I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 73

73.

“Yo, you…! Hey! Hunter Yoo Ji-an!”

Roh Hak-young, who had been frozen in shock, suddenly stood up and pointed at Yoo Ji-an’s back.

“What, what do you think you’re doing during the match! Huh? My daughter almost died because of the sword you threw! Apologize right now…!”

Yoo Ji-an slowly turned around.

“Th-that, hiccup.”

Roh Hak-young, who had been shouting heatedly, started hiccuping as soon as their eyes met. As a D-rank Hunter, he had never been intimidated by anyone, but that was only when dealing with ordinary people or lower-ranked Hunters.

“Woah, woah.”

Kim Soo-hyuk and Yoon Ah-jung, along with other A-rank Hunters behind them, stepped in front of Roh Hak-young and slowly pushed him back.

“Value your life, Councilman.”

“Yeah, you’re going to the afterlife anyway, why rush it?”

“Hunter Roh Yoon-ji charged in even after the surrender was declared.”

“That’s…! Ugh!”

Roh Hak-young, regaining courage as he was shielded from view, tried to retort, but soon fell silent and retreated.

Yoo Ji-an watched the scene for a moment before continuing on his way. Naturally, he was heading to Seo-ah.

‘Roh Hak-young, Roh Yoon-ji, huh.’

He hadn’t bothered to remember them in detail, but the name Roh Yoon-ji wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.

He couldn’t recall exactly which life it was, as they weren’t directly involved with him.

‘When was it?’

Yoo Ji-an, who was walking down the stairs, stopped as if something had come to mind.

He had seen the name Roh Yoon-ji in the newspaper. It was right after the Sun Guild’s tournament back then, so it must have been his first life.

‘Not much left, I guess.’

Yoo Ji-an glanced at Roh Hak-young’s direction before striding down the stairs again. Just because he was a regressor and knew the future didn’t mean he had to interfere in every life.

Still, what was different from back then was that Roh Yoon-ji had clashed with Park Seo-ah, a variable in this life. That was what made it interesting.

Yoo Ji-an went down to the first floor and headed straight to the infirmary. It was already crowded with people.

“Oh, Hunter.”

As Yoo Ji-an appeared from behind, they made way for him. Pushing through the crowd, he saw Seo-ah lying down, along with Song Jin-ho and Kang Soo-jung.

“Sis, sis. You can’t die… Sniffle.”

“Soo-jung, I’m… not dead yet.”

Fortunately, Seo-ah seemed to be awake.

Seo-ah acknowledged Yoo Ji-an with a nod. Song Jin-ho was sitting beside Seo-ah, applying healing potions and recovery skills.

“Oh my, the bleeding is quite severe. It must hurt.”

Song Jin-ho clicked his tongue and frowned as he examined Seo-ah’s wound. Yoo Ji-an also frowned slightly.

Still, with the treatment, Seo-ah’s wound was healing quickly.

As the pain subsided, Seo-ah, feeling a bit more relaxed, beckoned Soo-jung, who was still upset.

“Soo-jung.”

“Yes?”

“How is it? Your status window.”

“Sniffle, status window?”

Soo-jung wiped away her tears and summoned her status window in the air.

“Oh….”

Seo-ah’s expression was full of anticipation as she looked at Soo-jung. She had been able to cast [Breakthrough] on Soo-jung twice during the fight with Roh Yoon-ji. So, without a doubt, her stats would have increased quite a bit.

[Stats: Strength 30 (6↑), Magic Power 16 (4↑), Agility 29 (7↑), Stamina 20, Defense 25 (6↑)]

“Wow….”

Strength, agility, and defense had all far exceeded the E-rank limit of 20. Strength and agility were approaching 30.

Soo-jung knew about Seo-ah’s [Breakthrough] skill, but she was still amazed every time she grew like this.

“…Sis! What do I do? I feel so good!”

Overjoyed, Soo-jung jumped up and tried to hug Seo-ah around the waist.

“Ah, Soo-jung, wait a minute!”

“Oh, oh, your wound will open, be careful!”

“Step back.”

Only after Yoo Ji-an stepped in and pulled Soo-jung by the scruff of her neck did Soo-jung back away.

“The result is good, I see?”

“Yes! It’s so good. At this rate, I’ll be on par with a D-rank soon!”

Seo-ah was happy to see Soo-jung so pleased. But still, it wasn’t a method she could use often. Because of the conditions.

The conditions for using [Breakthrough] were met in extreme situations, and those situations were much more dangerous than ordinary raids.

Fortunately, this was a tournament hosted by the Sun Guild, so there were some safety measures in place. Also, it was possible because Kang Soo-jung had burned with fighting spirit against Roh Yoon-ji.

But there was no need to tell Soo-jung, who was currently so happy, such realistic stories.

Seo-ah smiled and congratulated Soo-jung on her growth.

“It’s all thanks to your hard work. Congratulations.”

Soo-jung scratched her head, looking embarrassed at Seo-ah’s praise.

At that moment, Song Jin-ho sighed and straightened his back.

“It seems to be done to some extent, can I take a look? Please take out this arm.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo-ah took out one arm from her top, revealing her wounded shoulder. Some bare skin and part of her underwear were slightly visible.

The moment he saw that, Yoo Ji-an quickly turned his head away. In fact, it wasn’t a particularly suggestive scene.

From his past and present lives, he had seen countless scenes of female Hunters undressing and receiving treatment for injuries during raids.

The emotion he felt then was, ‘That person needs to recover properly to do their part,’ or ‘It would be troublesome if they become a hindrance.’

Without realizing why he couldn’t properly look at Seo-ah, he thought to himself, ‘It’s no different from back then.’

And then he turned his head back.

He saw the back of Song Jin-ho’s head, who was sticking close to Seo-ah to look at her wound.

‘Isn’t he being too close?’

Just as he had that thought, Song Jin-ho wiped his sweat and stepped back. Seo-ah also put her clothes back on.

“Thankfully, the treatment is done for now. But be careful with that arm for a while.”

“Yes, thank you, Hunter Song Jin-ho.”

The two looked at each other amicably. An unknown, uncomfortable feeling surged in Yoo Ji-an’s heart as he watched them.

In the meantime, someone knocked on the infirmary door.

The person who entered was, unexpectedly, Roh Yoon-ji.

“What do you think you’re doing here?”

Kang Soo-jung screamed as soon as she saw her. Roh Yoon-ji ignored Kang Soo-jung and tried to approach Seo-ah.

Then Song Jin-ho and Kang Soo-jung stood up and blocked her path. Kang Soo-jung’s reaction was particularly fierce.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You could have definitely pulled back then.”

“Don’t you think that your sister is alive because I pulled back?”

“What? You…!”

“What brings you here, Hunter Roh Yoon-ji? Hunter Park Seo-ah needs to rest for a while.”

Song Jin-ho, who was the most rational, asked Roh Yoon-ji. Although he was gentle, his gaze held the power of an A-rank Hunter. Roh Yoon-ji’s eyes wavered as she met his gaze.

Roh Yoon-ji looked at Song Jin-ho once, and then at Yoo Ji-an once, before lowering her head, flinching.

“Why is everyone….”

“Yes? What did you say?”

He asked back at Roh Yoon-ji’s small muttering, but she closed her mouth tightly and raised her head again. And she said to Seo-ah, who was visible behind Song Jin-ho and Kang Soo-jung.

“I have something to say. Please send everyone out, sis.”

“Hey, you want me to leave you two alone with her? Absolutely not!”

While Kang Soo-jung was jumping up and down, Seo-ah’s quiet voice was heard.

“It’s okay, let us be alone.”

“Sis!”

“Are you sure it’s okay? Hunter Roh Yoon-ji is….”

Song Jin-ho looked at Seo-ah worriedly, and Seo-ah shrugged.

“It’s okay. The tournament is over, what could happen?”

Since Seo-ah said that much, there was no way to stop her.

“I’ll wait outside.”

Yoo Ji-an left first, and Song Jin-ho and Kang Soo-jung followed.

An awkward silence hung in the air as Park Seo-ah and Roh Yoon-ji were left alone.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Roh Yoon-ji was the first to break the silence. Seo-ah waited with a calm gaze until Roh Yoon-ji opened her mouth.

“You were the bait, weren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You lured my attention so that Kang Soo-jung could attack me.”

“Well, I won’t deny it. That was the only way at the time.”

“Ha….”

Roh Yoon-ji sighed as if she was dumbfounded and shook her head.

“Why do you go so far? What is she to you? Did you think Kang Soo-jung could beat me with that one hit?”

“No, I never thought that. I know very well that the two of us combined can’t beat you. So I did use a bit of a cheap trick to draw your attention, but you’re strong anyway. Strong enough not to be fazed by something like that.”

“That’s right, I’m strong. You guys can never surpass me, even if you combine your strength.”

“Then why are you so obsessed with being strong? You’re strong enough as you said.”

Then Roh Yoon-ji clenched her fist, feeling agitated.

“I’m a Hunter. Hunters naturally pursue strength.”

“Is that really all there is to it?”

“Then what else is there?”

Seo-ah showed her palm to the flustered Roh Yoon-ji and beckoned.

“Okay, I got it. Let’s say that’s the case. So why did you come to see me?”

“I was just curious about a few things. Weren’t you scared? How could you sacrifice yourself like that?”

“Sacrifice? I don’t know because I didn’t think of it that way. But I guess I wasn’t too worried because there were healers around.”

“Do you know that I could have killed you? If I had put a little more strength into it….”

“Hey, I know you wouldn’t have done that.”