The Support Ate it All

I’ve confirmed Cha Hyeon-joo with this.

I also identified the location, composition, and near-perfect condition of Cha Hyeon-joo’s team.

Even if I didn’t directly fight them, it was always beneficial to gather as much information about the opponent as possible.

Especially since most information had been blocked off by the blind rule.

Depending on the situation, I could adjust by either widening the distance between us or going on the offensive.

Next, I need to check on Team 3.

Whether I fight and take them down or drag this into a long-term battle by using the environment is a decision I can make later.

That’s exactly why I left after erecting just one ice wall against Cha Hyeon-joo.

If we clashed now and wasted health, it would only work to Team 3’s advantage since we haven’t even encountered them yet.

Thud, thud!

The fact that Cha Hyeon-joo was making a ruckus trying to break the ice wall.

Even though we had put a good amount of distance between us, I could still hear the sound of her pounding on the wall.

If Team 3 happens to be nearby, their attention would naturally be drawn to the commotion.

And if the two sides end up clashing and exhausting themselves, that’s even better.

Meanwhile, we needed to keep moving without pause.

This labyrinth is already a headache to navigate, and it’s riddled with traps. Wouldn’t it be better to just hole up in one spot, whether it works out or not?

It’s a thought that anyone might have.

Of course, the academy anticipated such “endurance” or “turtle” strategies and prepared plenty of ways to counter them.

In a very blatant way, no less.

Right on cue, a wave of mana rippled through the area, sweeping across the surroundings.

I could hear the metallic grinding of gears from the walls, ceiling, and floor at the same time.

“……?”

Seo Ye-in grew curious and looked around curiously before pointing to a spot on the floor a short distance away.

“They increased. The traps”

“They’ll increase even more soon.”

As time went on, the traps continued to increase in number.

And if someone stayed in one spot for too long, the traps would concentrate heavily on that area.

In other words, traps could even appear and activate right beneath your feet while you were standing still.

Therefore, it was clear that sticking to the original plan of constant movement was the best course of action.

However, there was a new problem that had just arisen.

“There are a lot, aren’t there?”

“Mhmm.”

Looking at the passage ahead, it was almost impossible to find a spot to step on.

Magic circles lit up in rapid succession, and the number of various mechanisms scattered everywhere was beyond count.

The situation behind us was similar, creating a structure where it was unavoidable to trigger something no matter which direction we took.

And this kind of situation was only going to get worse.

“What choice do we have? We’ll have to step on them and move forward.”

If avoiding them wasn’t an option, the best plan was to trigger the safest ones possible.

A pitfall trap, for example, would be far less damaging than a fire explosion trap.

With that in mind, I pointed to a small gap between the magic circles a short distance away.

Even there, there was something that resembled a stepping stone, which clearly seemed like it would trigger a trap as soon as it was stepped on.

“That one looks like the least dangerous option. I’ll throw you over there, so step on it and jump forward.”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head and took a few steps back.

Then she activated Feather Walk and moved quickly forward a few paces.

At that moment, I grabbed Seo Ye-in’s wrist, gently hurled her forward, and cast Wind Force at the same time.

It was the two-person skill Wind Leap.

“Jump lightly! Jump!”

“Jump!”

Whoosh—

Seo Ye-in soared through the air in a long arc.

She landed lightly on the stepping stone I had pointed out earlier.

“Jump.”

Without missing a beat, she kicked off from there and leaped forward once more.

Because the trap had been triggered, sharp spears shot out from the walls on both sides. However, Seo Ye-in had already soared gracefully through the air and landed far away.

She looked back at me and started waving her hand lightly as if signaling for me to hurry up.

I used a similar method by combining Thief’s Step with Wind Force to leap across the distance.

Since we still had to explore more of the labyrinth, I figured we’d have to keep doing this repeatedly, but the situation wasn’t too bad.

It’s not like we’re the only ones struggling with this.

Boom—!

A distant explosion echoed, and a faint tremor traveled under my feet.

Judging by the direction, it seemed to have come from Cha Hyeon-joo’s team. Unfortunately, it looked like they had set off some sort of explosive trap.

All three teams were facing the same treacherous labyrinth filled with traps, but when it came to spotting traps, Seo Ye-in and I had the upper hand compared to the others.

Because of that, the other teams were likely taking much more damage from the traps.

Still, they’ve caught up quite a bit.’

Boom! Boom! Boom—!

Another loud crash came from a slightly closer distance.

This time, it sounded like something heavy had slammed down.

What mattered most was the distance between us. Compared to the previous explosion, it was noticeably closer.

We would probably encounter them again soon, but from our perspective, the longer we could delay that, the better.

So, our strategy remained the same. It was to keep moving.

Meanwhile, an idea suddenly occurred to me, so I asked Seo Ye-in,

“Lucky Charm-nim, where should we go to find the other teams?”

“……?”

Rather than wandering aimlessly, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to trust her luck.

If we headed in the direction she chose and ran into the third team, that’d be great. If not, it’d still be the path we were originally taking, so there’d be no loss.

Seo Ye-in tilted her head repeatedly and started glancing around at the various passageways. After spinning her gaze left and right for a moment, she finally pointed in one direction.

“Over there.”

“Good.”

Just like before, we used Wind Leap to jump over traps and sometimes broke through them as we made our way through the labyrinth.

Eventually, we came to a fork where the passage split into two paths.

“Left or right?”

“Right.”

After turning right and traveling for a while, we came to another fork, this time splitting into three paths: forward, left, and right.

“What about this time?”

“They’re over there.”

Instead of pointing, Seo Ye-in made a strange remark.

Curious, I checked the direction she had mentioned, and sure enough, the third team came into view.

They noticed us as well and slowed down their pace.

“The bald monk… or should I say, baldy.”

It was Ilgong.

At the start of the semester, he had been randomly teamed up with Seo Ye-in for a 2v2 duel battle. During the mentoring period, he had joined Kim Gap-doo’s martial arts team for a 4v4 bet match.

I still remembered how he had enthusiastically beaten up Kwak Ji-cheol back then.

Since our scores were in the 600–700 range, I figured we’d eventually run into each other. And as it turned out, that moment was now.

Ilgong looked straight at me and muttered a quiet chant.

“Amitabha…”

His demeanor was so calm and relaxed, it was hard to believe we were in the middle of a duel.

Though I had seen him act similarly on other occasions and wasn’t surprised, I had no intention of matching his pace.

So, while I returned his greeting, I directly asked the question that piqued my curiosity.

“Hello. Who’s the person next to you?”

Standing beside Ilgong was another monk with a similarly shaven head. Unlike Ilgong, who was a martial arts expert, this monk held a sword in his hand.

When I pointed him out, the man pressed his palms together in a gesture of respect and responded.

“This humble one is called Igong.”

Wow, they really put no effort into their names.

Ilgong and Igong?

I was tempted to ask how many “Gong” members they had in total, but it felt a bit inappropriate, so I decided to hold back.

At least their names were easy to remember, which made them slightly better than the assassin duo from before.

Ilgong asked with his usual calm expression,

“Would you be willing to give me some guidance?”

“I wouldn’t mind, but… how about getting it from them instead?”

I gestured over my shoulder with a tilt of my chin, redirecting everyone’s attention.

Over in that direction—

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

“Kim—Ho—!”

Cha Hyeon-joo’s team was charging toward us. She was firing arrows as they ran.

She was so enraged her eyes were practically bloodshot.

They were triggering every trap in sight on their way. Blades popped out, and magic spells rained down, but she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

It seemed I was truly the only thing she could see.

Her desperate feelings were clear enough, but—

“No, I’m not going to fight you.”

If I had any intention of doing what she wanted, I would’ve done so earlier.

I retraced the path I had taken with Seo Ye-in and then blocked the corridor with an Ice Wall.

On the other side of the ice wall, Cha Hyeon-joo’s team and Ilgong and Igong’s team were now isolated.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop making walls—?!”

“Enjoy your time together, all four of you.”

“You bastard—!!”

“Let’s refrain from using bad language, please.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head in agreement.

“Bad words, not allowed.”

Even in such an absurd situation, the monk duo remained as calm and carefree as ever, as if this was the most natural order of things.

From beyond the ice wall, Ilgong’s voice could be heard.

“May I ask for some guidance—”

“Shut up—!”

As expected, Cha Hyeon-joo immediately redirected her rage toward Ilgong and Igong.

If it were any other team, they probably would’ve formed a temporary alliance to deal with how annoying I was being, but her mind was so clouded with rage that she couldn’t see anything else.

She simply attacked anyone who got in her way.

Boom! Boom!

Leaving the two teams clashing behind, I turned to Seo Ye-in and said,

“Let’s come back in a bit.”

“Mhmm.”

In the end, one of the two teams would end up defeated, and I planned to swoop in and reap the rewards like a cunning opportunist.

However, because of the dungeon’s nature, staying in one place would only lead to traps being set up all over that spot.

Even while waiting, I had to keep moving.

So, I strolled through the labyrinth with Seo Ye-in as if we were on a leisurely walk before returning to the same location.

Boom! Crash!

The Ice Wall was now heavily cracked as if it might shatter at any moment. From the sounds beyond the wall, they seemed to still be frantically hammering away at it.

Finally, with a crumble, a corner of the wall collapsed, and Cha Hyeon-joo came into view.

“……!”

The moment she saw me, her eyes filled with killing intent.

Despite how utterly exhausted she must’ve been after such an intense battle, her eyes still brimmed with venom.

She really is a promising student.

That level of determination was what it took to reach S-rank.

I met Cha Hyeon-joo’s gaze and asked,

“What about Hee-chan’s stand-in?”

“…….”

“Did they lose?”

“…Yes.”

It seemed her team member had been rendered unable to fight while facing the Ilgong duo.

When I nodded and lightly stirred the sapling, the ice wall collapsed with a crumbling sound.

But immediately after, a perfectly intact ice wall rose up just a bit ahead.

And if that wasn’t enough, I added another layer of ice wall on top of it.

With a bright smile, I said,

“This time, it’s double-layered!”

“Stop… Just stop…!”

Cha Hyeon-joo, having reached her limit, began to sound a little tearful in her rage.

Honestly, I was just messing around this time, and since it was about time to wrap things up, I dispelled the Ice Wall.

Then I posed a question to Cha Hyeon-joo.

“Why are you so determined to fight me?”

“Why do you keep avoiding it?”

Cha Hyeon-joo answered my question with a question of her own.

I already knew she had a fiery personality, and it wasn’t exactly a difficult question, so I shrugged and responded.

“I just don’t waste my energy on pointless things. Besides, you’re too weak.”

“…What did you just say?!”

As if I had delivered a grave insult, Cha Hyeon-joo’s face went rigid.

Regardless of her reaction, I continued speaking.

“Let’s be honest here. It’s not like you’ve just barely lost so far; you’ve been completely overpowered every time. If you’d at least landed a single hit, it’d be a different story, but even that hasn’t happened.”

“……!”

“This isn’t about competition anymore; it’s just recklessness. And I’m not the kind of person who has time to entertain something like that.”

“……!”

Cha Hyeon-joo couldn’t say a word; her body started trembling with frustration.

Whether she silently acknowledged what I said or was simply too enraged to respond, I couldn’t tell.

Then as if a thought suddenly came to her, she took a deep breath, glared at me, and asked,

“So you’re saying you won’t fight me?”

“For now. There’s an order to these things.”

“What do I have to do, then?”

At Cha Hyeon-joo’s question, I pointed to Seo Ye-in who was standing nearby.

“Try taking her down first.”