Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

Clatter!

The crudely made carriage jolted, lifting my body half a span before unceremoniously dumping me on the floor. I groped the ground, pushing myself up.

The carriage circled the city, seemingly intent on obscuring our destination.

The man called Chaser had shoved me and Cha Taeyang into the carriage as soon as we met.

With blindfolds on, I couldn’t tell exactly how many people were aboard, but judging by the breathing sounds, there was no small number of passengers.

This carriage’s destination was the dock owned by the Shipowners’ Association. Cha Taeyang, sitting beside me, pulled my hand and wrote on my palm.

‘Almost there’

Cha Taeyang had become quite familiar with Shella’s streets after investigating the city for the past few days. True to his words, the carriage soon came to a stop.

With a grating sound, the door opened, and Chaser hurried the passengers to disembark. As people moved sluggishly due to their lack of vision, men presumed to be members of the Shipowners’ Association grabbed their arms and pulled them out.

“Tsk, is all this really necessary?”

“Listen, the situation is different from before. Hasn’t slavery been abolished? If we’re caught, it’s our necks on the line. And don’t forget about that monster incident.”

“Things were better in the old days. How are we supposed to do business with all these restrictions?”

The men grumbled, saying the newly appointed young officials didn’t understand anything.

Following their lead, we walked until the ground beneath our feet began to sway. It seemed we had boarded a ship. The association members herded us into one place and closed the door.

I recalled the map Minerva had shown us. It wasn’t too far, but not close enough to arrive quickly either.

Suddenly, the thought of Yun Su-ho resting at the house twisted my insides.

Choi Kwon-young had given the Storm token to Yun Su-ho before leaving. I fingered the brooch on my chest, remembering last night’s conversation.

◆◇◆◇◆

“I’m treated somewhat ambiguously by the NPCs in Shella.”

Choi Kwon-young, who had taken the token from me, held it up next to his face.

The NPCs in Shella had hidden the truth from the players and requested the Avenger’s subjugation. Even now, they’re anxious about players discovering the truth.

They fear retaliation from the powerful players once they realize they’ve been deceived.

“But they seem to view me a bit differently.”

Choi Kwon-young, who participated in the very last stage of the raid, had almost no contact with the NPCs. In other words, the NPCs never directly lied to him.

He was the only player they could interact with without guilt or fear. Moreover, he was the one who had taken down the Avenger.

“I just acted a bit wild, and they fell for it easily.”

Choi Kwon-young had been laying the groundwork since our visit to the Shipowners’ Association to meet Galatea.

Gorgon fell for it hook, line, and sinker, letting slip information about the sea people, and Choi Kwon-young subtly expressed interest.

“The original plan was to get two tokens, but that proved impossible.”

After drinking heavily and socializing until late, he managed to obtain a Storm token.

Gorgon is a merchant, after all. He wouldn’t normally be so easily fooled, so how did Choi Kwon-young manage it? It must have taken extraordinary skill to receive a token distributed only to a select few NPCs.

I held out the token I had to him.

“No, it’s fine. I have two more here.”

The Storm token guarantees entry for two people: the auction participant and their attendant. With this, all four of us—myself, Atera, Yun Su-ho, and Cha Taeyang—could enter.

Choi Kwon-young placed the Storm token back in my palm.

“Hunter Yun Su-ho will participate in the auction as my proxy.”

We decided that Cha Taeyang and I would take on the role of disguised workers, as we needed to move stealthily to locate the sea people. Atera would enter as Yun Su-ho’s attendant.

I couldn’t deny that Yun Su-ho, dressed formally, looked quite convincing. His tree trunk-like torso, jet-black hair, and downward gaze exuded an intimidating aura.

As long as he kept his mouth shut, no one would realize that he was actually a dense, clueless individual.

“You should button up that shirt.”

“Does it bother you?”

When I nodded toward his half-open shirt, Choi Kwon-young grinned and leaned back on the sofa. This contrary person, I swear.

It was certainly a pleasing sight, but this was Choi Kwon-young. I could only appreciate it as one would a well-carved statue.

“The kids might come out any time. It’s not good for their development.”

“…If you say so.”

Choi Kwon-young looked at me with an enigmatic expression and slowly began buttoning his shirt. The bronze skin gradually disappeared beneath white cloth. In no time, he was back to his usual neat appearance.

After discussing a few more things, we retired to our respective rooms.

◆◇◆◇◆

“He may have an actor’s face, but his personality leaves much to be desired.”

Though he had never directly harmed me, I couldn’t bring myself to like him with the way he always leered at me.

‘What a waste of good hardwa—’

Sigh, enough of these useless thoughts.

As I reviewed the plan, the ship came to a stop. Had we arrived?

“Everyone, remove your blindfolds and disembark quickly!”

“Don’t dawdle!”

After having our eyes covered for so long, even the overcast weather seemed bright. Cha Taeyang, experiencing this kind of mission for the first time, stuck close to me, perhaps feeling nervous.

Looking closely, I noticed her mouthing something.

‘I’ll protect you!’

So she wasn’t nervous, but trying to guard me? Cha Taeyang looked up at me with a smile, her fists clenched tightly.

It’s good to have a strong sense of responsibility, but I’m still the senior hunter here… Well, it was reassuring. With Cha Taeyang by my side, we were unlikely to encounter any serious danger.

At the end of the path guided by the association members stood a mansion so massive it seemed out of place on this island. The sea people must be imprisoned somewhere in there.

I tried to grasp the mansion’s structure, rolling my eyes to take in every detail.

The association members lined up those with Drizzle tokens in the banquet hall.

“About 50 people? Tsk, who are they trying to fool with this?”

A man clutching a bundle of documents entered the banquet hall. He passed the papers to the association member who had brought us and scrutinized the people with appraising eyes, arms crossed.

“I’m Roman, the overseer of this mansion. You’ll follow my instructions from now on. You, you, and you on the far right. Follow Jeff.”

Roman continued to assign people to various locations.

We weren’t called until more than half the people had been sent away.

“Raise your hand if you can’t read.”

A few who raised their hands were sent somewhere, leaving only fifteen or sixteen people in the banquet hall.

“Those of you remaining will serve the guests in the banquet hall. Some will attend to guests who didn’t bring their own attendants.”

Roman’s eyes swept over the remaining people. He then pointed to three and ordered them to step forward. Cha Taeyang, who was selected, glanced at me before moving forward.

The chosen ones were all young with neat appearances. The remaining people began to mutter, expressing envy for those selected.

“Quiet. You three will personally attend to the guests… What is it?”

All eyes in the banquet hall turned to me. I had raised my hand high, almost touching the ceiling.

I had instinctively raised my hand, thinking that if Cha Taeyang was assigned to personal attendance, it would be difficult for her to slip away. But not knowing what to say, I started babbling whatever came to mind.

“This is my sister’s first time doing this kind of work. Moreover, she’s prone to small mistakes, so if she’s given an important task like personal attendance, she might offend the higher-ups. Please reconsider.”

“Sister?”

Roman looked back and forth between me and Cha Taeyang. His eyes were skeptical, wondering if we were really sisters. It was understandable, as we looked nothing alike except for our black hair, and there seemed to be a significant age difference.

Belatedly grasping the situation, Cha Taeyang began to insist that what I said was true, that she couldn’t handle such duties.

The people standing near me split into two factions, arguing whether it was right for an older sister to deny her younger sibling an easy job, or if it was all out of sisterly concern.

“Quiet, be quiet! Everyone, shut your mouths.”

Roman shouted, rubbing his temples. His gaze towards us was far from friendly. He sighed, looking at Cha Taeyang.

“With an attitude like that, you’d only upset the guests anyway. You, go back. You there, come forward.”

Cha Taeyang returned to my side with a bright smile. After sending the three selected people away separately, Roman told the rest that they would be working in the banquet hall.

“Basically, you’ll be in charge of serving, but if guests request it, you may have to do other tasks as well.”

At Roman’s nod, an association member brought a box containing clothes and a book.

“These are the clothes you’ll wear at tomorrow’s banquet. Instead of working today, go to your rooms and read this book. It contains information about the guests. You must memorize everything by today. Be mindful of the contents when attending to the guests.”

“Yes, understood.”

After receiving our share of the items, we headed to our lodgings.

Some workers must have arrived earlier, as there were signs of life scattered around the room lined with bunk beds. I claimed an empty bed and opened the book.

“This is a real catch.”

The book contained portraits of the auction participants, along with their preferences and points to note. Some people’s names were erased, presumably due to their high status, but it was enough.

With this, we could track down the whereabouts of the sold sea people.

“So this reveals the owners of the initials in the ledger.”

With plenty of time to spare, I memorized the faces of everyone on the list. For those without names, I secretly took photos with my hunter watch.

“Let’s see. Is Choi Kwon-young here?”

Perhaps due to his hasty attendance, Choi Kwon-young’s portrait space was empty. Instead, there was a description: “A tall, handsome man with black hair.” Well, that alone was enough to describe his appearance.

“Likes whiskey and jewels, dislikes being presented with old-fashioned rules. Not entirely inaccurate.”

The remarks section contained a description of his proxy. This must be about Yun Su-ho. Despite having seen him only once, they had described Yun Su-ho’s appearance quite accurately.

“As expected, not just anyone can do this business.”

Thanks to the relatively small number of auction participants, I was able to memorize everyone’s information by the time the sun began to set.

While I was focused on the book, the others sharing the room had left for dinner at the cafeteria.

[- Sender: Cha Taeyang

Let’s go eat dinner!]

Only after seeing Cha Taeyang’s message did I get up from my seat.

◆◇◆◇◆

And so, time flew by, and the moment of truth approached.

As the moon reached its zenith, guests began to arrive one by one.

“Unni.”

“Yes, Hunter Cha Taeyang.”

“We’ll definitely succeed.”

Silently, I grasped her small hand.

It was the beginning of the shortest night.