The Support Ate it All-Chapter 330: Mutual Destruction Eye (1)
Why did I choose a debuff?
Wouldn’t it be better to deal damage all at once?
There was a clear reason for this.
Because the potential is higher.
Whether it was a Blank Skill Book or a similar item, skill creation followed a set of principles.
One of those principles was that the more difficult the conditions, the higher the potential.
Since a debuff dealt damage over time, the opponent could remove it or mitigate it with various recovery skills or traits.
Because it was harder to inflict damage, the total damage output was set higher in compensation.
And there was another reason. One that wasn’t entirely related to performance.
Because it’s more infuriating.
Watching your health slowly drain away was an enormous source of stress for anyone.
So, the choice of a debuff was final. Now, it was time to decide on the type.
There were many different kinds of damage-over-time debuffs, but ideally, I wanted one that synergized with my existing skills and traits.
And considering that my main skills were wind-based…
Weathering.
A wind-elemental debuff that inflicted continuous damage while also making the target more vulnerable to wind skills.
It made it easier for Wind Force to knock them back and increased the damage they took from Spiral Explosion.
Next, the most important part. The conditions for inflicting the debuff.
Just like with everything else, the stricter the conditions, the higher the potential.
A prime example of this was the Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger.
It applied both an elemental penalty and a demonic energy penalty, dealt damage in the form of a debuff, and despite being a martial technique, it couldn’t be used for ranged attacks. It only took effect upon direct contact with the opponent.
Because it was such a collection of strict conditions, its power was on a monstrous level.
If it landed, there wasn’t a single opponent who could withstand it.
I could take a similar approach, but in this case, I actually intended to lower the upper limit.
I need a variety of cards to play.
For close combat, I would continue using Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger, while the new skill would be something I could casually throw out from a distance, like a quick jab.
So, I planned to make the conditions extremely, extremely easy.
For example—
Even just making eye contact would trigger it.
▷ Inflicts the ‘Weathering’ status effect on any target who meets the caster’s gaze.
Since combat naturally involved looking into each other’s eyes, it was practically guaranteed to activate.
The problem was that the destruction power I had worked so hard to build up would plummet.
But there was a simple solution to that.
I just have to add more restrictions.
I modified the description of Weathering and changed it to Random.
By adding an element of uncertainty, the power would naturally increase.
No need to go overboard with dozens of effects.
Weathering, Poison, and Freeze. Just those three should be enough.
Strictly speaking, Poison and Freeze weren’t the most ideal choices, but they still guaranteed a certain level of effectiveness.
And if I add a cooldown on top of that, it’ll be perfect.
Skills with even a short cooldown were inherently set to be stronger than those without one.
With all the fine-tuning complete, I used the finished skill book.
[You have acquired the ‘Mutual Destruction Eye (F)’.]
[Mutual Destruction Eye (F)]
▷ Inflicts the Poisoned status effect on the caster.
▷ Inflicts a random status effect on any target who meets the caster’s gaze.
(Weathering, Poison, Freeze)
▷ Cooldown: 1 minute
Since it was a skill that could potentially kill both the enemy and myself, it was fittingly named Mutual Destruction Eye.
Of course, in this case, it was more like “Mutual Destruction (except only they die)”.
Just then, Ahn Jeong-mi seemed to have finished her lecture on Impact Bullets as well.
“It looks like you’ve learned a new skill.”
“Yes, I just finished it.”
“I’m quite looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of amazing skill you created with a blank skill book.”
“It’s probably not that amazing.”
I responded with a wry smile.
At least for now, at F-rank, it might seem a bit underwhelming.
Though, things would be different after a few more upgrades.
Now that I had acquired a new skill and Seo Ye-in had gotten a new weapon, I casually made a suggestion.
“Shall we have a match?”
“Sounds good.”
Seo Ye-in gave a slight nod.
It would definitely feel more realistic to spar against a person rather than a metal puppet.
Before long, Ahn Jeong-mi operated the terminal on one side of the training room, adjusting various settings to fit a one-on-one duel.
The metal puppets vanished without a trace, and multiple safety measures were put in place.
Once the setup was complete, Ahn Jeong-mi gestured to us, and Seo Ye-in and I took our positions on opposite sides of the training room.
Then, the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
I immediately activated Mutual Destruction Eye, but—
[The target has been inflicted with ‘Poisoned (F)’ status.]
[The target has resisted ‘Poisoned (F)’ status.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:59]
A one-in-three chance had landed on Poison, and, of course, it was nullified.
Right… she has Poison Resistance.
She had acquired it back when we split the inner core of the Venomous Horned Black Blood Serpent.
Even though it was far from Poison Immunity, it was still enough to shrug off poisons below C-rank without issue.
With Mutual Destruction Eye stuck at F-rank, if the status effect turned out to be Poison, it was basically useless.
Well, can’t be helped.
Once the cooldown reset, my only option was to try again.
Whether she knew this or not, Seo Ye-in raised her magic gun and aimed it at me.
The muzzle spewed bursts of blue flames.
Tududududu!
I weaved through the hail of magic bullets with stealthy footwork, using my storm clouds for defense.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
At the same time, electricity crackled over my hands, taking the form of two hummingbirds.
The hummingbirds split in opposite directions, then streaked through the air toward Seo Ye-in.
“…….”
She could no longer focus solely on shooting at me.
Stepping back, she fired rapid bursts of magic bullets alternately to her left and right.
Tudududu!
But the problem was that the one controlling them was none other than me.
The hummingbirds darted nimbly, weaving through the relentless barrage of bullets and rapidly closing the distance toward Seo Ye-in.
Realizing she could hardly land a hit no matter how much she focused, she seemed to decide on a different approach.
Thump.
A magic grenade shot out from the thick barrel of her launcher.
It grazed the hummingbird on the left—
Boom!
—and exploded instantly, engulfing the hummingbird in the blast.
Ahn Jeong-mi and I nodded in satisfaction at the same time.
Nicely done.
With proper control over her magic, she had managed to detonate the bullet mid-flight.
From the opponent’s perspective, not knowing exactly when it would explode made it much harder to dodge.
But there was still one hummingbird left.
And in the time it took her to eliminate the first, the other had gotten even closer.
At that moment, Seo Ye-in’s eyes flashed with a chilling light.
Flash!
She had activated Bullet Time.
Her gray pupils seemed to track every erratic movement of the hummingbird with perfect clarity.
The next instant, her magic gun roared again and started spitting out blue flames.
Tududududu!
The hummingbird ultimately took a magic bullet to one of its wings and plummeted.
Seo Ye-in’s gaze immediately shifted to me, but—
[The target has been inflicted with the status effect ‘Weathering (F)’.]
[Cooldown time: 00:00:59]
Just then, the cooldown for Mutual Destruction Eye had reset, and this time, I managed to inflict a status effect other than poison.
A faint breeze swirled around Seo Ye-in’s body.
“……?”
She tilted her head in confusion at the unfamiliar phenomenon, but there was no way she could figure it out.
Deciding to keep attacking, she took aim at me—
Whoosh!
—but was helplessly pushed back against the wall by the Wind Force I had cast.
Since she was under the effects of Weathering, she slid back even more smoothly.
Whoosh!
This time, she was blown in the opposite direction.
Even in the midst of it, she tried to fire her magic gun, but naturally, being pushed back and forth like that made it impossible to aim properly.
Whooosh!
And when I cast Twister, she was caught in the whirlwind and started spinning in circles.
Seeing her magic gun droop downward, it was clear she had lost the will to fight.
Spinning round and round, she turned her gaze to Ahn Jeong-mi.
“……Help.”
It was practically a surrender.
So I dispelled the whirlwind, and Ahn Jeong-mi operated her device to cast a healing spell.
At the same time, she offered a polite piece of advice.
“Young miss, perhaps you should consider learning a debuff removal skill.”
“……”
“If not, you’ll just end up getting caught the same way again.”
“……No more spinning.”
Seo Ye-in must have felt the need to come up with a countermeasure, as she gave a small nod.
Meanwhile, Ahn Jeong-mi was exchanging messages with someone again.
It seemed like she was checking the stock of skill books this time as well.
“They said it’ll be ready by tomorrow.”
At that, Seo Ye-in’s motivation visibly drained even further.
She already knew she would be at the mercy of debuffs, and now there was no way to remove them until tomorrow. No wonder she wasn’t feeling up to it.
“…I’m done.”
“Just a little longer. I’ll remove the debuffs for you.”
As she spoke, Ahn Jeong-mi subtly signaled me with her eyes, asking for support.
Since it was in my best interest for the spar to last longer, I coaxed Seo Ye-in gently.
“Yeah, let’s go just a little more.”
“……”
“Just a little more?”
“…Mhmm.”
After staring at me for a moment, Seo Ye-in gave a small nod, and the spar continued.
Ahn Jeong-mi stood by, ready to dispel any debuffs at a moment’s notice. But in reality, she didn’t have many chances to step in.
Looks like it’s kicking in.
That was because Lucky Charm’s lucky charm ability had activated.
In probability-based fights, it was practically a cheat ability.
During the midterms, Seo Ye-in had managed to win fifteen consecutive rounds of rock-paper-scissors against Go Hyeon-woo.
In a way, the situation now wasn’t all that different.
[The target has been afflicted with ‘Poisoned (F)’.]
[The target has been afflicted with ‘Poisoned (F)’.]
[The target has been afflicted with ‘Poisoned (F)’.]
……
By all logic, each status effect should have had an equal one-in-three chance of appearing. Yet nine times out of ten, “Poisoned” was the one that triggered, only to be nullified immediately.
Even better.
Of course, I had expected this.
No, rather, I had planned for it.
If Weathering or Frozen had activated instead, the spar would have been forced to a halt.
On the other hand, even if Poison had no real effect, as long as it kept triggering, I could continuously cast Mutual Destruction Eye whenever the cooldown reset.
The more I used it, the faster its rank would increase.
Of course, no matter how lucky she was, she couldn’t reduce a two-thirds probability to zero. So occasionally, a debuff would land.
[The target has been afflicted with ‘Frozen (F)’.]
Crackle.
Seo Ye-in’s ankle was suddenly encased in ice.
She tried shaking her leg, but it was frozen solid and wouldn’t budge.
To make matters worse, a cold wind began to blow.
Whoooosh—
It was Chillwind, the spell I had just cast.
Since it amplified the effects of Frozen, the ice that had only covered her ankle quickly spread up to her thigh.
Seo Ye-in shivered slightly and looked over at Ahn Jeong-mi.
“…Help.”
“…I’ll release it.”
***
After relentlessly bombarding Lucky Charm with Mutual Destruction Eye for a while—
[The rank of ‘Eyes of Mutual Destruction’ has increased. (F → E)]
—I had already gained something from it.
Once Seo Ye-in mastered a debuff-removal skill, I’d be able to fire it off even more freely.
Meanwhile, Ahn Jeong-mi seemed to decide that it was best to end the sparring session here.
“It’s getting late. Let’s stop for today.”
“I think that would be best.”
I could keep going, but it looked like the Sloth Battery was almost drained.
If we were going to keep training together, pacing ourselves wisely was the way to go.
Hearing that, Seo Ye-in tugged at my sleeve as if she had been waiting for this moment.
“My place.”
“The time has finally come.”
Time to go check out the sloth’s home.
