Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

We fell for what seemed an eternity through a darkness so profound that it was impossible to tell whether our eyes were open or closed.

[You have entered Cell 99.]

Suddenly, the scenery changed.

I snatched the rabbit flailing its four legs in mid-air and landed on the floor.

“Is everyone alright?”

“U-unni……”

Cha Taeyang clutched my clothes with trembling hands. While everyone was pale with fear, Taeyang’s complexion was particularly ashen.

‘How did this happen?’

I had a bad feeling about this from the start, and now things had finally come to a head.

Didn’t I see it clearly with my Explorer’s Eye? I knew better than anyone that Cha Taeyang hadn’t done anything unusual.

“Hunter Cha Taeyang, please calm down first.”

“But it’s because of me……”

“No, it’s not.”

I gently uncurled Taeyang’s fingers, which were gripping my clothes so tightly they had turned white.

“There might be some other reason for this.”

“Taeyang, come here.”

Shin-ju, who had beckoned to Cha Taeyang, pulled her into an embrace as if diving in.

“Gaho is right. It wouldn’t be the first time the World Tower has played tricks on hunters, would it? If you stay gloomy like this, we won’t be able to solve anything. Come on, chin up.”

“You acted on the confirmation from Gregory, the gatekeeper of this place. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Yes, thank you.”

With even Hong Yun-jae comforting her, Taeyang reluctantly raised her head, but her voice still lacked strength.

‘I’d like to console her more, but this isn’t the time for that.’

“Hey, rat. Go over there and do something about her.”

Leaving Taeyang to Jo Sung-hyun and the goblin, I surveyed our surroundings.

We had fallen into a corridor flanked by crystal pillars on both sides. As if compelling us to move in one direction, every space except one end of the corridor was shrouded in thick darkness.

Only one person knew the solution to this situation.

“Gregory.”

Gregory, who had been frantically rolling his eyes around, flinched.

“How can we get out of here?”

“Ahem, what a predicament this is.”

“We can investigate the reason later. Our priority is escape, isn’t it?”

As Gregory hesitated, I organized my thoughts.

When we defeated the toy soldier, a mirror leading to the vertical cave appeared. But with our current team members who might not even be a match for an S-rank magical beast, let alone an SS-rank one, we couldn’t use that method.

All we could do was hope that Gregory, the caretaker of this place, knew another way out.

“……There’s a secret passage leading outside in every cell.”

“Hey, rabbit. Is that true? Then in this place too……”

“Yes. There’s a secret passage in Cell 99 as well.”

The party members’ faces lit up at the thought that we might be able to avoid an encounter with Yana.

“However, even I don’t know where it is.”

“What?”

“Gregory, are you serious?”

Gregory sighed deeply and lamented.

“For thousands of years, since Yana was first imprisoned, the door to this cell has never been opened. By the time I was appointed as gatekeeper, most of the information about this place had already been lost.”

“Gatekeeper, don’t you know anything at all?”

“No. Ahem, however……”

Gregory, lowering his already soft voice even further, trailed off.

“I have seen records that somewhere in that room, there’s a secret passage.”

As if on cue, everyone followed Gregory’s nod and looked towards the end of the corridor. To think that the passage was in that room where Yana was presumed to be. It was a disaster.

“This is the temple of Winkel, the winter god. Even Yana won’t wake up immediately in the territory of the highest-ranking among the thirteen gods who defeated her.”

“Should we consider that fortunate?”

Hong Yun-jae muttered in a gloomy voice. Hearing his words, Shin-ju frowned and gently hit his back.

“Don’t you start too.”

“……I’m sorry.”

I tried to abandon the quest, but a message appeared saying to try after exiting the combat area. How troublesome.

“Are we going, Yun Gaho?”

“Well, we don’t have any other choice, do we?”

I stared at the faintly visible end of the corridor.

Perhaps my skill would give me a hint, like in the Necromancer’s Mansion. Trying to think positively, I steeled my tightening heart.

◆◇◆◇◆

The storage room, strewn with open boxes, old ornaments, and cracked statues, was a mess just to look at. With not only the party members but also the goblin and Gregory joining in to ransack the room, the already chaotic space became even more of a disaster.

It looked more like a garbage dump than a temple.

‘And it’s so spacious too, making this a total catastrophe.’

While grumbling inwardly, I moved my hands quickly. Contrary to my expectations, Explorer’s Eye gave me no clues. So we had no choice but to search thoroughly.

Whether it was good luck or not, although nearly 30 minutes had passed, nothing had happened yet. I tightened the tension that was unknowingly trying to loosen.

‘If that happens, we’re done for.’

The flower bud trapped inside the crystal pillar in the center of the room. According to Gregory, that was Yana.

“Pretending to be a flower when you’re just a seed of calamity.”

I summoned my bow while muttering nonsense. I wasn’t sure if this method would work, but we had to try everything we could.

“Applying ‘Bookmark’ to slot 5.”

[Skill ‘Enchant (S)’ is activated.

– Slot 5: Bookmark (Remaining uses: 3)]

I immediately nocked the arrow that appeared in my hand to the bowstring. Bookmark, an effect that provides small clues. I usually used it when faced with a fork in the road or to gauge what was behind a wall.

Hoping it would give me a small lead this time as well, I swallowed my words and shot the arrow at the ceiling. The arrow dispersed into particles of light before even reaching the ceiling.

Shortly after, the gathered light particles drew a key pattern in one corner of the floor before disappearing.

“Here?”

There was nothing particularly unusual about the floor thickly covered in dust.

‘Still, might as well check it out.’

As this skill had never led me astray before, I obediently dusted off the area. Something faintly touched my hand. Instinctively, I realized this was a clue.

As soon as the dust settled, I pressed my face close to the floor. Lines carved in intaglio were drawn on the black stone floor. This is…….

“A mana circuit?”

More accurately, it was closer to traces of a mana circuit. It seemed too worn for Explorer’s Eye to detect. If this was the secret passage, that would be great.

“Please, please be a teleportation formula.”

Praying earnestly, I dusted off all the surrounding floor.

But what revealed itself was a circuit completely different from what I had hoped for. No matter how many times I traced the engraved circuit with my fingertips, my disappointment only grew.

I scratched the back of my head while looking at the circuit connected to the crystal pillar.

“Looks like I was completely off the mark.”

I couldn’t be certain, but it looked like the circuit used when this pillar was first created. Perhaps reflecting the temple owner’s attribute, formulas related to cold were prominent, but they required such a massive amount of mana to activate that they were practically useless to us.

“If only we had a sea spirit here or something.”

As I was getting up to look elsewhere, I felt an intense gaze on the back of my head. Thinking someone might have something to say, I turned around.

And what I met was an ominous green eye.

The eye visible through the slightly parted flower petals curved into a crescent shape, and a system message appeared above its head.

[Exiled Omnipotent Being, Yana]

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Crack, crack-!

As the petals slowly opened, cracks spread across the crystal pillar.

The playful gaze fixed on me felt chilling. Even though all the party members who had been scattered in search of the secret passage had gathered, the chill that had set in didn’t dissipate.

‘Can we really defeat that?’

Yana hadn’t even escaped from the pillar yet, but just the energy flowing from the cracks made my skin tingle. Although we had no choice but to grip our weapons, it was visible to the naked eye that everyone’s fighting spirit had hit rock bottom.

‘No, we have to win. This is no time for weak thoughts.’

I took a deep breath, trying to regain even a little composure. Didn’t we somehow manage to face the Kraken, which was far above my rank? Now we have four reliable companions, so there’s nothing we can’t do.

I patted the backs of my party members, who looked both tense and resigned.

“They say there’s always a way out, even if the sky falls. So let’s keep our wits about us and find a way.”

“Hunter Yun Gaho?”

“We’re going to survive, all of us. Because that’s what we do.”

After a brief silence, Cha Taeyang, who was the first to regain her spirit, stepped forward.

“This time, I’ll protect you for sure!”

“Well, this is embarrassing. I gave up without realizing it.”

Shin-ju, ruffling her own hair, put an arm around Cha Taeyang’s shoulders.

“As you know, I’m hopeless when it comes to using my head. Instead, I’ll do what I’m good at for sure, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Tch, I wasn’t scared. I was just thinking for a moment.”

“I’m sorry for getting you involved in this dangerous situation. I’ll do my best to protect you all.”

The situation remained the same, but the atmosphere had changed significantly.

Judging by the speed at which the pillar was breaking, it seemed we had time for a brief discussion.

I racked my brain to make the most of everything – the abilities and skills of my companions I’d seen in previous battles, the items in our inventory, and what we’d observed here.

“We need to form our formation around Hunter Cha Taeyang.”

As if hearing something unexpected, Shin-ju narrowed her eyes.

“There’s a high probability that Yana is a wood-attribute magical beast. Though it’s just my guess.”

“Why do you think that?”

“First, that appearance. It’s not for nothing that it’s inside a flower bud. And……”

I didn’t want to mention anything related to skills in front of Shin-ju, who knew me well. But now wasn’t the time to be picky about such things.

“I felt formulas related to cold particularly strongly in the crystal pillar that was confining Yana. As you all know, fire and cold are the biggest weaknesses of the wood attribute.”

The thirteen gods and forty-nine heroes must have used every means possible to seal the strongest and worst omnipotent being.

That they…

“There must be a reason why they used a cold-attribute seal in the winter god’s temple of all places.”

I explained the formation composition and detailed strategy to my companions.

Finally, looking straight at Yana, whose eyes seemed to say that whatever we did would be useless, I said,

“It won’t be easy. But let’s get out of here alive, all of us.”