053. Live Gate Training (4)
053. Live Gate Training (4)
Magic Stones.
Eco-friendly and highly efficient, hailed as an alternative energy source, they became the driving force of the Gate Era—the very thing that made a world on the brink of destruction bloom again.
By now, Magic Stones had seeped so deeply into everyday life that imagining a world without them was genuinely difficult.
At the same time, since they were fundamentally monster byproducts, Magic Stones could not be used without undergoing a thorough refining process.
But thanks to her trait [Tolerance], Im Ga-eul was capable of skipping that refining process entirely and directly absorbing the Mana from a Magic Stone.
Did that mean she got stronger the higher the grade of the Magic Stone?
No way.
That would totally wreck the game balance.
Put simply, Im Ga-eul was a character who could directly convert the Mana stored in a Magic Stone into Mana she could use as her own.
In other words, a Magic Stone was nothing more than an auxiliary battery for her.
Of course, as she grew and her Specialization Rank increased, the Mana cost of her skills went up too—so yeah, she was definitely a character who burned through highest-grade Magic Stones like water.
Why else would she have earned nicknames like "The Freeloader Noona" and "Noona, I'm Literally Dying Here"?
But that was just the griping of broke bastards who got sucked dry while retrying to beat clear records, so there was no need to worry about it.
After all, by the late game, Magic Stones were a resource that piled up like roadside pebbles after a single dungeon-clearing run.
"As you gain experience, your Mana demands will increase, but for right now, it's nothing you need to worry about."
"W-well, that's a relief, but... hasn't that Magic Stone already lost its value since you used the Mana in it...?"
Im Ga-eul held out the highest-grade Magic Stone in her hand, looking troubled.
"That was just a test. Hmm, if you want, you can think of it as a gift."
"Huh...?"
Honestly, I could've just handed Im Ga-eul a few low-grade Magic Stones and had her cycle through them, swapping them out whenever she ran out of Mana.
But I wanted to get a handle on the differences between the game and reality.
'Because in the game, even if the Magic Stone you hand over at the start of a dungeon clearing is highest-grade, it gets treated as used up and vanishes the moment you exit the gate.'
But this place wasn't a game. It was reality.
I wondered—maybe here, instead of being a disposable auxiliary battery that's used once and consumed, it could function as a rechargeable battery you could keep using.
I looked directly at the flustered Im Ga-eul.
"Carry that around with you for a month and use it continuously."
"B-but still. This is incredibly valuable..."
"I've got a ton of those, so don't worry about it. Ah, but if it does bother you, just pay me back slowly."
'After all, the most abundant item in the Alice(?) box is Magic Stones.'
Since I'd already decided to use them properly, this level of investment seemed fine.
"So. I'm counting on you today."
* * *
After that, Lee Yu-ri and I practically flew through the dungeon.
Im Ga-eul's supporting skills slowed the ogres, while Lee Yu-ri and I were accelerated.
If we'd only had one or the other, we couldn't have fought this overwhelmingly—but the two combined?
"Lee Yu-ri! Drive them that way!"
"Got it!"
Boom—!
Slice—!
Lee Yu-ri skillfully dodged and blocked attacks beside the ogres, drawing their attention.
And in that opening, I slit the bastards' throats.
These things didn't swarm in packs like goblins, which made it even easier.
"...Whoa."
Lee Yu-ri's mouth fell open, a dazed expression on her face.
"So? Fun, right?"
"Yeah, this is insane. Hey, Jin Yu-ha. Can't we bring her into our party? I-I mean, sure, we'd take a bit of a loss on Magic Stones, but we can resupply way faster than that!"
Having tasted the addictive high of a proper Support for the first time, Lee Yu-ri spoke in an excited voice.
It was a side of her you didn't see often, so it was pretty damn cute.
"Mm, I'd like to bring her in if possible, but will it work?"
I tilted my head.
I wasn't sure you could even bring someone who wasn't a playable character yet into a party.
"We have to find a way to get her in. No matter what."
Lee Yu-ri's voice was dead serious.
"This isn't just ordinary. The Support you recommended to me before was decent, but she is on a whole different dimension."
"Mm, but you're probably the only one who'd feel that dramatic an effect."
"...Huh? Really?"
"Yeah, her skills are the best match for you specifically."
"Ah..."
Lee Yu-ri's expression fell at that.
She must have thought it was selfish to insist on bringing someone into the party just because she alone got a dramatic boost.
I chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Gukbap. If you want her, then of course we're bringing her into our party. Come on. I told you, didn't I? Whatever you want, I'm ready to give it to you."
She yanked her head away and turned around. Then Lee Yu-ri strode briskly ahead.
"A-anyway, let's hurry up! Let's go kill the rest of the ogres! We've still got a little left of the quota!"
And two hours later.
We'd collected all one hundred of the quota ogre Magic Stones.
Normally, mining and gathering those would've taken a considerable amount of time, but Kim So-hun handled that part, so we got to just hunt in comfort.
"This is absurd..."
Pink Brat gaped at our overwhelming clearing speed, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"What the hell are you people...? Why would people like you come here, of all places...?"
Then she twisted her face and spoke as if demanding an answer.
"Did you come here to toy with us? To enjoy watching us be completely useless?"
No, I get that she's shocked, but that's kind of a weird thing to say.
"For starters, we joined Ga-eul sunbae's group first. You're the one who came in later, Choi A-ram."
I refuted her statement.
"And you're the only one who did nothing at all. Ga-eul sunbae used her Support skills, and So-hun over there used his skills while also doing Porter work—what did you do that whole time?"
"Y-you people never gave me a chance to get in...!"
She tried to fire back in a momentary flare of anger.
But having witnessed our skills firsthand, she must not have had the nerve to say anything to us—she redirected her arrows elsewhere.
"...And what about you! How dare you do this to me!"
Straight at Im Ga-eul.
"Uh, uh...?"
Im Ga-eul had been standing there blankly too, and at Choi A-ram suddenly screaming at her, her face filled with bewilderment.
"What is that skill! That's cheating! That highest-grade Magic Stone isn't even yours. Hey, hand it over!"
Choi A-ram tried to snatch the Magic Stone from Im Ga-eul.
'The hell? This Pink Brat bitch?'
My expression hardened.
"That's really strange."
"What...?"
"I gave that to Ga-eul sunbae as a gift. Why are you trying to take it?"
"Th-that's... because she's trying to cheat all by herself..."
"How is using a Magic Stone to fuel a skill cheating? She was just born with that kind of ability."
As I refuted her point by point, Choi A-ram bit down hard on her lip and spoke in a suppressed voice.
"Then give one to me too."
She said it to me as if she was simply claiming something she'd left with me.
It was honestly enough to make me curious about how this woman's brain was wired.
"No."
I shook my head.
"...Why?"
"In the first place, that only works because she has a unique constitution. Even if I gave one to you, you couldn't make proper use of it."
"Th-then... then what about me..."
Choi A-ram bit down hard on her lip and glared at Im Ga-eul.
"You lucky fucking bitch... Your life's set now that you've latched onto a man."
She muttered it under her breath, but to my Detection-enhanced ears, it came through crystal clear.
My eyes narrowed instinctively.
All day, while hunting ogres, I'd been watching Choi A-ram—the scheduled tutorial boss—in my spare moments.
Honestly, if I could reform her beforehand, nothing would beat that outcome.
Especially since I had Kim So-hun's case—someone who originally got in through the male quota but changed course and came in on a positive path—I'd tried to watch her with a little leeway.
But.
Throughout the entire subjugation, she never once stepped forward.
All she did was vent her frustrations on the easiest target—Im Ga-eul—using her as an emotional trash can.
'Fine. Up to there, I can understand.'
Was there anyone in this world free of jealousy and inferiority?
Even if there was, they'd only be a tiny fraction.
But now that Im Ga-eul was showing new potential, hatred had crept into her eyes as well.
It looked like things were going to blow up sooner than expected.
'Yeah, it's no good. This one.'
I abandoned any thought of reforming her and finalized my judgment.
And so, thanks to Pink Brat, who had thoroughly wrecked the mood, we returned to the academy in a gloomy atmosphere.
Rina, standing there with her arms crossed and a sulky expression, looked over at us as if surprised.
"Oh, you came out earlier than expected?"
"Ah, here are the one hundred Magic Stones. And we brought the byproducts as well."
Kim So-hun held out the bag he'd been carrying on his back.
"...Byproducts too? Ah, so this one doubled as the Porter?"
"Y-yes!"
"Hmm, good. Performance pay for this will be distributed to each of you shortly."
Rina, who'd been scanning over the byproducts we'd brought, nodded and issued the dismissal order.
"Then, everyone return and get some rest. Good work, all of you."