Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

Dazzlingly bright blue powder sprinkled from the small palm.

In fact, when I asked Sori to extinguish the incense burners, I had made one more request. Despite the chaos, the diligent goblin hadn’t forgotten my plea.

“Could you put it in here?”

“Sure!”

I took out the black pouch that had held the pills. As if it had been waiting, the goblin clapped his hands, and the blue powder poured from his small hands into the pouch.

Lee Kang-to, who had been running diligently while carrying me, suddenly stopped and asked what we were doing. Come to think of it, he doesn’t know anything, does he? I patted his shoulder, signaling him to keep moving, and explained about the incense burners.

“Really? Then, A-Arajin must be using black magic… Oof!”

“As if. Stop talking nonsense and watch where you’re going.”

I reached out and pinched both of Lee Kang-to’s cheeks with my thumb and index finger. Turning his head back to the front as it had been subtly turning towards me, Lee Kang-to grumbled with his lips puckered like a fish.

“Hunter Yun Gaho has n-no sense of romance!”

“Do I need to say it twice?”

“Tch.”

Though Lee Kang-to expressed his dissatisfaction, he obediently followed my instructions. So this is indeed the right way to handle this guy. I smirked and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Lee Kang-to said he had left his stealth item behind, probably because he was so preoccupied during our confrontation with Arajin. As a result, we had to move while hiding in the shadows. Despite this, the scenery of Cheonyogun rapidly receded.

Perhaps due to the previous battle, it felt as though we had been there for an incredibly long time, leaving me oddly melancholic. Shaking off these thoughts, I opened the black pouch with one hand.

‘Instead of getting sentimental, let’s check this out.’

Just then, as Lee Kang-to crossed between patches of shade, the dim moonlight of the approaching Sak month illuminated the contents of the pouch. The powder gleamed with a glossy black sheen in the moonlight. Other than that, the only notable feature was that it exuded Arajin’s energy, despite being just a handful.

Its appearance alone gave no clue as to what it might be. Thinking simply, could it be a special material imbued with Arajin’s power? I should try the most straightforward method first.

“It would be troublesome if I can’t view its information.”

The attempt, made with some uncertainty, yielded an astonishing result.

[Eastern Malady (S)

: Twisted evil, the tail hair of the Three-Headed Nine-Tailed Fox. Brings harm to humans.

: Contains the blue-eyed power that bewitches and infects humans.]

“What?”

Did I read that wrong? I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, but the text on the system window remained unchanged. Well, this is…

“Mr. Kim, what’s wrong?”

“Just a moment. I need time to process this.”

I knew it was an important clue, but I didn’t expect this magnitude. It seems I was on the right track after all. With so much to consider, I felt oddly calm.

‘Let’s look at this step by step. First, that name.’

If I remember correctly, the strange powder Park Shin-ju discovered was also called Eastern Malady. Given that the rank is the same, it’s safe to assume it’s the same substance.

However, there was a difference. The powder Shin-ju found wasn’t blue, but tri-colored. She said it was a mix of red, yellow, and blue, just like a traffic light. And unlike us, they couldn’t see the detailed information due to insufficient qualifications.

The difference between Shin-ju and me is…

‘That I met Arajin.’

Click. I could almost hear the sound of the missing piece falling into place.

“To think he really wasn’t human after all.”

“Huh? W-what do you mean all of a sudden?”

“I’m talking about Arajin! That guy wasn’t human, he was a yokai!”

My voice rose without me realizing it. Lee Kang-to, not understanding the context, asked as he leaped over the wall surrounding the palace grounds.

“Wh-what does that have to do with this?”

“The blue eye mentioned in the last sentence. You probably couldn’t see it, Hunter Lee Kang-to, but Arajin had a blue eye on his forehead. That eye was the source of the debuff we were under.”

Based on this fact, I could infer another:

“The Three-Headed Nine-Tailed Fox mentioned in the first line, that’s Arajin’s true identity.”

Samdu-gumi (三頭九尾). If this name means three heads and nine tails, it becomes even more convincing. The three differently colored eyes and the powder of the same colors, Eastern Malady. Plus the nine strands of energy that extended from Arajin.

I also realized why I had felt a sense of déjà vu when I first met Arajin. The energy I had absorbed while defeating Agol was identical to Arajin’s. That’s why it felt vaguely familiar.

I then told Lee Kang-to that I had seen the name “Three-Headed Nine-Tailed Fox” beyond the fortress walls.

“It’s just a guess, but I think the main body might be there.”

“But, but it might not be a yokai, it could be a tailed human like me!”

“That’s a valid point. But think about the context. It says ‘brings harm to humans,’ ‘bewitches humans,’ right?”

Lee Kang-to, who wasn’t slow on the uptake to begin with, quickly grasped my meaning.

“If the subject were human, it wouldn’t be phrased like that!”

“Then the remaining candidates are spiritual beasts, gods, or yokai. What do you think, Sori?”

“Ha, god? Spiritual beast? No way that monstrosity could be such a thing!”

The goblin bristled at me, saying not to talk nonsense. After calming him down as he ranted that he’d grill his own hands if Arajin were a spiritual beast, I continued.

“By process of elimination, we’ve reached a conclusion.”

“No way. If that’s true, then this country…”

“Yes, unfortunately so.”

I nodded as I dismounted from Lee Kang-to’s back.

Despite its high walls, this country had been dancing in the palm of a yokai. The root of evil had been sitting in the western palace, supposedly the safest place, proving the saying “it’s darkest under the lamp” to be true.

“It was probably Arajin who put the idea of becoming a god into the king’s head.”

Having figured out this much, the rest was easy. Arajin must have been using the foolish king as a puppet to fatten his own belly.

‘It’s highly likely that even the ancient text the king supposedly read was fabricated by Arajin.’

Arajin had been systematically eliminating factors unfavorable to him over a long period. Cutting off the mountain veins to exclude the power of the gods, persecuting mediums – it was all part of his plan. He even sent Baek-a, the last medium, to the underworld under the pretext of a royal order.

“Arajin is probably aiming for the Sak month night when the soul butterflies take flight. He must have thought everything was settled now that he’s removed all obstacles in his way.”

And then we suddenly appeared. Since the Mountain Lord didn’t breathe a word about us, Arajin must be quite perplexed right now.

“Th-those nine holes we saw in the shrine…”

“That must be Arajin’s doing too. He was probably trying to absorb power from the yokai essences buried in the ground. He doesn’t seem like the type to have strong kinship with his own kind.”

I gazed up at Yeongwol Mountain, said to contain the second most potent power after Cheonsan. Then my eyes fell on the bell tower standing indifferently in front of the castle gate.

The dragon symbolizing the Heavenly Emperor who once protected this floor. And the human mounted on top of it. Perhaps this tragedy was predestined from the moment they carved such things.

“I’m not sure if the plague spread throughout On is related, though.”

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance as I averted my gaze. Then I placed my arm on Lee Kang-to’s shoulder as he grumbled about being disappointed that Arajin wasn’t a black magician.

“Now, let’s head back to our lodgings…”

“Hunter Yun Gaho!”

The moment I turned to go to the inn, lightning struck at my feet. If Lee Kang-to hadn’t called out and pulled me, it would have most likely hit me square on the head.

Boom! Crash! The thunderous sound following the flash of light assaulted my ears.

“Mr. Kim, are you hurt? Look at me!”

“What a bolt from the blue… Th-that was a close call.”

Only after hearing their worried voices did I realize how much danger I had been in. Even as a C-rank awakened person, I might not have died, but I couldn’t have avoided serious injury. When I pressed my chest, I could clearly feel my heart pounding.

“Thank you for your help, Hunter Lee Kang-to.”

“I-it’s nothing!”

Only after calming my startled heart did I notice the traces left by the lightning.

“That’s…”

Where the lightning had struck, the face of a beast formed from soot appeared. The mana pooled along its outline was familiar.

The goblin, realizing the identity almost as quickly as I did, shouted out loud.

“You persistent monstrosity! Don’t follow us!”

Three-colored eyes appeared over the entirely black beast form. Then the shape opened its mouth and began to speak with Arajin’s voice.

“Even I feel a bit hurt by such treatment.”

“Arajin. No, Three-Headed Nine-Tailed Fox…!”

“You’ve already figured out that much? You’re quite clever for a human.”

Despite being exposed as a yokai, Arajin showed no signs of panic. Instead, the three eyes on the beast’s face curved as if amused.

“I’ll admit it honestly. I completely lost just now.”

“If you accept the result, stop bothering our Mr. Kim and scram!”

“Bothering? Such malicious assumptions are troublesome.”

His tone and attitude were markedly different from moments ago when he had looked down on us so much. What scheme is he plotting now to approach us with such a humble attitude?

“Hmph, Sori doesn’t believe that.”

“I’m merely here to make a proposal.”

“I believe we’re not on terms to exchange such things.”

Despite my sharp tone, Arajin didn’t back down. As if he hadn’t just been our enemy, Arajin laid out sugar-coated words.

“It will be an enticing offer for you too. Other players were also excited and rushed to…”

“Players, you say?”

“It seems you’re now a bit more inclined to listen to me.”

The beast form let out a barking laugh at my hasty interruption.

Players? Could this be related to those people Park Shin-ju and Yun Su-ho met? Interpreting my confused expression as a positive sign, Arajin immediately continued.

“You’ll surely like it.”

As if to punctuate his confident statement, a system window appeared.

[Do you want to accept the Hidden Quest, Misfortune (S)?

– Clear Condition: The complete revival of the Twisted Evil, Three-Headed Nine-Tailed Fox

– Time Limit: 73:03:48

– Reward: Floor Ownership Rights

– Penalty: Debuff, ‘Lament of the Sky God’ (?)

※ This quest cannot be performed simultaneously with ‘Hidden Quest, Great Fortune (S)’.]