The Support Ate it All

If the Random Rank Up succeeded, of course, it would be even better.

It would save the two of them the time and effort needed to invest in ranking up some skills.

But realistically, two rank ups are far too few.

Go Hyeon-woo’s luck wasn’t good enough to rely on just one chance.

Seo Ye-in had managed to cheat her way to raising [Bullet Time] to C-rank in one shot, but such luck wasn’t likely to happen again.

Now that most things are at C-rank anyway.

While moving from D to C could still happen with a bit of good luck, moving from C to B was impossible without extraordinary luck.

You’d have to break through near-zero odds.

That’s why I had failed thirty times in a row in the past and why I still saw Inferno Fist at B-rank as a miracle.

The first challenger was Go Hyeon-woo.

He held the Random Rank Up with a bitter smile.

“I’m a little nervous.”

“Don’t worry. If you fail, you can just try again next time.”

“Right.”

Flash!

As soon as Go Hyeon-woo used the Random Rank Up, the scroll began to glow brighter and brighter,

Fwoosh…

Then in an instant, the light faded and the scroll crumbled into ashes before scattering into the air.

[Rank Up has failed]

“Well, that’s how it goes.”

“That’s how it is most of the time.”

Go Hyeon-woo calmly accepted his failure, and a stamp was automatically added to the stamp coupon.

[Stamp Coupon (C)]

▷ Stamp 1/10

Naturally, both of our gazes shifted to Seo Ye-in who was still waiting.

“…….”

As always, Seo Ye-in showed no hint of tension.

She quietly glanced down at the Random Rank Up in her hand before using it.

Flash!

The scroll began to glow brighter and brighter.

Could it actually work?

Considering all the unbelievable luck she had until now, even I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope.

But then,

Fwoosh…

[Rank Up has failed]

▷ Stamp 2/10

The Random Rank Up crumbled into ashes, and another stamp was added.

“That’s unfortunate.”

Seo Ye-in’s expression remained unchanged.

Judging by how indifferent she always was, even during random box openings, it seemed she wasn’t too concerned about the outcome either way.

However, Go Hyeon-woo raised an eyebrow with a surprised expression.

“This is rare. For Miss Seo to fail.”

“Indeed.”

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It seemed that not even her extraordinary luck could guarantee a perfect streak with the Random Rank Up.

Well, if that were possible, it wouldn’t just be luck; it would be a bug.

After all, it would mean gaining second and third-year level specs with just a few Rank Ups.

Still, you never know.

After all, this was only the second attempt.

We would have to wait and see if Seo Ye-in’s success rate would continue to drop to the average or if she would occasionally defy the odds.

***

The brutal odds of the Random Rank Up applied to me without exception.

Fwoosh…

[Rank Up has failed]

[Rank Up has failed]

The two scrolls in front of me turned to dust and scattered.

They were the rewards from defeating the Elemental Gap-doo with Dang Gyu-young but,

Now they’ve been replaced with stamps.

[Stamp Coupon (C)]

▷ Stamps: 4/10

The silver lining was that I only needed one more stamp to reach the first reward.

I figured I could fill it by clearing the next dungeon.

After all, when you open enough random boxes, you’re bound to get a dud sooner or later.

As if reading my thoughts, a message from Dang Gyu-young came in right on cue.

[Dang Gyu-young: Young Monarch~]

[Dang Gyu-young: (Smiling fox emoji)]

[Kim Ho: Yes, noonim.]

[Dang Gyu-young: (Smiling fox emoji)]

[Dang Gyu-young: Come by our room.]

[Dang Gyu-young: Bring the handsome guy.]

[Kim Ho: I’ll be there.]

The “handsome guy” Dang Gyu-young mentioned was Go Hyeon-woo.

They had seen each other a few times and were familiar with each other’s faces, but the fact that she still hadn’t remembered his name showed she didn’t really care.

And the fact that she wanted me to bring along someone she had no interest in meant,

Looks like she’s ready.

It was clearly something related to the underground dungeons.

So, I headed to the thieves club room with Go Hyeon-woo in tow.

“Oh, welcome, customer-nims.”

“Shin-hyung.”

Shin Byeong-cheol greeted us enthusiastically.

Go Hyeon-woo responded with a friendly smile and then respectfully bowed his head to Dang Gyu-young as well.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, make yourselves comfortable.”

The only members left in the club room were Dang Gyu-young, Chae Da-bin, and Shin Byeong-cheol.

It seemed they had sent the others away since something important was about to be discussed.

I glanced around the now somewhat empty club room.

Just a month ago, they had been using discarded sofas and chairs they’d scavenged, but now it looked much more put together.

“You’ve got new furniture.”

“We took it from Kim Gap-doo.”

Dang Gyu-young grinned as she added that they had taken all the furniture from the Martial Arts Club.

Ikea Gap-doo.

I suddenly felt a bit sorry for Kim Gap-doo, but the world of competition is always cold.

It was their side that challenged us with the one-day date coupon on the line, and it was also them who raised the stakes too high.

I let it go and got straight to the point.

“Did you hear from the Swordsmanship Club?”

“Yeah, I talked to Pang Mi-ryeong this morning.”

And of course, their conversation must have been about the B-rank dungeon [Gathering of Villains] that we planned to tackle this week.

Gathering of Villains was a large-scale dungeon that allowed a total of 20 participants.

Fifteen of those spots were taken by a main raid team led by Pang Mi-ryeong, while the remaining five were reserved for us.

The main raid team would conquer the dungeon and its sub-areas using the strategy guide and map I handed over, and we had agreed not to interfere while we just collected small hidden pieces along the way.

Finally, Pang Mi-ryeong’s side had completed all the preparations and provided the exact schedule.

“When is it?”

“Friday evening.”

I had expected it to be either Friday or Saturday.

With a party of 20, the difficulty level was high, and it would take a long time to clear. We would need at least two days, so scheduling it on the weekend was inevitable since weekday classes would get in the way.

Dang Gyu-young continued.

“We’ll send the raid team in first, and then we’ll sneak in after them when the opportunity arises.”

“I’ll leave that part to you.”

Stealth was entirely reliant on Dang Gyu-young’s abilities.

“Then we should start discussing things in detail. So, it’s the five of us entering, right?”

Dang Gyu-young looked over the members in the room one by one to confirm.

There were five of us: me, Go Hyeon-woo, Dang Gyu-young, Chae Da-bin, and Shin Byeong-cheol.

But I slowly shook my head.

“No. Shin Byeong-cheol is sitting this one out.”

“Huh? Kim Ho, what are you talking about?”

Shin Byeong-cheol’s eyes went wide in shock at the sudden announcement.

I calmly added an explanation.

“I’ll tell you now, just so there’s no misunderstanding. I’ll still make sure you get the Ghost Dance as promised. You’re just sitting out of the raid.”

“Oh, well, if that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

Since Shin Byeong-cheol had contributed to the Black Death dungeon raid, his share of the Ghost Dance was already guaranteed.

But that didn’t mean I had to guarantee him a spot in every raid.

Shin Byeong-cheol seemed to accept it, though a bit disappointed, and asked with a click of his tongue.

“Can you at least tell me why?”

“It’s a different situation from the Black Death dungeon.”

In the Black Death dungeon raid, Shin Byeong-cheol had dismantled mechanical traps and guided Go Hyeon-woo to the Black Snake Leader’s secret chamber.

When it came to combat, though, his contribution had been close to zero.

But for the Gathering of Villains, fighting power was the top priority.

I pointed to Go Hyeon-woo and said,

“If you want to join, you’ve got to fight at least at his level.”

“…That’s a high bar. Guess I’ll have to sit this one out.”

Shin Byeong-cheol finally let go of any lingering attachment.

After all, Go Hyeon-woo’s fighting power was almost at the level of a promising student, and that was just the minimum requirement.

He decided it was better to give up his spot to someone more suitable than to stubbornly insist on joining without being able to fight.

Once everything was settled, Dang Gyu-young spoke up again.

“So, with Byeong-cheol out, that leaves four of us. What about the last spot?”

“We’ll have to bring someone from the outside, a mercenary.”

“Sounds like you already have someone in mind.”

“Yes, I have a very capable candidate.”

“Well, I’m sure our Kim Ho will do a great job.”

Dang Gyu-young seemed to let it pass without further question, perhaps because there was a certain level of trust built up by now.

Next, I handed out a stack of thick papers to each person.

It was the strategy guide for the [Gathering of Villains].

It detailed how we should act after entering the dungeon, what to be cautious of, and other specifics.

Since it was a B-rank dungeon, the guide was written to minimize any risks.

As she flipped through the pages, Chae Da-bin asked a question.

“This includes the raid’s strategy guide too.”

“Yes, it’s a comprehensive version.”

“.……”

Chae Da-bin furrowed her brow.

Our roles and the raid team’s role were clearly divided, so she wondered why I would hand out a combined version.

She had figured out my intention.

“….Aren’t we supposed to stay out of each other’s business over there?”

“That’s only if they perform well.”

“Sounds like you’re saying they won’t.”

“There’s a pretty high chance of trouble.”

I had no idea how strong Pang Mi-ryeong’s leadership was or how thoroughly they had prepared for the raid.

But a wise man from a distant island once said this famous line:

–If there are five people in a group, one of them is bound to be trash.

And over there, they’ve got fifteen people, right?

I seriously doubted everything would go smoothly.

I added more explanation.

“Honestly, we can just do our part and leave.”

Once we retrieved the hidden pieces, we could use the emergency escape portal, and our job would be done.

Even if Pang Mi-ryeong’s team asked for help, we had no obligation to assist them.

Besides, the raid team was no pushover.

After all, they had gathered fifteen third-year students, so even if problems arose, they would figure out a way through.

“But in the process, they might have to spend a bit more.”

They would likely need to use their stashed elixirs and magic scrolls.

In that case, even if they earned dungeon rewards, their losses could outweigh the gains.

Dang Gyu-young’s eyes lit up.

“Then it’d be cheaper to ask for our help instead.”

“Much cheaper.”

“Helping them and squeezing out more rewards at the same time?”

“You catch on quick.”

“Hey, I am the president of the thieves’ club.”

As Dang Gyu-young and I were chatting, Chae Da-bin and Go Hyeon-woo who had been watching exchanged their own thoughts.

“We can’t completely rule out the possibility that they’ll handle everything perfectly, but it’s still better to be prepared.”

“It never hurts to have a backup plan.”

So, even though it seemed a bit unnecessary, they decided to thoroughly memorize the thick strategy guide.

Dang Gyu-young looked at me again.

“Now we just need to solve the mercenary issue.”

“I was actually planning to meet with someone about that.”

Who would we bring as a mercenary?

This was a matter that could be answered quickly by setting a few conditions.

The first condition, as I mentioned to Shin Byeong-cheol, was that they had to be at least as strong as Go Hyeon-woo.

The second was that they had to be willing to forgo other rewards in order to obtain the Ghost Dance.

Lastly, they needed to have some backing.

Since sharing the Ghost Dance just by participating would put us at a loss, we needed some compensation in return.

With these conditions in mind, one person came to mind right away.

Someone who had shown great interest in the Ghost Dance from the moment I first mentioned it,

A promising student from the Black Faction who was known by aliases like Jang Sam and Jang Cheol-soo.

Jang Moo-geuk.