The Struggles of the #1 Rank - Chapter 16

Yeon-joo quickly erected an ice barrier to protect her team. Chan-hee, standing beside her, used his Controller ability to make the barrier even sturdier.

 

Jae-rim pulled out his Taser Gun and attacked the monster that had emerged from the ground.

 

Joo-ah briefly turned her head and surveyed her surroundings.

 

There wasn’t just one monster. Monsters of the same kind were bursting out of the ground everywhere, even where the other Hunters were seated.

 

The alarm sounded outside a moment later, and cell phones began buzzing with emergency alerts.

 

With an expressionless face, Joo-ah examined the monsters that had invaded the banquet hall.

 

They were A-rank monsters.

 

Although there were many of them, Joo-ah had encountered the monster standing in front of her before, inside a Tower.

 

Her gaze lowered to her wrist, where she stared at her dedicated Hunter call watch.

 

【……..Calling Hunters……..】

 

Amid the chaos, none of the Hunters in the banquet hall had received a call and left the building yet. Joo-ah turned her head toward the windows.

 

The monsters that had invaded the banquet hall had come from the sixth Tower, which had the highest floors in the Republic of Korea.

 

She had encountered them before when she was still operating in Eun-young’s body.

 

That meant… the team summoned this time might be the elite unit.

 

Ordinary Hunter groups had clearly defined roles.

 

There were tanks and melee damage dealers at the front, ranged damage dealers who attacked from a distance, and healers and buffers who supported their teammates from the rear.

 

The strongest Hunter would become the team leader and lead the group.

 

However, starting with the higher-ranked groups like Joo-ah’s current team, the concept of a team leader disappeared. Everyone fought on equal footing. Since all of them had already proven their abilities, there was no longer a need for a strict hierarchy.

 

That was why high-ranking Hunters usually belonged to teams with fewer members. A lack of teamwork could otherwise become a weakness.

 

Besides, Hunters ranked A or higher could generally use their abilities to defend themselves or strengthen their attacks.

 

Joo-ah’s team was known as Higher-Ranked Group B.

 

There were originally two elite units in the Republic of Korea.

 

The group that had included Chae-rin, Se-hyeon, and Eun-young was called Team Z, while the other group was called Team X.

 

If the Gate had opened on a lower floor of the sixth Tower, the monsters might be lower-ranked as well. However, if it had opened on an upper floor, the monsters would likely be stronger.

 

In other words, the elite unit might have been dispatched.

 

“Hunter Seo Joo-ah, stay here and don’t move.”

 

Yeon-joo spoke while standing protectively in front of Joo-ah.

 

A sturdy ice barrier had formed around Joo-ah’s position, preventing the monsters from emerging directly beneath her.

 

Yeon-joo was telling her to wait somewhere safe because her abilities were significantly weaker than theirs.

 

Yeon-joo immediately went to fight the monsters. Thanks to Jae-rim and Chan-hee, the monster that had attacked their table had already been killed.

 

The problem was that it wasn’t the only one. Monsters of the same kind were attacking Hunters throughout the banquet hall. The lower-ranked groups were being overwhelmed without any way to fight back.

 

The monsters resembled crustaceans one might encounter in the ocean.

 

Their backs were covered in hard shells, and instead of hands, they had enormous, sharp cones that were even larger than their bodies. They spun rapidly like drills as they attacked their opponents.

 

Watching the battle from behind the glass barrier, Joo-ah lowered her head. She could see the outline of a monster beneath the spot where she stood.

 

If Yeon-joo hadn’t created the ice barrier, it would have threatened Joo-ah long ago.

 

“H-Help me…!”

 

Just then, a desperate man’s voice rang out nearby.

 

Joo-ah turned toward the sound. One of the members of a lower-ranked Hunter group was sitting on the ground with a terrified expression. A gigantic monster stood right in front of him. His other teammates had already been brutally attacked and were lying motionless on the floor.

 

They weren’t the only ones in danger. All throughout the banquet hall, Hunters who couldn’t handle the higher-ranked monsters were struggling for their lives.

 

While the Hunters fought the monsters, the Association officials who had organized the event quickly fled the banquet hall.

 

Joo-ah looked toward her teammates. For them, A-rank monsters weren’t particularly difficult opponents.

 

Of course, the sheer number of monsters made the situation troublesome, but their Stamina and Mana weren’t decreasing very much.

 

“Aaaah!”

 

The man being threatened by the monster screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. The enormous cone-shaped hand swung toward him.

 

CRACK!

 

A faint defensive barrier appeared around the man.

 

It bought him some time before the monster could hit him, but only briefly.

 

The barrier surrounding him quickly shattered because his defensive stats were far too low.

 

Still, the brief moment seemed to help. The man hurriedly dodged and counterattacked the monster.

 

An enhanced bolt of lightning struck the monster directly in the head. Although the man’s ability was weak and the temporary boost wasn’t particularly significant, the monster had a Water attribute, making the attack a critical hit.

 

Lightning was especially effective against water.

 

Besides, people could awaken their latent abilities when pushed into a desperate situation.

 

After taking the attack head-on, the monster was rendered incapable of fighting.

 

From a distance, Joo-ah checked the man’s system window.

 

Attack Power: 486 (+38)

 

Defense: 392 (+35)

 

The man’s Attack Power and Defense had temporarily increased. They would probably return to their original values soon.

 

“Who the hell is this E-rank’s team?”

 

Chan-hee, who had been watching Joo-ah, spoke sarcastically.

 

“Your own teammates are fighting right in front of you, but our E-rank is casting Enhancement magic on some random team.”

 

He added with a small sneer.

 

“What? Do you like that team better?”

 

Joo-ah met Chan-hee’s gaze and frowned.

 

“I only helped because they looked like they were in more danger.”

 

The man’s temporary increase in stats had been caused by Joo-ah’s Enhancement magic.

 

She had cast the spell to test whether she could use her ability from a distance.

 

The result was satisfying.

 

Even though the man was quite far away, the magic had taken effect without difficulty. His boosted stats were also decent, considering the emergency he was facing.

 

“You’ve got plenty of free time, huh? Enough to help other teams, too.”

 

Chan-hee grabbed the head of a monster charging toward him and hurled it forcefully against the wall.

 

BANG!

 

The sound of the building’s wall breaking echoed loudly. Without even using a special ability, he had rendered the monster incapable of fighting.

 

He casually slipped his hands into his pockets and continued.

 

“What are you going to do if things get dangerous? Keep relying on us to save you?”

 

Joo-ah frowned and looked at him.

 

The dangerous situation Chan-hee was referring to meant encountering a monster powerful enough to require the use of a Special Skill. It would be a situation where even her teammates might be unable to help her.

 

Joo-ah had never used her Special Skill before, but just like when using Awakening magic, she needed her Mana to be completely full. There was also a chance of failure depending on her level and physical condition.

 

However, she could quickly replenish her depleted Mana by using items.

 

As if to prove her point, Joo-ah took a Lesser Mana Recovery Potion out of her inventory. She had purchased it with the magic stones obtained from killing monsters to unlock her Second Awakening.

 

Mana: 193 / 193 (+30)

 

Chan-hee scoffed in disbelief.

 

“You’re pretty clever. Then keep helping the other teams.”

 

Joo-ah wrinkled her nose and spoke.

 

“Why are you picking a fight with me just because I helped another team once? Are you running out of Stamina? Is that why you’re so irritable?”

 

She tapped Chan-hee’s system window to check his Stamina, but he had lost only 17 points. He had barely used any Mana, so he didn’t need a recovery spell either.

 

“Looks like you didn’t pay much attention in your academy theory classes. Don’t you know that when monsters appear, your first priority should be protecting your own teammates?”

 

“I know that, but you don’t seem to need my help.”

 

Chan-hee wasn’t entirely wrong, but it still seemed strange to ignore Hunters who needed help when she was capable of assisting them.

 

Besides, as she had just said, Yeon-joo, Jae-rim, and Chan-hee were in no need of Joo-ah’s help at all.

 

“Stop arguing and think about how we’re going to kill all these monsters.”

 

Yeon-joo spoke while casting her freezing magic. The monster she had been fighting instantly turned into a statue of ice.

 

Jae-rim took a high-grade longsword from his inventory and swung its blade at another monster.

 

Several monsters were already dead around them, but the battle showed no signs of ending. More and more monsters continued to emerge from underground.

 

Joo-ah had worried that ordinary civilians might be harmed, but everything outside the windows remained quiet. Fortunately, it seemed that the monsters had gathered only inside the banquet hall.

 

“We might have to keep fighting these things until the summoned Hunter team kills the boss.”

 

At Chan-hee’s words, Yeon-joo looked displeased.

 

“That’s ridiculous. You’re saying we might have to keep doing this until an entire day has passed. And what if they fail to defeat the boss?”

 

Yeon-joo was about to prepare to leave, suggesting that they should go defeat the boss themselves and get it over with quickly.

 

“I don’t think it’ll take that long.”

 

However, Jae-rim’s voice made her stop moving.

 

She frowned and asked.

 

“How do you know that? If the monsters are this strong, the boss must be pretty powerful, too.”

 

“Even if we go, we’ll arrive later than the Hunter team that was summoned.”

 

Yeon-joo looked at him in confusion.

 

Jae-rim spoke again.

 

“It looks like the Gate opened on an upper floor of the sixth Tower.”