A Promotion?
“A promotion? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Damn it…! Is this the limit…?”
Shin Hyung-chul, who had been hacking away at the monsters like a madman, looked back and spat out a curse. His party had finally reached their breaking point. Even the hunter from the Blue Rose Guild, who had been barely holding on, could no longer maintain their mental defense skill.
“Get a grip!” he shouted, but the hunters only seemed to descend further into madness. Soon, they would all be brainwashed by the dungeon and turned into fanatics. If that happened, the party would truly be wiped out. Shin Hyung-chul had cleared countless dungeons, but for the first time, he saw no way out.
“Those moronic bastards at the Association…!”
What on earth were they thinking when they put together such a pathetic team? If the Association had just done their jobs properly, they would have been able to clear a dungeon of this level. It didn’t help that he hadn’t anticipated a situation where their escape skills would be disabled. He had been so focused on passing the blame to the Association if they failed that he hadn’t prepared for the worst.
Shin Hyung-chul swung his greatsword, seething with rage at the idiots who had created this situation. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer either. But then—
A hot, bright energy surged from somewhere.
He looked back to see the blind girl, standing perfectly calm amidst the lunatics. A soft light was radiating from her, driving away the darkness and madness of the dungeon. It was a magical power as warm as sunlight.
“What the…?”
Whoosh—!
Before he could even react, an immense light exploded in all directions. It was so blinding that even Shin Hyung-chul had to shield his eyes.
“Wh-what? My mind is…”
“What is this? I feel fine. Just a moment ago, I felt like I was going insane.”
Simultaneously, the hunters who had been consumed by the dungeon’s madness began to regain their senses. The hunters who had previously been using mental defense skills stared at Lee Jiyoo in shock.
“Th-this is… what?”
“That skill… what is it?”
Shin Hyung-chul, now clear-headed, looked at Lee Jiyoo. A tremendous energy was pouring out of her—a holy power that was purging all the malice in the area.
“Free Hunter! What did you do?!”
“I-it suddenly said my unique trait evolved…”
“…Unique trait evolution?”
At those words, a possibility flashed through Shin Hyung-chul’s mind. He had heard that in extremely rare cases, such things happened—a massive change to the body or ego upon awakening. It usually occurred when the awakened unique trait possessed power that defied all standards.
Unbound. The phenomenon where a person becomes a hunter, losing their human capabilities in exchange for transcendent hunter abilities. For example, losing the ability to feel touch but gaining skin as hard as steel, or suffering from autism but gaining intelligence that transcended the world.
If Lee Jiyoo was an Unbound awakener, perhaps her transcendent abilities had been manifesting slowly. Maybe this dungeon trip had provided the conditions necessary for her to unleash her true power.
“Free Hunter! Did you lose your sight when you awakened?”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“Has there been any change to your vision now?”
“I don’t see the world like I used to. But… I can feel the world through the energy that constitutes existence. I feel like I can heal those whose existence is fading, and I can drive away the malice of this dungeon that’s closing in on us…!”
She was a true Unbound awakener…! It was a miraculous moment, but there was no time to marvel at it.
“Then do it! Everyone, get a grip! We’re clearing this dungeon in one go!”
Lee Jiyoo was currently displaying enough power to protect the entire party’s sanity on her own. It was certainly impressive, but he couldn’t be sure how long that power would last. Their priority now was to escape as quickly as possible. Shin Hyung-chul led the party and began to push toward the boss room.
“Don’t tell me… he knew.”
It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time. As he swung his greatsword, Shin Hyung-chul recalled his phone call with Shin Jiwoo before entering the dungeon.
Thinking about it now, it was absurd. Even if she were considered useless, sending a D-class blind person into a place where a dungeon break was imminent? By any common sense, that was something you wouldn’t even ask an elementary school student to do.
But if you looked at it from the opposite perspective, that seemingly irrational decision was actually a necessity, which was why he had been so insistent.
“The previous person in charge wasn’t that guy, Shin Jiwoo. And the previous manager must have mismanaged the budget, leaving no room to bring in a proper hunter.”
Based on his experience, the remaining budget would have been enough to hire, at most, a C-class healer. But a C-class healer could never clear the ‘Underground Prison of the Heretic Cult.’
“So, knowing that, he had to make the best choice within a limited budget.”
What was the best choice in that situation? An ordinary person would have just chosen to save the money. A dungeon break was going to happen anyway, and spending more money would just be a waste. Shin Hyung-chul assumed Shin Jiwoo would have thought the same—if this had been an ordinary dungeon.
“…He knew there was a possibility that escape would be impossible. That’s why he was so desperate to get that blind girl in there.”
Shin Jiwoo had known, at least vaguely. He knew that in the ‘Underground Prison of the Heretic Cult,’ there was a chance that escape skills would become unusable. The reported data probably recorded that the dungeon’s mental attack magic grew stronger over time. He must have analyzed the dungeon meticulously. He must have realized that the malice-filled mana covering the dungeon would only grow more powerful.
If so, he would have realized that a situation might arise where even escape skills couldn’t be used. But by the time he realized that, it was right before the dungeon break. He wouldn’t have been able to report it to his superiors and get more budget. Those rigid, stubborn fools at the Association would never listen to a mere employee. Besides, there had never been a case where escape skills were impossible before. He must have known that and had to consider a new method.
That was when he discovered that blind hunter. A woman who had been alienated from the hunter industry after a single dungeon trip where she made a big mistake. Shin Jiwoo had read the possibility of an Unbound awakening in her and placed a bet. It meant it was the best gamble he could make within the given budget. And he even had the guts to make such a bet.
“To think such a talent isn’t an awakened hunter. It’s a waste for her to be at the Hunter Association.”
For a mere employee to think all of this through and even produce results… if it weren’t for the five-year mandatory service period at the Association, he would have wanted to recruit her into his guild.
“The Association guys will just see the report that the clear was successful and not care at all.”
Given the nature of the Association, the higher-ups would just gloss over it once the ‘Clear Complete’ report popped up. It meant that even if a low-level employee achieved a great feat, no one would recognize it. But this matter was too big to just bury and move on. Shin Hyung-chul vowed to go directly to the Association President and make sure they knew.
“That a single new employee is more capable than all you idiots at the Association.”
And once her mandatory service period was over, he would make sure she was taken by the Ilseong Group.
“No, why on earth was this cleared…?”
I stared at the screen with a hollow expression. No, how on earth did they clear it with that party? And more importantly, they were supposed to just escape without clearing it in the first place!
Since the site had to be cleaned up, I hurriedly processed the tasks required after a dungeon clear. Because of that, I figured I’d have to look into the actual clearing process later.
“…Jiwoo, what are you talking about? SC-339101 was cleared?”
Kim Hee-yeon had appeared at some point, looking dumbfounded as she stared at me. She seemed puzzled that the task she had dumped on me had succeeded.
“I don’t know either.”
I don’t know, either! I even wasted money to make sure it wouldn’t be cleared, so why is it being cleared?! I was already quite annoyed, so I gave a dismissive answer without even looking at her.
“…No. What kind of trick did you pull? There’s no way this could be cleared! You must have had some connections! You were trying to steal my credit from the start… is that why you asked to change the person in charge, Jiwoo?”
What is this woman talking about? I’m already pissed off that the clear succeeded. I offered to clean up her mess, and now that it’s a success, she’s jealous? Fine, take it! I don’t need this kind of credit! You can rot in the Hunter Association for the rest of your life!
“No!”
My temper snapped at Kim Hee-yeon’s attitude, and I slammed my desk and stood up. I was already angry about the successful clear, and I had no intention of listening to this old maid’s hysteria. Since it had come to this, I might as well commit insubordination and tank my performance review.
“Is that really what you should be saying right now?! I’ve been cleaning up your shit every single day, and this is what you say?”
“Wh-what? You’re shouting at your senior…”
“—I’m shouting! Why? You shout at me every day too, Assistant Manager! It’s noisy because you’re screeching in the office all day! Why do you keep bringing your hysteria to work? Is it because of work that you don’t have a boyfriend? You eat that kind of crap while working, so you’ve gained so much weight that you don’t have one, right?!”
“Wh-what are you saying? I don’t weigh that much! And that’s… no, Jiwoo, have you said all you’re going to say?”
“I haven’t said it all! Don’t make me get you coffee every morning! If you’re going to eat salad for lunch, eat it alone! I want to eat spicy pork and soybean paste stew!!! KYAAAAAAAHHHH!”
My scream echoed throughout the office. That was it. Everyone’s eyes were focused on us. I had committed insubordination in front of everyone, so the rumors would definitely be bad. If it reached the HR team, I’d be fired in no time.
“A-ahem. Employee Shin Jiwoo?”
And then, a man appeared. Everyone else was terrified to see him, but I was filled with joy.
“Branch Manager?”
It was the branch manager of our Korean Hunter Association’s Seocho Branch. Having seen the branch manager, this was definitely grounds for dismissal.
“Come see me for a moment.”
“Y-yes? Yes.”
Oh, oh. It seemed he intended to have a word with me immediately. Well, he had seen me commit insubordination during work hours in front of the branch manager. Especially since our branch manager was a stickler for hierarchy, he wouldn’t let this slide. I followed the branch manager into his office, but the words he spat out were completely different from what I had expected.
“Employee Shin Jiwoo. An order has come down from the Association headquarters. You’re getting a special promotion soon.”
“What?”