Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

On the longest day of the year, the Dandelion Festival reaches its peak.

Yellow flower petals flutter through the streets, and children armed with toy bows dart across the square. While all of Eidolon is teeming with people, one place stands out as the most crowded.

“They say he’s returning to his roots, seeking to illuminate the darkest places.”

“Hey, stop pushing! I’ve been waiting here for five hours!”

“Helium, who knows humility and faith! May you shine upon us forever!”

Long lines stretched not only inside the Grand Temple but outside as well, all eager to witness the miracle. The crowd of devotees swelled continuously. Within the temple packed with people, only the crimson carpet extending to the altar remained clear.

As noon approached, all eyes turned to the sundial placed on the altar.

“He shall be the light that illuminates the lowest places.”

“We believe that one day, he shall rise again.”

As an elderly man in red priestly robes appeared, reverently holding an arrow with both hands, the audience bowed their heads, rubbing their foreheads with their thumbs.

The priest unfolded the cloth draped over his shoulder onto the altar and placed the arrow upon it. Following him, priests in white robes placed flowers, fruits, golden tableware, a jewel box, and a pan flute on the altar.

At the end of the procession of priests stood a lone man with an empty hand, his face hidden by a hood. The man, looking unsure and glancing around, approached the priest in red robes.

“Remove your hood.”

As the man pulled back his hood, a murmur rippled through the crowd.

Massive burn scars that must have once threatened his life covered the man’s face. The shabbily dressed man tried to cover his face with his arm but reluctantly lowered it after seeing the stern gazes of the priests.

People who knew the man and those who didn’t all began to chatter indiscriminately.

But the man’s face was filled with joy. Today, he would be reborn! His eyes shone with religious fervor.

One of the white-robed priests recited the life story of a man who had lived diligently but met with misfortune. The priest concluded by saying that having confirmed his deep faith in Helium, they would bestow a blessing upon him.

It had been nearly a decade since the Helium Grand Temple had last bestowed a blessing on someone who wasn’t a noble. The audience, having confirmed that the man was indeed a commoner, excitedly waved their hands.

“Helium!”

“God of faith and humility!”

“Illuminate the darkest places!”

The priest and the man, standing side by side before the altar, simultaneously gazed at the sacred object of the Helium Temple, the Sun’s Arrow.

The priest, turning his back to the audience, began to chant a prayer, emanating light with his holy power. After touching the items on the altar in a predetermined order, he would close his eyes and recite the final sentence, at which point the miracle would manifest in a brilliant light.

The priest, who had just closed his eyes, sensed something amiss and opened them.

Realizing he had forgotten the confession procedure, the priest stepped on the man’s foot to signal him. But the man didn’t turn around.

What on earth has him so distracted? The priest turned his head, trying to maintain a gentle expression.

“This… this is…”

It wasn’t just the man. The entire audience was looking at the sky opposite the altar. As the priest turned around, as if on cue, an image projected in mid-air began to play.

A masked man captured everyone’s attention with his fluid movements as he bowed.

The story he unfolded left people shocked. The subsequent images were too unsettling to dismiss him as a mere fraud.

Conversations between priests. A secret room. A magic circle stained with blood. Arson. A fake sacred object.

Yupeta, the true god of this city.

The audience, who had been watching the video as if entranced, began to seethe one by one. Then they started throwing whatever they could grab at the altar.

“Such frauds!”

The high priest, struck on the head by a sacred text, tried to calm the devotees in panic, but the enraged crowd covered their ears and began to shout at the top of their lungs.

“My magical tools… Sniff, they cleaned me out completely…”

Lee Kang-to, hanging upside down from a tall tree nearby, wiped away his tears. The thought of his empty inventory made tears stream down his face.

“But at least I have this.”

Lee Kang-to nuzzled his face against the box he was hugging.

Sitting on a branch next to him, Han Cha-hyun smiled quietly. In his hand was a mask identical to the one worn by the man in the video.

◆◇◆◇◆

A banquet held before the auction began, intended to heat up the atmosphere.

Guests began to enter the banquet hall, decorated with fresh flowers and jewels under dim lighting. Excited about the secret auction about to take place, they entered the hall with light steps.

The guests’ attention, initially captivated by the hall adorned in mysterious purple, soon converged on one spot.

“To bring such a young child as an attendant… How pitiful.”

“Look how bundled up they are. They must be incredibly precious.”

“It could be the opposite.”

“For someone with such a sturdy build… I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

The women, who had been captivated by the man in his sleek formal attire, soon waved their hands dismissively upon seeing his attendant.

The man’s attendant was a small boy, closer to a child than a youth. The boy’s face was covered with a black veil. Standing next to the man, who was larger than most knights, and constantly glancing around nervously, he evoked sympathy.

Even I, serving champagne in the banquet hall, was at a loss for words when I spotted the two.

“Why are they dressed like that?”

Atera, who already looked younger than her peers, appeared even more youthful in her male disguise. Standing next to Yun Su-ho, who had a large build befitting a defense-type hunter, her already small frame seemed even tinier.

Unaware or unconcerned that he looked like an excellent child abuser, Yun Su-ho was looking around with a blank expression.

People gossiped about the cold-blooded—but in reality, thoughtless—man. Whispers even began to circulate, questioning if the boy might be a catamite.

“I wonder how they can talk so shamelessly.”

This auction is illegal to begin with. These were people utterly incapable of self-reflection. If Atera hadn’t been disguised as a boy, even more unsavory comments would have been exchanged.

“The pot calling the kettle black, I suppose.”

Clicking my tongue, I left the banquet hall.

Right on cue, a message arrived from Yun Su-ho.

[- Sender: Yun Su-ho

This was not my idea.]

“Of course. Yun Su-ho wouldn’t willingly dress like that.”

Apparently, this was all Choi Kwon-young’s handiwork. Before leaving, he had set out the clothes for the two to wear. It was an impressive level of dedication, considering how busy he was.

Despite inadvertently becoming the epitome of shamelessness, Yun Su-ho didn’t seem particularly bothered by that aspect.

“I wonder how far ahead he’s planning.”

Even though today’s highlight, the auction, hadn’t even begun, various parts of the mansion were already in an uproar. Thanks to this, I was able to slip out of the banquet hall without much difficulty.

The outfit I had been given was also somewhat helpful. Whenever someone looked at me suspiciously for wandering in restricted areas, I pretended to be running errands at a guest’s behest.

Cha Taeyang and I had agreed to meet in a shaded corner of the rose garden.

“We were supposed to meet around here.”

Ding!

This sound… With a sense of déjà vu, I looked up at the sky.

Soon after, Cha Taeyang landed, performing a somersault in mid-air. She clicked her tongue, as if disappointed.

“Aw, you caught me.”

“You’ve arrived.”

I shared the message with Cha Taeyang.

According to Atera’s telepathy results, a response from a sea person was detected from the east. However, the voice was very faint, so the exact location couldn’t be determined.

East of the banquet hall would be around here. This area housed special accommodations for high-status clients and storage for expensive items prepared for them.

The sea people must be somewhere around here.

“You know, they must be in a lot of pain.”

“Pardon?”

Cha Taeyang, wrinkling her nose, threw out a disjointed statement.

“You said the response sound was faint, right? Galatea had no problem sending telepathic messages. They must be more severely injured than her. I hope they’re not in too much pain.”

Cha Taeyang had pinpointed an aspect I hadn’t even considered.

Urging me to hurry, Cha Taeyang prodded me along. With time constraints, we split up to search the surrounding area.

After just under 30 minutes, Cha Taeyang called for me.

“Doesn’t this look a bit strange?”

Cha Taeyang pointed to a small storage room built specifically for expensive wines. It looked ordinary on the surface, so what could be strange about it?

Cha Taeyang opened the door of the storage room and pulled me into the dark interior.

“Twenty-five steps to here.”

Then Cha Taeyang stepped outside and measured the width in steps.

“But from the outside, it was thirty-two steps.”

The width of the inside and outside didn’t match. This could only mean one thing: there was a hidden space behind the wall.

I entered the storage room and activated Explorer’s Eye. An illusion formula was cast on the wall.

“I don’t even need Kalia’s help for something like this.”

Compared to the distortion formula at my master’s house, this was child’s play. I confidently touched the part that acted as the key.

Zap!

With a small spark, the wall became transparent. In the seven-step space that had been hidden was an old-fashioned elevator that looked like something out of a movie.

“What’s this?”

“Taeyang, open it!”

Cha Taeyang, unfamiliar with media, tilted her head. It seemed she had never seen this type of elevator before. According to the goblin’s subsequent words, she had only recently ridden a normal elevator for the first time.

While I reactivated the illusion formula in case someone came, Cha Taeyang flung open the iron door. Suspecting there might be a trap, I examined the elevator with Explorer’s Eye before boarding.

After closing the door and pressing the button, the old elevator slowly began to descend underground.

The cramped elevator with only one button transported us to a single destination.

Ding!

After descending for about a minute, the elevator stopped with a clear sound like a xylophone being strummed. We cautiously opened the door.

It was dark. But I could see beyond that.

I struggled to swallow the curses rising in my throat.

“Unni, can I turn on the light?”

“Mr. Kim?”

Human cruelty always surpasses imagination.

I never expected them to treat the sea people humanely. But I never imagined it would be like this.

If only, if only they had been confined in tanks, it wouldn’t have felt this miserable.

With a heavy heart, I nodded, and Cha Taeyang lit a row of blue flames in the air. Soon, Cha Taeyang’s face, tinged with blue light, was filled with deep shock and sorrow.

“Unni…”

Massive shelves occupying three walls were stacked with glass coffins. Beyond the coffins, blue hair rippled.

The goblin rolled off Cha Taeyang’s shoulder. Seemingly in great shock, he remained motionless for a long time.

A storage room for sea people, entombed alive in coffins.

Faced with this cruel scene, made all the more brutal by its silence, we could only remain speechless.