Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

‘The lantern keeper of Cheonsan?’

It was an extraordinary epithet.

Suddenly, I remembered information I had seen on Towers.com. There was a rumor about a lake at the peak of Cheonsan. Is that ‘fire’ located there? If not, then where…

“You brought these people here.”

Meanwhile, Sarome the tiger’s attention had turned to Shin-ju. Its paw was still resting on top of Cha Taeyang’s head. Shin-ju, roughly tousling her own hair, answered as she moved towards us.

“That’s right, I told them about you.”

“And the players who have been lurking around lately, you brought them too?”

“What?”

My mind suddenly snapped to attention.

‘Other hunters at Cheonsan besides us?’

Could they have come here after seeing Shin-ju’s post? Despite Cheonsan’s notorious reputation, an SS-rank quest might be enough to drive people crazy. There were supposedly some eccentrics who chased after such ghost stories.

Cha Taeyang, who had placed both hands on the paw resting on her head, spoke before I could.

“Shin-ju-unni said the fog has gotten thicker since she came. Is that because of those people?”

“Indeed. They’ve been poking around so much, it’s utterly exasperating.”

Sarome, who had been licking Cha Taeyang’s hands, shook its head. From what followed, it seemed we were the only ones who had made contact with it. Fortunately, we hadn’t lost our lead.

“I can’t deny it’s because of me. I’m sorry.”

“Your apology is accepted. It’s partly my fault for revealing myself to you.”

“I like how cool you are about it. While we’re at it, can I ask one more thing?”

Shin-ju leaned towards Sarome with her hands on her hips.

“What were you going to ask me to do back then?”

She seemed to have explained it roundabout, unable to say “quest” outright. The tiger, having removed its paw from Cha Taeyang’s head, remained silent for a while, but its very demeanor was as good as an answer.

‘It’s clear that it was going to give a quest, or rather, make a request.’

Given that it immediately canceled, it must have been an impulsive decision. We’d need to induce it to give the quest again. I glanced sideways at Yun Su-ho, who had already retreated behind us.

‘How do we persuade someone as stubborn as this guy?’

Before Yun Su-ho could react, I quickly turned my gaze away. Shin-ju, who had pulled Cha Taeyang’s arm to sit on the ground together, fiddled with her face covering and then suddenly poked Sarome with her index finger.

“Ack, it seems like your deliberation is dragging on. If that’s the case, can’t you do something about this toxic energy?”

It sounded like she was considering me, with my lower stats. My skin had been tingling anyway. I thought I was hiding it well, but it seems I wasn’t good enough to fool Shin-ju.

But the response was a firm rejection.

“That’s impossible.”

“Mountain Lord, isn’t this your domain?”

“Yeah, aren’t you like, the boss around here or something?”

In response to the goblin and Shin-ju’s urging, Sarome heaved a deep sigh.

“Unless Baek-a were here, carelessly dispersing the toxic energy would harm the human realm.”

“Who’s that now?”

“The last spirit medium left in this land. And……”

Something like regret or longing flickered in its eyes as it gazed at Cha Taeyang. As it struggled to continue, I offered my guess in its stead.

“She’s your daughter, isn’t she?”

“That is correct.”

Baek-a, a spirit medium capable of doing what even this auspicious tiger couldn’t. Even at a glance, she didn’t seem to be an ordinary person. Hoping I wasn’t barking up the wrong tree, I posed a question.

“Where is she now?”

Sarome’s tail puffed up, perhaps surprised by the unexpected query. I softened my tone as much as possible to avoid alarming it for asking about its daughter’s whereabouts so abruptly.

“You said she resembles our Taeyang, so I was concerned. If it was an impertinent question, I apologize.”

“Wow, Mr. Kim called Taeyang ‘our Taeyang’!”

“Yeah! And she said ‘our’! Hey, can’t you keep calling me that from now on?”

Cha Taeyang and the goblin chanted ‘our Taeyang’ and danced merrily. A warm flush rose to my face due to their unexpectedly enthusiastic response.

‘To be so happy over something like this.’

Perhaps I should change how I address her in private as well. Although we hadn’t known each other for long, I had grown fond of Cha Taeyang in my heart. It might be okay to act a bit more familiar.

“Baek-a went to meet her birth father.”

Sarome’s voice broke my brief reverie.

“Her birth father……”

“And coincidentally, there are seven of you. What a strange arrangement. Is this encounter a lifeline sent from heaven, or a snare? It’s hard for me to discern.”

The words implied that she wasn’t Sarome’s own child, but it went off on a tangent. Then it looked at me, Cha Taeyang, and Shin-ju in turn before rounding its mouth.

Wheee- whee

A whistle like a marble rolling on a silver tray sounded, and a wind blew from beyond the mountain, that is, from the west. The west wind carried the scent of peach blossoms, unsuited to the season. But that wasn’t the only mysterious thing. Small lights like fireflies raced along the wind as if it were their path.

As the butterflies’ wings, which had been trembling in the breeze, stopped, the lights began to blur and then transformed into the shape of a baby in a small box.

“The streams flowing from Cheonsan are the source of the Cheonhwa River, also known as the lifeline of On. All life in On depends on that river.”

As if matching this fairy tale-like explanation, the light clusters projected into the rippling river water beneath the box. The baby, without fussing, showed itself floating gently all the way to Sarome.

“Twenty years ago, a human child came here riding the river.”

“Wait, wait! Tiger-nim, that doesn’t make sense!”

Shin-ju protested, asking how a baby could have drifted here. It was a valid objection. After all, Cheonsan is at the western end, and the Cheonhwa River flows towards Sohan in the east.

“Unless the river flows backwards, it’s impossible.”

“Your words are correct.”

“Huh?”

“You have an unexpectedly sharp side.”

Shin-ju scrunched up her face at the words, unclear whether they were praise or criticism. Knowing Shin-ju’s quick temper, I quickly changed the subject before things could heat up.

“Are you saying the Cheonhwa River flowed backwards?”

“Such ignorance. Then you must not know what kind of place this is.”

“Why don’t you cut the Zen riddles?”

Ignoring Shin-ju’s grumpy words, Sarome whistled again. The river’s image dispersed, and a three-dimensional topographical map that looked like a miniature of this level took its place.

“Originally, this land had eighteen thousand gods and as many spiritual beasts as there are grains of sand.”

Lights densely placed here and there on the topographical map twinkled.

“Gods and spiritual beasts, the dead and the living, all coexisted.”

Then one day, someone claiming to be the leader of humans came to the Supreme God. He said that a single light gesture from the gods and spiritual beasts harmed their bodies, and the chill of the messengers of death froze their breath. It was simply impossible to live, he said. For ten days and nights, he rang a bell, pleading for understanding of human hardships.

The Supreme God promised to give this fertile land to humans. Thus, the east became entirely human territory, and it was named ‘On’.

The scattered lights all flew towards the west at once. As they crossed the western edge of the topographical map, the lights disappeared one by one. All that remained was a cluster of particularly dim lights.

“All gods and spiritual beasts, following the Supreme God’s command, left the human realm and moved their dwellings beyond the west. However, the dead couldn’t do so.”

“For what reason?”

“Because of the yokai who constantly covet the souls of the dead. If they don’t shed their karmic debt from the human realm, they’ll be devoured by those yokai before reaching the afterlife.”

Originally, they freely roamed the human realm to shed their karmic debt, he said. This was possible because of the pure energy emanating from the gods and spiritual beasts.

Therefore, the Supreme God created Cheonsan for the dead and closed the gate to the afterlife. Some spiritual beasts, led by Sarome, volunteered to stay in Cheonsan, and their number was exactly forty-nine.

A tall mountain range that looked like a barrier sprouted at the edge of the topographical map. As if they had been waiting, a group of lights that had disappeared reappeared and settled on the peaks of Cheonsan. Following them, a group of whitish lights that had been wandering over the topographical map entered Cheonsan.

Finishing its words, Sarome poked at the tree where the butterflies were perched with the tip of its tail. Without realizing it, my head turned towards Cha Taeyang. I scratched the back of my head as I looked at the child smiling brightly.

‘So that’s what it meant by the souls of dead people.’

I felt embarrassed for having been scared, even if just for a moment.

“On the night when all three moons are new, the gate to the afterlife opens. The river’s reversal is a signal to the soul butterflies that the time is approaching.”

The model river that had been flowing peacefully eastward reversed direction and began to climb up Cheonsan. Following the river that defied the laws of physics, a group of lights flew westward.

“Oh, so your daughter came here riding that? What an amazing coincidence.”

“I consider it the greatest blessing in my not-so-short life.”

“What kind of child is she? You’re making me curious, talking like that.”

At Shin-ju’s question, Sarome gently closed its eyes. It seemed to be recalling its daughter’s image. As it opened its eyes, the topographical map disappeared, and the image of a girl waving her hand energetically appeared.

“She is a good child who knows when to act.”

“She must take after you, Mountain Lord!”

“Yes, I think so too.”

Sarome’s eyes narrowed as if to say “what are you talking about?”, but this soon changed to a smile.

“You said you remained in the human realm for the sake of the dead, didn’t you?”

“Honestly, at first, Mountain Lord was a bit, well, just a tiny bit scary, but now I’m not scared at all!”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

As Sarome smiled contentedly, the goblin rolled to its feet.

“But Mountain Lord, when is Baek-a coming? I’ve really come to want to meet that child.”

The irises that had been shining with joy sank deeply in an instant. Seeing this, several unpleasant assumptions swirled in my mind.

‘Missing? Surely… she’s not dead, is she?’

Sarome didn’t readily provide an answer. Or rather, it seemed unable to. Its puzzled expression wasn’t much different from ours. It wasn’t difficult for me to realize what Sarome’s request might be.

And like a red circle marking the correct answer.

[Do you want to accept the hidden quest, ‘Great Fortune’ (S)?

– Clear condition: Return of Sarome’s daughter, Baek-a

– Time limit: 157:49:07

– Reward: ???

– Penalty: ???]

The message I had been hoping for appeared.