I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 68

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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 68
There was a reason why the Unclaimable Dungeon bore that name.
The higher we climbed, the more acutely we felt it.
The ogres and manticores we’d faced on Floor 1, even the boss Minotaur, had been difficult enough, but——
“Is this right? This isn’t a dungeon made to be conquered, is it? Is this seriously right?”
Floors 2, 3, and 4 were on an entirely different scale.
Floor 2 was a jungle teeming with colossal venomous insects.
Floor 3 was a cliff swarming with flying demon beasts.
Floor 4 was a tomb of undead where daylight never reached.
Each one presented both terrible enemies and hostile terrain.
The one mercy was that we’d made it to Floor 4 without sustaining a single casualty.
“Haha. Healer, why are you struggling over this? We’re only on the fourth floor now. The Unclaimable Dungeon still stretches on ahead.”
“Aaahhh!”
When I let out an exaggerated cry, Baek Moon-il and the other hunters around us burst into laughter.
Yet deep shadows hung beneath all their eyes.
Their clothes and hair were filthy with demon beast blood and dust, making for a pitiful sight.
‘At least in the jungle and on the cliff we had water to wash with.’
But this tomb, as if boasting that it belonged to the undead, held not a single drop of water.
If we hadn’t brought bottled water in our subspace items, we’d have been in serious trouble.
As I wiped away the brownish blood of a zombie that had splattered on my face, Baek Moon-il offered what little consolation he could.
“Still, we’re making good progress thanks to the Healer and Hunter Goden.”
Of course, it wasn’t comforting. I let out a hollow laugh.
“Good progress?”
We’re grinding ourselves to pieces hunting down every single demon beast on every floor.
At my protest, Baek Moon-il rolled his eyes. Eventually, he backtracked.
“Honestly, it’s not been quick.”
So easily he abandoned his position—a far cry from steadfastness.
When I gave him a pointed look, Baek Moon-il shook his head and hastily added a clarification.
“But it has been manageable. We haven’t had a single injured person. That’s thanks to you two.”
Baek Moon-il glanced around briefly before lowering his voice to me.
“Especially thanks to the Healer. Even without Hunter Goden, if we had you, it would’ve been worth attempting.”
Baek Moon-il spoke in a tone somewhere between earnest and joking, then grinned. He was clearly trying to lift my spirits.
But I couldn’t accept the compliment outright.
Instead, I glanced anxiously toward Darya Goden, worried he might have overheard.
Fortunately, Darya Goden seemed not to have caught our words.
Rather, I saw only Yu Ho-yeon extending a soaked handkerchief with bottled water toward him.
Throughout the dungeon conquest, Yu Ho-yeon had behaved like Darya Goden’s personal escort.
Did it only happen during combat? No—his attentiveness was constant.
It was enough to make me feel utterly wronged.
‘Ability-wise, isn’t my skill pool basically the same as Darya Goden’s? Maybe just a slightly inferior version at best.’
Damage Reduction and Attack Power Increase—at first glance, they seemed to have no cooldown.
But he had no healing ability.
Considering that aspect, my abilities weren’t necessarily inferior to Darya Goden’s.
‘So what on earth did I do to deserve him barely speaking to me while treating Darya Goden like that?’
Of course, I already knew the answer.
Darya Goden was a hunter of incomparable caliber compared to me.
His goals were noble, and I could see how he worked tirelessly toward them.
Meanwhile, I was someone who’d already made an unforgivable mistake as a hunter in front of Yu Ho-yeon and disappointed him.
Moreover, because of his premonition ability, his impression of me was already poor.
So I understood why he was treating us differently.
But that didn’t make it sit right with me!
‘If anything, he should be nice to me to win me over! Why is he ignoring me like this?! If Darya Goden’s abilities are so impressive, why did he even include me from the start? Why drag me in at all?!’
I forcibly suppressed the frustration rising toward Yu Ho-yeon.
Keeping my Synchronization Rate visible at the edge of my vision, I chose my words carefully.
“Maybe he hasn’t used all his skills yet?”
Fortunately, it wasn’t poorly received. My Synchronization Rate ticked up slightly at the corner of my vision.
“That must be it. Other hunters wouldn’t have granted him the title of the world’s number one hunter if that were all he had.”
Baek Moon-il accepted it lightly. With his agreement, my own wind suddenly deflated.
My mood sank, and even my anger faded away.
Baek Moon-il, unaware of my shift, continued speaking.
“There might be situations where, because there’s a Healer, there’s simply no need to use more skills.”
As I listened calmly to Baek Moon-il’s words, I recalled what Darya Goden had said a few days earlier.
“But he said our Synergy works really well together.”
If skills become unnecessary because of me, you can’t call that good Synergy.
When I pointed out that detail, Baek Moon-il shrugged.
“Then we’ll just have to keep watching. Once we hit Floor 5, there won’t be time to hold back on skills. You’ll understand why I said that then.”
While we were talking, it seemed the Hunters had finished collecting the Monster Beast’s remains.
Seo Jo-yang waved her arms excitedly from a distance, calling us over.
“Guild Master! We’ve finished collecting the Necromancer’s corpse and items!”
Baek Moon-il, who’d been sitting beside me shirking work, brushed himself off and stood.
“Good. Let’s rest a moment and refine our strategy. Gather around.”
The Hunters of the clearing party rushed to gather around Baek Moon-il.
Baek Moon-il pulled out a Map from a Subspace Item and unfolded it.
The Map, printed beforehand, showed a general overview of the entire Floor 4 area.
And it seemed Baek Moon-il had marked it here and there as we progressed.
Every region we’d already passed had a red X marked on it.
At the last remaining location, Baek Moon-il drew an X in red pencil.
“We’ve cleared nearly all the common Monster Beasts on Floor 4. Once we take down the boss, we should be able to ascend to Floor 5.”
Darya Goden nodded in agreement. Even so, he remained cautious.
“However, before we head to the boss chamber, I’d like to verify once more.”
“Of course. If any Monster Beasts remain, the dungeon won’t close properly.”
Only after hearing Baek Moon-il’s answer did Darya Goden’s expression relax.
It was obvious that sweeping through this vast area again would exhaust everyone, yet no one voiced objection.
Now that I’d been through the dungeon myself, I understood something.
If the dungeon didn’t close and Saturation occurred, it would spell real disaster.
I recalled a meeting I’d attended at the Association before.
“The boss on Floor 4 is a Bone Dragon, right?”
“Right. Think of it as a taste test before facing the dragon swarm on Floor 5.”
A taste test? Is that really all it is?
I furrowed my brow uneasily.
“…I heard before that undead are harder to deal with than ordinary Monster Beasts.”
Isn’t a Bone Dragon stronger than a regular dragon?
At my objection, Baek Moon-il laughed shamelessly.
“Well, an appetizer always tastes better anyway.”
Was this guy serious?
At my expression, Baek Moon-il burst out laughing. It was impossible to tell whether he was joking or serious.
Soon after, Baek Moon-il stopped laughing and proceeded with the strategy briefing.
Baek Moon-il’s finger pointed to the boss chamber at the center of the Map.
“The Bone Dragon doesn’t take much damage from ordinary physical attacks. Magic also loses about half its effectiveness except for Fire and Holy types.”
One Hunter raised his hand with a question.
“So, should we focus our strategy around Defense and Fire?”
The Hunters who wielded Fire magic looked troubled at the question.
“We probably can’t generate enough firepower to actually burn the Bone Dragon.”
“Right. Even with Buffs, wouldn’t it be difficult?”
As one person began speaking, other Hunters around them started adding their own remarks one by one.
“What if the Tanker blocks in front while we keep attacking, drinking Mana Potions?”
“Even at maximum power, I’m not sure we could break through the Bone Dragon’s Defense.”
“How did you take it down before? Didn’t the Haje Guild Hunters manage to beat it?”
“We ground down its defenses with Fire over time and then used physical attacks. But we failed once and just retreated.”
“We just need to avoid Saturation—we don’t necessarily have to kill the boss.”
The Hunters chattered busily.
Not knowing much about dungeon clearing, I stayed quiet and pretended to study the Map.
Despite the Bone Dragon being a strong Monster Beast, no proper strategy was taking shape.
It was Darya Goden who cut through the circular chain of worry.
“Go ahead and engage. If we’re pushed back, I’ll step in.”
Darya Goden had mostly followed the Hunters’ strategies up to this point.
The Hunters exchanged glances. Given what Darya Goden had demonstrated from Floor 1 through Floor 4, their eyes held doubt—could they really trust him?
Soon their gazes turned toward me.
‘Why are they putting pressure on me like this?’
When I blinked in confusion, those gazes quickly fell away.
At the edge of my vision, the Synchronization Rate flickered upward.
[Current Synchronization Rate]
43%
I couldn’t fathom what they were thinking.
And the Hunters didn’t stop there—they began spouting reckless ideas.
“Well, let’s give it a shot. We just keep going until we burn it all down.”
“As long as we don’t die, we’re fine.”
“That’s true enough.”
No—what if we do die in the process? I clamped my mouth shut rather than voice what sounded like a death flag.
One by one, the Hunters brushed themselves off and stood.
“Should we eat something and then move on?”
“This place isn’t great for eating. We’ve dealt with all the monsters anyway—let’s find somewhere cleaner.”
I cast a sideways glance at Darya Goden, gauging his reaction.
Darya Goden was already staring straight at me.
At his gaze—as if he were conscious of me—I flinched and averted my eyes.
I wanted to read Yu Ho-yeon’s expression.
But that felt too cowardly to actually do.

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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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