The Hwarang Drama's Final Winner
A newsroom where the lights never went out.
An office with no concept of quitting time. Shouts flew back and forth while printed pages sailed through the air like startled birds.
Right now, only two characters occupied every brain in the building.
Hwarang.
The entire country had lost its mind over those two syllables.
It was only natural that every media outlet, the very organizations supposed to be most sensitive to public demand, had gone into full emergency mode.
“The guilds are in an absolute uproar over Ranker Hwarang’s free agency. To calm this chaos, we need an official statement from the man himself as soon as possible…”
“A ranker is an asset, you see. A tangible asset, but also an intangible one that raises the entire guild’s prestige. They rarely hit free agency. In fact, this is the first time in thirteen years…”
Television stations were running Hwarang segments every single day.
“Hwarang! If it even smells like Hwarang, bring it! Load everything!”
“Start with your daughter’s elementary school, then your wife’s district office. Just go. Take pictures if that’s all you can get.”
“What he eats, what he wears, what his expression was like, pull a good shot of his face and upload it first! Just shut up and upload!”
The reporters moved with the grim resolve of soldiers heading into a classified operation.
“Um, senior? Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Isn’t… this a bit much? I mean, there are only twenty rankers. It’s just one guy out of twenty… is it really supposed to be this hot?”
“Hee-sun, you don’t watch the league much, do you?”
“…A little?”
“Listen carefully. There are three main points of interest in this Hwarang recruitment war. And they all connect naturally.”
1. Hwarang’s popularity.
2. His personality.
3. And the fact that he’s a free agent.
“Hwarang has a model image that earns him love from countless fans. He consistently ranks near the top of the year-end popularity polls.”
Hwarang’s popularity owed much to his heartbreaking childhood story. Orphaned and raised in a group home, he had grown into a decent, family-oriented man unlike so many people these days. Add in his handsome face, and who could possibly dislike him?
“There was a time when journalists joked that if Hwarang had stayed single, his market value would be three times higher.”
“…That much?”
“Think about it, Hee-sun. Would the public rather have a ‘national dad’ or ‘national uncle’? Or a ‘national husband’ and ‘national son-in-law’?”
“The latter…”
“People claim rankers are judged purely on skill, but once you reach that level, the difference in pure ability is paper-thin. Image and marketability inevitably come into play. Remember that.”
Yet even the best image could crumble if the inside didn’t match the outside. Just like that sincere idol hunter who crashed and burned after drunk driving and chronic gambling scandals.
“The second point, ‘personality,’ flows naturally from the first.”
“You mean his good personality?”
“No. Here, personality refers to his loyalty to his team. Things like honor and faithfulness.”
“Ah…?”
Hwarang was as loyal to his guild as he was to his playstyle.
After debuting in League 3, Hwarang had fully bloomed and received countless love calls from League 1 teams. His original guild, reluctant to lose such talent, had even offered to let him go if he wished. But Hwarang had shaken his head and said:
“Even if I leave, I want to give a present to the guild that first picked me before I go.”
“Wow… that’s insane…”
“Remember that speech Representative Lee Shin gave for Mir?”
“Ah, that love confession. It broke every record on Korean YouTube.”
“It was at least that level. The whole country lost its mind.”
In an era where loyalty had become a cheap joke, a man of genuine honor had appeared.
A rare romantic in an industry full of debauchery.
Truly, born to be a unicorn.
Which naturally led to the next question.
“Then why on earth did the Baekgeom Guild sell him?”
“Wow… now that you mention it, right? Hwarang wouldn’t have requested a transfer first!”
“We don’t know the circumstances. But a lot of people believe exactly what you just said. That’s why the fans are so furious.”
This level of buzz couldn’t survive on praise alone. There had to be condemnation as well.
And right now, all the arrows of criticism were flying straight at the Baekgeom Guild. Their official fan club had already released a statement, and they were even threatening a boycott of the stadium if the representative didn’t explain himself.
“…But the representative said it, didn’t he? It wasn’t the guild that refused the contract extension. It was Hwarang. He made unreasonable demands, and we couldn’t accept them.”
“Did you see the top comment on that?”
“No.”
“A representative covered in scandals versus a ranker whose only scandals are wholesome stories.”
“Ahem. Yes, well… the Baekgeom representative is, um…”
When you followed the narrative, it became stranger not to believe Hwarang. This was why usual behavior mattered so much.
“And so, Mir Guild defeated Dynasty in that final match, and Hwarang was released as a free agent. The first ranker to hit the market in thirteen years.”
Only then did the junior reporter finally understand.
The character, the conflicting interests, the storyline; everything was perfect.
If Hwarang had lived like other rankers, flaunting wealth and fame on social media, the reaction wouldn’t have been this intense.
If he had said something arrogant like that American ranker who claimed he was “taking my talent to South Beach,” the public wouldn’t have gone this wild.
Joy, sorrow, anger, catharsis, support, criticism, shock; every possible emotion was swirling together, turning this free agency into a complete drama.
“The Hwarang Drama. That’s the story we’ll be chasing from now on.”
Meanwhile, around that time, the community atmosphere was exactly like this.
The fans’ happiness circuits were on fire.
Burning bright.
From the Kirin Guild all the way down to the Haemoo Guild, every fanbase had risen up at once.
Strangely enough, their arguments were all identical.
Hwarang is the final puzzle piece our guild needs!
Some guilds were treating it like a life-or-death matter.
They had suffered a crushing defeat in last year’s Sword Derby against the Baekgeom Guild. They had been completely dismantled by Hwarang’s relentless side-lane operations.
With their top laner still unchanged, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.
Therefore, the fans made their demand.
If you can’t beat him, buy him!!
The desperation from the NewStar fans was just as intense.
They had once been mocked as ‘circus performers’ after parting ways with their old star player, but their performance had suddenly rebounded and they had become ‘cosmic rising stars.’
On top of that, they had introduced a brand-new meta centered around the ranker healer ‘Cross’ and fought all the way to the playoffs semifinals.
With their momentum at its peak, what if they added Hwarang on top of that?
This was a real championship angle.
That was why the fans were running a “NewStar Product Certification Relay.”
However, there was one guild watching all of this with perfect composure…
The super team that had built a dynasty.
The absolute ruler of Korea.
Kirin Guild.
To Kirin’s fans, Hwarang was already one of their own. Having built a powerful dynasty, even the Kirin supporters looked down on the rest of the league with the ‘eyes of a king.’
The meme “If Kirin calls, you have to come, right?” hadn’t appeared for no reason.
They refused to be swept up in such uncultured, ignorant chaos.
The Korean guild scene was nothing but Kirin’s playground.
A true Kirin fan would speak more elegantly about the Asia League they had narrowly missed last year.
Though their attitudes and intentions differed, every League 1 fanbase was burning with passion over Hwarang’s recruitment.
But something felt off.
It was as if… they were missing something important.
In the middle of all this chaos, why were the people who should have been the loudest staying completely silent?
Why were they so quiet?
Because…
The Mir Guild homepage was completely down.
And floating alone in the center of the broken page was a single number.
Every Yongbung knew what this meant.
This was exactly like three years ago.
When the Mountain King arrived!
00:59:59……
Inside the Kirin Guild’s hunter management office, Han Jeong-do was receiving a massage with a languid expression. A burly Black masseuse asked in fluent Korean.
“Is this pressure all right?”
“Ahh, perfect. Your team is always the best.”
“Thank you.”
A candle made from the roots of the fantasy species ‘Mandrake.’
Lighting crafted from ‘Drake Flames,’ a symbol of longevity.
And finally, a massage oil painstakingly created by a top-tier alchemist using dozens of rare ingredients.
Perhaps it was because they were part of a management team considered among the best even in America, where hunter science was most advanced? Every single prop and breath of air was packed with elixirs.
Of course, the bill would be astronomical, but neither the masseuse nor Han Jeong-do cared about that.
The money came from Han Jeong-do anyway, and he was willing to pay billions if it meant he could look even one day younger.
“The wrinkles on the back of your neck have increased slightly. I’ll begin the procedure immediately.”
“Really?! Do it right away. I’ve been stressed because of some annoying business.”
“As I always say, the key to management is prevention. Stress is poison.”
The masseuse inserted a syringe filled with fluorescent liquid into the wrinkled area and continued.
“Did something happen?”
“Hah… There was this one ranker who said something insane.”
“You mean… Hwa? Hwarang?”
“Oh, you know about him too?”
“Our management team handles not only the body but the mind as well. We always conduct thorough research on our VIP clients, Representative.”
“As expected… This is why you have to spend money.”
Recruiting Kim Yu-shin had been quite important to Han Jeong-do as well.
After all, they had been eliminated from the Asia League again. And to make matters worse, they had suffered a 3:2 comeback loss in the Korea-Japan match.
Because of that, Kirin Guild had once again been humiliated with the label of ‘domestic-only team,’ and he had been summoned by his father-in-law; the chairman of Kirin himself.
“…You mustn’t frown, Representative.”
“Hoo, I’ll be careful.”
“If it bothered you that much… why didn’t you bring him in?”
“Hah… Don’t tell anyone. The bastard said he wanted to change positions. To supporter, of all things.”
“!!”
The contract terms Han Jeong-do had offered Kim Yu-shin were conditions even he couldn’t present lightly.
In other words, they were terms he had obtained by bowing his head to his father-in-law.
Yet Kim Yu-shin had thrown them away.
All for one daughter.
Kim Yu-shin had already been an unpleasant man, but when he started spouting nonsense about family and family, Han Jeong-do had nearly vomited in disgust.
“What’s even funnier is that after hearing that from me, the bastard went around making similar offers to other guild representatives.”
“They didn’t accept, I assume.”
“Anyone who accepts would be a pathetic idiot.”
No matter how much of a pay cut he took, a ranker had a baseline value.
It was worth paying that for a top laner, but paying it to a supporter? It simply wasn’t realistic.
The other players on the team would hate it first. No matter how excellent, a supporter was still a supporting character.
“Perhaps he was trying to raise his price…”
“Hmph, how American of you. Yes, it’s a reasonable suspicion. In fact, several guilds believe he’s doing it to inflate his value. But no, the man is serious.”
“…He really is a crazy person.”
“Which is why it’s actually better.”
“……??”
“It means he has no choice but to come to me in the end.”
From the beginning, there weren’t many guilds that could afford Kim Yu-shin’s price.
And among those, even fewer offered an environment where Kim Yu-shin could truly display his ability.
And among those few, the only guild that could give Kim Yu-shin a solid ‘career’ was…
“Us. Kirin.”
Han Jeong-do had already dealt with ‘upright men’ before.
He just needed to wait a little, casually say he would ‘review’ the supporter position change, sign him, and then stick him in the top lane.
Since he was a diligent man, even if he had complaints, once given a role he would do his best. Just like his friend had done in the past.
Han Jeong-do’s smiling eyes narrowed like a snake’s.
“You won’t be able to escape me in the end, Yu-shin.”
Just like the others.
He closed his eyes with a satisfied smile.
It was then.
The outside suddenly became noisy and the door burst open. As the elixir-rich air escaped, the masseuse shouted in anger and tried to stop the intruder, but the secretary yelled even louder.
“R-Representative!! Hwarang, Hwarang…!!”
“What is it?!”
Han Jeong-do shot upright, snatched the trembling secretary’s pad, and looked at the screen.
His pupils dilated.
There was a photo of Kim Yu-shin shaking hands with Lee Shin.
Crack.
The pad began disintegrating in his grip in real time.
“Assemble the entire TF team. Right now!!”