I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 112

112.

“Ah….”

Seo-ah was about to explain, but Baek Eun-hee quickly approached and scooped Seo-ah up in her arms.

“Wow, waah! Sis!”

“Our Seo-ah, let’s get a good look at your face after so long. I really missed you.”

Baek Eun-hee rubbed her cheeks against Seo-ah’s, and Seo-ah mumbled, her pronunciation still a little unclear.

“Mi, missed you too….”

“Hehe, I was going to come see you as soon as this business was over, but you came just in time. Did Cha Tae-woon call you?”

“Yes, yes. I got a call earlier… Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn happened to be with me too.”

Baek Eun-hee, pointedly ignoring Yoo Ji-ahn, gently placed Seo-ah back on the ground. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at her.

“Seo-ah, is it just me, or is something different about you?”

As expected, Baek Eun-hee noticed immediately, even without being told.

“That’s right, Sis. I… I awakened during this raid.”

“You awakened? Seo-ah, does that mean you’re an S-class now? Congratulations!”

“Well… yes. But I’m not that strong….”

Seo-ah scratched her head sheepishly, and another powerful hunter appeared from the entrance.

She wore a look of dismay as soon as she appeared.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah… S-class? Did I hear wrong?”

It was Song Jin-ah, the guild leader of the Angel Guild and an S-class healer. Baek Eun-hee’s voice wasn’t very loud, but Song Jin-ah seemed to have overheard.

Song Jin-ah had previously healed Yoo Ji-ahn and then hesitated between supporting Park Seo-ah and acquiring a Legend-grade weapon, ultimately choosing the weapon.

Baek Eun-hee, knowing the whole story, smirked.

“Song Jin-ah even came here. I heard you met our Seo-ah before?”

“She was definitely an E-class last time, wasn’t she? Hunter Park Seo-ah, let’s talk for a moment.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Song Jin-ah urgently reached out to Seo-ah, but Baek Eun-hee wrapped her arm around Seo-ah’s shoulders and pulled her close. At the same time, Yoo Ji-ahn lightly tapped Song Jin-ah’s wrist with his scabbard, a subtle warning.

“Ha, you guys already knew, didn’t you?”

Song Jin-ah glared at everyone except Seo-ah in disbelief. Seo-ah awkwardly stepped out of Baek Eun-hee’s embrace and pressed the elevator button.

“W-well, let’s go up first. The Chairman must be waiting.”

The elevator doors opened, and everyone got inside.

Seo-ah looked around at the faces of those in the elevator.

Everyone except Han Seok-hyun was an S-class hunter.

Perhaps because Seo-ah’s senses had become more sensitive, the presence of each S-class hunter felt particularly strong, making it hard for her to breathe.

But the others didn’t seem to mind at all. Was it because she was still weak for an S-class?

“I should have realized it when Guild Leader Han Seok-hyun made me that offer. There was a reason why he gave me a Legend-grade weapon.”

Song Jin-ah muttered, still sounding regretful, while constantly glancing at Seo-ah.

“Well, if you’re not smart, there’s nothing you can do. You should blame yourself for being blinded by greed, don’t you think?”

“Eun-hee, Sis, you keep teasing me. I won’t stand for it if you keep doing that.”

Song Jin-ah retorted to the mocking Baek Eun-hee, and the elevator shook for a moment.

“You won’t stand for it? What are you going to do?”

Baek Eun-hee retorted sharply, and Song Jin-ah looked ready to draw her weapon at any moment.

“P-please, not here….”

Seo-ah fidgeted between them, and Yoo Ji-ahn silently stepped in front of Seo-ah, shielding her.

Han Seok-hyun was only an A-class, but he seemed used to this situation, only grumbling while looking at the elevator’s floor indicator.

“The Association needs to upgrade its elevators. They’re so slow; it always leaves time for fighting.”

Fortunately, the elevator soon reached the 70th floor.

Previously, Seo-ah had signed raid contracts with the Royal Guild and the Sun Guild here.

She had also made a deal with the Chairman.

‘That’s something I need to re-examine from the beginning….’

As they got out of the elevator and walked, the door to the Chairman’s office opened. Cha Tae-woon seemed to have sensed their arrival in advance.

“…The energy was excessively strong, so Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn came as well.”

“I’m with her.”

Yoo Ji-ahn gestured towards Seo-ah.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s something that requires everyone’s strength anyway. Come in, everyone.”

Seo-ah had come because she was called, but she was still hesitant as she entered.

‘Can I quit being a hunter here? It’s too soon to quit….’

Spending more time with Geon-hoo was, of course, important.

But if she quit being a hunter, wouldn’t her connection with these people weaken as well?

It would be a shame for the memories of risking their lives and fighting together to fade.

They sat down on either side of a long, wide table, and Cha Tae-woon stood in front and projected a screen.

“Thank you all for being here. The reason I called you today is….”

“It’s because of the Sunflowers, right? Those guys are spreading faster than they look.”

Song Jin-ah interjected before Cha Tae-woon could finish speaking.

“That’s right. Until now, the Association has been managing it, but I think we’ve passed that stage.”

Baek Eun-hee nodded, looking at the screen with her legs crossed.

“We’re cleaning up around the Royal Guild, but they keep popping up as soon as we get rid of them. It doesn’t seem like something that can be solved by just eliminating them in one place.”

“That’s why I’m saying….”

Cha Tae-woon displayed a map including Seoul and the Gyeonggi area on the screen.

“I’d like to divide the metropolitan area into five zones and have each guild take charge of the cleanup. We’ve already sent official requests for cooperation to the top 20 guilds in Seoul.”

Seo-ah, who had been listening quietly, raised her hand slightly and asked.

“Where was the first Sunflower discovered?”

“Ah, it’s a villa area near L University. It was reported that it was first discovered in the flower beds there. I’m wondering where the monsters leaked from… Why do you ask?”

“I think I’ve seen that Sunflower somewhere… If it’s near L University, I know the place.”

If it were just a Sunflower, it wouldn’t be strange to have seen it somewhere, but the Grotesque Sunflower looked different from ordinary sunflowers.

It had the same yellow background, but the petals had red spots, and the leaves were shaped like claws. In short, it was grotesque for a flower.

Seo-ah pondered for a moment and suddenly raised her head.

“I think I know why!”

The hunters all turned to look at Seo-ah, and Seo-ah confidently replied. Once she remembered, the memory became clear.

“It’s the Sunflower from the sudden gate I got caught up in near Gangnam Station before.”

Han Seok-hyun, who was at the scene, frowned, trying to recall the memory, and Yoo Ji-ahn nodded.

“Now that you mention it, I think I saw it there too.”

Yoo Ji-ahn was also able to remember because he had entered that gate.

“A sudden gate.”

“Ah, I didn’t bring anything out with me.”

Seo-ah spread her hands wide as if to show her innocence, and Cha Tae-woon smiled slightly at the sight.

“I know. Hunter Park Seo-ah, you stayed at the Sun Guild right after that, didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes. I did.”

“If you carried monsters in your inventory, it would have been caught by the guild’s security system.”

Han Seok-hyun gave an additional explanation.

“Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn wouldn’t have done that… Hmm, then what’s left is.”

“Wasn’t there a civilian who got caught up in it with you back then?”

Han Seok-hyun asked Seo-ah, trying to remember, and Seo-ah replied.

“There was, a senior from school… Senior Gil Gyeong-tae. But surely not. Don’t they check everything later?”

Seo-ah knew well because the Association had checked several times when she was first caught in the sudden gate.

“Anyway, the scope has narrowed down. I’ll have to order them to investigate.”

“What happens if… that senior is the one?”

“He will be punished according to the Monster Management Violation Act. He’s a civilian, so it won’t be as much as a hunter, but he’ll still get at least a year in prison. The scale of the damage is that great this time.”

“A year in prison….”

Seo-ah couldn’t be completely sure, even though she thought it couldn’t be him, when she thought about Gil Gyeong-tae’s personality.

And if it wasn’t him, who else could it be?

“Anyway, those of you here will have to lead the other hunters in the Grotesque Sunflower monster extermination operation.”

Seo-ah, who had been listening quietly, pointed to herself.

“Me too?”

“Yes, Hunter Park Seo-ah, you are now a full-fledged high-ranking hunter. And the highest-ranking one, an S-class.”

“I don’t want to reveal that I’m an S-class hunter to the outside yet.”

Moreover, Seo-ah wasn’t a combat type, and her hunter experience was very short. And she was hesitating about whether to continue this hunter job because of Geon-hoo.

“I know; that’s why I prepared this.”

Cha Tae-woon took out something like a slimy leather from the air. It was something she had seen somewhere before.

“This is….”

“It’s a mask that changes your face.”

It was the mask that Baek Eun-hee and Yoo Ji-ahn had worn before. To prepare this much, it became even more difficult to back out.

“Civilian casualties are becoming more and more severe every day. They are extending their power to schools, hospitals, and residential areas. If you are a hunter, shouldn’t you protect them?”

Cha Tae-woon drove a wedge, knowing Seo-ah’s hesitation. And this time, no one objected to his words.

The high-ranking hunters naturally thought that they should protect people. It was a sense of responsibility that Seo-ah couldn’t understand yet. But,

‘It’s true that they were found in hospitals too.’

It would be good to help them and solve it quickly. Moreover, the Grotesque Sunflower itself wasn’t a very strong monster, so it could be easily dealt with.

“Okay, I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll participate too.”