I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 25

“Tutorial Gate…”.

“I think it would be good for you, unnie [older sister or close female friend]. You’ll get a chance to practice in real combat.”

“Is it different from a regular raid?”

“Well, I don’t know the details.”

“There’s nothing different. It’s just like a low-level raid.”

Yu Jian answered indifferently instead.

“The only difference is that the Association sends a hunter to protect you. But do you even need to go there? You’ll be with me anyway.”

“But Hunter Yu Jian wants someone B-grade or higher.”

“Anything lower is too easy to test.”

“It’s too difficult for me to check my skills.”

“So you want to go?”

“Hmm. It’s worth considering.”

“If you go, unnie, I’ll go too!”

The time left until death is D-85 days. I had to go on three raids within that time.

Even if I go with Yu Jian and Baek Eun-hee once each, that’s only twice. It wouldn’t be bad to go while waiting for the gate.

“So, what I mean is.”

Seo-ah looked at Yu Jian with sparkling eyes.

Yu Jian got up from her seat before Seo-ah could even speak.

“Well, if you’re going, it’s best to be fully prepared.”

“Yes? I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Let’s go, let’s go train.”

Yu Jian left those words again and went ahead. How did she read my mind? Seo-ah looked at Kang Su-jeong as she got up.

“Su-jeong-ah.”

“Have a good time! I also have a training schedule in the basement, hehe.”

Only a day had passed, but Kang Su-jeong seemed very satisfied with this life.

“Okay, Su-jeong-ah. See you later.”

After Seo-ah disappeared, Kang Su-jeong clenched her fist, saying, ‘Yes!’ Su-jeong had actually been waiting for the day to go on a raid with Seo-ah.

‘My stats haven’t increased at all since then. It only goes up when I’m with unnie.’

Soon, Kang Su-jeong also changed into her training clothes and went downstairs.

* * *

The place Yu Jian took Seo-ah was not the basement but the 86th floor, right below her house.

Seo-ah’s eyes widened when she saw it.

The 87th and 86th floors were connected, so the ceiling was very high.

“This is an S-class exclusive training ground. I don’t usually use it…”

That meant it was Yu Jian’s exclusive training ground. Yu Jian was the only S-class hunter.

However, even though it was heavily fortified, the walls and floors were dented in places. It seemed like it couldn’t withstand Yu Jian’s power.

“Do S-class hunters also train separately?”

“Well, rather than training, it’s more like testing out new weapons. Or…”

Yu Jian approached one wall. There were several control buttons attached to it. When she pressed them, a tremendous roar suddenly echoed throughout the space.

Seo-ah flinched and tried to cover her ears, but a huge mantis popped out in front of her. The words [Giant Mantis] appeared clearly in blue above the mantis.

“Wh-what…!”

The mantis swung its large scythe as soon as it saw Seo-ah. Seo-ah was horrified and jumped back. She barely avoided the attack.

Glancing at Yu Jian, she was just watching calmly without any intention of catching the mantis. Did she think it was okay?

Seo-ah stared straight at the mantis.

‘But it’s not as bad as I thought…’

She was flustered by its sudden appearance, but she didn’t feel the same overwhelming fear as when she first saw a monster.

Of course, Seo-ah couldn’t catch that monster alone. But she didn’t feel like she would be helplessly defeated either.

‘Is this the result of training?’

Thinking that way made her feel proud for some reason.

The mantis roared again and swung its forelimbs. This time, it started attacking multiple times.

Seo-ah dodged the attacks several times, then grabbed the mantis’s foreleg with her bare hands and held on. She felt the hard, cool sensation.

“Ugh.”

However, it was impossible to fight strength against strength. When the mantis raised its foreleg, she was thrown away by the force.

Just before Seo-ah crashed into the wall, her body dangled in the air.

Looking up, Yu Jian was holding her by the nape of her neck.

“…This is a familiar situation.”

Something similar seemed to have happened when they met at the A-class gate before. Yu Jian slowly lowered Seo-ah. When she regained her senses and looked ahead, the mantis had disappeared without a trace.

Seo-ah looked around in confusion and then looked up at Yu Jian.

“It wasn’t a real monster, was it?”

“Yes, it was created by simulation.”

“Wow, but I could feel the texture?”

“It’s a digitized image. But it’s only about 1/10th of its original power.”

“Ah…”

Seo-ah was a little disappointed at that. She felt like she could handle it for a moment, but that meant the original mantis had more than 10 times the power of that one.

“Still, you’re doing well. You haven’t been neglecting your training.”

Yu Jian comforted her in an awkward tone, seeing Seo-ah’s drooping shoulders.

“I’m weak, though.”

“That’s true. Tell me your stats now. In detail.”

Seo-ah opened her status window.

“Strength 19, Magic Power 8, Agility 12, Defense 13, Stamina 16, Mental Strength around 20.”

There hadn’t been much progress since the sparring with Yoon Doo-hee. There was no one to spar with, and the higher the stats went, the slower they increased compared to the beginning.

Yu Jian nodded after hearing the story.

“Let’s raise them as much as possible by the deadline.”

“Yes! But, what are Hunter Yu Jian’s stats? Even roughly…”

“Me? Strength 8765, Magic Power 6543…”

“Ah, ah! It’s okay now!”

Yu Jian told her more willingly than she thought, but Seo-ah shuddered at the numbers that made her dizzy just listening to them.

In Seo-ah’s common sense as a hunter, the stat limit for A-class was 1000. If the average exceeded that, it would be classified as S-class because it was beyond the measurement range of the association.

So, even within the same S-class, the stats varied greatly. 1001 and 9999 were both classified as S-class.

But even so, Yu Jian’s stats were enormous to hear.

‘Not all S-classes are like that, Yu Jian is the best in the country, so…’

While Seo-ah was sitting down and thinking about this and that, Yu Jian came to her with something dangling from her arms and legs.

“What is that?”

“Magic power, stat control devices. I have to match your level.”

Those were actually devices used to restrain criminal hunters, but Yu Jian used them for training.

When she wore them, she became ‘Yu Jian the ordinary person.’ Only the ability of her pure body remained.

“Now get up. My training method is a bit rough, but the results are certain. I’ll make sure you don’t fall behind among the E-classes.”

Yu Jian smiled meaningfully.

“Okay, then…”

Seo-ah slowly got up with a puzzled look, and then she saw stars.

“…Huh?”

When she opened her eyes again, Seo-ah was lying on the floor, and Yu Jian was looking down at her with a troubled face, muttering.

“Oops, was I too strong?”

* * *

Three days later, it was the day of the tutorial gate participation.

Park Seo-ah and Kang Su-jeong took the Sun Guild’s car together to the location designated by the Hunter Association. It was a field on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do [province in South Korea], a little outside the metropolitan area.

A blue vortex swirled there.

They submitted the application form that evening, and received a message last night to gather.

“Unnie, what kind of training did you do?”

“…Don’t even ask.”

Seo-ah opened the lid of the red potion and gulped it down. It cost more than 100 gold per bottle, but she had hundreds in her inventory, so she didn’t worry.

Of course, Yu Jian bought it and gave it to her.

Besides this, she also forced her to take mana potions, antidotes, and the most expensive armor that an E-class could wear.

It was definitely a luxury that Seo-ah could never have dreamed of.

‘It’s like giving a disease and then giving medicine.’

It was definitely something to be grateful for, but Seo-ah couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

“Sob, I was really… beaten like a dog.”

“Be-beaten? By an S-class hunter?”

Kang Su-jeong immediately examined Park Seo-ah’s body closely. Her eyes clearly showed the question, ‘But how is she still alive?’

Seo-ah, who managed to understand that, answered.

“Yu Jian wore all the control devices and adjusted her power to some extent. And… she also healed me.”

That was even scarier.

If she got hurt somewhere, she could use that as an excuse to rest, but Yu Jian spared no potions every time Seo-ah fell, and forcibly recovered her.

Not only that, but she even called Song Jin-ho in the middle to treat Seo-ah. So she couldn’t say she wanted to quit.

But the pain of the body was nothing compared to the pain of the mind.

Yu Jian had control devices on both arms and heavy weights dangling from her legs. In effect, her condition was that of an ‘ordinary person’ who had learned martial arts to the extreme.

On the other hand, Park Seo-ah did not limit any of her stats or skills as a hunter.

Thanks to that, she could see Yu Jian’s movements, unlike before. But she could only see them, she couldn’t block Yu Jian’s attacks, and Seo-ah’s attacks couldn’t even touch her clothes.

‘Still, Yoon Doo-hee hit her once.’

The range of experience is different, and the training time is different. Of course, she knew that the dimensions were different, but still. Unlike Yoon Doo-hee, Yu Jian didn’t let her guard down, but she never went easy on Seo-ah.

In addition, when Yu Jian was away for a while, she even did simulations with monsters in the middle.

“I’m still jealous, unnie. You’ve gotten stronger at a glance. You look definitely different than before?”

Kang Su-jeong, who was at a similar level, could feel it clearly. Park Seo-ah was now at a level where she wouldn’t easily lose even if she fought Kang Su-jeong.