No.88 Gathering of Villains (1)

A heavy air hung over the Disciplinary Committee room.

A large screen occupied one side of the room, split into more than a dozen smaller panels, each of them playing back a replay. Every panel shared a single common denominator: they all showed a black monster, grotesque in a different way each time.

On the whiteboard beside it, Gwak Seung-jae had laid out several key pieces of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠information, and the second- and third-year members—including Disciplinary Committee Chief Oh Se-hun—had their eyes fixed on him.

At length, Gwak Seung-jae swept his gaze across the room and began to speak.

"Following cross-verification, we have confirmed the monster's identity as a Dark Oublek."

"...So it was true, after all."

"We had our suspicions, but it really is the Witch of Decay."

The committee members murmured their reactions one after another.

The Blood Cult Elder and the Witch of Decay—the pair behind the Blood Explosion Pill incident during the first-year midterm exams. They had been beaten in battle by the faculty, Lee Su-dok and Seo Cheong-yong included, and had fled to hide in the deeper reaches of the underground floors. They had stayed quiet these past few weeks, but with their activities now gradually resuming, they appeared to have recovered a fair share of their strength.

Gwak Seung-jae carried on with the briefing.

"As of Thursday, fourteen cases have been reported in total, and that number is expected to more than double over the weekend."

"Most of the major expeditions crowd into the weekend anyway. How many bids are left this week?"

"Seventy-one."

"That's a lot."

The member who had asked clicked his tongue.

Dungeons that were large in scale or took a long time to clear were usually tackled starting around Friday afternoon, so the run wouldn't collide with the academic schedule. And on average, those dungeons ran harder as well. Most of the ones up for bid were B- or C-rank. If an Oublek appeared in a dungeon like that, the danger would climb—and with it, the harm to the students.

One of the members put a question to Oh Se-hun.

"What about closing the Dungeon Hall for the time being?"

"That's already been settled at the faculty meeting. They say there isn't enough justification as things stand."

"Tch. Figured as much."

The member accepted the answer readily, having clearly seen it coming. Unforeseen as the incident was, no student had yet been seriously injured or killed. So even with word of the Dark Oublek already spread far and wide, most of the parties holding bids would likely push ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ahead at their own risk. Postpone, and the resources poured into preparation would sit locked up—or be lost entirely.

There was also the matter of the widening gap: students who had already finished their runs would bank their practical evaluation scores and the growth from their clear rewards while everyone else fell further behind. If the academy slammed the dungeons shut under these conditions, the backlash would be enormous. In other words, unless somebody actually died, the justification simply wasn't there.

Of course, there were other reasons beyond this decidedly political one—which was why Oh Se-hun added an explanation.

"Something else came up at the faculty meeting, too. Closing the Dungeon Hall might be exactly what the Witch of Decay is hoping for."

"She intended for it to close...? What do you mean by that?"

The member furrowed his brow, and Oh Se-hun answered with a faint smile, turning his gaze toward Gwak Seung-jae. As if to say: your turn.

Gwak Seung-jae dipped his head slightly and spoke.

"The Dark Oublek is known to grow more powerful the more time it is given."

A creature with the habit of devouring everything in sight and absorbing its power—left alone, it would naturally only absorb more.

"Right now, in its early stage, its strength does not differ greatly from the dungeon's difficulty. But given more time, that could change."

"...Then it must be dealt with before it grows beyond all control."

"Precisely."

The Dark Oubleks had to be eliminated sooner or later anyway; leave them be, and the parties running the dungeons would do the job in the academy's stead. All the more reason, then, not to close the Hall.

Another member raised a different question.

"So the Dungeon Hall stays open this week, then. Are contingency measures in place for emergencies?"

"We have confirmed that the rescue request is functioning normally."

The rescue request.

Practically the only means of contacting the outside while inside a dungeon. The moment you used it, however, your practical evaluation went up in smoke, and a portion of the clear rewards had to be handed over to the Disciplinary Committee. Still—it beat having no way out at all.

"At the very least, no one should end up dead."

"Yes—though on the condition that we respond immediately, of course. Therefore, the policy is as follows."

A drastic expansion of the committee members stationed on the underground floors. A deployment map rose on the whiteboard—denser than before, with patrol cycles shortened as well.

"Furthermore, I will on occasion be opening the doors myself."

This was the main reason Gwak Seung-jae filled the commander's seat: his unique magic, the wooden door, could carry him almost anywhere in an instant. Every committee member had experienced it firsthand, and not one of them disputed his ability.

"Good. We proceed as planned."

"Mind if I ask one thing I'm curious about?"

Just then, a second-year member who had been listening quietly from a corner of the room raised his hand. Gwak Seung-jae tipped his chin slightly.

"Go ahead."

"What about the rest? I mean the dungeons the Oubleks entered that nobody placed a bid on."

All that had been established so far was that the mastermind behind everything was the Witch of Decay, and that she had scattered her Oubleks broadly across the underground dungeons. Whether any given dungeon held one was impossible to know without entering it directly. Which meant the odds that an Oublek had slipped into a dungeon no student would set foot in this week—and been left there, festering—were far from negligible, weren't they?

Gwak Seung-jae had evidently turned the matter over in his own mind at least once, because the answer came without a hitch.

"The remaining dungeons will need to be surveyed as well, naturally. But that is a matter for later."

"Why?"

"We don't have the manpower."

The underground floors held a full thousand-odd dungeons. Several hundred even with the Deep Layer excluded. Sweeping each one individually would take far more personnel than the Disciplinary Committee and the faculty combined could spare.

"So for now, securing the safety of the students taking part in the expeditions comes first."

"Seung-jae's right."

Oh Se-hun chimed in to back him up. A few solutions had already taken shape in his head, though none had been made concrete yet. And the academy's approval would have to be secured as well.

"Let's get through this week without incident first, then revisit the underground survey after that."

"...Understood."

"Everyone, make sure you know your posts."

"Yes, sir."

The committee members bowed their heads.

If I had to name one perk of staying on good terms with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Thief Club, it was the speed at which quality information landed in my hands.

And I happened to be quite close with the club president.

Ordinarily, gathering intel on the Oubleks would have meant canvassing contacts all over campus or purchasing replays. For me, it was enough to have a chat with Dang Gyu-young and receive the Thief Club's intelligence secondhand. And just like that, the second linked quest was done. The reward, too, was fairly generous for something I'd gotten essentially free of charge.

I had already decided where the F-rank Rank Up would go.

Chillwind was one of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those rare skills worth using even at F-rank, and now it had climbed another step.

Right behind it, the next linked quest appeared.

A tiny glass vial dropped into my palm. The meaning was plain: take down a Dark Oublek and bring a sample back in this vial. For now, though, the hidden piece right in front of me took priority over combing the Dungeon Hall in search of the things—so I shelved the quest for the time being.

Dang Gyu-young lay half-sprawled across the sofa, rolling this way and that with a thoroughly put-out air.

"Agh, this is such a mess. Talk about a bolt from the blue."

The culprit, naturally, was the Dark Oubleks. They hadn't caused any direct harm, but they had the Dungeon Hall's internal security tightened to the brim. The Disciplinary Committee would doubtless be swarming every corner by now, which meant unauthorized expeditions had all but ground to a halt—any guide sent down would simply get scooped up, every last one.

And yet there was something she couldn't quite bring herself to give up.

"But I have to do this one. I have to get down there."

"Then we'll just have to break through one way or another."

The target was the Gathering of Villains expedition. The hidden piece hanging on it was none other than Ghost Without Shadow—the very technique the Thief Club had been searching for all this time. What's more, Paeng Mi-ryeong's expedition was even handling the tedious clearing portion for us. Opportunities this rare did not come often.

Of course, the same held true from my end, so I asked her.

"You think it'll be difficult?"

"Honestly, even I can't say for sure. It's not like the Disciplinary Committee shows up one or two at a time. And every so often the teachers will be around too."

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"What?"

"A few of your skills. And their ranks."

"...This stays between you and me. What do you want to know?"

Asking after another person's skills or traits—and their ranks—was half taboo. Even so, I needed to confirm them to draw up a plan.

Dang Gyu-young seemed to understand that as well, because she answered my questions honestly, if with a hint of hesitation. The trust we had built up between us surely counted for a good deal, too.

The moment I laid out my plan, Dang Gyu-young fixed me with a strange look in her eyes.

"Kim Ho, sometimes I swear you know me better than I do."

"May I use my cheat code again?"

"You 'know' everything because you've graduated more than two hundred times, is that it?"

"You know me so well."

"Haah."

She shook her head, looking as though she had half given up by now. It wasn't as if I could tell her I'd raised a Shadow Weaver or two in my day.

I pushed the conversation along quickly.

"So what do you put our odds of success at now?"

"Honestly? Still about fifty-fifty."

"Then let's do it."

Dang Gyu-young narrowed her eyes.

"And if we get caught?"

"All we'd get is a few more penalty points. That's all."

"You're a genuine crook, you know that? You've really got the mindset down pat."

Even after this, still not joining the club?

There was Dang Gyu-young again, tossing out yet another recruitment pitch under the table. Then, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, she asked:

"Wait, though—those Oublek things, or whatever they're called. Couldn't they show up in the dungeon we're going into?"

"I can't swear it's zero percent, but you can treat it as effectively nil."

The Witch of Decay was A-rank, and the Oubleks under her command were naturally a grade below that. To deploy one into a B-rank dungeon, she would need at least a B+ specimen—and even then, there was no guarantee of meaningful returns. B-rank bosses were, to a one, overwhelmingly strong. The master of the Black Snake Chamber and White Snake alone would make short work of any Oublek.

So from the Witch of Decay's standpoint as well, planting them in dependable C- and D-rank dungeons offered far better value than squandering her forces on uncertain B-rank ones.

Even after all that explanation, Dang Gyu-young still looked uneasy.

"Still, you never know."

"And what of it? It wouldn't be us fighting it anyway."

"...Huh. Now that you mention it."

Our role was, at most, to supply the shopping list and the strategy guide and quietly hitch a ride along. Even if an Oublek did appear, engaging it would be Paeng Mi-ryeong's expedition's job.

"Pleasure without responsibility, essentially."

"Ooh, I like that one."

Dang Gyu-young broke into a sheepish grin.

[238] The Support Ate It All