Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Spectacular Comeback (1)

After the boss collapsed, everything became simple.

Now, all that was left was to chase down the fleeing monsters and kill them.

The sight of monsters rushing in as if possessed could no longer be seen.

'It must be because the troll swallowed the bracelet and died.'

Once all the monsters had fallen, the Hunters looked at each other and cheered, as if they couldn't believe this situation.

"We survived!"

"We're alive, we can go back now!"

The Hunters, who were even tearing up with joy, soon began to look in a certain direction.

Toward the woman who could rightfully be called the heroine of this battle, and who had practically saved their lives.

"Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim, thank you so much."

"We survived because of you."

"I can't believe you took down an A-rank monster so easily... As expected of an S-rank Hunter!"

The initial contempt seemed like a lie as the Hunters bent over backwards to flatter Shin Ah-yeon.

Putting aside the broadcast, if it hadn't been for Shin Ah-yeon, they'd have been as good as dead.

"Oh? Ah, uh, yes... You all did great, actually..."

"No! What did we even do!"

"Kya~ I can still see it vividly. That horde of charging monsters just—bang—crashed headlong into the ground!"

"Ahaha..."

Of course, with people rushing up to her so suddenly, Shin Ah-yeon bowed her head awkwardly, looking flustered.

Even during her S-rank Hunter days, she had rarely received this much gratitude.

Let alone—since it had been three years since she'd last heard such cheers, it was even more awkward.

'I just want to go home and play games.'

This thought was clearly written on her face—but perhaps only I could read what Shin Ah-yeon was thinking.

'Well, it's over.'

Watching Ah-yeon soaking in the cheers, I casually tossed the stone I'd been holding onto the ground.

If Ah-yeon hadn't dealt with it, I had intended to step in a little myself, but it seemed it was a useless concern.

'Casting a shield around the head, then filling it with water...'

It sounded simple, just hearing the explanation, but anyone with real knowledge of magic would know how absurd it was. Fixing a magic array in mid-air by assigning coordinates in empty space wasn't something that could be done just by having a lot of knowledge or magic power.

I already knew about Shin Ah-yeon's talent, but simply calling her a genius did not suffice.

'Anyway.'

With that thought, I glanced backward.

There, I saw PD Jung Jun-soo and the staff looking over the footage, all with beaming faces.

They looked happier about shooting all this safely than about having survived.

"Wow, what amazing footage. As expected from Shin Ah-yeon."

"That's true. PD Jung, but really, not a single person died, right?"

"There were injuries, but compared to what happened, that's nothing."

"This will be in the news before it even airs, right?"

Returning to his usual polite tone, PD Jung seemed a bit troubled by a staff member's comment.

Because he couldn't be sure yet whether public news coverage would be a plus or a minus.

What was certain, though, was that the ratings would be the highest ever.

No one doubted that for a second.

***

"I'm sorry."

A few days after the shoot, Unique's Lee Sung-yun came to see me.

His once-confident face was now gaunt and hollow.

His right arm, which had been bitten off by the troll, hadn't regenerated; only an empty sleeve fluttered.

'He'll have to retire from being a Hunter.'

Clicking my tongue at his appearance, I felt little sympathy when I remembered what he'd tried to do.

'Even if JM used him.'

In the end, he had made that choice himself.

If anything, Shin Ah-yeon's decision to save Sung-yun seemed all the more exceptional to me.

'Well, I suppose a personality like hers is what led her to help me three years ago.'

The most Hunter-like person I'd ever known.

That was why I'd visited her first.

"So, what is this about?"

"... The bracelet I received was from the Javelin Guild, which could be called the parent of JM."

Unlike his previous arrogant attitude, Lee Sung-yun now spoke very politely.

He was clearly subdued now, but what mattered more was what he'd just said.

"If you got it from the Javelin Guild, does that mean they have several of those bracelets?"

"That... I'm not sure."

After those words, Lee Sung-yun left quietly, looking forlorn.

I probably wouldn't see him again in this business.

"In the end, Ah-yeon was right."

I would never have thought Lee Sung-yun would deliver such crucial information.

'If I investigate the Javelin Guild, I could find out more.'

Though just a few words, to me now, that information was precious.

'Should I sneak off to check out Javelin or JM?'

The idea crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head.

It was too soon—I didn't have enough intel for something like that.

Until I found out something more concrete, it was best not to take direct action.

For now, I'd keep looking for information, but I'd avoid being noticed by them as much as possible.

"There's our Manager Park!"

While I was wrapping up my thoughts, Sung-hwan approached with a big smile.

His grin hadn't left his face since the meeting with PD Jung Jun-soo of the 'Dungeon Exploration'.

Naturally, if Unique might be getting a new chance to spread its wings, it was something to smile about.

"Did you get your performance bonus?"

"Performance bonus?"

"What, you haven't checked yet?"

I'd only been at Unique for about a month, so I hadn't expected anything like that, and the possibility of a bonus hadn't even occurred to me.

Was this a special reward for the Dungeon Exploration gig?

'From what I know, Unique doesn't have a big enough budget to hand out bonuses...'

Not expecting much, I checked my account—and had to rub my eyes at the numbers.

"That's... a lot of zeros."

105,380,000 won.

Since 5,380,000 won was what I already had, that meant my balance had jumped by a cool hundred million won.

"Wow, PD Jung Jun-soo really didn't say anything, huh? One hundred million for you, three hundred million for Shin Ah-yeon-ssi—both deposited directly to your accounts."

"By PD Jung Jun-soo... You mean, this is from the Dungeon Exploration production?"

"That's right. We took out a lot of monsters, didn't we? Especially Ah-yeon-ssi, the real MVP, so they made sure to take care of her. But especially, PD Jung asked me to thank you personally."

When I started this job again, I wasn't aiming for big money.

But to actually get such a sum—a bonus bigger than anything I'd ever received, even back at Grand Nova—made me feel really good.

'PD Jung Jun-soo. I like him.'

Feeling satisfied while gazing at my now much fatter bank balance, Sung-hwan looked around, then asked,

"By the way, why are you here alone? Where's Ah-yeon-ssi?"

"If you mean Ah-yeon, she's probably at home."

"What? The HSN PDs are desperate to meet right now, you know?"

"She said she had to do a raid."

"..."

At that, Sung-hwan made an expression hard to describe.

But it was the truth—what could I say?

'Maybe she just doesn't want to meet any TV staff.'

After all, the broadcast station people all cut off contact with Shin Ah-yeon as soon as her mana hole was broken, so she probably didn't feel the need to build a relationship with them.

More importantly, catching up on raids was a real priority right now.

"So what about Ah-yeon's next appearance? Isn't this the chance to lock in a new network program?"

"She won't be scheduling anything for a while."

"What?"

"The HSN PDs' invitations are half-empty promises anyway, aren't they? They're just making idle offers, and if Dungeon Exploration turns out well, then maybe they'll try something for real."

Now that PD Jung Jun-soo had let everyone know about Dungeon Exploration, anyone with sense could predict the program would be a hit.

And they might think the value of the name Shin Ah-yeon could rise again.

But that was only speculation.

The Dungeon Exploration show's ratings were already declining, and Ah-yeon's value wasn't what it used to be.

Besides, the incidents from this expedition would definitely be covered in news reports and articles.

Whether that would help or hurt remained to be seen, and even if they reached out, they probably wouldn't be offering good deals.

'At best, as a sidekick on a variety show?'

Unless the ratings improved, she'd only have a shot at a main role in a show with low viewership, and that was it.

There wasn't likely to be any real gain from meeting with the HSN PDs right now.

"If they really wanted to see Ah-yeon, they'd be calling her non-stop or coming in person."

"That's true, I guess. Still, wouldn't it help to meet anyway?"

"You know as well as I do, president. Being a celebrity and being a hunter are different things."

Shin Ah-yeon is a Hunter.

She doesn't have to care about TV deals. In fact, when Hunters are successful, making broadcasters chase after them is the way to handle things.

A Hunter's main income isn't from TV, so there's no need to act desperate.

"Ugh, you have a point. Guess I got blinded by the obvious prize in front of me."

"No need. Being proactive has its advantages, too. I just think there's something more urgent right now."

"Something more urgent?"

"Reinforcing Unique's power. And getting another top star."

There were several reasons why I wasn't using Ah-yeon for anything right away.

First, to give her a break after the Dungeon Exploration.

It had been her first show in three years, and dealing with people had clearly been taxing for her.

Doing show after show would only have a negative effect.

'And besides, she needs to learn more circle magic.'

While this time she managed with 3rd-circle spells, to really get back in the game, three circles just wasn't enough. The expectations for someone called a "Great Mage" were much higher.

When she started her serious activities, she needed to be at least 5th-circle or above.

At that level, no other mage in Korea could match her.

So we needed to buy as much time as possible until the Dungeon Exploration aired.

"But you have Ah-yeon-ssi as the star, right?"

"We can't run a whole management office with just Ah-yeon, can we?"

"... True. Still, if her broadcast goes well, we'll try to recruit more Hunters."

The Hunters we had left were working hard, but we were still short-handed.

If Ah-yeon's show took off, recruitment would get easier for sure.

"What about Grand Nova?"

"..."

Sung-hwan went silent at that.

After all, the reason Unique was driven into a corner was because of Grand Nova's interference.

Even if we recruited new Hunters with the help of Shin Ah-yeon's fame, there was no guarantee we'd be free of further sabotage.

"With only one Ah-yeon, it will be hard to overcome Grand Nova's harassment."

"So what, we just do nothing?"

"No, as I said, we need to foster another Hunter like Ah-yeon. And if we improve the ability and activity of the remaining Hunters, the image of Unique—crushed by Grand Nova—will recover."

Even if Grand Nova interfered, they wouldn't be able to block Hunters from joining Unique.

Managers with two Hunters of Shin Ah-yeon's level were probably countable on one hand in Korea.

Hearing this, Sung-hwan gave a wry chuckle.

"Hah, you make that sound easy. Another Hunter like Ah-yeon? Recruiting another S-rank Hunter? Do you think that's possible for Unique?"

"We're not recruiting."

Returning his puzzled look with a grin, I said,

"We're making one."

"... What?"

"I've already spotted a potential candidate."

During the recent Dungeon Exploration shoot, I happened to see a Hunter.

If it was her, she'd surely become our new S-rank.

***

"You can't hit that? What's the bat for, huh?!"

"Jeez, get that idiot off the field already!"

Curses filled the air at a baseball stadium in Daejeon.

There, a woman in a deeply pulled-down cap was devouring a chicken drumstick.

'Why did I even come in person...'

Having earned a decent appearance fee for the last Dungeon Exploration, she had come out to a home game for a change—but her favored team was losing 3:0 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

There was still the final attack in the 9th, but there was no hint of a comeback.

"I shouldn't have bought this."

Even the expensive YesYes chicken box she hugged to her chest was starting to feel like a waste.

She'd wanted to relax and watch the game while eating chicken for the first time in ages, but watching the match before her just made her feel empty inside.

"Isn't this exactly how the Doxuris' games usually go?"

Yeah, it's true.

She thought that to herself, then realized the voice sounded familiar and turned her head.

"Huh?"

Somehow, a man was now sitting beside her.

Wearing the very uniform of the Chanhwa Doxuris she supported, he was someone she recognized well.

After all, she'd just seen him recently on Dungeon Exploration.

"... Are you Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim's manager?"

"I'm glad you remember."

"Ah, no..."

She had a ton of questions, but couldn't manage to speak.

Why was he here? Why was he sitting next to her?

'Get a grip, Lee Soo-ah.'

She was so awkward and shy that she struggled to say anything.

Why was he talking to her?

For a moment, she thought it was a misunderstanding, but when she glanced beside her, he was looking at her, not the game.

'Why, why is Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim's manager...'

She had no idea.

Could it be... recruiting?

That thought crossed her mind before she shook her head.

'No way anyone would scout me.'

Lee Soo-ah, even at best, was not exactly an outstanding Hunter.

Her official rank was C-rank, which wasn't bad, but truthfully, it was barely a passing grade, and her teamwork was abysmal.

And as for being on camera—because of a large burn scar covering half her face, she was considered flawed.

She hid it behind long hair, but anyone could see the scar if they looked.

'He must be pretending to recognize me because he saw me on Dungeon Exploration.'

She'd only managed to tag along to Dungeon Exploration by luck, having made it onto the reserve list because her rank was high enough.

'It really was amazing.'

The image of Shin Ah-yeon's exploits on the expedition remained vivid in her mind.

Saving Hunters in danger, rallying the panicked Hunters, and taking down monsters.

The way Ah-yeon brought down that A-rank monster—the very image of the Hunter Soo-ah dreamed of being.

Why would the manager of such a great Hunter as Shin Ah-yeon speak to her?

Maybe her confused feelings showed on her face, because the man smiled softly.

"Are you wondering why I started talking to you, Soo-ah-ssi?"

"Do you... know my name?"

"Of course."

He smiled as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

But really, why?

With Lee Soo-ah still confused, the man—Jung-woo—spoke in a calm tone.

"Of course it's because I want to scout you for Unique."

"Wh-what? Me?"

The unexpected words made Soo-ah's eyes tremble.

She couldn't comprehend this and was at a total loss for words.

CRACK!!

"It hit!"

"Go over—please, just go over!!"

The Doxuris' batter met a fastball and sent it flying.

The ball soared in a long arc and cleared the fence in one shot.

All the runners on base raced home.

In an instant, the score reversed to 3:4.

Seeing this, Soo-ah shot to her feet, cheering.

"Home run——!!!"

The chicken box she had been hugging tumbled onto the ground.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Wanting to just go home and play games, a true gamer.
Also, new recruit!
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