The Support Ate it All - Chapter 169: Weapon Master (3)

Go Hyeon-woo’s ice mage had experienced three deaths in total, two of which were caused by Seo Ye-in’s thrown hand axe.

Whoosh—crack!

Of course, Go Hyeon-woo wasn’t the type to hold a grudge over something like this.

When his skull was split by the first hand axe, he was dumbfounded, but after being defeated in a proper fight, he accepted the outcome and nodded his head.

“Hmm, it’s my loss. Just like Kim-hyung said, my body is weak.”

“That character is especially fragile. It’s a complete glass cannon.”

“It seems so. I’ve come to understand that even mages have their own hardships.”

After that, Go Hyeon-woo didn’t continue playing.

He had already lost 900 points, so he was reluctant to waste more points even in the casual play mode.

 

Additionally, since the game was almost over, he put it down without hesitation and watched what we were doing.

 

And now that the game was nearing its end, Seo Ye-in was,

Crushhh!

[Barbarian-Seo 25K/1D/0A]

[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/22A]

What made this possible was her genius ability to learn and master anything at a frightening speed, the occasional cooldown of bullet time, and my sly support with poison darts.

She had nearly transformed into a wrecking machine.

She charged through everywhere without hesitation and swept away everything in her path.

The other participants were also talented students from the Dragon Slayer Academy, but none could possibly stop Seo Ye-in.

While playing the mini-game, the occasional chatter among them eventually turned into constant talk about the Barbarian.

– What’s that?

– How is his control so good?

– Is it a bug? Is this guy playing in his original class?

– Hey, he’s coming, run!

Even though they each experienced death at Seo Ye-in’s hands several times, instead of getting angry, they were actually in awe.

On the other hand, I—the poison dart shooter next to her— received nothing but complaints.

– Ugh, those poison darts are so annoying.

– He keeps pestering from the side.

– Seriously, I almost had the Barbarian too.

– Ah! I can’t see again!

I calmly accepted all the “praise”.

The game was meant to frustrate the opponent.

Swoosh!

Soon, when the time limit expired and the game ended,

[Barbarian-Seo 31K/1D/0A]

[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/27A]

Seo Ye-in and I had far exceeded our original goal of 20 kills and 15 assists.

It’s a shame there’s no bonus for overachievement.

After placing the [Rank Up (E)] reward in my inventory, I was about to leave the game center when,

“Hey, wait a minute.”

Some second-year seniors called out to us.

No doubt, they were the ones who participated in the game earlier.

“…”

When Seo Ye-in saw the second-years approaching in a group, she quietly hid behind me.

It was the so-called Kim Ho shield.

Seeing this, the approaching seniors hesitated and then started bickering among themselves.

– Hey, you scared her away.

– Why are you scaring a first-year?

– It’s probably because you’re ugly.

– Honestly, I’m better looking than you.

A brief “Who’s the Ugliest” contest was about to start, but a senior with a handsome face stepped forward as a representative.

“Sorry, it’s really nothing much, we just wanted to ask something.”

“Yes, senior.”

“By any chance, were you two the Barbarian Duo?”

“Yes, she’s the Barbarian, and I’m the Poison Dart Shooter.”

When I pointed to Seo Ye-in and then myself in turn, the seniors couldn’t hide their surprise and whispered among themselves.

– The girl is… the Barbarian?

– And the boy is the Poison Dart Shooter?

– Isn’t it the other way around?

– The Barbarian was really intense, though.

Seo Ye-in’s pretty and quiet appearance didn’t match the image of a Barbarian slicing through enemies on the battlefield.

But what could we do? It was the truth.

The handsome senior also seemed a bit shocked, but he tried to maintain his composure as he asked the next question.

“I see, so what were your original classes…?”

“Gunslinger and Mage.”

Once again, the seniors were in an uproar.

– She was a Gunslinger, but she played the Barbarian so well?

– She really did throw those hand axes accurately. I got hit twice.

– Maybe it’s because you’re a scarecrow?

– Are you picking a fight with me in every word? Want to go again?

– Bring it on.

Leaving the chaotic seniors behind, the handsome senior nodded his head.

“It’s just hard to believe, so I had to ask. Thanks for telling us.”

“No problem, senior-nim.”

“The Poison Dart Shooter irritated me a bit too, but it means you captured the character’s essence well. Both of you played impressively.”

“Thank you.”

This senior knew what he was talking about.

My evaluation of the handsome senior improved significantly.

If we crossed paths later, I thought we could build a good relationship.

Perhaps because that was all the questions they had, the seniors waved and were about to leave when one of them suddenly asked,

“So, what’s the relationship between you two? You look like her manager.”

“Something like that.”

At the moment, calling me “a manager” seemed to fit reasonably well.

However, Seo Ye-in who had been hiding behind me the whole time peeked over my shoulder.

“…Butler?”

“I’m not a butler.”

I sternly denied it.

Trying to make me a butler all sneakily like that…

Seo Ye-in tilted her head in confusion.

“You’re not a butler?”

“Absolutely not.”

If I did, I would end up in the same situation as Ahn Jeong-mi.

I firmly refused.

Seo Ye-in stared at me for a moment, then took out [Rank Up (E)] from her inventory and held it out to me.

“.……?”

“I said no.”

---

After relieving our stress at the game center,

We wandered around various places in the downtown area and spent our time together.

After wandering for quite a while, the sun began to set, and Seo Ye-in’s charge level which was at 80% in the morning was almost depleted.

“…….”

“Hey, go get some sleep.”

“Mhmm…”

I sent Seo Ye-in who had started to doze off while walking back to the dormitory. Go Hyeon-woo wanted to look around the market a bit more before heading in, so I let him go.

I then made my way to the meeting place with Dang Gyu-young right on time.

And there, what I encountered was,

“……”

Dang Gyu-young leaning crookedly on the bench.

She looked somewhat sullen.

Her lips were slightly pouted.

There was only one thing I could think of, so I approached her and asked,

“Is it not going well? The black market.”

“No? It hasn’t even properly started yet.”

The tone of her voice was colder than usual.

Just yesterday, she had warmly greeted me before we parted ways, so why was she suddenly upset?

Another strange thing was that Dang Gyu-young remained silent.

She was normally straightforward and honest. She would usually voice out her complaints right away, so what could be stopping her now?

I couldn’t think of anything, so I decided to postpone solving the issue for a bit.

“Let’s eat first.”

Fill our stomachs, and if her mood improves with the fullness, I would ask her again then.

Just like the previous preliminary field trip, I thought we could go around the food stalls, so I pointed to a nearby hot dog stand.

“How about that, hot dogs?”

“……”

It seemed that Dang Gyu-young thought this couldn’t go on, so she made a deflating sound with her pouting lips, brushed off her clothes, and stood up.

Then she said after walking ahead,

“What hot dogs? Let’s go, I made a reservation.”

“Reservation?”

When I walked behind her and asked that, Dang Gyu-young looked back over her shoulder and answered,

“Yes. I made a reservation to treat my annoying junior to a meal.”

“I’m touched, senior-nim. I’m really lucky to have such a great senior.”

“Hmph, and you just had snacks for lunch today, didn’t you?”

“That’s true.”

“You should have at least one proper meal. How can you be full with churros or ice cream balls?”

“You’re absolutely right… but how did you know I ate those?”

There were many types of snacks in the downtown area, so how did she guess correctly?

Dang Gyu-young flinched for a moment and then looked around nervously.

“Well… I just happened to see you?”

“There was quite a time gap between the churros and the ice cream balls… did you see me twice?”

“…”

“Senior-nim?”

“Hey, hey, we’re here!”

Dang Gyu-young pulled me along towards the restaurant in front of us with quick steps.

When I identified the restaurant, I was a bit surprised.

“You made a reservation here?”

This restaurant specialized in Western cuisine and was one of the most renowned restaurants in the downtown area, alongside the bakery.

Naturally, securing a reservation in this place required overcoming tremendous competition.

And she actually made the reservation for this evening, one of the busiest times of the year in the downtown area.

Dang Gyu-young looked proud of herself.

“You seem to forget, but I’m a club president.”

“Of course, you are.”

“Let’s enjoy our meal.”

Even the reserved table was on the second-floor terrace and it offered us a full view of the night scenery outside.

We sat down and it didn’t take long for the food to arrive. We shared chop steak, salad, and pasta, taking small portions onto our plates.

As we engaged in small talk,

“So— has Jegal So-so talked about me?”

“Just briefly, a couple of times.”

“That’s strange. I told her to take good care of you.”

“She did treat me well.”

“That’s a relief.”

Occasionally, when the conversation paused, we turned our gaze outside to admire the night view.

Even though it was evening and the streetlights were coming on, the downtown area was still bustling with students.

We watched the flow of countless crowds, then turned back to face each other.

“…”

Dang Gyu-young wiped her mouth with a napkin and asked,

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your table manners are perfect.”

Every small gesture she made with her fork, knife, and napkin exuded elegance.

It wasn’t something one could learn in a day or two but rather ingrained from long ago.

Though she usually had a rough and free-spirited image when dealing with her fellow club members, now she strongly resembled a noble lady.

Dang Gyu-young responded nonchalantly,

“This is basic. I learned it back in the clan.”

“The Dang clan?”

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you? I’m a direct descendant. Though now, I’m somewhat half-disowned.”

“You never mentioned that. But what do you mean by half-disowned…?”

“I left the clan.”

Even though she had the Dang family name, Dang Gyu-young neither used poison nor martial arts. She instead relied on her shadow magic.

The organization she belonged to wasn’t the Martial Alliance, which included the Dang family, but rather the Thieves Guild and Thieves Club of the Guild Union.

It had always been a point of curiosity for me, but she had left the clan to become a shadow mage.

“Why did you decide to leave?”

“Just because I felt suffocated. I wanted to live the life I desired.”

A free life that she could create on her own, without being tied down by her family.

I asked again,

“Are you living that kind of life now?”

“More or less?”

Dang Gyu-young smiled as if to acknowledge that she still had a long way to go.

Then she saw that I had put down my utensils and asked me,

“I’m done eating. How about you?”

“I’m done too.”

“Alright, let’s get up then.”

“Thank you, senior-nim. The meal was delicious.”

When I bowed my head, Dang Gyu-young smiled pleasantly.

The sulky expression she had shown at our meeting place was nowhere to be seen.

“Help out as much as you ate, okay?”

“Of course. Where should we go?”

In this black market, the thieves club would secure the prohibited items I wanted, and I promised to lend a hand as a temporary mercenary in exchange for that.

– Do you want to get involved?

– What do you need me to do?

– See that annoying-looking senior? Stick with him.

And the graduate student I agreed to team up with was to be a reserve force. We would be standing by to provide assistance in case of emergency.

So I asked where that guy was positioned.

Dang Gyu-young didn’t answer right away. She folded her arms and went into deep thought.

“Hmm… I’ve changed my mind.”

“Then?”

Dang Gyu-young looked me straight in the eye and said,

“Stay with me.”

---

TN: Alright!