I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 77

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

Chapter 77
While I stared in confusion, Yu Ho-yeon quietly inserted the AI Translator Device into his ear.
Daria Gorden ushered Yu Ho-yeon into the room and closed the door behind him.
I sat awkwardly on the sofa and gave Yu Ho-yeon a small nod of greeting.
“Hello.”
In response to my greeting, Yu Ho-yeon looked me up and down.
Just before I could bristle at the inspection, Yu Ho-yeon opened his mouth.
“Your wounds?”
“They’re fine.”
More than fine, really — they’d healed completely.
I swung my arm dramatically to prove the point.
Yu Ho-yeon’s face visibly relaxed with relief.
‘One moment he seems to hate me, the next he’s worried. I disappoint him, yet he still answers my questions without complaint.’
I couldn’t make sense of him at all.
I almost wanted to just show him Ha Cho-eun to see how he’d react.
The urge to expose the truth and make sense of this unpredictable man was overwhelming.
‘But if he sees the Demon King form, he’ll definitely hate me.’
Besides, confessing something I’d hidden this long felt embarrassing.
I forced myself to stay composed.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“……Not really.”
Daria Gorden laughed as she listened to our exchange.
The atmosphere was strange and awkward.
‘At this rate, the three of us are going to become friends.’
Or maybe I was the only one who considered them that way.
But it doesn’t matter — if they want my friendship, they’d better treat me well.
I put on a blank face and turned to Daria Gorden with a question.
“Why did you call for Hunter Yu Ho-yeon?”
“Because he knows the Stone Tablet and Dungeons better than anyone except me.”
I asked Daria Gorden, but Yu Ho-yeon answered instead.
I understood immediately what he meant.
“……Because of Synchronization?”
“Because of Synchronization.”
The same concept, but the words differed — one suggested a cause, the other a byproduct.
I ran my fingers over the Stone Tablet’s surface, lingering especially on the marks my own hands had left.
“What is this?”
“Did you hear Daria Gorden’s theory on it?”
I nodded.
Yu Ho-yeon added a supplementary explanation without fanfare.
“It doesn’t differ much from that. It’s probably one of the factors that causes Dungeons to form.”
“Hunter Gorden said this maintains the Dungeon?”
“There are plenty of Dungeons without Stone Tablets. It doesn’t seem right to call it maintenance.”
Yu Ho-yeon and I agreed. We both turned to look at Daria Gorden simultaneously.
Daria Gorden simply shrugged.
“My hypothesis is imperfect. You may be right.”
Of course Daria Gorden couldn’t know everything about Dungeons.
He wasn’t a researcher — he was out in the field investigating Dungeons himself.
If knowledge came easily, there’d be no need for fieldwork.
Daria Gorden pointed at the Stone Tablet I held. His eyes gleamed with intensity.
“This Stone Tablet showed an unusual reaction for the first time. I want to examine it first.”
Daria Gorden immediately moved to begin deciphering the Stone Tablet.
I quickly waved my hand to stop him.
There was something I needed to confirm before we examined the Stone Tablet.
“Wait a moment. There’s something I need to clarify first.”
As I cut him off, Daria Gorden’s expression grew puzzled.
Yu Ho-yeon looked at me the same way, clearly uncertain what I was asking.
Apparently, people with that much knowledge really did forget what it was like not to know.
This is exactly why professors and veterans don’t cut it!
Students and beginners aren’t people — they’re potatoes with mouths. Potatoes.
‘All right. I need to start from “What is a click?” and work my way up.’
You can’t just walk up and demand “Translate Excel functions for me” and expect anything but a resignation letter in return.
“We understand that we’re interpreting the Stone Tablets, but why are only we capable of doing it?”
Daria Gorden and Yu Ho-yeon exchanged glances, their eyes clearly laying blame on one another.
“You know about it, Hunter Yu—so why doesn’t the Healer?”
“I thought you explained it before I got here.”
It was Daria Gorden who spoke first.
She drew a square in the air with her finger, directing it toward me.
“You have one in your Guide Window too, don’t you?”
“In my Guide Window?”
I opened my Guide Window, intent on checking.
My unsettling characteristics and their descriptions came into view, as always.
“An Unknown Skill.”
And if I had to single out one skill whose nature remained a mystery, it was unmistakably the Black Square.
No description, no Synchronization possible.
Instead, a skill bearing only a Synchronization Rate—listed in isolation—had done little but fill me with unease.
“I have one.”
Daria Gorden nodded as if she’d expected as much.
“I have one as well. It’s marked as a Black Square, and I cannot use it—nor can I confirm its effects.”
Identical to mine.
I pressed for clarification.
“Then does yours only show the Synchronization marker?”
“Synchronization marker?”
But that didn’t register with Daria Gorden.
Her face made clear she had no idea what Synchronization meant.
Daria Gorden’s eyes widened as she leaned closer to me.
“Do you have a description?”
“No. Not a description—just the word ‘Synchronization’ and a number.”
Daria Gorden seemed almost delighted that something I possessed she did not.
Was it not grating to discover that someone else had what you lacked?
She looked far too pleased—enough to worry me.
Had the search for a clue that might not even exist consumed all these years?
Daria Gorden’s hands fluttered with excitement.
“A number? What kind of number? If it’s numbered like 1, 2—then others besides us might possess this as well. Tell me.”
“It’s not that kind of numbering. It’s a Synchronization Rate indicator. Right now it’s…”
I lowered my head to check the Synchronization Rate.
In that moment, it had risen again.
“Twenty percent.”
Actually, it had climbed quite a bit.
I thought the Healer hadn’t gotten a hold of it, yet somehow the Synchronization Rate had already entered the twenties.
Daria Gorden rubbed her chin with one hand, her brow furrowing.
“Precisely so. You are indeed greater than I. You cannot enter my temple.”
The translation made the phrasing sound somewhat odd.
But more than that, Daria Gorden’s choice of words troubled me.
Daria Gorden had used the exact same phrasing as Yu Ho-yeon.
‘Larger than Daria Gorden? What does that mean?’
Since we couldn’t see each other’s Guide Windows, I had no way of knowing how the Black Square was written in Daria Gorden’s.
I decided to ask outright.
“Why? How is it written in Hunter Gorden’s Guide Window?”
Daria Gorden let out a long sigh—the kind that spoke of utter helplessness.
“You’ve already gathered Stone Tablets and discovered that the Black Square is connected to them. You have quite a bit of information, don’t you?”
Daria Gorden shook her head slowly.
“In my Guide Window, there is simply a Black Square among my skills. I cannot use it, and there is no change or explanation.”
Daria Gorden pointed to one section of the Stone Tablet I held.
[■■’s ■■■ to ■■■.]
The first part of that sentence—a word I could not decipher at all.
“There are several words that appear repeatedly in the Stone Tablets.”
Daria Gorden pointed to each Stone Tablet lying on the table one by one.
“This one. And this one.”
Wherever her finger touched, there was the same pattern of words.
“And in the sentences where those words appear, I found similar or repeating words.”
I followed the sentences Daria Gorden pointed out one by one.
It felt like solving a puzzle with words.
“And I understand now. These don’t want the interference or obstruction of this Black Square. They were wary of my involvement.”
I couldn’t begin to estimate how many Dungeons she must have cleared to discover that.
“I believed there were others besides me who possessed the Black Square, and that they too could read the Stone Tablets.”
Daria Gorden looked at me with satisfaction, as if her judgment had been correct.
I picked up the Stone Tablet and discreetly used it to cover my face.
Daria Gorden reached out and pressed the Stone Tablet down.
“I’ve never seen the Stone Tablet being used like this before.”
She seemed to be referring to how the Stone Tablet absorbed the dragon’s blood.
It made sense that I hadn’t seen it, given my short career, but I never expected Daria Gorden to find it unfamiliar either.
Daria Gorden surveyed the Stone Tablets. Her gaze upon them was cold—sharp even.
“Such a thing must not happen outside the Dungeon. It’s dangerous.”
“Ah, yes. You’re right.”
I still had no idea what was supposed to burst forth from it.
Yet instinctively, I could sense that the darkness was a dangerous entity.
If the Stone Tablet had opened outside the Dungeon and released that darkness, it would have been a catastrophe.
“But you prevented the anomaly of the Stone Tablet.”
“I’m not entirely sure how I did it myself…….”
Before she could dump all responsibility for managing the Stone Tablets onto me, I hurried to strike first. But it hardly helped.
“That’s fine. By interpreting the Stone Tablets and considering the circumstances at the time, we can certainly find a solution.”
Daria Gorden seized my hand without hesitation.
I turned to Yu Ho-yeon, seeking his help.
Yu Ho-yeon was nodding seriously at Daria Gorden’s words, his expression grave.
And so it came—the words from Daria Gorden’s lips.
“Please take charge of these Stone Tablets. I’m certain you can resolve the mysteries and abilities of these Tablets.”
Pretty words don’t change everything, do they?
Those Stone Tablets are time bombs—we don’t know when or how they’ll open.
And on top of that, I’m just a Hunter!
‘How am I supposed to handle all of this!’
I tried to wave my hand in refusal.
But I couldn’t free my hand from Daria Gorden’s grip.
Daria Gorden gazed at me with a face full of hope and joy.
I couldn’t spit in the face of a smile, and more than that, in the face of that grip strength, refusal didn’t come easily.
In the end, my lips managed to open with difficulty.
“……Yes.”
Having taken on all those Stone Tablets, I stared at the ceiling for a moment.
I would find out why the Stone Tablets became inert inside the Dungeon.
Daria Gorden had given me the perfect motivation without meaning to.

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