Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Manager's Identity
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Every time the inter-guild war ended, new stars were always born.
Sometimes existing stars shone even brighter, and other times, mid-tier rankers with decent recognition would skyrocket to fame.
The biggest topics of this inter-guild war were two people.
The Heavenly Demon. And Lee Soo-hyuk.
Long ago, their names had always been mentioned side by side.
But after Lee Soo-hyuk died and the Heavenly Demon stopped his activities, the two names gradually faded from being uttered together.
This inter-guild war was different, though.
Lee Soo-hyuk versus the Heavenly Demon.
Even though it wasn't the real Lee Soo-hyuk, the fight became such a hot topic that it dominated not just the community forums but the conversations of top rankers everywhere.
Lee Soo-hyuk's play—unleashing lightning while briefly trading blows with the Heavenly Demon—was more than enough to evoke memories of his past glory.
Hawk's Eye kicked off his stream with footage from Lee Soo-hyuk's tournament highlights as the intro to greet his viewers.
"You guys waited long enough, right, bros? Hawk!"
The stream was electric from the jump.
Several streams and videos related to Lee Soo-hyuk had already dropped, but no one could deny that Hawk's Eye was the OG when it came to Soo-hyuk content.
110,000 viewers.
Before he even met Lee Soo-hyuk, Hawk's Eye struggled to hit 10k. Now his audience had ballooned tenfold.
"Everyone catch that intro? Man, I knew it'd blow up like this... Sorry, honestly didn't expect it to hit this hard. Let's chant it out—who's ready? Soo-hyuk up!"
He fired up the stream's energy right off the bat.
It wasn't hard. The viewers were already primed and pumped.
"Today's a compilation of inter-guild war highlights. Oh, of course—as promised, it's a full Soo-hyuk special."
Soo-hyuk special.
That was Hawk's Eye's signature move. Now a fixed staple, it was what viewers looked forward to most.
"Alright, seems like everyone's ready, so let's get into it..."
His words trailed off for a moment.
"...But before we do! I've got one guest to introduce today."
The viewers erupted in boos, and Hawk's Eye hurriedly brought out his guest.
"Today's guest is Big Mouth!"
This marked the second time Big Mouth appeared as a guest on Hawk's Eye's stream.
Though his streams had paused for a bit, Big Mouth was still a heavyweight streamer.
Wherever he went covering major issues, hot topics followed.
"Hey everyone, Big Mouth here."
Hawk's Eye proceeded with the stream alongside Big Mouth, who had sidled up next to him.
"Big Mouth, I heard you recently interviewed the streamer Lee Soo-hyuk. You two have history?"
"History? Nah, I was just chasing him down for that interview."
"Makes sense. So you had a feeling Soo-hyuk would blow up like this?"
"The eye for talent? That's gotta be you, Hawk's Eye—you're way sharper than me at spotting it. Spill the secret sauce."
The banter flowed naturally.
The conversation, centered on Lee Soo-hyuk, soon shifted to the background behind his explosive growth.
"So, Big Mouth, what stands out most about streamer Lee Soo-hyuk to you?"
"Plenty. Talent, star power. But the real standout is his growth trajectory."
"Growth trajectory... And what's the biggest driver behind that, in your opinion?"
"If you're talking external factors, his manager probably played a huge role in that steep climb."
Hawk's Eye shot him a puzzled look at Big Mouth's words.
"His stream didn't even blow up that much—how's skill growth tied to a manager?"
"It's tied because it's a manager thing."
"Big Mouth. Hawk's Eye. I've got one request."
"...Lee Soo-hyuk's manager is a Murim genius who vanished a few years back."
Watching the chat scroll on screen, Soo-hyuk nodded.
Fortunately, the reactions were just as he'd anticipated.
Unhyang's long-forgotten name was bubbling back to the surface. That was the point of this stream.
'Bait's laid.'
As Soo-hyuk checked his kit right on schedule for the stream, Jin-un asked,
"You show up late at night, and now what're you doing?"
"Came to ask a favor."
"Suddenly?"
Jin-un's face scrunched up.
It had been a while since his last visit, which was nice, but they weren't close enough for personal favors.
"Yeah. Lend me some strength."
"Sheesh. What strength do I even have?"
"Plenty. Limited, but enough."
Jin-un's brow furrowed deeper at Soo-hyuk's words.
Relieved by his non-denial, Soo-hyuk continued.
"Might have to fight Shinryeonseong."
"Shinryeonseong?"
The request that followed was even more unexpected.
What kind of business would a thriving streamer suddenly pick with one of the big guild pillars?
"Don't tell me... content?"
"Am I crazy?"
"At least you know it's crazy talk."
Soo-hyuk added an explanation as Jin-un nodded like it was a relief.
"It's because of my manager."
"Manager?"
After some deliberation, Soo-hyuk spilled everything about her.
Shinryeonseong and Unhyang's connection.
Once Jin-un heard it all, he muttered into his teacup.
"That's weird."
His doubt mirrored Soo-hyuk's.
"Even with talent, is she worth that much obsession?"
"Not paternal love."
"Uncheon-gyeok? That guy's not the type."
A battle-hardened Murim player, Jin-un had crossed paths with Uncheon-gyeok a few times.
The man he'd seen then seemed the furthest from anything like 'paternal love.'
"Girl's got a lot of secrets."
Muttering that, Jin-un eyed Soo-hyuk.
His gaze seemed to ask, 'You still wanna help?' Soo-hyuk nodded.
"Gotta help anyway."
"Why? She's just a manager."
"We weren't tight from the start. All bonds begin as 'just' something."
Soo-hyuk, having drained his teacup ages ago, bowed toward Jin-un.
"Please. She needs Uncle's help."
"You think I'll help?"
Jin-un shot back sharply, glaring at him.
"A few treatments, and you think we're ride-or-die?"
"That's what I'm doing."
"If I say no, I look worse than you?"
"Pretty much."
Jin-un groaned at Soo-hyuk's cheeky reply. He'd thrown barbs on purpose, but Soo-hyuk didn't flinch.
After a long silence, Jin-un finally spoke.
"Who's here?"
Baek Eedan frowned.
Of all times, the visitor's name rang a bell.
"Lee Soo-hyuk."
"That damn punk. He's targeting us."
The kit in his hand displayed a video from the Players channel.
A video titled 'The Identity of the Manager That Will Shock Murim.'
It was straight from Lee Soo-hyuk's channel.
"What do we do?"
His subordinate's question gave Baek Eedan pause.
Normally, he'd refuse. They'd successfully brought Unhyang back—no need to invite variables now.
But he couldn't just flat-out reject without reason.
'If he's here playing this angle...'
The moment he refused, something would go down for sure.
Uncheon-gyeok was out. No point stirring more drama.
Plus.
'If he came all this way, they must be close.'
A clever idea flashed through Baek Eedan's mind as he pondered.
Sneer-.
Greed curled his lips.
He made his call soon after.
"Let him in."
Heading straight to Shinryeonseong, Soo-hyuk sought out Cheongryang first.
They wouldn't just guide him to Unhyang on request. So he asked for Cheongryang instead.
After all, Cheongryang was the reason Unhyang had returned to Shinryeonseong in the first place. He was the one who needed immediate safety.
"This way."
Escorted by two men, he arrived at a dank, foul-smelling underground prison.
Descending the stairs, Soo-hyuk clenched his fist.
He'd expected rough treatment, but not like this.
Entering the cell as guided, he saw Cheongryang huddled in the corner.
Normally, you'd either turn away a rival's ally or hide them deep. That's standard.
Yet they'd led him here for one reason.
'To show me this mess.'
To rub it in.
Look at the guy you schemed so hard over—this is him now.
But even they hadn't anticipated one thing.
"What do you think you're doing?"
What choice the powerless man they'd backed into a corner would ultimately make.
"Trying to die?"
"Soo... hyuk... nim..."
Cheongryang looked up.
Spotting him was like finding a single candle flame in the dark.
"Pl-please... help me. Please, I beg you..."
His desperate plea, hands clasped as he sobbed, spoke volumes.
The man who'd been set on death moments ago was begging for his friend's sake.
"...You don't need to beg like that."
They probably had no clue.
"You're already my ally."
How much weight those words carried for him.
It hadn't been long since he'd lost Hwang Gyu-seong to a step too late. The regret still burned.
He didn't even know what exactly—he hadn't tried hard enough? One more step quicker?
Whatever it was, it was regret that wouldn't have happened if Hwang Gyu-seong hadn't died.
'Twice is enough.'
He wouldn't let it hit three today.
Crackle-.
Ting-.
A flick of lightning from his fingertip knocked the needle from Cheongryang's hand.
In that instant, Cheongryang collapsed, forehead to the floor, as if all strength fled him.
That was when his eyes met the Shinryeonseong warriors'.
Soo-hyuk stared at the men watching him.
No—glared. His gaze toward them was anything but friendly.
The Shinryeonseong warriors didn't flinch; they puffed out their chests instead.
As if to say, What're you gonna do about it?
"Time's up."
One stepped closer to Soo-hyuk, delivering the verdict.
"Might as well let him go."
"Beyond my authority."
"He hasn't even committed a crime."
"As I said, beyond my authority."
Creeeak-.
The rusty iron door to the underground prison swung open. Time's up—get out, unspoken pressure.
Part of him wanted to flip the whole place.
"Fine, let's go."
Not now.
"To the one who does have that authority."
One more person to meet remained.