Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 177 : Dark Star (3)

Dark Star (3)

"This Odyssey is truly a remarkable achievement for Korea."

"In the Odyssey ten years ago, they recorded only one win! Just one win—which was earned solely by Hunter Jung Yoo-shin. It's hard not to feel deeply moved."

"And now, with today's decisive match against the UK, we're eager to see if Korea can continue writing its legend."

The showdown between Korea and the UK was just an hour away.

With countless spectators watching, representatives from both countries entered the arena. The cameras caught them warming up and preparing for the match.

"As expected, the starting player is Hunter Lee Soo-ah."

"She's a young hunter and a talented one at that. It'll be interesting to see how she fares against Kian Rogers."

Though Hunter Hwang Sung-yeon, the commentator, said this, he was honestly resentful towards Park Jung-woo.

'Why did he have to pit that talented hunter against Kian Rogers?'

He knew Lee Soo-ah had displayed exceptional skills against Baek Hojun on Super Hunter K.

But the opponent she faced now was on an entirely different level, even higher than Baek Hojun back then.

The Sun Sword, the Sun King. Those titles weren't given lightly.

The strongest hunter in the UK, he had fought against the American hunters without yielding an inch.

No matter how much of a genius Lee Soo-ah was, there was no way she could stand against him.

'What if she ends up seriously injured!?'

Hwang Sung-yeon believed Park Jung-woo had brought these Unique-affiliated hunters simply to give them experience, as he had never before fielded Unique's hunters in the Odyssey.

Or perhaps, it was just to show off Korea's young S-rank hunters to other nations.

So far, Park Jung-woo had not sent a single Unique-affiliated hunter to participate in the Odyssey.

That is, until today's match against the UK.

"Coach Park Jung-woo is giving Lee Soo-ah some instructions."

As Hong Byung-woo, the MC, said, the camera showed Jung-woo talking to Soo-ah.

Fortunately, the expression seen on Soo-ah's face was quite upbeat.

Despite facing an opponent who had reached S-rank at least twenty years before her, she didn't look nervous at all.

【Is Lee Soo-ah really confident against the Sun King? Is she fine because the opponent is also a fire-using hunter?】

【LOL isn't it just that she doesn't realize the difference in class? No matter how much of a prodigy Lee Soo-ah is, Kian was S-rank back when Lee Soo-ah was in diapers!】

【Kian Rogers is recognized even by Owen McGregor. But Lee Soo-ah????】

The chat scrolling through the Odyssey's livestream was rather cynical.

"I'm all-in on Korea again!"

"You lunatic!!"

Of course, among them were those who desperately wanted Korea to win.

Given Korea had produced the most upsets in this Odyssey, there was no small number of people quietly rooting for them.

"Now, before the match begins, the coaches from both teams will greet each other."

At the commentator's words, and following the referee's directions, Korea's coach Jung-woo and the UK's coach Russell Barton walked over, shook hands, and exchanged gazes.

"There should be a limit to arrogance."

Coach Russell said this in a low voice, just loud enough for Jung-woo to hear during the handshake.

"To send out these newly-awakened so-called S-rank rookies against us."

"Hunter Baek Hojun-nim is hardly a rookie."

"Do you think I'm talking about him?"

Russell's gaze drifted to the area where the Korean team was.

There sat Yeon-ji, quietly; Soo-ah was warming up.

He looked at the two of them with clear disapproval.

"If you intended just to let them gain experience, you've made a serious mistake."

"Is that so."

Jung-woo gave a faint smile to Russell's sharp words.

"If you judge only by what you see, there's nothing to worry about on our end."

"...... What?"

Half-stepping forward at Jung-woo's meaningful words, russell was stopped by the referee's gesture.

Receiving the referee's cue to return to their places, he could only give one last glance before turning his back.

"Are you really not worried?"

Returning to where the team was sitting, Soo-ah—who was just finishing preparing her sword—asked.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Yes."

"I was actually more nervous during Super Hunter K than I am now."

At Jung-woo's words, Soo-ah burst into a clear smile.

She seemed to think he was joking, but Jung-woo meant it.

Back in Super Hunter K, he had trusted in her but still leaned vaguely on her potential.

If Baek Hojun had doubted his words, if he hadn't fought wholeheartedly, Soo-ah would never have blossomed so perfectly.

But now, things were different.

Soo-ah had already fully awakened.

After Super Hunter K, and after her fight with Ardan, she had completely mastered her Conceptualization Technique.

"I'll make you famous, manager-nim—I mean, coach-nim."

With those bold words, Soo-ah made her way onto the stage.

A blue light emanated from the sword in her hand, and flames began to flicker.

Step, step.

With each stride, an intense heat spread outward.

And the same was true for Kian Rogers, who entered the arena from the opposite side.

If Soo-ah's flames were blue, his burned golden, wrapping his entire body as he walked onto the field.

The heat radiating from both swordsmen reached as far as the spectators' seats, causing some to sweat.

"Hunter Lee Soo-ah versus Kian Rogers, Kian Rogers versus Lee Soo-ah—now the first match between Korea and the UK begins!"

With the commentator's exclamation, the bell signaling the start of the match rang out.

Facing each other, Lee Soo-ah and Kian charged straight at one another without a word, sword in hand.

Clang!!

The spreading flames from both combatants instantly scorched the ground, and the heat from where they stood was so intense that the earth began to melt.

'This is...'

The most surprised in their first exchange was not anyone else—but Kian himself.

He had already watched several videos related to Lee Soo-ah.

The most recent footage was Lee Soo-ah fighting a mysterious figure at the site of the Ice Tower. But since that video was of poor quality, he mostly relied on clips of her from Super Hunter K against Baek Hojun.

That footage was only a few months old, but it had seemed sufficient.

'She's completely different.'

How could she have changed so much in just these months?

The Lee Soo-ah he faced now had grown by a whole level since then.

It was unheard of.

Even among S-rank awakeners, such dramatic growth in a year's time was extremely rare.

That was as true for Kian as it was for the UK's greatest prodigy, Sol Mayer.

Clang! Claaang!!

The two swords clashed in midair, bouncing off each other one after the other.

And with just that, the arena floor—reinforced for matches between awakeners—began to melt and burn.

The blue and golden flames desperately bared their teeth at each other, trying to consume one another.

With their strength so evenly matched, even a moment's lapse would mean burning each other up as fuel.

"They're not giving an inch! Kian Rogers and Lee Soo-ah's blades cross without either side yielding!"

Just as commentator Hwang Sung-yeon said, their swords clashed repeatedly in midair, neither side backing down at all.

'A fight between S-rank hunters.'

Yeon-ji watched the spectacle calmly from the players' waiting area.

Soo-ah versus Kian.

Though there had been other S-rank fights during the Odyssey, this was unlike anything she'd seen before.

Both possessed similar abilities and wielded similar weapons.

It was, in essence, a match of pride more than simple victory or defeat.

That made it all the more desperate, and more intense than any other match.

'I want to do something like that...'

To fight against an S-rank hunter. When she'd fought the fake Sol Mayer, she hadn't thought deeply about it.

But what would happen if she actually fought a real one before so many spectators?

Could she win?

Could she fight with the same desperation Kian was showing against Soo-ah now?

Could she, as a mage, fight with everything she had against Sol Mayer, another mage?

She wasn't sure.

Yeon-ji sighed quietly as she watched Kian and Soo-ah's battle.

'Surprisingly, this match won't last much longer.'

Now she understood why Jung-woo had chosen Soo-ah to face Kian.

Kian's Sun Sword—it certainly looked similar to Soo-ah's flames.

Maybe, in terms of pure intensity, it was even hotter.

Up until now, there was probably nothing it couldn't melt.

That was Kian Rogers's "Conceptualization Technique," the Sun Sword.

In other words, all of these overwhelming flames used by Kian right now were the result of his Conceptualization Technique.

A flame that burns everything, the very thing that earned him the name Sun Sword.

But it meant that there was no way Soo-ah could lose.

She hadn't even used her Conceptualization Technique yet.

Kian would've realized that by now.

"This is why I hate gifted brats."

Claaang!!

At Yeon-ji's muttered complaint, the two's swords were sent flying apart.

Kian only staggered back a couple steps, but Soo-ah was pushed more than a full meter.

Just from that, it might have looked like Kian was overwhelmingly superior, but that wasn't the reality.

'My flames are being burned away.'

Narrowing his eyes, Kian closely examined the golden flames wrapped around his body and sword.

Something, something was different.

'Is Lee Soo-ah's Conceptualization Technique different from my flames? I thought they were of the same type...'

The blue flames shown during her fight with Baek Hojun in Super Hunter K.

And the blue flames she was releasing against him now—there was no difference.

Soo-ah's long hair flowed, transformed into blue fire, and the flames around her body wrapped around her like armor—like a dress for a royal banquet.

'But her flames don't show any sign of weakening.'

He had clashed his flames against hers several times.

Considering the magic power consumed with Conceptualization Techniques, her flames should have weakened by now, yet there was no sign of that at all.

"Kian Rogers."

At that moment, Soo-ah spoke as she stepped back.

"Are you not using your Conceptualization Technique?"

Kian didn't immediately understand her question.

Not using his Conceptualization Technique? Wasn't he using it right now?

The flames enveloping his body and sword were his very own Conceptualization Technique.

"... If I am, then your Conceptualization Technique seems endless."

"My Conceptualization Technique?"

Soo-ah looked puzzled and repeated, her face showing she didn't know what he meant.

"I haven't used my Conceptualization Technique yet."

Answering him serenely, Soo-ah's tone was utterly calm.

She showed no sign of exhaustion. If she had been using her Conceptualization Technique all this time, she couldn't possibly look like this.

Only then did Kian realize the strange sense of discord he'd been feeling.

'Then those flames are...'

They weren't a Conceptualization Technique?

'It's impossible for a human to emit such flames...'

As he was thinking that, Kian recalled information about Lee Soo-ah.

Before joining Super Hunter K, she hadn't been able to work as a hunter due to magic power fission phenomenon.

Magic power fission phenomenon.

A disease considered incurable in modern times, but since it only affected awakeners, it didn't attract much attention from the general public.

That's why some claimed that Lee Soo-ah's recovery from this phenomenon was a fabrication, while others simply called it a miracle.

'I had assumed she'd obtained her Conceptualization Technique when she awakened as an S-rank...'

He thought her blue flames naturally emerged as her Conceptualization Technique upon becoming S-rank, just like his Sun Sword.

But he now realized that was a mistake.

Those blue flames weren't her Conceptualization Technique.

'For Lee Soo-ah, it's just a phenomenon released by using magic power.'

An ability gained by overcoming magic power fission phenomenon.

Nothing more.

Her "nothing more" was what his Conceptualization Technique amounted to.

"If you're not going to use it, I will go first."

At Soo-ah's level voice, the flow of magic power abruptly changed.

Stillness—the flow of magic power cut off suddenly, like the fuse of an electric device being blown.

Hwaruk.

And then, a blue lantern flared up.

"Life Lantern Ignition(命燈導火)."