The Struggles of the #1 Rank - Chapter 17

They had been so busy fighting the monsters that they hadn’t had time to check the message sent by the Special Awakener Association.

 

However, Jae-rim had extensive knowledge of monsters. Even without checking the message, he could tell which Tower the monsters occupying the banquet hall came from.

 

Jae-rim calmly looked at Yeon-joo and Chan-hee before speaking in a low voice.

 

“The elite unit has probably been summoned.”

 

Joo-ah looked at Jae-rim with an indifferent expression and took out her phone. She immediately checked the emergency alert.

 

【Emergency Disaster Alert】

 

X/XX, 10:58. A Gate has appeared on Floor 726 of the Sixth Tower. Nearby residents are advised to evacuate immediately. If you encounter monsters, please remain in a safe location until Hunters arrive.

 

So far, all the monsters that had emerged outside the Tower were A-rank. None had appeared with a higher rank.

 

That meant the boss might not be particularly high-ranked either.

 

“Then I guess we should wait until the elite unit kills the boss.”

 

Yeon-joo stomped on a monster that had emerged from behind her, then attacked its head with an ice spear. Watching it collapse helplessly to the floor, she sighed.

 

“When are we ever going to finish killing all these things?”

 

Joo-ah, who had remained silent until then, spoke in a calm voice.

 

“I don’t think we necessarily have to kill them all.”

 

Yeon-joo, Jae-rim, and Chan-hee turned to look at her.

 

Joo-ah put on the most innocent expression she could manage and pointed toward the banquet hall’s entrance.

 

“Can’t we just run outside?”

 

It was a stupid question.

 

Chan-hee frowned and turned away as if he hadn’t expected anything better from her. Yeon-joo chuckled softly before answering.

 

“If we run away, who’s going to deal with all these monsters? Running away is something ordinary people should do, not Hunters.”

 

“But during our academy training, they taught us to protect ourselves immediately without hesitation if we encountered a monster we couldn’t handle.”

 

Joo-ah tilted her head with an expression of complete innocence.

 

Chan-hee opened his mouth with an exasperated look.

 

“That’s what they tell weak Hunters like you.”

 

Joo-ah looked at Chan-hee with clear, innocent eyes.

 

“Then only Hunter Yoo Chan-hee, the strongest person at our training center, needs to stay here. Everyone else can run away, right?”

 

“What?”

 

Chan-hee stared at her in disbelief. However, she merely shrugged with an innocent expression.

 

Ignoring Chan-hee as he furrowed his brows in exasperation, Joo-ah turned to Yeon-joo.

 

“Thanks to you, Hunter Yeon-joo, I was able to avoid the monsters’ attacks. Thank you. Your ice barrier magic is a really useful ability.”

 

Yeon-joo nodded almost automatically.

 

Beside them, Jae-rim silently watched Joo-ah before surveying the monsters in the banquet hall and murmuring.

 

“There’s no need to fight all these monsters one by one…”

 

At his words, Chan-hee and Yeon-joo looked at him questioningly.

 

Jae-rim met their eyes and continued.

 

“What if we gathered Hunters with abilities similar to Yeon-joo’s ice barrier and used them to trap the monsters inside?”

 

Chan-hee furrowed his brows.

 

“Talk sense. You think we can actually trap them? They’re still bursting out of the ground randomly.”

 

Jae-rim fell silent for a moment, seemingly considering the problem.

 

Joo-ah watched him quietly before asking a question.

 

“But why have the monsters gathered only here? It’s really quiet outside…”

 

She rested her hand on her chin and continued with a serious expression.

 

“It’s almost as if they’re targeting only the Hunters.”

 

What was the difference between the Hunters the monsters attacked and the ordinary people they ignored?

 

Jae-rim was the first to figure it out.

 

“Mana.”

 

His eyes sharpened as he looked directly at his teammates.

 

“Maybe the monsters are gathering here because of the mana. If that’s the case, mana might also be the key to gathering them in one place.”

 

Hunters were essentially collections of mana. What distinguished them from ordinary people was the presence of mana. Hunters could use it to activate various abilities.

 

“If we keep fighting without a plan, all the weaker Hunters will end up dying. So let’s find a way to defeat the monsters without anyone else getting killed.”

 

The most effective way to stop the monsters from continuously emerging was to defeat the boss.

 

Until then, they needed a way to buy time without fighting the monsters directly.

 

“So all we need to do is create an area that can attract the monsters, right?”

 

At Yeon-joo’s question, Jae-rim nodded.

 

She then made a small gesture, creating a massive barrier. Chan-hee sighed beside her and used his Controller ability to assist.

 

“I’ll go to the podium and make an announcement over the microphone.”

 

Before heading forward, Jae-rim turned to Joo-ah.

 

“Hunter Seo Joo-ah, it’s dangerous, so stay right here.”

 

He ran toward the podium while fighting off the monsters charging at him.

 

Joo-ah looked bored.

 

She was still inside the ice barrier Yeon-joo had created earlier. How long was she supposed to stand around like an idiot without doing anything?

 

She had considered casting Enhancement magic on Yeon-joo, but Chan-hee’s ability had already made her magic unnecessary.

 

Jae-rim soon reached the podium and picked up the microphone.

 

“We’re planning to lure the monsters into the ice barrier. Everyone currently inside the barrier, please come outside.”

 

At Jae-rim’s announcement, the Hunters scattered throughout the banquet hall began moving toward the exits, carrying their injured teammates with them.

 

“Those with abilities similar to Hunter Choi Yeon-joo’s, please help us create a sturdy barrier. All other Hunters, please release as much of your mana as possible inside the barrier.”

 

Following his instructions, the Hunters began moving in an orderly manner.

 

An ice barrier reinforced with various kinds of magic rose in the center of the banquet hall.

 

While barely avoiding the monsters’ attacks, the Hunters poured their mana into the barrier.

 

As their numbers increased, fewer monsters emerged from the ground outside it.

 

By the time more than half of the Hunters’ mana had been depleted, all the monsters were rampaging inside the barrier.

 

Now, they could take turns replenishing the barrier with their mana to buy more time.

 

No more deaths occurred.

 

It was the result of many Hunters working together as one.

 

“Finally, we can take a break.”

 

Chan-hee sat down on a chair that had rolled across the floor and spoke.

 

Apart from the Hunters taking turns pouring mana into the barrier, everyone else rested in different ways.

 

Joo-ah was sitting on a table beside Yeon-joo, while Jae-rim stood nearby with his arms crossed, quietly watching the monsters trapped inside.

 

“Still, today’s been pretty rewarding.”

 

Yeon-joo said as she stored several magic stones in her inventory.

 

Watching her, Chan-hee clicked his tongue.

 

“How old-fashioned. You’re still obsessed with magic stones? They’re not even S-rank.”

 

“Do you think only S-rank magic stones are worth collecting? Other people would be grateful just to get A-rank ones.”

 

Apparently, Yeon-joo had collected all the magic stones from the monsters their team had killed. Jae-rim and Chan-hee didn’t seem particularly interested in them.

 

Joo-ah turned her head to look inside the barrier. Dozens of monsters repeatedly burst out of the ground before sinking back beneath it. The barrier trapping them was firmly reinforced with the Hunters’ mana.

 

How much longer would they have to wait?

 

Joo-ah lowered her gaze to the watch on her wrist.

 

The words Calling Hunters had disappeared, replaced by the current time in the center. In the upper-right corner, she noticed a small label.

 

【In Combat】

 

Once those words disappeared, the monsters that had escaped the Tower would naturally vanish as well.

 

The atmosphere outside the windows was peaceful. They only needed to hold out a little longer.

 

“Aaaah!”

 

Suddenly, someone screamed from behind them.

 

Joo-ah quickly turned around. A cone-shaped hand had burst through the floor and split into two, wrapping around a woman’s body.

 

She recognized the face.

 

It was Boram, the woman who had picked a fight with Joo-ah at the beginning of the event.

 

“What the hell? Why is a monster getting out of the barrier?”

 

Yeon-joo jumped off the table and began generating ice with her hands.

 

The other Hunters also stared in confusion, looking back and forth between the monster outside the barrier and the woman trapped in its grasp.

 

Chan-hee, who was still sitting leisurely in his chair, clicked his tongue.

 

“There’s always one student who refuses to listen.”

 

Joo-ah climbed down from the table, muttering a curse as she tapped Boram’s system window.

 

Mana: 301 / 432

 

The monsters’ defining trait was that they tracked mana to locate and attack their targets. That was why they had built the ice barrier and poured as much of the Hunters’ mana into it as possible.

 

Of course, it was also a dangerous strategy. If the plan failed, they would have wasted their mana for nothing.

 

Even so, every Hunter had contributed to the effort in hopes of reducing the number of casualties.

 

They only needed to deplete more than half of the Hunters’ mana.

 

However, all the mana Boram had used up had been spent fighting the monsters.

 

“It looks like she didn’t participate when the Hunters were pouring their mana into the barrier earlier.”

 

Jae-rim spoke in a low voice.

 

He was right.

 

Boram had carelessly assumed that it wouldn’t matter if just one person chose not to use up her mana.

 

【The Anonymous Constellation advises you to leave people like that alone, saying they won’t learn their lesson unless they’re punished.】

 

Joo-ah chuckled softly and muttered.

 

“She’ll be dead before she gets the chance to learn her lesson.”