The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 20

[Mass Suicide? Power Struggle? The Mystery of a Cult]

[300 people found in critical condition in Gijang County, Busan… confirmed to be members of Jinsaenggyo]

[What is Jinsaenggyo? A rapidly expanding new cult over the past seven years]

[From asset seizures to kidnappings… numerous victims identified]

[All found unconscious… the fate of a doomsday-obsessed cult]

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[From first witness to rescue… a citizen hero emerges]

[A lone man takes on an entire cult… Who is Shin Juwon?]

[Revealed to be a manager at Pine Entertainment… His second major incident after the famous actress attack]

[Enraged by the kidnapping of a girl group member… A manager takes down a cult alone]

WTF, 300 vs. 1?

How is that even possible?

They fought among themselves and wiped each other out, then he just finished them off.

An idol manager saves an actress and takes down an entire cult LOL.

Even if this were a novel, people would trash it for being unrealistic.

At this rate, isn’t he basically the Grim Reaper?

Everywhere he goes, chaos follows.

What the hell do managers at Pine Entertainment even do?

“This is… something.”

Chairman Park Beomjun tapped his fingers on his desk while scrolling through the news articles flooding the portal sites.

“An entertainment company making this many headlines on the national news—has that ever happened before?”

“If you or I ran the company into the ground, sure. But we’re still one of the Big Four,” said Yoon Sangho, the general manager, with a grin.

“And a rookie manager did all this. The guy’s only been here for a month.”

“As you said, he’s got some serious guts. Charging in there alone? Damn.”

“Thanks to him, our PR team hasn’t been able to do anything but answer calls. I even turned my phone off.”

PR director Park Yeongseon complained with a sigh.

“We need to release a statement, but the rookie is nowhere to be found. I have so many questions for him.”

“He’s probably at the hospital. If it’s about Red Blossom, that guy throws himself in without hesitation. I wonder if Sera is awake yet.”

*****

Cha Soyeon had arranged for a VIP hospital room.

With the media frenzy she had stirred up, reporters were desperately trying to track down me and Sera.

But since this place wasn’t easily accessible, I could at least rest for now.

“Aren’t you going to tell me who she is?”

I was sitting in the lounge with Cha Soyeon, and she wouldn’t stop asking about the girl we had brought with us—the one who had been locked up with Sera.

But the truth was, I didn’t know either.

“I already told you—I have no idea.”

“Then why did you bring her?”

“She was locked up with Sera. They might know each other, or there could be some reason behind it.”

“Or maybe she was just that cult leader’s type. You know, for… a threesome.”

“…Threesome?”

Crap.

Cha Soyeon’s eyes narrowed.

Her expression didn’t change, but her gaze did—and it was unsettling.

“You said that without a moment’s hesitation. Is that your thing, Juwon?”

“I was just explaining. Why are we talking about my preferences?”

“Since Red Blossom and I make four, we could pair up in turns… then I’d be with Yeoreum….”

This was bad.

She had already lost herself in that thought.

How far was she taking this in her head?

“Snap out of it! That’s NEVER happening! What are you even thinking?!”

For the first time, emotion flickered across Cha Soyeon’s usually unreadable face.

A mix of surprise and disappointment.

Why was she acting like this toward me?

“Am I not pretty?”

“What?”

“People say I’m stunning.”

“Of course. If you aren’t beautiful, then who is?”

“Then why do you keep saying no?”

“Wha—That’s not….”

“When men see a beautiful woman, don’t they want to do something about it? Are you even a man, Juwon?”

Her lake-like eyes reflected me.

There was no deception in that gaze.

Something felt off.

Even if I had saved her life, this reaction made no sense.

And it wasn’t like I had fallen for her at first sight either.

Her approach was overwhelming.

No, more than that—it didn’t make any sense.

A sudden rushing sound came from the hallway.

The lounge door burst open.

Rina.

“Oppa! Unnie! Sera unnie is… huh?”

Sensing the strange atmosphere, she tilted her head.

“Did something happen between you two?”

“Nothing at all. Is Sera awake?”

“Yeah.”

Getting Sera’s story was the priority.

*

“I was on the phone with my sister, and when I went outside, Mom was there with some man.”

Sera had gone out to meet her sister, only for her to get into an accident.

“They told me she was in the hospital and that we should go together. I should have been suspicious, but the moment I heard she was hurt, I couldn’t think straight.”

In the car, the man must have done something to her, but she couldn’t remember.

They must have drugged her.

“What about your mom? Did she seem like she was being forced? Like she had no choice but to bring you?”

If she had come with that man, maybe she had been threatened.

“No. They seemed to know each other well. It… didn’t feel like she was being forced.”

That meant she had sold her own daughter to a cult.

To be the cult leader’s plaything.

While I was at the estate keeping watch over the hospital, Cha Soyeon’s bodyguards had searched Sera’s house.

Her sister was safe, but their mother had disappeared.

“What will you do about your mom? Will you forgive her?”

Yeoreum and Rina had already filled her in on the kidnapping.

“No. I can’t take this anymore. She spent Dad’s insurance money on that cult, and even that wasn’t enough—she dragged me into it. I’ll never forgive her.”

Her whole body trembled with anger.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Got it. We’ll find her.”

Cha Soyeon gently stroked Sera’s hair.

She must have been planning to send more people after her.

“The next bed is quiet. Still not awake?”

She gestured toward the partitioned bed beside Sera’s.

“The other girl woke up first, but she just pulled the covers over herself and hasn’t said a word.”

Yeoreum responded with a troubled expression.

So she was conscious now.

Even when the doctor asked about her condition, she just looked terrified and stayed silent.

She wasn’t mute, so why…?

I pushed aside the partition.

The blanket on the bed was bulging.

I had no intention of arguing, so I yanked the blanket off.

“Kyaaaah!”

The girl in the hospital gown clung to the head of the bed, trembling as she stared at me.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

“Do I look that scary?”

I asked my girls.

“Yeah.”

“A little scary.”

The answers came instantly.

Alright, let’s try softening my expression.

“Your face looks ridiculous now. Just go back to normal.”

Cha Soyeon quipped.

Jeez, this is tough.

“Ah… um, you don’t have to be so scared. This is a hospital. I brought you here because you were locked up with my girl. You’re safe now, so don’t worry.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Nothing I said should’ve been shocking, though.

“R-Really? You really have nothing to do with those scary people?”

Even though her voice was trembling, it was crystal clear and melodic.

So this is what people mean by an angelic voice.

“Why would I bring you to a hospital just to lie? The ones who were there have all been arrested by the police, so you can relax.”

“T-Then… what about Jongho oppa?”

“Jongho?”

A name I was hearing for the first time.

The fact that she asked about him first meant he was probably involved in the case.

“I was wondering why you were taken there in the first place. Mind if we listen too?”

As I turned my head, I noticed something strange—everyone was staring at me differently.

Even Cha Soyeon’s gaze had changed.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t just speak English? Why is your Japanese so good?”

What?

I turned back to look at the girl.

“Are you Japanese?”

“Eh? Y-Yes (はい)…”

Only then did I faintly register the Japanese in my head.

The gift of interpretation must have activated automatically.

*

Her name was Matsuoka Chie (松岡ちえ).

She was a fairly well-known junior model in Japan’s entertainment scene.

“I love K-POP so much that I applied to be a trainee at SN Entertainment. Right now, I’m part of C Unit.”

Except for a slightly awkward accent, her Korean was flawless.

“C Unit?”

“SN Entertainment groups its trainees into units before they make the debut lineup. Since idol groups perform together anyway, they form smaller groups in advance to see how well they adapt.”

Yeoreum answered for her.

It was actually a pretty reasonable system.

“The C Unit manager is Jongho oppa, and he’s always been really kind to me.”

Chie was one of the standout members of C Unit.

Because of that, she faced a lot of jealousy and tension within the group.

Being naturally timid, she struggled with the internal conflicts.

During those times, the person she relied on the most was Shim Jongho, one of C Unit’s managers.

“Jongho oppa was really good at Japanese. When I was crying in the corner of the practice room, he would sit next to me and sing.”

She trusted him completely because he had been kind to her.

So when he invited her to an event for his religion, she had no reason to doubt him.

“The event was in Busan, and after it was over, he said we could go to the beach together. But in the car, I drank the juice he gave me and…”

When she woke up, she was in a dark, tiny room and met a terrifying-looking man.

Before she could even scream, her hands and feet were tied, and she was forced to inhale some kind of gas.

She lost consciousness again.

“And then… I woke up here in the hospital. It really scared me.”

It was clear now—this Jongho bastard was a follower of Jinsaenggyo.

He tricked her into coming under the pretense of a trip, only to offer her to the cult leader.

Whoever he was, he was probably one of the guys whose heads got smashed in at the chapel.

“This just got complicated…”

I thought saving her would be the end of it, but now a new problem had appeared.

Chie wasn’t just a regular girl—she was a trainee in a rival company’s debut team.

That meant she was likely bound by a contract, and getting her out wouldn’t be simple.

Yet another issue to deal with.