The Support Ate it All

Chapter 52: Dismantling Junk Items (1)

The top use of student points was to purchase battle replays of other students,

Followed by acquiring auxiliary tools for use in strategy battles,

And finally, gaining access to restricted training areas like the special cultivation room.

Typically, allocating points to just these three areas left little to spare and hardly allowed for exploration of other options.

However, if one had enough points,

The range of items available for purchase in the student store greatly expanded.

Weapons of course were included in this expanded range.

Go Hyeon-woo checked the back of his student ID and answered.

Ive managed to save up about 5,000 points.

Thats more than enough.

He had been pouring all his points into the special cultivation room until I secured a season pass for him and yet he had already amassed that much.

Starting off as the stop-scorer in the strategy battle had given him some fame, and while his overall skills were not at the level of a promising student, he was close to that level.

There were likely a great number of people who made it a point to consistently watch his replays.

Anyway, how best to use these 5,000 points was the question.

While I said this with the intention of buying a weapon, there was something more important still.

Lets start by buying three [Heat Catalyst Reagents].

They were priced at 1,000 points each so the total was 3,000 points.

As the owner of the points, Go Hyeon-woo naturally questioned their purpose.

What are these for?

Theyre crafting materials.

More precisely, they were materials for magical engineering.

Two of the reagents were for an item that would soon be necessary for Go Hyeon-woo,

And the third one is my fee.

I declared this confidently.

I needed to make a living after all.

Upon hearing this, Go Hyeon-woo did not hesitate for even a moment before spending 3,000 points.

He handed me the items and turned to ask me.

Is this sufficient for your labor? It seems far too little for the effort youre putting in, Kim-hyung.

Looking at it objectively, a thousand points were almost nothing compared to the value of the item I was to craft for him.

I shook my head at Go Hyeon-woo who seemed eager to offer more.

Later. Im in no hurry.

The immediate issues to address were Go Hyeon-woos after all.

His budget had significantly shrunk from 5,000 to 2,000 points and he would be tight on points.

From my perspective, rather than indulging in petty greed now, it would be more beneficial to demand a larger share of future dungeon rewards.

I quickly sifted through the catalog and selected one E-rank and one D-rank one-handed swords for him.

With the remaining points, these would be your best buys.

Understood.

[Guards Longsword (E)]

[Escorts Longsword (D)]

If durability was the priority, nothing could beat this Guard Series.

The similarity to the F-rank iron swords in terms of feel was also a plus.

Perhaps because of this, Go Hyeon-woo seemed to adapt just by swinging the longsword in the air a few times.

Not bad.

Try one from E-rank upward. See how long they last.

There are two more duels left for me today.

Besides the two matches we had together today, he needed to fight in two more random queue matches to fulfill this weeks quota.

I immediately dissuaded him after sensing he was ready to queue up right then and there.

No, lets call it a day. Youve pushed yourself enough.

I can still fight.

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Sure, you can fight. But what if your opponent turns out to be Jang Sam again?

.!

The likelihood of facing not just Jang Sam but other promising students was far from slim.

Even in his peak condition, victory was uncertain, and in his current state, defeat was almost guaranteed.

Realizing this, Go Hyeon-woo gave a small cough.

Ahem Perhaps I got a little carried away at the thought of trying out a new sword.

You can duel tomorrow. It wont be too late. Focus on recovering for today.

I understand. That would be wise.

After receiving treatment in the infirmary, I scheduled time in the special cultivation room to refine my core.

I sent Go Hyeon-woo away.

And then I read the notification message that had arrived earlier.

[Side Quest: 3rd Week Duel Battles]

Objective: Complete 4 duel matches. (4/4)

Deadline: ~ midnight on Sunday.

Reward: Varies based on the number of wins. (4/4 wins)

[Accessory Selection (C)]

Acquire a C-rank accessory of your choice.

Thanks to a clean streak of four consecutive wins, I was awarded a C-rank accessory selection as a reward.

Since I had already decided on what I wanted, it took me just a few seconds to make my choice.

[Acquired the Black Mithril Band (C).]

[Black Mithril Band (C)]

Extremely high mana conductivity

A thin metal bracelet emitting a black sheen.

It was an item crafted into a band shape using high-purity black mithril.

It boasted extremely high mana conductivity which was a feature that might sound ambiguous to some.

Wearing the bracelet provided subtle benefits like aiding in core cultivation and speeding up mana recovery.

However, it was this very mana conductivity that led me to choose this over other C-rank bracelets.

Though the effects seemed minor now, I knew they would soon provide benefits beyond the C-rank level.

After putting on the Black Mithril Band,

My next task involved using up 3,000 points worth of materials.

I made my way to the magical engineering workshop.

I had secured permission from president Bong Jae-seok to use Workshop No. 1, but given the current time the space would be so full that there wouldnt even be room to step in.

Since I had been granted an exception due to the club presidents authority, I felt somewhat obliged to be mindful of the other members perceptions.

It seemed right to wait until around midnight when it would be less crowded.

Of course, idly passing the time until then didnt suit my temperament.

So I planned to finish all the necessary preliminary preparations in advance.

In Workshop No. 4.

***

Workshop No. 4 remained unchanged just as it had been on the first day, a few days ago, and even today.

And there was only one person inside as usual.

It was the senior who had traded the 10x10x10 cube blueprint with me.

When he felt someones presence, he momentarily stopped his work and turned around.

He didnt say anything but his expression seemed to say, You again?

As a junior, I took it upon myself to bow first.

Hello.

Ah, yes, hello.

He responded somewhat reluctantly before returning to his task.

He made it obvious that he preferred to be left alone while focusing intently on his work.

Since President Bong Jae-seok had reprimanded him over the cube blueprint matter, he must have felt uncomfortable interacting with me.

On the other hand, I wasnt one to dwell on such matters.

My only goal was to accomplish what I came for in Workshop No. 4.

Lets start with copying.

[Activate Copy-Skill.]

[Registering the targets skill Magical Engineering (B) in the slot.]

Copy-Skill[2/2]

1. Magic Engineering (B)

2. Thiefs Step (B)

I boldly sent off the [Great Hand Seal] skill I copied from Ilgong.

Since melee attack skills are abundant and can be acquired later, I wasnt concerned about parting ways with it.

Next, I approached a corner piled high with junk items.

According to Bong Jae-seok, I could rummage through and use anything I wanted as long as I submitted the blueprints later on.

There were a few hidden pieces buried within but nothing as significant as the [Cube of Life] anymore.

Digging further seemed to lack merit.

My reason for sifting through the junk was different.

I need to gather materials.

The materials I received from Go Hyeon-woo were just a fraction of what I needed.

To be precise, only the parts that required points had been covered.

Expecting a fully functional item to emerge just by inserting a catalyst would be wishful thinking.

Naturally, I needed to collect more materials.

And currently, this place was the only option to acquire them without any great cost.

The items making up this pile of junk were mostly failed projects abandoned midway for various reasons.

In other words, the parts that had been under construction were often surprisingly intact.

And if you carefully dismantled those intact parts, you could salvage materials from them.

Even the members of the magic engineering club were aware of this fact.

So what was the reason for the constant accumulation of this clutter day after day?

It was because the task of dismantling was incredibly laborious.

It began with figuring out what part of an item this half-finished machine mass was, what materials were used in it, and at which stage it was abandoned.

Then came crafting the appropriate magical engineering formula and meticulously dismantling it, which felt much like untangling a knotted thread.

To some, it seemed better to just find new materials than to bother with this hassle.

Of course, Im an exception.

For someone who had whipped up the [Cube of Life] in just a few days, this was hardly a chore.

To my eyes, it appeared as though there was an abundance of materials scattered around.

I would carefully select only the useful ones and take them to my workbench.

As I cast my magical engineering, my hands glowed with a soft blue light.

With that, I manipulated the tools on the workbench to dismantle the failed projects one by one.

I have done this more than once or twice so my movements were fluid and without hesitation.

To an outsiders eye, it might have seemed as if I was haphazardly waving tools around and items were magically falling apart on their own.

On one side, I piled up usable materials, while on the other, I stacked what was clearly non-recyclable trash.

The more I repeated the process, the more the clutter diminished and two different piles grew taller.

..

In the midst of this, I felt a gaze from behind me.

Without needing to look, I knew it was that third-year senior sneaking glances my way.

Even before our somewhat awkward relationship, he was a fellow magic engineer.

He must have heard the rumors about me completing that 10x10x10 cube.

The fact that I managed my tasks swiftly and under the radar meant the rumors hadnt spread widely, but for a magic engineer, creating the [Cube of Life] was nothing short of legendary.

And as I was the object of this legend, it was only natural that my diligent tinkering with the junk items would spark curiosity about what grand thing I might be creating next.

Perhaps because he saw himself as a senior, he seemed to restrain himself for a while but eventually curiosity got the better of him and he edged closer.

His approach was incredibly cautious. Perhaps because he was influenced by some warning from Bong Jae-seok.

What are you making?

Im disassembling. Just gathering some materials.

That annoying task?

Even annoying tasks must be done.

Contrary to what I said, the work was not annoying at all.

The more the outcome outweighed the effort put into a task, the more motivated I became.

With items springing forth with each touch, such effort was trivial.

May I take a look?

Yes, thats fine.

He asked for permission before examining the materials.

At least he wasnt completely devoid of manners.

In truth, I could have directly stored everything in my inventory but piling them up was partly intended to show off.

He looked at the materials and exclaimed in admiration.

These came out so clean from disassembly? Theyre like brand new?

Given that the materials had been subjected to magical engineering twice, during both creation and disassembly, one would expect at least some minor damage on them.

Yet, these materials showed almost no flaws.

They were in such good condition that they could be used in crafting other items without any penalty to performance.

The expertise of a veteran who had nurtured numerous S-rank magical engineers was evident in the disassembly I performed with my own hands which was nothing short of perfection.

The senior repeatedly cast envious glances my way.

Although he coveted the materials before him, the thought of disassembling junk items himself was daunting.

He knew that with his level of magical engineering skill, not only would it take a significant amount of time, but there was also a high risk of damaging the materials during the process.

For him, there was no choice but to watch with a watering mouth.

It seems the mood is ripe now.

I had intentionally displayed the intact materials to invoke his envy.

It was time to move on to the next step.

As I casually operated the magical engineering tools I broached the subject.

Senior-nim, would you like to trade for some of these materials?

These?

Yes. Ill give you a good deal.

That would be great for me.

The senior was delighted by my offer.

With an abundance of quality materials in sight, there was no reason for him to decline when I offered to trade them for a low price.

What do you need?

A [Cooler], [Central Shaft], [High-Tensile Wire], and

As I listed the items I needed, the senior provided what he could and picked a few materials from the table.

Combining what I had acquired,

Ive solved one part.

This was the first among the set of items I intended to create in the magical engineering workshop.

I had gathered all the materials needed to make the item for Go Hyeon-woo.

I got some materials with the points from Go Hyeon-woo, covered some parts with the junk I had disassembled, and finally filled a few gaps through the trade with the senior.

Now, I just needed to take the materials to Workshop No 1 when a spot was available and start the crafting process.

Hey, but this Isnt Bong Jae-seok going to say something about it?

The moment of delight at having easily secured the materials was short-lived as the senior began to show signs of unease.

It seemed he was worried about repeating the past incident where he had gotten into trouble with Bong Jae-seok.

I got permission for everything. There shouldnt be any problems.

Still I cant help but feel uneasy.

Its not like were doing anything wrong. If youre really worried, why dont we just get permission for this as well?

Should we do that? Should I send a message then?

The senior sent a message to Bong Jae-seok on the spot.

Where he gave a brief summary of the events that had just happened.

And not long after,

Bang!

Bong Jae-seok burst through the door of Workshop No. 4.