A few light greetings were exchanged.

Gwak Seungjae took in Seo Ye-in and Fast-Luckless one by one, then finally looked at Dang Gyu-ri.

Then, with a flicker in their eyes, they said,

“...A freshman.”

“Yes, senior. My name is Dang Gyu-ri.”

“I’m Gwak Seungjae. If it wouldn’t be rude, I’d like to ask what relation you are to Senior Dang Gyu-young.”

“She’s my older cousin.”

Dang Gyu-ri answered with a bright smile.

At that, Gwak Seungjae slowly nodded.

“I see. I asked because your presence and your skill both make it feel as though Senior Dang Gyu-young has returned.”

“I hear that a lot.”

Dang Gyu-ri looked momentarily caught off guard, but didn’t show it and accepted the remark naturally.

Gwak Seungjae, for their part, still seemed not to have let go of their suspicion, but they didn’t look like they intended to press further right away.

Instead, they threw a question at me again.

“You know why I came, don’t you.”

“I have no idea.”

Anyone could see the answer was obvious, but I figured I’d deny it for now.

Then Gwak Seungjae began speaking as though it were somebody else’s business.

“While carrying out patrol duties, I received word that a Floor B dungeon had been raided without authorization. Right at that time, I sensed three presences moving.”

At this point, we had effectively been caught by the scruff of the neck.

It looked like they too had steadily improved over winter break.

They had said that even last year, when playing tag with Dang Gyu-young, they managed to catch them two or three times out of ten, so this year probably wasn’t much different.

Before long, Gwak Seungjae once again looked over the three of us in turn.

“A B-rank dungeon, cleared by three people... That wouldn’t be easy even for third-years. If we’re talking about students capable of it, there can only be a very small number in all of Dragonslayer Academy.”

They added that if you eliminated most of the possibilities through process of elimination, that number would shrink even further.

For example, model students who had obtained official B-rank raid qualifications, or who had never violated school rules, were probably excluded from suspicion.

As a result, it seemed they had concluded that the three people caught by their detection had to be ‘Kim Ho and company.’

But what they said next was somewhat unexpected.

“I could have stopped you on the spot, but I didn’t. Do you know why?”

While we were still underground, they would have been able to catch us in the act.

Because it was late at night, there weren’t many students attempting raids, so narrowing down the culprits would have been easy.

We hadn’t submitted bids anywhere, of course, and we didn’t even have the authority.

Especially Dang Gyu-ri—being a first-year, they weren’t even allowed down into the underground floors right now.

But now it’d be awkward to grab us.

If we insisted we had just come out for a walk, that would be the end of it.

Sure, if they searched our inventories, the random boxes would come out, but if they forced the issue carelessly, even the Discipline Committee could face backlash.

They needed much clearer evidence, and “I saw these three coming out!” wasn’t even close to enough.

Of course, Gwak Seungjae obviously knew that too.

Even so, the fact that they hadn’t stepped in meant—

“It sounds like you have something you want to say separately.”

“That’s right.”

“And it seems that’s a large part of why you waited here.”

“It’s a suitable place for a quiet conversation.”

Gwak Seungjae nodded readily.

Dang Gyu-ri’s expression turned a little strange at that somewhat changed demeanor.

I was thinking something similar, so I asked directly.

“I didn’t expect a proposal like this from you, senior.”

“If I were the person I used to be, I never would have compromised. If school rules were broken, then punishment should naturally follow. However...”

“......”

“Now that I’m in a position where I lead a group, I feel as though I finally understand Senior Oh Sehun’s methods.”

They added that one had to know how to show flexibility when necessary.

At that, I nodded and said,

“What would you like us to do for you?”

“You can think of it as an extension of last year.”

Right before the second-semester final exams, the Discipline Committee had been challenged by the Black Blade faction and the Archery Club.

It wasn’t that they lacked strength, but wanting to be even more fully prepared, they had asked Dang Gyu-young and me for help as part of a deal.

This time, they were trying to propose a similar arrangement.

Gwak Seungjae continued.

“This year’s members are unquestionably superior to their peers. Still, it is also true that we lack an asymmetrical force like Senior Oh.”

Well, that person had been strong enough to take on several parties alone, so of course the empty space they left behind could only feel even larger.

And apparently Gwak Seungjae had judged that we could fill a good portion of that gap.

“So we just need to lend a hand.”

“Of course, nothing has been decided yet. There’s a fairly high chance that everything passes without incident.”

“But there’s no harm in preparing in advance.”

“Exactly.”

Naturally, there was no way they were making this request empty-handed.

They might have turned a blind eye to the fact that we had gone down into the deep layers, but that was separate from what came after.

Gwak Seungjae seemed to be thinking along similar lines, because they made me an offer.

“Going forward, I can continue to provide convenience within reasonable limits. Though cases where the members strongly object, or where the teachers find out, would be exceptions.”

“Then we’ll just have to be careful not to get caught.”

“I’d be even more grateful if you simply followed the school rules. Aside from that, just as last year, I’ll provide some of the confiscated items. What do you think?”

As payment for participating in the defense of the temporary storage facility in the second semester, we had received the necromancer grimoire, which had increased Dang Gyu-young’s [Shadow Extraction] slots.

If we could secure similar items on a regular basis, then for us it was a profitable deal.

So I smiled and said,

“I’ll consider it positively.”

“Good. We’ll leave it here for today.”

Saying they would get in touch again later, Gwak Seungjae turned away.

Then, while chanting a spell, they looked at Dang Gyu-ri again and asked,

“...Are you really not Senior Dang Gyu-young?”

“No.”

“I see. Then excuse me.”

RUMBLE...

A wooden door abruptly rose from the ground.

After giving us one last greeting, Gwak Seungjae stepped through the door and vanished somewhere beyond it.

RUMBLE...

Watching the wooden door burrow back into the earth, Dang Gyu-ri turned to me.

“...Don’t you think they noticed?”

“About ninety percent.”

*****

That night, we broke up after a light walk, and the next day we gathered again to finish opening the boxes we hadn’t gotten through.

As we sat in a quiet place, I pulled the dungeon-clear rewards out of my inventory.

[Descent of the Feathered Serpent Random Box(B+)]*6

Before I could even say anything, Seo Ye-in reached out.

She picked up one of the random boxes and stared down at it for a while.

“......”

Then she slowly raised it—and placed it on top of my head.

She even added a comment.

“Don’t move.”

“Why?”

“You have to keep your balance.”

“Suddenly? My balance?”

“Yeah.”

While that was happening, Fast-Luckless also picked up a random box and came over, placing it on top of the one already on my head.

Then Seo Ye-in put one on, and then Fast-Luckless again, building up a tower of boxes on my head by taking turns.

Keeping perfectly still so the tower wouldn’t collapse, I asked,

“What possible meaning does this behavior have?”

“None.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I wanted to.”

Seo Ye-in answered with absolute confidence.

Fast-Luckless was looking equally bright-eyed and proud.

I promptly knocked over the tower of random boxes and reached out with both hands to pinch both of their noses.

“Should you play around with someone’s head, or not?”

“Mmff, no.”

“Are you reflecting on your actions?”

“Leh go.”

I let go of their noses, then lightly flicked both of them on the forehead.

After that, I picked up one of the boxes scattered on the floor.

“Since you went as far as pranking me, I can look forward to this now, right?”

“......”

But Seo Ye-in only kept tilting her head and didn’t give me any clear answer.

So I asked again,

“What, is today not great?”

“...A little?”

Tilting her head once more, she gathered the other five random boxes and handed them back to me.

“Put them away.”

“You’re saying we open them one at a time later?”

“Yeah.”

“I ought to obey Lucky Charm.”

This was B+ rank, after all. If Dang Gyu-ri or I opened them carelessly and got something like a teacup, the loss would be enormous.

It was better to open one or two here and there and have B+ or higher guaranteed.

We’ve got some breathing room too.

For this raid-battle week, [Descent of the Feathered Serpent] was the final dungeon.

For the time being, I planned to shore up the fundamentals.

After this came PvP week, so it would still be a few weeks before raid battle came around again.

The odds of the random boxes piling up until they became a burden weren’t very high.

So I did as I was told and put all but one away.

“What do we want out of this one?”

“......”

Even so, Seo Ye-in was still maintaining an ambiguous attitude.

Soon she turned her head and exchanged looks with her mirror image.

“Possible?”

“...Probably.”

Fast-Luckless seemed just as uncertain, but apparently she had concluded it was worth trying, because she picked up the random box.

Of course, as always, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation in the motion of her hand opening the lid.

The next instant, the entire area lost its color like a black-and-white screen, and the sound of a clock hand rang out.

TICK—TOCK—TICK—TOCK—

With effects on this level, the item that was about to appear was practically decided.

Something related to time.

No matter how low it was, this had to guarantee at least A-rank.

Half tense and half expectant, I waited for a while, and before long the black-and-white world returned to normal.

And where the random box had been, a single rolled-up sheet of parchment now lay.

[Quest Scroll - Time Oblivion]

An item that grants a trait upon clearing the quest it provides.

If it’s Time Oblivion, that’s pretty good.

Its effect was that, upon activating a skill or trait, there was a very low chance that no cooldown would be applied.

Just like [Déjà Vu], it was probably somewhere between three and five percent, but if you had it, it would unquestionably add to your combat power.

After a brief moment of thought, I made my decision.

I should give this to Seo Ye-in.

Of course, the one who needed that effect most was me.

A considerable number of my skills and traits were cooldown-based, after all.

Still, there’s nothing wrong with taking the long way around.

[Time Oblivion] wasn’t a unique trait, so it could be [Copy-Trait]’d, and it could also be shared through [Bond].

Meaning that even if I yielded it to Seo Ye-in, it would eventually come to me too.

Besides, it won’t be that useful at first anyway.

When the rank was low, the chance—which was already low—would be even lower.

To get it to a point where it activated even occasionally, it would probably need to be raised to B-rank at least.

And when it comes to growth speed, she’s an absurd genius compared to me.

Even if we trained the same amount, Seo Ye-in’s skills and traits rose much faster than mine.

So I quietly held the scroll out and asked,

“Do you want to learn it?”

“I do.”

Apparently interested, Seo Ye-in accepted it without hesitation.

She looked like she wanted to use it immediately, but I stopped her for a moment and opened my inventory.

Then I pulled out the item that could never be left out whenever the word quest came up.

The red book.

“Since we’re doing this anyway, let’s add a challenge on top. That way the rank will jump a lot as soon as you get it. You know that.”

“...I take back wanting to learn it.”

Seo Ye-in tried to edge away, but I had predicted that from the start and already blocked off her retreat.

Grabbing her by the shoulder, I shoved the Challenge Book toward her.

“The second something looks a little difficult, you change your tune? That’s becoming a bad habit.”

“...Canceled.”

“Go on and use it. The scroll first~”

“...Help.”

She shot Dang Gyu-ri a plea for rescue with her eyes, but all she got back was a thoroughly entertained gaze.

And from beside us, Fast-Luckless offered a word of encouragement.

“Hang in there, Original.

If you get stronger, I get stronger too.”