I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 134

134.

After staring for a bit, the [Emotion Transference] activated.

The emotion I read from him was unexpected.

‘…Fear?’

He was worried and afraid about a certain situation.

Among the people here, Yoo Ji-an seemed to be the most composed.

But even he was afraid of something. It didn’t seem to be caused by the current situation.

‘What is it? What’s so scary?’

I was even more concerned because he didn’t show it at all on the outside.

“Anyway, we can’t stay here,”

Song Jin-ah said, after climbing to a slightly higher spot to look down.

The hunters of this world, who were tracking them, were gradually pushing up from the foot of the mountain. If they didn’t move now, they would be surrounded again.

“What should we do?”

Again, everyone’s eyes turned to Yoo Ji-an.

Yoo Ji-an, who had been lost in thought, raised his head and looked at the members.

“The elixir isn’t a single item. You have to find and combine several items.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

Cha Tae-woon said with a serious face, and Baek Eun-hee and Choi Eun-gyeol were silent for a moment.

“And maybe… we might not be the only ones after the elixir. I hope that’s not the case, though.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Seo-ah reacted to those words.

Seo-ah gently grabbed Yoo Ji-an’s sleeve and looked at him. Then, realizing what she had done, she let go and took a breath.

It was already so appreciated that she had come this far. But there might be someone else looking for the elixir? It wasn’t common, and what if they were beaten to it?

“Then that means speed is important. It would be inefficient to move together.”

Song Jin-ah was still standing on the higher ground, looking out into the distance. Then she jumped down and frowned slightly.

“I really didn’t want to ask this, but there aren’t any humans here who are exactly like me, right? A doppelganger [a ghostly double of a living person]? If you run into one, one of you dies.”

“Eek…!”

Choi Eun-gyeol looked disgusted, as if she hadn’t thought that far, and the other hunters’ faces darkened even more.

They could handle a few A-class hunters if they were determined. It was unlikely that they would be in danger.

But what about an S-class? Moreover, if it was themselves?

Could they overcome the mental shock and win?

But Yoo Ji-an didn’t answer anything about that.

In any case, they couldn’t stay here any longer. The sound of footsteps climbing the mountain was getting closer. They had to move somewhere.

In the midst of all this, the hunters’ conversation reached their ears, which were much sharper than others.

“Another monster popped out where the gate break happened.”

“What? So that wasn’t all of them?”

“I think so. But this time, there’s only one… They didn’t have enough people to chase it, so they missed it. It’s also very fast.”

“I don’t know why the association didn’t notice until it got this bad.”

The members glanced at Cha Tae-woon, the association president, for no reason.

However, Cha Tae-woon didn’t react much to the fact that the association in this world, which had nothing to do with him, was being criticized.

Yoo Ji-an called the members closer.

“We’ll split into three teams.”

“Okay.”

The S-class hunters exchanged glances with each other and then glanced at Seo-ah. It seemed like everyone wanted to take Seo-ah with them.

Providing a powerful and stable buff without significantly interfering with their prey was an ideal condition for a partner.

Seo-ah had been bothered by the emotions flowing in from Yoo Ji-an since earlier.

“Can I go with Yoo Ji-an? If I’m not a hindrance.”

“…As you wish.”

Yoo Ji-an showed a surprised reaction but immediately agreed. Then he stood a little closer to Seo-ah.

“What about the rest?”

The other hunters showed a slightly disappointed reaction but eventually made a decision right away.

“Well, I’ll go with Eun-gyeol.”

Baek Eun-hee teamed up with Choi Eun-gyeol first, and the remaining Song Jin-ah and Cha Tae-woon automatically became a team.

It was the best combination when considering mobility and attack patterns.

And Seo-ah was still inexperienced and weak for an S-class, so it was right for her to be next to the strongest Yoo Ji-an.

“Baek Eun-hee and Choi Eun-gyeol, go to Jamsil. Go to the biggest and most crowded amusement park there. The items are mainly in dark places. You’ll be able to detect them quickly with magic. Cha Tae-woon, Song Jin-ah, go to Gwacheon.”

Yoo Ji-an told them the general direction to move in and the items to look for.

“What about us?”

Before he could answer Seo-ah’s question, a shout came from very close by.

“Oh! There, the monsters are gathered there!”

“Catch them!”

“No, surround them and tell the guild! Quickly!”

The members immediately flew in the designated directions.

Seo-ah also ran after Yoo Ji-an.

Even after becoming an S-class, she could barely keep up with Yoo Ji-an’s speed.

“We’re going to Yongin.”

Seo-ah was running next to Yoo Ji-an with all her might, but Yoo Ji-an said in a calm voice as if he were taking a walk.

Seo-ah realized that he was matching her speed.

Well, Seo-ah’s agility was only 1000 even though she was an S-class, and Yoo Ji-an’s was reported to be over 9000 in the data released a few years ago. It would be strange if there wasn’t a difference.

After running for a while and shaking off the pursuers, Yoo Ji-an stopped for a moment. Seo-ah gasped for breath.

“Sorry, but we can’t use transportation.”

“I guess… not. Because we’re monsters.”

“I like that you understand quickly.”

“Still, I never thought the day would come when I’d run from Seoul to Yongin. Are we going to Everland then?”

“That’s right.”

“…I’ve never been there before, and now I’m going inside a gate.”

At those words, Yoo Ji-an, who had been stiff the whole time, seemed to chuckle, then took out a fatigue recovery potion from his inventory and handed it to Seo-ah.

“Thank you.”

Seo-ah swallowed it down as soon as she received it. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was better to recover her stamina while she could, in case something happened when they arrived.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes.”

Seo-ah followed Yoo Ji-an as he started moving again.

“…….”

In fact, Seo-ah was confused because she could still feel his emotions.

‘What are you so anxious and afraid of?’

Seo-ah looked at Yoo Ji-an’s back and sped up to avoid falling behind.

***

“Are you sure there’s an item in a place like this?”

Baek Eun-hee stood at the top of the tallest ride in the Jamsil amusement park and looked down. The entire view of the park was visible at a glance.

“They say it’s in a small bottle the size of a finger, but how can we find it in this vast place?”

Choi Eun-gyeol, who was squatting next to her, replied. The flags hanging here and there fluttered in the strong wind, but they didn’t seem to budge.

“Still, what can we do? We have to look.”

The item was said to emit magic on its own. Baek Eun-hee closed her eyes for a moment and widened her senses, then frowned slightly.

“What, did they chase us already?”

“Are you talking about over there? But it doesn’t seem like it’s because of us.”

“Is that so? Anyway, it’s only now that I realize this place is a gate [a portal to another dimension].”

“I agree.”

Choi Eun-gyeol stretched out her legs, which had been squatting, and smiled.

Coincidentally, there were no customers in this amusement park today. But that didn’t mean it was deserted.

Lower-level hunters and monster-like creatures like mummies and zombies were fighting in a tangled mess below. The number of monsters was considerable.

“We shouldn’t help one side, should we?”

“From our point of view, they’re all enemies. By the way, I’ve been thinking about what Ji-an said….”

“Tell me.”

“He said it’s likely to be in the darkest place.”

“That’s right. Ah, right. The darkest place?”

Baek Eun-hee’s expression brightened as if she had realized something while speaking.

Their eyes turned to a building in front of which hunters and monsters were particularly crowded. It felt like monsters were constantly pouring out of that building.

“Oh, no… I can’t ignore this.”

“I know. In the end, we have to get rid of those things to get inside.”

Choi Eun-gyeol sighed as she spoke, but she seemed excited. She unfolded a magic book in one hand and already had a fire ball equipped in the other.

Baek Eun-hee chuckled and looked at Choi Eun-gyeol.

Unlike her pretty appearance, Choi Eun-gyeol was a fairly aggressive hunter when it came to combat.

“Okay, let’s go.”

They jumped without hesitation.

The place they were heading to was the ‘haunted house,’ which could be said to be the darkest place in the amusement park.