I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 133

133.

My vision wavered wildly, but I didn’t feel the motion sickness or dizziness like before. Still, the visual input alone was enough to make me tense.

Even though she was an S-rank hunter, Seo-ah didn’t have much raid experience yet.

Still, the two hands firmly holding her on either side eased her anxiety.

How long had it been? A burst of pure white light erupted, and the floor crumbled. Seo-ah squeezed her eyes shut against the glare and braced her legs.

Soon, she felt the sensation of up and down reversing, and then her feet touched solid ground.

But then she heard a strange sound.

The sound of a car engine, people walking.

And then, a voice filled with horror.

“Ugh! It’s a Gate Break! Everyone, get out of the way!”

“So sudden? Hunter, notify the Hunter Association! Hurry!”

When she opened her eyes, she saw the backs of people running away from them.

Seo-ah looked around, dazed. A large intersection, traffic lights, and tall buildings came into view.

It was a street she had passed dozens, hundreds of times. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it.

“Seoul…?”

Seoul—this was definitely the heart of downtown Seoul. Even the signs and buses were the same.

She had definitely entered a gate, so why was she in Seoul? Had something gone wrong and they had been sent back? Even so, the place they had entered was Uijeongbu, wasn’t it?

The other members seemed just as bewildered. Still, they were professional enough not to let their guard down.

Cha Tae-woon still held [Kajaad’s Shield], firmly blocking the front, and Choi Eun-gyeol had her magic book open, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

But they couldn’t hide their questioning expressions.

Everyone looked at Yoo Ji-an, who seemed to know something.

“I told you, remember that this is a gate.”

Yoo Ji-an drew Ruin Blade.

The members assumed he was just raising his weapon as a matter of course.

But the next moment, Yoo Ji-an swung his sword without even looking.

“Die… Kuh!”

The hunter who had rushed in to deal with the ‘Gate Break’ was instantly decapitated by the single strike.

The other hunters who had charged in with him were horrified and backed away as they watched him die instantly.

“Waaah! This is insane!”

“Quick, take out the monsters!”

“Has the Association arrived yet?”

The hunters who had arrived first seemed to be lower-ranked hunters from the area. They couldn’t even approach easily and were just barely managing to evacuate the citizens.

Of course, some hunters did attack. But their attacks had no effect on the S-ranks.

“Is this really a gate?”

“Why are they treating us like monsters?”

The members, except for Yoo Ji-an, didn’t seem to be able to accept the situation easily. It wasn’t a common occurrence for Seo-ah or the others.

Blocking the incoming bullets from the front, Yoo Ji-an glanced back.

“I guess you still haven’t figured out what’s going on.”

“But, Hunter Yoo Ji-an. Those… those are people!”

Cha Tae-woon made his ice shield even larger and spoke with a troubled expression. The fact that he, who was always so rational, was flustered showed how unusual this gate was.

Yoo Ji-an responded coldly to his words.

“People? All life forms inside a gate are monsters. Cha Tae-woon, has it been so long since your last raid that you’ve forgotten that concept?”

Then, Song Jin-ah also questioned him with a troubled face.

“Do we really have to fight them? We just need to find that elixir or whatever. And if we find and eliminate the boss, we can go back.”

Of course, they had met people inside gates before. They had even fought those people.

But the sight of familiar people in the middle of downtown Seoul, in such a realistic space, made even the seasoned S-rank hunters hesitate to attack.

“If that were possible.”

At the same time, someone rushed toward Seo-ah at the speed of light.

“Seo-ah!”

Clang!

Baek Eun-hee quickly pulled out her splint [a type of protective armor] and blocked Seo-ah’s path. But she soon lowered her weapon and stepped back.

“Seo… Ah-hyun?”

“That’s quite a strong monster, everyone be careful!”

Baek Eun-hee muttered, but ‘Seo Ah-hyun’ didn’t seem to hear her, turning around and shouting.

And then she swung [Black Double X] mercilessly. It was definitely Seo Ah-hyun’s weapon.

“What’s wrong! Seo Ah-hyun! Don’t you recognize me?”

Baek Eun-hee easily blocked Seo Ah-hyun’s attacks, but she couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

Moreover, Royal Guild members began to arrive one after another.

Not only the Royal Guild, but also hunters from strong guilds in Seoul, including the Sun Guild, surrounded them.

“See, you’ll have to take this seriously. It won’t be easy.”

Bang!

No sooner had Yoo Ji-an finished speaking than a deafening roar echoed from somewhere, and the battle began.

“I really can’t believe this.”

Cha Tae-woon said, quickly getting into a defensive stance. He swung his large shield upward, and a chill poured out, instantly freezing the ground.

Several hunters running across the ice were frozen solid on the spot.

It was Cha Tae-woon’s wide-area defense skill, [Freeze]. And originally, he should have immediately used [Ice Needle] to pierce the enemies, but for some reason, he hesitated.

He seemed to recognize a face among the frozen hunters.

Cha Tae-woon wasn’t the only one who felt something was wrong. Baek Eun-hee and Seo Ah-hyun also couldn’t bring themselves to attack the Royal Guild members properly. They were barely managing to defend or evade.

Choi Eun-gyeol cast [Weaken] and [Disrupt] to confuse the opponents, but she hadn’t used any attack magic yet.

As Yoo Ji-an said, they knew in their heads that these were ‘monsters,’ but it was difficult to accept it in their hearts.

Seeing the increasing number of scratches on them, Seo-ah cast [Ironclad Pine] on the members first.

Their defense and health increased, so they seemed to be holding out a little better, but the problem was that the number of enemies was increasing.

Judging that the ‘Gate Break’ monsters claimed by the enemies were quite strong, the Association and each guild sent additional high-ranking hunters.

No matter how S-rank hunters they were, it was difficult to withstand the combined attacks of high-ranking hunters while only defending.

Seo-ah, who was calmly observing the situation from the back, shouted loudly to Yoo Ji-an.

“Hunter Yoo Ji-an, we should retreat for now!”

She was a little far away, so she wondered if her voice would reach him, but Yoo Ji-an glanced at Seo-ah and nodded.

Then, he firmly gripped Ruin Blade and plunged into the middle of the hunters. Instantly, a space was created.

The members, understanding what Yoo Ji-an’s actions meant, briefly pulled back into the space he had created and began to run with all their might.

As they ran away, the hunters followed them all at once, but Choi Eun-gyeol used [Electric Shower] to cut off the rear. Of course, even that didn’t hit people directly, but landed on the ground.

Seo-ah also diligently chased after them.

They escaped the city center and entered an unknown mountain.

They were still being chased, but they shook them off by moving as fast as possible.

They finally stopped when there were almost no pursuers left. As soon as they stopped, Baek Eun-hee snapped at Yoo Ji-an.

“Yoo Ji-an, you knew, didn’t you? Tell me, what the hell are those things?”

“I told you, they’re monsters. Of course, to those guys, we’re the monsters.”

“Does that make sense?”

“It doesn’t make sense… it doesn’t. What is that… our deputy guild leader was there.”

Choi Eun-gyeol sat down, clutching her head. She had vividly seen the faces of her guild members, who had shared life and death with her.

It was fortunate that they were magic-type hunters and were in the back, so they weren’t caught up in the attack.

Baek Eun-hee had directly witnessed the Royal Guild members, who had been fighting on the front lines to deal with the Gate Break, dying, so it was no wonder she was so agitated.

“How did you know? Why aren’t you flustered?”

But it wasn’t just the Royal Guild that had died. The Sun Guild members had fallen like leaves, no less than the Royal Guild members.

Even though they had mainly focused on defense, they had no choice but to deal with the attacking hunters, which led to this result.

“……”

Yoo Ji-an didn’t answer the question.

“Sister.”

Seo-ah gently grabbed Baek Eun-hee’s hand to calm her down. [Silent Night] seemed to have an effect, as Baek Eun-hee, who had been panting, gradually calmed down.

“Hah, yeah. Why you know isn’t important right now. Tell me what to do now. Are we just supposed to kill them all indiscriminately?”

Baek Eun-hee put extra emphasis on the word ‘kill’.

“It would be best to avoid it if possible, but it won’t be easy. They think that if they lose us, the entire Korean peninsula will be destroyed.”

“Wow, really… so we’re being treated like escaped monsters.”

“It seems like we’re seeing different things?”

Cha Tae-woon, who had been listening quietly, interjected, and Yoo Ji-an nodded once.

“That’s right, our real appearance and words aren’t being conveyed to them. Probably.”

With those words, Yoo Ji-an seemed lost in thought and didn’t say anything more. And Seo-ah carefully watched his expression.