I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 18

18.

Seo-ah had been staying in the 5th-floor accommodation of the Taeyang Guild building for a few days.

The 5th floor was primarily for use by the lower-ranked Hunters within the guild.

Hunters typically had their own homes, but they often stayed here for training purposes or to be readily available for support.

Seo-ah had also decided to stay in the guild for the time being to minimize her commute.

The room wasn’t large, but it had all the essentials – similar to a well-maintained business hotel.

“You can rest and come back to the gym around 7 PM.”

“Yes, thank you, Teacher.”

After Cheol-du closed the door behind him, Seo-ah flopped onto the bed.

“Everyone is so kind…”

Han Seok-hyun was like that, and Kim Cheol-du, despite his stern appearance, was kind in his own way. Yoon Du-hee was a bit prickly, but still acceptable. Not everyone could be expected to be kind.

Seo-ah felt a pang of guilt, unaccustomed to such considerate treatment.

“No, it’s okay. They’re offering, after all.”

Park Seo-ah tried to dismiss the self-doubt and activated her status window while still lying down.

[ Park Seo-ah (21 years old)

Position: Healer (E-Class), Supporter (S-Class/Locked)

Title: None

Stats: Strength 15, Magic Power 8, Agility 10, Defense 11, Stamina 14, Mental Strength 20

Active Skills: Recovery (Lv. 2), Breakthrough (Lv. 1), Fighting (Lv. 1)

Passive Skill: Brain ]

Seo-ah widened her eyes, fighting off drowsiness.

‘When I saw it in my dream last time, it seemed like I had a lot of hidden skills. I wish I knew the unlocking conditions.’

Seeing that the [Brain] skill had manifested during training, it seemed skills were created and activated when specific conditions were met.

‘I wonder if I can’t turn these ON/OFF at will.’

Come to think of it, she had quite a few stats over 10.

‘Should I try using the Fighting skill again later?’

She wasn’t seriously expecting to defeat Yoon Du-hee, but she was curious about how the skill was applied. She was relieved that, unlike Breakthrough, she could apply it to herself.

‘I should ask Yoo Ji-an for more details when I see him next time. By the way, I haven’t seen him for days.’

With those thoughts swirling in her mind, she drifted off to sleep on the bed.

When she woke up, it was already ten minutes before 7 PM.

Ultimately, Seo-ah had to skip dinner and rush down to the gym. She was a little hungry, but it wasn’t unbearable.

‘I used to skip meals often when I was working part-time because I was busy.’

Besides, it was harder to move nimbly on a full stomach.

Still, the short nap seemed to help, as her body felt lighter than she expected.

By evening, all the Hunters who had been training had left, leaving only Yoon Du-hee, who was practicing her sword swings. It seemed she had arrived early and was waiting.

“Oh? Where is Teacher Kim Cheol-du?”

“He hasn’t arrived yet. Someone requested a consultation, so he’ll probably come after that’s over.”

“Ah, I see.”

Was it just her imagination, or was Yoon Du-hee’s tone much stiffer than when she was with Kim Cheol-du?

As Seo-ah stretched and twisted her body, Yoon Du-hee suddenly spoke to her.

“How about we start first, just the two of us?”

Seo-ah hesitated at Du-hee’s suggestion.

“Would that be okay? Shouldn’t we wait for the teacher…?”

“We don’t know when he’ll be done. Besides, the instructor only watches anyway. I also have plans for the evening.”

Seo-ah didn’t want to impose, sensing Yoon Du-hee’s urgency. She was already taking time out of her schedule to help, and Seo-ah didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Besides, Kim Cheol-du would likely arrive soon, making it similar to their earlier session.

“Okay, let’s do that. I’ll attack first like before, right? And then Yoon Du-hee Hunter-nim will add her counterattack.”

“Yes, let’s set a time limit. If you succeed within an hour, then Park Seo-ah Hunter-nim wins.”

“An hour? Yes, okay.”

The sparring earlier had taken about two hours, including breaks. She had improved since then, so an hour should be sufficient.

Anyway, even though it was framed as sparring, victory wasn’t Seo-ah’s primary concern. Her goal was to improve her skills.

It would have been over instantly if Yoon Du-hee wasn’t restricted by the attack prohibition penalty in the first place.

“Then pick up the wooden sword over there.”

Her tone was strangely hurried, but Seo-ah assumed she must be genuinely busy and obediently bent down to pick up the wooden sword.

She took a stance and faced Yoon Du-hee.

Was it because her stats had increased? She felt subtly different from when she had first faced her during the day.

The wooden sword also felt lighter than before, and she noticed subtle habits in Yoon Du-hee’s movements that she hadn’t picked up on earlier.

Of course, this was also because they had clashed dozens of times. In a real battle, she would have been defeated before she could analyze anything.

“Let’s begin.”

“Um, can I use a skill in the middle? It’s not an attack skill.”

Seo-ah was worried that using a skill might violate the rules, so she asked to be sure.

“Well, I don’t know what kind it is, but if it’s not an attack skill, then I guess it’s okay. Of course, I won’t use any.”

Yoon Du-hee confidently agreed. And then their sparring resumed.

The beginning was similar to before.

Yoon Du-hee easily dodged the first ten attacks and quickly regained her composure.

‘She must have been flustered earlier.’

It was true that she had been careless, underestimating her opponent because she was an E-Class, and she had been surprised by her rapid improvement.

However, the wooden sword technique she had learned was quite basic, and Yoon Du-hee quickly became familiar with Seo-ah’s attack patterns.

“Ha!”

Yoon Du-hee effortlessly evaded the simple movements of stabbing, cutting, retreating, and stabbing again, moving only slightly.

As she did so, she regained her composure.

‘She’s just an E-Class after all. I was overreacting. What does Instructor Kim Cheol-du think I am?’

Looking back, she realized she had been resentful of Kim Cheol-du for assigning her to an E-Class opponent.

“Hoo…”

Seo-ah, who had been attacking repeatedly, suddenly stopped.

“Are you tired? If it’s too hard, we can stop here.”

She was already starting to get bored.

If Park Seo-ah gave up first, Yoon Du-hee would be grateful. She glanced at her watch and saw that there were about twenty minutes left.

“No, it feels like I’m almost there…”

“Pardon?”

Yoon Du-hee asked again, thinking she had misheard, but Park Seo-ah took a deep breath and resumed her stance.

“I’ll go again.”

‘What nonsense is she talking about? She hasn’t landed a single valid attack yet.’

She lightly sneered as she saw Seo-ah mouthing ‘Fighting.’ And then she easily dodged the wooden sword that was flying towards her again.

‘How long is she going to repeat the same attack?’

But then, this time, Seo-ah didn’t retreat and lowered her hand diagonally.

‘Oh no.’

She remembered Kim Cheol-du constantly reminding her not to neglect her lower body defense.

The fledgling E-Class Hunter had figured it out.

The moment her wooden sword aimed for her thigh below her waist, Yoon Du-hee instinctively lowered her own wooden sword. It was faster than she expected to dodge Park Seo-ah’s speed. She had to block it directly.

Clang-!

Seo-ah’s wooden sword flew out of her hand due to the force of the collision.

“Ah!”

Seo-ah’s body was also pushed back, and she plopped down on the floor.

The match was over.

But Yoon Du-hee didn’t stop. She was furious that she had almost been caught off guard by the underestimated Seo-ah, even if it was only for a moment.

‘How dare she!’

Without realizing it, Yoon Du-hee channeled killing intent into her wooden sword and swung it at Seo-ah, who had fallen. The wooden sword made a buzzing sound in the air with the power of a C-Class Hunter.

‘I’m going to get hit!’

Seo-ah quickly protected her head with her arms and crouched on the floor.

Thud, thwack, thump-!

She braced for a huge impact, but she only heard loud noises and didn’t feel any impact or pain. She opened her eyes while lying face down and saw two feet right in front of her.

She slowly raised her head and saw a familiar back.

“Yoo Ji-an… Hunter-nim?”

“Kim Cheol-du Instructor-nim, did Han Seok-hyun forget to tell you to take good care of her?”

Seo-ah sat up.

Yoon Du-hee was embedded in the gym wall, and Kim Cheol-du belatedly rushed over in a hurry.

“Ugh, even though I taught her so much! I’m sorry.”

Yoo Ji-an reached out to her without even looking at her as Seo-ah tried to get up. Seo-ah glanced up at him and took his hand and stood up.

He carefully looked Seo-ah up and down before taking his eyes off her. The situation was a little embarrassing.

“Seo-ah, are you okay?”

Kim Cheol-du asked Seo-ah with a tone full of apology.

“Yes, but what about that person?”

Yoon Du-hee, who was embedded in the wall, seemed to have fainted. But when did Yoo Ji-an arrive? His timing was impeccable.

“I’ll take care of that guy.”

“You know this isn’t something you can just brush over, Instructor-nim.”

Yoo Ji-an spoke sternly, but he was still treating his former teacher with respect.

Of course, Kim Cheol-du knew that very well.

“Of course, I’ll hand him over to the guild’s disciplinary committee. He needs to learn a lesson from this incident.”

Yoo Ji-an nodded lightly at Kim Cheol-du’s answer and gestured to Seo-ah. It was a signal to leave.

Seo-ah bowed politely to Kim Cheol-du with her hands together.

“Thank you for today, Teacher.”

“No, you must have had a hard time. Get some rest.”

Seo-ah turned around and ran to the elevator that Yoo Ji-an was holding open, and slipped inside.

As soon as she got in, she naturally pressed the 5th floor.

Yoo Ji-an’s eyebrow twitched for a moment when he saw that, but Seo-ah didn’t notice.

“…”

The elevator was silent. Why was it taking so long to go from the basement 1st floor to the 5th floor?

Seo-ah turned her gaze to the glass window, pretending to admire the view.

‘I had something to say.’

But when she actually met him, she couldn’t remember what to say. Yoo Ji-an’s unique sharp atmosphere kept Seo-ah’s mouth shut.

But then,

Grumble-

“Gasp.”

Her stomach, which had skipped dinner, belatedly announced its hunger.

Yoo Ji-an, who hadn’t moved at all, turned to look at Seo-ah. Seo-ah’s face turned bright red.

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

Yoo Ji-an said with a stiff expression. It wasn’t her imagination. He was angry. Why? Why was he angry?