Leveling Up as a Support – Episode 11 (11/255)
11.
The Plain Field was vast. Endless, wide-open plains stretched out in every direction.
Looking back, Hong Jae-woo’s flag at the starting point was quite far away.
No bosses or even mobs had appeared on the way here.
That was another problem for Seo-ah.
‘Ugh, my legs hurt.’
It was a plain, but there were no paths. It was a challenging journey, stepping on small and large pebbles and pushing through bushes about waist-high.
Seo-ah had stats no different from an ordinary person. So, it was natural for her legs to hurt. But Kang Su-jeong, who was also E-grade but combat-oriented, seemed fine. Seo-ah felt a pang of self-reproach.
“Su-jeong, can you raise your stats through exercise?”
“Yes, you can raise them to some extent. There are limits for each level, though.”
“What are your stats like? Oh, is it rude to ask something like that?”
Then Kang Su-jeong grinned.
“Hehe, I usually don’t tell people, but I’ll tell you, unnie [term of endearment for an older sister or female friend]. My strength and agility combined are about 38. I’ve almost maxed them out. After this raid, I’ll probably fill it to 40. I’m going to level up my skills too.”
Kang Su-jeong said proudly.
“Is 20 the maximum for each stat?”
“Yes, 20 is the maximum for each E-grade. I heard that D-grades are around 50.”
At Kang Su-jeong’s explanation, Seo-ah opened her status window with a dismal expression.
[Stats: Too insignificant to display. (Stats of 1 or less are not displayed.)
Stamina 3, Mentality 10]
‘Ah, this is really too much. I need to start exercising as soon as I get out of here.’
Baek Eun-hee seemed to have increased attack power when she was with me, but it doesn’t apply to me? This was a bit unfair.
“But it’s a bit strange. It’s too quiet……”
Kang Su-jeong climbed onto a slightly larger rock and spoke, looking around. It was definitely strange. The monsters that appeared every ten steps when they were walking together were nowhere to be seen while coming down south.
Even the rustling reed forest was silent.
“Unnie.”
Kang Su-jeong called Seo-ah in a tense voice.
“Yeah?”
“Take out the flare. Something’s wrong here.”
At Kang Su-jeong’s words, Seo-ah took out a signal flare and looked around. Then she noticed the rock Su-jeong was standing on.
“Su-jeong, that… get down from there.”
Seo-ah quietly gestured, unable to go back alone.
“Huh? Why?”
Kang Su-jeong slowly lowered her gaze.
“Ah, damn it! What is this!”
Then she screamed and jumped down. A large eye-like thing on the rock blinked and looked up at Su-jeong.
“This is the boss! The mobs were gone because of the boss!”
At the same time, Seo-ah set off the flare. But the flare didn’t go off. It was a dud.
Kang Su-jeong’s flare was the same. It was as if they had been deliberately given defective products.
“Damn it, this is driving me crazy.”
The eye-opened rock made a rumbling sound. What Su-jeong had stepped on earlier was the head of a rock monster.
As the rock raised its body buried in the ground, the surrounding ground collapsed around it.
“Unnie, watch out!”
Su-jeong grabbed Seo-ah and pulled her back as far as possible.
[Stone Knight] was written above the monster’s head. When you become a hunter, the monster’s name and aura automatically appear.
“That’s E-grade? I knew something was weird since that bear came out!”
Kang Su-jeong had seen the boss of an E-grade gate before. They usually had a white or light blue aura.
If the grade is the same, you can see a white aura, and if it is a little higher, you can see a blue aura.
And if it is too strong to even fight, a black aura flows out.
In the eyes of Park Seo-ah and Kang Su-jeong, a dark blue aura was clearly visible around the words [Stone Knight].
“That looks like D-grade!”
Seo-ah could tell without anyone explaining it to her. It was thanks to the instinctive sense that hunters have.
A heavy pressure was felt just from the energy emitted by the Stone Knight. That is a very strong monster.
“Unnie!”
Almost as soon as she turned her head at Kang Su-jeong’s shout, a rock the size of a human fist flew towards Seo-ah.
Seo-ah barely dodged it by bending over as if she was falling.
“Hah, hah……”
“Ah, what are we supposed to do with this! F!
”
Kang Su-jeong also jumped and dodged the stones flying under her feet.
“Su-jeong, you shouldn’t use such harsh words…… Ack!”
Even while giving such unexpected advice, large and small stones flew around. But it was impossible for Seo-ah, with her low stats, to dodge them all.
The Stone Knight was simply using simple skills as if chasing flies, but each attack was directly linked to life and death for Seo-ah and Su-jeong.
The two decided to run away for now. But that wasn’t easy either. The Stone Knight was fast, and Seo-ah was too slow.
She fell and got scratched and hurt here and there, and tried not to be a hindrance, but it was not enough.
“Unnie, this won’t work. We’re all going to die like this! I’ll try to do something!”
Su-jeong, who had been only dodging, took out her twin swords and flew towards the Stone Knight.
“Su-jeong!”
Seo-ah somehow regained her composure and followed Su-jeong’s movements with her eyes. So that she could use her healing skill right away if Kang Su-jeong got hurt even a little.
Fortunately, Seo-ah could keep up with the movements of the E-grade hunter.
Kang Su-jeong jumped nimbly and did a somersault in the air.
However, before she could inflict any significant damage, Kang Su-jeong was knocked away by the Stone Knight’s attack.
The Stone Knight stomped on the ground and tried to step on the fallen Kang Su-jeong as is. Seo-ah ran towards Su-jeong without hesitation.
“Get up quickly!”
At Seo-ah’s voice, Kang Su-jeong, who had collapsed powerlessly, jumped up. She barely managed to step back just before being stepped on.
“Wow, I almost died. I really fainted for a moment. But how did I wake up?”
“Get a hold of yourself, it’s not time to relax yet.”
“I know, ah, why aren’t they here yet!”
Park Seo-ah quickly cast a healing skill on Su-jeong, and Kang Su-jeong ran out again.
This time, she slid on the floor and aimed for the ankle. Kang Su-jeong’s passive skills, ‘Nimble Legs’ and ‘Weakness Targeting,’ were activated.
‘Weakness Targeting’ was a skill that allowed her to identify the enemy’s weaknesses. Kang Su-jeong’s twin swords drew swirling circles on the ankle’s rock.
Then, a subtle line was drawn around the ankle, which didn’t seem like it would even be scratched.
“Wow, awesome!”
The Stone Knight was still stomping and stomping. The guy was trying to catch Kang Su-jeong somehow, and Su-jeong dodged well and continued to strike.
“How are you going to catch me when you’re so slow! You rockhead!”
Kang Su-jeong was excited, but on the other hand, she was also wondering.
What she was facing now was at least a D-grade boss monster.
Originally, Kang Su-jeong had struggled to catch even mid- to high-level E-grade gate monsters. Moreover, the speed she was currently putting out was much faster than her usual speed.
‘Who cares! This is so exciting!’
And very close to where the battle took place, Seo-ah was focusing on Su-jeong. A faint light continued to follow Su-jeong’s body without interruption.
Seo-ah didn’t even realize that her mana was rapidly depleting because she was healing Su-jeong every time she got hurt without missing a beat.
When numerous sword marks were left on both ankles of the Stone Knight, Kang Su-jeong suddenly stepped back and put away her twin swords.
“Ha!”
Su-jeong clenched her fist, then punched the area with the sword marks head-on with a loud shout.
Clang!
Kang Su-jeong used her unique skill, ‘Fist Strike.’
It could only be used once per strike, but its power was considerable for an E-grade skill. Today, it was even more powerful than usual.
Kugugugung.
The stone, which had been cut here and there by the sword, crumbled under the fist, and the Stone Knight’s body tilted to one side.
“I succeeded!”
“Good job, Su-jeong!”
The body, made of roughly piled stones, could not move properly as its balance was distorted.
Kang Su-jeong gained more strength from Seo-ah’s praise.
“Yes! If I catch this, you and I will split it! You idiots, you used tricks, so good for you!”
From then on, it was Kang Su-jeong’s solo performance. Seo-ah watched Kang Su-jeong running around excitedly with a happy smile.
However, the Stone Knight was the boss monster of this gate. Even while collapsing, he aimed for a single blow.
Not at Kang Su-jeong, but at Park Seo-ah.
Just before the Stone Knight completely collapsed, he threw one of the stones that made up his shoulder at Seo-ah.
“Unnie……!”
Kang Su-jeong, who had left the already shattered Stone Knight behind, ran in surprise, but it was already too late.
The speed at which the stone was flying was much faster. It was impossible for the slow Seo-ah to avoid it.
Park Seo-ah tightly closed her eyes.
And then, she felt someone strongly hug her, and she lost consciousness as it was.
* * *
The world was silent. Her body was as heavy as water-soaked cotton, but her mind was very peaceful.
Seo-ah immediately realized that this was a dream.
‘I want to sleep more. I don’t want to wake up.’
Since her parents passed away, Seo-ah had been taking care of her younger sibling and taking responsibility for their livelihood.
They had been living on pensions, insurance money, and part-time jobs, but now they had reached their limit. Otherwise, why would she have jumped into the hunter world, which she had promised her parents she would never set foot in?
Her dream of becoming a psychological counselor since she was young had now literally become a dream.
‘I just wanted to live a normal life.’
Ding-
While Seo-ah was indulging in self-pity, the system sound rang.
‘This is a dream?’
[Mission 1. Clear!
Choose a reward. You can choose two skills from the list. Once a skill is selected, it cannot be undone. The remaining skills may be activated regardless of your control.]
“Ah, there was a mission reward.”
But before Seo-ah could choose, the system window popped up.
[Since the completion reward time for Mission 1 has passed, the system will forcibly select.]