Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Crisis in Jeju Island (2)

The next day, filming proceeded as scheduled.

To briefly explain the part to be filmed in Jeju Island, it covered the story of the two main leads, who became isolated due to the appearance of a gate, escaping from Jeju Island.

Since this section corresponded to the climax at the very end of the movie, it was really an important part.

Originally, Jin Se-yeon, the character played by Shin Ah-yeon, did not appear in that section, but in the newly added content, she appeared here and there like comic relief.

"It's just that since it was added in the middle, your role isn't that significant. You know that, right, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi?"

"Ah, yes!"

"It was added in a hurry, but judging from what you've shown in this filming so far, I believe you'll do well, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi!"

"Ah, ahaha. O-Of course."

At Director Cha Jae-seok's words, giving her a thumbs up, Shin Ah-yeon smiled awkwardly.

It seemed clear that Shin Ah-yeon's acting so far had really satisfied Cha Jae-seok.

Strictly speaking, it was more like a magic performance than acting, but of course, Cha Jae-seok didn't know that.

'Not that he'd say anything even if he did know.'

Watching the film shoot, what I came to understand about Cha Jae-seok was that he considered the movie his top priority above all else.

If a lack of acting skill was covered up with magic, he'd see that as another form of excellence and would applaud it.

After all, magic is also one's own ability, isn't it?

He'd think using it was only natural.

"We're supposed to join from the middle, you heard, right?"

"Ah, of course."

In the morning, they were scheduled to film scenes of the actors running up and down various oreum (volcanic hills) in Jeju Island, being chased by monsters. Shin Ah-yeon looked truly relieved that she wasn't the one being filmed for that scene.

"You wouldn't be tired, even if you really had to go up and down a bit, right?"

"It's tiring, you know. Awakener or not, I'm still human."

Honestly, she was exaggerating.

Even though she was a mage, as an awakener, Shin Ah-yeon's physical abilities were incomparable to ordinary people.

If two ordinary actors could do it, there was no way Shin Ah-yeon couldn't.

Bzzz.

At that moment, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.

Shin Ah-yeon saw me checking the caller ID on the screen and asked, looking curious.

"Who is it?"

"Someone I asked for a favor. Mind if I take this call real quick?"

"No, not at all. I don't particularly have anything to do right now anyway."

With that, Shin Ah-yeon started up a game on her smartphone.

Truly, Shin Ah-yeon was someone who could enjoy life in any moment—perhaps that's what made her first-class.

"Yes, hello, journalist Kim."

【Ah, manager Park. I'm not interrupting your filming, am I?】

"No, no. We're filming in the afternoon."

I moved to a quiet spot to take the call, and a familiar voice came through the phone.

It was Kim Ki-sung, the reporter from Shindong Daily, whom I'd met not long ago.

【Over the past few days, I've been staking out near both JM and the Javelin Guild, and as suspected, I saw actress Jung Sun-hee go into JM.】

"You were staking out at both places at once?"

【Of course, I had a fellow reporter help me.】

From a reporter's standpoint, it was only natural—he might get a scoop.

'So Jung Sun-hee was indeed moving on JM's orders?'

Yet, hearing that made me feel uneasy for some reason.

Was it just too sloppy?

Every action seemed suspicious, and yet it felt like we had caught her red-handed too easily.

【Don't you find it suspicious too, manager Park?】

"Yes, I do. It's too sloppy for someone trying to scheme something."

JM or the Javelin Guild weren't fools.

Did they think we wouldn't be suspicious of Jung Sun-hee's actions?

'It's possible, but....'

When I thought about it, there wasn't really any reason for them to regard us as enemies.

Unless I knew that they were entangled with the demons.

From their perspective, we'd only had some friction with Ji Yeon-hwa, who had the demon's heart.

Although we had subdued her, there was no way the Javelin Guild would have known that.

Other than that, the only connection was a brief run-in with JM's Chief Manager Yu Dong-suk.

If I thought about it that way, there was no particular reason to target us either, yet Jung Sun-hee's attitude bothered me. The fact that she had indeed been seen entering JM meant there was definitely something going on.

'Honestly, I thought the odds were high that it was because of me.'

At first, I'd thought perhaps the demons had noticed my presence and were plotting something.

But the more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed.

After all, it was only Shin Ah-yeon that Jung Sun-hee had called to Jeju Island.

They didn't seem to care whether I came to Jeju or not.

If they really wanted to pull something there, they would have made sure I was invited too.

Just because I was Shin Ah-yeon's manager, would I definitely have followed her?

But there were too many variables for that.

What if, for example, I sent someone as a stand-in instead?

'If I think about it that way, it makes more sense that they're targeting Shin Ah-yeon. Then... could it be....'

There wasn't really any reason to be hostile to Shin Ah-yeon.

Then, the easier answer is: 'They want to do something using Shin Ah-yeon.'

"Thank you for looking into it. By the way, do you have any additional information?"

【Ah, there's one more thing.】

"One more?"

【I felt uneasy as well, so I stayed in the area until today.】

He seemed to have thought there was something more after seeing Jung Sun-hee go into JM, and so, true to a reporter's instincts, he had stuck around for several more days and discovered a few suspicious things.

【First, Javelin's Vice-guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo has been going in and out of JM frequently, and also... there were occasions when he was accompanied by an unidentified man.】

"An unidentified man? Not a hunter?"

【I know all the hunters from both Javelin and JM. But this was a new face. If he were a rookie, perhaps, but is there any rookie hunter that Shim Chun-hoo, the Vice-guildmaster, would act so deferentially to? He's the sort who would stare down even an S-rank hunter, you know.】

He was absolutely right.

Shim Chun-hoo of Javelin Guild was known for his extreme pride.

【Of course I don't know who he is, but over the past few days, he was seen at both JM and Javelin, and starting yesterday, he vanished completely.】

Yesterday was the day we arrived in Jeju.

It was just speculation, but the odds were high that the unidentified man was part of Javelin Guild's scheme.

Jung Sun-hee was nothing more than a decoy, in case we became suspicious.

"Thank you so much for the information. I'll have to look into it too."

【Sorry I couldn't give you more exact details. I'll keep watching and contact you if anything else suspicious turns up.】

"No, this is more than enough. The rest, I'll handle on my own."

Thanks to Ki-sung, I was able to organize my thoughts somewhat.

That suspicious man he saw was probably a member of the demon.

I didn't know when he'd reveal himself, but for now, it was best to wait.

If something was going to happen in Jeju Island, it was a given he'd show himself.

***

"Good work, everyone!"

At Cha Jae-seok's shout, the staff began packing up the equipment, each of them looking exhausted.

It was natural, since it'd been a grueling five-day shoot, but everyone looked bright-faced nonetheless.

It was tough, but the end was finally in sight.

"I'll be honest, I was anxious because so much was added at the last minute...."

Over the past five days of filming, fortunately, there were no major problems.

The weather was good, so they filmed the main scenes quickly, and the new scenes featuring Shin Ah-yeon were almost finished as well.

"At this rate, we might finish in half the scheduled time!"

They'd originally scheduled ten days for Jeju Island shooting, but thanks to the smooth progress, there was now plenty of leeway.

As Shin Ah-yeon walked over, bowing to Director Cha Jae-seok, I quietly gave her a thumbs up.

That was my way of saying, "Good job today."

'By the way, her illusion magic skills have improved tremendously.'

It was to the point that she could adjust her illusion magic on the fly during filming.

When acting, it wasn't just about overlaying a facial expression—she needed to change her voice tone too, and Shin Ah-yeon had reached the level where she could do that within minutes.

"I'm exhausted...."

It seemed the mental fatigue had really piled up; Shin Ah-yeon let out a sigh with a face close to tears.

"Go in and get some rest—take a good, long nap."

"I was planning to do just that."

Shin Ah-yeon trudged wearily toward the lodging, but unfortunately, her wish was not to be granted.

Just as the filming team arrived at their hotel, they saw a crowd pouring out of the building.

"What's going on?"

Director Cha Jae-seok looked baffled at the sight.

Given that they were carrying lots of bags, the people leaving the hotel appeared to be guests who had been staying there.

"Everyone, please evacuate! The situation isn't good!!"

At the shout from a hotel employee, the crowd began moving more urgently.

Returning to the hotel, the film crew could only gape at the situation unfolding in front of them.

"What's happening? Why is everyone leaving the hotel?"

"Was there some kind of accident?"

It was only natural that the film crew was uneasy.

None of the staff, not even Director Cha Jae-seok himself, seemed to know why people were suddenly evacuating.

"Director Cha Jae-seok!!"

Of course, I was different.

And it seemed Shin Ah-yeon had figured out right away why everyone was rushing out of the hotel.

"Manager Park?"

"It looks like a gate is about to appear nearby."

"Huh? A g-gate?"

Cha Jae-seok, flustered, hurriedly checked his smartphone's screen.

Probably to see if there was a gate alert for Korea, but I was quicker to speak.

"Director, do you see the streetlights around the hotel?"

"Huh? Ah, yes."

"See how the streetlights are glowing orange? That's the gate warning."

At my words, Cha Jae-seok's eyes widened.

"I've never heard of that before!"

"In cities like Seoul where gates don't occur often, the alarms are sent by display board or text. But in areas where gates happen frequently, like Jeju Island, these lamps are installed as a precaution."

These street lights could use both magic stones and electricity.

They signaled the danger level with color.

If it was safe, the light would be green. If there were signs of disaster, orange.

And if a disaster was actually occurring, it would turn red.

'It was a good thing the Hunter History Museum had that exhibit.'

As I said, this system had disappeared in cities like Seoul, so many people didn't know about it anymore.

Recently, people were informed by emergency text alerts or digital signboards on buildings.

It was the same for me, but I happened to recall seeing something about this when visiting the Hunter History Museum with Shin Ah-yeon.

"Is that so? But don't they also send out text alerts?"

"They do, but... this could be a situation where sending a text was impossible. That's why they used such an analog method to alert everyone."

"Impossible to send texts? Why?"

Even checking my smartphone, there were no disaster-related text messages.

In other words, the current situation was pretty bad.

"If multiple gates occur simultaneously, electronic transmission is disrupted."

"...... What?"

Multiple gate events.

If communication was down, it meant it wasn't just one or two gates opening at once.

At least dozens.

That wasn't just like a 'rift' opening inside a dungeon—this was a full-blown national disaster.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Will we see Jung-woo in action now?
【「(°ヘ°)?】
The only action we got from him is when he used Black Flash and one-shot the titled demon.
【(⩌_⩌ )】