Mainstream (1)

HunterNet.

Among the various communities, this was a large community that only awakeners could access.

Unlike general communities where anyone could post, in the case of HunterNet, one had to verify an 'Awakener Certificate' to register as a member, so it was the community where the most industry information flowed.

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Post: What's the current management tier like these days?

Upstream, once one of the Big 3 managements, has Yeon-hwa Ji on hiatus and various issues; I think they should probably be lowered a tier.

Is Grand Nova number one now, and Mirae Guild and Moon Halo the top two?

Replies

ㅇㅇ: Javelin Guild's doing well lately too. If you take out Upstream and put Javelin in their place, we can re-establish the Big 3 managements.

⌎ Silver Star: You're overrating Javelin too much;; They're not at that level. And anyway, their vice-guildmaster died.

⌎ ㅇㅇ: That's not true. Javelin Guild definitely belongs in the top 3 guilds these days. Even though what happened to Shim Chun-hoo was serious, they have a few people to replace him.

Aspiring S-rank Hunter: Actually, it'd make more sense to put Unique into the Big 3 managements rather than Javelin, right? Even though they're short on hunters, they have two S-rank hunters. And they've even got that promising young one lately.

⌎ Hanwoo Bulgogi: Hwang Yeon-ji, right? She's honestly at a crazy level for her age...

⌎ ㅁㅁㅁ: But doesn't Unique lack too much infrastructure to join the Big 3 managements? Plus, under S-rank, their hunter count is honestly on par with some third-rate managements.

⌎ ㅇㅇ: Their number of S-ranks is competing with Grand Nova, but a management with fewer than 50 hunters in total?

Mainstream Detector: Honestly, Unique is the mainstream these days. Agreed, agreed.

==

Tsk.

"Ha."

A man reading the online posts turned with a mirthless laugh.

"Manager Cha, what do you think about this post?"

At his words, the man called Manager Cha swallowed hard.

He had no idea what kind of answer was being looked for.

"I, in my opinion, the top management right now is definitely our Moon Halo, then the Mirae Guild, and then Javelin."

"I've heard some troubling rumors about Javelin recently, though? They're being investigated over Vice-guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo."

"That sort of thing is pretty common in this industry."

"Hm."

The man chuckled at Manager Cha's reply.

It wasn't strictly wrong. Javelin Guild had been shaken recently.

But, as a guild with a history, it wasn't swaying as much as Upstream.

And, just like in the comment section, even without Shim Chun-hoo, there were plenty of potential replacements.

Maybe no one was at Shim Chun-hoo's level, but there were quite a few just one step below in Javelin Guild.

"These people really don't know anything, do they?"

"What don't they know?"

"Unique. You know why Unique's name value has risen so much lately, right, manager Cha?"

"Well, of course, it's because they have two S-rank hunters..."

Thud!!

Manager Cha's words stopped as the man slammed his desk.

'Did I say something wrong?'

As a result, manager Cha could only tremble and watch the man's reaction.

A man in his mid-twenties, remarkably handsome with a gentle impression.

'Damn, people really should know the real Kim Seung-hyun.'

Kim Seung-hyun, after hitting his desk hard, gave Manager Cha a thin smile.

But that smile was just a front.

Manager Cha, who'd been by Kim Seung-hyun's side for the past few months, knew that for a fact.

"Yes, it's natural that a management rises in name when S-rank awakeners join. But that's not what I'm asking."

"Then..."

"Why are those S-ranks at Unique?"

Only then did Manager Cha realize what Kim Seung-hyun was getting at.

There was someone at Unique recently who'd become just as much of a hot topic as the two S-ranks.

"Oh! Are you talking about Manager Park Jung-woo?"

"As expected, manager Cha, I like how quick you are on the uptake. You're not like the useless people I've worked with before."

"Ha, haha. Thank you."

The 'useless people' Kim Seung-hyun referred to were those who managed him before Manager Cha. Victims of his notorious reputation for having become an A-rank hunter in his mid-twenties.

Manager Cha sometimes thought he might end up the same as them.

"Rumor has it that Manager Park has some kind of secret too. Some say he's a returnee... But, I see that as just gossip. Anyway, thanks to Park Jung-woo, Shin Ah-yeon returned successfully, and Lee Soo-ah became an S-rank hunter."

"Y-yes. That's why so many hunters have started flocking to Unique lately because of Manager Park Jung-woo, right?"

"That's right. So, the key to Unique isn't the two S-rank hunters, but Manager Park Jung-woo."

Manager Cha nodded absentmindedly at Kim Seung-hyun's calm explanation, though honestly, he couldn't really accept it.

'He's just a manager, isn't he?'

Sure, he'd appeared on broadcasts and been at the center of buzz for various reasons, but in the end, he was just a manager.

A manager's reputation follows the capability of the hunters they handle, and Park Jung-woo just got lucky with the S-rankers.

'Shin Ah-yeon and Lee Soo-ah were just really lucky, too.'

As a fellow manager, manager Cha was aware of the industry gossip.

Park Jung-woo became Shin Ah-yeon's manager because of the connection from the rift incident three years ago.

And in Lee Soo-ah's case, they supposedly bumped into each other by chance at a baseball stadium.

"So, I'm thinking of bringing it up to the President."

"Huh?"

"I wonder if there's a way to bring Manager Park Jung-woo to our Moon Halo."

"U-Unique won't let him go though..."

"Manager Cha, you said earlier that out of the current Big 3 managements, the top is Moon Halo, right?"

Moon Halo included within its ranks 'Baek Hojun', who could be called the best swordsman in Korea.

Even among the illustrious Grand Nova, there was said to be no greater swordsman than Baek Hojun.

"With Moon Halo's strength, I believe we can bring in Manager Park Jung-woo. If not... I'll just have to find a place that can."

"Gasp...!"

Faced with Kim Seung-hyun's bold statement, manager Cha was rendered momentarily speechless.

But Kim Seung-hyun was someone who could make such statements.

Though overshadowed by Shin Ah-yeon and Lee Soo-ah, aside from such irregulars, Kim Seung-hyun was widely considered to have the highest potential.

Moon Halo was grooming Kim Seung-hyun as the post-Baek Hojun star, and the management would do anything to support his wishes.

"Oh, right. I heard Manager Park Jung-woo will be appearing on a TV show soon. Maybe I should ask the President if I can participate as well. Wouldn't it be good to leave an impression in advance?"

Kim Seung-hyun spoke as if bringing Park Jung-woo over to Moon Halo were already a done deal, and Manager Cha could only nod.

'They're going to make a record-breaking offer.'

As a fellow manager, he could only be envious, but if Park Jung-woo did come, he would be free from managing Kim Seung-hyun, which made him excited.

Little did he know that Park Jung-woo had already received — and long ago rejected — an offer that was as good as a blank check.

***

"Jung-woo! Aren't we really going to make it into the Big 3 management groups at this rate?"

Unique's President, Choi Sung-hwan, was lately in a great mood.

He was certainly busier due to the sheer amount of work, but the growing prestige of Unique made all that worthwhile.

Especially since they'd hit rock bottom before their revival, his longing for success was even greater.

S-rank hunters Shin Ah-yeon and Lee Soo-ah.

Lately, even Yeon-ji was starting to shine, so the future looked bright for Unique.

With Upstream shaken to its core, if things went well, taking a spot among the Big 3 managements seemed possible.

"No way."

But Jung-woo poured cold water on Sung-hwan's optimism with a sigh as he handed him the delayed approval documents.

"Even if we have S-rank hunters, what does a management with nothing else have to join the top 3?"

"... Hey, can't I dream a little bigger?"

Sung-hwan grumbled as he started to read through the documents Jung-woo handed over.

Lately, while Sung-hwan had been out networking, most internal matters were handled by Jung-woo and Director Song.

But with Jung-woo about to go to the U. S. to film a variety show, they had to take care of his work beforehand.

"Still, you're training some rookies, right? How's that going?"

"Pretty smoothly, actually. At this rate, we'll have around ten B-rank hunters soon."

"Ten? That's actually really good."

Currently, Unique only had enough B-rank hunters to count on one hand.

That was after Isung-Yun left and including all those who joined attracted by Shin Ah-yeon and Lee Soo-ah's names.

"Anyone stand out? Like Soo-ah?"

"No one quite at Soo-ah's level, of course, but there are some whose skills have improved pretty quickly. One even went from C-rank to B-rank in a few months."

"Who is it?"

"Hunter Yun Seung-hyuk."

Jung-woo thought of one hunter in particular who especially followed his guidance.

It was common for rookies to trust their manager, but this time, several were almost fanatically devoted.

If Jung-woo said something, they'd act as though it was a given.

Yun Seung-hyuk was particularly so among them.

"Since Ah-yeon and Soo-ah are S-rank, it's hard for them to move easily. It's about time we assembled a proper party to tackle dungeons regularly."

"If we split up the B-rank hunters, how many C-rank dungeon parties do we get?"

"About four parties."

"Not bad."

That was enough to be considered a mid-tier management.

Choi Sung-hwan felt emotional again. At this rate, making it into the top 3 didn't seem like a dream.

"Personally, I'd like to build two B-rank parties and one A-rank party, though."

"Hey, but we'd need an A-rank hunter for that. Would you make Ah-yeon-ssi or Soo-ah-ssi the leader?"

"That would be inefficient for them—solo hunts are a better use of their strength."

From the start, S-ranks were on another level.

If you didn't build parties of all S-ranks, the others would just be baggage.

"If only an A-rank hunter would just show up and join..."

Just as the gap between S-ranks and the rest was huge, there was a big difference between A-rank and B-rank parties, too.

Unlike S-ranks, who had dungeon restrictions, A-rank parties had none, so they greatly impacted a management's revenue.

In fact, Upstream had made it into the top 3 by having the most A-rank parties, hadn't they? An A-rank party could bring in more income than ten B-rank parties.

"Anyway, leave the paperwork to me. I have an external meeting today."

"Work? Oh, is it that today?"

"Yes, it's been a long time coming."

I threw on my coat and checked the time.

With three hours left until the event started, I needed to move soon to pick up Ah-yeon and arrive comfortably.

"The 'World of Superhumans' premiere."

At last, Ah-yeon's long film shoot was about to come to fruition.

***

Awakener examinations in the U. S. usually took about a week.

In some expedited cases, it could finish in a day, but more detailed examinations took longer.

"Hi! It's Alencia. This is already the third day of testing, I'm so bored."

Saying so, Alencia turned the camera to show her surroundings.

It was attention-grabbing, but she wasn't the only one filming; a few other streamers were visible inside.

'Why did she also have to come for awakening tests?'

Among them was one streamer Alencia recognized.

A popular American streamer who had long been rumored to be awakened.

So, Alencia had figured she'd come to get tested sooner or later, but who knew their dates would overlap.

'And at the New York testing center, of all places.'

But it couldn't be helped.

Even in the U. S., there were fewer than ten awakening testing centers, so overlaps weren't too strange.

【How's the test going? Think you'll get a good rank?】

That moment, someone commented via superchat.

'If you've been watching the stream, why ask that?'

It was an unfamiliar nickname: wjddn9528—no clue how to read that.

Anyone following the stream would know how ignored Alencia had been throughout the exam process—how could they ask such a snide question?

She wanted to ignore it, but the large superchat amount was the problem.

A whopping $200.

Of course, popular streamers might get even more, but for a low-tier streamer like Alencia, $200 was big money.

'Hmph, so I don't have money, doesn't mean I have no pride, you know?'

Thinking that, Alencia spoke confidently.

"The test is a total bust, not even sure if I'll get a rank. If you want to ask more, ask anything! I'll tell all!"

Of course, pride didn't pay the bills.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Yeah, I'm guessing Alencia will become Unique's S-rank as well.With her personality, she will fit well with Unique.This really is S-rank Management Manual.【【_】a(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】

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