A WWE Match That Never Was
Seongun Group Headquarters. The top floor. The Future Strategy Conference Room.
A secretive place where the conglomerate that had outgrown South Korea managed its entire operation—and, beyond that, exercised the power to decide the future itself.
“…….”
The executives, professional analysts, and Chairman Han Serin gathered in that solemn room all had their eyes fixed on the giant screen mounted on the wall.
“Chairman, the Association has just uploaded a video.”
“...Really?”
“Judging by the title, it seems to be Do Yeonwoo’s video….”
At the same time, in the silence that hung in the air, the secretary standing beside the chairwoman, who had been sitting with her arms crossed, leaned in and whispered softly in her ear.
“Everyone, pay attention.”
At that signal, Chairman Han Serin’s eyes gleamed as she addressed everyone seated in the room.
“Starting today, Seongun Group’s Future Strategy Office will prioritize recruiting Do Yeonwoo.”
At the same time, cold sweat began beading on the executives’ foreheads.
“Chairman, is this information really certain?”
“Taming magic beasts? Honestly, it’s hard to believe….”
“Even so, is it really necessary to summon the entire Future Strategy Office just to recruit a child…?”
After listening quietly to the murmurs spilling out from around the room, Chairman Han Serin gave a small cough, and the conference room instantly fell silent.
“I’ll explain this one last time, so listen carefully.”
Then came the cool, cutting voice that slipped from her lips.
“The youngest S-class hunter in the world, taming ability, and a face that could put most child actors to shame.”
“…….”
“Do you honestly not understand what those three things mean?”
She paused for a moment, then finished with a greedy look in her eyes.
“If I’m right, Do Yeonwoo will soon become Korea’s National Little Brother.”
“…….”
“If you can take responsibility for the losses we’d suffer by letting such an item slip through our fingers and be monopolized elsewhere… then by all means, keep arguing.”
Of course, the executives of Seongun Group knew Chairman Han Serin’s merciless temperament all too well, and none of them dared to speak up again.
“All right, then…. Time for you lot to do what you’re good at.”
In that atmosphere, Chairman Han Serin took the remote she’d received from her secretary, aimed it at the giant screen, and slowly lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Watch the video the Association released, and analyze what strategy we should use to win over that adorable child.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the freshly uploaded video from the Association began playing on Seongun Group’s cutting-edge holographic screen.
[EP.0 The Male Elementary School Hunter Do Yeonwoo Appears]
And from the very beginning of the video, a childish title that felt oddly out of place in the solemn Future Strategy Office appeared on screen, and an awkward silence settled over the conference room.
-Y-you filthy wolves!
But that was only the beginning. The real highlight had not even started yet.
-H-hey, let go! I said let go, didn’t I!?
-Kang!
-Eek! Sorry! I won’t get mad….
Yeonwoo’s teary face, as he was dragged this way and that by wolf-like creatures biting at the hem of his clothes, filled the giant screen in the Future Strategy Office.
-D-don’t eat meee…
-Grrrrowl!
-Hieeeek….
And then, at last, with three wolves piled on top of him, Do Yeonwoo opened his mouth with a sobbing expression.
-Unni Chaerin….
-Pl-please save me….
And with that, the video ended.
“Ah….”
“Hmm.”
“Haha….”
The experts who had been preparing to analyze that short, absurd clip with utmost seriousness had already set their pens down on the desk and were staring blankly into space.
“So, um…. Chairman.”
“…….”
“That kid is an S-class hunter?”
And then one executive’s question rang out through the room.
“N-no, but still….”
Like the others, Han Serin had gone a little blank herself, but when she heard the question she glanced around at everyone and muttered,
“...He is cute, isn’t he?”
At that, after a bit of side-eyeing and hesitation, the people in the conference room slowly nodded.
Silence fell again.
“Chairman.”
Breaking that silence and rescuing Han Serin from the awkwardness was a loyal executive who had been studying the video with complete dedication.
“Are those wolves… magic beasts?”
From that moment on, the atmosphere in the strategy meeting room—where everyone had been seriously questioning the chairman’s taste—shifted dramatically.
“C-come to think of it… they really do have the traits of magic beasts.”
“T-the hostility toward humanity… then?”
“A-are you saying it really is taming ability…?”
The magic beast experts, who had been distracted by Yeonwoo’s tearful sobbing, belatedly straightened up and began to gasp in shock one by one.
“Marketing Department, you were here, weren’t you.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Good. That works out nicely.”
In the middle of it all, a smile of satisfaction bloomed alone on Han Serin’s face as she called out to the head of Seongun Group’s external marketing team, who rose stiffly to his feet, nervous as a cat on hot coals.
“You know we have our own view-count bots, right?”
“Uh, why do you ask…?”
“Send the whole lot of them to that video, starting now.”
She gave the order in a gentle voice, then slowly lifted the corner of her mouth again, her eyes shining.
“If you raise it nice and plump before you eat it, you’ll feel fuller after.”
Before anyone knew it, a fox’s tail seemed to have sprouted behind her back, swaying lazily in the air.
*****
[EP.0 The Male Elementary School Hunter Do Yeonwoo Appears]
Unlike my hopes that the video would be buried by the algorithm and never catch fire, my first promotional clip turned into an absolute smash hit in less than a day.
The comments on the video, which I checked with trembling hands on the phone I’d borrowed from Seonga Unni, were multiplying at terrifying speed as well.
“Ugh….”
Of course, as someone who wanted to show off a cool hunter’s side, it wasn’t exactly good news that the video had become a massive hit for nothing more than me being bullied by baby magic beasts.
“Wow, kiddo. You’ve totally become a celebrity.”
“Congrats, Yeonwoo.”
So there I was, sulking on the sofa with my head hanging low, when two amused voices suddenly came from beside me.
“Hey, kid. You’re number one in real-time views right now.”
“And you even beat the Japanese special-class magic beast subjugation video.”
“At this point, you’re not a kiddo anymore—you’re RiceCake. Hehe.”
I wanted to say something mean back, but after I’d gotten younger under the power of the Star of Heavenly Love, curse words and nasty insults just didn’t seem to stick to my tongue anymore.
“I hate you all!”
That was the nastiest thing I could manage to throw at the two smiling unnis—
[Title Updated!]
[🐥 National Little Brother Candidate 🐥]
—when, all of a sudden, a status window popped up in front of me like it was mocking me.
“Iik….”
Just seeing that adorably designed title, complete with chicks drawn on both sides, made my shame feel even worse.
“There still aren’t any comments about Yeonwoo’s taming ability.”
“Well, no one’s going to think those harmless little puppies are actually magic beasts. We held back the information on purpose, too.”
As I drooped my head again, Seonga Unni and Chaerin Unni’s voices drifted over from beside me.
“Still, the people sharp enough to notice will notice.”
“Maybe that’s what the Association president was aiming for.”
“Maybe.”
Listening quietly to that conversation, I clenched both hands and stood up.
“Chaerin Unni.”
“Why is my little RiceCake calling me?”
“I-I have a favor to ask.”
This couldn’t keep going like this. My goal was to become a cool, dependable hunter who wouldn’t be pushed around by anyone.
“...Please do it for me.”
“Hm?”
“S-so, um….”
If I wanted to turn this situation around, I needed a rather drastic solution.
“P-please spar with me!”
Besides, the date for my friendly match with Hayun was coming up soon, so if I wanted real combat experience, this was something I absolutely had to do.
“I-I’ll show you my spicy side!”
And even aside from that, if I wanted to escape the image of being cute and only cute lately, I really had no choice.
“You? Against me?”
“...Yes!”
“Hmph….”
Of course, it definitely wasn’t because I wanted revenge on the person who had filmed my humiliation and I was clutching at some petty grudge. Definitely not.
“Is that so….”
…Anyway, not at all.
*****
About an hour later.
“Yu Chaerin’s going to throw down with Yeonwoo?”
“N-no way. Did that crazy woman challenge him for rank?”
“L-let’s go check it out!”
Word that Yeonwoo and Yu Chaerin were sparring spread through the Hunter Association at lightning speed, and off-duty hunters began gathering at the training grounds one by one, their eyes wide with shock.
“Shh.”
And when those hunters arrived, this was what they found waiting for them.
“This is being recorded, so please refrain from unnecessary chatter.”
In a corner of the sparring arena, Do Seonga was holding up her phone and secretly filming the situation at the Association president’s order.
“Wolf troops! Formation D!”
And there was Yeonwoo, standing with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face, giving orders to the adorable baby magic beasts peeking out from the bag on his back.
“Heh-heh…!”
“Grrrr…!”
“Gyao!”
And in the next instant, in response to Yeonwoo’s command, Wolfgell’s offspring all leapt out of the bag at once and began circling him in dizzying loops.
“What do you think, Unni?”
With his face growing even prouder, Yeonwoo shrugged his shoulders and shouted toward Yu Chaerin, who stood quietly on the opposite side.
“Pretty awesome, right!”
But Yu Chaerin, who was glaring at him with both hands shoved into the pockets of her hoodie, had no energy to answer.
-You absolutely must lose, Hunter Chaerin.
-Under no circumstances are you allowed to hurt Yeonwoo…!
-Please make it obvious that the magic beasts beat you!
The desperate voices of the Association marketing staff were crackling through the in-ear monitor in her ear.
“Haah….”
That was right. What was about to happen in front of all these hunters was not the blood-soaked battle Yu Chaerin usually loved.
“All right, then….”
Instead, it was the beginning of a kind of giant professional wrestling match—one that had Yu Chaerin, an A-class hunter, as the sacrifice.