I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 114

114.

“Haa, I’m tired….”

As soon as Seo-ah sat down after providing support, the radio buzzed.

– Hunter in the waiting room, we need support in the Gangdong-gu area!

“Ah… Okay, I understand.”

Seo-ah sighed and stood up again. The subjugation operation that started yesterday afternoon continued until today.

The central area, managed by the Association, was relatively safe because it overlapped with several guilds’ territories, so there weren’t many monsters. However, it was several times busier because they had to provide support in all directions due to the lack of manpower.

‘Gangdong-gu is far, so I’ll have to go by helicopter.’

Seo-ah looked around and found Oh Hyun-soo lingering outside the waiting room door.

“Hunter Oh Hyun-soo!”

“Uh… who are you? How did you get here?”

Oh Hyun-soo looked flustered and examined Seo-ah up and down.

“Huh? Ah, I’m Park Seo-ah, Park Seo-ah.”

Seo-ah tapped the name tag temporarily issued by the Association and showed it to him.

“Ah, you’re Hunter Park Seo-ah?”

“Yes! I’m wearing the mask the Association President gave me.”

“I see… now that you mention it, your voice is definitely Hunter Park Seo-ah’s.”

Oh Hyun-soo replied dazedly and looked at Seo-ah’s face again in detail. He seemed quite amazed by her completely changed appearance.

Seo-ah quickly got to the point.

“I need to go support Gangdong-gu right away, is there a helicopter available?”

“Helicopter? Just a moment.”

Oh Hyun-soo took out a tablet PC and tapped around, then nodded.

“There happens to be one, let’s go together.”

“Yes.”

Seo-ah took the elevator with Oh Hyun-soo and looked silently at his profile.

[Title: Best Counselor

– Unique Ability ‘Emotion Transference’ (S-Rank)]

[Emotion Transference (S-Rank): Can feel people’s emotions. Affected by ‘Affinity’.]

As Seo-ah muttered ‘Emotion Transference’ while looking at Oh Hyun-soo, she flinched slightly as a strong sense of fatigue and rising annoyance washed over her from him.

Soon, when she looked away, the feeling disappeared. Seo-ah sighed softly.

‘Well, it’s understandable that he’s tired.’

Seo-ah was only going out on occasional support requests, but the hunters belonging to the Association were really busy handling both military support and administrative tasks simultaneously.

There was also a shortage of manpower, so they had to keep working without shifts. They were holding on because they were strong hunters, but they were just barely holding on and must be tired.

Still, Oh Hyun-soo seemed to have a lot of patience, not showing this level of fatigue outwardly.

Since yesterday, Seo-ah had been meeting many people and learning how to control this ‘Emotion Transference’ ability.

She didn’t want to live feeling other people’s emotions until she didn’t want to anymore.

The skill usage was simpler than she thought.

You just had to look at the person and chant ‘Emotion Transference.’ But sometimes, if you made eye contact for too long, it would activate automatically even without chanting the skill name.

When ‘Emotion Transference’ was activated, you could literally feel the other person’s emotions. It was very different from mind reading because you couldn’t read the other person’s thoughts themselves in words.

And as the description said, the degree and type of feeling varied somewhat depending on the affinity.

Seo-ah chanted ‘Affinity Check.’ Then, letters appeared above Oh Hyun-soo’s head.

[Affinity Level 2]

Even while looking at it, she couldn’t help but think it was a very subjective skill.

‘How can you put a level on affinity?’

Yesterday, Cha Tae-woon was Affinity Level 1, and she felt him expecting and regretting for a very brief moment when he looked at Seo-ah.

Oh Hyun-soo, who was Level 2, felt it longer and more clearly than that.

‘It’s true that Hunter Oh Hyun-soo is more familiar than Association President Cha Tae-woon.’

Because she had seen him a few more times. In comparison, Cha Tae-woon still felt somewhat difficult. [Seo-ah finds Cha Tae-woon more reserved or formal.]

Hunters who had no acquaintance at all didn’t show any letters at all, and Seo-ah had decided to call them ‘Affinity Level 0’ herself.

Ordinary people who weren’t hunters also didn’t show up at all.

However, even if the affinity was 0, it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel anything at all, and she could fully feel intense emotional changes or murderous intent regardless of affinity.

‘I think I’ve learned enough about Emotion Transference.’

The problem was the skill that could be used with the feelings read by this ‘Emotion Transference’ title ability.

[Unique Skill: Genie of the Lamp]

Seo-ah was quite curious about this newly acquired unique skill. [Genie of the Lamp], even the name was strange.

[Genie of the Lamp: Grants the hunter’s wishes. (Given slots: 3) Only applicable to hunters read with ‘Emotion Transference’.]

‘Grants wishes? I’m not some kind of god.’

It was amazing, but it was useless so far because she didn’t know how to use it.

And even if it was a ‘wish,’ there would probably be a limit. There must be a reason why the target was a ‘hunter.’

‘Then grant my wish first.’

Right now, Seo-ah’s wish was for her younger brother Park Geon-hoo’s health.

Anyway, Seo-ah had tried wishing yesterday while chanting ‘Genie of the Lamp.’

But after confirming that nothing happened, she felt not just disappointment but even anger.

What good is a wish-fulfilling right that only grants other people’s wishes?

While Seo-ah was lost in thought, the two arrived at the rooftop.

Getting out of the elevator, she saw the helicopter that Oh Hyun-soo had called, already creating wind and floating in the air.

The helicopter didn’t land and lowered a ladder.

Realizing what it meant, Seo-ah immediately jumped and grabbed onto the ladder. Seo-ah, who quickly boarded the helicopter, looked down.

Behind her, Oh Hyun-soo was climbing the ladder. Just as he was about to board the helicopter, a strong wind blew and Oh Hyun-soo’s foot slipped.

“Oh! Be careful!”

In that short moment, Seo-ah grabbed Oh Hyun-soo’s wrist and pulled him up.

“Ah… oh dear, how embarrassing.”

Oh Hyun-soo, who boarded the helicopter with Seo-ah’s help, blushed.

For a C-rank hunter, this was nothing. Not just C-rank, but even D-rank or E-rank could easily hang on a ladder in the air and board a helicopter.

“You seem very tired.”

As Seo-ah said comfortingly, Oh Hyun-soo scratched the back of his neck with an awkward expression.

“I’m a little weaker in terms of physical strength compared to other hunters of the same rank.”

“I see… don’t overdo it and take some rest while working.”

Seo-ah replied appropriately and turned her gaze out the window. She pretended to look at the city spread out below, but she was actually looking at the system window.

The window had popped up since she grabbed Oh Hyun-soo’s wrist earlier.

[Hunter ‘Oh Hyun-soo’s’ wish has been received. The skill ‘Genie of the Lamp’ will be activated!]

[Hunter ‘Oh Hyun-soo’s’ wish is “I wish my stamina would increase by 1 million.” Would you like to grant it? Y/N]

Her heart was pounding.

She didn’t know how to use [Genie of the Lamp] all along, but it suddenly appeared.

Was it because she grabbed his wrist, or was it because Oh Hyun-soo said he lacked stamina?

It could be both.

As Seo-ah didn’t answer, the system window blinked as if urging her.

‘Yes…?’

As Seo-ah answered absentmindedly, a sphere of light was created on one of her palms.

‘Oh, what is this.’

Surprised, Seo-ah covered her hand over her thigh to hide the light. Fortunately, Oh Hyun-soo didn’t seem to notice.

[Touch the hunter.]

Seo-ah slightly opened her mouth at the familiar phrase and then closed it. Her first mission from the system was ‘Touch the hunter.’

‘If I touch Hunter Oh Hyun-soo with the glowing hand, his wish will be granted.’

Seo-ah glanced at Oh Hyun-soo and hesitated for a moment.

If the other person’s wish is suddenly granted, wouldn’t it be too strange if Oh Hyun-soo’s stamina suddenly increased?

While she was hesitating, Oh Hyun-soo pointed to the top of a building with his hand.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah, you can get off at that building.”

“Ah? Ah, yes.”

“Then I’ll go first. I have to meet the Association staff here.”

“Yes, yes? Wait a minute…!”

After saying goodbye to Seo-ah, Oh Hyun-soo jumped off closer to the place he pointed to and landed.

As Oh Hyun-soo moved away, the sphere of light shining in Seo-ah’s hand also disappeared.

“…Ah, damn it.”

It was a shame, but there was nothing she could do.

The building Seo-ah was getting off at was already close, and Seo-ah jumped off without hesitation.

Seo-ah stood on the rooftop and looked down.

She could see clearly to a very distant place.

Mutant sunflowers and hunters were fighting everywhere.

The mutant sunflowers themselves weren’t strong monsters, so they were being eliminated quickly, but they were spreading even faster.

“Hoo.”

Seo-ah took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

As the senses of an S-rank hunter expanded, she could vividly feel the magic clashing here and there.

The place where the most intense battle was taking place.

‘It’s there.’

Without delay, Seo-ah jumped off the 20-story building. After spinning three times in the air, Seo-ah landed lightly and ran straight to the battle scene.