Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 119

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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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119. Army of the Dead (3)
“What on earth is going on?”
He was making such a fuss, claiming it was more important than my skill level, so I rushed backward to get a better look.
While I fought, bones jutted up from the earth that Mister had excavated.
“Those are Red Dragon bones!”
“What?”
“Red Dragon bones, I’m telling you! Grade A! I’ll hold them off—go check it out!”
Red Dragon bones?
I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at why they would be here of all places.
At first glance, they looked like nothing more than large bones.
Since this was a Gate spawning undead, I’d assumed they were the remains of some massive creature, but….
[Red Dragon Bone (Grade A)]
-Bone of an unknown Red Dragon. Though ages have passed, the bone remains in pristine condition, as befits a Red Dragon.
-Exceptionally durable and can be used in weapon crafting, alchemy, lapidary work, dark magic, and various other applications.
“Wow….”
So they really were Red Dragon bones. A Grade A item. From the description of its diverse applications, it was clearly a crafting material.
Red Dragon bones had never appeared as an item before.
Just as I was the first hunter to see a Red Dragon, these bones were our first discovery of such a thing.
The grade was excellent at Grade A. Unfortunately, Earth still has no blacksmith, but….
‘Min-seok can work it though.’
Moreover, what was exposed was only an infinitesimal portion.
I hadn’t understood it before, but now that I knew these were Red Dragon bones, my spatial sense crystallized into clarity.
Beneath this earth lay the complete skeleton of an entire Red Dragon. The Gate still had plenty of time remaining.
Which meant I could take it with me.
‘A crafting material I can use anytime in the future.’
I carefully lifted the bones and placed them into the Subspace. Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee watched me with eyes full of anticipation.
“What a windfall.”
“Yes. It’s a Grade A crafting material. These are hard to come by.”
“Hyung, you don’t think this is from that Red Dragon we saw when the Gate mutated, do you?”
Min-jae spoke with a worried expression. The possibility was slim, but given that I’d seen a Red Dragon myself.
“Who knows. Either way, I’m glad we found it. It means we won’t run into the Red Dragon we saw, and we can take the bones.”
As I was explaining, Chun-bae opened his mouth.
-It is not the Red Dragon we saw. Creating one would require a Red Dragon Heart as an essential component. If it were here, I would have sensed it long ago.
‘Is that so?’
-A Red Dragon Heart is Grade S elixir or higher. Had it been present, Han Hye would have felt its aura as well.
‘Then is this a pure hidden discovery?’
-That is highly likely. Perhaps the undead approaching now are also seeking these Red Dragon bones.
I understood immediately what he meant. The interior of a Gate is essentially a reconstruction of events that originally occurred.
In a world consumed by erosion, the necromancer controlling these undead would have been seeking the Red Dragon bones.
“Min-jae.”
“Yes!”
“Keep Mister and those bastards at bay for me.”
“Don’t worry!”
Regardless of the situation, my immediate task was crystal clear: I had to collect every last bone of the Red Dragon buried beneath this earth.
I quickly grabbed the shovel. With my spatial sense, I could dig at maximum speed.
* * *
These bones were definitely the complete skeleton of a single Red Dragon. I dug relentlessly at near-light speed, barely exaggerating.
I excavated the Red Dragon’s tail bones, ribs, spine, and progressed to the neck and skull.
“It seems to be a fully mature adult, unlike Yong-yong.”
-That’s correct. These are the bones of a fully matured adult Red Dragon.
“Excellent. That means larger bones and greater quantity.”
-More than that. As Red Dragons mature, they become increasingly durable, so the bone density should be exceptional as well.
I pulled out a makeshift chair from the Subspace and reclined on it. Despite the simple digging, I was quite exhausted.
It was because I’d been digging without rest, expending mana the entire time.
While it was likely just a simple hidden dungeon, there was a non-zero chance that some crazed Dark Mage could suddenly appear with a Red Dragon’s heart and resurrect it.
After all, hadn’t I actually witnessed a Red Dragon in a Gate level 90 or higher? It was hard to relax.
“Hye! Are you done?”
“Yes! I’ve got everything!”
“You brat, if you’re done digging, you should help!”
Mister chuckled instead of complaining about his hardship, spear in hand.
“I think I’ve worked much harder than you, Mister!”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. Mister had alternated combat with Min-jae, but I’d been digging non-stop.
I’d asked if he wanted help, but I insisted on doing it myself. Digging with my spatial sense was more efficient.
Without Lee Shin-hee’s buffs, wouldn’t I have been even more exhausted?
Part of me wanted to rest in the healing facilities within the Subspace.
‘I’ve never used it once.’
Because of Chun-bae’s comment about healing solution being in short supply, I’d been trying to conserve it unless I suffered serious injuries.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure when I’d need it. I’d never sustained major injuries.
“Are you alright? You could rest in the Subspace if you’d like.”
As I lay half-reclined, drinking the chilled ion drink I’d brought, Lee Shin-hee smiled and expressed her concern.
I shook my head firmly.
“I can’t do that.”
I could rest in the Subspace and come back, but I didn’t want to. Mister and Min-jae were working hard to hold the line.
For now, it didn’t seem like I needed to help. I’d already achieved the benefit of leveling up my combat skills.
“Since I’ve worked this hard, Mister should work just as hard.”
“How cruel of you.”
“Then will you take Lee Shin-hee’s place in combat instead?”
“Oh my, then I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
I laughed and shouted toward Mister.
“I’ve finished my work, so try your best to hold them back!”
“Sure. Toss me one of those. I’ll have one too.”
The Subspace was filled with ion drinks that had been frozen over with a thin layer of ice. I immediately threw one to Mister.
Mm. Peaceful. Aside from all that digging, it was no different from a drink I’d have back on Earth.
It felt like taking a stroll through a somewhat gloomy cemetery. As I sat quietly, Lee Shin-hee standing beside me caught my eye.
I started to tell her to sit, then stopped. Hadn’t she been troubled about her role last time?
‘I should let her use her healing skill later.’
Not that I was planning to throw myself at danger recklessly. I was thinking of charging in like before to practice combinations of combat skills.
Even with the Amulet of Protection, I’d inevitably pick up minor wounds.
We still had plenty of time.
I figured that once the difficulty ramped up later, I’d naturally end up getting scratched and bruised while fighting.
‘Wait a moment.’
I was watching Mister and Min-jae calmly dispose of the approaching undead.
Suddenly, a question occurred to me. It was something that had nagged at me from my previous experience.
What lay beyond that mist, where the undead were pouring from?
Actually, this was already established fact. Famous Gates with no level restrictions were usually thoroughly researched.
‘Since I’d explored various places in Gates below my own level.’
Of course, there were people who had ventured all the way to where these corpses emerged. They said it was blocked by a transparent wall.
What intrigued me was what lay beyond that transparent wall.
I couldn’t cross the boundary zone of a Gate myself, but there was precedent from the Labyrinth Dead End.
If it wasn’t simply a boundary zone but rather a place restricted only to hunters, then I could cross it.
‘What do you think?’
-I believe it would be worth investigating.
I asked Chun-bae, and the response was positive.
‘I don’t know what’s there, though.’
-…You are the first person, Han Hye, to conceive of crossing the transparent wall by utilizing the interior of the Subspace.
‘Did the previous or previous-previous Contractors never try something like that?’
-Affirmative. Usually it is nearly a boundary zone. Your idea is quite ingenious, Han Hye.
In a way, it was obvious. Unlike the previous and previous-previous Contractors who lived in a medieval fantasy era, this place is the modern world, isn’t it?
We had a significant advantage when it came to discovering mechanics like this.
‘The Dark Mage isn’t waiting beyond that with the Red Dragon’s heart, is he?’
-I believe the probability is low. Even though you obtained the Amulet of Protection before… a Red Dragon’s heart is truly a difficult item to acquire.
I immediately got to my feet. Lee Shin-hee tilted her head in confusion.
“You don’t need to rest anymore?”
“Oh, I’m not planning to fight.”
For ordinary hunters, getting beyond that would require breaking through the entire Army of the Dead….
But we weren’t ordinary.
“Mister!”
“What?”
“Can I borrow Yong-yong for a bit?”
“You want to look around the area?”
The Mister who favored Hidden Dungeons quickly grasped the situation.
“We’ve already obtained Red Dragon bones—what else could there possibly be?”
“I wanted to check when things were calmer.”
Instead of pushing through the Army of the Dead, I could simply fly out on Yong-yong and return.
* * *
I flew above the undead hordes. The Gate’s boundary zone wasn’t particularly vast.
It was a defensive-type Gate from the start, after all. I reached the end before long.
Ahead lay a transparent barrier, and beyond it, undead creatures emerged from thick fog.
However, I couldn’t overlay a Subspace onto that barrier.
“It won’t work.”
-It appears to be a true boundary zone, sir.
“I thought it would be like the Labyrinth Dead End or Arachne’s Labyrinth—I figured I could break through those.”
-Look on the bright side. They seal it precisely because there’s truly nothing beyond.
“Fair point.”
I’d learned something valuable from this. Not every transparent barrier could be crossed with Subspace.
However, if a barrier could be crossed with Subspace, the probability of something being hidden there was extraordinarily high.
‘It’s a bit disappointing, but this is actually better.’
It meant I didn’t need to break through walls and check beyond them in every Gate I entered.
I wouldn’t waste time like those gamers rubbing against every wall searching for wall-breaking exploits.
In any case, I’d already obtained more from this Gate than I’d anticipated by finding the Red Dragon bones.
The moment of enlightenment had come right at the start, and I’d leveled up my combat skills all at once.
“Let’s head back.”
“Krr!”
Yong-yong cried out cheerfully.
Now I’d return and train my newly leveled combat skills. I’d had many insights earlier.
‘This will help Lee Shin-hee too.’
Ideas about hand-to-hand combat and cockfighting techniques. Cockfighting was hand-to-hand combat inspired by fighting roosters—naturally, it contained many dangerous techniques.
Experimenting with them would create opportunities for Lee Shin-hee to use her healing skills.
I was truly such a thoughtful Guild Master.
.
.
.
[Your level has increased.]
Army of the Dead.
Since it was nearly a war of attrition, extremely powerful undead like Death Knights hadn’t appeared.
However, as time passed, the individual undead grew stronger and more numerous, making it far from easy.
If I hadn’t emerged from the Subspace to rest and blocked them, my Guild members would have struggled considerably.
[Gate ‘Army of the Dead’ subjugation complete.]
[You have obtained experience points.]
Though my level had risen only once, I’d achieved multiple skill level-ups and proficiency from the Red Dragon bones, so the results far exceeded my expectations.
As I exited the Gate, a sudden curiosity struck me.
‘Chun-bae.’
-Yes.
‘About the dragon bones. Would it be difficult for Min-jae to resurrect it as a Bone Dragon?’
-Affirmative. Not impossible, but certainly not easy. First, we would need to obtain a Dragon Heart.
That was only natural, of course. Since it was supposedly better than S-rank elixirs, acquiring one would be grueling in itself.
Unless I received it as a reward somewhere, the only way to obtain a Dragon Heart was by slaying a dragon—wasn’t that right?
The Gate where I encountered the Red Dragon was a level 90 Gate, so creating a Bone Dragon through that route would take considerable time.
Chun-bae continued, but the problem extended beyond that alone.
-Moreover, to create a Bone Dragon, one would need exceptionally high proficiency in A-rank or higher Dark Magic skills.
‘Wouldn’t becoming a Dark Mage work?’
-This is merely my personal opinion, but it would be more beneficial to invest that effort into other forms of magic.
If Chun-bae said as much, I should follow his counsel. I abandoned the notion of a Bone Dragon entirely.
I had wanted to ride a dragon like Mister did, but it seemed unavoidable.
-Han Hye, you are now capable of participating in Guild training.
And fortuitously, Kim Han-chul had recovered to a physical condition suitable for training. The timing was perfect.
We hadn’t even considered raising our levels beyond 39 anyway.
-You don’t need to do that for us….
“It’s not just for Han Chul—it’s for all of us. Whether we level up together later or now, it’s the same either way, isn’t it?”
-Then I will strive even harder to make my return successful.
“Don’t push yourself too hard or you’ll get hurt. Just do what you’ve been doing. You’re already working incredibly hard.”
Just as we were finalizing the Guild training schedule, an incident erupted—from a completely unexpected quarter.
[Dragon Guild Halts Gate Entries]
[Space Mage Han Hye Avoiding Duel with Liu Zhen?]
For the first time in recent days, my silence was broken by a situation I could not ignore.

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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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