Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 114 : The Responsible One (3)

The Responsible One (3)

"Why do you keep hesitating to use your ability?"

The day before Challengers began, during the final special training, Park Jung-woo said that.

"Ah, I'm not hesitating. I'm working hard, you know?"

"You're overthinking it. Try to use it more naturally."

"How am I supposed to do that naturally?"

"Do you think about breathing when you breathe? I'm telling you to do it as naturally as you would breathe."

At Park Jung-woo's brusque words, Alencia pouted her lips.

"You only talk harshly to me."

"I have never done that."

Of course, she knew.

It was just her complaining.

To him, and to her own lacking self.

"I must really have no talent. Even with a good teacher, this is all I can do."

Truthfully, even if Park Jung-woo blamed her for something, she couldn't really make any excuses.

'Everyone he had met up to now has been S-rank awakener, so I must look so foolish to him.'

Just as Park Jung-woo had investigated Alencia, Alencia had also looked up information about Park Jung-woo in Minerva. Because her mother was Korean, Alencia could read Hangul and was able to gather information from Korean websites.

Most of the stories about him were incredibly amazing to the point of being unbelievable.

'He's on a different level than me.'

Wasn't he even someone who appeared in the 'fairy tales' her mother used to tell her about?

Someone like that must find a delinquent like herself annoying.

"You're mistaken."

Park Jung-woo sighed and continued.

"I'm just frustrated because you're not doing what you can."

"... What?"

"You can just do what you want, but you keep hesitating."

"That's because..."

Because it was scary.

It wasn't some grand reason.

She had gotten used to charging magic power with electricity, but handling it was still scary to her.

Even during the recent test.

She'd smashed the device because she couldn't control her ability.

The same thing might happen again.

And maybe this time, it wouldn't just end with some broken machine...

"That definitely won't happen."

He assured her, seeing her worried.

"And even if, by the slim chance, such a thing actually happens..."

He smiled gently, as if telling her not to worry.

"I'll take responsibility for it, so don't be concerned."

She wanted to believe his words, almost reflexively.

***

"I won..."

Alencia muttered as she looked down at the collapsed Liam.

He seemed to be unconscious, but didn't appear to have any serious injuries.

It was really difficult for Alencia to control the power she'd gained in such a short time.

So she simply ran straight at him and collided with her whole body.

"My body... is fine."

Since it was a direct charge, she thought she might get hurt herself, but there wasn't any particular pain.

Come to think of it, she'd always been physically strong.

'Since I beat Liam, Challengers is our victory now.'

Even though Yeon-ji had been eliminated, the only hunters left on the other team were two C-ranks.

As long as she charged up like she just did, she could definitely win.

Challengers victory.

Thinking that, Alencia felt something well up in her chest.

For the first time, the joy of having achieved something.

She, who'd never done anything right, had beaten an A-rank hunter and won.

'I did it!'

But there was one thing Alencia had forgotten.

【Victory to 'Cindy, Gerald Team' by timeout.】

"Ah."

It was simply, the remaining time.

***

"About thirty minutes left, huh."

A man checked his watch and muttered.

He was due to arrive at his destination in about an hour.

"I don't know why this fast train is moving so slowly."

Muttering that, he slowly moved his gaze.

Nearby, people who had been tied up were collapsed, terrified.

Their eyes seemed to be asking him why he was doing this.

"I told you. It's just a job."

He leisurely walked among them, looking around.

He saw the interior of the train where he'd been staying as a 'passenger'.

Originally, the train should have stayed for a week at Denver Station, but now it was speeding along at a frightening pace.

From Denver, heading to the next stop: Las Vegas.

"Someone wants the 'heart' that's on this train."

The Heart of Prometheus.

The man didn't really know what that was.

He was just delivering it to the destination because the client had requested it.

But one thing did nag at him.

Had the client known exactly when and how the Heart of Prometheus would be moved?

'Well, that's not my concern.'

He just needed to do the job right.

'The plan was to eliminate Eugene at the right moment and steal it, but I got lucky.'

The Eugene who usually kept an eye on Minerva happened to leave his post briefly—what luck.

Thanks to that, he was able to kill all the guards at the station and hijack the train with ease.

Of course, Eugene would no doubt chase after Minerva as soon as he noticed, but by then it would be too late.

By then, the 'delivery' would already be complete.

【Did you ever have contact with him while at Minerva?】

At that moment, a familiar voice came through the earphones in his ear.

"There was no need to face him, right? It's true I know Eugene, but he doesn't like me."

【I'm not talking about Eugene Garland.】

"Then is there someone else? Maybe Alencia, who the client is interested in?"

But that one is a woman, so there's no way they would have said 'him'.

【Park Jung-woo.】

"Ah, him."

Of course, he remembered.

The last woman he met before Ivan Hunt disappeared on Jeju Island—Shin Ah-yeon.

And the manager of that woman was Park Jung-woo.

He was also the manager of Hwang Yeon-ji, who had shown remarkable performances in this Challenger event.

"But why?"

【The client specifically warned not to make contact with that man.】

"Any reason for that?"

【I'm not sure. But since it seems there hasn't been any particular contact, it shouldn't matter.】

A strange thing to say.

It sounded almost like a warning to be wary of Park Jung-woo, who was nothing more than a manager.

Park Jung-woo was indeed an unusual man.

He had whispered into Hwang Yeon-ji's ear to tell her a way to get the better of Eugene Garland, and skillfully taught Alencia, who had a unique ability.

'But still, he's just a manager.'

The person who had ordered this job was by no means ordinary.

Someone whose skills even he found hard to gauge.

So who was Park Jung-woo, about whom such a person would give a warning not to approach?

"If I'd known this, maybe I should have met him at least once."

The man murmured, stifling a light yawn.

At any rate, if there was another opportunity, maybe they would meet again.

Right now, completing this delivery took priority.

To the one waiting between Denver and Los Angeles.

'That one.'

***

"What a shame!"

PD Jung Joon-su was genuinely disappointed.

Victory was right there, but who would have thought she'd lose on a timeout?

"Not taking into account the time needed to recharge in between was the fatal mistake."

"Exactly."

It was great how she dramatically recharged and took down Liam.

But since she used up all her power, she'd needed to charge up again.

And there just wasn't enough time left to wait for Alencia.

"But look at this. The response has been explosive because of it!!"

A staff member showed PD Jung some Korean online community comments.

Just like he said, the online reaction was beyond incredible.

"Defeated an A-rank awakener and then lost on a timeout lol."

"That's some nun-chi, legendary IQ lol."

"Honestly, that was badass, am I right? If she'd had just 5 more minutes, she would've won."

"Yeon-ji is hilarious. The look on her face when she got timed out, like she lost her country."

"I didn't even know who Alencia was at first, but now I totally like her."

"If she'd had a sword, it would've been Lightning Flash, damn."

If she'd won, would it have been this much of a hot topic? He doubted it.

'If we break this down and air it in detail later...'

The record for concurrent viewers of the Challengers broadcast had been renewed at seven thousand, but that was nowhere near terrestrial broadcast numbers.

But it was enough for promotion, and since he could already tell the general reaction, airing it later would be a guaranteed blockbuster.

"We've got to be on Manager Park's good side."

"If you want to get both Yeon-ji and Alencia, that's the way to go, right?"

Everything he touched turned to gold.

PD Jung thought Park Jung-woo really had the golden touch.

"But has Manager Park not come back yet? I think he was called away by Hunter Eugene."

"Yes, it's been about two hours, but he hasn't returned."

If Park Jung-woo had watched this match, he'd have been the happiest, so PD Jung felt a bit regretful.

"Has the match finished?"

"Ah! You're here!"

At that moment, Park Jung-woo returned, straightening his slightly rumpled suit.

His expression looked unusually somber, but PD Jung chalked it up to imagination.

After all, Alencia and Yeon-ji had just achieved an unbelievable second place finish at Challengers.

Surely Park Jung-woo had already seen the online reaction, so there was no reason for him to feel bad.

"Manager Park, did Hunter Eugene call you for something urgent?"

"I'm sorry. It's not something I can talk about lightly..."

"Ah, then it can't be helped. I just wondered if Hunter Eugene might be interested in scouting our Manager Park."

PD Jung thought of Park Jung-woo as a real lucky charm.

If Eugene had figured that out and tried to scout him to Pandemonium, he would have been worried, but it didn't seem like that was the case.

"PD Jung."

"Yes?"

But unlike the joyful staff around him, Park Jung-woo's expression was nothing but grave.

"Later, please don't be too surprised by what I'm going to say to Alencia."

"Don't be surprised?"

"I'll make sure it's not an issue for the broadcast, so please just watch."

He wondered what on earth was going on, but for Park Jung-woo to speak this way, something was definitely up.

'Did something happen during his meeting with Eugene Garland?'

For now, that was all he could guess.

But there was no way Park Jung-woo would say something like that for no reason.

"All right. So I just have to keep still?"

"Yes, it's something that's absolutely necessary."

What could possibly be absolutely necessary?

He was curious, but PD Jung nodded anyway.

Soon, Alencia and Yeon-ji returned from their match, grumbling.

"Who dumps all their charged electricity in a single blast?"

"If I went easy and left him standing, I might not have knocked him out!"

Both had fair points, but it was hardly reasonable to expect the still-inexperienced Alencia to use exactly the right amount of power to defeat Liam.

"Ah!"

Just then, Alencia spotted Park Jung-woo and hurried over.

"Look at this!"

She proudly displayed a small trophy in her hand.

She hadn't won first place, but trophies were given up to third.

"I didn't get first, but I did come in second. Isn't that amazing? Right?"

Alencia was sure Park Jung-woo would praise her.

She hadn't won, but in the end, hadn't she personally defeated Liam?

Since he was the one who believed in her strength, he would surely say she did well.

That's what she thought.

"......"

But for some reason, Park Jung-woo's eyes, as he looked at Alencia, were subdued.

Alencia shrank back at his gaze.

"... What's wrong?"

She'd been eliminated at the end, but she'd done well handling her ability and had delivered results, so she thought he'd certainly be happy.

"Alencia."

Park Jung-woo's voice was heavy as it slowly came out.

The contrast with the bright atmosphere around made Alencia freeze.

"I think this is where we part ways."

And the words that followed were utterly unexpected for Alencia.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Alencia will still join Unique! I believe!

It's just some drama bullshit!

Please, let it be just some drama bullshit!

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】