Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

“Hong Yun-jae, you go in first. You’re sturdy, aren’t you?”

Shin-ju, who had been heading straight for the gate, pushed Hong Yun-jae, who had been standing still, in front of her. If we’re being strict, the sturdiest one here would be Cha Taeyang, a close-range dealer among close-range fighters.

‘It must be Shin-ju’s way of being considerate.’

Hong Yun-jae, seeming to have understood Shin-ju’s intention, obediently took the lead. Or rather, he tried to. If only Jo Sung-hyun hadn’t stepped forward.

“Sunbae! I’ll take the lead!”

Shin-ju caught Jo Sung-hyun’s collar as he strode towards the gate and sent him to the back.

“Ah, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll go in first.”

“Huh?”

“Because I think it’ll be more fun that way. Now, everyone follow close behind me so you don’t lose sight of this body.”

Shin-ju, speaking lightly as always, disappeared into the gate. Jo Sung-hyun, Hong Yun-jae, and Cha Taeyang followed, vanishing after her.

And finally, I stood before the gate.

‘In the past, I would have given up no matter how much others pushed me.’

The discovery of the ninety-ninth cave is that significant. And yet, somehow, I didn’t feel nervous at all. Have I become strange too, after all the irrational things I’ve experienced recently?

With these idle thoughts, I stepped into the gate.

◆◇◆◇◆

[Entering the field, ‘The Final Cave, Purgato (S)’.

– Current number of entrants: 4

※ Field effect, ‘Sin and Punishment (S)’ is constantly active.]

[Quest, ‘The Boundary of the Realm (A)’ has begun.

– Clear condition: Defeat Hell Duke Mot

– Remaining time: 71:04:01

※ This quest can only be abandoned through NPC Gregory.]

[You have been moved to Cell 13.]

“Yun Gaho, dodge!”

Clang!

I reflexively rolled on the ground, without even time to check the system messages. When I raised my head, Shin-ju was blocking a massive arm that had been thrust down where I had just been standing.

“Why are you here…”

[(○｀ 3′○)]

It was the toy soldier we had faced in Cave 13. Only the colors had faded, but the surrounding environment was identical to Cave 13. I blinked a couple of times in bewilderment before jumping to my feet.

“Haaah!”

Cha Taeyang appeared in a flash and struck the soldier’s face. The LCD screen cracked with a sizzle from her resolute blow.

[(X_X ;;)]

The soldier, showing distress, extended its hand to fire block missiles. As I stepped back, Jo Sung-hyun, as if he had been waiting, sliced through the missiles with his sword energy.

After nodding in thanks, I immediately drew my bowstring and shot an arrow at the cracked LCD screen. The white arrow hit its mark precisely.

“Nice shot!”

The soldier, with an arrow lodged in its left eye, swung its arms wildly.

Shin-ju, who had already activated her speakers, was attacking the soldier’s upper body along with Cha Taeyang, while Hong Yun-jae and Jo Sung-hyun targeted its lower body.

‘Something’s a bit different…’

During the three-phase battle, my arrows had only struck twice. And those were all arrows enhanced by skills. Even though it had been cracked, for an arrow to embed so deeply…

“Is this a different individual from earlier? No, but then again…”

[Childhood Guardian, Soldatino]

The name given by the system was the same, wasn’t it? With an uneasy feeling, I activated Explorer’s Eye. Its weak points were the same as the soldier we had met earlier.

Ping!

The sound of a deflected block hitting my feet brought me back to my senses. I shouldn’t let my guard down just because there are four A-ranks here. There would be time for thinking later.

“Focus on what needs to be done now.”

I shouted while matching the rhythm notes Shin-ju had created.

“It has the same weak points as the monster from Cave 13. Aim for the crown!”

Shin-ju, who had been rampaging amidst the popping effects, heard my shout and whispered something to Cha Taeyang.

Cha Taeyang nodded, disappeared with a pop, and reappeared holding Hong Yun-jae.

Then, without hesitation, she threw Hong Yun-jae upwards.

“Good luck!”

“Sunbae! I keep telling you my crescent blade is a sword, not a spear!”

Hong Yun-jae, suddenly finding himself high in the air, flailed his arm holding the crescent blade. Shin-ju, who had been pummeling the soldier’s left arm, shrugged.

“You do well when told to.”

As his endlessly rising body began to fall, Hong Yun-jae reluctantly adjusted his grip on the crescent blade. Simultaneously, light enveloped the blade and its shape changed to resemble a spear tip.

“…!”

Hong Yun-jae’s mouth moved silently, seemingly using a skill. Sparks flew from his weapon, and like a bolt of lightning, he plummeted straight towards the soldier’s crown.

Kaboom! Bang!

A flash so strong I couldn’t keep my eyes open erupted, followed by a thunderous roar that shook the heavens. Having covered my ears a beat too late, my eardrums stung.

‘They weren’t kidding when they said gate managers were on another level.’

The soldier, knocked into a groggy state with a single blow, pressed the armband on its chest with trembling hands. Knowing what this signaled, Hong Yun-jae leapt off the soldier’s smoking head.

“Everyone, stay alert! We’re moving to the next phase!”

“Taeyang, is this your first time seeing a tank?”

“Yes! But what’s a tank?”

Since damage can’t be dealt to the boss during phase transitions, I reopened the system messages I hadn’t been able to check earlier, using this intermission.

The first thing that caught my eye was the field rank.

“S-rank?”

We need to change our strategy. There were too many risk factors. Not only was it strange that the quest and field ranks were different, but there was also some unknown S-rank effect in play.

“We need to exit immediately…”

Before I could finish my sentence, I closed my mouth after reading the last line of the quest window.

[※ This quest can only be abandoned through NPC Gregory.]

This is getting ridiculous. We have to find an NPC whose face and location we don’t know? We can’t leave the field unless we abandon the quest.

Feeling frustrated, I rubbed my face with my palm.

‘By the way, is that soldier still not…?’

It seemed to transform quickly before. Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard the sound of blocks collapsing either. When I removed my hands from my face and looked up, I saw the soldier repeatedly hitting its chest, panting heavily.

Then, a new system message appeared.

[Due to the effect of the field effect ‘Sin and Punishment (S)’, ‘Childhood Guardian Soldatino’s’ skill activation has been canceled.]

A field effect that suppresses the field boss, not the players.

While we were grateful, it was utterly incomprehensible.

But for now, we had to seize the chance we’d been given.

“Let’s attack.”

My companions, who had been staring at the soldier with bewildered faces, came to their senses and readied themselves.

[XOX;;]

The exhausted soldier was no match for us. A torrent of skills rained down like a storm, and before long, the lights on its LCD screen went out. Subsequently, the blocks that made up the soldier crumbled and poured down.

The pile of blocks, heaped like a burial mound, gave me an uneasy feeling.

‘The mention of Cell 13 is bothering me too. Could this be connected to other caves within the Ninety-Nine Branch Cave?’

As I was scrutinizing the system messages, it suddenly struck me that the field effect “Sin and Punishment” and the modifier “cell” seemed to go together.

If the monsters in each cave were prisoners, and this field effect was the force restraining them?

“Well, it’s all just my speculation.”

Feeling increasingly anxious for some reason, I moistened my dry lips with my tongue. It felt as if some unknown force was surrounding and threatening us.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I think so too. Something feels off here.”

“Hunter Cha Taeyang?”

Cha Taeyang, who had approached silently and clung to me like a cicada, muttered.

“It’s like we’ve come to a place we absolutely shouldn’t have…”

“Everyone, come here for a second!”

Shin-ju, who had been rummaging through the pile of blocks as soon as the battle ended, called everyone over. Even while urging us to hurry, Shin-ju didn’t stop digging through the blocks.

As we got closer, we could see what looked like a wooden frame slightly exposed. Together with the party members, we excavated the unidentified item.

What finally emerged was a circular mirror. It appeared to be quite old, and was large enough to fully reflect even Hong Yun-jae, the tallest among us.

“Hey, Hong Yun-jae. Has an item like this ever dropped in Cave 13 before?”

“No, never. I can say that with certainty.”

“Right? It would ruin the concept if a transforming robot dropped something like this.”

Shin-ju smirked and roughly ran her hand through her hair. Seeing that she was about to reach out, I grabbed her wrist and warned her.

“Don’t touch it carelessly until we’ve checked it out.”

Perhaps recalling what had happened in the Wizard’s Garden, Jo Sung-hyun’s earlobes turned bright red. After moving the party members a step back, I activated Explorer’s Eye.

‘Maybe it’s good that I came after all.’

Golden eyes reminiscent of a full moon were reflected in the mirror. And gradually, the magic formula engraved on the mirror revealed itself.

I had worried it might be something unfamiliar, but that concern was unnecessary.

‘It was just that Kalia’s circuits were non-standard.’

Upon careful interpretation, it turned out to be a teleportation formula leading somewhere. Perhaps a degraded version of the Golden Coral Branch. Aside from not knowing where it led, there didn’t seem to be any particularly dangerous elements.

As I turned my head to inform the others of this information, I met Shin-ju’s eyes, her expression subtle.

“Hey, what’s that?”