The Support Ate it All

It seemed that I had dozed off without realizing it while serving as Kim Ho pillow.

I was deep in sleep when the sound of movement woke me. Opening my eyes, I saw Seo Ye-in stirring half-awake and rustling around.

Since our eyes met, I took the chance to ask,

“Did you rest well?”

“Mhmm.”

“Battery charged up a bit?”

“65%.”

“Wow, you really did recharge.”

She definitely looked less drowsy than yesterday.

Checking the time, I realized morning had already arrived.

We each headed to our dorms for the final bit of preparation.

Then, right on schedule, we met in front of the dungeon building.

Go Hyeon-woo’s team and Hong Yeon-hwa’s team had arrived first and were chatting when they spotted us and walked over.

Go Hyeon-woo glanced at Seo Ye-in’s face, then commented,

“It seems Miss Seo has recovered quite a bit. That’s a relief.”

“The pillow worked well.”

When Seo Ye-in grabbed my sleeve, a satisfied fatherly smile appeared on Go Hyeon-woo’s face.

Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa kept sneaking glances our way. Her eyes were filled with a mix of complicated emotions.

The atmosphere was pleasant, but with finals right around the corner, we needed to have a more productive conversation.

So I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Hong Yeon-hwa and asked,

“Did you go over the replays?”

“I checked the hidden rooms you pointed out, Kim-hyung. I couldn’t find them all, but I managed to locate a good number.”

“Same here.”

There was a certain confidence in both of their responses.

At this rate, securing items in the early stages shouldn’t be a problem.

With that, we headed toward the ground floor of the dungeon building.

A large hall the size of an auditorium.

The same place where we had taken our midterm exam.

At the center of the hall stood a teleportation portal, while countless magic circles beneath our feet flickered as if pulsating.

Once the exam began, all the magic circles would activate simultaneously, pulling the participants into the dungeon.

Near the teleportation portal, groups of faculty members were gathered chatting amongst themselves.

I spotted the homeroom teachers, security staff, and even the vice principal.

Among them, only the homeroom teachers would be entering the dungeon, while the others seemed to be there as a precaution in case of emergencies.

Meanwhile, every student in the hall was fixated on the teachers. This created an atmosphere distinctly different from usual.

They’re looking at them like boss monsters.

Fear was natural, but with the promise of huge rewards upon success, it was impossible not to be consumed by greed.

The teachers, however, remained utterly composed despite the dozens….or rather the hundreds of ambitious gazes locked onto them.

Having already experienced countless battles, these A-rank heroes wouldn’t even consider this level of pressure as real stress.

Before long, the teachers stepped onto the magic circles.

The circles glowed brighter and brighter until they finally swallowed up the figures standing atop them.

Flash!

They’ve entered first.

This was likely to eliminate any potential threats and secure control of the control room.

For a while, the faculty seemed busy communicating with the interior.

Then, after confirming that everything was ready, the vice principal spoke into the microphone.

– The final exam will now begin. Please step onto the magic circles.

Seo Ye-in and I were already waiting on one, and Go Hyeon-woo’s and Hong Yeon-hwa’s teams had also taken their positions.

Wooong—

All the magic circles activated at once, flooding the hall with blinding light.

It was so bright that we could barely make out each other’s silhouettes.

Just as the scoreboard began its countdown, I exchanged quick words of encouragement with my teammates.

“Good luck. See you later.”

“Good luck to you all.”

“M-Mhmm! Good luck!”

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

Flaaaash!

A brilliant light engulfed everything.

When I opened my eyes, a passageway made of old bricks stretched out before me.

Had I not known better, I would have mistaken it for the Cheese Trap dungeon.

But everyone here knew the truth.

This was an entirely different dungeon. The Iron Maiden.

I checked the system notifications first.

[Entering the fixed zone.]

[The rank of certain skills/traits/equipment will be adjusted.]

▷ Wind Force (B+ → B)

▷ Core (B+ → B)

▷ Elemental Resistance (S → B)

▷ Retrorecovery (S → B)

▷ Deep Root Sapling (A+ → B)

▷ Storm Cloud Bracelet (A+ → B)

Losing Elemental Resistance is going to hurt.

It meant I had become that much more vulnerable.

At this point, even Hong Yeon-hwa could probably damage me with fire magic.

Of course, I had no intention of using any prohibited skills, but if I did, I would suffer a direct elemental penalty.

My equipment had also dropped in rank, reducing its overall performance.

Not that I’m the only one affected.

The rules of the Fixed Zone applied to everyone in the dungeon.

In fact, most first-years didn’t even have B-rank skills or traits. C-rank was the average, so in terms of overall stats, we still held the advantage.

With that thought settled, I turned to Seo Ye-in and spoke.

“Let’s get moving, then.”

“Mhmm.”

“It’s our first time here, so let’s not rush. Take it slow and stay cautious.”

“Slow and cautious.”

At a steady pace, we began making our way through the labyrinth.

Even though this was just a replica dungeon, the original was A-rank, meaning its traps were far more vicious than those of the Cheese Trap.

Clank.

A mechanical sound echoed from somewhere.

We hadn’t stepped on or touched anything, yet the trap had triggered simply because we got too close.

Suddenly, a pillar covered in spikes shot up ahead of us. It started spinning violently as it launched its spikes in every direction.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

I immediately gave Seo Ye-in an order.

“Don’t dodge this.”

“Okay.”

Then I combined Wind Barrier and Twister to surround the two of us.

The spikes that had been shooting toward us were deflected and veered off course.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The walls on either side slid open, releasing a barrage of flying blades.

“Dodge these.”

“Okay.”

We stepped swiftly in all directions, avoiding them.

A double-layered trap.

If we focused too much on the spikes ahead, we’d fall victim to the blades from the sides.

The Iron Maiden was designed to trigger traps in layers, one after another. That meant we had to stay alert not just to the immediate danger but also to what came next.

“Let’s keep moving.”

“Yes.”

But we hadn’t gone far before we had to stop again.

This time, it wasn’t because of a trap. It was because of people.

One was built like a bear with his entire body packed with muscle. The other had an unpleasant expression and a golden sword at his waist that looked expensive.

They were none other than Disciplinary Committee members Jo Byeok and Geum Jo-han.

They too hesitated for a brief moment upon seeing us. But soon, hostility flared in their eyes as they took their stances.

Seo Ye-in raised her assault rifle and aimed it at them.

In the tense standoff, Jo Byeok spoke first.

“Didn’t expect to run into strong opponents right from the start.”

“Do we really have to fight?”

“Is there any reason not to?”

“There are plenty.”

I answered as if it were obvious.

It was still the very beginning. Neither side had collected supply boxes or items yet.

Fighting now would only drain our energy without any real gains.

Jo Byeok seemed eager for a pure test of skill, but Geum Jo-han stopped him.

“Fighting now would be a poor move. We have no idea what’s coming next.”

Right, he was supposed to be the Young Master of the Golden Lotus.

Being from a merchant family, he was naturally good at weighing risks and benefits.

Jo Byeok loosened his stance, seemingly unwilling to fight if it meant disregarding Geum Jo-han’s words.

“What a shame.”

“There will be another chance.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Before they could turn away completely, I threw out a question.

“You’ve heard, haven’t you? From Song Cheon-hye.”

“Of course.”

Jo Byeok gave a slight nod of his chin before continuing on his way.

Seo Ye-in tilted her head at me in confusion, so I explained.

“They’re on Song Cheon-hye’s team.”

Jo Byeok and Geum Jo-han were part of the six-member Disciplinary Committee team.

That meant there was a chance we’d be working together when it came time to break through the control room.

Of course, there were too many variables to be certain just yet.

As we continued making our way through the labyrinth, a familiar figure caught my eye.

Jo Byeok stood with his back to us.

Geum Jo-han was nowhere to be seen.

“……”

Suddenly, Seo Ye-in raised her magic gun and aimed it at him.

Instead of stopping her, I gave the order.

“Fire.”

Ratatatatatata!

Jo Byeok immediately charged toward us.

He stepped skillfully, dodging some of the magic bullets while deflecting others with a swing of his fist.

The distance between us rapidly shrank.

“Keep firing.”

Ratatatatatata!

I stepped forward to meet him.

Sapling enhanced with Wind Force and Twister.

And his fist.

The moment they collided—

Boom!

Jo Byeok’s body stumbled backward.

With Wind Force having reached B-rank, the force behind my attacks had grown immense.

Of course, the fact that the “Jo Byeok in front of me” was weaker than usual also played a role.

Ratatatatata!

All the while, Seo Ye-in continued her relentless barrage of magic bullets.

Exposed openings led Jo Byeok to take a few direct hits.

Still, he charged at us once more—

Boom!

I shoved him far away like before.

Seo Ye-in fired again, and when he approached, I pushed him back. Then we kept repeating the cycle over and over again.

Eventually, Jo Byeok’s accumulated injuries took their toll, and in the end, he collapsed to his knees on the ground.

Then he scattered into the air like dust.

It was a slightly different effect from simply being rendered incapacitated.

Which meant—

“As expected, a fake.”

He had been a doppelganger, imitating Jo Byeok’s appearance.

I had no way of knowing how that had happened.

Perhaps Jo Byeok’s team had lost track of it and let it go, or maybe the doppelganger had copied Jo Byeok from a distance.

Either way, both Seo Ye-in and I had seen through it at a glance.

There were plenty of clues to infer from.

For example, it hadn’t been that long since we had parted ways, yet he was alone.

Despite the urgency of the situation, he just stood idly in one place.

Even when he saw us, he didn’t say a single word.

And most telling of all, his gauntlets were cheap F-rank junk.

The fact that he had been so easily pushed back by Wind Force was likely due to his overall lower rank.

If he had been the real Jo Byeok, he would have found a way to break through or launched a decisive strike with a powerful technique.

Seo Ye-in stared down at the remnants of the doppelganger.

“Jo-ppelganger.”

“You’re really getting a kick out of this, huh?”

She took every chance she got to make up nicknames.

Shaking my head at her remark, I also examined the remains, half-expecting a monster to drop some sort of item.

Sure enough, a tightly rolled parchment lay on the ground.

[Iron Maiden Map (Incomplete)]

“A map for our first item? Maybe Lucky Charm is coming back?”

“Very lucky.”

But just as its name suggested, the map was incomplete.

When I unrolled it, I saw that it only showed the path we had traveled so far.

Still, with the full map in my head, I figured I could compare the two and pinpoint our current location without much trouble.

And there was more good news—

“There’s a hidden room nearby. Let’s go.”

“Mhmm.”

We started walking toward the first hidden room.

But we had to stop again when a pitch-black human figure suddenly emerged from the wall.

“This is already the second one.”

“Doppelganger.”

I got the eerie feeling that it was staring at us, and in an instant, its form shifted.

Standing in its place now was a fake Seo Ye-in.

In one hand, it held a cheap F-rank magic gun.

“What should we call that one?”

I pointed at the creature and asked the question. Seo Ye-in took a few seconds to think before answering.

“Yein-ganger.”