Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 118

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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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118. Army of the Dead (2)
“The ground?”
Min-jae tilted his head in confusion.
“Is there some kind of hidden space underneath?”
“Not exactly hidden. Something’s buried there. Quite large… bones?”
It was difficult to fully perceive what lay beneath the earth using my spatial sense. The soil covering it made the frequency feel hazy.
Still, I was certain something was there—it felt like the bones of an enormous creature.
“Large bones?”
Mister’s brow furrowed.
“What if we dig and accidentally unearth some massive undead?”
“That could happen. So we just leave it alone?”
At my words, Mister let out a hollow laugh.
“No, that won’t work. It could emerge on its own eventually. It might suddenly surge up from below.”
“Then should we just dig it up regardless?”
Mister nodded, and the guild members agreed in turn.
The Army of the Dead Gate was easiest at the beginning, so they decided to dig immediately. Besides, no undead had appeared yet.
“Since gaining combat experience is important, if it’s nothing serious, I’ll throw it over there. You can resurrect it as needed.”
I pulled a shovel from the Subspace. The question was who would dig.
“Who’s going to dig?”
“Hmm.”
Mister’s expression turned playful as he gauged the situation. When he glanced at Min-jae, Min-jae took a step back.
“Sir, just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean I’m not a mage.”
“I know, I know. Just messing with you.”
At Min-jae’s response, Mister burst into laughter and extended his fist toward me.
It wasn’t a threat—he was suggesting a game.
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“Sure.”
“Eyes closed?”
“Of course.”
Among hunters, fair rock-paper-scissors is played with eyes closed or turned away. Their reaction speeds are far too fast otherwise.
What Mister overlooked was that I rarely lose at rock-paper-scissors.
“Wait, hold on. Han Hye, you have spatial sense.”
Tsk. So he’s sharp when it comes to these things.
“I thought you were accepting the handicap.”
“You cunning bastard. You tried to deceive me in that brief moment?”
“The fool deserves to lose.”
“Ha, the world should know the true nature of the Dragon Guild master.”
“What? There’s no guild master as considerate as you.”
In the midst of our idle banter, Min-jae suddenly cried out, pointing toward the front where thick fog and desolate energy filled the path.
“They’re coming!”
Through the mist, I could make out hazy silhouettes. From the thinness of their limbs, they appeared to be skeleton soldiers at first glance.
Time was running short. Mister spoke urgently.
“Then whisper it to Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee.”
“Just keep it simple. Reaction speed matches work fine anyway.”
“I know your stats.”
Mister glared and whispered to Min-jae. Min-jae pondered for a moment, then whispered back to Mister.
It seemed he’d asked Min-jae to decide.
I told Lee Shin-hee I’d throw paper. Men throw rock, after all. Since it was a whisper, it didn’t take long.
“One, two, three!”
“Scissors!”
“Rock.”
“No, dammit!”
At the result, Mister let out a cry. He grabbed Min-jae by the scruff of the neck.
“Min-jae, you bastard!”
“You said you wouldn’t blame me, hyung!”
“I don’t care! You dig!”
“I don’t want to!”
At that, Lee Shin-hee and I burst into laughter. Min-jae was laughing too.
He planted the shovel triumphantly in front of the dejected Mister.
“Damn, I haven’t grabbed one of these since the military.”
“Just start digging! We’ll be busy hunting undead.”
“Yes, my lord. I suppose we commoners must work the earth.”
Mister answered halfheartedly and began digging.
“I’ll let you know once we dig near the bones.”
“As you wish, my lord.”
Since there was no risk of damaging what lay beneath, Mister began digging with force.
While we decided who would dig, the Army of the Dead had nearly reached us.
“My lord, we begin simply.”
Min-jae, mimicking Mister’s dejected tone, spoke in a manner befitting a historical drama.
“That guy… what’s he doing…”
“Hush now. Be silent! My lord is observing the enemy!”
Mister was bewildered from behind, but Min-jae shouted so authoritatively that even Mister ended up laughing.
In any case, the front was exactly as Min-jae said.
At the beginning of the Army of the Dead, what approached were the weakest of skeleton soldiers. Eight hours. As time passed, stronger undead would emerge.
“My lord, shall I sweep them away?”
Min-jae asked with an excited face, apparently enjoying this game. He seemed eager to use the magical applications he’d learned from Chun-bae in actual combat.
I played along.
“Do so. Slaughter the enemy while Chul-gi digs the earth.”
I’d called Mister by the name Chul-gi, so he bristled.
“It’s Chul-gi!”
“Pfft!”
Lee Shin-hee, who had been quietly giggling, burst into laughter at the sight. I didn’t miss that moment.
“Come on, Shin-hee, you should cast a buff on Chul-gi too.”
Lee Shin-hee’s eyes widened in surprise at my words, but she quickly nodded.
“Yes, sir. I’ll do as you command.”
“Well, I’ve lived long enough to receive buffs while digging holes.”
Apparently finding it absurd to receive buffs while doing such menial work, Mister raised both hands to the sky.
“If an article comes out about the Dragon Guild’s character controversy, assume I reported it.”
Wait, but Mister is part of the Dragon Guild too?
* * *
“…Burn them down!”
A wave of flames swept across the approaching skeletons. There was one thing I noticed.
Unlike before, the flames moved at a height precisely aligned with the skeletons.
“That’s much better.”
“Of course. Chun-bae is a genius. He reduced mana consumption while increasing destructive power. Originally, he would’ve only used about half of that.”
-This is it.
Chun-bae, usually quiet, suddenly spoke up.
‘Quiet.’
-Yes, sir.
In any case, the results were undeniable. Just as I had felt when I first learned mana utilization, Min-jae was experiencing tremendous satisfaction in actual combat.
I wanted to teach Mister and Lee Shin-hee about this mana utilization as well, but it wasn’t possible.
First, because I didn’t have enough holy power to spare. Chun-bae hadn’t mentioned poor cost-effectiveness for nothing.
I could only learn what I did thanks to obtaining more holy power than expected.
‘I originally planned to only give magic instruction to Min-jae anyway.’
The best approach would be to either obtain holy power again later, or teach them after Min-jae and I became much more proficient with mana utilization.
We weren’t at the stage yet where we could teach or guide others.
According to Chun-bae, if done carelessly, it could actually damage one’s mana circuits.
In other words, it was awkward to offer advice hastily.
‘Rather than spending holy power, I should work harder and teach them myself.’
Since holy power is difficult to obtain easily, it would be better to master it completely before passing it on.
While I was thinking such thoughts, Min-jae raised both hands and stepped back.
“Brother, could you take over for a bit?”
He had used quite a bit of magic while practicing the newly learned mana utilization.
Since he seemed fairly exhausted and wasn’t making jokes like before, I nodded and stepped forward.
“Not yet?”
“Yes! It’s a bit deeper!”
Well, we hadn’t gone much further. I needed to monitor Mister’s digging work with spatial awareness.
Since I had designated a certain range, Mister was digging deep and wide. Sweat was pouring down his face.
It wasn’t for nothing that I had asked Mister who would do the digging.
Normally, I would have dug it myself despite my young age, but this time the scale was quite large.
“Just hold on a bit longer. I’ll take over for you.”
“That’s enough, you fool!”
Mister had shouted, which meant he wanted me to switch out quickly. Well, not just yet.
I drew the Windflow Blade. First, I needed to cut through the wind.
The expanding blade of wind proved quite efficient against skeletal enemies like these.
After that, I advanced slightly forward. I didn’t ignite Conflagration.
‘Still limiting my stats. Pure combat only.’
It wasn’t for nothing that I’d cleared away the small branches with wind-cutting. Tougyae was a martial art modeled after fighting cocks.
It was well-suited for thrashing about among large numbers of enemies.
I’d chosen this Gate partly to practice combining swordplay with Tougyae, something I’d been researching recently.
I’d use Conflagration later, but now was a good time for combat training.
-Grrraaagh!
Skeletons with glowing blue eye sockets clattered their jaws and approached with grotesque sounds.
I gauged the distance between the skeletons using spatial awareness. The moment I confirmed it, I moved forward.
I thrust my blade on the first step and pivoted on that foot. A back roundhouse kick. As my foot came down, I drove my elbow upward into a jaw strike.
I twisted my wrist and thrust again, then slashed upward in one motion. I countered an attack coming from the side and cut it down.
Starting with Cresea swordplay, transitioning through Tougyae, then back to Cresea swordplay, followed by Imperial basic swordplay.
Throughout this sequence, all my movements were synchronized with the skeletons’ speed.
‘Better than last time.’
Was it thanks to the recent repeated real combat? Suddenly, I realized I’d become more sensitive to the spaces between enemies.
Just as I’d grown when Shin Chang had helped me develop my spatial awareness.
I’d learned to find the spaces where I could move among many enemies and advance through them.
And it was exhilarating.
‘A bit more?’
Skeletons approached ahead. Among them, things had gotten slightly harder—ghouls were mixed in as well.
But unlike before, I felt I could carve through the space between them and fight without clearing away the small branches.
No, I was certain of it. It felt like a moment had arrived, and as if possessed, I moved forward.
I slid and cut through a ghoul’s leg, slipping into the space between them.
Putting force into my wrist to maintain the blade’s angle, a skeleton’s leg immediately shattered.
-Crack!
The moment the sound of breaking bone reached my ears, I bounced upward from the recoil and swung the Windflow Blade around me.
I’d carved out a small area, but enemies surrounded me on all sides. I recognized those approaching first through spatial awareness.
I twisted my waist and thrust my blade, then with that same momentum, I spun my left foot backward in a roundhouse kick. I deflected a rusted sword and drove my elbow down onto bone.
Meanwhile, below my elbow, I thrust my blade to the left.
“….”
Sound faded into the distance, and only my vision and spatial awareness remained clear. I pushed through.
Swinging, kicking, thrusting, cutting, blocking.
And in that moment, I realized something: I was using these movements without conscious thought.
It might seem simple in some ways, but until now, I’d only been trying to connect the movements I’d programmed into my mind.
‘That’s not necessarily bad, but.’
There was simply a better path. In that instant, my perspective broadened as if the horizon within my mind had suddenly expanded.
If I could employ different sword techniques and throwing arts simultaneously rather than sequentially, I could accomplish far more.
[Skill ‘Crescent Sword Art (Grade B)’ has increased in level.]
[Skill ‘Throwing Art (Grade B)’ has increased in level.]
[Skill ‘Imperial Foundation Sword Art (Grade E)’ has increased in level.]
And the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived. Just as Sang-yeop had said, multiple skill levels rose simultaneously.
I had harbored a secret hope that the three skills might merge into one, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘Is that not possible?’
-It is theoretically possible. However, your current level is insufficient, Han Hye. Creating a unified martial art requires far more mastery. Perhaps in time you will achieve it.
I quickly asked Chun-bae about it, and he said it was too early. He was right—I hadn’t even perfected all my individual skills yet, so it would have been unreasonable to expect that.
As I stood there contemplating this, I heard a voice calling from behind me.
“Hey! How far are you going to take this!”
I had once envied Mister when he fell into that state of complete absorption, and it seemed my moment had finally come.
Though looking around, my duration appeared to be slightly shorter than his had been.
“Oh, I apologize.”
“You reached it too?”
“Yes. I made a breakthrough—”
Just as I was about to speak with joy, Mister gestured urgently for me to come closer.
“That’s not important right now!”
“What do you mean?”
“The bones that came from the ground! This is… just come look at it quickly!”
Wait, my breakthrough isn’t important? What on earth is going on?
He needs to explain himself!

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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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