Thousand Swords (2)
After the third mission ended, the first place we visited was Upstream, the agency that represents Ji Yeon-hwa.
The sudden visit of S-rank Hunter Baek Hojun had Director Jo Chang-woo, whom I'd seen before, rushing out with excitement to greet us.
"So... you're saying this girl is Yeon-hwa, or rather Hunter Ji Yeon-hwa?"
He looked at me with confusion, wondering why I was with Baek Hojun, and fell speechless as the explanation continued.
Well, it was understandable.
If Ji Yeon-hwa, who'd gone out to film the third mission, caused an accident and suddenly reappeared as a child, anyone would be at a loss for words.
"If anyone else had told me this, I would have said not to talk nonsense..."
Jo Chang-woo muttered as he gazed at Ji Yeon-hwa, who was curled up and asleep on a small sofa.
"She is indeed Hunter Ji Yeon-hwa. I will vouch for her with my name."
"... Since Hunter Baek Hojun says so, I simply have no choice but to believe it."
He sighed, shutting his eyes tightly.
From Upstream's perspective, this was a bolt from the blue.
"Would you be able to tell us more about what happened?"
Though Ji Yeon-hwa had a foul temper, she was expected to lead Korea's magic world and was already pre-approved for an S-rank license.
She was about to become the first S-rank Hunter of Upstream.
While Upstream had a solid mid-tier line compared to the other Big 3 management agencies, their one shortcoming had been not having an S-rank Hunter.
"... So that's what happened."
When Hojun provided a rough explanation, Jo Chang-woo let out a heavy sigh.
Then he turned to me and said,
"We owe a great debt to Unique as well. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if it weren't for Hunter Shin Ah-yeon."
"No, hunter Shin Ah-yeon would have believed she was only doing what was right. Of course, as her manager, I wasn't exactly thrilled."
"..."
At any rate, it was true that Ah-yeon had pushed herself to save Yeon-hwa.
Not only Yeon-hwa but also Ah-yeon herself had yet to wake up.
The only relief was that physically, there didn't seem to be any major problems.
If, like when the mana hall had been damaged three years ago, there were an issue with the newly formed 'circle', it could have been a disaster.
"In that sense... if it's alright with you, director Jo Chang-woo, could you share the details?"
"... By details, you mean?"
"I'd like to know if you noticed any strange behavior from Hunter Ji Yeon-hwa that day, or if you have any suspicions."
That day, before she fused with the core, Ji Yeon-hwa had already acted strangely.
She had left the filming crew and disappeared somewhere, so there must have been a reason.
"I owe Unique, and am in no position to refuse Hunter Baek Hojun, so I'll tell you."
With these words, Jo Chang-woo shared what he knew about Ji Yeon-hwa's behavior.
She had received an ultimate magic stone from the Javelin Guild.
And, on the day of filming the third mission, there were rumors that a dungeon producing such stones would appear on Mount Seorak.
'So Ji Yeon-hwa's goal really was the ultimate magic stone.'
She must have wanted to secure it before anyone else if another found the dungeon during the filming. In the process, she touched the core of an invasive dungeon, leading to these events.
"What kind of organization is the Javelin Guild?"
"Well..."
At my question, Jo Chang-woo closed his eyes and thought.
"Since it's a management agency that originated from a guild, it has a long history and tradition. While it lags behind the other top three agencies like us, among Hunters, its name still carries weight."
"But that's generally known information, isn't it?"
"Yes, however, from my own investigation, it seems there have been some recent changes within the Javelin Guild."
"... Changes?"
Jo Chang-woo had found the Javelin Guild's words and deeds during the last ultimate magic stone transaction highly suspicious.
Therefore, he sought information on his own and discovered several things.
"Recently, there have been numerous cases where Hunters from the Javelin Guild had their ranks adjusted by the Hunter Association."
"Their ranks increased?"
"Yes, and according to the Association, these were Hunters they had thought had reached their growth limit, but their ranks suddenly went up."
It would indeed seem suspicious if people stagnating at their rank for ages suddenly leveled up.
"Especially, among the Javelin Guild's executives, there are those I've never seen before. Apparently, these are Hunters newly registered with the Association in the past few months, all ranked A-rank or higher."
"... That is certainly strange. There's no way A-rank Hunters just fall from the sky."
"Yes. What's even stranger is, even though the Guild puts them forward, they don't seem to engage in any special activities."
After saying this, director Jo Chang-woo looked at me calmly.
"That's as far as I've found out."
"Do you plan to investigate further, director Jo Chang-woo?"
"No."
Surprisingly, Jo Chang-woo denied it.
Given everything that happened, I'd thought he'd look into it more, but this was unexpected.
"I'd like nothing better than to dig deeper because of this incident, but I have a bad feeling."
"A bad feeling, you say..."
"It's an instinct that's helped me survive in this industry for a long time."
He quietly looked me in the eye, as if giving a warning.
"So I hope you don't pay too much attention to them, manager Park. Just a guess, but if this incident was something they engineered, they'll think they failed."
***
"Uh..."
Ah-yeon blinked her blurry eyes.
Her mind was so clouded with confusion that it was difficult to think straight.
'What on earth is this...'
She forced herself to clear her dazed thoughts and calmly retraced her memory.
At the moment Ji Yeon-hwa went berserk and was about to devour everything.
She remembered Jung-woo doing something.
She didn't know exactly what.
But she'd felt that if left as is, Ji Yeon-hwa might die.
'So I shouted without thinking... then what?'
She couldn't recall clearly.
She seemed to remember telling him to wait a moment, but after that her memory was fuzzy.
"Ah, Ah! You—you're awake?!"
At the loud, stammering voice, Ah-yeon rolled her eyes over and found Lee Soo-ah, anxiously looking down at her.
"Um... where are we... no, where is this?"
Still unconsciously using formal speech, Ah-yeon hurriedly corrected herself.
It was uncomfortable, probably because she'd only just begun speaking informally.
Seeing Ah-yeon's flustered expression, Soo-ah seemed to relax a bit and managed a faint smile.
"We're in the Unique break room. Manager Park said we let you rest here first since we don't know the password to your house."
"If I'd collapsed, they should've taken me to the hospital—does he think he's a doctor?"
"Don't you kind of think he'd be one, though?"
"... That's true."
If it were Jung-woo, she wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly pulled something completely unexpected.
'Just like with this.'
What exactly had Jung-woo tried to do with Ji Yeon-hwa?
Even in the face of Ji Yeon-hwa, who possessed the power of an S-rank Hunter and beyond, Jung-woo never lost his composure.
'As if he'd dealt with such beings often.'
What had happened to him after getting sucked into the rift?
Were monsters like berserk Ji Yeon-hwa just lying around on the roads over there?
No, that didn't seem likely.
The proof was the circle magic Ah-yeon was now learning.
Considering what Jung-woo had explained about the level of mages in that world, there weren't many beings close to S-rank there.
Which meant Jung-woo himself was even more exceptional than that.
'Just an ordinary person, not even an Awakener, dropping into another world... what could he have gone through?'
She was curious.
But Jung-woo thoroughly avoided talking about his experiences in the other world.
He simply brushed it off, saying he'd done something similar to being a manager.
'I doubt it was anything pleasant. It seems he's trying hard to hide it...'
The feelings he showed when briefly recalling the past were not longing for that world.
It felt almost like regret... maybe. She couldn't be sure.
"But more importantly, Soo-ah, what happened with the third mission... ow, ow ow!"
When Ah-yeon tried to sit up without thinking, she screamed at the pain in her back.
It felt like countless needles were stabbing her back.
"W-what's wrong?!"
"My back—argh, check my back! I don't remember hurting it but what the hell?!"
Grimacing, Ah-yeon allowed Soo-ah to approach and lift her shirt to examine her back.
Her back was smooth and pale, with nothing of note to be seen.
"Um, I—I think your back looks perfectly fine."
"What? No way... wait, it does look fine."
Glancing in the mirror, she really couldn't see anything.
But when she touched it lightly, she still felt a sharp pain.
'What is this?'
There was no visible injury, so the pain didn't seem to be from a wound.
Even checking internally with magic, she couldn't find any issues in the magic channels or nerves.
"Ugh, never mind. So how did the mission wrap up? What about Ji Yeon-hwa?"
"Oh, well, hunter Ji Yeon-hwa was taken by Manager Park and Hunter Baek Hojun, so I'm not sure. The third mission itself ended well."
"Really?"
"Yes. I earned 800 points at once on this one!"
With this, Soo-ah's points now totaled 1350.
There were five missions in total before the live broadcast.
So, with this score, she would just barely be in the rankings to appear on the live show.
"But then, how did Ji Yeon-hwa survive in Upstream? I thought she was a goner for sure."
"A—a goner? But wasn't it Hunter Shin Ah-yeon who saved her? For some reason, she turned into a little kid, though."
"Huh? Me? And became a little kid? Ji Yeon-hwa did?"
"Yes. Don't you remember? She shrank down to about early teens."
"Early teens..."
She couldn't remember anything at all.
'How did that happen?'
Even if she had saved Ji Yeon-hwa, it didn't feel real.
It was a relief she wasn't dead, but something about this left her uncomfortable.
'From middle-aged woman to bratty kid, huh.'
Somehow, she had the feeling that if Ji Yeon-hwa started whining next to her again, she'd be absolutely infuriated.
***
==
Post: What was up with SuHunK yesterday?
Dropped in to watch and why does Lee Soo-ah have over 2000 points?
Reply
ㅇㅇ: Didn't you watch the third mission? That was freaking insane.
Injaegang: Manager carried hard and got tons of points on third mission + did well on the fourth and fifth missions.
SwordKingBubble: If you don't watch any other episode, at least catch the third mission. It's nuts.
==
Word of mouth about SuHunK was spreading across the internet.
Ratings were good at first, but as the content continued, they skyrocketed.
Ironically, the main reason was Lee Soo-ah, who'd first drawn attention as a 'villain'.
==
Title: Who the hell is Lee Soo-ah's manager?
They say he's not a hunter, is he some kind of government secret agent?
Reply
Ah-yeonLove: Honestly, if not, nothing else makes sense, lol
EscapeRoomKim: I still can't stop laughing about the third mission. If the manager had kept participating in the fourth and fifth, Soo-ah would be the undisputed number one now.
⌎ㅇㅇ: Agreed, Lee Soo-ah's score is honestly overhyped, all thanks to the manager, tbh
⌎SwordKingBubble: The real overhyped one is Ju Ji-sang, the guy you all stan
RelationshipAutoGen: My brother is on the SuHunK filming staff—he says Lee Soo-ah is insane right now. Says her presence is just different.
⌎ㅇㅇ: What's the point of presence if her face is wrecked lol
⌎ㅇㅅㅂ: This guy's the worst, haha
⌎LeeSooahFighting: She just has a burn from that "—" phenomenon, she's not ugly
With the third mission aired, mentions also increased about Jung-woo, manager for both Soo-ah and Ah-yeon.
Most comments questioned his identity and how he could knock down hunters.
There were even debates accusing the manager's acquisition of bells of being cheating.
Meanwhile, speculation about Ji Yeon-hwa, who was suddenly absent from the broadcast, grew as well.
Rumors spread that the mentor of the Sword King's disciple was abandoned, or that an accident severely injured her.
Then, after the fourth and fifth missions ended and a month had passed—
The date for the live broadcast that would conclude SuHunK was now just a day away.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】