I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18
The moment I heard a human voice, the beast’s face in front of me vanished without warning.
Bang!
A cry of pain erupted from the creature.
Only then did I straighten myself and quickly identify the source of the voice.
“Hunter Association Dungeon Wave Response Team! Are you a hunter?”
A team of six hunters approached me.
Light was still emanating from one of their hands—clearly the one responsible for restraining the beast.
The creature growled as if pinned down, struggling to lift its body.
I glanced at the beast and then answered the hunter.
“That’s right.”
“Thank you for the initial response. Thanks to you, the Overflow didn’t spread far.”
“……Let’s just say I had bad luck.”
My terse reply made the hunter flinch slightly.
But he quickly composed himself and nodded.
“Ah… yes, I see. Still, thank you.”
I apologize for the harsh tone. I need to build up my Synchronization Rate before I can use skills.
I turned my gaze from the bewildered hunter to the beast.
“So what is that thing?”
“It’s a Behemoth. We checked the Dungeon and found the Saturation Level hasn’t fully dropped yet. More Magical Beasts will emerge. Can you help us further?”
“Of course.”
The hunter looked relieved and glanced back at his team.
“As usual, we’ll contain the beasts with Debuffs so they don’t spread far, then dispose of them.”
“Yes, team leader.”
The hunters moved swiftly, as if accustomed to such situations.
Before the Behemoth’s restraint weakened, another hunter layered a skill on top to strengthen the binding.
“The three of us will clean up the Overflow and head straight to the Dungeon. The four of you handle the Behemoth.”
“My attacks weren’t doing any damage.”
“Behemoths have thick skin. At range, aiming for the eyes is best. If that doesn’t work, our team will support you with combined attacks, so don’t worry.”
I shrugged lightly to show I understood.
Four hunters departed, and the remaining three fixed their attention on me.
“May I ask what Element Type your attacks are?”
What did he mean by Element Type?
Instead of asking again, I simply activated a skill.
Han-puli struck the Behemoth directly, leaving a wound across its thick skin.
“Wait, it worked?”
At my bewildered murmur, the hunter who’d asked the question laughed as if it were nothing.
“The three of us all have weakening abilities that lower the Magical Beast’s stats. I imagine your attacks will land now. Your attacks aren’t elemental in nature, I see.”
Element Type—it meant asking whether my ability had a property like water, fire, wind, or electricity.
“I can use Weight Manipulation to slow down or speed up movement. I’ll lighten you too, so you can move faster.”
“Go ahead.”
The moment I agreed, my body felt noticeably lighter.
I barely fluttered my wings, and my body suddenly shot upward.
The Association hunters lightly explained themselves—or rather, what I needed to keep in mind.
“I deal Curse-type Debuffs and attacks. I can reduce stats and abilities. When I’m active, you can damage the Behemoth, but I can’t move easily. Please make sure the Behemoth doesn’t focus on me.”
The last one drew out a thin spear that resembled a dagger and twirled it, casting a glance at me.
“I don’t need you to worry about me. ……Just don’t get hit by my attacks.”
I fluttered my wings to create distance from the hunters and looked down at the Behemoth.
The Behemoth had by now straightened up and was beginning to move in short strides.
Perhaps because of the Debuff from Weight Manipulation, each step it took left a deep impression in the asphalt.
The two hunters who’d applied the Debuff winced and furrowed their brows.
“Even with reduced stats, it’s overpowering the weight through sheer strength. Attack now!”
The hunter with the thin spear moved faster than I did.
With light, nimble footwork, he vaulted over the Behemoth’s head as if taunting it and hurled the thin spear.
Thunk!
The thin spear punctured shallowly into the Behemoth’s skin because of how thick it was.
The Behemoth’s attention immediately turned to that hunter.
It kicked off the ground and charged straight at him.
I hurriedly shot Han-puli at the Behemoth’s back.
Crash!
The Behemoth reacted far more violently than before, its body twisting and writhing.
The sheer force of it crushed an innocent parked car to scrap.
I belatedly noticed a faint shimmer of mana radiating from the Thin Spear.
‘That attack seems to have some effect after all.’
Boom!
The hunter threw himself sideways and drew the Thin Spear again—clearly not his only one.
He hurled the spear once more, but the Behemoth raised its foreleg and batted it away.
It had slowed slightly, though the beast still moved far too fast for easy strikes to land.
The Curse Hunter steadied his breathing and stretched his hand toward the Behemoth.
From his fingertips, threads of mana unspooled, wrapping around the creature in coils.
The Behemoth merely shook itself as if annoyed, showing no real reaction otherwise.
The Curse Hunter clicked his tongue, muttering under his breath.
“Damn it. If I could stack another Debuff and bind it down, that’d be perfect.”
At those words, I rolled my eyes inward to check my Synchronization Rate.
[Current Synchronization Rate]
30%
Seems I’ve been rather prickly after all. Lucky, that.
……Or is it lucky, really?
Can I honestly call the breeding of dark history a stroke of fortune?
I shook off the stray thought and tossed out a casual remark.
“Then let’s do it.”
“Pardon?”
Ignoring the Curse Hunter’s confusion, I muttered the skill name.
“Thorn Thicket.”
[Cooldown]
00:19:59
* * *
It consumed the earth.
Charred black thorns spread like wildflowers, ensnaring the Behemoth’s legs in a writhing tangle.
Screech!
The Behemoth wailed in pain, its thick armor rendered useless against the anguish.
Yet the Thorn Thicket, mere manifestation though it was, did not respond to the creature’s suffering.
It merely crept upward, living and purposeful, gathering beneath that white hand.
The white hand seized the thorns that tormented the Behemoth without hesitation.
The Thorn Thicket converged, dissolving and writhing at once.
Like pottery being shaped, the thorns formed a perfect new shape beneath that hand.
“A bow?”
The white hand drew the bow and arrow of thorns, pulling the string taut.
The same mana that had gathered at the fingertips now pooled at the arrow’s tip.
Twang!
And the arrow pierced clean through the Behemoth’s leg.
Despite the arrow’s unremarkable speed, the Behemoth could not evade it.
The beast bared its teeth, turning its gaze upward toward the figure soaring through the air.
But the enemy was not there alone.
Choi Hyun-ha of the Hunter Association drove a spear toward the creature’s exposed throat.
The Behemoth twisted its neck and barely avoided the strike, though its skin was grazed. That was enough.
His skill, Red Cloth, could strip an enemy’s defense the moment a wound was opened.
Choi Hyun-ha had no choice but to step through the Thorn Thicket.
Even if it was their own, stepping on an area-type Debuff skill was folly—but continuing to assault the Behemoth left him no other option.
Yet despite bracing for the Thorn Thicket’s effects, it dealt him no pain at all.
‘It recognizes allies?’
Understanding the situation, his movements grew bolder.
He planted his feet firmly, pivoted his body, and swung the spear in a wide arc.
Thrust!
The spear, driven by the rotational force, buried itself deep in the Behemoth’s shoulder blade.
Choi Hyun-ha bounded backward to avoid the creature’s retaliating swipe, drawing a fresh spear and hurling it at its head.
As the Behemoth batted the spear away with its foreleg, another black arrow whistled in.
Growl!
The black arrow lodged in the Behemoth’s nape.
Though not a vital spot and only shallow damage, it was threatening enough to draw a low, rumbling growl from the beast.
Crack!
Behemoth shook off the pain and debuff, launching itself skyward.
“Hunter!”
Lee Joo-gyeong, who had been restraining Behemoth’s movements, cried out reflexively.
Clang!
The hunter, clad in black from head to toe, effortlessly drew his bow and struck Behemoth’s foreleg with a light, practiced touch, belying Lee Joo-gyeong’s concern.
The moment the arrow met that desperate counterattack, Behemoth hung suspended in the air, utterly helpless.
Under normal circumstances, it would have righted itself mid-flight, but the Curse, Weight Manipulation, and Thorn Thicket effects all conspired to rob Behemoth of its mobility.
The hunter, seizing the opening, drew his bowstring back with practiced precision toward Behemoth’s exposed belly.
Bang!
Shriek!
The arrow struck Behemoth square in the chest, and the creature fell shrieking onto the asphalt below.
Choi Hyun-ha wasted no time, rushing toward the fallen beast.
No hunter on the Response Team was clumsy enough to gawk at a Magical Beast with its weak point exposed.
Three Thin Spears embedded themselves in the creature’s belly in quick succession.
Lee Kwan-hae, who had been channeling Curse, raised his hand skyward.
“Shadow’s Dream!”
A shadow of absolute darkness swallowed Behemoth whole, even as it continued to thrash.
Gasp!
Even Behemoth’s final cry sank beneath the darkness.
When the shadow receded back into the ground, only Behemoth’s corpse remained, lying motionless in its place.
The hunter descended with a flutter of wings, dropping lower.
“I’ll head to the Dungeon first.”
“Of course. If you wouldn’t mind taking care of any Magical Beasts on the way, we’d be grateful.”
“…If they get in my way, I suppose.”
The hunter fluttered his slender wings deliberately, making his point clear.
From the start, Choi Hyun-ha had sensed it—the hunter rose higher, beating his wings in a steady rhythm as he sped toward the Dungeon.
“Hard to tell if he’s being helpful or just difficult.”
Lee Kwan-hae muttered under his breath.
Choi Hyun-ha caught himself just before nodding in agreement.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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