I Became the Rankers’ Number One Pick

k.
Ring.

A blond-haired man very carefully opened the door and stuck his head in.

Han Seok-hyun, the leader of the top guild in Korea, crept inside the room.

To his surprise, Yoo Ji-an, who looked like he had just washed up, was already staring at him blankly.

“Uh, so… Are you okay?” he asked, keeping his distance.

Yoo Ji-an plopped down on the sofa.
“Yeah.”

“Whew… I’m glad.
You recovered quickly this time.” Still wary, Han Seok-hyun slowly sat across the hunter.

“I did.”

“You should have called for backup.
To defeat an A-class boss alone… you must have used ‘Thunderstorm’.”

The toad monster he had encountered as soon as he first entered wasn’t actually the boss.
It was not until he had slain about ten of those toads that the real battle began.

In general, in order to clear a single A-class gate, one or two S-class and many A-class hunters entered and launched an offensive.
Normally, no matter how powerful one was, it was very difficult to clear high-level gates alone.

That was why Yoo Ji-an’s most recent endeavor went viral.

“I did,” Yoo Ji-an admitted readily.

“So… are you really okay?”

He thought for a moment and nodded.
“Yeah.
I don’t know why.”

Considering all his abilities, it was not a stretch to say that he could be ranked first in the world.
However, he had a fatal flaw.

The point was that after surpassing a certain level of power usage, it became more and more difficult to maintain one’s sanity.
In particular, the skill ‘Thunderstorm’ was his ultimate skill, but when he used it, he entered a berserk state.

His attack power increased drastically at the expense of lowering his defenses.

Yoo Ji-an couldn’t use his ultimate skill in raids with party members because everything he saw became an enemy when he went berserk.
Whenever he did use it when he cleared gates alone, he always had to elude reporters for the sake of all their safeties.

The berserk state fluctuated wildly, and it took at least three days for it to completely subside.

When he registered his rank, he only used around 70% of his abilities.
Even in raids, he only used around a quarter of his power unless it was absolutely necessary.

Most of the time, that was enough.

This time, Yoo Ji-an dealt with the A-class boss alone and used ‘Thunderstorm’, but for some reason, he stabilized quickly in the aftermath.

But there was something even more surprising than that.

“That gate… was there in your previous life, wasn’t it? You knew that, right?”

“Yes, but it was created around 30 minutes earlier than I expected.
If I had moved a little faster, there would have been no damage.”

Yoo Ji-an was now on his fourth life.
He was a returner and only Han Seok-hyun and himself knew about it.

“That’s why lots of people got caught in it.
Although… I think quite a lot of them survived, relatively speaking.
There was a healer there, I think.
So why did you go there alone?”

“I was looking for something.”

“Did you find it?”

Yoo Ji-an covered his forehead with a hand, seemingly suffering from a throbbing headache.
As soon as he did, Han Seok-hyun shot up.

He sighed and lowered his hand.
“No, I don’t think so.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I didn’t go berserk that time.”

Even if his power output was halved, it was the first time in all his lives that he didn’t go on a rampage after using ‘Thunderstorm’.
He’d also found some evidence, but he didn’t want to explain just yet.

“Did that thing you’re looking for keep you from running wild? Hey, if you can’t find it…”

“It’s inevitable.
I have to find her now,” Yoo Ji-an muttered.

Han Seok-hyun peered at him curiously.
“Who?”

“One of the survivors.
The last one to leave.
Take her to me using whatever means possible.”

“Why? Did she take that item you want?”

“No… Maybe.”

Lips twitching, Han Seok-hyun teased, “Then why? Did you fall in love with her? Ah… this old man whose real age is over 60…”

Yoo Ji-an’s fingers twitched, causing Han Seok-hyun’s body to float.
He had used ‘Telekinesis’.

“Hey! Let go of me, you punk! I’m your guild leader!”

After five seconds, he dropped to the ground, coughing.

“You can’t even take a joke! Why should I ask her to come?”

“I’ve seen her before.
In a previous life.”

In the gate, to be exact.

And Yoo Ji-an couldn’t tell him any more details than that.