The Support Ate it All-Chapter 514: Raid Week 14–15 Strategy Battle (2)

Seo Cheong-yong gave a light wave, and the rules and environment appeared on the board.

MAP: [Eclipse Land]

RULE: [3-Person] [Random Matching] [Boss Raid] [Radiance Stones]

“This is a degraded version of Dungeon #18, Eclipse Land. Like I said, we tuned the difficulty down to around D-rank, and we shrank the dungeon’s scale a lot too.”

The original was a large-scale dungeon entered by an expedition-sized force, but since this was reduced to a small version, three people would be plenty.

“I’m guessing you’re familiar with the [Boss Raid] rule. As for what comes out—let’s see it directly.”

As he spoke, Seo Cheong-yong brought up a screen.

The first thing shown was a group of people wearing all sorts of outfits and gear.

It was probably an expedition party that had entered the dungeon in the past.

They were surrounding something enormous made of shadow.

Then it surged once, took on the shape of a four-legged beast, crouched low—

And shot forward like an arrow, trampling and smashing whatever lay in its path.

The expedition responded instantly.

Arrows, magic, and blade energy poured down, and the warriors charged it head-on.

Then its body surged again and transformed into a gigantic shadow serpent.

A thick tail swept wide, and the expedition members it hit went flying down in a heap.

After that, it repeatedly shifted into a giant, a bird, an octopus, and other forms, alternating offense and defense.

‘Umbra Behemoth.’

A rare shadow-type boss monster.

Someday, that thing would also have the honor of being drafted into the Dark Kkyu-Shadow Legion.

“Doesn’t look easy, right? The key is responding flexibly whenever its form changes. We adjusted it to about baseline C-rank—don’t panic. There’s a reason.”

After calming the murmuring students, Seo Cheong-yong displayed a crystal-like chunk.

It shone in a colorless light, about half a palm in size.

“This is the key item for this raid: Radiance Stones. If you use these, you can weaken the boss.”

On screen, the expedition threw Radiance Stones at the Umbra Behemoth.

Brilliant white light burst from multiple points, and the boss thrashed as if in pain.

The shadows even seemed to thin out a little.

“If you leave it alone, it’s C-rank, but if you use a lot of Radiance Stones, it can drop below D-rank. Obviously, that makes it easier to kill. So where do you get Radiance Stones?”

Next, a map appeared.

At the very center was the boss icon, tightly wrapped in chains.

And across the dungeon were small monster icons and gem icons, evenly scattered.

“It’s like the Crystal rule. Sometimes they’re just lying there, sometimes they’re hidden. Find them well. Lastly—”

Seo Cheong-yong pointed at the boss icon in the center.

“The boss is sealed when you first enter, but after a certain amount of time, the seal breaks.”

Then the normal monsters near it began to slowly move toward the boss.

“If normal monsters hit it, the seal breaks faster, so be careful. If possible, you should block them.”

So roles split into two major tasks:

Protecting the seal, and roaming the dungeon to collect Radiance Stones.

“You can discuss and decide who takes what role. And by now, your parties should be set. Check your messages.”

Just as he said, a brief message had arrived a moment ago.

[Group 7]

▷ Geum Johan

▷ Kim Ho

▷ Han So-mi

When I glanced sideways, Han So-mi was grinning.

Geum Johan, on the other hand, looked like he was making every expression known to man.

Meanwhile, Go Hyeon-woo was exchanging heated looks with Lee Seong-hyeon and Jo Byeok.

A true manly-man party.

Other students also looked around at their party members or traded greetings, faces mixing joy and misery.

Seo Cheong-yong gave them a bit of time, then spoke when the buzz quieted.

“This raid period is two weeks. Even if you fail the promotion exam, you can challenge again, so don’t feel too pressured!”

Of course, I had zero intention of wasting time challenging a second or third time.

I had too much to do once I got access.

I had to clear it in one shot.

‘So what conditions do I get?’

I opened the alert message again.

[Side Quest: Raid Week 14–15] (In Progress....)

▷ Objective: Clear the promotion-exam dungeon

▷ Reward: Scales by completion level

[Would you like to use the ‘Challenge Book’?]

[Accept / Decline]

I chose Accept without hesitation, and the side quest updated.

[Side Quest: Raid Week 14–15] (In Progress....)

▷ Objective 1: Clear the promotion-exam dungeon

▷ Objective 2: Defeat the boss while holding at least 10 Radiance Stones (-/10)

▷ Reward: Scales by completion level

“Defeat it while holding Radiance Stones” meant don’t use them—hold them to the end.

In other words—

‘Kill the boss without weakening it.’

While everyone else would drop it below D-rank, we had to take it down at full C-rank.

The issue wasn’t the raw difficulty.

It was whether my party would agree to it.

‘I’ll have to talk them into it—hard.’

After Seo Cheong-yong wrapped up and left the classroom, students immediately grouped up in threes and started talking.

Han So-mi came over too.

“Here I am!”

“You’ve arrived? Let’s do well again.”

“Let’s get promoted!”

We even high-fived, fully in sync.

Then Geum Johan stared at me for a few seconds before speaking.

“......Not a composition I particularly like.”

“It’s me, though. Not like you can half-ass it.”

“Hmph. True. That would suit me even less. I’ll at least do my share. Just don’t waste my time.”

“Don’t worry. If you do your part, we get promoted.”

A chilly air drifted over the party.

Even so, Han So-mi just beamed and shoved a fist-mic up to my mouth.

“Do we have a plan!”

“Of course. A hundred-percent promotion plan.”

“A hundred percent! What is it?”

I curled my lips and answered.

“The plan is: kill the boss without using Radiance Stones.”

“Huh? Without weakening it?”

“Without weakening it.”

As expected, Geum Johan immediately threw a challenge.

“I don’t understand. Ignoring the primary gimmick helps you get promoted?”

“Of course it does. Think about it. A party that kills a D-rank boss versus a party that kills a C-rank boss—who looks stronger?”

“......!”

“And for the record, we’re not using the Radiance Stones. But we are collecting them.”

“It isn’t wrong, but I have no desire to put in unnecessary effort. Even doing it properly should be enough to pass.”

Coldly speaking, he was right.

It wasn’t like he had a quest attached to him, either.

But I couldn’t just give up here.

So, for now, I had to force it.

I decided to pull out the forbidden provocation skill.

I tossed out a single short word.

“Scared?”

“You’re using a crude taunt. Do you truly think something so shallow will work?”

“Triggered?”

“I didn’t think you could sink this low. It’s embarrassing to even associate with you.”

“Scared?”

“Didn’t I say it’s unnecessary effort? Do you think I’m afraid of some C-rank boss?”

“Scared?”

Geum Johan’s face twitched violently.

“......Fine. I’ll humor your provocation as if I’m losing.”

The moment he “humored” it, he’d already lost.

A provocation skill with reliably excellent performance, as always.

I checked with Han So-mi too.

“You’re okay with it too?”

“Yeah! Sounds fun!”

“Refreshingly bold. Unlike someone whose name starts with ‘Geum.’”

The vein on Geum Johan’s forehead popped again.

He was about to snap back—

When, from a short distance away, Go Hyeon-woo and the two manly men who’d been holding their own strategy meeting started peeking over.

“Sounds fun? Is something happening?”

“Yeah! We’re doing it without Radiance Stones!”

“......!”

At Han So-mi’s answer, the manly-man party was struck speechless.

Lee Seong-hyeon looked at me with eyes full of respect.

“You always exceed my expectations. I’ve learned another lesson today.”

Jo Byeok also looked at Geum Johan and added one line.

“Excellent.”

Geum Johan, whose expression had been displeased just moments ago, flipped his attitude like turning a palm over.

“......If it’s to uphold the prestige of the disciplinary committee club, then this level of effort is nothing.”

Then the manly-man trio exchanged looks.

“We can’t lose either. We won’t use Radiance Stones.”

“Agreed.”

Another party overheard and went, “Should we try it too?” and gave themselves a handicap.

That spread to the next party, and the next.

Without meaning to, a handicap craze broke out.

If you didn’t have the skill to back it up, all it did was increase your chances of failing—but if they wanted it, that was their choice.

I shrugged and exchanged looks with Geum Johan and Han So-mi.

“Let’s head out right away.”

“Fine.”

“Let’s go!”

*****

Dungeon building.

The circular stairs heading to the underground floors were crowded with students as always.

But the surface-floor area where promotion exams were conducted was deserted to an extreme.

No need to line up—if anything, that was better.

We scanned our student IDs one by one at a terminal set off to the side, and a nearby teleport portal opened its mouth.

Standing in front of it, I asked,

“You two ready?”

“Of course.”

“Readyyy!”

They answered without hesitation.

“Good. Follow me.”

With that, I stepped toward the teleport portal.

The first thing that entered my vision was a sky in the middle of a solar eclipse.

The sky was dark navy, like dusk or dawn, and the sun—blackly covered by the moon—gave off only a faint light.

Han So-mi and Geum Johan entered behind me and stared up at it like they were bewitched.

“Oooh~”

“......It has a certain atmosphere.”

After enjoying the lingering moment, we lowered our gaze and checked ahead.

Terrain made of hills, big and small.

A little distance away floated something black and flat, like an oval.

Just from the shape, it [N O V E L I G H T] was unmistakably a wall-mounted mirror.

KRRK—

The next moment, a single diagonal slash line appeared across one corner of the oval, and ominous black energy began to seep out.

Seeing it, Geum Johan said,

“Looks like the boss will appear from there.”

“Right.”

KRRK—

The slash widened little by little, and the black energy leaking out grew thicker as well.

At least one thing was clear:

Time wasn’t on our side.

I looked at the group and gave orders.

“Move now. Mr. Geum.”

“I know.”

Geum Johan drew his sword at his waist.

Then he took position near the sealed boss.

We’d already divided roles before entering the dungeon, and he was the one assigned to defend this area. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Soon, presences rose from all directions, and shadows began popping into existence.

Some were shaped like people.

Some were shaped like beasts.

Among them, one that looked like a wolf let out a low growl.

“Grrrrr.......”

“Go. Now.”

Leaving Geum Johan behind as he raised his momentum, Han So-mi and I moved out.

“We’re breaking through over there.”

“Yup!”

And the moment we approached one side of the encirclement, the shadow monsters began lunging in from all directions.