Separate from the fact that I’d messaged Song Cheonhye, the faculty in charge of the underground floors had probably realized pretty quickly that Black Serpent Fang had collapsed.

Because of that, the climb back up got a little rougher, but we still made it to the surface without being caught all the way to the end.

“Good work, everyone. Should we disband for now? Rest a little, then meet up again?”

I was asking because the [Bond] trio had beaten down a B-rank boss, and the infiltration squad had gone through more than a few big and small fights themselves, but unexpectedly, the group looked completely fine.

They exchanged a short glance, and then Dang Gyu-ri answered for the rest.

“We’re not that tired. Since we’re already here, let’s just finish everything.”

“That would be cleaner.”

All we had left, anyway, was a [Mirror Image] test run and a random-box opening ceremony.

I nodded readily, then moved with the group to a quiet spot.

Soon, with everyone watching, Seo Ye-in stepped forward.

“...?”

Her head tilted slightly to the side. It was probably because this was her first time casting [Mirror Image] directly.

Up until now, it had always been summoned automatically along with the quest.

Still, it seemed she caught on quickly enough. She focused, and with a burst of sound, light began projecting outward in all directions.

WHOOM—!

The hologram Seo Ye-in struck a pose the instant she appeared.

“I have returned.”

At that, Dang Gyu-ri, Han Somi, and Go Hyeonwoo each tossed in a comment.

“So now we get to keep seeing you?” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“Double all the time!”

“A most welcome development indeed.”

Seo Ye-in, on the other hand, was staring at Fast-Luckless with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Then, the moment their gazes met—

POP!

The hologram burst into light and scattered away.

It looked like she had canceled the skill and reverse-summoned her.

Question marks practically popped up over everyone’s heads.

Han Somi in particular had just been about to walk over, so she seemed twice as confused.

“Huh? Why?”

“Laying down the law.”

Rarely, a firm resolve shone in those gray eyes.

Well, [Mirror Image] shared a lot with its caster, but there were also plenty of independent parts to it. If she wanted to sort out the traffic between them, right now—just after learning the skill—was the best possible time.

The others must have thought the reasoning made sense too, because they decided to watch.

Soon, with another burst of light and sound, the hologram projected again and Fast-Luckless reappeared.

Then Seo Ye-in declared to her,

“I’m the original.”

So she’d apparently been holding onto what happened back in Black Serpent Fang.

Even if it had started as a joke, it was true that the situation had gotten awkward.

Even so, Fast-Luckless still tried to rebel.

“I want to be the original too.”

POP!

She vanished again with another little burst.

She was surprisingly ruthless at times like this.

After waiting about ten seconds, Seo Ye-in cast [Mirror Image] again and repeated the exact same words.

“I’m the original.”

At the same time, she made a gesture like she was about to press an On/Off button. Meaning, if Fast-Luckless got cheeky, she’d switch her off again at any time.

Naturally, Fast-Luckless looked extremely dissatisfied.

“Very underhanded.”

“Privilege of the original.”

“Dictator original. Tyrant original. Bad original.”

“That’s me.”

Even with all that abuse pouring down on her, tyrant sloth only looked more confident.

At that, Fast-Luckless seemed to think for a moment before launching a counterattack.

“If I’m not here, combat power gets cut in half.”

In other words, if they treated her carelessly, then when a fight broke out, she intended to be uncooperative.

Even so, Seo Ye-in answered without a hint of concern.

“Already strong.”

“...?”

“I’m a super genius.”

POP!

Fast-Luckless was reverse-summoned again, then re-summoned about ten seconds later.

“I’m mad.”

“Me too.”

“Stubborn mule.”

“You too.”

Just like she said, Fast-Luckless’s stubbornness was nothing ordinary either.

Even with the On/Off button in the other side’s hands, she refused to bend very easily.

The two kept bickering, and the hologram went on projecting over and over as [Mirror Image] was repeatedly summoned and reverse-summoned.

Watching closely, Dang Gyu-ri furrowed their brows.

“...Doesn’t she look like she’s having way too much fun?”

“Seriously.”

Officially, this was “laying down the law,” but in reality, the mood was more like she was just happy she’d made a friend.

The proof was that up until now, the gap before re-summoning had never once gone over ten seconds.

If she’d really hated it, she would have dismissed her entirely or waited a long while before bringing her back.

Their way of playing is a little violent, though.

For some reason, it reminded me of a gray-furred cat.

The kind that would flatten another gray-furred cat without hesitation and loaf right on top of it.

Fortunately, before long, tyrant sloth and Fast-Luckless seemed to arrive at their own compromise.

“Mutual respect.”

“Respect the original.”

“If the original is respected, then mutual respect.”

“I’ll review that positively.”

“Cooperative relationship.”

“Confirmed.”

I’d been planning to step in if I had to, but apparently that wouldn’t be necessary after all.

Feeling a little satisfied, I said,

“Since the traffic control is done, shall we move on to the next thing?”

“Box opening.”

“So how’s your luck today?”

“Luck bursting out.”

“Bursting out.”

Seo Ye-in and hologram Seo Ye-in’s eyes both sparkled at the same time.

She had said she’d deliberately held back when opening the raid-battle random boxes, so it looked like she really had been stockpiling her luck.

Even more satisfied, I started taking out the spoils from Black Serpent Fang.

First, the clear rewards that had dropped were—

[Black Serpent Fang Random Box(B)]*6

Since it was a mid-to-large dungeon with a recommended size of two parties, there were as many as six of them.

And that still wasn’t the end of it.

I also brought back what we looted from the storage room.

[Lord’s Black Chest]

[Lord’s Secret Manual Box(B)]

[Lord’s Elixir Pouch(C+)]

[Unknown White Wooden Box]

The [Lord’s Black Chest] was a hidden piece I’d gotten last year too when I sneaked in, and it guaranteed one B-rank ingot box and one [Black Serpent Fang Random Box].

Put it all together, and there were more than ten random boxes alone.

But it’d be a waste to open them like this.

Lucky Charm luck wouldn’t stay up forever.

From experience, once she hit two or three jackpots, it would plunge sharply.

One way of thinking was that since it recharged with time, we could just open the rest later.

But then random boxes from the next dungeon would already be waiting by then.

It was best to deal with them as quickly as possible.

Of course, I’d already thought of that before the raid too.

They can be combined.

The things I’d brought back from the hidden storage room could act as a kind of catalyst.

The number would go down, but the rank would go up.

And if Lucky Charm luck went off on top of that, there was a chance of getting something even better.

Still, since these were rewards everyone had earned together, asking for consent came first, so I looked around at the group and said,

“The distribution might get complicated. Anyone want their share right now?”

If anyone did, I’d been planning to separate theirs out first, but no one raised a hand.

Smiling faintly, Go Hyeonwoo said,

“You may leave out my share. To begin with, I already owe Brother Kim no small debt in both material and intangible ways. If anything, this duel only deepened that debt further.”

He’d settled one long-standing score, fought a life-or-death battle against a Demonic Cult elder-level master, and gained a major realization regarding the sacred relic.

Originally, his life should have been in danger, yet he had walked back out in perfectly restored condition.

None of those things could really be measured in value, so he was saying he’d remove himself from reward distribution altogether.

Dang Gyu-ri and Hong Yeonhwa each added a comment like it was no big deal.

“You’ll handle it fine. Besides, we’re [Bond]ed anyway.”

“Even if one person takes the bulk of it....... in the long run, I think everyone benefits.”

Seo Ye-in seemed to think along the same lines too, and gave a small nod.

When it came to distribution, they were giving me complete trust.

I thanked them with a glance, then turned to Han Somi last.

“You don’t need to read the room, so if you want your share now, just say it honestly. We can only keep moving together if nobody has any complaints.”

I slipped the words keep moving together in there very casually, but Han Somi didn’t seem to notice.

She didn’t hesitate about the rewards at all, either.

“No complaints!”

“For real?”

“For real!”

“Good.”

I nodded, then started combining the random boxes in earnest.

First, the one that only takes a single random box.

I gathered together [Lord’s Secret Manual Box] and [Black Serpent Fang Random Box(B)], then opened the lid—

FWOOOOOSH!

A random box giving off a somewhat ominous aura was completed.

[Demonic Cult Elder’s Secret Manual Box(B+)]

Next, I gathered two random boxes together with the [Lord’s Black Chest] and the [Lord’s Elixir Pouch].

This was the main reason I’d asked for the party’s consent in advance, because it meant giving up the guaranteed metal ingot and elixir.

The rank of the combined box would rise, but what came out of it would also become uncertain.

Even so, this time it’s worth gambling on.

Lucky Charm had gone so far as to confidently guarantee it.

FWOOOOOSH!

[Black Serpent’s Black Chest(A)]

Lastly, what remained was the following.

[Black Serpent Fang Random Box(B)]*3

[Unknown White Wooden Box]

The wooden box was only about the size of a fist. It looked shabby, and on top of that, it was so old that what had once been white had yellowed with age.

At a glance, it didn’t inspire much anticipation, and the item it dropped was usually pretty awkward too.

But as you could guess from the word white—

It belonged to White Serpent.

Just like the previous two, it could also be combined.

FWOOOOOSH!

[White Serpent’s White °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Chest(A+)]

In summary, I had taken ten things that had originally been around B-rank and merged them into one B+, one A, and one A+.

With the group now watching even more intently, I respectfully offered the random boxes up to Lady Lucky Charm.

“I’ll be in your care again today.”

“Luck bursting out.”

Seo Ye-in accepted them with complete confidence.

Soon, her gaze flicked back and forth between the random boxes and Fast-Luckless, and then she handed over the [Black Serpent’s Black Chest] as she said,

“Alternating.”

“One each.”

As befitted a mirror image, Fast-Luckless apparently had Lucky Charm luck too.

No matter how bad her luck was, it still had to be better than mine.

Before long, Seo Ye-in brought the [Demonic Cult Elder’s Secret Manual Box(B+)] close.

Seeing that, I casually tossed out a remark.

“Starting the engine with the low one?”

“Vroom vroom.”

“Sounds good.”

“......”

Seo Ye-in stared down at the box for a few seconds, then opened the lid just like that.

HSSSSSSS.......

A pungent greenish-brown smoke poured out and filled the area.

It looked like it ought to be loaded with poison, but it was only an effect. It couldn’t actually affect anyone.

Just as expected, the smoke vanished in an instant, and in the place where the random box had been, a single martial-art manual lay there.

[Skillbook - Skull Demon Poison Claw(A)]

Skull Demon Poison Claw.

It was the Black Serpent Fang Lord’s signature martial art, the very one he had used throughout the boss fight.

The rank was high, and the power was respectable too.

The problem is the side effects.

Like any demonic art, the more you learned it, the more demonic energy would eat into you. On top of that, your fingertips and nails would be stained black by poison.

Meaning it showed way too much to use in secret.

And since it was an outright prohibited skill, the moment a ban wave hit, you’d be exposed immediately.

From a student’s perspective, it was a martial art that was difficult to learn in all sorts of ways.

It’s awkward for me to learn personally, too.

I could smooth over the side effects with ★All-Poison Immunity★, but my class was different to begin with, and I already had a pile of skills and traits that were much better.

Practically speaking, it was just dead weight.

Even so, it has its uses.

There was an item sleeping in my inventory that could turn dead weight into treasure.

[Skillbook Fairy Summoning Scroll]

If I used it in an exchange, it carried quite a high value.