I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 170

170.

Tap, tap-

Noh Hak-young gathered dry branches and used a [Portable Flamethrower] to light the bonfire.

Even with that, having a fire made the surroundings a bit warmer.

Seo-ah and the others sat around it, staring blankly at the flames.

It was completely dark now.

Noh Hak-young was utterly exhausted and sound asleep. Noh Yoon-ji was also struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open, dozing off.

“Yoon-ji, you should get some sleep too. I’ll keep watch.”

“…How can I? We can’t keep relying on you when you came all this way because of us…”

“It was my decision. I wasn’t forced to come, so it’s okay. Get some sleep; you need the energy to fight tomorrow.”

“…….”

Whether she agreed with Seo-ah’s words or simply couldn’t stay awake any longer, Noh Yoon-ji obediently lay down in her sleeping bag.

Seeing this, Seo-ah sighed softly and took a sip of coffee from her thermos.

“Are you okay?”

When she asked Soo-jung, Kang Soo-jung, who was sitting next to her, smiled brightly with a lively expression and snuggled up to Seo-ah.

“I’m young, after all. This is nothing for me!”

Fortunately, their wet hunter gear dried quickly.

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is activated.]

‘Silent Night’ had played a significant role in getting them this far. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to calmly jump into the water earlier when she was panicking.

The original Seo-ah was a person prone to anxiety. But thanks to the skill, she could stay calm and observe her surroundings.

“…….”

In the quiet, a slow wind blew from the mountaintop, causing the bonfire flames to flicker.

Seo-ah glanced at Soo-jung, who was leaning on her shoulder with her eyes closed, and looked in the direction the wind was blowing.

It wasn’t a natural wind. It was a wind permeated with unstable mana [magical energy]. If it were just a wind filled with mana, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

However, the wind was mixed with a song that sounded like someone’s scream. And judging by the reactions of the others, who seemed unaffected, it seemed only Seo-ah could hear it.

‘A woman…? A man?’

It was a high-pitched sound, but the voice was too thick to be a woman’s. Listening to it made her feel uneasy. She wondered if a boss monster in human form would appear again this time.

And….

‘I’m not mistaken.’

The singing was getting closer. It was still quite far away, but Seo-ah could feel it.

‘I should wake them up when it gets closer.’

In the meantime, Seo-ah checked the items in her inventory.

Considering the surrounding environment, the boss would likely use a lot of ice-type attacks. Seo-ah could avoid them, but the others couldn’t.

‘Noh Yoon-ji and Kang Soo-jung are mainly close-range fighters….’

Fortunately, Soo-jung had recently obtained [Fist Flurry] thanks to Seo-ah’s [Lamp Genie] skill. And Seo-ah had it too.

Frankly speaking, she had thought about it during the day, but it would be more efficient and time-saving for Seo-ah to go alone.

Besides, Noh Hak-young and Noh Yoon-ji were a bit intimidated after experiencing a life-threatening situation, so it would be fortunate if they didn’t become a hindrance.

However, Seo-ah decided to change her mind.

‘This is an opportunity for me too.’

She happened to play a leading role in the battle here, but Seo-ah’s position was, after all, an S-class supporter [a high-ranking support class].

Her real role was to encourage the hunters and provide buffs [temporary enhancements] to help them win difficult battles.

There were many strong hunters around Seo-ah. So, even if Seo-ah wasn’t there, the outcome of the battles probably wouldn’t have been much different.

However, according to Yoo Ji-an’s story from her past life, the difficulty of the gates [dungeons] that would appear in the future would increase.

When that time came, even a team of S-class hunters would struggle to face the monsters.

Seo-ah decided to treat this battle as practice for that. Of course, only to the extent that their lives were not threatened.

Seo-ah checked her inventory and also browsed the hunter shop [in-game store].

After some time, Seo-ah looked up and tapped Soo-jung on the shoulder.

“Ah, Unnie [term of endearment for older sister or female friend]… ?”

“Yeah, you need to wake up now.”

“I must have dozed off. You should have woken me up….”

“It’s okay, you only closed your eyes for a bit.”

“That’s right, it’s still dark….”

Seo-ah quickly woke up Noh Yoon-ji and Noh Hak-young as well. They woke up immediately with just a slight shake from Seo-ah.

They seemed to be tense and asleep, considering it was a gate.

“What’s wrong?”

“The boss is approaching. We need to get up now.”

“Boss….”

Noh Yoon-ji, who had been muttering, jumped up and packed her things. Noh Hak-young also hurriedly got up and composed himself.

As they were getting up, dawn was slowly breaking.

After hearing Seo-ah’s prediction that the boss would use ice magic, Noh Hak-young and Noh Yoon-ji each bought more cold-weather gear from the hunter shop.

As Seo-ah walked ahead, Noh Hak-young asked.

“Do you know where it is?”

“I can hear a sound.”

“A sound, what sound?”

“A singing… sort of.”

At Seo-ah’s words, the group fell silent. But there was no way they could hear the faint sound that Seo-ah, an S-class hunter, could hear.

Seo-ah gave up on explaining further and stepped forward, and the group didn’t ask any more questions. Noh Hak-young seemed to trust her to some extent after Seo-ah had saved Noh Yoon-ji.

‘That’s a relief, I guess.’

If they came all the way here and still caused trouble, she might have really left them behind.

The red sun rose over the mountain, and Seo-ah and the group stood in front of the river from before.

The river surface had frozen over again in the meantime.

Seo-ah looked at the mountainside across the river. The strong mana was initially felt at the top of the mountain. The boss was now down to the mountainside.

‘The song stopped.’

The boss monster seemed to have noticed that Seo-ah’s group was moving. The flow of mana was now directed upwards again.

‘Is it going back to its original position?’

There’s no need to do that. It’s just going to make the climb longer.

Seo-ah turned around and said.

“I’ll cross first. Watch where I step and follow me.”

After seeing the group nod, Seo-ah moved immediately. She adjusted her speed so she wouldn’t be too fast and took each step carefully.

‘It froze solid overnight.’

The ice that had been broken during the battle had hardened in the meantime. Thanks to that, everyone was able to cross the river safely without falling in.

“The boss is up there.”

Seo-ah said, pointing to the top of the mountain.

“I can feel it now too.”

Noh Yoon-ji swallowed hard and said, and Kang Soo-jung and Noh Hak-young nodded with tense faces.

Even if they couldn’t feel the mana, a blizzard was raging as soon as they crossed the river.

Seo-ah looked up at the center of the snowstorm.

‘What is it?’

When she went to the temporary gate before, Seo-ah had briefly read Oscar Jackson’s emotions from his wind. It was similar now.

She couldn’t tell exactly because she was still far away, but when combined with the singing from before, she had a bit of a sense of it.

‘Sadness.’

Even so, it’s just a monster.

Seo-ah had clearly felt that in several raids [dungeon explorations].

Seo-ah hardened her expression and stepped forward. It goes without saying, but there was no proper hiking trail.

Seo-ah handed Noh Yoon-ji, who was C-class [a mid-level hunter], the [Suicidal Demon’s Tentacle Claw] and a rope. She tied the rope around the waists of the two D-class hunters [low-level hunters] and connected them to Noh Yoon-ji.

She had bought them in advance while they were sleeping. Fortunately, they weren’t hunter gear, so they were cheap.

“Can you do it?”

“Yes.”

Noh Yoon-ji nodded confidently. D-class and C-class are only one level apart, but the stat limit is more than double.

Seo-ah was wearing crampons [spiked plates] on the soles of her shoes. Seo-ah attached them to the bottom of her [Unicorn Boots].

“Let’s go.”

Noh Yoon-ji used the [Tentacle Claw] to climb the ice wall first, followed by Kang Soo-jung and Noh Hak-young. Still, they were hunters, so they climbed well as soon as they were given the equipment.

Seo-ah watched from below, worried that they might fall.

“Whoa!”

Sure enough, when they were about halfway up the ice wall, the storm intensified towards them.

Noh Hak-young briefly lost his footing but didn’t fall thanks to the rope. While Noh Yoon-ji and Kang Soo-jung held on, he regained his footing.

When they were almost at the top, Seo-ah finally set off.

The shoes Seo-ah was wearing, [Unicorn Boots], increased her agility by 300 and allowed her to fly for 1 minute.

Seo-ah kicked off hard on the slippery ice and jumped up. She reached the middle of the ice wall in one go, then used the flying ability of the [Unicorn Boots] to reach the top.

Thanks to that, Seo-ah reached the summit the fastest, and then Noh Yoon-ji was seen crawling up.

Seo-ah grabbed Noh Yoon-ji’s arm and stared blankly at the scene at the summit.

At the top of the mountain stood a large and beautiful ice castle.