The Unbound Variable
“I’m going to clear it, no matter what.”
“…Shin Chi-hyun. Call off the bet I made with Shin Jiwoo.”
“That is impossible. The Patriarch is already aware of the matter.”
“That makes no sense! How is anyone supposed to clear this? And dungeon clearing is a Hunter’s job—what could a mere office worker possibly do to help…!”
The day after the family gathering, Kim Eunji sought out Shin Chi-hyun at the Association headquarters.
“To Hunters, he may be a ‘mere employee.’ But the Association cannot function without its staff. His specific abilities are necessary.”
“…Huh? Is that why you joined the Association?”
“…I am busy, so if you’re here to pick a fight, leave. It means that the role of the Association and its staff is vital to the Hunter society. Especially now, with various new types of dungeons appearing. There are reasons the guilds aren’t aware of. It isn’t for nothing that Shin Jiwoo is receiving so much attention.”
Shin Chi-hyun spat out the words irritably. Even while delivering such long sentences, his pronunciation remained precise. And in the midst of it all, he continued to process his work perfectly.
“…Anyway. Still, what’s impossible is impossible. This is a dungeon that is absolutely impossible to clear.”
“It was Shin Jiwoo who accepted the terms. Why are you acting like this, Kim Eunji?”
“That’s…”
As he said, on the surface, there was no reason for Kim Eunji to get involved. She couldn’t bring herself to say that it was because she felt sorry for Jiwoo, or because she wanted him to survive.
-It was something I had to do!
-It’s for something precious to me, and it’s a task I absolutely must complete for the future.
Shin Jiwoo’s voice from the banquet hall was still vivid in her mind. A powerless non-awakened person, daring to challenge a Hunter for the sake of a family that didn’t even share his blood. Jiwoo had been like that since he was a child. Even though they weren’t his biological family, whenever people in the clan insulted them, he would always step up to fight. Seeing him still fighting, even in the body of a non-awakened person, Kim Eunji couldn’t just stand by.
“…You and your mother are exactly the same.”
“What?”
“Kim Yeo-won was here earlier. She said the exact same thing. Of course, my answer was the same.”
“Mom was?”
“Yes. Instead, Kim Yeo-won decided to join the raid herself. If she clears it herself, Shin Jiwoo wins the bet.”
Kim Eunji couldn’t continue the conversation, stunned by the unexpected news. She had thought her mother didn’t particularly care about Jiwoo.
“…Then I’m joining, too. That dungeon.”
“Do as you please. I’ll add you to the roster. Though I doubt that will make it clearable.”
“What does an A-class Hunter know about an S-class dungeon… Just watch. I’m going to clear it, no matter what.”
“…If you want to go die, I won’t stop you.”
Kim Eunji slammed the door of the Deputy Director’s office as she left. It was a decision made in the heat of the moment. It was frustrating, but as Shin Chi-hyun had said, it was a dungeon with no visible path to success.
“Still… just sitting by and doing nothing is too cruel to Shin Jiwoo.”
But this time, she didn’t want to ignore it. She now knew that Shin Jiwoo had made this bet for the sake of his family. He was fighting for her—a non-awakened person, no less. Watching him make such an absurd bet and doing nothing would be unforgivable.
“I will clear it, no matter what.”
And she would make sure that stupid brother of hers was recognized by the family. This time, she wanted to return the favor. Kim Eunji dialed Shin Jiwoo’s number.
-No, what kind of bull… What are you talking about! Don’t say such ridiculous things, you crazy bitch!!
As expected, Shin Jiwoo flew into a rage when she told him she was joining the raid. He had always been this kind of person. Powerless, yet always thinking of his family first. Even when they were young, when Kim Yeo-won and Kim Eunji were ostracized as outsiders, he was the foolish brother who always stepped up to fight for them first.
“…It’s already decided. There isn’t much time left until the Dungeon Break, right? I’ve already cleared my original schedule, and I’ve gotten permission from that man, Shin Chi-hyun, so don’t worry about it.”
Instead of being good to such a brother, she had only acted like a spoiled brat until now. She was even living in Jiwoo’s house because she was scared of living alone. Yet, Shin Jiwoo had quietly cooked meals for her. Even though he was a job seeker at the time. How hard must it have been for him to have gone a little crazy lately? Thinking of those things made her more certain of her choice.
“So what do you want me to do! If you stay like this, you’re going to die!”
She couldn’t keep being in his debt. He was an annoying brother at times, but this time… “No more, no more… Ah, whatever! It’s already been approved by the Association, so just know that and proceed! Make sure you organize the rest of the party properly!”
-Hey, hey… Hey!!!
Click.
Perhaps because they were family, words of apology didn’t come out. She wanted to tell him to stop fighting in the family when he had no power, to say she was sorry for acting selfishly all this time, and to thank him. But she couldn’t. If she returned alive from this raid, maybe she could. By then, Shin Jiwoo would also begin to be recognized by the family. Then, everything could be set right.
2031.09.24 Gate activation, 1st raid party wiped out
2031.09.29 Gate activation, 2nd raid party wiped out
“S, Shin, are you alright?”
“…Yes. I apologize.”
The team leader asked cautiously after my sudden outburst. Realizing I had drawn too much attention, I apologized quickly. All the team members were looking at me.
“Ha…”
I pulled my chair in and leaned against the desk. Seeing the two names on the screen only made me sigh.
Participating Guilds: *Kim Yeo-won (Free), Kim Eunji (Free)
The * indicates the party leader, and (Free) means they are participating as individual Hunters, not affiliated with a guild. Both my mother and sister have guilds, but they are participating individually this time. Usually, a dungeon raid involves contracting a guild to organize the overall composition and filling the empty slots with one or two free Hunters. So, it’s normal for a guild name to be in that slot.
“Do I really have to form a party…”
Since it had come to this, I had no choice but to form a party. As long as those two were there, there would be Hunters who wanted to participate. If I wasn’t careful, a group of elite Hunters might gather and actually clear the dungeon. To fail the raid, I had to form a party that was guaranteed to fail. But then, a thought flashed through my mind.
The two raid parties that had been wiped out previously. If I put together a party intended to fail, my mother and sister would die. But if they actually cleared it, I wouldn’t be able to quit my job. Is it the right choice to kill two of my own family members just so I can live? It was a dilemma.
“Haa…”
Trying to quit my job even at the cost of killing my family was an irrational choice. But even before that, if I put others in and caused the raid to fail, it would still mean someone was dying. Is there any meaning in agonizing over this? It would have been best if no one had applied from the beginning, so the gate would have just burst on its own. Why did these two have to go and do things they weren’t asked to do!!
“Augh!!!!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thinking about it made me so angry I had another episode. As I shook my body and slammed the desk, my team members rushed over in a panic.
“J, Jiwoo, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong, Shin? Are you sick somewhere?”
“S, Shin?”
“Hu… It’s nothing. I apologize.”
I barely managed to calm down and stood up from my seat.
“I’m going to go get some fresh air for a moment.”
“Y, yeah. Take your time.”
“G, good luck.”
They didn’t know why, but the team members encouraged me.
“Augh… I need a cigarette.”
I had never smoked in my life, but it was a moment where I craved one. No wonder office workers smoke. Instead, I walked around the building to clear my head.
“Oh, oh?”
As I was walking and grumbling, I heard a woman’s voice.
“E, excuse me! Just a moment!”
For some reason, the voice seemed to be directed at me. And it even seemed to be getting closer. Looking in the direction of the voice, a woman was sprinting toward me.
“Oops…!”
“?”
The woman had been running recklessly and came to a sudden stop right in front of me. The distance was strangely close. It felt like my sense of distance was slightly off from the norm. She was someone who felt strangely familiar. I was certain I had never met her before. But if someone had an appearance like this, I wouldn’t have been able to forget her.
‘…Albino? No.’
The woman’s hair color was white. No, rather than white, it was a pale pink, like faded cherry blossoms. Her eye color was similar, and her skin was snow-white. Was it dyed? Bleached? It was a rather unique color, but it suited her snow-white skin and pure, cool features well. She was a beauty with a truly mystical aura.
“A, are you Shin Jiwoo?”
“…Do we know each other?”
The woman spoke as she looked up at me. She was holding her clasped hands to her chest, as if she were nervous. She was looking at me, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like our eyes were meeting. Her pale pink pupils seemed unfocused.
“…Could it be?”
Seeing those eyes, one person came to mind.
“Are you Lee Jiyoo?”
“…Yes! That’s right!”
An Unbound Awakened. Lee Jiyoo. (The first person to interfere with my resignation.) For some reason, she was jumping up and down as if she were incredibly happy to see me.
“I heard you had an Unbound awakening.”
“Yes! It’s all thanks to you, Shin Jiwoo! If it weren’t for you, I would have lived in darkness forever… Really. Thank you so much. I really wanted to meet you and thank you in person!”
Now that I thought about it, she had said she gained eyes that could read the world through mana. It seemed she had gained something similar to sight on Earth, not just the mana in dungeons. Even though her eyes were unfocused, she was acting as if she could see. Of course, her movements were a little different from a normal person’s. As if the world she was seeing was different.
“Fortunately, it seems you can see.”
“I can’t see like I used to, but I can see a world that is even more vivid.”
“That’s a relief.”
Part of me wanted to say, ‘You ruined my resignation!’, but I couldn’t say that in front of someone so happy. Seeing a blind person regain their sight actually made me feel good, too. It was in the past, so it was better to forget it. In any case, I had saved a life.
“Were your hair and eye colors originally like that?”
“People say they’re mystical colors. They were black before, but I think they changed when I had my Unbound awakening. Of course, the colors I see are different from what you see.”
“I see.”
It must have been the aftermath of the Unbound awakening. Well, there were people whose skin turned to steel, so I supposed it didn’t matter.
“A, anyway, I really wanted to meet you! I wanted to contact you, but the Association said they couldn’t give out an employee’s personal number… And the phone call from back then was an Association number, too. So whenever I had time, I always hung around the Seocho branch.”
“Um… I see.”
Basically, outsiders were forbidden from entering the Association building. But usually, high-ranking Hunters just came and went as they pleased. It seemed Lee Jiyoo hadn’t been strong for long, so she hadn’t dared to do that.
“Usually, Hunters just walk into the Association if they have business. They say high-ranking Hunters even walk into the Association President’s office as they please. Since you’re an Unbound Hunter now, the staff won’t stop you. Of course, the principle is no outsiders allowed, but, well, we don’t have the power to stop strong Hunters anyway.”
“Ah… is that so?”
Lee Jiyoo replied innocently. I thought about how hard it must have been to live as a blind person. Still, it was nice to see her happy.
“A, anyway, that’s why I really wanted to meet you. Do you have any time right now?”
“I’m on duty right now, so I have to return to the office soon. Instead, here is my personal contact…”
The moment I said that, a possibility flashed through my mind. Perhaps there was a way to quit my job without killing my mother and sister.
“…Wait a moment, Lee Jiyoo. Since you had an Unbound awakening, didn’t your Hunter rank increase as well?”
“Yes. I’m A-class now. An Association employee told me that if I gain experience, I’ll reach S-class in no time.”
Just as I thought. If she was D-class and is already A-class, that’s an incredible speed. In fact, ranks are meaningless to an Unbound Awakened. They don’t follow the characteristics of ordinary Awakened, but operate on completely different laws. Anyway, what’s important right now is something else.
“Lee Jiyoo. Can you enter an S-class dungeon?”