The Support Ate it All

Chapter 142: 8th Week Mentoring and Strategy Battle (4)

Seo Ye-in had just finished her first practice strategy battle.

Ahn Jeong-mi was sitting in front of her and giving her detailed feedback.

“Overall, you did very well.”

Seo Ye-in had easily avoided the ogre’s attacks.

The results of her three weeks of Feather Walk training were clearly showing.

For Ahn Jeong-mi who had put in a considerable effort to teach her, it was a very rewarding moment.

The result was a successful crystal charge with her remaining health in the mid-80% range.

Considering it was her first attempt, it was an excellent score.

“But young miss, shouldn’t you pay a little attention to your partner too?”

Just now, there had been no teamwork at all and her unfortunate partner had been clobbered by the ogre and ended up incapacitated.

“…”

Seo Ye-in opened her mouth slightly and let out a long yawn.

Then she responded while struggling to stay awake.

“… I didn’t have to care last time.”

“At that time, it was because the young miss was too strong.”

“Last time” referred to the defense strategy battle two weeks ago.

Back then, her partner was almost irrelevant and Seo Ye-in’s own firepower was so overwhelming that teamwork was unnecessary.

Goblins and the Beheader Goblin alike were all annihilated, so what did a partner matter?

“But for this crystal strategy battle, teamwork is more important.”

The ogre couldn’t be destroyed by Seo Ye-in’s destructive power alone, and the scoring criteria was based on the remaining health of both team members.

If her partner became incapacitated or lost a lot of health, it would result in point deductions for Seo Ye-in as well. Cooperation was almost mandatory to avoid this.

“So you need to help your partner at least during dangerous moments… Young miss, you can’t sleep here.”

“…”

“Miss, miss? Wake up. Young miss.”

She kept calling, but Seo Ye-in’s eyelids only drooped more and more.

However, just as Ahn Jeong-mi was about to give up and cover her with a blanket, a miraculous thing happened.

“…?”

Seo Ye-in’s half-closed eyelids slowly lifted back up.

There was only one person at Dragon Slayer Academy who could create such a miracle.

The person Seo Ye-in was messaging with right now.

Ahn Jeong-mi asked for confirmation.

“Is it Kim Ho-nim?”

“Mhmm.”

“May I ask why he contacted you?”

“He wants to do it together (pair up).”

“The strategy battle… you mean? But doesn’t Kim Ho already have team members? What happened to them?”

Ahn Jeong-mi tilted her head in confusion.

As far as she remembered, Kim Ho was part of a four-member mentoring team led by the president of the thieves club.

In that case, their mentor would have already paired them up in twos, so why was he asking to join Seo Ye-in?

Seo Ye-in responded in a detached tone.

“Knocked out.”

“…”

Kim Ho’s partner, like Seo Ye-in’s randomly matched partner, had apparently been knocked out by the ogre.

In that case, it made sense that he wanted to form a new pair until his original partner recovered.

Ahn Jeong-mi asked,

“Does he want to score points in the actual dungeon?”

“Mhmm.”

“Does his mentor know about this?”

“He said he got permission.”

That meant the only approval left was from Seo Ye-in’s mentor, Ahn Jeong-mi.

She wanted to agree eagerly.

Life would be easier with Kim Ho managing Seo Ye-in.

But she couldn’t let her emotions drive her decision.

So she considered the various factors more objectively.

Foremost among her concerns was worry.

It’s too early for them to score …

Both Seo Ye-in and Kim Ho had just finished their first practice mode.

If they entered the actual thing without sufficient experience and faced unexpected variables, it could severely impact their scores.

For example, if one of them slipped up and got hit squarely by the ogre, they would be incapacitated immediately.

Hundreds of points could be lost in an instant.

But if it’s Kim Ho-nim…

With his skills, it might be possible.

Of course, Ahn Jeong-mi hadn’t fully assessed Kim Ho’s exact abilities.

He hid them very well.

But one thing she knew for sure. He had the skill to frequent the underground dungeon.

The [Feathered Serpent Tribe’s Wooden Cup] that she now used as a coffee cup had come from a D-rank random box.

In other words, it was proof that Kim Ho had cleared a D-rank dungeon.

If he had the ability to clear a D-rank dungeon, then the ground floor would be child’s play for him, and scoring high points wouldn’t be a problem.

And so, her earlier worries were more likely unfounded.

Even if he fails… it wouldn’t be bad.

Ahn Jeong-mi glanced at Seo Ye-in.

The most prominent issue she faced was the lack of teamwork on Seo Ye-in’s part.

She had just been preaching the importance of teamwork, but it didn’t seem to have taken effect.

However, if she paired up with Kim Ho for the strategy battle,

She might try a little harder to work on their teamwork.

Even if they failed and scored poorly, it would still be a meaningful experience.

Lastly, this was one of those very rare occasions when that lazy human being showed enthusiasm.

If Ahn Jeong-mi rejected Kim Ho’s proposal, her enthusiasm would plummet.

And the aftermath of that would be her responsibility.

Just imagining this made Ahn Jeong-mi shiver slightly in fear.

In the end, after much deliberation, the decision Ahn Jeong-mi made was,

“Alright. Try the strategy battle with Kim Ho-nim.”

MAP: [Cave]

RULE: [Crystal] [Strong Enemy] [Weakened] [Double]

“Is this rule alright with you?”

Ahn Jeong-mi asked me.

She probably wanted to set a few more favorable rules for use, but since I temporarily left Dang Gyu-young’s team, it had to be more difficult.

So this time, it ended with just [Weakened].

I nodded my head casually.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“…”

Seo Ye-in also nodded her head lightly as if it didn’t matter.

She looked at the teleportation portal, then stared intently at me.

Her gray eyes seemed to ask, “When are we going in?”

She seemed unusually enthusiastic today.

Ahn Jeong-mi appeared to feel betrayed by Seo Ye-in’s different demeanor compared to when they were alone.

However, she managed her expression professionally and bowed her head.

“Well then, good luck.”

With Ahn Jeong-mi’s encouragement, we stepped into the teleportation portal.

[Kim Ho: 100%]

[Seo Ye-in: 100%]

In the middle of the forest and right before our eyes stood a large cave.

Seo Ye-in glanced at the cave briefly and then looked at me intently.

I pointed to the other side of the forest.

“Let’s get the crystals first. I’ll go this way, you go that way.”

“Mhmm.”

We separated for a moment and then returned to our original spot with each one of us holding a crystal.

She followed my instructions well.

Our next destination without needing to say it was the cave.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Let’s go.”

When Seo Ye-in and I walked for a while, the goblins wandering inside the cave spotted us.

“KerkK?”

“Krrk?”

Before they could even greet us properly, Seo Ye-in’s automatic rifle spewed blue flames.

Tututututututututu!

“Kieeek.”

“Kehhek.”

Her shooting skills have improved.

It seemed like she was firing randomly, but there was no waste of magic bullets.

Each goblin was hit precisely between the eyes and fell.

Hearing the gunfire, a few more goblins peeked our way, but Seo Ye-in took them all down as well.

It seemed like everything was quiet for a moment but then,

“Kererk!”

“Kekek!”

A group of goblins swarmed towards us.

There were too many to take down one by one with an automatic rifle.

Seo Ye-in seemed to have the same thought, as her magic rifle began to disassemble and reassemble itself.

Watching the parts come together on their own, I asked,

“Shotgun?”

“Mhmm.”

While the magic gun she used before mentoring went back and forth between a dual pistol and a sniper rifle, this one went back and forth between an assault rifle and a shotgun.

I had seen it in the replay of her match against Kwak Ji-cheol.

Switching to a shotgun now was probably to take out the group of goblins in one shot.

However, since it was currently being reassembled, Seo Ye-in was effectively unarmed.

“It would be good to have a secondary weapon to use when your hands are tied like now.”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head slightly.

I think she might pester the butler about it when we got back.

In any case, it was my job to buy time until the reassembly was complete, so I lifted Root and pointed forward.

Whoosh—

The levitation zone imbued in Root created a slight upward current and I cast Wind Force upward.

The charging goblins floated up and crashed their heads into the ceiling or stalactites.

Whoosh—

Just before the floating goblins began to descend, a whirlwind blew towards them and started pulling them together.

“Kek, Kekek?”

“Kieek!”

They struggled but it was impossible for F-rank monsters to resist a C±rank wind spell.

As a result, they ended up clumped together like a rice ball.

At that moment, Seo Ye-in’s magic rifle finished reassembling.

When Seo Ye-in pointed the shotgun forward and pulled the trigger,

Boom—!

A burst of magic bullets scattered before obliterating the goblin cluster.

Hearing the commotion, more goblins swarmed out from inside but their fate was no different.

Boom—!

I gathered the goblins with Twister and Seo Ye-in took them out with the shotgun.

After we repeated this process a few times as we advanced, the surroundings gradually grew brighter.

This meant the sanctuary was near.

“A rifle would be better against the ogre.”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in obediently switched the shotgun to a rifle at my suggestion.

After continuing to advance while occasionally shooting magic bullets at the goblins that popped out, we soon saw a stone pillar glowing with bright light.

Nearby, an ogre was crouched with its back to us.

In my first attempt, Kwak Ji-cheol had unnecessarily shaken the cave which caused the ogre to come out, but usually, it waited near the sanctuary even if it heard some commotion.

Weeing—

As we approached a bit closer, the sanctuary and the crystal were connected by a thick beam of light.

[Kim Ho: 100%]

[Crystal: 1%]

“It’s me first again.”

“…Grr?”

Soon, the ogre slowly turned its head following the beam of light.

When it discovered me, its face twisted and it slowly picked up the club lying next to it and rose from its position.

“Grooo…”

I asked Seo Ye-in while keeping my eyes fixed on the ogre.

“You remember when we went to the game center in the downtown area, right?”

“Gunslinger Adventure.”

“Yeah. Let’s do it just like we did there.”

“Jump?”

“That’s right. Jump.”

Today, we were going to go over what she learned.