Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

In Earnest (1)

Crackle, patter.

Scraps of paper shot out from the popped party popper in Shin Ah-yeon's hand, hit Lee Soo-ah's body, and trickled down.

Everyone's attention was fixed on the pitiful scraps of paper that had fallen.

"......."

A quiet silence passed.

Shin Ah-yeon, frozen in place holding the party popper; Lee Soo-ah, her face wearing an indescribable expression.

And even Park Jung-woo, standing to the side, wondering if he should clap.

"Uh, it looks like Ah-yeon tried to welcome you in her own way......"

In the end, Jung-woo was the first to speak up.

He immediately realized this was the result of Shin Ah-yeon agonizing over how to welcome Soo-ah.

"...... Come in."

With a subdued voice, Shin Ah-yeon turned her back and opened the front door of the mansion.

It seemed she simply couldn't stand this awkward atmosphere any longer.

Only then did Soo-ah hurriedly grab Shin Ah-yeon's wrist and speak up.

"Ah, no, unni! I was just a little surprised, so my reaction was late, that's all."

"You don't have to make excuses for me... I'm just a shut-in who only plays games at home..."

"H-hey. Don't say that, really."

Soo-ah quickly made eye contact with Jung-woo.

Her gaze was asking him to help cheer up the gloomy Shin Ah-yeon.

"... Oh, I actually have something to do at Unique today, so I'll be going first. I wanted to help unpack, but it's later than I thought."

Liar! She wanted to shout, but Jung-woo acted a step ahead.

Before he finished his sentence, he had already gotten in his car and disappeared.

"Th-then, I'll come in."

She had assumed, of course, that Jung-woo would move in with her, and so she had been late to react.

Thinking about it, why had she assumed living with Jung-woo was a given?

Jung-woo didn't have any such thoughts about her.

It was simply one of those impulsive, dumb blunders.

"...... I want to die."

Thinking about it, it was actually herself, not Shin Ah-yeon, who should be embarrassed.

If anyone ever found out about this, they might seriously check the temperature of the Han River.

"You want to die?"

"N-no, it's nothing."

Shin Ah-yeon had seemed completely deflated, but as soon as she entered her home, she bounced back to her usual energy as if nothing had happened.

It seemed that, in the home that had been her fortress for so long, her mentality recovered quickly.

"Well, anyway, since it looks like you brought quite a lot of stuff, let's unpack over there."

"Ah, okay."

Thanks to that, the awkward air quickly dispersed, and Shin Ah-yeon unpacked with a sigh of relief.

Though her thoughts had momentarily taken a strange turn, moving in with Shin Ah-yeon was, for her, a huge stroke of luck.

She had learned so much from Shin Ah-yeon in SuHunK. Of course, she'd later heard that Jung-woo had relayed most of what needed to be said, but Shin Ah-yeon herself had taught her a great deal too.

Especially Shin Ah-yeon's methods of utilizing magic power had completely overturned Soo-ah's preconceptions.

'Now that I think of it, she's a woman of many secrets.'

She glanced at Shin Ah-yeon, who was helping sort her luggage.

Soo-ah still didn't know how Shin Ah-yeon had recovered after her mana hall was ruined.

She could only think it had something to do with Jung-woo.

Just looking at Ji Yeon-hwa's case, she could only guess that the recovery might have made use of Jung-woo's unique knowledge.

'I heard she's still not back to her prime strength.'

Jung-woo had explained Shin Ah-yeon's level using the unique term 'circle'.

He had said there were a total of nine circles of magical achievement, and Shin Ah-yeon was currently at the 6th-circle.

Once she advanced to the 7th-circle, she'd be almost back to her prime.

In other words, Shin Ah-yeon had resolved all these recent incidents while still far from her peak. The previous dungeon exploration was one thing, but how had she managed Ji Yeon-hwa's case?

"Huh, what's this?"

As Soo-ah was lost in thought, she noticed Shin Ah-yeon picking up a small box from inside her suitcase.

It was a rather unfamiliar object to Shin Ah-yeon, so for a moment, even holding it in her hand, she didn't recognize it.

But only for a moment—once she saw the words written on the box, Shin Ah-yeon's eyes grew wider.

"This is a con—d..."

Whish!!

Before Shin Ah-yeon could finish what she was about to say, the box vanished from her grasp.

As she turned blankly, she saw Soo-ah, her face bright red, hiding the box behind her back after snatching it away.

"J-just a second. I can expl—explain everything. This is, uh..."

She most certainly could not.

She was so flustered that she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

How could she have forgotten to remove something like that from her luggage, no matter how distracted she'd been?

'This is why you shouldn't do things you're not used to.'

Regret hit her too late—what's done was done.

"Wh-why did you bring that, anyway?"

"I thought there might be a time I'd need it..."

"Huh? Then, with m-me?"

Shin Ah-yeon swallowed dryly.

Only then did Soo-ah realize what she had just said.

"P-please just give me a moment. It's all just a misunderstanding."

"Hey, uh, just asking, but..."

Flustered, Shin Ah-yeon quickly regained her composure, then looked Soo-ah over with a serious expression.

More precisely, she glanced carefully at Soo-ah's lower body.

"...... Do you maybe, you know, have one?"

"Are you crazy?!"

At Soo-ah's shriek, Shin Ah-yeon hastily added on.

"N-no, it's just that sometimes Awakeners's bodies change? Sometimes they grow horns or something... So I thought, maybe in some cases... I mean, I really do think such things are possible. I get it. I've seen quite a lot of unusual Awakeners..."

"Could you please just be quiet?"

By now, Soo-ah's voice had turned icy cold.

Shin Ah-yeon closed her mouth at that, but felt strangely wronged.

'She's the one who brought it, so why is she reacting to me like this?'

Where else would you find someone as open-minded as herself?

If anything, Soo-ah's vehement denial only made it more suspicious.

Whoosh.

But she couldn't bring herself to ask further.

Seeing the box being reduced to ash by Soo-ah's blue flames was enough to chill her to the bone.

Soo-ah could use her blue flames for something as mundane as a regular 'fire', but by default, they were powered by magic power. Now that her strength was fully awakened, Soo-ah was, unfortunately, a bit much for Shin Ah-yeon to handle alone.

"Th-this is, uh... My mother thought I was moving in with someone and packed it for me by mistake, okay? So don't misunderstand. Got it?"

"O-of course."

Since when had she been on such good terms with her mother?

What sort of misunderstanding had her mother gotten into, to pack such a thing?

If they were so close, why had she come to her house instead?

But Shin Ah-yeon didn't dare to say more for fear she'd get hit.

She felt a little upset.

This was her house, after all.

'Maybe I should call auntie over.'

It might be hard alone, but together they might win.

That person was also magic-related, and her body had gotten sturdier lately.

Thinking so, Shin Ah-yeon quietly vacuumed up the fallen ashes.

***

After settling Soo-ah's lodgings, I headed straight to Unique.

Saying I had work at Unique wasn't just a handy excuse—it was true.

After Super Hunter K, a mountain of work had piled up for me to handle at Unique.

Above all, the number of applicants wanting to join Unique had noticeably increased.

"Five people just today?"

"Yes, president. But we can't really take them all, can we?"

"Are you nuts? There's a saying about rowing while the water's high, but if you're not careful, you'll get swept away by a tidal wave."

Sung-Hwan said this to Director Song while looking over the applications.

Most applicants were C~D-rank. There were even a few B-ranks and, astonishingly, one A-rank hunter.

"...... Still, shouldn't we bring in the A-rank?"

"That's true."

Unique had two S-ranks, but not a single A-rank, so it was natural to covet one.

Besides, while an S-rank hunter could boost the company's status, paradoxically, they didn't really contribute much to revenue.

For one thing, the annual salary of an S-rank hunter was enormous, and in the end, their work was individual.

Even regular dungeon clears had their limits.

On top of that, an S-rank hunter was restricted from entering dungeons too frequently because the government was involved. If something happened to an S-rank, it would be a national disaster.

So in reality, it was the A- and B-rank hunters who contributed most to a management agency's income.

Even without any S-ranks, Upstream had made it into the Big Three management agencies for just that reason.

The management with the second-largest number of A-ranks next to Grand Nova.

Because of that, they'd earned the most money out of the Big Three—but...

'Recently, they must be in chaos.'

Some member of the National Assembly had recently come after them with a knife; the company was probably too distracted dealing with that right now.

Upstream had plenty of money and could make life difficult for us, which was why it was better to keep them in check like this.

"President, may I give my personal opinion?"

"Oh, go ahead."

"Personally, I don't think taking in an A-rank hunter right now is the best decision."

Sung-Hwan was taken aback by my words.

Of course he was. It was like kicking away a pumpkin that had rolled to your door while it was still attached to the vine.

But I had my reasons.

"If you look at our finances, if we give the A-rank the signing bonus, we'll have to give up on any others."

"... That's true."

We had money from Super Hunter K, and a fair sum brought in by Shin Ah-yeon too.

It wasn't a bad situation, at least compared to before, but it wasn't secure either.

An A-rank hunter's signing bonus was at least several billions of won.

To afford one, we'd have to sink most of the money Shin Ah-yeon had brought in and all the perks we'd gotten from Super Hunter K.

"Are you planning to get one A-rank and throw all the rest away?"

"......"

Sung-Hwan seemed lost for words and sighed.

He'd probably thought of all this too.

But since opportunities to bring in an A-rank hunter didn't come often, it was understandable for a president to be tempted.

"Manager Park, since you're saying this, is there another way?"

Director Song, on the other hand, looked at me expectantly.

After I scouted Lee Soo-ah for Super Hunter K, director Song started acting almost like he worshipped me.

He even asked me which coin would go up, just recently.

'I just told him to quit coins altogether...'

He clearly didn't take that advice.

If that was the case, why even ask?

"Well, anyway, I do have a method."

Ironically, what I planned to do next was suspiciously similar to those 'coins'.

I was planning to buy up a bunch of coins that were currently at rock bottom.

***

Which management agency has been the hottest recently?

Most hunters would answer Unique first.

They had once been crushed by Grand Nova, but, securing two S-rank hunters, their stock was on the rise.

The feelings of hunters looking at Unique were mostly the same.

"I've got to get in before it gets any bigger."

When rumors went around that they'd been blacklisted by Grand Nova, no one dared get close.

There was no future at a management agency that had angered the industry leader.

Now, with Unique holding two S-ranks, not even Grand Nova would be able to crush them easily. With the obstacles gone, Unique had nowhere to go but up, and in the future, would certainly join the ranks of the top three agencies.

So, hunters whose contracts had ended and had nowhere to go—wanted to join Unique before competition got even fiercer.

"Ah, you applied too, Sung-hyuk?"

"Yes, I thought it'd be hard to get in if I waited any longer. But I never expected to actually get accepted."

Normally, when hunters moved agencies, they submitted applications and went for an audition.

For large agencies with lots of applicants, they only accepted applications during certain periods, announcing results on the same day. Unique's method was similar this time.

"Unique really is getting popular, huh? So, everyone here passed this round?"

"Probably. But something feels off."

"Off?"

"Yeah... Isn't it weird that everyone here is under C-rank?"

At these words, Sung-hyuk looked around.

'Doesn't seem that strange?'

The place Sung-Hyuk was in was Unique's training room.

It wasn't very big, but it was big enough to hold nearly twenty hunters.

"Hm?"

As he looked at the gathered hunters, Sung-hyuk finally felt something off.

Just like the other man said, he realized what felt strange.

"They really are all under C-rank."

Normally, management agencies prioritized higher-ranked hunters.

That way, their overall strength was boosted, and so was profit.

Yet, everyone gathered here was C-rank or below.

The rank badges pinned to their chests attested to that fact.

"Looks like everyone's arrived on time."

Just then, a man walked into the training room.

There was no way any hunter gathered here wouldn't recognize him.

'That's Manager Park Jung-woo!'

With his recent brief but impressive feats in Super Hunter K, he had become a star manager among hunters. He was popular enough that he even had a small internet fandom, his reputation on the rise.

'They say anyone Manager Park Jung-woo chooses is destined to be S-rank.'

That was a rumor circulating among hunters recently.

Most laughed it off, but plenty wondered, just in case.

He had relaunched Shin Ah-yeon—returning after three years—into stardom and shed her old stiff image.

The same went for Lee Soo-ah, who'd been courted by many after Super Hunter K's first mission but chose Unique because of Manager Park Jung-woo, or so the story went.

In a later personal interview, it was revealed that the connection had begun with a chance encounter in the Dungeon Exploration. Then Lee Soo-ah became South Korea's new prodigy and an S-rank hunter, so it was natural for Park Jung-woo's name to rise.

'Maybe me too!'

Every hunter gathered here thought that, hope coloring their eyes as they looked at Jung-woo.

They all hoped that, if they got into Unique, Jung-woo would be their manager.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
It was used as a joke, but a lot of people in Korea thinks about swimming at the Han River, to put it mildly.
If you know about series The Glory. The main lead tried to swim at the Han River as well.
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