I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 51

51.

The phone screen displayed ‘6:00 PM’ exactly. The apple she was eating slipped from her grasp and rolled onto the floor.

“Wait, I… slept for a whole day?”

Seo-ah, momentarily stunned, picked up the apple, casually dusted it off, and took another bite.

‘I should go to the hospital tomorrow.’

There wasn’t much she could do at 6 PM.

Wondering what to do, Seo-ah opened her status window first.

[ STATE ]

[Park Seo-ah (21 years old)

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

Title: None

HP 50/50 MP 50/50 Fatigue 80/80

Stats: Strength 20, Magic 20, Agility 20, Defense 20, Stamina 20, Mentality 20

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

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

With this raid, all stats reached the E-rank limit of 20.

She never imagined she would feel so desperate that Breakthrough couldn’t be applied to herself. Now, in this situation, she realized how valuable Breakthrough was to other Hunters.

‘And… a new skill called Quiet Night has appeared.’

[Quiet Night: Calms intense emotions such as provocation, excitement, and fear in people within a certain distance. Stronger effects can be expected upon contact.]

She wondered if she could use it on herself.

Thinking about how to test it, Seo-ah quietly left the room and went up to the rooftop via the stairs.

“Ah, so refreshing.”

A cool breeze blew in the twilight, fluttering her half-dried hair.

After enjoying the breeze for a while, Seo-ah suddenly opened her inventory, as if she had remembered something. She took out an item called [Blessing of the Desert Master] from it.

It was what she had received from the ‘Parasitic Desert’ gate [a type of dungeon or portal to another dimension].

The energy of the hot desert, contained within, emitted a brilliant light in her hand.

It was still vivid. They were definitely alive in front of her eyes. She had even healed them directly with her own hands.

‘But… they disappeared without a trace. As if… they never existed.’

It wasn’t just that they became invisible, but their very presence had completely disappeared. Why did such a thing happen? Even Baek Eun-hee, who had experienced numerous raids, said she didn’t know the reason.

But they definitely existed.

The jewel in her hand was proof of it.

Seo-ah put the jewel back, trying to soothe the rising emptiness. Then she moved closer to the railing.

Holding onto the railing and glancing down, Seo-ah swallowed hard.

It wasn’t that Seo-ah had a particularly severe fear of heights, but she was well aware of the dizziness when looking down from a high place.

‘Still, about 5 floors should be fine.’

Seo-ah was now a proper E-rank Hunter. She wouldn’t die even if she fell from about 5 floors.

‘If I’m unlucky, I might break a leg or something.’

Anyway, Seo-ah mustered her courage and lifted her foot, stepping boldly onto the railing.

She staggered a little, but perhaps because her sense of balance had developed as a Hunter, she quickly regained her balance.

Seo-ah opened her eyes wide and looked straight down.

“…Ah.”

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heart pounded at the dizzying height, and her mouth felt parched. She wanted to close her eyes, but only for a moment.

[Skill ‘Quiet Night’ is activated!]

Along with the flashing system window, her mind calmed down, just like the skill’s name. Her pounding heart gradually returned to its normal rhythm.

‘It applies to me too!’

While she was rejoicing, someone suddenly snatched Seo-ah and pulled her down.

“It’s dangerous!”

“Oh, ah!”

Seeing the familiar build, she seemed to know who it was.

“H-Hunter Go Geon-hoo?”

“Seo-ah!”

Baek Eun-hee was there too. Baek Eun-hee gripped Seo-ah’s shoulder tightly with a pale face.

“What’s going on! Why did you go up there!”

“Ah, I was just testing something….”

“I thought my heart was going to drop! What were you going to do if you fell from there? You could have been seriously hurt!”

“Sister, that’s not it.”

“You weren’t trying to jump, were you? Right? Seo-ah, no matter how hard life is….”

It was the most agitated Seo-ah had ever seen Baek Eun-hee. The hand on Seo-ah’s shoulder seemed to be trembling.

The ‘Quiet Night’ skill in the status window was still flashing.

Seo-ah looked at Baek Eun-hee with a dazed look, then gently stroked her shoulder.

“I’m sorry for making you worry, Sister. It’s not like that, so don’t worry.”

“Seo-ah…! Ah, huh? It’s not?”

Baek Eun-hee’s voice, which had been roaring, calmed down in an instant.

Baek Eun-hee met Seo-ah’s eyes for a moment, then sighed and let go of Seo-ah.

“Okay, you surprised me. Why were you doing that?”

“I was testing a skill.”

“What kind of skill do you test so dangerously?”

“Well… a skill to… control… the mind.”

“So you deliberately volunteered for a dangerous task.”

Go Geon-hoo, who was next to her, subtly responded to Seo-ah’s words.

“Yes, that’s right. But I confirmed it. That it applies to me too.”

“Hmm, a skill to control the mind. That’s unique. But it wouldn’t be bad, would it?”

Seo-ah smiled slightly. She didn’t seem to realize that it had been applied to Baek Eun-hee just now.

“But don’t do anything so dangerous like this, okay? You’re still a weak E-rank. I was really surprised, phew.”

“I’m sorry… But where were you coming from? There was definitely no one nearby.”

“Us? We saw you coming in from the garden over there.”

The place Baek Eun-hee pointed to was the entrance to the Royal Guild site, where the large garden began. So the distance from here… Would it take about 10 minutes at Seo-ah’s pace?

Baek Eun-hee took Seo-ah back to her room.

“And the promised money will probably be deposited tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, really? Thank you.”

“Thank you… I’m more grateful.”

Having said that, Baek Eun-hee looked at Seo-ah as if she were really lovely and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Good night, baby.”

“Good night, Sister.”

Baek Eun-hee smiled once and then walked away busily again. Even after clearing the gate, the guild leader seemed to have a lot to do.

Seo-ah, who had entered the room, fiddled with her phone for a while. She paused at Yoo Ji-an in the call list, then pressed Kang Soo-jung’s number below it.

After a few rings, a bright and cheerful voice was heard from the other end of the phone.

– Sister!

“Yeah, Soo-jung. How have you been?”

– I’ve been good! Sister, I saw the news that you cleared an A-rank gate. How was it? What’s A-rank like?

“Well… it was definitely more difficult than the places I’ve been to before. But everyone who went with me was strong, so it was okay.”

– I see! Tell me more details when we meet.

“Yeah, of course.”

After that, Seo-ah listened to Kang Soo-jung’s trivial stories and suddenly asked, as if she had remembered something.

“Do you talk to Hunter Yoo Ji-an often?”

– Hunter Yoo Ji-an? No?

“…Really?”

– I did run into him once in the building, but that was it?

“He didn’t say he was lonely or anything like that?”

– There’s no way, that amazing S-rank Hunter wouldn’t be interested in me, would he?

“…….”

Something was a little strange.

Yoo Ji-an spoke as if he knew Kang Soo-jung well.

“Is there anything difficult for you?”

– Well, a little. Since I’m the only E-rank, I get pushed around a bit… It’s hard to be here without you, Sister, and I have to watch my step. But I’ll stay until you allow me to. When else would I get to enjoy such luxury if not now?

So Yoo Ji-an’s words weren’t completely unfounded.

“Yeah, I see. I’ll go as soon as things are settled here.”

– Really? I’ll be waiting!

After ending the call, Seo-ah stared at ‘Yoo Ji-an’ in the call list again.

Then she finally turned off the phone screen.

‘What am I going to say if I call him?’

Wouldn’t it be strange to ask why he pretended to be interested in Soo-jung? A call without business would be even stranger.

“We’re not even close….”

Seo-ah flopped down on the bed.

Why Yoo Ji-an came all the way there, why he pretended to know about Kang Soo-jung to her, and why she was so bothered by it.

For some reason, her heart was in turmoil with these thoughts. She watched to see if she could control this with ‘Quiet Night,’ but the skill remained calm. And a truly quiet night came.

* * *

Ding-

As Baek Eun-hee had said yesterday, the promised 20 million won [approximately $15,000 USD] was deposited. The corners of Seo-ah’s mouth twitched upon receiving the text message.

‘20 million.’

Of course, it wouldn’t be a large sum of money in the Hunter world. But for Seo-ah, it was the largest amount of money she had ever earned in her life.

To be able to earn this much money in just 3 days. Of course, those 3 days were dangerous enough to risk her life, but for Seo-ah, the money felt even more significant than that.

“Shall we go straight to Health Hospital?”

“Yes, that’s right. Health Hospital. Ah, I’d like to stop by a fruit store before going. Or a mart [supermarket].”

“Yes, there is a large mart nearby, so we will stop there first.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Seo-ah was on her way to the hospital in a car provided by the Royal Guild. Of course, she said it was okay, but Seo-ah’s refusal was easily rejected.

Her stomach wasn’t completely comfortable, but she definitely felt more secure now that the money had come in.

After buying a few fruits at the mart, she went to the hospital.

From Geon-hoo’s hospital room, the sound of the TV playing and the cheerful sound effects of a game flowed out together.