I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 236

236.

Although surprised by Seo-ah’s sudden action, the Hunters didn’t stop her.

The ‘System Administrator’ was more helpless than they’d imagined. It writhed on the floor, unable to resist, pinned by the Ruin Blade.

“Seo-ah.”

Calling to Seo-ah, who was filled with anger, Yoo Ji-ahn gently took her hand off the sword hilt and held it himself.

Seo-ah readily released her hand, but her gaze remained fixed.

“You killed them, didn’t you?”

The System Administrator remained silent, displaying no system prompts.

Then, Yoo Ji-ahn silently channeled a weak electric magic through the Ruin Blade he was holding.

Pajijik-

The slime’s body trembled, and the smell of burning meat filled the air. Soon after, a system window urgently appeared.

[Confirm the truth? YES/NO]

It was the same content as before. But the System Administrator was even more helpless than expected. It couldn’t even block this level of attack. Though puzzling, they decided to confirm this first.

As Seo-ah gently grabbed Yoo Ji-ahn’s wrist as if to say she was okay, he pulled the Ruin Blade from the slime.

The System Administrator crawled back and wrapped around Seo-ah’s ankle again. The damp and warm sensation was still creepy, but Seo-ah endured it.

“Are we doing it again?”

“Yes, I asked it to show me more about my parents.”

“Then drink this first.”

Baek Eun-hee handed her a mana potion, and Seo-ah quickly took it and thanked her.

“Thank you.”

Wang Chun-yu and Jackson seemed preoccupied with watching the numerous monitors.

‘YES.’

Seo-ah sat on the floor and closed her eyes again. Perhaps because she had become more proficient in using [Emotional Transference], the video appeared much faster than before.

Lee Je-in and Park Woo-chan were looking down at the sleeping Seo-ah.

“Is this reassuring enough?”

“If Seo-ah never goes near a gate for the rest of her life….”

Judging from the conversation, it seemed to be after the data implantation.

Lee Je-in looked at Seo-ah with a somber face and stroked her forehead.

“What happens if she goes?”

“‘They’ will notice. They probably won’t kill her. If she dies, the data will be lost as well. They’ll probably keep her alive… and unlock the sealed skills.”

As Seo-ah and her parents had anticipated, the System Administrator awakened her as an S-class supporter as soon as she entered the gate.

And through [Aladdin’s Lamp], it pretended to grant wishes, unlocking the unawakened skills of the Hunters one by one.

‘And I didn’t even know it.’

But for Seo-ah, it was unavoidable. She had only made the best choices at the time to stop the monsters and gates.

She felt betrayed, but she didn’t regret it.

Lee Je-in and Park Woo-chan closed Seo-ah’s room door and quietly came out.

Lee Je-in spoke in a gentle tone.

“This is just a hypothetical, but…”

“What is it?”

“If Earth’s time has been repeated, wouldn’t there be someone who remembers that time? There were monsters in the gate who did, although their memories weren’t complete.”

“Are you talking about a regressor?”

At the word ‘regressor,’ Lee Je-in tilted his head for a moment and replied.

“Well… maybe? If someone remembers all the repeated iterations, you could call them a regressor.”

“But why are you asking?”

“I’m just curious. If they really exist, what are they thinking? Is what we’re doing justified… I’d like to ask them at least once.”

Lee Je-in looked at Seo-ah’s closed door with a troubled face.

“I feel the same way,” Park Woo-chan replied with a cool smile. Lee Je-in sat on the living room sofa and took out his phone.

“Why? Who are you trying to contact?”

“The Association. I’m going to ask them to let me in if an A-class gate appears.”

“Why an A-class gate?”

“We need to go to that level to get proper data.”

Park Woo-chan asked, puzzled.

“What data? Do you need more?”

“I’m going to investigate the high-level monsters there. I’m going to look for traces of regression among them.”

“That’s fine, but I haven’t fully recovered yet. I don’t think I can protect you.”

“What are you talking about, you A-class!”

Lee Je-in playfully provoked Park Woo-chan, who replied with dissatisfaction.

“I’m saying that A-class hasn’t fully recovered yet because of the extraction.”

“Okay, I’ll schedule it for at least a week later.”

The atmosphere between the two wasn’t bad, but Seo-ah felt uneasy seeing it.

‘No.’

This must be around the time my parents died, when Seo-ah was in the fifth grade of elementary school.

Actually, she didn’t want to see more, but she had to. Seo-ah steeled herself and focused again.

Before she knew it, Seo-ah’s parents were standing in front of the gate.

The two entered the gate at the rear of the Hunters who were attacking it. But the moment they entered the vortex, a dark darkness consumed them. And soon after, a system window appeared.

[‘The Last Being’ is watching you.]

“The Last Being….”

“Je-in-ah!”

Lee Je-in reached out to Park Woo-chan, and Park Woo-chan reached out to Lee Je-in. But despite the fleeting distance, their outstretched hands didn’t touch.

“Ah, ah…!”

Lee Je-in’s expression distorted as he looked at Park Woo-chan. Park Woo-chan’s black hair was turning white, and wrinkles were gradually forming on his taut skin.

It was the same for Lee Je-in. The outstretched hand became shriveled, and age spots appeared.

“Je-in-ah, Je-in-ah, the Last Being is…!”

Park Woo-chan shouted as if he had realized something. Je-in’s wrinkled eyes became moist.

“Woo-chan, what should we do? What about our Gun-woo and Seo-ah….”

Those were her last words.

Je-in’s fingers and wrists dried up stiffly like dry branches, and then began to fall off in pieces. Park Woo-chan had already had his limbs rapidly weathered away and disappeared.

The two became dust in the gap of the gate and disappeared without a trace.

‘…Ah?’

Seo-ah didn’t understand it all at once, even as she watched. It was just shocking.

Just looking at the scene, Lee Je-in and Park Woo-chan had aged rapidly and died.

Seo-ah slowly opened her eyes and stared blankly into the air.

“Seo-ah.”

“Seo-ah, are you okay?”

Looking at Baek Eun-hee and Yoo Ji-ahn, who were worried about her, her mind gradually returned.

“Ah, I’m okay….”

Seo-ah tried to get up but staggered, so they grabbed her from both sides.

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is activated.]

It seemed that witnessing her parents die had been shocking. As [Silent Night] activated, the focus in Seo-ah’s eyes gradually sharpened.

“What did you see?”

“I saw my parents’ past, even the scene of their death….”

“Your parents’ past? Hmm, I see. Then it must have been shocking.”

Baek Eun-hee patted Seo-ah, and Seo-ah hesitated before opening her mouth.

“My parents, um… It seems they hacked the System Administrator. Because of that, they incurred the resentment of the Administrator and the Last Enemy….”

“Wait, did you say they hacked the System Administrator? To think there was a research-based Hunter with such abilities. But why wasn’t it known?”

Jackson, who had been standing far away, jumped up and joined the conversation with admiration. Seo-ah didn’t know that far back. She didn’t know if her parents had hidden it or if the Korean Hunter Association had hidden it.

“Anyway, that’s why they were killed in the gate. I think it was the work of the ‘Last Enemy.'”

“They hacked the System Administrator, and the Last Enemy intervened to kill a Hunter… The Last Enemy has been shrouded in mystery until now, but that’s unexpected.”

“Anyway, my parents seemed to have judged that if they faced the ‘Last Enemy’ while researching various gates, they would die unconditionally. So they tried to stop it… by hacking.”

“Hey, how can you know that? You have to try it to know.”

Wang Chun-yu lightly retorted, wrapping the chain around his wrist. Yoo Ji-ahn nodded as if agreeing with Seo-ah’s words.

“I’ve experienced it too. I faced the Last Enemy and died before I could even figure out its identity. There was no substance, no feeling, nothing.”

Seo-ah told them in more detail what she had seen through her parents. The Hunters listened to the story and began to worry, their expressions serious.

“So what is that thing? Why is it destroying the well-functioning world and turning it into a gate?”

As Wang Chun-yu muttered, grinding his teeth, Baek Eun-hee kicked the wriggling slime under her feet.

“Leaving aside the Last Enemy, what is the System Administrator then? This squirming guy is supposed to be managing all this. It seems like they are separate entities.”

Seo-ah cautiously offered her guess.

“Um, I… I think it might be an entity related to ‘time.'”