The Manager Who Returned (1)
"That guy, he's been declared dead, right?"
At the words spoken with a hint of laughter, a man turned around.
"Co on, chief, soone might hear you. Can you say things like that a little quieter?"
"Why should I? Should I be sad just because one guy I hated to even look at died? Especially when it's just so bottom-tier road manager."
The man called Chief gave a snort and swept his gaze around.
A few other employees flinched under his gaze and turned their eyes away.
"Still, wasn't it a serious accident? If it weren't for him, our people might have been caught up in it as well."
"Hey, Assistant Manager Kim. Are you taking his side?"
"N-no, it's not that. I just thought about our public image..."
"Hmph."
At assistant manager Kim's cautious words, the Chief chuckled in disbelief.
"It was that road manager's mistake to enter the dungeon in the first place. Well, I guess, like you said, thanks to him, our people survived, so maybe he did his job?"
"They were just lucky. If S-rank Hunter Shin Ah-yeon hadn't been there by coincidence, it would have turned into a national disaster."
"That's true. But I heard from Shin Ah-yeon herself that it was that guy who first sensed sothing wrong with the dungeon?"
"He did have an oddly sharp sense. Apparently, right away he sent our people out and clung to Shin Ah-yeon, who was on standby at the site, begging her for help."
"Ah~, I can picture it. That's just like him. This ti, was he just lucky that his intuition was right?"
"... Well, yes."
The Chief also knew well what had happened afterward.
That place they thought to be a simple dungeon had a 'gate' open inside it.
'It was an extraordinary incident.'
There are very few cases worldwide of a gate opening inside a dungeon.
Gates open suddenly, and their locations vary greatly.
They occur rarely, but because monsters pour out indiscriminately wherever they erge, in the past they caused far greater disasters than dungeons ever did.
Of course, these days, everything could be predicted, so it wasn't as big a problem.
However, in the exceptional cases where a gate forms inside a dungeon, even modern equipnt could barely detect it.
On top of that, if a gate opened inside a dungeon, the catastrophe was beyond comparison to either a dungeon break or a standard gate.
So-called gate rifts.
A phenonon also referred to as dinsional collapse.
A disaster that swallows up an entire region like a black hole, wiping everything out.
"Were there any other casualties besides that guy?"
"No. He was the last to evacuate, so he must not have made it out."
Of course, there were ways to stop a gate rift; if, before a rift occurred from the gate inside the dungeon, the core was destroyed and the gate shut, you could prevent it.
But doing sothing like that was impossible unless you were an S-rank Hunter.
It was truly luck that S-rank Hunter Shin Ah-yeon—nicknad the 'Great Mage'—happened to be there.
Thanks to her, the rift was subdued before it beca catastrophic, and the damage stopped within just a few hundred ters.
"Even so, S-rank Hunters really are monsters. That guy got sucked into the rift, but Shin Ah-yeon was even closer and walked out fine?"
"She said she took so ti off because she was in shock after seeing soone sucked in right before her eyes, though..."
"Still, there's a world of difference between the living and the dead, isn't there? I'm just glad that troubleso guy disappeared for good."
Humming contentedly, the Chief turned his back, and Assistant Manager Kim let out a faint sigh.
He then turned his gaze toward an empty desk.
It was the desk of the manager involved in the recent accident.
"Really, what was he thinking risking his life like that..."
There was no answer to his regretful muttering.
***
"Seriously, stop stepping on the area attacks!!"
In a dark room, a woman was pounding her keyboard as if to break it.
When 'Quest Failed' appeared on the screen, she leaned her forehead against the desk with a faint sigh.
"Ugh, what's with all the trolls in this stupid ga..."
Dragging herself up, she opened the fridge in her kitchen and popped open a can of orange juice.
The sour taste finally cleared her fuzzy mind.
"What ti is it, anyway...?"
She'd been on an upside-down sleep schedule for so long, she barely knew what ti it was.
As she drank and walked, she happened to catch her reflection in the mirror.
Hair, neither brushed nor trimd, trailing past her waist.
Dark circles under her eyes.
At least, thanks to her tabolism, she hadn't gained weight, but her health was clearly shot.
'Guess I should at least do so simple work soon.'
If anyone saw her like this, they'd be shocked speechless.
One of the seven greatest mages in the world.
Korea's greatest magical genius!
S-rank Hunter Shin Ah-yeon.
... That's what she was called, up until about three years ago.
But what about now?
After the incident three years ago, Shin Ah-yeon's body was ruined and she could no longer use magic.
A mage who can't use magic.
It didn't take long for her to go from being the star of her guild to becoming a useless burden, quickly cast aside.
'Not that I regret it, though...'
Three years ago, Shin Ah-yeon had entered a dungeon at a manager's request and sealed the rift.
To hold back a rift on the verge of bursting required squeezing out all her strength, and when the rift briefly opened, she'd really thought she would die.
'At least I survived by sacrificing all my magic power and abilities as a mage...'
But the manager who warned everyone didn't make it.
'If only I had done a little better.'
He'd co back to her after evacuating everyone else.
He steadied her as she wavered and helped her close the gate.
But as a result, he got sucked into the rift.
'If he hadn't helped , I would've been the one pulled in.'
She could still picture the scene clearly.
The man letting go of her hand.
"Haaa..."
The price for stopping a disaster.
Her body was ruined, and she couldn't save the manager.
For a while, she was celebrated as a hero for averting disaster and even received a dal, but that was it.
Shin Ah-yeon, not the Great Mage, was nothing but a worthless liability.
It didn't take long for her managent agency to kick her out.
So, at the young age of 21, she beca half-retired as a Hunter.
"Even at ho, everyone nags , so guess I have to find so kind of job."
Her earnings as an S-rank Hunter had been beyond imnse, but—
Shin Ah-yeon, who'd done nothing but Hunter work, had lost a fortune on reckless coin and stock investnts and could do nothing but hole up at ho.
'Ugh, I really thought at least one would hit big.'
But now even that was running out.
Her balance was clearly dwindling before her very eyes.
'So depressing.'
She wondered what she could do for work.
Having lived as a Hunter her whole life, she'd never done any proper job or had the confidence to start.
Should she try streaming online?
To be honest, her looks weren't bad.
She'd been popular even during her days as a Great Mage.
'But if I buy streaming gear, my bank account's really going to be cutting it close...'
Bzzzzt!
At that mont, Shin Ah-yeon's phone vibrated loudly.
Who could it be?
She glanced at the screen—it was an unknown number.
The only people who ever called her were her parents, so it was certainly strange.
'Spam loan? Voice phishing?'
That crossed her mind, but just in case, she answered the call.
【Hello, is this Hunter Shin Ah-yeon?】
In her ear ca a unfamiliar—but strangely familiar—male voice.
'Where have I heard this before?'
It didn't seem like soone she didn't know.
But "Hunter"? When was the last ti she gave up that work and vanished?
Whether or not he knew her thoughts, the man continued speaking.
【I just wanted to say hello—it's been a while, so I thought I'd check in.】
"A while? Have we t before?"
Shin Ah-yeon searched her mind for any man she knew with this voice, but then nearly dropped her phone at his next words.
【Three years ago, at the gate rift.】
"... What?"
That voice.
She'd wondered where she'd heard it, but as soon as he ntioned the gate rift from three years ago, it all ca back.
The manager who knelt before her back then.
And the one and only "missing person" she'd never been able to save.
His na was—
"Are you by any chance Park... Jung-woo?"
【Yes.】
As Shin Ah-yeon stamred his na, he replied with a voice carrying a hint of laughter.
【I returned a week ago.】
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
It's a slow start with an asshole boss.
We also saw Shin Ah-yeon which I assu will beco the FMC.
The MC only appeared at the end and we learned about him through other people's perspective.
Nothing unique yet, it's a cookie cutter premise of Players, gates and Dungeons, with
Seems good so far.
【????????(??????)】
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