Those Who Covet (1)
'Just as I expected.'
I smiled subtly as I observed the reaction filling the silent hall.
It had taken Ju Ji-sang, who was said to be the Sword King's disciple, ten minutes to kill three B-rank monsters.
That had been shocking enough, but Soo-ah had completely smashed a B-rank monster in just ten seconds.
'Actually, that was only possible because her opponent was a golem.'
While golems are difficult because their core is hard to locate, all it takes is destroying that core and they die instantly.
So, as long as you know the location of the core, it's certainly possible to achieve a similar result.
'However, that's not easy.'
To find the golem's core at once without magic detection?
Even if someone could do that, could they break through the golem's defense in a single strike and hit the core?
None of this was easy.
Even among A-rank hunters, this was extremely rare.
So, does this mean that Soo-ah currently has skills above A-rank? If you ask that, it's rather ambiguous.
There were two main reasons it was possible.
'Her formidable magic power sensitivity and output, caused by magic power fission phenomenon.'
This isn't a power that simply comes from experiencing the magic power fission phenomenon.
It was because Soo-ah's talent and the phenomenon aligned perfectly.
'Soo-ah's mana halls were open to the second stage from the beginning.'
Even though Soo-ah didn't know the path to the second mana hall, hers were wide open.
Moreover, she was on the verge of opening her third mana hall.
If given just a small trigger, she was in a state where she could soar at once.
A truly brilliant raw gem.
I had only seen someone with such talent once in the other world.
The man called the 'Sword Fiend'.
But even he had only opened the second mana hall; there'd been no sign that he could open the third like Soo-ah.
That was why opening the third mana hall required a great deal of time and effort.
'Could Soo-ah do it before Super Hunter K ends?'
If she could, I hoped it would be at the most critical moment.
The impact of opening the third mana hall was immense.
"This, what on earth just happened! Group 10, just 20 seconds! In just 20 seconds, they cleared the mission!"
As I said before, the clear time is 20 seconds, but Soo-ah had actually taken just 10 seconds to bring down the golem.
Even Baek Hojun, who was S-rank, seemed genuinely surprised this time—his voice was louder than usual.
"What?"
"Is that even possible? That's a scam, isn't it?"
"How could a golem go down in one blow? Was there some kind of bug?"
The hunters who witnessed it also began to murmur.
Bringing down a B-rank golem in a single strike? Even among most A-rank hunters, that would be impossible.
You had to find the core and then focus your strength to attack it precisely.
"Operations team! Check immediately whether there's anything wrong with the hologram room!"
Even Producer Do was so taken aback that he stood up, waving his hands.
Everyone seemed to think this was just some bug, a strange glitch that had caused this incident.
But—
"There's nothing wrong with the hologram room. Checking the data, it seems Hunter Lee Soo-ah dealt a massive shock to the golem's core and destroyed it."
A golem whose core is destroyed cannot hold its shape.
The hologram room faithfully reproduced that characteristic.
"With a dagger? She did that? That makes no sense!!"
"Wasn't Lee Soo-ah a C-rank? We're supposed to believe that?!"
At the operations team's words, the hunters descended into further chaos.
Even more, the weapon Soo-ah used to destroy the golem was a dagger, the weapon with the shortest reach.
To attack the golem's outer shell with a dagger and deliver enough shock to destroy the internal core—how precise must her magic power control be to accomplish that?
"Incredible as it is, it appears that Hunter Lee Soo-ah's combat just now was legitimate with not a hint of a bug. Which means her score should be exciting. Shall we check?"
At Baek Hojun's announcement, the scoreboard displayed the accumulated points of the hunters in Group 10.
【29th / Lee Soo-ah / 450 points】
Soo-ah jumped instantly from 46th place to 29th.
However, considering her recent performance, the score increase was relatively modest.
Whereas Ju Ji-sang gained 600 points, Soo-ah received only 300.
'Well, that makes sense.'
But, considering that the theme of the first mission was teamplay, it was an expected score.
The other hunters in Group 10 had performed at a disastrous level.
"Why is our bonus score zero?!"
"This is unfair!! We didn't even have a chance to show what we could do!!"
The hunters in Group 10 shouted as if wronged, but there was nothing to be done.
What could be shown if they had done nothing during the mission?
Soo-ah took over the situation right from the start, so they had just stood there blankly.
"It's unfortunate, but you didn't contribute to the battle at all, so you didn't get any points. And as for Hunter Lee Soo-ah, it seems she was penalized for straying far from the teamplay theme."
Hojun said, sounding sincerely sympathetic.
Because of that, all the hunters in Group 10 stared at the dumbfounded Soo-ah in unison.
One could even say that Soo-ah had played the role of a 'villain' to perfection.
"Um... I'm sorry."
Soo-ah apologized earnestly, but to them, it probably came across as insincere.
Luckily, because this was being broadcast, they could only grind their teeth instead of cursing her out.
'From now on, recruiting a party may be even harder for Soo-ah.'
Soo-ah's tendency to rush ahead alone was one of the side effects of the magic power fission phenomenon.
To fix this, she would have to fully control that phenomenon, which wasn't something that could be solved immediately.
"With this, the first mission has come to an end. We'll now begin the recruitment evaluation process for the management agencies. First, starting with the current first place, hunter Ju Ji-sang."
At Baek Hojun's call, Ju Ji-sang took the stage, looking quite displeased.
He seemed annoyed that Soo-ah had stolen away the attention he thought he alone deserved.
'He really is an attention seeker.'
He wore a poker-faced mask, but inside, there was a clear sense of childishness.
"Now, the management agencies wishing to recruit Hunter Ju Ji-sang, please press your button!"
At Hojun's announcement, green lights lit up above many of the management representatives.
Pressing the button indicated their interest in that hunter.
"Ha, as expected, the Big Three managements can't sit back and watch."
Those who pressed the button sighed when they saw the same green light above the Big Three as well. The others who had given it a shot, hoping for a chance, also sighed, realizing there would be no concessions.
"I choose Upstream."
Ju Ji-sang's choice was Upstream, where Ji Yeon-hwa served as mentor.
Perhaps feeling better now that he'd gotten into the Big Three, Ju Ji-sang's previously sour expression brightened.
"As expected of Upstream—they never let top talent slip away. Next up..."
One after another, the next-highest-ranked hunters took the stage and were evaluated.
Each management agency could make an offer to a hunter only twice per mission. If a hunter selected a different company, one opportunity was lost.
Thus, management reps had to be extremely selective about who to offer for each mission.
'Still, the top spots aren't being swamped with offers.'
I scanned the faces of the management representatives.
The fact that they preferred hunters who could develop over the course of Super Hunter K, rather than just those with high current scores, showed they were no fools.
"Well, what everyone's been waiting for. Current 29th place, the one who delivered a stunning performance in the first mission: Hunter Lee Soo-ah!"
As soon as Hojun called her name, the eyes of the management reps changed.
Though they'd missed out on Ju Ji-sang, they absolutely had to get Lee Soo-ah after seeing her potential.
"... Jung-woo."
"Yes, president."
It was then that Sung-hwan, who had been quiet until now, spoke in a somber voice.
"Hunter Lee Soo-ah is the one you were trying to recruit, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"Now that she's made such a display, she'll go somewhere else... If I'd known, I would have made a better offer in advance and brought her in myself..."
Sung-hwan sounded depressed, as if he'd already lost Soo-ah.
It was a legitimate concern.
After that performance, even the Big Three management agencies would show interest, and any ordinary hunter would be swayed by that.
Well, if she were an ordinary hunter.
"No."
"Huh?"
"Soo-ah will never go anywhere else."
"How can you be so sure? So many want her."
As Soo-ah walked up on stage, countless management reps stared hungrily after her.
After losing Ju Ji-sang to the Big Three, they seemed determined not to let Lee Soo-ah go elsewhere.
"I've cast a bit of a spell."
The contract written in advance?
Of course, that's part of it, but Soo-ah couldn't escape from Unique anymore.
'She's already had a taste of the 'high', and you expect her to go somewhere else?'
Not a chance.
***
"Managements wishing to recruit Hunter Lee Soo-ah, please press your button now!!"
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!
No sooner had Baek Hojun finished his announcement than a storm of button-pressing erupted.
The flashing green lights exceeded those even for the first-place Ju Ji-sang.
That was how massive the impact of Soo-ah's performance in the first mission had been.
'Her movements and attack power—she's no mere C-rank. Probably A-rank.'
'They say she's suffering from the magic power fission phenomenon? No, something's different. She didn't get a single burn from that brief flame earlier.'
'Does she know how to control the fission phenomenon? Then this is about more than just skill.'
Upstream's director Jo Chang-woo...
And Mirae Guild's Nam Ho-seung...
Both analyzed Soo-ah's performance as they pressed the button.
Then the remaining member of the Big Three, Moon Halo's director Song Mi-jin, pressed hers as well, so all the Big Three had made offers to Soo-ah.
'What on earth is happening...'
Soo-ah seemed to be trembling, unable to comprehend the current situation.
Had she ever received this much attention before?
She'd always been a burden.
A disease—someone everyone avoided and shunned.
Party breaker. That infamous nickname was something she herself was used to.
But now, what were these lights she saw before her eyes?
"Amazing! Out of 22 managements, 16 have made an offer! Previously, the most offers had been Ju Ji-sang's 9, but this surpasses even that by far!!"
There were 22 management teams participating in this Super Hunter K. Sixteen had just made offers to Soo-ah.
'Ha! Would it kill you to give a little ground? Looks like the so-called Big Three Managements are trying to hog it all between themselves!'
'You already took Ju Ji-sang—shouldn't you know how to yield a bit? Don't you think this is too much?'
Everyone expected Lee Soo-ah would choose one of the Big Three.
Not just the management agencies, but the participating hunters, spectators, and even the mentors all thought the same.
'She'll definitely pick us.'
Ji Yeon-hwa bit her thumbnail, glancing at Shin Ah-yeon.
There was no way she'd lose to a ghost from the past.
'I'm a soon-to-be S-rank hunter. She won't give up the chance to learn from me.'
Of course, Soo-ah was a swordswoman and Ji Yeon-hwa a mage, but that didn't matter. In the end, both dealt with magic power, so she could always advise and help.
The other mentors from the Big Three were formidable, but she had no rivals.
Needless to say, there was no way she'd lose to Shin Ah-yeon, who had returned after three years of seclusion with lackluster skills.
'Ha, that in itself makes no sense, actually.'
It didn't make sense that Shin Ah-yeon's skills were still so "lackluster" after returning.
Her mana halls were cracked and shattered—Ji Yeon-hwa had confirmed it herself.
But now, Shin Ah-yeon was gathering magic power again.
'Whatever, now it's my turn to crush her.'
Ji Yeon-hwa waited eagerly for Soo-ah to speak.
Go on. Say you'll join Upstream.
"Um..."
Soo-ah opened her mouth hesitantly, voice trembling.
"I..."
She felt her heart pounding, she was overjoyed, but—
"I choose Unique."
Even that, compared to the flames that leaped from her fingertips, was nothing.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Bitch please! Soo-ah's been marked, there's no way she's not picking Unique.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】