I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 75

75.

“Y, Yunji?”

As Noh Hak-young looked flustered, Noh Yunji stormed up to him and suddenly bowed deeply to Han Seok-hyun and Yoo Ji-an in turn.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Let’s go, Dad!”

“Wait a minute, Yunji. You still need to receive an apology…”

“What apology? I’m already embarrassed to death.”

Noh Yunji dragged Noh Hak-young away, glancing back. Seo-ah watched Noh Yunji’s retreating figure with a worried expression for a long time.

***

“Hunter Yoo Ji-an…!”

Yoo Ji-an was in the elevator that stopped at the 75th floor.

As soon as Seo-ah saw him, she strode in and quickly pressed the close button. She had a large backpack on her back.

It was the day she was leaving for the training camp.

“Tell me properly what you said last time. Is Noh Yunji really going to die? How? When and where?”

“……”

As soon as she met him, Seo-ah questioned the truth of what Yoo Ji-an had said back then.

“……”

In fact, Yoo Ji-an had been receiving the same questions not only today but for several days. Seo-ah followed Yoo Ji-an around, asking about the incident he had mentioned that day.

“I don’t know the details.”

“Not knowing the details means you know roughly, right? Huh?”

Seo-ah gently grabbed Yoo Ji-an’s arm and looked up at him. Yoo Ji-an looked down at his grabbed arm and Seo-ah’s eyes simultaneously, and closed his mouth for a moment.

When Yoo Ji-an remained silent, Seo-ah eventually backed away a little. Watching her falling hand, Yoo Ji-an felt a strange sense of regret.

“Even if I knew, would you try to intervene? In Noh Yunji’s death?”

“I have to, if I can. If I can save her, I should save her as much as possible.”

Seo-ah said as if it were obvious.

It was a completely different attitude from Yoo Ji-an, who was already in his fourth life, but that was why it was even more like Seo-ah.

“That was probably an accident caused by the greed of the two father and daughter. It was like they went to find a place to die.”

“……”

Seo-ah’s gaze dropped as she listened, and the atmosphere quickly sank.

Yoo Ji-an glanced at Seo-ah and was taken aback when he remembered something.

According to the investigation, Seo-ah’s parents had disappeared after going to a high-level gate without proper preparation, right? Yoo Ji-an awkwardly added.

“What I mean is, a hunter’s greed isn’t necessarily a bad thing…”

“So, you’re saying that not only Yunji but also Congressman Noh Hak-young will die together?”

Seo-ah was serious about a point that was completely different from Yoo Ji-an’s expectations.

“Haa, anyway, it’s not now. It was around summer. Of course, it’s not certain.”

“Ah…”

If it was summer, there was still some time left. Then, was there nothing she could do right now?

When the elevator stopped on the first floor, Seo-ah got off first.

“Thank you for telling me, S-class Prophet.”

“Regressor.”

Seo-ah walked away, barely listening to his words.

On the first floor, many hunters were already out, loading their luggage onto the bus. Noh Yunji was among them, and Kang Su-jeong was also visible.

“Park Seo-ah, don’t go to Noh Yunji and make it obvious…”

Before Yoo Ji-an’s warning was even finished, Seo-ah ran towards them.

“Su-jeong.”

“Ah, Unnie!” [Term of endearment, like ‘older sister’ or ‘friend’]

Su-jeong, who found Seo-ah, waved her hand and greeted her brightly.

Since that day, Su-jeong had been getting along quite well with the other kids. Since Noh Yunji wasn’t interfering, the children approached Su-jeong without hesitation and talked to her.

Noh Yunji occasionally glanced at Su-jeong but never tried to mingle with them.

“Unnie.”

Seo-ah’s gaze lingered on Noh Yunji for a moment before turning back to Su-jeong.

“Here, these three are C-class, and the two in front are B-class hunters’ buses. They said A-class and S-class are going separately, where will you ride, Unnie?”

Su-jeong asked the question very naturally.

Seo-ah was a special existence in the Taeyang Guild, and she thought it wouldn’t be strange for her to ride next to an A-class or S-class, not a C-class.

At that time, a blue sports car that she had seen before stopped behind the bus. Han Seok-hyun and Song Jin-ho got out of the flashy car.

“Ah, Hunter Park Seo-ah. Are you feeling better?”

Han Seok-hyun approached first and politely checked on her. The surroundings felt a little agitated as the Guild Leader suddenly appeared.

Moreover, with Taeyang Guild’s star Song Jin-ho by his side, some hunters blushed.

And Yoo Ji-an, who was standing there without a word, was shining just by his existence, like a living sculpture.

“Let’s go to our car. Give me your luggage too.”

Han Seok-hyun reached out to Seo-ah. It was very natural, but in reality, it was not natural at all.

“Ah, that is.”

And the moment Seo-ah saw the three of them standing side by side around her, she remembered what Noh Yunji had said.

“Yes? That… there’s a rumor that you’re dating Hunter Song Jin-ho, but there’s also a rumor that you’re closer to Hunter Yoo Ji-an, and no, there’s also a rumor that you’re actually the Guild Leader’s lover.”

Seo-ah unknowingly moved a little away from them. Come to think of it, she could clearly feel the curious gazes watching her and them.

“I, I’ll… ride with Su-jeong.”

“Ah, Unnie! Really?”

And before they could say anything, she roughly threw her luggage under the bus and quickly climbed on.

She felt strange gazes following her from outside the window, but Seo-ah tried to ignore them and sat down. Su-jeong seemed happy to be going with Seo-ah and snuggled up next to her.

“Unnie, I brought snacks. Let’s eat together.”

“Oh, uh-huh. Okay.”

Soon, all the hunters got on the bus, and the bus carrying them slowly departed.

The taste of the snack she crunched and swallowed without much thought was salty and sweet.

***

In the old and dilapidated apartment, rats occasionally appeared.

Squeak, squeak, squeak-

Today, a rat was wandering between the flower beds, searching for food.

After wandering around for a while, the rat discovered the stem of a large plant that it had never seen before. The plant had a savory scent.

Intoxicated by the scent, the rat looked around and quickly climbed up the stem of the plant. To the small rat, the plant looked like a tree.

At the end of the climb, there was a large, sweet-smelling yellow flower.

In the center of the flower, there were numerous seeds embedded. The hungry rat quickly put one of the seeds in its mouth and peeled it off and gnawed on it.

Thud.

As soon as it finished eating one seed, the rat sitting on the large flower fell onto the soil of the flower bed.

The body seemed to convulse for a moment, then the rat jumped up.

The eyes of the rat that stood up had turned bright red. The rat flickered its red eyes and searched for prey again.

“Haaah.”

And then, a loud yawn came from the window on the second floor.

Gil Gyeong-tae, who had just woken up, scratched his stomach and turned on the old television.

“Ugh, what time is it…”

The weather forecast for the day was playing on television.

“Today is expected to be sunny all day. Next, we will talk about the magic power distribution announced by the Korea Hunter Association.”

The weather caster pointed to the map on the hologram screen with a cheerful voice.

It was now essential to inform people about the flow of magic power at the end of every news broadcast.

This was to inform people in advance so that they could prepare for the possibility of spontaneous gates appearing in areas where the flow of magic power was unstable.

“The major flow of magic power is expected to flow from west to east. Those who live in Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do, or those who are traveling to those areas, should be especially careful.”

Gil Gyeong-tae rummaged through the empty cigarette pack, crumpled it up, and threw it out the open window.

As soon as he threw it, a curse was heard from outside.

“Hey! You on the second floor, I told you not to throw trash out the window!”

The security guard was there, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Ah, F! Loud from the morning!”

Gil Gyeong-tae shouted back at the outside, then suddenly noticed something flickering near the window.

When he got closer, it was a large yellow flower that looked like a sunflower. And the security guard was also looking at the sunflower and muttering from below.

“When did this start? There’s no way I wouldn’t have seen such a big sunflower.”

The security guard and other residents who were passing by gathered around and looked at the sunflower as if it were strange.

Gil Gyeong-tae immediately realized what it was.

‘Damn it, did the thing I threw away grow? It feels bad!’

Gil Gyeong-tae stuck his head out the window.

“Mister, this is blocking the window! Cut it down right now!”

“Are you crazy? Why cut down the flowers in the flower bed? I won’t cut it!”

“Ah, really, F! I’m telling you to cut it, just cut it!”

Gil Gyeong-tae cursed, but the security guard ignored him as if he were used to it and passed by. Gil Gyeong-tae looked outside with uneasy eyes and closed the window.

“Damn it, just my luck.”

Gil Gyeong-tae roughly packed his things and went outside.

And he looked up at the sunflower from outside. Knowing where it came from, he felt a strange chill.

‘I hope there won’t be any problems? It’s just a plant…’

He was looking at it with a uneasy feeling, but he had the illusion that the sunflower was growing rapidly even at this moment.

Gil Gyeong-tae rubbed his eyes.

“I need to get out of here soon…”

Watching a small bird sit on the sunflower, Gil Gyeong-tae spat and left the place.