I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 193

193.

Next, the Korean team prepared to enter, walking past the American team, who had moved aside.

Seo-ah made eye contact with each of them. As Yoo Ji-an passed, his little finger lightly brushed against Seo-ah’s.

Seeing the slight upturn of Seo-ah’s lips, Jackson pulled her shoulder back. Seo-ah looked at Jackson, puzzled, and he scolded her.

“We shouldn’t block the way.”

“…….”

Anyone could tell it was a lame excuse, delivered shamelessly. As he said that, Jackson glared at Yoo Ji-an. Yoo Ji-an smirked at the look and nonchalantly walked past.

‘Somehow, their expressions seem to have changed….’

It seemed like Jackson was the one acting relaxed and smirking, while Yoo Ji-an was glaring.

Whatever the case, Seo-ah cheered for Yoo Ji-an in her heart.

The Korean team held hands and entered the gate. Watching them go in, Seo-ah unconsciously tensed up and hardened her expression.

There was no time to lose focus. Soon, it was time for Jackson’s team, including Seo-ah, to enter.

“Hoo….”

Seo-ah also checked her equipment from head to toe.

The Bbyongmangchi had leveled up and was already level 4.

[Mace Bbyongmangchi (LV.4)]

[An item containing the memories of the boss-level monster ‘Hammer’ from his childhood. With the ‘Bbyong’ sound, you can become invincible at any time.]

[Strength +70, Agility +80, Mentality +60]

[20% increase in the duration of all buff skills]

[User can choose between lethal and non-lethal]

[Additional options: Pile Driver, Area Attack, 10% reduction in Mana Consumption, Return]

The stat increases had also increased, and additional options had been added.

And Seo-ah herself had grown a little after becoming an S-class, participating in several raids, and training.

[Stats: Strength 1100, Magic Power 1085, Agility 1060, Defense 1121, Stamina 1092, Mentality 8821]

[Active Skills: Recovery (LV.2), Breakthrough (LV.2), Fighting (LV.5 MAX), Love Yourself (LV.4), Ironclad Pine Tree (LV.4)]

[Passive Skills: Brain, Gentle Sunlight, Quiet Night, Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance, Mana Battery, Midas’s Hand, Reverse]

[Unique Skill: Genie of the Lamp]

[To be deleted: Treasure Hunt, Punch]

Her stats, except for Mentality, were still not much different from those of someone who had reached the maximum for A-class.

The [Genie of the Lamp] had also increased the number of skills. It was a shame that there were no decent attack skills.

Above all, the growth that Seo-ah found most useful was that the [Fighting] skill had reached level 5, the maximum.

At level 5, Seo-ah could set the duration and increase rate herself. The shorter the duration, the higher the maximum increase rate.

For example, if the duration was set to 1 minute, the increase rate could be raised to a whopping 100%. It seemed very useful when requiring a tremendous burst of power.

‘Other buff skills will probably be similar if they reach level 5.’

So, she was planning to use her skills a lot in this raid so that she could level up quickly.

Seo-ah went to the swirling vortex.

Jackson grabbed Seo-ah’s hand. It was unpleasant, but it was a basic rule for entering an upper-level gate, so she accepted it calmly.

“Okay, it’s time now.”

Following the guidance of the Japanese staff managing the gate, she slowly stepped into the vortex.

‘Ugh.’

The moment she stepped in, Seo-ah inhaled sharply at the pressure that seemed to suck her in. It was a sensation she hadn’t felt much since becoming an S-class, but this gate was indeed S-class, and the pressure felt painfully strong.

Seo-ah unconsciously grabbed Jackson’s hand tightly. At that moment, Jackson put something over Seo-ah’s shoulder. Then, miraculously, the pressure on her shoulder became much lighter.

“…Hoo.”

Were Jackson and the others okay?

Only then did Seo-ah come to her senses and look at Jackson and the other members next to him. Mila, Ruben, and Jose were not clearly visible from here, and Jackson looked fine.

Jackson’s stats would not be lacking compared to Yoo Ji-an.

‘He’s definitely a strong hunter.’

In the darkness, a group of stars flowed beneath her feet. Only after the pain disappeared did the beautiful and vast scene come into view.

‘It really feels like walking in space. Ah, is it actually real, not just a feeling?’

After blinking a few times, the surroundings suddenly brightened. At the same time, Seo-ah’s body dropped from the air.

“Ah!”

Jackson let go of Seo-ah’s hand and glided down alone. He seemed to have a flying skill.

“Why don’t you take me with you? How stingy.”

Seo-ah grumbled, but barely managed to come to her senses and turned on the flight mode on the [Unicorn Boots]. Then, she slowly reduced her speed and landed safely on the ground.

‘Even though it’s only 1 minute, it’s a useful option in many ways.’

She thought she had made the right choice in choosing this from Maker’s gate. She wondered how Maker was doing.

Seo-ah stared at the gate entrance message for a moment and then looked around.

Jackson was visible nearby.

“Ah, this.”

Seo-ah took off Jackson’s pure white coat that was covering her shoulder.

[Scream of the Ghost (LV.4)]

[Magic range tripled, freezing resistance, defense 100]

“Wow, it’s a legend-grade item.”

Jackson’s weapon, [Frozen Spear], was also a legend-grade weapon, so he had two legend-grade items.

‘To lend me something like this, he’s more generous than I thought.’

As soon as she thought that, Jackson came over and took the coat from Seo-ah’s hands. Then, he naturally put it on himself.

“Hmm.”

Seo-ah looked over Jackson’s appearance and touched her lips as if she was feeling uncomfortable.

Because Jackson, wearing a pure white coat and holding a spear, looked exactly like the boss she had seen in the temporary gate before.

Feeling Seo-ah’s gaze, Jackson looked at Seo-ah.

“What’s wrong? Are you coveting this coat?”

“Ah, no. It’s just… it suits you well.”

She couldn’t say, ‘You look exactly like a gate boss,’ so Seo-ah said anything.

Well, it was true that it suited him well.

His sparkling blonde hair, blue glass-like eyes, white face, and white coat blended well.

When he kept his mouth shut and stayed still, he sometimes gave off a clergyman-like atmosphere because of his unique neatness.

Jackson, hearing Seo-ah’s words, seemed to make a strange expression, then suddenly took off his coat again and put it in Seo-ah’s arms.

“Oh, why, why are you giving it back… ?”

“I don’t need it right now, so wear it and give it back to me later.”

Seo-ah was looking at Jackson in bewilderment when she heard a burst of laughter from the bushes.

Jackson and Seo-ah turned their heads to the bushes at the same time.

Mila and Jose popped out from there, Jackson turned his head away, and Seo-ah didn’t know what to do with the coat, so she put it back on. When else would she get to wear a legend-grade coat?

“Did something fun happen?”

Seo-ah looked at Mila with a clueless expression, and Mila waved her hand while still chuckling.

“Ah, no. I saw a funny scene, but my life is precious too. Haha.”

“Stop laughing and come here. Where’s Ruben?”

“I’m here.”

At Jackson’s question, Ruben also walked out from somewhere and approached.

“Annoying, I fell into a swamp.”

He seemed to be unlucky. As if to prove the word swamp, Ruben’s shoes and the bottom of his pants were dirty.

In the meantime, Seo-ah made eye contact with Jose. Jose also gave a slightly embarrassed expression and bowed slightly.

After confirming that everyone was gathered, Jackson pressed his bracelet to turn on the overall map. Since they had just entered, the entire map was not yet visible. Still, the area around where the three teams had entered was immediately visible.

‘The Korean team….’

Unfortunately, the Korean team was quite far from where Seo-ah was.

“There is a palace and a city here. We seem to be in the forest path around it. Let’s go to where people are first.”

Jackson skillfully pointed to the map and gave instructions to his team members.

As expected, there were people in this gate as well.

As a result of Seo-ah’s experience in several raids, she couldn’t say for sure, but the higher the level of the gate, the higher the probability that there were many people and civilizations were developed.

The road to the city where people lived was well paved, so all they had to do was follow it.

‘Unexpectedly, it’s peaceful for an S-class gate so far….’

As soon as she thought that, two men came running from the path on the opposite side of the city.

“Sa, save us!”