The Support Ate it All-Chapter 357: Back to School

After leaving the principal’s office, I called out Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

Since school was starting tomorrow, everyone should have already arrived on Dungeon Island by now.

As expected, a reply came back quickly, saying they would be there soon.

While I was waiting near the training center, surprisingly, Seo Ye-in arrived first.

Judging by her messy hair and disheveled clothes, it seemed she had come straight from sleeping at the dormitory.

When I lightly waved at her, Seo Ye-in walked right up to me and stared blankly up into my face.

“…….”

“How have you been?”

“Not well.”

“You haven’t? Why?”

“I missed you.”

Immediately after, Seo Ye-in rummaged through her inventory and pulled something out.

It was a bundle of rope.

She had sent me a rope and handcuff emoji by message, and now she had actually brought them for real.

Though the purpose was obvious, I asked just to confirm.

“What are you planning to do with the rope?”

“Imprisonment.”

“You’re going to imprison me?”

– Nod,

Seo Ye-in boldly declared her intention to imprison me.

Then she held out the end of the rope toward me.

I wondered what she meant by this, but decided to just watch and grabbed the rope.

Soon, Seo Ye-in, holding the rest of the rope, began circling around me.

One round, two rounds… up to five rounds, wrapping the rope around my body, and then she silently looked down at her own hands.

“…….”

“You don’t know how to tie this, do you?”

“……A little?”

“If you only know a little, it’s going to be hard to imprison someone properly.”

“…….”

Seo Ye-in once again stared down at the rope, deep in thought.

Then, as if she had realized something, she slightly raised her eyes and gently hugged me along with the rope.

“……Imprisonment.”

“This is imprisonment?”

“You can’t leave.”

“Alright, let’s say I can’t leave.”

I slowly patted her grayish hair.

Soon after, Seo Ye-in released her imprisonment hug and rummaged through her inventory again.

I thought maybe the next thing would be handcuffs, but surprisingly, what came out was a small box.

“A gift.”

“A real gift, huh.”

For a brief moment, the thought crossed my mind that it might be a device releasing sleeping gas, but it was an unnecessary worry.

The densely packed runes covering the surface immediately caught my eye.

It was of a level that only someone like the chairman of Hye-seong Group or the Underworld Dragon King could engrave.

Given that, I could also guess what was inside.

It must be spatial-type materials.

I had asked for a few materials compatible with [Crow Branch], but they didn’t align with the Underworld Dragon King’s tendencies, and they were extremely rare, so I had decided to wait patiently.

Yet somehow, he had managed to obtain one of them in just a month and sent it through Seo Ye-in.

How did he find it so quickly?

Maybe he had gone and beaten up the dragon next door or something.

Of course, the source wasn’t that important, so I decided to let it go.

The method to open the box was very simple.

As I infused mana into it, the engraved runes all reacted at once, emitting a blue light.

Flaaash—!

The box disassembled itself, revealing a single leaf glowing with a faint purple color.

[Leaf of Dimension (S)]

“Thanks to this, I’ll have a much easier time. I really need to thank him.”

“Come to my house.”

“You mean go there and say it directly?”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded and added,

“During winter break.”

“I might not be able to during winter break.”

“……?”

“I might be going somewhere else.”

Dang Gyu-young had been persistently pestering me to visit her family home with her whenever she got a chance, so I was also considering that option.

Though it wasn’t 100% decided yet.

At those words, Seo Ye-in rummaged through her inventory again and this time pulled out an S-rank adamantite pot.

Then she slowly lifted it and said,

“You can’t leave.”

“And what happens if I do?”

“Kidnapping.”

Did she mean she would stop me from leaving, even if it meant knocking me unconscious?

I mimicked Seo Ye-in’s tone.

“Kidnapping is not allowed.”

“Not allowed?”

“Of course not. Hand over the pot first.”

When I tugged at the pot, Seo Ye-in resisted weakly for a moment before letting it go.

However, she kept pulling at my sleeve, alternating between saying “winter break” and “my house”.

While this was happening, I noticed Go Hyeon-woo approaching from a distance.

He must have spotted us too, because his pace quickened, and he greeted us with a bright smile.

“Kim-hyung, Miss Seo. Have you both been well?”

“It’s been fine. What about you?”

“I have been well, of course. However….”

Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes lingered on the rope loosely wrapped around my body and the indestructible Kim Ho Kim Ho pot in my hand.

Then, he cautiously asked,

“…May I ask what the two of you were about to do?”

“Kidnapping and imprisonment.”

Seo Ye-in answered without a hint of hesitation.

I quickly flipped the pot over her head to cover her mouth, then added an explanation.

“It just means she missed me that much.”

“Indeed, seeing the bond between the two of you deepen is truly heartwarming.”

“And what about you? What’s with the coffee?”

At times like this, the best tactic was to counterattack, so I pointed out something that had seemed odd to me.

The half-finished iced coffee in Go Hyeon-woo’s hand.

Moreover, unlike a typical training machine, he was coming from the direction of the convenience store, not the training center.

Which meant he had been drinking coffee with someone.

Go Hyeon-woo let out a wry smile and said,

“I was having a conversation with Miss Han.”

“Han So-mi? You two even grab coffee together?”

“Haha, it just happened.”

Since the first mentoring session, the two of them had occasionally sparred and had gradually grown closer.

Besides, they had stayed together on Dungeon Island throughout the winter break and even taken part in the second mentoring program, so sharing a coffee wasn’t all that surprising.

I nodded.

“It’s good to get along. Besides, you don’t seem to have been slacking off. I can tell just by looking. You’ve gotten stronger.”

“There’s no fooling Kim-hyung’s eyes. Of course, I prioritize the affairs of the sect above all else.”

Go Hyeon-woo’s goal was to inherit the sect’s sacred relic.

He had been training day and night for that one goal alone.

“Did you do some extra training related to [Hardship] too?”

“Yes. I gained more from it than I expected.”

“Good. Then let’s move straight to Stage Two.”

“I am ready whenever you are.”

It was nice to see him so full of motivation.

No matter how tough it got, there was no need to coax or encourage him.

With that thought in mind, I activated a skill.

[Activated ‘Hardship’.]

[‘Stage 2 Hardship’ has been granted to the target.]

Go Hyeon-woo checked the quest details and gave a competitive smile.

“It doesn’t look easy this time either. All the more reason to take on the challenge.”

As expected of a training machine, his mindset was on a different level altogether.

Go Hyeon-woo who was itching to move was about to head to the training center when I stopped him for a moment.

“Hold on. There’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

I took out a small eye drop bottle from my inventory.

Inside, a milky-white liquid sloshed gently. When he saw it, Go Hyeon-woo’s face was overtaken by surprise.

“…Gongcheong Oil!”

“I saved it for you.”

“Are you sure I can accept such a precious item?”

“Of course you can.”

While I was at it, I also handed him the Special Training Room Season Pass for the second semester.

One had been won from a bet with Kim Gap-doo during the first mentoring session, and the other had been obtained through a deal with Mo Yong-jun after the final exams.

I decided it was right to invest one of them in Go Hyeon-woo.

The other one, Seo Ye-in and I would take turns using.

Go Hyeon-woo looked even more burdened.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay all of this.”

“Don’t worry about that. There are plenty of ways.”

There were already lots of dungeons scheduled for the second semester, and he could also hand over the rewards from event participation.

When I answered casually, he eventually accepted both the Gongcheong Oil and the Season Pass.

They were simply too tempting to refuse.

Then, looking straight at me, Go Hyeon-woo spoke.

“No matter how much gratitude I show, it won’t be enough. I will find a way to repay this debt no matter what.”

“Good. There’s no rush, so for now, focus on leveling up your specs. You need to hit Core B-rank too.”

“Of course, that’s the plan.”

After Go Hyeon-woo once again expressed his thanks and left for the Special Training Room,

I handed the last remaining drop of Gongcheong Oil to Seo Ye-in.

“Here. You take some too and power up.”

“…Hoodie.”

“You want to borrow it?”

“Mhmm.”

A-rank equipment, the Hoodie of the Hidden Master.

It had the effect of greatly boosting mana circulation efficiency.

Normally, I wouldn’t lend it out since I needed it myself, but when the potency of the elixir was as high as it was now, I figured I could make an exception.

On top of that, Seo Ye-in added another request.

“Kim Ho Pillow.”

“That has nothing to do with mana circulation.”

“It does.”

“How?”

“Because I want to.”

She was being completely unreasonable.

Still, I had no intention of giving her everything she wanted without conditions, so I added a condition.

“Then, you can use the Kim Ho Pillow, focus on mana circulation, and once your cooldown for Hardship is over, you move up to stage four, deal?”

At that, Seo Ye-in averted her eyes and backed away.

“…Later.”

“What’s this? Where’s all that spirit? Weren’t you the one saying you’d punish the witches?”

“…Later.”

***

The first day of the second semester.

After having a light breakfast with Seo Ye-in, I headed to the classroom.

The classroom looked the same as it had in the first semester, but the atmosphere had changed noticeably.

Everyone’s skills have improved a lot.

The main reason was probably the stronger presence each person now radiated.

Since they were aiming to become heroes after graduation, they must have spent their vacation dedicated to their own training.

After two months of that, it would have been stranger if they hadn’t improved.

Song Cheon-hye, as usual, was playing along with Han So-mi’s antics, but when she sensed my gaze, she turned her head and gave a small nod.

I returned the nod and thought to myself.

She’s improved a fair bit too.

Judging by how much more relaxed and composed she seemed, she must have gained a lot of real combat experience.

Of course, not everyone had changed much.

“Ah, good to see you all again!”

“Shin-hyung, it’s been a while.”

It was Shin Byeong-cheol.

I had no idea what he had been doing during those two months, but his skills hadn’t improved even a bit…. not even by the size of an ant’s leg.

Naturally, I had to ask.

“What have you been up to?”

“Obviously, this, this.”

Shin Byeong-cheol made a circle by touching his thumb and index finger together.

It meant he had been making money diligently.

I kept asking.

“Judging by how confidently you say that, you must have made quite a bit.”

“Ah, of course!”

He had once buried himself in debt after causing massive losses to the Thieves’ Club, but now he had earned enough to not only cover it all but still have plenty left over.

Well, no wonder he was boasting.

— ♩♪♩♬—

Before long, a familiar melody flowed from the speakers.

The teacher’s podium was still empty, but the students immediately closed their mouths and found their seats.

They had learned that keeping quiet from now on was the wisest course of action.

Soon, the sound of footsteps approached the classroom. Then the door burst open, and Lee Soo-dok walked in.

What on earth had he been through to end up with even more scars?

In the stillness, as if cold water had been poured over us, Lee Soo-dok slowly scanned the classroom.

As always, his gaze lingered especially long on my side.

Then he spoke words that were very close to what I had been thinking.

“Your skills have improved a little. It seems you didn’t waste your vacation. Good.”

“…….”

“As I announced before the break, we will begin the second semester with duel battles.”

Right after, the key theme for the upcoming matches appeared on the blackboard.

[Rematch]