I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 118

118.

Seo-ah naturally attended the Royal Guild’s dinner. No one questioned why Hunter Park Seo-ah was there.

Because the people welcoming her ranged from Guild Leader Baek Eun-hee to the Royal Guild’s top-tier Hunters.

With them welcoming Park Seo-ah, who could possibly object?

Seo-ah had been taking off her mask since coming down from the mountain. Cha Tae-woon had given her five transformation masks, so she still had plenty.

“Seo-ah, eat more. Are you getting enough?”

“Yes, yes. I’m eating a lot.”

“Really? That’s good. I’ll go visit the other table for a bit. I need to show my face to our little ones too.”

“Yes, Unni [older sister or close female friend]. Go ahead.”

Baek Eun-hee smiled and headed to a table in the corner, where the Royal Guild’s C-rank Hunters were gathered.

Even though the guild seemed to be run mainly by high-level Hunters, in reality, there were far more mid-to-low-level Hunters like them.

Managing them was essential to maintaining the guild’s size.

“Alright, eat more, eat up. Eating is what matters.”

Seol Jin-ah skillfully grilled top-quality Korean beef sirloin on the grill.

Seo-ah smiled and watched her, then turned her head as she felt someone sit next to her.

It was Yang Tae-woo.

Yang Tae-woo had been high-spirited when coming down from the mountain, but he had been relatively quiet since arriving at the restaurant.

“Here, take this.”

Yang Tae-woo offered her a beer, and Seo-ah looked at him with a puzzled expression as she took the glass.

Yang Tae-woo filled the glass without saying anything. When Seo-ah stared at him, he said gruffly.

“What are you looking at? I just felt like I should give you a drink.”

“Why?”

“Well? Let’s just say it’s a feeling.”

‘What, did he notice?’

‘Does my name appear on the system window of the person who had their wish granted?’

Seo-ah glanced around and brought the glass to her lips.

“It’s really amazing. To think that such a skill would appear at that frustrating moment.”

“What kind of skill is it exactly?”

Seo-ah asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know, when we were trapped in the Parasitic Desert. Just the two of us.”

“That’s right.”

“You came up with an amazing plan to escape back then. I thought it was really impressive…”

Yang Tae-woo took a sip of the beer, leaving about half in his glass.

“It’s similar to that. It’s an undead type. It can change a healing skill into an attack.”

“Wow, that’s really amazing! That would be a great help to Hunter Yang Tae-woo.”

Fortunately, Yang Tae-woo didn’t seem to know for sure that Seo-ah was the one who did it.

“Right? Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it ever since… I honestly thought it would be impossible for me to breathe fire or use a sword like others. Well, I would have been grateful if I had gotten even that.”

“It seems like the best kind of skill. One that Hunter Yang Tae-woo can use well.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it was originally latent within me, or if it was created because I kept thinking about it. Anyway, it seems like you provided the opportunity. I wanted to thank you.”

“No, I didn’t…”

“Really?”

“Yes?”

Seo-ah asked back when Yang Tae-woo asked meaningfully, and he shook his head.

“I wondered if you had helped. Just now. You’re a bit unique, after all. With the abilities you have…”

“Oh, come on. Even if it’s me, it’s impossible for me to create a skill. Would I be a god then?”

“Heh heh, that’s true. Anyway, it’s a good day for me. Want another drink?”

“Yes, please.”

Yang Tae-woo seemed genuinely happy. It was a favor granted as a gesture, but seeing him like that, Seo-ah didn’t feel bad.

‘I also got a skill…’

Seo-ah sipped the beer in her glass and smiled secretly.

***

Thwack- Boing!

Kieeeek-

Boing, boing!

Each time the toy hammer swung, the grotesque sunflower weakly collapsed.

Seo-ah stood for a moment and looked around.

‘It seems like this area is cleared…’

Today, Seo-ah decided to move alone.

The metropolitan area was now mostly cleared, so there were hardly any support requests coming in.

She could just rest, but for some reason, Seo-ah was picking out sparsely populated areas slightly outside the metropolitan area and searching for grotesque sunflowers.

Sunflowers had spread mainly around the metropolitan area, but they didn’t know administrative districts, so they naturally remained in areas slightly outside the boundaries.

She focused on catching those and moved around.

Seo-ah tried using Yang Tae-woo’s wish skill [Reverse] on the grotesque sunflowers a few times as a test.

However, it was more cumbersome to use [Reverse] and then use [Heal] two or three times to catch one, so she hardly used [Reverse] after that.

It would be over with just one or two hits with the toy hammer.

After confirming that there were no grotesque sunflowers left around, Seo-ah quickly flew away to move to another area.

Now, climbing over a mountain or two was nothing for Seo-ah.

After becoming an S-rank Hunter, what Seo-ah was most satisfied with was her endless stamina and fast movement speed.

While crossing over mountains and eradicating grotesque sunflowers, the sun set and it became evening.

She was disappointed, but she had to return to the Association for now.

At the Association, returning Hunters were lined up to report the number of monsters they had caught and have their inventories checked by the staff.

Seo-ah hesitated at the end of the line.

“…….”

But then, she heard a welcome voice.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah, you’re back.”

It was Oh Hyun-soo.

Seo-ah recalled that his wish was ‘Increase Stamina by 100’ and nodded, trying not to smile.

“Don’t stand in line, come this way.”

Oh Hyun-soo took Seo-ah inside. It was special treatment. Seo-ah didn’t refuse and followed him.

He led Seo-ah to the elevator and said.

“Did you catch a lot today?”

“Not really, I slacked off today. I got tired of catching them after a few days.”

Seo-ah had caught so many monsters that she couldn’t count them all day, but she lied.

“Well, that’s true. But it’s pretty much cleared up now. And it seems like they caught the person you mentioned before, Gil Kyung-tae.”

“Ah, really?”

So he was finally caught.

“They’ll interrogate him at the police station first and then hand him over to the prosecutor’s office. Maybe Hunter Park Seo-ah’s testimony will be needed.”

“Yes, I’ll do it if necessary.”

They got off on the 70th floor of the Hunter Association building. It was where the conference room and the Association President’s office were located.

“Ah, if you didn’t catch much, you wouldn’t have any cards.”

“Yes, yes. That’s right.”

“Then I won’t bother checking. Originally, we have to share and check the inventory one by one, but…”

Seo-ah smiled along with Oh Hyun-soo’s smile, feeling a pang of conscience.

Seo-ah didn’t know exactly why she was deceiving Oh Hyun-soo, lying, and trying to hide the cards.

Even Yoo Ji-an said that there was no elixir known as a panacea [a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases]. Could she still be expecting something even after hearing that?

“Then please stop by the conference room and write a simple report.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After Oh Hyun-soo left to report to Cha Tae-woon, Seo-ah stopped by the conference room and wrote a simple report.

She wrote the route correctly, but wrote the number of monsters caught much lower.

When she finished writing and looked up, it was completely dark night.

“…Shall I go now?”

Where should I go?

Seo-ah was a little confused about where her house was these days. The Sun Guild’s raid was over, but Seo-ah was still using the Sun Guild’s accommodation.

Han Seok-hyun said she could continue to use it anytime, and even told her to move to the S-class accommodation, but she really couldn’t do that.

“Well, should I go home for the first time in a while today?”

For the first time in a long time, Seo-ah took the bus home.

It hadn’t even been a few months since she had been home. Seo-ah was lost in thought for a moment, looking at the unfamiliar yet familiar scenery.

When she entered the house, the unfamiliarity grew a little more.

Seo-ah opened the door and stood in the hallway, looking at the scenery inside the house. It wasn’t dirty because it was managed from time to time.

She slowly stepped inside, looking around as if she were looking at someone else’s house. Traces and memories of Seo-ah’s hard work remained throughout the house.

Seo-ah was embarrassed by the feeling that it was definitely her house, but it didn’t feel like her house.

Seo-ah sat on the small bed and rubbed the old desk.

Just as this familiar house suddenly felt unfamiliar, Seo-ah’s life had changed a lot from the past. Whether Seo-ah wanted it or not, even if she quit her Hunter life, she could never go back to the way things were before.

Seo-ah opened her inventory.

Six [Creation Cards] that Seo-ah had collected over the past few days were neatly inside.

The speed of collecting was slower than expected, so she didn’t know if she would be able to collect all 10 cards by the end of the extermination operation.

‘So, what are you going to do when you collect 10 cards? Are you going to open a gate?’

Seo-ah scolded herself and curled up on the bed.