Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Remnants (1)

The sound was like a bomb going off, and I could feel people on the street stirring in unease.

"What's that noise?"

"I heard something explode somewhere!"

It seemed people were worried that a gate might have appeared nearby, given the recent multiple gate incident in Jeju Island.

"Manager-nim, this way!"

As I was searching for demonic energy just in case, Soo-ah called out urgently and ran toward me.

She had probably figured out where the sound had come from.

'Demonic energy... I do sense something.'

Wondering if it was related to the Predator, I tried detecting demonic energy, and I could faintly sense something similar.

It was a trace of demonic energy too small to be called that of a demon.

It was definitely not from a demon, but it wasn't caused by an ultimate magic stone either.

If it had been from an ultimate magic stone, the demonic energy would have been much thicker.

"Save, save me!!"

Soo-ah dashed straight into a narrow alley nearby.

It was a street in Sillim, lined with old houses. Comparatively deserted, a place people rarely passed by.

There, I saw a strange figure attacking someone.

'Not a hunter.'

Just an ordinary man who seemed to be a local resident.

And in front of him, there stood the 'Predator', hiding their identity beneath a large hood, just as seen on CCTV, raising a hand.

A right hand, blackened with demonic energy.

Kaaang!!

Without hesitation, Soo-ah swung her sword at the raised hand, but the attacker's hand was not severed.

However, the force of the blade striking the wrist made the figure clutch their wrist and step back.

The shock on the attacker's face was clear—they hadn't expected to be attacked so suddenly by Soo-ah.

"......!"

Soo-ah was just as surprised.

After becoming S-rank, Soo-ah's swordsmanship far surpassed that of ordinary hunters.

Yet the assailant had blocked that blow with an unreinforced wrist, not even surrounded by magic power.

'What is this?'

And Soo-ah and the attacker weren't the only ones surprised.

I was, if anything, more shocked than Soo-ah herself.

'Just now, their hand turned black, didn't it?'

It was a phenomenon I was extremely familiar with.

It looked very similar to the power I had gained in that other world.

'Similar, but...'

Something was different.

Blood dripped from the attacker's hand, the one struck by Soo-ah.

It meant they hadn't completely blocked her attack.

If the power they possessed were truly similar to mine, they wouldn't have sustained that kind of injury.

Even if it was Soo-ah's strike, she hadn't put in her full power or magic.

"Argh!!"

The enemy quickly turned as if recognizing us.

No doubt to try and escape.

Soo-ah wasn't about to let that happen.

"I'll never let you escape!"

With each step, blue flames surged.

Her hair burned blue as her full strength was released, and the enemy, suddenly panicked, pulled out a dagger from their pocket and threw it at a terrified civilian.

"Ah!"

There was no way an ordinary person, not even a hunter, could block the attacker's thrown dagger.

Instead of pursuing the enemy, Soo-ah chose to deflect the thrown dagger.

"Ugh."

The enemy sneered at Soo-ah's act, but she hadn't blocked the dagger without reason.

"Manager-nim!"

"......!!"

As she deflected the dagger, Soo-ah shielded the fallen civilian's eyes with her hand.

So they could not witness what I was about to do.

"What are you laughing at?"

Only then did the attacker turn to look at the voice beside them.

But it was already too late.

The enemy had been focused on Soo-ah, and I had already quietly approached them.

Then, forming a fist, I punched the attacker in the face.

Kwaaang!!

"Gyaaaah!!"

With a loud crash, the enemy's body flew back and crashed into the wall of a nearby house.

The impact caused the wall to crumble with a roar, but there was nothing I could do about that.

I had already held back as much as I could.

If I had hit with all my strength, they'd have gone through not just the wall but the house behind it.

"But still..."

I strode toward the attacker, who was staggering and rising from the crumbled wall.

For a moment, as I punched them, the hood that had concealed their face was briefly thrown back.

I couldn't make out their full face, as the lower half was covered by a black mask, but that alone was enough for me.

"Are you Shim Chun-hoo?"

Shim Chun-hoo, the vice-guildmaster of Javelin.

The younger brother of Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo, who had recently gone missing.

He was now standing before us as the monster known as the 'Predator'.

"......."

But the attacker did not answer.

They only pressed the hood back down over their face with trembling arms.

'Still, he blocked it?'

He had raised both arms defensively and blocked my sudden attack.

Even though I had held back, he looked less hurt than I'd expected.

"At any rate, if we catch him, we'll find out why."

A blackened hand, and a body far sturdier than normal.

There was much that piqued my interest.

I strode closer and reached out to grab him.

At this distance, even if he tried to escape, I could easily catch up.

But then, ripples appeared in the shadow where he stood.

As if the ground had become liquid instead of solid.

Shim Chun-hoo's feet began to sink slowly into the shadow.

"What the—?!"

I hastily reached out, but Shim Chun-hoo slipped into the shadow faster than I could grab him. His shadow, which had spread out like black paint, vanished in an instant.

He must have traveled through the nearby shadows.

"What, what was that? Why did he suddenly disappear? Was that magic or something?"

"That wasn't magic."

"But still..."

"That's an ability specific to certain demons."

The demon that Soo-ah had previously encountered also possessed a special ability.

The power to lock someone in a space they created.

That wasn't magic, either.

It was an innate power unique to that demon.

"This must be the ability of the Shadow Clan."

The power to move through shadows was a skill held only by the Shadow Clan among demons.

They had stealth and mobility more remarkable than any other demon, and if they were determined to hide, finding them was near impossible.

'But how did Shim Chun-hoo use that ability?'

Is it just someone who looks like him?

Impossible. Even if his face was covered by a mask, there was no way I wouldn't recognize him.

I'd memorized the faces of all the executives at JM and Javelin after years of trouble with those two guilds.

"Manager-nim, was that true? ... That the attacker was Vice-Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo?"

Once the enemy had completely vanished, Soo-ah finally approached me and spoke.

It seemed she had already sent the trembling civilian home, as they were nowhere in sight.

"Yes. It was definitely Shim Chun-hoo."

"Then... Vice-Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo is the Predator and the one who murdered those people. Since you saw him, you can't be wrong..."

Soo-ah looked very distraught.

She must be thinking of Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo.

His brother had gone missing today, and she had just asked me to tell her if I heard anything.

I felt bitter as well, but even more than sadness, there were so many questions.

'The power he used was different from mine.'

But there were also similarities.

The toughness of his body, and the way he used his strength.

'There must be demon involvement for sure.'

It was highly likely that this state of Shim Chun-hoo was connected to the Jeju Island incident.

Otherwise, there's no way an executive like him would be committing these murders.

'If it becomes known that the vice-guildmaster of Javelin is doing this, the guild will take enormous damage—so it can't be something they planned.'

That meant it was the demons' doing, but how did they make Shim Chun-hoo like that?

At least as far as I knew, the demons didn't have the technology to "make that" happen.

"Should I tell Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo?"

"We have to. We'll need help from the police to track him down."

"... I guess so."

Soo-ah let out a long, soft sigh.

The situation had clearly become incredibly complicated.

***

"... Are you really saying the Predator is Chun-hoo?"

"Yes, it's true."

It was Soo-ah, not me, who told Shim Hyuk-soo.

Even though I had been on better terms with him lately, at the end of the day, I was just an ordinary civilian—a mere manager. If I tried to tell him, he'd just be suspicious or not believe me.

But if S-rank hunter Soo-ah said it, her words carried a weight all their own.

Especially since someone with such sharp vision as Soo-ah was unlikely to be mistaken.

"......"

Shim Hyuk-soo stared blankly into space for a moment.

As if he didn't want to believe Soo-ah's words.

"The Predator killed people and consumed mana halls. That... Chun-hoo..."

"You must be aware, superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo, that the timing of Vice-Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo's disappearance overlaps suspiciously with the appearance of the Predator."

"Damn it."

Unable to hold back, Shim Hyuk-soo cursed and looked up at the sky.

With an S-rank hunter like Lee Soo-ah as witness, and all the circumstantial evidence lining up, it was hard to argue otherwise.

"So... you're saying he can escape through shadows, so trying to carelessly chase him will just make him run? Isn't that magic? Chun-hoo doesn't know how to use magic..."

"I don't know how Vice-Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo gained such power, either. But I promise you, I'm telling the truth."

"Haaa..."

With Soo-ah being so assertive, Shim Hyuk-soo could do nothing but heave deep sigh after deep sigh.

"It's hard to believe, I know. But if you find any lead on his location, please contact me first."

"... Understood. I'll do my best to locate him quickly. I can't allow Chun-hoo to commit more murders."

He said that, then bade us farewell and entered the police station.

Even so, Shim Chun-hoo would be more cautious from now on.

He must have realized that Soo-ah was on his trail.

'Come to think of it, why did Shim Chun-hoo eat the mana hall?'

And why kill those civilians?

I couldn't figure out any reason, but it was clear he wasn't in a normal state of mind.

"Haaa."

Soo-ah also let out a heavy sigh, perhaps thinking of Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo's retreating figure.

"Will it take a long time to find him?"

"Yes. Even under the best conditions, tracking him will take more than a month."

That was what I told Soo-ah for now.

If I didn't say that, she might go after him alone.

'That's not good.'

Soo-ah was a bad match for Shim Chun-hoo.

It wasn't simply a matter of strength.

It was the current state of Shim Chun-hoo that made it so.

'... Besides, the real issue isn't Shim Chun-hoo, but how the demons made him that way.'

While the police chased after him, I figured I would have to act independently.

Originally, I had intended to leave this to Soo-ah, but there was no way I could stay hands-off for this incident.

'I need to call Yeon-ji.'

After all, no one was better at tracking demons than a fellow demon.

That included half-demons like Hwang Yeon-ji.

'Please, Yeon-ji.'

If she properly mastered dark magic, she'd easily become S-rank, and her physical specs were overwhelming.

Thanks to the collar, she was the perfect—no, trump card for the job.

In that sense, having Yeon-ji on our side was a real stroke of luck.

"Achoo!"

At that moment, Yeon-ji was in the middle of an unexpected love counseling session.

She had no idea that soon, Park Jung-woo would be putting her through the wringer.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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