Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Omen of Disaster (1)

"Ah, yes. I'm fine."

When Jung Sun-hee appeared, Shin Ah-yeon nodded awkwardly.

As expected, she still seemed uncomfortable talking with actors and couldn't even meet their eyes properly.

'She was fine when she met that pro gamer, though.'

Super Hunter K isn't the only show Shin Ah-yeon has appeared on.

Through Producer Oh at GodGameNet, she had appeared on various programs, regularly meeting a variety of guests each time. To firmly establish the image of the 'Great Mage Who Games', it couldn't just be a one-time thing.

Anyway, even if most of the participants back then were from the gaming scene, she had never felt this awkward in her interactions before.

"Oh, manager Park, you were here too."

"Yes, hello."

Jung Sun-hee, perhaps noticing me standing beside Shin Ah-yeon belatedly, smiled gently.

"Aren't you getting a lot of advertising offers these days? You're popular lately."

"I'm just a manager, not a celebrity."

"For someone who says that, you sure handled those hunters quite skillfully, didn't you? Manager Park, you're not an Awakener, are you?"

"Well, I was just lucky."

It was a topic I wanted to avoid.

I thought my popularity would die down quickly after Super Hunter K ended, but unexpectedly, it lasted much longer than I had anticipated.

The reason was an interview Baek Hojun had given on TV not long ago.

「Hunter Lee Soo-ah was able to break the S-rank wall so quickly because she had the fairy of luck on her side.」

「The fairy of luck? Oh, could you be referring to Manager Park Jung-woo, who was also in the spotlight this time?」

「Haha, I won't answer that. If I praise him too much, he'll hate it.」

「If Hunter Baek Hojun calls you a fairy of luck, then Manager Park Jung-woo must have a keen eye!」

That was the rough flow of the interview.

Baek Hojun probably just wanted to give me a boost for helping him break through, but the impact was greater than expected.

Understandable, since his abilities had been revealed to be at the very top among S-rankers after his fight with Soo-ah. If someone like Baek Hojun publicly respected me, it'd be stranger if it didn't become a topic of conversation.

'Thanks to that, the promotional effect for Unique has been significant.'

Even looking at the new hunters recruited by Unique, I could feel how much they trusted my words.

It was quite burdensome, as it was very rare for hunters to trust the words of an ordinary manager to this extent.

"I have something to discuss with Shin Ah-yeon-ssi. May I continue?"

"Ah, yes."

While I was lost in those thoughts, I belatedly stepped back at Jung Sun-hee's words.

Jung Sun-hee lightly bowed her head at me and then turned her gaze to Shin Ah-yeon.

"It's about the upcoming shoot in Jeju Island. Shin Ah-yeon-ssi, are you able to join us?"

"Excuse me? But I don't think my character has any scenes set for the Jeju shoot?"

As far as I knew, only the lead actors, Yeon Kyung-ho and Jung Sun-hee, were scheduled for the Jeju Island shoot.

Given the content to be filmed, it was clear that Jin Se-yeon, the role Shin Ah-yeon played, did not appear there.

"Oh, so you haven't heard yet. It seems the director wants to include Shin Ah-yeon-ssi in this Jeju part."

"Me?"

"Yes, so they made some additional revisions to the script. Kyung-ho-ssi agreed, saying that your participation would help filming in many ways."

"Ah, okay."

Jung Sun-hee said that with a sweet smile.

Although Shin Ah-yeon nodded, her expression was reluctant, and something about it bothered me.

"Jung Sun-hee-ssi, if it's not rude, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

Even though I suddenly interrupted, Jung Sun-hee smiled and nodded.

She seemed like a very nice person, but, for some reason, that made me even more wary of her.

"Did you agree to the script revision as well?"

"Yes, and since the director and the script team have already decided, there's no way I could oppose it. If Shin Ah-yeon-ssi agrees, it'll probably proceed right away."

"I see."

If the director had already said so, refusing would indeed be tricky.

After all, the king on set was always the director, Cha Jae-seok.

'But she agreed that easily?'

The Jeju Island episode was originally for the leads, Yeon Kyung-ho and Jung Sun-hee.

So if Shin Ah-yeon joined in, who would lose out the most?

Without question, it would be Jung Sun-hee's main heroine character.

Jin Se-yeon, the role Shin Ah-yeon played, was closer to a 'supporting character', though in the webtoon she was definitely classified as a 'sub-heroine'.

If Jin Se-yeon's presence increased, so too would her image as a heroine. From Jung Sun-hee's perspective, that couldn't be a good thing.

"So what about you, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi? Are you okay with the Jeju Island shoot?"

"As for me..."

At Jung Sun-hee's words, Shin Ah-yeon glanced at me.

From her look, she seemed to be asking what answer to give, so I quietly nodded.

From our perspective, the more screen time, the better.

"Yes, I don't mind."

"Then I'll inform the director of your answer."

She said that, smiling as she turned away.

She was probably off to tell the director Shin Ah-yeon's response.

'This still bothers me.'

Watching Jung Sun-hee's back, I thought it would be best to investigate her a little.

And I had the perfect person for the job.

***

"Jung Sun-hee is an actress under Shin-Dream Entertainment. She's twenty-eight this year, and she's a rising star with a couple of big hits under her belt."

Kim Ki-sung of Shindong Daily scribbled "Shin-Dream Entertainment" in his small notebook as he spoke. As expected of a reporter, he was well-informed about Jung Sun-hee's details.

"Was a rising star?"

"Yes, yes. Two years ago, she made a big name for herself when 'Disaster Survivors', a zombie drama on NetSeries, became a huge hit. Thanks to that, she was a regular in various dramas and movies for a while."

Unfortunately, two years ago was when I was in another world, so I'd never heard of that drama.

It made sense I wasn't familiar with Jung Sun-hee, since her prominence was during years I missed.

"But I don't think I've seen her in any recent dramas?"

"Right. That's because all the shows she headlined in the past two years tanked. Her acting was good, but she had no luck."

According to Ki-sung, dramas or movies starring Jung Sun-hee over the past couple of years kept running into trouble. Sometimes it was simply the script being poor, but there were also cases of school bullying scandals with other leads or sexual harassment scandals involving the director.

"Still, as an actress, Jung Sun-hee's acting and popularity are solid. That's probably why she was cast in 'World of Superhumans'."

"But from her perspective, she must be pretty desperate."

"Yes, as far as I know, she took about three months off before getting cast in 'World of Superhumans'. They say 'rest', but she just didn't have work."

Even if it wasn't her fault, if every show she starred in bombed, people would be reluctant to hire her. It must be unfair for Jung Sun-hee, but that's human nature.

"Then I don't get it even more. She should feel anxious about her screen time being reduced."

"Could you elaborate?"

Sensing something in my muttering, kisung flipped his notebook to a new page.

I had plenty I wanted to ask Ki-sung anyway, so I willingly shared what had happened at the shoot.

That Shin Ah-yeon's supporting role had suddenly expanded.

And that Jung Sun-hee's attitude remained agreeable even as her own screen time shrank.

"... If it were me, I'd be seriously stressed."

"Exactly. Especially since, as you said, this film should be extremely important to her."

"For sure. Hmmm... this is definitely..."

Ki-sung frowned and tapped his notebook with his pen.

Suddenly having a thought, he froze, pen in midair.

"Manager Park, do you remember the favor you asked me for before?"

"You mean the request to investigate the relationship between Today's Daily and JM?"

"I was planning to get you more definitive information before I talked about it, but..."

I had asked Ki-sung to look into whether 'Today's Daily', which had been posting negative comments about Shin Ah-yeon, was connected to JM in some way. I suspected more than simple bribery.

'I hadn't heard anything back, so I figured there was nothing...'

But judging from Ki-sung's reaction, there really was something.

"There were once rumors that Today's Daily had a close relationship with a certain management agency."

"By 'a management agency,' do you mean JM?"

"No, Shin-Dream Entertainment."

I hadn't expected Shin-Dream Entertainment to come up, so my eyes widened.

"... You don't just mean 'has a wide network of contacts', do you? There must be more."

"As much as I dug, I never found concrete links between Today's Daily and JM. Bribery happens everywhere. But Shin-Dream Entertainment is different."

"Is there a definite connection?"

"Yes."

Ki-sung nodded and continued.

"Bae Taesu, the bureau chief at Today's Daily, and Park Gil-su, the President of Shin-Dream Entertainment, were college seniors and juniors. They were reportedly quite close back in college. Of course, that alone doesn't make a real connection, but things are different if JM is involved. There's nowhere else for JM to link to Today's Daily."

"Then what's the connection between JM and Shin-Dream?"

"Yes. More precisely, JM's higher-ups are connected."

"By 'higher-ups', you mean..."

There was only one power above JM.

The Javelin Guild.

Reading my mind, kisung nodded slowly.

"Over thirty percent of Shin-Dream Entertainment's shares are held by Kang Gi-hun, the president of Javelin Guild."

"Thirty percent... that's a lot. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I found out through someone inside Shin-Dream. Javelin Guild, as a hunter guild, has no know-how in broadcasting. I think they bought the shares to make up for that. So Shin-Dream can't really ignore Javelin's word."

If Javelin owned 30% of their shares, Shin-Dream would have to listen to the guild unless something drastic happened.

'Plus, JM is under Javelin Guild's umbrella.'

The whole picture was coming together.

Today's Daily wasn't directly linked to JM, but rather to Shin-Dream Entertainment.

That's why digging into JM failed to reveal any connection to Today's Daily.

The root was Javelin Guild, and they used Shin-Dream to influence Today's Daily.

"In other words, there's a high chance that Javelin Guild's influence played a part in Jung Sun-hee's actions, too."

"Exactly. And probably with Today's Daily as well. It's circumstantial, but I'd say it's almost certain."

"Could you continue investigating this for me?"

"Of course. Even if you hadn't asked, I was already planning to."

There were still some unclear parts, but it felt like I'd finally grabbed a clue.

JM never liked Shin Ah-yeon or me, and there had been friction between Javelin Guild and Ji Yeon-hwa and Ju Ji-sang.

'Especially since Javelin Guild seems to be tangled with the demons—someone there might know about me.'

Of course, they might not care about a mere manager, but my recent media attention made it possible.

"The one thing that still bothers me is that, even if JM pressured Shin-Dream through Javelin, that doesn't explain Jung Sun-hee's attitude."

"......"

I was bothered by Ki-sung's musings as well.

Maybe Javelin Guild or JM's influence had reached Jung Sun-hee, but there was nothing certain yet.

And in the end, there were limits to what a non-Awakener like Jung Sun-hee could do.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Tangled web of conspiracy.
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