I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 42

42.

Baek Eun-hee scouted the oasis clockwise, while Seo Ah-hyun went counter-clockwise.

Seol Jin-ah dipped the end of her staff into the oasis water, sending out sonar-like pings to detect any monsters lurking within.

Go Geon-hoo and Yang Tae-woo stayed close to Seo Ah.

“This side is clear! No readings at all,” Seol Jin-ah announced, waving her staff.

“There are a few small animals on this side, but they don’t seem dangerous,” Seo Ah-hyun reported upon her return.

“Oh, really? That’s a relief. Well, this side was empty except for this guy,” Baek Eun-hee said, dragging the tail of a house-sized lizard. The lizard was bigger than a crocodile. Was that a dinosaur?

Seo Ah subtly scanned the lizard with her State Checker [a device that assesses the attributes of a target].

[Kamakos Lizardra]

[Overall Grade: B]

[Covered in thick, sturdy scales. Extremely fast, with a very powerful bite and teeth. Deadly venom glands between its teeth.]

[Acquirable Items: Lizardra Scales, Teeth, Bones]

It was a stronger monster than the ‘Tritterix’ they caught earlier.

“This one’s even intelligent.”

“Lizards can’t be that intelligent…”

Baek Eun-hee responded to Yang Tae-woo’s muttering.

“I’m telling you, there was a trap. With bait inside. Only a stupid monster or beast would fall for it.”

Anyway, the members collected the byproducts from the lizard and moved on.

When harvesting byproducts from monsters, it wasn’t necessary to precisely butcher them; taking only a part and storing it in the inventory preserved the whole thing.

After taking everything, the remaining corpse disappeared after a while. That was the difference between regular animals and monsters.

Normal animals leave corpses that rot, but creatures transformed into monsters by the gate vanished after some time, as if they never existed.

The reason for this difference was still unknown. However, there was speculation that it was because they were affected by magic.

“Let’s not get too close to the oasis, but a little further away. Desert water tends to…”

“Attract many things. Besides us,” Seo Ah-hyun finished Baek Eun-hee’s sentence.

They settled down next to a large rock about 10 minutes away from the oasis and began preparing camp.

The desert sun cooled down as quickly as it heated up. Darkness fell rapidly.

The group skillfully started a fire and prepared a meal.

They wouldn’t have this luxury on a fierce battlefield, but this gate was surprisingly relaxed for an A-rank.

It was an action born from the confidence that they could defeat any monster that appeared. Not to mention Baek Eun-hee’s permission.

“There aren’t many monsters compared to the size of the gate.”

“Right? I was scared because the measured magic power was high…”

“Maybe all the power is concentrated in the boss.”

While the meal was being prepared, the group chatted.

Today’s cooking duty was Seo Ah-hyun’s.

She was about to throw all the ingredients she took out of her inventory into the pot at once. Seo Ah jumped up and stopped her.

“Ah, wait a minute!”

“Yes?”

“What, what are you doing?”

“Curry.”

Seo Ah-hyun answered with a blank face, and Seo Ah looked back and forth between the ingredients and Seo Ah-hyun’s face.

A halved potato, a roughly cut carrot, and a fist-sized piece of meat were rolling around on the cutting board.

Seo Ah, staring blankly at them, said one word.

“Can I help you?”

“Wow, Hunter Seo Ah, you can cook?” Seol Jin-ah approached, delighted.

“A little… I can cook a little.”

She had been in charge of household chores since she was young, so she wasn’t bad at it.

Seo Ah skillfully grabbed the kitchen knife and started cutting the meat. *What kind of meat is this?* She was curious, but she muttered while cutting it into hexagons.

“It would be nice to have butter.”

“Butter? Here, butter!” Seol Jin-ah, who had been peeking from the side, produced butter from seemingly nowhere and tossed it to her. Seo Ah smiled brightly.

“Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks to you, I’ll get to taste real food inside the gate.”

“Yeah, until now, we were just grateful if it was cooked.”

A question arose for Seo Ah, who was diligently frying meat and potatoes while silently listening to their conversation.

“But why do you bother cooking? You brought combat rations [pre-packaged meals designed for survival situations].”

Seol Jin-ah shook her head, sticking out her tongue.

“That stuff has no taste at all, and it’s just to satisfy your hunger.”

“Eating cooked food inside the gate has a recovery effect. Unlike potions, it doesn’t strain the body. It’s good to make it if you have time.”

“Ah… but I’ve been wondering since earlier.”

Seo Ah pointed to the pieces of meat that were browning in the pot.

“What kind of meat is this? It doesn’t seem like beef or pork… is it chicken?”

“Oh, that’s the lizard meat the Guild Leader caught earlier,” Go Geon-hoo answered casually.

Seo Ah’s expression froze for a moment, and she unconsciously took a step back.

“Ah, that…”

“Eating monster meat also speeds up recovery. And it’s quite delicious, even though it looks like this… but only certain monsters can be eaten…”

“…I see.”

*Well, it looked quite appetizing until he said that.*

Seo Ah reluctantly accepted it and then cut and fried the remaining potatoes, carrots, and onions all at once. The savory smell filled the air.

Seol Jin-ah reorganized the monster prevention traps installed around the tent one more time. It was because there might be something that smelled the food and approached.

When the curry was almost finished, Baek Eun-hee, who had gone on a reconnaissance mission to a more distant place, returned.

“Seo Ah! Why are you doing that? You guys, how dare you make Seo Ah do this?”

“Ah, no! I said I would do it! I’m a bit of a foodie!” Seo Ah hurriedly made excuses, seeing Baek Eun-hee glaring at the team members. Then Baek Eun-hee gradually calmed down and eventually accepted it.

“Well, what these guys make isn’t fit for human consumption anyway…”

“Speaking of which, Guild Leader, your cooking skills are… ugh.”

“Seol Jin-ah, don’t interrupt and check the traps one more time.”

“I just checked…!”

Seo Ah-hyun covered Seol Jin-ah’s mouth and dragged her far away.

Baek Eun-hee didn’t even pay attention to them and showed interest in Seo Ah’s cooking.

“Curry? Wow, that looks really delicious.”

“Hehe, all the ingredients were there. The Hunter Store sells everything. Like a vegetable market.”

“Right? If you look for it, there’s really nothing you can’t find.”

In a fairly friendly atmosphere, Yang Tae-woo was still unable to blend in and was only wandering far away.

He still talked to the other team members, but he still tried not to talk to Seo Ah as much as possible.

Seo Ah and the others were concerned, but they couldn’t force him, so they just left him alone.

“Come on over! It’s ready!”

Seol Jin-ah brought instant rice heated with magic from one side, and Seo Ah put curry in each of their bowls.

Not everyone sat down; one person took turns standing guard. They didn’t forget that this was a gate, even when resting.

“To think I’d eat real food at the gate.”

“Hunter Park Seo Ah, thank you. I’ll enjoy the meal.”

“Enjoy your meal. I’ll give Eun-hee unnie [term for older sister or close female friend] a separate portion.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Seo Ah handed a bowl of curry to Yang Tae-woo as well.

“……”

Yang Tae-woo took the bowl as if snatching it without saying a word. She was relieved that he was still eating what she made.

“Hunter Park Seo Ah. This is really delicious,” Go Geon-hoo exclaimed after taking a bite.

“I mean, was curry such a delicious food?” Seol Jin-ah also savored each bite.

“It’s just common curry…” Park Seo Ah was embarrassed, but she was actually secretly expecting it. She had received praise inside the gate, so wouldn’t a mission success notification pop up?

But as expected, there was no reaction to this extent.

*I guess I need a role in the combat part. If this mission fails this time…*

It was definitely not easy for Seo Ah to participate in combat in an A-rank gate. First of all, she couldn’t even see the movements, and an E-rank hunter could be seriously injured even if they were slightly grazed by the monsters here.

*So what should I do?*

While she was deep in thought, everyone finished their meal.

Seo Ah jumped up and began to clean up the team members’ dishes, taking the initiative.

“You don’t have to do that; you’re really diligent.”

“It’s okay, I have to do something like this.”

Seol Jin-ah quietly watched Seo Ah, who was moving diligently like a squirrel.

Unlike her initial worries, Park Seo Ah was not as much of a burden as she thought. Of course, that didn’t mean she was a big help either.

According to Go Geon-hoo, she seemed to have quite useful buff skills, but they weren’t particularly needed in the subsequent battles.

This was because all the monsters were easy enough to catch even without buffs.

*Still, she’s quite quick-witted, has a sense of shame, cooks well, and is kind and nice.*

Seol Jin-ah personally liked Park Seo Ah. She glanced at Yang Tae-woo in the corner.

*To hate so obviously, he’s still a child.*

She seemed to know the reason, so she was watching for now. It was hard to step in first when Baek Eun-hee didn’t step in either.

The rest of the people laid traps in double and triple layers and searched both the ground and the sky. It was a matter of course, as it was never bad to be careful in this gate.

After everything was cleaned up, Seo Ah glanced around slightly and went to the back of the rock with small steps. Then she sat on the rock and looked around one more time.

“…Hoo.”

After confirming that no one was looking at this place, Seo Ah took off her shoes.

“Ugh….”

Her entire foot was swollen and covered in blood and pus.