The Support Ate it All

When the strategy battles test concluded, Lee Soo-dok gathered the class 3 students just like he had done during the duel battles.

“I’ll explain about the scores and points. Check the back of your student ID cards.”

As the students pulled out their student IDs, they saw a new entry added where there had been a blank space.

Kim Ho

[Duel Battle: 300 points]

[Strategy Battle: 683 points]

(2,049pt)

At the same time, a large student ID card appeared in the empty space next to Lee Soo-dok.

It was a sample ID of ‘Mr. Student’ with a question mark for a face.

[Duel Battle: 300 points]

+30 points

-25 points

“The duel battle test is similar to a zero-sum game you are all familiar with. If you win you gain points, if you lose you lose them.”

[Strategy Battle: 500 points]

+400 points

+300 points

“On the other hand, in the strategy battle test, points are continuously accumulated each time you successfully conquer a dungeon. In both practical tests, the higher the total score, the higher your rank. Now, pay attention.”

Mr. Student

[Strategy Battle: 500 points]

(1,500pt)

A new line was added under Mr. Student’s strategy battle score.

“Available points’ are currency that can only be used at Dragon Slayer Academy. They can be used to purchase various items that will help you in your future duel battles and strategy battles. Please refer to the catalog for more details.”

The main things you could buy with these “available points” included replays from other student battles, simplified dungeon maps, and escape items.

If one wanted it, they could even purchase elixirs, skill books, or equipment.

That is, if one had enough points.

“So, how do these points get earned? The quick-witted among you might have already guessed.”

Mr. Student

[Strategy Battle: 500 points] * 3.0 multiplier

= 1,500 points

“The points you earn in the strategy battle are converted into points at a certain multiplier. This was the first strategy battle, and taking into account the fact that it was a fixed zone, a 3.0x multiplier was applied.”

“Ah….”

A look of regret shadowed the students’ faces.

Even though they hadn’t fully grasped this concept of “points”, they intuitively understood that a 3.0 multiplier was fairly high.

This was the source of their disappointment.

They wished they had tried a bit harder during the tests.

To earn even just one more point.

Especially the students who had retired early wore expressions as if the sky had fallen.

They might have thought to give up on the tough fixed zone and do better next time but they never imagined they would be awarded so many points.

But it was a situation they had brought upon themselves; it was too late for regrets now.

Their eyes might have been filled with desperate hope, but they quickly lowered their gaze under Lee Soo-dok’s intense and threatening stare.

Lee Soo-dok concluded his explanation.

“The key is to accumulate points by conquering dungeons and then using those points wisely. Everyone should look at the catalog and think about the most efficient strategies. That’s all for today. Make sure to get enough rest so you’re ready for tomorrow’s classes. Dismissed.”

While other teachers stayed back to engage in Q&A sessions with their students, Lee Soo-dok appeared to be heading somewhere else immediately.

Even as the eliminated students tried to speak to him at the last moment, he ignored them and went on his way.

He seemed to have little interest in the students.

Since the strategy battle test itself did not take up much time, there was still a long time left until dinner.

In such a situation, one way to pass the time was,

“Let’s have a cup of coffee.”

“Good idea. I’ve been quite curious about this coffee myself.”

Go Hyeon-woo readily accepted.

I invited Seo Ye-in as well,

“Would you like to join us, Miss Seo?”

“……”

Instead of replying, Seo Ye-in covered her mouth and yawned softly.

She then slowly shook her head.

“I’m sleepy. I’m going to go sleep……”

Her eyelids had been drooping a bit since earlier.

It seemed better to let her rest than to force her to come along.

“Let’s go by ourselves.”

***

We ordered iced coffee at the cafeteria and each of us held a cup.

Even in the game world, coffee was coffee.

I think it tastes a little better here though.

However, the rate at which Go Hyeon-woo’s coffee diminished was unusually fast.

We hadn’t even started our conversation and he had already downed his coffee in one go.

Then he remarked,

“The portion is small.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

Worrying about such things is a losing battle.

After all, the coffee was just a side note; the main purpose was to engage in conversation.

“Take a look at this.”

I handed over the catalog to Go Hyeon-woo first.

It was hard to imagine the natural nonconformist warrior of Go Hyeon-woo effectively using various items in their proper places.

I too didn’t have high expectations and showed him the catalog more as a gesture for him to casually browse through it.

As expected, Go Hyeon-woo frowned and unfrowned his eyebrows every time he flipped through the catalog.

“Most of this is beyond my understanding. It’s quite confusing. Could Kim-hyung explain it to me?”

“You can ignore the items for now. But it’s better to gradually understand them since being completely unaware could be disadvantageous later.”

“I understand..”

“The most important thing to know right now is about the replay feature.”

“Replay?”

“Remember when you were asked if you wanted to save the replay after exiting the dungeon?”

Go Hyeon-woo nodded after a moment of recollection.

“I remember that. It seemed harmless, so I accepted.”

“When you accept, the entire process of how you cleared the dungeon gets recorded. Others can purchase and view it.”

To give an example, I purchased Han So-mi’s replay.

100 points were deducted and a crystal ball appeared in my hand.

(2,049pt) -100pt

[Han So-mi_Strategy_Placement_Test_928 points.replay]

Han So-mi inside the crystal ball was moving around the misty forest swiftly.

With each flash of the sword in her hand, she cut through the monsters.

Go Hyeon-woo who was watching the replay alongside me expressed his admiration.

“Wow.”

“You can view it like this. Your replay must be selling like hotcakes too. Check your points.”

Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes widened as he checked his points.

“Incredible. They have increased by a lot in just a short time.”

“You’re the top scorer in the strategy battle and the only first-year to score 1,000 points. It must be selling really well.”

Not just first-year students, but second- and third-year students would be curious to watch it as well.

There must have been an uproar among the four major powers by now.

They would have expected either a member of the disciplinary committee or one of the promising candidates to take the top spot, but instead, an unknown, unaffiliated student like him had suddenly emerged and claimed it.

The title of “Top Scorer in the Strategy Battle” carried immense value.

The replay of his misty forest dungeon battle and his upcoming strategy and duel battle replays would sell like hotcakes.

Meanwhile, Go Hyeon-woo asked as if something had occurred to him.

“But if the replays sell well, it means more people are studying my martial arts, right?”

“Yes, that’s true. They’ll dissect every detail of it.”

“Hmm… It’s not entirely a good thing then.”

The biggest downside of saving replays.

Every single move you make is exposed to the world.

For instance, when conquering a dungeon, one could refer to other students’ replays.

And in duel battles, previewing and analyzing the opponent’s replay of a match is a very basic strategy.

“Like you said, having more people study your martial arts isn’t entirely beneficial. Someone might figure out how to counter them. But the points. When you think about them, it’s worth the risk.”

Dragon Slayer Academy was established to train heroes to stand against dragons.

Competition is essential in the growth process, but if everyone just hides their skills to gain an upper hand, the main purpose is defeated.

Therefore, the points offer a powerful advantage that outweighs the risk of revealing your skills.

I’m an exception, though.

This time, I deliberately didn’t save the replay to hide my skills in the fixed zone.

Since it was one of my most powerful weapons, I planned to keep it hidden until a critical moment.

After all, I wasn’t ranked high so I wouldn’t earn many points anyway. What’s the loss if I miss out on a few?

I’ll gain more later on.

“Hearing Kim-hyun’s words, it seems these points have greater uses than I thought.”

“Yeah, that’s why I suggested we have a coffee.”

How best to use the points he earned from being first in the strategy battle and those he will earn in the future?

Sensing that this was going to be a very important discussion, Go Hyeon-woo’s expression turned serious.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said,

“Please share your valuable insights, Kim-hyun.”

“You must have realized today that your skills are comparable to those of the top first-year students.”

“I know Kim-hyun has a great eye for talent. If you’ve judged it to be true, then it must be.”

“However, you know your weaknesses better than anyone.”

“…I have painfully realized them, especially after today’s events.”

Go Hyeon-woo gave out a self-deprecating bitter smile.

His first weakness was the lack of internal energy due to a low-rank [Core].

The second was his weapon which broke too easily.

There was nothing I could do immediately about the weapon issue.

This was because it looked to be deeply related to Go Hyeon-woo’s long sword, which was said to be a sacred artifact of his sect.

If I meddled carelessly, it could appear as me interfering in his sect’s matters and this was very disrespectful to a warrior and a martial artist.

I could only help after we built more trust and Go Hyeon-woo reached out to me first.

So, back to the issue of the [Core].

Go Hyeon-woo had been significantly overpowered in the internal energy clash against Han So-mi.

It was only after I enhanced his Core by two ranks with [Amplification] that he could somewhat keep up.

At first glance, it seemed like the match against Jo Byeok was an evenly matched one, but in reality, that was not the case.

Not only was his weapon destroyed, but he had also exhausted all his internal energy. As a result, he needed to perform energy circulation and recovery immediately after the duel battle ended.

“To put it bluntly, you only ranked first in this strategy battle because it was a fixed zone. In a mana fight, you’d lose without a doubt. So right now, you should set everything else aside and focus on your [Core].”

“What should I do?”

“Go to the ‘Training Center’.”

The training center.

It was more than a simple training ground.

Similar to an arena, it was a place infused with the essence of magic engineering, allowing for all kinds of training.

“If you go to the training center, you’ll find a mana cultivation room.”

“…!”

“The concentration of mana there is much denser, so the same amount of time spent in energy cultivation will build your internal energy much faster.”

“There’s such a place?”

Go Hyeon-woo exclaimed in amazement.

His body seemed eager to rush there immediately.

I held back Go Hyeon-woo from going and continued my explanation.

“Listen to the end. This is the most important part. There’s also a place called the ‘Special Cultivation Room’. The concentration of mana there is extremely high, easily more than ten times that of a regular mana cultivation room.”

“…!!”

Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes trembled intensely.

Any warrior would react the same way.

The efficiency of a regular cultivation room was already impressive, but what kind of place was this special cultivation room that surpassed it by more than tenfold?

“Of course, such an incredible place cannot exist for just anyone’s use. Not just anyone can enter.”

“Following the flow of this conversation… it requires points.”

“That’s right. 500 points for six hours of use.”

The cost was exorbitant.

Even if used only six hours a day, Go Hyeon-woo would burn through the 3,000 points he earned from the strategy battle in less than a week.

On weekends, warriors often devote an entire day to cultivation. In such cases, 18 hours would cost 1,500 points, and 24 hours would quickly consume 2,000 points.

To use this throughout a semester… it was unimaginable how many points would be needed.

“It’s possible if you really work hard to gather points and pour them all into the special cultivation room but you won’t be able to afford anything else.”

“Hmm… Is there no other way?”

“There is. A Season Pass.”

The Season Pass.

If you owned it, you could have free access to the special cultivation room throughout the semester without consuming any points.

“Such an item must be incredibly difficult to obtain.”

“The easiest way is through an auction. They usually go for between 30,000 to 40,000 points.”

“Heh, that’s the easiest way? Then what’s the other method?”

“The Season Pass is one of the many privileges at Dragon Slayer Academy. It’s mainly given to clubs with good performance. Traditional powerhouses like the swordsmanship club or the white magic club usually have five or six of them.”

Even these powerful clubs struggle to allocate one or two passes each to their first-, second-, and third-year students.

So, they distribute them to the most outstanding members.

“All you have to do is join the swordsmanship club and take the spot of a promising first-year student.”

“…”

The problem was that Mo Yong-jun’s skills were on par with Han So-mi and Jo Byeok.

When asked if he could win against him, Go Hyeon-woo shook his head.

“To be honest, it’s difficult right now. I guess I’ll have to put the season pass on hold. But if I invest points from time to time, I can still frequently visit the special cultivation room.”

“No, it’s too early to give up.”

“…Is there another way?”

“Of course there is.”

I then pointed to myself.

“I’ll get it for you.”