I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 168

#168

[Flamethrower] was a weapon that spewed fire using mana as fuel. It blazed fiercely for a while, but soon Noh Hak-young grew tired.

Leaving him panting, the three methodically eliminated the monster [Snowmen]. Contrary to their appearance, the white, round snowmen were indeed monsters.

If you were hit squarely by the snowballs they threw, that area would instantly freeze, resulting in frostbite.

The group was equipped with hot packs, so their faces and upper bodies didn’t freeze, but their lower bodies often got stuck.

Of course, Seo-ah wasn’t hit by a single snowball. The rapidly flying snowballs felt like slow motion to Seo-ah, and she could easily dodge them by slightly twisting her body.

The same was true even when there were many flying at once.

Seo-ah weaved through them, tapping the snowmen with her laundry bat.

One monster per hit, the snowmen collapsed. They regenerated sluggishly, but the rate of destruction was faster.

After quickly taking down about twenty of them, Seo-ah discovered that they would eventually regenerate if there was snow piled up below.

“Doctor, please melt the snow piled up below.”

It seemed more efficient than Noh Hak-young pointlessly fighting the monsters.

Noh Hak-young, who was having a hard time dealing with the snowmen bouncing around, accepted Seo-ah’s instructions more easily than expected.

He pointed the [Flamethrower] downwards and melted all the surrounding snow.

Then, the collapsed snowmen no longer regenerated.

Seo-ah looked towards Noh Yoon-ji and Kang Su-jeong.

“Hmm.”

Noh Yoon-ji was smashing the snowmen by tapping them with her gauntlets, and Su-jeong was also dealing with the snowmen using [Fist Strike].

However, they couldn’t destroy them in one hit like Seo-ah. The snowmen dodged their fists as if they were teasing them.

So, while Seo-ah destroyed about fifty, Su-jeong managed to eliminate five, and Noh Yoon-ji about ten.

While the three were panting after all the snowmen disappeared, Seo-ah, without even a hint of breathlessness, looked towards the high snowy mountain.

The cold wind was getting fiercer. This wasn’t a natural wind. It was a wind imbued with mana.

‘It noticed we came.’

Feeling the group’s breathing subside, Seo-ah turned around.

“Are you feeling a bit better? Let’s go again now.”

Kang Su-jeong and Noh Yoon-ji nodded and came to Seo-ah, and Noh Hak-young also slowly moved his feet.

Noh Hak-young came next to Seo-ah and stared at her intently. Feeling his gaze, Seo-ah asked.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you really a B-rank? Besides, earlier you said you were a tanker and a healer… How did you catch so many snowmen alone?”

Seo-ah flinched inwardly but answered calmly.

“Yes, I’m a B-rank. Is there a problem?”

When she asked with a straight face, Noh Hak-young was rather flustered and stammered. Why is he suddenly sweating?

“Well, anyway… I just meant you’re more helpful than I thought.”

“Ah, yes. I see. Let’s hurry now.”

In Seo-ah’s opinion, the [Snowmen] monsters were among the weakest monsters here. The monsters that appear will get stronger and stronger, but can Noh Hak-young really endure it?

Even while looking at him worriedly, Seo-ah shook off her worries and walked ahead. And soon, she jumped up onto a high tree branch.

She felt the need to see the entire landscape of this gate at a glance.

“Oh… suddenly!”

Noh Hak-young was surprised and made a noise, but she ignored it.

Seo-ah stepped on two branches and stood precariously. From here, the view was clear.

‘The mountain is farther away than I thought.’

She thought she could go straight, but that wasn’t the case.

There was a frozen river between the forest and the mountain peaks. It was quite wide to cross casually, and she might fall in. And if there were monsters living in the water, it would be a real disaster.

‘So, to go back…’

Seo-ah tried to see as far as possible. Then, mana naturally gathered in her eyes, and she could see more clearly than before.

‘It works like this too.’

However, it consumed a lot of mana, so it would definitely be a burden to use when she was a low-level hunter.

Anyway, Seo-ah followed the river with her eyes. Fortunately, the end of the river was narrow, and it seemed like they could all cross it together with some effort.

Seo-ah was actually wondering if Noh Hak-young would give up around here and leave everything to her.

‘Well, there’s also the concept of mercenaries.’

Does Noh Hak-young have to handle the gate himself? And wouldn’t they not know from the outside who did it inside?

As the progress was slow, all sorts of thoughts came to her mind.

“Hey! How long are you going to be up there?”

“I’m going.”

At Noh Hak-young’s shout, Seo-ah jumped down.

“There’s a river below the mountain. We’ll have to go around.”

“A river, a river?”

Seo-ah nodded and took the lead, followed by Kang Su-jeong and Noh Yoon-ji. Noh Hak-young hurried to keep up.

They passed through the forest and moved along the river.

Their feet sank deep into the snow, and there were occasional patches of ice.

They encountered small and large monsters from time to time and engaged in battle.

It wasn’t easy to pick up speed with the group.

After walking for a long time, night fell on the gate.

They bought lanterns and walked, lighting up the front and back. But that didn’t last long either.

“Ugh, I can’t go any further!”

They were walking, but Seo-ah heard a thud from behind.

‘Hmm.’

Seo-ah turned around. She was still fine except for her cheeks being a little red from the cold wind.

On the other hand, Noh Hak-young was completely exhausted. Kang Su-jeong and Noh Yoon-ji were barely standing, but they also looked very tired.

This was despite Seo-ah giving them buffs from time to time.

‘Well, if I think back to my old self…’

My legs would hurt after walking a little on rough roads.

“Okay, it’s getting late, so let’s rest for a while.”

At some point, Seo-ah had naturally become the leader of this team. In fact, this was obvious from the beginning.

Seo-ah moved the team members to the hillside a little away from the river. They used a large rock there as a landmark.

“We need some firewood to make a fire. Let’s split up and look for some.”

“I, I…”

Then Noh Hak-young shook his head, looking disgusted. He pointed to his swollen calves.

“It’s really hard to move.”

“Hmm, then stay here.”

They didn’t need many people to gather firewood. Noh Hak-young decided to stay at this landmark.

***

In the quiet snowfield, Noh Hak-young waited, shivering, for the group to return.

He didn’t realize it when he was with them, but being alone made him feel incredibly lonely and desolate. It was even scary because of the darkness.

The fact that he was the oldest person here and a proud member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea was now a distant memory.

Just as he was starting to regret it, he heard rustling sounds from the forest.

“Who is it, are you back already?”

Noh Hak-young shouted, but there was no answer. He shone the lantern he was holding in that direction.

Then, an old woman was walking towards him.

“Who are you?”

Noh Hak-young asked unintentionally. Then, the old woman’s wrinkled face twitched, and a bright smile appeared on her lips.

“There’s a warm house nearby, why don’t you rest there? You’ll freeze to death if you sleep here.”

“But…”

Noh Hak-young had to wait for the group. If he disappeared, they would lose their way.

In the moment of hesitation, he met the old woman’s eyes. The old woman’s eyes had a bright yellow glow in the darkness.

Noh Hak-young was nodding without realizing it.

“Thank you, which way should I go?”

“Heh heh, good thinking. This way then…”

The old woman turned around and walked, and Noh Hak-young followed her as if possessed.

Not long after Noh Hak-young left, Noh Yoon-ji returned first.

“Dad? Where did he go?”

She had an ominous feeling. Could there have been a monster attack? If so, she would have heard it.

Noh Yoon-ji looked around and found footprints in the snow. She immediately shone the lantern light down to examine them more closely.

Noh Hak-young’s footprints, as if he had moved alone, were long and continuous in the snow. And the direction was….

“The river?”

She had deliberately moved away from the river to settle down, but Noh Hak-young’s footprints were heading towards the river.

Noh Yoon-ji threw the firewood down haphazardly and hurriedly ran after the footprints.

And she was able to find it.

The sight of Noh Hak-young crossing the frozen river. Right in front of Noh Hak-young, a hideous monster made of countless tentacles was leading him as if tempting him.

“No, Dad!”

Noh Yoon-ji screamed and ran across the river.