I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 79

79.

“Hey.”

Noh Yoonji approached Kang Sujeong, who was sprawled carelessly on a wooden bench, and spoke to her bluntly.

Sujeong tried to ignore her, but Noh Yoonji nudged her once more.

“Hey, Kang Sujeong.”

“Ugh, what!”

Kang Sujeong jumped up irritably. Noh Yoonji glanced and pointed at something.

Following her gaze, Su-ah was bustling between the tables, her hands full of trash.

“Isn’t it a bit strange? Your sister?”

“What’s strange about cleaning up trash?”

“Look at the other hunters. They’re all either passed out or playing around like you.”

“…….”

At Noh Yoonji’s words, Kang Sujeong looked around anew.

Indeed, almost everyone except Su-ah was sprawled out. A few with energy to spare had gone to the beach to play.

Hunters basically had everything done for them by people around them except for fighting and training, so they weren’t diligent about such things.

Because of that, no one cared about the messy tables and floors.

And right now, it wasn’t that they weren’t doing it, but that they couldn’t. They were too exhausted.

Kang Sujeong was also in a state of exhaustion after returning from the mountain, to the point of collapsing. She couldn’t move properly, as if heavy weights were attached to her arms and legs.

Su-ah was weaker than her, so there was no way her body would be okay.

“My sister is just, kind and neat….”

“Even if she’s kind, there’s a limit. The guild will send people to clean up tomorrow morning anyway, so why is she doing it alone?”

“Ugh, so what are you saying?”

“To be honest, it’s weird. That’s a disease.”

“What disease? You’re picking a fight over everything.”

Kang Sujeong ignored Noh Yoonji’s words but grumbled as she got up. It was because she couldn’t stand seeing Su-ah suffering alone.

“Sister, why are you doing it alone!”

Watching Kang Sujeong run to Su-ah, Noh Yoonji turned her head away as if displeased.

Sujeong hovered around Su-ah, helping, but eventually passed out again.

“Sister, let’s stop now. People are coming to clean up tomorrow. Even if they don’t, you don’t have to do it.”

“Rest if you’re tired, Sujeong.”

“That’s not it….”

“Hehe, I know. It’s almost done anyway.”

The traces of over a hundred people eating and drinking were not easy for one person to clean up.

But it was true that it became quite clean just by organizing the trash, so it was hard to say that Su-ah was doing unnecessary work.

“Go in quickly, I’ll go in soon too.”

“You have to come quickly, I’m really going to sleep first.”

“Okay, go in quickly. Sleep well.”

Su-ah urged her to finish quickly and sent Sujeong back to the barracks first.

And she piled up the trash bags on one side and looked around.

Su-ah stretched with a satisfied face at the clean appearance.

“Ugh, should I rest now….”

As she was about to return to the assigned barracks, someone called out to Su-ah.

“Excuse me!”

“Yes?”

“This side hasn’t been cleaned at all. Please clean this area too while you’re at it.”

It was B-class hunter Min Hyunshik. He instructed her so naturally without any malice that Su-ah was momentarily speechless.

“Ah, that’s….”

Just as she was about to say something, Noh Yoonji shouted from over there and approached.

“You should do it yourself, mister! Why are you making another hunter work for you?”

“Ah, no. I just thought she was enjoying cleaning since she was wandering around alone.”

Min Hyunshik made a lame excuse and slipped into the barracks.

Noh Yoonji frowned and stared blankly at Su-ah, who was standing expressionlessly.

“Are you stupid? Why are you doing as he says?”

“I didn’t do it. I was going to refuse. I’m quite tired now too.”

“Would you have done it if you weren’t tired?”

Noh Yoonji asked back as if dumbfounded, and Su-ah tilted her head and looked up slightly.

“Well, maybe. Or maybe not.”

“You should refuse right away!”

“Is that so.”

Noh Yoonji looked at Su-ah, who was smiling faintly, with a frustrated face.

“Sister, don’t you have that? Like a ‘good girl complex’ or something.”

“…….”

Su-ah did not affirm or deny but stared at Noh Yoonji with a calm gaze. Then Noh Yoonji stammered, slightly embarrassed.

“No, I just… it’s not that you necessarily do. I just don’t like seeing you suffer alone.”

“Okay, Yoonji. I was going to rest now too. You must be tired too, go in now.”

Su-ah patted Yoonji’s shoulder and went to the water tap. She washed her hands and feet there, washed her face simply, and soaked a towel in water.

Then she went to the barracks where Sujeong was sleeping and roughly wiped her sweaty body and changed her clothes. The barracks were quite spacious, enough to fit two cots.

She felt uncomfortable because she couldn’t take a proper shower, but she had to endure until tomorrow evening when she would be in proper accommodation.

Kang Sujeong must have been really tired, as she was fast asleep even when Su-ah came in and rustled around.

The other hunters seemed to be the same; snoring sounds were heard here and there.

Su-ah was also tired enough to collapse, but somehow she didn’t feel like she would fall asleep easily. She wasn’t usually sensitive to sleeping arrangements, but she felt that way today.

Su-ah eventually went out of the barracks again and lay down on a bench.

“Wow, it’s pretty….”

The stars in the night sky, visible between the pine trees, were particularly sparkling. It was on a different level from what she saw in the Seoul sky.

After looking at the sky for a long time, Su-ah’s eyes calmed down.

“Sister, don’t you have that? Like a ‘good girl complex’ or something.”

What Noh Yoonji had said a little while ago lingered in her mind.

“A good girl complex… maybe I do.”

Su-ah muttered bitterly and closed her eyes.

Certainly, Su-ah had a side that acted so kindly that she herself thought it was frustrating.

Even when she didn’t feel like it, she would consider other people’s circumstances and act accordingly. It was quite difficult for Su-ah to refuse a request.

She had improved a little after becoming an adult, but Su-ah still often heard that she was kind. And she felt relieved on the one hand at that word.

‘As if that word supports me….’

She felt uneasy if she didn’t receive recognition from those around her.

‘I didn’t want to hear that it’s because I don’t have a mom and dad.’

Polite and kind.

And when she heard the adults around her say that she had grown up admirably, she felt much more relieved.

‘Actually, I’m not kind at all.’

When she was young, she saw children living comfortably with their parents, and she pretended not to, but she was actually jealous.

She was hurt by a trivial remark from a friend she was playing with, and she sincerely wished something bad would happen to the other person.

Su-ah raised one arm and covered her eyes. She felt like she was going to cry when she thought about the old days.

But Su-ah didn’t really like herself crying. It felt weak.

‘Calm down, let’s not dwell on it.’

Su-ah lay there for a long time in that state to calm her mind.

And after a while, Yoo Ji-an and Han Seok-hyun, who had returned after inspecting the island, found Su-ah.

“Oh, Hunter Park Su-ah….”

Han Seok-hyun was about to wake her up, but Yoo Ji-an raised his hand to stop him.

“…What are you going to do? We have to wake her up and take her in.”

Yoo Ji-an silently approached and lifted Su-ah in his arms. Then he strode towards the blue barracks assigned to him. A sign with ‘S-class’ was attached to the front of the barracks.

Han Seok-hyun, who saw this, hurriedly followed and shouted in a voice only Yoo Ji-an could hear.

“Hey, you idiot. Why are you taking her in there…! No, Ji-an…!”

Yoo Ji-an ignored Han Seok-hyun’s words and came inside, laying Su-ah on the bed. Then he stopped as he was about to take off her shoes and cover her with a blanket.

Tears were evident in Su-ah’s eyes.

Yoo Ji-an stared at Su-ah’s face for a moment, then covered her with the blanket.

When he turned off the lamp and came out, he ran into Han Seok-hyun, who was fidgeting outside.

“Oh? You came out right away?”

Han Seok-hyun was surprised and pleased, but Yoo Ji-an looked at him with a fierce expression.

“What were you thinking?”

“Ah, no. I just.”

“Is your accommodation here?”

“…Wait, are you going to sleep with me? There was no such talk. You know how sensitive I am to noise….”

“Then you can go out and sleep.”

Han Seok-hyun tried to stop Yoo Ji-an, but it was a meaningless act.

In the end, Yoo Ji-an took over Han Seok-hyun’s accommodation, and Han Seok-hyun had to go to A-class hunter Kim Su-hyeok’s barracks and curl up to sleep.

“Damn it, leaving my perfectly good spot….”

“Ah, why did you come here of all places! Guild Leader.”

“You’re the easiest to deal with, shut up and sleep. If you’re upset, go and confront Yoo Ji-an.”

“Ugh!”

Kim Su-hyeok, who didn’t have the courage to argue with Yoo Ji-an, eventually turned around and lay down.

Despite being sensitive to noise, Han Seok-hyun fell asleep soon after.

Thanks to that, Kim Su-hyeok had to spend the night without sleeping a wink because of Han Seok-hyun, who was snoring loudly.

And, just a few hours later.

Someone fearlessly raided the Taeyang Guild hunters’ camp.

“They proposed it first, so they shouldn’t be complaining, right? Beat down everyone in sight! Oh, and don’t touch Su-ah!”

Their identities were none other than the Royal Guild members.