The Support Ate it All

Unlike Song Cheon-hye who was visibly shaken as if her trauma had been triggered just by watching, the Dark Oobleck seemed completely unfazed after slamming into the ice wall.

Though it now had a grotesque form that mixed features of a giant mole, a bat, and insects, it was originally a slime-type monster.

It must have a great resistance to impact.

Squirm, squirm.

The Dark Oobleck immediately began moving while slithering around the edge of the ice wall.

However, at that moment, Han So-mi had already closed the distance.

As if trying to sweep away an annoying obstacle, the Dark Oobleck swung its forelimb which resembled an insect’s front leg.

Han So-mi dodged by stepping skillfully, all while swinging the sword in her hand.

For an instant, the blade seemed to blur and disappear.

The limb it had swung was sliced cleanly into pieces.

However, it didn’t seem to deal significant damage even this time.

The Dark Oobleck swayed its body a few times, and the severed limb regenerated almost instantly.

As if that weren’t enough, the scattered fragments on the ground gathered back together and were reabsorbed into its body.

Not a good matchup for a swordsman.

Ordinary slashing attacks wouldn’t be very effective.

If she went all out and used her special techniques, she could likely take it down, but for now, all Han So-mi could do was prevent it from advancing further.

Just as it was about to swing its forelimb again, a bolt of lightning shot through the air and struck it squarely between the eyes.

Boom!

The one who had fired the lightning, of course, was Song Cheon-hye.

It seemed the attack had worked, as the spot where the Oobleck was hit twisted grotesquely.

Song Cheon-hye observed the creature closely for a moment before speaking.

“I’m going to use large-scale magic.”

“That’s the standard move.”

“You two should help So-mi hold it down.”

“Let’s do that.”

The plan was simple. The rest of the party would pin the creature in place while Song Cheon-hye unleashed a large-scale spell to take it out in one blow.

This had worked back in Winterhalt, so there was no reason it wouldn’t work now.

First, I need to block its escape routes.

With that thought, I began casting Ice Wall repeatedly.

The ice walls rose and merged, sealing off every passage without leaving any gaps.

Considering the nature of the Dark Oobleck, if the battle became unfavorable, it would immediately try to escape, but this dungeon was so large and complex that there were many places to run and hide.

Rather than risk letting it get away and doubling our trouble, it was better to prepare in advance.

While I was casting ice walls, both Song Cheon-hye and I turned our gazes toward Shin Byeong-cheol.

He was still catching his breath in a corner and was panting heavily.

“Huff, keuk, hah, cough, hah.”

“Ahjussi, your stamina is awful. If we’d run just a little farther, you’d have thrown up.”

“I-I ran in a hurry… haah, th-that’s why… huff…”

“Alright, deep breaths. Inhale, exhale. You heard the plan, right?”

“..….”

Instead of replying, Shin Byeong-cheol simply raised his hand and made an OK sign with his fingers.

It seemed like he needed a little more time to recover, so I decided to leave him be for now. Turning my focus back to the fight, I summoned yet another ice wall to trap the Dark Oobleck further.

Ssssshrk!

Meanwhile, Han So-mi was effortlessly cutting down the enemy on her own.

Normally, she seemed worlds away from anything involving combat with her ever-cheerful smile and gentle demeanor, but once she drew her sword, she showed no mercy.

Perhaps because she had trust in her skill, Song Cheon-hye began chanting a spell without hesitation.

On one hand, intricate runes floated up and assembled themselves.

While her other hand was extended forward, sending out arcs of lightning that gathered above the enemy’s head.

Crackle!

Perhaps it sensed the threat instinctively.

The giant mole raised its head and followed the path of the lightning with its gaze. Eventually, it locked eyes with Song Cheon-hye.

Ignoring Han So-mi, it attempted to charge straight at her.

Screeeech!

At that moment, long chopsticks flew through the air and embedded themselves deeply into various parts of its body.

The chopsticks didn’t stop there; they connected with each other via threads of mana, forming a web that trapped the creature.

I turned to Shin Byeong-cheol who had thrown the chopsticks and asked,

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Ghhhk.”

Shin Byeong-cheol responded with a strange sound as if to say he still wasn’t quite fine.

Still, he kept throwing the chopsticks while half staggering. Surprisingly, his aim was remarkably accurate.

“——!”

Perhaps sensing danger, the Dark Oobleck’s form began to collapse slightly.

Its body twisted grotesquely and its shoulder bulged unnaturally before dozens of bats burst forth flying straight at us.

But Han So-mi wasn’t about to let them go just like that.

“Hup.”

With a light leap, countless slashes carved through the air.

Slice!

The bats were shredded into pieces and fell to the ground in fragments.

“——!”

Finally, the Dark Oobleck turned its body to flee but its path was completely blocked by the ice walls.

On top of that, I had joined in and held it in place with a whirlwind.

Above the immobilized creature, a mass of lightning continued to grow larger.

Fzzzzzzt!

Soon, thick bolts of lightning began raining down in rapid succession.

Boom!

The deafening roar echoed through the mine, shaking the air as flashes of light repeatedly pierced the darkness.

When the lightning finally subsided, the pitch-black Oobleck had been scorched even darker. Its form was burnt beyond recognition.

Black liquid oozed helplessly in all directions.

While Han So-mi stared at it curiously, I walked over to her.

“Good work. The disciplinary committee really is something else.”

“Mhmm! Good work!”

We exchanged a light high-five, then I knelt near the black liquid and crouched down beside it.

I took a glass vial from my inventory and carefully collected the dark substance.

A notification popped up immediately.

[Main Quest 2-3] (Completed)

▷ Objective: Collect a sample.

▷ Claim your reward?

[Yes/No]

The longer I delay, the better it gets.

The reward wouldn’t disappear if I didn’t claim it now; it would be added to future quest rewards and increase their value.

And the more they accumulated, the better the quality of the final reward.

Without hesitation, I chose “No”.

Meanwhile, Song Cheon-hye approached. She was holding a glass vial of her own; she likely had received similar instructions from the academy.

She glanced at the sample in my hand and asked,

“Why do you have that one…?”

“To give it to you. Take it.”

I had planned to give it to her anyway.

Although Song Cheon-hye seemed a bit unsure, she eventually accepted the glass vial.

[Main Quest 2-4] (Completed)

▷ Objective: Deliver the sample to the disciplinary committee.

▷ Claim your reward?

[Yes/No]

The follow-up quest was completed as soon as it appeared.

In a way, the disciplinary action had made things much easier.

Once again, I chose “No” without hesitation, and another follow-up quest immediately popped up.

The objective wasn’t too different from before:

[Main Quest 2-5] (In Progress……)

▷ Objective: Collect additional samples.

▷ Reward: Reward varies based on completion progress.

Although the Dark Oobleck was technically the same entity, the samples varied depending on the environment and what it had consumed.

Finding other Ooblecks would obviously mean searching through more dungeons.

This works out perfectly.

I still had plenty of time left on my disciplinary action anyway.

Rumble…….

Just then, the ground trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and the dungeon’s exit opened.

I had a feeling this would happen.

In a [Clearance] dungeon, the fact that the Oobleck had come to meet us at the entrance signified there was nothing left for it to consume.

By defeating it, we had completely cleared out the monsters in the mine, and the dungeon was marked as cleared.

To confirm this, several chests appeared at the entrance of the teleport portal.

[Mole Mine Random Box (F)] ×2

Shin Byeong-cheol moved slyly to claim them, but he froze under Song Cheon-hye’s cold glare and quickly withdrew his hands.

“Oh, no, no, of course not. You take them, hehe.”

“All rewards will be distributed together at the end.”

“Of course, of course. That’s the fairest way.”

Since we were still under punishment, the disciplinary committee had assigned personnel to each party far stronger than the ones punished; this arrangement was only natural.

Even if they claimed 100% ownership of the rewards, no one could argue against it, but it seemed they intended to distribute a certain percentage to everyone involved.

Judging by the enthusiasm radiating from Shin Byeong-cheol’s face, it seemed like a good decision.

After exiting the dungeon again, Song Cheon-hye brought up a list and deleted number 886.

There were several parties besides ours assigned to clean up dungeons and the list was updated to avoid any confusion.

She then immediately turned and took the lead.

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

The next dungeon was both numerically and geographically quite close.

[No. 870] [Elemental Hill]

Shin Byeong-cheol confidently stepped up to the portal.

“Looks like I’ll be scouting again this time. Thirty seconds—”

“Hold it.”

“Huh?”

But just as he was about to step forward, I stopped him in his tracks.

I spoke to Shin Byeong-cheol who looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“This time, come in last. You don’t need to scout.”

“Why not?”

“It feels like you’re jinxed.”

Shin Byeong-cheol laughed sheepishly and waved his hands dismissively.

“Oh, come on, where’s the logic in that? Everyone has a little bad luck sometimes, right?”

“No, you have it far too often.”

There were too many examples. The countless teacups he earned as a future café owner; the hidden boss “White Snake” that he somehow encountered during the Black Death Dungeon even though meeting it was supposed to be rare.

And in the Gathering of Villains, the sudden appearance of the Twin Demons who changed their route and crossed paths with him.

Until now, I had thought Go Hyeon-woo was just unlucky, but what if the truly unlucky one was actually Shin Byeong-cheol?

“If we send him in first, there’s a chance another Dark Oobleck could get summoned.”

“Hey, this is unfair. Can you really treat an innocent person like this?”

“Then let’s settle it coolly with a majority vote.”

We decided to let the disciplinary committee make the call.

Song Cheon-hye glanced at both of us briefly before opening her mouth.

“From my perspective, the whole idea of being jinxed doesn’t make sense.”

“See? Look at that. For once, Song Cheon-hye is siding with me”

Shin Byeong-cheol said while grinning from ear to ear.

But Song Cheon-hye wasn’t finished yet.

“But more than that, scouting itself seems useless. It just makes things more dangerous for one person unnecessarily.”

“……”

“Just come in later.”

“……”

Shin Byeong-cheol fell silent for a moment, then turned his hopeful eyes to Han So-mi. He was clinging to the possibility of a 2:2 tie.

Han So-mi smiled brightly before speaking.

“Come in last!”

“Wait, you too? At least give me a reason.”

“Just because!”

“That—”

Shin Byeong-cheol started to say something but stopped, as if realizing it would be futile and closed his mouth again.

He resigned himself to the rule of majority vote.

After things had settled to some degree, Song Cheon-hye spoke.

“Then, let’s proceed.”

We stepped one by one into the teleportation magic circle.

Naturally, Shin Byeong-cheol went in last.

The scene shifted abruptly, and we found ourselves standing in the middle of a dense forest.

When we looked further ahead, the terrain undulated up and down in a way befitting the word “hill”.

The elevation wasn’t particularly steep but it was immediately clear that this was no ordinary hill.

Whoosh!

Crackle!

Here and there, flames roared up or lightning flashed unpredictably.

It’s an Elemental Hill, after all.

It was a dungeon where spirits of various elements clashed against one another.

The main rule of this place was [Crystals].

We needed to locate and charge the crystals scattered somewhere within the area.

On the way, we’d have to either avoid or defeat the spirits we encountered.

Though, there’s no real need to clear it entirely.

Our objective was simply to confirm whether Oobleck had infiltrated this dungeon or not.

So how would we confirm it?

Just then, Song Cheon-hye pulled out a device resembling a radar scanner.

“That’s it?”

“Yes, we’ll use this.”

Song Cheon-hye immediately activated the scanner.

Beep—