I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 139

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

#Chapter 139.
The space twisted and warped in every direction.
For an ordinary person, merely witnessing such a sight would be overwhelming.
Even someone with considerable nerve would hesitate to venture into it.
Yet Jung Han-sung advanced without hesitation.
Of course, he wasn’t moving forward mindlessly.
Crackle—!
Each time Jung Han-sung extended his hand, lightning erupted from his palm, spreading in all directions with a thunderous roar.
By tracing the path of the electrical discharge, he identified the spatial distortions, then shifted his footing toward areas where the warping was relatively less severe.
“This method works rather well.”
As I continued forward while muttering to myself, Onyx spoke in an exasperated tone.
―Only you would perceive spatial distortions this way, Master.
“What’s wrong with that?”
―Most people rely on specialized abilities. Couldn’t you simply subscribe to a channel in the first place?
“Well, using such a channel would be more convenient, I suppose.”
Jung Han-sung answered Onyx while releasing another burst of lightning.
“But I don’t think the actual outcome would differ much. Looking at the current structure, the distortion intensifies deeper inside, yet there are still gaps to navigate through.”
Had the warping become so severe that movement was impossible, Jung Han-sung would have considered subscribing to a channel.
But as I continued forward and assessed the situation, there was clearly a definitive solution to be found here.
That solution could be discerned simply by releasing lightning.
More importantly, I had a reason to conserve my channel subscription.
“Besides, this mission isn’t about passing through here—it’s about resolving the source. I need to preserve my strength.”
―Hmm, I see.
That’s right. This Space Distortion Zone was merely a passage to locate the source of the anomaly.
If I squandered my power here and then encountered difficulties while actually dealing with that source, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
Onyx seemed to accept this reasoning before asking again.
―But won’t using lightning so frequently also waste your strength?
“No. This doesn’t drain much at all. It only looks flashy. I’ve drastically reduced the actual power output.”
Jung Han-sung released another burst of lightning while speaking to Onyx.
“Look closely.”
―Oh, really? The appearance and actual power are completely different. How did you manage that?
“By finely controlling mana when releasing the lightning. Now that I think about it, there seem to be quite a few applications for this technique.”
Intimidating others with minimal effort, or creating flashy but harmless attacks as misdirection before unleashing a lethal strike.
There were plenty of uses for it.
Crackle, crackle!
For now, though, I was using it to illuminate the path.
‘But this really is strange.’
Jung Han-sung continued forward while surveying his surroundings.
The landscape he’d witnessed upon first arriving at the Outer Area had been quite bizarre, but this exceeded even that.
It was as if the sky and earth had been thoroughly fragmented and jumbled together in complete disarray.
Looking upward, soil and clouds pressed directly against each other, and while birds soared through the air, rabbits bounded alongside them in impossible defiance of natural law.
A landscape as surreal as a dream. Or more precisely, a place where the very rules of reality itself had crumbled.
‘It seems like not just space, but other things are beginning to be affected as well.’
Jung Han-sung gazed ahead.
I had first witnessed it about ten minutes ago.
A sizable expanse of earth hung suspended in the void, and within it roamed a herd of bison.
In itself, such a sight was unremarkable in this place.
But they were running in reverse.
Their hooves never touched the ground, hovering in mid-air as they moved backward, while clouds of dust vanished and reformed in endless cycles.
―Not just space, but time itself is being affected. Whatever the source, this is far from ordinary.
“Tell me about it. Nothing here will be easy.”
Jung Han-sung muttered this to himself while surveying the surroundings once more.
Not a single person was visible anywhere nearby.
That wasn’t particularly strange.
It would be extraordinarily difficult for an ordinary climber to penetrate this far.
That’s precisely why I had chosen to venture deep without seeking cooperation from others.
Those capable of moving in perfect synchronization with me were exceedingly rare.
Then, roughly ten minutes later.
“Hmm?”
Jung Han-sung sensed something and his eyes widened slightly.
In the direction of his gaze stood a human silhouette.
The peculiar thing was that while it was clearly visible to the eye, there was no aura or presence emanating from it.
After a moment of contemplation, Jung Han-sung walked toward it to examine it more closely.
And soon I understood what it was.
It had the appearance of a person, yet it remained completely motionless, frozen in that exact pose.
At first, I thought it had been affected by something, but when I extended my mana to examine it carefully, I realized that wasn’t the case.
“Is this… an afterimage?”
It wasn’t the person themselves, but rather a trace left behind as someone passed through.
―It seems so. The owner is beginning to be affected as well. Look behind you.
At those words, Jung Han-sung turned around and discovered something overlapping directly behind his own body.
Taking a small step forward, the image came into proper focus.
It was Jung Han-sung.
The expression of shock from moments before, upon seeing the afterimage, was frozen in mid-air as if preserved in amber.
“This too is the effect of temporal distortion.”
―It seems we shouldn’t linger here much longer.
“I agree.”
Jung Han-sung nodded and released another burst of electricity from that spot.
Then several images became apparent.
Afterimages remained in certain areas where the electricity had passed through.
‘From now on, I need to be careful about temporal distortion as well.’
Jung Han-sung took note of that detail and moved forward once more.
Fortunately, the temporal distortion wasn’t as severe as the Space Distortion Zone.
To be precise, there wasn’t much direct damage to speak of.
Of course, I didn’t approach too closely. Even if it looked fine on the surface, I had no way of knowing what harm it might actually cause.
‘Someone’s here.’
Not long after, I sensed the presence of someone further ahead.
The distinct feeling of mana suggested this was an actual person, not an afterimage like before.
‘This could be the person who left that afterimage.’
That was quite an interesting point.
Someone who had ventured further ahead than me?
Considering I had started quite far back, this didn’t necessarily prove they were more capable than me, but the fact that they had penetrated this deeply meant they were no ordinary person.
―There they are.
Before long, I could spot them with my own eyes.
They were moving along the exact path I had deemed safe.
Crack!
I ignited another burst of electricity and walked toward them.
At that moment, they heard the sound and turned around, our eyes meeting.
“….”
A brief silence.
The other person spoke first.
“Are you an Ascender?”
At those words, I hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Ascender. It took me a moment to recall what that meant.
Fortunately, I remembered in time.
‘It was a term from another dimension for climbers.’
More precisely, it was a word I had heard from Elion before.
“This is a cooperative mission. How about we combine our strength and proceed together?”
I pondered the proposal for a moment before nodding.
“Let’s cooperate then.”
I’m not the type to dislike working with others.
The reason I prefer wandering alone and completing missions solo is simply that I haven’t found suitable partners.
If someone like Elion or Hank—with comparable abilities—came along, there was no reason not to join forces.
I didn’t know what level of skill this man possessed, but the fact that he had come this far was already proof of his capability.
Even if he lacked combat ability and specialized in reconnaissance, it would mean his skills in that area were exceptional.
I walked forward along the safe path I had observed earlier, moving ahead of the man.
The man gave a slight bow and spoke.
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Berka.”
“Berka. I’m Han. Feel free to speak casually.”
“Then I’ll do the same.”
Berka quickly responded in a casual tone to my words.
From the start, Jung Han-sung had been speaking casually without formality.
“Was that lightning earlier an ability?”
“Yeah. And I can handle a sword too.”
In truth, my actual ability was something entirely different, but since I could wield both lightning and a blade, it wasn’t an inaccurate statement.
Besides, in combat I primarily relied on those two methods anyway.
The Male Ranker didn’t press further on that point and instead immediately revealed his own abilities.
“I can use special eyes and magic.”
“Special eyes and magic?”
Both were intriguing revelations.
It seemed the special eyes were the ability itself, but the fact that he could also use magic meant either he possessed two abilities or had been capable of magic from the beginning.
‘I heard that in other worlds, magic and spirit arts are fairly widespread.’
On Earth, aside from Awakeners, there was no one who wielded mana—at least not that Jung Han-sung knew of.
But other dimensions were different.
Unlike Earth, dimensions where The Tower had existed for hundreds or thousands of years possessed abundant mana.
That’s why, aside from Awakeners, there were quite a few who could manipulate mana.
Of course, not just anyone could do it—it seemed limited to those with special talent.
“The special eyes are, simply put, an ability to directly see the flow of surrounding mana with my eyes. The magic I learned originally.”
“Can you see the distortion in this space with those eyes too?”
“To some extent. I supplement the lacking parts through magic. Were you confirming the path with the power of lightning?”
“Yeah.”
Jung Han-sung immediately dispersed electricity into the empty air.
As the lightning branches spread in all directions, they revealed the Space Distortion to my eyes.
“Hmm. How did you grasp all the distortions with just that?”
Berka spoke with an expression of wonder.
And for good reason—grasping distortions by observing the flow of lightning was easier said than done in practice.
Lightning itself didn’t spread in perfectly regular patterns, its speed was tremendous, and the distortions were so subtle that detecting them at all was difficult.
That Jung Han-sung could catch and perceive it without missing anything was due both to his exceptionally keen eyes and his ability to sense ‘flow’ to a certain degree.
But rather than explain all that in detail, Jung Han-sung answered simply.
“I’m accustomed to lightning.”
“I see.”
Berka didn’t inquire further either, instead simply demonstrating his own method.
He summoned colored mist and scattered it around, then used it to precisely perceive the distortions.
It was an efficient and straightforward method.
Probably he was observing the remaining areas with those special eyes.
Having simply shared their abilities, the two turned their heads to the side and spoke.
“Haven’t found the source yet?”
“Right. It seems to be further ahead though.”
“Then we should just keep moving forward.”
At Jung Han-sung’s words, Berka nodded. Then he raised the staff he held in one hand and spoke.
“Since there are two of us now, shall we move a bit faster?”
I flashed a slightly provocative smile.

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