I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 50

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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 50
The skill activated without a sound.
As mana surged through me, every window on the fifty-first floor sealed itself shut.
I reached toward the Thorn Bramble and gripped the Black Bow.
‘I need to be armed too.’
By the time the people inside noticed the change, it was already too late.
Bang—!
The hotel door tore open in one motion, and Seo Il-hak with the Hunter Association operatives flooded into the room.
The criminals tried to respond immediately, but they couldn’t match the speed of an S-rank Hunter.
Seo Il-hak’s Red Rope wound around the nearby Hunters, binding them fast.
“Damn brats!”
The criminal Hunters finally grasped that things had gone wrong.
“What the hell!”
“It’s the Association Director—run!”
And sure enough, a Hunter appeared trying to escape through the window.
Crash—!
Iron Balls and Arrows shot toward the Hunter who had burst through the broken glass.
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
The Hunters who took the hits bounced back into the room with force.
Yu Ho-yeon and I stood blocking the window.
I tapped my shoulder with the bowstring and asked them coolly.
“Care to come out this way?”
The criminal Hunters finally seemed to realize they were rats in a trap, and their hands went slack at their sides.
The Association Hunters now went about calmly snapping handcuffs on them.
I landed in the center of the room, watching them move efficiently.
“Hm. That went smoothly, didn’t it? Are we done?”
“Not quite. We still need to confiscate the goods and rescue the people.”
Seo Il-hak picked up the folder they’d been exchanging.
“I understand the goods, but why the people?”
I tilted my head curiously and moved closer to Seo Il-hak’s side.
When I rose slightly on my toes to look at the folder he was reading, he lowered his arm so I could see it better.
Only then did I realize that the folder in question wasn’t just some simple transaction confirmation.
“This is……”
“A Contract Item. It’s illegal and serves as evidence of human trafficking.”
The contracts inside were uniformly exploitative.
There were no terms or conditions about duration—just pages filled with what the weaker party was obligated to provide to the stronger.
Everything from claiming a portion of the earnings to mortgaging away entire lives.
By the time I’d read through them, I felt sick.
“…… What kind of trash is this?”
I found myself staring at the criminal Hunters with undisguised contempt.
Seo Il-hak seemed to agree, closing the folder firmly.
“There are also transaction records for Brainwashing Items and Narcotics Dungeon Materials here. We’ll need to find out where they’ve stashed the goods and people before we move.”
“Will you talk? If you don’t talk……”
I glared at the criminal Hunters, my brow furrowing.
Seo Il-hak grabbed my shoulder to restrain me.
“That won’t be necessary. We should be able to confirm the storage location from the documents.”
Seo Il-hak looked toward the Association Hunters, urging them onward.
The Association Hunters swiftly confiscated scattered bags, the Subspace Items belonging to the criminals, and various work devices.
Then Choi Hyun-ha found a single piece of paper among them.
“Found the transaction ledger! The storage location is…… a Harbor not far from here!”
Seo Il-hak didn’t hesitate when it came to rescuing people.
“Seo Yeon-hu and Team 1 will escort the suspects from here. Choi Hyun-ha and Team 2 will come with me to subdue any remaining suspects at the Harbor and extract the victims.”
Seo Il-hak turned to look at me and Yu Ho-yeon.
I spoke first before he could say anything.
“We’re going with Team 2, right?”
“That’s correct. Your assistance with the subdual would be greatly appreciated.”
“We took the commission anyway. You don’t need to thank us.”
For some reason, my insides were churning, and the words came out rough instead of smooth.
Despite my abrupt tone, Seo Il-hak showed no discomfort and positioned himself at my side.
I clamped my mouth shut and quickened my pace.
To shake off this frustration, it seemed I’d need to clean up some garbage.
* * *
The dark harbor at night should have held nothing but the sound of waves.
But today, something foreign mixed in between them.
“Sob, Mom…….”
“I want to go home.”
“I’m scared.”
Small sobs tangled with muffled trembling and shadows desperate to hide.
As a Hunter, he was attuned to such sounds and shadows.
And so he moved to silence them.
Bang—bang—!
He struck the container wall with a pipe, and the sounds cut off at once.
“Quiet.”
He issued one warning, then waited for the customer who would collect the merchandise.
Fortunately, car sounds soon mixed in with the sea noise.
‘One, two, three, four…… That’s fewer than expected.’
He frowned and watched the direction from which the cars approached.
“What the hell?”
The client seemed like an amateur who didn’t even know the basics of a transaction.
Coming with all the headlights blazing like that.
He clicked his tongue and waited for the lights to dim.
But no matter how long he waited, they never dimmed.
The cars didn’t stop—they surrounded the container on all sides.
“Something’s off.”
His colleague murmured softly.
“Yeah. Looks like we’re being encircled.”
He agreed with his partner.
They observed the situation with the resolve to abandon each other if necessary.
Soon the car doors opened.
And black brambles poured out.
The brambles enclosed the container on all sides without leaving room to escape.
Then they coiled around the arms and legs of those keeping watch.
“What—arghhh!”
As thorns dug into his arms and legs, his body grew heavy.
Next, a red megaphone emerged from the car.
“Ahem—this is the Hunter Association’s Crime Response Team.”
“Damn it, the Association! Run! Run!”
He and his colleagues moved before the other’s words even finished.
But with his body grown sluggish, dodging the incoming projectiles was difficult.
Red darts came flying and lodged deep; curses and poison followed from all directions.
The three Hunters fell under the onslaught without even a chance to resist.
Only then did the person with the megaphone step out of the car.
“You’re being arrested for human trafficking and illegal smuggling.”
Rustle—
Were they making arrests with plastic?
The soft sound of thin vinyl fluttering reached his ears.
He instinctively lifted his gaze toward that sound.
An unfamiliar silhouette floated atop the container box.
Backlit by the moon, that figure struck dread into him first.
And the megaphone’s voice only fanned the flames of his fear.
“We would appreciate your full cooperation.”
Someone shouted back, stupidly loud.
“Don’t fight back! Scatter!”
“The merchandise—?!”
“Forget the goods, just—guh!”
A Hunter bolting away was pierced by an invisible strike and fell.
He lifted his head to confirm the silhouette above the container.
A bow now rested in its hands.
He quickly lowered his body and ran toward the area with the fewest Association Hunters.
A handful of the shrewd ones were slipping away in the same manner.
They were prepared to abandon one another if it meant escape, though readiness didn’t guarantee success.
“Gasp!”
“We’re under attack here too—argh!”
The Red Rope that had been lying in wait among the Thorn Bramble ensnared five Hunters in an instant.
It was a rope no one living as a Hunter in Korea could fail to recognize.
‘Seo Il-hak! The Hunter Association Chairman!’
The Life-Sapping Skill rendered those caught unconscious immediately.
His ally’s smooth face withered in seconds, becoming skeletal and ghastly.
That wasn’t all.
“Gack!”
“Ugh!”
Iron Balls streaked through the darkness, toppling his comrades one by one.
The movements struck vital points—solar plexus, skull—without hesitation, each blow enough to raise goosebumps.
Those caught by Seo Il-hak’s Skill suffered no wounds, but these Iron Balls showed no such mercy toward injury.
No matter how hard he looked, there seemed no way out.
Thunk—!
An invisible Arrow lodged at his feet, and he bolted in terror, running harder.
The moment he broke through the Association’s encirclement, reason flooded back.
‘No. No, there’s a way. There’s a place they can’t follow.’
The danger there was incomparable to what the Association posed, but with luck, his chances of survival were fair.
He didn’t consider the risk of being caught in the chaos of traffic.
A Hunter’s legs were faster than any car.
Several others had also managed to outrun the Association on foot.
Without a word spoken between them, they all bolted toward the same place.
Between the containers stood a massive vortex gaping open—a Gate.

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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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