I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 56

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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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Episode 56
The criminals were taken to the courtroom, and the victims returned to the arms of their families.
Trauma would linger, of course, but in time they would find their way back to themselves.
Like them, I too had returned home.
Thirty million won, and a Stone Cradle Core with it.
“You’re… you’re really going to sell this through Hunter’s Market?”
I nodded, my arms folded across my chest.
‘Am I being too smug?’
I carefully uncrossed my arms and uncrossed my legs as well.
But the staff members before me seemed oblivious to my arrogance.
Their eyes gleamed with wonder as they gazed at the Stone Cradle Core.
“A Stone Cradle Core, and SS-rank at that—it would be difficult to get a fair price through domestic auction alone. I’d recommend we conduct the auction internationally as well.”
My back gradually settled against the sofa’s backrest.
The arrogance was returning.
“That said, it could take considerable time. Would that be acceptable?”
I flashed the Subspace Item Ring I’d used to pay for upfront—to transport the Stone Cradle Core—and smiled with easy confidence.
I had the means to swipe nearly forty million won without blinking.
So it didn’t matter if the Stone Cradle Core sold slowly or not. That’s what I meant to convey.
I said as much aloud.
“I don’t mind.”
“Understood. Still, we’ll do our best to move things along as quickly as possible.”
Arrogance continued to settle in my chest.
I chuckled silently to myself.
Then a faint sigh drifted from beside me.
I quickly wiped the smile from my face and straightened my posture.
“It must have been inconvenient to come all this way. Yoo Ho-yeon, you’re not bothered by the delay?”
“Not at all.”
Yoo Ho-yeon set the signed tablet down on the table.
I glanced at what was written there, then asked worriedly.
“About that, though—I heard from a friend it should be a third, but are you really okay with three to seven?”
“A friend……”
Yoo Ho-yeon repeated my words back to me, then took a drink from the glass before him.
I tensed, uncertain what he was about to say.
“Since you mention a friend, there’s something I want to say.”
Was he about to badmouth me?
I glared at him, my eyes narrowing.
But what came next was far more shocking than any insult.
“I wasn’t planning to take anything.”
“What? Take what?”
“This.”
Yoo Ho-yeon pointed at the Stone Cradle Core with his finger.
Before I could make sense of it, he continued.
“I was going to tell you to keep it all, but your friend insisted on giving me a third.”
“What?”
You were going to say that?!
As I belatedly tried to piece together my memory, Yoo Ho-yeon replied matter-of-factly.
“So three to seven is more than fair.”
“I see……”
“Tell that friend of yours something.”
Yoo Ho-yeon sipped his drink with an unbothered expression.
I couldn’t fathom why his manner was so irritating.
“Next time, listen to what someone says before interrupting.”
Was it irritating because he was essentially speaking down to me?
No, that had to be a misunderstanding. It had to be.
“You’re right. I should do that.”
I forced out the words, and Yoo Ho-yeon let out a small laugh.
If he’d been my younger brother, I’d have given him a good whack on the head, but since I barely knew him, I kept my hands to myself.
With his signing done, Yoo Ho-yeon rose from his seat as though the matter were concluded.
“Once you sell the Stone Cradle Core, buy yourself some more items.”
“Ah, yes. Oh! Your friend?”
I answered reflexively, as if it were my own business.
I caught myself quickly, but the slip had already shown.
Fortunately, Yoo Ho-yeon seemed not to have noticed.
Whether he truly missed it or was merely pretending, I couldn’t say.
“Items that reduce skill penalties are good, but it’s nice to have items that boost skill effects too.”
……
“And grab defensive gear and weapons. Pick up both short-range and mid-range arms.”
“But then there’s so much to buy?”
I cut in before his list could stretch any further.
Yoo Ho-yeon shook his head as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“With the Stone Cradle Core, you’ll have more than enough left over. If the price worries you, buy anything below A-rank. Just make sure the weapons are S-rank or higher.”
Ah……
Had something shifted in his mind?
Yoo Ho-yeon offered his advice without a hint of reluctance, one tip after another.
I awkwardly fiddled with my hair.
“You’re being awfully kind today, aren’t you?”
“Seems like it’ll be fine.”
Yoo Ho-yeon agreed without any trace of embarrassment.
“Um… That friend you mentioned? You think he’ll be all right?”
This time I asked carefully and slowly, trying not to misspeak.
This time, Yoo Ho-yeon neither confirmed nor denied it.
Instead, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
It was an expression so abrupt that it caught me off guard.
“Either way, I did save a life.”
So he’d saved someone he’d been ready to let die—and that was all right?
I started to voice my confusion but stopped myself.
I didn’t want to poke and prod at this and end up exposing my own situation.
Yoo Ho-yeon offered no further explanation and turned to leave.
“See you later.”
“Ah, yes. Good night.”
I responded reflexively.
The realization came just after he left.
‘Wait—didn’t I swear I wouldn’t see this person again?’
Even as an empty promise, saying I’d see him later weighed on me.
But I had no chance to take back my words.
Yoo Ho-yeon had already vanished.
My eyes met the employee’s, both of us left standing there awkwardly.
The employee, unable to bear the tension, forced a smile.
“Um… shall I help you learn more about those items, sir?”
……
However much I disliked it, I couldn’t ignore the advice of someone who claimed to glimpse the future.
“Yes, please do that.”
In the end, I pushed down my reluctance and agreed.
* * *
On my way home from the subway, I stared at empty space—at least, that’s what it would’ve looked like to everyone else.
My eyes were clearly seeing my skill panel.
[Trait: Dark History]
―Fairy―
A fairy born from the breath of the flower garden.
―Dark Fairy―
A fairy that lost the flower garden.
―Demon King―
A king molded by the demon god himself.
―Gumiho―
Currently locked.
―■■―
Synchronization Rate: 10%
Without knowing how, the Synchronization Rate for Dark History had shot up on its own since I last checked it.
‘There’s only one thing that could have caused this to change recently.’
That incident when the skill had consumed me and I’d done something unlike myself.
I propped my chin in both hands and stared hard at the black characters on the screen.
‘Could the Synchronization Rate increase depending on how much I merge with the skill?’
The moment I thought this, I felt an inexplicable wariness—toward my own skill, no less.
A Synchronization Rate that rose the more deeply I fused with the skill itself.
It didn’t sit right with me at all.
‘Should I use the skill less? Or should I be careful not to merge with it too much?’
How could I avoid merging with the skill in the first place?
As I wrestled with the question, one person came to mind.
Yoo Ho-yeon.
He’d once described his own skill as a sensation of “merging with it.”
And he’d said that feeling arose when he couldn’t control the skill.
If that was the case, didn’t that mean when I lost control of my skill, I’d merge with it—and this Synchronization Rate would climb?
‘Do I need to learn how to control the skill?’
“Sigh.”
The breath escaped unbidden.
As my worry deepened, my Mobile Phone rang.
Trill-trill, trill-trill.
“Mom?”
I hurried to check the screen, thinking it might be my parents. Thankfully it wasn’t.
[Choi A-rin]
“Wow, seriously. You scared me half to death.”
The timing was absolutely brutal. I nearly keeled over.
‘From cardiac arrest.’
I quickly answered the call.
“Hello?”
—Hi, Ha Cho-eun. What’re you doing? You’re off work, right?
I hadn’t even gone in to work.
“Oh, um. Yeah.”
—Remember we talked about taking a trip to Busan sometime?
I dug through my memory.
Fortunately, a conversation we’d had in passing came back to me.
Probably something that came up while we were watching a pork soup video during a call.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Why?”
—I just got a 25% lodging discount coupon from an app, and it made me think of it right away.
“You want to go?”
—Yeah!
Choi A-rin spoke with characteristic enthusiasm.
For someone with idle time on my hands, it was a proposal with absolutely no reason to refuse.
“When?”
—When works for you? Should we pick a weekend since you have to work? Or when’s your summer vacation? We could make it fit that.
I checked the date belatedly.
If I’d been going to work, now would be the time to schedule vacation days.
It struck me anew that I was in a state of being fired.
I gave Choi A-rin an answer soon after.
“My vacation time is wide open, so I can match your schedule. When works best for you?”
—Around mid-July?
She said mid-July, but she meant two weeks from now.
“That works for me too. And if it’s vacation season, should we go on a weekday to get it cheaper?”
As Choi A-rin listened, her voice brightened—the sound of genuine delight.
—Oh, that’s perfect. Fewer crowds, nice and spacious. So… how about Wednesday of the third week? We’d go Wednesday, come back Friday, so you’d have the weekend off anyway.
“Sounds good. Sounds good.”
—Okay! Then I’ll book the lodging, and you can send me the money later. Oh, and I’m booking something beachfront—is that alright?
“We’re going to Busan. Can’t do city views.”
As I chuckled in agreement, Choi A-rin burst out laughing.
“If you pick the place, I’ll find the good restaurants nearby.”
—Okay! I’ll pick out some options and send them to you. We can choose from those.
“Got it. Got it.”
I thought I could hang up right then.
But Choi A-rin didn’t end the call immediately.
—Oh, by the way—did you see that new S-rank Hunter in the news?
“Huh? The news? Yeah, I saw it. On the news. Why?”
The sudden topic caught me off guard.
Especially since I’d just been looking at the face of the person asking about it.
—Oh, I just wondered if you’d seen it too. When you watched it on the news, what did you think?
Fortunately, Choi A-rin’s question wasn’t particularly sharp.
I answered as if it didn’t concern me.
“What do you mean? He’ll just make a lot of money, won’t he?”
—Yeah, well. I suppose so.
My answer didn’t seem to satisfy her; her tone grew a little slower.
I tilted my head at the strange reaction.
“What? Is there a problem?”
Had Yoo Ho-yeon perhaps met Choi A-rin as well?
Since she was connected to me, it was possible Yoo Ho-yeon knew about her.
Hadn’t he said he saw the future even without meaning to?
‘Still, he didn’t seem like the type to go out of his way to meet her.’
Concern got the better of me as I waited for her to continue.
—No, it’s just… he’s an S-rank hunter, but I’ve never heard about him working. Shouldn’t an S-rank stay busy and keep showing up on the news? This guy doesn’t seem to work at all.
The words that came back were enough to deflate all my anxiety in one clean breath.
Every trace of tension and worry evaporated like dust on the wind.
I replied carelessly.
“He’ll do what he needs to.”
—Come on, S-rank hunters are such crucial personnel. He can’t just sit around idle.
“He just Awakened. He’ll take it slow and steady.”
Besides, I already knew Yoo Ho-yeon was working diligently.
From dungeon raids to capturing rogue hunters.
He was already throwing himself into important work.
But what Choi A-rin meant by importance was different from what I thought.
—No, you should tell him not to rest. All the S-ranks are so good-looking. They need to be on TV more. Handsome men have a responsibility to cleanse our eyes.
“I’m hanging up.”
Choi A-rin’s rambling was drifting into pointless territory.
I hung up firmly and shoved my mobile phone into my pocket.
She didn’t call or text again, so it must have just been a joke.
But the faces of every S-rank I’d met so far flickered through my mind.
There was one part of Choi A-rin’s joke that was actually true.
‘They really are all good-looking.’
Baek Moon-il, refined and sophisticated.
Seo Il-hak, neat and mature.
Unlike those two, Yoo Ho-yeon had a lighter, more ordinary appearance, yet even on the street, his face was the sort that made you turn for a second look.
I nodded to myself.

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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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