I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 78

78.

It felt like that reflected each hunter’s current state.

Then, a flicker caught her eye. She glanced over and saw Kang Su-jeong catching up to Seo-ah, having climbed this far.

“Ugh…eek!”

Su-jeong also spotted Seo-ah, but neither had the energy to speak, so they just exchanged a look.

Seo-ah quickly cast [Fighting] on herself, refocused, and resumed climbing. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t match Su-jeong’s pace.

With a difference of over 10 in pure stats, there was a limit to what she could do.

And before long, Su-jeong reached the summit first.

“Wow… I really… feel like I’m going to die.”

As Su-jeong grabbed the flag and was about to collapse, Yu Ji-an pulled her upright, his expression stern.

“Go down. Dinner will be waiting when you get there.”

“With Seo-ah unni [older sister or friend]…”

“Go, quickly.”

Yu Ji-an firmly dissuaded Su-jeong, who wanted to wait for Seo-ah, and pointed towards the path down.

Su-jeong, who was used to Yu Ji-an being somewhat gentle when he was with Seo-ah, shut her mouth at his different demeanor.

Even when he was with Seo-ah, he wasn’t exactly affectionate, but now he just seemed like a handsome robot devoid of emotions.

As Su-jeong hesitated, Yu Ji-an’s expression hardened, and Su-jeong, intimidated, nodded.

“Ah, okay.”

Su-jeong glanced at the cliff and shouted softly.

“Unni, I’ll go first! Good luck!”

After barely managing those words of encouragement, Su-jeong trudged down. Her legs were wobbly, but the descent was well-maintained, so she didn’t have too much trouble.

The climb had started around 2 PM, and now the sun was already setting. Everyone except Su-jeong, Seo-ah, and Yu Ji-an had already descended the mountain.

While going down, Su-jeong paused and looked back.

Su-jeong tilted her head, watching Yu Ji-an silently looking down at Seo-ah. Then, she shook her head and continued walking.

“Ugh…eek!”

Not long after Su-jeong left, Seo-ah finally reached the summit. Having climbed up almost crawling, Seo-ah gasped for breath while lying face down.

“F-Flag…”

As she reached out with trembling hands, Yu Ji-an placed the last flag in her hand.

Seo-ah looked at the flag with tearful eyes, unable to even lift her head.

“Wow, I still… did it.”

Although she didn’t avoid last place, she never would have imagined climbing this cliff with her bare hands before.

“Park Seo-ah.”

Yu Ji-an reached out his hand to Seo-ah, who was sprawled out. Seo-ah weakly reached out and grabbed his hand, barely managing to sit up.

“You waited a long time because of me.”

“You made it before the day ended, so it’s fine.”

Seo-ah laughed awkwardly at Yu Ji-an’s words, unsure if they were a joke or not.

“Sorry…”

“Get up, we need to go down. The sun will set soon.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo-ah cast a recovery skill on herself, placed her hands on the ground, and stood up with trembling legs.

Yu Ji-an watched Seo-ah without offering help, and when Seo-ah staggered for a moment, he quickly grabbed her arm.

“Still weak, Grade E.”

“I can’t help it. I must be weak in the eyes of an S-Grade like you. But I’m quite strong among E-Grades.”

Annoyed by the word ‘weak,’ Seo-ah pouted and turned her body. Then, a wide-open sea came into view.

“…Wow.”

The sea at sunset shimmered with a reddish glow.

Lost in the enchanting sight for a moment, Seo-ah noticed something strange on the sea.

“An island… ?”

There was an island of considerable size not far from the coastline. This wasn’t the West Sea [Yellow Sea], so could there be such an island in the East Sea [Sea of Japan]?

It wasn’t in the location of Ulleungdo or Dokdo either [both are islands in the East Sea].

“Hunter Yu Ji-an, there’s something like an island over there. What is that? Has it always been there?”

“That’s where the next gate will appear.”

“Ah, is that so… Huh? What did you say?”

Seo-ah asked again, thinking she had misheard, but Yu Ji-an repeated the same thing.

“An A-Grade gate will appear there within a few days.”

“Wow… really? There.”

Seo-ah couldn’t close her mouth and stretched out her hand, pointing at the island.

“Does everyone know?”

“Some do.”

“…I see.”

Seo-ah patted her aching waist and turned towards the path down the mountain.

Yu Ji-an walked alongside her at a slow pace. Seo-ah glanced at Yu Ji-an.

“Are you walking with me?”

Yu Ji-an affirmed with silence, and Seo-ah mumbled shyly.

“You’d be faster alone…”

“The sun will set soon. A weak E-Grade wouldn’t be able to handle even one wild boar.”

“Wild boars… appear? No, I’m quite strong now. That wild boar last time was a monster.”

Seo-ah raised her *뿅 망치* [Bbyong Mangchi – a toy hammer that makes a ‘bbyong’ sound] as if to show off, and Yu Ji-an stared at her before replying bluntly.

“If it’s not a monster, and the wild boar has babies, you’ll try to save it again.”

“That’s… there’s no need to kill them on purpose.”

“Thinking like that in a situation where you might die is a luxury.”

Seo-ah was silent at Yu Ji-an’s words. Then, Yu Ji-an glanced down at Seo-ah as if he was reading her face.

“So, what I mean is…”

He was trying to speak a little softer than before, but Seo-ah suddenly raised her head.

“That’s right, actually, I trusted you because Hunter Yu Ji-an was there. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“…….”

“From now on, I should act as if I’m alone.”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

As Yu Ji-an muttered like a sigh, Seo-ah gave him a playful smile.

“I know, what you mean.”

“Are you sure you know?”

“Yes, of course. But I’ve already caught a lot of monsters? It was just that one time… starting with the monkey monster in the tutorial…”

As Seo-ah walked, reminiscing about the monsters she had caught, Yu Ji-an said in a low voice from behind.

“If you’re not prepared, no matter how strong a hunter you become, you’ll eventually be defeated someday.”

“Is that an experience talking?”

As Seo-ah turned to him and stopped walking, Yu Ji-an also stopped at a certain distance. A moment of silence flowed between them.

Seo-ah silently stared at Yu Ji-an.

The sunset was reflected in his black hair and eyes, tingeing them with a reddish light. Seeing that, he felt distant.

Soon, Yu Ji-an slowly opened his mouth.

“Yes.”

This time, Seo-ah didn’t smile either.

She could tell that he was genuinely giving her advice based on his own experience.

“Let’s go.”

Yu Ji-an walked again, and Seo-ah walked alongside him. There were no more words after that, but it wasn’t awkward.

Perhaps that’s why Seo-ah somehow wished this path was a little longer.

***

“Unni, over here!”

When Seo-ah and Yu Ji-an arrived at the foot of the mountain, dinner was in full swing. Hunters were gathered around makeshift tables scattered under the pine forest.

Kang Su-jeong was naturally at the table where the C-Grade hunters mainly sat.

Among the hunters who were eating ravenously because they were hungry, Su-jeong had set aside Seo-ah’s share in advance, worried that there wouldn’t be any left.

Seo-ah, who was already exhausted, didn’t even feel like eating, but she felt like she had to eat for Su-jeong’s sake.

“Su-jeong must have come early.”

“No, I just arrived a little while ago.”

Seo-ah sat in the seat next to Su-jeong that she had prepared. At the same time, a hunter next to them who had finished eating left, and Yu Ji-an took that seat.

Yu Ji-an and Seo-ah were both acting naturally, but it wasn’t the same for the hunters sitting at that table.

“Cough, cough…”

Someone spat out what they were eating as soon as they saw Yu Ji-an, and someone patted their chest to swallow what was stuck in their throat. In any case, they were surprised.

Of course, Yu Ji-an didn’t care at all, and Seo-ah glanced at them but didn’t mind. She was used to this kind of reaction from being with Yu Ji-an.

Su-jeong placed a lunch box in front of Seo-ah, and someone else placed five lunch boxes in front of Yu Ji-an.

While they were eating, Song Jin-ho sat across from them. He handed Seo-ah a drink and spoke kindly.

“You came faster than I thought. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Yu Ji-an’s chopsticks slowed down a bit.

Seo-ah chewed and swallowed what was in her mouth and nodded.

“No, I’m tired but I’m okay. Oh, right. Thank you for earlier.”

Seo-ah glanced around and lowered her voice.

“I’m glad it helped. If you have any discomfort, tell me right away.”

“It’s really reassuring to hear an A-Grade healer say that. But I’m okay today, I’m enduring everything with my own strength.”

Han Seok-hyun had said in advance to refrain from using recovery skills or potions during training unless they were seriously injured.

“I guess that’s right. This is also a kind of training. Just bear with it a little longer.”

Song Jin-ho smiled brightly at Seo-ah’s words. Then, when he made eye contact with Yu Ji-an, he cleared his throat slightly.

“Ahem, ahem. Anyway, everyone must be tired; they fell asleep quickly. Hunter Park Seo-ah, please rest early today too. There will be more training tomorrow…”

“Yes, you too, Hunter Song Jin-ho!”

Song Jin-ho left his seat with a regretful face, but also flinching at Yu Ji-an’s glare.

“Ji-an, when did you get here? Come over here and check the equipment!”

And Yu Ji-an, who had been by Seo-ah’s side all along, also left his seat at Han Seok-hyun’s call.

After finishing her meal, Su-jeong yawned and slumped in her chair, and Seo-ah got up familiarly and began to pick up the trash on the table.