The Support Ate it All

Maybe it was because the tournament was just around the corner.

A mixture of excitement and tension filled the entire school.

The training center and arena were several times more crowded than usual, packed with people practicing and sparring.

Even Seo Ye-in, unlike her usual self, was cutting back on her sleep to focus on training.

From her usual twelve hours of sleep down to eleven and a half.

On top of that, she had taken on a grueling quest. As a result, while she hadn't yet raised the rank of [Fickle Trap], she had made progress in other areas.

She had achieved [Feather Step] at B-rank.

That's good.

That meant I too could level up my specs along with her.

[Registered target's skill 'Feather Step (B+)' to slot.]

▷ Copy – Skill [3/3]

1. Feather Step (B+)

2. Destructive Gale (C+)

3. Ice Wall (B)

I bid farewell to my long-used Thief's Step and overwrote it with Feather Step.

It's an upgrade in every way.

In terms of movement speed alone, it was slightly faster, and the turbulence it created upon activation provided a bit of ranged defense.

It also lightened the caster's body, making it highly compatible with wind magic.

Considering these additional effects, even if Dang Gyu-young one day reached A-rank in Thief's Step, I wouldn't swap back.

Unless I learned an even better movement skill, but that was something to think about later.

***

After that, we continued to focus on training, shuttling between school and the training center.

Before we knew it, Thursday had arrived.

Unusually, Lee Soo-dok conducted the class with a deeply satisfied expression.

"I'll now announce the midterm results for the duel battle matches. So far, 70% of the first-years have completed their matches. And the win rate is…"

– ……!

– ……!

The whole class stared tensely at the chalkboard.

When the next number appeared, their faces instantly brightened.

[Win Rate – 38%]

An overwhelming result, nearly double last year's record of 21%.

"Even considering the students who haven't participated yet, I don't expect the numbers to change much. You've avoided the special curriculum."

In fact, the entire grade would likely be receiving buffs, point bonuses, and other various benefits later on.

There was also something Lee Soo-dok didn't mention. He had probably won the wager against the second-year teachers as well.

That was likely a big part of why he seemed to be in such a good mood.

"Keep working hard so we can achieve good results in the tournament as well."

Perhaps because of this, Lee Soo-dok even offered some words of encouragement, which was something he rarely did.

Of course, the moment the break bell rang, he left the classroom in his usual hurry.

The students were just starting to get up and chat when Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi each spoke up.

"We'll be conducting a belongings inspection now."

"Just stay seated for a moment, everyone~!"

By now, the students had gotten used to this and calmly returned to their seats.

Only a few showed signs of unease, fidgeting nervously. No doubt because they had something to hide.

Since there was nowhere to run, they too reluctantly sat down with grim expressions.

Crackle—!

A barrier of magnetic force swept rapidly across the entire classroom, detecting prohibited items.

Naturally, the culprits were exactly those few students who had been uneasy moments ago.

If something was hidden, a red warning light appeared over the hiding spot; if it was stored in their inventory, a brand was marked on their forehead.

Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi walked through the classroom, systematically confiscating prohibited items and assigning penalty points.

When they reached Shin Byeong-cheol, however, their eyes showed a trace of surprise. There wasn't a single red mark on him.

"…What's this? You're not carrying anything today?"

"I'm still a proper student of Dragon Slayer Academy who respects school rules. It hurts my feelings if you treat me like a troublemaker right off the bat."

"Think about your usual behavior before saying that."

"I know, I know. But don't you see some signs of improvement?"

"I'll be keeping an eye on you."

With that, Song Cheon-hye moved on to the next troublemaker, while Shin Byeong-cheol watched with a confident smile.

Of course, the idea that he had suddenly reformed was laughable.

Naturally, he must have anticipated this.

The odds of a ban wave being triggered this week were close to 100%.

It had been quiet for a while, and with the tournament just a week away, the administration probably wanted to do a thorough cleanup.

That meant most students had likely left their prohibited items at home.

Still, there would always be those who were desperate or foolish enough to bring them, so the haul from confiscations wouldn't be small.

And so, the next move for the Thieves' Club was obvious—

The temporary storage room.

The two infiltration attempts on the temporary storage room during the first semester had ultimately ended in defeat for the Thieves' Club, but they'd still made a tidy profit from the items they managed to smuggle out.

No reason not to go in again.

For me, just tagging along would be nothing but profit.

So my next course of action was already decided.

As soon as the ban wave ended, I headed over to the next class and called out Park Na-ri.

The mini tiger and mini eagle perched on her shoulders, Bum and Chammy, greeted me as soon as they saw me.

"Meow."

"Beep-beep—"

"How are you, my friends?"

Park Na-ri seemed to like the word friends, giving a shy smile as she returned the greeting.

"Ah, hi…"

"My friend, I've come today to ask you for another favor."

"Mm… what is it…?"

"Lend me your cube."

The hidden effect of the [Cube of Life]:

Prohibited items stored inside it won't be caught by a ban wave.

During the second temporary storage room infiltration, I'd been caught by Oh Se-hoon and dragged to the disciplinary committee room, but the items hidden inside the cube were never discovered.

It would be the same this time.

Park Na-ri hesitated a little before speaking.

"I'm fine with it, but…"

"You'll need the resident's permission, right?"

"Mhmm…"

The Cube of Life was Bum's villa.

Just like last time, he didn't seem thrilled about letting it go.

Back then, the timing had lined up with the Magic Engineering Club's research, so I'd used remodeling as an excuse to borrow it, but that wouldn't work now.

Of course, I'd anticipated this and prepared another solution.

I pulled a few items out of my inventory.

"Here, take a look at these."

"Meow~"

"Beep-beep—"

Bum and Chammy's interest was piqued instantly.

What I'd pulled out was a small cardboard box and a clear plastic container.

Felines, by nature, are whimsical creatures. They'll ignore expensive cushions and instead curl up in a cheap shopping bag.

The smaller the space, the better they like it.

And tigers were no exception.

"Meow~"

Sure enough, Bum instantly hopped into the cardboard box, curled himself into a ball, and started purring.

Chammy, not to be outdone, slipped neatly into the plastic container and chirped happily.

I handed them over to Park Nari just as they were.

"Leave them like this for now."

"Uh… oh… okay…"

Though a little deflated at how easily the problem had been solved, Park Na-ri obediently lent me the Cube of Life.

***

Next, it was time to hear the Thieves' Club's plan.

So I set up a meeting and waited in a quiet, secluded spot.

Before long, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin showed up.

They'd no doubt had their own strategy meeting beforehand, but since my identity couldn't be revealed, we were meeting separately like this.

For example, the use of Inferno Fist was still attributed to an unknown, masked assailant.

Dang Gyu-young looked at me with eager eyes.

"…Did you get it?"

"Of course."

When I discreetly revealed the Cube of Life, Dang Gyu-young broke into a wide grin and started ruffling my hair and cheeks enthusiastically.

"Aww~ Pretty Kim Ho. You really do get things done. If only my kids were half as capable as you."

Chae Da-bin also seemed quite pleased that we'd secured the Cube and a faint smile was tugging at her lips.

"I feel a lot more at ease now."

"I'd like to hear more about the plan."

As I said that and stepped back, Dang Gyu-young finally stopped the over-the-top petting and grew serious.

"…Things have gotten complicated. Kwak Seung-jae's been using his head."

Chae Da-bin then manipulated her tablet, bringing up a map of Dungeon Island.

At the center stood the school building and the Student Disciplinary Committee's office.

Farther away, four temporary storage sites were marked.

Their locations varied. Some were deep in the woods, others in busy city buildings.

One was even set up in the very building the Thieves' Club had once used as their control tower, clearly an intentional provocation.

Looking down at the map, I asked,

"Are there fakes mixed in?"

"No, they're all real. They've even split up the banned items into four parts."

That left the Thieves' Club with two options.

Divide their forces and hit all four storage sites at once, or focus all their power on just one.

Given the gap in fighting power between individual thieves and committee members, concentrating their forces on a single target offered the better chance of success.

But there was still one major obstacle.

"Kwak Seung-jae is there, right?"

"Exactly."

Kwak Seung-jae's unique magic—

The ability to travel great distances through wooden doors.

They must have chosen the locations of the temporary storage sites with his magic's range in mind.

Even if we focused all our forces on just one storage site, the moment the disciplinary committee members came pouring out of a wooden door, we'd be in immediate danger.

In that sense, picking them off one by one might be better for drawing the enemy's attention away.

But the difference in how quickly they could reinforce their numbers was massive, so it would still put us at a disadvantage.

From the Thieves' Club's perspective, it was a losing game no matter which option they chose.

Dang Gyu-young asked,

"What's the opinion of our senior who has graduated so many times?"

"Let's go with picking them off one by one."

I answered without a moment's hesitation, and Dang Gyu-young's eyes lit up.

"…So, you've got something up your sleeve?"

"I do."

"What? What is it? Tell me!"

"That's a secret."

"Come on, it's always a secret with you!"

Dang Gyu-young pouted and shot me a sideways glare.

Then she asked again,

"You're confident, right?"

"Of course. Just trust me on this."

"Fine, I'll trust you again."

She was being cautious since the whole club was on the line, but so far, following my lead had never ended badly for them, so she was willing to bet on me again.

I asked my next question.

"But do we have enough people?"

The Thieves' Club was already at a disadvantage in terms of fighting power. If they were short on numbers too, splitting into four teams would be pointless.

Dang Gyu-young must have thought of that already, because she replied with a relaxed expression, as if the matter was already taken care of.

"No need to worry about that. We hired mercenaries. They're not on par with the disciplinary committee, but they're decent enough."

"From where?"

Dang Gyu-young grinned.

"The Martial Arts Club."