Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 108

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

108. Wolves’ Gorge (4)
“It doesn’t seem to be here after all.”
“Yeah. We’ve searched this thoroughly, and nothing’s turned up. It’s probably not here.”
Unfortunately, the hidden search within this Gate had come to nothing. We’d explored quite extensively, including the cliff I’d first seen, but I sensed nothing.
While we hadn’t combed through every inch of the Gate’s interior, this was sufficient.
Even with my spatial awareness aside, I’d had the old man riding Yong-yong search all directions just in case, yet nothing appeared.
Dragging the rope-bound werewolf around had been rather tedious as well.
“Brother.”
“What?”
“Just checking—you didn’t intentionally avoid finding it, did you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You said at first that if it were you, you’d definitely find any hidden dungeons. She even called you addicted to them.”
Min-jae looked at me with a hint of suspicion, though his tone carried playfulness.
“You caught me. Think of it as treatment for hidden dungeon addiction.”
“But the treatment is quite painful, isn’t it? It feels like missing out on something you should naturally get?”
Min-jae chuckled, and the old man jabbed him sharply in the ribs with his finger.
“This brat’s changed. Huh? When you first found a hidden dungeon, you were so excited about seeing something new.”
“Ah, was I the only one? Besides, old man, that was when I was younger.”
“Younger? How long ago was that?”
“Hehe. It’s all thanks to Han Hye.”
As Min-jae spoke playfully, Lee Shin-hee joined in.
“Min-jae’s not wrong. Thanks to Han Hye, we’ve seen hidden dungeons almost every time. We’ve just gotten used to it.”
“Even you, Lee Shin-hee? Don’t you know the saying—don’t lose what’s precious by growing accustomed to it?”
At my words, Lee Shin-hee and Min-jae burst into laughter.
“This won’t do. I’ll take responsibility and distribute any future hidden dungeon rewards to everyone except Min-jae. You’ll have to endure it as part of your treatment.”
“Hey, brother! How is that fair?”
But I couldn’t resist disciplining Min-jae. The impact felt too satisfying. Since he’d started the teasing, I was blameless.
The brief commotion ended with Min-jae declaring he wouldn’t cause trouble anymore. He should have done that from the start.
“Everyone’s worked hard. We’ve already collected the magic stones, so let’s dispose of this one and head out.”
[Gate ‘Howling Wolves’ Canyon’ conquest complete.]
[You have gained experience.]
[Your level has increased.]
From this Gate, I’d gained only one level, yet I felt no regret.
I’d witnessed the old man’s remarkable growth with my own eyes. Lee Shin-hee’s too.
The growth of my guild members mattered just as much as my own. Especially the old man’s growth.
Setting aside the old man’s safety, my guild members needed to grow stronger so I could operate more freely.
* * *
[Lv36 Void Lord, Han Hye]
Strength: 43
Agility: 43(+1)
Stamina: 44 (+1)
Spirit: 43 (+8)
Mana: 79 (+1)
Bonus Points: 7
Skills: Subspace (S-rank) lv4, Blaze (S-rank) lv2, Leap (A-rank) lv4, Flame Resistance (A-rank) lv7…
This time, I raised my lagging Spirit stat alone. Now that I’d reached level 36, I wanted to prioritize balancing my stats as much as possible.
Starting from the B-rank tier, monsters that affected Spirit began to appear.
Truth be told, my current stats are sufficient. At least for emission-type Gates.
Unlike the hunters who froze up at the sight of an Ogre and could barely manage to flee, I confidently stood my ground and fought.
‘I could only do that because my Spirit stat was high enough to support it.’
The same applied when I conversed with Hwarba and the god.
It was a Gate appropriate for my level, but according to Chun-bae, insufficient Spirit could cause me to lose consciousness.
My Mana stat was abnormally high, but considering Blaze, it felt perfectly appropriate.
For a while, I’d continue distributing points evenly across all other stats except Mana to maintain balance.
“Phew. I’ll do well, won’t I?”
While I was thinking such thoughts, Mister wrung his hands anxiously.
“Please don’t worry too much.”
Even as I said this, I understood his concern. I felt a bit anxious myself, after all.
The reason was that today was the first time Min-seok had entered a Gate.
It had taken longer than originally planned.
The reason was clear. Finding someone trustworthy and tight-lipped was proving to be quite difficult.
‘The people entering with Min-seok also had to be low-level.’
If Min-seok had been an ordinary rare job, it might have been different, but as an Artisan, the Hunter Association had to maintain even stricter security.
Even the Association, which had been searching for candidates for a while, ultimately had no choice but to settle for a compromise.
-It seems we’ll have to push forward with numbers.
Since it was difficult to find trustworthy people in the 1-5 level range, the Iron Wall Guild decided to carry Min-seok instead.
When entering a Gate with hunters of significantly different levels, experience gain was reduced, but it wasn’t zero.
“Oh, then we could do it too.”
Since that method would work for us as well, I brought it up, but Seo-ung asked me to trust the Association.
Of course, it was also for our benefit.
-It’s part of our contract. Please trust us. Besides, the members of the Dragon Guild are precious talents—we wouldn’t want to waste your time.
In other words, they were saying they’d handle Min-seok’s leveling, so we should focus on growing diligently.
The Iron Wall Guild helping us were talented individuals too, but… it was a compliment that valued us more highly.
Still, this arrangement wouldn’t continue indefinitely.
They’d proceed this way only until level 6, after which Min-seok would enter Gates with hunters of equal level.
-We currently have a trustworthy Iron Wall Guild member’s family member who is a level 7 warrior. You just need to reach level 6.
After that, the growth rate would accelerate. There were no security concerns either.
-The guild members entering the Gate with you won’t even know about your son’s job, Choi Chul-gi.
The fact that they were instructing the Iron Wall Guild to level him up without revealing the truth spoke volumes. We were also waiting hidden nearby, not in front of the Gate.
They might suspect he had a valuable rare job, but would they ever imagine he was an Artisan—something that had never existed before?
No matter how favorable the situation became, my worry never faded. He was Mister’s son, and to me, he was like a nephew.
Since he had such an absurd concept, he even said he’d clear eight Gates today alone.
“Dad! Hyung! I leveled up!”
But contrary to my concerns, Min-seok emerged safely after clearing the Gate.
“It wasn’t too hard, was it?”
“Nope! I just stood there and it was done in a flash.”
True enough. With such an absurd concept, Levels 1-5 Gates wouldn’t take long. Clearing the eight nearby Gates took less than two hours.
Considering travel time, it was almost blitzkrieg speed.
“Still, it’s faster than I expected.”
Min-seok would need more time to grow enough to properly use the Crafting skill, but….
The same applied to me, resisting erosion. No matter how much public attention I received, I was still only Level 36.
-You can watch the Craftsman’s growth slowly. Han Hye, you’re doing more than well enough. The situation is favorable.
Chun-bae was right.
I just needed to improve steadily and gradually, while also looking after those around me, not just myself.
* * *
After returning from Wolves’ Gorge, Chul-gi devoted himself to spear training alone for a while.
His spear skill had leveled up in a moment of complete absorption, but he said he hadn’t fully mastered it yet.
He’d momentarily broken through his limits, but it seemed still awkward to wield it as his own.
He also said that through sparring, he wanted to make it truly his before continuing further.
‘That approach has its merits.’
So we cleared two more Gates. Unlike before, these weren’t popular Gates but purely combat-focused ones.
While Mister had requested it, there also simply weren’t any Gates worth prioritizing otherwise.
[Your level has increased.]
During the process, I leveled up once, but I didn’t discover any Hidden dungeons or experience skill growth.
Three consecutive Gates without Hidden dungeons left me somewhat bewildered.
For others, it would be ordinary, but for us with spatial awareness, it was actually exceptional.
Through the series of events, I’d come to a realization.
-It seems not every Gate has a Hidden dungeon after all.
-Perhaps only places with a certain difficulty level have them, or there might be specific conditions required.
Though I’d only leveled up once during this time, the two clearings proved surprisingly helpful to me.
What Mister had said about breaking through his limits but finding it awkward to use as his own applied to me as well.
‘I didn’t know myself well either.’
Thinking about it, my Swordsmanship skill leveled up more often when sparring with Sang-yeop or Shin Chang.
In actual combat, rather than overwhelming with stats, revisiting the swordsmanship I’d learned so far proved quite beneficial.
Though my Swordsmanship skill didn’t level up, repeating the same movements through practice raised my proficiency—that sort of feeling.
The techniques combining Cresea Swordsmanship and Throwing Combat became more fluid to execute.
‘It was quite grueling.’
Honestly, there were aspects more difficult than other Gates with higher difficulty ratings.
I faced monsters using only swordsmanship and martial arts, without relying on stats or skills.
Though I had greater strength and speed, trying to win with the sword alone made it inevitably harder.
Since it was essentially a review, my skill levels didn’t increase, but the results were quite satisfactory.
-You seem to have solidified your foundation at an opportune time.
Chun-bae also gave a positive assessment.
-If you reinforce your foundation like this in the middle of your journey, your future growth will gain more momentum.
‘Is that so?’
-Affirmative. Surprisingly, the walls you encounter later are often caused by trivial issues. You’ve prevented those.
Well, I’ve been thinking about the necessity of solidifying my foundation all along, so I don’t see it as a bad thing.
Timing-wise, Kim Han-chul would be joining soon anyway, which made it even more fitting.
[Lv37 Void Master, Han Hye]
Strength: 44(+1)
Agility: 44(+1)(+1)
Stamina: 44(+1)
Spirit: 44(+1)
Mana: 79(+1)
Bonus Points: 7
With the level up, I received one point each in Strength, Agility, and Spirit, bringing all my stats except Mana to 44.
I considered raising them all to 45 since 44 is considered an ominously unlucky number, but…
‘I should prepare for something.’
Unlike before, the three Gate subjugations had been far too smooth, and I’d found no Hidden Dungeons.
But there’s that old saying—it’s always calm before the storm, isn’t there?
Given my many harrowing experiences separate from Gate clearing, I felt a slight unease.
I’d considered using my priority entry right for the next Gate, but decided to save it since I didn’t know what might happen.
However…
There was one important matter I had to handle before entering the next Gate.
“Alright, I’m ready.”
“Huh, I’m looking forward to it?”
It was deciding on the beef supplier for Yong-yong Beef Restaurant, which would be opening soon.

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