The Bullied Manager is now the Great Mage

CHAPTER 8

The Challenger badge sat gleaming on the shared screen while the entire production staff struggled to process what they were seeing. Only 0.007 percent of players reached that rank. The number wasn't theoretical. It was Aria's actual standing.

Jason broke the silence with the kind of calm composure that suggested he'd been expecting this moment. "We wouldn't have agreed to something foolish."

Owen laughed awkwardly, his mind spinning through implications and calculations. He couldn't press the issue without risking the filming entirely, and the contract was already signed. He told himself that either way the controversy was good for ratings. A Challenger-rank hunter appearing on cable television would generate discussion. The spectacle of her crushing opponents would draw viewers. Even if his original plan had dissolved, the numbers would still work in his favor.

The game started and Dylan's expectations died within the first ten minutes.

He'd picked jungle specifically to cover for Aria and told her to play it safe, to let him do the heavy lifting. She'd told him not to bother coming top because she didn't need help. Then she proceeded to destroy her opponent methodically, a third-string pro team player Dylan personally knew as skilled, along with the enemy jungler who attempted to assist. Her positioning was flawless. Her decision-making didn't waver.

The only moment that broke her clinical efficiency came when she scored a kill and died immediately after because she forgot Dylan was standing directly beside her in the booth and instinctively said "jungle diff" out loud.

Dylan had preemptively disabled her chat access for the broadcast. He now understood with absolute certainty that this was the correct decision.

The games proceeded with mechanical precision. Aria's conversations with Dylan consisted entirely of tactical callouts. Enemy jungle flash timers. Teleport windows. Lane assignments. No banter. No personal stories. No personality moments for the cameras. Just clean information transfer between two players operating at a level that made winning feel inevitable.

Owen watched the third match end the same way it had ended the previous two. Complete victory. Flawless execution. Aria's opponent sitting helpless while she dictated the game's pace from start to finish. He accepted reality.

Then he realized he had a different problem.

At this pace, five consecutive wins would happen quickly. Maybe one more game. Maybe two. There wouldn't be enough footage for a broadcast. An hour of recording at most, and three matches looked identical on camera because there was nothing dramatic about them. Just pure skill dismantling opposition.

He approached Jason between matches. "We need an interview segment. More content. Something that shows personality. Right now we just have gameplay and it's repetitive."

"No." Jason's answer came immediate and final. "Contract specified filming until five consecutive wins in League of Nova. That's what we'll deliver. Nothing more."

"More footage benefits everyone." Owen tried to reason with him, tried to find an angle that didn't exist. "Gives us a better product. Better product means better ratings for you in any future projects."

"No hunter in recorded history has made it big through cable television." Jason's voice stayed level. "Aria can walk onto network television on the strength of her name alone whenever she chooses. She appeared on this show because she likes gaming. You got lucky. She could have refused completely."

Owen's jaw worked soundlessly. Four wins secured and his leverage completely vanished. He surrendered. "What do you actually want?"

Jason smiled. "Now we can begin real negotiations."

Across the country in Manhattan, Ryan Lee was shaking hands with Chief Manager Derek Young in the JM Management offices. Satisfaction sat warm in his chest because a company smart enough to recognize his value had rescued him from Unique's poor judgment. JM operated under Javelin Guild, a powerhouse ranked just below the top three agencies, growing fast and spending heavily on poaching hunters from smaller companies.

His penalty fees had been fully covered. The signing bonus was exceptional. Everything about the arrangement told him he'd made the right decision.

"The woman who beat you," Derek said casually while reviewing paperwork. "You're certain she wasn't A-rank?"

Ryan waved his hand dismissively. "I underestimated her. Thought I was just dealing with some mid-tier hunter testing boundaries. That's the only reason she connected. If I'd been taking her seriously, the outcome would have been different."

"Unique will struggle without their B-rank hunters." Derek made it sound like an observation rather than mockery. "Especially with you gone."

They both knew the truth under the words. Unique was collapsing. The company had made a desperate move trying to stay relevant, which meant someone from that company would bear the consequences. Ryan assured himself the woman had simply caught him unprepared, that no way could she actually be A-rank or anything close. It was easier than admitting fear.

Derek leaned back in his chair. "I heard they put a hunter on a cable game broadcast. Some desperation play."

Ryan laughed, the sound carrying all the contempt of someone who understood the industry. "Whoever they sent is going to look terrible and take all the criticism. They're trying to build relevance on the back of someone's humiliation. It'll backfire."

Derek smiled and they shared the kind of laugh that came from certainty they'd escaped in time. The hunter who appeared on that broadcast, whoever they were, would be painted as washed up. The cable network would extract ratings value from the spectacle of a struggling professional. Unique would collapse under the weight of the company's poor decisions.

Neither of them had any idea what the broadcast actually contained.