The Support Ate it All

Skills and traits related to space-time were notoriously difficult to master, and the vast majority required a [Core] of at least A-rank.

Naturally, that was far beyond the capabilities of a first-year student.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Moreover, most of these abilities had been created directly by the boss monsters or heroes themselves, placing them on the borderline of being considered unique skills.

In other words, they couldn’t be brought over through [Copy].

For that reason, it had been expected that learning [Time Share] would come much later.

But things changed when the Underworld Dragon King stepped in as a teacher.

A dragon specialized in time-type magic.

A first-year who reeked of something suspicious and rotten.

If those two were paired together, then even if it was time magic, they could manage to pass on at least one skill.

Before long, the Underworld Dragon King retrieved a few magical tools from a subspace and put them on.

He had been casting time magic practically bare-handed before, so this meant he was preparing something even more powerful.

Indeed, the Underworld Dragon King took his time channeling the spell.

As he did, mana surged so violently that it made the very space ripple, then converged to a single point.

That point turned into a line, the line into a crack that widened and grew, until finally, it was large enough for a person to step through.

A teleportation portal.

There was probably a space inside dedicated to passing on the skill.

As expected of an S-rank dragon, there was nothing he couldn’t do.

With a lifespan dozens or even hundreds of times longer than a human’s, he was skilled not only in combat magic but in various other fields as well.

The Underworld Dragon King gestured toward the portal with a glance.

“Go on in.”

One would think he’d at least offer a brief explanation of what was inside or what to do, but he simply told me to go experience it for myself.

Perhaps he figured that the young monarch would be able to handle it just fine on his own.

And to be fair, he wasn’t wrong.

I gave a polite bow to the Underworld Dragon King in gratitude, then stepped into the portal.

Immediately, a space as dark as the night sky spread out before my eyes.

It seemed inevitable that the hastily assembled space looked a bit empty.

Right in front of me sat a large clock, and scattered around it were various components like springs, gears, cogs, and other parts in complete disarray.

If I were to use a metaphor, the clock was the incomplete skill, and the components represented the concepts that made up that skill.

But it wasn’t something I needed to overthink.

The goal was obvious to anyone.

Basically, I’m supposed to build the clock.

You could think of it as a kind of 3D puzzle.

However, since the parts weren’t few and came in all shapes and sizes, most people would probably start to feel overwhelmed at this point.

At least the components were on the larger side. That must’ve been their final act of mercy.

Of course, that’s in a typical case.

Naturally, I had done this kind of thing more times than I could count.

By puzzle standards, this one was on the easier side.

Might as well finish this quickly.

To save time, I gathered a full armful of parts and walked up to the clock.

Then, without hesitation, I started fitting them in, piece by piece.

Tick, tock, tock, tock.

Once I used up the parts I was holding, I gathered another armful from the floor and repeated the process of assembling and clicking several more times.

Before long, the giant clock was complete, and a notification message popped up.

[You have acquired ‘Time Share (F)’.]

[Time Share (F)]

▷Shares part of the cooldown time for skills/traits.

▷Share ratio: 10%

Time Share was a cooldown management skill.

It allowed you to designate one skill or trait currently on cooldown and take on a portion of its remaining time yourself.

The share ratio varied depending on the rank.

Once the shared time had passed, you could use Time Share again.

For example, the Time Share cast by the Underworld Dragon King was ranked S, allowing him to absorb a staggering 50% of the cooldown.

That’s why the cooldown for [Hardship], which had originally been a little over 44 days, was slashed in half to 22 days.

To cast [Time Share] again, I’d have to wait those 22 days.

Of course, someone like the Underworld Dragon King probably had more than one skill or trait that reduced cooldowns, so he’d likely be able to reuse it even sooner.

Well, since I’ve learned it, let’s give it a try.

I checked the cooldown for Hardship again and used the skill.

[Cooldown: 22 days 07:56:40]

[Activated ‘Time Share’.]

[Share ratio: 10%]

[Cooldown: 2 days 05:35:40]

As a result, Hardship’s cooldown was reduced by exactly 10%.

[Cooldown: 20 days 02:21:00]

If I kept using it regularly, I’d eventually be able to give Seo Ye-in the Hardship Quest before leaving the city.

And if I quickly rotated the cooldown and used it for mentoring, that would be neat as well.

Anyway, since I had finished all my business here, I stepped through the teleportation portal and came outside.

The Underworld Dragon King looked slightly surprised.

“You’re done already?”

“It was more manageable than I expected.”

“That Chairman guy spent half a day in there. You did better.”

“You flatter me.”

As I responded modestly, the Underworld Dragon King made me an offer.

“But this is still just the first step. Want to keep going?”

“Yes, I’d like to.”

Since it was a time-based skill, ranking it up wasn’t easy. But he was offering to guide me directly.

The service here is top-notch.

It really seemed like he was planning to support me thoroughly.

I accepted without hesitation and stepped into the newly generated teleportation portal.

***

Starting that day, [Time Share] rank training was added to my daily routine.

Whenever the Dragon King opened a teleportation portal, I would go in, quickly assemble the clock, and come back out.

Repeating that process several times a day, the rank increased rapidly.

[The rank of ‘Time Share’ has increased. (F→E)]

▷ Share Ratio: 10% → 15%

[The rank of ‘Time Share’ has increased. (E→D)]

▷ Share Ratio: 15% → 20%

Honestly, I wanted to focus solely on this, but unfortunately, there was a limit to how many times I could train per day.

Well, it’s not exactly a simple magic, after all.

It was a spell that created an entirely new space and even assigned it a clear purpose.

Even a dragon probably couldn’t use it too frequently.

Besides, space magic was also required for crafting the adamantite pot, so he probably needed to conserve some of his energy.

Whenever the Underworld Dragon King ended the session with a “That’s it for today,” and left the training room, I continued on as usual with one-on-one sparring against Seo Ye-in.

Mixing in Mutual Destruction Eye and various wind spells as we went.

[The rank of ‘One Point Explosion’ has increased. (C→B)]

Now, with just Twister left to rank up, Spiral Explosion at rank B would be complete.

Once the sloth battery was significantly drained, we’d wrap up the sparring, and I’d drop by the workshop to watch the pot-making process or play mini-games with Father Seo.

It always ended with him getting utterly destroyed.

And finally, the day had come.

[Cooldown: 00:03:18]

The day the cooldown for Hardship ended.

I had kept [Time Share] running nonstop, and the Dragon King had occasionally cast support magic in between, so it finished earlier than expected.

I paused the sparring and stood face-to-face with Seo Ye-in.

Then I asked while Imitating the Dragon King’s voice,

“Do you desire ‘power’?”

“……?”

At that, Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly to the side.

Normally, she would’ve immediately replied with “Strong” but today, her answer was delayed.

She’s got sharp instincts.

It seemed her Lucky Radar had picked up on something ominous.

No one knew what kind of trials accepting the Hardship quest would bring.

I repeated the question.

“Do you desire ‘power’?”

“……No.”

“Why not?”

“A content life.”

She meant she was satisfied with her current pace.

Then, as she subtly began to put distance between us, I followed her and gently coaxed her.

“Don’t you think it’s okay to be a little greedy?”

“Greed brings trouble.”

“You only get talkative at times like this.”

The chase and persuasion continued, but Seo Ye-in just kept shaking her head without stopping.

She must’ve really had a bad feeling about it.

So I decided to take a more drastic approach.

“Let’s negotiate. Tell me what you want.”

“A lifelong pillow.”

“What’s that?”

“No expiration date.”

“So that’s what you meant. But what about the butler thing?”

“……!”

Seo Ye-in froze for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, she raised an imaginary exclamation mark above her head.

“A lifelong pillow butler.”

“Look at you, full of greed. And no, you can’t have either.”

At the firm rejection, Seo Ye-in asked again.

“Why not?”

“It’s unbalanced. When you use the word ‘lifelong’ it comes with some ridiculous conditions.”

“Like what?”

“For example, training while sleeping only four hours a day.”

At that, Seo Ye-in immediately gave up on the idea of a lifelong pillow butler.

“A shame…”

“Let’s hear another request. Something without the words ‘lifelong’, ‘butler’; or ‘pillow’.”

After pondering for a while again, Seo Ye-in finally spoke.

“Recharge time.”

“You sleep on the Kim Ho pillow every day, don’t you?”

But she slowly shook her head, as if that wasn’t what she meant.

“A trip.”

“Like when we go to the city?”

“Mhmm.”

“Alright, let’s do that.”

I nodded willingly.

A proper rest day now and then would boost efficiency anyway.

And when a hardship quest came up, the need for rest would only grow.

From my perspective too, a leisurely walk through the new city sounded like a good way to clear my head.

However, it seemed Seo Ye-in wasn’t done listing her requests.

“One more.”

“What is it?”

“Cookies.”

“You want me to bake them?”

“Together.”

So she meant baking cookies together and sharing them.

Since it wasn’t an unreasonable request, I decided to add cookies to the scales as well.

Meanwhile, Ahn Jeong-mi was silently observing us from a corner of the training room, keeping quiet but wearing a faintly pleased smile.

At the same time, she seemed to be busily communicating with someone, giving the impression that she was already scouting locations.

I glanced briefly at Ahn Jeong-mi, then fixed my gaze back on Seo Ye-in.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

“……”

Seo Ye-in still looked reluctant, as if her internal danger radar was going off.

Afraid she might change her mind, I quickly activated the skill.

[Activated ‘Hardship’.]

[Cooldown time: 5 days 23:59:57]

[‘Stage 1 Hardship’ has been granted to the target.]

“…….”

Seo Ye-in kept her gaze fixed on empty space as she slowly read through the notification message.

I was curious after all. So I asked her casually.

“What did you get?”

“……”

Hardship quests were usually meant to be done alone, but that was merely a recommendation. Not a strict requirement.

Especially for this human sloth, whose motivation seemed to drain away with every breath she took. It might actually be better to offer her a bit of support from the side.

Soon enough, Seo Ye-in shared the contents of the quest.

Looking at it, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh.

“…This won’t be easy.”