I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 169

169.

Seo-ah, who was gathering branches in the forest, quickly turned her head at Noh Yoon-ji’s voice.

“What’s wrong?”

Seo-ah roughly threw the firewood on the ground and ran towards the sound.

“Noh Yoon-ji?”

She immediately understood the situation upon arriving.

Noh Yoon-ji was running towards the frozen river. In front of her was a dark, wriggling monster, and Noh Hak-young was following the monster.

As Seo-ah followed them, she immediately activated [State Checker] and examined the monster.

[Aquatic Ghoul]

[Overall Grade: C⁻]

[A ghost that lives in water. It lures prey, drags them into the water to drown them, and then devours them.

Proficient in mental attacks.

Each of its numerous tentacles has a different role. Some are eyes, some are hands, and some are feet.

When attacking, each tentacle turns sharp to stab or capture the enemy.

There is a theory that it was once human before death.]

[Item: Tentacle Claw]

‘An Aquatic Ghoul, huh.’

The name alone was chilling.

A C⁻ grade was weak for Seo-ah, but not for Noh Hak-young or Noh Yoon-ji.

“Noh Yoon-ji!”

Seo-ah shouted loudly, but Noh Yoon-ji didn’t seem to hear. She ran, screaming, and suddenly jumped into the water.

“No, Dad!”

Splash!

“Noh Yoon-ji!”

The [Aquatic Ghoul] wrapped Noh Hak-young tightly with its tentacles and went into the water, and at the same time, Noh Yoon-ji also jumped in.

Seo-ah ran at maximum speed, stood at the edge of the ice, and looked into the water.

Noh Yoon-ji seemed to be fighting the [Aquatic Ghoul] in the water, as large splashes erupted.

‘What should I do?’

Suddenly, Noh Hak-young’s body soared out of the water and was thrown onto the ice.

“Cough, Kuek!”

Noh Hak-young vomited water and trembled. It must be very cold, but since he was a hunter, he wouldn’t freeze to death immediately.

Seo-ah quickly examined Noh Hak-young’s body. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any life-threatening injuries. Seo-ah stared back into the water.

Now the water became calm.

The [Aquatic Ghoul] seemed to have changed its target to Noh Yoon-ji. Noh Yoon-ji, who saved Noh Hak-young, must have been exhausted and was dragged away. Saving Noh Hak-young was Noh Yoon-ji’s limit.

“Yoon-ji! Oh, Yoon-ji!”

Seeing Noh Hak-young crying sorrowfully towards the water, Seo-ah’s guess seemed to be correct.

“Yoon-ji, no. I should be the one to die…!”

In the end, should she go into that cold water?

Seo-ah coldly muttered, tying her hair tightly with a string.

“Stay on land.”

“Yoon-ji! Sob….”

“Go quickly! All the ice in this area will break. Unless you want to fall in again.”

At Seo-ah’s warning, Noh Hak-young hesitated and stepped back. But his heart was sincere in worrying about his daughter, so his gaze was fixed on the water.

He looked at Seo-ah and the water alternately.

“How can you… is it possible? Seeing it earlier, the [Aquatic Ghoul] was no ordinary monster. Yoon-ji barely cut off the tentacles to save me, but….”

He revealed his expectation that something might happen since she was a B-grade, stronger than Noh Yoon-ji, and his concern that it might not be possible since she was just a B-grade.

“Go, quickly.”

Seo-ah answered briefly, took a deep breath, and jumped into the water.

‘Ah, it’s cold!’

She felt a chilling sensation that seeped into her bones, but it was bearable since she was an S-grade.

Seo-ah swam through the dark water, looking for the [Aquatic Ghoul]. It seemed she had already gone quite deep.

‘How long can I hold my breath?’

In the past, during a raid with Yoo Ji-an, Yoo Ji-an had shared his breath with her in the water.

He must have been submerged for quite a while, but he still had plenty of breath to spare.

Perhaps Seo-ah wouldn’t be able to stay as long as him. So she had to move quickly.

As Seo-ah swam deeper into the water, she found the wriggling ends of tentacles on the riverbed.

‘There it is.’

It was dark, but there was no problem seeing.

Seo-ah took out the Bbyong Hammer [A magical hammer that can defeat monsters].

The head of the Bbyong Hammer sparkled in the dark water. And for some reason, Seo-ah felt like the Bbyong Hammer was cutting through the water on its own and moving forward. Thanks to that, her moving speed became faster.

Swaaaeaeaeak-

The [Aquatic Ghoul], noticing Seo-ah’s approach, lashed out its tentacles first.

Seo-ah tilted her head back to avoid it and wrapped the tentacles around the handle of the Bbyong Hammer. It wasn’t easy to grab the slippery surface of the throbbing tentacles, so she gripped it tightly and pulled.

Then, the huge body of the [Aquatic Ghoul] was gradually pulled in. The [Aquatic Ghoul], whose world had been the water until now, was surprised by the strong force pulling it and tried to cut off the caught tentacles and run away.

‘Nowhere to go.’

But Seo-ah was faster.

She grabbed and pulled the other tentacles as well. Then, the [Aquatic Ghoul] changed its strategy and wrapped Seo-ah’s entire body with its tentacles.

Seo-ah shuddered at the disgusting tentacles, but tried to find Noh Yoon-ji.

Inside the [Aquatic Ghoul]’s tentacle pile, there was Noh Yoon-ji, unconscious. She reached out and grabbed Noh Yoon-ji’s limp wrist.

And with her other hand, she firmly gripped the [Bbyong Hammer]. Seo-ah’s breath was also running out, so she couldn’t waste any more time.

The [Bbyong Hammer] read Seo-ah’s will and flashed brightly. Seo-ah relentlessly swung the [Bbyong Hammer] at the [Aquatic Ghoul].

Each time it was hit, the Aquatic Ghoul’s tentacles fell off and were crushed, and the force surrounding Seo-ah gradually weakened.

Seo-ah also cut off all the tentacles entangled around Noh Yoon-ji. It was amazing that the [Bbyong Hammer], of all things, could easily cut through those tough tentacles more easily than any ordinary knife or axe, but there was no time to admire it.

The moment Noh Yoon-ji was completely freed, Seo-ah grabbed Noh Yoon-ji’s wrist firmly and began to swim to the surface.

The [Aquatic Ghoul], having lost its will to fight, fortunately did not chase after them anymore. And the time it took for all of this to happen was less than 2 minutes.

Chwaaaak-!

Seo-ah and Noh Yoon-ji emerged from the water at the same time.

The ice on the river’s surface was broken here and there due to the water currents that Seo-ah had caused while attacking the [Aquatic Ghoul].

“Haa, haa.”

Seo-ah gasped for breath and moved Noh Yoon-ji to a safer place and laid her down.

“Yoon-ji!”

Noh Hak-young, who found them, ran over with tears and snot streaming down his face.

“Sister!”

Kang Soo-jung, who had been anxiously watching, also quickly approached. But there was no time to answer.

Seo-ah quickly placed both hands on Noh Yoon-ji’s chest and began chest compressions.

‘Please, don’t let it be too late.’

And soon after, Noh Yoon-ji vomited water and turned over.

“Cough, cough.”

“Hoo….”

Seo-ah sighed and patted Noh Yoon-ji’s back.

“Yoon-ji, oh, Yoon-ji.”

Noh Hak-young shed tears of relief and tried to hug Noh Yoon-ji.

“Not yet, go over there and start a fire first.”

Seo-ah pointed to the rock with a stiff expression. It was the place where they were trying to light a fire earlier.

“Ah, I understand. I will do that.”

Noh Hak-young nodded repeatedly at Seo-ah’s instructions and obediently got up and turned around. Somehow, his tone was also different from before.

Seo-ah received a blanket from Soo-jung and wrapped it around Yoon-ji’s body.

“How are you, are you okay?”

“Hoo, yes… thanks to you. Thank you for saving my father and me, Seo-ah-nim.”

Yoon-ji whispered softly, conscious of Noh Hak-young.

“You saved your father, Yoon-ji.”

Yoon-ji smiled faintly and shook her head.

“That’s because I had something to believe in. Hoo, really.”

If Seo-ah was really a B-grade as she had told Noh Hak-young, Noh Yoon-ji might not have recklessly thrown herself in. But a whopping S-grade hunter was chasing after her.

She had faith that somehow it would work out.

Indeed, if Seo-ah hadn’t been there, they would have already died before they even got here. Just like Yoo Ji-an’s past regressions.

And at the same time, Seo-ah saw a bit of her past self in Noh Yoon-ji.

‘I used to be reckless too.’

Believing in Yoo Ji-an who was with her. Yoo Ji-an used to nag Seo-ah quite a bit about that.

‘He must be worried.’

Seo-ah thought of Yoo Ji-an and took out a potion from her inventory and had Noh Yoon-ji drink it.

As she drank the potion, the color gradually returned to her face, which had been pale with cold.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Kang Soo-jung also handed her hot pack to Noh Yoon-ji, worried. Noh Yoon-ji chuckled and took it and put it inside her clothes.

“Here! I’ve started a fire!”

At that moment, Noh Hak-young waved his hand from the rock and shouted.

“Let’s go, it’s better to rest for now.”

Seo-ah’s body was also wet in the cold weather, and her condition was not good. Even if there was nothing wrong with her health, it was impossible to move right away.

They gathered where Noh Hak-young was and settled down near the bonfire.