The Support Ate it All-Chapter 365: Funding (3)

[Dang Gyu-young: Keng-keng! Fox emoji]

[Dang Gyu-young: Flustered fox emoji]

[Dang Gyu-young: What are you doing]

[Kim Ho: Just hanging around]

[Dang Gyu-young: Sho wants to see you for a bit]

[Kim Ho: Sure]

[Kim Ho: Where should we meet?]

[Dang Gyu-young: Snack bar (let’s go)]

There was only one possible reason she’d suddenly want to see me.

Must be about the strategy guide.

With Jegal So-so’s uncanny sense for these things, it wouldn’t have taken her long to connect the sample guide I sent with the ones I’d written before.

I hadn’t tried to hide it either. It was more beneficial to let her figure it out.

If a major club like the Swordsmanship Club showed interest, the other clubs would naturally start paying attention too.

As I waited in front of the snack bar with those thoughts, Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so appeared.

Even as they walked over, they were bickering the whole time. Judging by the shapes of their mouths, the conversation probably went something like this:

– Just one bite!

– I said no!

Jegal So-so kept pestering, and Dang Gyu-young stubbornly refused.

I don’t know what it is, but one bite wouldn’t hurt, would it?

But the moment they spotted me, they exchanged glances and smoothly changed the subject.

Their vibe flipped instantly to cheerful and friendly, as if they hadn’t just been arguing.

It wasn’t like I could ask, “What were you just talking about?” without killing the mood, so I decided to let it go for now.

Soon, Jegal So-so smiled warmly and waved.

“Hi, Kim Ho.”

“Hello.”

“Want something to drink? My treat.”

“I’ll have a coffee, thank you.”

Soon, I was holding an iced coffee, while Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so each carried a frappuccino loaded with whipped cream as we headed to a table.

Figures. Typical childhood friends, even their tastes are similar.

We exchanged small talk for a while.

Things like how our vacation went, how she’d heard I got mentored by Qyu, whether anything happened while we lived together for a month, and so on.

When the topic of “33 Bar” came up, her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Seriously? She ate that in one bite?”

“Mhmm, like a squirrel stuffing its cheeks.”

“That’s a bit much.”

Dang Gyu-young didn’t chime in but kept pouting as if she was clearly displeased.

Her frappuccino was disappearing quickly too, as if it shared her annoyance.

Eventually, Jegal So-so got to the point.

“I heard you’re planning to put the strategy guides up for auction.”

“That’s the plan.”

“I feel a little awkward asking this, but… how about selling them to us instead? We’ll match the price.”

She was suggesting that instead of auctioning them off, I could just sell them to her directly at the expected final bid price.

A few hundred thousand points per volume wasn’t a small sum, even for a third-year club vice president.

It’d be easier for her if the Swordsmanship Club paid for it collectively, but even then, it’s not exactly pocket change.

Of course, she must’ve already crunched the numbers before coming here.

No matter how much it cost, she must’ve decided it would be worth it.

Even if a dungeon’s core was destroyed, it would regenerate after a certain time.

And if you had a perfect strategy for that dungeon, you could harvest items from it steadily. Like mining ore from a quarry.

By managing the dungeons that way and collecting items regularly, they’d eventually pass the break-even point.

And she probably figured it wouldn’t take that long, which is why she was making such a bold offer.

From my end, selling directly to the Swordsmanship Club would certainly be less of a hassle.

But I gave her a polite reply.

“Sorry. I don’t think I can do that this time.”

“No, I’m the one who should apologize for bringing it up out of nowhere. If it’s okay, can I ask why?”

“I’m putting the strategy guide up for auction partly for the points, but also for the exposure.”

A strategy guide packed with incredible information exists, and everyone’s scrambling to outbid each other to get their hands on it?

There’s no better way to advertise than that.

If I made a private deal with the Swordsmanship Club, I might earn points quickly, but I’d have to give up the exposure. In the long run, that’d be a loss.

After hearing this much, Jegal So-so seemed convinced. But then something clicked in her mind, and her eyes lit up.

“So when you say exposure… that means you’re planning to keep selling them?”

“Of course.”

There’s no way I’d stop after just one lucky sale with a business this good.

I plan to print a copy here and there and sell them over time.

I let a small smirk rise on my lips.

“When that time comes, I won’t insist on auctions.”

“You know our Swordsmanship Club, right?”

“I do. You give good offers.”

Jegal So-so grinned back, clearly satisfied.

Once the conversation wrapped up, Dang Gyu-young who had been watching from the side asked,

“So, what about Volumes 1 and 2? Are you going to bid on them?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Jegal So-so answered without a second of hesitation.

She didn’t manage to buy them from me directly, but that didn’t mean she’d given up on getting the strategy guides.

She fully intended to participate in the auction.

“The Swordsmanship Club will take both volumes.”

Her voice brimmed with confidence.

***

After that, Dang Gyu-young sold the strategy guides to a few other senior members.

Pang Mi-ryeong, the Swordsmanship Club’s raid leader, Jeong Chong-myeong, the president of the White Magic Club, and Hong Ye-hwa, the president of the Ruby Magic Club.

Even with steep discounts for promotional purposes, I still earned over 100,000 points, which says a lot about how valuable the strategy guides were.

That should be everything I can do for now.

From this point on, it was a waiting game.

In order for the effects of the strategy guide to be felt and for word to spread, the seniors naturally had to enter the dungeon. And for that to happen, the strategy battle week needed to arrive.

While waiting, as usual, I focused on building up my stats.

I practically lived in the special training room and squeezed in ranking matches with Seo Ye-in whenever I could.

Of course, I didn’t forget to apply Hardship whenever its cooldown reset.

[‘Seo Ye-in’ has been granted ‘Stage 4 Hardship’.]

The sloth had already paid in advance and was dozing off on a Kim Ho pillow, so as promised, she entered Stage 4.

Thankfully, there wasn’t a time limit on sleep duration this time.

– This should be doable, right?

– …Confirmed.

A few days later, when the cooldown reset again, I cast Hardship on Hong Yeon-hwa.

[‘Hong Yeon-hwa’ has been granted ‘Stage 6 Hardship’.]

From what I heard, this quest also involved enhancing the Hydra.

Since she seemed to be handling it well on her own, I decided not to interfere unless she asked for advice.

Next is Dang Gyu-young, then Go Hyeon-woo.

From what I’d heard, they were likely to finish before the cooldown even expired.

With four people on the team, all incredibly talented, their quest-clear speed was naturally fast.

Thanks to [Time Share], I had already reduced the cooldown by more than half, and yet I still ended up with small idle gaps.

Would’ve been nice if I could’ve pulled off some tricks.

Unfortunately, every trick I could think of was blocked.

For example, if I could just transfer [Hardship] using [Enchantment], I could hand out quests almost indefinitely and even apply quests to myself. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Skills and traits granted through [Enchantment] used the recipient’s cooldown timer, after all.

But regrettably, [Hardship] was my unique skill, so it couldn’t be granted in the first place.

The same applied to things like [Amplification] and [Monarch].

[Time Share] can be granted, but the problem is, they can’t actually use it.

To use a skill, a certain level of understanding in the relevant field was required.

I might be a stagnant water who could do everything except the things I don’t know, but I couldn’t expect the same from the others.

Even if I gave Go Hyeon-woo Hummingbird, would he really be able to control it freely and land hits with precision?

Likewise, even if I gave Shin Byeong-cheol Wind Force, it’d be unrealistic to expect him to push, pull, and toss enemies around like I do.

[Time Share], in particular, was a space-time skill with an especially high level of difficulty.

It wasn’t something you could just teach. And even if you could, it would probably be a painful process.

For all these reasons, trying to game the system through Enchantment just wasn’t a viable option.

Still, no need to rush.

Even just rotating [Hardship] among the four of them from the start of the semester was already a fast enough pace.

And it’s the kind of problem that’ll solve itself soon enough.

[Hardship] gets more difficult and time-consuming as the stages go up, so the further we go, the more breathing room we’ll probably have.

Of course, the more ways I have to shorten cooldowns, the better. So I’ll keep looking.

The next thing on my mind:

I should go check out the statue.

To pay the dimensional crow for its work, I needed to prepare an item that was both dazzling and artistically valuable.

As part of that plan, I’d left some spare Kraketite and rubies with the sculpture club.

That was before the finals, so by now, the results should definitely be ready.

With that, I headed over to the sculpture club.

After finding the tucked-away clubroom, I gave the door a light knock.

—Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Back when I first came here, I had to knock for a while. But today, I got a reply almost immediately.

The club president was a second-year, so I gave a polite bow as I stepped inside.

“Hello, senior.”

“So it’s you.”

The sculpture club president seemed to remember me.

Was it because the materials I used for the request were so rare? Or because I’d acted a bit too brazenly for a first-year?

Maybe both.

Either way, I must’ve left quite the impression.

The club president wasn’t at the workbench but was instead sitting in a corner of the clubroom, scribbling something in a sketchbook.

It must not have been a task that required much focus, because the reply came quickly.

Of course, the expression on her face still read, “Get to the point and leave,” just like before, so I skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

“I’d like to check on the sculpture I requested earlier.”

“Oh, that. It’s done.”

The sculpture club president responded casually, then led me to a display shelf in the corner of the room.

There, a deep blue metallic octopus sculpture stood with its arms curling and stretching in every direction.

On top of that, it had been exquisitely decorated here and there with sapphires.

So that’s how she used them.

Back then, the president had said that Kraketite and rubies didn’t go well together, and suggested using sapphires instead. I respected her opinion and made the request accordingly.

Since I didn’t have any sapphires on hand at the time, I paid with rubies instead.

Plus, I’d even provided a chunk of Kraketite, so all in all, I’d put quite a bit into it. But looking at the result, it more than earned its value.

[Octopus Sculpture (A)]

With no special options, it earned an A-rank purely for its artistic value.

You don’t get that kind of rank just from using quality materials.

Even though she was a second-year and just a club president, I hadn’t expected much….but clearly, her skills far exceeded my expectations.

I felt genuinely satisfied.

“It turned out great. Thank you.”

“I had fun making it too.”

“I’ll be asking for your help again in the future.”

“Just don’t come too often. It’s a hassle.”

The sculptor club president replied up to that point, then returned to her seat and opened her sketchbook.

That was her way of saying, “You’ve got what you came for, now leave.”

She really did seem bothered.

I let out a small chuckle, then gave a final respectful bow.

And as I left the clubroom, I thought to myself:

At this rate, I might be able to move the plan up a little.

Originally, I’d planned to gather more trade materials before visiting the crow, but unexpectedly, the sculpture had ended up with an A-rank.

That should be enough to ask for at least something, even if it’s small.

I’ll go see it next week.