Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

I double-checked the sea people’s scale I had hidden under my tongue earlier.

‘I knew this would happen.’

I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the doors and windows covered in dark red energy. To think he’d actually do this, just as I had suspected. It was so predictable that it was almost absurd.

Despite also being in mortal danger, Arajin’s visible eyes remained impassive. I turned away from him and surveyed the room. The king was nowhere to be seen, likely thrown out before this madness began.

“This is a bad move for you too, isn’t it?”

I lowered my voice, feigning a mix of confusion and anger. At the same time, I made sure to clench and unclench my hands restlessly, as if trying but failing to remain calm.

If Arajin realized we were prepared for this situation, all our preparations would be for naught. Our victory or defeat hinged on whether we could deceive Arajin until the very end.

“My, are you concerned for me?”

“Hah, as if. I’m criticizing your foolishness.”

“I won’t fall in a game of my own making.”

Arajin’s smile vanished as if it had never been there, and he took a step closer. I instinctively backed away, but couldn’t escape his reach.

Before I could resist, Arajin’s hand was on my throat. To be precise, it was more lightly placed than gripped, but that didn’t lessen the pressure I felt.

“A butterfly stuck in the mud dares to speak of foolishness.”

“Still on about butterflies, are we?”

“I’ll say it again, you and I are of different calibers.”

“For someone of a different caliber, you seem quite rattled by my move.”

Just as Arajin was about to press closer, his nerves clearly touched, Lee Kang-to, who had been floundering in the water, belatedly came to his senses and swatted Arajin’s hand away.

Arajin removed his hand without much resistance, perhaps not intending to kill me right away. However, seemingly needing to express his displeasure, he deliberately squeezed my neck hard at the last moment.

“Ugh!”

“This is the end of your impertinence.”

I glared at Arajin while clutching my neck, which likely bore angry red marks. Arajin, in turn, exuded an overwhelming aura, clearly intent on breaking my spirit completely.

Meanwhile, oblivious to this battle of wills, the water summoned by the Wailing Pill steadily filled the room. Though the water level had risen to our waists, no one in the room showed much agitation yet.

While we all had measures in place against the water, staying still would only arouse suspicion from that snake-like character. I patted Lee Kang-to’s shoulder as he kept turning his head restlessly.

“Hunter Lee Kang-to, do you think you can open that door?”

“Y-yes?”

“We can’t die like this. We need to get out somehow!”

Lee Kang-to just blinked, seemingly having forgotten my earlier instruction to follow my lead. Frustrated by his slow uptake, the goblin transformed into human form and pounced on Lee Kang-to.

“Mr. Kim’s expression is seriously the worst!”

“Wh-what’s with that nitpicking—ow!”

“Ugh, why is your hair like weeds?”

The goblin’s antics of pulling Lee Kang-to’s hair and acting chaotically were all a ruse to hide his lip movements. Using his magic, he secretly conveyed my meaning to Lee Kang-to.

– Use your head! Did you forget everything the black Mr. Kim said earlier?

“I got it, so p-please let go of my hair! Do you have to spread rumors about your strength?”

“Weeds need to be pulled out!”

Wasn’t that a bit too passionate? I had my doubts, but the goblin’s quick thinking had saved us. As soon as the leaf-like hand released him, Lee Kang-to rushed towards the door.

“Someone who knows nothing about beauty…”

“What? You want me to make you bald?”

“Oh my, why won’t this break?”

Fearing his hair might be pulled again, Lee Kang-to feigned distraction and drew his scabbard. He immediately began pounding on the door covered in dark red energy.

Though his lines were clumsy, he seemed to be putting in real effort. Each time he struck the door, a thunderous sound echoed. Yet despite the continuous blows, the door didn’t budge.

“You’re not going to help?”

He must be quite confident. Despite knowing Lee Kang-to’s skills well, Arajin merely watched him leisurely. Moreover, he even took the time to prod at me.

I had no intention of answering such an obviously baited question. Glancing sidelong at Arajin, I nocked an arrow to my bow. I’ll aim for the window instead of the door.

“Apply ‘Concentration’.”

As soon as the card with the fruit image disappeared, I released the arrow. Though at close range, it was enough for the enchant effect to take hold.

With a loud bang, the arrow, transformed into a feathered spear, embedded itself in the window.

“Oh, an interesting trick.”

“Does our struggle for survival merely amuse you?”

“Of course. A grim reaper drowning—isn’t that a rare sight?”

His toneless mockery twisted my insides.

And at that moment, I was certain. This man had no intention whatsoever of dying together. Nothing about Arajin’s attitude suggested someone prepared for death.

‘Someone greedy enough to ruin a country in collusion with the king wouldn’t be without attachment to life.’

There was only one explanation for his nonchalant attitude. Arajin had a way to escape this place. That’s why we must seem even more ridiculous to him. Struggling over something that’s trivial to him.

“It’s pitiful enough to make me want to lend a hand.”

Say that after you’ve actually helped, why don’t you? There was nothing more to say to someone with such a twisted personality. As I kept my mouth shut and continued shooting arrows at the window, Arajin merely chuckled.

Even when the window was completely filled with arrows, leaving not a single gap, the door still wouldn’t open. By the time I had reduced the window to that state, the water level had risen considerably, making it increasingly difficult to shoot.

“Mr. Kim, are you alright?”

“Yes, thank you for your concern.”

The goblin flew over and wiped my forehead with the edge of his sleeve. Though I knew no harm would come, cold sweat broke out as the water reached my neck, fear suddenly gripping me.

For once, I was glad Cha Taeyang and Park Shin-ju weren’t here. I didn’t want them to experience this sensation.

This thought made me feel oddly apologetic towards Lee Kang-to, and I glanced at him surreptitiously. Sensing my gaze, Lee Kang-to turned his head towards me. The face I met was incredibly calm.

‘Come to think of it, he said he’d been a hunter since he was a minor.’

I recalled the conversations we had while wandering beyond the fortress walls.

Surprisingly, Lee Kang-to’s experience was nearly twice that of mine, despite us being of similar age. Although his behavior didn’t show it, in terms of years of service, he could be considered a veteran hunter without exaggeration.

“I-is there a problem?”

“Not at all.”

After pushing him around and proceeding with my plans, how could I freeze up now? I couldn’t allow myself to do that. Pull yourself together, Yun Gaho.

Taking a deep breath, I used a grappling hook to hang upside down from the ceiling.

Arajin had his eyes closed, as if to flaunt his composure, but the blue eye hidden beneath his headband stared intently at me alone. Gritting my teeth defiantly at him, I continued to stab at the window with arrows.

Some time passed. As the water rose to nearly touch Arajin’s lips, all three of his eyes opened.

“Enough of this entertainment.”

Has he calculated that it’s safe to leave us behind now? No sooner had he finished speaking than Arajin’s body began to disperse like mist.

I had no intention of abandoning the plan we had set in motion.

“Who said you could upset the board!”

I took out the second pill, the Thorn Pill, which I had kept in my inventory. Then, just as before, I created an arrow centered on him.

“It’s futile. Half of my body has already left this place.”

“Which means not all of it has, right?”

It feels like I’ve been doing nothing but throwing things today, but in this position, I have no choice. The arrow, imbued with a yellow light, flew straight towards the now semi-transparent Arajin as it left my hand.

However, as Arajin had said, he had already left this place more than halfway. The arrow passed through his afterimage and lodged in the wall behind him.

“There’s a saying where I come from.”

“Huh? If you’re just going to ramble…”

“Watch your back on night roads.”

By the time Arajin turned around at my words, it was too late. The Thorn Pill had already begun to sprout where it had hit the wall.

The first thing that emerged from where the arrowhead had shattered was a single small thorn. The thorn grew at an unbelievable speed, forming a large thicket.

Finally, the thorny bush, its tendrils twitching as if searching for prey, lunged at Arajin.

“Guh, it shouldn’t have been able to touch me!”

Arajin, now thoroughly entangled in the thorny bush, cried out in rage. Perhaps due to the Thorn Pill’s effect, his previously translucent form had now fully returned to its original state.

Not content with just that, the thorny bush pulled Arajin deeper and deeper into its core.

“You seem to have misunderstood something. Whether it touched you or not was irrelevant.”

I smiled faintly, recalling the information window of the Thorn Pill.

[Back-to-the-Wall Thorn Pill (A)

: An explosive made with special ingredients. It contains a thorny bush that ensnares anything.

: Binds the nearest target.

※ The balance is distorted. It will explode if subjected to a certain level of impact.]

From that point on, everything proceeded smoothly.

Initially, Arajin tried to resist, as if intent on dying together, but when we remained unfazed even after being completely submerged in water, his options narrowed to one.

“You’ve made a self-defeating move, Arajin.”

“How dare you…!”

Arajin had no choice but to summon his energy in a desperate attempt to remove the thicket. Nevertheless, true to its A-rank status, the Thorn Pill wouldn’t easily release Arajin.

“Farewell for real this time, you monstrosity!”

We didn’t miss this opportunity to escape. Lee Kang-to, carrying me on his back just in case, stepped onto the water-overflowing window frame and slipped outside.

Perhaps because the outcome seemed too anticlimactic for facing an S-rank, Lee Kang-to quickly scaled Cheonyogun’s wall and dashed towards the palace gate, but I couldn’t help looking back repeatedly due to unease.

“Stop moving around! And h-hold on tight!”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Mr. Kim is such a scaredy-cat. How about combining ‘paper’ and ‘scaredy-cat’? Or maybe ‘scaredy doll’ is better?”

“…I don’t like either of them.”

The goblin, who had been cackling above my head, suddenly stopped laughing as if something had occurred to him. He flew in front of my face and started chattering.

“Oh right, what Mr. Kim asked Sori to do! I almost forgot. Here, take it quickly!”

As the goblin waved his hand, blue powder sprinkled down from his empty palm.