Bang! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Every time the guy walked, the earth shook with dust.

“Roar!”

The Ogre, having spotted its prey, charged forward with a greedy gleam in its eyes, letting out a roar.

Despite its sluggish appearance, it rushed forward without hesitation.

LLim Ga-eul’s face went from surprise to determination.

Clang!

The girl who had put her faith in her was already holding her shield and moving forward.

LLim Ga-eul channeled her magic.

‘…Slow!’

A skill that always felt lacking due to its insufficient output.

But she had to do something.

After all, she was responsible for this party.

She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

“Huh?”

In that urgent situation, she couldn’t help but be surprised.

The magic she had summoned was always meager and pathetic.

But today was different.

Whoosh!

It felt like a vast river flowing through her entire body.

“Huh!”

Goosebumps covered her body as she experienced this unfamiliar sensation.

Fortunately, the skill shot from her fingertips hit the Ogre, but she couldn’t afford to stand still.

LLim Ga-eul immediately cast her next skill.

‘Acceleration!’

The skill that blossomed from her fingertips shone brightly and flew towards Yoo-ri, infusing her with its power.

.

.

.

Yoo-ri, the Tanker, charged towards the Ogre, and I followed closely behind.

Yoo-ri’s face, briefly visible, showed clear signs of tension.

The Ogre, a C-grade monster, was on par with the Blood Goblins we had faced before.

The Ogre gripped its massive axe with both hands and raised it above its head.

Scccrreeeaaaaccchhh!

The axe came crashing down, threatening to split Yoo-ri’s head in two.

But then,

Yoo-ri made a strange expression.

“Hmm?”

Initially, she had raised her shield to block the powerful axe strike, but then she lowered her shield and sidestepped, dodging the blow.

Bang!

The Ogre’s axe cleaved into the innocent ground, splitting it apart.

Yoo-ri’s shield swiftly turned towards the Ogre’s body.

Bang!

The shield collided with the Ogre, causing its body to shake.

Yoo-ri took a step back, seemingly unsatisfied with the impact, and then lunged at the Ogre once more.

Kaaaaang!

“Ouch–?!”

The massive body staggered and was pushed back.

“Huh?”

Yoo-ri let out a surprised exclamation, even though she was the one who had done it. I smiled at the sight and let out a soft laugh.

‘This is what a proper supporter does.’

A supporter who slows down the enemy and boosts the speed of allies by a percentage. Especially in the case of Yoo-ri, a dodging tanker, the boost was no joke.

By now, she must be feeling the synergy between them.

And as I waited a little longer, I could feel the power of my skill taking effect.

‘Hmm, I’m in my pure state now, so it’s probably a 10% boost.’

As the power flowed through my body, I could feel myself becoming noticeably lighter.

‘…This is going to take some getting used to.’

Rather than rushing in with my unfamiliar body, it would be better to take it slow and gradually build up my speed. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself by rushing in and making a mistake.

.

.

.

Jin Yuha kicked off the ground, and Yoo-ri, as if anticipating his move, lowered her body.

Swoosh!

A sword was swung without hesitation, drawing a clean arc above her head.

Fshhhk!

The ogre’s bloated belly split open, spilling out its intestines and blood.

“Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!”

The ogre let out a painful scream, its mouth wide open.

The beast turned its enraged face toward Jin Yuha, but.

Bang!

Yoo-ri jumped and slammed her shield onto the ogre’s face.

“Grk!”

The ogre’s gaze turned toward Yoo-ri once more.

Fshhhk!

This time, a thick stream of blood spurted from the ogre’s thigh.

Kwaang! Fshhhk!

Kwaang! Pffft!

Kwaang! Fshhhk!

The shield and sword took turns attacking the ogre, distracting it and spreading its attention thin.

In the midst of this, the ogre wanted to take care of Jin Yuha first, the one who was inflicting these wounds.

Hwoooong!

Ignoring Yoo-ri, the ogre swung its massive axe toward Jin Yuha.

But.

Kaka-gak!

The ogre’s axe swing was deflected by Yoo-ri, who had slipped in at an angle and held her shield up.

And at the same time.

Screeeech!

A heavier, more brutal slicing sound than before.

Thud.

One of the ogre’s arms fell to the ground.

Pfu-hwak!

“Keeeeeerrrrrr!!!!?”

The beast clutched its severed arm, blood gushing out, and began to back away, its wounded body stumbling.

“Hey, Jin Yuha! Are you slacking off?!”

“……You’re blaming me when you were playing around too?”

“That’s…!”

“I was just loosening up my body to get used to the support skill.”

“So was I.”

“Alright, let’s stop playing around and finish this.”

Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

Yoo-ri began to pound her shield.

The ogre, which had been about to turn and flee, suddenly froze in its tracks as if it were bound to the spot.

And just as the beast turned its head toward Yoo-ri.

Thud!

Jin Yuha leaped into the air.

Swoosh!

A sword swung with a speed that was on a whole different level from before.

Thud!

And then,

The ogre’s head was cleanly severed.

“Those kids…”

LLim Ga-eul couldn’t even blink as she witnessed the overwhelming battle unfold before her.

What was she even witnessing right now?

She thought that if the Cheonhwa or the Fighting Dog had been in her group, it would have made sense.

But those incredible individuals wouldn’t have been assigned to her group.

Even as a first-year, no one wanted her, and she was always left with the remaining group members, mostly boys, and they only ever handled F-grade gates.

Just that was overwhelming, to be honest.

So when the new school year started and they had their first practical gate training, she thought it would be the same as before.

But the new male and female students who joined her group this time were different.

Despite their flashy appearances, she didn’t have high expectations at first, as she had been fiddling with the Chairman’s pager as soon as they entered the gate.

However,

Contrary to her expectations, they were hunters with power far beyond her own.

One was a tanker who could dodge and deflect attacks from a massive ogre head-on.

The other was a male dealer who wielded a sword with incomprehensible speed.

They were from a different world than her.

‘The chairman was right.’

“… .”

Choi Ah-ram was also speechless, watching the battle with a dazed look on her face.

“Wow, Captain, you’ve gotten even faster than before! Before, it was blurry, but now I can’t even see the sword swinging at all!”

At those words, Lim Ga-eul and Choi Ah-ram’s gazes turned to Kim So-hoon, the supporter and porter.

Feeling uncomfortable under their stares, he turned his head from side to side and said in an awkward voice,

“Oh, uh! I’m the porter! I should go collect the byproducts!”

Whoosh!

Kim So-hun dashed towards the fallen ogre.

“Hey, Lim Ga-eul. What are those guys doing… .”

Choi Ah-ram was about to say something to Lim Ga-eul, her face full of disbelief, when.

“Unni!”

Yoo-ri ran towards Lim Ga-eul and called out to her.

“…Uh, uh?”

She grabbed Lim Ga-eul’s hand with sparkling eyes.

“What was that just now!”

Although it was a good thing that the girl, who had initially been wary of her, was now being so friendly, Lim Ga-eul was taken aback by the sudden change.

“What, what?”

“That skill!”

“Sk, skill? It’s just a regular skill…”

Lim Ga-eul was confused for the second time.

‘I did use Acceleration, but…’

She knew her own limits.

Her support skill was so insignificant that she was at the bottom of the barrel among supporters.

Just barely passing, as Choi Ah-ram had said.

So why would that amazing kid, who had stood her ground against the ogre without taking a step back, be affected by her skill…?

She must have been a genius tanker from the start.

But Yoo-ri shook her head, denying Lim Ga-eul’s thoughts.

“No, I really felt myself getting faster and my eyes getting sharper.”

“Re, really?”

“This must be nothing special for a senior at Velvet Academy… a supporter…”

Yoo-ri looked at her with newfound admiration.

Lim Ga-eul, on the other hand, was confused and broke into a cold sweat.

“Pfft!”

At that moment, a short laugh came from behind them.

When they turned to look,

The handsome boy.

The one who had hidden his ghostly sword skills was now smiling at her.

“Take a look at what I gave you.”

He pointed at her hand with his finger.

“What you gave me…?”

Lim Ga-eul’s gaze fell on her palm.

A top-grade magic stone.

She had been startled when he suddenly handed it to her, and in the midst of the ogre’s attack, she had forgotten about it.

“Huh…!?”

Lim Ga-eul’s eyes widened as she looked down.

“W, w, what’s happening to this…!”

The top-grade magic stone, glowing with a brilliant blue light, was now fading and turning into an ordinary stone.

Seeing this, Jin Yuha’s face suddenly turned serious.

“It seems that you use one top-grade magic stone every time you fight, Senior Ga-eul.”

Thump!

Her heart sank.

“Y, you don’t mean… I can’t reverse this, do I?”

She asked, desperately grasping at straws. Jin Yuha shook his head firmly, like a doctor delivering a death sentence.

“Afraid not. This is a bad investment. It’s too expensive to use a top-grade magic stone every time you fight…”

Thump, thump, thump!

Lim Ga-eul’s heart raced.

‘What am I supposed to do now… Top-grade magic stones are incredibly expensive…’

She closed her eyes tightly.

Then, with a trembling voice, she said,

“I’m really sorry for breaking your precious magic stone. But can we put it on my tab for now? I have some savings, and I’ll pay you back with that…”

“Pffft!”

Jin Yuha, who had been maintaining a serious expression, suddenly burst out laughing.

“?”

After laughing for a while, he let out a lazy sigh.

“Yeah, Senior, you really need to be careful about getting scammed.”

“Huh…?”

“Ahhh, it looks like Soup was right when she said you seem an easy to scam woman.”

Jin Yuha’s voice still held a hint of laughter.

“I’m just kidding.”

“……What?”

“Well, I’m guessing… but a top-grade magic stone should last you a month if you use your skill non-stop, right? You’re still pure, I mean… you’re still inexperienced, aren’t you?”

Lim Ga-eul could only stare at Jin Yuha withembarrassed eyes.