Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

“Me too, me too! Mr. Kim, Sori will help too!”

The goblin, who had been frolicking near Jo Sung-hyun, rolled over to my side. Both of them love novelty, so they’ll probably enjoy this.

“It’s not a difficult task. Please pay attention here.”

I waved my right hand with only the index finger extended.

“Set Enchant 7, 18, and 23.”

Then, as I drew a straight line with my finger, three cards appeared along the trajectory. Although the images on them differed, they all shared the same black frame with gold leaf accents in places.

“Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim! What’s this?”

“You’ve seen me use my skill before, right? The attribute is determined by which card I choose.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

“Usually, I do the preparation work in advance.”

Cha Taeyang pressed her face close to the cards as if she might enter them. The goblin, too, couldn’t take its eyes off the cards.

‘It is quite an impressive appearance.’

At first glance, the cards resembled tarot cards, adorned with elaborate illustrations. As the skill’s rank increased, the number of cards grew from about ten to twenty-four, with the newly added cards being particularly beautiful.

However, the artwork-like appearance of these cards is merely an illusion.

‘To think magic formulas were hidden here.’

Even I only discovered this fact recently. Intricate magic formulas were concealed between the delicately drawn lines.

‘So that’s why Magitech popped up seemingly out of nowhere.’

Cha Taeyang, who had been engrossed in the cards, suddenly raised her head.

“Unni! What should I do to help?”

“If you don’t mind, could you decide which card to put in the last slot, Hunter Cha Taeyang?”

“You’re entrusting such an important task to me?”

Not only did Cha Taeyang jump up and wave her hands, but even the goblin made a fuss, asking if I was serious.

‘I didn’t expect this reaction.’

I just wanted to provide a small bit of fun during the break. Although I asked for help, without any information at this point, it wouldn’t make much difference what was chosen.

“It’s fine whichever card comes up, so please choose freely.”

“Um, can I think about it a bit more?”

“Sure. I’ll fill the other slots, so please call me when you’ve made your decision.”

Cha Taeyang and the goblin began a conference, putting their heads together. It was a heartwarming sight, but we didn’t have much time right now.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

I took out four pre-selected cards with my left hand. From left to right, they were Concentration, North Wind, Dispersion, and Near-Death Experience. First, I picked up Concentration, which had a ripe fruit drawn on it, and channeled a small amount of mana along the magic formula engraved on the card.

‘When I didn’t know about magic formulas, I used to crudely pour in mana.’

There was a reason for the poor efficiency. Not knowing the form of the magic formula and just blindly using the skill naturally took more time and mana.

When I placed the activated card on the bow I had set down earlier, the card melted away like cotton candy touching water.

“I’ve decided!”

As if she had been waiting for me to finish, Cha Taeyang approached with a card in her hand. She took a deep breath and held out a card.

‘I can’t believe she chose this one.’

It was a card depicting a woman embracing a key as large as herself under moonlight. Not a bad choice for entering an unknown field.

The goblin, who had moved to my shoulder, chattered away.

“Doesn’t the person in this picture card look like the dark Mr. Kim? Is that why you chose it?”

“Like me?”

“Yep!”

Aside from the black hair, I don’t think there’s much resemblance. If anything, with those downturned eyes, doesn’t it look more like Cha Taeyang?

I alternated between looking at Cha Taeyang and the card before remembering we were short on time and hurriedly filled the last slot.

Cha Taeyang, who had been quietly watching me, rested her chin on my shoulder and asked,

“Say, unni. What’s the name of this card?”

“It’s ‘Bookmark’.”

“Can you tell me what effect it has?”

“To put it simply…”

“Sunbae! I’m here.”

Just as I was about to explain the effect of ‘Bookmark’, Hong Yun-jae appeared, parting the bushes. I gently patted Cha Taeyang’s head as she looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

“Well, you’ll find out everything once we’re in the field.”

I headed towards Hong Yun-jae with Cha Taeyang and the goblin. Unlike in the waiting room, Hong Yun-jae was now fully equipped. The navy blue robe he had casually thrown on matched perfectly with the crescent blade slung across his back.

‘Four close-range fighters. Not exactly the best combination.’

With me, a C-rank, as the only long-range dealer. Even though Shin-ju and Cha Taeyang have movement skills, there’s still such a thing as compatibility. If we encounter a flying-type monster, we’ll be in for quite a struggle.

“Hand it over.”

Shin-ju, who had reached Hong Yun-jae first, held out her palm with a casual stance. Used to this, Hong Yun-jae shrugged and distributed potions he had taken from his inventory to everyone. Their strange luster suggested they were at least B-rank.

“I’ve only seen this kind of thing in movies.”

“What kind of thing?”

“A delinquent extorting money… Ow!”

Jo Sung-hyun screamed as his shin was kicked again. Judging by how he leapt behind Cha Taeyang without regard for his dignity, it seemed he had been kicked mercilessly once more.

Apparently quite displeased with Jo Sung-hyun’s remark, Shin-ju kept twirling her hair with her finger. Still, you shouldn’t hit a kid like that.

“Why are you hitting people? Even if awakened individuals are tougher, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

“He’s talking nonsense. How dare he call his esteemed senior a delinquent? And what’s this about extortion? If anything, we’re the ones being exploited here.”

“Shin-ju, watch your word choice…”

“No, I apologize for making such an unreasonable request.”

I raised Hong Yun-jae, who was bowing in apology. He wasn’t the one who left work early, nor was he from the training center’s upper management. He wasn’t the one who should be apologizing.

While I was annoyed at the training center for demanding our entry into the field under threat of reporting us, we couldn’t just let an overflow happen either.

‘I plan to file a proper complaint through the guild once this is over.’

I had been maintaining my expression to avoid upsetting the children, but in truth, I was quite displeased. Hong Yun-jae would probably have to write an incident report too, but that wasn’t my concern.

“The gate closes in 10 minutes, so let’s quickly brief.”

I gestured to Cha Taeyang and Jo Sung-hyun, who had been arguing in the corner. I was going to conduct it standing as it wasn’t a long talk, but Shin-ju plopped down on the ground.

“Come on, everyone sit in a circle.”

“This isn’t a retreat…”

Jo Sung-hyun, who had been grumbling out of habit, closed his mouth after glancing at Shin-ju.

“First, I’ll summarize the situation.”

Seeing no one else about to speak up, I reluctantly took the lead.

“This field that appeared under the Hell Tree is expected to be at least B-rank, but there’s a high probability it will be A-rank or higher. Given the characteristics of where it appeared, it’s also likely to be a dark attribute field.”

“Since all the sub-fields discovered so far have been raid-type, this one probably is too, right?”

“That’s the prevailing theory. Ah, and Hunter Hong Yun-jae?”

“Yes, Hunter Yun Gaho. What is it?”

There was something I needed to clarify here to prevent any misunderstandings later. Although I hadn’t met them, I could roughly gauge the caliber of those ‘higher-ups’ at the training center.

“Our role is strictly reconnaissance, correct?”

‘Who knows if they’ll make a fuss about why we only did reconnaissance after we’ve gone through all this trouble?’

As soon as she heard my question, Shin-ju, who had been giggling, gave a thumbs up, and Cha Taeyang and the goblin sitting next to her followed suit. Do they even understand what they’re imitating?

“Yes. I can assure you of this much. As Hunter Yun Gaho said, it’s strictly reconnaissance.”

“Thank you for your answer. Returning to the briefing, Cadet Jo Sung-hyun, do you know what the most important goal of a reconnaissance team is?”

“Uh, isn’t it to relay information about the field?”

“No. There’s something even more important than that. The most crucial thing is…”

Shin-ju answered on my behalf. I nodded in permission, thinking it would be better for Shin-ju, who had more experience with reconnaissance teams than me, to explain here.

“Survival. Coming back alive.”

“Huh? But that’s obvious. As a party objective…”

“Obvious?”

Shin-ju caught Jo Sung-hyun’s words and asked in a chilly tone. Taken aback by the sudden change in Shin-ju, who had been acting carefree all along, Jo Sung-hyun blinked.

“Listen, junior. Does that really seem obvious to you? Having no information is scarier than you can imagine.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You’ll need to keep your wits about you if you want to stay alive.”

Sensing the atmosphere becoming too heavy, I quickly interjected.

“Well, but we have Hunter Park Shin-ju here with lots of reconnaissance team experience, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Shin-ju ruffled her own hair, saying she hadn’t meant to scare them. I patted Shin-ju’s knee with my palm to show I understood.

“We also plan to retreat immediately if it seems even slightly dangerous.”

“Agreed. Get greedy and you might lose your head.”

“Mm-hmm, they say from ancient times that excess is as bad as deficiency!”

The goblin, echoing Shin-ju’s words, rolled onto Shin-ju’s messy hair.

“If the field is A-rank or higher, we’ll just confirm the boss’s location and return immediately. If it’s lower, we’ll aim to understand its attributes and general characteristics. Any objections?”

After confirming everyone’s agreement, I concluded the briefing.

“We’re short on time, so if there’s anything else to discuss, let’s do it in the field.”

“Phew, is Team Yun Gaho deploying?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You give a briefing and then act distracted. The team name always follows the leader’s name, you know.”

Shin-ju, who had made me party leader without my consent, dashed off towards the gate.

“She really…”

I shook my head as I watched her retreating figure grow smaller.