Overturning the Rigged Board
“Do you happen to need a prospect for an interview?”
“That’s right, but who are you?”
“Manager Kim Hyunwoo.”
“Manager?”
Reporter Jo glanced at Han Yujeong’s face before speaking.
“I’m not really familiar with idols…”
“It’s the hunter side.”
“Which guild are you with?”
Expectation lit up in Reporter Jo’s eyes.
That expectation cooled the instant I answered.
“We don’t have a guild yet. We’re still under review.”
“Ah, I see.”
His reply sounded thoroughly unimpressed.
“I overheard earlier—you said you needed a prospect interview?”
“Yeah, yeah, we do.”
Reporter Jo roughly scratched at his head.
“We had interviews lined up with the Taesan Guild prospects, but they suddenly bailed. Claimed they were in a traffic accident.”
“Huh? That’s weird. I just finished an interview over at Daejin Daily.”
“What?”
“They were scheduled right after me.”
“When was that?!”
I checked my watch. 4:10.
“About ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago.”
Reporter Jo’s face flushed a deep, furious red.
“Th-th-those fucking bastards with zero professional ethics! Those absolute pieces of shit!”
I hurriedly clamped my hands over Han Yujeong’s ears.
“Ahjussi.”
“Yeah?”
“I can still hear everything even with you covering them.”
“You can?”
I awkwardly lowered my hands.
Reporter Jo’s cursing finally ran out of steam a long while later.
His vocabulary was limited, but it made the depth of his rage perfectly clear.
“Ahem. Sorry about that. We were planning to feature all four of them in the magazine, so hunting down replacements right now has turned into a massive headache.”
“All four of them?”
Good lord.
When someone’s luck is about to turn, they really do trip over a rock and land on a gold nugget.
“In that case, Reporter. Hypothetically speaking.”
“Yes?”
“If another prospect became available for an interview…”
I casually smoothed down the corner of my mouth that was starting to curl upward and asked,
“Would you dedicate the full four-person spread to them?”
Reporter Jo dragged a hand down his face and heaved a heavy sigh.
“Of course. It’s not like I can just run out and grab three other people right this second. Honestly, I’d grab onto anyone’s pant leg and beg at this point.”
“No need to grab pant legs—they tear too easily. Just make sure you run a proper, positive article on our Yujeong.”
“…What? Come again?”
They needed to fill four people’s worth of space with a single person.
Considering this issue’s special feature was the Hunter Exam, it essentially meant an entire magazine built around Han Yujeong as the main cover.
I smiled brightly and introduced her.
“Han Yujeong. You know the name, right?”
“Of course I do. How could I not? Is that… her?”
Reporter Jo stared blankly at Han Yujeong.
I nodded.
“The very Han Yujeong you know. We’ll be counting on you for the interview. And as I said earlier, you need to allocate the full four-person page count.”
“Ah…”
“Ah?”
“Aaaah! Uwaaah!”
Reporter Jo let out a raw scream and latched onto my pant leg. Eyes wet, he wailed,
“Thank you for saving me! God! Buddha! Manager!”
Being put on the same level as that lineup felt more than a little embarrassing.
I gave an awkward smile and helped the reporter back to his feet.
The interview proceeded in a comfortable atmosphere.
Unlike the Daejin Daily reporter, there were no uncomfortable questions.
If anything, he seemed desperate to stay on our good side.
“If you’re tired, shall we take a short break?”
“No, you’re busy enough as it is. Let’s keep going.”
Han Yujeong tugged on my sleeve.
“Ahjussi, aren’t you hungry?”
“We’ll eat after the interview’s done.”
“It’s already five.”
Overhearing our exchange, Reporter Jo kicked the door open and shouted,
“What the hell is this snack situation? It’s empty!”
“Hey, you could’ve just told us earlier.”
“Stop bitching and bring something already, you idiot! If this issue tanks, are you going to take responsibility?”
It wasn’t that serious.
The empty plate was soon neatly refilled with layers of Western-style sweets.
I popped one into my mouth.
Delicious. Sweet enough that Yujeong would love it.
Glancing sideways confirmed it—she was already chewing contentedly, face full of satisfaction.
The interview continued for about another hour. When it wrapped, we headed to the photography studio. Being a magazine, this part was apparently the real main event.
Click-click!
“Han Yujeong-ssi! Strike a pose! Anything!”
Han Yujeong tried to follow the photographer’s instructions. It was painful to watch. She was stiffly waving her rigid arms around like a broken doll.
“Tsk.”
The photographer scratched his head, clearly unsatisfied. I casually crossed my arms and offered an excuse.
“Yujeong’s never done a studio shoot before. She’s just not used to it.”
“Ah, Manager. That’s not it.”
The photographer scrolled back through the shots he’d taken.
“It’s more like… the clothes look like they’re floating on her.”
“Floating?”
“Yeah. Like someone just threw clothes on her without a professional stylist. That kind of vibe.”
This guy had a sharp eye.
Before the interview I’d at least picked out something decent-looking from a department store. Apparently it still looked different to a professional.
But what exactly was off?
I looked over at Han Yujeong, who was resting.
“…….”
I had no idea.
Whether I was wearing rose-tinted glasses or not, she just looked cute and pretty to me.
Reporter Jo cut in.
“Hyung, is it unusable?”
“No. The base is so good that’s not the issue. It’s just a shame, you know? I heard the manager helped with the interview prep?”
“No. Hyunwoo-ssi didn’t just help me.”
Reporter Jo’s expression turned deadly serious.
“He saved our entire magazine from falling into a bottomless pit. The four main features for this special issue had completely fallen through.”
“That’s why I don’t want to just phone it in. The model’s great, so I keep getting greedy.”
The photographer checked his watch while mulling it over, then asked,
“Manager, are you very busy after this?”
“No more schedule after this.”
“Being a studio, we’ve got plenty of outfits. I’d like her to change into a few and shoot more. How does that sound?”
I nodded without hesitation.
If they wanted to produce better results, I was ready to welcome it with open arms.
This was her very first article, after all.
Something she would remember for the rest of her life—I didn’t want to half-ass it.
Three grown men put their heads together, debating what she should wear.
“What image came to mind the first time you saw Yujeong?”
My question got immediate answers.
“Young, so fresh and full of energy.”
“Blunt, so she looks a bit shy and reserved.”
“Slender enough that you feel like you want to protect her.”
“Triggers the protective instinct?”
The photographer suddenly asked,
“How old is Han Yujeong-ssi? Not an adult, right?”
“Just turned seventeen.”
“Seventeen—so second year of high school?”
“First year, actually.”
“Hmm.”
Reporter Jo and the photographer exchanged a look.
“What about a school uniform?”
“Perfect. Matches her age, and it pairs cleanly with the young genius image.”
Their gazes swung toward me.
Asking with their eyes. I nodded.
“A school uniform. I think that would be good too.”
“Ah, Ahjussi!”
From a distance, Han Yujeong called out to me in a panicked voice.
I pretended not to hear.
Truthfully, I wanted to see it once myself.
Yujeong in a school uniform.
Han Yujeong poked her head through the crack of the studio door. Her cheeks were flushed pink. She hovered there, refusing to come in, so I asked,
“What are you doing?”
“I-I did put it on, but…”
“And?”
“I really don’t think this is it. I-I’ll go change!”
“Hey, hey, change into what? The photographer’s waiting! Get back here!”
Han Yujeong bolted on the spot.
Her feet were so fast that once she ran I had no hope of catching her.
How was I supposed to stop her?
I looked around, then kicked over a nearby chair.
Crash!
Then I collapsed onto the floor myself and screamed.
“Aaaagh! My foot!”
“Ahjussi! Are you okay? Are you hurt badly?”
Han Yujeong’s frantic voice came from right behind me. I stopped mid-scream and stood up straight.
“You’re here?”
Han Yujeong stared at me blankly. Then, piecing the situation together, she pointed at me with a look of pure betrayal.
“Ahjussi… you tricked me…!”
“I didn’t have any other way to catch you. Sorry.”
I smiled and looked her over.
Black H-line skirt, white blouse. Even the clip-on necktie was neatly fastened.
She herself seemed extremely self-conscious about it. She kept fidgeting, holding onto the skirt hem and squirming, but to my eyes the whole look suited her perfectly.
“Photographer, how does Yujeong look? Clothing power at this level.”
He flashed a thumbs-up with a grin.
“When this issue drops, her popularity’s going to explode, don’t you think?”
“Right?”
After the photoshoot ended we headed for the parking lot. Reporter Jo insisted on seeing us out. I told him it was fine, but he wouldn’t hear of it. It had been a long time since gratitude felt this sincere.
“Aren’t you heading home, Reporter?”
“We publish next Tuesday.”
“That’s still two whole days away.”
“It’s a weekly. That means we only have two measly days left.”
Reporter Jo smiled like his soul had been run through a thresher. Our small talk naturally drifted into gossip.
“Those Taesan Guild bastards act like they’re a major guild and just blow us off—it makes my blood boil.”
“The Hunt is a pretty influential magazine in its own right. Don’t people usually walk carefully around media outlets?”
The Hunt held the highest recognition among hunter-related magazines. It wasn’t on the level of the three major newspapers, sure, but still—to the point of completely ditching a scheduled interview and running off to another one?
Watching Reporter Jo still viciously cursing them out, I was pretty sure I could never pull something like that myself.
“We don’t have the same mass influence as a newspaper that prints a new issue every single day. Unlike papers, we’re pricey, so the subscriber count is embarrassingly low by comparison. On top of that the company scale is much smaller than Taesan Guild’s… Later they’ll watch their step a little around me, but even after getting screwed like this I can’t go for their throats.”
Then he added one more thing.
“Unless I land a scoop that blows up.”
“A scoop?”
“Yeah. Something where they’re clearly in the wrong. Power-abuse scandals, sex scandals, illegal lobbying… Land one big incident like that and every news outlet piles on together.”
Illegal lobbying, huh.
“I was wondering who I should tell this to. I like the sound of that.”
“What?”
Clunk!
I sat in the driver’s seat and turned the ignition. The dashcam light came on.
“Hyunwoo-ssi, did your car get scratched somewhere?”
“One second.”
Click, click!
I plugged a USB into the dashcam and operated the pad. A list of video files appeared. I played the footage recorded between 13:00 and 14:00 at 12x speed.
I was still focused when Reporter Jo knocked on the car door.
“Like I said earlier I’m a bit busy, so I’m really sorry but I need to head ba—”
“Really? If you leave now you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“What? Is it something that upsetting?”
“No, it’s not that.”
I held the dashcam out to the reporter.
Inside it was crystal-clear footage of the managers and prospects talking freely in the alley.
“Because of this.”
“The major guilds already put in their lobbies. Without lobbying you’re fighting with shackles on, and it’s over before it even starts.”
“Worry about the right things. What kind of guild do you think we are? We’ve already set the whole board. Just feed them money and you guys just take whatever they spoon-feed you.”
After hearing everything, Reporter Jo made a dazed sound.
“Uh…?”
Reporter Jo yanked me into a crushing hug.
“Hyunwoo-ssi! Manager! No—hyung-nim!!”
“You look at least ten years older than me, so what’s with the ‘hyung-nim’…”
“When someone keeps bringing me first-place lottery tickets, what else am I supposed to call him?! Huh? Hyung-nim!”
Reporter Jo shoved the USB I’d handed him into his pocket. It was a powder keg containing a copy of the dashcam footage.
“Th-th-those sons of bitches! I’ve been grinding my teeth over them and now heaven is on my side!”
He seemed far more interested in the personal grudge than the scoop itself.
Once he’d calmed down a little, Reporter Jo asked me,
“Hyunwoo-ssi, you gave this to me because you want something in return, right?”
Even in the middle of his excitement, his eyes had settled into calm. I nodded honestly. I had a feeling he and I could become good friends.
“Yes. I was thinking we could help each other out.”
“Help each other out.”
“You get the scoop. I get you owing me a favor.”
“One favor?”
Reporter Jo held up two fingers.
“Counting the interview, that’s two. Anytime you need something, just say the word. Undercover reporting, paparazzi work, sharing internal company secrets—I’ll handle all of it.”
Exactly the result I’d been hoping for, and a satisfying answer.
“But Reporter, detonating it with just this alone will be tough.”
The evidence was far too thin.
Casual words an ordinary manager had spit out in private.
Recorded by a third party, no less.
It wouldn’t hold up as legal evidence, and it wasn’t enough tinder to set the media ablaze either.
“I’ve been in this business for years—of course I know that. But it’s still a lead I can work with. I’ll be stuck doing paparazzi work for a while and it’ll be rough, but the groundwork will be ready soon enough.”
We shook hands and I sat back in the driver’s seat. While I was fastening Han Yujeong’s seatbelt, Reporter Jo suddenly asked,
“Ah, Hyunwoo-ssi. One more thing before you go. When were you thinking of dropping this? The investigation method will change depending on the timing.”
The second test was a team battle.
Four people were randomly assigned to a team and had to hold off monster waves pouring in from every direction.
In simple terms, it was like a tower-defense game. The fewer monsters that reached the center, the higher the score.
No matter how strong an individual was, there were physical limits to what one person could do.
One hand could handle ten, sure.
But one person arm-wrestling ten people at the same time was impossible.
If the other three members were all dead weight, the entire burden would fall squarely on Han Yujeong.
It was a stage where luck played a significant role.
And the major guilds had already purchased that luck with their lobbying. They would no doubt be teamed with strong prospects or ones with good synergy.
Conversely, any rival who hadn’t lobbied would be saddled with members that were basically shackles.
That way the prospects they were pushing could climb even higher.
Which meant a problem had already formed for Han Yujeong.
The enemies had already rigged a board we could not win on.
How to deal with this obstacle?
Several methods rose and vanished inside my head.
Then I arrived at the best solution.
“Before the second test begins.”
If the problem was a board they had already set…
Then I would flip the board they had prepared.
“That would be best.”
Completely destroy it.