I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 130

130.

“What? That’s ridiculous!”

Choi Eun-gyeol reacted immediately. Baek Eun-hee followed, scoffing.

“I’ve heard it all now.”

Baek Eun-hee had known Seo-ah around the same time as Yoo Ji-an and thought Yoo Ji-an’s kindness toward Seo-ah was somewhat similar to her own, which was why she reacted that way.

At first, it was out of necessity, but now it included a certain amount of affection and trust.

Well, thinking about it that way, she realized the ‘affection’ part might be a little different. After all, this guy was a guy, and Seo-ah was so lovely in Baek Eun-hee’s eyes that she was head over heels.

Baek Eun-hee belatedly looked at them with a doubtful expression.

Yoo Ji-an simply stared at Song Jin-ah, who had asked the question, with one corner of his mouth slightly raised, without saying anything. That was even stranger.

So Seo-ah answered instead.

“No, dating? How could I ever date Hunter Yoo Ji-an… Oh, no, that’s not it.”

“What do you mean by that? What’s wrong with you, Seo-ah!”

Baek Eun-hee didn’t like the idea of Yoo Ji-an and Park Seo-ah being involved, but she also didn’t like the idea of Seo-ah being considered inferior to Yoo Ji-an, so she immediately retorted.

Yoo Ji-an also stared intently at Seo-ah.

Seo-ah’s face flushed slightly under his gaze. Seo-ah quickly tried to change the subject.

“Hunter Cha Tae-woon, I’ve written everything down here!”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

She handed over the completed documents, and Cha Tae-woon accepted them.

Cha Tae-woon didn’t seem interested in their conversation from the beginning, not mentioning a single word.

After saving the documents Seo-ah had prepared as a file, Cha Tae-woon displayed them on the large project screen.

“I’ll briefly check the skill section. First, the support skills are [Fighting], [Love Yourself], and [Iron-Clad Pine Tree]. All of them are active skills.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Please explain them briefly.”

“They’re all buff skills. They increase stats by a certain percentage. It varies depending on the skill level, but it increases from as much as 20 percent to as little as 10 percent.”

“20 percent…? What’s the duration?”

Choi Eun-gyeol, who had never experienced Seo-ah’s buffs, asked with a surprised expression.

“Some last for 5 minutes, and some last for 2 hours. [Iron-Clad Pine Tree] increases defense and health, but since it’s still level 1, it only lasts for 5 minutes.”

“Actually, 5 minutes is quite long. Considering that most buffers use skills that last less than 1 minute.”

Song Jin-ah quietly interjected, supplementing Seo-ah’s words.

Cha Tae-woon, judging that he had enough explanation, looked at the next item.

“You still have [Recovery], which you had when you were an E-class healer, and as for passive skills, you have a skill called [Silent Night]. It says here that it controls emotions, is that true?”

Cha Tae-woon asked, seemingly intrigued. Seo-ah nodded while seated.

“Yes, that’s right. It calms down overly excited, sad, or happy emotions a bit. It doesn’t completely eliminate emotions, but it helps when making decisions.”

As she said that, Seo-ah glanced at Yoo Ji-an. In fact, it was thanks to the [Silent Night] skill that she had subdued Yoo Ji-an’s rampage. She wanted to say that, but she refrained, conscious of the others.

“That’s a useful skill, in many ways.”

“You’re a much more amazing sister than I heard.”

Choi Eun-gyeol clapped and praised Seo-ah. Seo-ah didn’t know how to react and remained still.

Everyone here seemed to know that Seo-ah had more to say, but they didn’t bother to pry. It was probably because they were all in the same position.

Even considering that, everyone here acknowledged that the skills Seo-ah revealed were quite effective.

“I should stick close to Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

“Seo-ah is always my priority, so don’t even dream about it. Right, Seo-ah?”

Song Jin-ah said definitively in response to Song Jin-ah’s words, smiling brightly at Seo-ah. Seo-ah smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Of course, you’re my priority, Unnie [Korean honorific for older sister or female friend]. Still… I’ll work hard to assist, so please take care of me.”

“Please take care of me too.”

Choi Eun-gyeol stood up and bowed to Seo-ah at a 90-degree angle, causing Seo-ah to step back with a bewildered expression.

And next, it was Choi Eun-gyeol’s turn to reveal his abilities. His information, which had been prepared a long time ago, was displayed again. It was just a matter of looking at something everyone else already knew, but not for Seo-ah.

“Wow… you use all four elements of magic?”

“Oh, my sister is finally paying attention to me.”

Choi Eun-gyeol rested his chin on his hands and gave Seo-ah a flirty look with his eyes. It was still *b 부담스러웠지만 [burdensome]*, but it was amazing.

And on the other hand, Choi Eun-gyeol also had undead-type buff skills such as [Ignition], [Weakness], and [Disruption].

As expected, even he, who seemed lighthearted at first glance, possessed abilities befitting his position as an S-class mage.

Seo-ah awkwardly smiled back at Choi Eun-gyeol’s eye smile. In fact, she knew why he was showing her favor.

It was probably thanks to the skill [Warm Sunlight]. It was usually activated whenever she met someone, but it was slightly different in that it had been almost constantly activated since meeting Choi Eun-gyeol.

So Seo-ah was the only one who knew that her mana was constantly being consumed little by little because of it. Fortunately, she had plenty of mana since she was an S-class.

“Then, let’s finish the briefing with Hunter Song Jin-ah. This concludes the meeting. See you all tomorrow.”

After briefly finishing the briefing on the remaining members, they agreed to meet directly in Uijeongbu tomorrow and ended the meeting.

It wasn’t much different from other raid meetings, but there was one distinct difference.

It was their confidence in their abilities. It was different from arrogance. It was a confidence based on the fact that if they couldn’t do it, no one else could.

In other words, there was also a sense of duty that they had to accomplish it at their level. Watching them accept it so casually, Seo-ah felt both reassured and a little sorry for them.

“Seo-ah, should I give you a ride?”

“No, it’s okay, go ahead. Unnie [Korean honorific for older sister or female friend], I’m going to stop by the hospital in a bit.”

“Hmm, okay. Alright, I’ll pick you up tomorrow then.”

After saying goodbye to Baek Eun-hee, Seo-ah tugged on Yoo Ji-an’s sleeve as he was about to leave.

When Yoo Ji-an stopped and looked at her, Seo-ah whispered in a small voice.

“Hunter Yoo Ji-an, I used the card yesterday. About 200 million gold….”

“Ah, yes.”

Yoo Ji-an, who had been watching to see what she would say, acknowledged it lightly. He had received a text from Seo-ah yesterday.

Something must have come from the credit card company as well, but he hadn’t even bothered to check.

“Baek Eun-hee Hunter’s card was blocked, but I really needed the shoes, so I had no choice but to use it. It’s such a large sum of money, I’m sorry. I’ll definitely pay you back little by little.”

“Yes, you did well. I gave it to you to use, so use it in the future if you need it.”

Leaving only those words, Yoo Ji-an went straight down the stairs, as if he had something urgent to do.

Seo-ah stroked the back of her neck, watching him leave after saying such an outrageous thing so casually.

“He’s not the male lead in a romance novel….”

For some reason, she was reminded of a scene in a drama where the male lead gives the female lead a card and tells her to use it for whatever she needs. Finding it funny even to herself, she chuckled and pressed the button for the elevator to go down.

And after coming down, she went to the bus stop.

‘Should I get a driver’s license after the raid?’

It was cumbersome to always hitch a ride with someone else or take the bus. Of course, since she was an S-class hunter, she could run faster than a car, but it was too conspicuous to run around Seoul on foot every time.

Isn’t that why other S-classes usually travel by car?

The place Seo-ah headed to by bus was the Health Hospital, which she visited every day.

She went straight to the hospital room where Geon-hoo was staying. Fortunately, Geon-hoo was awake. His increasingly haggard face pained Seo-ah’s heart.

“You’re not asleep?”

“Yeah, I woke up a little while ago.”

Seo-ah raised the electric bed that Geon-hoo was lying on, making him sit up.

“What were you doing?”

“Just, looking outside… What about you, Noona [Korean honorific for older sister or female friend]?”

“Um, Geon-hoo. I have something to tell you….”

She had to bring up the fact that she was going on a raid, but she felt a little hesitant. She had promised to be with him from now on, but she felt a little sorry for breaking that promise. Of course, this raid was entirely for Geon-hoo’s sake, but still.

“What is it?”

“Noona [Korean honorific for older sister or female friend] is going to participate in a raid. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Oh, a raid? Are you really going? Who are you going with?”

Unexpectedly, Geon-hoo showed a positive reaction. Seo-ah answered, feeling a bit dazed.

“Well… Yoo Ji-an, Baek Eun-hee, Choi Eun-gyeol, Song Jin-ah, Cha Tae-woon, and me. A total of six people are going.”

“Wow! All S-class! That’s crazy! It didn’t feel real, but seeing that you’re going with those people, you’re really an S-class, Noona [Korean honorific for older sister or female friend].”

“I… guess so?”

Anyway, she was glad that he reacted positively. But the next moment, Geon-hoo wore a slightly worried expression.

“Then, how long will it take?”