I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 126

126.

“Unnie!”

Seo-ah scurried over and sat right next to Baek Eun-hee.

Yoo Ji-ahn watched Seo-ah’s every move.

“Hyung, you’re not even looking at me. You said you needed me so much on the phone.”

At Choi Eun-gyeol’s grumbling, Yoo Ji-ahn finally turned his head and glanced at him. Choi Eun-gyeol made a ‘hmph’ sound and squeezed in next to Seo-ah on the two-seater sofa. Seo-ah turned her head and looked at him.

“It’s really amazing. It’s my first time seeing a celebrity.”

“Really? Noona, did you like T-PLEX?”

“Well, a little…?”

Actually, she hadn’t paid much attention because she was working part-time, but she said that out of courtesy. Still, she had heard a lot about them since they were such a popular idol group.

She even knew all the members’ names. She just couldn’t match them to their faces.

“Oh! Then who was your favorite member?”

How could she give any other answer when he was asking her right in front of her, his eyes sparkling like a big puppy? Fortunately, she knew that Choi Eun-gyeol was Alex.

“Th-That’s, of course, Alex!”

“Wow, a fan!”

Choi Eun-gyeol tried to hug Seo-ah tightly, but Baek Eun-hee pushed his forehead away with her palm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

At the same time, Yoo Ji-ahn, who she didn’t even notice had gotten up, plopped down on the sofa.

“……”

Soon after, Cha Tae-woon and Song Jin-ah, who had been on the phone downstairs, came up.

With this, all six of Korea’s S-class Hunters, excluding the Maker, were gathered.

Except for Seo-ah, each of them was a leader in their respective guilds or teams.

Even among such people, Yoo Ji-ahn naturally stepped forward, and no one else particularly raised any objections.

“First, we’ll open the gate with 20 Creation Cards [cards that can create dimensional portals]. If we don’t find what we want after opening it once, we’ll use another 20 cards to open it again in ten days.”

“Until we find it, then.”

Cha Tae-woon muttered with a serious face, and Choi Eun-gyeol excitedly chimed in.

“It’s going to be different kinds of gates, right? That’s going to be fun.”

Seo-ah glanced at Choi Eun-gyeol. His eyes changed when the story of the gate came up.

He was just like a puppy a moment ago, but a Hunter is a Hunter, after all.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

Cha Tae-woon, who was sitting on one side, called out to Seo-ah.

“Yes.”

“Since we have to use Creation Cards, we need to report this to the government.”

“…Ah.”

“Once this starts, we can no longer hide Hunter Park Seo-ah’s existence. Are you okay with that?”

Seo-ah was silent for a moment. As everyone watched her, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

She had to be okay. It was about saving Geon-hoo.

Even if she could never return to a normal life again, it was much better than losing Geon-hoo forever.

“Still, you should secretly go in as before, and then reveal yourself for the first time when you come out. You’ll probably have to hold a press conference.”

“…Yes, I’ll have to if I have to.”

As Seo-ah readily agreed, the subsequent plan was discussed.

“It’s good to be thoroughly prepared with all possibilities open. Settle things around you since we don’t know how long it will take.”

“Settling things around me. It sounds like you’re telling me to prepare for death?”

At Song Jin-ah’s sharp question, Yoo Ji-ahn slowly nodded.

“That’s right, we could die. We don’t even know the grade of the gate we’re opening. If it’s S-class, even we might not be enough.”

“…Surely it won’t be S-class.”

“It will never be weak.”

“Ah, right.”

Baek Eun-hee, who had been quiet, looked at Seo-ah affectionately.

“We need to go to our Maker [a specialized craftsman who creates equipment for Hunters] one more time. Let’s get Seo-ah’s equipment refitted. You’re free from the grade limit now.”

“Ah, that’s… it’s okay…”

“Don’t worry, I’m just lending it to you again.”

Seo-ah mumbled, unable to say anything back. She knew that saying she was lending it was just to ease Seo-ah’s burden, and that she was just buying it for her.

“Geez, if I’m not seen for a long time, my fans will be looking for me.”

Choi Eun-gyeol kept grinning even as he took out lip balm and applied it to his lips.

“I need to tell my agency.”

“Then the scheduled date is a week from now. Let’s get together once more before that to check.”

After the basic discussion was over, everyone got up from their seats.

“Seo-ah, you’re going with me tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, yes!”

Baek Eun-hee set the place and time to meet with Seo-ah and went down first.

Choi Eun-gyeol lingered around Seo-ah before handing her his cell phone before leaving.

Seo-ah received the phone and stared blankly at Choi Eun-gyeol.

“What are you doing? Give me your number. We’re a team now.”

“Ah! Yes.”

Seo-ah entered her number and handed the phone back to Choi Eun-gyeol. No sooner had she done so than Seo-ah’s phone rang.

“Hehe, I got Noona’s number. See you later.”

“Ah, yes. See you next time.”

Choi Eun-gyeol smiled brightly and disappeared into the elevator.

“Wow, I even got Alex’s number.”

Fans would go crazy if they knew.

Thinking that, Seo-ah scratched her cheek and turned around.

“Wah…!”

But Yoo Ji-ahn was standing right in front of Seo-ah.

“H-Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn?”

“Are you really a fan?”

His voice was low.

“Yes?”

“I’m asking if you’re really an Alex fan.”

She wondered why he was asking that, but Seo-ah told the truth as it was.

“Well, I like a few T-PLEX songs, but… I’m not really a fan. I was just being polite since you were right in front of me…”

“I see.”

Yoo Ji-ahn’s expression, which had been frighteningly stiff until just now, relaxed. *Why is he doing that?*

“Well, I’m supposed to meet Eun-hee Unnie tomorrow, but I feel sorry. It’s also a burden… sigh.”

“Really? Baek Eun-hee would like it.”

“That’s true for Unnie. She’s such a nice person. Still, it’s true that I feel burdened to owe her such a large sum.”

Of course, she would have to accept it because it was a matter of survival. Certainly, her current equipment was fitted when she was E-class, so there was a limit to its performance.

Yoo Ji-ahn stared at Seo-ah and suddenly took out a plastic credit card from the air.

“Then take this.”

“…What is this?”

Seo-ah, who had taken the card without thinking, stared intently at the black credit card.

“It’s my card. You can use it to pay for whatever Baek Eun-hee picks out. Buy anything else you need with it.”

“…Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn’s card? No, wait a minute. The money…”

“It’s better than putting the burden on one person, right?”

“No, still! How can you just entrust me with your card when you don’t know how much I’ll spend?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have nowhere to spend my money anyway.”

That was true.

Yoo Ji-ahn had an astronomical amount of money piled up in his bank account, but he didn’t have anywhere to spend it.

All his items were already top-notch, and consumables were provided by the guild.

He had a house and several cars, and he wasn’t the type to indulge in luxury, nor did he have the time to do so.

He was in his fourth life, so there was no way he would have any petty material desires left. But that was Yoo Ji-ahn’s position, not Seo-ah’s.

“Still…! How can you just entrust your card to someone else!”

“Are we someone else?”

“Uh…”

Seo-ah was momentarily speechless at Yoo Ji-ahn’s uncharacteristic comment. *They were someone else. But then again, she couldn’t coldly say they were someone else after going through all sorts of things together.*

“Keep it even if you don’t use it. You might suddenly need a large expense. Use it and pay me back.”

“…If you insist, I’ll just keep it. Thank you.”

Seo-ah carefully put the credit card into her wallet as if it were a sacred object. Seo-ah wasn’t yet familiar enough to put everyday items in her inventory [a personal storage space accessible through their hunter abilities].

Yoo Ji-ahn looked at Seo-ah with satisfaction.

“Then let’s go down too.”

“Ah, go ahead. I’m going to see Soo-jung for a bit.”

“Suit yourself.”

Seo-ah called Soo-jung, and Yoo Ji-ahn went downstairs.

Soo-jung said she was on her way home from school.

“Okay, then let’s meet at the cafe on the first floor.”

Seo-ah also hung up and went down to the first floor. Not long after, Soo-jung came hopping in.

“Unnie, I missed you.”

Soo-jung wrapped her arms around Seo-ah’s neck, but in fact, Soo-jung was a little taller than Seo-ah.

So instead of clinging to her, Seo-ah ended up being hugged.

“Haha, yeah. Me too… Ah, but Soo-jung.”

Seo-ah asked that question directly as soon as she saw her.

“Do you have any wishes you want to make?”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

“I do. I want to eat a mango banana shake in the biggest cup.”

“Huh?”

Seo-ah asked back at the completely unexpected answer, and Soo-jung smiled awkwardly.

“I always wanted to eat it when I passed by, but it’s kind of expensive…”

“Ah, ah. Okay, let’s eat it now.”

Seo-ah was naturally asking with the [Lamp’s Genie] in mind, but an unexpected answer came out. Still, it was a wish she could grant.

She went to the counter, took out her wallet, and ordered.

“Iced Americano and Mango Banana Shake, extra large…”

As she was saying this, Seo-ah took out the card in her wallet and handed it over, but she was surprised and pulled her hand back. She almost gave Yoo Ji-ahn’s card without thinking.

“P-Please do it with this.”

Seo-ah quickly took out her debit card and sighed. At the same time, she thought she should just put Ji-ahn’s card in her inventory.