I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 76

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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 76
Hospitals rarely admitted Hunters for inpatient or outpatient care.
They had Potions on hand, and their Natural Healing was simply too exceptional.
Thanks to their Resistance, inflammation and infection were virtually unheard of, so medication wasn’t necessary either.
For these reasons, I received only basic treatment at the hospital before leaving.
And just as Daria Gorden had boldly promised, my wounds were completely healed in a mere four days.
“What good is a healed wound? I’m dead on my feet.”
I lay cocooned like a chrysalis, fiddling with my Mobile Phone.
On the screen was a text conversation from two days ago.
A message that had arrived not from the Hunter Association’s number, but from Seo Il-hak’s.

Hunter Daria Gorden has requested a meeting with the Healer, and I’m passing along this request.

If you’re amenable, may I share your contact information with Hunter Gorden?
Eventually, I’d need to hand over my contact to discuss the Stone Tablet anyway.
I sent Seo Il-hak a message of permission.
Not long after, a text in English arrived.
When I ran it through the translator, it was quite polite in tone.
‘Reads like the AI Interpreter. Does he always speak that formally?’
It was an observation I hadn’t made when he was pressing me hard.
The message proposed meeting at his Hotel around 11 AM on Thursday.
Thoughtfully, he’d sent the Hotel’s address as a link.
I found myself tapping the link and navigating to the Hotel’s homepage.
The readability wasn’t great, but the luxuriously arranged photographs showcased the establishment.
Of course, what interested me wasn’t the photos, but the Hotel’s address.
I copied the address straight into my navigation app.
‘Looks like about thirty minutes to get there.’
The thought of spending thirty minutes on public transport already had me feeling drained.
If my body hadn’t healed, I would’ve canceled the appointment on the day itself, but mine was already fully recovered.
The speed of healing was remarkable even without Synchronization.
“So I really did Awaken.”
Though I wish it had healed slower. I’m still exhausted and want more rest.
I stirred in bed and checked the time. It was 9 AM.
I needed to get moving soon if I was going to arrive at the Hotel on time.
‘Better bring the Stone Tablet with me.’
Like a snake shedding its skin, I wriggled free from the blankets.
“Ugh! I don’t wanna go!”
But that’s what being an adult means—doing things you don’t want to do.
With a loud, spirited cry like I was heading to work, I began my preparations in earnest.
Shower, change clothes, Synchronize.
I thought it was a quick routine, but by the time I finished, it was already time to leave.
I had a Ring—a subspace item—so there wasn’t much to pack in a bag.
I shoved my wallet and Mobile Phone into a bag and headed out.
My pristine silver hair was tucked under a hat.
* * *
When I was nearly at the Hotel, I texted Daria Gorden in broken English.
Daria Gorden immediately sent back a floor number—just the floor, not a room number. He mentioned he’d alerted the lobby.
I fumbled with my Mobile Phone as I stepped into the Hotel.
The staff at the Hotel’s front desk greeted me with their characteristic warm smile.
“Welcome. May I have your reservation name, please?”
I shook my head at the staff member.
“No, I’m here to meet someone staying at this Hotel. Hunter Daria Gorden.”
The staff member flipped rapidly through the notebook on the desk.
Having found something in the notebook, the staff member looked up again.
“Your name, please?”
“They should have me listed as Healer…”
The staff member nodded.
“In that case, would you mind removing your hat for a moment?”
I awkwardly shifted the hat to the side.
Unlike hair bleached by dye, my silver hair gleamed with a metallic sheen that caught the light.
The staff member finally nodded.
“We were notified of your arrival. You can use the Card Key to go directly to the top floor. Please remember to return it when you leave.”
The staff member handed me the Card Key. I accepted it with both hands.
“Thank you.”
I turned from the front desk and stepped into the elevator.
I swiped the Card Key and pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator lurched into motion.
The elevator soon came to a stop and the doors slid open.
Before I could even glimpse the hotel room door beyond the threshold, someone greeted me first.
“Hi.”
With that brief greeting I could actually understand, Daria Gorden handed me the AI Interpreter.
I took the Interpreter and fitted it into my ear.
I could manage a basic English greeting well enough, but I felt a little self-conscious.
“Hello.”
“I’ve been waiting for you. Please, come in.”
Daria Gorden’s words came through the Interpreter’s dry voice in my ear.
Perhaps because of how things had been throughout the dungeon, his translated voice sounded far steadier than his natural one.
Daria Gorden opened the room door with the Card Key.
I followed him while glancing around curiously.
At first glance, this floor seemed to have only one entrance.
‘So this is what a suite looks like? The world’s top-ranked Hunter’s wealth is something else.’
I stepped into the room, marveling silently to myself.
To someone like me, who’d only ever stayed in hotel rooms with just a bed, this was quite a sight.
It had everything a proper home should—a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, all fully furnished.
And scattered throughout the living room were Stone Tablets.
“You have quite a few Stone Tablets.”
It wasn’t so much praise as simply stating the obvious.
Yet Daria Gorden smiled with evident satisfaction.
“I didn’t spare any expense in collecting them.”
By “didn’t spare any expense,” he meant money, didn’t he?
I thought again of the Blank Check sitting at home and felt a touch of weariness.
Daria Gorden reached out and carefully touched one of the Stone Tablets standing nearby.
“On rare occasions, Stone Tablets appear in extremely powerful dungeons.”
The first Stone Tablet I ever obtained came from the Absorption-type Dungeon at Kkaechisan Station.
Was that dungeon really so dangerous?
‘I really did come back from the brink of death.’
As I absently pressed a hand to my chest, Daria Gorden let out a laugh.
Suddenly, I began to understand Daria Gorden’s actions.
“Is that why you’re challenging dungeons that are supposed to be impossible to clear?”
“Exactly.”
Seeing the potential in these Stone Tablets to eliminate dungeons, he ventures into supposedly uncleared dungeons again and again.
No matter how exceptional one’s abilities are, clearing a dungeon is a life-or-death endeavor.
Especially when the dungeons he tackles are ones the entire world has given up on.
“I concluded that they use these Stone Tablets to maintain the dungeons. And this incident confirmed my suspicion.”
When I touched the Stone Tablet and closed that door, the dungeon collapsed.
It certainly looked like good evidence for Daria Gorden’s certainty.
But I had a slightly different take on it.
‘The Stone Tablet seemed just like a door, didn’t it? The door opened, and when I closed it, the dungeon fell apart.’
And most importantly, the fragments of the dungeon didn’t hurt us.
When I stayed silent, Daria Gorden leaned in somewhat urgently.
“That’s why I want us to interpret this Stone Tablet together.”
“Interpreting Stone Tablets… I’ll do it with you.”
I was curious about what this Stone Tablet actually was, after all.
At my answer, Daria Gorden’s face lit up brightly.
Smiling like that, he had a very different air about him than when he’d been wary of me in the dungeon.
He seemed quite bright and relaxed. Even a touch cheerful.
‘I think we’re probably around the same age?’
With that smile on his face, Daria Gorden hurried over to the sofa and gestured for me to join him.
“Sit here. And go ahead—take out your Stone Tablet as well.”
I gave in and sat down beside Daria Gorden. Then I took out both Stone Tablets from my subspace.
As I placed the Stone Tablets on the living room table, Daria Gorden immediately picked one up.
“Which Stone Tablet did you bring this time?”
I tapped his right hand lightly.
The Stone Tablet that had drunk blood had reverted to the color of stone as though it had never been stained, but faint crimson marks still lingered on its surface.
Daria Gorden ran his fingers across it.
“This is…….”
My handprint.
I scratched my head awkwardly.
“I wasn’t trying to do that—it just wouldn’t come off.”
“Whose blood is this?”
Daria Gorden asked as though that wasn’t really the important question.
I’m sorry, but I had no idea how to answer that one.
In that moment, how chaotic everything had been.
I couldn’t even tell whether this was dragon blood or my own.
The only thing I remembered clearly was how deeply displeasing that darkness staring at me had felt.
“I’m not sure.”
“Then translate it for me. How much have you translated so far?”
My translation was incredibly fragmented—how was I supposed to explain that?
Would such a mangled text even come through the AI Interpreter properly?
I was about to start reading the Stone Tablet when I hesitated.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was tapping at the door.
I started in surprise and looked up, but Daria Gorden waved his hand to reassure me.
“There is one more person.”
Did he call in an interpreter because communication between us was difficult?
I nodded as if to say I would wait, and Daria Gorden moved toward the entrance.
When he opened the door, a familiar face stood there.
Daria Gorden greeted the visitor with a smile.
“Hunter Yoo, welcome.”
“Huh?”
What was he doing here?
Unlike my confusion, Yoo Ho-yeon looked at us as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

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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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