I Became the Rankers’ Number One Pick

It turned out that Team 1 had already been well aware of the true nature of the gate.
They’d known from which direction the boss would appear and that it was a D-class gate, not an E-class one, choosing to deceive the other party members.

When Yoo Ji-an ignored their proposition, Kim Dae-hoon threatened to expel him from the party and get rid of Park Seo-ah and Kang Soo-jung.

In an instant, the S-class hunter blew off his head.
Being kicked out of the party would have been disastrous.

“He couldn’t have done anything if he was dead, so…”

“Seriously? How long did it take to get all that information? They got into my way so I got rid of them immediately.
I couldn’t dally when I knew what could happen to Seo-ah.”

“But you still arrived later than I did.”

“You probably didn’t go northeast at all!” Baek Eun-hee grumbled, then turned to Seo-ah.
“The gate was actually a level higher than what they said.
Darling, you must check the certificate first before going on a raid with strangers.
Predatory hunters like them always try to exploit loopholes.” She patted her head gently, as if touching glass.

Baek Eun-hee was probably worried about Seo-ah’s mental state after her exposure to betrayal.
However, the harshness of reality was not so shocking to one who had grown up without her parents.

She didn’t hate the concern, though, so she stayed still.

Kang Soo-jung clenched her fist.
“I see,’ she growled, her surprise at seeing two S-class hunters in person replaced by rage.
“No wonder they didn’t even ask for my Hunter ID card! It was because they didn’t want to show their own!”

She’d thought it was weird, but ultimately brushed off the feeling.
There were not many teams who readily accepted young E-class hunters, so she had to take the chance.

“Indeed.
Kim Dae-hoon was a C-class hunter, and the rest of them were D-class.
That was why they were assigned that gate.”

“What? So they recruited people, all along planning to kill them off?” Seo-ah frowned slightly.

Baek Eun-hee shrugged.
“Well, it must have been for the money.
They needed to fill the required number of people to be cleared for the raid.
It is said that this sort of thing happens often in low-ranked raids where the party leader recruits other members individually.
To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen it in person.
This would have been impossible for high-level gates.”

“The compensation for clearing a D-class gate is 50 million won.
Unlike gate drops and items, that amount is equally divided among the surviving team members,” Yoo Ji-an said.
“They probably planned for Baek Eun-hee and me to be sacrifices at first.”

“The lightning magic that he used was stronger than they had expected, so they likely revised the plan, thinking that there was no loyalty between the members of Team 2, who had all met for the first time.
Their updated plan seemed to be to use persuasion first, then force only if necessary.”

“That’s…” Seo-ah fumed, gripping the blanket.

Just as Baek Eun-hee was about to hold her hand consolingly, her phone rang suddenly.
“Wait a minute,” she said with a frown.

When she left the room, Yoo Ji-an approached Seo-ah’s bed, glancing at Kang Soo-jung.

The young girl was quick-witted; she cleared her throat and quietly left as well.

“This world is no different from that of beasts.
It is a place where the logic that only the fittest survive is accepted.
Such is the relationship between hunters and monsters, but the same is true for hunters among themselves.”

And the person who was saying all that was the one at the top of that world.

Park Seo-ah looked at him and sighed.
“Well, I am only an E-class hunter, the weakest in the world.”

Yoo Ji-an leaned forward, tilting his head to meet her gaze.
“Of course, I’ll be protecting you the entire time,” he said, eyes gleaming oddly.

As if accustomed to his contradictory attitude, she simply asked, “Am I that important to you?”

“I suppose…” He stood up, averting his eyes.
“You are important in many ways.”

His wording felt laden with an unknown meaning, but Seo-ah didn’t bother pressing the issue because she had something more important to discuss.

“Then, could you do me a favor?”

“Tell me what it is.”

“I’d like to raise my stats a little bit before I join any other raids.
Can I get some training from the Sun Guild?”

After all that had happened, she knew that she had to improve her abilities before going on the the next raid.
Even if she gained a bit of experience here, she still had a long way to go.

‘At the very least, I need to be able to walk without getting tired and aching the next day.’

Self-training wasn’t an option, and the 9.99 million won package was too expensive.

That was why she asked Yoo Ji-an for help, though she grew more embarrassed by the second.

‘Was that too shameless of me? It might be too much to ask for it to be free.
Should I still pay even a little bit? How much should I…?’

While she made mental calculations on her own, Yoo Ji-an opened his mouth, “There is a training program, but it would be difficult for you.”

“Oh…”

The Sun Guild, of course, trained their hunters.
However, they required their members to be at least C-class, so the program was tailored to that level.

Staring at her gloomy face, he added, “Come to the guild office tomorrow.”

“Ah, I’m not joining…!”

“I know.”

“Also, please don’t tell Ms.
Baek Eun-hee about it for now.”

It wasn’t that she hated her.
Rather, she appreciated the kindness and affection that she hadn’t felt for a long time, even if it was with ulterior motives.

Seo-ah simply thought that the other woman’s overprotective manner would interfere with her training.
Whenever she saw her, it seemed like she would rather wrap her in bubble wrap than train her properly.

On the other hand, Yoo Ji-an was much more straightforward.

‘Although he occasionally looks at me with scary eyes, he’s kind in his own way.
If we’ll have to see each other often from now on…’

She gathered the courage to speak.
“Do you hate me?”

“Why would you think that? You’re a very important person to me.”

“That may be true, but your eyes are sometimes…”

It was difficult to explain, but when she was with him, she got goosebumps because of his gaze.
Her reaction was always so visceral.

“Ah, I’m sorry.
I’ll be more careful.”

“W-what?”

Seo-ah subconsciously backed away.
What did he mean? Why did he need to be careful?

Yoo Ji-an’s eyes were calm as they looked down at her.
Then, he made a sudden suggestion, “For us to trust each other, you can tell me your secret and I’ll tell you mine.”

“Pardon? What secret are you talking about?”

“Open your status window.
Perhaps something has changed.

She opened it at his behest, thinking about when he told her he could see it with the use of a skill.

“Can you see it?”

“Not quite.
Only you can see your status window.
As for me, I can get a rough idea of your stats with ‘Observation’.”

“So, what does it say?”

“E-class healer, no titles, three active skills, no passive skills.
Your active skills have improved,” Yoo Ji-an answered easily.

Park Seo-ah gaped.
“That’s all correct.

[ STATUS ]

[ Park Seo-ah (21).
Position: Healer (E-class), Supporter(!) (S-class/Locked).
Title: None.
Life: 10/10.
Mana: 12/12.
Stats: Muscle Strength: 2 (2↑).
Mana Recovery: 3 (3↑).
Agility (1) (1↑).
Defense: 2 (2↑).
Physical Strength: 4 (1↑).
Mental Strength: 10.
Active Skills(!): Recovery (Lv.
1→2), Breakthrough (Lv.
1), Inspiration (Lv.
1)… ]

“My stats went up a little bit.
And the skills…”

The skills she’d seen in her dream were really there.

She checked her new, randomly selected active skills, reading out loud.

[ Breakthrough: Ignores the limits of a hunter’s level and raises their stats.
The increase is maintained permanently.
Conditions for use: An uncontrollable enemy, the hunter’s strong will.
]

Seo-ah was impressed.
The conditions before it would be activated seemed dire, but it was a pretty good skill to help one’s team.

“It’s obviously a supporter’s skill.
Don’t tell any other hunters about this,” Yoo Ji-an warned.

“I won’t.”

It was a skill that hunters who wanted to be strong would covet.
Moreover, she did not have the capability to protect herself yet, so she needed to be vigilant.

“What’s the other skill?”

“Well, the original ‘Recovery’… By the way, aren’t you going to tell me your secret, Mr.
Yoo Ji-an? I’ve already told you one.” Seo-ah looked up at him with doe-like eyes.

His voice was quiet when he replied, “You might kill me in the future.”

“…?”