I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 121

121.

“Is he coming?”

What do I look like right now? I was about to get up and check myself in the mirror when the doorbell rang.

Seo-ah stared at the front door with bewildered eyes once again.

Ding-dong-

Unable to bear Seo-ah’s delay, it rang once more.

“I’m coming… !”

Seo-ah rushed to the front door, not even having a chance to glance in the mirror, and opened it.

As expected, Yoo Ji-an was standing there, and as soon as the door opened, he strode inside.

“When did you move?”

“Just now…”

Yoo Ji-an frowned, looking around the place quickly.

“This isn’t all of it, is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Cha Tae-woon gave you something smaller than my house’s bathroom and called it a dorm?”

Seo-ah’s mouth dropped open at the outrageous statement. *Is that* something a second-generation *chaebol* [a wealthy, family-controlled conglomerate] would say?

“Well… it’s small compared to Yoo Ji-an Hunter-nim’s house… but it’s enough for me to live alone. First, would you like to come in?”

As Seo-ah stepped back and invited him in, Yoo Ji-an entered with a displeased expression.

It felt like the house was full with just Yoo Ji-an entering. His presence was so significant that it was understandable why he complained about it being small.

“I just arrived, so I don’t have anything to offer you.”

Seo-ah scratched her head awkwardly.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Yoo Ji-an casually pulled out a chair from the small table and sat down, and Seo-ah sat on the bed opposite him.

“What kind of deal did you make with Cha Tae-woon?”

“……”

He immediately grasped that there was a deal without her even saying anything. But to talk about that, she had to start with the story about the Elixir and the Creation Card first.

She was going to ask anyway, so let’s just ask now.

“Chairman Cha Tae-woon said… that the Elixir exists.”

She didn’t argue, ‘But why did you lie to me that I didn’t have it?’ She just quietly looked into his eyes and slightly avoided his gaze, trying to hide her emotions.

“Cha Tae-woon was making useless noise.”

Yoo Ji-an muttered, sighing softly after a moment of silence.

Seo-ah quietly waited for his next words.

Seo-ah didn’t think Yoo Ji-an had deliberately deceived her with bad intentions. But she was curious about the reason.

“Didn’t Cha Tae-woon tell you this story? How many hunters died to obtain that one Elixir.”

“…No, he didn’t say that.”

“Four B-grade hunters, two A-grade, and one S-grade. Only one A-grade healer came back alive.”

Seo-ah’s pupils trembled at the unknown fact. Cha Tae-woon told her never to go alone, but he didn’t explain how dangerous it was.

Still, so many died even with an S-grade hunter accompanying them. How dangerous could it be?

“When forcibly opened from this side, you can’t predict in advance how strong the monster inside the gate is, so before you even obtain the Elixir, you can’t even be sure if you’ll come back alive.”

Seo-ah listened to his continued words in silence.

“Honestly, I’m not even confident on my own.”

But Seo-ah paid attention to Yoo Ji-an’s last words.

“If it’s not possible alone, what about with two people?”

“……”

“If I support Yoo Ji-an Hunter-nim, would it still not be possible?”

“Park Seo-ah.”

Yoo Ji-an called her in a low voice, and Seo-ah closed her mouth.

“Of course, we might get lucky and it might be easier than expected, but isn’t your life too precious to rely on that luck?”

“That’s true.”

Seo-ah knew she was being stubborn. His words were all correct.

“Okay, Yoo Ji-an Hunter-nim is right. And to be honest, I made a deal with Chairman Cha Tae-woon. I have a total of 13 cards now, including the card I received from Chairman Cha Tae-woon.”

Yoo Ji-an’s eyebrow twitched at the mention of having 13 cards.

“If it’s not possible with two people, maybe three, no, four… no, what am I saying… I’m sorry.”

Seo-ah thought she was being shameless for not letting go of her lingering feelings. She realized she was trying to drag him into a path where he might die.

She wanted to save Geon-hoo so desperately, but she couldn’t force the sacrifice of someone other than herself because of it.

She had to give up on the idea of going alone as well.

She was scared of dying, but if something went wrong with her in the gate, there would be no one to take care of Geon-hoo.

“After hearing you, it really sounds like… a difficult task. I understand why you said you didn’t have it.”

“……”

Seo-ah was slowly giving up, but conversely, Yoo Ji-an’s face was filled with worry as she gave up.

But since she had decided not to insist anymore, Seo-ah said nothing.

Yoo Ji-an didn’t say anything in the end, and just stared at Seo-ah’s face.

“Are you going to keep living here?”

“I’m going to go on a raid with Chairman Cha Tae-woon once. I’ll have to stay here until then.”

“What about after that?”

“…Um, I haven’t thought about it. I still have my old house, though.”

“If the Sun Guild’s dorm is uncomfortable, I can arrange a place for you to live separately.”

Seo-ah smiled and shook her head. Of course, it wouldn’t be a burden at all for Yoo Ji-an, but it was for Seo-ah’s position as the receiver.

“I’ll eventually move, but it’s okay. With the money from the raid and the deposit for the house, I’ll manage somehow.”

“If that’s the case.”

Yoo Ji-an didn’t insist anymore. He got up from his chair and headed for the front door, as if he had finished speaking.

It looks like he’s about to leave like this.

Seo-ah also got up to see him off and followed him.

Yoo Ji-an, who was about to open the front door and leave, turned around once.

Seo-ah stared at him blankly, and Yoo Ji-an inadvertently patted her shoulder with one hand. It was a careful and affectionate touch for Yoo Ji-an, whether it was comforting or encouraging.

“…Ah.”

“I’ll be going, lock the door well.”

“Yes, yes…”

Yoo Ji-an left and the door closed. Seo-ah clutched her heart, which felt like it was about to burst, and collapsed on the spot.

“W-what was that all of a sudden…”

But apart from her pounding heart, Seo-ah was puzzled.

In the last moment when he was about to leave, Seo-ah had let her guard down for a moment. So she made eye contact with Yoo Ji-an for more than a few seconds, and his emotions were conveyed to her as they were.

She hurriedly lowered her gaze again, but the emotion she felt at that moment was ‘sorry’. Then came ‘anxiety’.

Why?

Is he sorry for not granting Seo-ah’s request?

‘There’s no need for that…’

He has no obligation to do so at all.

“He’s secretly kind…”

But she couldn’t guess what the anxiety was about. Could it be that he thought she would open the gate without saying anything?

Yoo Ji-an, who came out of the front door, walked slowly. His expression was endlessly dark.

‘Elixir…’

He knew all too well why Seo-ah wanted it. He also knew how desperate she was.

If it was possible, he wanted to help her as a way of repaying her.

Seo-ah was also a benefactor to Yoo Ji-an.

Park Seo-ah was indeed the key that unlocked Yoo Ji-an’s locked title.

When Seo-ah awakened as an S-grade supporter, Yoo Ji-an also became a complete [Annihilator]. He had a body that no longer went berserk.

Of course, even if he didn’t bother with such things, he hoped that Seo-ah would be relieved of her worries about her younger brother, Geon-hoo, even a little bit.

But he was frustrated with himself for not being able to do so.

‘I wish I hadn’t known anything.’

Yoo Ji-an clenched his fist tightly and hurriedly withdrew it as he was about to hit the wall.

What if the building shook and Park Seo-ah was in danger?

In fact, Seo-ah was now an S-grade hunter.

Yoo Ji-an never even considered that an S-grade hunter wouldn’t be hurt by a building collapsing.

Yoo Ji-an opened his inventory.

Yoo Ji-an also had 12 [Creation Cards] left in his inventory. It wasn’t that he deliberately left them like someone else, but he had just forgotten to return them.

“……”

Yoo Ji-an knew this card very well.

Only once, but Yoo Ji-an had used this card to open a gate in his second life.

And he ended his second life inside that gate.

The enemy inside the gate was different from ordinary monsters.

They seemed highly intelligent, and their attack patterns were similar to his. Sometimes the enemy even surpassed him.

But the moment Park Seo-ah appeared and helped the enemy, Yoo Ji-an was miserably defeated by the enemy.

The pain and fear of that time were still unforgettable.

‘Was Park Seo-ah a supporter back then too?’

Yoo Ji-an didn’t know what kind of person Park Seo-ah was in his second life, or what kind of life she lived.

However, it was clear that she played a decisive role in his death.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t open the gate now because of the fear of that death.