The Support Ate it All

It was Friday evening.

Like we planned, Dang Gyu-young and I set foot in the basement level of the dungeon building.

We boldly took the elevator down to the lowest floor, and from there, Dang Gyu-young took the lead as our guide toward the destination.

It’s definitely more comfortable.

The difference was obvious when our first-year guide was replaced by a third-year club president.

For example, Shin Byeong-cheol would cautiously scout ahead, and if he sensed any presence, he would take a detour to another passageway while keeping his distance.

In contrast, Dang Gyu-young hardly bothered to look ahead. She just confidently took the lead as she briskly descended the spiral staircase.

She was moving at almost a running pace.

Whenever something was detected,

She would grab my hand and pull me into a shaded spot, hiding us together.

Right afterward, a third-year disciplinary committee member would come trudging up the spiral stairs.

This time, it was the Hell Axe senior we had crossed paths with a few times before.

Despite us hiding so close, he didn’t have the slightest clue we were there.

It was proof of just how good Dang Gyu-young’s shadow-hiding technique was.

“…….”

We watched the back of the Hell Axe senior’s head, and once he disappeared, we stepped out from the shadows.

Dang Gyu-young was feeling a bit smug and she spoke up.

“Did you see that? He couldn’t find us. That’s my skill.”

“You’re the best, noona.”

“Huhum, let’s keep going.”

We picked up the pace again and moved deeper into the underground level.

Before long, a wide-open teleportation portal appeared before us.

[No.294] [Rainbow Lake]

After confirming with a glance that we were both ready, Dang Gyu-young and I stepped into the dungeon at the same time.

Our vision momentarily went pitch black, then suddenly cleared.

The first thing that caught our eye was the sky which was filled with a deep red sunset glow.

It was clear that evening was approaching.

As we lowered our gaze slightly, a vast lake stretched out before us.

Its surface reflected shades of red from the sunset, mixed with other mysterious colors.

Just like a rainbow.

This was the main stage of the dungeon, Rainbow Lake.

“……”

Dang Gyu-young carefully scanned the surroundings, then summoned a few Shadow Butterflies and sent them flying in all directions.

It was to scout a little farther ahead.

However, as if nothing notable had been detected, she tilted her head in confusion.

“Kim Ho, isn’t it too peaceful here?”

“I told you, it’s pretty quiet.”

The main rule of Rainbow Lake was [Raid].

However, aside from the battle with the boss monster, there were no special events.

There wouldn’t be hordes of other monsters rushing out or fireballs raining down from the sky.

“So, when does the boss appear?”

“Soon.”

When I pointed to the center of the lake, Dang Gyu-young carefully observed that spot.

Bubble, bubble.

Bubbles began to rise and ripple on the mirror-like smooth surface of the lake.

Moreover, those bubbles and ripples were slowly approaching us.

“……”

“……”

No words were needed.

Dang Gyu-young began preparing for the battle that was about to unfold.

The shadow beneath her feet grew darker and expanded its range.

Then, butterflies began to flutter up one by one from within.

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

Meanwhile, the bubbles rising from the depths of the lake grew more intense.

Swoooosh—!

Something huge and round suddenly popped out of the water.

It was a giant fish, the size of a house.

Each of its scales was as large as a palm and they covered its entire body, making it look as though it was clad in armor.

This was the dungeon’s boss monster.

Elemental Fish.

Its two large eyes stared directly at us.

Its face, which resembled a frog or toad more than a fish, kept reminding me of someone I knew.

Just like…

At that moment, Dang Gyu-young spoke aloud the thought I had been keeping to myself.

She patted my shoulder repeatedly before saying,

“Hey, hey, doesn’t that thing look like Kim Gap-doo?”

“Why would you say that? That’s mean.”

“No, seriously, it really does. Be honest.”

“I can’t deny there’s a resemblance.”

“——!”

The Elemental Fish apparently didn’t like being compared to Kim Gap-doo.

It let out a sharp cry, and a wave of mana rippled outward from its center.

Soon, the ground beneath Dang Gyu-young and me shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck and overturned everything.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

We scrambled to find the relatively intact spots on the shattered ground to stand on.

When I examined the creature’s scales, I noticed they had taken on a brownish color.

It’s an earth attribute.

The scales of the Elemental Fish constantly changed color, and with each change, its attributes and the magic it used would shift as well.

Since it was currently exhibiting an earth attribute, it was using earth-type magic.

“—!”

Once again, the Kim Gap-doo Fish let out a sharp cry.

This time, machine guns made of earth sprang up from various spots and fired soil bullets.

Ratatatatatatata!

Dang Gyu-young dodged the fist-sized clumps of earth and asked,

“But why is it so angry? It’s shooting earth magic right in our faces.”

“It says this is its territory.”

I translated the fish’s words for her.

The Elemental Fish had a notoriously savage nature.

Its behavior was to attack anything that approached its territory.

“Where exactly is its territory?”

“The entire lake.”

The creature’s territory spanned the entire vast Rainbow Lake, including the shoreline.

There was a reason not a single monster, fish, or even a rabbit could be seen nearby.

Dang Gyu-young looked utterly baffled.

“Look at that shameless creature. Does it think it owns the whole lake?”

“Seriously. Should we teach it a lesson?”

“Of course we should.”

With a light wave of Dang Gyu-young’s hand, the shadow butterflies that had been flying nearby swarmed toward the Kim Gap-doo Fish.

I too used the shadow butterflies as stepping stones, moving closer to the creature.

Thanks to wind magic, my airtime was long, but I still needed to build more specs to float around completely.

As the distance between us narrowed, my fist became engulfed in a dark red flame.

I thrust my blazing fist forward with force.

[Inferno Fist]

Kwoooosh—!

A fiery storm struck the Elemental Fish squarely in the face.

Above it, the shadow butterflies unleashed an arsenal of shadow weapons—daggers, axes, spears, and more—upon its head.

“—!”

The Elemental Fish let out an even sharper scream of pain.

But in truth, it seemed the damage wasn’t significant.

I stepped on the shadow butterflies and returned to Dang Gyu-young’s side.

After the flames subsided, I checked its condition and saw that only the outer part of its scales was slightly scorched and scratched.

“Why is that thing so tough?”

“It’s because the attribute doesn’t match.”

To deal meaningful damage to the Elemental Fish, it had to be attacked with the matching attribute.

Since its scales were brown at the moment, it needed to be struck with earth-type attacks.

All other attacks would have their damage severely reduced.

That’s why, even though a B-rank Inferno Fist hit it directly and a third-year club president unleashed a barrage of shadow magic, the creature withstood it without much trouble.

“So, we can’t catch it right now?”

“Not right now.”

Since it was currently in earth attribute form, it was hard to inflict damage, but if its attribute changed to match my skills, things would get much easier.

For example, if its scales turned red, Inferno Fist would be able to deal proper damage.

“Still, there’s no harm in hitting it a bit now.”

“True, it’s better than doing nothing.”

“—!”

Once again, the Fish let out a sharp cry and earth-type magic rained down on us.

Dang Gyu-young skillfully dodged and sent shadow butterflies flying.

Using them as footholds, I closed the distance to the creature.

When I thrust my flame-covered fist with force, a firestorm raced across the water’s surface.

Whooooooooooosh—!

“—!”

Once again, the Elemental Fish endured the firestorm and the onslaught of shadow weapons with little effort.

It glared at us with eyes full of hostility.

But instead of continuing its attack, it gradually backed off and sank smoothly below the water’s surface.

The bubbling that had been rising furiously began to subside, and the lake regained its mirror-like smoothness.

If it weren’t for the chaos around us, it would have been hard to believe that a battle had just taken place.

Dang Gyu-young looked at me.

“…It’s gone?”

“It’s gone.”

“When will it come out again?”

“It’ll be a couple of hours.”

The Elemental Fish was a vicious monster; it attacked anything that entered its territory, but it also possessed a cunning nature that allowed it to make use of its environment.

After a battle, it would retreat to the depths of the lake to recover some of its strength only to resurface about two hours later.

And each time it did, the color of its scales, in other words, its attribute, would change without any specific pattern. It was completely at random.

“But what if it’s brown again?”

“Then we lose another two hours.”

“That’s why it takes so long.”

Opportunities kept coming, but every time we failed to take it down, our time in the dungeon would extend by another two hours.

This was why I had prepared the Thunder Hearts to minimize the influence of luck as much as possible.

Even if it turned into a lightning attribute, we would still be able to inflict damage.

“So what do we do now?”

“We just need to kill time—wait, hold on.”

I raised my hand to stop Dang Gyu-young.

Judging by the way her eyes sparkled as she reached into her inventory, it seemed like she had prepared something, but now wasn’t the time to be playing around.

“Let’s go check on the crow first.”

“Oh, so it’s happening now?”

The dimensional crow would appear soon, so we needed to be waiting at the meeting spot in advance.

Dang Gyu-young clicked her tongue in disappointment and withdrew her hand.

The area around Rainbow Lake was an unremarkable, typical forest.

A short distance away, a small hill rose up, and after a brief stroll as if we were out for a walk, we quickly reached the top.

At the summit, there was a small clearing, and right in the center, a flat rock lay there all by itself.

It had the atmosphere of an airship docking station.

“This must be the place?”

“Yes, this is it.”

“I’m curious. This is my first time seeing it up close.”

Dang Gyu-young’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

She had seen the dimensional crow from a distance a few times, but this was her first time seeing a direct transaction or observing one up close.

Unless you planned meticulously like I did, it was rare to encounter these creatures.

“It’s a transaction, but would it be okay if I asked you for a small favor?”

“Of course, it’s fine. What is it?”

Dang Gyu-young replied with a grin.

However, as I listened to the details of the favor, my expression subtly shifted.

“…Are you sure this is okay?”

“It should be fine.”

“Haah, alright. I’ll give it a try.”

We waited in silence for a while and watched the evening sunset.

How much time had passed?

The air suddenly rippled, and a dark figure burst out from the void.

Flap, flap.

The dark figure flapped its wings rapidly to slow down and gently landed on the rock.

It was a giant crow.

“Caw.”

It was much larger than a typical bird, wore a gentleman’s hat on its head, was dressed in a dignified suit, and carried a bag.

It looked exactly like what I had seen through the replay.

The Crow Tailor.

The tailor didn’t even glance at Dang Gyu-young.

But when it noticed me, it flapped its wings vigorously in surprise and leaned forward as if trying to get a closer look.

Although it was hard to read the expression of a crow, it was clear that it was very intrigued.

“Caw, young monarch, what brings you to me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

I came to commission some tailoring.