I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 167

#167

“Oho, is everyone ready?”

Noh Hak-young looked around at the group with a triumphant face. Seo-ah nodded, and the others looked as if they agreed.

“Let’s take a picture first. Manager Park, over here, take it from this side.”

Noh Hak-young led them to the gate when Seo-ah said,

“Assemblyman Noh, I’ll pass on the photo.”

“Huh? Well, okay then.”

He thought it was a pity that she was giving up the chance to become a hero with him, but he didn’t bother to stop her. The fewer hunters in the raid, the more he would stand out.

“Okay, Manager Park. Make sure you get a good shot!”

Noh Hak-young stretched out his finger as if he had just discovered the gate and made a surprised expression.

“Yes, I’m taking it!”

Kang Su-jeong and Noh Yoon-ji stood blankly behind him, staring at the gate.

Thus, the photo of ‘Assemblyman Noh Hak-young, who discovered and dealt with a gate that was about to break’ was completed.

Now, if he goes in and clears it, an article will be published about him as the hero who prevented the gate break.

‘Then the next nomination is in the bag.’

The gate was now turning bright red and swirling as if it would devour its surroundings as it grew larger.

Unable to watch any longer, Seo-ah stepped forward.

“We have to go now.”

If it was any later, a gate break would really occur.

“Just one more shot…!”

While Noh Hak-young couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings, Seo-ah winked at Su-jeong.

“Wait, hold on!”

Noh Hak-young shouted, but Seo-ah grabbed Su-jeong’s hand and strode into the gate.

“I said wait! If you ignore my instructions…!”

His urgent voice faded away beyond the vortex.

As they passed through the tunnel, Seo-ah could feel Su-jeong’s shoulders stiffen.

‘Ah, this is…’

It was nothing to Seo-ah, who was S-class, but it could be too much for Su-jeong, who was D-class, to pass through a C-class gate. [Hunters are ranked by class, from F to S, with S being the strongest.]

‘Was this… how they did it?’

Recalling what the S-class hunters had done for her in the past, Seo-ah placed her hand on Su-jeong’s shoulder. Then, her stiff shoulders relaxed, and Su-jeong looked back at Seo-ah as if to thank her.

Seo-ah glanced sideways behind her.

‘That side… will have a hard time.’

It’s C-class, so they won’t die, but still.

The next moment, a cold wind blew. And as her vision cleared, a pure white snowfield unfolded before her eyes.

“Wow… pretty.”

Su-jeong exclaimed and looked around, and Seo-ah agreed. If it weren’t for the gate [a portal to another dimension], it would be a spectacle worthy of admiration.

Beyond the pure white snowfield was a forest of barren trees, and beyond that, at the top of a snow-covered mountain, a volcano was spewing smoke.

‘That’s the place.’

Judging by the gathering mana [magical energy], that’s where the boss is.

Once again, Yoo Ji-an’s words were correct.

“Unni, how did you predict it would be cold?”

“Um, just… a hunch?”

Seo-ah couldn’t talk about Yoo Ji-an’s regression, so she made a rough excuse.

“You’re really amazing. I would have frozen to death without this.”

Su-jeong showed off her fur hat and gloves, then hid them again.

“Yeah, aren’t you cold?”

“It’s a little cold, but I can bear it thanks to you.”

“That’s good.”

Seo-ah was actually wearing the same thing.

Even S-class hunters felt the cold and heat. However, the physical effects of temperature were less. It was also quite interesting to sense these changes as she awakened from E-class to S-class.

After waiting for a while, Noh Hak-young and Noh Yoon-ji also entered the gate.

Noh Yoon-ji was still standing well, but Noh Hak-young collapsed as soon as he arrived and started vomiting.

“Uweeek!”

Should I cast a recovery skill? But she decided not to. From experience, he won’t die from that much.

“Uweek!”

But he vomited for longer than she thought.

It was awkward to drag on any longer, and Noh Yoon-ji’s worried eyes bothered her, so Seo-ah had no choice but to cast a recovery skill on Noh Hak-young.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Hoo, I’m not usually like this… it’s been a while.”

Noh Hak-young wiped his mouth and got up, seemingly feeling a little better. Only then did he look at the surrounding scenery and stiffen his body.

It seemed that he was feeling the cold now that the nausea had subsided.

“Oh dear….”

Noh Yoon-ji put the hot pack that Seo-ah had given her into her jacket pocket. What Seo-ah gave her was a hunter item, so it lasted longer than a regular hot pack and kept a wider area warm.

Noh Hak-young hesitated and fiddled with his empty hands.

“Dad, didn’t you bring it?”

“I forgot….”

Noh Hak-young trembled and looked dismayed.

He must have carelessly left it on the table and didn’t even think to bring it.

You can buy it now, but if you buy something inside the gate, there is an additional fee. Still, thinking that this wouldn’t do, Noh Hak-young bought a hot pack at twice the price Seo-ah had paid. A one-day hot pack cost 100,000 gold [the in-game currency], so it must have stung quite a bit.

“Okay, let’s get going now.”

With those words, Noh Hak-young suddenly walked away from the mountain. Seo-ah shook her head and pointed in the opposite direction he was going.

“It’s that way.”

Noh Hak-young swallowed hard as he looked at the smoking volcano. He reluctantly objected.

“How can you be so sure? Don’t wander around in the cold for no reason and follow me….”

“It’s that way.”

Noh Yoon-ji also sided with Seo-ah and pointed towards the mountain.

Since Noh Yoon-ji was the next best hunter here after Seo-ah, she could feel the flow of mana to some extent.

“It’s obviously there. It’s smoking and looks hard to get to.”

Kang Su-jeong, who was the same D-class as Noh Hak-young, couldn’t feel it that much, but from experience, she knew that the boss was in such an unusual place.

In a 3-to-1 situation, Noh Hak-young had no choice but to turn around.

“Alright, alright. Anyway, I’ll go ahead, so follow me carefully.”

Wouldn’t it just take longer if Noh Hak-young went ahead? To be honest, she wanted to leave everyone behind and go alone. Then she could handle it quickly and cleanly.

Thinking about it, she wondered how frustrated the high-level hunters must have been when they were with her in the past.

Seo-ah decided to endure Noh Hak-young and the others, recalling those days.

In any case, Noh Hak-young was acting to protect the group. It seemed better than him stepping forward and then backing away.

Of course, even so, Seo-ah didn’t forget to widen her senses and be wary of her surroundings.

They entered a forest path made of barren, blackish trees.

Each time they stepped on the untouched snow, it made a crunching sound. This was followed by a tense breathing sound.

It was quiet because it was covered in snow, but there was a murderous aura scattered here and there that even low-level hunters could feel.

Noh Hak-young seemed to feel this much, as he kept looking around as he walked.

“Uwaaaagh!”

Whoosh-

Then, he was startled by a snow rabbit running by and shot a [Flame Thrower] at the group.

“Ah! Uncle, be careful!”

Kang Su-jeong hurriedly stepped back and protested, and Noh Hak-young coughed and avoided her gaze.

“I, I thought it was an enemy. Ahem, let’s go again.”

But as soon as Noh Hak-young turned around, he fell over with a thud.

Noh Hak-young’s face turned red after being hit by a snowball that flew from somewhere. Even though it was only a fist-sized snowball, it was so powerful that blood was streaming from one side of his nose.

Noh Hak-young jumped up. The other hunters also guarded their surroundings.

And what appeared was a snowman about waist height.

“A monster, a monster!”

It waved its branch arms and bounced towards them.

“Don’t come! Melt right now!”

Noh Hak-young’s [Flame Thrower] spewed fire. The snowman, dodging the high-temperature, powerful flames, eventually melted away.

As the snowman monster disappeared, Noh Hak-young turned around and puffed out his chest.

“Ehehe! Did you see that! Me defeating the monster!”

It was a bit embarrassing to be so proud after catching just one, but he did defeat it. The weapon was also a good match.

The group nodded with reluctant faces. The [Snowman] monster’s rank was D⁺.

At that moment, Noh Yoon-ji’s eyes widened.

“Dad, behind you, look behind you!”

Su-jeong and Seo-ah also looked past Noh Hak-young and drew their weapons.

“Why behind….”

Feeling uneasy in the unusual atmosphere, Noh Hak-young slowly turned around.

“…….”

He couldn’t even scream.

He was relieved that one [Snowman] had disappeared, but dozens of [Snowmen] had appeared behind it.

Even the snowman that Noh Hak-young had destroyed was slowly reforming. It was a monster capable of regeneration.

“Oh, crap!”

Dozens of snowballs flew at once, and Noh Hak-young’s flame thrower spewed fire again. At the same time, Seo-ah dashed forward like an arrow.