The Support Ate it All-Chapter 525: The Successor

The Principal furrowed his brow.

“If it’s a banned skill, then that freezing-whatever too?”

“I’d appreciate it if you lifted that one as well.”

“No penalty for either of them?”

“It’s safe.”

“......How is that possible? It looked like it worked at B-rank, but. You’ve got higher elemental resistance than me or something?”

Instead of answering, I just smiled faintly, and the Principal didn’t dig any deeper.

He scratched his chin and continued.

“Anyway, I get that it’s safe, but it’s not something I can just decide on my own. I’m the Principal, but I’m telling you—procedures for this are a mess.”

You had to show the academic office a trait that proved safety, demonstrate the skill under staff supervision, then leave a record.

And then they’d weigh all kinds of factors—your usual conduct, grades, and more—before deciding whether to grant permission for a banned skill.

The Principal grinned as he added,

“—Officially, that’s how it works.”

“So you mean it’s fine if I use it under the table.”

“Hey now! You little punk, I never gave permission. I don’t even know what you learned.”

The Principal joked around like that.

The Vice Principal looked at him with a face that clearly said, When is that man ever going to grow up, but he didn’t say anything out loud.

At least for this temporary storage facility infiltration, it meant they’d turn a blind eye even if I used banned skills.

To make sure, I asked,

“It’s still better to keep my identity hidden, right?”

“Of course. Gwak Seungjae made a similar request.”

He’d asked me separately to lend him a recognition-inhibiting item.

Looks like he planned to keep information restricted for a while.

Well, stuff like this only gets more useful the fewer people know about it.

Soon after, the Principal looked between me and Dang Gyu-young.

“Alright. I’ll tell the disciplinary committee club you’re in, and I’ll mention the banned skill issue too. You’ll get contacted soon—go meet them.”

“Yes, understood.”

We nodded at the same time.

*****

From the moment we left the principal’s office, Dang Gyu-young’s steps were practically floating.

Skipping along—so much I couldn’t tell if she was walking or dancing.

“Heh-heh-heh, heh-heh-heh.”

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course I’m happy! Everything went ridiculously well.” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

“Honestly, I didn’t see re-enrollment coming.”

“Me neither, heh-heh.”

Then, like something popped into her head, Dang Gyu-young spun around to face me with a wide, whirling grin.

“Next year, I’ll be Senior Kim Ho~?”

“How could I possibly treat a great senior who already graduated like a junior.”

“Hey, if we’re doing that, then you’re a great-great-great-king senior! You’ve graduated hundreds of times.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

“See? Then just accept it—Senior...... no! Wait! Not that!”

She caught her breath, then slowly leaned her body toward me.

“......Big brother?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Pff-hahahah! It’s already fun. Let’s go together, Senior~ Let’s go together, big brother~”

I ignored her and sped up, and she kept skipping along at my side.

We walked for a while like that, and only then did she toss the question out.

“By the way, where are we going?”

“There’s something I need to confirm.”

“What?”

“Expiration date.”

“Expiration date of what?”

“You’ll know the second you see it.”

Even while knitting her brows in confusion, Dang Gyu-young kept walking with me.

The place we arrived at was the Magic Engineering Club.

After sending word ahead, we waited in front of Workshop 1.

By now, Dang Gyu-young seemed to have caught on to my target.

“Cube of Life?”

“Yes. Whether it’s Gwak Seungjae or Oh Sehun—if we meet them, they’ll definitely come at us with that.”

They’d already pegged Inferno Fist as me, so the disciplinary committee club’s next interest was figuring out how we’d smuggled out banned items.

Even if we defended the temporary storage facility and arrested the intruders, if the items’ whereabouts became “unknown,” wouldn’t that mean the operation was only half a success?

“You’re going to tell them?”

“After I check the expiration date.”

If there wasn’t much time left, we’d use it as bargaining material. If there was plenty, we could just play dumb.

And which one it was, we’d find out soon enough.

Before long, the Magic Engineering Club president, Bong Jae-seok, walked out.

“Kim Ho, Dang Gyu-young’s here too. What brings you?”

He looked like he’d stepped away mid-task, his whole body screaming busy, so I cut straight to it.

“I want to check the project’s progress.”

“It’s come a long way—thanks to you.”

The Cube of Life Park Nari had was a prototype, B-rank.

Bong Jae-seok and the Magic Engineering Club’s goal was to turn it into a complete S-rank—and mass-produce it.

That project had been going for nearly a year now, and I’d occasionally dropped by to give advice.

Bong Jae-seok thought for a moment, then continued.

“About seventy, eighty percent? Early next year, we’ll definitely have the blueprint.”

Dang Gyu-young frowned and cut into the conversation.

“Early next year? But you’ll have graduated by then.”

“Yeah, I will. But my sibling will be coming in.”

“Isn’t that too much to dump on a freshman?”

“Don’t worry. She’s a genius. I don’t even measure up to her toenails.”

If a third-year club president said that much, then at the very least, she had guaranteed skill.

Bong Jae-seok looked at me and continued.

“She’ll handle things in here, and I’ll support from the outside—that’s how we’ll keep the project going. Kim Ho, you help a lot. Especially with the blueprint.”

Magic engineering items were completed by assembling a cube-shaped blueprint properly.

And the blueprint they were making was the notorious 10x10x10—an insane difficulty.

Even most graduates wanted nothing to do with it.

That was also why the prototype blueprint had been buried in a junk pile for so long.

Whether Bong Jae-seok’s sibling could handle it... we’d have to wait and see, but I nodded for now.

“I’ll try teaching her.”

“Good. And I’m saying this because I’m worried—don’t go seducing her.”

“...What?”

At my reaction, Bong Jae-seok looked more confused instead.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s my little sister.”

Then Dang Gyu-young draped a hand over my shoulder like she was being friendly on purpose.

“He might look like this, but he’s strict about boundaries. He doesn’t go around seducing just anyone. Right~?”

“Should I cap it at filling one bus?”

“KAK!! Halt! And here I’m already not happy with the motorcycle, and you’re talking about a bus?”

“The motorcycle already tipped over. Over capacity.”

While we bickered, Bong Jae-seok waved his hand.

“Hey, hey. Take your fight somewhere else. Anything else you need?”

“No, senior. That’s all.”

“Then I’m going back in. I’m pretty busy.”

Bong Jae-seok immediately turned around and disappeared into Workshop 1, and we moved on after a glance in his direction.

Then Dang Gyu-young shot me a sharp side-eye.

“...A bus. Seriously?”

“Obviously I’m kidding. I’m telling you, I don’t just throw myself at every woman.”

“You little punk, stop trying to trigger my jealousy. I almost pouted again.”

Dang Gyu-young tugged lightly at my cheek, then let go.

Maybe because we’d already set a precedent through Kang Byeol, she seemed to believe me without much resistance.

“Anyway, how’s the expiration date?”

“Early next year—by the first semester alone, they’ll have two or three cubes.”

“You don’t even know if her sister will do well.”

“That’s why I didn’t include her in the math. Two or three is assuming I make them all.”

“Oh~”

If what Bong Jae-seok said was true and his little sister really was a genius, production would accelerate sharply.

Meaning, low estimate was two or three—but high estimate could be several times that.

Dang Gyu-young’s eyes drifted up to the ceiling.

“Then there isn’t much left, huh? On the expiration date.”

“Yeah. Let’s just cash out right now.”

Once the Cube of Life started getting mass-produced and distributed, students would eventually notice the Hidden Piece.

Before that, using the information was the best move.

“Archers were asking about it too, actually. Selling?”

“Let’s sell. Expensive.”

We looked at each other and grinned.

*****

Thieves’ Club clubroom.

Dang Gyu-young sat at a table and chair that didn’t match the dreary atmosphere at all—like someone had dragged them straight out of the Renaissance.

When she lifted her teacup slightly, Shin Byeong-cheol hurried over and tilted a Renaissance-style teapot.

—TRICKLE—

Dang Gyu-young took a relaxed sip and looked across from her.

“So. You came to hear my answer?”

“Yes, senior.”

The female student across from her dipped her head slightly as she replied.

The pin on her tie was silver.

She was the Archery Club’s second-year deputy vice president, Hwang Dam-bi.

Ahead of the next temporary storage facility infiltration operation, the Swordsmanship Club’s Black Blade faction and the Archery Club were gathering information in their own way too.

In the process, they’d found out Dang Gyu-young had some method to smuggle out the banned items, and they’d sent Hwang Dam-bi to ask for a share.

Dang Gyu-young frowned like she was irritated.

“Ah, this is kind of awkward to tell you.”

“As I said, we’re willing to pay adequate compensation.”

“It’s not about compensation. We’ve got a reputation too.”

“Reputation...?”

Dang Gyu-young kept that uncomfortable expression as she tilted her teacup again.

Then, after letting the silence hang for a bit, she started laying down bait nice and slow.

“We haven’t done ‘that’ just once or twice, so it seems like they caught a whiff of it on their side. They’ll probably come prepared with countermeasures.”

“......!”

“If I tell you and it doesn’t work, you’ll complain to us later. That hurts our reputation.”

“That’s...”

“It’s obvious. We can’t go in just to grab a little when we can see the trap coming. Sorry to your president, but I’m going to have to refuse this.”

Dang Gyu-young wore a bitter smile and flicked her eyes toward the door.

But even with the clear dismissal, Hwang Dam-bi stayed planted in the Renaissance chair.

She thought for a long moment, then lifted her head and met Dang Gyu-young’s gaze.

“If we don’t hold you responsible for anything related to this... would it be possible then?”

“That something you can decide?”

“I have that kind of authority.”

Well, she was this year’s deputy vice president and the designated next president.

Dang Gyu-young let out a long sigh, like she couldn’t help it.

“If you insist... then let’s do it for this much.”

As she spoke, she scribbled something on a note and slid it forward.

Next year’s Special Refinement Workshop season pass, a Crafting VIP Ticket, and a whole pile of other club privileges.

Hwang Dam-bi screamed internally.

This is totally a thief...! Well, yeah, it is Thieves’ Club. But isn’t this straight-up robbery?!

But she couldn’t show it, so she put on a full sales smile and spoke.

“Senior. It’s information with risk involved, but isn’t this compensation somewhat excessive?”

“It’s risky, so I discounted it.”

That’s the discount?

Maybe she could read the disbelief on Hwang Dam-bi’s face, because Dang Gyu-young added an explanation.

“Tricking the disciplinary committee club isn’t going to be easy. And if you do it right, it’s information you can keep using in the future. Am I wrong?”

“...You’re right, senior.”

“And if you split it half-and-half with those Black Blade kids, it shouldn’t be that hard to swallow.”

“I’ll discuss it with them.”

“Decide by next week—before Van Wave. I have to confirm whether it still works too.”

With that, Dang Gyu-young dismissed her again.

Like she had zero interest, she just stared into her teacup.

“This tea’s good. Byeong-cheol, what is it?”

“It came out of a random box, sis.”

“How do you keep pulling only stuff like this?”

“Heh-heh, I know, right?”

Hwang Dam-bi had no choice but to leave the clubroom, thoroughly cowed.