Live Broadcast (2)
Ji Yeon-hwa—she was someone Upstream simply could not give up on.
Unlike the other Big 3 management agencies, Upstream was the only one that did not have an S-rank hunter.
In the midst of this, even though Ji Yeon-hwa had become stronger thanks to the ultimate magic stone, she had nearly reached S-rank and was actually expected to become an S-rank soon.
What's more, among the countless mage-type hunters in the world, there were only seven who'd made it to S-rank.
In Korea, it had been just Shin Ah-yeon, who had disappeared for three years.
Ji Yeon-hwa was the figure supporting the current Korean magic world. Considering the average age of the other great mages, she was especially young, which meant her potential for future growth was limitless.
She was simply overshadowed by a once-in-a-generation genius like Shin Ah-yeon, but Ji Yeon-hwa was remarkable in her own right.
That's why Jo Chang-woo's suggestion was something I could not have possibly predicted.
"Are you serious about this?"
"Yes."
"... Does upper management know about this?"
"No, this is my own decision. I haven't even reported that... Yeon-hwa has changed like this yet."
Jo Chang-woo replied calmly, meeting my eyes squarely.
"Currently, Upstream is desperate to find Ji Yeon-hwa's whereabouts. They haven't announced her disappearance yet and are trying to keep it as quiet as possible."
"Why didn't you report that her appearance had changed?"
For an executive at a management agency, this was a huge issue.
If this became known, Jo Chang-woo basically wouldn't be able to stay at Upstream any longer.
And I also wondered if Ji Yeon-hwa herself knew about any of this.
As I looked at him with those thoughts in mind, Jo Chang-woo gave a slight chuckle.
"Did you know? Yeon-hwa and I are actually fellow hunter trainees from the same cohort."
"Excuse me?"
"I also made a bit of a name for myself and hovered around the A-rank hunter threshold, but Yeon-hwa always soared ahead of me. No, perhaps it's better to say she saw things from a completely different perspective."
Ji Yeon-hwa had always been overshadowed by Shin Ah-yeon.
She once lamented that fact, but she never gave up everything because of it.
Even if she chose the wrong path, her desperate efforts did not disappear.
"I ended up in management, going down a different path. Because of that, I sometimes wonder if I simply missed something important."
Jo Chang-woo hadn't known what Ji Yeon-hwa thought, or what pressures she faced.
He ignored her struggles to meet the excessive expectations from those around her.
Then, when Shin Ah-yeon returned, it became the decisive blow. The encouragement from those around her only intensified, and, growing increasingly anxious, Ji Yeon-hwa finally set out on a harsh path on her own.
"I think of Yeon-hwa as Upstream's precious hunter. But before that, I think of her as a precious fellow hunter and friend."
That's why Jo Chang-woo hadn't reported this incident to Upstream.
In fact, only a very small number of people knew about Ji Yeon-hwa's changed appearance, and if no one reported it, nobody else would know.
So he decided to use this fact instead.
"This is not just Yeon-hwa's fault. It's also Upstream's fault for creating this situation. So, I intend to take responsibility for all of it."
"Responsibility, you say."
"Yes. I made up my mind after reading that article today."
Only then did I come to understand what Jo Chang-woo was thinking.
He wanted to use this incident as an opportunity to give Ji Yeon-hwa a fresh start.
"Hunter Ji Yeon-hwa is retiring as of today."
That was the answer he had reached.
***
Ji Yeon-hwa's retirement.
Probably no one had imagined such a thing.
Even I urged Jo Chang-woo to reconsider his words.
It was essentially asking Ji Yeon-hwa to give up everything she'd achieved through her hard work.
I said that asking Ji Yeon-hwa's opinion first would be right, but Jo Chang-woo shook his head.
"I made the decision after discussing it with Yeon-hwa. More than anything, if I report her current condition to management, things will become truly irreversible."
With that, he sent me an address via message.
It was the address of a house he'd prepared separately for occasions like this—just in case.
"Let's continue the rest of the conversation there. For now, manager Park, you have an important live broadcast today."
With that, Jo Chang-woo said we should meet in the evening and disappeared.
A storm had passed in an instant, and my head was a mess.
'Well, it's good if this is for the better, but...'
Now Ji Yeon-hwa, in addition to Soo-ah?
Of course, the way Jo Chang-woo talked, it seemed there was some other issue at play.
But regardless, it didn't change the fact that Ji Yeon-hwa was an outstanding asset.
And hadn't she become a half-demon?
Even calling her half-demon didn't do it justice—I was seeing a half-demon in person for the first time.
'It's an existence that shouldn't originally be possible.'
Humans and demons cannot have children together.
They may look the same, but they're entirely different species.
Yet, the unconscious Ji Yeon-hwa's body had the traits of both human and demon.
She had a human mana hall, yet demon blood(魔血) flowed through her veins.
And considering that her heart was intact despite the demon blood, her heart itself must have turned into a demon's.
'A demon's heart.'
That was, essentially, the true nature of the ultimate magic stone.
And embedded in Ji Yeon-hwa's forehead was exactly that—an ultimate magic stone.
This meant that she was now in the unprecedented state of possessing two demon hearts simultaneously.
'To have two demon hearts and a mana hall... That's incredible, isn't it?'
Magical talent wasn't even the point.
Her specs were simply overwhelming.
To create an ultimate magic stone in the first place, you needed at minimum the heart of a high-rank demon.
Ji Yeon-hwa now had two of them in one body.
Judging by the purity of the transformed Ji Yeon-hwa's demon blood, her grade would be similar as well.
In that case, there must be magic power sleeping inside her that ordinary humans couldn't even imagine.
'Of course, only if she can wield it properly.'
I thought what Jo Chang-woo left unsaid was related to this.
I decided I'd have to properly check after today's shoot was over.
"Why are you so late?"
Returning to the seats allocated for management, Sung-hwan, already seated, lightly questioned me. Since I'd sent Soo-ah off and then arrived much later, it was understandably suspicious.
"So, what did you talk about with Soo-ah? Her expression seemed much brighter afterwards."
Ah-yeon, sitting next to Sung-hwan, also asked with interest.
Despite what happened at Mount Seorak, she looked lively and refreshed.
"Nothing much. Anyway, are you already okay to be out here filming?"
"I'm fine. But maybe I should've rested. For an article like that to come out today of all days..."
Ah-yeon muttered with a resentful look on her face.
She must have been talking about the news related to the "Ji Yeon-hwa Incident" that Jo Chang-woo showed earlier.
She probably endured a fair bit of grief before I got back.
'I can still feel some curious gazes.'
And those looks weren't only directed at Ah-yeon, but a few were headed my way as well.
Although I wasn't in the leaked video, scenes of me in action during the third mission had aired, so I'd become the subject of those kinds of looks lately.
"Jung-woo, do you want to just become a variety star? The way people are staring at you is intense."
"Please, don't even joke about it. Getting nagged by my mom is enough."
On top of that, my mother kept contacting me after watching the latest Super Hunter K.
How did I subdue a hunter—even now she was full of worried questions.
She also asked whether what happened had anything to do with my disappearance three years ago.
I never told my parents that I'd spent three years in another world. I just said, "I got sucked into a rift, then suddenly it was three years later when I came back."
I just couldn't bring myself to tell them the details—there were things I really couldn't say to my family.
"By the way, are you sure there were no weird marks or tattoo-like traces on your back?"
"Yeah, it stung a little, but nothing major. Is there a problem?"
"No, well, not a real problem..."
"Not a real problem? You sound like you're hiding something!"
Ah-yeon thumped her chest in frustration.
I glanced at Sung-hwan, then leaned in to whisper into Ah-yeon's ear.
Fortunately, Sung-hwan was focused entirely on the live broadcast about to begin.
"I'll tell you separately later. And tonight, come somewhere with me."
"Hik!!"
At my words, Ah-yeon covered her ear and leapt away.
Then, with a face bright red, she shouted,
"Why are you suddenly whispering in my ear like that? Just say it normally!"
She must have been flustered by my sudden action, and huffed, glaring at me for quite a while.
"W-well, understood. But tonight, is it just you and me going?"
"Yes. We'll send Soo-ah and the president back ahead of us."
"... Hmm."
Ah-yeon glanced at me, then nodded like she had no choice.
"All right."
Fortunately, it seemed Ah-yeon didn't have any other plans this evening and readily agreed.
'Just in case, it's better to bring Ah-yeon along.'
Since Ah-yeon had a significant impact on Ji Yeon-hwa's transformation this time, it would be good for us to check things together.
***
Today's live broadcast didn't have anything particularly special.
The sixteen hunters who made it to the live rounds would now duel each other in a tournament format.
Lose once and you're out; the winner of the final mission would be crowned champion of this season's Super Hunter K—a simple explanation.
If that was it, it'd have been the usual Super Hunter K plot, but the host, Baek Hojun, added one more thing.
"And, the winning hunter will have a chance to personally duel me."
Even the show's PD seemed caught off guard by this and was visibly flustered, but at the crowd's cheers, he could only nod.
For the hunters, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to face none other than S-rank hunter Baek Hojun.
For the audience as well, it was a rare chance to see an S-rank hunter's fight, so they could only cheer loudly.
'Thank you, hunter Baek Hojun.'
I grinned faintly inside, grateful for him keeping his promise.
With this, the stage I'd prepared was set perfectly.
The first live-broadcast mission took place between Ju Ji-sang and the hunter who'd ranked 10th, ending in Ju Ji-sang's overwhelming victory.
Despite his recent bad condition, Ju Ji-sang's ability was head and shoulders above the other hunters.
"So, where are we headed now?"
With the shoot wrapped up, Ah-yeon and I headed to the address Jo Chang-woo had given us, as promised.
For reference, I hadn't bothered to explain to Ah-yeon exactly where we were going.
She knew about the now-younger Ji Yeon-hwa from Soo-ah, but she hadn't seen her in person, so I planned to surprise her.
"Is this about that tattoo or whatever?"
Ah-yeon seemed to be guessing on her own as to why I'd singled her out today.
As she gazed up at the darkening sky, she seemed to hesitate over what to say next.
"But you know... I honestly don't remember anything."
"... Don't remember?"
"That time, you know. People say I did something to Ji Yeon-hwa, but I don't actually remember what I did."
I had always been curious about what happened at the time.
But I never imagined that Ah-yeon would have no memory of it at all.
"But you even had a proper conversation with Ji Yeon-hwa."
"Was I... sleepwalking or something? Still, isn't it pretty cool if I did that unconsciously? Kind of like a manhwa protagonist, right?"
While it might have been a quite serious matter, Ah-yeon just brushed it off like it was nothing.
As if things like this happened all the time.
"Have you had things like this happen before?"
"Again... I guess? It's happened a few times, though not lately. It used to happen a lot. But nothing bad came of it, so I don't really worry."
Can a person really just not worry about things like that?
Sometimes I think this girl is strangely nonchalant about the weirdest things.
Well, if she weren't wired that way, she'd probably have had a breakdown when her mana hall shattered.
"So how about three years ago?"
"Three years ago?"
"When I got sucked into the rift."
"Oh."
Ah-yeon took some time, thinking about what happened back then.
"At that time... I didn't feel anything like that. Honestly, it was a huge trauma, so I remember it in detail."
"You mean it was a trauma for you?"
"I mean, isn't it weird if you're unfazed when someone begs for help and gets sucked away right in front of your eyes? But... I was glad you came back safe."
With that, Ah-yeon flashed me a bright smile full of white teeth.
Looking at her, I was reminded all over again what a caring person Ah-yeon was. That's probably why she'd even saved Ji Yeon-hwa, who'd once been hostile to her.
"You haven't changed."
"Huh?"
When I said that, Ah-yeon looked at me wondering what I meant, and I grinned.
"I could never forget the way you reached your hand out to me that day."
"Ah."
"That's why I came back."
I could have stayed in that other world if I wanted to.
I'd lost plenty, but I'd built things there, and had other friends.
But the reason I didn't choose that world and came back wasn't anything complicated.
"I thought I had to let you know I was alive."
"... Ah."
At those words, Ah-yeon's eyes opened wide.
She obviously never expected me to say something like that.
But I meant every word.
After all, one of the biggest reasons I started back as a manager was Ah-yeon.
Helping the ruined great mage regain her original glory, at my request.
"W-what are you saying?"
Maybe she understood my intention, because she shook her head in embarrassment.
The sky was already dark, so I couldn't really make out her expression.
"Saying something like that so suddenly..."
"Oh, you've arrived!"
Just as Ah-yeon seemed about to say something, someone interrupted.
Startled, Ah-yeon turned her head to see Executive Director Jo Chang-woo, who had apparently been waiting for us at the entrance, striding over.
"I've really been waiting for you. Ah, hunter Shin Ah-yeon, you've come as well."
"... Uh."
At the unexpected appearance of Executive Director Jo Chang-woo, Ah-yeon looked back and forth between him and me.
"Don't tell me... the reason you asked me to go somewhere tonight was to meet with Executive Director Jo?"
"Yep."
Almost before I could finish my reply, Ah-yeon, for some reason, smacked my back with her palm.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Ah-yeon getting her hopes up just to get it shattered.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】