The Support Ate it All

When ice and flame meet, it was natural for the ice to melt, but the flame also tended to lose some of its vigor.

However, flames imbued with Aqua Flame were an exception.

They held an overwhelming elemental advantage over water and ice.

Just like now.

Fwoooosh —

Sparks began to land and ignite all over the ice fortress.

The flames melted and evaporated everything they touched without showing any signs of dying out.

They would probably burn until not even the foundation stones were left.

Naturally, the White Wolf Tribe descended into chaos.

– Whimper!!

The unlucky ones hit directly by the flaming feathers turned into living fireballs, flailing wildly.

Even those who weren’t hit began to flee en masse before the fortress could collapse.

Among them stood out a particularly large werewolf. It was none other than the dungeon’s boss monster, the chieftain of the White Wolf Tribe.

– …!

He glared at us with murderous intent.

Then his gaze met mine—

[‘Poisoning (C)’ status ailment has been inflicted on the target.]

[Cooldown: 00:00:59]

He was caught in my Mutual Destruction Eye.

“He’s coming, isn’t he?”

Either way, it’s a countdown to death. Might as well end it quickly, right?

Maybe he understood what I meant, because the White Wolf chieftain let out a deafening roar—

– Kraaaaaagh——!

Then, leading all the wolves and White Wolf Tribe members, he began a full-on charge.

I watched him and gave the command.

“Let’s get ready.”

“Understood.”

Seo Ye-in replied briefly before she pulled out an assault rifle and flipped a cooking pot over her head like a helmet.

Everyone had already discussed and agreed on their roles.

Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in would handle the chieftain, while Hong Yeon-hwa would focus on ranged attacks.

As for me, I would move flexibly, protecting Hong Yeon-hwa as needed.

– Kraaaaaagh—!

The chieftain roared once more and charged forward on all fours like a mad beast.

He was clearly furious. He even ignored his subordinates and sprinted ahead alone.

At the same time, his entire body was enveloped in a pale blue aura that was nearly white, signaling that he was preparing an ice-type skill.

“……”

Watching this closely, Hong Yeon-hwa gave her wand a small twirl.

Pillars of flame erupted to intercept the chieftain.

Booooom—!

But he wasn’t fazed in the slightest. With sharp agility, he weaved through the flames in a zigzag and avoided them with ease.

Then, with a mighty leap, he landed in front of Go Hyeon-woo and began slashing with both front claws in succession.

Go Hyeon-woo calmly deflected and blocked the strikes.

A slight smile appeared on his lips.

“Now things are starting to get interesting.”

Ratatatatata!

Then Seo Ye-in supported him with a burst of magic bullets, but the White Wolf chieftain nimbly leapt to the side, then forward again, aiming to slash at her.

He’s fast, no doubt about it.

The chieftain was an E+ rank boss monster, with overall stats slightly higher than a standard D-rank monster like an ogre.

What set him apart was that most of those stats were focused on speed.

And he could use skills. At least to a basic degree.

Crackle—

The ground suddenly froze, and large icicles shot up from below.

Then they exploded, sending sharp shards flying in every direction.

Clink!

Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in dodged them with relative ease, but the real problem was the lingering cold.

Seo Ye-in gave a slight shiver and glanced toward me.

“Fire…?”

“Not yet. You know why.”

“Right…”

For now, we had to stick to our assigned roles.

Seo Ye-in, perhaps just speaking out of habit, resumed her battle with the chieftain.

Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa was focusing all her remaining strength on Fire Pillar.

Red magic circles began appearing one by one on the ground, steadily increasing in number.

As a result, the White Wolf Tribe had approached close enough. After glancing briefly in my direction, as if seeking permission, Hong Yeon-hwa activated all the magic circles at once.

Booooooom!

The entire area ahead was engulfed in towering pillars of flame.

The White Wolf Tribe charging at the front was likely erased on the spot.

Though the rear group still remained, Hong Yeon-hwa’s spell wasn’t over yet.

Whooooosh…

From each pillar, a writhing movement stirred, and three-headed serpents were born.

They began spewing flames toward the enemies.

Boom, boom, booom!

Some of the hydras in between breathed long streams of fire like flamethrowers. Probably a result of enhancements gained from recent trials.

One way or another, the firepower was more than enough to wipe out the White Wolf Tribe.

So we left the rest to the hydras and joined the boss fight.

“Kurrrgh!”

The chieftain, apparently tireless, was still rampaging back and forth.

He’d lunge at Go Hyeon-woo or Seo Ye-in, swipe at them with his claws, retreat while scattering icicles, then pounce again to repeat the attack.

“He’s all over the place.”

Of course, this grasshopper-like behavior was about to end.

After Hong Yeon-hwa cast several Fire Pillars in quick succession—

Whooooosh!

The ice and icicles covering the ground melted away in an instant.

Immediately, the chieftain turned his head this way and leapt toward Hong Yeon-hwa.

“Krrahh—!”

“Yeah, no, not this way.”

I’d been waiting for this.

When I stepped forward to meet him, I cast Wind Force—

Whoooooosh!

Compressed air exploded, sending the chieftain’s body flying backward.

Though he managed to land on all fours, he seemed to lose his balance, staggering in place for a moment.

The party didn’t miss the opening that was revealed.

Slash.

Go Hyeon-woo dashed past the chieftain, slashing at his legs, and Seo Ye-in’s magic bullets hit in rapid succession, erupting into bursts of blue.

Boom-boom-boom!

“Guh…!”

Even though he’d been leaping around just moments ago, the White Wolf Tribe chieftain was now on the verge of collapse after just one solid round of attacks.

Having put nearly everything into speed, his endurance left much to be desired.

As he stumbled, Seo Ye-in approached and grabbed the pot she’d been wearing on her head.

Then, without hesitation, she swung it down hard.

“No more icicles.”

Clang!

The chieftain of the White Wolf Tribe collapsed flat onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa’s hydras had already burned away the remaining enemies.

After looking at the scene for a while, everyone offered words of praise to Hong Yeon-hwa.

“This time, Miss Hong deserves the most credit.”

“She did most of the work. Great job.”

“Fire warm.”

“I-I mean… it was just a good matchup for me…”

Hong Yeon-hwa tried to play it humble, but as the compliments kept coming, her lips gradually curled into a pleased smile.

She may act like it’s nothing, but she clearly enjoys being praised.

Rumble…

At that moment, a rumbling sound echoed in our ears.

With the boss monster defeated, the dungeon had begun to collapse.

At the same time, the exit revealed itself and next to it were several small boxes.

[White Wolf Tribe Territory Random Box (E+)] *6

Being a large-scale dungeon, there were a whopping six random boxes.

The low rank was a drawback, but I had already thought of a solution for that.

Looking around at the party, I spoke.

“If we open them here, we can combine them. The rank will go up, of course.”

“How many do you need to combine into one?”

“Three E-rank boxes make one D-rank.”

The problem was that would leave us with only two boxes, which could complicate distribution.

That’s why I wanted to get the party’s agreement in advance.

Go Hyeon-woo replied.

“That actually works out. I was planning to give my share to you anyway, Kim-hyung. I’ve already received so much from you.”

Back at the start of the semester alone, I’d given him Gongcheong Oil and a season pass for the Special Training Room.

He owed me a lot in both material and practical terms, so this was his way of gradually repaying the debt.

Seo Ye-in, as usual, wasn’t particularly interested.

And Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t take long to answer either.

“Combining them… sounds fine to me.”

“Great. I’ll open them now.”

Right then and there, I opened two of the random boxes.

A biting cold aura burst forth, quickly enveloping the remaining boxes.

Moments later, what appeared were two boxes transformed into chunks of ice.

[Chief’s Frozen Random Box (D+)] *2

But this isn’t the end.

A hidden piece connected to “Frozen” items.

If melted with magical fire, the restriction can be lifted or the rank enhanced.

So I handed the random boxes to Hong Yeon-hwa.

“Could I trouble you once more?”

“U-Uh, sure… Just a moment.”

Having dealt with similar things before, Hong Yeon-hwa quickly summoned a flame in one hand.

The ice encasing the boxes melted rapidly, and the item names changed.

[Chief’s Rare Random Box (C)] *2

C-rank random boxes, from an E-rank dungeon.

A reward far too generous for the effort involved.

I spoke to the group.

“Let’s open them a bit later. For now, let’s head out.”

One by one, we stepped through the teleportation portal and exited the dungeon.

On our way back to the surface, I casually checked the recently uploaded replay listings.

I wanted to see if Song Cheon-hye’s party had completed their run.

And as expected—

Not there.

Which meant they were still inside the dungeon.

While our dungeon-clearing speed was definitely faster than most students, we were so much faster that they couldn’t even compete.

That’s another wish ticket saved up.

When we stepped out of the dungeon, the sun was still high in the sky. It was broad daylight.

Since it was still early and no one looked particularly tired, we decided to wrap things up with the random box opening before heading our separate ways.

We sat in a circle on a quiet patch of grass, and I looked around at everyone before speaking.

“It’s that time again. The box-opening season. First one of the semester, right?”

Clap-clap—

Seo Ye-in welcomed the moment with a rare round of finger claps.

Taking that as a good sign, I held out the box.

“Want to do the honors?”

– Shake shake.

She shook her head and, surprisingly, pointed at Hong Yeon-hwa.

I asked to confirm.

“You want her to go first?”

“Mhmm.”

I handed the box to Hong Yeon-hwa and asked,

“Up for the challenge?”

“Mhmm, I’ll give it a try.”

She looked a bit nervous. After taking the random box, she hesitated for a moment.

Then, after a deep breath, she slowly opened the lid.

Fwoosh!

A burst of cold air swept over the group.

It was a rare effect, which meant we could expect something good.

And just as expected, the item revealed was:

[Rank Up (C)]

“That’s an amazing pull.”

“Congratulations, Miss Hong.”

“Th-Thank you…”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s face lit up with joy.

Since she had contributed so much in this run, no one had any complaints about her taking half the rewards.

Now, only one random box remained.

I turned to Seo Ye-in again and asked,

“Ready?”

– Shake shake.

But Seo Ye-in shook her head again and this time pointed at me.

Guess I won’t be getting lucky off her today.

Well, I suppose there are days like this.

Thinking that, I opened the box lid without hesitation.

Flash!

[Random Box Enhancement Scroll]

An item that adds a bonus to a random box, increasing the chance of a high-grade item appearing.

A little underwhelming for a C-rank, but not a total bust.

Just then, Seo Ye-in gently tugged at my sleeve.

“That one.”

“Which one?”

“The later box.”

For a moment, I wondered what she meant by “later box” but then it hit me. I dug through my inventory.

[Even More Chaotic Old·Sapphire Temple Random Box (B)]

“This one?”

“The later box.”

“So the time has finally come?”

Seo Ye-in slowly nodded her head.

Her gray eyes sparkled.

“The now box.”