The Support Ate it All-Chapter 546: Finals Week 17–18 (1)

We narrowed down a few candidates for Kkyu-Kkyu’s alias, but we decided to keep thinking about it until re-enrollment.

My mind might change later, or something new might come to me.

I spent the remaining PvP week the usual way at the training center—

Running Seo Ye-in’s [Trap Toss] practice in parallel with Song Cheon-hye’s control training.

Right now, it was the latter.

BZZZT—

A lightning hummingbird chased a translucent wind-steamed-bun at point-blank range.

It zigzagged past rows of cone-shaped obstacles, went up and down hurdles at various heights, and slipped through rings placed here and there without much trouble.

But with the finish line right in front of it, it caught on an obstacle by a tiny margin.

BZZT-KRAK!

Song Cheon-hye immediately cast the next hummingbird.

Electric current gathered fast above her palm.

“......”

She glanced over this way out of the corner of her eye—like she had something she wanted to say.

She hesitated, like she was debating whether to bring it up, then turned her gaze away as if she’d decided not to, and finished forming the hummingbird.

I figured if it was time, she’d say it on her own, so I didn’t pry.

The hummingbird and Sylphid went back into the obstacle race.

Song Cheon-hye had to focus with everything she had, but I had enough breathing room that stray thoughts crept in.

So I decided to use the momentum to do a quick checkup.

The [Core] issue is settled for now.

By completing the Ring of the Great Sage, we massively accelerated mana accumulation.

And on top of that, we shared it through [Bond], so it was basically like everyone had a highway straight to S-rank.

Now I should invest in spec upgrades again.

Before I set direction, I pulled up my status window.

[Skills - General]

▷Inferno Fist (B)

▷[Clear Mirror Calm Water] (B)

▷[Amplification] (A)

▷Imbue (B)

▷[Hardship]

▷[Bond][3/3]

▷Time Allocation (A)

[Skills - Martial Arts]

▷Ice Shard Bomb (B)

▷Mystic Sound Jade Demon Finger (B)

▷Ghostly No-Shadow

▷[Grafting Branches] (S)

[Skills - Magic]

▷Wise Armor

▷★Blink★ (B)

[Skills - Wind]

▷Wind Force (A+)

▷Wind Barrier (B+)

▷Spiral Explosion (B+)

▷Sylphid (B+)

▷Copy - Skill[4/4]

Feather Step (B+)

Space Fold (D)

Ice Wall (B)

Vendetta (S)

[Traits]

▷[Core] (A+)

▷Sovereign (A)

▷[Blessing of the West Wind]

▷Elemental Resistance (S)

▷Retro Recovery (S)

▷Shared Trait[3/3]

Distortion

Ten-Thousand-Poison Immunity

Ring of the Great Sage

▷Copy-Trait[3/4]

(None)

Time Resistance (S)

Pain Delay

Chain Explosion (S)

[Equipment]

▷Deep-Rooted Crow Tree (S+)

▷Stormcloud [Puffy-Puffy] Bracelet (A+)

▷Cloudstepper (A)

It’s about time to let go of Inferno Fist.

I could feel its expiration date approaching.

Thanks to the raw power unique to penalty Skills and its relatively high rank, it had been a sturdy workhorse up to now—but as my enemies’ level rose, its usefulness would only keep dropping.

Even that temporary storage facility proved it.

In an ambush, in a cramped space, it at least worked a little.

But everything else just dodged it.

A tank at the same level wouldn’t even find it hard to endure.

That was the limit of a B-rank Skill.

Soon it’ll probably get outclassed even by wind magic.

If [Spiral Explosion]—or Seo Ye-in’s [Destruction Gale]—reached A+ rank, they’d be able to substitute Inferno Fist’s destructive power.

Unless I amplify it to S-rank. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

But doing that every time was too much of a burden.

You’d have to stack [Amplification] as a baseline, and then even mess with [Pain Delay] and Retro Recovery—each with a three-day cooldown.

I figured it was a better choice to invest that into Mystic Sound Jade Demon Finger, whose expiration date got extended as a combo tool—or into Vendetta.

For that reason, if I ever summoned the Skillbook Fairy, odds were high I’d use Inferno Fist as trade material.

Next: defensive Skills.

Dealing with wide-area attacks was still homework.

I’d gained considerable defense with Sylphid Armor, but whether that alone would let me survive what A-rank and S-rank could pour on me was an open question.

I needed something more reliable.

Like Grafting Branches.

A brutal effect that didn’t just divert the direction of an attack, but could even send it back.

Ultimately, what I was aiming for was the higher-tier Skill above that.

Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.

Thanks to the Sword Empress, I’d already secured one component, and I planned to track down the rest little by little.

After that, it’s better to focus on utility.

My proper role was a supporter, after all.

When my party members’ combat power was relatively low, I had no choice but to handle offense—but now that people were crossing into A-rank one by one, there was no need.

Securing stability and adding force where it mattered was the more efficient choice.

And just hitting things all day isn’t fun.

Wasn’t the point of a game to make the other side mad?

Putting it all together:

Clean up Inferno Fist.

Complete Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.

Focus on utility—maximum annoyance.

So where do I get the next Skill?

The answer was already decided.

I’ll take it as finals rewards.

*****

Monday.

A storm of emotions was whipping through the student body.

The relief and regret of “it’s really ending,” mixed with determination and tension to finish finals properly.

Either way, everyone entered class rigid with discipline, and Lee Soo-dok—rarely—looked satisfied.

“Now your eyes finally look usable. Good. I’ll explain the finals.”

MAP:[Fire Dragon’s Nest]

RULE:[Survival][Three-Way Battle][Crystal Tower][Strong Enemy]

“I assume you’re familiar with the Survival rules by now.”

Inventory would be sealed, and equipment you could bring in was limited to two items.

Then Lee Soo-dok projected a large map on the board.

Lava flowed in all directions from a volcano at the center.

“As you can see, it’s an active volcano. It erupts irregularly, so be careful.”

Just as they’d been foreshadowing for a while, it looked like a hostile environment was entering the mix.

Next, the north, southwest, and southeast corners of the map were marked A, B, and C.

“Next is the [Three-Way Battle] rule. You’ll be randomly placed at one of three bases and take the finals there. So what do you do at a base?”

The map faded, and several small screens floated into view.

Facilities to handle basic living—like cafeterias or tents—along with things usable in battle, like automated turrets or totems that wrapped barriers around you... and other special-effect installations as well.

“You work together to install facilities, and develop them. But the evaluation criterion is only one.”

The small screens vanished, leaving only a tower made of crystal, flashing brightly.

“How high you build the [Crystal Tower].”

A student cautiously raised a hand and asked.

“What effect does it have?”

“None—other than being used in the final settlement. And as you’ve probably guessed by now.”

Lee Soo-dok pulled out a fist-sized crystal from inside their clothes.

“The installation and modification of all facilities—including the tower—requires crystals.”

“......!”

“You’ll need to judge well. Reinforce your base, or invest in stacking the tower. For reference, it’s a relative evaluation. If you stack it half-heartedly, you’ll finish in third place.”

“...Is it possible to destroy another team’s tower?”

As if they’d been waiting for that question, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Lee Soo-dok lifted the corner of their mouth in a sinister curve.

“Of course. If it breaks, you start from the beginning. Any more questions?”

“......!”

“If not, we’ll move on. Crystals operate the same way as the PvP and raid weeks you’ve gone through so far.”

You took empty crystals hidden around the map to a sanctuary and charged them.

But you had to stay within a certain distance, and they were highly visible.

Meaning you had to shake off enemy interference, then haul them back to your base to finish the job.

“Lastly, I’ll explain the [Strong Enemy] rule. You likely wondered why this place is called [Fire Dragon’s Nest].”

A dragon-shaped icon appeared at the top of the volcano.

Another screen showed a dragon covered in red scales turning the region into a sea of fire.

Lee Soo-dok added an explanation.

“Flame Emperor Dragon. As the name suggests, it’s a fire dragon type. It’s also the one your Principal personally subjugated a few years ago.”

......

Students showed uneasy expressions like, No way.

Were we about to relive the misery from Craft Haven?

Fortunately(?) Lee Soo-dok scowled and continued.

“It’s in a dormant period here. A truly regrettable thing, isn’t it.”

......!

The students exhaled a collective sigh of relief—but it was still too early.

“Of course, the drake soldiers are moving very actively. They have to protect their master.”

The screen now showed volcanic-region monsters, and among them—alien presences mixed in.

They looked different in many ways from Wild General Dragon’s drake soldiers, since they used parts of a fire dragon’s body as materials, but you could tell at a glance they were still dragon-tooth soldiers and dragon-turtle soldiers.

“The difficulty is roughly similar to Craft Haven. If you’ve sufficiently trained coordination attacks, you won’t be taken out as helplessly as before.”

And this time, finals didn’t end just because you went down once.

After a waiting period, you could re-enter—so letting yourself get taken down on purpose was also an option.

“However, item cards are scarce, and the weight on combat-type rewards is low, so I recommend avoiding high-tier individuals.”

As they said that, Lee Soo-dok looked at me.

Because they knew I’d killed a dragon-wing soldier at Craft Haven.

The look in their eyes seemed to ask: Can you do it again this time?

It’d be hard.

Back then, I’d scraped up item cards like crazy and finished it with an S-rank [Piercing Spear], but this time I couldn’t do that.

And since the merit wasn’t even that big, I planned to avoid them as much as possible.

So when I shook my head, Lee Soo-dok’s brow twitched.

Looks like they were hoping I’d beat it down.

They clicked their tongue quietly and continued.

“It starts in two days. You should use the preparation period well. Your affiliation will be notified by message soon, so check it. That’s all.”

The moment Lee Soo-dok finished class and left the room, a short message arrived.

[Group B]

I asked Seo Ye-in and Go Hyeon-woo as they came up on either side of me.

“What group?”

“B.”

“B.”

“Comrades.”

While we lightly high-fived, Go Hyeon-woo smiled and continued.

“I am Group C. It is regrettable, but in some ways, it may be for the best. A chance to face the two of you, no?”

“If we end up meeting.”

“I will look forward to it.”

Right after that, Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi came over too—

Firing questions like a machine gun.

“What group are you? Where are you? C? Are you C? I’m C!”

“You are in the same group as Miss Han.”

“Ohhh!”

Song Cheon-hye looked at the giggling sword-couple like she was jealous.

Then she glanced my way and asked.

“Are you C too?”

“What if I am?”

“Then, well... I’m C.”

But despite her calm tone, she looked deeply disappointed.

Probably because she got a different group.

I grinned.

“Actually, I’m Group B.”

“...Really?”

“I said I am.”

“That’s good. Because we can work together.”

Song Cheon-hye looked off somewhere else like it was nothing, but the corner of her mouth was faintly tilted upward.