I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 9

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

#Episode 9.
I fell silent, staring at Baek-seol for a moment before collecting myself and speaking again.
“Why would I be your master?”
“Because this space belongs to you, and I exist within it!”
“Within this space?”
“Yes. It is my duty to maintain this place so that you may dwell here without any inconvenience.”
“I’ve never heard anything like that before.”
“That makes sense! You are the first human on Earth to receive a proper Unique Space!”
At those words, I furrowed my brow.
“That can’t be right. I’m certain I’ve heard of others who received Unique Spaces before this.”
Hadn’t I just seen it before coming here? A hunter team from the United States had received a Unique Space as a reward from the 120th Floor.
Yet Baek-seol offered an unexpected answer.
“Those were likely just abandoned spaces scattered about! A proper Unique Space always has a familiar bound to it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that’s how it is.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Her decisive response made me exhale slowly.
In truth, I had no solid grounds to refute her. All I knew came from what I’d read online.
There was always the possibility that the article itself was incomplete.
Perhaps that team had lied, or maybe they simply hadn’t disclosed everything.
“Very well… I understand. But how can I trust you? You could harbor ill intentions toward me.”
Regardless, I needed to address the security concerns properly.
If I had to remain constantly vigilant against someone here, I wouldn’t be able to use this place peacefully.
Baek-seol answered my question simply.
“You needn’t worry about that! I can never harm you. Look.”
She lifted one of her tails and swayed it gently.
A brilliant flash erupted.
Luminous characters appeared in the empty air. But the true marvel came next.
The moment I beheld those characters.
I naturally came to understand. Exactly what Baek-seol was. What contract bound her to this space and to me.
It transcended mere sight—I comprehended it instinctively, much as I had when I subscribed to my abilities before.
According to the contract, Baek-seol spoke truly: she could never bring me harm.
Under any circumstances.
I nodded slowly.
“I see. Indeed, I need not fear betrayal.”
“Exactly! So please, tell me if you need anything at all!”
“Hmm.”
I nodded slightly, then paused in thought before speaking.
“There are several things I’d like to ask you about.”
“Ask me anything!”
“Hmm. What exactly is this space for? Some kind of rest area?”
Baek-seol answered Han-sung’s question without hesitation.
“This place exists solely for you, Master!”
Baek-seol spun around in place with a flourish.
“You can decide what to do here. You could use it as a simple resting space, or perhaps as a training ground.”
“I see. Oh, and you mentioned that I’m the only person who’s received a space like this, right?”
“That’s right! As far as I know, this is the first time! There’s never been any talk of it among the servants!”
The phrase “among the servants” sparked another question in Han-sung’s mind, but he decided to ask his original question first.
“Why is that? Is obtaining a space like this extremely difficult?”
“Yes. There’s no explicit condition, but typically, climbers who obtain a Unique Space fall into two categories.”
Baek-seol raised both her tails as she spoke.
“Those who have proven themselves by reaching higher floors, or those who have demonstrated remarkable potential.”
“…So you’re saying I fall into the latter category?”
“Of course! You landed a blow on Evil God Sargon himself!”
“What? How did you know that?”
“An event of that magnitude spreads through rumors quickly!”
“Rumors spread? That’s… well, I understand for now.”
Han-sung realized that at this rate, they would continue exchanging questions for hours, so he decided to stop.
While resolving his doubts was good, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
“I’ll organize my remaining questions and ask them all at once later.”
“Understood!”
There were many things he was curious about, but continuing the back-and-forth when his thoughts weren’t even properly organized would only waste time.
Besides, there was something he needed to do right now.
It was something that had occurred to him after hearing the explanation about the Unique Space.
“First, this space itself is very durable, correct?”
“Yes! It’s built to be extremely sturdy so it can be used as a training room! And repairs are easy!”
“Good.”
Han-sung nodded and spoke to Baek-seol.
“Then step back over there for me.”
“Yes!”
Baek-seol withdrew to the opposite side without question.
Once Han-sung confirmed this, he closed his eyes and slowly gathered his concentration.
It was to properly examine the power he had newly acquired.
‘I couldn’t really test it at home.’
It couldn’t be helped.
My home wasn’t that spacious, and if I made a mistake and destroyed the surrounding belongings, it would be troublesome.
In contrast, this place had nothing particularly worth breaking, and according to Baek-seol, the space itself was durable.
Crackle—
It was the perfect place to test the new ability before engaging in actual combat.
Han-sung drew upon the newly acquired power—Indra’s lightning—all at once and opened his eyes.
Crackle—!
Brilliant azure light erupted outward from his form.
Baek-seol watched the spectacle with a dazed expression.
She found herself thinking that her master’s fortune was truly exceptional.
* * *
Flash—!
Bathed in brilliant light, a figure materialized within the deep gray expanse—it was Han-sung.
—You have entered Floor 10 of Tower 7.
—In 10 minutes, you will be transported to Floor 11 of The Tower.
—Prepare yourself.
Han-sung lifted his head at the familiar voice and surveyed his surroundings.
“It looks just as devastated as before.”
Floor 10 remained unchanged from when I last saw it.
Walls and floors ravaged by fierce combat. Even bloodstains still lingered upon the ground.
Han-sung slowly committed the sight to memory, then reached his hand toward empty air.
Whoosh—.
A sword materialized in his grasp.
Not the crude iron blade I had wielded before, but a weapon suffused with a subtle azure radiance.
It was the sword I had obtained from this latest weapon cache.
As I gazed upon it, detailed information crystallized in my mind.
[Craftsman’s Silver Blade]
[Grade: Rare]
[A silver sword forged by a master craftsman. While possessing no special effects, it boasts excellent balance and exceptional durability.]
[Inflicts significantly greater damage upon undead and spectral entities.]
[Imbued with the spell ‘Sharp Edge’.]
Its grade was nothing short of Rare.
The item grading system consisted of seven tiers: Common, Uncommon, Magic, Rare, Unique, Epic, and Legendary.
Common being the lowest, Legendary the highest.
There existed numbered grades beyond these standard tiers, though such distinctions were not particularly relevant at present.
In any case, the crude iron blade I had previously wielded was merely Common grade—this represented a three-tier advancement.
‘It falls one tier below Erpe’s Mercy, though.’
Considering how extraordinarily rare Rare-grade items were below the 50th Floor, this was truly a magnificent treasure.
“My condition is optimal. I’ve acquired new abilities and a superior weapon.”
Han-sung extended the blade while gazing upward at the ceiling.
“All that remains is to continue climbing The Tower.”
Curiosity and tension mingled equally within my eyes.
This stemmed from a post I had encountered during my earlier research.
It concerned the structure of The Tower, and its essence could be summarized thus:
—Consider Floors 1 through 10 merely a tutorial.
—The monster compositions change continuously, but ultimately you just fight and kill them all until it ends, right?
―But from Floor 11 onwards, things change. It’s not just about fighting to the death—all sorts of missions appear.
―Of course, not every floor is like that. Some are just ordinary floors. But others aren’t.
―On those floors, you sometimes have to cooperate with other people who entered The Tower, and sometimes you compete. What mission you get is completely random.
―So everyone should study up. Don’t just mindlessly rush in without thinking. Those idiots who charge in without any strategy always end up dead.
The language got a bit rough toward the end, but it was genuinely valuable information.
And from what I knew, Floor 11 fell into the latter category of the two: ‘random missions.’
That was precisely why I was more on edge than usual. I had never encountered other people in The Tower until now.
Though I certainly didn’t think I would fall behind them.
―The waiting period has ended.
―Moving to Floor 11 of The Tower.
Exactly ten minutes had passed when the familiar voice echoed and the scenery around me shifted dramatically.
I slowly surveyed my surroundings. I had arrived in a forest—dense with trees and undergrowth.
[Objective: Reach the destination within the time limit]
[Time limit: Three hours]
As the message appeared, I narrowed my eyes.
‘That mission type.’
I had seen this mission before when I researched the types of missions available.
It was a simple mission—just reach the given destination within the time limit—but it was far more difficult than it sounded.
The reason being that monsters were scattered everywhere along the path.
Naturally, most people preferred to find the safest route and move through it rather than face the monsters head-on.
Unlike the subjugation missions that only tested combat ability, this required a comprehensive set of skills.
However, that was only true for ordinary cases.
Whoosh―!
Suddenly, a pillar of light shot up in the distance. It was the marker indicating the destination.
Seeing it, I lightly kicked off the ground and leaped onto a tall nearby tree, landing gracefully on its branch.
“Hmm.”
From that vantage point, I scanned the surroundings and mentally calculated the route to the destination.
I had no intention of wasting time searching for a safe path and taking a roundabout route.
‘Straight that way should do it.’
After a moment of calculation, I flicked one foot lightly.
Crack―!
Lightning erupted from my toes.
There’s a saying: if your mind is weak, your body suffers. But if your body is strong enough, there’s no need to overthink things in the first place.
I tensed my entire body and then released the explosive force, driving my feet into the ground.
Boom―!
With a thunderous roar, my body shot forward like a projectile.
Straight toward the destination.
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
In one section of the vast forest, there was another group.
They had been fortunate enough to spawn near high ground, but rather than moving as a unified group, they maintained some distance from one another as they advanced.
Though we were moving together, the relationship between the two groups seemed far from amicable.
They couldn’t raise their voices too loudly out of awareness for the surrounding monsters, yet they continued bickering without pause.
“Just stop following us already! How long do you plan to keep this up?”
“What do you mean following? We’re simply taking a safe route ourselves.”
“Don’t lie—you’re clearly trailing behind us at a distance.”
The relatively young man spoke with a deeply furrowed brow.
“This isn’t even a cooperative mission. It’s infuriating.”
“Exactly. If you’re a mountain climbing club, you should be climbing mountains, not towers.”
The woman beside him picked up the thread.
They had every right to be sharp-tongued.
This mission distributed rewards based on arrival time, with differential payouts.
If teams departing from other directions had been fortunate enough to receive better routes, or if they’d formed alliances to eliminate monsters, they could forge ahead more quickly.
In such circumstances, they needed to push forward rapidly—there was no way another team clinging to them like leeches could appear favorable.
Yet the group composed of middle-aged members, the Hanmaeum Mountain Climbing Club, responded with a sly smile.
“Ah, youth—all bark and no bite.”
“Tsk tsk, no respect for your elders. We’re all supposed to help one another, after all.”
“Association members with manners like that—you’re thugs, plain and simple.”
At that last remark, the young man’s face flushed red once more.
But then.
“Wait!”
Park Gye-sik, the leader of the Hanmaeum Mountain Climbing Club, raised his hand.
“What? What is it now?”
“Something… I’m sensing something dangerous. An ambush, perhaps!”
Park Gye-sik’s expression grew serious as he pointed his sword in one direction.
“Over there!”
And immediately after.
Boom—!
A thunderous explosion erupted from the opposite direction.
Everyone flinched in alarm, their gazes snapping toward the sound.
“What… what was that?”
“Did someone trigger a trap?”
“Wait! Over there…!”
One of them with vision-enhancement abilities examined the site of the explosion, stammering as he spoke.
“L-lightning?”
Being at a relatively elevated position, they could see clearly.
A single bolt of lightning the size of a human figure was cutting across the forest.

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