I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 57

57.

[Big Claw Rabbit]

[Overall Grade: E]

[Unlike its cute appearance, it is ferocious and violent. Being scratched by its sharp, large claws can cause fatal wounds.]

[Item: Rabbit’s Claw]

The monster was one I had seen before.

If the general monsters in this field are E-grade, then the boss must be one grade higher. If so, this gate is probably at least D-grade.

The eyes of the Big Claw Rabbit, which had retreated for a moment, turned red again.

Seeing this, Seo-ah changed the Bbyong Hammer mode to ‘Lethal’ and swung down without hesitation at the charging rabbit.

The rabbit dodged the first strike quickly. But Seo-ah had reached her peak as an E-grade hunter, so she was fast enough to keep up.

Screech-

The rabbit screamed with the second ‘bbyong’ sound and collapsed.

“Haa….”

Seo-ah let out a long sigh of relief. Although it was a common E-grade monster, she had been quite nervous catching monsters alone without a companion.

‘A D-grade plain field….’

This place was similar to the D-grade gate she had gone to with Kang Su-jeong before. Compared to not being able to do anything back then, Seo-ah had definitely grown.

But Seo-ah also knew her limits well. It was absolutely impossible for her to clear this gate alone.

Therefore, the best strategy was to avoid the boss until she left.

But suddenly, she felt a sense of emptiness beside her. When she turned around, Gil Gyeong-tae was standing far away, watching Seo-ah catch monsters.

Considering he was an ordinary person, it was a natural reaction, but she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed.

‘Should I just abandon him?’

She thought about it and shook her head. *Anyway*, she was a hunter, and Gil Gyeong-tae was a civilian. If she abandoned him and he died, she would definitely have nightmares.

“I caught it, so come over here.”

Gil Gyeong-tae hesitantly approached at Seo-ah’s quiet voice. In the meantime, Seo-ah squatted down and cut off one of the Big Claw Rabbit’s claws, putting it in her inventory.

“Ha, just catching one rabbit… If you were a real hunter, you should have found it before me and caught it in one shot.”

Gil Gyeong-tae was still picking a fight in this situation.

Of course, Seo-ah wasn’t listening, so she wasn’t very bothered. She was just a little preoccupied with thoughts about this gate.

Being alone in the gate like this was really daunting.

Not to mention when she went to the A-grade gate, even during the tutorial gate, there were fellow hunters stronger than her.

Even if Seo-ah made a mistake or fell behind a little, the fact that there was someone to support her was so reassuring.

Now, far from being reassuring, she just hoped he wouldn’t get in the way. Gil Gyeong-tae was more careful than before, but he still couldn’t stay still and kept wandering around.

“Sunbae [senior/older colleague], don’t go towards the forest. Stronger monsters come out of the forest.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’ll be conspicuous if you stay in this open field! The forest is much better for hiding!”

Gil Gyeong-tae scoffed at Seo-ah’s warning.

“Ha, really.”

The impulse to just leave him alone came up again. But Seo-ah sighed and followed Gil Gyeong-tae.

Recalling her experience in the plain field before, the forest was definitely more dangerous when it came to ordinary monsters. A roaring bear had come out of the forest.

But the boss was actually in the plains. Since she didn’t know the direction of the boss, Seo-ah couldn’t be sure which was the right answer.

‘Eun-hee unni [older sister/female friend] knew where the boss was just by looking.’

Was Yoo Ji-an able to figure out her location in a similar way? Ah, I don’t know. What does that matter now?

Seo-ah grumbled and walked when she saw Gil Gyeong-tae running towards her, screaming.

“Aaaah! Save me! Park Seo-ah, behind, behind me!”

This time, he was being chased by a [Mantis] the size of a puppy.

“…Haa.”

Seo-ah shook her head and raised the Bbyong Hammer again.

She ran to block the mantis that was running with its scythe raised.

Shaaak-

“Sorry for disturbing your quiet time. I don’t suppose you’d just pass by… uh, no, I guess not.”

“What nonsense are you talking about! Catch it quickly! Ugh!”

The puppy-sized mantis was quite grotesque, but Seo-ah had already experienced the Parasitic Desert. Moreover, in training with Yoo Ji-an, she had faced a [Mantis], a mantis-type monster 100 times larger than this.

So this was almost cute.

The mantis’s movements were quite flashy. It jumped and flew, moving its sharp scythe threateningly.

Seo-ah also swung the Bbyong Hammer in response to the mantis’s movements. The mantis avoided Seo-ah’s attacks while also trying to counterattack. It was definitely more difficult than the Big Claw Rabbit.

‘If only I had a combat skill.’

Even if they were both E-grade, there was a clear limit since she wasn’t combat-oriented. In other words, to use a game character analogy, it meant she had to catch monsters only with normal attacks.

It was fortunate that there was only one enemy now; it would have been much harder if there were two. But there was no time to complain about the situation.

Seo-ah calmly cast [Fighting] on herself. As her stats slightly increased, the mantis’s movements became a little clearer.

Seo-ah gripped the Bbyong Hammer tightly and quickly struck the mantis’s side.

Fortunately, she hit it properly this time. But at the same time, the mantis also scratched the back of Seo-ah’s hand with its scythe.

The hit mantis writhed on the floor with its waist bent, and blood dripped from the back of Seo-ah’s hand. It seemed to be cut quite deeply.

Seo-ah ignored the wound for the moment and finished off the fallen mantis. She was able to kill it completely after hitting it a couple more times.

After the mantis’s movements completely stopped, she took a breath and tried to treat the wound. But then she heard Gil Gyeong-tae’s scream again. When she turned around, Gil Gyeong-tae was being chased by a deer this time.

Seo-ah glared irritably and shouted.

“Stop wandering around and stay still!”

While Gil Gyeong-tae flinched at Seo-ah’s shout, Seo-ah took out [Stone Knight’s Pride] from her inventory and threw it with all her might.

The quickly flying stone fortunately hit the deer’s head right in the center. The deer died instantly.

The reason she hadn’t used this from the beginning was that it wasn’t suitable for hitting small, fast animals.

“Huff, huff….”

Gil Gyeong-tae, whose legs had given out, collapsed. Seo-ah approached Gil Gyeong-tae with the Bbyong Hammer firmly in her hand.

“If you’re going to keep wandering around like that, do as you please. I’m going to be alone now.”

“What, what? Are you saying a hunter is going to abandon a civilian? Hey, hunters have a duty to save civilians…!”

“Death accidents in the gate are not prosecuted. It’s not strange for anyone to die at any time.”

“Hey! That’s unfair!”

“So please stay still.”

Seo-ah brought the Bbyong Hammer, which she had been using to catch the mantis, to Gil Gyeong-tae’s neck. Then Gil Gyeong-tae couldn’t say anything and just opened and closed his mouth.

“Answer me.”

“A, alright!”

“Hoo….”

Seo-ah plopped down a little away from Gil Gyeong-tae. And fortunately, she took out a few potions that were left in her inventory, sprinkled them on her hand, and drank the rest.

She didn’t use her recovery skill because it was too much trouble.

Gil Gyeong-tae, who was staring blankly, shamelessly reached out his hand.

“What, why are you eating alone? If it’s good, let me have some too.”

“It’s a potion. Why would sunbae drink it when you’re not even fighting?”

“Hey, look at this. I also got scratched here, and bruised from falling….”

“…….”

“It’s not right to be stingy with food.”

Seo-ah, who was annoyed to deal with him, took out a low-grade healing potion and threw it to Gil Gyeong-tae. Then she glanced at her wristwatch.

‘…Still, 20 minutes have passed. I just need to hold out for 10 more minutes.’

Fortunately, this was the outskirts of the gate, so there weren’t many monsters. If several monsters like the mantis from before had appeared at once, Seo-ah wouldn’t have had a way to deal with it.

Seo-ah prayed earnestly that 10 more minutes would pass safely.

“Wow, I feel energized after eating this. It would be great to eat when studying for exams. Why don’t they sell this outside?”

“It’s illegal for someone who isn’t a hunter to buy and sell that outside the gate.”

“That’s why hunters get criticized. They monopolize all this good stuff.”

Listening to Gil Gyeong-tae’s words, he had a considerable inferiority complex towards hunters.

“But why is your weapon a Bbyong Hammer? You always carry something like you.”

Should I block his mouth with something like glue? It was a good idea, but it was a waste to use precious gold because of that human.

“But why did you change your number? I asked the kids, but they wouldn’t tell me. Tell me your number when we get out.”

“…….”

“Honestly, didn’t you miss me at all? Huh? Was that your boyfriend who called earlier?”

“…….”

“Hey, are you ignoring me again?”

As Seo-ah didn’t answer, Gil Gyeong-tae’s voice gradually grew louder. Seo-ah tore at her hair and muttered.

“Please, just be quiet for 10 minutes….”

“But it’s very quiet. The wind hasn’t been blowing since earlier.”

Gil Gyeong-tae muttered without much thought. At those words, Seo-ah closed her mouth, raised her head, and slowly scanned her surroundings. An ominous feeling flashed through her mind.

A place where the number of monsters is extremely small and all sounds subside. There was only one such place in the gate.