8
Chapter 8
In a quiet Association hallway with no one around.
"Puahaha! Not even F-rank, but FFF-rank. FFF-rank! I've never heard of a rating like that in my life!"
"I told you not to laugh!"
Yuna growled, shooting a sharp glare at Joohyun inside her bag.
"I wasn't even an Awakener in the first place!"
Yuna snapped, her voice full of indignation.
"But still, FFF-rank is... pfft!"
"Ugh, seriously!"
Yuna shook the bag with Joohyun in it back and forth.
"Okay! Okay! I'll stop laughing! So stop shaking me! I'm getting carsick!"
"If you laugh one more time, I'll make the whole world spin for you!"
Just imagining Yuna spinning the bag a full 360 degrees made Joohyun go pale.
'Yeah, I should stop messing with her.'
Only then did Joohyun stop laughing and clear his throat.
"Ahem! Still, this is good news. Now that you got your Awakener Certificate, legally, there won't be any problems."
"Right. Let's hurry up and sell the Mana Stones. Seriously, why is it even a law that you need a certificate and an affiliation?"
"Just deal with it. Laws are always like that."
Yuna knew that too, but she couldn't help letting out a sigh.
'FFF-rank? What even is that? How am I supposed to hold my head up?'
Deep down, Yuna had been hoping for a high rank.
Joohyun's ability was EX-rank.
So, naturally, wasn't it only fair that her rank would come out high too?
'I can't even hand out a business card and call myself an Awakener.'
To an Awakener, rank was basically their resume.
The higher the rank, the more Management companies would pile on perks and bend over backward to recruit you.
In truth, if you weren't at least D-rank, you couldn't even dream of joining a halfway famous Management.
You'd be stuck signing with some no-name place.
Even if you joined the Association, you'd start at the very bottom, treated worse than a grade-9 civil servant.
'Still... maybe it's a relief I don't have to worry about where to sign?'
At FFF-rank, it was obvious no one would want her anywhere.
Like that guy had said, she'd be better off living as a normal person than trying to live as an Awakener.
'But thinking about it... isn't it actually not a relief? Gather Around Management is basically dead, isn't it?'
They were so broke they'd even sold their office.
Join a Management company and you could get benefits while clearing the tower, but right now they could barely keep themselves fed.
Forget support; they'd have to set up an office again from scratch.
'Oh, my life. Of all CEOs, how did I end up with this one?'
Yuna could practically see her future unfolding in front of her eyes.
No wonder her mood crashed all at once.
'Do we use my place as a temporary office or something? What do we do?? What is the CEO even thinking? Honestly, the more I look, the more it seems like he isn't thinking at all.'
When Yuna glared at him, Joohyun sensed murder in the air and curled up as small as he could.
'Why is she staring like she wants to kill me all of a sudden? Is she still mad because I teased her?'
Not knowing what was going on in Yuna's head, Joohyun could only keep himself tucked in.
'Hmm... well, he's cute, so is that good enough?'
Seeing him curled up like that made Yuna's worries melt away.
He just looked like a puff of cotton candy.
The two of them left the Assessment Center and stepped back outside.
A huge crowd was still out there, waiting for the Magical Girl to appear.
They'd even set up tents, so they probably planned to squat here for days.
The moment Yuna came out, everyone's gaze snapped to her.
Then, unlike before, people started murmuring as they looked at her.
"I heard it from an Informant earlier, she's FFF-rank! I laughed for minutes after hearing that."
"They said the Artifact even broke, right? Did it break because her rank was too low?"
"No, can a rank like that even exist? If you're FFF-rank, that's basically the same as not Awakening at all."
"FFF-rank. That's kinda raunchy."
Yuna lowered her head, shoulders drooping.
'I can hear every word, you know?!'
No one approached Yuna to talk, no matter how desperate a Management might be to recruit low ranks.
Everyone was thinking the same thing: at FFF-rank, she'd obviously struggle to clear even the first floor.
In other words, she'd be nothing but dead weight.
'Still, FFF-rank is way over the line. I wouldn't take that even if it was free.'
'FFF-rank... that's the end of her Awakener life, tsk.'
'Man. Compared to the Magical Girl, it's just sad.'
They had no idea.
No idea that Yuna was the Magical Girl.
If they found out she was the Magical Girl, they'd lick shoes if they had to, just to recruit her.
Although there was no way for them to know that.
Yuna's face turned bright red as people's gazes focused on her.
'How am I supposed to live as an Awakener now when I'm this embarrassed!'
Never in her life had she been the center of so much attention.
And in a bad way, at that.
'But... I guess it doesn't feel entirely bad either...?'
Yuna had always looked up to Magical Girls.
If anything, she enjoyed getting attention from people; she didn't hate it.
As mentioned before, she just hadn't built up an immunity to it yet.
'Still, embarrassing is embarrassing!'
Yuna quickened her pace, trying to get away from the area.
As she was walking forward with her head completely lowered.
Thump-!
Failing to look ahead properly, she ended up bumping into someone.
"I'm sorry!"
Yuna apologized first without even looking at the other person's face.
"Hehe. It's okay. You can bump into someone if you don't see them. Are you hurt anywhere?"
The person she bumped into smiled kindly, checking on Yuna's safety first.
'So sweet. And her voice is nice too. But it sounds really familiar...?'
Curious about the person in front of her, Yuna lifted her head to look.
Standing there was.
"C-Choi Seoyeon?!"
Yuna's eyes widened dramatically as she took a few steps back.
"Oh my. Hehehe. I'm honored that you recognize me."
Making eye contact with Yuna, Choi Seoyeon offered an elegant greeting.
Every single one of her movements exuded grace.
'I-is that really Choi Seoyeon?'
Long, flowing brown hair.
Deep black eyes that felt like they could suck a person in.
Distinct, well-defined facial features.
On top of that, a radiant dress.
Anyone could see it was Choi Seoyeon.
Before she knew it, everyone's gaze was focused on where Choi Seoyeon and Yuna were standing.
Noticing the attention, Choi Seoyeon smiled and looked around.
"That's really Choi Seoyeon, right? When did she come to Korea?"
"Don't tell me Hailt is already making a move?"
"We have no chance of winning if they do."
"Damn it. They should be satisfied with Choi Seoyeon, but now they want to take the Magical Girl too?"
But the reactions of the people looking at Choi Seoyeon were negative.
It made sense.
There was only one reason for Choi Seoyeon, who should be in the United States, to come here.
To scout the Magical Girl.
Because everyone knew that fact, no one welcomed her appearance.
"Hmm~."
Choi Seoyeon didn't care about the surrounding reactions.
Instead, she flashed an even deeper smile.
"So, you're the FFF-rank?"
"Pardon?"
Yuna felt her face heat up rapidly.
'How embarrassing! I can't believe Choi Seoyeon found out about that!'
Yuna had been a fan of Choi Seoyeon for a long time.
Having her FFF-rank status discovered by her idol, there was no way she wouldn't be embarrassed.
Seoyeon looked endearingly at Yuna, who was fidgeting with a bright red face.
And then, shortly after.
"Hmm. FFF-rank."
Seoyeon muttered to herself, staring intently at Yuna.
Under Seoyeon's blatant gaze, Yuna lost her nerve and shrank back even more.
Furthermore, although her mouth was smiling, her eyes were not.
Eyes that seemed to pierce right through everything.
It was no coincidence that Yuna had bumped into Seoyeon.
From the moment she heard someone had received an FFF-rank, Seoyeon found it suspicious.
'Just in case, they tested her about 10 more times, but they say the result was exactly the same.'
'Except for the first time, all of them?'
'Yes.'
'Hmm.'
If it were normal people, they would have certainly dismissed it as the first machine being broken and moved on.
But Seoyeon was different.
'Something about this stinks~.'
An Awakening Detector was not the kind of Artifact that broke easily.
And they said the first detector had measured energy that even surpassed her own.
There was no doubt she was hiding something.
When Seoyeon's gaze flicked toward the bag for a moment.
Yuna, without realizing it, instinctively shifted the bag behind her back.
'Yep. She's hiding something~.'
Seoyeon let out a small hum at the sight, then smiled at Yuna with eyes that curved like a snake's.
If she had never run into her, fine, but now that she had, it would be nice to bring her into Management and keep an eye on her.
"Would you consider joining our Management?"
"...Pardon?"
Still fidgeting, Yuna stared at Seoyeon, wondering if she'd misheard.
Seoyeon answered with a bright smile.
"Want to join our Management?"
"What?!"
Yuna wasn't the only one shocked.
Even the other Management people nearby stared at the two of them, stunned.
'What is this? She's trying to recruit that completely useless FFF-rank?'
'Is this some hidden-camera prank? Why would she take her?'
People wore expressions that said they couldn't believe it.
Yuna was looking at Seoyeon the same way.
"Me... why me?"
"Hmm~ Who knows? Maybe I just got curious all of a sudden. So, are you interested? I'll make sure you're well taken care of."
"Uh, well..."
Inside the bag, Joohyun, who had been listening in silence, lifted his head and looked at Yuna.
'Accountant Yuna already signed with me. There's no way she'd accept.'
"I'll pay you 100 million won as an upfront signing bonus. How about it? Does that tempt you?"
"Seoyeon!"
"Quiet. I'll take responsibility."
She held up a hand to stop her manager, who was trying to talk her out of it, and kept her eyes on Yuna.
"Why hesitate? 100 million is what A-rank and above Awakeners get when they sign."
It really was an offer with no reason to hesitate.
'No, Accountant Yuna. You're not wavering, right? Right?'
Hearing the amount made Joohyun suddenly anxious.
Though honestly, he was the one wavering at the number.
Yuna couldn't bring herself to answer right away.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't shaken.
One hundred million was too much money to reject out of hand.
Normally, taking it on the spot would have been the obvious choice.
'But I can't just abandon the CEO and leave. And the one who gave me a chance to make money was the CEO.'
Thinking that, Yuna glanced sideways at Joohyun inside the bag.
Joohyun stared back at her with bright, sparkling eyes.
A face that was honestly bad for her heart.
'Ahem!! Money doesn't sway me. Not ever.'
Not.
Not not not, and it is absolutely not because the CEO is cute and I can't imagine going somewhere else.
Seoyeon, thinking maybe the amount was too low, was just about to raise it to 200 million.
That was when Yuna bowed her head.
"I'm sorry! I already have a Management contract!"
"Is that so? Still, our Management would be better than whatever you're with."
"No. I'm sorry."
When Yuna lifted her head, her eyes were steady.
Seeing that look, Seoyeon smiled.
"Then I suppose it can't be helped. But if you change your mind, contact me. Here, take my card."
With that, Seoyeon offered Yuna her business card.
Yuna accepted it, bowed once more, and left.
Watching Yuna walk away, Seoyeon smacked her lips in disappointment.
"Seoyeon, what was that just now? She's FFF-rank. If you bring her in, she'll obviously just be dead weight."
"Is she? Hmm~. I think differently. I'm pretty sure there's something going on."
"Huh? Then should I assign someone to tail her?"
"Hmm. No. I have a feeling we'll run into her again soon. And if not, I can always go find her myself."
Seoyeon stared quietly at the bag Yuna was carrying.
It was subtle, but she could see it twitch.
"Hmm."
After boring a hole through the bag with her gaze, Seoyeon turned away.
"First, let's wait and see if the Magical Girl shows up. And secure the first detector that tested her."
"Yes, ma'am!"