Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Dungeon Exploration Team (1)

Dungeon Exploration Team.

Among HSN Broadcasting's most lucrative variety shows, this program focused on portraying the real daily lives of hunters.

Dungeon Exploration Team boldly marked itself as unsuitable for minors and handled the authentic, unfiltered lives of hunters. Thanks to this daring approach, the show managed to run for a decade as a long-lasting broadcast.

But as much as it claimed to be 'real', there were plenty of incidents, and power struggles among the hunters were intense.

Which was only natural.

After all, even a brief appearance on the show would raise one's recognition.

"I heard Shin Ah-yeon is coming today. Is it true?"

"What? But didn't Shin Ah-yeon lose her magic power?"

"Who knows? But according to the PD, it sounds like Chief Manager Yu requested it."

"Chief Manager Yu as in, from JM?"

"Yeah."

On the filming set of Dungeon Exploration Team.

Hunters gathered at the temporary lodging set up in front of the C-rank dungeon gate in Daejeon were chatting in low voices.

"Why did they bother? Did Shin Ah-yeon join JM?"

"That doesn't seem to be the case. I looked it up, and she's with Unique."

"Then why did they do it? And more importantly, what exactly is Shin Ah-yeon supposed to do inside a dungeon? Didn't she become washed up because she can't properly gather magic power?"

"Yeah? But from what I heard, she's been included as a reserve member anyway. Since she created some buzz on cable TV, they probably want to seize this opportunity and bring her along. Even if she's not a hunter anymore, she could just be a regular entertainer, right?"

With that mocking remark, other hunters in the lodging let out chuckles.

She did have the title of ex-S-rank hunter, so branching into broadcasting wasn't entirely impossible.

'Either way, she won't last long.'

How many famous retired hunters had tried to transition into entertainment, trusting their titles?

But all of them failed, every single one.

Even now, there were maybe only two or three hunter-turned-celebrities still surviving?

Not much, considering how many had tried to set foot in the field.

"I heard she showed up on some game show? Seems like she got popular for having a quirky image or something."

"Wondered what she was doing during her three-year disappearance, turns out she was just playing games nonstop. If so, why bother coming back to being a hunter? Why not just be a pro gamer?"

"If she's just a reserve, she probably won't amount to anything anyway. Don't you think so too, Sung-yun-ssi?"

A middle-aged hunter, his cheek scarred by a sharp cut, spoke to the hunter sitting next to him.

The man was Lee Sung-yun, a B-rank hunter who had switched his affiliation from Unique to JM.

"Huh? Ah, well... I suppose so."

"Oh, that's a pretty lukewarm response. Have you ever met her? Come on, it's Shin Ah-yeon."

"Uh, yes. She joined just before I switched agencies..."

"So did Chief Manager Yu tell you why she was included as a reserve?"

"... I haven't heard anything at all."

"Really?"

The middle-aged hunter smacked his lips and turned his head away.

At that, Lee Sung-yun gritted his teeth.

'Who would have guessed that woman was Shin Ah-yeon.'

Wasn't Shin Ah-yeon supposed to be a mage?

His body still ached at the memory of Shin Ah-yeon.

He had thought she was just a physically strong hunter due to her ferocious punches, but apparently, he was mistaken.

'Chief Manager Yu shoved Shin Ah-yeon into the Dungeon Exploration Team without even consulting me?'

Even if she was just a reserve, this was intolerable.

If Unique's Director Song had pulled something like this, he might have cursed him out, but he couldn't bring himself to do so with Chief Manager Yu.

Unlike Unique, JM was an up-and-coming management agency.

There was nothing to gain for Lee Sung-yun in making an enemy of them.

'Could that dumb broadcast really be such a big deal?'

He couldn't understand why people found it so fascinating that hunters played games.

He'd watched the show and heard her say some weird stuff, but the community's reaction was incredibly enthusiastic.

Of course, outside the online community, among regular people, it didn't seem to have spread that far yet.

But if she kept creating issues even on Dungeon Exploration Team...

'Hoo, but even so, that probably won't happen.'

No matter what, Shin Ah-yeon was only a reserve member at best.

With all the focus on the hunters raiding the dungeon, there was little chance a camera would follow a reserve member around.

At least, that was what Lee Sung-yun thought at the time.

***

When we arrived at Eunhaeng-dong in Daejeon for the Dungeon Exploration Team shoot, we were greeted by wary stares.

Everyone gathered for the shoot—staff and hunters—not so much looked at us, but more precisely, stared holes into Ah-yeon.

"..."

Ah-yeon's face remained comparatively calm under their gazes, but I could see from the faint pallor of her features that she wasn't happy with the situation.

'So her three-year disappearance really has left its mark.'

Her complexion was noticeably worse than when she filmed with GGN.

That was probably because GGN was a game broadcast, with little connection to hunters, but this was work as a 'hunter'—the pressure was on a whole different level.

Shin Ah-yeon, no longer a great mage.

I'd grown so used to her being unflappable that I'd nearly forgotten, but it would be impossible for her not to be affected.

No matter how much gaming she did to protect her mental health, there had to be limits.

"Oh, hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim, nice to meet you for the first time. I'm Yu Dong-suk, chief manager at JM Management."

As we approached the hunters' waiting room, for some reason, it was Chief Manager Yu from JM who welcomed us.

I could only be dumbfounded by his attitude.

He was blatantly making moves to snatch Shin Ah-yeon away.

'Wow, he doesn't even try to hide it... hmm?'

I was about to laugh, but suddenly my expression hardened as I sensed the aura coming from Chief Manager Yu's body.

It was an energy that simply shouldn't be in this world.

"I've been a fan of Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim for a long time, so I've gone through some trouble to arrange this meeting. If you don't mind, would you at least shake my hand...?"

With a warm, friendly smile, he reached out his hand to Ah-yeon.

Of course, I had no intention of letting that go unaddressed—so I seized Chief Manager Yu's wrist.

"That's enough."

"... Huh?"

He clearly hadn't expected I'd interrupt like this; his eyes twisted menacingly, a far cry from the face he showed Sung-hwan or Ah-yeon.

Meaning, he thought I'd be a pushover.

"You're Hunter Shin Ah-yeon's manager... right? How long have you been at it?"

"Counting my previous experience, just over a year."

"Oh, a year. Still young and fired up, huh? But you're feisty enough to go against your seniors without any sense of etiquette."

He snapped sharply as I grabbed his wrist.

Ah-yeon's shoulders tensed up at his tone, but I quietly shook my head.

This was a film set.

If Shin Ah-yeon did or said anything to stand out, it would only have bad results.

And if I couldn't handle such things on my own, how could I call myself Shin Ah-yeon's manager anywhere?

"Shouldn't you be the one to watch your manners first, not me?"

"Shin Ah-yeon's manager, if you keep this up, things won't be fun for you..."

"If you want to shake hands with our hunter, you should at least take off that thing on your wrist."

"!!"

At my words, Chief Manager Yu hurriedly tried to yank his wrist free of my grasp, but his arm wouldn't budge.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?! This is assault!"

"And where did you get this?"

While he was taken aback, I pulled up the sleeve on his wrist.

There, a black bracelet set with a purple gem sparkled on Chief Manager Yu's wrist.

"With what intent were you trying to use this artifact on Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim?"

He certainly hadn't expected me to call him out for that; the ferocious ring in Chief Manager Yu's voice suddenly shifted, as if he was making excuses.

"What are you accusing me of? Don't say things that'll make people misunderstand! This bracelet is just something one of our hunters gave me as a present. I don't even know what kind of effect it has!"

"You say you don't know what it does, but I can feel the demonic energy radiating from it."

"... Demonic energy? What's that supposed to mean?"

Chief Manager Yu truly seemed to have no clue about demonic energy.

But he clearly understood the artifact's effects.

Otherwise, he would never have offered that hand—wearing the bracelet—to Ah-yeon for a handshake.

'Why is that here?'

It looked like any normal magical gear, but it most certainly was not.

I'd seen similar items several times in 'that other world'.

'A tool to check the magic power amount of the person you touch.'

He probably intended to check Shin Ah-yeon's magic power level.

Maybe to see if she'd really recovered enough to work as a hunter again, or if it was all just bravado.

The problem was the 'demonic energy' within the artifact.

'It seems to have some additional effects, too.'

I hadn't studied artifact crafting or enchantment techniques in depth, so I couldn't say exactly what it did.

But I could get a general sense, and could make a good guess.

'At most, it probably temporarily boosts the user's magic power with demonic energy or something.'

Nothing all that extraordinary.

But still, why did Chief Manager Yu have it?

"Is this thing really that dangerous?"

Ah-yeon, noticing the look on my face, asked cautiously.

She seemed to know about the bracelet as well.

"You know about this?"

"Yes, kind of. For about two years? Artifacts like these have started showing up more frequently in dungeons. Monsters wear them, or they're excavated from the dungeon itself."

"I see."

That meant a hunter could truly have given it to him as a gift.

'... I'll have to look into this later, just in case it's related to the rift incident from three years ago.'

"That's what I'm saying! Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim just said she knows about it."

"I also know you tried to use it to measure her magic power."

As Chief Manager Yu stammered, Ah-yeon replied icily.

Naturally, his face turned white, and after trying to stammer another excuse, he spun around and bolted from the scene.

"So what is demonic energy? I did feel a bit uneasy, but it didn't feel especially dangerous."

"Demonic energy is the strength used by demons."

"Demons?"

"The race from that other world."

At my answer, Ah-yeon's face turned rigid as well.

"Then, is that thing from another world?"

"You can assume that's likely."

I stared for a moment in the direction Chief Manager Yu had fled, then turned to Ah-yeon.

"Did you say Lee Sung-yun is also participating in this Dungeon Exploration Team?"

"Yes. Unlike me, he's apparently part of the regular party," she replied.

I see.

If Chief Manager Yu backs off quietly, nothing will happen, but that possibility was slim.

"Keep an eye on Lee Sung-yun."

"Huh?"

"I'll be moving around with the filming crew, so I might be too slow to respond."

Something is definitely going to happen.

My gut told me as much.

***

"Damn it! How the hell did that bastard find out?"

Chief Manager Yu never imagined Shin Ah-yeon's manager would grab his wrist, much less spot the bracelet.

'Is he not just a regular manager?'

He'd mentioned something about demonic energy out of nowhere, but Chief Manager Yu just thought he'd misspoken and meant 'magic power' instead.

'I can't back down like this.'

This bracelet had been given to him by JM's president.

The reason Shin Ah-yeon retired in the past was because her mana core shattered, making it impossible for her to gather magic power anymore.

So he had planned to use the bracelet to test Shin Ah-yeon's magic power level and check her condition.

If she really was regaining her magic power, they'd do anything to bring her in.

'But now, that's no longer possible....'

Whether Shin Ah-yeon still had magic power or not, it was no longer realistic to bring her into JM.

After all that just happened, Shin Ah-yeon would never agree to join.

It was all that manager's fault.

Chief Manager Yu gritted his teeth and turned his head.

"Sung-yun, didn't you say Shin Ah-yeon's skills weren't what they used to be?"

At the sudden call from Chief Manager Yu, Lee Sung-yun frowned as he checked his gear.

Chief Manager Yu had treated him with respect when they first signed his contract, but now he didn't even bother to be polite.

"Yes, I did."

"Then, do me a favor."

If they couldn't bring her to their side—there was only one answer.

Before Shin Ah-yeon could revive her reputation, they had to nip her comeback in the bud.

If an S-rank hunter began working for another Unique, it wouldn't be a dream for the fallen Unique to make a comeback.

He absolutely had to prevent that, no matter what.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Time for a beat up.
This always happens in almost all novels, but I still can't stop looking forward to beating up assholes.
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