Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Unique (1)

"Wow......"

A strange exclamation echoed in the president's office.

Sung-hwan looked lost in thought, and the man introduced as Director Song gulped nervously.

"I can't believe I'm seeing an S-rank Hunter in person in my lifetime."

"Isn't this your fifth year since you entered the industry, hyung? You've never seen an S-rank Hunter before?"

"Hey, is it that easy to see one? There are only five in Korea. Five! They're all bundles of pride and barely ever show their faces. Unless you're the head of Grand Nova or one of the three top management agencies below it, you can't even summon them casually. So how could I, the representative of a third-rate management, ever meet one?"

Three years ago, Unique was a new company but was sailing along decently thanks to Sung-hwan's connections. But for whatever reason, now they were on the verge of closing down.

'This isn't good.'

I had checked the news before coming, but the management's condition was even worse than I'd expected.

'I could try looking for another company, or even start my own management, but......'

That would just be a big waste of time, and there'd be way too much to worry about.

"Hyung."

"Yeah?"

"That offer you gave me four years ago, is it okay if I accept it now?"

"What?"

My request must have caught him off guard because he ruffled his hair roughly.

"I was wondering why you came out of the blue... Well, it's true—you're not the type to just drop by for small talk."

"What do you mean."

"That's not a compliment, kid. Ha, yeah. To be honest, I want to take you on since you're capable. All of our managers who used to handle our kids have run off, so we're short on people."

With a sigh, Sung-hwan started explaining Unique's current situation.

Unique currently had only thirty-three Hunters.

Among them, 3 were B-rank Hunters, 12 were C-rank, and the rest were D-rank or lower, or trainee Hunters.

"Honestly, our size is embarrassing to even call it a management agency now. We used to have more than a hundred, but they were all snatched away."

"Snatched away......?"

"We got on Grand Nova's bad side."

Grand Nova, known as the industry's top, was a giant in Korea's Hunter business.

But who would have thought that getting into a spat with them over dungeon issues a few times would utterly break a management like this.

'It's worse than when I was around.'

Grand Nova was the top of the industry three years ago, too, but not quite the monopoly it is now.

Under Grand Nova were the so-called 'three major management agencies', but looking at the current state, even all three combined could barely stand up to Grand Nova.

"Anyway, that's why there are only thirty-three left, and of course, all the managers quit. The only manager we have left is someone to keep B-rank Hunter Lee Sung-yun happy."

"So you can only form about three viable parties now, huh."

"That's right. At this point, maybe a third of our Hunters even listen to me? Maybe about that much left."

In fact, the management was about to get taken over by Lee Sung-yun, a B-rank Hunter.

Just as he said, from a business perspective, management was pretty much finished......

"That's not too bad."

"What??"

"From the looks of it, there's no way you can pay a big signing bonus or offer high pay upfront right now. But I'll handle that myself."

"Wha—hey. Wait, wait a second!"

Maybe startled by my cool answer, Sung-hwan jumped up from his seat.

"Didn't you hear me? Our agency is going under soon!"

"It's not gone yet, only about to go under, right?"

I grinned at Sung-hwan, who looked at me in disbelief, and pointed to the woman next to me.

"Who's sitting beside me right now?"

"...... Shin Ah-yeon."

"That's right. One of only five in Korea. There are only 52 S-rank Hunters in the world, and she's one of seven great mages."

"B-But why would Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim sign with us? No, more than that, what right do you have..."

"Because I am Shin Ah-yeon-ssi's manager."

I replied firmly, and Sung-hwan repeated, looking dazed.

"A manager without an agency?"

"At the moment, I'm her personal manager."

"So you really came here to sign with us?"

"Of course."

At those words, for a moment, Sung-hwan's face was filled with joy.

But only for a moment.

"Oh, come to think of it......"

Suddenly remembering something, Sung-hwan glanced carefully at Ah-yeon.

Just the name "Shin Ah-yeon" could revive the agency.

Of course, only if Shin Ah-yeon was a "real"

S-rank Hunter.

"I'm sorry to bring this up, but I heard that Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim lost her magic power. Is that true?"

"Yes, to some extent it's true."

As I calmly admitted it, Sung-hwan nodded with a regretful expression.

"I don't mean to deny her past reputation or achievements, but the truth is, just the title of an S-rank Hunter who's been inactive for so long doesn't mean much."

Sung-hwan did have a point.

"Ugh!"

Naturally, Ah-yeon's face didn't look all that pleasant.

She took a trembling sip of her Budion and glanced at me, as if Sung-hwan's words had scratched at a barely-healed wound.

"...... This tastes awful. Why do drinks like this even exist?"

Or maybe not.

Maybe it was just because Budion was horribly bad.

From the look of it, she had drunk about half, but her sour expression was probably due to that.

'Her emotional wounds might already have been healed by online games......'

Judging by how she kept checking the time, she probably had a raid tonight again.

She shouldn't be late for her fixed party.

If I dragged this on any longer, she might bolt out the door, so it was probably about time to wrap this up.

"Ahem, anyway, you're not wrong, hyung. But as I said, it's only 'to some extent.'"

"To some extent...?"

Noticing something in my tone, Sung-hwan looked at me as if he couldn't believe it.

Ah-yeon caught on right away and, without any prompting from me, stretched out her right hand.

Whooosh!!

"Gasp!!"

Song, the chief by her side, was shocked by the flames that shot up without any warning.

"T-This... Was that silent casting? No, but there weren't even any magic power waves beforehand."

Director Song was so shocked, he started mumbling to himself.

"You know a lot about magic power?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. I studied magic and magic power in graduate school. I quit before getting my researcher license, but I do have knowledge."

"Oh, so you're an expert. From your point of view, director Song, what do you make of Hunter Ah-yeon-ssi's flames?"

"I thought it was a simple Fire, a low-rank spell... but it's different. Even with a low-rank spell, you don't just cast instantly without an incantation. And I didn't see any of the afterglow that comes with using magic power."

There was even a flash of excitement in Director Song's eyes as he pushed up his glasses.

Sung-hwan, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand how amazing it was, but the fact Ah-yeon used magic power was enough to shock him.

"T-To think you can use magic again! Was the rumor about losing your magic power just nonsense!?"

He urgently turned to Ah-yeon, but she quietly held her tongue.

Explaining this wasn't her job.

"Hyung, we haven't signed a contract yet. It's not appropriate to grill us for details, right?"

"T-That's true. So, if I sign you now, hunter Ah-yeon-nim comes along too?"

"Didn't I say so? I'm currently Hunter Ah-yeon-ssi's personal manager."

Sung-hwan's pupils started to tremble as I offered him a gentle smile.

He was about to get on his knees right there in front of me.

"Let's sign right now, please!"

Even if he didn't beg, we were going to sign anyway.

Of course, it would be on terms highly favorable to us.

***

"Are you sure this is okay?"

After signing the contract, as we stepped out of the president's office, Ah-yeon spoke up with a worried look.

"Is there something bothering you?"

"It's just... I think Unique's president believes I've completely regained my power as a great mage."

"There's some truth to that."

That's exactly what I aimed for.

Which is why the contract conditions were absurdly tilted in favor of me and Ah-yeon.

For example, we could break the contract at will, but if Unique tried that, they'd have to turn over everything they had left to us.

"But even if he knew the full truth, it wouldn't make much difference. I'd just have to argue a bit more to get the same result."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because you really have started relearning magic power, haven't you?"

Sure, we exaggerated her power a bit, but Shin Ah-yeon was bound to return to being an S-rank Hunter eventually.

Either way, Unique would have to treat us with respect.

"But...... why did you choose Unique in the first place? Jung-woo-ssi, you could easily get into a better management, couldn't you?"

In response, I waved the contract in my hand lightly.

I could join a better company, but none that would let me work as freely as this.

'Besides, since I have a connection here, it makes it easier to hand off all the annoying tasks.'

Even though the company was on the brink, Sung-hwan was a capable president.

If he weren't, he wouldn't have grown a small start-up into a mid-tier agency in just two years.

If not for Grand Nova, Unique could have become something much bigger.

"I chose a management where I can focus on my work as a manager. Because......."

"Because?"

"So I can make you a great mage again as quickly as possible."

When I said that with a grin, Ah-yeon looked at me with wide eyes.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I coughed lightly, and she said curiously,

"You know, you don't match your appearance at all."

"Excuse me?"

"Your eyes look like you're one of those 'Like a Dragon' characters, but you're so warm with your words. It's... interesting. And it suits you."

Like a Dragon, huh.

She must be talking about a game she plays. I'm clueless about that kind of thing, so I couldn't guess the meaning.

'I'll have to look it up later.'

As I was thinking that, someone started walking toward us from the opposite end of the corridor.

A man with light brown hair and a relaxed impression.

'His skills...... not bad.'

He was about a B-rank Hunter.

The three men near him seemed to be of similar level, but still less impressive than the cocky man in front.

"Hmm? Who are you? Haven't seen you before?"

He walked straight up to me as soon as he noticed me.

He glanced at Ah-yeon by my side, then scoffed.

"If I can't feel any magic power, you must be a normal civilian... and this kid just turned Hunter? The fact our boss is bringing in trash like this shows how desperate he is."

Given Ah-yeon's current pitiful magic power level, it was a natural assessment.

Still, it was his attitude that was out of line.

That arrogant, condescending tone.

'Ah, is this the Sung-yun hyung mentioned? Talking like that right out the gate.'

Ah-yeon did look young and was actually younger than Lee Sung-yun.

But the way he just used informal speech—his character was pretty obvious.

'Good, I was going to take him down eventually—now is as good a time as any──.'

As Sung-yun laughed at us, I stepped forward, but Ah-yeon was quicker.

"Hey? Trash? And what are you, some low-level mob using informal speech around here?"

'Huh?'

At Sung-yun's sudden provocation, Ah-yeon's gaze unexpectedly turned fierce.

Her mild eyes instantly became as sharp as back when she was a great mage.

I was a bit worried her self-esteem had dropped and she'd shrink under the pressure, but it turned out I didn't have to.

'Didn't expect her to snap right back.'

Ah-yeon kept her head high.

She glared right at Sung-yun, who was charging at her with his magic power, completely unfazed.

"Ha! And what the hell is this crazy bitch? As if my day wasn't crappy enough, now I've got some stuck-up little thing getting in my face? Hey, you really looking to die?!"

There was one thing I had overlooked.

After retiring, Ah-yeon spent all her time playing online games.

Having faced verbal abuse everywhere, she knew better than anyone how to retaliate in moments like this.

"Yeah, your mom."

With that savage comeback, I silently shut my mouth.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
The 'Your mom' retort is as childish as you can get, and is very irritating to say the least.
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