Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Super Hunter K (1)

"Super Hunter K, you say? Are you saying this benefits us... does that mean Unique can participate?"

Sung-hwan looked back and forth between his smartphone screen and my face as he spoke.

Even after seeing the message, Sung-hwan's attitude showed he simply couldn't accept it.

'Honestly, that's understandable.'

Super Hunter K.

It was HSN's audition program held once every year.

The original purpose was to discover outstanding hunters hidden among the masses, but as the seasons went by, controversies over manipulation and various other issues arose, causing its popularity to wane slightly.

Of course, even so, it was still the biggest audition program in existence, and its name carried much more weight than the Dungeon Exploration Team.

There was a reason why the hunter who won Super Hunter K was called the best rookie of the year.

"Yes, PD Jung said so. He said he'd would set things up for us."

"Sure, that's what the message says, but... how exactly would we take part? Isn't Super Hunter K firmly controlled by Grand Nova and the Big Three?"

The Grand Nova and Big Three that Sung-hwan mentioned were the top management agencies in the current hunter industry.

Needless to say, Grand Nova was number one in the industry.

And then there were three gigantic companies just below it: Mirae Guild, Sky Hold, and Sun Management.

Among them, Mirae Guild was where Shin Ah-yeon originally belonged.

"That's how it used to be, but according to PD Jung, there's going to be a major overhaul."

"An overhaul? Why?"

"Probably because the ratings for Super Hunter K have been dropping each year, and there's been a lot of talk from other mid-to-small-sized management agencies."

"... I see."

Of course, since I had only recently returned, I didn't know firsthand what it had been like over the past three years.

But you only needed to do a quick online search to get a sense of things, right?

Even just looking up stories from the last season, there were countless complaints about how those four companies monopolized the show.

So HSN must have been struggling with this issue as well.

"I heard the main PD of Super Hunter K is an old colleague of PD Jung's. Of course, it seems they don't exactly view this favorably, but higher-ups apparently want Shin Ah-yeon to appear."

"Then that does change things. But to be honest, our management doesn't look all that competitive, so I'm a bit worried."

Sung-hwan's expression relaxed noticeably.

If we got to participate in Super Hunter K, we'd have the chance to recruit hunters—not just the one I was aiming for, Soo-ah.

It would also be a great opportunity to raise our management agency's profile.

The only issue was how many management agencies would be competing.

"There's no way the Big Four will just sit back and watch, and the smaller companies will jump at the chance with all they've got. This year's Super Hunter K isn't just a competition among hunters—management agencies will be battling too."

I didn't know exactly how they planned to structure things, but the HSN producers weren't fools—they surely anticipated as much.

It wasn't just hunter-on-hunter competition, but they'd set it up to also spark rivalry among management agencies.

"Of course, you must be confident if you're thinking of joining, right? Does that mean you'll be representing Unique?"

"Ah, of course, it's fine if you want to participate as the representative instead. It's not like I'm desperate for TV exposure. But I'd appreciate it if you'd just hear me out..."

"Forget it, man. I see you're ignoring Director Song pretty thoroughly."

"Director Song is busy, isn't he?"

Unlike me, who was only managing Shin Ah-yeon, director Song currently handled all the remaining hunters in Unique.

The reason he was rarely seen these days was because all the managers had quit, and he had been covering their workload alone.

If Director Song left for the show, there'd be almost no one to fill the gap.

Even if I stepped in, I barely knew any of the other hunters.

"To be honest, I don't see much hope even if we do participate... but the way you're acting, there must be some chance."

Sung-hwan muttered, nodding his head.

"All right, I'll leave this side to you. But you still have to take proper care of Shin Ah-yeon-ssi, you understand?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

I had been paying careful attention to her, so there was no need for special concern.

The only problem was 'the other side.'

'According to PD Jung, Super Hunter K is expected to start airing in about a month, right?'

They'd probably put out the announcement next week and begin recruiting participants.

Those chosen would go through a month of basic auditions before reaching the finals.

The real variable was how management agencies could intervene in that process.

'Then I definitely need to make myself known by then.'

I never even considered the possibility that Soo-ah wouldn't participate in Super Hunter K.

If it was Soo-ah, she would definitely apply.

Because I would make sure of it.

***

"Couldn't find a party again today..."

Soo-ah sat vacantly on a park bench and sighed heavily.

Just thinking about her ever-shrinking bank balance left her feeling hopeless.

"I guess it's really hard to find a party in Daejeon now."

Hunters without an agency could contact other freelance hunters like themselves or join a party missing a spot in a managed team.

Of course, either option was difficult for Soo-ah.

'This catastrophic party play skill.'

She was seriously considering moving to another region.

When other freelance hunters heard her name, they immediately grimaced and avoided her.

"But it can't be helped..."

At first, Soo-ah had tried hard to fit into party play.

But her body often moved before she could think.

By the time she realized, she was already charging ahead alone in front of everyone.

'To be honest, it was dangerous even in the Dungeon Exploration Team.'

If she hadn't been a reserve member but was actually on the main raid team, rushing ahead like that would have gotten her surrounded by monsters and killed screaming.

Even when she held herself back, 'just seeing it' made it impossible to resist.

'And it's not like I'm even that strong.'

Soo-ah rolled up her sleeve.

There were mottled burn scars left there.

Not just her arm—these types of burn scars had slowly spread all over her body, including her face.

These ugly burns hadn't been caused by fire or some hot object.

They were wounds created by her own magic power.

"Magic power fission phenomenon, huh."

Someone spoke to Soo-ah as she stared absentmindedly at her burn marks.

Startled, she turned her head, and saw a man she now felt familiar with.

"Man—Manager Park?"

"What a coincidence, running into you here."

"A—are you stalking me?"

"..."

Jung-woo found it hard to make excuses and let out a small, awkward cough.

Since they'd kept running into each other every few days, it wasn't unreasonable for her to think that way.

"Let's just say I'm passionately recruiting you."

"Why are you doing all this for someone like me, though..."

"Anyway, I'm guessing you haven't eaten anything, have you?"

Not addressing Soo-ah's self-deprecation, Jung-woo took a bread roll out of a paper bag.

"I stopped by Seonglimdang on the way. I bought quite a few, so here's one for you."

"Ah, thank you..."

The paper bag looked familiar—turns out he really had stopped by Seonglimdang.

In Jung-woo's hands was a whole box of fried soboru bread, the most popular choice among out-of-town visitors.

'Honestly, seonglimdang's other breads taste better than the fried soboru...'

She thought so, but if she said that, it would sound like she was ungrateful, so she kept quiet. Soo-ah only genuinely wanted to recommend tastier bread, but decided to save that for another time.

She had a more pressing question right now.

"H—how did you know?"

"Excuse me?"

"That the burns were caused by magic power fission."

At that, Jung-woo looked off into the distance and replied.

"I had an acquaintance go through something similar."

"Oh..."

Realizing her gaffe, Soo-ah quickly bowed her head.

She was lucky her own situation ended with just burns; more serious cases sometimes led to death.

"S—sorry, I shouldn't have pried..."

"Eh, well, that acquaintance became a sword master and is doing just fine now, though."

"... What? S—sword master?"

Soo-ah was flustered by the unfamiliar title.

Sword master? That sounded like something from a fantasy novel her friend read.

For a moment, it seemed like he was joking, but Jung-woo's expression was dead serious.

"Soo-ah-ssi, what do you think the magic power fission phenomenon is?"

On top of that, he suddenly threw a question at her.

Magic power fission phenomenon.

As someone who'd experienced it firsthand, Soo-ah knew a lot about it.

These hideous scars on her face, the marks all over her body, even her limp right leg—they were all caused by it.

"... A terrible curse. If I try to use even a little too much magic power, it curses me by burning my body from the inside."

For Soo-ah, the phrase 'using magic power to the limit' didn't exist.

If she used her full power, parts of her body would ignite as magic tore through her from within.

No one knew why it happened.

All that was known was that it was a rare condition affecting only a few awakened individuals whose bodies couldn't endure their own magic power.

A rare disease among the awakened—that was the magic power fission phenomenon.

Jung-woo smiled softly at Soo-ah's words.

"That's the exact opposite of how I see it."

"Sorry? What do you mean...?"

Whoosh!!

Just as Soo-ah was about to ask what he meant, Jung-woo's right arm suddenly became engulfed in blue flames.

"M—Manager Park?!"

Shocked by this unexpected turn, Soo-ah sprang up from the bench.

The blue flames rising from his arm—this sudden manifestation was very familiar to Soo-ah.

'Why did he get hit with uncontrollable magic power fission out of nowhere? Manager Park isn't even an awakened, is he?'

Magic power fission was considered a rare disease only among awakened people.

It didn't occur in normal people with no magic power.

"Soo-ah-ssi."

"W—what do we do... Should I pour water on it? No, you have to take deep breaths and calm your magic power!"

"Soo-ah-ssi."

"M—Manager Park, deep breaths! Control your magic power—"

"I'm fine, so why don't you calm down first, Soo-ah-ssi?"

"... Huh?"

Startled by Jung-woo's calm voice, Soo-ah finally came to her senses.

And she witnessed something odd.

The blazing flames weren't leaving a single mark on Jung-woo's arm.

In fact, the flames responded, moving in sync with his gaze.

"There we go."

Eventually, the fire quietly died down.

No, to be exact, it melted into his arm and formed a thin blue barrier.

As Soo-ah watched on in astonishment, Jung-woo spoke gently.

"The magic power fission phenomenon isn't a curse, but a blessing. People just haven't realized it yet."

"H—how...?"

"Though, of course, you need a certain amount of talent to manage it."

But with time, anyone could eventually overcome it.

Especially in Soo-ah's case, it was truly a power that was almost a blessing.

Soo-ah stared dumbfounded at Jung-woo's arm, which hadn't received a single injury from the flames.

As if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Would you like to know how I did it?"

"...?"

As if seeing right through her, Jung-woo continued.

"How to control the magic power fission phenomenon."

She wanted to know.

Of course she did.

If she could break this curse, Soo-ah would do anything.

"Then."

With that, Jung-woo took a neatly folded paper out of his pocket.

Soo-ah absentmindedly took it, unfolded it, and read what was written at the very top.

"... Super Hunter K auditions?"

It was simply a flyer.

The Super Hunter K preliminaries would start soon, and anyone who wanted to participate should hurry and sign up.

He'd handed it to her right now...

"Uh, l-let me just check... Are you saying, if I want to know how... I should go to this?"

As Soo-ah asked, praying the answer was no, Jung-woo just smiled gently.

As if to say, that's exactly it.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Seongrimdang(성림당) is probably Seongsimdang(성심당) bakery which is in Daejeon.
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