The Support Ate it All

On Monday,

When I entered class, I heard that both Teacher Lee Soo-dok and Teacher Seo Cheong-yong had been absent for a few days.

I guess they went to confront the hostile forces inside the Academy.

My hope was that Teacher Lee Soo-dok and the other staff members would take care of them on their own, but that seemed unlikely.

The opposite is true as well.

If the ones I knew were involved, they would likely choose to retreat rather than fight to the death.

So I dismissed any worries about the teachers getting into trouble.

The duel battle class was taken over by the Monster Ecology teacher, Ms. Cho Ok-soon.

Even though it wasn’t her area of expertise, there was no issue in teaching the first-year students.

However, if I had to point out one problem outside of the lesson itself, it was that whatever she taught, the students couldn’t help but doze off.

Teacher Cho Ok-soon casually looked around the devastated classroom and said,

“This week’s topic for the duel battle class is closely related to ecology.”

Then she wrote one large word on the blackboard and three smaller ones underneath it.

[Environment]

[Friendly], [Neutral], [Hostile]

“The environment can be classified as friendly, neutral, or hostile depending on the situation. So, what would be considered a friendly environment?”

Song Cheon-hye who was barely managing to stay awake raised her hand.

“Would a fortress be considered a friendly environment?”

“That depends on the perspective. Of course, from the standpoint of the defenders, a fortress is indeed a friendly environment.”

The defending side fights from a stronghold. They were protected by sturdy walls and positioned on advantageous terrain.

If an environment provides even a small advantage to your side, it can be considered friendly.

Teacher Cho Ok-soon continued her explanation.

“The environments you’ve encountered in duel battles and strategy battles so far mostly fall under ‘neutral environments’. The circular arena, the deserted island, the forests, the caves—they don’t favor either side. But what about hostile environments?”

What if the deserted island gradually floods or the cave keeps collapsing?

Survival would become the priority over fighting.

“Unfortunately, some dungeons you will face in the future do contain these hostile environments.”

From the perspective of a boss monster that designs or defends a dungeon, it’s more efficient to make the dungeon environment itself disadvantageous to intruders rather than just placing average monsters or traps.

The cunning ones use everything at their disposal.

“Therefore, for the remainder of this semester, we will focus on adapting to these hostile environments.”

The blackboard was wiped clean, and the rules and environment for the upcoming duel appeared.

MAP: [Volcanic Zone]

RULE: [Deathmatch] [Three-Way Battle]

“I don’t need to explain further about [Deathmatch], do I?”

The match continued until one participant was rendered unable to fight or until a declaration of surrender was received.

Considering that the volcanic zone was a hostile environment,

The one who lasts the longest wins.

“[Three-Way Battle] is literally a rule where three participants are divided into three teams and compete against each other.”

1 vs. 1 vs. 1.

If a traditional one-on-one duel ended with a winner and a loser,

A three-way battle resulted in a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

The first participant to fall was ranked 3rd, the next 2nd, and the final survivor claimed 1st place.

Points were lost or gained accordingly.

“I’ll now take questions. Is there anything you’re curious about?”

“…….”

Teacher Cho Ok-soon looked around the room, but no one raised their hand.

The rules weren’t difficult enough to warrant any questions.

After a brief pause, Teacher Cho Ok-soon continued in a gentle tone.

“The good news is that this week, you only need to participate in two matches.”

Since midterms had just taken place last week, some students might still have been feeling dead tired.

The human sloth sprawled across the desk was a prime example.

Therefore, with just two matches assigned this week, they were being given a slightly easier schedule.

When Teacher Cho Ok-soon wrapped up the class,

I just checked the newly arrived side quest.

[Sub Quest: 10th Week Duel Battle]

▷ Objective: Complete 2 duel matches. (0/2)

▷ Deadline: ~ midnight on Sunday.

▷ Reward: Varies based on rank.

In previous duel battle side quests, better rewards were given for more victories,

and in the three-way battles, the more first-place wins, the better the rewards.

So my goal was obvious:

First place in both matches.

And the best strategy was to finish these early.

“Hey, Kim-hyung.”

Go Hyeon-woo seemed to have the same idea as me and he approached me to suggest we head to the arena together.

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in had been lying face down since morning without moving an inch.

She looked like she might stay that way until evening, so I lightly tapped her arm.

“Hey, young miss. How about getting up? If you want to sleep, go back to the dorm.”

“…….”

“You slept all weekend, didn’t you? Still tired?”

“Not enough…”

“Not enough? What’s not enough?”

When I asked that, Seo Ye-in who was half-asleep barely lifted her head and opened her eyes just a tiny bit.

And then she slowly reached out and gently tugged on my pinky finger.

“Pillow….”

“There’s a pillow at the dorm, isn’t there? The tiger plushie.”

“No….”

Her gray hair swayed ever so slightly from side to side before she flopped back down.

What she meant by “no” I couldn’t tell.

Go Hyeon-woo glanced between the two of us and tried to gauge the situation.

“Then, I’ll head out first.”

“No, we’ll go together.”

There was a limit to how much I could indulge her whims.

Besides, it was a duel battle, and we were only assigned two matches.

It wasn’t necessary for Seo Ye-in to keep pace with us for the matches.

So Go Hyeon-woo and I left the classroom and left the sloth behind.

A weak voice called out behind us.

“Pillow….”

***

There were fewer students in the arena than usual.

It seemed they were waiting to challenge after seeing just how hostile the [Volcanic Zone] was in the replay.

It won’t make much of a difference.

Whether they watched the replay or saw it firsthand, it was the same thing.

It wasn’t worth spending 100 points just to preview the map.

Of course, if they did, it would be a nice bonus for me, Go Hyeon-woo, and the others who played the matches early.

As I scanned my student ID, the terminal began searching for a suitable opponent.

[Kim Ho 608 points]

Go Hyeon-woo glanced at my score and remarked, “Kim-hyung, you’re climbing the ranks at an alarming pace. Already at 600 points.”

“And you’re almost at 900, aren’t you?”

“Haha, not much further to go.”

Except for the sticker matches, I had an undefeated record.

Go Hyeon-woo had won every match except for a couple, so our scores which had been in the 300s and 600s had steadily risen to the 600s and 800s.

Of course, with higher scores came stronger opponents, so it would only get harder to keep up the winning streak.

As Go Hyeon-woo and I exchanged small talk, the matchmaking didn’t take long.

When I saw the names appear on the scoreboard, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

All these names seem familiar.

When I stepped onto the teleportation magic circle and entered the arena, a wave of hot and stuffy air hit me immediately.

The main causes were likely the volcano nearby which constantly spewed black smoke and ash, and the river of lava that encircled the arena.

Soon, two more people appeared not far from me.

Like I had guessed from the scoreboard, both were familiar faces.

[Kim Ho 100%]

vs

[Kang Hee-chan 100%]

vs

[Son Hyeong-taek 100%]

Kang Hee-chan was the longsword warrior who had paired with Cha Hyeon-joo during the midterms.

Cha Hyeon-joo and Kang Hee-chan had launched the first attack and were easily defeated, then Seo Ye-in took him out with a single sniper shot.

Son Hyeong-taek was one of the mentees of the toad senior, Kim Gap-doo. He had faced Song Cheon-hye in the Crystal duel battle where he was utterly crushed.

He tried hard to run but got caught in the end.

However, it seemed he had already shaken off that embarrassing memory, as Son Hyeong-taek looked at me with burning determination in his eyes.

Kang Hee-chan also fixed his gaze on me with a flash in his eyes.

“I’ve always wanted to face you again if I ever got the chance; looks like I’m in luck.”

“Are you sure it’s luck?”

“Of course, this time it’s not a pair match but a duel battle.”

He must have thought our victory during the midterms was all thanks to Seo Ye-in.

Well, it’s true that Spiral Burst isn’t very noticeable.

On the other hand, Magic Bullets are highly visible and definitely painful.

“…….”

Son Hyeong-taek kept his eyes locked on me, then made a suggestion to Kang Hee-chan.

“Kim Ho bothers me more than you do. What do you think?”

“I agree.”

After exchanging glances, both of them stared at me simultaneously.

It looked like an unspoken alliance had formed.

Their plan was to take me out first and then decide who would be first and second.

“How dirty of you.”

At this point, I had no choice either.

I had to play dirty too.

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

Boom!

As soon as the match started, a volcano erupted and the ground shook violently.

Fiery projectiles shot up into the sky, while streams of lava began to flow downward.

It wouldn’t be long before either one reached this place.

And then, Son Hyeong-taek and Kang Hee-chan,

“Got you!”

Simultaneously kicked off the ground and charged at me.

Their unspoken agreement was clear; they intended to take me out first.

Kang Hee-chan who reached me first swung his longsword horizontally, then diagonally, and then horizontally again.

I evaded by stepping back, twisting my body, and retreating further.

Then I quickly moved a few more steps to the side,

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

Because Son Hyeong-taek who had just arrived unleashed a barrage of wind fists.

“That guy was always a sneaky one.”

In the Crystal duel battle, it was understandable since his opponent was Song Cheon-hye, but even in this 2-on-1 situation, he was still throwing in those annoying little attacks.

It seemed like this wasn’t his first time doing it either.

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

He sent out the wind fists with perfect precision. Though he was careful not to interfere with Kang Hee-chan’s attacks.

It was the mark of a seasoned expert at this kind of dirty play.

Their coordinated attack was quite tricky, so I had to quickly retreat with cautious steps.

However, there was only so far I could retreat.

The battlefield was completely surrounded by a river of lava.

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

As I continued to dodge Kang Hee-chan’s sword strikes and Son Hyeong-taek’s wind fists, I felt a burning heat on my back.

A quick glance over my shoulder revealed that the bubbling lava was just a few steps behind me.

Thinking they had finally cornered me, Kang Hee-chan wore a triumphant smile on his face.

“This is the end!”

“W-Wait a second!”

“There’s no such thing as a wait in a fight!”

I urgently raised one hand, but he was so excited that he slashed his longsword even more fiercely.

Just when a long wound was about to be carved into my upper body,

I slid past Kang Hee-chan and moved swiftly using Thief’s Step.

In an instant, our positions were reversed and I lightly placed my hand on his back.

Sensing the imminent danger, Kang Hee-chan’s face stiffened.

“W-Wait a second!”

“There’s no such thing as a wait in a fight!”

Booom!

Compressed wind exploded and Kang Hee-chan’s body was hurled forward.

He plunged into the river of lava with a splash.

“Aaaargh!”