The Support Ate it All

Since the lake was so vast, it didn’t take long for a clean spot to appear.

Dang Gyu-young looked around and asked,

“How about here?”

“It works for me.”

We might have found an even better spot if we kept walking, but Dang Gyu-young seemed to be satisfied enough with this place.

I wasn’t picky about things like this either, so I just went along with it.

She started pulling out the items she had prepared from her inventory.

Shadow hands rose from beneath our feet to help.

First, a large camping stove appeared and she piled it with firewood before pulling out a magic tool to light it.

Whoosh.

Next, she set a grill on top of the stove and pulled out various snacks from an icebox.

Beef, sausages, and whole shrimp began to cook, and as I watched them sizzle, Dang Gyu-young unfolded two folding chairs before she tapped one of them.

“Take a seat, young monarch.”

“It really feels like camping.”

Though the setting might have been simple, everything from the equipment to the ingredients showed she had prepared quite thoroughly for just an overnight trip.

“You said it was simple, right?”

“Simple, but pretty serious.”

Dang Gyu-young smiled.

“I’m really into this kind of stuff.”

“I figured you’d like something more peaceful.”

Though the setting might have seemed simple, everything from the equipment to the ingredients showed she had prepared thoroughly for just an overnight camping trip.

Looking back, it made sense.

While she seemed to enjoy walking through the downtown area together with me, she looked truly at ease when we strolled through the empty school at night or sat side by side on a bench sipping canned coffee.

Somehow, I felt like I understood why.

“I lead a pretty busy life.”

Things had improved recently, but the workload that came with being the club president was still substantial.

On top of that, she had to juggle the demands of her third-year academic schedule while finding time to sharpen her personal skills.

That last part is the hardest.

As a shadow mage, her class was fairly rare.

Even though there were some precedents, it was mostly a path she had to carve out on her own.

In other words, just to stay average, she had to work twice as hard as everyone else.

With all these reasons keeping her busy, it was clear that,

“When you rest, you want to really rest.”

“As always, you get it right away. It’s so easy talking with you, Kim Ho.”

Dang Gyu-young took a canned drink from the icebox and handed it to me before grabbing one for herself as well.

But instead of opening the can right away, she kept her gaze fixed on the lake and spoke.

“What do you think my dream is?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Take a guess.”

I thought for a moment before answering.

“Based on the conversation, is it something like camping or traveling?”

“That’s right, traveling a lot.”

“That’s not an easy dream.”

The fact that we were at school made things relatively better,

But this world inside the game wasn’t exactly a safe place where you could travel around freely.

Especially not a place where you could casually enjoy a camping atmosphere.

Monsters roamed everywhere, and villains operated in secret.

Their threat level ranged from C-rank to A-rank, and sometimes even S-rank, making it dangerous.

Dang Gyu-young nodded her head and casually opened her can.

Ssshh.

“…It’s difficult, yeah, that’s why it’s a dream. But don’t you think it’ll come true someday?”

When she was about to take a sip, something seemed to cross her mind and she spoke again.

“Hey, if we’re talking like this, your dream is even harder!”

“Mine’s difficult too.”

The goal of the EX-rank reincarnation quest was to prevent the world’s destruction.

In short, it was “world peace”.

And in this world, achieving world peace was just as tough as world domination.

I smiled and repeated the words Dang Gyu-young had said earlier.

“But don’t you think it’ll come true someday?”

“…Well, I have to hand it to you; you’ve got confidence. I guess I’ll have to help you out.”

When world peace comes, there will be plenty of places to go and have fun.

Dang Gyu-young raised her canned drink.

“Shall we toast?”

“Let’s do it.”

After a brief moment of pondering what to toast to, Dang Gyu-young grinned and held out her can.

“To world peace.”

“To the dream of camping.”

Clink,

The cans gently bumped together.

***

Two hours flew by as we ate, drank, and exchanged small talk.

Dang Gyu-young was the first to check the time and got up.

“Let’s start packing up.”

“Okay.”

In reality, there wasn’t much for me to do.

The shadow hands moved quickly. They took care of the cleanup, packed up the tools and the freezer, and stuffed everything into Dang Gyu-young’s inventory.

That’s really convenient.

Shadow magic had its surprisingly practical uses.

With the cleanup done in no time, we retraced our steps back to the spot where we had fought the Kim Gap-doo Fish.

It was a wide open area, which made it easy to face the creature.

As I stood there and looked at the lake, I saw that the ice had shattered into several pieces, with chunks of it floating around.

It had its own charm before it became a mess; Ice Gap-doo really was a harmful creature.

Bubbling.

Soon, bubbles began rising fiercely from the lake, and at the same time, a crackling sound echoed as currents of electricity surged through.

With that, the creature’s next attribute was decided.

Lightning.

Although I hadn’t learned any lightning attribute skills, I had something prepared for this moment.

[Heart of Thunder (E)]*2

An item that infuses the user’s heart with lightning for a set duration, converting all attributes to thunder.

The duration is proportional to the item’s rank.

E-rank lasts about a minute.

It was barely enough to cast a medium or large-scale spell before running out.

I could save one Heart of Thunder if I finished it in a single blow, but considering the elemental fish’s remaining health and the recovery it gained while submerged, that seemed highly unlikely.

I’ll have to use both.

In that case, it would be more efficient if Dang Gyu-young and I used them consecutively.

If one hit finished it, great, but if not, we could immediately follow up with the next attack.

With this in mind, I handed one Heart of Thunder to Dang Gyu-young.

“Here.”

“Wow, you still had this?”

“I saved it for today.”

“What was the penalty for using Heart of Thunder again?”

“There’s a chance your heart might stop.”

Dang Gyu-young flinched a little and narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.

“…You’re telling me to use this?”

“I’m not saying you should use it just like that.”

[Activated ‘Enchantment’.]

[‘Elemental Resistance (S)’ has been granted to the target.]

[Rank of the granted ‘Elemental Resistance’: B.]

[Duration: 00:14:58]

[Cooldown: 00:34:58]

When Dang Gyu-young checked the notification, her eyes widened slightly.

“Elemental resistance? Young monarch, what is this!”

“It’s my secret weapon.”

“You’re already loaded with cheat skills, and now you’ve got a cheat trait too?”

No wonder you’re always smashing everything with Inferno Fists!

I raised a finger to my lips.

“You know this is a secret, right?”

“Why do you and I keep racking up secrets?”

“Do you hate it?”

“No, I like it.”

Dang Gyu-young smiled bashfully, before saying, “The more secrets you share, the better.”

Elemental resistance had been granted, so there was no need to worry about penalties.

The moment Dang Gyu-young crushed the Heart Thunder in her hand,

Crackle!

The lightning inside was unleashed and seeped into her heart.

Then, shadow butterflies began to rise one by one, but unlike usual, they crackled with electric currents.

As Dang Gyu-young continued multiplying the butterflies, the bubbling lake suddenly surged upward.

Swaaah—!

The third Elemental Fish appeared.

This time, its scales were somewhere between yellow and gold.

Seeing this, Dang Gyu-young grinned mischievously and whispered in my ear.

“Say it. You know you want to.”

“My lips are itching, I admit.”

“Just shout it out. There’s no replay mode anyway.”

“…Fine.”

I took a deep breath before speaking.

“It’s Lightning Gap-doo!”

“Pffthahaha!”

Dang Gyu-young slapped my shoulder repeatedly.

“—!”

The Lightning Gap-doo didn’t seem too fond of its new nickname.

Though it was still weakened by the lingering effects of three consecutive Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Fingers, its hostility toward us hadn’t faded one bit.

Fzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Before long, electricity gathered above its head; it grew larger and larger until it formed a bolt of lightning that shot straight toward Dang Gyu-young.

Dang Gyu-young instinctively started to dodge but then, as if a thought crossed her mind, she stopped in her tracks.

And took the lightning head-on.

Fzzzzzzzt!

“…Interesting.”

Despite taking it head-on, Dang Gyu-young was perfectly fine and without a scratch.

She had been testing the effect of her elemental resistance.

I remembered when I first got it; I too had let myself get hit by an unnecessary breath attack just out of curiosity. It seemed people thought the same way about these things.

Meanwhile, the butterflies fluttered diligently, drawing closer to the creature.

When they reached above its head, they simultaneously unleashed their lightning strikes.

Dozens of bolts rained down.

Booom! Booom!

“—!”

The Lightning Gap-doo let out a sharp scream.

As expected, it didn’t go down with one hit and was barely hanging on by a thread.

“Still not dead, huh?”

“I’ll finish it.”

I clenched my fist, and the Heart Thunder shattered, sending a bolt of lightning piercing into my heart.

Crackle!

A tingling sensation spread from my chest to the rest of my body.

When I tried to lightly raise my mana, a faint electric current crackled instead of mana.

I got on one knee and planted deep roots into the ground.

In that position, I extended my empty hand forward.

[Activated ‘Amplification’.]

[The rank of ‘Spiral Explosion’ increases. (C+ -> A+)]

Fzzzzzzzzzt!

Faint currents mixed into every strand of wind gathering from all directions.

The currents and wind converged around the Elemental Fish and soon formed a huge whirlwind.

The whirlwind shrank and became more compressed until it finally erupted in a massive explosion of electricity.

Fizzzzzzzzzzz—!

A bright flash flooded my vision.

When the explosion subsided and my sight returned, the Kim Gap-doo Fish had completely disappeared without a trace.

It had already been in critical condition, and there was no way it could have survived a spiral explosion enhanced to A+ with additional power.

Rumble,

Soon after, the area trembled, signaling that the dungeon had been cleared and an exit opened up.

In front of it, several chests were laid out.

[Multicolored Scale Box]*2

[Rainbow Lake Random Box (D)]*1

“Are the multicolored scales defensive equipment materials?”

“Yes, they’re for defensive equipment.”

Like the Elemental Fish, its attributes constantly shifted, and unless it was attacked with the corresponding attribute, it boasted extremely high defense.

Because it was such a valuable material, it also came with a relatively high price.

Dang Gyu-young seemed pleased with the mention of its expensive price and her expression turned to a satisfied one.

“Really? Then let’s each take one.”

“What about the random box?”

Considering Dang Gyu-young’s significant contribution in the dungeon, if she wanted it, I could have easily handed it over.

After all, thanks to her, I had copied poison resistance from the Crow Tailor and we had even managed to prepare for a few hours of camping.

However, after thinking it over for a moment, Dang Gyu-young made a suggestion.

“Should we open it and decide?”

“Sounds good.”

We’d open it first and then decide who would take it based on what was inside.

Without much hesitation, Dang Gyu-young swiftly opened the random box with an almost careless ease, similar to Seo Ye-in.

Flash!

[Random Rank-Up] *2

“Well, not bad.”

“Shall we split it fifty-fifty again?”

“No, you can just have it all.”

Dang Gyu-young generously handed it over to me, saying she had never had any luck raising her rank with these before.

Her overall skill levels and traits were higher than mine, so her chances of success were probably even lower.

It really is hard to get it to work.

If it had been Seo Ye-in, that lucky charm cheater, she would have used it on the spot and it would have worked, but since I was neither lucky nor a cheater, I decided to save it for later.

After quickly finishing the distribution, we headed towards the teleportation portal.

But then Dang Gyu-young hesitated again and turned her head towards me.

“…Come to think of it, that’s strange. This dungeon was supposed to be such a hassle, but coming in with you, I didn’t even notice the time passing.”

“Let’s team up more often.”

“Will you make it fun again next time?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Huhum, okay.”

We exchanged smiles as we looked at each other.

Then we stepped through the teleportation portal we had almost forgotten to cross.