I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 28

28.

“Really? It’s real! What, suddenly!”

While the two were flustered, the car stopped, and Hunter Association Chairman Cha Tae-woon and Kim Jeong-soo got out.

“You’re saying Park Seo-ah participated in the tutorial gate.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“That must be her.”

As the S-class hunter, reaching nearly 2 meters in height, strode forward, association officials tensed up and bowed at 90 degrees.

“Greetings, Chairman!”

“Ah, you’re doing a lot of work.”

“But there’s no need for you to come all the way here because of Hunter Park Seo-ah… Wouldn’t it be better to make an appointment?”

Kim Jeong-soo said with a troubled expression, and Cha Tae-woon frowned.

“The TaeYang Guild is so protective, they won’t even show a strand of hair.”

“Even without going through the TaeYang Guild, the association should have Hunter Park Seo-ah’s personal contact information.”

“Vice-Chairman, if I were to freely access personal information in the association to satisfy my personal curiosity, who would trust the Hunter Association?”

It was a truly Cha Tae-woon-like remark.

He was a stickler for principles, befitting his status as a public official, and tried not to deviate from that framework as much as possible. In fact, clearing his schedule and coming all the way here was a major departure for Cha Tae-woon.

He was that curious.

About why S-class hunters and large guilds were eyeing her. This was true as the association chairman, but even more so as S-class hunter Cha Tae-woon.

“How long has it been since they entered?”

“It’s been four hours. The total schedule is six hours, so they’ll be out in two hours. But, um…”

The employee reported that the gate had closed earlier than expected, so Team 2 couldn’t enter.

“It happens occasionally… It’s usually in high-level gates, so it’s strange.”

Cha Tae-woon briefly placed his hand on the gate where the vortex of magic power was swirling.

Since the entrance was closed, he could only touch the surface, but this way, he could feel the waves inside to some extent.

Of course, not all hunters could do it, and they had to have at least A-class sensitivity.

Cha Tae-woon, who had his hand on the gate, tilted his head.

“Is it really E-class?”

“Yes, we’ve checked it several times with the magic power measuring device.”

“…That can’t be. Check it again.”

“Yes? Yes, I understand.”

The employee hurriedly brought the measuring device to the gate.

“Uh… uh? Why is it doing this?”

After a while, the employee’s face, looking at the numbers, gradually turned pale.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it was definitely around 400 magic power earlier. But now…”

Feeling frustrated, Cha Tae-woon took the measuring device and looked at it himself. Deep wrinkles formed on his forehead as he looked at the numbers.

“1248 magic power… It’s C-class.”

“Why, why is this happening! Chairman, it was definitely E-class earlier. We checked it three times. Right?”

The employee next to him nodded desperately.

“So, how many people went inside…”

Cha Tae-woon stopped talking and turned his head. He felt an enormous presence. Yoo Ji-an appeared, quite literally, suddenly from an unexpected direction.

“H-hi, Chairman!”

He moved so fast that it looked like teleportation to the average person.

Before he could even ask what was going on, Yoo Ji-an grabbed Cha Tae-woon by the collar.

“What did you just say? C-class?”

As an S-class hunter, his hearing was exceptional.

“Hunter Yoo Ji-an, let go of this…”

Kim Jeong-soo tried to dissuade him passively, but he had to back down, overwhelmed by Yoo Ji-an’s fierce momentum.

“I’m currently investigating the situation. Step back, Hunter Yoo Ji-an.”

“If anything happens to that kid inside, I’ll grind you to dust, so keep that in mind.”

Yoo Ji-an growled and roughly released Cha Tae-woon. Cha Tae-woon straightened his tie and said meaningfully.

“By ‘that kid,’ you must be referring to Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

“…”

“Park Seo-ah, Hunter Park Seo-ah. I came all the way here because I was curious about her too.”

“Don’t touch a single hair on her head.”

“Well, wouldn’t touching a fingertip or so be okay?”

“Cha Tae-woon. Do you want to die?”

“But that’s not the problem right now.”

Cha Tae-woon turned and headed towards the trembling employee.

“What are the ranks of the hunters who went in?”

“Well… one C-class hunter, four D-class, four E-class…”

The employee trailed off, realizing how hopeless it sounded as he reported.

“…Ha.”

Yoo Ji-an sighed in disbelief, and Cha Tae-woon’s expression darkened as well.

But even those great S-class hunters couldn’t do much now that the gate was closed.

Either they had to defeat the boss with their own strength and get out, or they had to enter and rescue them when the entrance reopened. That is, if they were safe until then.

“How long has it been?”

Yoo Ji-an asked the employee directly, and the employee, surprised, stammered while desperately answering.

“It’s been four hours since they entered. The entrance will reopen in two hours.”

“Two hours…”

Typically, once opened, it would reopen after six hours in real-time.

They had to wait anxiously in front.

* * *

Seo-ah firmly gripped the squeaky hammer in her hand. She didn’t know what would pop out from which direction.

But suddenly, Seo-ah felt like something was looking down at her from above. As she tried to look up, Choi Seok-hoon’s shout rang out.

“Get out of the way!”

Choi Seok-hoon shouted, and Seo-ah threw herself to the ground and rolled.

*Whoosh*-

A viscous, transparent substance flew exactly where Seo-ah had been.

After confirming the entity that fired it, Seo-ah’s chest turned cold. It was a spider web. If she hadn’t maxed out her agility before coming here, she would have been helpless against it.

“Tarantula…?”

Doubt seeped into Oh Hyun-soo’s mumbling voice. Seo-ah looked up at the large spider hanging from the tree. The [Tarantula] was a deep black color.

Considering that the previous D-class boss [Stone Knight] was a dark blue color, [Tarantula] was a higher rank. The pressure coming from that rank was definitely felt by Seo-ah.

“How did this happen? Wasn’t this an E-class gate?”

This was clearly an E-class gate certified by the association. And the monsters they had encountered so far were definitely F~E class.

But could the difference between ordinary monsters and bosses be so great in the same gate?

But there was no time to argue about it. They couldn’t run away now.

Because twenty or so baby spiders were covering the trees and coming down. Even though they were baby spiders, they were the size of a human fist, so they couldn’t be called small. So, they were definitely ‘monsters.’

“Eugh, disgusting. I hate things with lots of legs!”

Kang Soo-jung said with disgust, taking out and gripping her twin swords.

A fire mage would have been perfect for dealing with such a large number. But Bae Yong-soo’s group was nowhere to be seen.

They met such a boss before even joining up with Team 2, so they were very unlucky.

Everyone was tense, but Oh Hyun-soo, who had been quiet all along, stepped forward.

“Everyone, it seems there was some kind of error on the association’s side. I’m sorry. That tarantula is too dangerous for you to catch alone. I’ll help too.”

The hunters seemed a little relieved at Oh Hyun-soo’s appearance. But there was something Oh Hyun-soo didn’t say, which was that the [Tarantula] looked dark blue in Oh Hyun-soo’s eyes as well.

‘This is something you’d only see in a C-class gate.’

A C-class gate boss required several B-class and C-class hunters to enter and catch it without casualties.

Oh Hyun-soo’s hand gripping the sword tightened. The spider swarms were slowly surrounding them.

The six narrowed their distance and stood back to back.

“The boss tarantula doesn’t seem to be moving right away. Let’s deal with the baby spiders first. If the boss moves, Hunter Choi Seok-hoon and I will step up first.”

“Yes.”

“Hunter Kim Min-joon, you’re a tanker, so hold your shield and protect archer Min Joo-yeon and healer Park Seo-ah as much as possible.”

“Yes… Yes.”

They naturally followed Oh Hyun-soo’s instructions.

Kim Min-joon fearfully held up his shield and awkwardly stepped forward.

“Everyone, hold my hand!”

Just before the baby spiders surrounded them, Seo-ah grabbed everyone’s hands one by one and cast [Fighting] on them all.

“Here they come.”

With Choi Seok-hoon’s low voice, the baby spiders rushed in.

Seo-ah swung her squeaky hammer mercilessly at the spider coming towards her. Fortunately, the spiders that weren’t tarantulas were low-ranked. As she repeatedly struck the spider’s head, it soon fell off.

But in the process, Seo-ah also suffered injuries to her arms and legs.

“Haa, haa.”

Oh Hyun-soo and Choi Seok-hoon lured the spiders further away and fought. Oh Hyun-soo was secretly surprised as he cut down one spider with one sword.

‘This is…’

The spider’s shell was harder than he thought. So he expected it to be a little tricky, but it was easier than expected to cut it in half. Oh Hyun-soo glanced at Park Seo-ah.

Seo-ah was diligently swinging her squeaky hammer while also healing Kang Soo-jung and Kim Min-joon from time to time. Leaving the wounds on her own legs unattended.

When Seo-ah cast some skill earlier, he felt his body was lighter, but he didn’t expect it to actually increase his strength.

‘Has she improved in the meantime?’

Park Seo-ah’s movements, who he thought wouldn’t have much combat ability, were better than he thought. Considering Park Seo-ah’s low measured stats when he first saw her, it was impossible. She must have trained a lot.

And Kang Soo-jung was also calmly cutting down monsters, unlike her young age.

Thanks to them, the baby spiders were being dealt with one by one anyway.

‘The problem is that guy.’

It was the boss monster tarantula that was still looking down on the humans from the tree.

As the last baby spider was dealt with, the tarantula wriggled.

“That spider bastard is watching humans from somewhere!”

“Wait, don’t go alone…!”

Before Oh Hyun-soo could stop him, Choi Seok-hoon spat out the words as if chewing them and rushed towards the tarantula first.