I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 39

39.

The magician Seol Jin-ah, who had asked the second question, opened her mouth with an awkward expression.

“I’m sorry, everyone must have their own circumstances. And thank you for telling me. I hope this raid will be helpful to Hunter Park Seo-ah.”

Her gaze towards Seo-ah was filled with gentle curiosity. All the hidden positions revealed so far had been very useful to hunters. Helping to unlock that position was a very natural thing for a hunter to do.

Seo-ah glanced at her status window. The Warm Sunlight wasn’t working right now.

‘It’s a passive skill, so I don’t really know the principle behind it. Is it a matter of will?’

Certainly, she was less concerned with ‘making a good impression’ than she had been during their first meeting.

In the quiet, the tanker Go Geon-hoo raised his hand and spoke.

“Then it would be better to position ourselves around Hunter Park Seo-ah. Since this is an A-class gate, even a slight graze from a monster can cause serious injury.”

“Oh, Geon-hoo is saying exactly what I want to hear!”

Go Geon-hoo shrugged at Baek Eun-hee’s praise and glanced at Seo-ah. His face was flushed, while the healer Yang Tae-woo had looked unhappy since earlier. Seo-ah was a little bothered by him, but she figured there was nothing she could do about it.

With that, the full-fledged meeting began.

There were a total of six members.

The roles of the remaining four A-class hunters, excluding S-class Baek Eun-hee and E-class Park Seo-ah, had to be decided.

“We don’t know what kind of field it is yet, but basically, it’s better to focus on defense.”

As opinions converged, Baek Eun-hee tapped the screen and stated firmly.

“I’m the main damage dealer this time. But prioritize protecting Seo-ah over me.”

“We should, but are you going to be okay?”

“Yes, I’m going to step out of this position and move independently.”

Five dots clustered together, and one red dot.

The red dot pointed to Baek Eun-hee. Seo-ah, who was watching it, opened her mouth.

“Doesn’t the Guild Leader have a separate position?”

“S-class hunters aren’t restricted by positions. Each of us has our own specialty, but most of us can also use magic, so we’re multi-players in combat. Oh, except for healers.”

Seo-ah nodded slightly at Seo Ah-hyun’s explanation.

‘Come to think of it, Yoo Ji-an seemed to use both magic and swords.’

She glanced at Baek Eun-hee.

‘I saw in an article that she’s good at long-range attacks. How will she fight?’

After the strategy meeting was over, they divided up the potions and other items they had bought from the Maker’s Gate [a special dungeon where hunters can acquire unique potions and items].

One bottle of Maker’s potion was said to be enough to completely restore Seo-ah’s health or mana. However, since they were sharing it among several people, they couldn’t have much.

So they also stocked up on regular potions sold in stores. It would be a waste to use high-end potions for minor injuries. Fortunately, she had saved some of the gold she had earned from the tutorial gate.

‘I should take a lot of mana potions. I can replace healing potions with recovery skills, but….’

In the two raids, Seo-ah had always struggled with a lack of mana, so she planned to prepare thoroughly this time.

At that moment, Baek Eun-hee conjured a blue jewel from thin air and handed it to Seo-ah.

“Seo-ah, take this.”

“What is this?”

“Just put it in your inventory. Just having it will double your mana recovery rate.”

“Wow, thank you.”

Seo-ah didn’t refuse this time either.

‘Still, what can I do among these people?’

Seo-ah wanted to earn praise in this raid. But could she impress these formidable hunters? It would be a relief if she didn’t just become a burden.

“Oh, I’m jealous. Give me one too!”

“Jin-ah, you have something much better.”

Seol Jin-ah said playfully, but even A-class hunters had more than enough resources. She couldn’t really be jealous of the item.

“Okay, then the departure is in two days, so take good care of your physical condition until then.”

“Yes!”

While everyone answered energetically, Yang Tae-woo alone kept his mouth shut and stared at Seo-ah.

* * *

“This is the entrance to Bukhansan National Park. As you can see, Hunter Association employees are out controlling vehicles and hikers from the morning. According to the association, the gate creation is expected to become visible near that peak in about two hours from now. Also….”

The gate was scheduled to appear near the entrance to the Bukhansan hiking trail.

Due to the buzz surrounding it being an A-class gate, the parking lot of Bukhansan National Park was crowded with domestic reporters as well as foreign correspondents from early in the morning.

Royal Guild Team 1 was still in the van.

“Seo-ah, let’s get you out a little later.”

Baek Eun-hee said kindly to Seo-ah, even while scanning the reporters with sharp eyes.

“Yes, I will.”

Seo-ah stayed in the car, and Baek Eun-hee and the rest of the members got out first. As soon as they got out, they quickly closed the door. The reporters, who had been waiting, rushed in as if they had been waiting to discover the hunters getting out.

“Oh, there’s Baek Eun-hee!”

“It’s the Royal Guild! Quick, the camera, the camera!”

The reporters pushed and tripped over each other as they rushed in.

“What are you all doing! Aren’t you controlling the reporters properly?”

At Baek Eun-hee’s shout, the Royal Guild staff and association staff rushed over and pushed the reporters back.

“Okay, you can’t come this close.”

“Reporters, you might get hurt, everyone step back ten steps!”

“What’s the reason you got to go first, beating the Taeyang Guild [another powerful hunter guild]!”

Even in the midst of that, the reporters raised their voices. Then an association official strongly warned.

“There, interviews are prohibited before the raid! Please be considerate of the hunters!”

Before a raid, especially right before and after an upper-level raid, hunters are very sensitive, so unexpected accidents could occur.

In short, if you bothered them, a civilian reporter could be beaten by a human weapon, a hunter.

In fact, such accidents happened frequently, and the reporters knew it, so they obediently stepped back little by little. But even in the midst of that, the filming did not stop.

In order to capture even the conversations between the hunters, they brought the microphones as close as possible to those heading to the gate.

Before the final magic power measurement, Baek Eun-hee put her hand on the gate entrance. The surging mana energy was detected on the palm of the S-class hunter.

“…This is stronger than I thought.”

“It’s 9543 magic power! It’s A-class as expected!”

At the same time, the association announced the gate measurement results first. The gate’s grade was determined by measuring the amount of mana that flowed out.

“It’s a little less than 10,000, it’s quite strong among A-classes.”

Typically, the magic power released by an A-class gate is between 5,000 and 10,000. When measured inside, it was exactly 10 times higher than this.

When Baek Eun-hee winked at the Royal Guild staff, the Royal Guild also brought out the measuring instrument they had prepared.

As it was a matter of the guild members’ lives, their own measurements were always essential.

A magic power of 9,000 could easily exceed 10,000. Since 10,000 magic power is an S-class gate, they had to be absolutely careful.

“It’s 9611 magic power. It’s not much different from the association’s measurement.”

“Okay, you guys heard that too, right? You have to be prepared.”

At Baek Eun-hee’s urging, the team members purchased additional potions and supplies. But then other people appeared with measuring instruments.

“What, who are those guys?”

Seo Ah-hyun narrowed her eyes and examined them.

“It’s the Taeyang Guild.”

“Ha, geez, what do those bastards think the Royal Guild is? As if we wouldn’t do it ourselves.”

Baek Eun-hee muttered unhappily, but she didn’t stop them. Because if they switched places and the Taeyang Guild took Seo-ah, she would have done the same thing.

Baek Eun-hee glanced at the white van over there and said to Seol Jin-ah in a small voice.

“Jin-ah, while I’m drawing the reporters’ attention over there, go get Seo-ah. Put on the transparent cloak.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After confirming that Seol Jin-ah was heading to the van, Baek Eun-hee stepped forward a little with Seo Ah-hyun.

“Please step back a little more!”

“Ah, it’s okay. We have some time, so if you have any questions, ask them now.”

The association staff tried to push the reporters back a little more, but Baek Eun-hee stepped in and stopped them.

The reporters rushed in, not missing this opportunity.

“Hunter Baek Eun-hee! Please say a word about your determination before embarking on this raid!”

“I hope everyone returns safely without getting hurt.”

“Will you be using the splinter you usually use this time…!”

A circular object barely passed over the head of the reporter who was just asking the question.

By the time the reporter came to his senses, it was already back in Baek Eun-hee’s hand.

“Yes, of course. The splinter is my main weapon, so I’ll probably use it this time too.”

Despite the fact that his life had been threatened, the reporter seemed very happy. Baek Eun-hee would do this much service!

The splinter was a weapon in the form of two rings with gears touching each other. The camera shutter went off like crazy to capture her holding the weapon.

While everyone’s attention was focused on Baek Eun-hee, Seol Jin-ah safely arrived in front of the gate with Park Seo-ah. When she took off the transparent cloak, Seo-ah’s appearance was revealed.