The Struggles of the #1 Rank - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 

“…You.”

 

Chan-hee strode toward Joo-ah and tapped her system window.

 

“Your rank went up already?”

 

He let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

 

Apparently, he had noticed the change in Joo-ah’s level by checking her system window. She nodded casually.

 

“That’s right. So please stop calling me E-rank now.”

 

Chan-hee curled his lips into a mocking smile.

 

“Then should I call you D-rank instead of E-rank?”

 

Joo-ah frowned in displeasure. He continued in an indifferent tone.

 

“Or would you prefer that I call you Seo Joo-ah?”

 

Chan-hee’s finger, which had been touching her system window, moved to the side and naturally brushed against her dark brown hair.

 

It was a habitual gesture, the kind of flirtatious movement he unconsciously directed toward women.

 

Joo-ah irritably brushed his hand away.

 

“You don’t have to call me by my name. I just want you to treat me like a Hunter, at least.”

 

He glanced indifferently at the hand she had pushed away and asked,

 

“Treat you like a Hunter?”

 

“I’m on the rankings now, so isn’t it fine to call me a Hunter? At the very least, I’m capable of saving ordinary people from low-rank monsters.”

 

Her rank was still terribly low, but having her name appear on the rankings was significant in itself. It meant that other people could no longer dismiss her quite so easily.

 

Chan-hee slipped both hands into his pockets and chuckled softly.

 

“I’ve never once thought you weren’t a Hunter.”

 

Joo-ah looked at him with slightly widened eyes, surprised by his unexpected answer.

 

Chan-hee shrugged and continued.

 

“No matter how pitifully weak their abilities are, a Hunter is still a Hunter. Unlike ordinary people, Hunters can directly fight monsters.”

 

He added with a mischievous grin, as though the thought amused him.

 

“Even if they get killed by a monster in one second, of course.”

 

His crude way of speaking.

 

His irritating expression.

 

There wasn’t a single thing about him she liked, but his earlier answer had been unexpected.

 

Joo-ah chuckled softly.

 

“You’re still better than the Chairman.”

 

Chan-hee furrowed his brow and asked,

 

“The Chairman?”

 

“Yes. Chairman Yoo Tae-jun doesn’t even consider me a Hunter.”

 

At her quiet remark, Chan-hee smiled with interest.

 

“You met with the Chairman separately?”

 

“We talked briefly about my team assignment.”

 

Chan-hee scrunched up his nose at her answer.

 

“Your team assignment? You talked to him about being assigned to our team?”

 

“More precisely, I asked him to correct the mistake in my team assignment. Although, as you can see, the result hasn’t changed.”

 

Watching Joo-ah continue with an unhappy expression, Chan-hee looked as though he couldn’t understand her.

 

“Why are you so desperate to leave our team? If anything, you seem to hate being assigned to us more than we hate having you here.”

 

Joo-ah answered matter-of-factly.

 

“Because it’s much better to receive training suited to my rank and get good results than to keep doing training I’m not qualified for and feel disappointed every time I fail to achieve anything.”

 

Chan-hee laughed as though her answer were ridiculous.

 

“Even if you train according to your rank, you won’t come anywhere close to our team’s level. The Association doesn’t even properly manage lower-ranked Hunters in the first place. At least top-ranked groups like ours are monitored by the government, so our achievements are recorded and our training programs are constantly updated.”

 

Joo-ah listened quietly. Then she suddenly lifted her gaze and stared at Chan-hee.

 

He frowned.

 

“What?”

 

Joo-ah parted her lips with a meaningful expression.

 

“The way you’re talking, Hunter Yoo Chan-hee, almost makes it sound like you want me to stay in the higher-ranked group.”

 

Chan-hee’s expression twisted.

 

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I want you out of our team as soon as possible.”

 

As he muttered those words, he raised one hand and lightly brushed the strands of hair resting on Joo-ah’s shoulder.

 

“It’s just that you don’t seem particularly attached to our team, and that bothers me a little.”

 

Joo-ah let out a disbelieving laugh.

 

“So you want me to beg you to let me stay on this team?”

 

He answered with a smooth, amused smile.

 

“That would be entertaining, wouldn’t it?”

 

With that, Chan-hee turned around.

 

Joo-ah watched him leave with an incredulous expression.

 

As he turned the doorknob of the special-class room, Chan-hee briefly glanced back as though to offer one final farewell. When his eyes met Joo-ah’s, he flashed her a sly smile.

 

“Don’t take advantage of our Jae-rim just because no one’s around.”

 

Joo-ah was about to retort with an irritated expression, but he leisurely waved his hand and left the special-class room.

 

“He’s seriously unbelievable.”

 

Joo-ah muttered while staring at the firmly closed door, then headed toward the training room.

 

She intended to begin the training that Chan-hee had delayed.

 

However, instead of entering the training room, she went to the monitoring area and sat down.

 

Through the glass wall, she had a clear view of the training ground.

 

Even though her level had risen to D-rank, there were limits to the training she could do in the special-class room.

 

Therefore, it was better to make the most of the training available from a safe location rather than directly face A-rank monsters herself.

 

In fact, the special-class room had numerous devices that weren’t available in ordinary training rooms.

 

When she had served in the elite unit, she had also used a training facility with a similar layout. Back then, someone had supervised her training from outside.

 

That person had been Chairman Tae-jun.

 

Remembering what Tae-jun used to do, Joo-ah tapped the glass wall in front of her twice. A lock screen appeared.

 

【Enter Password.】

 

【* * * *】

 

Joo-ah’s lips curved into a smooth smile as she tapped the number zero four times.

 

【Lock Unlocked.】

 

“I keep telling him to change the password, but that stubborn bastard never listens.”

 

Joo-ah rested her chin on one hand and spoke indifferently.

 

The Special Awakener Association was responsible for managing the virtual training grounds. The program she was accessing now was intended for staff members only.

 

Tae-jun had entered the password without making any effort to hide it, even though he knew perfectly well that Eun-young was standing right behind him.

 

Watching the lock screen unlock, she had asked him with an incredulous expression.

 

『Am I allowed to see this?』

 

Tae-jun had answered casually.

 

『No.』

 

『Then why are you entering it right in front of me like it’s nothing?』

 

When she asked in disbelief, Tae-jun had replied with a completely straight face.

 

『It’s a hassle.』

 

That was his entire reason.

 

He had entered the password used exclusively by Special Awakener Association employees right in front of her simply because changing it was a hassle.

 

Eun-young had told him that she hadn’t particularly wanted to know the password in the first place and suggested that he change it again, but he hadn’t even pretended to listen.

 

And even now, while Eun-young was living as Joo-ah, that ridiculously simple password remained unchanged.

 

“It’s Yoo Tae-jun’s fault for not changing his password.”

 

Joo-ah muttered indifferently as she examined the virtual training program used by Association employees.

 

A system screen displaying the Hunters’ training interface appeared on the monitor. She moved her hand and pressed the 【Edit】 button at the top.

 

An incomprehensible document filled with text appeared.

 

Most of the sentences were beyond her understanding, but there was one setting she could change.

 

Joo-ah clicked between the words in the first paragraph, which was filled with jumbled English text. A new window appeared, followed by a keyboard.

 

Using it, she switched the order of the words in a sentence.

 

She remembered that this error sometimes occurred when Tae-jun excessively increased the levels of virtual monsters. She had watched him correct it back to normal several times.

 

Joo-ah tapped the button labeled 【Confirm】, and the screen switched to the training interface used by Hunters.

 

【Select a virtual monster to fight.】

 

【SSS-rank】

 

【SS-rank】

 

【S-rank】

 

【A-rank】

 

Joo-ah stared at the system window and considered her options for a moment before selecting 【A-rank】 and 【SS-rank】.

 

Two enormous virtual monsters appeared in the training ground beyond the glass wall.

 

Normally, the monsters would charge at the Hunters training inside. If there were no opponents to attack, they were programmed to rampage through the virtual training ground, smashing everything like real monsters.

 

But Joo-ah had tampered with the program.

 

The two monsters standing side by side in the training ground began attacking each other.

 

The SS-rank monster tore into the A-rank monster with its sharp teeth. A faint groan escaped the injured creature.

 

Watching the scene, Joo-ah leisurely began her training.

 

“I should protect the poor A-rank monster.”

 

She raised her hand and cast Healing magic. A white light shimmered around the A-rank monster’s body.

 

【Stamina: 766 / 865 (+43)】

 

Joo-ah’s expression darkened with disappointment.

 

Her Healing magic had become more effective than it was when she had been E-rank, but the increase was still small.

 

This time, Joo-ah used Enhancement magic.

 

【Attack Power: 784 (+39)】

 

Its attack power temporarily increased.

 

The A-rank monster began gathering mana to activate its Special Skill. Electricity crackled from the two horns on its head.

 

Across from it, the SS-rank monster charged forward.

 

At the same moment, yellow lightning surged from the A-rank monster’s horns, and an enormous burst of light exploded.

 

The SS-rank monster disappeared into the white smoke.

 

Joo-ah quietly watched the training ground.

 

Soon, the smoke that had clouded the virtual space dissipated, revealing the SS-rank monster once more.

 

Joo-ah hurriedly muttered a curse and increased the A-rank monster’s defense.

 

But it was already too late. The SS-rank monster had rushed toward its opponent, grabbed the A-rank monster’s head with one massive hand, and hurled it away.

 

Joo-ah squeezed her eyes shut.

 

Of all the directions it could have thrown the A-rank monster, it had chosen the spot where she was sitting.

 

Because of the soundproofing, the noise of the monster crashing into the glass wall reached her ears only faintly.

 

Joo-ah opened her eyes in surprise.

 

Someone behind her was shielding her, one hand wrapped around her head.