I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 30

30.

“Ah, fuck. Am I gonna die here?”

“What are you saying? Drink this, quickly.”

“Huh?”

Seo-ah quickly pulled an antidote from her inventory. Choi Seok-hoon, receiving it, was very surprised.

Even regular potions were expensive, but antidotes were even more so because they were difficult to make. Because of that, Choi Seok-hoon, only a D-rank Hunter, couldn’t afford to prepare one in advance.

Yet, Seo-ah handed him a top-grade antidote made by the S-rank crafting Hunter, ‘Maker.’

Choi Seok-hoon only knew the name but had never actually seen one.

“Are you, like, a chaebol [a wealthy, family-owned conglomerate] or something?”

Regardless, Seo-ah was chugging a mana potion.

Seo-ah knew that all of this was thanks to Yoo Ji-an’s virtue, so she resolved to thank Yoo Ji-an a hundred times if she survived. And of course, Baek Eun-hee, who gave her the surprisingly powerful Ppyong Hammer, too.

Without it, this battle would have been really difficult.

“Drink it quickly! You’re turning black up to your neck!”

Kang Su-jeong said, stamping her feet anxiously, and Choi Seok-hoon swallowed it without delay. But although he succeeded in swallowing it, he immediately collapsed. The poison had spread much faster.

That was because the Tarantula had poured out all its poison in that short moment. If his Hunter rank had been higher, he would have endured a bit longer, but even at his best, Choi Seok-hoon was only a D-rank.

“What do we do! It looks like the antidote isn’t working!”

“Just a moment.”

Seo-ah, having recovered her mana, grabbed Choi Seok-hoon’s wrist.

She intended to use the method she had learned, however clumsily, from Song Jin-ho.

Since he had taken the top-grade antidote, using a recovery skill together would surely have a better effect.

“Sister, what are you trying to do…?”

“Shhh.”

Seo-ah took his pulse and used her recovery skill, pushing it in little by little. She fumbled a bit, but the [Brain] skill enhanced her judgment.

The mana that had been flowing smoothly suddenly slowed down.

‘So, this is the feeling Hunter Song Jin-ho was talking about.’

Seo-ah continued to use the recovery skill, and her mana, which had been briefly restored by the potion, began to drain again.

Kang Su-jeong and Kim Min-joon watched her with concern.

Meanwhile, Oh Hyun-soo and Min Joo-yeon looked down at the intermittently twitching Tarantula.

“Shouldn’t we finish it off?”

Oh Hyun-soo lightly shook his head, looking down at the Tarantula. “This guy can’t do anything anymore. There are quite a few benefits for the person who catches the boss. It would prick my conscience if I just took it.”

Oh Hyun-soo and Min Joo-yeon’s gazes naturally turned to Seo-ah. She was sweating profusely, treating Choi Seok-hoon.

“Ugh……”

As the treatment continued, Choi Seok-hoon, who had lost consciousness, groaned.

“Oh, are you awake? Try to get up!”

“Ugh, what!”

As Kang Su-jeong shook Choi Seok-hoon and spoke to him, Choi Seok-hoon opened his eyes wide and raised his body.

“Quickly, get a grip! What are you doing lying down inside the gate?”

“……”

Choi Seok-hoon, sitting up, blankly looked at Seo-ah, who was holding his wrist. Seo-ah’s complexion was pale.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m okay… I’m glad you came to your senses……”

As Choi Seok-hoon regained his senses, Seo-ah’s body collapsed this time.

“Sister, Sister!”

Oh Hyun-soo approached and checked Seo-ah’s carotid artery, listening to her breathing.

“It seems she just fell asleep because she’s too exhausted.”

“Ah……”

Everyone silently looked at Seo-ah with subdued eyes for a moment. Then, Min Joo-yeon suddenly spoke.

“You’re really amazing, Hunter Park Seo-ah. I don’t know much because it’s my first time in a gate, but…”

“She’s definitely amazing. We would never have been able to defeat that Tarantula without Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

Oh Hyun-soo agreed.

No one who fought here with her now could deny Seo-ah’s contribution.

They caught a C-rank boss, [Tarantula], with just one C-rank, one D-rank, and three E-ranks. Seo-ah’s buff skills were amazing, but they could never have achieved this feat without her quick judgment.

They decided to leave the Tarantula and Seo-ah, each guarded by one person, for a while and began to clean up the surroundings.

* * *

Whoosh, whoosh—

The fierce wind relentlessly struck and passed by her ears. Despite the quite loud noise, strangely, she felt at peace. Perhaps it was because she couldn’t hear any other sounds at all.

Seo-ah slowly opened her eyes.

A dark space, somewhere familiar.

‘Again, that dream.’

Ding—

As if thinking made it so, a system sound rang out, and a familiar window floated up.

[Mission 2-1 Cleared!

Select your reward. You can choose two skills from the list. Once selected, skills cannot be reversed……]

‘This is……’

It seemed there was a reward even if she only cleared Mission 2 once out of three times. Fortunately, this time, Seo-ah had a choice.

‘But when did I receive praise?’

[Love Yourself, Silent Night, Gentle Sunlight, Land of Rest, Rain of Life……]

Like last time, small boxes with skill names written on them zoomed past.

‘Too fast!’

Even though she had a choice, it wasn’t a speed at which she could possibly choose. Seo-ah barely reached out and grabbed one.

[Gentle Sunlight]

What is this? There was no time to think for now.

Seo-ah barely snatched the other one as well. But she didn’t know how this was any different from the system choosing randomly.

[Love Yourself]

“……”

Just by the names, she couldn’t figure it out at all.

A cozy storm continued to echo in Seo-ah’s ears.

* * *

“Looks like it’s been enough, right?”

“We’ve swept up all the junk items, and well, the only problem left is the distribution.”

Oh Hyun-soo and Choi Tae-hoon approached the Tarantula. It wasn’t dead yet. Leaving it any longer seemed rather pitiful.

“We should take care of it soon. We need to open the gate.”

“Is Hunter Park Seo-ah still not awake?”

Min Joo-yeon worriedly approached Seo-ah when suddenly, a tremendous explosion was heard from behind.

“Ugh, duck!”

Everyone crouched down at the same time. As the explosion subsided, Choi Seok-hoon jumped up.

“What was that all of a sudden!”

The Tarantula was burning fiercely.

“What……”

Everyone stared in bewilderment when suddenly, a familiar voice was heard from afar.

“Hahaha! I caught the boss! What were you dawdling about?”

It was Bae Yong-soo’s group, who had been nowhere to be seen when they were fighting the Tarantula. They had dealt the final blow to the Tarantula.

The Tarantula turned to ashes, and Bae Yong-soo wore a satisfied smile.

“Hmm, very good. I got the Tarantula’s fangs, heh heh heh.”

“Those crazy bastards……!”

Choi Seok-hoon cursed in anger. Then, Bae Yong-soo chuckled and swaggered towards them.

“That’s why you should have finished it sooner. Finder’s keepers. If you have a problem, try doing something about it.”

He gestured with the staff with a skull drawn on it. Bae Yong-soo’s group looked relatively unscathed compared to the exhausted people here.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], wouldn’t it be troublesome if these guys go out and snitch to the Association?”

“Is that so?”

Bae Yong-soo seemed to agree with those words, examining their faces. Oh Hyun-soo, a C-rank, was a bit concerning, but the rest were all E-ranks. Moreover, one was collapsed, and even Oh Hyun-soo looked quite exhausted.

On the other hand, Bae Yong-soo’s side had no losses at all. Frankly, it was worth a try.

“Hey, Association guy. Accidents in the gate are not questioned, right? Isn’t that right?”

“What are you trying to do?”

Oh Hyun-soo clenched his fist tightly. His sword had unfortunately melted more than half by the Tarantula and was useless as a weapon.

But suddenly, the sky and the earth rumbled and shook.

“The gate exit has opened!”

A blue vortex was created a short distance away. It was the exit created by the gate boss, Tarantula, being killed by Bae Yong-soo.

“Uh-uh, you can’t just leave!”

Bae Yong-soo swung his staff greatly and attempted to attack them. A massive, raging flame was created at the end of Bae Yong-soo’s staff.

“That crazy bastard!”

Everyone dodged at the same moment. Then, Kang Su-jeong turned back with a start.

“Sister, Sister!”

Seo-ah, who had just regained consciousness, stared blankly at the flames flying towards her.

“Hunter Park Seo-ah, dodge!”

Oh Hyun-soo belatedly tried to run back again.

Bang! Pshhh!

But suddenly, the flying flames were blocked by something in the middle and extinguished. At the same time, someone picked up Seo-ah’s body and dodged to the side.

“Huh?”

“……Chairman?”

“Yoo Ji-an?”

Cha Tae-woon and Yoo Ji-an appeared simultaneously.

Yoo Ji-an was holding Seo-ah and dodging, and Cha Tae-woon had blocked the flames with his bare hands.

“Oh……Hunter Yoo Ji-an.”

Seo-ah blinked and looked up at Yoo Ji-an, who was holding her.

“Yeah.”

Yoo Ji-an replied with a sigh. There was a deep sense of relief in that sigh.

“How…….”

“Don’t talk, we’re getting out of here now.”

Yoo Ji-an could tell that Seo-ah was completely exhausted.

“I’m leaving first, Cha Tae-woon. Take care of the Association’s work.”

“Wait, don’t go anywhere……”

Saying that, Cha Tae-woon left before he could even finish speaking. Kang Su-jeong quickly followed him.

Soon after, the Association’s Hunters rushed to where Yoo Ji-an had left and stood behind Cha Tae-woon.

“What……how did this……”

Bae Yong-soo, facing Cha Tae-woon head-on, stepped back, faltering. He had seen two S-rank Hunters, whom he would never have met in his life. Under normal circumstances, he would have been amazed, but now, he felt like he was seeing grim reapers.

“This is just an accident…….”

Bae Yong-soo unknowingly rambled excuses.

“You said it was an accident, is that so? We will hear the rest of the story at the Association.”

“Hick, this time, isn’t the Association also at fault!”

Cha Tae-woon flicked his hand, seemingly annoyed by Bae Yong-soo’s desperate struggle.

“Put on the control cuffs and lock him up in the Association’s basement.”

“Yes!”

And Cha Tae-woon hurried out of the gate, lest he miss Park Seo-ah. This time, he had to meet her no matter what.