Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 180 : Like a Shining Star (1)

Like a Shining Star (1)

Team Point.

A newly formed team, just barely over a month old.

Out of all the prestigious teams participating in the Odyssey, they unquestionably had the least experience, and the time they had worked together was also short.

'A month?'

But everyone who faced Team Point thought the same and gave a hollow laugh.

How could they synchronize so perfectly in just a month?

'Their skills aren't that much different from ours.'

In fact, if one considered just the individual hunter levels, there were actually quite a few teams ranking higher.

Yet, team Point easily overwhelmed even those stronger teams, advancing with an unstoppable momentum.

The newly introduced team competition in the Odyssey did not simply evaluate team versus team ability, but combined dungeon raids and monster subjugations into the total score.

Because of that, it didn't offer the satisfying spectacle of straightforward contests, but it could be said it reflected more of what it meant to be a 'hunter'.

"I still can't believe it."

Yun Seung-hyuk wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at Ardan, or rather, Ban Jae-hoon.

To be frank, the new manager wasn't exactly trustworthy.

But they had made it this far thanks to his advice.

'Do Unique's managers have some special ability or something?'

Not only could he precisely gauge the opponents' skill, but he'd also devise suitable strategies in an instant.

Just like a soldier who had fought in wars for ages.

'Of course, that can't be.'

There was something disarmingly imposing about Ban Jae-hoon's neat appearance.

No way someone like him had ever rolled around on a battlefield.

"Manager Ban Jae-hoon?"

"Ah, I apologize."

Ban Jae-hoon apologized to the puzzled Yun Seung-hyuk.

His mind had wandered for a moment.

"Is it because of the match against UK?"

Not only had Korea reached the semifinals for the first time, but now they were dominating UK.

Yun Seung-hyuk felt curious because he didn't expect the usually indifferent Ban Jae-hoon to care about such matters.

"My daughter is competing."

"Your daughter? Um? Your daughter?"

Yun Seung-hyuk tried to recall if there was a hunter with the surname Ban participating in this winner-stays tournament, but shook his head. There were hardly any S-rank hunters to begin with, and no hunter with such a rare family name.

It was shocking enough to imagine someone as young as Ban Jae-hoon having a daughter, but as for a girl of a suitable age having joined the UK match...

"Don't tell me, you're talking about Hwang Yeon-ji?"

"......."

His silence was as good as an affirmation.

"But her surname is different?"

"Well..."

Originally, he wanted their surnames to match, but Yeon-ji insisted on changing it, saying it would draw too much attention.

Thus, Ban Jae-hoon could only answer with silence.

'Must be a complicated situation...'

Is she his real daughter? Or just like a daughter to him?

Yun Seung-hyuk had questions, but didn't ask.

The rare anxious look in Ban Jae-hoon's eyes said the claim wasn't a lie.

"She'll win. Manager Park must also believe in her to have let her participate."

"Yes, I believe that as well."

At Yun Seung-hyuk's vague encouragement, Ardan turned his gaze in the direction of the arena where Yeon-ji would be by now.

He wanted to run there immediately, but he couldn't.

He had his own role to fulfill.

「I guess I don't have talent like my father.」

He recalled his daughter tearfully saying this in the cold winter fortress.

Would things have been different if he had offered some warmer words back then?

「I've given up clinging to talents I don't have.」

Alone in the dark training room, practicing dark magic, Yeon-ji once said this.

In that moment, Yeon-ji looked just like his daughter from the past.

The only difference from then was that Park Jung-woo was now standing with his daughter.

'Park Jung-woo, you always chased after the stars.'

Saintess Estella and countless heroes.

And this world's Shin Ah-yeon, Lee Soo-ah, and Alencia—sparkling stars.

Stars so dazzling, one couldn't even look at them directly; and yet, he always surrounded himself with such stars, so was it out of mere pity that he reached out to Yeon-ji?

Or did he see a starlight extinguished before he could witness it?

He didn't know.

All he could do was the same as always.

Focus on his own work, from afar.

That was all.

***

Sol Mayer, the greatest genius in British history.

Yeon-ji stood across from him in the arena.

He was entirely different from when she had seen him in Korea.

"We meet again."

He spoke.

That time, she had seen a 'fake'. But now, his manner and even the aura he gave off were completely different.

It was the same person, yet it felt like facing someone else entirely.

"Are you wearing a mask or have you taken it off...?"

Unable to make sense of it, Yeon-ji muttered, and Sol Mayer's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"I don't understand your words. I do not wear masks."

At the same time, Sol Mayer sensed a strange chill.

'As expected, not an ordinary A-rank.'

A mask—perhaps it really was one.

He had lived wearing Sol Mayer's mask.

But now things were different.

'I am Sol Mayer now.'

The younger brother who had enjoyed privileges alone for so long was now inside him.

They had become one and lived together in this body.

It would be so forevermore.

He was no longer Chester Mayer, coveting what belonged to others.

He was Sol Mayer, the genius.

"Yes, I am a little different than before."

As though hypnotizing himself, Sol Mayer muttered.

"This time, I won't go easy on you, Hwang Yeon-ji."

Chester Mayer had lost, but Sol Mayer would not be defeated.

With the genius's talent and the power passed down to him.

He even believed he could defeat Kian, the strongest in UK.

My talent.

With the power created solely from my own talent.

BEEEEEP!!

At the blare signaling the start of the match and the cheers of the crowd, Sol Mayer reached out his hand.

Five fireballs instantly formed in his palm, making Yeon-ji's eyes open wide.

'His spellcasting speed is at least twice as fast as before.'

Sol Mayer, whom she had met in Korea, had been distinctly slower.

Even compared to other A-rank mages, his speed was impressive then, but now he was twice as fast.

It was almost as though he skipped chanting entirely.

If Yeon-ji hadn't repeatedly dueled in magic with Shin Ah-yeon, she wouldn't have been able to react at all.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Just before the flames touched Yeon-ji, pitch-black fire clashed with them, deflecting them away.

Though she was slower than Sol Mayer, she managed to keep up somehow.

"There really is quite a gap."

Baek Hojun, watching from the waiting area reserved for players and coaches scheduled for the next round, glanced at Jung-woo.

If overheard, his words might be mistaken for reproach.

"Coach Park..."

"You can just call me manager as usual. Right now, it's just you and me here."

Jung-woo, speaking while keeping his eyes fixed on the arena, made Hojun scratch his cheek awkwardly.

"Manager Park, sometimes I think you're too harsh."

Hojun could deeply empathize with Yeon-ji and Ji Yeon-hwa.

He knew well the feeling one gets when a supposed talent meets a true genius for the first time.

"Still, Soo-ah had the talent to overcome that harshness."

Chains shot out from Yeon-ji in all directions, aiming for Sol Mayer, but unlike before, Sol Mayer was not easily caught. Instead, he seized the opportunity to target Yeon-ji with his magic.

If Yeon-ji hadn't had her magic to travel through shadows, she would have already been in shambles.

"But Yeon-hwa... doesn't have that kind of talent."

She had experience.

She must have put in endless effort as well.

And so, she reached this level.

Having hit her limit, she barely managed to follow in a genius's footsteps.

To put it another way, all the time Ji Yeon-hwa had accumulated merely allowed her to follow in a genius's tracks.

"Sol Mayer still hasn't used Conceptualization Technique."

As befitting his nickname 'Trickster', Sol Mayer's magic was nothing like ordinary spells.

By cleverly wielding simple elemental magic, he created afterimages and spread a haze everywhere, making it hard to pinpoint his position.

"But Ji Yeon-hwa never even had that to begin with."

Honestly, the outcome was already decided.

Would she awaken repeatedly in dramatic fashion as Soo-ah did and win?

Could such a miracle come to Ji Yeon-hwa?

Frankly, Hojun had his doubts.

But since Jung-woo believed, he quietly watched on.

"It's not that she doesn't have it."

Jung-woo watched Yeon-ji.

Unlike the unscathed Sol Mayer, Yeon-ji was battered and dirty from rolling around.

The audience's criticism was directed at the subpar A-rank participant, while cheer and support poured onto Sol Mayer.

It was all disadvantageous for Yeon-ji.

"She's avoiding it because she thinks she's unworthy."

"Unworthy...?"

"Do you remember the second mission of Super Hunter K?"

Hojun nodded.

He could never forget.

He had fought the berserk Ji Yeon-hwa, witnessed Soo-ah's dazzling talent for the first time.

And saw Jung-woo's true power—how could he forget?

"Back then, hunter Ji Yeon-hwa's strength clearly surpassed S-rank—she went beyond even S-rank."

Though she was controlled by the demon's heart at the time, Ji Yeon-hwa definitely wielded power beyond S-rank.

She gained the strength to cause massive landslides with a single blow.

"And nothing has changed for Yeon-ji since then."

"Nothing's changed...?"

Baek Hojun repeated Jung-woo's words.

Had nothing changed?

Thinking about it, it was true.

Yeon-ji still had the demon's heart, completely absorbed and unified into her forehead.

Her mana hall hadn't been particularly damaged.

She just couldn't properly utilize it because it was mixed with demonic energy.

What about her body?

She had become younger, but her strength outstripped that from her Ji Yeon-hwa days by far.

Her mana hall and the magical channels passing mana through her body were now incomparable to her past.

And yet, 'Yeon-ji' was still considered A-rank.

"It's not because the magic she uses changed... is it?"

Only then did Baek Hojun realize what Jung-woo meant.

The reason Yeon-ji was still 'A-rank.'

"Yes, it seems even she herself doesn't realize it yet."

Jung-woo watched Yeon-ji facing Sol Mayer.

He then left the waiting area and approached a referee overseeing the situation nearby.

It was written in the 'rules', but it was best to give them a heads-up.

***

'Why don't you just give up?'

There's no chance of winning, is there?

Sol Mayer frowned as he watched Yeon-ji collect more and more injuries.

'An A-rank can't beat an S-rank. Don't you even know that much?'

No, she knew.

He could tell from the resignation in her eyes—no one knew that look better than he did.

Sol Mayer, his proud little brother.

And the one who had forever trapped him in the shadows—a person he both despised and resented.

Clatter!

Black chains whipped toward the ruminating Sol Mayer.

It was a pointless gesture.

The haze filling the area almost perfectly blocked vision, and using water and light, he created afterimages—Yeon-ji probably couldn't even find his real body.

Or so he thought.

Thwack!!

"......!"

Yeon-ji's fist plunged into Sol Mayer's abdomen.

She broke through several layers of magical barriers, sending Sol Mayer flying through the fog and onto the ground.

"...... Hoo."

Yeon-ji lowered her bloodied fist and exhaled.

She steadied her breath and looked at Sol Mayer, who was slowly getting to his feet.

For the first time since the match started, Yeon-ji landed a clean hit on Sol Mayer.

'But... maybe it wasn't a true hit.'

She did break through several magical barriers, but didn't actually harm his body.

All she did was send him flying.

Despite being a sudden surprise attack, Sol Mayer still reacted faster than her fist.

He reconstructed the broken barriers and instantly released a burst of wind, pulling his body back and lessening the impact.

It was a completely different level of magic control compared to the 'fake' from before.

"I have only one question."

Sol Mayer looked at Yeon-ji and spoke.

"What are you?"

He simply couldn't understand.

Against an S-rank, she had already held her own sufficiently.

'She's always been strange.'

To Sol Mayer, Yeon-ji was a mysterious figure.

A genius who, at seventeen, achieved this level as an A-rank.

... Or so he thought.

'Genius? That?'

No. That's not it.

That girl wasn't a genius. There was nothing brilliant or radiant about her.

Both the defeat he suffered from her before and the hit she landed him now were not due to any sparkling talent she possessed.

It was simply the result of accumulated experience and an attack ingrained from repeated practice.

"And yet, you had the nerve to talk to me about masks?"

At those words from Sol Mayer, Yeon-ji flinched.

She couldn't bring herself to object.

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

You can do it Yeon-ji!

「৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)」