The Support Ate it All

The four of us stared silently at the detector for quite some time.

Yet, the screen displayed nothing.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze shifted to Shin Byeong-cheol and I held out an imaginary microphone toward him.

“Any words to share?”

“No, we can’t say for sure yet. If we go deeper, we might find something, right?”

Even now, Shin Byeong-cheol refused to back down.

To be fair, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

The detector only sensed Dark Oobleck within a certain range.

In other words, even if it was inside the dungeon, it might not register if the distance was too great.

Song Cheon-hye must have had similar thoughts because she took the lead and started walking.

“Let’s move out.”

She likely planned to reactivate the detector after covering more ground.

We followed Song Cheon-hye without saying a word.

Occasionally, we encountered elemental spirits like lightning or ice along the way.

Crackle!

But against a lightning specialist like Song Cheon-hye, they didn’t stand a chance.

Most were dealt with effortlessly using her Hummingbird skill.

She’s definitely hit C-rank.

Though I found Hummingbird to be an excellent control skill, I decided to hold off since it didn’t quite compare to my B-rank Ice Wall.

We repeated the same process. We reached a target hill, activated the Oobleck detector, and then moved on to the next hill.

Beep—

Yet, the screen remained blank every time.

Eventually, Song Cheon-hye drew her conclusion.

“Looks like there’s nothing here.”

“Mhmm, seems that way.”

“Let’s head out.”

With that, she pulled out an emergency escape scroll from her inventory and tore it in half.

Rumble…

The air split open as if forcibly twisted, revealing an exit slightly smaller than a typical teleportation portal.

As soon as we stepped outside, Song Cheon-hye deleted number 870 from her list.

Meanwhile, I exchanged a meaningful look with Shin Byeong-cheol.

“It didn’t come out, did it?”

“…Looks like it didn’t.”

“Guess you’ll have to go in last from now on, right?”

“No, what’s the point? Isn’t it one-on-one now? We should try it again.”

There still wasn’t enough evidence to confirm the hypothesis that Shin Byeong-cheol was a magnet for bad luck.

Since his argument made sense, I nodded in agreement.

“Fine, let’s settle this. Loser buys dinner?”

“Deal.”

Song Cheon-hye looked at the two of us with a baffled expression on her face.

“You’re betting on something like that?”

Shin Byeong-cheol and I, as if we hadn’t just been arguing moments ago, simultaneously turned serious and stared at Song Cheon-hye.

“…Something like that?”

“Do you even realize how important this is?”

“A man without pride is as good as a corpse.”

Unable to withstand our united front, Song Cheon-hye gave up on continuing the conversation.

On the other hand, Han So-mi seemed inexplicably delighted and smiled the entire time.

“I’m cheering for you two!”

Of course, in the next dungeon and the one after that, the battle of pride always ended with my victory.

There was no way Dark Oobleck would show up so frequently.

“…I guess you’ll have to buy dinner?”

“No, it’s not over yet. Not over yet.”

Shin Byeong-cheol’s expression grew darker with every loss, but for a while, our dungeon-cleaning remained peaceful.

We carefully avoided dangerous areas and powerful monsters. We circled the dungeon and stopped periodically to use the detector.

If nothing showed up, we would escape using a scroll and repeat the process.

In this way, numbers like 860, 850, and 840 gradually dwindled until we stopped in front of the next dungeon.

[No. 833] [Trident Lake]

As usual, Song Cheon-hye casually stepped toward the portal, but I stopped her with a question.

“Do you know the strategy for this place?”

“…Not exactly. I do have the guidebook, though.”

With that, she pulled out a thick stack of documents.

It was better than knowing nothing at all, but it also meant she hadn’t reviewed it thoroughly yet.

So I made a suggestion.

“I think we should follow my orders for this one.”

“You know the strategy?”

“Of course I do. That’s why I’m suggesting it.”

Song Cheon-hye exchanged a silent glance with Han So-mi.

Han So-mi, for her part, tended to express herself seriously in moments like this, and the nod she gave seemed to indicate she was willing to give me a chance. Ȓ

Shin Byeong-cheol added his opinion as well.

“This guy knows his stuff when it comes to strategies.”

Although Song Cheon-hye didn’t seem entirely convinced by Shin Byeong-cheol’s support, she appeared to agree that it was worth trying.

After all, following my directions during the midterms had allowed us to subdue the Berserk Ogres with minimal casualties.

“Understood. We’ll follow your orders.”

“Good. Let’s head in.”

With that, we all entered the portal.

As expected, Shin Byeong-cheol went in last.

The next moment, we found ourselves standing on a pier made of connected wooden planks.

At the end of the pier, a few log boats resembling canoes were moored. They weren’t particularly large; they looked to fit no more than two people per boat.

Turning our gaze, we could see a wide lake stretching out far into the distance.

What we had to do was obvious.

We’re supposed to ride the boats, clearly.

However, this dungeon, despite its peaceful atmosphere, was likely to cause significant trouble if approached carelessly.

That was precisely why I had taken over command before we entered.

“Song Cheon-hye.”

“Yes.”

“Hand me the guide.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Song Cheon-hye readily passed over the guidebook, and I quickly flipped through it to find the section with the map.

The river stretched out straight ahead before splitting into three branches along the way like a trident.

“We’ll divide into groups accordingly.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“It is. Otherwise, we can’t progress.”

The dungeon was structured so that each group had to fulfill their roles at designated positions to open the path and clear it.

This time, Shin Byeong-cheol chimed in with a question.

“Just hearing this sounds like a pain. Can we exit midway?”

“No. We need to use the detectors. It’s a linear dungeon, so we have to use them as we proceed all the way to the end.”

In smaller dungeons, you could use the detectors at critical points, and if they didn’t pick up the target, you could simply leave.

But this dungeon was not only larger but also linear, meaning we had no choice but to continue to the end if we wanted to use the detectors.

Song Cheon-hye let out a small sigh before asking another question.

“So how are we dividing the groups?”

“Normally, in a six-person party, we’d split into three teams of two, but that’s not possible for us.”

As a result, we had no choice but to go with a 2-1-1 formation.

This was one of the reasons the difficulty would be even higher.

I turned to Shin Byeong-cheol.

“Do you like puzzles?”

“I hate anything that makes me think.”

“How about monsters, then?”

“I like puzzles.”

Shin Byeong-cheol switched his stance in an instant.

I pointed to each of the three branches of the lake and continued my explanation.

“Simply put, the right side is puzzles, the left side is a cluster of monsters, and the center is the boss fight.”

“Definitely puzzles for me.”

Shin Byeong-cheol nodded his head with even more conviction.

Compared to the others, his fighting power was far from impressive, so that choice made the most sense. Even if he wasn’t confident in solving puzzles, he could manage with a guidebook in hand.

I turned to Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi and asked,

“I’ll be heading to the center no matter what, but I need one more person. Who’s coming?”

“Me!”

Han So-mi shot her hand up immediately.

Song Cheon-hye who was about to raise her hand hesitated, then slowly lowered it and said.

“…I’ll take the left side.”

“Alright, then that’s how we’ll split.”

I went over a few key points with Song Cheon-hye and Shin Byeong-cheol to make sure they understood their tasks.

Afterward, we distributed communication devices, detectors, and escape scrolls to everyone.

These would allow us to stay in touch to some extent, continue using detectors as we progressed, and have an emergency escape option if necessary.

Of course, by the time we reached the end of this dungeon, we’d likely have completed the mission, which would make the escape scrolls unnecessary.

With preparations complete, we boarded the log boats.

Song Cheon-hye and Shin Byeong-cheol each took one boat, while Han So-mi and I sat across from each other in the remaining boat.

Once the ropes were untied, the boats began to drift gently along the lake on their own.

Although oars were attached, there was no real need to use them.

“Wow~!”

Despite that, Han So-mi excitedly grabbed the oars and began rowing back and forth as if testing them out. She seemed to be fascinated.

Meanwhile, Shin Byeong-cheol opened his inventory and pulled out something piece by piece, then installed it at the edge of his log boat.

Buuuung—

It was none other than a boat motor.

I stared at him in disbelief and asked,

“Why on earth are you carrying a motor around?”

“You never know when it might come in handy. Life is all about good gear.”

“Give us one too.”

“There’s only one, sorry.”

Buuuung—

Shin Byeong-cheol’s log boat gradually picked up speed and began pulling ahead.

He taunted us as he sped forward.

“See you later! Take your time catching up!”

I turned to Han So-mi with a determined expression.

“We can’t let this slide.”

“Is this a competition?”

“It’s a competition. Let’s show him the power of human effort.”

“Mhmm!”

With our resolve solidified, the two of us sprang into action.

Han So-mi began rowing furiously, her strokes accelerating at an incredible pace.

Chwacha-chwacha-chwacha!

At first, her movements were a bit clumsy, but as expected of someone with a physical-class job, she quickly got the hang of it and transformed into an expert boatwoman.

On top of that, I used Wind Force to propel the boat forward, and the small log boat shot ahead at an unbelievable speed.

Seeing this, Song Cheon-hye’s face twisted in disbelief.

“Is it really worth going that far…?”

Of course, it was worth it; this was about a man’s pride.

Song Cheon-hye quickly fell far behind until she was out of sight, and soon after, we caught up to Shin Byeong-cheol and overtook him as well.

Now it was his turn to be shocked.

“Why are you wasting a skill on something like this?”

“Life is all about good skills.”

“See you later~!”

We returned Shin Byeong-cheol’s earlier remark almost word for word.

Before long, even his motorboat became smaller and smaller until it disappeared from sight.

Only then did we slow down.

“We won. High five.”

“High five!”

Slap!

Han So-mi smacked my palm with such force that it stung.

Then she tilted her head curiously and asked,

“What do we do now?”

“For now, nothing at all.”

The real exploration would only begin when the lake split into three branches.

Until then, there wasn’t much need to rush, so we sat back and leisurely enjoyed the surrounding scenery.

As I was taking in the view, Han So-mi suddenly raised her hand high.

“I have a question!”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“What did you talk about with Cheon-hye?”

“It was an important secret.”

“Tell me!”

Curiosity sparkled in her eyes like lasers, but I firmly shook my head.

“No. That wouldn’t be polite to her.”

“Aw, really? You’re not gonna tell me?”

“Really, I can’t.”

The truth was, from my perspective, it didn’t matter if the secret about the wish ticket got out.

But from Song Cheon-hye’s perspective, it was a serious weakness.

Even if it was Han So-mi asking, she’d want to keep it confidential, so I answered with her feelings in mind.

At that, Han So-mi’s expression gradually turned serious and she spoke hesitantly.

“I have an important secret to share too.”

Maybe she had been testing just how tight-lipped I could be.

So I gave her the response she was waiting for.

“All right, let’s hear it. I promise I’ll keep it a secret.”