I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 195

195.

The Korean team landed in a forest even deeper and denser than Seoa’s.

“Wow, of all the places, why did we have to drop here?”

Choi Eun-gyeol grumbled, his boots sinking into the soggy ground. The forest was incredibly dark, the trees so thick that hardly any sunlight penetrated the canopy.

“Do you know where we are?”

Baek Eun-hee asked. Yoo Ji-an activated the map on his bracelet.

“Only that we’re the farthest from the final mission location of all three teams.”

Baek Eun-hee stood beside Yoo Ji-an, examining the map with him. She pointed to a blinking black dot.

“Is that Seoa’s team?”

“Yeah.”

At the mention of Seoa, Choi Eun-gyeol and Song Jin-ah crowded around the map as well. Choi Eun-gyeol muttered, sounding displeased.

“Shouldn’t we have brought her here, even if it meant pushing ourselves? I’m talking about Seoa noona [older sister or female friend].”

“I was thinking the same thing. Jackson won’t fight as hard if he’s not focused on Park Seoa Hunter.”

Song Jin-ah agreed, and Yoo Ji-an stared intently at the blinking red dot on the map.

The communication device linking Yoo Ji-an and Seoa indicated that her vital signs were stable, meaning she was safe.

The tension in his jaw tightened.

“Park Seoa isn’t weak enough to need coddling anymore.”

At that, Song Jin-ah chuckled.

“Pfft, are you aware that Yoo Ji-an Hunter is the one who looks the most worried?”

“Yeah, unclench your fists a little.”

Baek Eun-hee patted Yoo Ji-an’s shoulder, but he didn’t seem ready to relax.

“We’ve all seen it. Seoa went to high-level Gates [dungeons or portals to other dimensions] just fine even when she was an E-rank Hunter. She was more competent than most A-ranks. She’ll be fine this time too.”

Baek Eun-hee’s eyes, also fixed on the blinking black dot, were filled with affection.

Of course, Baek Eun-hee was also worried about Seoa. But dwelling on the past would only slow down the raid. It was far better to resolve things here quickly and join Seoa.

“Of course, once the raid is over, I’m going to beat up that guy who tried to kidnap her.”

“Include me in that too!”

“Okay, Choi Eun-gyeol, you’re in.”

“But is that Jackson guy really that strong? I really want to go head-to-head with him.”

Perhaps because he was also an S-rank Hunter of the magic type, Choi Eun-gyeol subtly revealed a competitive streak towards Oscar Jackson.

Choi Eun-gyeol could wield as many as four types of magic simultaneously, so it was understandable that he was annoyed that Jackson, who only used water and ice magic, was ranked number one.

“Well, being ranked number one also benefits from America’s vast landmass.”

Baek Eun-hee tilted her head, contemplating her answer.

Regardless of a Hunter’s individual abilities, having a strong national power and a large territory was advantageous in the Hunter rankings. A large territory meant that Gates opened more frequently.

It was standard practice to prioritize allocating Gates within one’s own country to its Hunters.

“But that also means they’ve accumulated a lot of experience, so you can’t ignore that either.”

It wasn’t just that achievements were factored into the score; it also meant they actually had more combat experience, making them more skilled.

“Jackson is strong.”

Yoo Ji-an turned off the map and said in a low voice. Everyone looked at him.

“Strong? How strong?”

“Pretty strong.”

In fact, no one except Yoo Ji-an had witnessed Jackson’s true abilities. Baek Eun-hee had only heard stories but had never seen it firsthand.

However, she had sensed a hint of it during the last temporary Gate boss battle. He would be stronger and more challenging than that, at least.

“How does he compare to hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

Choi Eun-gyeol casually blurted out a potentially sensitive question. This time, Song Jin-ah and Baek Eun-hee also stared intently at Yoo Ji-an, curious.

But Yoo Ji-an answered even more casually.

“I’m stronger.”

Then, he strode off into the dark forest. The same expression spread across the three’s faces.

“Wow, so annoying.”

It was clearly a factual statement, not a joke, but hearing it without a moment’s hesitation was a bit irritating from their perspective.

The three openly grumbled about Yoo Ji-an behind his back, but still followed him.

Before they could take more than a few steps, Yoo Ji-an stopped abruptly. No one asked why, because they could hear it too.

Baek Eun-hee quietly drew [Splinter], a bladed weapon, and held it ready.

“Ugh, something troublesome is coming. Its regeneration is too good.”

Baek Eun-hee clicked her tongue, and Song Jin-ah calmly replied.

“I have a regeneration prevention skill, so don’t worry.”

“Oh, right. That’s right. But you didn’t want to use it because it consumes a lot of mana, right?”

“Ah, that.”

Song Jin-ah smiled, as if remembering something.

“It’s been resolved.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Baek Eun-hee responded while simultaneously launching [Splinter] far away. The toothed wheel flew through the trees, tearing through thick hide, and returned.

The creatures made bizarre noises and revealed themselves between the trees.

They were trolls.

Yoo Ji-an also drew [Ruin Blade].

“Let’s deal with them as quickly as possible.”

The blade flashed blue and was swung horizontally. Following the movement, sword energy shot out, felling several huge trees.

Thanks to that, sunlight streamed in, improving visibility.

The trees were down, but the deep wounds on the trolls’ chests were slowly closing.

“Are there five of them? Let’s see.”

Choi Eun-gyeol lightly leaped backward and climbed into a tree. Pillars of fire spiraled from his hands and shot straight at the trolls.

Whoosh!

“Let’s see if you can regenerate when you’re roasted alive.”

“Hey, hey, stop it! You idiot!”

“Huh? Oh no!”

The troll ran surprisingly fast, even with its body on fire, and swung its iron club at the human attacking it.

Because the fireballs were moving around, the fire spread to the trees, making it harder for the Hunters to fight.

Choi Eun-gyeol eventually jumped down from the burning tree and used water magic to extinguish the fires.

“I just wasted mana.”

Still, it wasn’t completely ineffective. The troll that was directly hit by the fire collapsed, clutching its head. But if left alone, it would regenerate quickly.

At that, Song Jin-ah stabbed the troll’s body with the Tail of the Moon, applying the regeneration prevention skill. Following that, Baek Eun-hee’s Splinter flew at a terrifying speed and separated the troll’s head from its body.

Then, the troll stopped moving.

“It’s quick because of the regeneration prevention.”

“Get out of the way!”

“Eek.”

Bang!

This time, a huge club studded with thorns was aimed at Baek Eun-hee.

“Is it angrier because one died?”

Still, they were relaxed because they knew an easy way to attack. In fact, they would have managed somehow even if they didn’t. Everyone gathered here was strong.

“Song Jin-ah, go now.”

“Ah, just a moment!”

Yoo Ji-an grabbed the back of Song Jin-ah’s neck as she ran. He threw her at the rampaging troll.

While panicking, Song Jin-ah nimbly did a somersault in the air and landed on the troll’s back. As soon as she stabbed the Tail of the Moon into the back of its neck, she quickly jumped to the ground.

But this time, the troll was fast.

As soon as Song Jin-ah jumped down, the troll spread its large hand and covered her.

“Ugh, do something quickly!”

Song Jin-ah was lying on the ground, holding up the troll’s palm with two daggers.

Yoo Ji-an lightly kicked off the ground. He cut off the troll’s head with Ruin Blade in one swift motion, then kicked it towards the head of another troll.

Bang!

In that way, the fallen troll and the remaining three were all finished off one by one.

In the process of fighting, quite a few of the surrounding trees had fallen. Only then could they see the sky.

“Hoo. The weather’s nice.”

It was definitely a clear and blue sky, different from the sky in Seoul. Yoo Ji-an looked at the dead trolls’ corpses with indifferent eyes and tilted his head diagonally.

His gaze settled on a cliff, and there was a small hole at the bottom. An ordinary person would never have noticed it, but it was easily visible to the eyes of an S-rank Hunter.

“Why, what are you looking at?”

“I need to stop by there.”

“There? Ah, a mine?”

Baek Eun-hee recognized it right away.

“Do we really have to go there? You said we don’t have time.”

Of course, magic crystals were used as materials for various things, so it was good to stop by a mine. So, they sometimes stopped by when they found one, but upper-level Hunters with plenty of money usually found it too bothersome and skipped it.

“We have to go in that direction anyway, and I was asked to do something.”

“Really? Then we have to go.”

Baek Eun-hee understood immediately without him even saying who it was. If Yoo Ji-an cared about someone’s request, there was only one person.

From then on, they moved quickly, not walking on the ground but leaping through the trees.