The Support Ate it All

As expected, she doesn’t attack right away.

I had considered the possibility of a battle breaking out the moment I entered the boss room, but the Witch of Corruption didn’t seem inclined to do so.

Instead, she looked at me with an interested expression and spoke.

“You’ve got some guts. I’ve made similar proposals to others, but no one else accepted.”

Other teams besides ours must have also approached the boss room.

Apparently, the Witch of Corruption had made the same offer to them.

If only one person entered, she wouldn’t stop them.

Of course, from their perspective, it was essentially sending someone to their death, so they all refused, leaving me as the only one who entered.

Though if it were Lee Soo-dok or Seo Cheong-yong, they might have come.

For some reason, they seemed to be running a little late compared to the others.

I responded nonchalantly.

“I understand. People naturally want to choose the safest and most reliable path.”

“Then why did you make a different choice?”

“To me, both options seemed the same.”

If both were equally safe and reliable, why not take the shortcut rather than go the long way around?

The confidence behind my words brought a soft curve to the Witch’s lips.

“I’m looking forward to it. Let’s see what you’ve prepared.”

“You won’t be disappointed. I’ve prepared something that’ll leave you speechless.”

“We’ll see soon enough. But before that, could you spare me a moment?”

It seemed she wanted to satisfy her curiosity before the battle began.

Since she was an A-rank opponent, I also needed to find the right moment to act rather than jump into a fight.

So, I gave a casual nod.

“If it’s just a moment, I don’t mind.”

“It won’t take long.”

The Witch of Corruption guided me to one side of the boss room.

With a simple wave of her hand, a table and two chairs appeared out of nowhere.

We sat facing each other, and soon, a teapot and two teacups materialized on the table.

This was the kind of skill that Shin Byeong-cheol would probably find incredibly useful if he could learn it.

As she tilted the teapot to pour tea into the cups, the witch spoke.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see your true form.”

Whether it was because she was exceptionally skilled for an A-rank or as perceptive as someone like Jegal So-so, she had seen through my disguise.

Since it wasn’t a difficult request, I briefly removed the Totem of Disguise.

When my appearance shifted from Faculty Member K back to Kim Ho, the Witch’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“I didn’t expect you to be this young. Are you a student?”

“Yes, I’m a first-year.”

“…This just got more interesting.”

After all, a mere first-year had cleared an A-rank dungeon and entered the boss room. Alone, no less.

The Witch of Corruption offered me a cup of tea.

“Have a drink.”

“Thank you.”

Normally, one shouldn’t carelessly consume something offered by others.

But I took the cup without hesitation and drank a sip.

The Witch of Corruption asked for my thoughts.

“How is it?”

“It’s quite an unusual flavor. I think one of my friends would enjoy this.”

I wondered if this was what Hong Yeon-hwa’s favorite espresso, the one overloaded with an oil-like bitterness, tasted like.

Of course, since my taste buds had long been numbed by exposure to various poisonous plants and cores, it wasn’t difficult to maintain a straight face.

The Witch of Corruption smiled faintly.

“It’s one of my favorite teas.”

“It’s… unique.”

“That’s a comment I hear often. Now, shall we have a conversation? I have a lot I’m curious about.”

“Go ahead, ask me anything.”

The Witch of Corruption pondered briefly before speaking.

“You mentioned a friend as soon as you sipped the tea. You must be quite close?”

“They’re precious companions.”

“Could you tell me more about them?”

Since there was no reason not to, I shared what came to mind.

“The first friend I made is a swordsman. He’s a typical model student. But at the same time, he’s flexible in his thinking and remarkably perceptive.”

“Those traits are ideal for excelling as a swordsman.”

“That’s why I have high hopes for him.”

The Witch of Corruption gave a slight nod.

“And the next one?”

“The next one spends most of her time lazing around and sleeping.”

“Sounds a bit lazy.”

“Even so, she’s surprisingly willing to train when asked. For someone so sluggish, her growth rate is unmatched by anyone I’ve ever seen.”

“A genius, then.”

“Sometimes, it’s almost frightening.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

The questions kept coming.

“Another one?”

“The next one is my senior.”

“A close senior-junior relationship? I like that kind of bond. Do they take good care of you?”

“Yes, she’s someone who’s incredibly sensitive to profit and loss, but when it comes to my matters, she jumps in without hesitation.”

The Witch of Corruption smiled gently.

“Seems like she’s quite fond of you. Is that senior strong?”

“She falls short compared to the first two. But anything lacking can always be compensated for.”

The Witch of Corruption didn’t seem to grasp exactly what I meant by “compensated for”.

Still, she nodded slightly, as if she’d managed to catch the general gist of it.

“They must really be precious friends. I can feel how much you care for them.”

“Yes, they’re the reason I exist.”

The biggest reason and goal for me being in this game world.

To raise EX-rank heroes.

World peace is just a secondary concern.

This time, I asked a question.

“So why are you curious about that?”

“……”

She’d sat me down to ask about myself, but why were her questions about my friends?

Then, the Witch of Corruption flashed an evil, twisted smile that was entirely unlike her usual gentle one.

“…Knowing what someone cherishes most only makes it more fun to take it away, don’t you think?”

“Right, you’ve completely lost it.”

She kept drinking strange concoctions; no wonder her mind was off.

A proper diet is so important.

The witch let out a small sigh.

“In that sense, it’s a shame. If possible, I wanted to snatch it away right in front of your eyes.”

Since my “friends” were first-years, they wouldn’t have participated in the subjugation team.

In truth, Dang Gyu-young was part of the team, but there was no reason to share that detail with her.

The Witch of Corruption’s twisted smile deepened as she spoke again.

“But there’s no need to worry. Before long, your friends will follow along nicely as well.”

“So you’re starting to move, then? The ‘dormant phase’ is almost over, isn’t it?”

“..……!”

The Witch of Corruption flinched momentarily before glaring at me with piercing eyes.

“…How do you know that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Things are wrapping up, so you came to scout. Stir up some trouble while you’re at it.”

The Witch of Corruption was one of the commanders under the control of the Corpse Dragon.

Her active movements meant that the dragon was preparing to move as well.

And that meant the creature that was long dormant was waking up.

“…….”

The witch stared at me in silence for quite some time.

I threw her own words back at her.

“But there’s no need to worry. I’ll stop it all. That’s why I came here in the first place.”

“I’ll give you this; you’ve got guts. But shouldn’t your priority be getting out of here alive?”

“You’re not wrong.”

I agreed readily.

Then, I downed the rest of the tea in my cup and set it down.

“Thank you for the tea.”

With that, I rose from my seat and began walking leisurely.

One step, two steps….each step I took made suspicion rise in the Witch of Corruption’s eyes.

It was as if she were silently asking how I was still able to walk. I answered her unspoken question without much concern.

“The taste wasn’t great to begin with, but whatever you added made it worse. Not that it matters; it doesn’t work on me anyway.”

“…….!”

The witch’s eyes widened in shock.

She immediately shot to her feet, but by then, I had already pulled an ugly branch from my clothes.

With a flick of the crow branch through the air, I began chanting an incantation.

“Caa—aaaw—!”

At that moment, the ugly branch took on the colors of the night sky.

The colors spread throughout the room in an instant, and teleportation portals began appearing one by one in various places.

Beyond the portals, different rooms became visible along with the startled faces of the subjugation team members.

A summoning portal.

It was a spatial magic ability imbued into the branch by the Grand Crow Sage.

Its effect was to summon allies by opening portals at the current location, no matter where they were scattered throughout the dungeon.

This was the reason I had entered the boss room alone.

Before long, the subjugation team members began stepping through the teleportation portals.

Some burst in, clearly in the middle of battle, while others walked in calmly.

Lee Soo-dok was among the latter, though he had probably been anticipating this moment more than anyone else in the room.

When he bared his teeth in a grin, the scars covering his face twisted, making him look like a demon.

“At last, we meet again.”

Seo Cheong-yong seemed just as pleased about the reunion as Lee Soo-dok was.

Meanwhile, the Witch of Corruption paid no attention to the two teachers; her gaze was fixed solely on me.

“You’ve really prepared something incredible, haven’t you?”

She had likely invested considerable effort into taking control of the entire dungeon and setting traps.

In the early stages, she manipulated teleportation portals to scatter the subjugation team.

And in the middle and later stages, she introduced increasingly powerful Dark Ooblecks to wear down their strength.

Her calculation must have been that the subjugation team would eventually reach the boss room, but they’d be in tatters and few in number, making it easy to pick them off one by one.

But all of that crumbled to pieces because of a single item I had used.

She was probably feeling both astonished and deflated.

This is when you’re supposed to trash talk.

My mouth itched to speak, but with so many eyes watching, I pretended to be indifferent and avoided drawing attention.

I had already reequipped the Totem of Disguise as well.

I also put away the Crow Branch and brought out the sapling disguised as an iron staff.

Actually, there’s one more surprise left.

It was time to reveal the decisive reason I had joined the subjugation team.

It was time to use the Poison Immunity.

[Activated ‘Octopus Limbs’.]

[Activated ‘Enchantment’.]

[You have granted ‘Poison Immunity’ to the target.]

[You have granted ‘Poison Immunity’ to the target…..]

[You have granted…]

[Duration: 00:14:57]

[Cooldown: 21 days 20:59:57]

So, the Enchantment will be on cooldown for a while.

A cooldown of over three weeks.

It had increased exponentially because I had overused Octopus Limbs so much.

Still, sacrificing three weeks was more than worth it.

The subjugation team members checked the notification messages that popped up and were collectively astonished.

“…….!”

– What is this?

– Poison Immunity was granted?!

– Who did this?

Of course, only a handful of people in the room knew I was the source of it: Lee Soo-dok, Seo Cheong-yong, Dang Gyu-young, and probably Je Gal So-so.

They seemed relatively less shocked, as they had been informed beforehand.

Sensing the need to restore order, Seo Cheong-yong stepped forward and spoke.

“We can win. Don’t be afraid and fight!”

“…….!”

At that, everyone stopped murmuring and their eyes began to gleam with confidence.

They were confident because they were armed with the perfect traits to deal with Dark Oobleck.

The Witch of Corruption likely couldn’t even imagine that they had gained Poison Immunity, but she seemed to sense that the suddenly changed atmosphere was unusual.

She ground her teeth in frustration.

“Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

With a casual wave of her hand in the air, the entire boss room began to shake violently.