The Support Ate it All

At my sudden move, Song Cheonhye flinched, then shot me a strange look.

“...That sound was a little different, wasn’t it?”

“Sharp of you. Different skill.”

There were three skills imbued into the [Deep-Rooted Crow Tree] in total.

[Octopus Arms], [CAW?], and [CAW—!].

Song Cheonhye had experienced the effect of [CAW?] before. It temporarily blocked the activation of spatial magic.

But [CAW—!] was new to her, which was why she asked.

“What does it do?”

“As you can see.”

I tipped my chin toward the top of the cliff.

An invisible force shimmered there like heat haze. Its true nature was layer upon layer of teleportation magic.

If you climbed up carelessly, you’d get sent right back to the starting point.

But right now, there was a kind of blank zone there, a gap those spells couldn’t enter.

More precisely, I’d created it with [CAW—!].

The same way I’d opened every teleportation portal in the .

The same way I’d pierced the Wild Dragon’s barrier in .

“What’s up there?”

“Go see for yourself. Here.”

As I said that, I handed Song Cheonhye the rock-climbing gear.

Even putting the teleportation magic aside, the slope was almost vertical, and the moisture made it slippery. There was no way to just climb it barehanded.

Maybe I should’ve brought Flying Gyu-Gyu after all.

If we’d flown over on the Feathered Serpent, it would’ve taken no time.

But Dang Gyu-ri was already dealing with the first-year schedule on top of guard duty. I couldn’t keep eating up their time forever.

They’d already done more than enough helping gather materials.

THUNK.

Before long, we drove bolts into the cliff, fastened ropes, and started making our way up little by little.

At first, even taking a single step was a struggle, and we nearly slipped more than once. But the longer we climbed, the more we got used to it, and our speed picked up.

By the time we were about halfway up, I looked toward the top of the cliff again and judged the distance.

That should be close enough.

Then I spoke to Song Cheonhye, who was climbing up behind me.

“I’ll go on ahead.”

“...What?”

Before she could even throw back a proper what-do-you-mean-by-that, I used ★Blink★.

WHOOSH.

I landed on top of the cliff.

Song Cheonhye’s mouth fell open a little.

“Why are you going by yourself? That’s so cheap.”

“Then come too. You know how to use ★Blink★.”

Still, I added one warning while pointing at the teleportation magic raging around us.

“You need to land right next to me. If you touch that, you’ll get sent back.”

“...Then what happens?”

“You take the boat all the way back here again, I guess?”

At that, weakling Song Cheonhye fell into thought.

Could she really land on the exact target point with her current ★Blink★ skill?

Even back in the training room, she was always smashing her head into the ceiling or the wall.

Soon enough, she answered in an unconfident voice.

“I’ll just keep climbing like this...”

“Sure. I’ll wait.”

For a while, I looked down at the hedgehog puffing and struggling her way up the cliff.

Then, once she got close enough, I used [Wind Force] to pull her the rest of the way up.

WHOOOOOSH—

Song Cheonhye let out a self-mocking sigh, like she found it pathetic that she still couldn’t even use ★Blink★ properly.

But she got herself together quickly and looked around.

“...So this is what it looks like up here.”

The terrain was made of jagged stone.

Up to that point, it was the kind of view you could get from climbing any cliff.

If there was anything unusual, it was the statue standing not far away.

It looked like someone had fused a giant catfish with a person. Naturally, it had been modeled after this dungeon’s boss.

Song Cheonhye stared at the statue and narrowed her brows.

“It kind of looks like something we’re supposed to break.”

“Right. We break it.”

“Should I do it?”

“Hold on first.”

I raised a hand to stop her and continued.

“I should probably explain now why I came in alone.”

“I’ve been wondering that since earlier.”

“I didn’t come here to clear it. I came here to shut it down.”

“Shut... it down?”

Song Cheonhye’s eyes went round at the unexpected phrase.

“Yeah. You know what that means, right?”

“I mean, I know what it means, but I’ve never actually seen it. This is how it’s done?”

“In this dungeon, yes.”

Just like every dungeon had its own rules and its own clear method, each one had its own shutdown method too.

Most of them were actually pretty easy to figure out.

Bulldoze through it with overwhelming power.

Take [Black Serpent Fang], for example. You’d fight both the Black Serpent Fang Lord and the White Serpent at the same time and bring them both down in a short span.

For us right now, that wasn’t easy. But if someone on the level of the Sword Empress or the principal stepped in, they could wipe it out in one stroke.

It just wasn’t worth doing, since the losses outweighed the gains.

Another shutdown method was this:

Force your way into the thing you’re obviously not supposed to do.

This dungeon was a perfect example.

Teleportation magic raging around an F-rank dungeon?

That practically meant don’t even go near it.

The academy side had probably guessed that much in a vague way too, but it wasn’t like they had crow magic like I did.

Climbing the cliff itself had been impossible for them.

And naturally, they had no way of knowing what came after that either.

Once I finished explaining that much, Song Cheonhye looked a little awkward.

“When you said you were going in alone, I thought you were just going to pretend to enter it... Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Easy misunderstanding to make.”

The conversation lapsed for a moment.

Song Cheonhye kept staring at the catfish-man statue, as if thinking something over.

Then another question seemed to occur to her.

“So if we break that, the dungeon shuts down?”

“More accurately, that takes us to the next stage.”

“Then why are we waiting?”

“Because there’s still something I need to do first.”

“What?”

“I’m waiting for a crow.”

“The dimensional crows come here? Really?”

Song Cheonhye asked it with a faintly excited look.

I had the big data, so I already knew when and where those things would show up. But under normal circumstances, even catching a glimpse of them took ridiculous luck.

No wonder she’d get excited at the chance to meet one herself.

“I saw it once before in your replay. The one where you meet them in the .”

“You remember that? Even I barely do.”

When I asked in surprise, Song Cheonhye finally seemed to realize she’d slipped up and hurriedly started making excuses.

“It’s not that I remembered it or anything! It just popped into my head right now. By coincidence.”

“As expected of Kim Ho Replay Collector VIP Song Cheonhye. Truly built different.”

“That’s not it!”

“If you say so, I should believe you. How could I possibly doubt a VIP like you?”

“I’m telling you, it really isn’t!”

I spent the time teasing Song Cheonhye while she desperately tried to recover from her blunder.

Then, after we’d been sitting there waiting for a while, I saw the empty air ripple once.

Far more violently than the teleportation spells surrounding us.

There you are.

The distortion grew bigger and bigger, until finally a pitch-black shape burst out of it.

It flapped through the air in a single circle, then landed beside the catfish-man statue.

It had the bulk of something that had no business being called a bird, plus gentlemanly clothes and a bag.

Crow seamstress.

The moment it saw me, it greeted me like an old acquaintance too.

“CAW, young sovereign. It has been some time.”

“Been doing well?”

“Of course! Since you have come here, I take it you used the technique of my kin.”

“Thanks to you.”

When I lifted the staff a little, it looked deeply pleased.

Naturally so, since I was putting what it had woven for me to good use.

At that point, Song Cheonhye, who had been watching us with shining curiosity, cautiously cut into the conversation.

“Could I ask you something?”

“CAW.”

The seamstress turned its body away as if ignoring her.

It simply had no intention of dealing with someone it considered beneath its notice.

Song Cheonhye must have understood that too. She looked offended for a split second, but didn’t argue.

It’s not just you.

Dang Gyu-young, Hong Yeonhwa, Go Hyeonwoo—they all got ignored the same way. It only started paying attention around the level of Seo Ye-in.

Not for a good reason, since it was because her “eyes” annoyed it.

Anyway, I got to the point.

“I’d like to commission another weaving today.”

“CAW, and what would you have me weave?”

“I brought something special this time.”

I took out the two chunks of meteoric iron, and at once the seamstress showed both interest and a hint of difficulty.

“Metal imbued with the power of the cosmos! Even for me, this will not be easy.”

“But not impossible.”

“CAW, there is nothing impossible for me!”

The seamstress hopped in place and thrust its head high.

Apparently that was its version of showing off.

Then it added,

“However, the labor fee will be very high. Will that be acceptable?”

“Of course. I came prepared for that.”

I answered casually and opened my inventory again, laying out the statues I’d received from Kang Byeol in a line.

At that abrupt little exhibition, the creature’s excitement hit its peak.

“CAAAW—! So many works of art!”

“Take your time looking.”

And it really did. The seamstress hopped all around the statues, circling them, inspecting them from every angle.

Whenever it found one it particularly liked, it even flapped its wings in delight.

Then it turned back to me and asked, as if confirming it.

“You are giving me all of these?”

“That’s the only way the numbers work out. Assuming you show me what you can really do.”

“CAW, I shall do my utmost!”

“Then we have a deal.”

“Good!”

The seamstress circled the statues one more time, admiring them, then started putting them away into its own inventory one by one.

“CAW, young sovereign. Did you know this?”

“What?”

“My collection is the greatest among my kin!”

“Bet you’re popular.”

“CAW, indeed! It is thanks to my dealings with you!”

“Glad you’re satisfied. Let’s keep doing it this way.”

By then, every last statue had disappeared.

The seamstress flicked one wing lightly, and the two chunks of meteoric iron floated up into the air.

Then threads and needles of mana stitched through them and wove them together.

Its unique skill, [Weaving], had activated.

HUMMMMM—

The meteoric iron turned into two masses of light, endlessly trembling as if they might merge and yet might not.

Every time that happened, a powerful wave swept across the area.

“CAW...”

Even for an S-rank creature, it clearly wasn’t easy.

But maybe because it had boasted so loudly, it poured on even more force and continued the skill.

The more it did, the more the violent movement of the light-masses gradually settled, taking on the shape of an ingot.

Then, at the very end, brilliant light burst out.

FLASH—!

When I saw the finished result, my eyes sharpened.

Now that’s a new one.

[Starmascus(??)]

Mo Yong meteoric iron had been dark, while the meteoric iron I got in the entertainment district had been close to white. Mixed together, they had formed an intricate striped pattern of black, gray, and white.

For now, the rank was displayed as ??, but considering the materials, there was no way it was anything lower than S+.

If I could get [Consecration] from Meteor Dragon, EX was practically guaranteed.

While I was thinking that, the seamstress spoke up.

“CAW, do you like it, young sovereign?”

“A lot. Looks like there really is nothing impossible for you.”

“I am always the greatest!”

It started hopping in place again and lifted its head high.

I smiled faintly at that and said,

“Good deal today too. See you again.”

“CAW, the same to you! Perhaps next time you will not be merely a young sovereign! Until then!”

For now, it was only extending me this kind of treatment because I had the calling card of [Sovereign].

But my growth rate was so absurd that it was already predicting the next time we met, I’d be an equal for real.

Soon the seamstress beat its wings, rose into the air, circled once through the empty sky, and crossed over into the next dungeon.

Watching it go, I looked back at the catfish statue.

Now then. Time to shut this place down.