The Support Ate it All

Saturday morning.

I met Seo Ye-in at the shuttle bus stop.

Seo Ye-in was usually twice as energetic as normal whenever we went to the downtown area, but today, she seemed even more lively than that.

Curious, I decided to ask her a casual question.

“How much battery do you have today?”

“Ninety-one percent.”

“That’s a new record.”

“Full of energy!”

She even struck a playful fighting pose.

At the same time, I wondered if there was a specific reason why she had been so insistent about going downtown this week.

Could it be that her lucky instincts were kicking in?

For now, though, the “I just really want to have fun” theory seemed more plausible. Either way, I figured we’d find out soon enough.

We boarded the shuttle bus that arrived shortly after and headed toward the downtown area.

Though next week was expected to be busier, downtown was still bustling this week.

I went with the flow of the crowd and asked Seo Ye-in,

“Where do you want to go most?”

“…The arcade?”

“Knew it.”

Seo Ye-in had so much fun at the arcade every time we came downtown that it seemed like her mind had developed a simple formula: downtown = arcade.

Since the arcade also offered small prizes as rewards, I had no reason to object.

However, the main goal of this trip was to browse the shops and, if we found something we wanted, to make a purchase.

With that in mind, I made a suggestion.

“There’s a magic shop on the way, so let’s stop there first. What do you think?”

“Okay.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head coolly.

The “Long Ears Magic Item Shop” was located along the path to the arcade.

On our first trip downtown, we had combined some items from that store to create the Fluffy Cloud and Storm Cloud bracelets.

The plan for today was to browse the magic shop first, spend time at the arcade, and then visit one more store afterward.

We had plenty of time, so the plan could be flexible, and there was no need to rush straight to the magic shop.

So, I strolled leisurely with Seo Ye-in, taking in the sights of downtown as though we were on a casual walk.

“…….”

By now, I’d figured out Seo Ye-in’s patterns of behavior during our previous two trips downtown.

She would wander around, slow down when something caught her interest, stare at it intently, or gently tug at me to follow her.

When that happened, I either followed her to check it out or stopped her if we seemed to be straying too far from our route.

Sure enough, her steps slowed into a hesitant shuffle, and she started drifting toward a street vendor.

Before long, she came back holding a mini hotdog.

“I’ll give you half.”

“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”

The two of us quickly finished off the mini hotdogs,

And then Seo Ye-in, once again, started inching toward a street vendor. She returned with a bag of mini pastries.

“I’ll give you half.”

“Alright, thanks.”

After we finished off the mini pastries, I noticed her gaze drifting back toward the street vendors again. This time, I decided to intervene.

“Hold it right there.”

“….…?”

“If you snack too much, you’ll end up too full.”

The street vendor snacks were tempting, sure, but I’d recently received a bakery coupon from Ahn Jeong-mi.

Since it wasn’t an opportunity that came around often, it seemed wiser to save our appetites for the bakery.

“……”

Seo Ye-in hesitated for a moment. She glanced back and forth between the street vendors and me. She looked to be clearly torn.

After a bit of deliberation, she suddenly seemed to come to a realization, as though a light bulb had gone off above her head.

“…I’ll give you half.”

“Let’s be honest here. You just want to eat it, don’t you?”

“…Maybe a little?”

When I gave her a stern look, Seo Ye-in sheepishly averted her gaze.

Of course, in the end, we split it evenly.

“This is the last one. You understand?”

“Okay.”

After that, we wandered around and watched various street performances.

For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of students from different clubs out today.

Maybe it was because the semester was coming to an end, and they wanted to showcase their achievements outside of academics.

There was a performance by what seemed to be members of the Great Mother Club. A group of second- and third-year beast tamers were showing off tricks with their animal companions.

A wolf was catching baseballs in its mouth and tossing them high into the air, while an eagle soaring overhead would swoop down to catch them and throw them back.

Park Na-ri was there as well on one side, but for some reason, she was getting repeatedly smacked with “cat punches” by an irritated tiger.

“Ah, no! Stop—ow! Stop hitting me!”

Poor thing…

She’s really having a hard time dealing with her tiger companion today.

I felt a twinge of sympathy and kept walking.

As we continued on, I spotted Han Gyeo-wool and Choi Han-gil, the seniors we had seen during the infiltration of the storage facility, performing a street act.

Han Gyeo-wool would conjure an ice wall, which Choi Han-gil would then carve into a sculpture in an instant.

It was mana control worthy of the White Magic Club senior members.

“……?”

Just then, I noticed Seo Ye-in staring intently at something with curious eyes.

In the distance, bursts of colorful explosions filled the air, accompanied by plumes of smoke in various colors.

When Seo Ye-in gently tugged on my sleeve, I followed her lead.

It’s the Alchemy Club.

Small potion bottles, no bigger than a finger, were neatly lined up on the display shelf, and students passing by were taking turns sampling them.

When a female student cautiously drank a blue potion, there was an audible bang! followed by an explosion of blue smoke.

As the smoke cleared, her hair had turned the same shade of blue as the potion.

“Wow…”

The student admired herself in a handheld mirror and let out a soft exclamation.

It’s a dye item.

A cosmetic item that temporarily changed the color of hair or eyes.

In most cases, the color would match the potion’s hue.

“…….!”

Seo Ye-in turned to me with her eyes sparkling with excitement.

At that moment, a senior from the Alchemy Club who had been waiting nearby noticed immediately and approached us like a hawk. He was eagerly pitching his product.

“Give it a try! It’s tasty, it’s fun, and guess what? It’s free of charge.”

Well, of course it was free.

Their goal wasn’t to make money. It was likely to test the performance of their dye potion.

Not that there was any real risk of an accident.

For one, they wouldn’t bring untested products, as it would tarnish their club’s reputation. Even if, by some minuscule chance, there was something harmful in the potion, Seo Ye-in had Poison Immunity and I was the same.

So I accepted the orange potion bottle the senior handed me and drank it down.

It actually tastes like orange.

It wasn’t bad at all.

As I smacked my lips lightly, there was a loud bang! and my vision was suddenly engulfed in orange smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Seo Ye-in looked at me and said,

“Orange Kim Ho.”

The Alchemy Club senior grinned ear to ear while holding up a hand mirror for me to see.

Sure enough, my hair and eye color were now dyed a bright orange.

“Well, I can’t be the only one.”

I handed Seo Ye-in a pink potion, and she took it and slowly drank it.

Bang!

A pink explosion erupted, and Seo Ye-in’s hair and eyes shifted from their usual gray to a vibrant pink.

“…….?”

“Well, look who we have here. A pink sloth?”

“………!”

Seo Ye-in who was full of curiosity kept handing me potion bottles. Each time I drank one, I transformed into Blue Kim Ho, Green Kim Ho, White Kim Ho, and so on.

I started to understand, at least a little, how Rainbow Gap-doo felt.

Bang!

As she looked at my newly transformed appearance, Seo Ye-in said,

“…Gray Kim Ho.”

“Looks like you like this one.”

“Approved.”

It seemed Gray Kim Ho, with gray hair and gray eyes, was her favorite. Seo Ye-in stopped handing me any more potions after that.

For the record, Seo Ye-in was still in her transformed state. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed sloth.

With that, we decided to call it a day for potion tasting.

Before leaving, I asked the Alchemy Club senior a question.

“How long does this last?”

“About two hours. After that, you’ll return to normal. Unless, of course, you want to come back to our club.”

Unless? Did that mean there was a chance I wouldn’t go back to normal?

Her comment didn’t inspire much confidence, but it wasn’t something to worry about just yet. It was just hair color, after all.

Afterward, as I kept wandering around, taking in the sights, I eventually spotted a shop in the distance. It was the “Long Ears Magic Item Shop”.

But then Seo Ye-in tilted her head and stared intently at something for some reason. Curious, I turned my gaze in the same direction.

And that’s when I saw it. It was something familiar.

That’s still here?

A masked gentleman was strolling toward us with exaggerated, theatrical steps.

He was a field boss and an event boss who liked to challenge anyone he fancied with light quizzes or mini-games.

If you won his mini-games, he’d give you hidden rewards.

The first time we’d come to the downtown area, Seo Ye-in had seen through one of his tricks and won the [Lucky Trump Card] as her prize.

That had been nearly two months ago. I’d figured he would’ve left Dungeon Island by now, but to my surprise, he was still hanging around.

“~~! ~~!”

Like before, the masked gentleman didn’t make a sound, but he waved his arms and gestured excitedly. As if he was clearly delighted to see us again.

At the same time, he began rummaging through his pockets, likely searching for a trump card or something similar.

But he wasn’t the only one approaching Seo Ye-in.

The attention of passersby suddenly converged on one spot, where a clown was merrily dancing his way closer to us.

His outfit was extravagant, and like the masked gentleman, he wore a mask over his face.

When I saw this, my eyes lit up with interest.

That’s an event boss too.

The only real difference between him and the masked gentleman was the type of mini-games he offered and the kinds of rewards he gave out.

The strange thing, though, was that it was extremely rare for two event bosses to show up in the same place like this.

Usually, they would stick to their own zones, and even if they happened to cross paths, one of them would quickly leave the area.

But now, despite clearly being aware of each other, they were both eagerly approaching Seo Ye-in in a competitive manner.

What’s gotten into them?

Normally, if a player didn’t interest them, they wouldn’t even acknowledge their presence, let alone initiate a mini-game. Yet here they were practically desperate to offer Seo Ye-in an event.

Guess I’ll just wait and see for now.

Although both of them were powerful bosses, they weren’t dangerous.

Even if she were to lose a mini-game, it wasn’t like her life would be at risk.

Besides, I had a hunch that Seo Ye-in, being the lucky charm she was, would handle this without much trouble.

The masked gentleman was the first to reach her.

As if ready to start a mini-game right away, he began skillfully shuffling a deck of cards in a flashy manner.

But just as he did, the masked clown arrived and put a hand over the cards to stop him. The two event bosses then began to argue with animated hand gestures and exaggerated movements.

Judging from their actions, it wasn’t hard to guess what they were saying:

– I’m going to do it! You back off!

– I was here first! You back off!

– Why should I care?

Seo Ye-in glanced back and forth between them, but she seemed to be losing interest.

The moment she tried to move away, the clown and the gentleman abruptly stopped their squabbling and scrambled to block her path.

From their frantic gestures, it seemed like they were begging her to spare them just a bit of her time.

What could possibly have these two so desperate? I had no idea.

“……!”

“……!”

When Seo Ye-in remained still, the two bosses quickly communicated and reached an agreement in no time.

Soon after, the clown stepped back, and the gentleman began shuffling the deck of trump cards.

Are they planning to take turns one by one?

Shuffle-shuffle!

Seo Ye-in stared at the dazzlingly shuffled deck of cards with an indifferent expression on her face.

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