The Support Ate it All

Chapter 166: Downtown Market (3)

When I entered the mage’s corner, I saw a familiar face.

It was Park Na-ri, a promising student of the Guild Union and the Mother Nature Club.

On her shoulder sat a mini tiger called Bum.

Our eyes met, and I lightly waved my hand. She returned the greeting from the other side.

“H-Hello.”

“Meow.”

Bum also waved its front paw and then leaped from Park Na-ri’s shoulder and started approaching me.

Bum began to rub its cheeks and forehead against my knee repeatedly.

“Such a cute cat.”

“Hiss—!”

Bum immediately bristled its fur and revealed its sharp claws.

Go Hyeon-woo awkwardly withdrew his hand and stepped back.

Come to think of it, they had faced off in a 2-on-2 duel before.

There was no way their relationship could be good after battering it with Clear Stream so relentlessly.

“B-Bum, come back.”

Park Na-ri hastily took out the [Cube of Life] and opened it. Bum slipped inside before curling up into a ball.

Somehow, I had a feeling it would become Bum’s personal mansion when I traded it, and that’s exactly what happened.

It was full of scratches.

“Still, it’s good to see you’re using it well.”

“Y-Yeah, th-thanks… Are you using what you learned from the Blank Skill Book well too…”

“Of course, I’m using it perfectly.”

I used it so perfectly that it became the number one hated skill among many people.

Dang Gyu-young would always shudder at the mention of Wind Force, and Hong Yeon-hwa would turn pale at the slightest breeze.

“Ah, ha, haha, I see…”

As Park Na-ri let out a shy laugh,

Another familiar face appeared.

“Na-ri, who… Oh my, it’s been a while.”

“Long time no see, senior-nim.”

It was Ha Soo-yeon, the president of the Mother Nature Club.

She had followed out of curiosity about whom the timid Park Na-ri was talking to.

“Are you looking for something in particular? If so, I can help.”

Her tone and attitude were filled with kindness.

That made sense. Because thanks to the Cube of Life, Park Na-ri was quite ahead in the race among the promising students.

“Amplifying the effects of life-type items stored inside it by 1.3 times” was enough to create a significant gap.

Also, after observing my duel with the Emerald Magic Tower, she seemed determined to maintain the best possible relationship with me.

That’s a very commendable attitude.

If we do good business in the future, it will be convenient for both of us.

Therefore, I decided to accept Ha Soo-yeon’s help without hesitation.

“If there’s a skill book available, I’d like to get one.”

“Which skill book are you looking for?”

“[Air Burst].”

Ha Soo-yeon’s face turned a bit puzzled.

“Are you planning to learn it yourself?”

“Yes.”

“…I see. The more skills, the better.”

Ha Soo-yeon seemed to think I had my own reasons and didn’t press further. She called over two second-year seniors who were managing the stalls nearby.

“Do we have the [Air Burst] skill book?”

“……”

The two of them seemed to recall for a moment.

Then one of the second-year students looked through the ledger and replied.

“We don’t have it on our side. It might be that the seller hasn’t shown up yet since it’s still morning…”

They added a rather uncertain remark that there might be a skill book if I came back later.

Meanwhile, the other second-year female senior was still deep in thought with her brow furrowed.

Then, as if something had come to mind, her face brightened and she clapped her hands.

“Ah! Myung-hoon oppa might have it.”

“He’s a graduate.”

Ha Soo-yeon added to the explanation.

Hearing that a graduate had the skill book meant,

“I should check the graduate sales area.”

“Yes, I’ll send a message.”

“Thank you. I’ll go right away.”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Just as I was about to turn around, Ha Soo-yeon stopped me.

She took out a small piece of paper, quickly wrote something, signed it, and then handed it to me neatly folded.

“The line over there will be quite long. Show them this.”

The queue at the graduate sales area was likely to be as long, if not longer, than the one in the senior section.

There was a perception that the items sold by graduates were of a higher quality, and this was actually true.

Just like how Jegal So-so had let us in through the side gate, Ha Soo-yeon was using the club’s influence to let us bypass the line.

“Please remember this: the Mother Nature Club is friendly towards you.”

“How could I forget? Thank you.”

Ha Soo-yeon and I smiled at each other.

The three of us pushed through the crowds of the downtown area and headed to the graduate sales area.

Just like before, a large building resembling a mall stood there with a line snaking out front like a long wriggling worm.

We circled around the building to the back entrance, only to be stopped by a senior standing guard.

“This isn’t the entrance. Go to the front and get in line.”

“I know. Please take a look at this.”

The senior quickly read Ha Soo-yeon’s note, checked our faces, and then opened the back door for us.

“…Go in.”

“Thank you.”

We went straight to where “Myung-hoon oppa” was waiting.

Since Ha Soo-yeon had given him a heads-up before we left, he recognized me immediately.

“Here to buy [Airburst]?”

“Yes, I’d like to buy it.”

“It’s 4,000 points.”

The transaction with “Myung-hoon oppa” was completed swiftly.

My points situation wasn’t as comfortable as Ko Hyun-woo or Seo Ye-in’s, but this was a necessary expense.

And getting a skill book for 4,000 points is a steal.

Considering that good skills were usually traded at 10,000 points, the price of the [Airburst] skill book was quite low.

A low price meant low demand, and low demand meant the skill’s performance was mediocre.

That’s why Ha Soo-yeon’s expression turned strange when I mentioned looking for this skill book.

Airburst.

It was a wind-type magic that shot a compressed air mass to cause an explosion.

The power was decent and the explosion range was fairly wide, but it had one critical flaw.

It’s hard to hit the target.

The projectile’s speed was so awkward that anything with eyes and legs could dodge it.

Seeing players make the air burst harmlessly led to the nickname:

Air Popper.

In other words, it was a skill that drew ridicule just for learning it.

However, such ridicule quickly vanished once Airburst’s true potential was revealed.

Specifically, once the power of a powerful skill linked with Airburst became known.

Spiral Explosion.

Airburst was the final third piece needed to learn Spiral Explosion.

The completion condition was achieving C-rank in three prerequisite skills.

I had already prepared [Twister] and [One Point Explosion] through mentoring,

And raising the rank of [Airburst] was much easier compared to the first two.

Even without event bonuses, it leveled up quickly which was why I had saved it for last.

I’ll complete it before the midterms start.

There wasn’t much time left, but it was definitely doable.

Afterwards, I took a lap around the graduate sales area but there were no particularly eye-catching items.

To confirm that, I also asked the Hidden Peace Radar or rather Seo Ye-in.

“Is there anything? Feel anything?”

– Shakes head,

I wasn’t sure if there really weren’t any good items or if her luck for the day had run out, but it seemed sufficient for now.

Each of us had picked something we wanted.

“We can leave now.”

“Game center?”

Seo Ye-in’s eyes which had been growing a bit bored immediately sparkled at the mention of leaving.

However, I shook my head for the moment.

“Let’s eat first. We have plenty of time.”

Originally, I had calculated that with the usual queue times, it would take until around three or four in the afternoon, but thanks to Jegal So-so and Ha Su-yeon, it was just lunchtime.

Since the game center wasn’t going anywhere, we could fill our stomachs first and then head there leisurely.

So we strolled through the downtown area while looking at the street vendors lined up everywhere.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I’ve been wanting to try ‘Churros’ for a while now.”

“You mean Churro (fried dough), right?”

“Beaded ice cream.”

“Sure, you can eat whatever you want.”

At the same time.

In a three-story building a bit away from the downtown area.

The exterior was made to look like an abandoned building, but in reality, it was the control tower of the thieves’ club.

When you enter the building and climb up the stairs, you will find a fairly large room and the walls of that room were filled with numerous monitors.

And each monitor showed different parts of the downtown area. They were stealing the view of the crime prevention crystal balls installed in the downtown area.

A few members of the thieves’ club were watching the monitors in turns, and at the center of the room were Chae Da-bin who held the actual command of this control tower, and Dang Gyu-young standing beside her.

Chae Da-bin kept tapping on a tablet and said,

“Everything is going smoothly so far.”

“Mhmm.”

The black market started receiving customers around the same time as the marketplace opened.

The customers acted very cautiously for fear of being caught, but one by one they entered the A and B exchanges through the meeting point.

And little by little, transactions of prohibited items were taking place.

“The Disciplinary Committee doesn’t seem interested in us.”

Some monitors were watching the movements of the Disciplinary Committee members, but no suspicious activity was seen near the meeting points or exchanges.

Perhaps they hadn’t figured out how this year’s black market was being held yet, or they were focusing on maintaining order in the downtown area in the beginning.

Of course, it was only the beginning.

As the number of active exchanges increased, the situation would only get more difficult, so they would have to remain vigilant.

While tapping on the tablet and flipping through various screens, Chae Da-bin discovered something.

“Isn’t that Kim Ho?”

“Oh, it is.”

On the screen appeared Kim Ho who was crossing through the crowd.

He was with the handsome warrior he always hung out with and the pretty girl with gray hair.

Each one of them was holding a scoop of ice cream in their hands.

“Cute.”

Dang Gyu-young chuckled and took her eyes off the monitor.

She’s handling it quite boldly.

The relationship between Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho was much closer than a typical senior-junior relationship.

At least, that’s how it appeared to Chae Da-bin and the other members.

Therefore, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Dang Gyu-young felt uneasy about Kim Ho hanging out with that gray-haired girl.

Even from a woman’s perspective, she was beautiful and the distance between them seemed much closer than that of mere classmates.

They were worried about how Dang Gyu-young would react to seeing them together, but she seemed to be handling it with the maturity and tolerance befitting her age.

Chae Da-bin let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

Thank goodness.

However…

Maybe that was just Chae Da-bin’s misconception.

– Glance,

As Dang Gyu-young casually scanned the other screens, she sneaked a side glance.

Then, she moved on to other screens as if nothing had happened, but before long,

– Glance, glance,

She kept glancing at one of the monitors repeatedly.

Specifically, the one showing Kim Ho.

“…”

The more she did so, the more Dang Gyu-young’s eyebrows twitched slightly and her displeasure gauge seemed to rise little by little.

When Chae Da-bin secretly exchanged glances with the other members of the club, they also seemed to sense the unusual situation unfolding here.

A tense atmosphere began to envelop the control tower.