I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 230

230.

In any case, the only S-class monster left here was the locust swarm. There were still some A-class monsters scattered around, but those could be dealt with in time.

Choi Eun-gyeol had managed to herd the locust swarm somewhat in front of the gate, but she couldn’t control all those numerous insects as precisely as she wanted.

Inevitably, she had no choice but to act as bait, wandering around in front of the gate. Choi Eun-gyeol soon burst out in frustration.

“Ugh, come on! Just crawl out already!”

As if hearing Choi Eun-gyeol’s shout, a wriggling shadow appeared from the hole inside the gate.

“Eun-gyeol, be careful!”

The hunters had retreated to a safe distance from the gate.

Yoo Ji-an, Baek Eun-hee, and Choi Eun-gyeol each held five [Nightmare Beads] (items that induce terrifying hallucinations). They planned to detonate the beads, cover their mouths and noses, hold their breath, and escape from this place.

For this operation, one more hunter was needed: Damian, a British hunter with the [Compression] skill (ability to condense and control air).

“Please use your skill as soon as the smoke spreads.”

“Understood.”

As a result of Choi Eun-gyeol and the mages’ movements, the majority of the locust swarm gathered in one place. And soon, an S-class monster appeared.

“Evacuate!”

Choi Eun-gyeol grabbed the nape of the dithering mage and flew backward. And at that spot, a tremendous flame poured down.

Seo-ah stared wide-eyed at the appearing monster. It wasn’t a mistake.

“That’s definitely… the one I saw before…”

“It’s an S-class Red Dragon. The one we saw at the Japanese gate.”

“How is that dragon coming out from there?”

“…….”

Yoo Ji-an had a knowing expression, but he didn’t say anything. There was no time to be standing around like this.

Choi Eun-gyeol, who was closest, threw the [Nightmare Bead] between the locust swarm and the dragon. In response, Baek Eun-hee stirred up the wind, blowing the smoke spreading from the bead towards the gate.

【Kuaaaak! Where are you taking me! I am, I am…!】

A low roar echoed in her mind. The first to react to the smoke wasn’t the dragon, but the locust swarm. Thousands of locusts rushed at the giant dragon, gnawing and digging into it.

【What are these bug bastards!】

The dragon shook its body and swung its tail, but when that didn’t work, it created a fireball.

After that, the dragon’s voice was no longer heard. The dragon, having inhaled the nightmare smoke, seemed to have lost its reason and frantically unleashed attacks on the locust swarm.

The locusts, while burning to death, endlessly replicated and clung to the dragon’s body.

“Looks like it’s somewhat successful, right?”

“For now, yes. There, there, another one’s coming out!”

The vortex of the gate distorted and spat out another monster. This time, it was a robot-type monster called [Iron Claw].

Squeak, squeak-

The friction of metal created an unpleasant noise. Seeing that, Song Jin-ah muttered.

“Do robots even breathe?”

“Uh, do they… ?”

Seo-ah couldn’t answer for sure either. In the first place, aside from breathing, do robots even dream?

A few locusts rushed at the robot, only to be trampled by its steel feet. Still, it was fortunate. It distracted the robot before it could recognize them.

In the midst of that, the next monster came out in quick succession. This time, it was a small figure. It looked similar to a human.

“Elf, it’s an elf!”

It was a slender, female elf. Holding a large staff, she seemed to be a mage of considerable skill. If it was an elf, it was an intelligent being comparable to humans.

They had already experienced humans being monsters, but they couldn’t get used to it. What would it feel like to become a monster and arrive in another world?

But there was no time to indulge in sentiment.

“Let’s throw the beads first!”

Baek Eun-hee threw two [Nightmare Beads] with the skill of throwing a splint, and soon purple smoke rose between the robot and the elf.

Immediately, Damian used [Compression] to gather the smoke towards the monsters. The first bead and the second bead overlapped, making the smoke even thicker.

But then, a human voice was heard from an unexpected place.

“Cough, cough! What’s with this smoke from earlier?”

“Did we come to the right place? Where did all the hunters go?”

“Ugh, there’s a bunch of S-class monsters here!”

Jackson and Mila, seeing them emerge from the smoke, shouted in surprise.

“Ruben!”

“Why is that crazy bastard coming out from there?”

Ruben and four hunters were coming from the direction of the forest where the smoke had thinned out. Seo-ah was also surprised. Hunters shouldn’t be coming out from there right now.

“Everyone, step back!”

Baek Eun-hee shouted. If they had only inhaled the smoke for a brief moment, there was still a chance they could return to their senses. But the direction Ruben came from was the direction Baek Eun-hee had been blowing the wind to push the smoke.

While they watched anxiously, a fight broke out between the robot and the elf. That side was going as planned. But what about Ruben and those hunters?

Ruben, who had been walking out, suddenly stopped.

“Why are you stop…ping…?”

The hunter following behind Ruben asked questioningly, but his words gradually trailed off. The hunters watching them retreated even further. They mustn’t enter the range.

Seo-ah, also grabbed by Yoo Ji-an’s hand and pulled back, looked at Ruben with pity.

“…Ruben.”

Jackson, moving beside her, shook his head coldly.

“There’s no antidote for this item. Unfortunately, we have to give up on Ruben and those hunters.”

If it was just Ruben alone, they could have somehow knocked him unconscious and tied him up to find a solution. But Ruben was too close to the S-class monsters.

Kwang! Kwang!

The sounds of the S-class monsters fighting rang out loudly. Ruben, with eyes that had lost their reason, looked towards the direction of the sound. Then, with a shout filled with rage, he took out his whip and charged towards that side.

“Ruben…!”

Seo-ah cried out softly with a feeling of pity, but that sound was soon buried by the sounds of fighting.

And soon, the ninth monster was about to come out.

“Is this one small too?”

The size of the flickering shadow was a familiar size.

“Human? Another elf?”

“It’s holding a sword, wait, that’s…!”

Someone’s horrified voice was heard. And Seo-ah and those around her couldn’t even make a sound.

Everyone who saw the monster coming out of the gate turned their gaze to one place.

“It’s Yoo Ji-an!”

“What’s going on, why are there two Yoo Ji-ans?”

Their voices were filled with fear. In the midst of that, Ruben, who had lost his reason, charged at the monster [Yoo Ji-an] who had just come out of the gate.

“Ah, no!”

It was an obvious result. The monster [Yoo Ji-an] rushed at Ruben with an invisible speed, then cut him in half with Ruin Blade (a powerful, dark energy infused sword) in an instant. It was Ruben’s futile death.

“…Ah.”

The hunters were horrified, unable to even scream. They only moved their mouths, looking at Yoo Ji-an on their side.

“Hunter Yoo Ji-an, that’s…”

Seo-ah also grabbed Yoo Ji-an’s sleeve slightly with a trembling voice.

“Let’s take care of this first.”

Yoo Ji-an held two [Nightmare Beads] and went as close as possible. And after killing Ruben, he threw the beads at the monster [Yoo Ji-an] who was standing tall.

At that moment, the monster [Yoo Ji-an] quickly dodged the beads. But it couldn’t completely avoid the smoke spreading from the beads.

Yoo Ji-an, after confirming his success, quickly returned to his original position.

“That seems to be me from the 3rd playthrough.”

“…3rd playthrough?”

“To be exact, it’s just a monster created from my memories. I don’t have a past where I fought like that.”

Of course, Seo-ah had also met Yoo Ji-an from the 2nd playthrough. So she understood the situation, but it was still difficult to accept the monster [Yoo Ji-an] that she could see. If Seo-ah was like this, the other hunters would be even more so.

In the midst of that, the monster [Yoo Ji-an], after killing the hunters who were infected by the smoke, stopped for a moment and watched the battle of the S-class monsters.

He was clearly trapped in a nightmare, but unlike the other monsters, he acted as if he had some consciousness.

That [Yoo Ji-an] must also have an ego. He must be very distressed and afraid of the unknown situation.

Seo-ah glanced up at Yoo Ji-an standing next to her. What would Yoo Ji-an think when he saw that [Yoo Ji-an]?

Seo-ah, who was thinking about using [Emotional Transference] (ability to share or influence emotions), soon realized it was rude and gave up. And she tried to focus on the battle between the monsters as much as possible.

After a while, a system window popped up.

[‘Monster Locust’ eliminated! Remaining S-class monsters (5/10)]