Challengers (3)
"H-how is that even possible?"
PD Jung Jun-su, who was filming in the assigned location, kept rubbing his eyes at the strange exploits of Alencia.
"It's nothing special. She's just using electromagnetic waves to detect the hunters nearby."
It was much simpler than finding a hidden spoon.
As long as the contestants had even a single tal object on their bodies, escaping Alencia's electromagnetic waves was impossible.
After that, it was all straightforward.
Through the waves detected by Alencia, Yeon-ji would ambush the opponent.
If you lost the initiative to an A-rank awakener, it would hardly be necessary to think about how that would turn out.
Thanks to that, the two of them had taken the lead, to the point where it could be said they were dominating the early rounds.
「Is what Alencia's doing even possible?」
「Isn't that just magic? Sure, you could charge magic power with electricity, but how do you even use electromagnetic waves, lol」
「Show us Hwang Yeon-ji」
「Yeon-ji is really on another level compared to the other A-rank awakeners」
「Alencia's getting a sweet ride on the Yeon-ji bus」
「Honestly, that's map-hack, and that's all you need」
The reactions on the Korean online community were also ramping up.
The very fact that there was this level of response in Korea, where "Challengers" was originally unfamiliar, proved that the making-of videos had been effective.
"At this rate, Yeon-ji's going to beco a star when she gets back to Korea."
"Honestly, she's had good luck in many ways recently."
She had steadily been making headlines ever since Shim Chun-hoo.
For the Korean netizens, who found Alencia unfamiliar, Yeon-ji clearly stood out more in this "Challengers".
'For Alencia, this level of response is plenty.'
Getting people accustod was most important.
If Alencia's na beca known in Korea through this 'Challengers', it would be a huge help to future activities.
"Co to think of it, wasn't it Manager Park who discovered Hwang Yeon-ji as an awakened?"
While having that conversation with PD Jeong and watching the match, Kim Seung-hyun suddenly ca up and spoke to .
He didn't seem very interested in the matches—he didn't spare them a glance.
'Didn't he say he'd handed his comntary role over to Yeon Kyung-ho?'
Originally, he and Pyo Ji-yeol, who had a lot of knowledge about awakeners, were supposed to do the comntary.
But Kim Seung-hyun said he wasn't interested in broadcasting and boldly handed the spot to Yeon Kyung-ho.
'I still have no clue what he's thinking.'
Even at Minerva, he had mostly just looked at
with that odd gaze without actually doing anything.
Since he didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, even PD Jeong found it strange, wondering if he really wasn't interested in the broadcast.
But now, Kim Seung-hyun had co to
with a nervous look.
I felt like I might finally find out his true intentions, the ones he had been hiding.
"Yes, I just got lucky to discover her."
"Even if I accept it for Shin Ah-yeon-nim, after Lee Soo-ah, you found Hwang Yeon-ji too. I just can't believe it's all luck."
"Well, it's my own little breadwinning technique, so it'd be hard to explain in detail......"
Trailing off, I stared directly at Kim Seung-hyun's face.
"...... So, what's your real point?"
If I kept talking like this, it was clear he'd just keep dragging things out.
Since it had been on my mind, I decided to ask bluntly. Kim Seung-hyun answered with a smiling face.
"To be honest, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while, if I ever got the chance. But the opportunity just never ca up."
It made sense, since at Minerva he was almost always sticking with Alencia or Yeon-ji.
"This is a rare opportunity, so I think I can finally make my proposal."
"A proposal?"
Sohow, I had a hunch about what he ant.
The story about how managers in charge of Kim Seung-hyun quit soon after.
That was what suddenly ca to mind.
"Yes, I want to scout Manager Park Jung-woo. As my manager."
As expected—just what I thought.
When I didn't reply and just looked at him, he seed surprised by my reaction and quickly continued.
"I even decided to appear on this program because I wanted to have a conversation with you."
"I see."
"I've already spoken to Moon Halo's President, and you can get whatever signing bonus you want. I'll personally help make sure you can sign a contract with conditions incomparably better than with Unique or any such thing!"
"Why do you want to scout
to such an extent?"
"Because I trust that unlike the other incompetent managers, manager Park will actually recognize my talent."
As he said this, Kim Seung-hyun gave a twisted smile.
"If it weren't for all those incompetent managers up until now, I wouldn't be stuck as just an A-rank. But you, manager Park, are different. Even Lee Soo-ah, who had been stuck at C-rank for ages because of her magic power fission, you managed to turn her into an S-rank!"
With the way Kim Seung-hyun fired off his words like a machine gun, I wondered how he had even kept quiet until now.
And that was when I finally understood his behavior so far.
Especially the negative looks he'd given Yeon-ji—it was probably because I myself was directly managing her as an awakened.
'He's just soone who overestimated his own talent.'
By the standards of whether or not soone had talent, he did, to be sure.
But throwing around "S-rank" so lightly was out of the question.
At that rate, he'd need several more decades just to reach the doorstep of S-rank.
"Well, it's true that Hunter Kim Seung-hyun has excellent talent."
"As expected, you see it too, manager Park! So, if you just join Moon Halo—!"
"Unfortunately, I'll have to refuse your offer."
"... What?"
Kim Seung-hyun's smile froze, as if he hadn't expected
to refuse.
"I just prefer Unique over Moon Halo."
I tried to answer as mildly as possible, but honestly I found it laughable.
'Compared to the offer I got from the Tae-yeong Group...'
Moon Halo was big, but still nothing compared to the Tae-yeong Group.
Both in terms of money and the influence they could have on society, Tae-yeong was much greater.
Maybe Moon Halo had so conditions, but it couldn't possibly compare to the "blank check" offered by Tae-yeong.
"So I'm sorry, but I'll have to reject your proposal."
"W-wait, isn't that a bit hasty? Ah, if the contract offer isn't enough, I can contact the President and ask for it to be raised even more..."
"Manager Park!!"
Just as Kim Seung-hyun was about to blurt out so nonsense in a panic, a staff mber ca running, looking urgent, and shouted. Thanks to him, all eyes turned toward us, and Kim Seung-hyun could only grit his teeth and turn away.
"Haah, haah! Are you...are you busy right now?"
"No, I don't have anything to do at the mont anyway."
When I answered kindly, the staff, still catching his breath from rushing over, barely managed to get his words out.
He was a staff mber from KDC, not HSN.
"...... Hunter Eugene Garland asked if he could have a word with Manager Park."
"With ? Can you tell
why, by any chance?"
"I don't know exactly, but he said there was soone he wanted to introduce to you..."
He wanted to introduce
to soone?
It was so unexpected I couldn't help but feel puzzled.
***
Who could possibly know
in Arica who would want to be introduced?
Jung-woo found the whole matter curious, but he couldn't just not et them.
'Is this about the 'Challengers', maybe?'
He'd participated in Pandemonium, so maybe soone wanted to make him an offer.
With that in mind, he followed the staff but felt like they were moving to a strangely secluded place.
"I thought the Pandemonium waiting room was elsewhere."
Just as HSN got permission from the organizers for filming, KDC must have as well.
Which ant there would be a separate waiting room, and Pandemonium should've been there.
"Well, um..."
The staff averted his gaze from Jung-woo's, looking flustered.
Sothing was definitely off.
"Yeah, so you're Park Jung-woo, huh."
It was a voice he'd heard before.
Turning his gaze, he saw a rough-looking man walking over slowly.
'His na was, what, Derick sothing.'
He couldn't quite rember, but he was the guy who had unnecessarily picked on Alencia.
Jung-woo only rembered Derick that way.
"Are you seriously impersonating Hunter Eugene Garland?"
Still dumbfounded, he said as much, but Derick, with a weird kind of confidence, walked up to him.
"You really don't seem to know your place. If you want to get out of this safely, you'd better answer whatever I ask."
'What is it today, anyway?'
First Kim Seung-hyun, now Derick.
Why are so many people looking for
today?
"What did you do to Alencia to make her so strong so quickly? That bitch was just F-rank a while ago!"
In short, it was just jealousy.
Seeing an F-rank like Alencia outperform him had sparked a sense of inferiority.
"Pathetic."
"...!!"
"And threatening staff mbers, too... really impressive."
Jung-woo calmly even started clapping, genuinely impressed.
He only had one life, but Derick had gone so far as to impersonate a national S-rank hunter to try to call him out.
"So, who is it?"
"... What?"
"The person who gave you my na."
Jung-woo took a step closer to him.
Derick was about the sa height as Jung-woo, so their eyes t directly at eye level.
"You look like the type who wouldn't bother to look up my na yourself."
There had to be soone who'd told Derick about him and egged him on.
"Hah! Now even a re manager thinks he can look down on ?!"
Already fuming because of Alencia, Derick raised his fist in a rage.
He didn't seem to realize that a normal person hit by an awakened's fist could die instantly.
Right now, he just wanted to smash this arrogant manager and watch Alencia cry.
Crack!
"I asked who told you."
But Derick's fist never reached Jung-woo's face.
A strong grip caught him mid-swing, and Derick's arm couldn't move an inch.
'What...why won't it move?'
If he thought about it, the sa thing had happened before.
Back then, when he'd reached for Alencia, this guy had grabbed his arm.
'That can't be...it's just a regular guy, isn't he? I can't feel any magic power!'
He'd thought then that he'd just imagined it.
He hadn't been able to use his magic properly because he'd panicked and failed to use his full strength.
Or so he'd thought.
Creeeak, crackle!
"Ah, aaaaaagh!!"
It felt like his arm was going to break.
Even though Jung-woo didn't seem to be using much strength, Derick's arm made creaking, cracking sounds under the pressure.
The fear of having his arm broken swept over him.
"It-it was that Heo Sung-man guy! It was him!!"
"PD Heo Seong-man?"
"Y-yeah. That guy said you'd done sothing weird to Alencia!!"
Jung-woo slowly released his grip from the man who was practically screaming.
Then, he switched off the recording function on his phone with his left hand.
"You should've spoken up sooner."
"Hah...haah."
Jung-woo looked briefly at Derick, whose tears were brimming, then turned to the staff mber, who was now cowering beside them.
Having watched the whole scene, the staff looked up at Jung-woo with utter disbelief.
"Tell PD Heo Seong-man for ."
"I—I have no idea what even happened, or how, or..."
Judging by the frozen expression on his face, he truly hadn't expected any of this.
PD Heo Seong-man probably hadn't explained the details to the staff.
'In fact, PD Heo wasn't really involved much this ti.'
He'd just told the guy desperate to know how Alencia got strong so quickly what his na was. So, even if his na was ntioned now, it would not be hard for PD Heo to get out of it.
"You don't have to be too shocked. Just tell him that I'd like to et if he gets the chance."
Though of course, Jung-woo didn't expect him to actually agree to et.
But it was a warning.
That if this sort of thing happened again, it wouldn't be fun.
'Of course, that doesn't an I plan to just let this slide either.'
Luckily, there was soone here who could take care of that matter for him.
"I won't take any particular action, so don't worry."
"Th-thank you, I'll be sure to pass on the ssage to PD Heo..."
As Jung-woo spoke with a smile, the staff nodded—but then abruptly stopped.
"Hu, hunter Eugene!!"
Seeing the flustered staff mber, Jung-woo let out a faint sigh.
He'd actually noticed a while ago that Eugene had been following nearby.
"It would've been nice if you'd helped out sooner, if you were here."
"If I'd intervened earlier, it would've been harder to assess the situation."
He had a point.
Eugene, expressionless, walked over and looked down at the half-collapsed Derick.
"Get lost."
"... What?"
"That ans you're not worthy of putting Pandemonium's na to your own. If you don't want to crawl all your life, I recomnd you leave quietly."
"B—but I—!!"
"I told you."
Eugene slowly drew his sword from his waist.
"Leave."
"Hee—heeek!!"
At his chilling words, Derick scrambled away in panic.
As an S-rank hunter, Eugene could probably cut off Derick's limbs and still avoid any punishnt.
"Hmph."
Watching Eugene sneer at the fleeing Derick, Jung-woo asked slowly,
"But don't tell ... were you following
because you were worried about ?"
"I just had sothing to do here, that's all."
"... Sothing to do?"
Wondering what business he could possibly have out here in this deserted spot, Jung-woo looked around. Eugene pointed at him with his index finger.
"Manager Park Jung-woo. There's soone I want to introduce to you."
Wait, seriously?
This was one more thing he hadn't expected.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Stupid is what stupid does.
【????????(??????)】
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