The Support Ate it All

We had come to a stop right in the middle of the C-floor.

With the Disciplinary Committee members still patrolling, there was no benefit to lingering here.

I guess it’s time to go with Plan B.

I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I had prepared just in case.

I leaned over and whispered to Dang Gyu-young.

– Could you make a few round trips?

– What, four times?

At C-rank, Shadow Leap could only transport two people at a time.

For Dang Gyu-young to move all five of us, she would have to make four round trips.

“Two trips will be enough.”

“How?”

“I can use it too.”

If I copied Shadow Leap, we could transport everyone together which would make it far more efficient.

▷Copy – Skill [3/3]

1. Thief’s Step (B+)

2. Overheat (C)

3. Shadow Sanctuary (B)

[Overheat] was a skill I had copied from Hong Yeon-hwa,

And Shadow Sanctuary was essential for keeping the party hidden.

So, the best copy slot to overwrite was Thief’s Step.

After all, since Thief’s Step was originally Dang Gyu-young’s skill, I could just copy it again later.

Of course, even with this approach, Dang Gyu-young would still have to make two round trips, so the risk level would inevitably increase.

Chae Da-bin would likely wonder why our pace had suddenly slowed down as well.

Still, it’s better than getting caught.

Adding a bit of risk was definitely better than failing before we even reached our destination.

Just as I was about to start the copying process with these thoughts in mind—

“!”

One of the patrolling Disciplinary Committee members suddenly stopped in their tracks, as if they received some sort of message.

With a tense expression, they exchanged a few quick communications, then hurriedly pushed off the ground and headed upward.

Dang Gyu-young watched them disappear before turning back to me.

– …Seems like it showed up. That thing?

– Seems that way.

Apparently, a party exploring a C-rank dungeon had encountered a Dark Oobleck and sent out a distress call.

Some of the Disciplinary Committee members were deployed for the rescue.

Although others still patrolled their assigned areas without deviation, from our perspective, it felt like a huge gap had opened in the once stiflingly dense security net.

Chae Da-bin was excited by the opportunity and led the way.

– This way!

Following her, we arrived at the depths.

With the Disciplinary Committee clustered on the C- and D-floors, I had hoped the security here might be more lax. Yet the depths were still the depths.

Guard posts stood at intervals, crystal balls were embedded everywhere, and the committee members continued their patrols.

But then again, look who we had with us.

The president and vice president of the thieves club, after all.

The two had already broken through this place once before, back when we had infiltrated the Black Death dungeon.

It seemed like this time would be no different.

Soon, Dang Gyu-young began gathering mana in large amounts, while Chae Da-bin furiously tapped away on her tablet at an incredible speed.

[Shadow Pouch]

A shadow emerged from Dang Gyu-young and turned into a giant pouch that quickly swallowed all the first-years, including me.

Go Hyeon-woo and I remained still since we experienced this before, and Jang Moo-geuk only briefly blinked his eyes as if he was amazed but kept his composure.

After a moment of letting ourselves be jostled around, the shadow pouch spat us out right at our destination.

[No.88] [Gathering of Villains]

Dang Gyu-young waved urgently in front of the teleportation portal.

– Go in, go in, quickly, quickly.

Without waiting for anyone to take the lead, we all rushed inside.

Our surroundings shifted abruptly, and we found ourselves standing at the edge of a forest outside the city.

Only then did the group finally relax.

Although we hadn’t even officially started the operation, everyone already looked exhausted.

Yet alongside the relief was a sense of achievement at overcoming a significant hurdle.

Especially for Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin who wore expressions of pure satisfaction.

“Wow, this is truly a triumph of human determination.”

“It goes to show that if you put in the effort, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.”

Just the day before when we were planning this, we weren’t sure if success was even possible, but in a desperate search for a possible breakthrough, we had managed to penetrate the iron-clad defenses of the Disciplinary Committee.

Even accounting for a bit of luck toward the end, it was still an impressive feat.

However, the satisfaction was brief, as something suddenly seemed to dawn on Chae Da-bin and a look of concern appeared on her face.

“But I’m not sure if we’ll be able to break through the same way on our way back.”

“…I’m already feeling tired just thinking about it.”

Dang Gyu-young’s face darkened with concern as well.

The thought of having to go through that same exhausting ordeal on the way back weighed on her.

Since it was my job to keep up the morale of the group, I decided it was time to step in.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s focus on getting everything we came here for first.”

“You’re right.”

With plenty to deal with right in front of us, there was no need to worry about what lay far ahead.

As Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin nodded in agreement, I continued.

“It’d be a good idea to get in touch with Senior Pang Mi-ryeong now.”

“Mhmm, let’s do that. Just a moment.”

Pang Mi-ryeong’s raid team of fifteen had already entered the dungeon.

We needed to hear how far along they were in their progress so that we could gauge the remaining time and locate any safe zones.

Dang Gyu-young pulled a communicator out of her inventory.

This special item, which Go Hyeon-woo had purchased from the student shop, allowed us to keep in contact even within the dungeon.

Chae Da-bin linked the communicator to her tablet so everyone could hear, and soon we were connected to Pang Mi-ryeong.

Dang Gyu-young spoke into the communicator.

“Hey, Pang. We’re here.”

– Wow, so you actually made it through. I thought you’d never make it in.

Pang Mi-ryeong’s voice came through. She sounded impressed.

The corner of Dang Gyu-young’s mouth lifted slightly, but she replied in a casual tone.

“It was rough, but we managed. How far have you gotten?”

The main rule of the Gathering of Villains was a step beyond a typical [Boss Raid]. It was a [Boss Rush].

You would have to eliminate multiple B-rank mid-boss-level demons.

The condition for clearing the dungeon is to defeat at least twelve out of the twenty bosses.

Naturally, those demons didn’t move around in a large group.

They shared the same goal but preferred to act alone, so they were scattered throughout the vast dungeon.

To efficiently take down as many of them as possible, Pang Mi-ryeong’s raid team had split up. The fifteen members were divided into three teams of five.

And as for their current progress,

– We’ve taken down four so far. Our team got two, and each of the other teams got one.

That meant they had achieved a third of the clear requirement.

Of course, the raid’s purpose went beyond simply clearing the dungeon.

Dang Gyu-young asked,

“You’ll be heading into the hidden area soon, then?”

– Mhmm, we’re planning to head in after taking down eight demons.

One of their main goals was to investigate the Blood Ghost Blade Demon’s legacy using the treasure map.

But since expending too much energy on the legacy could disrupt their later progress, they aimed to secure eight kills early.

I had mentioned this approach in the strategy guide I handed out.

Dang Gyu-young nodded her head.

“Seems like things are going smoothly. Well, keep it up, and contact us if anything happens.”

“Will do. You guys too.”

The communication with Pang Mi-ryeong ended there.

For now, they seemed to be following the strategy without issue, but we’d have to wait and see if any unexpected challenges arose in the later stages.

Still, it didn’t seem like we needed to intervene at this point, so everyone could just focus on their own tasks.

“Let’s start moving too.”

In this dungeon, I had implicitly taken on the role of the party leader.

Since I was the one who created and distributed the strategy guide, they likely figured I knew a bit more than the rest.

So, as I led the way, everyone began to follow my movements.

The starting point was a forest on the outskirts of the city, with a few pavilions visible not too far off.

However, we had no business in the city just yet, so I turned my back on it and led the group deeper into the forest.

As we went up and down some low hills, a few tall bamboo stalks started appearing here and there.

The bamboo grew denser as we went along until we were standing before a lush bamboo grove.

Even at a glance, it seemed like there might be something interesting deeper inside, but—

“This should be the spot.”

There was something minor to collect here first.

After turning ninety degrees and walking a little farther, we came upon a small clearing.

It was overgrown with wildflowers and weeds, looking about as messy as it could get.

“All right, everyone, take one of these.”

I handed out some F-rank iron hoes.

And there was only one thing to do with them.

“Let’s dig.”

“……”

One advantage of distributing a strategy guide was that I didn’t need to give lengthy explanations every time we did something new.

For reference, the guide had mentioned this:

[In the weedy area near the bamboo grove, you can find elixirs.]

Elixirs were never in enough supply.

And since this was a B-rank dungeon, any elixirs we found here would likely be of a decent rank. Without a word, everyone crouched down and started digging through the weeds.

Only Jang Moo-geuk seemed a bit skeptical.

“To think I’d live to do farmwork in a dungeon.”

“Haha, it’s an experience too, wouldn’t you say?”

“You certainly have a positive attitude.”

“I hear that often.”

Jang Moo-geuk who thought no one would agree with him kept silent and concentrated on his digging.

After a while, he seemed to find something, pulled it up by the roots, and showed it to me.

“Isn’t this a poisonous plant?”

[Blood-Coagulating Herb (D)]

This plant had the effect of congealing the blood. It was somewhere between a medicinal plant and a poison.

When refined it could be used as a medicine, but eaten raw it was deadly.

Mixed among the weeds were other poisonous plants ranging from C to E rank.

Roughly speaking, about 80% of what we found were weeds, 19% were poisonous plants, and maybe 1% were actual elixirs.

I answered him casually.

“Keep the poisonous ones too. They’re too valuable to toss.”

“Sure thing.”

Since I wasn’t wrong, Jang Moo-geuk nodded in agreement.

In reality, gathering poisonous plants was also a minor goal of mine.

The more I collected, the better prepared I’d be for the next step of my plan.

Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young used her shadow hands to hold a hoe. She worked much more comfortably and quickly than the others.

After a while she snuck up close to me and tickled my cheek with a weed that looked like foxtail grass.

“Young monarch, be honest with me.”

“About what?”

“You know exactly where it is, don’t you?”

Dang Gyu-young had learned through countless experiences that my eye for detail was near supernatural.

The idea that I wouldn’t be able to spot an elixir hidden somewhere in the weeds and that the whole party would have to dig around for it didn’t make sense.

In the end, she concluded that I was pretending not to know.

I admitted it freely.

“You caught me.”

“Why pretend not to know?”

“Because I need the manpower.”

Out of the five of us, I was the only one who needed poisonous plants.

If I suddenly pulled out an elixir, there’d be no reason for anyone to keep digging around.

Even Jang Moo-geuk would immediately drop his hoe.

But if I let them search on their own, it might take a bit longer, but we’d end up with a bigger stockpile of poisonous plants.

Dang Gyu-young narrowed her eyes.

“Using your party members for personal gain. Don’t you feel a little guilty?”

“A little. But can you keep it a secret?”

“Another secret?”

“The more, the better, right?”

“That’s true, but… why are you so annoying.”

As Dang Gyu-young crept closer, I took a step back to keep our distance.

“Why are you coming closer?”

“Just one good pinch of those cheeks.”

“No, thank you.”

She kept moving toward me, and I kept backing away.

While we were half-crouched and playing this game of tag, Chae Da-bin’s voice was heard.

“I found something!”

We both turned to see Chae Da-bin holding a thick root of Tuber fleeceflower.

[300-Year Tuber fleeceflower (C+)]

“It actually showed up.”

Jang Moo-geuk remarked.

A C+-rank elixir would be quite effective even if we divided it five ways.

But it wasn’t over yet.

I casually added,

“There’s one more. A 500-year one.”

“……!”

“……!”

Go Hyeon-woo and Jang Moo-geuk’s eyes lit up.

And they began to turn over the field with burning enthusiasm.