Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 174 : Dark Horse (2)

Dark Horse (2)

Ka-ga-ga-gak!!!

He angled the sword in his hand, parrying the spearhead thrust toward his chest.

Spinning his body half a turn, he put strength into his sword and struck the spearhead upward.

Here, using the rebound, Park Jung-woo stepped back two paces and spun to his right, swinging his spear.

'They're the same.'

Felix's movements were also the same.

At that absurdity, Baek Hojun couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

How could there be such a simple fight as this?

'I'll have to ask him to go a little easier next time.'

Baek Hojun's sword moved, tracking the trajectory of the spear.

The important thing was not that the spear was in motion, but that the sword was already there, one step ahead.

'What is this?'

At first, he thought he was mistaken.

But as the fight went on, it became obvious.

Baek Hojun was reading Felix's movements perfectly.

He moved as though he already knew what attack was coming next.

It wasn't simply a matter of detailed analysis or that level; it was as though he had fought Felix himself countless times.

"Hunter Baek Hojun endures Felix's fierce onslaught!"

"He must endure! There will surely be an opening!"

Commentator Hwang Sung-yeon's shout was picked up by commentator Hong Byung-woo.

They thought Baek Hojun was barely holding out against Felix's barrage.

Other countries' commentators were not much different.

The Korean Hunter was being pushed onto the defensive by battle-hardened veteran Felix—they thought.

"He's completely got him."

But watching the fight, America's S-rank Hunter Ryan Knox clicked his tongue briefly.

"Got him? What do you mean?"

"I mean that this Hunter Baek Hojun has completely absorbed Felix's skills."

To the S-rank Hunter candidate watching the match with him, Ryan answered concisely.

"What kind of magic did he use? This must be Baek Hojun's first real fight with Felix. Still, he moves like he's faced him many times before."

Having fought Felix himself in the last Odyssey, Ryan could tell even better.

Felix's spear technique was persistent, almost flawless and without openings.

But Baek Hojun was overwhelming it.

He was shutting Felix out so completely that he couldn't even use his Conceptualization Technique.

"Alencia Walker."

"Uh, yes?"

Alencia, who was currently streaming the match on the Internet, was startled at Ryan's sudden address.

'Why's he talking to me?'

To be honest, Alencia felt uncomfortable here.

It was nice to have become popular in America and to participate as a representative, but all the other American representatives were excessively serious.

'I wanted to participate for Korea.'

Although Alencia was a mixed blood with Korean ancestry, her nationality was American, so she couldn't avoid it. To the other S-rank Hunters, she was like an outsider taking a native's place, and thus the stares cast at her were not friendly.

"Baek Hojun was Hunter Jung Yoo-shin's disciple, wasn't he?"

"Th—that's right."

No matter what, Alencia could not speak informally to Ryan Knox.

Star S-rank Hunters stood behind Ryan, glaring at Alencia.

"He was indeed a talented young man, but not on this level. What on earth happened?"

"Well..."

Alencia hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"My manager's kind of a superhuman, you know."

"Your manager? Ah."

At last, Ryan recalled Alencia's manager, Park Jung-woo.

"You mean he influenced Baek Hojun?"

"Yes! The sword he's using now—our manager made that, you know."

She said it as if it was no big deal, but it was definitely not the kind of thing to be said so nonchalantly.

'That sword was made by Park Jung-woo?'

He'd seen videos of him coaching Alencia, and knew that most of the information about him was shrouded in mystery; that alone was enough to know he wasn't an ordinary person.

But making equipment like that was a different matter altogether.

The magic sword Baek Hojun held was by no means a common artifact.

If a sword like that appeared in the world, countless swordsmen would line up with cash in hand.

Among them, he'd probably be in line himself.

That was the value of the sword Park Jung-woo had made.

Even without considering his managerial abilities, that alone made him astronomically valuable.

"If it's the manager, I think he'd have easily told him how to beat that old man. Ah, he's not just swinging upward, you know?"

Muttering to herself at a comment posted on the stream, Alencia quickly spoke up.

Given that it didn't sound like a joke at all, Ryan was confused.

'You should have watched the match here in person.'

He thought of Owen McGregor, who didn't bother to attend, assuming the result was obvious.

Unlike his expectations, the result was anything but obvious.

Everything, from one to ten, was unexpected.

Baek Hojun and Felix determined victory without even using the S-rank-defining Conceptualization Technique.

But there was a small yet significant difference.

Baek Hojun 'had not used' the Conceptualization Technique,

Whereas Felix 'could not use' his Conceptualization Technique.

That was the gap, and the information difference between the two.

It was this that left Ryan Knox bewildered.

***

The first major upset of Odyssey.

A Korean representative utterly defeated Germany, a nation known as a powerhouse.

Felix, who had launched a relentless assault on Baek Hojun, lost helplessly the moment he exposed a small opening, and the other two S-rank Hunters were utterly overwhelmed by Baek Hojun.

Due to the tournament system, where the victor can keep fighting, Baek Hojun singlehandedly wiped out the entire German team.

"When did Baek Hojun become an S-rank Hunter? He's thirty, isn't he?"

"With talent like that, how could he have gone unnoticed for so long?"

"You all may not know, but Baek Hojun is a Hunter who fought alongside Hunter Shin Ah-yeon as a member of the demonic zone raid."

Naturally, information about Baek Hojun, who demolished Germany singlehandedly, spread instantly.

The fact that he'd participated in the world's only successful demonic zone raid, the Sichelmond Raid, also spread through each online community.

"But at that time, he wasn't this skilled. In fact, hunter Shin Ah-yeon stood out more back then."

Interviews with S-rank Hunters who had participated in that demonic zone raid resurfaced.

As a result, the genius great mage Shin Ah-yeon, who was said to be even more skilled than Baek Hojun at the time, was reevaluated.

Given the outcome for Germany, who'd underestimated the Korean team based on the reputation the two had back then, it was only natural.

"No matter what, that was too much."

At my rebuke, Hojun gave a wry smile.

"But I couldn't just stand still when the answer was right in front of me."

Well, I understood. After sparring with me for several days, he'd become so familiar with Felix's movements that he'd wanted to experiment.

It just so happened that the gap between Baek Hojun and Felix was bigger than I'd expected, making for quite a stir.

'Honestly, in this Odyssey, the only Hunters who can properly fight Baek Hojun can be counted on one hand.'

After taking a step forward while fighting Soo-ah and now holding a sword I made, he was nearly flying on the battlefield.

After defeating Felix, he went on to face the two veteran S-rank Hunters and beat them without allowing even a single effective hit.

"I want to fight next."

Perhaps inspired by Hojun, Soo-ah made a rare request to me.

Since we knocked out Germany, our next opponent was Canada.

Not to dismiss Canada, but frankly, there was no real need for Soo-ah to step in.

'This is a job for Hong Ji-hak or Shin Yoo-baek to mop up.'

Though their rankings had dropped, they were by no means weak Hunters.

The two of them alone could easily take care of Canada without needing to worry...

"Ahem."

At that moment, Shin Yoo-baek and Hong Ji-hak quietly cleared their throats and approached me.

"... Could you do for us what you did for Hunter Baek Hojun?"

It seemed that with all attention on Baek Hojun for crushing Germany, Shin Yoo-baek and Hong Ji-hak were feeling self-conscious. I nodded at their request.

"It's not difficult."

"Re—really? But I heard you don't have the best feelings toward Grand Nova..."

"Certainly, from Unique's perspective, Grand Nova isn't exactly desirable. But I'm not here as Unique's manager right now, am I?"

Their lower rankings were purely because they hadn't participated in the ranking matches, not because of anything intentional on my part.

I was here as the coach of Odyssey.

'I'm also confident that Ah-yeon or Soo-ah aren't any less than these two.'

And Yeon-ji as well. If she could just realize her potential, she'd be a force on par with Shin Yoo-baek or Hong Ji-hak.

"By the way, is Ah-yeon... is Shin Ah-yeon-nim getting ready to go to Odin's Eye?"

Ah-yeon was scheduled to visit Odin's Eye on October 20th.

That meant, in short, she needed to be in UK within two days.

"Do I really need to prepare for such a brief trip?"

I cautiously asked Soo-ah, only to hear Ah-yeon's tired voice from behind me.

"Why the long face when you haven't even fought yet?"

"It's... it's nothing. I just didn't sleep well last night."

"You?"

"I guess it's because the bed is different."

Ah-yeon wasn't the type to lose sleep over a change in bed, but I didn't press further.

She clearly didn't want to say why she'd slept poorly.

"By the way, how shameless you two are. Weren't you just being stubborn? Now suddenly so meek?"

Ah-yeon glared at Shin Yoo-baek and Hong Ji-hak, who'd been talking with me moments before.

Unable to retort under Ah-yeon's gaze, they just furtively looked away.

Ah-yeon might feel otherwise, but I was actually relieved by their attitude.

'Looks like Jin Su-hyuk's influence hasn't deeply reached those two.'

Actually, my participation in Odyssey wasn't only to give Ah-yeon, Soo-ah, and Yeon-ji a chance to shine.

Of course, that was part of it, but more importantly, I was here to find which of the participating S-rank Hunters was connected to demons.

Jin Su-hyuk was, in my view, one of the most likely candidates.

'There's definitely an S-rank who's been tampered with by the demons to fight against us.'

Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to pick a fight with mankind.

They had the means to tempt S-rank Awakener and would have used them to the fullest.

'Just like with Javelin Guild.'

But Javelin Guild was only an errand runner that could be cut off at any time. The real deal was elsewhere.

Take 'UnderStellar', for example.

'And I have to find Henate's whereabouts too.'

Henate, the Butcher, one of the three dukes of the Demon Realm.

He was summoned in an incomplete state and then disappeared completely.

I'd told Enoch, but seeing as there was no further news, Henate must not have been active at all.

'There's no way that ferocious monster is lying low for no reason.'

Where did he go?

What is he doing?

To find out, I was keeping a close eye on the many countries and S-rank Hunters here at Odyssey.

"Anyway."

I raised my voice so everyone present could hear.

"For now, let's focus on winning. I'll help as much as I can to make that happen."

Having beaten Germany, Korea was now under the spotlight of many countries.

But there was still suspicion and distrust in their eyes.

Some said Baek Hojun's individual skills were exceptional, while others said Germany was caught off guard because Felix hadn't even used his Conceptualization Technique.

Still, it was certain we were being watched much more closely than before.

Dark Horse.

That was what everyone was calling Korea now.

"For now, until the semifinals, let's try to get there without a single loss."

Except for meeting Germany in the round of 32, our draw had been rather fortunate.

If we kept winning like this, we should have no problem getting to the semifinals.

At least, not until we came up against the British team.

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

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