I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 96

96.

“How is Seo-a?”

Seo-a had her eyes closed, listening intently to the voice.

‘That voice…’ she thought.

Tears welled up at the familiar and longed-for sound. It was her dad, Park Geon-hoo’s voice.

‘Dad’s voice? Dad, Dad…!’

“…She’s okay… still… here.”

The next voice she heard was definitely her mom, Lee Je-in’s.

‘Mom, it’s Mom’s voice!’

But Seo-a was crying like a child and couldn’t hear properly. Longing and sadness overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t understand where she was or what was happening.

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is activated!]

“What about that? Did it go well?”

Only after ‘Silent Night’ was activated did Seo-a finally calm down and hear her parents’ voices clearly. ‘By the way, what is ‘that’?’ she wondered.

“Yes, it was successfully transplanted. Seo-a is still asleep.”

“Are we doing the right thing? I’m worried we’re putting too much of a burden on Seo-a.”

“It’s okay; they’ll never know as long as she doesn’t go to the Gate.”

The voices were audible, but she didn’t quite understand what they were saying.

Seo-a slowly opened her eyes and realized this was a dream.

‘There’s no way it isn’t a dream,’ she thought, seeing her living mom and dad looking at her affectionately. Longing washed over her again, but thanks to the skill, she didn’t panic like before.

It was definitely a first-person perspective, but Seo-a’s body moved regardless of her will.

“Mom….”

When young Seo-a spoke, Je-in was startled and turned around.

“Oh, Seo-a. You’re already awake?”

Je-in hugged her sleepy, drowsy little daughter and patted her gently.

Seo-a’s heart fluttered at the warm touch, but she also felt a little disappointed.

‘I can’t smell Mom’s scent.’

‘Is this the limit of a dream? If I’m going to have a dream like this, I wish it would let me feel the scent as well.’

“Seo-a, from now on, even when Seo-a grows up, you must never go near the Gate. Got it?”

“…Uh-huh.”

Young Seo-a rubbed her face against Je-in’s clothes and nodded. Je-in’s touch patting Seo-a’s back was affectionate and warm.

“Yes, Seo-a. Remember that. But… if you really have to go…”

‘If I have to go?’

Seo-a had already experienced the Gate several times. What did Mom tell me to do in this case?

“Remember that everything is inside you.”

It was hard to understand what she meant. ‘What does it mean that everything is inside me?’

“We have to go now.”

Dad’s voice was heard again. When Seo-a poked her head out of Lee Je-in’s arms, Park Woo-chan stroked Seo-a’s head with his big hand.

“Your aunt will be here later.”

“Are you leaving again? How long will it take this time?”

“About three days? I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

When Seo-a started to cry, Park Woo-chan looked embarrassed and handed her the game console that he usually didn’t let her touch.

Young Seo-a quickly stopped crying and took the game console, pressing the power button.

Inside, a cute character was waving and smiling along with a colorful background.

Lee Je-in, who was staring at Seo-a, spoke.

“Seo-a, what if the world in the game was actually a world that existed somewhere in the real past?”

Seo-a looked at Lee Je-in, then at the game screen, and answered.

“It would be amazing and sad because I’m trapped here.”

Lee Je-in sighed softly and stroked Seo-a’s back and hair.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a sad thing.”

“What are you saying to the child? Get up; we really have to go now.”

“Okay, Seo-a. I’ve prepared a meal, so eat with Gun-hoo when he wakes up. Tell your aunt if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Young Seo-a was so focused on the game that she didn’t even look at her mom and dad leaving, and answered casually.

‘Idiot. I should have looked at them one more time,’ Seo-a thought, frustrated with her younger self, but there was nothing she could do.

That’s how the door closed.

That was the last image of her parents that Seo-a remembered.

***

Seo-a woke up from her dream.

She opened her eyes slightly, then closed them again at the blurry figure she glimpsed.

‘What did I just see?’

It looked like a human, but it wasn’t.

The skin was black, the face was shriveled like a skull, and there were five large holes where the eyes, nose, and mouth should have been.

Fortunately, the still-active ‘Silent Night’ prevented Seo-a from being shaken, and thanks to ‘Brain,’ her judgment gradually increased.

Seo-a instinctively knew she shouldn’t let the guy know she was awake yet.

So she thought with her eyes closed.

‘Calm down, let’s calm down. Was he called a black magician? Is that guy a black magician?’

Curse, mental attack, brainwashing, undead… These were the things that Yoo Ji-an said black magicians were good at.

‘…Then the dream I just had…’

It might be part of the black magician’s attempt to dominate Seo-a’s mind by digging into her weak points.

If it hadn’t been for the Silent Night skill, she would have been trapped in the dream and kept crying.

She felt very fortunate to have this skill.

【That’s quite unusual.】

A terrible voice rang out.

It was like the cry of a beast, but it felt much darker, wetter, and stickier.

Even with the Silent Night skill, Seo-a instinctively felt goosebumps at the voice.

【To mistake a human with a spirit stone for a spirit master. I must have gone senile from living too long. Tsk tsk.】

Thanks to his mumbling, Seo-a could understand what was happening.

‘He kidnapped me, mistaking me for a spirit master.’

‘Just because I have a spirit stone? Is the black magician that careless?’

【That’s why there’s a problem with not seeing things directly.】

Rustle, rustle-

The sound of fabric dragging on the ground came closer. Seo-a tried not to let her breath tremble while being very nervous.

【But thanks to that, I got something special, kekekeke.】

Every time he laughed, a chilling sound like scraping metal with nails followed.

Seo-a wanted to get out of here right away, but even with her eyes closed, she could tell he was looking at her very closely.

Every time he exhaled, a humid, rotten smell vibrated. ‘Still, he’s a breathing being, so he must be alive,’ she thought.

【By the way, why doesn’t mind control work?】

Seo-a was startled inside. He knew that mind control wasn’t working properly.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to know that Seo-a had woken up yet.

【It’s hard to brainwash like this… I’ll have to find another way.】

The smell of garbage faded slightly.

Seo-a barely managed to hold back the urge to take a deep breath and opened her eyes very slightly.

The black magician, wearing a long robe, was picking up something like a vial over there. She didn’t know what it was, but it felt ominous.

The Silent Night skill definitely alleviates mental damage, but it was unclear whether it would prevent the use of direct drugs.

Seo-a first moved her fingers. Fortunately, they moved well. She also twisted her ankle slightly, and it seemed that nothing was restricting her body.

At that moment, the black magician turned back this way and slowly approached, holding a bottle filled with a liquid that looked ominous.

【Ignis was also subdued with this in the end.】

‘Even the strong Ignis was subdued by that drug, so no matter what it is, I must never take it,’ she thought.

The moment the black magician swirled the dropper, Seo-a quickly swung the Bbyong Hammer [a toy hammer] and knocked his hand away.

Clang.

The vial fell to the floor and shattered. Seo-a jumped up and stepped back.

“Hah, hah….”

Seo-a took a breath that she had been holding back and looked at him in detail.

The black magician’s expression was not visible. Well, even if he made an expression, how could you read the expression of five holes?

But figuring out his mood was easier than expected. A dark aura was seeping out of the black magician’s body.

【You were awake, you unusual human.】

“…….”

The moment she met the two holes that were thought to be eyes, his information finally appeared in the system window.

[Abandoned Black Magician]

[Overall Grade: A⁺]

‘Abandoned?’

A unique modifier was attached to his name.

[A black magician who worshiped the devil but became a devil himself after the devil disappeared.

The screams and pain of humans are the source of his power. As long as humans cry out in pain, his life will last forever.

The power of the main body is not strong, but do not be careless.

After a long period of research, he has developed several ways to manipulate the minds of others. Therefore, the more intelligent a living being is, the more vulnerable it is to his attacks.]

Seo-a focused on ‘The power of the main body is not strong.’ If that was true, there was no need to be too afraid right now.

Anyway, unless he uses drugs, his mental attacks won’t work on Seo-a.

She had already experienced the method of manipulating other entities in the ‘Parasitic Desert’ [a dangerous area or dungeon].

Seo-a pursed her lips tightly and gripped the Bbyong Hammer even more firmly.