If You Don't Have One, Make One
Reporter Jo shouted into his phone.
"Manager! What are you saying?! We have to cancel the interview?!"
-There was a car accident on the way to Sangam-dong… It's going to take a while to sort out.
"No, you can handle the aftermath yourself, Manager. Just send over the hunters for the interview!"
-It's a traffic accident. Still, we should head to the hospital and get a CT scan. Need a proper diagnosis too. I'm sorry.
"Manager? Manager!"
Click. The call cut off.
Reporter Jo, who had frozen in place, finally exploded.
"Fuck!! What kind of bullshit is this—a promising hunter prospect getting a CT scan over some traffic accident?!"
A junior reporter dragged a chair over and approached. He asked,
"Senior, what's going on?"
"The interview's a no-show."
"What? Today's interview was with the Taesan Guild prospects, right?"
The junior reporter let out a hissing sigh like air leaking from a tire.
"What are we gonna do? It wasn't just one or two prospects either—we were going to feature all four of them, so a ton of pages were allocated."
"…That's why I'm going out of my goddamn mind. Hey, you know any managers? Ones with prospects under them."
"I've got plenty of regular hunters in my contacts."
"Of course their numbers would be fewer than mine with my experience, you idiot! Don't you know what next issue's concept is?"
He knew.
The first round of the hunter qualification exam had just wrapped up. The industry was in the middle of a full-blown hype storm over it.
Naturally, the special feature for this issue of the hunter specialty magazine The Hunt was on the prospects.
That was why they had gone through so much trouble to lock in the interview with Taesan Guild and planned to devote so much page space to it. One phone call had just unraveled everything.
"They're all busy over there. There are plenty of reporters who've had interview appointments booked for almost a month already."
The junior reporter shook his head firmly.
"There's no way we can find anyone now. They're all preparing for the second exam coming up soon, so even the interviews they squeeze in are scattered, and with exclusive interviews and whatnot, nothing can overlap. Where are we supposed to find a last-minute replacement?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Reporter Jo scrubbed his dry face with both hands.
"These fucking bastards… Someday I'm gonna get them back. Standing us up like this on the day of the appointment?"
"Come on."
The junior reporter slurped his coffee and said,
"Who messes with a big guild? You don't mess with them."
"Right?"
"Drop the delusions for now and find a fill-in interviewee ASAP."
"……Right?"
"If we want to publish next Tuesday, you know we have to finish the interview somehow today, right? Editing starts tomorrow."
"…Yeah? Hey, about that."
Reporter Jo glanced toward the editor-in-chief's office and said,
"What if we just pad it with some other topic…"
"Try talking to the editor-in-chief once. Who knows?"
After hesitating, he headed into the editor-in-chief's office. Loud voices erupted. A good while later, Reporter Jo emerged with his shoulders slumped and grabbed the coat hanging on his chair.
The junior reporter snorted and asked,
"Senior, where are you going?"
"He said if there isn't one, make one, so I'm going to make one, fuck."
The Daejin Daily reporter gestured invitingly toward the seats.
"Hot out there, right?"
"I only walked a little and I'm already soaked in sweat."
"Haha."
"Reporter, please take good care of the interview. It's her first article going out to the press."
I bowed at the waist, and he responded with a kindly smile.
"Don't worry. Distorted articles are a thing of the past. What era do you think this is? Ah, could you both sign the recording consent form? Both of you."
As if I hadn't seen how many times Lee Jia had been screwed over by reporters. What a load of nonsense.
I plastered on a capitalist smile and scrawled with the pen.
They say you don't spit on a smiling face. Better than frowning, I figured.
"Hearing you say that puts my mind a little more at ease."
"Alright then, let's begin the interview."
The reporter set a long voice recorder on the table. At first, light greetings and personal chit-chat went back and forth. Then, once the atmosphere for conversation had roughly settled in, the reporter's real questions started coming.
"Han Yujeong, you became the second person after Lee Jia to exceed 3,000 points, correct? You're currently the hottest potato among industry people."
"Yes."
"What do you think was the secret to breaking 3,000 points?"
After a brief pause, Han Yujeong opened her mouth.
"Rather than talent, I think it's because I happened to awaken an outstanding ability."
"An outstanding ability… An awakener of only one month surpassed the so-called devil's wall of 3,000 points. Can we really just chalk that up to awakening a good ability?"
The reporter snapped back in a sharp tone. Han Yujeong responded calmly.
"One month is a short time to achieve something, isn't it?"
"That's true."
"I think even a talented person would find dramatic change impossible."
"So in other words, it wasn't talent—it was just that the ability you happened to get was outstanding?"
"If anyone else had awakened the same ability as me, they would have managed it easily too."
The reporter diligently took notes. Aggressive questions and humble answers continued after that as well.
"Tsk."
A dissatisfied snake-tongue click grated on my ears.
The reporter's pocket vibrated.
"Ah, I'm sorry. There's somewhere that needed to call urgently."
The reporter who had been scratching his head with his pen checked his phone. A troubled look crossed his face.
"Would it be alright if I take this call real quick? It's the manager for the next interview slot, and it's a big guild…"
"Of course. Take it at your leisure."
"Thank you. Just wait a moment."
The reporter dashed outside while answering the phone. Only then did the tension drain right out of me. I massaged the stiff nape of my neck and let out a sigh.
"I thought I was going to suffocate to death."
It had felt like walking on thin ice.
The interview atmosphere hadn't been particularly comfortable.
"You okay?"
"What did I even do? You did all the hard work. I just stood behind with my arms crossed and watched."
I handed Han Yujeong the water bottle I'd opened. She gulped it down greedily, as if her throat had gotten dry from all the talking. Then she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and smiled small.
"It was nothing."
"You can drop the humility now that the reporter's gone."
"It's true, though."
My chest had been so tight with worry that she might slip up and say the wrong thing.
But it seemed my concerns had been groundless.
Han Yujeong had handled it even better than I'd expected.
"Hm?"
A memo pad that had fallen on the floor caught my eye.
Had he dropped it while rushing out?
I bent down to pick it up, and the image of the reporter who had been firing off sharp questions throughout the interview floated up.
I casually scanned the ceiling like I was looking around. No CCTV. Sealed room. And the reporter had just stepped out to take a call.
The devil's whisper reached my ears.
-Hey, check the memo pad. It's Yujeong's interview. Aren't you curious what he wrote?
From the opposite side, the angel's whisper came too.
-Hey, check the memo pad. It's Yujeong's interview. Aren't you curious what he wrote?
The angel and devil who had locked eyes shook hands.
Just one look, maybe?
Calming my racing heart, I opened the memo pad.
And my words stuck in my throat.
What the hell is this?
Han Yujeong, the result of just one month. 3,000 points was way too easy
Breath that had heated up like molten lava poured out.
Look at this bastard?
Creak!
The door opened and the reporter came back in.
"I'm really sorry. The Taesan Guild manager was making all sorts of noise about whether we could move the interview time up……."
Then he casually added,
"I'm sorry to say this, but it seems we might need to wrap up the interview early."
"……It can't be helped. Are we finishing the interview, then?"
"Taesan Guild was supposed to come at four, and right now it's 3:45."
The reporter tapped his wristwatch with his index finger.
"You're in quite a rush. Well, this is something—we came for an interview and only managed some mediocre personal chatter. I wonder if an article can even come out of this. Sorry for just wasting your time, Reporter."
"Oh, what are you talking about. It was a satisfying interview. This much is excellent."
Yeah, excellent for racking up traffic, I'm sure.
"Let's see, the notes I took…. Where did this go?"
The reporter rummaged around the floor. I watched with my legs crossed and asked,
"Reporter, what are you looking for?"
"I can't find my memo pad. Did I take it out earlier? Getting older means I keep spacing out…."
Thud.
I tossed the memo pad in front of the reporter.
"Looking for this?"
"Huh? Why does the manager have this?"
Han Yujeong was currently the most watched prospect.
Once the first article went out, eyes would zero in on her in an instant. That much was certain.
If this article went out as-is, the reaction was obvious.
A lucky brat who just happened to awaken. An arrogant genius.
The public would root for Han Yujeong's failure, and the hate comments piled under the article would be a free bonus.
The world had changed.
They no longer forced humility on celebrities alone. Depending on the time, a confident appearance could even draw greater favor.
But arrogance that crossed the line of confidence only got you beaten down. If that were a deliberate strategy and character meant to burn that perception into the public, it could work.
In fact, even in combat sports, well-mannered fighters deliberately took on heel images and provoked opponents. It was a statistical fact that it directly affected ticketing power.
But I swore I had not even a sparrow's speck of intention of burning Han Yujeong into that kind of image. I had watched from right beside her what kind of life Lee Jia lived after collapsing under hate comments. There was no guarantee Han Yujeong wouldn't end up the same.
And even if Han Yujeong herself didn't care about the hate comments, having someone close to you get cursed out wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling.
Maybe that was why.
The words that barely squeezed out between my lips were,
"Reporter."
"Yes?"
"Would you like to receive a lawsuit?"
"…What?"
Even to my own ears, it was far too calm, and far too sardonic.
The reporter held the memo pad and sank into thought.
Once he grasped the situation from front to back, he sneered at Kim Hyunwoo.
"Defamation, spreading false information… Do you know how many times I've heard people say they'll file charges? The legal teams on the media side rival those of big corporations."
"I don't think their people are going to cover personal civil and criminal cases for you."
"What?"
"Do we look like retards to you just because we don't have a guild? Sue the newspaper company? Of course the lawsuit goes to you personally, Reporter, not the company."
Kim Hyunwoo let out a dry laugh.
"I don't know if the company legal team will protect you, Reporter. Unless you have a hobby of volunteering outside of work hours."
"…Then you get a headache too."
"Don't worry about that. I'll hire a lawyer."
"You think that makes financial sense?!"
"Why are you worrying about that, Reporter? Whether someone buries money in the ground, gives alms to beggars, or hires a law firm attorney—it's not your money."
The reporter, mouth clamped shut, fell silent. Kim Hyunwoo shoved his face right up into the reporter's.
And whispered threateningly,
"Want the lawsuit? Or cancel the interview?"
Silence hung for a while. The reporter's lips twitched as he was about to say something when—
Knock knock!
A knock sounded. A large man peeked his head through the crack in the door.
"Reporter? I'm the Taesan Guild manager I just called about. You weren't picking up. Interview's done, right? We even canceled our The Hunt interview to come here. You know that?"
"Ah, Manager, about that……."
The manager spotted Kim Hyunwoo and Han Yujeong. He frowned.
"The interview still isn't done? We've got a schedule after this and time's tight."
The manager scratched the back of his head as he walked over. He casually draped an arm over Kim Hyunwoo's shoulder and said,
"I'd appreciate it if you wrapped this up soon."
"Us?"
"We have to do our interview too. We have to stick to the set times, don't we? Right?"
"Time. Appointments."
Kim Hyunwoo smiled and looked at the reporter.
"The most important virtues for a working adult."
"……."
"What a waste, Reporter."
Kim Hyunwoo smoothly held out his hand.
"Since we couldn't do a proper interview. Think an article can even come out of this?"
The reporter stared down at that hand in silence for a while. It was rough with calluses here and there, yet the long, elegant fingers stretched out gracefully.
For a moment he had the illusion that those hands were closing around his own throat.
The reporter, breaking out in a cold sweat, smiled and clasped the hand.
"Exactly. Schedules got tangled so we couldn't even secure interview time. Looks like this article won't go out… We'll have to push it to next time."
"The higher-ups are going to tear you a new one. I'm so sorry about that."
"It's my fault."
"Is that so."
"Ahem, ahem."
"Then I'll ask again later. Just in case, I'll take this with me."
Kim Hyunwoo pocketed the reporter's voice recorder.
"Yujeong, we're done, so let's go now."
"Yes."
Kim Hyunwoo was heading out the door when he stopped in his tracks. Four men and women were huddled together blocking the doorway. The Taesan Guild prospects. He said,
"Could you make way? We need to pass."
The prospects who had been smiling in circles stepped aside. Kim Hyunwoo walked ahead. Han Yujeong followed behind. In the eyes of others, they looked like shabby losers.
"Big guilds really are nice."
The prospects whispered small enough that it wouldn't reach Kim Hyunwoo's ears.
"Told to come out mid-interview and he just shuts up and crawls out."
"Must've hurt his pride a lot."
"So what if it did? Looked like he came from the streets."
The prospects who had been snickering all rubbed their forearms at the same time. A chill ran down their spines. Had someone cranked the AC too high? They whipped their heads around and locked eyes with someone.
"……."
Han Yujeong was standing still, staring at them. Her turning pupils captured each of their faces one by one. For a few seconds they couldn't look away from each other when men's voices came from both sides.
"We've got to finish the interview quick, so stop flirting and get in here!"
"Yujeong, what are you doing over there instead of coming?"
At the manager's call, the prospects snapped back to their senses.
"Coming in, hyung!"
They hid their uneasy expressions and entered the room. Kim Hyunwoo, who had approached at some point, asked curiously,
"Why? See a familiar face or something?"
Han Yujeong shook her head.
"No. People I don't know."
"Yeah? I thought you'd run into someone you knew."
Kim Hyunwoo wiped his face with a tired expression.
"I'm completely drained, completely. Should we grab a meal before heading back? Or since it's hot, some restorative food? What do you feel like?"
"Anything's fine."
"Hey! It's disappointing, so stop being so polite and just be honest already!"
Kim Hyunwoo roughly ruffled Han Yujeong's hair and shook her head this way and that. She blurted out in flustered surprise,
"I-I want to eat samgyetang."
"Yeah? Must've been really hot today."
"Y-yes…. Ah, Ahjussi, stop… I'm getting dizzy now."
Kim Hyunwoo smiled and let go. It was the same smile he hadn't forgotten even while fighting with the reporter, but only now did a truly comfortable and natural smile surface. The same went for Han Yujeong, who awkwardly smiled along.
"Let's go eat."
We were heading to the parking lot with Han Yujeong.
"The interview's a bit of a shame."
With the first exam finished, the industry's attention was fully concentrated right now.
I had planned to get her face out through the newspaper and naturally draw interest.
But by torpedoing the interview, it had all gone down the drain.
With the timing what it was, finding another interview right away would be hard.
These things needed good timing.
"I'm sorry, Ahjussi."
Han Yujeong suddenly said that.
I stopped walking and turned around.
Her face was dejected.
"If I had done a little better……."
I cut her off.
"Why would you say that?"
"Huh? Well, because I."
"I told you earlier. If you make some kind of mistake, that means my ability was lacking."
Hunters fight monsters. Managers handle everything else.
Documents, schedules, overall business management….
Accidents inside a dungeon are entirely the hunter's fault.
In that case, problems outside the dungeon are all the manager's responsibility.
It was the same now.
If I had known that reporter's background beforehand, and if I had even one reporter's number I could call right this second.
We wouldn't have wandered and would have finished the interview beautifully.
"So don't worry about it. Yerim and I will try locking down another interview. This time we'll pay attention to the reporter's reputation too……."
Suddenly a loud voice came from somewhere.
"Manager! Please do the interview! Please!"
"No, Reporter Jo. What are you doing throwing a tantrum and demanding an interview out of the blue on the same day?"
What?
In front of a black van, two men were having a scuffle.
"I'll definitely repay the favor later. If there's a direction you want for the article, I'll write it exactly like that! Is there any way?"
The manager scratched his head and sighed.
"Haa… No, I'd like to do it for you too. You know how it is. We're already in exclusive interview status, so doing another interview elsewhere just makes everyone tired."
"That's."
"I'm sorry, Reporter. I hope this doesn't sour your mood. It's just how it has to be."
The manager climbed into the driver's seat. The van smoothly exited the parking lot.
"In a situation like this, where the hell am I supposed to go get an interview!!"
A delayed roar thundered out.
I locked eyes with Han Yujeong.
Without anyone needing to say a word, we both nodded at the same time. We hurried over to the reporter with quick steps.
"Hello. You're a reporter, right?"
At the unfamiliar face, the reporter took a half-step back.
He carefully answered,
"Yes, I'm Jo Jeongbin of The Hunt."
The Hunt.
Not quite on the level of a major newspaper company, but it was a magazine with quite a bit of influence.
Enough to sufficiently get Han Yujeong's face and name out there.
That was enough.
As long as it wasn't a trash tabloid specialized in gossip rags, the rest of the interest in Han Yujeong would draw attention on its own.
"I happened to overhear what you were saying while passing by."
I put an arm around Han Yujeong's shoulders and said,
"By any chance, do you need a prospect for an interview?"