I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 194

194.

Behind the two people running in terror, a cloud of dust billowed up.

Jackson stepped forward.

“What’s going on?”

“Orcs! A horde of orcs is chasing us! There!”

Listening to the man and looking closely, a group of orcs was indeed chasing them. Orcs, slightly smaller than humans, with bluish skin and solid frames, were running with various weapons.

“Oh, we should help them.”

Milla, sounding flustered, drew her greatsword. The horde of orcs was already too close to escape.

Yu Jian had said that the final boss here was a Red Dragon. Judging by the appearance of orcs and dragons, this seemed to be a medieval fantasy world.

Just before the fight, Seoah cast three types of buffs on herself. The [Fighting] stat was around 20%, the same as usual.

She could raise it more, but Jackson’s gaze, which seemed to be watching her, felt a bit intrusive.

‘About 30 of them, huh.’

Seoah took out her [Bbyong Hammer] and swung it mightily at the onrushing orcs.

“Hah!”

Bbyong!

Kuaaaak!

When she hit one, about four orcs around it staggered at once. The leveled-up Bbyong Hammer had gained [Area Attack], which made it quite convenient. It wasn’t quite an area-of-effect skill, but compared to the days of taking them down one by one, this was a blessing.

Even so, the orcs didn’t die in one hit. These orcs were all A-grade monsters.

Being an S-grade gate, even the ordinary monsters had combat power comparable to boss-level monsters in other gates.

Seoah continuously swung her Bbyong Hammer at the orcs trying to get up and deftly dodged a wooden club flying over her head.

Milla and Ruben also took out their respective weapons and skillfully fought the orcs.

Of course, their speed of dispatching them was much faster than Seoah’s. It seemed they didn’t need buffs.

Seoah glanced at Jackson.

Jackson had taken out [Frozen Spear] but was standing slightly back, just watching Seoah fight. He was probably trying to gauge Seoah’s skills.

Seoah pouted her lips at the annoying feeling. She rolled on the ground to avoid a flying iron mace and forcefully broke an orc’s leg with her Bbyong Hammer.

Kueeek!

But at the same time, another orc swung its club at Seoah’s head, and Seoah instinctively raised her arm to block it.

Bang!

“Ugh.”

It felt like her arm bone had snapped in two. But as soon as she was hurt, Hose’s healing skill kicked in and quickly healed her.

Seoah, holding her still-numb arm, jumped up and beat down the orc that had attacked her. But as soon as she took down one, she was surrounded again. Seoah didn’t hesitate and jumped up with all her might to escape the spot.

And as soon as Seoah dodged, sharp shards of ice rushed in, piercing the orcs’ heads.

Fabababak!

Jackson, who had been watching, had stepped in.

As Jackson’s spear, [Frozen Spear], was swung horizontally, water poured out as much as the swung range. The water that flowed down froze their feet, and the water that splashed up became blades and rained down.

Seeing the tide turn as he joined, it was truly admirable.

‘Wow, he’s really the best with area-of-effect skills.’

Of course, the situation was already favorable with Milla, Ruben, Seoah, and Hose, but not overwhelmingly so. But as Jackson unleashed area-of-effect skills, the number of orcs definitely decreased more quickly.

Ruben lashed out at the orcs with their feet bound, and Milla easily cut them in half with her greatsword. Even the ones whose feet weren’t bound were quickly caught as their comrades fell.

Seoah took a moment to catch her breath and looked around.

The two men who had been chased by the orcs were hiding behind a tree far away, watching the scene.

And she looked towards Hose, who happened to be facing an orc. Hose was defending with his rod, but with the power of an A-grade healer, it didn’t budge.

It was a precarious situation, as the orc was wielding a 칼 [Korean word for knife/blade].

The moment Hose fell backward and the orc raised its arm high, Seoah, in a hurry, quickly threw her Bbyong Hammer towards Hose.

The Bbyong Hammer hit the back of the orc’s head, and luckily, it stunned the orc in one blow. The Bbyong Hammer, which had struck the orc, spun in the air and returned to Seoah’s hand.

This was also a newly added [Return] option to the Bbyong Hammer.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah….”

As Hose dazedly looked at Seoah and got up, Ruben cut in.

“Useless brat, can’t even handle one and just floundering around.”

Ruben abruptly criticized him and pushed Hose away.

“Don’t be a hindrance and stay in the corner!”

Seoah was about to say something in his defense, but she just kept her mouth shut and watched Hose retreat.

‘Don’t 괜히 [unnecessarily] get involved in that.’

Instead, she cast [Love Yourself] on Hose and turned her back.

Seoah rushed back to the remaining orcs. Feeling reassured by the healing skill on her back, she swung her Bbyong Hammer more fearlessly.

How long had it been? Just when there were no more standing orcs, the two men who had been hiding slowly came out.

“Amazing skills! To take on all these orcs!”

“We survived thanks to you, thank you!”

Seoah calmed her breathing and looked at the approaching men.

But there were sacks slung on their backs. Seeing something wriggling inside the sacks, Seoah pointed with her hand.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, this you mean?”

The man who was pointed out readily put down the sack and took out what was inside.

Seoah and her party approached.

“Oh, that’s….”

“Orc 새끼입니다 [Orc cubs]! We went into the orc village and secretly stole the newborns!”

Seoah, with a dumbfounded expression at their confident words, spoke.

“So the orcs were chasing you because….”

“We ran away with their 새끼 [cubs], so they chased us! Ugh, we could have brought them without being caught, but we were unlucky.”

Seoah’s expression visibly darkened.

Seoah looked down at the fallen orcs at her feet. Besides that orc, dozens of orcs were lying there bleeding. By Seoah and her party.

Orcs were classified as monsters, but 새끼를 구하러 오는 건 당연한 거 아닌가 [Isn’t it natural for them to come save their cubs]?

While Seoah was silent, Jackson cut in.

“Why did you bring the orc 새끼 [cubs]?”

“They’re trading for a high price in the market these days.”

“Why? What are they used for?”

“Gourmets eat them, they’re trained and sent to circuses, or raised as pets.”

Seoah, who was listening, muttered.

“Just for that reason….”

“Yes?”

Seoah suddenly snatched the sack.

“Uh oh?”

Seoah extended her Bbyong Hammer at the two people who were staring in bewilderment.

“Leave it.”

“What, suddenly…!”

At Seoah’s sudden threat, the two men looked back at the other hunters. They didn’t take Seoah’s side, but they didn’t seem to want to stop her either.

“If I had known it was for that reason, I wouldn’t have helped you. Leave it quickly, before you get hurt.”

The men stared intently at Seoah’s face. Just looking at her face, she seemed like a frail woman. But they had directly witnessed Seoah beating down the orcs with that ridiculous Bbyong Hammer.

The two men distorted their faces and backed away, eventually running away.

“I’ve lived long enough to see someone saving orc 새끼 [cubs].”

While Ruben openly scoffed in disbelief, Seoah took the sack and went to a fallen orc.

Milla was picking up items from the dead orcs, and Jackson was just watching Seoah.

There were a few orcs that Seoah had only stunned without killing. She had used a slight healing skill on those orcs, but it didn’t have much effect due to the low skill level.

“Hmm.”

They’ll wake up soon. Should I just leave them like this? As she was thinking, Hose approached and silently cast a healing skill.

“Thank you.”

Hose retreated silently. Seoah put the sack with the 새끼 [cubs] next to the healed orc and stepped back. They would probably wake up soon and find their 새끼 [cubs].

“Let’s go.”

As Seoah dusted off her hands, Jackson looked at her with subtle eyes.

“You know it’s a pretty useless thing to do, right? This is a gate.”

“I know, but if that’s the case, I shouldn’t have saved those men in the first place. Humans in the gate are also monsters.”

“I didn’t save them; I just caught threatening monsters.”

“Yes, I just did it to make myself feel better. Is that not allowed?”

That was really it. She felt a bit sorry for attacking without knowing the full story, but she thought it couldn’t be helped with the already dead orcs.

Jackson met Seoah’s gaze and sighed.

“Well… okay, there’s nothing wrong with that. But I will immediately stop you when it interferes with the raid.”

“Go ahead.”

Seoah looked forward again. Jackson called Milla and started moving.

Seoah followed behind them, thinking about the Korean team. Where are they, and what are they doing right now?