Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

“Hmm, it seems things are going rather smoothly today,” Park Shin-ju hummed, leaning against the cave wall.

The crackling campfire, marshmallows roasting and filling the air with their sweet aroma, and a speaker playing acoustic tunes – the scene around her could easily be mistaken for a peaceful campsite rather than the World Tower, if not for one small detail.

That detail being the two hunters bound and gagged before Park Shin-ju.

“Let us go this instant!” one of them demanded.

“We’ll report this as soon as we’re free. Treating innocent hunters like this…”

“Oh, you’re so chatty. Just wait a bit, will you? I’m in the middle of replying to my sweetie.”

Park Shin-ju used a term of endearment that would have made Yun Gaho cringe if he’d heard it. She tapped away at her Hunter Watch, sending a message. Of course, the other hunters weren’t about to stay quiet during this time.

“Mmph!”

“Here, have some more. It’s a special treat, so eat up quietly.”

Park Shin-ju forcefully stuffed marshmallows into their mouths, bringing about a brief moment of peace. The bound hunters chewed and swallowed the hot marshmallows with tears in their eyes.

The other person in the cave, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.

“Don’t touch other people’s belongings.”

“My, my, the penny-pinching free hunter is being stingy,” Park Shin-ju retorted.

“What does my income have to do with your rudeness?”

“You really can’t take a joke, can you? Here, have this instead.”

Yun Su-ho found himself holding chocolate spread and biscuits, but he seemed oddly satisfied. He began assembling s’mores with the perfectly roasted marshmallows.

“For someone who looks so serious, you sure know how to have fun,” Park Shin-ju commented.

“Got a problem with that?”

“Not really… but I might if you don’t give me one of those. So hand it over.”

Yun Su-ho, struggling with a biscuit packet much smaller than his hands, shot Park Shin-ju a disapproving look. But Park Shin-ju wasn’t one to back down so easily.

After a moment of apparent surrender, Park Shin-ju snatched a completed s’more as soon as it was ready. She bit into it with an exaggerated crunch, prompting Yun Su-ho to mutter, “Your manners are atrocious.”

“Hey, you brought these guys, but I’m the one keeping an eye on them. Can’t you at least do this much?”

After a moment of contemplation, Yun Su-ho seemed to find Park Shin-ju’s argument valid and popped another s’more into his mouth.

At that moment, one of the hunters, finally free from the marshmallow gag, voiced his displeasure.

“Are you seriously playing house while keeping us tied up?”

“Hey, we’re all just trying to make a living here. Let’s not disturb people while they’re eating. If you’re jealous, want one too?”

“No thanks!”

“Wait a minute. You look familiar… Aren’t you Yun Su-ho?”

The female hunter with her hair tied up high seemed to recognize Yun Su-ho and started shouting.

“Your silence confirms it! Ha! If you don’t let us go right now, I’ll spread this all over the media! Wouldn’t it be troublesome if rumors start circulating about an S-rank hunter with no affiliation throwing his weight around?”

“Do as you…”

“Whoa there. I’ll handle this instead of Mr. Inarticulate here. I’ve been paid for it, after all.”

Park Shin-ju wiped the chocolate smear from her lips with her thumb and grinned. Yun Gaho had asked her to come tomorrow morning. With time to spare, why not have some fun tonight?

Wiping the smile off her face, Park Shin-ju crouched in front of the still-squirming woman.

“Bad publicity, you say? If it was just this block of wood here, things might have gotten quite interesting, don’t you think?”

“How is this bad publicity? I’m just exposing the truth. Everyone should know about an S-rank hunter who abuses his power to bully others!”

“Isn’t cherry-picking facts to manipulate public opinion the very definition of bad publicity?”

The gentle strumming of the acoustic guitar suddenly stopped. A brief silence fell, and then the speaker, keenly attuned to its owner’s mood, began to play an eerie background tune.

“And you’re awfully talkative for someone I’ve just met.”

The captives’ attire, their manner of speaking, the story Yun Su-ho had shared, and everything Park Shin-ju had seen and heard – all these pieces of information had long since fallen into place in her mind.

“I’ve heard Caduceus has been struggling lately. Not going to mention anything about settlement money?”

“W-what?”

The woman was visibly startled when Park Shin-ju dropped the name of her guild, which she had never mentioned. The man tied back-to-back with her also bit his lip, realizing things had gone terribly wrong.

“A Caduceus guild member, known for their righteous image, caught in a scam. Now that’s a story the media would love, don’t you think?”

“Y-you’re just throwing around random names because you’re in a hurry!”

Park Shin-ju disregarded the woman’s feeble denial with indifference.

“There’s too much evidence for you to keep up this charade.”

The most damning piece of evidence was the winged emblem on the woman’s boots – the symbol of Caduceus.

Moreover, the earrings the man wore – Park Shin-ju distinctly remembered seeing them being won by a Caduceus guild member in a recent auction.

“If you’re so innocent, why don’t you show us your registration cards?”

The bound hunters puffed and huffed but couldn’t bring themselves to agree. Proving they were Caduceus guild members would only complicate matters further.

After all…

“And let’s get one thing straight. You think that bear over there captured you for no reason? We both know that’s not true. You got caught swindling NPCs and now you’re crying wolf?”

“Ugh, that’s…!”

“Instead of dragging innocent people into your mess, why don’t you reflect on your own wrongdoings?”

Park Shin-ju, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, glanced at Yun Su-ho. Though he must have felt the gaze, Yun Su-ho remained focused on devouring s’mores and marshmallows.

‘To think I’d run into him here, when just this afternoon…’

Ever since spotting the hunters engaging in suspicious activities, Park Shin-ju had been tailing them. The group of hunters spent the entire day searching for pillars marked with the same symbols they had been placing throughout the mountains.

Their actions varied slightly depending on the color of the pillars they found. When they came across a plain wooden pillar, they sprinkled it with a tri-colored powder. Upon discovering a black pillar, they would hold a clear bead against it, which would turn black after a short while.

‘Are they causing some kind of reaction with that powder and collecting the byproduct?’

While the purpose remained unclear, it was undoubtedly a bothersome affair. Park Shin-ju had initially thought it might be a lucrative quest, but from their chatter, she gathered it wasn’t even an official quest. The hunters had apparently been lured here by a high-paying job posted on Towers.com.

The fact that they hadn’t noticed her surveillance suggested they weren’t high-ranking hunters. Yet, the amount they claimed to have been offered was enough to tempt even Park Shin-ju.

‘Which means they must be able to make even more money with this.’

The hunters descended to the village only after they had used up all the powder in their pouches. They headed towards a large, tiled-roof house, claiming they needed to restock their powder supply.

Excited at the chance to uncover the mastermind, Park Shin-ju followed them stealthily.

“Come forth!” the hunters called out arrogantly, and the main gate swung open as if on cue.

“Who are you?”

But who would have thought Yun Su-ho would pop out!

The hunters, even more surprised than Park Shin-ju, immediately took to their heels. Typical behavior of those with something to hide. As Park Shin-ju debated whether to chase after them, Yun Su-ho called out to him.

“Why are you here?”

“That’s my line.”

This seems closer to the core of the matter, doesn’t it? Making a quick judgment, Park Shin-ju abandoned any thoughts of pursuing the fleeing hunters and approached Yun Su-ho.

“And who are those guys?”

Park Shin-ju nodded towards the two unconscious figures at Yun Su-ho’s feet.

They didn’t look like NPCs. Since Yun Gaho’s discovery of the spiritual beast, the journey team had been inquiring about the plague and Baek-a. Could these people be related?

“Snake oil salesmen.”

“Huh?”

“Peddlers of a supposed panacea that claims to cure even the plague.”

Yun Su-ho had learned about this miracle cure purely by chance, thanks to his attire.

Not long after parting ways with Park Shin-ju, an NPC child, mistaking him for a government official, had clung to him.

“The child was sobbing, saying other officials wouldn’t listen to her story.”

The girl’s family had spent a fortune on the cure-all medicine for her plague-stricken father. Right after taking the medicine, his symptoms seemed to improve for a brief moment.

But their joy was short-lived. Soon after, the girl’s father suddenly passed away. When they tried to confront the medicine sellers, they had already left the village.

“That kid’s story bothered you that much? Enough to cross the river and come all the way here?”

“I merely judged it to be relevant to the quest.”

“Hmm, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Park Shin-ju briefly explained why she was there as well. Yun Su-ho, who had been listening while rubbing his chin with his thumb, suddenly vanished without a word.

“Hey, hey! Where are you going?”

He had strode into the house, but soon reappeared carrying a large sack.

“This is the raw material for that panacea.”

“…The game is taking quite an interesting turn.”

Inside the sack was a mixture of powders in three colors – the same powder that the hunters Park Shin-ju had been following were sprinkling on the pillars.

[Eastern Malady (?)]

[Viewing qualification insufficient! Detailed information cannot be viewed.]

Since no information was available about the item, Park Shin-ju and Yun Su-ho had brought in the two hunters who had been using it.

They hadn’t been able to properly interrogate them yet, as the hunters had started causing a ruckus as soon as they regained consciousness…

“I told you we should stop these shady dealings!”

“Hah, you were whining about losing everything in a bidding war with Perfect Hands, weren’t you? You were happy enough to take the money!”

“Why are you bringing up the auction now?”

Park Shin-ju clicked her tongue as he watched the two create internal strife without any prodding. They must be nervous, but this isn’t the way to handle it.

Caduceus was composed entirely of support-class hunters. When new floors were being conquered quickly, there was high demand for support classes, but in times of delayed conquests like now, it was the opposite.

They were barely scraping by thanks to their “good guild” image, but if a fraud scandal were to break out, even that would become difficult.

Sorry, but I’ll have to exploit that desperation a bit.

“Well then, hunters. Can I have your attention now?”

Park Shin-ju toyed with the two hunters using his skilled rhetoric. By the time they came to their senses, the two hunters were already voluntarily dropping their blood onto a contract item.

“With this, you’ll forget you ever met us. In exchange, we promise not to report Caduceus’s misconduct.”

Looking down at the people who had fainted due to the contract conditions, Park Shin-ju grumbled.

“To think these two were just another tail. Just how many tails are there?”

The mastermind wasn’t easily revealed. These two were also merely following orders from someone else, selling the medicine and receiving a share of the profits.

Yun Su-ho, sipping his cocoa, spoke indifferently to Park Shin-ju, who was clutching her head in frustration.

“If you keep following the tails, you’ll eventually find the head.”

“Oh? You’re being unusually talkative. You’re right. There’s no tail without a head.”

“We need to get to Sohan by tomorrow morning. Go to sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”

Park Shin-ju nodded and pulled out a sleeping bag from her inventory. As she lay on her side, watching the golden sparks leap from the campfire, she was reminded of Gaho’s golden eyes.

“I wonder if my sweetie is snoring away right now?”