The Returnee's Daughter (1)

In a prison in Los Angeles, USA.

It wasn't particularly magnificent; on the contrary, it was a rather ordinary prison. Yet, in America, it was a rather famous one.

That's because James Walker, who had once caused a stir across America as a 'returnee', was serving his sentence there.

"James, you have a visitor."

At the guard's indifferent voice calling out to him, James took a slow step forward.

Whenever he walked through, taunting voices would echo from all sides.

"Hey, James! Is your daughter visiting you again?"

"Lucky you! The father scams people, and the daughter makes money off her scamming father. Sooo impressive!"

With snickering laughter ringing at his back, James let out a sigh.

This was why he'd told her not to come, so why did she keep visiting?

When he entered the visiting room, he saw a familiar face across the transparent partition.

Striking black hair and dazzling emerald eyes, beautiful features.

His daughter, who had just turned twenty, leaving her girlhood behind to become a young adult woman.

"Alencia, I thought I told you to stop coming here."

He picked up the receiver with a nonchalant face and spoke; on the other side, she snorted.

"No way, why should I listen to you, dad? Besides, if I don't even visit you, people will forget about you soon, right?"

"Being forgotten is a good thing, for both of us. So you should really give up that streaming, too..."

"Oh, geeze. Didn't you hear me? I said no. I'm going to keep streaming."

James could feel a headache forming at his daughter's whining, laced with annoyance.

Who on earth did she get that from?

'Ah, from me, I guess.'

Her attention-seeking streak was just like his own.

And the fact that it might one day bring her ruin? Also, very similar.

"Your mother would be disappointed if she saw you now."

"That goes both ways. I bet Mom would love to see you like this, dad. 'That's not what I meant for you to do~.' She'd say."

"Ahem."

He didn't have a retort.

In the end, it was all because of his own wrongdoings.

Trouble arose, and by the time he regretted it, it was far too late.

Above all...

"Even if it's possible for me, it's not for you."

"What does that even mean?"

"More importantly, how's the tattoo on your back?"

At James's question, Alencia frowned.

He asked about it every time she visited.

"It doesn't get any darker or bigger now."

"Really?"

"'Really?' That's all you have to say? Explain what this is already! You always just nod to yourself. Aren't you supposed to tell me what this tattoo means?!"

Alencia, the reason she came to see James once or twice a month wasn't simply for streaming content.

The tattoo that started to appear on her back when she hit puberty.

She wanted to find out what it was.

"Dad, you know what this is."

At first it resembled nothing but a spot.

But as she grew older, its shape became unusual.

Like a tattoo drawn by human hands.

"I don't know."

"Ugh, so annoying."

Her father, who clearly knew, stayed silent.

Because of that, Alencia felt like the frustration would drive her insane.

So, she decided to tease him a little.

"I'm going for an awakened aptitude test today."

"What? Why all of a sudden?"

"Well, since you won't tell me what this is, I'm going to do something you told me not to."

"Alencia!"

James shouted urgently, but Alencia just put down the receiver and stuck her tongue out briefly.

Taking the awakened aptitude test was precisely one of the things James had told her never to do.

She'd been so quiet about it all this time that he didn't think much of it, and now she suddenly dropped a bomb like this.

"Damn it."

James slammed down the receiver and muttered a curse.

He could only hope that nothing would happen while Alencia took the aptitude test.

That was all he could do.

***

Tae-yeong Group.

A major player in the cultural industry, and the company owning the most movie theaters in South Korea.

But recently, with one film flop after another under their distribution, their strong position had begun to falter.

That's why, this time, they poured enormous investment into Director Cha Jae-seok and tried to produce a solid, entertaining film that would succeed at the box office.

"Welcome, you're Manager Park Jung-woo, correct?"

When I arrived at the headquarters of Tae-yeong Group, I was greeted by several suited men.

Just as Director Cha Jae-seok had said, everything seemed arranged in advance because, the moment I arrived, several people attached themselves to me.

"This way, please."

With men in immaculate suits politely escorting me, I felt an inexplicable pressure.

'Why go this far?'

It was strange enough that they wanted to see me face to face. Treating me like a VIP only made it stranger.

Even if I'd gotten a bit of attention recently, I was still just a manager.

A manager who'd simply been lucky enough to acquire two S-rank hunters.

There was no reason for Tae-yeong Group to treat me as such a guest of honor.

'Maybe it's because I'm a returnee?'

That was the only plausible explanation I could think of.

All the small management agencies knew about it, so it was likely a group like Tae-young would know as well.

'If so, the answer is obvious.'

I didn't remember anything about what happened inside the rift.

What a perfect excuse.

Everything I'd done until now was credited to Shin Ah-yeon, so nobody had any reason to suspect my record.

Especially since, if it was Shin Ah-yeon, no one would bat an eye at her inventing things like circle magic.

"The chairman is inside."

The men stopped in front of a door decorated with ornate patterns.

It was the kind of place that looked like it housed someone important.

"You're here."

When I slowly opened the door and went in, chairman Song Hyun-seung, who had been sitting in a chair, slowly stood up.

He was nearing his sixties, yet his robust physique made him look quite vigorous.

"Chairman, you really don't have to get up..."

"It's fine. How could I greet a guest while sitting?"

"... Understood."

By his side stood a male secretary with a sharp look, whose expression clearly showed he didn't think much of me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Song Hyun-seung of Tae-yeong Group."

"The honor is mine, chairman Song Hyun-seung. I'm Park Jung-woo, head manager at Unique."

The "head manager" was a title I'd only recently received from Unique.

Sung-hwan had said that calling myself just a manager sounded unimpressive when telling others.

Originally, I wanted a lower position, but Sung-hwan insisted that I needed to at least take the title of head manager. Because of all I'd done, a lower title would only leave a negative impression of Unique.

"You must be busy, but thank you for accepting my invitation."

"Not at all. It just happened to be a slow period for me."

"Heh, even after all that media attention lately, you had time on your hands?"

Song Hyun-seung laughed boisterously and sat back down.

"You must be curious as to why I called you here."

"Yes, to be honest, I'm not quite sure."

"It's because I've developed a bit of an interest, for several reasons."

He took a sip of the tea set on the table, quietly observing me.

Like he was trying to see through to my heart.

"First, you're the manager of Shin Ah-yeon, who's one of the central figures of our upcoming film."

If Song Hyun-seung spoke of her like that, it showed just how much they were counting on Shin Ah-yeon's reputation for this movie.

"And second, you're a returnee."

"... So you knew after all."

"My friend, it's not hard to find that out with a bit of digging. Of course I know."

He smiled meaningfully as he spoke.

"I even know what you told the government. But I didn't call you today to press you about that, so no need to be on edge."

He waved his hand as if to reassure me.

From his attitude, it seemed being a returnee was not his main reason for calling me today.

Though it seemed he was at least interested.

"The real reason I asked you here is because I want to propose a collaboration."

"A collaboration... you say?"

"I place a very high value on your abilities."

Song Hyun-seung smiled warmly.

"You brought back Shin Ah-yeon, who was half-retired, and not only that, but managed to restore her to something like her previous level of recognition in no time. If the movie does well, she'll probably become even more popular than during her prime."

"That was thanks to Shin Ah-yeon-nim's exceptional abilities, more than mine."

"No, if not for you, Shin Ah-yeon would never have come back. I was there at the ceremony where she received her decoration, so I know well."

"When Shin Ah-yeon-nim received her decoration, you mean?"

At my words, he nodded slowly, as if reminiscing about the past.

"At that time, Shin Ah-yeon risked her life to avert a great disaster and received the Order of Mugunghwa, the highest honor the nation could bestow. But she didn't seem to care about it. After losing what was most dear to her—her magic—and after her agency cast her aside, I thought for sure she'd never come back. Yet, she did."

He looked at me with serious eyes.

"Can you really say that wasn't thanks to your effort?"

"That's..."

"And not only Shin Ah-yeon, but you also discovered Lee Soo-ah. You saw potential where everyone else turned away, and brought her up to become the sixth strongest in Korea."

I never expected Song Hyun-seung to rate me this highly.

If the issue wasn't about me being a returnee, I thought maybe they just wanted to offer some ads to Ah-yeon or Soo-ah because of recent buzz.

But from his words now, it didn't seem to be just that.

"And after the recent Shim Chun-hoo incident, it looks like you discovered another new talent."

"... You mean Hunter Hwang Yeon-ji."

"Yes. Still young, but with extraordinary abilities. I'm almost curious how you find such people."

"I was just lucky."

"Luck? Haha, I don't believe in luck."

Song Hyun-seung stood up from his seat.

And then approached me slowly.

"Watching your achievements, I felt a sense of urgency. If I left you alone, someone else would surely poach you."

"You mean..."

"You're a smart man, so you must understand—I'm making you a scout offer."

A scout offer?

Tae-yeong Group is trying to scout me?

"I was under the impression Tae-yeong Group had no interest in the Hunter business."

"Not 'no interest'. We just couldn't jump in carelessly."

"And why is that?"

"Jin Su-hyuk."

"You mean the president of Grand Nova. But even with Grand Nova, their earnings can't match Tae-yeong Group's in the culture sector..."

No matter how prestigious Grand Nova was in this field, their earnings couldn't compare to a cultural giant like Tae-yeong Group.

"That might've been true before, but not anymore. Do you know what it is that those in power most fear in today's society?"

Strong power, and immense wealth.

Those who possessed both were only afraid of one thing.

That was awakened individuals.

The organization that possessed the greatest number of those overwhelming monsters was Grand Nova.

I'd once incited a conflict between Assemblyman Min Gwang-hun and Upstream.

But, that was only possible because it was Upstream.

The only one of the big three management agencies without an S-rank hunter.

If Min Gwang-hun had picked a fight with Grand Nova, he would've ended up a corpse the next day.

Trying to stop an S-rank hunter was impossible, even for the military.

"But even Jin Su-hyuk..."

"He's a monster. If he ever viewed us as enemies, he wouldn't leave anyone standing. He wouldn't even leave proof. Even if there was strong suspicion, the status S-ranks hold in the nation can't be overcome by mere suspicion."

That's why he wanted to bring me in.

If I joined, Ah-yeon or Soo-ah were likely to follow.

"You have two S-rank hunters at your side. Even if they didn't join you, I believe you have the ability to uncover more S-rank talents."

"So that's why you want to scout me?"

If a company like Tae-yeong Group entered the Hunter business, Grand Nova would surely try to keep them in check.

Until now, the reason conglomerates like Tae-yeong Group hadn't entered the industry was a fear of Grand Nova's power. But now, someone who could break through that blockade and flip the game board had appeared.

That was me, Park Jung-woo.

"If it's money, I'll pay whatever you want. Tens of billions of won in salary? That's fine. So, how about working with us?"

As Song Hyun-seung slowly extended his hand to me,

I simply stared quietly at his outstretched hand for a moment.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【【_】a(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】

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