Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Eye of the Storm (1)

'Park Jung-woo, huh...'

One of the three major management agencies in Korea.

Jo Chang-woo, president of Upstream, quietly mulled over that name.

'This is the manager who brought Shin Ah-yeon back.'

At first glance, he thought Park Jung-woo was playing the role of bodyguard for President Choi Sung-hoon.

But it wasn't just because of his intimidating appearance or large build.

Sure, his features were rather sharp, but more than that, it was the aura he gave off.

'He has composure.'

Unique was, relatively speaking, small fry to be competing in this 'Super Hunter K'.

So it would have been perfectly normal if they were nervous or feeling intimidated.

Even now, president Choi Sung-hoon was clearly doing his best to hide his anxiety.

He was just an ordinary human, not even a hunter, so it made sense.

But this man, Park Jung-woo, was different.

There was no sense of magic power, so he was obviously not an awakened, but the pressure he exuded was something you'd feel only from a higher-rank hunter.

Instead of shriveling, he actually commanded the whole room.

In fact, when he stepped forward, even the majority of managers who had been ridiculing Unique fell silent.

Jo Chang-woo wasn't the only one who noticed this strange undercurrent.

Nam Ho-seung from Mirae Guild felt the same way.

'What an arrogant bastard.'

Still, since he harbored ill feelings toward Unique, Nam Ho-seung saw Park Jung-woo's attitude as especially displeasing.

Hadn't this guy been the one who snatched Shin Ah-yeon away from Mirae Guild?

Even if he bowed low and acted servile, it still wouldn't sit right, but he was acting so brazenly.

Of course, Shin Ah-yeon had been ousted from Mirae Guild first, but such memories had long vanished from Nam Ho-seung's mind.

"It looks like everyone's here. Then, let's start the filming meeting."

His feelings only intensified when PD Do Young-sun came in and began the meeting.

For some reason, PD Do kept glancing at Jung-woo throughout.

It wasn't exactly a friendly gaze, but just the fact that he had caught the attention of the producer like that was enough to be irksome.

"... First, the basic broadcast plot is as we discussed last time."

PD Do looked away from Jung-woo and handed out the summary broadcast template to each of the management agency representatives.

Broadcast meetings related to hunter management differed in tone and procedure from those of ordinary TV.

Some organizations had started out as management agencies, but others, like Mirae Guild, had began as mercenary groups and only later became management agencies.

"First, the hunters who make it to the finals will go through a total of four tests or missions. Management companies will be able to make offers to the hunters at the end of each segment."

The rules of the new Super Hunter K were fairly simple.

During the broadcast, the hunters faced missions or tests in each round.

At the end of each stage, management agencies would get two chances to make an offer.

Once a winner was decided and Super Hunter K ended, the management agency would have priority rights to any hunter temporarily affiliated with them.

"So, if anyone has requests or questions, please raise your hand."

At PD Do's words, the management agency heads exchanged glances.

'I'll need to come up with a good strategy.'

'Early on, we should focus on making offers to the middle-tier hunters.'

If you showed outstanding skills, it was only natural you'd accept an offer from one of the Big Three, so in reality, there was only one choice for the other firms.

"This rule is too unfair!"

But not everyone was willing to just let this go. Some openly challenged the rule.

"Isn't this too unfavorable to any management agency except the Big Three? Hunters who perform well are basically destined to be picked by them!"

"Honestly, I agree."

Under these rules, it was set up so that the Big Three couldn't be stopped from monopolizing high-caliber hunters.

Their point was valid, but opposition didn't last long.

"If you feel wronged, then shouldn't you offer better conditions than us?"

A voice that dominated the conference room rang out.

Nam Ho-seung, vice-guildmaster of Mirae Guild.

Maybe it was because his voice carried a trace of magic power, but—even though he didn't speak loudly—everyone heard him clearly.

"This Super Hunter K isn't just a competition between hunters. It's a competition among management agencies, too. Everyone here realizes that... no one doesn't, correct?"

Perhaps because of a previous comment by Director Jo Chang-woo, Nam Ho-seung was now choosing his words more carefully.

"If you can't fight properly in a competition, you're bound to be weeded out. At least, that's how it is for me, as a hunter. If you lack capital or facilities and can't compete, invest. Didn't we invest? Were we always in the Big Three from the start?"

Most agency heads hesitated to speak up against Nam Ho-seung's words.

Even Director Jo Chang-woo listened, surprised.

"We aggressively invested for the sake of our hunters, and that's the result you see here. Are we supposed to forego using what we invested in, just for the sake of so-called fairness? Then what's the point of bringing all these different management agencies to Super Hunter K?"

On that note, the meeting fell silent.

Some wanted to claim it was unfair, but Nam Ho-seung hadn't said anything wrong.

"Unique, what are your thoughts on what Vice-guildmaster Nam just said?"

Suddenly, director Jo Chang-woo, who had been silently watching, turned things on Unique.

Unlike others loudly protesting, Unique had been silent the whole time.

And rather than looking at President Choi Sung-hwan, jo Chang-woo addressed Jung-woo directly.

It was only natural for Sung-hwan to bristle at this.

"Director Jo, even if we're just a small management agency, you can't just say things like—!"

He tried to leap up and shout, but Jung-woo stopped him with a gentle gesture.

When Jung-woo shook his head, Sung-hwan sat down, fuming.

Jung-woo, amused by how obedient the President was, let out a little laugh before answering calmly.

"I don't particularly think it's unfair."

"If you don't mind, could you share why that is?"

"Just because."

"......"

Jo Chang-woo, having never expected such a response, was momentarily at a loss for words.

This was not something a mere manager would say in front of a director of one of the Big Three.

"Is he serious?"

"Director Jo is easygoing, but still..."

The other management agency heads were now interested in the conversation.

Most of them were shocked by Jung-woo's attitude.

Even Nam Ho-seung, who had previously sparred verbally with Jo Chang-woo, wondered if this was really okay.

"Ah, PD Do, do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Ye-yes?"

PD Do stammered, apparently not expecting to be addressed.

But Jung-woo continued unfazed.

"Is it required to use both opportunities to make an offer in every round?"

"That doesn't matter... but you can't save up unused opportunities for future rounds."

"Yes, thank you. That's good to hear."

"Good to hear?"

"As you can see, Unique couldn't manage more hunters even if we recruited them."

Is this guy crazy?

Everyone present had the same thought upon hearing Jung-woo's words.

'Was I imagining things when I thought there was something to him?'

If a management agency had a hunter make the top eight of Super Hunter K, they would receive a variety of benefits.

And to win, you obviously needed to have as many hunters in the contest as possible.

The more hunters you had, the higher your chances of occupying the top eight.

So, in effect, Jung-woo's words sounded like he had no intention of winning Super Hunter K.

Even the famously prudent Jo Chang-woo could come to no other conclusion.

'Something's off.'

One person.

Only Nam Ho-seung of Mirae Guild felt a sense of dissonance at Jung-woo's words.

He found that arrogant attitude detestable, but on another level, he sensed that there was definitely something to Jung-woo.

'He's the man Shin Ah-yeon chose.'

Nam Ho-seung might be the vice-guildmaster of Mirae Guild, but first and foremost, he was a hunter.

His feelings toward Shin Ah-yeon went beyond just her being a guildmate—he respected her deeply.

Their relationship had collapsed three years ago, but not once had he underestimated Shin Ah-yeon.

She was one of only seven Great Mages in the world, possessing an insight that set her apart from ordinary people.

Her intuition was in a different realm from his own, and she had never once made a wrong decision.

Despite the huge disaster three years ago, her actions then had nonetheless saved countless lives.

'There's no way Shin Ah-yeon would have followed that man without thinking.'

It rubbed him the wrong way.

He wanted to beat Jung-woo senseless right then and there, but he couldn't bring himself to ignore him.

If anything, this only convinced Nam Ho-seung he needed to be even more wary of Jung-woo.

That man was definitely going to do something big in this Super Hunter K.

He had a gut feeling about it.

***

"Ugh, I barely held back. Honestly, I wanted to flip the whole thing and the broadcast and everything."

Choi Sung-hwan was fuming as we left HSN's broadcasting center.

It was probably the attitudes of the other management agencies that had gotten on his nerves.

'Well, works in my favor.'

Thanks to Jo Chang-woo's question, the brief attention on Unique ended there.

It was as if they were determined to ignore us completely—as if to say, 'you're out of our league'.

'Might've been because of my comment.'

Truthfully, being ignored was for the best.

That kind of response was what Jung-woo had been aiming for with his words.

'Especially since I'm already on PD Do's bad side, I don't need to attract any more attention.'

No matter how confident I was of winning, being too conspicuous wouldn't end well.

Unforeseen complications could arise, and with Soo-ah's current skills, she couldn't handle excessive pressure.

'Unless we find another prodigy like her, but that seems unlikely.'

Could I discover another S-rank? It seemed impossible.

Soo-ah was just lucky. S-rank talent was so rare, you could count those with such potential on one hand per country.

And even among S-ranks, Soo-ah was at the very top.

'In truth, the magic power fission phenomenon isn't something just anyone can cure.'

I had spoken lightly, but in reality, magic power fission phenomenon was not something easily overcome.

It was the same in the other world.

Only those capable of controlling it stood a chance.

And I was determined to help her unlock that potential.

I meant the constitution Lee Soo-ah herself hadn't even realized.

"Wa-wait a moment, please!!"

As we left the broadcasting center and headed for their vehicle, someone called out to them.

When we turned, we saw a burly, bearded man—like a mountain bandit—hurrying toward them.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, hello! I'm journalist Kim Ki-sung from Shindong Daily. If you don't mind—"

So he was a journalist.

He must have found out that I was Shin Ah-yeon's manager.

Had word about my appearance already spread among journalists? But just then, as if reading my mind, journalist Kim Ki-sung shook his head.

"I, I just got your description from some of the other management agency people."

"I see. Well, I don't really mind, but Hunter Shin Ah-yeon won't be giving any interviews for the time being."

"N-no! I wasn't asking for an interview with Hunter Shin Ah-yeon!"

"Huh?"

He looked puzzled, and Kim met his gaze resolutely.

"I wanted... to interview you, manager Park Jung-woo."

"What? Me?"

"Yes. I was hugely impressed by your dungeon exploration, and there was something about what Hunter Shin Ah-yeon said that piqued my interest."

Only then did I understand what he was getting at.

Come to think of it, on the broadcast, Ah-yeon had especially gone out of her way to praise me.

"Oh, that was just Hunter Shin Ah-yeon exaggerating for my sake."

"Hunter Shin Ah-yeon is not someone who lies. Even if it's just a brief interview, please—"

Despite journalist Ki-sung looking at me with sincere eyes, I had no intention of doing an interview.

I had no desire to stand out yet.

If I became visible, it would be better to do so once I'd built a foundation.

That way, I'd be able to respond if something went wrong.

'Wait a second.'

At that moment, I remembered a rumor about the Shindong Daily.

It was one of the longest-established online news outlets and was rumored to be a rival to Today's Daily.

And Today's Daily was notorious for publishing negative articles about Ah-yeon allegedly after receiving under-the-table money from JM.

'This could be useful, if I play it right.'

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Why is every burly guy appearing in this novel a normal person?
【「(°ヘ°)?】