jeong Suji of the Emerald Mage Tower, Kang Huichan from the guild coalition, and Cha Hyeonju, the rabid chihuahua.

The moment our eyes met, they all frowned hard, but I brightly waved back and kept walking.

Then, through a half-open compartment door, I saw Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi sitting inside.

It seemed the two of them spotted us at the same time, because their faces immediately lit up.

“Brother Kim, Young Lady Hong.”

“Hi, hi! Long time no see!”

We were welcomed warmly and naturally stepped inside, sitting down across from them.

The next moment, Go Hyeonwoo looked puzzled.

Glancing outside the door, he said,

“I do not see Young Lady Seo.”

“She went to Hyeseong. We decided to move separately for about a week.”

“I see.”

“And I went to visit this one’s house.”

When I said that while pointing at Hong Yeonhwa, Go Hyeonwoo slowly nodded.

Then he looked at us with sharp eyes.

“It does seem the distance between you has grown closer than before.”

“Look at you, quick on the uptake.”

“Did something special happen?”

“We did sleep pressed up against each other.”

I told him the plain truth, neither more nor less, and as always, Go Hyeonwoo smiled softly.

He more or less understood the Kim Ho pillow situation, and he’d seen Seo Ye-in sticking to me countless times already.

Han Somi, on the other hand, must have had less resistance built up, because her lips kept silently forming, “Lewd demon, lewd demon!”

I asked back as casually as if nothing were wrong.

“What about you two? Weren’t you going around with Jo Byeok?”

“Yep, the whole time!”

“And now?”

“She went to the Discipline Committee!”

They had spent winter break together at the frontline fortress, but it seemed she was moving with the Discipline Committee members on the train.

Han Somi, meanwhile, was sitting around comfortably in the compartment because she had quit the Discipline Committee after first year.

The main reason was to secure more training time.

Though if I had to guess, making more time to spend with Go Hyeonwoo probably accounted for a decent chunk of it too.

I smiled teasingly and tossed out a line.

“Must be nice, not having to work.”

“It is nice!”

Han Somi giggled back.

If she’d stayed in the Discipline Committee, she’d probably be busy patrolling by now.

To deal with things like outside intruders or students breaking school rules.

Before long, Han Somi looked back and forth between Go Hyeonwoo and me.

“Come to think of it, this reminds me of last year! The slot machine!”

“Ha ha, of course I remember.”

Go Hyeonwoo laughed awkwardly.

Back then, we had found the slot machine hidden near the end of the first-year car and challenged it.

The reason, of course, was to collect a hidden piece.

By chance, Han Somi had spotted us while passing nearby, and I’d ended up sparring once with Go Hyeonwoo.

The result had been a draw after the iron sword broke.

Of course, considering what Go Hyeonwoo’s specs had been at the time, if it had gone on even a little longer, I would’ve lost.

‘Still, it bought enough time.’

Thanks to that, I’d been able to obtain the [Dark Ice Crystal].

It was a forbidden item, so it normally would have been confiscated, but I’d poured the whole thing straight into my mouth on the spot.

The evidence had been destroyed, and since it had happened before enrollment, the matter had just fizzled out.

Maybe Han Somi had reached that thought too, because she shot me a questioning look.

“The more I thought about it later, the more suspicious it seemed, you know?”

“It was pretty suspicious, wasn’t it?”

“Yep!”

“Want to know the truth?”

“I do!”

Han Somi’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

But just as I was about to speak, I paused and let the silence drag.

“……No, if I tell you, it feels like you’ll go report everything to Song Cheonhye. Then she’ll come picking a fight, right?”

“I won’t tell!”

“Can you promise?”

“I promise!”

“Can I trust you?”

“Trust me!”

“Very good.”

I slowly tilted my chin.

Then I beckoned Han Somi closer with a hand and whispered into her ear.

“It really was the [Dark Ice Crystal].”

“……You tricked me!”

“You fell for that, you idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot! ……Huh?”

Then another question seemed to occur to her, and she tilted her head.

“But then why were you completely fine?”

“Because I had a trait.”

The reason the [Dark Ice Crystal] was designated a forbidden item was because of its penalty.

Its enormous cold energy damaged the user, and if things went badly, it could even take their life.

But I had the S-rank [Elemental Resistance], so I could ignore the penalty and absorb only the energy.

Thanks to that, I made a [Core] from scratch and raised it all the way to E-rank.

I shamelessly asked back,

“No one got hurt, so doesn’t that mean it was fine?”

“Is that so? You’re right!”

Han Somi laughed.

Just as expected, she didn’t seem inclined to make a big issue of it.

Since it had turned out this way, I decided to take it one step further.

I opened again in a subtle tone.

“To tell the truth…….”

“To tell the truth?”

“……You’re going to keep it secret from Song Cheonhye, right?”

“My lips are sealed!”

“Excellent. The truth is…….”

“The truth is!”

I leaned close to Han Somi’s ear again and whispered,

“……When we get back to school, I’m going to do it again.”

“Break school rules? Like what?”

“For example, secretly going down to the underground floors.”

“……!”

Han Somi’s eyes went wide.

She probably already knew that we secretly raided the underground dungeons.

After all, we’d gotten caught by Gwak Seungjae and hauled off to the Discipline Committee office before.

Still, she must not have expected me to declare it this openly, because she looked more than a little troubled.

“That’s not okay, that’s not okay.”

“You said your lips were sealed, right?”

“I did, right?”

“Keep it secret for me?”

“That’s not okay, that’s not okay.”

She looked torn between keeping her word and keeping faith with the Discipline Committee.

Then, in the middle of that, Go Hyeonwoo and Hong Yeonhwa each added a word.

“I intend to join him whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

“Me too.”

Han Somi lifted her eyes and looked back and forth between them.

Naturally, the arrow of blame quickly flew toward Go Hyeonwoo.

“Why do you keep going?”

“As I have mentioned from time to time, I owe Brother Kim a great debt in both material and intangible ways.”

“You already went to a dungeon this time and got items too.”

“That alone is not enough. The only thing I can do for Brother Kim is swing my sword for him.”

“…….”

Han Somi’s cheeks puffed out.

It practically looked like the words That damned Brother Kim were written all over her face.

Go Hyeonwoo must have picked up on the signs too, because a bitter smile touched his lips.

“Besides, it is also a chance to cross blades with many strong opponents. It will help my skill considerably as well.”

“…….”

“I hope you will be understanding.”

“…….”

The air slowly hissed out of Han Somi’s puffed-up cheeks.

Then, glaring at me with displeased eyes, she said,

“……Then I’m going too.”

“The more people, the better for us. But are you sure? What if you get caught?”

She had been a Discipline Committee member just last year, and now this year she’d be sneaking into the underground floors and getting arrested?

There was a very high chance of an extremely embarrassing situation.

But Han Somi was stubborn.

“I don’t care! I’m going!”

“If that’s what you want.”

“To be honest, I was kind of curious. About where you go in there and what you do.”

“Really? Since when?”

“Since when we did dungeon cleanup together?”

The dungeon cleanup had happened during the period when the Witch of Decay had occupied the underground floors.

Dark Ubleks had been scattered at random through dungeon after dungeon, driving the difficulty up.

So the Discipline Committee had tried to deal with them by deploying some of its members together with students under disciplinary action.

That was how Song Cheonhye, Han Somi, me, and Shin Byeongcheol had gone around cleaning out F-rank dungeons as a four-person team.

I’d ended up clearing some of them my own way, and it seemed that had left an impression on her because it had been much faster and more stable than the standard method.

That made perfect sense, so I nodded.

“Alright. Let’s talk about this again during raid week.”

“Let’s!”

The next topic of conversation, naturally, was how everyone had spent their break.

When I laid out everything that had happened at the Dang Family, Go Hyeonwoo’s gaze deepened.

“The Blood Cult and jiangshi……. You must have faced formidable enemies.”

“The frontline couldn’t have been easy either.”

“Of course, it was a valuable experience. And thanks to Brother Kim, I crossed the wall as well.”

Right before winter break, I had passed the [Purple Mist Pill] I’d gotten from Kim Gapdu straight over to Go Hyeonwoo.

The idea had been to get him to A-rank Core as quickly as possible so he could challenge the sacred relic of his sect.

Judging by what he was saying, it seemed that intention had paid off.

Soon, a long object wrapped tightly in chains and Black Heaven emerged from Go Hyeonwoo’s inventory.

The Blood Wind Sword (not).

“I am ready to release the seal at any time.”

“Good. Let’s go inside and try it.”

“I also completed the favor you asked of me.”

Go Hyeonwoo had had two major goals over winter break.

Along with ranking up his Core, he was supposed to clear a dungeon near the frontline fortress.

Since it was A-rank, the premise had been that he would need help from Sword Empress, Fist King, or both.

“When I explained the circumstances, Fist King willingly lent a hand. Brother Jo also actively helped persuade him.”

“I see. Then I should thank him. What about Sword Empress Grandma?”

“She was not pleased at first, but I gave her the message just as Brother Kim instructed.”

I didn’t even need to hear the rest.

The long-distance threat must have worked.

If the two S-rank heroes were involved, then clearing the dungeon and securing a hidden piece would hardly have been difficult.

Han Somi added a comment from the side.

“Master cursed a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) whole lot! She totally called you a bad bastard and Kim Ho the Lender!”

“Ha ha, still, I do not believe Sword Empress held any real ill will.”

Go Hyeonwoo gave a bitter smile and opened his inventory.

What came out was a blue jewel shaped like a curved droplet.

It was an object also called a magatama.

[Earth Magatama(A+)]