The Support Ate it All

Chapter 162: The Swordsmanship Club (5)

Jegal So-so poured herself a cup of tea and asked me a question.

“Would you like a cup?”

“I’d appreciate it, thank you.”

I didn’t refuse and accepted the teacup.

A deep and soft fragrance rose from the warm cup.

I took a sip of the tea and nodded my head.

“This is an excellent tea.”

“It’s Dragon Well tea, grown and blended by our family.”

“The flavor is indeed profound. But… doesn’t the person over there need some too?”

When I pointed to the wall with my eyes and asked, Jegal So-so flinched slightly and her soft smile faltered for just a moment.

However, it was only for a fleeting instant.

Her calm expression was the best among all the people I had met so far.

“…. When did you first notice?”

“I felt a strange sense of discord from the moment I entered the room.”

Jegal So-so’s formation was at a third-year level and it was likely enhanced by the Jegal family’s secret techniques.

However, my senses had previously deciphered formations set up by graduates of the academy.

Even though I couldn’t identify the exact type, noticing a slight sense of discord made it easy to deduce that a formation had been set up.

At this point, if she were hiding something from me, it could only be a person, so I guessed there was someone beyond the wall.

Jegal So-so’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at me.

“Impressive. Although President Dang Gyu-young mentioned it, you are indeed formidable.”

Then Jegal So-so approached the wall and rearranged a few items nearby.

As the formation was dispelled, a hidden door was revealed and a female student walked out through it.

The girl seemed strong at first glance, and she was carrying a large sword on her back as if to reflect her strong personality.

“…”

The problem was that her gaze toward me was filled not only with displeasure but with outright hostility. This explained why she had been listening in from a hidden space.

However, now that we were facing each other, it was like spilled water.

Jegal So-so introduced her.

“This is Pang Mi-ryeong. She’s also a third-year student like me.”

“I led the recent raid on the Black Death dungeon as the party leader.”

Pang Mi-ryeong added and she emphasized the word “party leader”.

She was the direct victim of the infiltration of the Black Death dungeon.

Pang Mi-ryeong looked at me with a mocking gaze and said,

“We spent weeks preparing with the team, only to find the dungeon in chaos, with the Black Death Leader running wild. Thanks to that, we had quite a hard time.”

From the perspective of the swordsmanship club, the priority bidding rights that were important to the group were invaded.

However, objectively speaking, the club itself was close to being a third party in this matter.

No matter how angry the club members were, their anger couldn’t compare to the fury of those who directly entered the dungeon.

Knowing that it was indeed my fault, I bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry, senior-nim. I understand why you’re angry.”

“I want to wreck everything, but for the sake of So-so and Dang Gyu-young, I’ll hold back for now. I’ve heard that you’ve prepared something good, but if it’s not, you’d better prepare yourself.”

“You won’t be disappointed.”

Pang Mi-ryeong glared at me with disapproval and asked,

“So, what did you go into the Black Death dungeon for?”

“I needed materials.”

“Materials?”

I showed my Root weapon instead of answering.

A short rod composed of black metallic luster appeared.

It was an alloy made of Millennium Iron and Black Mithril.

Pang Mi-ryeong examined it closely and her eyes showed a hint of interest.

“Cold Iron… no, Millennium Iron?”

“That’s right.”

Pang Mi-ryeong and Jegal So-so exchanged glances.

“Does an ingot drop in the Black Death dungeon?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“If you look carefully in the far corner, there’s an ingot chest.”

“……?”

Pang Mi-ryeong frowned slightly.

Seeing she still didn’t quite understand, I took out the Black Death dungeon strategy guide.

It was quite thick, so I pointed out only the section about the leader’s hidden chamber.

Upon seeing it, Pang Mi-ryeong’s eyebrows shot up.

“…Was this really there?”

“You didn’t know?”

“How would I know?”

The [Leader’s Black Chest] was buried deep in a corner of the hidden chamber. It was also covered in black paint which made it hard to find unless you examined it closely.

Jegal So-so thought for a moment and then spoke.

“Then I guess you would have brought out the ingot chest with you anyway, right?”

“…Probably not.”

So it was rather ambiguous to say that I had stolen the reward from her.

Even if the reward was just a part of the current issue.

Because of this, Pang Mi-ryeong seemed to calm down a little.

Instead of continuing to be angry with me, she was entirely focused on reviewing the strategy guide for the Black Death dungeon.

It was only normal for her to be curious about the hidden elements throughout the cleared dungeon.

She quickly flipped through the pages, inspected various sections, and murmured to herself in amazement.

“So detailed… Who wrote this?”

“I did.”

“You, tell me the truth.”

“It really was me.”

It was natural for her not to believe that a first-year student who had just enrolled knew every detail about a depth-level dungeon.

She probably thought someone was behind me.

On the other hand, Jegal So-so’s perspective seemed slightly different.

How I found out, or whether someone was backing me, could be considered later.

What was important right now?

“Do you have strategy guides for other dungeons too?”

“Yes, here they are.”

I then handed over the strategy guide for the [Feathered Serpent Altar], and the two of them read it with interest.

At that point, Jegal So-so and Pang Mi-ryeong exchanged glances as if confirming each other’s intentions, and then nodded their heads.

“We have a few dungeons we’re preparing to conquer. If you could write strategy guides for them like this, we’ll drop the bidding rights issue for now.”

It wasn’t a bad proposal.

I had all the strategies for the “accessible” underground dungeons in my head.

Teaching them a couple of them wouldn’t be a big deal.

However, I replied with a gentle smile.

“That sounds fine, but what I’ve prepared will interest you more.”

I had already prepared a powerful card and saw no reason to negotiate with anything else.

The two of them exchanged glances again.

“Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve brought a treasure map.”

I took out pieces A and C of the treasure map from my inventory.

Jegal So-so examined them and said,

“They are indeed pieces of a treasure map. But just from these, we can’t determine its true value.”

The final reward level varied depending on the dungeon’s map.

For example, a mediocre D-rank or E-rank dungeon wouldn’t have anything significant even if there was a hidden treasure.

Of course, this question was something I expected as well.

Bringing two pieces that were enough even on their own was to prepare for this situation.

“Overlap them to ignite the True Fire of Samadhi.”

Jegal So-so overlapped the two map pieces as I instructed and golden flames rose from her hands.

Whoosh,

Despite being engulfed in flames, the map pieces didn’t burn and retained their shape.

After a moment, when Jegal So-so extinguished the True Fire of Samadhi, the two pieces remained overlapped and a faint map emerged on top.

“This is…”

“Do you recognize it?”

Which dungeon’s map was this?

Pang Mi-ryeong narrowed her eyes and glared at the map but nothing came to her mind.

In contrast, Jegal So-so seemed to realize something and her eyes glinted slightly.

“The Gathering of Villains. Is that correct?”

“Correct.”

Dungeon No. 88, B-rank.

The Gathering of Villains.

The keyword was [Boss Rush], with the goal being to eliminate all the villains or demonic martial artists that appeared in the area.

However, each of them was a notorious demonic martial artist, and some even cooperated with each other which made them incredibly difficult to deal with.

Therefore, it was famous for being a high-difficulty dungeon even among B-rank dungeons.

“And the reason why they are gathering in one place,”

“Is it because of this map?”

“That’s correct.”

The term “demonic martial artist” naturally implied being an enemy of the martial arts world.

As soon as their whereabouts were revealed, they would be pursued by skilled warriors, so there must be a reason why they gathered in one place to the extent of being described as a “gathering”.

And the incomplete map in Jegal So-so’s hand proved that fact.

“……”

“……”

Jegal So-so and Pang Mi-ryeong fell into thought for a moment.

Unlike Jegal So-so, whose expression remained almost the same, Pang Mi-ryeong’s face showed significant changes.

The annoyance or anger she had towards me almost disappeared. It was replaced by great interest and desire.

Since the map of the B-rank dungeon and the hidden piece it pointed to were certainly not ordinary items, the hidden piece inside this [Gathering of Villains] was completely unknown.

If one could be the first to claim it.

Even the infringement on the bidding rights or the hindrance of the dungeon raid would be nothing, as it would bring immense honor.

However, this map was incomplete.

It only vaguely suggested the outline of the map, without indicating the exact direction to head.

Jegal So-so asked,

“Bringing A and C means there must be a way to get the last piece, right?”

“Of course.”

Since it was a bit too much to tackle three dungeons in one week, we quickly dealt with the linked dungeons of Great Eagle Escort Agency and Great Eagle Escort Mission.

Two pieces were enough to prove the map’s value, so there was no need to overdo it.

“When do you plan to get the rest?”

“I’ll take care of it within the next strategy battle week.”

Then, Jegal So-so asked Pang Mi-ryeong,

“What do you think? Can you wait?”

Next week was midterms,

The week after was a duel battle week.

And then came the strategy battle week.

It would take almost three weeks, so it might be frustrating for those waiting.

However, Pang Mi-ryeong nodded her head without hesitation.

“It’s fine. I’ll wait.”

With just a bit of patience, an incredible opportunity would come into her hands.

Jegal So-so also nodded her head in agreement.

“Alright, let’s test your skills.”

I had three weeks to secure the final piece of the map.

[Using ‘Rank Up (D)’.]

[The rank of ‘Amplification’ has increased. (D -> C)]

The [Rank Up] I got from the Great Eagle Escort random box was used on [Amplification].

It was the most difficult to rank up and the most useful, so I decided on this from the start.

Next, I took out the [Sealing Demon Box] from my inventory and attached the [Purification Talisman] drawn by Seo Ye-in.

The pure white talisman began to turn black at the edges.

As the demonic energy was purified, the purification talisman was gradually consumed.

I put the sealing demon box back into my inventory without watching any longer.

It would be fine to leave it like this for a while.

Of course, it was impossible to purify all the condensed demonic energy inside the sealing demon box with just one purification talisman.

However, my goal from the beginning wasn’t “purification” but “neutralization”.

Even a little neutralization would make it manageable for me to use without much trouble.

And the neutralized demonic energy,

… is used to train prohibited skills.

During my “preliminarily field trip” to the black market, I had made a list of prohibited items I wanted to acquire and handed it over to Dang Gyu-young who returned it with these words:

-… Why are there so many extreme stuff on here? Kim Ho, why do you always look for such dangerous things?