Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 107
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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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107. Wolves’ Gorge (3)
[In thirty minutes, the red moon will rise.]
[When the red moon rises, every wolf in Wolves’ Gorge becomes ferocious.]
It was the same situation as when monsters grew savage during the Night of Despair. Though uncommon, it happened frequently enough in Gates.
This must have been why there were so many wolves.
Perhaps they’d sent out minions beforehand since the difficulty would increase later. Lee Shin-hee grasped the situation as well.
“That explains it. I thought it odd that the wolves’ howls echoing across the mountain didn’t bring large numbers at once.”
“And the wolves that charged at us intermittently—that was probably for this reason too.”
“Right. The difficulty is about to spike.”
Ordinary hunters would have been terrified. After all, the Gate’s difficulty was increasing.
But we weren’t ordinary.
“Actually, that’s perfect.”
Mister, who’d been enjoying his newly acquired spear technique, grinned. He’d already fought an awakened werewolf.
Once the red moon rose and they grew stronger, wouldn’t they become exactly the kind of real combat opponent he loved?
“Not bad at all.”
I agreed completely.
It was an opportunity to test further the fusion of the footwork techniques I’d been learning and Cressea swordsmanship.
“Oh? The edge of the moon’s color just changed!”
Min-jae pointed at the sky. Indeed, only the crescent edge of the massive full moon had turned red.
-Awooooo!
A long wolf howl echoed from afar, perhaps signaling the beginning of the transformation to the red moon.
But the successive howls were gradually growing more distant.
“Is it just me, or do the howls sound like they’re getting farther away?”
“Me too.”
The howls were definitely moving away from us. Lee Shin-hee’s eyes gleamed.
“They seem to be trying to hide until the red moon rises.”
“Well, that works for us.”
Mister shrugged and smiled.
“Twenty-nine left. We’ll have a proper fight now.”
Seeing Mister so pleased filled me with an inexplicable warmth.
“Why don’t we level up your spear technique here and then head to spar?”
“Sounds good. Let’s meet Sang-yeop first. Meeting Shin Chang right away feels a bit daunting.”
It seemed Mister felt that way because Shin Chang wielded a spear. He was the man who’d defeated an S-rank spear master when he possessed A-rank spear technique.
Since he was the world’s greatest with the spear, he naturally wanted to show a better version of himself.
“Sounds good. I’ll contact Sang-yeop as soon as we leave.”
After saying that, I opened a Subspace. In other words, we were given thirty minutes of rest.
“They’ll come charging hard later, so everyone rest as much as you can.”
At my words, Mister dropped to the ground with a thud.
“We have a portable chair.”
“Should’ve pulled that out first.”
“One or two days?”
I unfolded a chair and distributed water and convenient meals.
“Lee Shin-hee. When the red moon rises, practical training might become difficult—is that alright?”
“Of course. What we did earlier is more than enough. That was already exhausting, and anything more would be impossible.”
Lee Shin-hee shook her head, spreading both palms open as if to emphasize her fatigue. She’d certainly struggled through the previous session.
Instead, Min-jae raised his hand.
“Hehe. So it’s my turn now?”
“Good. When they come, you can start by half-killing them.”
Before I could finish speaking, Min-jae sprang to his feet and began stretching, loosening his body.
“Min-jae.”
“Yes!”
“There’s still thirty minutes left. Warm up later.”
“…Yes.”
* * *
[The red moon rises.]
[All wolves touched by the red moon’s power become ferocious.]
The full moon hanging in the sky.
Its edge turned crimson like a crescent, gradually filling in until it became a half-moon, and finally transformed into a blood-red full moon.
-Awooooo!
-Awoo!
And at that very moment, wolves howled from all across the mountain. These cries were on an entirely different scale from before.
It seemed as though every wolf in the mountain was howling at once.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Of course.”
“Yes!”
We hadn’t simply rested for those thirty minutes. Once the monsters became ferocious, the likelihood of them charging at us increased dramatically.
Just like during the Night of Despair last time, there was a high chance the monsters would discover our location.
Without Kim Han-chul here yet, waiting in an open area exposed on all sides was inviting danger upon ourselves.
After resting briefly, I selected a suitable place for combat.
‘This should be sufficient.’
While moving, I discovered two massive boulders pressed against each other and chose that as our battlefield.
There was an adequate gap between them where Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee could stay safely.
“When they come, Min-jae handles the small fry with magic—you understand?”
“Of course!”
“I’ll provide rear support, and Mister, you’re free to rampage as you wish.”
“Much appreciated.”
Since Mister desired combat the most, I arranged the formation to give him maximum freedom. As for me, I have more than enough to handle anything coming through beyond Mister.
Finally, there was Yong-yong. Since Mister preferred wielding his spear without riding Yong-yong.
Entering battle without Yong-yong, but I wasn’t particularly concerned. Mister fought quite well even without Yong-yong now.
With Lee Shin-hee’s buffs and healing, plus the sand soldiers’ armor, there shouldn’t be any serious injuries. And I’d be covering him too.
“Yong-yong is….”
At that moment, the sound of rustling vegetation intensified around us. It seemed our position had been discovered.
Yong-yong must have sensed it too, glancing around and baring its teeth.
“Grrr!”
“You can fly around and breathe fire, or help Mister—do whatever you want.”
“Grrr!”
Whether it understood or not, Yong-yong let out a small cry before launching itself powerfully into the sky.
At the same moment, my spatial sense detected the enemies.
Werewolves—no actual wolves among them.
What I could distinctly feel was that they’d grown slightly larger than before, and their approach speed had increased.
“They’re coming.”
“From where?”
“All sides!”
Mister stepped forward alone, gripping his spear. The way he stood, solitary and resolute, made it seem as though he welcomed every enemy converging upon him.
Min-jae let out an exclamation.
“Wow, that’s impressive, sir!”
“Min-jae, focus.”
Since Mister didn’t respond, absorbed in concentration, I issued the warning to Min-jae instead.
He was working hard and performing well, but his youth sometimes revealed vulnerabilities in moments like these.
“Yes, sir.”
Min-jae quickly hardened his expression. I concentrated on my spatial sense. Though we were in the mountains at night, the moon shone brightly enough that visibility wasn’t an issue.
The red moon made everything appear as though filtered through crimson.
“Han Hye, watch out for the ones dropping from above.”
Mister called out a warning, but I simply smiled. I’d already sensed them through my spatial awareness.
“Don’t worry.”
In an instant, werewolves and wolf-beasts surged from all directions. Those perched on the rocks above didn’t come at us—they leaped straight at Mister.
“Chain Lightning!”
Sparks erupted from Min-jae’s staff. Yellow and blue light cascaded down upon the world filtered in red.
Like branches spreading endlessly, blue lightning began to scatter through the air.
-Szzzzzt!
The eerie sound engulfed the pack of werewolves that had charged first.
It resembled a spider’s web of lightning. Electricity spread in all directions.
Mister took no damage.
It had been arranged beforehand—Lee Shin-hee had cast a protective barrier, and Min-jae had controlled the spell’s intensity.
“Krrgh… Yelp!”
The werewolves struck by Chain Lightning didn’t fall immediately.
Though Min-jae had reduced the power, all the creatures that had charged were awakened beings, likely because of the red moon.
“They’re all awakened!”
“It’s fine!”
Mister began swinging his spear, and I drew my blade against the paralyzed enemies before us.
-Hunt 26 monsters.
Even as I hunted, I kept track of the count.
“Mister! Keep checking the number! So you won’t regret it later!”
“Got it!”
* * *
‘I need to make the most of this opportunity.’
Choi Chul-gi felt an overwhelming gratitude toward Han Hye right now. Of course, he’d always been grateful.
The Red Dragon, the elixir, the secret technique, and even his son’s awakening.
Beyond the debt of gratitude I could never repay, there was another reason for my current appreciation.
She had come to this Gate to grant my request and had even yielded the opportunity to fight.
‘Han Hye must have wanted to fight too.’
The Dragon Guild had been discussing entering combat-focused Gates for some time now.
They’d postponed it because better opportunities existed, but both I and Han Hye felt it was necessary.
Yet when this opportunity finally came, Han Hye had completely yielded the chance to fight to me.
I interpreted this as her consideration because I was inferior to her.
‘She said she could just spar instead….’
Of course, there was a small misunderstanding.
Han Hye had genuinely found sparring with Shin Chang and Lee Sang-yeop quite helpful, so she yielded for that reason.
It would be good for Choi Chul-gi, who hadn’t been able to spar, to engage in real combat. Besides, his stats were higher than Choi Chul-gi thought they were.
Unaware of this, Choi Chul-gi felt even more gratitude as this small consideration was added to the mountain of thanks he already owed.
‘I must repay this debt.’
Han Hye said I had saved her past self, but I knew I had received dozens of times more than what I had given.
Failure, shattered dreams, and criticism instead of honor and praise—all of it had been reversed. On top of that, I was being shown consideration even in small ways.
“Twenty-two! Twenty-one!”
So I focused with all my might. Gripping the spear, thrusting, dodging, slashing, using agility to evade.
These enemies, strengthened by the crimson moon, were perfect opponents.
Direct combat experience that couldn’t be gained when simply using Bi-ryong Island to break through enemies.
I committed every moment of that process to memory in extreme concentration.
“….”
Then, in such intense focus, a moment arrived where I felt only myself, my spear, and the enemies. I even forgot to count.
Instead, while my mind knew them, movements I had struggled to understand in principle began to make sense.
[The skill ‘Chireon Spear Technique’ has increased in level.]
A notification appeared that my skill level had risen, but I didn’t even register it.
Because I was in a state of incredible concentration, unwilling to waste the opportunity Han Hye had granted me.
.
.
.
[The skill ‘Chireon Spear Technique’ has increased in level.]
* * *
“Mister! Stop!”
The Gate’s target of fifty werewolves was drawing near.
Min-jae stood gawking with his mouth agape after casting magic for the first time, so I handled most of the werewolves myself.
I was swinging my spear in a state of complete absorption, which made it difficult to stop.
To what extent? I didn’t even register wounds sustained during combat. Like a berserker warrior.
Thanks to that, Lee Shin-hee was frantically chanting healing spells.
Still, there were results. My movements in that absorbed state grew sharper at some point.
“Hack!”
But now it was truly time to stop. I used Leap and grabbed my own arm.
“Stop! That’s enough!”
“…Huh?”
I came to my senses belatedly. Looking around with slightly dazed eyes, I seemed startled.
“That’s sufficient.”
“Did I… do that?”
“Who else would have? You were fighting incredibly well—you were in a state of complete absorption. That’s a moment even masters rarely achieve.”
“Me? I only fought for a moment, it seemed?”
As I searched my memory, I realized something and opened my eyes wide. Then I raised both hands triumphantly.
“My spear technique leveled up twice!”
“Twice? That’s all? Wow….”
“Thank you, Han Hye. It’s thanks to you.”
“Pardon?”
Confused by my inexplicable gratitude, Han Hye tilted her head, but I simply patted her shoulder.
I wasn’t sure what I was thanking her for, but in any case, it was something to celebrate. I exhaled softly.
“I almost caught them all.”
Two werewolves remained. It seemed the red moon’s rise had left exactly fifty, as if by design. A sort of balance adjustment, you might say.
Both seemed tense at my appearance, watching from a slight distance.
They were clearly terrified.
It made sense—the werewolf I’d seen when we first entered the Gate had been skewered by me long ago.
“Just in case, let’s search for any hidden rewards.”
I gazed at the two remaining werewolves and pondered.
“If we bind one and drag it around while searching, that should work. Lee Shin-hee, would you like to handle the last one?”
Lee Shin-hee grimaced.
“I’d rather not. I’m exhausted from casting healing spells.”
Right, come to think of it, I’d sustained quite a few wounds.
“Rest for now anyway. You’re hurt quite badly.”
“Now that I think about it, my body feels weak once I came to my senses.”
Before I could even set up a folding chair, I collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
“Rest a bit and let’s search for any hidden rewards.”
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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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