I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 244

244.

The One Pick of the Rankers – Chapter 244

The landlady, knowing that Seo-ah was Korean, had prepared a Korean meal, sourcing the ingredients from who-knows-where. But Seo-ah didn’t eat right away.

As Seo-ah eyed the food suspiciously, the landlady said,

“I didn’t do anything to it. If I were going to do something, I would have done it already.”

That was true. Seo-ah had been sleeping defenselessly the whole way here.

“Thank you for the meal.”

She was also very hungry. Seo-ah picked up her spoon and thought,

‘Free luxury tour, I’m grateful.’

After finishing her brunch, Seo-ah took a walk in the villa’s garden. Of course, she wasn’t just taking a walk; she was also looking for a way to escape.

The villa’s perimeter was surrounded by high walls, and there were hunters guarding Seo-ah, while also keeping an eye on her.

‘This is going to be difficult.’

It would be so easy if she could just undo this restraint. She felt the importance of magic again at times like this. With the stat controller, Seo-ah was now almost an ordinary person.

‘Well, there’s no need to push it.’

It would be a waste of time if she got hurt or went astray while trying to escape.

She should have recovered her magic sooner, but she had been too relaxed, thinking she wouldn’t be going to gates for a while, and this was the result.

If her magic had been normal, Seo-ah wouldn’t have been dragged here so helplessly. Or even without magic, if she hadn’t been so careless.

‘I got too relaxed after catching the final boss.’

Anyway, after deciding to stay here quietly, Seo-ah began to enjoy her vacation in earnest. She asked the landlady for delicious desserts and drinks, and she swam in the villa’s pool.

When she got tired, she would put on music and take a nap, read books, and watch movies on her tablet PC.

As she was lazing around like that, around sunset the next day, she heard footsteps coming from outside.

It wasn’t just one person.

Seo-ah, who had been lying on the sofa, got up and looked towards the door. The first person to enter was the kidnapper she had seen on the plane.

“You are…”

“The Master is coming.”

“Master?”

Following him, a man appeared with a line of attendants. It was an Arab man wearing a turban and a thobe [a traditional ankle-length garment]. He looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s.

As Seo-ah examined him, the man looked at Seo-ah with a bright expression.

“So, we meet like this! I’ve really wanted to meet you!”

The man tried to hug Seo-ah, but Seo-ah recoiled in horror.

“Have we met before?”

“I know you very well; I’ve watched every channel you’ve been on! You’re amazing. Seeing you fight alongside fearsome hunters with such a delicate body was truly impressive…!”

Seo-ah rubbed her head as she watched him speak with an exaggerated expression.

“I’m a hunter before I’m a woman.”

“Of course. But you are now the most precious woman in the world. Beastly men from all over the world will be after you. Precious things need to be hidden away.”

She wanted to say that he was included in those beasts, but she held back for now. She decided to hear more of the story.

“So, you’re protecting me?”

“That’s right! You understand my intentions!”

“And? Am I going to be here forever? Under your protection?”

“That can’t be; this is my villa, but it’s quite cumbersome to come and go.”

Seo-ah stared at him, anticipating what nonsense he would say.

“Once the wedding schedule is set, I plan to take you to my homeland. Please bear with it until then, my love.”

Seo-ah’s skin crawled, and she couldn’t control her expression. But the man thought Seo-ah was just overwhelmed by the suddenness of it all, and he smiled brightly again.

“If you’re by my side, you won’t have to do such dangerous things anymore. I will protect you forever. You will become my fourth wife.”

“Fourth… Ah, what is your homeland? What’s your name?”

“Oh, I was so glad to see you that I didn’t even introduce myself.”

The man placed his right hand on his chest and said,

“I am Asara bin Sabah. Please, call me Sabah.”

Judging by how naturally he assumed she would be his, he seemed to be of very high status. Perhaps even royalty.

But since some Arab countries have a lot of royalty, she hoped he wasn’t too high in the hierarchy.

It would be a bit of a hassle if he were too important and caused an international dispute. Of course, it would only be a hassle, and she wasn’t too worried.

“Okay, Mr. Sabah. I’m tired, so I’d like to rest alone.”

“Ah, I wasn’t considerate. You must be tired after a long flight. Then I’ll see you again next time. Oh, I’ll leave Zaid here, so feel free to use him.”

Apparently, the name of the hunter who kidnapped Seo-ah was Zaid.

As she watched Sabah turn around, Seo-ah greeted him quietly.

“Yes, Mr. Sabah. Take care.”

Sabah looked touched by her well wishes and went outside.

Seo-ah glanced at Zaid, who was standing there blankly.

“Personally, I respect you. It’s my first time seeing an S-class hunter in person.”

“What’s your rank, Mr. Zaid?”

“I barely made it to A-class.”

“Why did a hunter get involved in kidnapping? Are you in a master-servant relationship with him?”

“I needed money. That man has a lot of money.”

The conversation was more forthcoming than she expected. Seo-ah asked what she was really curious about.

“What’s his status? Royalty?”

“Oh, that’s right. Royalty, what was it? Something like the fourth son of the deceased crown prince…”

Not the living crown prince, but the fourth son of the deceased crown prince. Hmm, he seemed to be a common royal in the Middle East.

Having satisfied her curiosity, Seo-ah slowly walked towards the terrace and said,

“Do you really think this kidnapping will succeed?”

“Well, getting this far is a success. This is his private island. Besides, with the restraints on, no matter how great Hunter Park Seo-ah’s abilities are, it will be difficult to escape. Even though you can’t see them, there are dozens of mercenary hunters guarding this villa…”

“Ah, dozens. That’s too bad.”

Zaid looked like he didn’t understand what she meant.

That’s when it happened.

콰과광-! [Sound of a tremendous explosion]

With a tremendous explosion, something collapsed. Zaid flinched and looked at Seo-ah. Seo-ah smiled.

“They came sooner than I thought.”

“What, who came?”

번쩍- [Flash]

Lightning flashed in the clear sky, and trees collapsed everywhere. But the villa itself was not damaged at all.

“My boyfriend. If you want to live, you should run away quickly…”

“Boyfriend, who is it?”

Perhaps because he wasn’t Korean, or perhaps because he was late to the news, he didn’t understand right away.

As Seo-ah gave him a pitiful look, Zaid seemed to want to see outside, or rather, he went out onto the terrace. And the moment he grabbed the railing and lowered his head, a terrifying toothed wheel grazed his hair.

“Ugh!”

If Zaid hadn’t lowered his head at that moment, the saw would have cut his neck. As soon as Seo-ah saw the weapon, she knew who had come.

“Sister, Sister!”

Zaid’s face turned white. There were more than 20 hunters stationed outside. All of them were B-class or higher.

But to break through them all and come this far, and so quickly. He couldn’t even figure out how they had been tracked in the first place. He thought he hadn’t been caught by anyone.

Anyway, judging that the situation was not good, Zaid jumped off the railing.

“Ugh, ugh, cough!”

But as soon as he jumped, he heard a thumping sound and a rough groan. Before Seo-ah could look down, someone jumped up. It was an unexpected person.

“Chairman Cha Tae-woon?”

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m alright, but…”

In one of Cha Tae-woon’s hands was a fainted Zaid with a red and blotchy face. Cha Tae-woon nonchalantly put a magic control cuff on his hand and threw him to one side.

And soon, Baek Eun-hee also jumped out from somewhere.

“Seo-ah!”

“Sister, you came all the way here.”

“Of course! How dare they kidnap someone! Yoo Ji-an, hurry up and catch him!”

As Baek Eun-hee shouted loudly, a low voice permeated the air.

“I’m here.”

Yoo Ji-an stepped onto the terrace without a sound. In his hand, like Cha Tae-woon, was a human being.

“That person is…”

It was Sabah, who had left quite a while ago. Unlike Zaid, he was not unconscious.

When Yoo Ji-an let him go, Sabah burst into tears and snot and collapsed to the floor.

“Waaah…”

“Sit up straight.”

At Yoo Ji-an’s words, he immediately raised his upper body and sat kneeling. He looked fine on the outside, but he was quite frightened by whatever he had been through.

Yoo Ji-an left him and approached Seo-ah. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she felt nervous for some reason.

As they stared into each other’s eyes, the first words he spoke were unexpected.

“…Can I talk to you?”