The Support Ate it All

Chapter 302: 17th Week Strategy Battle (3)

Whooooooooooooosh—!

We dove to the sides, dodging the oncoming storm of flames.

Even though it was just an E-rank Inferno Fist, with my S-rank elemental resistance, I could have taken the hit head-on without much trouble.

Still, I chose to avoid it.

Because it might have taken [Copy].

If, by any chance, it had managed to copy a high-rank skill or trait, it would be a disaster. Leaving no openings was the safest choice.

Whooooooooooosh—

Even with the E-rank restriction, Inferno Fist unleashed power worthy of a prohibited skill.

Dark red flames smoldered in the path of the passing firestorm.

It had burned pitch-black, reduced to charcoal.

That meant it had taken the full brunt of the elemental penalty.

No elemental resistance.

But in the next moment, the charred fist rapidly regenerated and became as good as new—

As if time itself had rewound.

So it has Retrorecovery instead.

It must have copied skills at random, but the combination was surprisingly effective.

However, Retro Recovery had a cooldown of three whole days, and the battle had only just begun.

From this point on, it wouldn’t be able to manage its penalties at all.

I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

“At most, it can take three or four more hits.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

With brief responses, the two launched their assault on Doppelgang-Ho from both directions.

Sword energy slashed forward, while a battle rifle spat blue fire.

Swish—!

Tutututututututututu—!

“……”

The fake Kim Ho flicked its eyes back and forth, moved through the onslaught with precise footwork, and slipped through the smallest gaps in the attacks.

Blades and magic bullets narrowly grazed past.

Go Hyeon-woo let out an impressed murmur.

“Fake Kim-hyung sure fights like the real Kim-hyung. This won’t be easy.”

“That’s right. It dodges well.”

Maybe because it was my clone, but its movements were sharper than I expected.

Of course, without any significant movement skills, it was impossible to dodge every attack using only basic movements.

Especially when the opponents were none other than Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

The two coordinated their attacks, steadily pressuring the doppelgänger and gradually accumulating damage.

Before long, Doppelgang-Ho seemed to realize that things couldn’t continue like this and decided to play its next card.

Whooosh—

A whirlwind erupted around it.

The trajectories of the incoming sword energy and magic bullets subtly shifted, creating small gaps in the once-tight offensive.

Dodging became a bit easier.

Whooosh—

Immediately after, Doppelgang-Ho directed the wind toward Seo Ye-in.

Judging by the aggressive way it wielded the skill,

It’s not Twister; it’s Spiral Explosion.

Since it was a combination skill, it essentially meant the doppelgänger had taken Twister, One Point Explosion, and Air Burst all at once.

However, this also confirmed that it hadn’t taken the copy.

Which means I can make my move.

Whooosh—

I generated a counteracting whirlwind, scattering its Spiral Explosion.

My rank was far superior, and with the added bonus of the Blessing of the West Wind, there was no way it could compete with me.

I was about to rush in and beat down Doppelgang-Ho, but then I changed my mind.

Maybe I should wait a little longer.

Opportunities like this didn’t come often, so it seemed better to let them gain as much experience as possible.

Besides, they were holding their own well enough even without my intervention.

So I decided to take a step back and offered advice instead.

“One trait left. Just watch out for that.”

“Understood.”

Its E-rank [Core] must have been there from the start, and one of its traits was [Retrorecovery].

Depending on what the remaining one was, it could still catch us off guard.

As its Spiral Explosion was effortlessly dispersed, Doppelgang-Ho clenched its fist tightly once more.

Then, it thrust an Inferno Fist straight at Seo Ye-in.

Whoooooooosh—!

Meanwhile, Go Hyeon-woo was rapidly closing the distance behind the doppelgänger and stepping swiftly with precise footwork.

It seemed he had decided that engaging in close combat would be more effective than sending out sword energy.

His magic sword traced a golden arc through the air.

Swaaash—!

Doppelgang-Ho mixed and employed the sub-skills of Spiral Explosion.

It slashed its sword with Twister and counterattacked with One Point Explosion and Air Burst.

Nevertheless, it was outmatched in trading blows with Go Hyeon-woo, and its entire body quickly became covered in sword marks.

At the rear, Seo Ye-in resumed her attack, having temporarily withdrawn to avoid the Inferno Fist before rejoining the fray.

At the moment when the fake Kim Ho’s vulnerability became even more apparent,

[Rapid Current]

Swish!

The golden magic sword sliced through the creature’s throat.

It appeared to have sliced cleanly through, but the moment it touched the throat, the blade twisted and curled like a piece of taffy.

The final trait it took was [Distortion].

At the same time, the creature clenched its fist tightly, and deep within, dark red flames erupted.

Go Hyeon-woo was impressed by that.

“Damn—”

Whoooooosh—!

A firestorm swept across Go Hyeon-woo’s position.

Honestly, that was well done.@@novelbin@@

It had been holding its guard tightly, then deliberately allowed an opening and seized the moment when Distortion was triggered to launch a counterattack.

As expected from my clone, it had employed my skills and traits superbly.

However, Doppelgang-Ho had not emerged unscathed, as it had used Inferno Fist twice.

One of its hands had been burned so badly that it resembled a lump of crumbling charcoal.

“…….”

Nonetheless, as if nothing were wrong, the creature casually glanced at that hand and resumed fighting with its other.

And just as it was about to pivot abruptly towards Seo Ye-in,

“I can feel the gap between me and Kim-hyung.”

Fwoosh!

Doppelgang-Ho’s chest was pierced by the magic sword.

Go Hyeon-woo, whom everyone had assumed had been engulfed by the Inferno Fist, emerged suddenly.

“I can’t believe I’m having such a hard time even against a knockoff. Fortunately, I still have a trump card left.”

The reason I refrained from intervening at the moment the Inferno Fist ignited was that I had caught sight of Go Hyeon-woo’s new form starting to blur.

That signified he had narrowly managed to use Ghost Dance.

Immediately after evading, Go Hyeon-woo unleashed “Thousand Winds, Endless Step” to approach once again, and he was able to inflict a fatal blow upon the creature.

Tutututututututututu!

Seo Ye-in too had been incessantly launching her shots.

Doppelgang-Ho, who had allowed Go Hyeon-woo to make a move, was momentarily frozen, unable to dodge, and ended up getting hit by a barrage of magic bullets.

“……!”

The accumulated damage had taken its toll, and Doppelgang-Ho staggered repeatedly.

In a final act of defiance, it clenched its only remaining fist tightly.

Then it extended his Inferno Fist toward Seo Ye-in.

Whooooooooooooosh—!

Instead of dodging the firestorm, Seo Ye-in deployed a cloud about the size of a fist.

Then, she murmured the incantation under her breath.

“Fluffy Fluffy.”

Bang!

The cloud spread out in an instant, much like a smoke grenade bursting.

And it absorbed the firestorm as if cotton were soaking up water.

Before long, the cloud diminished to the size of a fist, but her figure was nowhere to be found within it.

Before long, she had closed the distance and positioned herself right in front of Doppelgang-Ho.

In one hand, instead of an assault rifle, she gripped a familiar pot.

Seo Ye-in swung the Kim Ho pot with all her might.

Clang—!

A sound that was somewhere between dull and resonant echoed, and Doppelgang-Ho’s neck twisted diagonally.

It soon collapsed onto the floor with a thud before disintegrating into dust.

I approached the two and said.

“Good job. It wasn’t supposed to be this tough in the first place.”

“Since it was Kim-hyung we were facing, it was inevitable, right? Still, it turned out to be a good experience.”

Go Hyeon-woo responded with a gentle smile.

I half-jokingly scolded Seo Ye-in.

“You’re hitting me with that pot again?”

Seo Ye-in proudly held up the Kim Ho pot,

So that the dented area was clearly visible.

“The Kim Ho, Kim Ho Pot.”

“It had been upgraded.”

I had sworn it would never hit me again, yet here it was being used on Doppelgang-Ho.

I had to commend her adaptability.

Anyway, since we had successfully dispatched the doppelganger, it was time to carry out our objective in the control room.

I signaled to Go Hyeon-woo, and he smiled softly as he grabbed the lever and applied force.

The lever slowly descended, just a little at a time.

Crrreeeak,

“…It’s heavier than it appears.”

“If it weren’t set up like this, people would just pull the lever and run.”

“That makes sense.”

Anyone holding the handle would inevitably be vulnerable to attack.

The intention was to force us to deal with the doppelganger rather than resort to any underhanded tactics.

Before long, the lever reached the bottom and a series of clanking noises echoed from all directions.

And then, an almost terrifying silence ensued.

Every mechanical device installed throughout the dungeon had come to a stop.

I said to the two, who were looking around in wonder,

“Let’s move. This thing’s going to start rising again soon.”

“……!”

“……!”

The two promptly began to follow me.

It appeared that neither Seo Ye-in nor the ever-optimistic Go Hyeon-woo wished to linger in the trap-laden area for long.

With the poltergeists constantly poking and prodding at us, their irritation must have doubled.

We left the control room and made our way toward our final destination. The exit.

The good news was that since we had just pulled the lever, all the traps had been deactivated.

Even the poltergeists that had been popping up here and there had completely vanished.

“……..?”

Curious, Seo Ye-in cautiously nudged the edge of a trap with her toe.

Naturally, nothing happened.

“It’s broken.”

“It will be fixed soon.”

After a certain amount of time, the control room would restore itself, and the deactivated traps would reactivate.

With that in mind, we quickened our pace and pushed through the dungeon.

After pressing forward for a while, we finally spotted a green emergency light glowing in the distance.

Right beneath it was a teleportation portal leading outside.

We had reached the exit.

Go Hyeon-woo let out a wry smile.

“This was more mentally exhausting than I expected. I didn’t realize my weakness to mechanical traps would be holding me back this much.”

“Well, what can you do? You’ll have to get used to it.”

After all, even the upcoming finals would take place in a dungeon that was essentially an upgraded version of the Cheese Trap.

“You’re right. I should take this as a learning opportunity.”

Nodding to himself, Go Hyeon-woo said he was going to seek advice from Shin Byeong-cheol and walked off.

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in hugged the Kim Ho, Kim Ho Pot tightly and headed back to the dorms.

I watched them leave and pulled up my quest window.

[Side Quest: 17th Week Strategy Battle] (Completed)

▷ Objective: Clear the Strategy Battle Dungeon (1/1)

▷ Bonus Objective: Neutralize the Control Room (1/1)

▷Reward: [Copy – Trait] Slot +1

▷ Copy – Traits [2/3]

1. Retrorecovery (S)

2. The Sovereign’s Crown

3. (Empty)

I finally had three slots each for skills and traits.

Thinking back to how I had barely scraped by with just one skill slot and one trait slot when I first enrolled, this was a huge leap forward.

With this, the Strategy Battle was officially complete.

The next thing on my schedule was entering the ice-themed dungeon with Hong Yeon-hwa.

While she worked on ranking up Aqua Flame, I planned to do some rank training of my own.

The rubies I’d receive as compensation were just a bonus.

But before that—

I should pick up what I left in safekeeping first.

With that in mind, I headed toward the Ruby Magic Tower clubroom.

***

As always, Hong Ye-hwa greeted me with her business-like smile.

“Welcome. Yeon-hwa isn’t here yet. Want me to call her?”

“No, I actually came to speak with you today, senior.”

“With me?”

Surprised by my words, Hong Ye-hwa raised an eyebrow slightly.

I nodded and continued.

“Yes, I’d like to use the Book of Chaos.”