Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Game Broadcast (3)

Challenger.

A title that only 0.007 percent of players could obtain in League of Nova.

Right now, Shin Ah-yeon's account was gleaming with a border that only those Challengers could use.

"Oh, PD Oh."

It was Park Jung-woo, Shin Ah-yeon's manager, who broke the strange, heavy silence that had settled on the set.

He spoke with a natural composure, as if he had foreseen this situation.

"Would we really have done something that foolish?"

At Park Jung-woo's words, PD Oh gave a forced, awkward laugh, as if he couldn't control his expression.

"Then are you saying this is real?"

"Of course."

Is it really real?

PD Oh was doubtful because of their calm attitude, but it was difficult to press the matter any further.

If he upset Shin Ah-yeon's mood, it could cause problems with the filming.

'No doubt that idiot manager did something reckless.'

Why did he do such a stupid thing?

If the rank was achieved through someone else playing for them, or if it was another person's account, they'd be caught right away.

If that happened, it was clear only negative backlash would grow.

'Well, fine. Either way, it's good for us.'

If it attracted attention in any way, there was no downside for them.

He didn't like their arrogant attitude, but the filming came first.

"Hoo, fine. I'll let it pass for now. We can tell if it's real or not once we actually watch, right?"

"Oh, PD Oh?"

"Alright, SwordRiver, please get ready to queue up."

Ah, they're really doing this.

Doha felt complicated as he looked at Ah-yeon's account, queued up with him as a 'duo'.

Of course, he didn't actually believe Ah-yeon was really a Challenger.

"Well then, I'll start the queue."

"Yes."

Ah-yeon quietly complied with Doha's instructions.

Since she was a former Hunter, Doha wondered if she might just do as she pleased, but Ah-yeon was uncharacteristically quiet.

To be precise, it seemed like all her attention was focused on the game.

"Uh, are you... top lane?"

"Yes."

Doha was caught off guard at how naturally Ah-yeon chose the top lane.

'Since she was a mage, I thought she'd go mid, or maybe support.'

He never imagined it would be top, the so-called 'men's lane'.

After a brief hesitation, Doha picked the jungle position.

His main was mid, but he thought it would be easier to cover Ah-yeon from jungle.

"I'll come up often, so just play it safe."

As long as she didn't die, they could manage somehow.

Thinking that, Doha spoke, but Ah-yeon's expression was oddly indifferent.

"No. You don't need to come top."

He understood what she meant not ten minutes later.

***

You have slain an enemy!

Double Kill!

Avatar of the Battlefield!

With the continual victory announcements ringing out, Doha found it hard to regain his composure.

Ah-yeon, who had told him not to come top, proceeded to turn her lane opponent into a 'bug', and even sent the enemy jungler who came to help straight to hell.

'Did we get queued into a low tier by mistake?'

He wondered for a moment, but the top laner paired against Ah-yeon was actually a third-string player for a pro team, someone Doha knew well.

He remembered him as quite skilled, but now he was reduced to a smear of blood.

"That's a top gap for you."

"......"

On top of it all, Doha couldn't get used to Ah-yeon's vocabulary.

Could she really say something that raw, out loud?

'It's a blessing that her chat was disabled.'

Doha instinctively realized: if he hadn't preemptively blocked Ah-yeon from chatting for the sake of the broadcast, the chat would surely have been swept away by the "local's" language.

"Huh?"

Then, just as Ah-yeon killed the enemy top, the enemy jungler suddenly appeared and killed Ah-yeon's character, who was recalling with little health.

"Ah, jungle diff."

"...... Sorry."

"M-my mistake."

For Ah-yeon, this was instinctual.

So lost in the heat of the moment, she'd completely forgotten that Doha was the jungler standing next to her.

"It's, it's fine. This game's already over, so it's okay even if you die now."

Just as she said, upon respawning, Ah-yeon's character became a one-woman army, sweeping through the enemy formation.

Her overwhelming skill made it hard to believe these were Grandmaster-rank or higher players.

"What is this......?"

Faced with such a one-sided game, PD Oh couldn't help but be flustered.

As the slaughter-machine Shin Ah-yeon began running rampant, the game was cleanly wrapped up in just 20 minutes.

'It, it must be a fluke.'

He simply couldn't understand.

Was the great mage, who used to be an S-rank Hunter, truly a Challenger in League of Nova?

Even as he was half-denying reality, when the second and third matches turned out much the same, PD Oh had no choice but to accept it.

"W-wait, but at this rate, we won't have enough footage......."

With five straight wins, the program would be over.

Normally, there would have been some losses and back-and-forth chat to make for a pretty long broadcast, but as things stood, there was no way they would lose any time soon.

And the conversations?

"SwordRiver, please keep an eye on bot lane. I'll teleport in if a fight breaks out."

"Ah, I missed it. Enemy jungle flash will be up at 14:20."

The only conversations throughout the shoot were things like that.

Given the unique pairing of Hunter and pro gamer, he thought there'd be all kinds of talk, back and forth.

But who would have thought Shin Ah-yeon would be this "serious" about gaming?

"W-well, I guess this isn't so bad, in its own way."

There was a gap, in its own way, and he didn't mind that.

If the editing was done well, the viewers would be just as shocked as he was.

But that alone wasn't enough.

This was Shin Ah-yeon's first broadcast appearance in three years.

But she was just going to play five games and leave, without telling any stories from the past?

It wasn't just about the footage; it was obvious the viewers would be up in arms with complaints.

"Manager Park, let's have a chat."

PD Oh sidled up to Jung-woo and struck up a conversation.

"I don't think we're going to have enough footage for the broadcast... Would it be alright if we tacked on a short interview segment or a little corner afterward?"

"I refuse."

"Alright, then, I'll take that as—wait, what?"

PD Oh had naturally expected Jung-woo to agree, so he was struck dumb by this unexpected reply.

"...... I must not have heard you clearly. Could you repeat yourself?"

"I said I refuse."

"Heh......"

To the flustered PD Oh, Jung-woo gave a slight sneer.

The reason he'd stayed quiet until now was exactly for this moment.

"As I understand, our contract was for 'filming until five straight wins in League of Nova,' correct? Or am I mistaken?"

"T-that is true, but you know the footage won't be enough, right? Don't you think Hunter Shin Ah-yeon needs as much exposure on air as possible for all of us to win?"

"The gameplay footage will make it to air as is, won't it? The rest isn't our concern."

PD Oh felt his anger rise at Jung-woo's suddenly changed attitude, but there was nothing he could say.

After all, Jung-woo was technically correct.

'I can't even kick them off!'

If it had been an ordinary guest, he could have forced his way with abuse of power.

He could have one-sidedly canceled the contract and threatened to discard today's footage.

He wouldn't have to worry even if it was a small-time management agency like Unique.

But the problem here was that the other side was Shin Ah-yeon.

It would be a waste to lose out on the 'first appearance in three years', and if it got out that he had bullied an S-rank Hunter who had vanished for three years after saving countless lives, it could easily blow up into a huge scandal.

'This bastard predicted everything would turn out like this from the start!'

His unnatural compliance now made sense, and shortening the match count to five straight wins was all to keep there from being enough footage.

He felt utterly outwitted, but there was nothing he could do; in this moment, he was at the mercy of the other side.

"Just think about it, okay? If we get more footage, hunter Shin Ah-yeon will get even more attention."

"Has there ever been a Hunter who made it big through cable TV?"

"......"

"That person over there is the Great Mage Shin Ah-yeon. Even just showing her business card, you know she can walk right onto network television, don't you?"

Of course, it would be limited to the first appearance, but for now, it was a powerful weapon.

"We chose a game broadcast simply because Shin Ah-yeon likes gaming. In other words, you, PD Oh, just got lucky."

At Jung-woo's words, PD Oh was silent for a few moments.

After some time, just as Ah-yeon and Doha notched four straight wins, PD Oh spoke up with a half-defeated expression.

"Hoo, I give up, I give up. So, what is it that you want?"

"Now you're making sense."

Jung-woo grinned as PD Oh finally gave up his pride.

Now, it felt like they could finally begin 'real negotiations'.

***

A few days later.

A company building in Gangnam.

"Well, now that you're part of the family, let's work well together, hunter Lee Sung-yun."

Lee Sung-yun shook hands politely with JM's Chief Manager Yu Dong-suk, who was smiling broadly at him.

Chief Manager Yu Dong-suk had been steadily making offers to Sung-yun; within JM, he was known as a major player.

'See? This is what I'm worth.'

He silently snickered at Unique's President and those nameless fools who failed to recognize his value and made a stupid decision.

'As expected, this is JM Management. Maybe it's because of Javelin Guild's investment; even the building is impressive.'

JM operated under the "Javelin Guild," ranked just below the top three management agencies, and thanks to that, grew faster than other companies.

Especially, javelin Guild itself was an organization formed in the days before Hunter management was established—back when it was more about 'Hunter guilds'.

That era was called the time of the 'Hunter Guilds', and over time, as Hunters branched out into all sorts of professions, it transformed into 'management'.

As such an old and storied management agency, its influence in the Hunter world was anything but small.

Naturally, backed by Javelin Guild, JM grew dramatically among up-and-coming management agencies, and poured vast sums of money into poaching Hunters from others.

Unique's B-rank Hunter, Lee Sung-yun, was one such candidate.

"Don't worry. You know that once you rack up a bit more record, you'll become an A-rank Hunter, right?"

"Of course, of course."

The terms offered by JM were extremely satisfactory.

They even paid all the penalty fees incurred from his one-sided contract termination, and the contract signing bonus was exceptional.

'Idiots, do they really think the company can keep running without me?'

He knew the new woman who came in was strong, but there were limits to what one person could achieve alone.

Without at least being A-rank or higher, you couldn't enter dungeons solo.

With all the B-rank Hunters gone, there was no way Unique could form profitable dungeon parties anymore.

'There's no way that woman is an A-rank.'

She was strong, but not A-rank level.

Lee Sung-yun convinced himself that the only reason he'd been beaten so one-sidedly was because he was caught off guard and misjudged her abilities.

"They couldn't even properly manage a soon-to-be A-rank Hunter like you... That's why Unique is resorting to such nonsense, I guess."

"What nonsense?"

"Oh, haven't you heard about what happened with that cable TV station recently?"

At Chief Manager Yu Dong-suk's words, nothing came to mind for Lee Sung-yun.

After being beaten up by that mysterious woman, he'd spent a few days recuperating before coming over to JM.

"No, I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"That's understandable."

"So, what is this business with the cable TV station...?"

Judging from the tone, it sounded like something related to Unique, which piqued his interest.

"Ah, it seems Unique recently put a Hunter on a game broadcast."

"A game broadcast?"

He couldn't help but laugh at the sheer ridiculousness.

Unless you were really famous, appearing on a broadcast was a bad move for a Hunter.

It wouldn't bring real attention, you'd waste time you could spend in dungeons, and you'd lose money.

And not even on a major TV network, but cable?

A game broadcast, of all things.

Unique must have really gone off the deep end.

"I'm really glad I got out just in time. If I ended up on some cheap program like that... Whew, just the thought gives me the creeps."

"Exactly. They must be so desperate for cash that they tricked some clueless Hunter into doing it."

"That poor Hunter—whoever it is—will end up getting all the blame."

And so, Sung-yun and Chief Manager Yu Dong-suk laughed heartily together at Unique's expense.

Completely unaware of the ripple effects that 'cheap broadcast', which they were now ignoring, was about to unleash.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Haha, that jungle diff hit hard, specially coming from your duo.
【(^ᗜ^ )】