Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Multiple Gates (2)

"Damn it, what the hell is going on!!"

A-rank hunter Ha Dong-hyun spat out curses, unable to easily calm the panicking crowd.

As gate occurrence predictions had improved, such incidents had become rare.

In most cases, it was possible to predict gate occurrence at least a day or two in advance, allowing people time to prepare and respond accordingly.

But dozens of gates occurring like this, all of a sudden and without any warning?

Ha Dong-hyun felt as if he was about to panic in the face of a situation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

'What do I even say? I should tell them to move to another shelter, but will people really follow me?'

On top of that, evacuating this many people was never going to be easy.

And if they happened to run into monsters pouring out from gates that had formed outside while they were moving?

Currently, there were about twenty hunters dispatched to this shelter.

He was the only A-rank hunter among them, there were only a few B-rank hunters, and the rest were mostly C-rank or lower.

"What are you doing?"

At that moment, someone approached and spoke to him.

The man had fierce eyes, not so much sharp as they were wild.

Was he perhaps a fellow hunter? The thought briefly crossed his mind, but no matter how he looked, the man didn't appear to be an awakener.

'But he does look a little familiar...'

A tall man in a neat suit.

Dong-hyun was sure this was their first meeting, but he still felt as though he had seen him somewhere before.

"A-arent you Manager Park Jung-woo?"

"Manager Park Jung-woo? Oh! From Super Hunter K?"

Only when another hunter in the back spoke did Ha Dong-hyun recall where he had seen the man before him.

He was the manager of hunter Shin Ah-yeon, who had appeared briefly on the show Super Hunter K.

And now, he was also the manager of the new S-rank hunter, Lee Soo-ah.

On top of that, even 'Thousand Sword', Baek Hojun had mentioned him directly on-air, making him quite famous recently.

'Now that I think of it... they said Shin Ah-yeon was in Jeju Island, right?'

If Park Jung-woo was here, Shin Ah-yeon might be here as well.

Holding on to that hope, Dong-hyun looked at Jung-woo, but the man shook his head as if reading his thoughts.

"Unfortunately, hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim is not here."

"Ah, as expected..."

Well, it made sense.

Shin Ah-yeon was probably already summoned by the Association.

As her manager, Park Jung-woo wouldn't have any place in the Association's business, so he must have returned here.

It seemed he'd held on to vain hope.

"More importantly, what are you doing? You need to get these people out."

"I want to do that too, but as you can see, no matter how much I say it, they don't listen."

Dong-hyun had already shouted several times that everyone needed to evacuate outside.

But no one was willing to easily follow him out of the shelter.

"Would it be all right if I spoke to them?"

"...... You, manager Park?"

Ha Dong-hyun felt annoyed at Jung-woo's words.

No matter how famous he'd recently become, he was still merely a manager.

Would these people, who wouldn't even listen to an A-rank hunter, follow a manager's instructions?

"Well, I don't mind handing it over, but I doubt it'll help."

"I only need a moment."

He was so insistent that it felt awkward to refuse outright.

At any rate, if it didn't work after one or two tries, he'd just give up.

"Fine. But if it doesn't work, return it to me?"

"Of course."

Jung-woo accepted the mic from Dong-hyun and tapped it lightly.

Beeeeeeep—the microphone produced a ringing sound, but that alone was not enough to focus the attention of the confused crowd.

'See? Who could concentrate in this situation...'

Though Dong-hyun thought so, he couldn't help but sigh.

He really had no idea how he was going to get everyone to evacuate.

Should he just grit his teeth and fight the monsters pouring out of the gate?

That, in fact, would have been the easier choice for him.

But, in that case, everyone in the shelter would obviously die.

"Everyone."

At that moment, Jung-woo brought the mic to his lips and started speaking.

He didn't even shout; in fact, it felt like he was speaking quietly.

But before he even finished, the crowd—who had all been panicking—suddenly turned their eyes towards Jung-woo.

'What the...? Magic?'

The other hunters seemed clueless as to why, but as an A-rank hunter, Dong-hyun felt the faint ripple of magic power spreading out the moment Jung-woo spoke.

He could clearly see people, touched by that ripple, turning to Jung-woo as if bewitched.

'No, I've never heard of a spell that works like this...'

Still, even Dong-hyun himself noticed himself focusing on Jung-woo's words.

He didn't know why.

He just felt like he "should."

"I don't know if any of you recognize me, but I'm Park Jung-woo, manager of S-rank hunters Shin Ah-yeon and Lee Soo-ah."

Feeling the weight of everyone's gaze on him, Jung-woo continued calmly.

"There is a gate reaction in this shelter right now. There are probably about thirty minutes left before it opens. Staying in here any longer will just cost you your lives. If a gate opens in a cramped shelter, there's nowhere to run."

Everyone knew this. Still, even if they went outside, there was no definite answer or solution awaiting them.

"So you must evacuate quickly, following Hunter Ha Dong-hyun here. I will also help from the side... Oh, by the way, did anyone here see me on Super Hunter K?"

With that, quite a few people raised their hands.

He could feel just how big of an issue Super Hunter K had been for a while.

Jung-woo nodded and spoke again.

"If you saw it, you'd know how good I am at running away. Honestly, it's harder running from hunters than from monsters."

At those words, some people even forgot the seriousness and smiled faintly.

"And Hunter Ha Dong-hyun here is very capable as well, so there is no need to worry. Please, relax and trust us."

It wasn't even that amazing of a speech.

But somehow, people found Jung-woo's words convincing.

"Well, he was always around S-rank hunters, right? If he talks like this, it should be fine, don't you think?"

"Maybe Shin Ah-yeon or Lee Soo-ah might even come to help."

Unlike before, when there was confusion, people's mood felt relatively calm.

Dong-hyun found that a little strange, but he wasn't in a bad mood, partly because Jung-woo gave him a compliment.

More than anything, he could feel the crowd waiting for him to speak.

"Uh, well... then let's evacuate! Please follow me!!"

Dong-hyun shouted by reflex, and with the other hunters, started leading people out.

There were only about twenty minutes left until the gate opened, so time was of the essence.

"Hunter Ha Dong-hyun, by the way, which shelter are you planning to head for?"

After watching the procession of people evacuating and feeling relieved, Jung-woo spoke up again.

Because of what had just happened, Dong-hyun found himself trusting Jung-woo a lot.

'He really isn't a manager for an S-rank hunter for nothing. Are all S-rank managers like this?'

His own manager never offered any opinions first and never managed the schedule properly, so Jung-woo just seemed impressive. A manager actively stepping up like this was really rare.

"Ah, I'm planning to go to the shelter at Han-rim. It's the closest from here."

"I see..."

At his words, Jung-woo's brows furrowed slightly.

Bothered by that reaction, Dong-hyun watched Jung-woo's face cautiously.

"Is there some kind of problem?"

"The Han-rim shelter has a small capacity."

He knew the location of the shelter, but not the number of people it could accommodate.

'Does he even memorize the capacity of every shelter?'

Or maybe he checked it in advance before talking.

But the fact that he had the composure to look that up in a situation like this showed how unusual he was.

"That's a problem. In that case, do you have a place you recommend, manager Park?"

"To be honest, all the nearby shelters have small capacities. And the next shelter after Han-rim is too far."

It would be difficult to leave some at Han-rim and move the rest elsewhere.

Most people would want to stay there, and it was uncertain that they'd have the stamina to move on if extra transfers became necessary.

Especially if they were attacked by monsters along the way.

"Let's divide them in half."

"... Excuse me?"

Lost in thought, Dong-hyun was taken aback by Jung-woo's calm proposal.

"Divide them in half? You mean, the evacuees?"

"Yes, split them into two groups. Have one group led by you, hunter Ha Dong-hyun, and take them to Han-rim shelter."

"And what about the rest?"

Even if they divided the hunters between the two groups, the difference was huge between having or not having an A-rank hunter like Dong-hyun with a group.

"There are fewer gates opening between here and the Ae-wol shelter."

"Are you saying you'll lead the other group to Ae-wol shelter?"

"If necessary, someone else can be the leader. But if we don't split into two groups, something bigger will go wrong."

Given the shelter capacities and the distances to other shelters, Jung-woo's proposal was very reasonable.

'Damn it! Why am I stuck making these kinds of decisions?'

He couldn't even get through to the Hunter Association to ask for advice.

In the end, Dong-hyun had no choice but to nod reluctantly.

"... Okay, we'll divide up into Group A and Group B. I'll lead Group A. I'll appoint my junior hunter as the leader of Group B, but if you help, manager Park, I'd appreciate it."

"That'll be enough."

From Jung-woo's point of view, there was really no need to be the leader.

He just had to make sure the evacuees were split into two groups.

'Actually, there is one thing I haven't said.'

It was true that there were fewer gates opening near Ae-wol.

But among them, one of the gates wasn't normal.

It was a special gate, where at least A-rank or higher monsters would appear.

Despite the considerable distance, if Jung-woo could sense the disturbance from here, it had to be significant.

'Well, it should be fine.'

But Jung-woo wasn't too worried about that.

What really concerned him right now was Ah-yeon, who was at the Association.

'Nothing bad better happen.'

JM and Javelin Guild were definitely targeting Ah-yeon.

Of course, he didn't think Ah-yeon would be overpowered by those guys.

He was just worried she might go through something unpleasant.

'I remember she said her back hurt.'

When Ji Yeon-hwa, whose heart was eroded by a demon heart, had been reborn as a half-demon.

Ah-yeon had lost consciousness.

When she came to, she had said she felt pain in her back.

'If it's what I'm thinking...'

If that was the case, then whatever the Javelin Guild was planning was going to be pointless.

***

'Not much time left now.'

JM hunter Jo Tae-hoon glanced at Shin Ah-yeon sitting in the same van, smiling faintly.

Currently, three JM hunters were riding together in the van.

It was, in hindsight, an obvious arrangement.

Wherever the most dangerous gate appeared, the highest-ranked hunter—Shin Ah-yeon—and JM's own hunters would be deployed.

'That means there'll be little interference.'

Their assigned mission this time was really simple.

To implant the core of the erosive dungeon into Shin Ah-yeon's heart.

Of course, they had no intention of confronting the S-rank hunter Shin Ah-yeon head-on.

No matter how much people said she had declined from her prime, there was no way a few A-rank hunters could handle her.

So they had a special artifact prepared, to use against Shin Ah-yeon.

'It's hopeless for even the greatest hunter if her mind is shattered.'

Even if her mind wasn't completely destroyed, as long as her condition was disrupted, they could handle her.

Up until that point, that was what they believed.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Watch as the turns will tabled.
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