I Became the Rankers’ Number One Pick

“Tutorial gate…”

“I think it’ll be good for you, eonnie. You’ll get a chance to practice.”

“Is it different from a normal raid?”

“Well, I don’t know the details either.”

“Nothing else is different except for the level,” Yoo Ji-an replied. “However, the Hunters’ Guild will ask for lower-level hunters to go. You don’t need to go there since you’ll be with me anyway.”

“But you want to go to B-class or higher gates…”

“Anything lower than that is too easy.”

“But they’re too difficult for me, so I can’t test my skills.”

“So, do you want to go?”

“I think it’s worth thinking about.”

“If you go, I’ll go, too!” Soo-jung piped up.

Seo-ah had 85 days left until the deadline her status window told her, and she still had to go be complimented thrice.

Even if she went with Yoo Ji-an and Baek Eun-hee once each time, it would not be bad to join a raid beforehand.

She looked at him with shining eyes.

Yoo Ji-an slowly got up from his seat before Seo-ah could speak. “Hm, if you’re going to go, you’d better be fully prepared.”

“What?”

“Let’s go train,” he said curtly, then went ahead.

Seo-ah blinked in mild surprise, then glanced at Soo-jung. “So…”

“Go ahead! I also have to train downstairs, hehe.”

It had only been a day, but Kang Soo-jung seemed to have adapted to her new life already.

“Yes, Soo-jung. See you later,” she said, then bolted out of the room.

The moment she was gone, Soo-jung pumped her fist. She’d actually been hoping to join Seo-ah on a raid.

‘My stats didn’t rise at all after that time. I probably need to be with eonnie for them to increase.’

She quickly changed into appropriate clothing and went down to train.

***

Yoo Ji-an brought Seo-ah to the 86th floor, not the basement, basically just downstairs from his unit.

Her eyes widened.

It turned out that the 86th and 87th floors were connected to allow for a very high ceiling.

“This is an S-class training ground. I don’t use it very often, but…”

In other words, being the only S-class hunter in the guild, it was a private gym.

However, despite the obvious reinforcements in the structure, the walls and floors were dented in certain places.

They were likely overcome by Yoo Ji-an’s power.

“Do S-class hunters train separately from the other hunters?”

“Rather than training, it’s more like a place to test out new weapons…” He approached one of the wals where there were several control buttons.

He pressed a few, and a huge roar reverberated throughout the space.

Seo-ah flinched and was about to cover her ears, except a huge monster popped up in front of her.

The words [ Giant Mantis ] appeared above it like a name tag.

“What, what…?”

As soon as it saw her, it swung a large, scythe-like appendage in her direction.

Seo-ah flung herself backwards, narrowly dodging the attack. She glanced back at Yoo Ji-an, and saw him calmly watching her.

Did he think that she would be fine?

She looked straight at the mantis monster.

‘But unexpectedly…’

While she’d been taken aback by its sudden appearance and knew that she wouldn’t be able to defeat it alone, she found herself having less fear now than when she’d first encountered monsters.

‘Is this the result of training?’

Seo-ah felt a little proud.

Once more, Giant Mantis screeched and swung its front leg. And this time, it started attacking several times in a row.

She avoided each swing and grabbed onto its foreleg with bare hands. It was hard and cool to the touch.

“Gah!”

As expected, the mantis surpassed her in brute strength. When it raised its leg, she was thrown off violently.

Just before she hit the wall, Yoo Ji-an caught her and held her up.

‘…This feels familiar.’

Something similar happened when they first met at that one A-class gate.

He put her down gently, returning her to reality.

She blinked. Looked around.

The mantis was gone without a trace.

“That… wasn’t the real thing, was it?”

“Yes, it was a simulation.”

“But I could touch it, though?”

“The technology makes use of particulate matter, so the simulations are less than a tenth of the monsters’ real strength.”

“Oh…”

Disappointment tinged her initial pride. For a moment there, Seo-ah had felt like she would be able to deal with it, but now she knew that the real Giant Mantis was ten times more powerful.

Seeing her drooping shoulders, Yoo Ji-an comforted her awkwardly, “But you did pretty good. You haven’t neglected your training.”

“I’m still too weak.”

“You may be right. What are your current stats? In detail, please.”