I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 33

33.

“Isn’t this place only for S-Class Hunters?”

“That’s right, this entire floor is where I live. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Are we living together?”

“Of course. Did you think I’d have you sleep separately?”

‘With this much space, being at opposite ends would be practically sleeping separately,’ Seo-ah thought, but she didn’t say it aloud.

Baek Eun-hee patted Seo-ah’s shoulder and led her to a door. It was the room at the far right.

“Here, get your luggage. Ah-hyun should have most things ready. I’d love to stay longer, but I have to go to the Association.”

“Ah, you’re busy. Sorry for taking up your time.”

“Don’t be sorry! What could be more important to me than you right now, Seo-ah?”

‘Unnie [term of endearment for an older sister or female friend], if you keep saying things like that, I’m going to get my hopes up. I’ll misunderstand.’

Seo-ah lowered her gaze to her knees and couldn’t say anything more.

Yu Ji-an often said similar things, but Seo-ah felt that no one could surpass Baek Eun-hee in this area.

Seo-ah laughed it off, embarrassed.

“Ah, haha… Then I’ll go in first.”

“Yes, make yourself at home and rest. I’ll be back tonight.”

“Yes, Unnie. Goodbye.”

After watching Baek Eun-hee leave, Seo-ah immediately slipped inside the door, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“Wow….”

The room, which she had simply assumed was a bedroom, was like another small apartment. It had a bedroom, of course, but also a bathroom, living room, and mini-bar.

Above all, the view was as good as the Sun Guild’s A-Class accommodation. Although the floor was much lower, there was a beautiful garden visible below.

Seo-ah quickly finished looking around the room and sat on the bed. Right now, Seo-ah had something much more important than the accommodation to focus on.

‘I’m finally alone.’

It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it with Yu Ji-an and Baek Eun-hee around, but she wanted to be alone and calm at this moment.

[Love Yourself]

[Gentle Sunlight]

It was time to check the skills she had just received as rewards.

“Let’s start with Love Yourself. The skill name is quite unique. Love yourself, huh?”

[Love Yourself: Increases the magic power and mental strength of the touched target. Can also be applied to oneself. (LV.1: 10% increase for 5 minutes.)]

‘Ah, it’s a similar principle to Fighting Skill. Magic power and mental strength, huh.’

Seo-ah used [Fighting] and [Love Yourself] on herself simultaneously and opened her status window.

[ STATE ]

[Park Seo-ah (21 years old)

Position: Healer (E-Class), Supporter (!) (S-Class/Locked)

Title: None

Health 50/50 Mana 35/41(+4) Fatigue 78/80(+5)

Stats: Strength 20(+3), Magic Power 17(+1.7), Agility 20(+3), Defense 20, Stamina 20, Mental Strength 20(+2)

Active Skills: Heal (LV.2), Breakthrough (LV.1), Fighting (LV.2), Love Yourself (LV.1)

Passive Skills: Brain (LV.2), Gentle Sunlight]

Due to [Fighting], Strength and Agility each increased by 15%, adding 3, and due to [Love Yourself], Magic Power and Mental Strength each increased by 10%, adding 1.7 and 2 respectively.

And as Magic Power and Mental Strength increased, she could see that the maximum Mana stat also increased slightly.

However, as Mana decreased due to skill use, she felt a bit drained. Her Health was full and Mana wasn’t significantly consumed, but it seemed her body had definitely taken a toll. Song Jin-ho’s words that stats and physical condition were separate made sense. Anyway, the skill effect was certain.

‘Next is Gentle Sunlight, huh.’

[Gentle Sunlight: Evokes favorability in others.]

“Huh?”

Favorability in others—it was a vague explanation. Moreover, it seemed there was no level for this one.

“Favorability… favorability, huh.”

It meant that other people would have good feelings towards her.

Seo-ah flopped onto the bed and thought carefully.

‘The people I’ve met recently have been kind.’

Based on her experience so far, she knew that even unactivated skills subtly worked. Then, was that kindness due to [Gentle Sunlight]?

However, the people who were kind to Seo-ah had a clear reason. They needed Seo-ah’s supporter abilities.

And there were definitely people like Kim Dae-hoon and Bae Yong-soo who acted far from favorably.

‘This is a passive skill like [Brain], so I can’t turn it on and off as I please.’

It was a skill that was disappointing in many ways compared to Love Yourself. But it would be better to inspire favorability than dislike.

“Ah… so much happened today.”

Going back and forth between life and death in the tutorial gate, and moving from the Sun Guild to the Royal Guild, all happened in one day.

Now she was too tired to think and just wanted to sleep.

“Ugh, but I should wash up before sleeping.”

Seo-ah barely raised her heavy body and headed to the bathroom. After washing up, she skipped dinner and fell asleep.

* * *

“Are more people coming?”

That was the first thing Seo-ah said to Baek Eun-hee at breakfast the next day.

“No, it’s my first meal with our baby, so we should eat alone. We still have a lot to talk about.”

Seo-ah sat in her chair with a dazed expression, looking at the food laid out on the table.

Mushroom soup and salad, a mountain of grilled vegetables, a large steamed sea bass, two plates of thick T-bone steak, lobster dishes, and even pasta and pizza.

There was a lot, but she also thought it was a menu that matched the interior’s opulence.

“Wow, this is much more than what I used to eat with Yu Ji-an.”

“Yu Ji-an treated you so poorly? That bastard, he took you as if he was going to cherish you, but he starved you, starved you.”

“No, it’s not like that….”

Yu Ji-an and his butler would feel wronged if they heard that. She had quite excellent meals at their house too.

“Come on, let’s eat. Eat a lot, and eat more if you’re not full. You skipped dinner yesterday, right?”

Baek Eun-hee said that and picked up her fork. Seo-ah also picked up her fork and looked at Baek Eun-hee in amazement. She seemed to eat very elegantly and leisurely, but she shoveled a tremendous amount into her mouth as if she were devouring it.

‘Real hunters eat a lot. Yu Ji-an wasn’t a big eater.’

After filling their stomachs to some extent, the conversation continued.

“Yesterday, Association President Cha Tae-woon came to visit outside the gate.”

“Ah, right. Cha Tae-woon!”

At that point, Baek Eun-hee suddenly became furious.

“Why did that bastard come there?”

*Thump-*

Baek Eun-hee only put the fork she was eating with down a little harder than necessary while speaking, but the entire table shook. She immediately apologized to Seo-ah.

“Ah, sorry. Did I scare you? I’ve been told so many times to fix this hot temper.”

“Ah, um. It’s okay.”

She was a little surprised, but looking at Baek Eun-hee’s actions, she could tell that she had actually restrained herself a lot. In fact, if it were a normal person, there wouldn’t have been even a thud.

“He got my number. Anyway, Hunter Yu Ji-an was also there, and the atmosphere was very tense.”

“That’s natural. Yu Ji-an alone is annoying, but for Cha Tae-woon to covet you too… it’s become a headache.”

“But President Cha Tae-woon probably doesn’t know about me yet.”

“He must have smelled something. Since two S-Class Hunters are attached to you.”

Seo-ah scanned the empty dishes on the table. She wondered if the two of them could eat all of this, but it seemed like it was an unnecessary worry.

“Hmm, I’m a little embarrassed. This is the first time I’ve received this kind of attention.”

At Seo-ah’s words, Baek Eun-hee wiped her lips with a napkin and nodded.

“Well, I guess it could be like that from your point of view.”

“I know very well that I’m a useful tool to hunters, but I’m not sure if I’m that necessary. S-Class Hunters are already incredibly strong.”

“A tool, Seo-ah? You’re a person. A very important person at that.”

Correcting Seo-ah’s words, Baek Eun-hee paused for a moment to choose her words.

“Hmm, it’s funny for me to say this. S-Class Hunters are monsters. There’s a difference between A-Class and B-Class too, but a very experienced B-Class Hunter can defeat a rookie A-Class Hunter.”

“Is that so?”

“But even though A-Class is right next to S-Class, A-Class can never beat S-Class. It’s not a gap that can be filled with effort, experience, or items. S-Class has no limit to growth.”

The stat limit for A-Class was 1000. So, 1001 and above is S-Class.

Looking at it this way, it doesn’t seem like much of a difference, but the difference is big because A-Class ends there, while S-Class starts there.

“Of course, there’s a big difference even among S-Class. Because once you exceed the measurement limit of 1000, they all get labeled as S-Class.”

Seo-ah was interested in the newly learned fact and quietly listened to Baek Eun-hee’s story.

“Ah, I see.”

“So, you can’t really know who’s stronger until you compete among the same S-Class.”

“Then how do you assign rankings? I heard Hunter Yu Ji-an is the number one in the country.”

At Seo-ah’s question, Baek Eun-hee calmly explained. It was probably common sense in the hunter world, but she was grateful that Baek Eun-hee didn’t scold her for not knowing such things.

“It’s based on the ability stats, skills, and past achievements that you register. If it becomes known that you’ve caught a very strong monster, your ranking may go up—something like that.”

“Ah, I see. Then Unnie might be stronger than Hunter Yu Ji-an?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Yu Ji-an is really strong.”