I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 98

98.

Bang! Rumble- Crash!

The group, who were running towards the crater where Ignis had been, stopped and looked back at the earth-shattering sound.

“This is…”

Song Jin-ho muttered in a daze.

“Crazy, utterly crazy.”

The other members shook their heads, looking equally appalled.

As high-ranking Hunters, they could clearly sense the aura of magic power exploding from beyond.

“Will he be okay?”

Kim Su-hyeok looked at Kang Hae-in with an anxious expression. Tension was evident on Kang Hae-in’s face as well.

They had been working as a team with Yoo Ji-an for a long time.

During that time, they had only seen Yoo Ji-an go berserk once. In fact, they had only caught a glimpse of it as they were running away.

But they still couldn’t forget it.

The overwhelming power and madness that erupted in that brief moment had left them unable to come to their senses for a while, even after they had escaped.

In a word, it was terrifying. It was the first time they had seen Yoo Ji-an like that.

Kang Hae-in, who had been staring into the distance with a stiff face, forced herself to turn her head.

“What can we do? We have no choice but to do what we can right now.”

“I wouldn’t be this anxious if I had been the one captured.”

In fact, just thinking about Park Seo-ah being captured made her feel complicated.

The one who captured Seo-ah was, after all, the boss of an A-grade gate. Of course, they knew that Seo-ah had some skills to defend against mental attacks.

However, no one could be sure how much an E-grade Hunter could withstand against the physical attacks of an A-grade boss.

“Let’s hurry. We need to finish this quickly and join them.”

Kang Hae-in encouraged the dazed members and led them towards the now-smoldering volcano.

***

【Asked if everyone had run away.】

With half of her body submerged in water, Seo-ah froze stiffly, staring at the bizarre two holes and eyes.

It was so hot outside, but here, the cool air touching her wet clothes made her shiver.

The black magician lowered himself and brought his face closer.

【You… do not…】

Each time the hole, presumed to be his mouth, moved, a rotten egg smell filled the air. Seo-ah held her breath, feeling like she was about to vomit.

【Fear me.】

‘As if.’

She was afraid. The fear of dying was weighing down on Seo-ah’s heart.

However, the reason this wasn’t manifesting as a physical reaction was solely thanks to the skill ‘Silent Night’.

She didn’t know it would be this helpful when she first received it, but it was proving to be more useful than she thought.

But even with ‘Silent Night’, even if Seo-ah was more composed than expected, there wasn’t much she could do.

The pressure coming from the difference in their levels was already considerable.

When she faced the molted A-grade boss in the Parasitic Desert, it wasn’t this bad, perhaps because there were many of them.

But now, she was barely managing not to faint.

His fingers, like dry dead branches, lifted Seo-ah’s chin. As his hand touched her, goosebumps erupted all over her wet body.

Even though she couldn’t read his expression, she could tell that he was looking at her as if she were a strange creature.

【It has been almost a hundred years since a human from another world has come here.】

Seo-ah’s eyes flickered at those words.

Humans from another world had come before? Were they also Hunters who came through the gate?

【Those fellows called the water connected to this place a ‘portal’. What do you call it?】

“…Gate.”

Seo-ah barely opened her mouth to answer.

Should she be relieved that she could communicate with him, or was she being drawn into his scheme?

A dark aura settled on the lake. Come to think of it, she hadn’t felt her arms and legs for a while.

【Gate. Yes, the affairs of other worlds are always interesting. You see, I have always wanted to escape this world.】

‘This is…’

The [Chitinous King], who was the boss of the A-grade gate ‘Parasitic Desert,’ had said the same thing.

How do these beings know about the existence of other worlds, and why do they all want to escape their own worlds?

What exactly is a gate?

【Aren’t you curious? What happened to the fellows who came from another world.】

She was curious.

But at the same time, she didn’t want to know.

Where did they come from, and what happened to them?

The fact that the boss of this gate still exists probably means that they…

‘Mission… failed.’

The black magician straightened his bent back and extended his arm behind him as if introducing someone.

The dark robes fluttered before her eyes, and things that Seo-ah couldn’t see appeared.

With a rattling sound, they appeared like a scene from a horror movie.

Numerous skeletal humans walked towards Seo-ah.

【Say hello, these are the fellows who will soon be your companions. They are from another world.】

Those who came from another world a hundred years ago had failed to complete their mission and were captured by the black magician. And like that, they became his servants, unable to escape even as skeletons.

“Oh, no…”

Seo-ah tried to run away again, but her arms and legs were stiff and wouldn’t move.

She desperately tried to move her fingertips, but it wasn’t easy.

‘I’m too weak, why am I so weak?’

Seo-ah was overwhelmed with despair. A sense of powerlessness spread throughout her body.

【Poor thing. It seems you don’t even know your own power yet.】

The black magician bent down again and placed his hard hand on the crown of Seo-ah’s head.

【You have a very special power.】

‘Special power? Even if I have something like that, I’m just helpless right now. What’s the point of being an S-grade supporter? It’s useless.’

【If you accept me, I will allow you to use that power.】

He said as if he had heard Seo-ah’s thoughts.

Seo-ah’s fingertips twitched. The breath that had been blocked until now gradually began to ease.

【Take my hand and rise. Entrust everything to me. Then you will be at peace.】

The black magician held out his dark, almost bone-like hand. Seo-ah stared blankly at the hand.

【Come now. Don’t worry about anything.】

The sound of scraping metal was now gradually becoming familiar and clear.

The skeletons stood in rows and columns behind him, all staring at her with their empty eyes.

Seo-ah stared at them blankly. And very slowly, she raised one hand.

【Good.】

One of the holes in the robe stretched out horizontally and then returned to its original shape.

The black magician lowered his upper body further to take Seo-ah’s hand.

Just as their hands were about to touch, a squeaky hammer suddenly appeared in Seo-ah’s hand.

Squeak!

Seo-ah hit the black magician’s head hard.

【Ugh, how…!】

In the brief moment that he staggered, the skeletons reached out to grab Seo-ah.

Seo-ah quickly threw her body backward.

“I’d rather die than become like that.”

With those words, she disappeared back into the water.

The gas covering the lake seemed to be a vaporized form of that sphere.

Seo-ah had almost been brainwashed by him just now because she inhaled that substance. But in the middle of it, the skill Silent Night activated, and she was able to come to her senses.

【Foolish…】

The black magician’s voice, filled with anger, echoed through the water.

Although she had bravely jumped back into the water, Seo-ah was flustered.

‘My arms and legs won’t move.’

It seemed that this was also an effect of inhaling the vaporized drug.

She had barely managed to move her arm with all her strength just now, but that was all Seo-ah could do.

Her stiff body sank endlessly into the depths of the water.

She wanted to thrash around, but she couldn’t even do that, and she was dragged into the dark darkness.

‘Breath… I can’t breathe…’

The oxygen in her lungs was running out, and her mind was gradually becoming hazy.

She had meant it when she said she would rather die than become like that. But she wasn’t really prepared to die.

‘If I… die like this, Geon-woo…’

In the end, Seo-ah couldn’t hold back and exhaled.

The bubbles that were exhaled soon stopped as well.

Unable to do anything, she continued to sink. The air completely escaped from her body, and her consciousness faded.

‘Am I… going to die like this.’

Seo-ah’s eyes, which had been barely open, slowly closed.

At that moment, suddenly, an arm strongly wrapped around her waist.

Surprised, Seo-ah’s lips parted, and water was about to enter her mouth, but she felt something blocking her lips.

That something was soft and warm. And a small amount of air flowed out from it.

Seo-ah desperately inhaled the air and opened her eyes again.

A familiar, dark pair of eyes was staring intently at her.

‘…Yoo Ji-an?’

Her body was held by him and quickly ascended upwards.

Even in the midst of all this, Yoo Ji-an kissed her and breathed air into her.

How, does an S-grade Hunter have such extraordinary lung capacity?

A random curiosity arose, but the instinct for survival took precedence. Seo-ah wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly.