Raising Alencia (1)

"... S-rank?"

Alencia muttered with a blank expression, repeating what I had just said as if she was confirming whether what she had just heard was true.

"Who?"

"Of course, you, lady Alencia."

"I won't tell you to speak informally, but can't you at least change that form of address?"

"Then I'll just call you by your name."

Indeed, continuing to call her 'Miss Alencia' was a bit awkward, so I agreed right away.

"B-but, are you serious about what you just said? That you can make me S-rank?"

"If you've investigated me, you should know this. I already helped Lee Soo-ah from Super Hunter K become S-rank."

"Uh, uh-huh."

Still, Alencia's face showed total disbelief. She kept muttering "How?" to herself.

"So then... if I just appear on the broadcast, you're saying you'll make me S-rank? Though it doesn't seem like you'll tell me how right now."

"Yes. And there's one more thing I want to mention in that case."

"W-what is it?"

"If you become S-rank, I'd like you to sign a contract with Unique. As a streamer and a hunter."

Gulp.

At the word 'contract', Alencia swallowed hard. It seemed that, more than anything else, the word 'contract' felt real to her.

"I-I'll do it!"

"Oh, and you have to listen to me carefully."

"I'm a good listener, really!"

Alencia rushed up to me as if she was ready to go down on her knees.

At this point, I couldn't help but look at Alencia with a cold, unimpressed gaze.

'... Is a person's pride really this weak?'

The one who had acted so aloof at first flipped her attitude so simply at the mention of 'S-rank'.

It certainly made things easy for me, but ironically, Alencia's attitude started to make me distrustful.

'Is she really a Saintess? She acts so differently from the person I know.'

The 'Saintess' I saw on the 'other side' was a peculiar character too. But she was noble, possessing a spirit far beyond that of an ordinary human. After all, she endured over a thousand years in an underground prison while keeping her sanity intact.

And yet, the Alencia before me had completely surrendered in not a thousand years but just thirty minutes.

"... Just in case, let me ask you one last thing. What you said to me earlier—it wasn't a lie, right?"

I had already confirmed things to some extent through Alencia's broadcast, but just in case, I had asked her a few questions and received answers.

Given her answers, it was undeniable that she was the 'Saintess'.

"Question? Huh? About that weird pattern? I told you—it started appearing little by little since I was a child. My mom... no, even my dad couldn't really explain it to me properly."

'So it really must be the genuine Stigmata.'

If it appeared gradually since childhood and not all at once, then it was definitely the Stigmata. When it first appears, the Stigmata is the size of a small spot, but as the body grows, the mark expands to form a distinct pattern.

That's why Alencia's lighthearted demeanor and words were even harder for me to accept.

Is... this really a Saintess?

"Ah."

Maybe Alencia noticed my inner thoughts, because she suddenly stepped back a few paces, her face flushing deeply before she opened her mouth, wearing that aloof look again.

"I-I just got a little interested, that's all. If anything you say seems suspicious, I'll leave any time I want!"

"Really?"

"W-well, of course, I'd hesitate a little. People don't always do exactly as they say, after all."

At any rate, unless something truly extraordinary happened, it seemed Alencia wouldn't be running away from the broadcast.

Though I still felt a bit uneasy about it.

"──And that's how I managed to bring Alencia here."

"..."

Everyone except PD Jung, who was already aware, looked at me with faces full of incredulity.

By the way, I didn't mention the 'I'll make her S-rank within a month' condition that I put before Alencia. No one except Yeon-ji would believe it anyway.

"A-hem, but Miss Alencia speaks Korean so fluently?"

"I didn't know either, but apparently her mother is Korean."

At my words, PD Jung Jun-soo and the staff looked surprised. They probably never guessed Alencia might be mixed with Korean heritage.

That was definitely an advantage for the broadcast.

"But her expression looks frozen—it doesn't seem like she's used to being on camera."

"It'll attract some traffic, but..."

The staff's expressions still weren't great. They probably still couldn't quite trust Alencia.

Reacting to the staff's response, Alencia nervously asked me in a small voice.

"W-we didn't discuss and arrange this in advance?"

"We agreed we'd decide after bringing you in, Alencia."

At my answer, Alencia looked at me as if to say, 'So you made that promise when it wasn't even certain yet?'

"No need to worry. I already have a plan for persuading them."

I smiled at the anxious Alencia and stepped forward.

Given Alencia's 'trait', convincing them wouldn't even be a problem.

"PD Jung Jun-soo-nim."

"Yes?"

"What do you think of Alencia?"

Jung PD held back for a moment with a troubled look.

"Her visuals are certainly top-notch. Speaking Korean is also a merit..."

Given how he trailed off, that's probably as far as his impression went. That alone wouldn't be enough to bring her on as a guest for filming.

"Alencia is an Awakener."

"... Is that so? Can you tell me what rank?"

"F-rank."

His interest flared for a second at the mention of Awakener, but quickly cooled upon hearing 'F-rank'. There are countless F-rank Awakener, and it's nothing special.

"But she's a very special F-rank."

"... A special F-rank?"

As I subtly built things up, PD Jung looked between Alencia and me with a curious gaze.

It wasn't just him—other staff, Yeon-ji, and even Alencia herself looked curious.

"Take a look at this."

I pulled a small device out of my pocket. It was about the size of a palm, with a small screen in the center and a white jewel embedded at the top.

"This is an artifact that can measure magic power."

"An artifact?"

"There's an artifact for measuring magic power?"

They all looked at it with amazement. Most simply admired it, but those with knowledge of artifacts like Yeon-ji and journalist Pyo Ji-yeol had eyes wide as lanterns.

Considering the equipment required to measure magic power in the modern era, this was ridiculous over-technology.

Of course, this was one of the artifacts I had personally brought from the 'other world'.

"Anyway, if I use this on Yeon-ji... as you can see, this is the result."

Pointing the artifact at Yeon-ji and activating it, the white gem turned red and the number 2400 appeared on the screen.

"What does that mean?"

"It's a quantification of her total magic power. For reference, anyone over 2000 can be considered an A-rank Awakener."

"Wow..."

"Then Yeon-ji really is A-rank?"

"And four hundred points higher than the cutoff..."

Those around us alternately gawked at the artifact and Yeon-ji, and I could see Yeon-ji's lips twitch, trying not to smile.

Incidentally, for Yeon-ji, this wasn't even her 'maximum' value—her base was already 2400 without using a demon heart.

"Hmm, hmm. That's accurate."

For the first time in a while, Yeon-ji looked smug, reminding me of how Ji Yeon-hwa used to act around Shin Ah-yeon.

"And when I use this on Alencia—"

"Ah?!"

The screen of the artifact changed as I measured Alencia's magic power.

The number displayed was a mere '8'.

"..."

None of them could say anything as they stared at Alencia.

A rough calculation meant it would take about 400 Alencias to match Yeon-ji's magic power.

"This is... even for an F-rank, doesn't this seem awfully low?"

Yeon-ji was the first to speak. She seemed pretty baffled, staring between the artifact and Alencia.

Alencia hung her head, unable to say a word, her face crimson to her ears.

"Admittedly, Alencia's magic power is a bit low."

"This is more than a bit, isn't it?"

"But!"

I pulled something else out of my pocket.

"T-that's?!"

This time, everyone recognized it.

It was none other than a stun gun—a.k.a. electric shocker.

"W-why are you carrying that around?"

Yeon-ji seemed really flustered, stammering.

Apparently, no one had expected that I'd produce a stun gun here.

"If I use this on Alencia, things will change."

"What? The stun gun?"

"Correct."

At my resolute answer, everyone's face turned to shock.

Especially Alencia's—her already pale skin turned translucent white.

"I-I'm leaving."

"Yeon-ji, grab her."

As Alencia flinched and stepped back, Yeon-ji hesitated for a moment in panic, then closed her eyes tightly.

A chain shot out from the shadows and bound Alencia.

"Kyaaa!!"

Instantly restrained and unable to move, Alencia looked at me with teary eyes and cried out,

"T-this isn't what we agreed to!"

"This is all part of the process."

I smiled brightly at Alencia, who was trembling, bound by black chains.

Sometimes a bold performance was necessary for persuasion.

"W-wait, manager Park!!"

Just as I pressed the stun gun to Alencia's neck, PD Jung's horrified voice rang out.

And, that was when the incident happened.

***

'At first, I wasn't sure how things would play out, but thank goodness.'

KDC's PD Heo Seong-man breathed a sigh of relief after checking the reaction to the latest footage.

Originally, there weren't any plans to release pre-filmed footage, but he had no choice.

'Where on earth does Park Jung-woo find these monsters?'

The young girl who utterly obliterated the S-rank hunter Eugene Garland in arm-wrestling—a girl by the name of Hwang Yeon-ji—had drawn all attention to herself.

Hwang Yeon-ji had already become a hot topic in Korea due to the Sillim incident.

Now, with a video spreading online of her slamming Eugene Garland to the ground, it's caused a real stir in Korea.

'They're calling her the next Shin Ah-yeon, or Lee Soo-ah...'

All the S-rank hunters being mentioned were Park Jung-woo's 'students'.

People were calling Park Jung-woo 'God's Hand'.

Every hunter he handled either became, or showed potential to become, S-rank.

Thus, PD Heo Seong-man couldn't help but release some of the footage from 'The Fiercest World' that was currently being filmed.

He'd wondered what would happen if even this didn't get a reaction, but fortunately, the response had been pretty good.

"Thank you for your hard work today, mister Eugene."

PD Heo offered a brief greeting to Eugene returning from fighting monsters.

Perhaps because of his humiliation on the first day, Eugene was now actively hunting monsters, as if to prove he was truly S-rank.

"What are those people up to now?"

But Eugene's face was still stiff. At least during filming he managed his expression, but outside of it, he was always distracted by them.

"I'm not sure either. There's not much they can do, so maybe they're just holed up in their rooms?"

The HSN side was oddly quiet. He'd expected some complaint about the scrapped filming schedule, but surprisingly, there was nothing.

'It's unsettling.'

If they'd just protested, he'd have been less uneasy.

Like the calm before the storm, the HSN side had done nothing.

"PD Heo, there's something weird just uploaded to HSN's official YouTube channel."

"What?"

A staff member showed him their phone.

There, an unfamiliar video was newly uploaded to HSN's official YouTube channel.

"A making-of video for a new variety show?"

PD Heo wouldn't realize until later just how enormous an impact that seemingly insignificant video would have.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=God's Hand or Devil's Hand.I'm doubtful, it appears Alencia will be suffering from Jung-woo quite a bit.【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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