I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 106

106.

“Mission… successful?”

Kim Su-hyeok muttered, and Song Jin-ho barely managed to sit up. Seeing this, Yoo Ji-an rushed to Song Jin-ho.

“Wait, just a moment!”

Startled, Song Jin-ho recoiled, but Yoo Ji-an was much faster.

“Quickly, go check on Park Seo-ah.”

“Hyung [older brother or male friend]? Right now… huh?”

Song Jin-ho now realized that Yoo Ji-an’s rampage had subsided.

“Hurry, quickly.”

Yoo Ji-an grabbed Song Jin-ho by the scruff of his neck and headed towards Seo-ah. Almost dragged along, Song Jin-ho knelt down and examined Seo-ah as soon as he saw her.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah? Oh no….”

While Song Jin-ho checked Seo-ah’s carotid artery and cast a recovery skill, Yoo Ji-an looked down at her palm and clenched her hand.

‘With this hand.’

To try and kill her.

Yoo Ji-an squeezed her eyes shut. If the rampage hadn’t stopped at that moment, what would have happened to Park Seo-ah, and to herself?

Knowing that he was skilled in mental attacks, being careless for even a moment was a major mistake.

Having lived four lives already, she was extremely disappointed in herself for being caught off guard by something like that and going on a rampage.

While Yoo Ji-an was blaming herself, the other A-rank Hunters gradually approached Seo-ah and Yoo Ji-an.

“How did you… snap out of it?”

Kang Hae-in looked at Yoo Ji-an with an unbelievable expression, and Yoo Ji-an silently stared at Seo-ah.

Then, Kang Hae-in, Yoon Ah-jung, and Kim Su-hyeok looked at each other and firmly closed their mouths.

Song Jin-ho, who was healing Seo-ah, raised his head.

“Do you have a mana potion? A good one.”

Without hesitation, Yoo Ji-an took out a Maker’s Mana Potion from her inventory. Song Jin-ho flinched at the pouring bottles and stared in disbelief.

“No, not this much….”

“Use it, as much as you need.”

Alice, who had been standing at a distance, also cautiously approached and looked worriedly at the collapsed Seo-ah.

【Looks like she’s back to her senses now, right?】

A curt voice was heard, and when Yoon Ah-jung turned around, the lizard on Alice’s shoulder flicked its tongue.

“Is that, Ignis?”

【Shut up. This form is the best I can do right now.】

It seemed he had used too much power to maintain his human form.

As everyone waited for Seo-ah to wake up, they suddenly heard a noisy commotion.

“Water, it’s water!”

“Bring a bucket, quickly!”

The villagers who saw the pillar of water rising rushed out.

Come to think of it, the scorching sunlight had been obscured by clouds, making it much less hot.

“Has your anger subsided now? Ignis-nim [term of respect]?”

Yoon Ah-jung leaned her face towards the lizard, but pulled her head back with a ‘eek’ as the lizard spat flames.

“Looking at you like that, you look just like a [Salamander] [a mythical amphibian often associated with fire].”

【Don’t compare me to such a low-level spirit.】

“Ignis, don’t get angry.”

Ignis, who had been blazing fiercely, quickly calmed down at Alice’s words.

Song Jin-ho, who continued to use recovery skills, wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Why isn’t she waking up?”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with her stats now… her life force and mana have both recovered to normal.”

“Then could she just be too exhausted and fell asleep?”

“But her pulse is too weak for that.”

Song Jin-ho checked Seo-ah’s wrist and looked at her worriedly. Yoo Ji-an also went to her side and knelt on one knee.

“What should we do? Is there no way?”

“If this continues, it would be better to take her out and… show her to Song Jin-ah.”

Song Jin-ho’s tone was reluctant, but his expression showed that he had no choice since Seo-ah’s life was at stake.

At that moment, Seo-ah frowned and slowly opened her eyelids.

“Park Seo-ah.”

Yoo Ji-an, who had been watching Seo-ah the whole time, called her urgently.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah? Are you awake?”

“…Ah.”

After looking around blankly for a moment, Seo-ah suddenly jumped up and grabbed Yoo Ji-an’s arms with both hands.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

“Park Seo-ah.”

“Your heart, does your heart hurt?”

Seo-ah reached out and groped Yoo Ji-an’s left chest, and Yoo Ji-an tightly grabbed her hand and made eye contact.

“Park Seo-ah, calm down. I’m fine, so check yourself first.”

“…I should be saying that. Who’s worrying about whom?”

Yoon Ah-jung, who was watching, let out a sigh of relief, but shook her head.

Song Jin-ho, who was next to her, also checked Seo-ah’s condition again.

“Aren’t you dizzy?”

“Ah, Hunter Song Jin-ho.”

Only then did Seo-ah realize that she had been too attached to Yoo Ji-an as soon as she opened her eyes. Seo-ah awkwardly let go of her hand and blushed slightly.

“Yes, I’m… fine. Thank you for healing me.”

“Phew, it’s only natural.”

In fact, there was a reason why Seo-ah checked Yoo Ji-an’s condition as soon as she opened her eyes.

When she fainted, she felt dizzy and suffocated, but the decisive reason was the pain in her heart.

Seo-ah didn’t need anyone to explain it to her; she knew that the pain came from Yoo Ji-an.

As the Hunters surrounding Seo-ah gradually moved aside, Alice, who had been buried among them, came forward.

“You’re safe, Alice.”

The lizard popped out onto Alice’s shoulder with a grin and spoke.

【You were impressive for humans.】

Seo-ah recognized that the lizard was Ignis.

【Anyway, thanks to you, I’m with my Alice, so I’ll give you a gift as a reward.】

“A gift?”

Alice lightly shook her staff, drawing a circle. Then, a total of six flames were created and permeated into each of their stomachs.

“Oh.”

They flinched as the fire suddenly approached, but it wasn’t very hot.

[You have acquired Ignis’s Blessing ‘Fire Resistance’.]

“Wow, Fire Resistance.”

“You’d have to give 1 billion gold to get this as an item.”

Yoo Ji-an looked at Seo-ah with a soft gaze. Seo-ah seemed to be reading the description of [Fire Resistance].

“Seo-ah.”

“Yes?”

Seo-ah only turned her eyes to look at Yoo Ji-an. Yoo Ji-an’s lips curled up into a smile.

“Thank you, you did well.”

“Huh…?”

Starting with Yoo Ji-an, the other Hunters also expressed their gratitude to her one by one.

“That’s right, I almost forgot to say thank you. Thank you.”

“You were amazing, Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

“What would we have done if we hadn’t brought you?”

Even Kim Su-hyeok sincerely spoke to Seo-ah, and Seo-ah blushed and didn’t know what to do, moving her lips.

“I… didn’t do anything….”

“Didn’t do anything? Just putting that human to sleep is already a huge achievement. Otherwise, we would all be dead. Right?”

Yoon Ah-jung poked Yoo Ji-an, and Yoo Ji-an slowly nodded.

“You did it, Park Seo-ah.”

Then, as if waiting for it, a system window appeared in front of Seo-ah.

[Mission 2-3 Cleared! The final reward will be given.]

[Ironclad Pine]

Seo-ah had expected this far. But the next moment,

[Your title has completed its growth!]

[Your title is ‘The Best Counselor’.]

[Unique Ability: Emotional Transference]

[By completing all missions, your position ‘Supporter (S-Rank)’ has been unlocked!]

“…Ah.”

Seo-ah blankly stared at the system windows that were popping up non-stop, and then suddenly snapped to her senses at the last phrase.

“Um, excuse me!”

“Why, what’s wrong? Ji-an hyung, Hunter Park Seo-ah is….”

But Yoo Ji-an was also staring blankly into the air.

“What are you doing, hyung?”

[Your title ‘Annihilator (Locked)’ has been unlocked. You are now ‘Annihilator’.]

The locked title was unlocked. Moreover, the D-day that had been decreasing every day had also disappeared.

Yoo Ji-an was certain that this was related to Seo-ah, who had suppressed the rampage.

Yoo Ji-an slowly shifted his gaze to Park Seo-ah.

“Park Seo-ah, has your position been unlocked?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

Yoo Ji-an stared at the system window floating in front of his eyes.

“It seems like I benefited from you again.”

“Hunter Park Seo-ah’s position has been unlocked?”

Yoon Ah-jung butted in, seemingly curious.

“Yes.”

“What’s Seo-ah’s position?”

“Um… S-Rank Supporter.”

The eyes of the A-Rank Hunters widened at Seo-ah’s calm words. Of course, Yoo Ji-an, who already knew, didn’t seem to care.

“S-Rank….”

“Supporter… so that’s why the buff skills were so amazing.”

“Th-that time, the position wasn’t unlocked yet….”

As if they couldn’t hear Seo-ah’s words well, they looked at Seo-ah with more cautious eyes.

“Um, Seo-ah-nim [term of respect]. If I’ve ever bothered you….”

“Why are you like this, Kim Su-hyeok. We agreed to drop the formalities, right?”

“Could I also drop the formalities? S-Rank Hunter-nim?”

“Of course… Ah-jung unnie [older sister or female friend].”

Seo-ah answered as if it were natural to Yoon Ah-jung’s playful words.

【Something good seems to be happening. Don’t you guys have to go now?】

At the heterogeneous voice that cut in between them, the Hunters naturally looked towards the vortex.

Of course, they had cleared the mission and gotten what they needed, so they had to go.

Seo-ah took Ignis and Alice into her eyes. What kind of farewell should she give?

The words ‘let’s meet again’ would be a lie. She had never heard of a gate that had been cleared once being opened again.

“Take care.”

Seo-ah reached out her hand to Alice, and Alice grasped Seo-ah’s hand with her small hand.

The child didn’t seem too sad. It must be because Ignis was by her side.

Before passing through the vortex, the group turned back one more time. They could see the villagers gathering by the water, rejoicing.

“Let’s go.”

After the A-Rank Hunters entered the gate first, Yoo Ji-an took Seo-ah’s hand.