The Support Ate it All

After that, we continued exploring the dungeon, putting our faith in our lucky charm.

Then we entered a room lined with armed rabbits.

Shin Byeong-cheol and I looked at Seo Ye-in in surprise.

“A battle room? That’s unexpected.”

“……”

Instead of answering, Seo Ye-in pointed to one of the doors.

She was telling us that we had no choice but to go through this room to get to that one.

Sure, we could probably find a way around, but there was no guarantee it would be any easier.

I nodded my head.

Shin Byeong-cheol tried to slip in a little self-defense.

“Actually, I had a plan too, you know?”

“You were just unlucky, that’s all.”

I dismissed his nonsense without a second thought.

At the same time, I grabbed the Clock Rabbit by the scruff of his neck. I was planning to throw a time-freeze bomb before the fight broke out.

But the rabbit struggled and shouted,

“Kkyuik! Use your words! Talk to me!”

“I figured you wouldn’t listen. Will you do it if I ask?”

“I will! So stop throwing me around already! You horrible human!”

“In that case…”

I let go without complaint, and the Clock Rabbit huffed and puffed before casting [Time Freeze].

Tick— tock— tick—

Immediately, all the charging armed rabbits froze in place.

They weren’t difficult enemies to begin with, but now they were practically scarecrows.

Seo Ye-in took the opportunity to do some target practice.

Ratatatatata—!

She wiped them out in an instant, and we leisurely opened the door and moved on to the next room.

Then we all paused.

“This must be it, huh?”

“A hidden room.”

The room had a cozy interior, with furniture arranged for sitting or lying down to rest.

Compared to the bare, empty rooms we’d passed through so far, the contrast was striking.

On top of that, a few small boxes sat on the table in the center of the room.

[Rabbit Room Random Box (D+)] ×3

Three extra boxes, with a bonus on top.

We’d beaten the odds to make it this far, and this was our reward.

After storing the random boxes, I turned to the group.

“Let’s take a short break here.”

The path to this point had been almost like a highway. It was smooth and fast, with barely any real fights.

Even so, the reason for taking a break was simple:

Need to wait out the cooldown.

The duration of [Enchantment] had ended, and it was currently on cooldown.

If the Clock Rabbit were to use [Time Freeze] again while we were in this state, Seo Ye-in and Shin Byeong-cheol who didn’t have resistance would be frozen in place.

I could handle things alone if I had to…

But it was better not to show any openings to this guy at all.

He had a particularly nasty personality, and even now with a leash around his neck, he was constantly looking for a chance to escape.

So, we decided to kill some time before moving on.

Shin Byeong-cheol laid his chopsticks out in a neat line and started polishing them, while Seo Ye-in flopped down and rested her head on my lap.

“Pillow.”

“Yeah, get some rest.”

She’d been the MVP of this run, so what’s a lap pillow, really?

Seo Ye-in wiggled around to find the perfect sleeping position and fell asleep in less than five seconds.

Looking down at her, I thought to myself:

At this rate, we could handle a higher difficulty.

This dungeon was basically a test run.

The goal was to see whether our “lucky charm” could carry us through and if we were ready to tackle more advanced random-type dungeons.

If anything went wrong, even if I came out fine, my teammates could get seriously hurt.

Still, things have gone incredibly smoothly so far.

Couldn’t ask for a better run.

We’d have to wait and see how things turned out, but I didn’t expect any major surprises.

If all went well, we could trust Seo Ye-in to lead us through the next random-type dungeon too.

Meanwhile, the Clock Rabbit who had apparently pulled it out at some point was busy chomping away at a huge carrot.

I threw a question at him.

“You know, calling you ‘Clock Rabbit’ all the time doesn’t really sound that great. Don’t you have a name or something?”

“Kkyuit, of course not! What’s wrong with ‘Clock Rabbit’ anyway?”

“Well, since we’ve crossed paths, might as well give you a name. How about Chompy?”

“No—!! Way—!!”

The Clock Rabbit shouted. He was practically having a meltdown.

I asked him again.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Kkyiit, how dare a lowly human try to name me? I absolutely will not allow it.”

Guess that hidden boss status came with a lot of pride.

I slowly nodded.

“Alright, I should respect your opinion. I’ll give you a choice.”

“…What choice?”

“Do you want to be Chompy, or Hole-in-the-head Chompy?”

“……”

I asked, channeling my best serious face, and Chompy shut his mouth and looked away.

He didn’t want to rebel, but he clearly didn’t like the name either.

Shin Byeong-cheol chuckled at that.

“Chompy, we’re counting on you again.”

Even in her sleep, Seo Ye-in mumbled,

“…Chompy…”

***

After a little while had passed—

Once the cooldown for assigning roles reset, we started moving again.

We’d already met the hidden boss, the Clock Rabbit, and cleared the bonus room for extra loot.

There was only one thing left.

Just gotta beat the boss.

So we began navigating the rooms in search of the boss room.

As always, we left it entirely up to our lucky charm radar.

“Which way should we go?”

“That way.”

“Is it a door or stairs?”

“Stairs.”

“Left or right?”

“Left.”

Of course, even the lucky charm radar wasn’t perfect.

Facing three doors, Seo Ye-in tilted her head again and again. She seemed uncertain.

I asked,

“What’s wrong? Can’t tell?”

“….…”

Then Seo Ye-in raised both hands and pointed at two doors at once.

It seemed the results were nearly identical.

Still, there had to be at least a slight difference.

After a moment’s thought, I gestured to the side.

“Mr. Shin, come over here for a second.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Tell me what you think. Honestly.”

Shin Byeong-cheol looked at me with a very surprised expression.

“What’s this all of a sudden? You usually just tell me to shut up.”

“Just want to hear your opinion.”

“Hmm… in that case…”

Tensing his whole body, Shin Byeong-cheol examined the two doors back and forth and started pondering deeply.

And finally, he raised his hand and pointed dramatically at the left door.

“That one!”

“Great. Let’s go.”

As if prearranged, the rest of the group spun around and started walking toward the opposite door.

Shin Byeong-cheol was dumbfounded and said,

“Wait, why are you going the other way after making me choose?”

“That’s exactly why I had you choose.”

Whichever one the teahouse owner didn’t pick was likely to be at least a little better.

He might’ve just come along for the show, but he’s surprisingly useful at times like this.

Whenever we ran into a trap room or a battle room, we made use of Time Freeze Chompy.

“Chompy, freeze time.”

“…Kkyuit.”

Chompy grumbled, clearly displeased with the new name, but obediently operated the pocket watch as instructed.

He learned that if he didn’t, I would throw him.

Tick—tock—tick—tock—

With time frozen, we strolled out of the area at our leisure.

After passing through several more rooms,

We entered one where a large, fluffy lump sat in the center.

Sensing our presence, the lump slowly began to stir and soon stood on two legs.

Seo Ye-in looked up at it and said,

“Big rabbit.”

“Sure is. Giant rabbit.”

At some point, we’d made it to the boss room.

Chompy fiddled with the pocket watch and asked,

“Kkyuit, should I freeze time again?”

“No, we’re good.”

Whether time was frozen or not, it didn’t really make a difference.

I had the party stay put while I walked forward.

Staring at the giant rabbit taking slow, deliberate steps toward us, I clenched my fist.

Whoosh,

From deep within my fist, dark crimson flames flared to life and blazed fiercely.

As I hurled it forward with all my might, a storm of fire surged out and engulfed the giant rabbit.

Booom—!

This is what a D-rank boss amounts to.

Most were dealt with by the time I unleashed Inferno Fist.

The difference was just two ranks, but with the strong elemental penalty attached, the destructive power was overwhelming.

It wasn’t like this rabbit was any tougher than other D-rank bosses.

As expected, all that remained after the storm passed were the charred, blackened remains.

Soon, the flames died down a little, and the exit opened. I checked the boxes placed in front of it.

[Rabbit Room Random Box (D)]*3

With the rewards collected, it was time to part ways with Chompy.

Before saying goodbye, I began in a surprisingly gentle tone.

“Chompy, I’ve got one last favor to ask.”

“What now, you mean-eyed human?”

“Combine these for me.”

I smiled and held out the random boxes.

The ones I’d just earned, plus the extras from the bonus room.

Every dungeon has a different way of combining boxes, and in this one, the hidden boss Chompy handles that job.

Chompy’s face twisted in displeasure.

“Kyuit… How in the world did you know that?”

“Is that really important?”

What matters is that if you don’t do it soon, you might end up full of holes.

He shuddered at the sheer ruthlessness with which I squeezed things out. He had no choice but to activate the pocket watch.

Tick—tock—tick—tock—

The rapid ticking echoed around us.

The boxes began to melt and soften and then slowly merged.

One for every three.

[Clock Rabbit’s Random Box (C)]

[Clock Rabbit’s Random Box (C+)]

The quantity had decreased, but the rank of each had gone up by one level.

Grinding his teeth, the creature asked,

“Kyuit, are we done now? That’s the last of it, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Thanks, Chompy.”

“It was filthy working with you. Let’s never meet again!”

“Sure. Take care of yourself.”

I answered with a bright smile and stepped into the teleportation portal with the group.

“Kyuiiit!! Wait! Aren’t you at least going to take the leash off before you go?!”

I heard Chompy’s urgent cry in my ear, but it was already too late.

He’ll manage to get free on his own.

Once we exited the dungeon, Shin Byeong-cheol was scanning the area as he collected the various concealment devices he had set up.

He’d installed them just in case, but as expected, it didn’t seem like any faculty or disciplinary committee members had noticed.

Shin Byeong-cheol lowered his voice and said,

“Let’s move quickly. Follow me.”

We followed his lead toward the ground level.

To avoid surveillance, we had to take a roundabout route, using hidden passages between stairways, but since it was only one level up from D-Floor, the distance wasn’t too far.

Still, since the next dungeon would take us even deeper, the risks would be that much greater.

Soon we reached E-Floor and got into the elevator.

Only then did Shin Byeong-cheol breathe a sigh of relief and ask,

“So, is the next dungeon also going to be something about rabbits and rabbit rooms again?”

“Probably, yeah.”

Just like the Great Eagle Escort Agency was tied in with Great Eagle Escort Mission and Sealing Demon Chests, the Rabbit Room also connects to several dungeons.

And since the Lucky Charm test turned out well, there was no reason not to attempt a high-difficulty chain dungeon.

Shin Byeong-cheol looked over his shoulder with a sympathetic expression.

“Man… so we’re going to see Chompy again too.”

“Of course.”

That’s exactly why I made an effort to bond with him ahead of time. And even gave him a name.

He would probably be even more friendly the next time we meet.