The Support Ate it All-Chapter 568: Finals Week 17–18 (23)

I had just entered Group A’s base together with my teammates.

From the opposite side, I could hear shouting, explosions, and the clash of steel.

Looks like they arrived almost at the same time as Jeong Jin-myeong.

Good start.

Our plan was to ambush them, and on top of that, press them from both sides.

It would split their force and pile on the confusion.

It looked like the plan worked about halfway, but Group A’s response was fairly calm.

It was the last night, after all—they had their nerves on edge too.

Item cards flashed everywhere.

Looks like they planned to start by dumping [Discharge] and whatever else they had.

FZZZT......

The ones blocked by [Protection] scattered like ash, but some still hit.

Every time that happened, three members from our group or Group C got wrapped in a halo of light and launched back to their base.

PAPAPAPAT!

But that was the end of their item cards.

Just like we expected, they had around twenty at most, so they ran dry in an instant.

Group A members started engaging in earnest.

From here on, they probably thought it would be pure strength against strength, but—

I haven’t used mine yet.

When I pulled out two cards and held them up, a few of them curled their lips like they were sure it was [Discharge].

“Go on. Use it.”

“Yeah. That’s the plan.”

CRACKLE,

But the moment it triggered, more than ten people froze solid.

It was [Freeze].

They’d only find that out after finals ended.

Top prospects and disciplinary committee club-level fighters seemed unaffected thanks to [Protection].

But in a situation like this, that actually backfired—because the party members who would’ve protected them were disabled, leaving them alone.

RATATATAT!

Cha Hyeon-ju stepped through a rain of mana bullets.

The moment they finally caught their breath and tried to counterattack, a baptism of flame poured down.

WHOOSH!

“Y-You bastards...!”

Cha Hyeon-ju glared across with bloodshot eyes.

Hong Yeon-hwa and Seo Ye-in took that look without blinking and tossed out one line each.

“You said we’d see.”

“We’re seeing it now.”

RATATATAT—!

The muzzle kept spitting blue fire in bursts.

On one side, Geum Joh-an and Iseulbi were being hit with a coordinated assault from other disciplinary committee club members.

Iseulbi hurriedly summoned ice spikes and hurled them.

“How did B and C end up...?”

“Sorry, Seulbi! That bad person over there told us to!”

Han So-mi swung her sword with an awkward little grin, and Song Cheon-hye glanced at me and backed her up.

“That’s right. That man is the mastermind.”

KRA-KOOM!

I stood there taking the full brunt of my teammates’ slander.

It wasn’t like I was doing nothing—because I was protecting Park Nari.

And when a swordsman came charging from somewhere, I smacked them away with wind force.

BANG!

“...!”

Park Nari flinched hard, then, after confirming the danger was gone, continued chanting.

Fresh green light spread out, evenly granting our allies healing and buffs.

In the middle of that, Beomi, who’d been prowling nearby, let out a low growl.

“Grrrr.”

I turned my head along with it, and Moyong Jun was walking slowly toward us.

They hadn’t drawn their sword, like they had no intention of fighting.

When our eyes met, they sighed and finally spoke.

“...I thought you might come out like this, but it really did come to that.”

“It’s a three-way brawl. Nothing that happens should be surprising.”

“True enough. Knowing that, and still responding poorly—that was my mistake.”

Moyong Jun said that, then calmly surveyed the battlefield.

The situation already reeked of defeat.

Those who hadn’t been hit by [Freeze] were getting focused down, taking heavy damage or collapsing—and now the ones who’d thawed out were getting hit.

Even with their full strength, it would’ve been rough, but they’d been picked apart one by one.

There was no way an answer could come out of that.

A self-mocking smile tugged at Moyong Jun’s lips.

“Senior Zhuge gave me advice once. That sometimes, you have to know how to act boldly.”

“......”

“If you’d pressed Group C harder when you used [Observe], you could’ve avoided this kind of disaster.”

For example—if you’d squatted on their main base and beat down everyone who re-entered one after another?

Second place would’ve been guaranteed.

“But I couldn’t go that far, by nature. I knew the risk and still left it alone.”

“I don’t think it was a completely wrong choice, considering reputation.”

What happened during finals would be talked about for a long, long time.

Just like Sagong Uk branded Go Hyeon-woo as a traitor, if you did something vicious like setting up camp in another group’s territory, it would probably poison your reputation afterward.

By that logic, I am a terrorist, but I didn’t care about reputation in the first place, so it didn’t matter to me.

I used to let it go in one ear even when people called me a coward.

Moyong Jun nodded slightly.

“In the long run, perhaps. But the fact remains that I failed badly this time. A habit of approaching everything defensively... I’ll need to correct it.”

“Being too predictable isn’t good either. Take it slow.”

“That’s what I intend.”

Just then, we heard something collapsing, and we both turned our heads at the same time.

The Crystal Tower was caving in, collapsing in a heap.

Moyong Jun closed their eyes with a quiet murmur.

“This time, we lost.”

*****

After Group A’s base was turned halfway into ruins.

Just as promised, I handed crystals over to Group C.

Jeong Jin-myeong grinned.

“I was wondering what you’d do if you didn’t give them to us, but you actually did?”

“You have to keep this kind of promise.”

Like I told Moyong Jun, you have to think about what comes after finals too.

I don’t care much about reputation, but it’s better to avoid putting a crack in your credibility.

It could cause problems later when dealing with places like the Swordsmanship Club and White Magic Club.

“Anyway, thanks. Because of you, we avoided third place. We saved face too. I feel a little sorry for Moyong Jun, though.”

“Someone had to take third.”

“Well... that’s true.”

Jeong Jin-myeong shrugged.

Then, in a slightly playful tone, they asked,

“There’s still some time left. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Want to grab Moyong Jun again and go hit you guys?”

“You can’t break through. You used all your cards.”

With the battle just now, all the [Protection] cards were burned up, so every time [Discharge] hit, people would get sent flying.

And there was still one [Freeze] card left back at the main base.

Jeong Jin-myeong must have followed the same line of thought, because they smacked their lips.

Then, after thinking for a moment, they asked,

“...Wait. Was this why you told us to team up first? To make us burn cards?”

“That was one reason.”

“...Feels like I got played. Whatever. We got second, so it’s fine. See you outside.”

“Yeah.”

We watched Group C head off, then returned to our main base.

I’d talked big to Jeong Jin-myeong, but even if the odds were infinitely low, letting your guard down was asking for it.

So we agreed to stay awake and keep watch until finals ended.

Naturally, Seo Ye-in looked unhappy with that decision.

“...Sleepy.”

“Sleep after it’s over. Back at the dorm.”

“Now.”

“Don’t start whining.”

Seo Ye-in stared at me with clear dissatisfaction.

Then she stretched both hands toward me.

“Carry me.”

“If I do, you’ll fall asleep right away.”

“I won’t.”

“If you fall asleep, can I wake you up with this?”

When I cast the ice-white bullet, cold energy gathered at the tip of my index finger.

After a few seconds of silence, a not-very-confident answer came back.

“...I won’t.”

“Are you sure?”

“...A little?”

“I’ll be watching.”

When I offered my back, Seo Ye-in rested her chin on my shoulder and looped her arms forward.

Judging by how limp she sagged like laundry, she wouldn’t last long.

Meanwhile, Han So-mi was staring at the two of us with envy.

Then she subtly signaled at Go Hyeon-woo with her eyes.

“That?”

“...Miss Han.”

That was basically an answer all by itself, so Han So-mi continued, imitating Go Hyeon-woo’s voice.

“I shall explain everything! But it is still far! Too far! For Miss Han! For she is a training dummy for martial arts cultivation!”

“...It can’t be helped. Sometimes you have to show it with actions.”

Go Hyeon-woo let out an awkward smile, then turned his back to Han So-mi and continued.

“Just a moment.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.”

I could practically feel Han So-mi’s sulk gauge, which had been skyrocketing, drop straight down.

Before Go Hyeon-woo could change his mind, she hurriedly climbed onto his back.

“Heehee.”

“I’d like to take things step by step, if possible. I’d appreciate your understanding.”

“Okay!”

“Then let’s get down now. It seems you’ve confirmed enough.”

At that, Han So-mi’s face hardened like she’d never smiled once.

“A little more.”

“...All right. Just a little more.”

Song Cheon-hye was also sending envious looks.

She stared at the swordsman couple for a while, then her gaze shifted to the gray laundry draped across my back.

Only then did she manage her expression.

“...So that’s it. Good work.”

“You worked hard too. Being the leader couldn’t have been easy.”

“I only did the basics. Getting first place was entirely thanks to you.”

“You’ve gotten nicer lately. You compliment a lot.”

“I always compliment a lot, you know?”

Song Cheon-hye answered primly.

Then she added one line, casually.

“If you’d just follow the school rules, I could compliment you even more...”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“...I wasn’t expecting it.”

Song Cheon-hye snapped her head away and stared somewhere else.

Then she lifted her gaze slightly.

“The sun... is coming up.”

Beyond the horizon, the morning sun was slowly rising.

The sunlight dyed not only the volcanic zone, but even the base on the hill in bright light.

As we all watched it together, I felt like my vision was turning white.

WHOOOOSH!

The next moment, we were standing outside the dungeon, in a huge hall.

Finals were finally over.

Soon the interior became loud enough to resemble a marketplace.

Before entering, students had been split into three groups following their assigned team, but now those boundaries were gone, so everyone gathered wherever and talked over each other.

“Hey, you hit me with [Discharge].”

“Honestly I wasn’t aiming for you, but you went flying.”

“Whose idea was it to hit the main base on the last night? That guy’s a devil.”

“Hey, at least you guys had it better. We got hit by the dragon-tail soldier. It came in and wiped everything.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t a joke.”

Around Moyong Jun, Swordsmanship Club members were gathered, offering encouragement.

“Don’t blame yourself too much. Is it all your fault?”

“It’s not like you die because your grade drops a little.”

“It’s just one finals. You’ve still got two years left.”

Even after failing, the mood was that it wasn’t a big deal.

It was probably thanks to the goodwill Moyong Jun had built up.

Meanwhile, in one corner of my vision, a notification message was printing.

[Sub-Quest: Finals Week 17–18] (Completed)

▷Condition: Failure upon retirement

▷Objective 1: Defeat competitors (63/20)

▷Objective 2: Defeat dragon-body soldiers

Dragon-scale soldiers: 41

Dragon-tooth soldiers: 24

Dragon-turtle soldiers: 14

▷Objective 3: Destroy an opposing team’s Crystal Tower (2/1)

▷Objective 4: Team placed #1 (Completed)

The finals sub-quest tended to have bigger rewards than most weeks.

And a challenge was added on top of that, and we’d exceeded the objectives by a wide margin.

As a result, the rewards being paid out were beyond what I expected.

▷Reward: Rank Up (B), Fixed Pin, Blank Trait Scroll