I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 226

226.

Kwarureung- Kwang, Kwang!

Lightning and thunder, as if tearing the sky apart, made Seo-ah flinch.

“Ugh.”

Then, Seo-ah noticed Yoo Ji-ahn staring intently at her, as if to say, ‘How’s this?’ Seo-ah steadied her dizzy mind and glanced below.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! I almost got electrocuted to death!”

“Is that Yoo Ji-ahn again?”

Someone’s curse echoed from the ground, but the entire island was instantly cleared.

“T, that’s… amazing.”

Only then, as if satisfied with Seo-ah’s murmur, Yoo Ji-ahn turned his head. Then, he said ruefully.

“I couldn’t use it this freely before. It would go berserk at the slightest thing.”

“I see….”

Thanks to Yoo Ji-ahn’s [Thunderstorm], the Hunters had a moment to receive treatment from healers or quickly drink potions to recover their energy.

No one let their guard down.

It felt too easy to be a Legend Gate so far. The Hunters present already knew that the real challenge began now.

Seo-ah also fixed her gaze on the gate shimmering with dark red light. The presence of the monsters inside was becoming clearer. Seo-ah gripped her Bbyongmangchi [a magical hammer] tightly and swallowed hard.

‘Strong, quite strong.’

To compare it with magic power, it felt similar to the black snake I met at the boss of the A-class gate, [Ignis]’s gate. And dozens of those boss-level monsters were approaching.

“…Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn!”

Seo-ah shouted, and Yoo Ji-ahn controlled Kian to land near the lead group of the raid.

“Everyone, get ready!”

Seo-ah’s buff skills poured down over a wide area, and as soon as something wriggled in the gate, firepower was concentrated there.

Bang! Puh-buh-buck!

As soon as one appeared, it was shattered by magic-type Hunters and ranged Hunters.

Then, the next monsters fell before they could even fully emerge.

Each one was comparable to the boss of an A-class gate, but most of the Hunters here were S-class and received Seo-ah’s buffs. When their combined firepower was focused, even boss-level monsters couldn’t last long.

But that flow was disrupted when about twenty of them came out in rapid succession.

Before the one in front could fall, the next one emerged, and intact monsters popped out, disrupting the formation. Soon, the third and fourth monsters were coming out without any interference.

“Everyone, wake up!”

Cha Tae-woon raised his shield high and created ice walls around the Hunters. Behind him, Song Jin-ah supported his stamina, and Yohannes blocked the front of the mages with his large body.

The mages poured out firepower from behind Yohannes’s sturdy frame. The close-range fighters battled and destroyed the ones that broke through the formation one by one.

“It’s still okay! Focus!”

It was, literally, still manageable. Even though the number of A-class boss monsters increased, the Hunters gradually eliminated them. There were no casualties.

Until the black hole in the gate suddenly grew bigger.

“Uwaaaaaaak!”

The giant foot of a troll that appeared from the gate crushed Cha Tae-woon’s ice wall and trampled two A-class Hunters in front of it. Others hurriedly escaped the range, but the real problem was what came after.

Wolf monsters poured out behind the giant troll. Each one was a boss-level monster, exceeding A⁺ class.

“Damn it, why is it so heavy!”

At the same time as Ruben wrapped a wolf with his whip and threw it, another wolf rushed in.

“Hey, your back is open!”

Milla knocked it away with her greatsword and crushed its head.

Normally, they wouldn’t have been able to deal with this level of monster so quickly, but Seo-ah’s buff was at 50% for them right now. So, although it was difficult, they could handle it. The problem was their increasing numbers.

“Keuheok!”

“Yohannes!”

Several wolves pounced on Yohannes’s huge body, who was holding the front line, and bit him. The German A-class healer, who had been constantly healing him, couldn’t even approach due to the terrifying onslaught.

Seeing that, Seo-ah jumped up, but Yoo Ji-ahn grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. Then, he got up and jumped down.

“Be careful!”

With Seo-ah’s urgent cry behind him, Yoo Ji-ahn landed on the ground. Without even looking, he kicked the wolves clinging to Yohannes’s legs mercilessly.

Kkaeng! Seogeok-

It was Baek Eun-hee’s splinter [a type of weapon] that sliced the flying wolf.

As Baek Eun-hee and Yoo Ji-ahn stepped forward, the wolves around Yohannes were quickly cleared. After that, Yohannes was moved to the back and immediately received treatment from the healers.

After Yoo Ji-ahn landed, the situation was quickly stabilized.

Seo-ah anxiously watched the front line from above Kian and gave buffs to the necessary areas. Maintaining buffs for dozens of people simultaneously, Seo-ah had already emptied dozens of potions.

Even so, she didn’t neglect to look after each and every Hunter. At that moment, Seo-ah saw Wang Cheon-yu, whose back was exposed to a wolf.

“Wang Cheon-yu!”

A critical situation. Seo-ah immediately used [Teleport] to approach Wang Cheon-yu and swung her Bbyongmangchi.

Kkaeng!

While the wolf was stumbling, she grabbed him and used [Teleport] to escape. Wang Cheon-yu looked at Seo-ah, who had saved him, and said bluntly.

“Ugh, I just let my guard down for a moment.”

Wang Cheon-yu seemed dizzy and rubbed his head.

“I know, so don’t let your guard down now. Your attack power is so strong, but you’re too vulnerable defensively.”

Seo-ah immediately assessed Wang Cheon-yu’s battle style and advised him.

“Damn it, I only have one chain, so I can’t help it. Originally, tricks are important in this kind of thing.”

Seo-ah’s eyes twitched as she looked at Wang Cheon-yu muttering. There was no time to waste now.

Seo-ah immediately activated Wang Cheon-yu’s wish ticket that appeared in [Lamp’s Genie] [a skill that allows her to copy abilities].

[Replication: Creates illusions of people or things. The number of copies or duration varies depending on the skill user’s ability.]

Seo-ah lightly touched Wang Cheon-yu’s shoulder with her hand. After confirming that the skill had been copied, she said.

“It’s done, right? Hold on tight.”

“What? Hey, wait a minute!”

Before Wang Cheon-yu could understand what was happening, Seo-ah got on Kian. Explosions were heard all over the island, and high pillars of fire soared up. The south side of the island was particularly affected.

“Jackson!”

As Seo-ah shouted towards the south, Jackson, who was somewhere nearby, heard her voice and flew over like an arrow.

“Did you call me?”

Seo-ah flinched because she didn’t expect him to appear so quickly, but she let him ride on Kian.

“Come here.”

Lightly dismissing Jackson’s subtly expectant gaze, Seo-ah flew towards the flames in the south and pointed with her hand.

“Please put out that fire over there. It’s hard for the Hunters to fight.”

“…Ah.”

“Then, please!”

Seo-ah lightly pushed Jackson away, and Jackson was pushed back without resistance, staring at Seo-ah even as he fell. Looking at him, Seo-ah thought.

‘That person is really fortunate to have changed from Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn’s past life.’

Whatever Jackson’s hidden intentions were, he played a big role just by following along willingly.

“Ugh!”

In the meantime, bat monsters occasionally rushed in, and half of them were dealt with by Kian, and half by Seo-ah herself. Watching the bat monster fall to the ground after being hit by the Bbyongmangchi, Seo-ah quickly emptied another mana potion.

The speed at which mana and life were being depleted was getting faster and faster. As the consumption of stamina increased, the consumption of mana was bound to be greater even when using the same skill.

But she wasn’t the only one having a hard time. The Hunters fighting directly below would have an even harder time. Seo-ah widened her eyes and headed back to the front line where Yoo Ji-ahn was.

That place was truly a living hell. Water, fire, and wind erupted as if competing for dominance, and the flashing current brightly illuminated the surroundings like daylight.

With Yoo Ji-ahn’s presence, the Hunters were not easily pushed back, but casualties occurred even with a slight misstep.

“Ah, what to do….”

No matter how hard the healers tried, the number of people they couldn’t save was increasing. Seeing people actually die, Seo-ah was overcome with guilt.

But only for a moment. Seo-ah flinched and looked inside the gate. A huge, very huge mass of magic power was wriggling there. It was finally time for the S-class monsters to appear.

“Kian, further down.”

Seo-ah ordered Kian and tightened her lips.

Kkieeehk-

Kian roared and headed down like an arrow.

Seo-ah on Kian and Yoo Ji-ahn below made eye contact.