The Support Ate it All

Chapter 188: 9th Week Midterms (12)

Chapter 188: 9th Week Midterms (12)

The Blood Fury Pill forcibly drew out potential and inevitably led the user to death with its severe side effects.

As a result, it was always at the top of the list of prohibited items, and the Prefect Team could never fail to recognize it, even when it was in liquid form.

The son of the Golden Lotus master, Geum Jo-han.

He approached me with long strides and threatened me as if he was going to swing his golden sword at any moment.

“Where did you get the Blood Fury Pill? You’d better spill everything.”

“You’re as hasty as ever. Didn’t I tell you to think carefully before acting?”

But Go Hyeon-woo stepped in front of him.

Geum Jo-han narrowed his eyes as he stared at him.

“You’re that guy from the train.”

“Of course, I do. I was planning to give you a taste of something spicy someday. Looks like now’s the time.”

On the train, the four members of the Prefect Team had been chasing after the wig thief, Shin Byeong-cheol, and eventually stormed into our compartment.

At that time, there had been a minor clash between Go Hyeon-woo and Geum Jo-han, and it seemed neither of them had forgotten about it.

However, there was a more pressing matter now than settling an old score.

The Prefect Team seemed to think so too, as a deep and commanding voice came from behind.

“Geum Jo-han, stand down.”

“Are you planning to interfere with me too?”

“I told you to stand down.”

Although Geum Jo-han’s face twitched with irritation, he stepped back a few paces.

It wasn’t common for Jo Byeok to emphasize something twice, and this wasn’t a situation where Geum Jo-han could simply insist on his way.

However, he still maintained his pride to the end and left a final comment to Go Hyeon-woo.

“You’re lucky again this time. But there won’t be a next.”

“That goes both ways.”

Song Cheon-hye glanced between them, let out a small sigh, and then steered the conversation back on track after it had momentarily veered off course.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to be forceful, but considering the gravity of the matter, I’d appreciate it if you could provide as much detail as possible.”

“I was planning to. What do you want to know?”

Song Cheon-hye held up the Blood Fury Syringe.

“This syringe, did you find it inside the dungeon?”

As soon as Geum Jo-han saw the syringe, he started putting pressure on us, because he thought we had brought it in ourselves, but when you think about it, that doesn’t make sense.

Each participant could only bring two items into the midterm dungeon.

So, would anyone choose to bring in the Blood Fury Syringe over other and better equipment?

It made far more sense that we had discovered the syringe somewhere in the dungeon.

I nodded my head casually.

“It was attached to an ogre’s ankle.”

“An ogre’s… ankle?”

Song Cheon-hye’s expression turned strange at the unexpected response.

As I continued explaining what had happened earlier, the expressions of the four-member disciplinary committee grew increasingly serious.

“No way.”

Then, as if something had suddenly crossed her mind, Song Cheon-hye pulled out an emergency flare.

It was the special flare used exclusively by the disciplinary committee members. It was the same one Dang Gyu-young had stolen from the black market.

She had taken it out to alert those outside the dungeon of an emergency.

A bright beam of light shot up into the sky.

Whoosh—Crackle,

But the beam vanished as if it had hit something in midair.

“…It’s blocked.”

The fact that communication with the outside was cut off meant that the other mechanisms of the artificial dungeon had also been neutralized.

Safety devices, forced exits, and replays wouldn’t function properly either.

“To be honest, I was half-doubtful, but now I have no choice but to believe it. What are you going to do next?”

“For now, let’s try to reduce the number of ogres.”

Since we had to face the ogres anyway, it was better to take down as many as possible before the Blood Fury Syringe was injected.

The fewer ogres there were, the fewer casualties the students would suffer.

“And in the end, we’ll have to take down the Alpha.”

“The Alpha appears in the midterms?”

“I told you it would. You were dozing off during class, weren’t you?”

“…I wasn’t dozing off.”

Song Cheon-hye immediately denied it, but from her startled reaction, it was highly likely she had indeed dozed off.

In fact, she had been caught nodding off during the Monster Ecology class.

Sensing that the conversation was turning against her, Song Cheon-hye quickly moved things along.

“Anyway, you’re planning to take down the Alpha Ogre with us, right?”

“Of course. It’ll probably show up in a Blood Fury state, and the six of us might not be enough to handle it.”

“Understood. Let’s work together. Have you figured out its location yet?”

After the Alpha Ogre’s appearance, the most critical factors were the timing and location of its emergence.

We needed to take it down before it could roam around and cause more damage.

Naturally, as a stagnant water, I had already pinpointed its location but I pretended to be uncertain to avoid suspicion.

“I have a hunch, but we need to confirm it.”

“Then let’s move separately for now.”

Our current goal was to reduce the number of ogres.

It was more efficient to split into two groups rather than move as one large group for that.

If they managed to get in touch with the other disciplinary committee members, they could also request their help.

One downside was that if the Alpha Ogre appeared, it might take longer for us to regroup, but Song Cheon-hye seemed to have accounted for that as well.

“Take this.”

She then pulled out a pair of magic scrolls and handed one to me.

[Twin Portal Scroll]

She managed to get her hands on something this valuable?

When one scroll was torn, a teleportation portal would instantly open at the location of the other scroll.

This meant that no matter how far apart we were, we could immediately regroup.

“Give me the signal, and I’ll come right away. The opposite is also true.”

“Let’s do that. See you later.”

The disciplinary committee members immediately pushed through the goblins and retraced their steps down the hill.

It seemed they had completely given up on charging the crystals. This was likely because staying here any longer could cost someone their life.

For us, charging the crystal was secondary; our main objective was to meet the disciplinary committee members and hand over the syringe.

So it seemed best to end things here.

Just then, Shin Byeong-cheol came running out with his arms full of glowing crystals.

“All done, hyungs!”

If it was already finished, there was no helping it.

While Shin Byeong-cheol distributed the crystals among the teams, I waved my hand slowly toward the top of the tower.

Then I caught Seo Ye-in as she leaped down.

“Let’s head down too.”

“Mhmm.”

***

Rumble,

Thunder rumbled low.

It wasn’t Song Cheon-hye but the dark clouds spreading across the sky that made the sound.

Looks like it’s going to rain.

I took my eyes off the sky, looked at the group, and spoke.

“Let’s do one final check.”

After excluding the survival items that were no longer needed,

The items we obtained from today’s supply drop, those exchanged with the disciplinary committee, and the ones brought back by Go Hyeon-woo’s and Hong Yeon-hwa’s teams were as follows:

?Survival Items

– Twin GPS

– Twin Portal Scroll

– Paralysis Scroll

– Recovery Scroll

By using the [Twin GPS] and [Portal Scroll], we could roughly determine each other’s locations and regroup at any time with the disciplinary committee members.

The [Paralysis Scroll] had the effect of halting an enemy’s movements for a short period. The stronger the enemy, the shorter the duration, but even 1-2 seconds could be crucial if used correctly.

The [Recovery Scroll] was, as the name suggested, a scroll imbued with healing magic.

I hope we won’t have to use this.

I preferred that no one got hurt in the first place rather than needing to heal afterward.

Tap, tap, tap,

The sky grew increasingly darker, and raindrops began to fall one by one.

We walked on while letting the rain soak us.

Our final destination was the Alpha Ogre’s spawn point.

We planned to take down any ogres we encountered along the way.

“…….”

“…….”

Due to the serious atmosphere, no one dared to speak.

Especially since we had sent the chatterbox of Shin Byeong-cheol ahead for scouting.

Even Go Hyeon-woo, who was usually sociable, was lost in deep thought.

How long had we walked in that silence when Shin Byeong-cheol came running toward us from the other side of the forest, panting heavily?

“Hey, it’s there. It’s there.”

Thud, thud,

Judging by the heavy footsteps, it was obvious what we would find “there”.

As we slowly approached, sure enough, the ogre revealed itself.

“Grrrr……”

It held a club in one hand and strapped to its ankle was, as expected, a Blood Fury Pill syringe.

As soon as it saw us, it started to show hostility. It took a step forward, then another.

I gave a short command.

“Let’s stick to the plan.”

Everyone gave a small nod at those words.

We had already discussed our positions.

Go Hyeon-woo and Baek Jun-seok would be at the front, Shin Byeong-cheol and I would take the middle, and Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa would cover the rear.

“Grrrr—!”

Thud, thud, the ogre took a few steps forward. Then it suddenly picked up speed and charged.

The first to step forward was Go Hyeon-woo.

A soft breeze swirled around his golden magic sword as he swung it, aiming at the club coming his way.

[Pure Flow]

Swish—

The club slipped past as if it was gliding smoothly to the side.

As a result, the ogre’s stance faltered, but even then, it tried to swipe at Go Hyeon-woo with its hand that was as large as a cauldron lid.

At that moment, Baek Jun-seok intervened and swung his shield to meet the blow,

Thud—!

The ogre’s arm was deflected as well.

Meanwhile, wind gathered and compressed near the creature’s chest,

Boom!

before exploding with force.

The armor-piercing effect of the Spiral Explosion tore through the ogre’s thick hide and exposed its flesh beneath.

And in that now vulnerable spot,

Bang, bang, bang!

Seo Ye-in’s sniper shot, Shin Byeong-cheol’s thrown chopsticks, and Hong Yeon-hwa’s fire arrow all struck home.

“Grrrr……”

The ogre was overwhelmed by the seamless chain of attacks and couldn’t regain its composure.

“Keep up the pressure.”

The two at the front pinned the struggling ogre in place, while the rest of us unleashed relentless attacks from behind.

Finally, the creature slumped to the ground and stopped moving.

“We got one.”

“Well done, everyone. Let’s keep this up.”

Go Hyeon-woo and I each spoke a word of encouragement.

We had taken down an ogre far more easily than expected.

In the Crystal strategy battle, two people had faced off against a single ogre, but with six of us now, it was bound to be easier.

The swift neutralization of its defenses with Spiral Explosion also played an important role.

As a result, everyone’s expressions brightened a little but it didn’t last long.

Thud, thud.

The heavy footsteps drew closer once again.

Another ogre that had been roaming nearby heard the noise and came searching.

“Grrrrr…”

However, this one looked different from the previous one we had faced.

Its skin was red, its muscles were swollen like balloons, and its veins bulged out like wriggling worms.

When I checked its ankle, I saw the syringe was empty.

“It’s on Blood Fury state.”

“…….!”

“…….!”

“Grrrrr…”

The ogre bared its teeth and glared at us.

Everyone tensed up but didn’t take their eyes off it as we moved into position.

At the same time, a notification message appeared in the corner of my vision.

[Main Quest 1]