Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 146 : Survival Program (1)

Survival Program (1)

"PD Heo Seong-man is dead?!"

Startled, I blurted out thoughtlessly, and PD Do put his index finger to his lips, gesturing for me to be quiet.

"Let's not talk so loudly. Anyway, he was found dead at his home three days ago. We don't know if it was murder or suicide, but it's currently being considered suicide. The TV station is keeping it under wraps, so there aren't even any news reports yet."

"...... That's..."

Still, PD Heo Seong-man had a fairly well-known name at KDC.

For someone like that to be found dead at home and not have a single news article about it—

'All this time, I've been too busy to hear any news from the station...'

Even though Heo Seong-man bothered us quite a bit in the US, I never thought he'd end up killed like this.

"They say the cancellation of the US variety show really hit him hard, and apparently he spent all his time at home in self-reflection. I guess that's how he started having dark thoughts."

PD Do's explanation seemed reasonable.

Most likely, the people who killed Heo Seong-man orchestrated things that way.

'The timing is just too coincidental for it to really be suicide.'

Was this an attempt to keep the Relic Fiesta quiet?

Even if so, nothing had actually been exposed yet, so for him to be killed immediately implied Heo Seong-man was deeply entangled in some very unsavory business.

'At least he wasn't a demon.'

If he had been a demon, they wouldn't have bothered staging his death as a suicide at home.

There's no benefit to killing someone that conspicuously.

'People involved with demons.'

It was clear that someone—not Javelin or JM, but someone—had allied with the demons.

They manipulated Heo Seong-man, and once he had outlived his usefulness, killed him.

'Of course, there's also a chance it really was just a simple suicide...'

If he'd killed himself over screwing up a variety show, he wouldn't have messed with Relic Fiesta in the first place.

"Anyway, let's drop the subject of PD Heo Seong-man. It just leaves a bad aftertaste."

PD Do scratched the back of his head and sighed.

No matter how much he disliked the man, he seemed uncomfortable about the way his colleague had met his end.

"So, you're here today about a broadcast gig, right, manager Park? Considering you came to see me, are you asking around for variety shows?"

"That's correct."

By now, we understood each other with barely a word.

"In that case, you didn't really need to find me, did you?"

"Most of the opportunities are just empty promises. And I don't plan to appear in just any show."

"Well, since it's going to be produced by the network anyway, coming to me won't change much but..."

Despite his words, producer Do was a veteran PD at HSN.

Though he'd been pushed aside by PD Jung Jun-su for a while, hadn't he made a dazzling comeback with SuHunK?

"So, are you looking for a regular variety show? Or a hunter variety? Actually, I guess there's no point asking; it must be a regular show."

Just as he said, if it were a hunter variety, there would be no problem just signing up for any show.

"Let's see... Who are you planning to send from Unique for the show, by the way?"

"Hunter Alencia."

"In that case, there's actually something that would be perfect."

Just like that?

I eyed him suspiciously, but for some reason he avoided my gaze and cleared his throat.

And when I heard what he said next, I immediately understood why.

"... It's a variety show that I'll be producing."

***

Yeon-ji's daily life had become extremely uncomfortable lately.

To be more precise, her body was comfortable, but her mind was far from it.

"Water."

"Yes, here you go, my lady."

Yeon-ji clicked her tongue at the sight of Ronbil dashing to bring her water the moment she asked.

At this rate, she really felt like some kind of noble.

As she accepted the cup of water from Ronbil, Yeon-ji asked,

"Fine, but don't you have any pride?"

"Pardon?"

"If anyone saw, they'd think you were my servant."

Of course, if he overstepped, Shin Ah-yeon was bound to cut this demon called Ronbil's throat, so it wasn't strange that he listened.

But for some reason, he went particularly overboard with her.

'That Shin Ah-yeon girl really is remarkably hostile to demons.'

She'd never realized it before since she hadn't encountered demons, even when she herself became a monster, Shin Ah-yeon had tried to save her.

Even after becoming half-demon, Ah-yeon's attitude toward her didn't change.

But looking at how she handled Ronbil or Ardan, you could feel just how much she truly despised them.

"Wasn't I a servant?"

"... That's a problem in itself. Are you really satisfied with such a role?"

"Being the duchess's servant is a great honor."

Wasn't this guy a titled-rank demon?

He was still an intermediate-rank demon and had impressive skills.

Frankly, as an A-rank, she couldn't possibly overpower Ronbil the way Ah-yeon or Soo-ah could.

'It just goes to show—there's a world of difference between S-rank and A-rank...'

No matter how close to S-rank an A-rank is, they're still an A-rank.

"So, father... well, that person, is he really that great?"

He looked like he'd been beaten up by Soo-ah.

And before that, he'd gotten thoroughly thrashed by Jung-woo, so his condition was a mess.

"Of course! He's a hero among demons. Even though he's just a count now and has fallen from grace... but Ronbil here truly respects the duke."

It was hard to tell if this was just empty talk for survival.

But then, if it was all a lie, he wouldn't be trying to get on my good side like this.

"So... is that duchess from long ago really dead?"

"Yes, that's right. That's why the duke has been living in isolation up north."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"I was too young at the time to really remember..."

Ronbil reminisced about what happened 300 years ago.

There was hardly any information known about Ardan's daughter, Yuria.

All he knew was that she was frail, had striking white hair, and was an unusually beautiful girl.

And that she'd been murdered while the duke was away.

"There is no need to know about Yuria."

As Ronbil was speaking, Ardan entered Shin Ah-yeon's mansion.

As Ah-yeon joked, the house had practically become public property by now.

"She's just someone from the past."

"Oh my, is that what you say after coming all this way to find someone from the past?"

Ardan only gave a small, amused smile at Yeon-ji's taunting tone.

It was the look of a parent gazing at a teenage daughter.

'Ugh, seriously!'

When had she ever been treated like a child before?

Even though she had a youthful appearance, Yeon-ji was by no means young.

"I might look like this, but I'm actually thirty, you know? Don't treat me like a kid."

Usually, she didn't mind being seen as childish.

She even felt good about it.

Yet, for some reason, it irritated her to be treated like a kid by this man.

"If you're thirty, you're still a kid."

"He is right."

The problem was, since both of them were demons, thirty was still considered a child.

At Ardan's words, Yeon-ji pointed at her own forehead.

"Come on! How long are you going to treat me like your daughter because of this? I just..."

She had only become like this because of a mistake driven by greed.

Just as she was about to say that, Yeon-ji closed her mouth.

Ah, perhaps she shouldn't have said that.

No matter what, maybe she shouldn't say that to someone looking for their lost daughter.

But she wasn't the real daughter, and she didn't want to take part in this awkward family act.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something."

Ardan approached her and bent down to match her eye level.

"Where do you think a demon's soul resides?"

"... What are you talking about?"

"Exactly what I said. Do you know where the demon's soul resides?"

How on earth would she know?

When she just stared with a sulky expression, Ardan tapped the gem embedded in her forehead with his index finger.

"It's contained in this core."

"Huh?"

"Do you know why someone who swallows a demon's heart gets taken over by it? Because they can't handle the soul inside."

Then what was she, exactly?

When she looked at him, curious, he continued calmly.

"But you have two souls that have completely fused together, forming a single being."

"Meaning..."

"To me, you're as good as my daughter reborn."

So that's why he'd been treating her like a daughter.

Yeon-ji finally understood his behavior.

"But I look different from your daughter, and if our souls have fused, it's more like I've taken over her body, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter. There's no such thing as reincarnation for demons anyway. You could say that my daughter's soul, contained in the core, gained a new life by fusing with you."

At his words, Yeon-ji subconsciously touched the core on her forehead.

It felt strangely warm.

"And for reasons I don't know... you do look exactly alike. That's why, when I first saw you, I thought my daughter had come back to life."

"R-Really?"

It might have been a platitude, but somehow it made her happy.

Anyway, now that she was told she'd fused perfectly with the soul in the core, there was no reason to feel uneasy about it.

"Ah, then there's something else I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"Then Manager Park... does Park Jung-woo also have a soul in the Demon King's heart embedded in his chest?"

If a demon's heart contained a soul, it meant the Demon King's heart would, too.

If that caused problems for him...

"No, the Demon King's heart doesn't have a soul."

"What's different about it?"

"The Demon King's heart may be called a 'heart', but it's really more accurate to call it a 'crown'."

Whoever embeds and absorbs that core becomes the next king.

If the Demon King's heart is destroyed, the power inside disperses and is naturally recreated within a qualified demon, enabling the king's rebirth—so in practice, it's impossible to truly extinguish it.

"So, manager Park didn't really absorb the heart into his body?"

"He didn't. He just forcibly used the heart by embedding it into his body. Normally, he would have died long ago."

"And now? Is he really okay?"

As Yeon-ji kept asking questions about Jung-woo, Ardan's expression gradually darkened.

"... Why are you so curious about that?"

"Huh?"

"You seem unusually interested in that man, Hwang Yeon-ji."

"Wha—No, it's not like that! Why do you make it sound weird?"

"Hm..."

Ardan folded his arms and gazed down at her.

At his odd gaze, Yeon-ji suddenly felt her face grow hot.

"Ugh, fine! If you don't want to answer, don't! I can find out myself, you know?"

I was only asking because I was worried, she grumbled.

As Yeon-ji shouted and hurried back to her room, Ardan watched her back and sighed.

"She really is in her adolescence after all."

"Thirty is just about when adolescence hits for demons."

At Ardan's mutter, ronbil chimed in from the side.

As he said, for demons, thirty was the age when adolescence began.

***

After finishing the meeting and the final discussion about the soon-to-air variety show "From F-rank to S-rank" with PD Do, I returned to Unique to find Sung-hwan staring holes into his computer monitor.

"What are you looking at so intently?"

"Oh, you're back. How'd the meeting go?"

"Fine. I've booked a meeting for Alencia."

"Not that it really matters. At this point, they're basically bringing offers to you."

As Sung-hwan said, once you became the 'it' person, the tables turned.

I didn't need to ask PD Do for anything—if anything, he'd beg me to come on his show.

"Well, that aside... Do you know about it?"

"I don't know everything, so please don't leave out the subject of your sentences."

"Odyssey. I mean Odyssey."

That topic was already giving me a headache.

Korea now had more S-rank awakeners than ever before.

The public was eagerly anticipating Korea's participation in Odyssey, so by now, it was basically a given that we'd compete.

'Losing Shin Ah-yeon for Odyn's Eye hurts too much.'

Participating in Odyssey was a chance not just for national pride, but to show skills on the world stage.

It was agonizing to lose out on a chance to display Ah-yeon's and Soo-ah's skills to the world.

"Our participation in Odyssey has been confirmed."

"So it's official now?"

"Yeah, the association sent out a notice today."

I nodded, a bit surprised that the decision came faster than I expected, and Sung-hwan looked at me with an odd expression.

"What is it?"

"The association wants you to come in for a bit."

"... Huh?"

What was that supposed to mean?

Wondering if he was joking, I looked at him and Sung-hwan smirked.

"They want you as the main manager for this Odyssey."

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

It's the small things that makes me smile while reading this novel.

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