The Struggles of the #1 Rank - Chapter 21

Jae-rim, who was standing nearby, looked at Chan-hee as if asking what was wrong.

 

After briefly replying to them, Chan-hee continued fighting the monster charging toward him.

 

Joo-ah, who had been staring blankly at her teammates through the glass window, frowned slightly.

 

Then she quickly moved her hand and opened her own system window.

 

Stamina: 263 / 263 (+9)

 

Mana: 193 / 193 (+10)

 

Her stats hadn’t fully recovered yet. However, for some reason, both her stamina and mana had been restored by a small amount.

 

Joo-ah muttered with a puzzled expression.

 

“…Did I use healing magic without realizing it?”

 

However, when healing magic was used on herself, it only increased her stamina. Her mana should have decreased instead…

 

Suddenly, her eyes lifted. Her gaze landed on Chan-hee, who was fighting the monster.

 

She remembered him tapping his system window just a moment ago.

 

Joo-ah hurriedly checked Chan-hee’s stats.

 

Stamina: 1698 / 2720 (-9)

 

Mana: 1543 / 3092 (-10)

 

Although the pain sensitivity in virtual training was set to 50%, the stats Hunters consumed while fighting didn’t change.

 

Chan-hee’s stamina and mana had already been considerably depleted by his previous training sessions.

 

The stats consumed most recently were also displayed separately in parentheses.

 

Joo-ah carefully examined Chan-hee’s system window.

 

Stamina: 1698 / 2720 (-9)

 

Mana: 1543 / 3092 (-10)

 

Was it a coincidence?

 

The numbers matched the stats she had recovered exactly.

 

Her gaze shifted strangely.

 

Just a few hours ago, during the chaotic monster attack at the banquet hall, she had experienced something similar while saving Boram, who had been dying because of Lim Hyuk-jae.

 

Her stats had suddenly increased.

 

And Boram had lost consciousness after all her energy was depleted.

 

There were too many suspicious details to dismiss it as a simple coincidence.

 

“…Perhaps this is a new skill possessed by Hunter Seo Joo-ah.”

 

Joo-ah smiled brightly as she spoke.

 

Although each Hunter’s system window displayed only one Special Skill, the number of individual skills they possessed was much greater.

 

Joo-ah herself had three different types of magic: Enhancement, Healing, and Purification.

 

However, these were merely the basic skills possessed by Hunter Seo Joo-ah.

 

A Hunter’s potential was beyond imagination.

 

If someone set their own limits, they would spend their entire life standing still.

 

But if they refused to limit themselves and pushed far beyond their current stats, they could acquire extraordinary abilities.

 

A hidden skill that could instantly erase the label of E-rank attached to Seo Joo-ah.

 

Perhaps she had unknowingly gained such a skill.

 

Joo-ah raised her gaze and looked over her teammates inside the training room.

 

By then, the SS-rank monster had been defeated, and the virtual training session had ended.

 

Yeon-joo and Jae-rim were straightening their dirty uniforms. Chan-hee was still staring at his system window with an unreadable expression before turning his head.

 

His eyes met Joo-ah’s.

 

She naturally looked away and calmly greeted Yeon-joo and Jae-rim as they came outside.

 

【Fourth Tower, Floor 499 Gate occurrence. Hunters, please deploy.】

 

It was their team’s second emergency call.

 

After heading to the Fourth Tower with her teammates, Joo-ah greeted them at the entrance.

 

“Have a safe trip.”

 

Before entering the Tower, her teammates briefly turned to look at her.

 

She stood there with a calm expression.

 

Even though she was officially part of their team, she wasn’t being deployed because of her low rank. It would have been understandable if she felt hurt. During their first emergency call, Joo-ah had clearly looked dejected.

 

Yet after only their second call, she greeted them so naturally, as though she were already accustomed to being excluded.

 

Surprisingly, it was her teammates who felt confused.

 

“Aren’t you going in?”

 

Joo-ah looked puzzled as she watched them standing at the entrance, still staring at her.

 

“Hurry up. Another Hunter team might steal the boss from you at this rate.”

 

She was even pushing her teammates to leave.

 

And her reason wasn’t that they needed to defeat the boss to protect people’s safety, but that another Hunter team might steal their prey.

 

Chan-hee looked at her in disbelief, but Joo-ah ignored him. Yeon-joo reluctantly entered the Tower, followed slowly by Jae-rim and Chan-hee.

 

“I wish you all a safe journey.”

 

Joo-ah smiled brightly as she watched their backs. Then, as though she had been waiting for this moment, she turned around.

 

She quickly started walking.

 

Joo-ah stopped in front of a monster that was heading into an alley to attack an ordinary civilian.

 

She removed the white gauze wrapped around the backs of both hands and took a longsword from her inventory.

 

“Now, let’s play.”

 

Learning new skills in a regular training room was difficult. Hidden skills were more likely to reveal themselves when their owner faced danger.

 

Therefore, this was the perfect opportunity.

 

Level: C-rank

 

Attribute: Water

 

Special Skill: Bubble Spray

 

Special Notes: Appears to be a monster from the Fourth Tower, Floor 499 Gate.

 

The monster was made of shapeless liquid. A foul stench emanated from its body, and wherever it passed, the ground melted, releasing wisps of white smoke.

 

Joo-ah charged toward the monster. Her light brown hair fluttered in the fierce wind.

 

WHOOSH!

 

The sharp sound of her blade cutting through the air rang out. The monster easily leaped upward to dodge her attack before immediately spraying hot bubbles.

 

Joo-ah moved quickly. The liquid landed right beside her.

 

SIZZLE!

 

The cement floor burned black as white smoke billowed upward.

 

If she had been hit by that attack, she would almost certainly have suffered severe burns and gained even more scars.

 

Joo-ah gathered all her mana at the tip of her blade. Sacred energy formed along the longsword.

 

The monster came thundering toward her, preparing to attack. Seizing the opportunity, Joo-ah ran up the wall and swiftly swung her sword.

 

A beam of light burst from her blade, splitting the monster’s body in half.

 

After landing safely on the ground, Joo-ah turned around.

 

Her opponent was a C-rank monster. There was no way it would die so easily from a sword swung by an E-rank Hunter.

 

As expected, the monster that had been split in half immediately reformed, becoming two separate monsters.

 

All she had done was increase the number of enemies.

 

Both monsters launched their bubble attacks at once. Joo-ah hurriedly raised her sword and formed a barrier.

 

However, the barrier created with her significantly lower stats had no effect.

 

Unable to block the monsters’ attacks, Joo-ah was sent flying backward.

 

THUD!

 

Her back slammed against the wall, and intense pain surged through her body.

 

“Damn it.”

 

She licked the inside of her lip with her tongue and struggled to stand. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

 

By then, one of the monsters had already approached her and leaped into the air, attempting to ram its body into her.

 

Joo-ah barely managed to move sideways and dodge the attack.

 

She returned the longsword to her inventory and took out her Taser Gun.

 

Attacking with her sword would only increase the number of monsters. The only way to deal with them was through magic.

 

Joo-ah didn’t have any dedicated offensive magic, so she had no choice but to use her Taser Gun. Since its bullets were made of mana, they should certainly be effective.

 

She had to hit a weak point in a single shot.

 

Otherwise, killing a C-rank monster with her incredibly weak stats would be difficult.

 

Joo-ah took two Low-Grade Mana Recovery Potions from her item box and quickly swallowed them.

 

The two monsters charged at her together, bouncing forward in a bizarre manner.

 

She extended her Taser Gun and focused on pulling the trigger.

 

“But first, there’s something I need to check.”

 

Joo-ah relaxed her grip on the Taser Gun and stopped moving entirely for a moment, watching for the instant the monsters attacked.

 

Potential tended to awaken in moments of danger.

 

She could feel mana flowing through her fingertips.

 

When the monsters were almost upon her, a blue status window appeared before her eyes.

 

【The Anonymous Constellation mocks her for being cute, asking whether a hidden skill would really activate in an artificially created situation.】

 

Joo-ah cursed and barely managed to dodge the monsters’ attacks.

 

As they landed on the ground, she stepped on their soft bodies and leaped upward, raising her gun.

 

BANG!

 

The sharp bullet struck the back of the monster’s neck. However, because its form wasn’t clearly defined, she failed to hit its weak point.

 

Joo-ah didn’t panic. She fired the remaining two shots in quick succession.

 

BANG!

 

BANG!

 

Her feet landed on the ground.

 

Fortunately, she had defeated one of the monsters.

 

The problem was that one monster remained, and all her mana had been depleted.

 

She hurriedly tried to take out another mana recovery potion, but the monster used its Special Skill, making her miss her chance.

 

SIZZLE!

 

White bubbles struck one side of her uniform. The fabric burned black.

 

In the blink of an eye, the monster leaped up and slammed into Joo-ah’s body. The impact sent her flying a great distance.

 

“Ugh!”

 

The monster didn’t miss its chance when she fell. It climbed on top of her and pressed down hard on her throat.

 

Her stamina was rapidly decreasing. She could barely breathe and felt as though she might lose consciousness at any moment.

 

Joo-ah struggled to raise her hand. With her fingertips trembling, she grabbed the monster’s face roughly.

 

She stared at it through eyes that were about to close, then smiled faintly.

 

“…This is the perfect situation to learn a hidden skill.”

 

A beam of white light leaked from her fingertips and gradually grew larger. The color slowly returned to Joo-ah’s previously pale face.

 

At the same time, the monster that had been pressing her down suddenly collapsed to the side.

 

【Congratulations! You have awakened your potential in a moment of danger and acquired a Hidden Skill!】

 

【As an achievement for acquiring a Hidden Skill, your level has increased from E-rank to D-rank.】

 

【All stats have increased due to your rank change.】

 

【Your ranking has changed from Unranked to No. 998.】