I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 95

95.

“Th-That’s enough. Still, thanks to Hunter Park Seo-ah, it was resolved safely. The spiritist is also safe.”

Yoon Ah-jung interjected with a smile to defuse the tense atmosphere.

In fact, Yoo Ji-ahn could have used an item, or managed somehow even without it. But it was also true that Seo-ah had stepped in and resolved it quickly.

In a situation where it was uncertain how long the child could hold out, Seo-ah only injured her hand and resolved it, so from a cold perspective, it could be considered efficient.

“…….”

Yoo Ji-ahn looked down at Seo-ah for a moment with trembling eyes, then took out a Maker’s healing potion and tossed it to her. Then, he turned abruptly and walked towards the wall.

Song Jin-ho poured the potion Yoo Ji-ahn gave him onto Seo-ah’s hand and continued using his healing skills.

“It’s true that it was resolved thanks to Hunter Park Seo-ah, but still, don’t overdo it. It’s dangerous. I can’t heal everything.”

“Yes, I’ll… be careful from now on.”

In fact, Seo-ah wasn’t entirely unafraid of putting her hand in the fire. But she had seen Yoo Ji-ahn endure it, and she was also impatient.

‘I need to receive praise in this raid too.’

But simply using buff skills wouldn’t earn her much praise.

The monsters were all B-grade or higher, and there weren’t many opportunities for Seo-ah to step in and fight.

As the raid progressed, she became more anxious, which is why she deliberately stepped forward. But instead of praise, she only received a scolding, so she couldn’t help but feel dejected.

“Still, I didn’t expect him to get so angry.”

“It’s not just towards Hunter Park Seo-ah specifically, Ji-ahn is just a bit sensitive about anyone getting hurt.”

Kang Hae-in cleaned up the remaining embers and approached Seo-ah.

“…Is that so?”

“Maybe he has some trauma. Actually, getting hurt during a raid is common, but Ji-ahn seems to blame himself every time… Hmm, I wish he wouldn’t.”

“…….”

At those words, Seo-ah quietly gazed at the wall where Yoo Ji-ahn had gone.

For some reason, she was reminded of Yoo Ji-ahn avoiding the confrontation with Baek Eun-hee during training at the beach. The pained look he had at that time.

If he’s making that kind of expression even now….

‘It might not be related at all, though.’

Then, she noticed that Alice was holding onto her sleeve tightly.

“Ah, Alice. Are you okay?”

“Give her to me, I’ll take a look.”

Seo-ah first handed Alice over to Ah-jung. Alice was conscious, but she was limp and leaned against Yoon Ah-jung, as if she had no strength.

Yoon Ah-jung was also about to cross back to their clean room through the wall when she ran into Yoo Ji-ahn, who was coming back in.

“Oh? You’re back?”

Seo-ah looked at Yoo Ji-ahn urgently.

“Um, Hunter Yoo Ji-ahn.”

Yoo Ji-ahn returned to his usual calm gaze and looked down at Seo-ah.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“Yes? I won’t act recklessly from now on.”

One gets angry when they are genuinely worried.

Seo-ah knew this well because she had a younger brother, Gun-hoo.

Until now, Seo-ah had thought that she was useful and necessary to Yoo Ji-ahn.

She was grateful that he took special care of her, but she thought of it as a kind of investment.

But seeing him get angry, she realized that might not be the case.

“Okay.”

As if he didn’t quite believe her, Yoo Ji-ahn sighed briefly but accepted Seo-ah’s apology.

Seo-ah smiled at him.

“It’s okay now. Try moving it around.”

At Song Jin-ho’s words, Seo-ah repeatedly clenched and opened her hand a few times.

“Yes, it’s fine. Thank you, Hunter Song Jin-ho.”

Song Jin-ho straightened his knee and stood up.

“Park Seo-ah.”

Yoo Ji-ahn, who was beside her, reached out his hand to Seo-ah.

When Seo-ah held out her injured hand, he took it and examined it closely. He seemed to be checking if she was really okay.

“I’m really okay. It’s all healed.”

“From now on….”

At that moment, the door burst open.

“Oh my, what on earth is going on! Heavens, the wall, the wall! And why are the guests in this room?”

Kim Soo-hyuk was momentarily flustered, but he quickly stepped forward.

“There was a sudden explosion, so we came over to check. We saw a dead person here, and our young lady was so shocked that she collapsed.”

“A, a corpse…!”

The manager’s face turned pale, almost as if he was about to collapse.

In fact, the corpse’s appearance was gruesome. However, hunters were somewhat accustomed to it, and Seo-ah was maintaining her composure thanks to ‘Silent Night’ [an item or skill that enhances mental fortitude], so she didn’t react.

“Suddenly the wall explodes, and there’s a fire. I can’t stay in this hotel with such anxiety, so we’ll have to check out.”

Kim Soo-hyuk said, glancing at his companions.

Everyone nodded in agreement with his words.

Now that they had found the spiritist, there was no need to stay here any longer.

“Y-Yes… I have nothing to say. But the refund….”

They had paid for the hotel with water, so it was ambiguous to return the water. Kim Soo-hyuk spoke as if he was doing them a favor, as if he had given the water himself.

“Ah, it’s okay. Our young lady says you can just have it.”

“Oh my, thank you!”

The manager thanked them and then looked around the charred room with a tearful expression.

And Seo-ah and the others returned to their own rooms.

“Th-This person is a monk…!”

“He died so horribly. What caught fire?”

“Who knows, maybe they lit a fireplace.”

“In this weather?”

While the hotel staff were horrified and cleaning up the other room, the members looked at Alice’s condition and chatted in the team chat.

– We found the spiritist, so what do we do now?

– How’s her condition?

– She’s exhausted and asleep because of the rampage. But she seems fine.

Yoo Ji-ahn looked at Alice and pondered for a moment.

‘The spiritist’s location has already been exposed.’

The explosion just now would have alerted him that the spiritist was alive here.

Yoo Ji-ahn explained to the group about what was left to do.

– The final boss of this gate that we’ll be facing from now on….

– If he was strong enough to subdue Ignis, he must be incredibly strong, right?

Yoon Ah-jung glanced at Yoo Ji-ahn. Yoo Ji-ahn continued his explanation calmly.

– He specializes in curses, mental attacks, mind control, and undead.

“Eek, curses?”

Kim Soo-hyuk spoke out loud, then quickly covered his mouth with his hand, realizing his mistake. The group glared at Kim Soo-hyuk.

– You guys have high base mental stats, so you should be okay. Probably.

– Probably?

– If he’s at the same level as I expect.

– You mean he could be different from what you expect?

As high-level hunters, they naturally had higher mental stats than others.

If your mental strength was higher than the opponent using mental skills, you could resist general mental attacks to some extent.

But that was only in general cases.

First of all, it had been much longer since Yoo Ji-ahn had been here before. There was no way to know how much stronger the final boss had become during that time.

Another thing was that even if your mental strength was high, you could easily be affected by the mental skills of someone weaker than you if you were shocked or emotionally agitated.

That was why the strong Ignis had been defeated. He had been brainwashed and controlled by taking the spiritist hostage.

– Right. And his lack of presence is also one of his characteristics.

– That’s tricky. There aren’t many items to defend against mental attacks.

Then, the group suddenly met eyes with Seo-ah. Seo-ah blinked and looked back at them.

“Um….”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“She managed Ignis, so wouldn’t it work out somehow?”

“She’s only E-grade, though. Putting her in a dangerous situation like that… We should try to handle it ourselves if possible.”

The four of them, except for Yoo Ji-ahn, whispered among themselves, and Seo-ah cautiously interjected.

“Um, are you talking about me?”

“Let’s move out first. Either way, the first thing is to take the spiritist to Ignis.”

Yoo Ji-ahn pointed to the window he had come through.

“That room is quiet now. Did they clean it up already?”

“Come to think of it… ?”

Something felt strange.

Kim Soo-hyuk approached the hole in the wall and peeked inside. Kim Soo-hyuk’s hair fluttered in the breeze blowing from inside.

“Huh? What’s with the wind….”

The inside was as quiet as a mouse. But suddenly, Kim Soo-hyuk screamed.

“Aaaah! What is this!”

At Kim Soo-hyuk’s scream, Yoo Ji-ahn approached and pulled him back. Then, someone clinging to Kim Soo-hyuk’s pants was dragged along.

Judging by the hotel staff uniform, it seemed to be one of the people who had come to clean the room earlier.

The man, with a pale face and drool dripping from his mouth, was pulling on Kim Soo-hyuk’s pants and trying to climb up him.

“Ugh, what is this, let go, let go!”

While Kim Soo-hyuk was shaking his legs wildly to shake him off, Yoo Ji-ahn stared at him for a moment and then stomped on his head.

Thud!

The man died instantly.

“Gasp, Ji-ahn hyung! Y-You stomped on a person’s head…!”

“He’s not a person. He’s a zombie.”

“A zombie? Wait, he said the guy used undead, right? Then what is that guy’s identity?”

“A black magician. Focus, more are coming.”

At those words, the group immediately drew their weapons.

The guy who smelled the spiritist had already come all the way here.

Another staff member who had already become a zombie, and the corpse of the man who had burned to death earlier, slowly walked inside.

“The final boss is a black magician….”

“Zombies themselves aren’t a big deal. Aim for the head.”

Yoo Ji-ahn raised Ruin Blade.

Just as everyone was aiming at the zombies, a black shadow suddenly flew out of the hole in the wall like an arrow.

“Park Seo-ah!”

Yoo Ji-ahn, who had sensed the sign, reached out his hand to Seo-ah. Seo-ah, who was startled, also reached out her hand, but soon the black shadow wrapped around her body.

And in an instant, Seo-ah’s figure disappeared without a trace.