The Support Ate it All - Chapter 186: 9th Week Midterms (10)

Seo Ye-in had a habit of cutting to the chase and only throwing out key words, so this wasn’t the first time.

So I calmly asked her again.

“You want to sleep together?”

“Mhmm.”

“Come to think of it, we slept close together last night too.”

“I sleep better that way.”

Based on Seo Ye-in’s words, this is what she meant:

Since I sleep better when I’m close to you, I want to sleep close again tonight.

Seo Ye-in moved a little closer and added one more thing.

“Take responsibility.”

“Responsibility? What responsibility?”

“The tiger plushie.”

Meaning: You left the tiger plushie behind for too long, and without it, I’m not sleeping well.

So tonight, take responsibility and be the tiger plushie.

Fair enough.

Bringing in the invisible ghillie suit instead of the tiger plushie for the midterms was a highly efficiency-focused decision, and indeed, the invisible ghillie suit was put to good use over the course of two days.

However, it was also true that this sloth didn’t sleep well because of that, and I had some responsibility for that too.

So I decided to accept Seo Ye-in’s request.

“Just this once. And don’t climb on top of me. It gets a bit stuffy.”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head slightly, then pressed her sleeping bag against mine and rested her head.

And in less than five seconds, she was sound asleep.

“…She really sleeps well.”

Did my body have this kind of effect?

I discovered that I had a talent for being a pillow.

Meanwhile, when I glanced over at Hong Yeon-hwa,

“Sleep together…? Sleep well…? Take responsibility…? Climb on top…?”

She was muttering the conversation we had just had while covering her mouth.

It seemed her mind had short-circuited and she couldn’t process the flood of incoming information.

***

It was a night full of misunderstandings, but everyone still managed to sleep well.

The exhaustion from a day of intense activity had piled up, and Hong Yeon-hwa hadn’t been able to rest properly even on the first night.

I was in the middle of a snowball fight with a gray cat in my dreams when I opened my eyes to find that light was already seeping into the cave from outside.

It was the third and final day of the midterms.

Knowing we needed to get an early start, I gently shook Seo Ye-in’s sleeping bag.

“Young miss, it’s time to wake up. It’s morning.”

“Five minutes…”

The same response as yesterday.

So, I figured I should wake her up the same way as before.

I slowly created some distance between Seo Ye-in’s sleeping bag and mine.

Then a pale hand slipped out of her sleeping bag and began to pull mine closer.

“Don’t go…”

“Come on, it’s time to get up. Today’s the last day.”

You can sleep in on the weekend after the midterms are over.

But for now, no more resting.

When I brought the half-awake Seo Ye-in out to the front of the cave, Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Jun-seok were already preparing grilled fish.

“You’re, you’re up…?”

“Yeah. Good morning.”

“……”

Hong Yeon-hwa who still harbored various misunderstandings couldn’t bring herself to meet my eyes.

Feeling there was no need to go into a lengthy explanation, I simply accepted her greeting with a casual nod.

Then, when I faced Baek Jun-seok, he handed me a well-grilled fish and said,

“I heard a bit from Hong Yeon-hwa. First, I want to thank you.”

While he had been waiting outside the dungeon, I had offered Hong Yeon-hwa who was left alone food and a place to rest.

Not only that, but I had even traded to help her complete a set of crystals.

As her childhood friend and teammate, he felt it was only right to express his gratitude to me.

I nodded my head calmly.

“It wasn’t a big deal for us. There’s nothing wrong with helping each other out. You don’t mind sticking together?”

“Of course not. In fact, it was something I was going to suggest.”

Having experienced yesterday’s two-vs-four battle, Baek Jun-seok had realized his limits.

While Hong Yeon-hwa’s firepower was more than sufficient to handle not just four, but even more opponents, his own defense was a bit lacking when it came to protecting her from all four.

In such a situation, more frontline support was needed, so my suggestion was welcomed by Hong Yeon-hwa’s team.

Therefore, we decided to stick together as a group of six people. This included the four of us and Go Hyeon-woo’s team.

After finishing a simple breakfast, we descended the rocky hill and began walking.

When Hong Yeon-hwa gave me a look as if to ask about our next destination, I lifted my gaze to the sky.

“We need to go for supplies. The jet should be arriving soon.”

“Yeah, but… do we really need to get them?”

Since we had already completed two of the three days on this deserted island, the survival part was essentially over.

At the very least, we didn’t need to worry about food or shelter anymore.

So, just as Hong Yeon-hwa had asked, it might seem unnecessary to get the supplies, but…

“The last part is the most important.”

Naturally, the academy was aware of this too, so they would drop slightly different items in the final supply.

Things that would directly or indirectly affect the midterms rather than just survival.

The [Goblin Flute] we obtained yesterday was a good example.

“So let’s grab the supplies separately and then regroup.”

“Okay.”

After roughly indicating where the supply crate would drop, I parted ways with Hong Yeon-hwa’s team.

Since we had plenty of time, I strolled leisurely with Seo Ye-in as if we were on a walk. But we arrived at the supply drop location exactly on time.

As soon as I stepped onto the wide rock where we had received supplies on the first day,

Whirr—!

The jet appeared in the sky above the deserted island, right on cue.

Just like the previous two times, the jet scattered supply crates attached to parachutes before disappearing.

Soon, a small supply crate that was about the size of a palm landed in front of us.

Inside was a transparent triangular prism made of glass-like material.

[Prism]

When brought to the sanctuary, the light that shines through it splits into two beams.

In other words, it was an item that allowed you to charge two crystals at once.

Charging two crystals at a time means the time spent at the sanctuary would be cut in half, which also means you’re less likely to be targeted by other teams.

Naturally, it was a very useful item, and Hong Yeon-hwa and Go Hyeon-woo’s teams probably each received a similar one.

I turned to Seo Ye-in and said,

“Let’s go join up with the others now.”

“Let’s go.”

Having secured our supplies, it was best to reunite with Hong Yeon-hwa and Go Hyeon-woo’s teams as quickly as possible.

There was no advantage in staying as a pair and encountering a larger group.

So we picked up the pace and headed toward the meeting point.

But just as we were almost there,

Thud, thud,

Heavy footsteps echoed around us.

We didn’t avoid it; instead, we walked straight toward the sound of the footsteps.

On the third day of midterms, the level of the monsters increased by a notch.

And among them naturally,

“Grrrr……”

An ogre was included.

With its huge size, its agility that didn’t match its size, its immense strength, and a thick hide that was hard to penetrate with ordinary attacks,

It was the strongest of all the monsters that had appeared in the practical exams so far.

Of course, it didn’t pose much of a threat to Seo Ye-in and me.

After all, just a week ago during the Crystal strategy battle, we hadn’t even gotten a scratch and had scored a perfect game.

In fact, Seo Ye-in had been disappointed that she didn’t get to take down an ogre back then and had even practiced more with Ahn Jeong-mi afterward.

Clack,

So Seo Ye-in loaded her magic gun as if she had been waiting for this moment.

But I stopped her for a moment.

“Wait.”

“……?”

There was something unusual about this ogre.

A shackle-like anklet made of chains was fastened around its ankle, with something ominous and red attached at the center.

I had a strong suspicion about what it was,

But I needed to confirm it.

So I instructed Seo Ye-in.

“This time, just dodge.”

“Okay.”

“Grrr…”

Soon, the ogre spotted us.

When I quickly moved to the side, the ogre targeted Seo Ye-in who was left alone and charged at her.

Bang! Bang!

Seo Ye-in fired two short bursts from her magic gun.

Of course, that wasn’t enough to even scratch the ogre’s thick hide, and all it did was make it angrier.

“Grrr—!”

But drawing its attention was exactly what Seo Ye-in intended.

She lightly dodged the club it swung at her, causing it to break two innocent trees instead.

Then the ogre stretched out its free hand straight toward her.

However, Seo Ye-in smoothly sidestepped with her Feather Walk skill and managed to evade the attack.

While Seo Ye-in skillfully dodged and kept the ogre’s focus on her, I quietly approached from its blind spot.

Then I drove my finger into its thigh.

[Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger]

Squelch,

My index finger transformed into a sharp ice pick and it easily pierced through the ogre’s thick hide.

A chilling cold immediately followed, penetrating deep into its body.

Crunch, crunch, crunch,

There was a terrifying sound of something freezing rapidly from inside the ogre.

The ogre looked around in a rare panic and finally noticed me with my finger embedded in its flesh.

“Grrr…?”

But it was already too late for it to react.

By now, the cold would have already reached its heart.

“…….”

Thud,

In the end, the ogre collapsed right there after one final glance at me.

Even after its life had ended, the cold continued to make a crackling sound, as if it was determined to freeze everything remaining.

When Seo Ye-in approached, I pointed to the chain wrapped around the ogre’s ankle.

“Shoot this.”

Ratatatatatatata!

As Seo Ye-in focused her shots, the chain couldn’t withstand the barrage of magic bullets and broke. This allowed me to cleanly tear off the piece attached to the ankle.

When I examined it closely, it was a syringe-like container filled with a red liquid.

Of course.

As expected, it seemed “they” had tampered with the midterm exam.

One of their tricks was attaching this syringe to the ogre.

At that moment, two presences rapidly approached us.

Since I had a good idea who it was, we didn’t bother being on guard and simply looked in their direction.

Sure enough, the ones approaching were Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Jun-seok who returned after retrieving one of the supply boxes.

They both flinched in surprise upon seeing the fallen ogre.

“Did you… take this thing down?”

“Yeah.”

“……”

Judging by Hong Yeon-hwa’s shocked expression, I could roughly guess what was going through her head.

Something along the lines of, “This monstrous human has done something monstrous again.”

Like Seo Ye-in, the pair of Hong Yeon-hwa and Song Cheon-hye hadn’t been able to take down the ogre during the Crystal strategy battle.

But how much time could have passed since we split up and then regrouped, and yet in that short time, we had managed to take down the ogre?

However, there was a more pressing issue at hand.

I hardened my expression and pointed at the chain fragments near the ogre’s ankle and the syringe in turn.

“This was attached to the ogre’s ankle.”

“…….!”

Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Jun-seok also stared intently at the red liquid inside the syringe.

Baek Jun-seok asked,

“It doesn’t look like an ordinary item at first glance. Do you know what it is?”

“I can make a guess.”

“What is it?”

I paused for a few seconds before answering.

“Blood Fury Pill.”