I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 115

115.

“Wow, it’s really big.”

Seo-ah, having arrived at the scene, tilted her head back as far as it would go. There stood a sunflower, towering so high that its top was out of sight.

It was the biggest she had ever seen.

The Grotesque Sunflower wildly swung its thick stalks, blocking the hunters’ attacks. And it scattered countless seeds in all directions.

The seeds took root and sprouted as soon as they fell on the asphalt. The hunters below seemed overwhelmed just trying to deal with the baby sunflowers.

Seo-ah immediately took out her Bbyong Hammer. The Bbyong Hammer in her hand resonated, humming softly.

[Mace Bbyong Hammer (LV.2)]

[Strength +50, Agility +20, Mentality +30]

[Additional Option: Magic Power +20]

[User can choose between lethal and non-lethal settings.]

[Duration of all buff skills increased by 15%]

As Seo-ah awakened as an S-class hunter, her Bbyong Hammer also leveled up. What was amazing about leveling up was that she could choose the additional option stats.

So Seo-ah chose magic power to increase her mana, which was always in short supply.

First, she looked around and cast her three-piece buff set on the surrounding hunters, including herself.

[Fighting (LV.3): Strength, Agility increased by 20% (2 hours)]

[Love Yourself (LV.3): Mentality, Magic Power increased by 20% (2 hours)]

[Ironclad Pine Tree (LV.1): Defense, Health increased by 10% (5 minutes)]

From level 3, skills could be applied to multiple targets within a certain range.

“Huh? What is it?”

The hunters, suddenly filled with strength, looked around in surprise, searching for Seo-ah. But Seo-ah was already gone.

She had disappeared as soon as she cast the buffs.

“Haa!”

Seo-ah quickly climbed up, stepping on the giant leaves and stalks. There was no fear.

The evolved Grotesque Sunflower was D⁺ class [a monster ranking system, where D+ is a relatively low threat level].

Its considerable size was threatening, but that was only for mediocre hunters. For Seo-ah, who was S-class and had a three-piece buff set, it was child’s play.

The problem was the speed of reproduction, which Seo-ah couldn’t do anything about.

Arriving at the flower head, Seo-ah shuddered at the sight of the mouth-like hole filled with teeth.

“Ew, disgusting.”

The Grotesque Sunflower waved and twisted its pistil, trying to swallow Seo-ah, who had climbed on top of it.

Seo-ah easily dodged and slammed the Bbyong Hammer down on the base of the flower with all her might.

The sunflower flower staggered for a moment from the blow.

Seo-ah grabbed a petal and slid down. And while hanging, she repeatedly struck the stalk right below the flower with one hand.

Clang, clang, clang!

A tremendous noise, as if metal were colliding with metal, echoed, and the air vibrated with each strike.

And soon, the struck part of the stalk snapped and collapsed.

“Everyone, get away!”

As Seo-ah shouted down, the hunters who were entangled in battle all stepped back.

Seo-ah landed one last blow, and the large flower was completely separated from the stalk and fell to the ground.

Thud!

As the head fell, the stalk naturally lost its strength and went limp.

Seo-ah also landed on the ground without delay, catching her breath. As expected of an S-class hunter, she defeated it easily, but it was a bit disappointing that she had to rely on pure stats because she didn’t have any attack skills.

If she cooperated with a high-level hunter, she would return to the role of supporter, but most of the hunters around her were low-level, and the situation was urgent, so Seo-ah stepped in.

“Wow, who is that?”

“I know, it’s a face I’ve never seen before?”

Seo-ah heard the hunters whispering about her and quickly left the scene.

‘This should be enough.’

If she just gets rid of that giant Grotesque Sunflower, the rest will be taken care of by the hunters here.

If a high-level hunter monopolizes too much, it would be like taking away the share of the other hunters, so she had to refrain from it.

Seo-ah moved away from the scene and opened her inventory.

“Oh, another card came in.”

That makes two.

She heard that she could open a gate [a portal to another dimension or area with monsters and resources] with ten of these cards.

‘Even so… what am I going to do opening it?’

Perhaps because she wasn’t very interested in the hunter life itself, she wasn’t particularly excited. There were expensive items to be found, but if they were inside the gate, she might have to risk her life.

Rather than such greed, Seo-ah’s top priority was to resolve this situation quickly and return to Geon-woo.

Seo-ah avoided people’s eyes and headed to the back of a building where there were few people.

“Ugh….”

But there was someone there too. No, to be precise, it was a middle-aged hunter groaning, his body wrapped around a Grotesque Sunflower stalk the size of a person.

“Sa, save me!”

She could feel a faint aura of magic power, so he wasn’t an ordinary person.

Without even taking out her Bbyong Hammer, Seo-ah unwound the stalk with her hands and snapped off the flower. These small, unevolved sunflowers were only E-class [the lowest monster ranking].

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh, thanks to you… I’m alive.”

The hunter, who was about to be eaten whole by that mere E-class monster sunflower, gasped and crawled out.

Seo-ah watched the hunter closely, her eyes sparkling. He was an E-class hunter like her past self. And he was one of the weaker E-class hunters.

He looked like he was in pain from what had just happened. Seo-ah put her hand on his shoulder, which was still slumped over, and used a recovery skill with an indifferent face.

The level of the recovery skill was still low, but it could still relieve some of the pain.

“Ah… were you a healer? Thank you.”

“Go to a safe place when you recover. If it’s difficult, I’ll guide you to the shelter.”

“Shelter? Ah, no. I’m a hunter too, even if I look like this. I have to fight with you.”

“…….”

The man flinched as Seo-ah stared at him.

Seo-ah had only met high-level hunters or hunters who were used to them, so she didn’t know, but after becoming an S-class, Seo-ah’s presence and intimidation had grown significantly.

Just looking at him silently was enough to scare an E-class hunter.

“I, I won’t get in the way. Please, don’t send me away.”

The middle-aged man looked frightened and tearful, and Seo-ah turned away, realizing what she had done.

Of course, she didn’t look at him to scare him. She just looked at him for a moment because some of the man’s emotions were conveyed to her when their eyes met.

The man’s emotions right now were desperation close to earnestness.

Seo-ah asked.

“I guess there’s a reason why you have to fight?”

“Yes? Yes, that’s… right. Because this is the only way left now.”

The man’s eyes turned red. Seo-ah’s [Silent Night] [likely a skill that calms emotions] was activated, and the man regained his composure.

“My child is sick. They say there’s no hope.”

“…Ah.”

“Have you ever heard of an elixir, Hunter?”

“Elixir? What’s that?”

“In a word, it’s like a panacea [a cure-all]. I heard it as a rumor, so I’m not sure, but… I heard that you can get such items inside a gate that is forcibly opened by catching monsters and collecting cards.”

Seo-ah’s pupils trembled slightly.

A panacea, does such a thing really exist?

“Really, is it there?”

“I don’t really know exactly. Because no one has ever seen it. It may just be an unsubstantiated rumor… but as a father, I can’t just sit back and do nothing, can I? Even if it’s not an elixir… I need money too.”

Seo-ah seemed to understand even without the man explaining in detail. Seo-ah also had a sick family member, and she needed money until recently.

E-class hunters who are not skilled in combat have few opportunities to participate in gates, so the amount of money they can earn is limited.

In times like these, catching low-level monsters roaming around the city and picking up and selling even junk items can be quite helpful to the household.

Seo-ah was a little shaken by the man’s words, but she spoke calmly.

“I see, but it’s dangerous to keep going around like this. And even if you get the cards, you have to return them all. That’s the condition you came here under, right?”

Most of the hunters who came to support this place belong to guilds. In addition, the Hunter Association received support and put them into this mop-up operation.

Even if they hide it secretly, the association will track them down.

At Seo-ah’s words, the man carefully examined her and discovered that the vest she was wearing had the association’s mark on it.

“You’re an association… employee.”

“Well, yes. That’s right.”

Anyway, she was acting as a member of the association right now.

“I don’t have a single card. I couldn’t even catch one in the first place.”

The man said dejectedly.

“I’ll go back as you said. When I think about it, it was my greed. Rather, someone like me would be a hindrance if I went around.”

Was it because she heard his story? Seo-ah felt complicated when the man gave up so quickly.

“Please wait a moment.”

Seo-ah sighed softly and cast the three-piece buff set. It was the only thing she could do for him right now.

There was a limit to how much E-class stats could be raised, but it would still be much better than before.