The Support Ate it All-Chapter 377: No.207 Rabbit Tower (2)

The rest floor wasn’t all bad.

You could train your mana with very high efficiency there.

Still, it felt like a waste to spend all our time doing mana cultivation after going through the trouble of entering a C-rank dungeon.

Especially considering we’re likely to get dragged to the Disciplinary Committee afterward.

It made more sense to prioritize rewards and hidden pieces.

I persuaded Seo Ye-in.

“We can drop by the rest floors once in a while, but for now, let’s do something else.”

“Like what?”

“Well, we’re well-rested, so how about warming up a bit?”

In other words, head to a battle floor.

Seo Ye-in glanced at the roulette for a few seconds, then asked,

“…Boss?”

“Sure, why not.”

Honestly, I felt like Go Hyeon-woo or I could’ve landed the boss room ourselves, but once again, we left it to Seo Ye-in.

As a kind of bad-luck-cleansing ritual, or maybe to charge up our luck.

Clunk—

Without hesitation, Seo Ye-in pulled the lever, and the roulette began spinning rapidly.

The result was exactly what we expected.

[Boss (Medium)]

Go Hyeon-woo and I chuckled dryly.

“She really just gets whatever she wants.”

“Almost like she can control it at will.”

In response, Seo Ye-in slowly raised her hand and flashed a peace sign.

Soon after, the elevator ascended and dropped us off on the next floor.

And then, a flustered voice greeted us.

“K-Kyuik!? You again!”

It was the clock rabbit, the hidden boss of the [Rabbit Room].

Here too it played a significant role as both the floor boss and the guardian of a hidden piece.

Seo Ye-in and I waved cheerfully.

“Hey, Chompy.”

“Chompy.”

“Kieeeee!! Don’t call me that name!”

Just like the first time I named him, Chompy freaked out and hated it.

I sighed.

“That kinda hurts, Chompy. After everything we’ve been through, how can you be so cold?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, human! What part of that was a meaningful memory?!”

“If that wasn’t a memory, then what was it? I even gave you a necklace as a token of our friendship.”

Chompy trembled with rage and clutched his neck.

“Kyiiik!! That cursed leash! Do you know how much trouble I went through to take it off?!”

“Which makes me wonder. Why even take it off? You’ll just end up wearing it again anyway.”

Seo Ye-in quietly took out a rope, her eyes gleaming.

“…Practice.”

“Absolutely, under no circumstances are you touching my neck.”

Chompy spat the words out and then pulled out a pocket watch.

Seeing that, I casually reminded him of one simple fact.

“Chompy, you know time magic doesn’t work on us, right?”

“Kyuek, of course I know. But that’s not the only way I have to deal with you.”

As he raised the pocket watch above his head, a massive hunk of machinery suddenly dropped from the air.

Thud!!

The rectangular object unfolded with a series of clanking noises and transformed into a rabbit-shaped robot.

It was only slightly smaller than an ogre.

Where its head should’ve been was a cockpit, and in the center of its chest was a circular recess which was exactly the size of the pocket watch.

“Kyuit.”

When Chompy inserted the pocket watch into the socket, the rabbit robot powered on.

Next, he leaped up and settled himself into the cockpit.

Go Hyeon-woo and I watched this scene unfold, quietly murmuring in admiration.

“He’s an enemy, but I must say, it’s pretty cool.”

“There’s a certain charm to it.”

“By the way, how do you know that rabbit?”

“We saw him in a previous dungeon. It connects to this one.”

“I see.”

As we continued chatting in the most casual tone, Chompy’s face twisted in irritation.

“Kyuek! Do you still not understand the situation!?”

“Oh, I get it. The robot’s cool, Chompy. Can I take it for a spin?”

“I’ll see how long you can keep acting so calm!”

The Chompy robot crouched low as if gathering strength, then made a huge leap, trying to crush us.

Go Hyeon-woo stepped back using his movement technique, and I grabbed Seo Ye-in’s arm and jumped far away, landing safely in the distance.

Apparently aiming to eliminate the closer target first, the Chompy robot turned its attention to Go Hyeon-woo. It wielded a greatsword as tall as itself in one hand and a broad shield in the other.

It swept the greatsword across the floor in a wide arc. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Go Hyeon-woo wrapped a gentle wind around his magic sword and deflected the greatsword’s path.

Clang! Clang—!

At the same time, he unleashed several waves of sword energy, but surprisingly, the Chompy robot moved its shield with unexpected agility and blocked the attacks.

Its balance of offense and defense was quite good.

While swinging the greatsword and shield in turn, Chompy narrowed its eyes and looked down at Go Hyeon-woo.

“Kyuit, you’re a new face. Where did that future baldy human go?”

“When you say the baldy one, are you talking about Shin-hyung?”

“I think that was his name. The guy with the growing bald spot on his head.”

Go Hyeon-woo gave a wry smile.

“There were circumstances, so I came in his place. I look forward to working with you.”

“Kyut, at least you’re a human with some manners. I’ll spare your life.”

“Haha, that’s very kind of you.”

Just then, a dozen or so magic rounds struck the Chompy robot’s body, causing small explosions.

Tututututu!

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

They were Seo Ye-in’s shock bombs.

Each one was packed with serious power, but as to be expected from a C-rank dungeon boss, the rabbit robot had fairly thick armor.

Still, if left alone, it would eventually be pierced. So Chompy glanced our way and fiddled with something.

The next moment, the robot’s shoulders and thighs opened up, launching a barrage of missiles.

Shushushushooong—!

Go Hyeon-woo and I paused, once again letting out gasps of admiration.

“Whoa. It even has those?”

“I’m telling you, there’s a certain charm to it.”

Missiles streaked through the air in dazzling arcs.

Seo Ye-in raised her gun, but I lightly waved my hand to stop her.

“I’ll handle these. You keep hammering the robot.”

“Okay.”

In situations like this, using a wide-area attack is more efficient than shooting them down one by one.

I stuck the sapling into the ground and extended my other hand forward.

[Earth Line]

[Spiral Explosion]

Whiiing—

A swirling wind distorted the missiles’ paths, and as the compressed air exploded, the missiles triggered a chain reaction of blasts.

Booooom—!

Even so, the missiles kept coming, as if being resupplied from somewhere, and I continued to counter with wind magic.

At the same time, I reminded the other two:

“Guys, we can’t let Chompy get hurt.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

To be honest, just a few inferno fists would be enough to take down both Chompy and the robot at once.

But if I turn Chompy into barbecue like that, the main body, which was the pocket watch, will be blown away too. So it was better to leave this to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

Vwoooom—!

Once again, the greatsword swept through the air with a piercing sound.

It looked powerful enough not just to cut someone in half, but to completely shatter them. Even so, Go Hyeon-woo kept parrying the blows without showing the slightest sign of struggle.

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in’s magic bullets continued to pound away at the Chompy robot, gradually wearing down its armor.

Go Hyeon-woo smiled faintly.

“I could leave this to Miss Seo as things stand, but since it’s been a while since we’ve had a formidable opponent, I’d like to show what I can do as well and revisit some newfound insights.”

“Kyuit! You humans never cease to displease me. If you think I’m just some training dummy, you’re sorely mistaken!”

As Chompy fiddled with something again, smoke rose from various parts of the robot’s body, and its attacks became even fiercer.

It seemed the robot was being pushed to its limits. But it looked like Chompy was willing to do whatever it took to bring us down.

As he intended, Go Hyeon-woo began to show signs of strain.

Up until a moment ago, he had been parrying the greatsword while occasionally launching sword energy attacks, but now he was focused solely on defense.

Even so, with a smile still on his lips, he began to speak.

“The Heavenly River Wind-and-Cloud Sword Technique contains a different secret in each form. For example, the Clear Stream embodies the mystery of softness, while the Rapid Current captures the mystery of swiftness.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Fwiiiiish—

At some point, a faint breeze had started swirling around Go Hyeon-woo and the Chompy robot.

The strange thing was, it was impossible to tell where the wind was coming from.

Unease flickered across Chompy’s face, while Go Hyeon-woo continued with a gentle smile.

“The form I’m about to show now contains the mystery of illusion.”

“…….!”

Sensing instinctive danger, Chompy gave up trying to keep us in check and poured everything into attacking Go Hyeon-woo.

The greatsword sliced through the air in deadly arcs, and missiles came flying in from all directions.

Shushushushung—!

But in the very next instant, Go Hyeon-woo’s form blurred and vanished….only to reappear at the robot’s flank.

He had activated [Ghost Dance].

Immediately after, as his magic sword slashed across, the erratic breezes swirling around them transformed into sharp sword energy.

Swish, swish, swish, swish—!

“K-Kyuit!”

The rabbit robot raised its shield, but it was a useless gesture.

The range was one thing, but it wasn’t even possible to tell where the sword energy was coming from.

The once-thick armor had been riddled with holes by Seo Ye-in’s magic bullets, leaving its defense greatly weakened.

Through those gaps, the sword energy seeped in and shredded the rabbit robot in an instant.

Creaaaaaaaaak—!

Chompy sat in the wrecked cockpit that was now just a pile of scrap metal, staring blankly before turning to Go Hyeon-woo with a question.

“…So, what’s the name of that technique?”

“Turbid Flow.”

“……”

Chompy ground his teeth while glancing around nervously.

It looked like he was waiting for a chance to escape.

Sensing it, Go Hyeon-woo pointed his magic sword at him.

“I suggest you abandon such thoughts. You’ve experienced it firsthand. You should know what kind of person Mr. Kim is.”

“…Kyut.”

Perhaps the threat had worked. Chompy merely fiddled with his pocket watch, unable to muster the nerve to run.

Under normal circumstances, even after the Chompy robot was destroyed, he could’ve used [Time Freeze] to get away, but that didn’t work on us.

I’d immediately grant [Time Resistance], after all.

While Chompy hesitated, Seo Ye-in and I approached him.

“Chompy, it’s best if you come quietly, don’t you think?”

“…Fine. Do whatever you want.”

“Let’s start with the symbol of friendship again.”

When Seo Ye-in pulled out the rope once more, he recoiled in horror and protested.

“Kkyu, kkyuit. Can’t we skip that part? I told you, I’m not even thinking of running!”

“You were the one who broke our friendship first. How can we trust you?”

Maybe things would’ve been different if he’d come quietly from the start.

Seo Ye-in proceeded to try various types of knots on Chompy, and the poor thing ended up leashed once again.

With leashed Chompy in tow, we boarded the elevator once more.

Seo Ye-in held the lever and asked,

“…Rest?”

“There’s only one floor left. Taking a break now feels a bit premature. Let’s keep going.”

“Okay.”

Perhaps because we’d already passed four rest floors, Seo Ye-in agreed without complaint.

She looked at the roulette and asked again,

“What kind?”

“Something a bit different this time? What do you think?”

“Okay.”

Clunk—

When she pulled the lever, the roulette spun rapidly.

The selected category was:

[Puzzle (Large)]

Go Hyeon-woo slowly stroked his chin.

“A puzzle, hmm. Interesting, but it won’t be easy. With ‘large’ in the title, we’ll need to put our heads together.”

“Why would we need to use our heads?”

I asked, genuinely puzzled, and Go Hyeon-woo looked just as confused.

“You have another plan in mind, Kim-hyung?”

“Of course I do.”

I pointed at Chompy.