Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 100

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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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100. Abyss Garden (2)
[Abyss Garden]
-Survive in the garden.
Remaining time: 4 hours 59 minutes.
Please do so. Time remaining: 4 hours 59 minutes.
The reason I knew this was an enormous garden despite the thick fog was, strictly speaking, because we were still outside the garden itself.
Ahead of us stretched a path leading into the garden.
“This isn’t really a garden, is it?”
“Tell me about it. It looks like some massive arboretum you’d find at a tourist attraction.”
Min-jae and Mister were right—it was far from ordinary in scale. What was remarkable was that the fog existed only within the boundaries of that arboretum.
“That must be some kind of magical effect, right?”
“The fog gathering like that?”
“Yes.”
“Probably.”
Chun-bae didn’t know the details of this place either, but he shared whatever information he possessed.
-Alchemists aren’t merely practitioners of alchemy. Their true nature is closer to that of mages.
-The alchemist who created the Abyss Garden was originally a Dark Mage.
In other words, the Abyss Garden was the workshop and secret lair of a creature that was both alchemist and Dark Mage.
According to Chun-bae, there would likely be bizarre monsters and magical traps.
“That’s probably the alchemist’s Mansion over there.”
Through the swirling fog, only the edge of the Mansion was visible beyond the fog’s boundary. That was where we needed to go.
Regardless, the rewards for this Gate would most likely be located near the alchemist’s Mansion.
“At least we’ll be okay with the fog since you’re here, hyung.”
Min-jae cracked his neck side to side as he spoke, but it wasn’t something I could let slide easily.
Hmm. I need to say something about this.
“Not necessarily. Chun-bae said even plants have been transformed into monsters here. If they suddenly attack from within the fog, it could be dangerous.”
“Min-jae. Get your head in the game.”
Mister beside me backed up my point. Truth be told, neither he nor I were prone to overconfidence.
Mister had cleared low-level Gates without a single skill, and I had entered Gates as an unawakened hunter.
“This is a survival-type Gate with a tight time limit. We may be skilled, but let’s stay sharp.”
At Mister’s words, Min-jae nodded. His expression and eyes grew slightly more serious.
“I apologize. I’ll focus.”
At least he understood immediately after hearing it once. There are plenty of people who don’t.
It’s no accident that hunters in the 10-20 level range have the highest mortality rates. Overconfidence leads to failure.
“You’re right. Since this is a survival-type Gate with a short time limit, let’s concentrate.”
Survival-type Gates with tight time limits generally fall into two categories.
Either the enemies are extremely powerful, or it’s a standard survival Gate with a hidden ‘secret’ somewhere.
For instance, if a lucrative hidden reward is concealed, the time limit is reduced to make it harder to find.
Personally, I hoped it was the latter. No one has an ability like mine for finding things.
“Just in case, I’ll proceed while wearing a gas mask.”
I was about to open a Subspace and distribute gas masks to my companions when a sudden thought struck me.
“Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
I gazed at the mist-shrouded garden before us.
“I’m wondering if we could burn away that mist with Incinerate.”
Whoosh—
I unleashed flames that consumed even mana itself toward the front of the garden.
* * *
“Hmm.”
“It’s not bad, actually.”
I’d eagerly cast Incinerate, but unfortunately it only achieved partial success. At least the mist itself could be burned away.
However, the garden was such a vast space that there was far too much mist. Even as I burned it, more kept rolling back in.
The reason I called it a partial success was that by pushing with the overwhelming mana I’d obtained from the Trial of Mana Gate last time, I could resolve it to some degree.
I’d managed to burn away the mist within a certain radius. Still, everyone kept their gas masks on.
“Let’s proceed like this, securing our line of sight.”
I needed to practice the Incinerate skill anyway, and it would be difficult to move through a garden full of unknown monsters with reduced visibility.
The massive garden wasn’t just grass—there were well-maintained paths too, with plants densely packed on both sides.
“This place feels eerie.”
And just as Mister had said, it emanated an ominous atmosphere. The plants looked rather strange…
Life force and mana were faintly intertwined, as if they could move at any moment.
“I can even see something like will-o’-the-wisps.”
Right. Between the faint mist, lights like fireflies flickered as points. Appearing and disappearing.
I advanced forward, concentrating on my spatial awareness.
“Should we just burn it all down?”
That was Min-jae speaking.
“They’re going to attack us anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to strike first rather than be caught in an ambush?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
It was quiet now, but if there were enemies in this garden, we’d have to fight eventually. Going first wasn’t a bad strategy.
Though we might be poking a hornet’s nest…
“Even if they all come at us, I was planning on fighting anyway. Give it a try.”
I decided to save Incinerate. If this mist suddenly rushed toward us, I’d need it to burn it away.
I had spatial awareness, so I’d be fine, but the others wouldn’t be.
“I’ll use the new magic I just learned.”
“On this side?”
“Yes.”
“Mister, could you watch our rear?”
“Got it.”
Min-jae raised his staff and muttered something under his breath.
And then…
“Flames of fury! Descend upon them!”
A whirlwind of flames erupted in the garden to our left. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.
“Wow.”
“Huh?”
Blast Burn.
It was a spell where flames spiraled with fierce winds, but naturally, this was far beyond the ordinary scale.
What should have been a small whirlwind had been amplified by Min-jae’s mastery as a mage, completely filling one entire section of the garden.
Even from here, I could feel the heat and wind washing over us.
-Kyaaagh!
-Kek!
And in that same moment, sharp screams pierced the air from the garden engulfed in flames.
Dark silhouettes writhed left and right within the inferno.
“So all the ones as tall as a person were monsters?”
“There are smaller ones too.”
“Were they trying to surround us?”
“Maybe? They could have been sleeping. We just woke them up.”
It didn’t matter. We’d have to fight them anyway. However, those screams seemed to have stirred up the monsters in the other gardens as well.
-Kiek!
-Kyaaaak!
Because monster cries echoed from behind us too, not just from the section engulfed in flames.
“They’re coming!”
Mister climbed onto Yong-yong’s back and gripped his spear tightly.
Monsters resembling nepenthes, along with vine-like plant creatures, were advancing toward us.
“Krooah!”
Yong-yong breathed fire at them. The plant monsters approaching from the front were engulfed in flames, but not all of them were affected the same way.
“Some of them have fire resistance!”
Because I could sense presences in my spatial awareness even from the rear where Min-jae had burned with his flames.
“Mister takes the front, I’ll handle the rear! Min-jae, support Mister’s side!”
With Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee positioned in the center, we each took one flank.
* * *
“Watch the ground!”
There were far more fire-resistant plants than expected. The garden had been designed that way.
To compensate for the weaknesses of fire-vulnerable plants.
Among them were roots and vines. Tree roots and plant tendrils crawled across the ground at frightening speed, targeting our group.
I slashed them away with my blade while incinerating the roots with Incinerate. Even if they had fire resistance, they couldn’t withstand Incinerate.
-Crack!
But the roots and vines weren’t merely for physical attacks. They released spores once they got close.
A gas mask helped, but it wasn’t a perfect solution. I immediately burned the yellow spores with Incinerate.
“Rise forth!”
Since these creatures had fire resistance, Seo Min-jae used the sand magic he’d acquired from the Desert Ruins.
In this damp, earth-filled place, it was actually more effective. Sand spears pierced through the plants.
“You certainly don’t hold back in combat, do you?”
The problem, however, emerged as the battle dragged on.
The flames spreading in all directions seemed to have awakened the garden’s flora—projectiles now rained down not just from the sides, but from front and back as well.
From flowers with legs to moving tree monsters, the battlefield descended into chaos as they found themselves surrounded.
Han Hye immediately opened a Subspace.
—Whooom
She positioned two Subspaces at right angles, creating a complete defensive barrier at their rear.
“Fall back here!”
She naturally ushered Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee inside, while she and Choi Chul-gi held the front line.
“Hye!”
“Sweep through them!”
Choi Chul-gi unleashed his Crimson Dragon Spear. The monsters in front collapsed like dominoes under his charge.
But in the process, spores erupted, and in an instant, the air filled with a yellow haze.
“Mister!”
Han Hye quickly incinerated the spores with her flames. Choi Chul-gi used the Crimson Dragon Spear consecutively to retreat.
“Are you alright?”
“My breathing is fine. But the skin that touched them feels a bit tingly. Like a numbing sensation?”
Lee Shin-hee quickly chanted a healing spell.
“It’s not serious. Though it seems dangerous if they accumulate. As for Yong-yong…”
Choi Chul-gi checked on Yong-yong, who seemed unbothered by inhaling the spores and simply breathed flames toward the front.
“He’s fine. Must be because he’s a dragon?”
“We should seal the Crimson Dragon Spear.”
Then came a whistling sound. Sharp projectiles flooded her spatial awareness.
Han Hye quickly swung her sword. A metallic clang rang out loudly. Something like a needle bounced away.
Looking ahead, she saw flowers with legs, barely knee-height, staring at the group.
They resembled morning glories, and they were firing the pistils from their interiors like venomous stingers.
—Whoosh!
Han Hye swung her Wind-Flow Blade before they could fire the next volley. The wind blade severed the plants.
“Let’s deflect the approaching ones and handle the rest with magic. The spores could be dangerous.”
* * *
“Phew, this is exhausting.”
Before long, the battle entered a lull.
I wielded my sword and Mister swung his spear against the monsters approaching from the front, while Min-jae struck from behind with magic.
As the number of monsters dwindled, the garden soon fell silent. It wasn’t bad at all.
With so many monsters in the garden, we’d gained plenty of combat experience.
“Still, you got enough combat in, didn’t you?”
“That’s true. Those tree creatures with limbs were so quick. My spear skill leveled up.”
“This spear technique seems to suit you well?”
“It does. Someone gave it to me.”
I congratulated Mister and then pulled out some water to distribute to the group.
“I burned as much as I could, but just to be safe, wash your skin and clothes thoroughly.”
During the battle, spores had scattered from all directions. As Mister said, they were spores with some paralytic properties.
Lee Shin-hee had cast a healing spell, but it was better to eliminate the source.
“No wonder only ten people are allowed to enter. They just swarm from every direction.”
“If the spores kept touching us, it would have been dangerous.”
If our Guild found it difficult, it must have been extraordinarily challenging for ordinary hunters.
Most hunters would have been wiped out in that last battle.
“Well, isn’t the standard approach to fight while retreating?”
“That might be it.”
“Let’s keep going.”
As we advanced, I sensed suspicious movement from the gardens on both sides.
It wasn’t enemies approaching. It was the sensation of something slowly rising from the ground.
“What’s wrong?”
Lee Shin-hee asked as I stopped and looked around. I immediately burned away the surrounding mist with Blaze.
“The plants are growing back.”
“…This isn’t easy.”
They weren’t growing rapidly, but they were regenerating at a speed we couldn’t ignore.
I estimated they’d be fully restored in about thirty minutes.
“No wonder the time limit is so tight.”
“Let’s think of this as buying time and search now. We need to check the Mansion anyway.”
Combat was important, but the most crucial thing was finding the hidden piece.
“Huh?”
As we advanced a bit further, the Mansion and the Fountain in front of it began to appear through the mist.
What was peculiar was the Fountain. Below where water was leaking out, there was a key-shaped slot.
“A key slot?”
On one side of the Fountain was a lever, and along the outer edge, six small Altars tilted inward toward the Fountain.
Patterns were engraved in front of those Altars.
“Do you sense anything?”
“No. Let me try pressing it.”
When I pressed the lever, the Altars opened, and inside I could see some kind of grinding mechanism.
That’s when Lee Shin-hee spoke.
“These patterns look like the plants in the garden.”
“Plants?”
“Yes. I saw something similar-looking earlier.”
“If we find six of them and pull the lever, the ground materials flow through the water and become a key, I think….”
“Water becomes a key?”
Mister tilted his head in confusion.
“It’s an alchemist’s garden.”
Moreover, we were inside a Gate. It wouldn’t be strange if those materials mixed to form a solid shape.
I turned my gaze toward the back.
“Anyway, that key seems to be used for opening the Mansion….”
“Should we check the pattern first and then head back to the Abyss Garden?”
I shook my head at Mister’s question.
There was no need to go through all that trouble.
[Caduceus Key (S-rank)]
-A universal key capable of opening most locks in existence.
-If inserted into a groove designed specifically for the key’s original purpose, it permanently disappears.
Hadn’t I obtained an S-rank key in the fourth Subspace? I could skip the tedious steps and enter directly.

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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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