Traces of the SunCh1.3 - Proposal (3), Jung Yisun (1)

Translator: Min999, Editor: Spade

Proofreader: Sapphire awckTM

---

Ever since that day, Yisun never left his apartment.

In all the times he had seen Sa Hyeon before, he had always found his eyes to be icy, but it was the first time he’d ever felt the blood in his veins freezing over from his frosty words. Although his tone was clearly polite, it was like the cold of winter air that hits you in the face and steals your breath away.

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Yisun felt an instinctive rejection towards him. It wasn’t so much that he was afraid or intimidated by the other person as that he felt uncomfortable and unpleasant… It was the strange sensation of being confronted by a predator from a different food chain. He was already so exhausted from only talking to him once, it was clear that getting entangled with him any further would only make it worse.

As an Awakener whose scope of work lays outside the dungeons, Yisun’s encounters with Hunters were quite rare. Processors and item makers met with Hunters to retrieve Spirit Stones that they brought back from inside the dungeon, but Restorers were actually distant from Hunters. At0IW2

Occasionally, Hunters would take the initiative to greet Jung Yisun who had become famous as an S-class Restorer, but they never engaged in any meaningful talks. So, for now, Yisun could only re-evaluate his thoughts on Hunters based on his impression of Sa Hyeon.

A Hunter who pretended to be polite, who pretended to listen to opinions, but who would do anything to get his way. Someone who is a natural at bossing people around, someone who doesn’t care and keeps going despite knowing they’re offended by it.

Up until this point, Yisun just thought Sa Hyeon was a peculiar Hunter, and when he turned on the internet and searched about him for the first time in a long time, he realized that both the average netizen and Hunter also shared his thoughts. It seems like it was common knowledge that Sa Hyeon wasn’t only the number one S-class, but his extraordinary character also topped the personality ranks.

Yisun was on his third day of staying cooped up at home with zero intention of leaving for the next week or so when he received a call from an unexpected source.

nHVGDy

-[Hello, how are you doing?]

“…. Who is it?”

[It’s me… Youngjoon’s uncle, Kang Youngjoon. The last time I saw you was almost two years ago. I didn’t even see you at the funeral…]

Yisun had changed his mobile number after the Second Great Dungeon aftermath was dealt. He was quite alarmed when he received a call from an unfamiliar number, but the name uttered by the gruff voice in his ear almost made him drop the phone. KymECQ

Kang Youngjoon. It was the name of the friend for whom Yisun had brought a birthday cake a few days ago.

The other party was saying something on the other end of the line, but it all sounded too far away for him. From the moment he heard the word funeral, the ringing in his ears drowned out every other sound.

He couldn’t tell anyone about his friends who had become anomalies in the Second Great Dungeon. That it was out of fear that they would be taken away and experimented on by the Association was actually nothing more than an excuse. They would surely ask what had happened to them, and Yisun didn’t have the answers they were looking for.

So, he had lied and said that all of his friends had been killed by monsters. It was a sickening, repulsive lie. gX DtF

The seven friends who had lived together for seven years, including Yisun, had all lost their parents in the First Great Dungeon and had few close relatives. The only one who had kept in touch and cared for them was Kang Youngjoon’s uncle.

– [You must have gone through a lot since then…]

Yisun was speechless. He couldn’t find any words to say to a man who had suddenly lost his nephew one day.

– [Let me see your face, Yisun-ah.] 3YyHlF

The place where they decided to meet was a cafe in the next neighborhood. It had been a long time since Yisun had been to a cafe like this, so he couldn’t help but feel strange as he looked around. At 5 pm, without the bustling post-lunch crowd, the neighborhoods was rather quiet, but even this peaceful scene felt unfamiliar to him.

After a moment, he pulled down the hat on his head as he hurried along. The hood made it impossible to see his face from the side.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“It’s been a while.”

“…Hello.” W92GhV

Yisun bowed his head in greeting, unable to look at the face of the uncle he hadn’t seen in more than a year and a half. Only after hearing him repeat that he hadn’t seen him in a long time thrice, did he finally raise his head to face him.

After scrutinizing Yisun’s face, carefully hidden behind his cap’s shade, the uncle smiled.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“How come your face is even paler than I last remember, are you eating well?”

” … Yes, I’m doing well.” 2yMqAc

“Well, it doesn’t look like it. You’re so thin… You don’t seem to be working as a Restorer anymore. What are you doing these days? Are you making a decent living?”

Youngjoon’s uncle had a pretty blunt personality. He did not mince or measure his words, but Yisun had long since grown accustomed to the way he spoke. He was the uncle who had cared for Youngjoon and his six orphaned friends throughout high school after they lost their parents. It was not much in the way of financial help, but it still meant a lot for minors to have an adult to lean on when they needed one.

After they turned 20 and became adults, they spoke to each other less and less, until it was only a couple of times a year, but Yisun would still check up on him in his own way. It’s just that they hadn’t spoken since the Second Great Dungeon, when he suddenly changed his mobile number and went into hiding…

After repeatedly assuring that he was doing fine, Yisun suddenly asked him a question. 9Gvg M

” But how did you get my number? And how did you know I was still living in Yongin…”

“Huh? Oh, I called Won Taesik and told him I couldn’t reach you and asked him to give me your number. I can’t believe you; How can you be in touch with Won Taesik but not even give me your number?”

Yisun felt that something didn’t make sense after hearing those words… Although his uncle knew Won Taesik, they were not close enough to call each other. Youngjoon’s uncle lived far from Yongin, and Won Taesik was the team leader of the Restorers team in the guild to which Yisun and his friends had belonged, so they only knew each other by name.

…But since he had lost contact with him, he thought there might’ve have been no better options than having to call Won Taesik. Yisun quickly waved away his doubts. aTLBk

The uncle had a lot of things he wanted to talk about, and he rambled on and on for over an hour. First, he briefly asked about how Yisun was doing, and then he told him that his daughter was about to start university. Yisun just sat there and listened in silence. He didn’t say anything about Kang Youngjoon’s incident from a year ago.

When the uncle’s stories had gone on for more than two hours, he glanced at a text on his phone and stood up, saying he had to go.

“I’ve taken up too much of your time… We should have at least had dinner together. I’m sorry, I have work in the evening…”

“Oh, that’s fine.” t02D3x

Yisun, who had said “it’s okay”a dozen times already during the day, bowed to him with a calm face. The old man looked at him with a complicated expression for a moment, then patted him on the shoulder firmly a couple of times.

” I’m sorry, this old uncle has been so busy, I haven’t been able to contact you…You’re still so young….”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

” Not at all, I’m…….”

He patted his shoulder again and again, his daughter was about to turn twenty soon, and Yisun was turning twenty-five this year, so in his eyes he was just as young. CgXQOR

After a while, he left to go to the bathroom, and thinking he had talked and entertained him enough, Yisun left the cafe. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach ever since Youngjoon’s uncle had said he had work in the evening with dodgy eyes while fidgeting nervously. He should have left earlier.

But just as Yisun began to walk down the street, someone stepped in front of him.

“Hey, Yisun-ah.”

The careful voice was not unfamiliar. Standing in front of Youngjoon’s uncle was his wife, and although Yisun was a little surprised that she had come with him, he did not bother to ask why she hadn’t come out to meet him. It’s always been that way. F3Vyvs

This aunt did not particularly like the idea of her husband helping him and his six friends. She didn’t like that he cared so much about her nephew and his friends when they already had enough financial struggles and a daughter to raise. She never said it outright, but he could read it written all over her face.

That didn’t mean he hated her for it, though. It was perfectly understandable, which is why he felt puzzled when the lady greeted him first.

“Long time no see, ma’am.”

Yisun bowed slightly to her as well, but for some reason, the old lady looked at him with a complicated face. It was the same look her husband had given him earlier. rmnWs

“I wasn’t going to tell you, but… I’m afraid it’s a little too much for my conscience to bear……. he didn’t say much, did he?”

“… Tell me about what? Oh, I heard that your daughter was going to college now, congratulations.”

“Ah, that’s…”

Despite being congratulated on her child’s happy news, the old woman’s face trembled. She avoided his gaze as she contemplated her words for a long time, and finally spoke with a sigh. CMID92

“We got a call from someone a few hours ago asking about you.”

” Huh…?”

” He said to contact you and ask how you were doing, so at first we thought it was just an acquaintance of yours, but then… he sent us some money.”

The old lady mumbled a small ‘“40,000,000’. Then, flustered by Yisun’s paling complexion, she started blurting out all kinds of apologies and excuses. ldDhR

“I’m really sorry, Yisun-ah, but the money came under the name ‘2 hours’, and although I was really worried about it…… I needed the money for my daughter’s tuition right away, she also needs money to get into a dormitory, and there’s also the loan I borrowed before…….”

Without hearing the rest of her words, Yisun started running home.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

He was out of breath, his throat felt so dry it seemed like it was going to be torn apart.

The woman’s words were still ringing dizzily in his ears. He felt no resentment towards them for keeping him occupied outside for two hours, just a surge of anger towards the person who had created this situation. He was so angry he thought his head might crack. Along with the immense anger, an anxiety that was twice as great took over his mind. O9y JY

Yisun gasped for breath as he ran through the dark streets; there was only one person who would want him out of the house and only one person who would pay an exorbitant amount of money to achieve it.

‘There is no one living with you at home anymore, but if you keep rushing to walk past me like this… I can’t help but think there’s something you’re hiding at home, right?’

Yisun ran frantically. He hadn’t run so much in a long time, his legs kept giving out and he felt like he was going to fall, but he kept going.

Finally, he was in front of his apartment. 3wdTWQ

Yisun ran up the stairs and grabbed the doorknob, his trembling hands fumbled with the key, but the door opened first. He couldn’t help but stare at the sight.

The sensor in the entrance hall glowed faintly, and the figure standing under the quivering lights was staring right at him. The lights that flickered on and off, on and off, seemed as if they would turn off for good any moment now. Yisun thought that every moment passed in a terribly slow and strange way.

In the dark night of an abandoned city, not even moonlight reached the pitch-black corridors, only the sound of a broken lamp echoed in the darkness. The porch light was as faint as the exhaled breaths of the beings inside the house.

Yisun grabbed Sa Hyeon by the collar, and said through gritted teeth: rtLsvd

“Why are you here?”

His voice trembled with rage. His breathing was erratic from the earlier marathon. Sa Hyeon’s eyes roamed, taking in every detail, then his mouth slowly curved into a smile. The light from the corridor above his face flickered briefly and then flickered away again.

With a flicker, Sa Hyeon’s smiling face came into view.

“I was just saying hello to some of Yisun-ssi’s friends.” E52Fsk

With another flicker, it went dark again.

“They’re quite introverted.”

It was as if darkness itself was speaking to him.

On the day the First Great Dungeon broke out eight years ago, Jung Yisun was on a graduation trip with his friends.

Lf tjv pera aegcfv 17 sfjgr biv lc Ajcejgs, yfobgf fcafglcu tlut rmtbbi, ktfc tlr qjgfcar olcjiis jiibkfv tlw ab ub. Pa kjr pera j bcf-vjs aglq ab Vfbei atja jcv la kbeiv yf fwyjggjrrlcu ab mjii la j aglq, yea atfs kfgf jii fzmlafv cbcfatfifrr. t70nQv

The seven youths, including Yisun, were childhood friends who had grown up together, attended the same elementary school, the same middle school, and were now about to enter the same high school. They had always gone to school together, although they would jokingly act as if they’d grown tired or disgusted of each other, they also promised that if ever they were to “Awaken” once they became adults, they would team up together.

A few decades ago, when dungeons and Awakenings first emerged, the world was in turmoil, but people quickly adapted to the changes. The Awakener Management Headquarters was created to manage the Awakeners, and the Hunter’s Association was created to manage the Hunters, which became the center of the country.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

People were divided into normal people who had no abilities, and Awakeners who were registered if they had any abilities at all. The Awakeners made up about 10 per cent of the population, and only about 10 per cent of them were combat Hunters.

An Awakener could earn quite a lot of money, and their powers manifested at different ages depending on the individual, but due to the many cases of exploitation of the underage Awakeners in the past, the age of twenty was designated as the prime time to be tested. There was a rumor going around about the wealthy quietly testing their children, but whether it was true or not has yet to be confirmed. CG8Hdq

There were a few cases of people who had a burst of power before reaching adulthood and were registered as Awakeners. However, these cases were fairly rare, so it didn’t come as a surprise that Sa Hyeon, the son of the HN Guild Leader, who had Awakened at the age of eight, was in the news every day.

Before the age of 20, people always made two life plans. What they would do if they were just a normal person, and what they would do if they were among the 10% that Awakened.

In fact, even within the 10% of Awakeners, there was a strict division into classes, and one had to be at least assigned at least a C-Class to actually make money with their abilities. Even if they were an Awakener, if someone’s ability was ranked F, then their lives wouldn’t be that different from a normal person.

Still, most adolescent boys dreamed of Awakening and becoming famous. Yisun remembers talking about it when they went on their graduation trip that year. d79zom

“Get a good look at me while you still can! Once I become an S-class, and it might be hard for me to meet you guys outside all the time because of all the fans.”

“Whatever you say, even if you’re an S-class, you’d have to be good-looking to get fans.”

“Have you seen Sa Hyeon? He’s 20 years old and hasn’t even made his dungeon debut yet, yet he already has a lot of fans. Isn’t it all due to that good-looking face?”

“Youngjoon would need to be reborn for something like that to happen to you… If you’re an S-ranked actor, you can make a lot of money.” q5i4Co

“Hey!”

“Tsk tsk, remember kids… When you get rich, you must buy a 100 square meter house first!”

As they chatted animatedly about what they would do when they became S-class Hunters, they turned to Yisun, who was listening and laughing.

“Yisun-ie, what about you?” sonB6f

“Don’t you think he would awaken as a Healer?”

“I don’t really like going into dungeons…”

“Ah, Yisun-ah, you should just become a Healer and live a good and proper life!”

“Oh, stop it…” igF rV

Yisun’s friends burst out laughing. His parents used to say that whenever they scolded him, and eventually his friends had learnt it by heart and would tease him now and then.

” If you become a Healer, you’ll make a name for yourself.”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

“Your parents would love that. They’ll hang a banner in Yongin. ‘The pride of Yongin, the good and beneficent Jung Yisun, became a Healer.’”

“Ahhhh!” 80e6RI

His friends found joy in teasing him, they enjoyed it because, despite Yisun’s seemingly distant and aloof appearance, he was actually a very gentle and kind friend.

Except for these six, most of his classmates found his unique aura a little too difficult to understand. His pale white skin, brown hair, and pale amber eyes made him strangely mysterious. The corners of his eyes were gently downcast, but his basic expression was stoic, giving him the image of a serene noble.

In reality, however, this was not the case at all, so his friends enjoyed playing pranks on him. Yisun eventually got flustered and slapped his friends on the back.

It was a very ordinary day. Seven inseparable friends went to Seoul for their important graduation trip, hanging out and having mundane conversations. VWC8 i

That’s why they were surprised to see the TV panels around them suddenly change in synchronization.

A B-Class dungeon in Yongin turns out to be an S-Class dungeon.

The S-Class Dungeon exploded, destroying buildings and causing thousands of casualties.

It was about South Korea’s first S-class dungeon and about how the Daehan Guild plans to deal with it. nUomrY

When the group of friends left for Seoul in the morning, they saw a breaking news report about a B-Class dungeon emerging in the mountains in a sparsely populated neighborhood in Yongin. The group was relieved to hear that Daehan, the number one guild in Korea, was sending a raid party to enter the dungeon. Moreover, the roster included famous A-level Hunters, so they were confident that they would clear it.

However, the dungeon unexpectedly turned out to be S-Class, and considering it wasn’t cleared in the golden time allocated for clearance, it ended up blowing up in a huge explosion. As the news broke, the affected neighborhoods began to appear one by one.

The seven boys stared blankly at the screen.

Min: Whew… decided to add one more chapter… I’m trying to pick up the pace and catch up with the comic as soon as possible also before the last few months of the school semester cause it gets hectic hsgshjd … Now we’ll get to know more about Yisun’s past ;-; *hugs him and hides him from the world*… and *sigh* Sa Hyeon, you do not recruit someone by being a creep smh jJS9rY

(Also for people who need visuals, these are the official manhwa covers, so pretty ;-; )