The Support Ate it All

The ones I pointed at were, of course, the hyenas waiting near the exit.

If we could take them down, getting ten cheese boxes would be no big deal.

Mo Yong-jun quietly repeated my words.

“Steal them and hand them over… Do you think that’s possible?”

“It won’t be easy.”

I shrugged as I answered.

If it were that simple, everyone would have done it already. Even someone as promising as Mo Yong-jun had shifted his approach toward negotiation instead of force.

As expected, he made his stance clear in advance.

“You seem to have a plan in mind, but I don’t think I can lend a hand. Due to certain circumstances, I need to avoid unnecessary conflicts.”

Mo Yong-jun had never been part of my plan in the first place.

We had only run into each other by chance along the way.

Besides, the more teams that got involved, the smaller our share would be. Even if he had offered to join in, I would have turned him down.

I added one more thing.

“Still, you should follow along. That way, you can take them as soon as we get them.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Alright.”

I rejoined my group, and we continued moving forward. Mo Yong-jun’s team followed at a slight distance.

After walking for a while, the exit finally came into view in the distance.

The problem was that it was completely blocked.

A huge wall of students had formed, and at a glance, there seemed to be at least seventy or eighty of them.

– Murmur, murmur…

The mixed conversations blended together, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a bustling marketplace.

However, as we approached, one by one, they stopped talking and began shooting wary glances in our direction.

“…….”

“…….”

Their gazes are downright menacing.

If we had looked weak, they probably would have attacked us on the spot.

Then, they would have shared the cheese boxes amongst themselves like good friends.

Of course, since there were quite a few promising students among us, no one was reckless enough to make the first move.

A brief standoff ensued until a student who seemed to be the leader stepped forward.

His overall appearance was unremarkable, but his sideburns extended all the way down to his jawline.

He greeted us with a polite smile.

“How’s everyone doing?”

“Uh.”

Hong Yeon-hwa frowned as she replied.

Most people would have shown a slight hint of intimidation at this point, but the sideburns guy in front of us seemed to be an exception.

Well, that was probably why he was leading such a large group of students.

He smiled and continued.

“You all worked hard to make it this far. You look exhausted, so you should head out and get some rest.”

“Mhmm, so move. Let us through.”

“Of course, I should step aside. But…”

With a troubled expression, the sideburns student gestured toward the group behind him.

“As you can see, my people here are starving. There are just so many mouths to feed. A little cheese might be enough to fill them up…”

“So basically, you’re telling us to hand over our boxes?”

Hong Yeon-hwa scoffed in disbelief.

Meanwhile, the sideburns student remained completely unfazed as he continued.

“We’re not completely shameless. We’re not asking for all of them. Just three per team. That seems reasonable, don’t you think?”

“Reasonable? According to what kind of math?”

The rest of our party also reacted negatively.

Even Go Hyeon-woo, the ever-optimistic beacon of positivity, furrowed his brows slightly.

In particular, Geum Jo-han looked as if he was about to explode. Perhaps because he came from a merchant background, he couldn’t tolerate such a blatant act of robbery disguised as a deal.

“You half-baked bastards think you can throw your weight around just because you have numbers on your side?”

“Our numbers are more than reliable, so that’s exactly why.”

Even so, the sideburns student spoke in a smooth, easygoing tone.

“You think we don’t know what you’re capable of? If we fight, the damage will be enormous. But in the end, we’ll win. And then, you’ll end up just like us.”

“…….”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just toss over a few boxes and call it a day? You should have more than enough anyway.”

To be fair, there was some truth to his words.

Giving up three out of twelve boxes wouldn’t be that much of a loss.

Of course, we had anticipated a situation like this and had already discussed how to respond.

Obviously, we fight.

Without hesitation, everyone drew their weapons and raised their energy. The opposing side also began preparing for battle.

Perhaps he hadn’t expected the negotiations to break down so quickly, as the sideburns student narrowed his eyes.

“……Is this really the best choice?”

“Wait and see.”

Hong Yeon-hwa shot back curtly.

Then, Mo Yong-jun stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

I had already given him a heads-up to “exclude your people from this”.

“Members of this club, I ask you to step back. Relying on numbers rather than one’s own strength to intimidate others. Is that not a disgrace for those who dedicate themselves to the path of martial arts?”

– …That’s a fair point.

– If you put it that way…

A few groups stepped away from the crowd before gathering near Mo Yong-jun.

Half of them seemed convinced by his reasoning, while the other half likely knew him personally.

However, not everyone in the swordsmanship club agreed.

Someone in the crowd scoffed and sneered.

– And who do you think you are to order us around?

– Drunk on your family’s influence, are you?

– We have absolutely no reason to listen to you.

I exchanged glances with Mo Yong-jun.

“The support you have doesn’t seem that strong.”

“We’ll change that over time. This is just the beginning.”

A relaxed, confident smile spread across Mo Yong-jun’s face.

Whoosh.

Before long, Hong Yeon-hwa conjured flames in one hand and issued her final warning.

“Step aside if you’re going to. Settle your debts if you need to. After this, anyone still standing here will be considered an enemy.”

“…….”

At her words, more people withdrew from the crowd, yet the passageway remained packed.

The numbers were overwhelming for just ten of us to handle.

Even better.

I smirked as I eyed the soon-to-be loot crates before me.

Then, I threw out a single word over my shoulder.

“Earplugs.”

“On.”

Seo Ye-in moved first, and the others quickly followed, putting in their earplugs.

Some on the opposing side must have sensed something was off because a handful of them also put on earplugs. But there were fewer than ten of them.

They were the ones waiting at the exit. Did they even have time to properly loot items?

Besides, with the control room disabled, the ghost monsters had disappeared.

Because of that, there likely hadn’t been many items available overnight.

Well then, let’s give it a go.

I reached into my subspace bag and pulled out an item.

A porcelain jar carved in the shape of a banshee’s head with a number etched onto it.

[Screaming Jar (28)]

It was a jar designed to store a banshee’s area-wide debuff.

I had saved it for this very moment.

“Here we go.”

“……!!”

The sideburns student’s eyes widened, but by then, the Screaming Jar had already left my hands.

It traced a perfect arc through the air before shattering against the ground.

But instead of the sound of breaking pottery—

– Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!!

– Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!!

A bone-chilling chorus of screams erupted, shaking the entire hall.

The opposing crowd clutched their ears. Some staggered and others dropped to one knee.

“Ugh…!”

“What the hell …?!”

Their ears were probably ringing, but more than that, their actual fighting power had taken a hit.

They just got hit by a debuff bomb.

A banshee’s scream applied a wide-area debuff.

For each stack, a random skill or trait would drop by one rank.

At three stacks, a C-rank skill would plummet all the way to F-rank.

And the number of stacks accumulated in the jar? A staggering 28.

For a first-year, that meant at least nine or more of their skills and traits had been rendered completely useless.

Simply put,

They were weaker than a training dummy.

Whooosh—

When I extended a hand forward, a whirlwind surged into the midst of the hyenas.

They were helpless, unable to resist as they were swept away—

Boom!

A deafening explosion followed, and an entire group of them vanished on the spot.

Their stats had dropped so drastically that they couldn’t even withstand a single Spiral Burst.

Then came a barrage of lightning bolts, fireballs, and magic bullets. Each time an enemy was grazed by one, they dropped like flies.

Some were even taken down by the chopsticks Shin Byeong-cheol threw.

At last, realizing the severity of the situation, the hyenas scattered in all directions.

– Hey, hey, this is bad!

– Run! Hurry!

– We surrender! We surrender!

Not a chance.

I had given them a chance to leave, but they chose to stay. That meant they had to face the consequences.

It was far too late to change their minds now. I had no intention of showing mercy.

[Activated ‘Octopus Limbs’.]

[Activated ‘Ice Wall’.]

[Activated ‘Ice Wall’.]

Boom!

Thick walls of ice erupted all around, sealing off their escape routes.

They were trapped and quickly cut down by the close-combat fighters, who eagerly tore through them.

Meanwhile, Jo Byeok had charged forward the moment the fight began.

“I got him.”

He returned while dragging along the sideburns student who was completely subdued.

Still, he must have had some basic skills as he avoided the debuff with earplugs. But since his opponent was Jo Byeok, the outcome remained the same.

Like a criminal standing trial, the sideburns student found himself standing on a red magic circle.

Even in this situation, he maintained a relaxed demeanor and made an offer.

“So do I have to pay my ransom now? If you let me go—”

“Not necessary.”

Hong Yeon-hwa immediately activated the magic circle.

Kwooooosh!

A pillar of fire swallowed him whole.

***

The battle ended in less time than it took to drink a cup of coffee.

With no proper exchange of blows, they collapsed like scarecrows, one after another, leaving no room for a prolonged fight.

Before long, the once-noisy battlefield fell silent, and instead of dozens of participants, only items and cheese boxes remained.

Even the hyenas lurking near the exit had secretly stashed away a few.

Greed really is something.

If they knew their skills were lacking, they should have settled for 500 or 1,000 points.

But they got greedy and in the end, lost even what they had.

Of course, it was their own choice, so not even a sliver of guilt crossed my mind.

After gathering all the scattered cheese boxes, we had a total of seventeen.

I distributed them among the student council team.

Naturally, the distribution was entirely up to me.

“I’ll take ten, our team gets four, and the student council gets three.”

“That’s an interesting way to calculate.”

Geum Jo-han raised an objection, but there was a very clear reason for it.

“The jar fee.”

“…Hmm.”

Geum Jo-han shut his mouth.

The others seemed to accept it as well.

If it hadn’t been for the 28-stack Screaming Jar, it was unclear whether we would have won or lost. And even if we had won, the damage would have been immense.

The ten cheese boxes that became my share were handed straight to Mo Yong-jun.

“Here.”

“I didn’t expect something like that. It was an impressive battle.”

“Just got lucky. Anyway, don’t forget.”

“You mean this? I’ll deliver it before the second semester.”

Mo Yong-jun nodded his head readily.

With this, I now had two second-semester season passes, including the one I was supposed to receive from Kim Gap-doo.

I could trade them for other benefits or use them myself.

There was plenty of time, so I decided to think about it at my own pace.

As for distributing the cheese boxes, Mo Yong-jun’s group would handle it. And even if they didn’t, it wasn’t my concern.

Our job was done here.

“Let’s go.”

Leading the group, I headed toward the now-empty exit.

In front of it stood a terminal resembling a scale. As soon as we placed all the cheese boxes on it, a message appeared.

[Starting calculations.]