Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

As the large shadow waved its baton, the characters written on the blackboard flew towards us. They swirled around the shadow, which had assumed an authoritative stance, as if forming a protective barrier.

“Damn it! Why is it so tough?”

Ping! The arrow shot by my younger self hit one of the characters and fell limply to the ground. Undeterred, she nocked another arrow. Applying the ‘Condensation’ attribute, she fired an enlarged arrow at the same spot as before.

“Are you just going to stand there watching? You said you’d help!”

“So impatient.”

I’d told her that attacking now would be useless, but my younger self insisted on charging in. Well, I suppose I should admire her spirit. Nothing for it but to play along. With a shrug, I leaped high into the air.

“Stacking ‘Condensation’.”

I aimed at a spot where the defense had weakened as the characters clustered to block my younger self. My mana arrow pierced through the gap in the characters as intended.

Of course, the shadow wasn’t about to stand idly by.

But at that moment, the arrow expanded once more, shattering the baton. The shadow desperately thrust out its forearm to protect its heart. Black ink dripped from its pierced arm.

‘This would’ve been impossible during class time.’

The shadow, which rivals an A-rank during class, has its abilities reduced during break time. Even a C-rank like me can put up a decent fight if I exert myself.

As I was about to shoot a grappling hook to take advantage of the shadow’s disorientation, something darted past me and claimed the position first.

It was my younger self.

“Don’t think you’re the only one who knows me well!”

Without warning, she fired an arrow straight at the back of the shadow’s head.

Seeing the aggro shift towards her, I hastily fired a barrage of arrows to draw the attention of the shadow and the floating characters. Fortunately, they seemed to perceive me as the greater threat, allowing my younger self’s attack to hit its mark unimpeded.

“Such an unruly foal. Was I really this headstrong?”

Even as I shook my head, I couldn’t help but smile.

This wasn’t just a one-off thing. Fighting alongside my younger self was comfortable in many ways. We knew each other’s abilities so well that there was no need for explicit strategizing, and help came at just the right moments as if we could read each other’s minds.

“You’re not half bad yourself!”

“This is normal for me. Aren’t you underestimating me a bit too much?”

My younger self shrugged. Even setting aside the fact that I was her partner, her movements were well above par. It seemed almost unfair that she had blamed herself every night due to the constant harsh criticisms she received.

‘I shouldn’t have taken those people’s evaluations at face value.’

In any case, thanks to our perfect teamwork, the tide of battle quickly turned in our favor. The faculty room floor, now slick with ink spilled by the shadow, was evidence of that.

The shadow, its lower body completely shattered by the arrow barrage, stretched out its arms and clawed at the floor. Despite being far away, my younger self flinched.

“Looks like it’s up to something.”

“Nah, it’s just trying to buy time. Once the class bell rings, it’ll get its buff back.”

“That means…”

“Yeah, checkmate is right around the corner.”

With my arm draped over my younger self’s shoulder, I tapped the corner of her eye.

“Now you just need to shoot what you see with these eyes.”

“Me, not you?”

My younger self hesitated, tapping her foot on the ground. Instead of offering clumsy encouragement, I placed my bow, Wonhwasobok, in her hands. Her eyes trembled slightly as she gazed into space, likely checking its information.

“How much did this cost? Did I really buy something like this?”

“Yun Gaho, is that really important right now? Hurry up, or I’ll take it back.”

“I’m doing it! Right now!”

Fearing I might change my mind, my younger self clutched the bow and darted away. She quickly created a mana arrow and nocked it.

“You still have ‘Replication’ left, right? That thing’s shell is tougher than expected, so apply it.”

“I was going to do that without you telling me!”

Ignoring her sharp retort, I picked up my younger self’s bow from the floor. The moment her arrow left her hand, I released mine as well.

The two arrows advanced side by side towards the shadow.

“Sorry for disrupting class, but this is the end.”

The shadow tried to protect its weak point with its only intact right hand, but my arrow was faster. Unlike before, I didn’t use any special techniques, so it couldn’t pierce the shadow’s skin.

However, the impact pushed the shadow’s hand back, creating an opening. Bang! Boom! My younger self’s arrow, not missing the chance, struck the shadow’s left shoulder hard.

A brief silence fell, then ink gushed like a waterfall from the shadow’s shoulder. As the ink flowed out, the once-large shadow shrank smaller and smaller. When I approached the now-harmless shadow and pulled out the arrow, the process accelerated.

By the time ink had splattered all over the faculty room, the shadow had completely disappeared.

“Ugh! What is this!”

My younger self, caught off guard, frowned as she was covered in ink. I hadn’t meant to give her a hard time, but it seemed she thought otherwise.

“You knew about this and didn’t warn me on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Why would I do that? Hey, wait. Calm down, calm down!”

“I’ll make you look just like… Huh?”

My younger self, her palms covered in ink, was about to lunge at me when she suddenly stopped. Something incredibly strange was happening.

The surrounding scenery began to crumble like a broken mirror, its sharp fragments falling to the ground. As they touched the floor, they melted, creating patterns on top of the ink.

At that moment, Han Cha-hyun appeared unexpectedly outside the window.

“Congratulations on clearing the field, Gaho-ssi.”

Han Cha-hyun, meeting my eyes, calmly walked through the crumbling world towards us. Did he have some kind of stealth skill? Despite being close enough to touch, his presence was very faint.

Wondering if this Han Cha-hyun was also a recreation of my memories, I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. He burst out laughing. Without me saying a word, he waved his hand, trying to assuage my suspicions.

“Hunter Han Cha-hyun? How did you get here?”

“Hmm, I’ll explain later. For now, why don’t you say your goodbyes?”

“What do you… Oh.”

As I turned my head in the direction Han Cha-hyun indicated, I saw my younger self, who had become semi-transparent in the brief moment I’d looked away. The field being cleared meant she would disappear too. For some reason, I felt a twinge of sadness.

As I stood there staring at her, my younger self rubbed the back of her head and spoke.

“Take care, Yun Gaho.”

“…Yeah. You too.”

“I’ve never seen someone say goodbye to their mirror like this. Well, I don’t mind hearing it.”

I extended my hand to my younger self, who was trying to lighten the mood. Seeing this, she smiled brightly and grasped my hand.

“Don’t feel too bad. In the end, I am you.”

By the time the warmth from her hand faded, my younger self had completely disappeared. I stared at my ink-stained palm for a moment before looking up.

“Thank you for waiting. Now, let’s get out of here.”

◆◇◆◇◆

The three of us left my inner world through a gate that had appeared where I first opened my eyes. When our vision, which had briefly darkened, returned, we found ourselves back at the entrance of the mirror flower field.

As I was about to raise my body, which had somehow ended up face-down on the ground, Han Cha-hyun warned:

“Be careful, Gaho-ssi. One wrong step and you’ll be sent back to that place.”

“Back, you say?”

“Yes. If you step on even one flower, you’ll have to start the conquest all over again.”

Having to avoid all these flowers was incredibly troublesome. Even if I walked on tiptoe, I’d probably accidentally step on one or two. Moreover…

“We’ve already wasted a lot of time.”

“But realistically…”

Han Cha-hyun smiled awkwardly and gestured with his eyes towards Yun Su-ho slumped over his shoulder. Come to think of it, why was this guy in this state?

“Yun Su-ho, Yun Su-ho! Open your eyes!”

“He won’t wake up easily due to the mental shock. I had to forcibly drag him out while he was still struggling in his trauma.”

“Wait a moment. Are you saying that this guy, I mean Hunter Yun Su-ho, couldn’t conquer that place on his own?”

“How many people do you think can overcome their trauma in one go?”

It was a roundabout answer, but the meaning was clear. Yun Su-ho couldn’t overcome his trauma on his own. If it weren’t for Han Cha-hyun, he might never have escaped from his inner world.

‘For this iron-willed guy to have a memory that could do this to him…’

It must have been a recreation of his re-awakening. Having his entire party wiped out except for himself would certainly be traumatic enough.

“We could have been in big trouble if it weren’t for you, Hunter Han Cha-hyun.”

“I just used a little trick, that’s all. Let’s talk about the details when we reach a safe place. For now, let’s focus on how to get out of here.”

The option of walking was immediately discarded. It was difficult enough to avoid the flowers while managing our own bodies, and we had the added burden of Yun Su-ho.

We considered using a grappling hook on the trees surrounding the house to approach it. But strangely, whenever we got close to the thatched house, the grappling hook would bounce off, making this method impossible as well.

‘If only Yun Su-ho were awake, everything would be easier.’

He has wings, doesn’t he? If Yun Su-ho could carry Han Cha-hyun and me across this flower field, everything would be simple.

With our goal in sight but unreachable, a sharp idea began to form in my mind.

“We can’t just set everything on fire… Or can we?”

“Gaho-ssi?”

“If we can’t avoid them, why not get rid of them all?”

“Surely you’re not thinking of actually starting a fire? There’s a high chance it would spread to that house. We wouldn’t be safe either.”

Han Cha-hyun, clearly alarmed, spoke unusually rapidly to dissuade me. Did he think I was Lee Kang-to or something, ready to set fires without a plan?

“Just watch for a moment.”

Though he looked at me like an adult watching a child play with matches, Han Cha-hyun let me be.

Why was he acting like this when I’ve rarely done anything reckless before? Shaking my head, I pulled an item from my inventory.

“Who knew keeping this would come in handy?”