Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 130

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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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130. Protix Forest (1)
-Traverse the forest and escape to the opposite side. Time remaining: 35 hours 59 minutes.
“Who selected Protix Forest? I should make sure to give them a generous bonus.”
“Right. We definitely owe them something.”
These are typically called “rare forests.” They’re quite different from the commonly known “○○ Forest” designations.
Not only are the monsters that appear more formidable, but the herbs and elixirs discovered there tend to be somewhat precious as well.
In rare forests, you don’t encounter Ogres or trolls—instead, you face imps, fairies, goblins, or even more grotesque creatures.
Gates of rare forests above level 50 have even yielded sightings of unicorns. Though none have been captured yet.
“I heard the probability of this was less than 3%. We’re incredibly fortunate.”
“Exactly. And it wasn’t even Han Hye who selected it—the Guild just picked something at random when we asked.”
At Lee Shin-hee’s words, Min-jae nodded with a grin spreading across his face. She was right. The odds were quite low, but luck had favored us.
In truth, most ordinary hunters didn’t particularly favor rare forests.
The thick mist and eerie, mysterious atmosphere were nothing short of a disaster for those expecting a straightforward Gate.
Unexpected monsters would emerge, and hunters often lost their bearings within the forest.
‘Most hunters assume a Gate is rare if they’ve failed to clear a forest Gate twice.’
But that wasn’t the case for us. Everyone here possessed abilities far exceeding their average level.
Moreover, with my spatial awareness, the probability of discovering something valuable in a rare forest Gate increased significantly.
I’d have to find out who selected it so I could properly reward them.
Since our objective was to traverse the forest and reach the opposite side, we positioned ourselves right at the forest’s entrance.
“Han Chul, it seems a bit more difficult than expected—are you alright with this?”
“No problem at all. I’ll do my best.”
Han Chul responded with a reassuring voice, and Min-jae asked with curious eyes.
“What do you think will appear?”
“Hard to say. There are quite a few possibilities. Goblins, animated trees, imps, witches, fairies… what else? There are even unicorn sightings.”
“I hope we encounter a unicorn or fairies.”
“Why?”
Min-jae chuckled softly.
“I have a feeling they might be connected to magic or mana somehow?”
“This guy? Trying to keep it all for yourself?”
“Oh, no—I’m not saying I want to claim it. I’m just personally curious.”
“Right. Han Hye said last time you’re not getting any hidden distributions.”
At the Mister’s words, Min-jae jumped to his feet.
“We agreed to forgive that!”
“Hmm. Han Hye, seeing him like this—don’t you think you should reconsider?”
“You know, I think I should reconsider that.”
“No, no, no…”
Min-jae threw his hands up dramatically in mock despair. Though really, it was all just playful banter.
“Whatever happens, I hope something does appear. Not everything shows up in rare forests, after all.”
“True. There are hunters who’ve been pranked the whole time and barely managed to escape.”
“That’s right. If you’re unlucky, you could even fall under a curse. Like I did.”
“Ah….”
“Just kidding.”
Han Chul had cracked a self-deprecating joke. It wasn’t bad. There was an underlying message to keep laughing while staying focused.
I’d definitely chosen the rear guard well. I laughed too and offered a word of caution.
“We got lucky finding this place, but let’s not get too excited. A rare forest like this will have unexpected dangers.”
“Understood. I’ll stay focused.”
Min-jae nodded with a serious expression. Everyone adjusted their weapons and finished their preparations.
As we entered the Gate, Yong-yong, whom I’d summoned, let out a small growl and snorted softly.
“We’ll move in formation. I’ll take point, Mister in the middle, and the rest in the rear.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s go.”
And the moment we set foot into the forest, we realized the ominous atmosphere of this place was far from simple.
“This….”
“There’s pressure on the mind.”
When an Ogre roars, hunters with low mental stats find their bodies stiffen instantly.
It wasn’t for nothing that Awakened ones had mental stats.
The mist in the forest had an effect similar to an Ogre’s roar. But there was a clear difference.
If an Ogre’s roar strikes hard in an instant, the forest attacks subtly and continuously.
“Thirty-six hours. We’ll be dealing with this the entire time we traverse the forest.”
“If mental stats are low, the effects will come quickly.”
For now, there was no major concern. Our Guild members, aside from me, had higher stats than average hunters.
During Guild meetings, I’d often advised them to distribute their stats evenly.
“Everyone has spare points, right?”
“Yes.”
“Of course I saved some.”
“If anything feels uncertain, immediately allocate one point to mental.”
Mental attacks can’t be countered after they hit. You have to raise it beforehand when you sense something off.
Mister took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders.
“Not bad.”
“Right. We need experience with mental-type Gates anyway.”
“Let’s move.”
* * *
We entered the forest and moved forward a bit, but my spatial sense picked up nothing particularly unusual.
There were no monsters—just small animals and insects, and even those were scarce.
Instead, the atmosphere grew increasingly ominous the deeper we went. The pale mist also thickened, if only slightly.
At least visibility wasn’t as severely restricted as in the Alchemist’s Mansion, which was a relief.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, Mister’s head snapped around. His expression was slightly confused.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard a strange sound?”
“A sound? I didn’t hear anything.”
“Neither did I.”
The other Guild members wore equally bewildered expressions.
“You didn’t catch anything? It seemed close by.”
“No. My spatial awareness is still intact.”
“It was a rustling sound, like grass swaying….”
The moment Mister finished speaking, Han Chul’s head snapped toward the opposite direction.
“I just heard it too.”
“I didn’t hear anything this time either.”
“Neither did I.”
Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee nodded at my words. Only Mister and Han Chul had heard the sound….
A pattern was emerging.
“It seems to be an effect of the forest. People with lower Spirit stats are hearing auditory hallucinations first.”
“Does it work that way?”
“Yes. My stats are high, and Lee Shin-hee and Min-jae have invested heavily in Spirit stats as well.”
Healers and mages require not only mana but also mental fortitude to cast skills, making stat investment essential.
Meanwhile, frontline fighters who relied primarily on physical abilities had no choice but to invest minimally in Spirit.
When you prioritize Strength, Agility, and Stamina, and then add Mana stats, Spirit becomes the lowest priority.
Mister heard it first because at lower levels he’d invested only in physical abilities, and later focused mainly on raising Mana.
“Should I raise it now?”
Mister groaned in contemplation. There was no need to think deeply about it. I had Chun-bae after all.
‘What should I do? Is that necessary?’
-Negative. It’s fine for now. My hypothesis is that it follows the laws of the Gate. It will reach Han Hye soon enough.
‘Really?’
-Ask if they’re feeling mentally anxious. If not, it’s fine.
If Chun-bae said so, then that was how it was. I shook my head immediately.
“No. I think it’s fine for now. You’re not feeling anxious or anything, right?”
“Nope. Not particularly.”
“Then it seems like a natural phenomenon.”
Since I hadn’t revealed Chun-bae to Han Chul yet, I had to communicate this way.
I believed Mister, who knew the truth, understood perfectly well.
“Let’s continue forward for now.”
As we pressed on, Mister and Han Chul continued to reflexively snap their heads around.
It seemed the auditory hallucinations were persistent.
“Huh?”
“Me too….”
Not long after, Lee Shin-hee and Min-jae also snapped their heads around. They’d fallen under the influence of the hallucinations.
And soon it was my turn. I was the last among everyone, but the auditory hallucinations reached me as well.
-Rustle!
A sound like something moving through the grass. My spatial awareness remained clear, yet my head turned of its own accord.
In combat, hearing is just as vital a sense, so it’s only natural to be hypersensitive to it.
“It’s getting worse.”
“Same here.”
“Should we just ignore it? I’ve heard that ignoring monsters that create illusions or auditory hallucinations is the answer.”
I shook my head at Mister’s words.
“No. Keep your focus. The attack might come right when you’ve grown accustomed to that noise.”
And ten minutes passed.
By the time the rustling phantom sounds began to fade for me as well, small presences caught at the edge of my spatial awareness.
“They’re coming! This isn’t a hallucination anymore!”
The moment I spoke, a rustling sound echoed. That one was a hallucination. Mister spun around and tilted his head in confusion.
“Huh? I don’t see anything.”
“Ah, they’re mixed in with the phantom sounds! Twenty meters!”
Dwarf-like creatures about knee-height were pushing through the undergrowth, emerging from the mist.
“Grrr!”
Yong-yong also sensed their approach and growled low.
I drew my Wind-Flow Sword quickly and gave a concise briefing.
“Seven dwarves. All sides! Ten meters!”
The ironic part was that the actual sounds they made were quieter than the phantom noises—they hid within the auditory illusions.
This Gate was proving to be quite troublesome.
“Ignore the sounds! Judge only by sight!”
“Understood!”
The moment I shouted, a clear rustling sound came from directly behind me. I didn’t turn my head.
My spatial awareness showed me there was no enemy there.
I could see Mister and Han Chul desperately keeping their heads fixed forward. I swung my Wind-Flow Sword first.
Wind Slash. The small creature’s body beyond the undergrowth split in half.
“Six left! Two from behind! Two on each side!”
And the enemies revealed themselves.
Two horns, knee-height stature, hair cascading to the waist, green legs and pink upper bodies—imps.
“Kyaaaah!”
The imp that leaped through the undergrowth rose to my head height and slashed with sharp claws.
True to their level, these small monsters were incredibly agile.
For the two approaching from behind, I decided to trust Han Chul completely. He was a Guardian from the vanguard unit.
It was at that moment I swung my blade forward.
“I’m here-!”
Han Chul’s roar filled the forest. Even the imp’s gaze, which had been fixed on my sword mere inches away, turned backward.
Watching the imp’s body bisect, I couldn’t help but marvel. So this is the power of an A-rank Presence skill?
“Face me-!”
What was remarkable was that while drawing the nearby imps’ attention with his Presence skill, he also cast First Guard on Chul-gi.
His situational judgment ability was clearly exceptional.
“Kek!”
I sliced through another creature and was about to turn toward the rear, but there was no need.
Chul-gi had already handled two, and the back was secure.
While Han Chul held one off, Min-jae pierced an Imp using a sand spear.
“Wow, Han Chul.”
The battle ended quickly, but everyone was marveling at Han Chul.
A skill that drew monster aggro was truly rare, and this was the first time they’d witnessed it.
“That was incredible.”
“Wow, that was really cool.”
Even Chul-gi and Min-jae were applauding. I nodded as well.
“Exactly. The Imp, right before death, was looking at Han Chul instead of me.”
The survival instinct of living creatures is sharp. Yet the Imp’s gaze, with a blade inches from its face, had turned away.
It was impossible not to admire it.
Meanwhile, Han Chul stood there looking embarrassed, scratching the back of his head.
“Haha, no, it’s just a habit to use English, so I feel a bit awkward.”
“Oh, but it looked so cool. You don’t need to change it. While we’re at it, let’s teach Hye some English.”
Chul-gi grinned and suddenly turned his attack on me.
“Huh?”
“You can’t speak English.”
“I could understand that much just now?”
As I exchanged banter with Chul-gi, Han Chul redirected the conversation toward me.
“I was actually surprised by the Guild Master. Without the briefing, I would have been fooled by the illusion. I might have even been injured.”
“Come on, I think you would have blocked it all anyway. Still, the training was definitely effective.”
I, the Guild members, and Han Chul all seemed satisfied. No one doubted our real combat abilities, but it was rewarding to have coordinated well together.
In the past, I might have created a wall using the Subspace, but I trusted Han Chul and let him handle it.
“By the way, these are Imp Mature-forms.”
“Yes. They’re troublesome ones.”
“Will Imp Adults appear too?”
“That’s highly likely.”
As I extracted the magic stones and examined the Imp corpses, something caught my eye.
The number 145 was carved into the Imp’s neck.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Just a moment.”
When I checked the necks of the other Imps, it was the same. 148, 153, 162… Each had different numbers carved into them.
I told them right away, and the Guild members tilted their heads in confusion.
“Is it a clue to a Hidden dungeon?”
Since we hunted Hidden dungeons so frequently, Chul-gi naturally connected it to them.
Well, it does seem like a Hidden dungeon, but I’m not sure if it’s a clue.
“I’m not sure. Seeing how the Mature-forms are grouped together, someone might have created or is breeding them.”
“You mean the Imps have an owner?”
“That’s just speculation. We won’t know until we go.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“No.”
These creatures were numbered in the 150s. Based on that count alone, it meant there were at least close to 150 enemies lurking in the forest.
If the number of mature imps was substantial, it would prove quite troublesome. The ones being created or bred were a problem in themselves.
“We still have to go.”
“Right. It’s a hidden dungeon.”
That’s correct. The Gate’s objective was simply to traverse the forest. At the end of this numerical sequence, there would be a hidden dungeon. Whether treasure or enemy awaited us.
I gathered the magic stones and prepared to move forward.
“Let’s go. Whatever we find, we’ll search for it.”

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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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