Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 137

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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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137. Crawling Roar of the Earth (1)
Entry-type Gates can be classified into two states: open or closed. The former means there are no Hunters inside, and the latter means the opposite.
When a Gate subjugation fails, a previously closed Gate opens again—crucial information.
For instance, if a Hunter team enters a Gate and it reopens within a short time, combat likely erupted immediately upon entry.
The Hunter team that entered two weeks ago was completely annihilated in exactly 28 minutes.
‘In other words, the enemies appeared quickly.’
Eight Hunters between levels 41 and 45 entered, yet it took 28 minutes. The enemies were undoubtedly formidable, and combat commenced almost immediately upon entry.
That’s why we entered the Gate in perfect combat readiness.
[Crawling Roar of the Earth]
-Level Restriction: 41~45
-Entry Limit: 10 people
-Eliminate the Masters of the Wasteland. Time remaining: 5 hours 59 minutes.
“Stay alert!”
I lowered my center of gravity, ready to move at any moment. I summoned Yong-yong from the Subspace and surveyed the Gate’s interior and the mission parameters.
By the time Mister climbed onto Yong-yong’s back, I’d grasped the situation.
The moment we entered, we found ourselves in a barren Wasteland. The reddish-brown landscape offered little greenery.
It was relatively flat, without hills, and the ground possessed moderate hardness. Sand rose with each gust of wind.
Whoooosh—
Since enemies hadn’t appeared yet, I distributed goggles and masks to the Guild members.
While not a sandstorm like those in the Desert Region, sand entering our eyes during combat could lead to disaster.
“This Gate has a short time limit. I don’t sense anything yet, but combat will erupt soon. Given they’re called ‘Masters,’ there’s likely more than one.”
“Multiple Great Worms, perhaps?”
“Possibly. Just in case, Mister, please scout from above.”
“Understood.”
Mister, riding Yong-yong, immediately soared skyward. I watched all directions, but enemies hadn’t appeared yet.
I kept my gaze on Mister while maintaining vigilance. His vantage point from above would be far more reliable.
“…!”
After a brief reconnaissance ahead, Mister formed an X with both hands, then raised his arms to create a ◇ shape, pointing toward the front.
No enemies visible, but something lay ahead. I signaled him to return.
“There’s something like an Altar ahead.”
“An Altar?”
“Yeah. It’s far off, so I couldn’t see it clearly, but there were stone statues—or something with a distinct form. I didn’t get too close, just to be safe.”
“Good call.”
This was a Gate where eight Hunters between levels 41 and 45 were annihilated in under 30 minutes. Great Worms were likely, but nothing was certain.
We had to avoid danger as much as possible.
If we moved together, I could handle most situations, but if the distance exceeded my leap range, it would be perilous.
“Let’s go together. Mister, keep watch from above.”
“Roger.”
Mister took flight again. About 30 meters up—within my spatial perception range. Close enough for me to react if anything went wrong.
I took point. The rest followed at roughly 5-meter intervals behind me.
‘What’s going on?’
Still no enemies in sight. Even though I was concentrating on the ground below, suspecting it might be a Great Worm.
Not even the faint tremor of the earth that was characteristic of a Great Worm occurred.
Based on the time the previous team failed their subjugation, enemies should have appeared long ago….
There was only one thing I could infer from this. The monsters appearing here might be stronger than we thought.
The late appearance of enemies meant the actual combat time was less than 28 minutes. At least going in the direction Mister indicated should be correct.
Since there was something distinctive ahead, enemies would probably emerge from there.
“…There.”
And after advancing for just over five minutes, I saw what Mister had mentioned at the edge of my vision. It was truly an Altar.
On the reddish-brown Wasteland, there stood a modest stone Altar. In the center of the Altar was some kind of statue.
“Han Hye! Should we go a bit further and check it out?”
“Be careful!”
After about thirty seconds of venturing slightly ahead, Mister returned with gleaming eyes and settled nearby.
“Han Hye!”
“What is it?”
“That statue. It’s real!”
“Pardon?”
A real statue? What did that even mean…? I tilted my head in confusion, and Mister chuckled.
“It’s holding some kind of staff and wearing a cloak… but it doesn’t seem to be made of stone?”
Oh?
“That’s probably the reward.”
“Right. Enemies will appear once we get closer.”
It took about ten minutes to explore the surroundings and reach here after entering the Gate.
Assuming the previous team took a similar amount of time, they were annihilated in eighteen minutes.
“Let’s proceed carefully. We’ll maintain our formation.”
It was when we had advanced about ten steps toward the Altar.
“Grrrrr!”
Yong-yong above growled. And at that same moment….
-KUGUGUGUGUUNG!
The ground trembled. The epicenter was from the Altar.
“Enemy appearance!”
As expected, it was a Great Worm, so there was no need for further explanation. I had already studied how to deal with Great Worms.
Its attack pattern is surprisingly simple. It rises from the ground with its mouth open and swallows hunters whole.
If you fail to dodge during prolonged combat or fall into the tunnels it creates, things get dire.
A hunter without flight ability can’t climb back out.
“Don’t let your guard down!”
The answer is to dodge when it surges up from the ground, then attack. Its durability is quite good, so it won’t end quickly.
Especially since these creatures are called the rulers of this Wasteland in a level-restricted Gate of 41-45, it won’t be easy.
I decided not to create a Subspace platform. There was sufficient risk of the Great Worm piercing through the ground and shooting up thirty meters.
I could end up trapped in the sky instead. My own movements would be restricted too. It was better to focus on dodging.
‘Placing the Subspace above the Great Worm’s head as it erupts should be effective.’
As the earth’s tremors intensified, enemies finally began registering within my spatial awareness.
“Three of them total!”
Three creatures were crawling through the earth toward us. They moved at considerable speed.
“Not particularly large, but they’ll be far more durable!”
However, unlike typical Great Worms, these creatures didn’t writhe beneath our feet.
“All sides! They’re surrounding us!”
“What?”
Instead, they erupted simultaneously from approximately fifteen meters away. I opened a Subspace immediately.
Whoooosh—!
With three of them, I placed Subspaces above two of their heads. They would burst through and strike their heads directly.
Crunch-crunch-crunch—
The earth rose upward as if about to erupt. And then….
—ROOOAAARRR!
A tremendous roar followed. A slight doubt crept in. Did Great Worms even roar?
And the situation unfolded as I’d anticipated.
—Boom!
And it went exactly as planned. The erupting monsters drove their heads directly into the two Subspaces I’d positioned five meters above the ground.
Under normal circumstances, I would have laughed at how foolish it was and attacked the one surging up from the other side.
“What is that?”
“What, what is it?”
But I couldn’t do that because… the creatures that had erupted weren’t Great Worms. I’d sensed something was wrong from the moment they roared.
They resembled Great Worms, certainly. But their heads weren’t worm-like—they were dragon-like.
—They’re Earth Dragons.
Chun-bae’s urgent warning came through. Earth Dragons? I’d never heard of them. This was definitely my first encounter with such a creature.
—Be careful! They breathe fire!
And one Earth Dragon that I couldn’t block with a Subspace in time opened its massive maw toward the rear guard.
Intense flames surged toward our allies.
* * *
In sync with Chun-bae’s warning, Han Hye closed one Subspace and, rather than leaping, opened a massive Subspace between her party and the Earth Dragon.
The raging flames were sucked into the Subspace.
Lee Shin-hee, who had been hastily constructing a barrier, exhaled in relief.
“Mister!”
And Han Hye leaped toward the Earth Dragon that had breathed fire and shouted. The two creatures that had surged up and struck the Subspaces were dazed from the impact.
Choi Chul-gi, understanding her immediately, charged toward the Earth Dragon whose Subspace had vanished.
Han Hye swung her blazing sword toward the one that had breathed fire. It was the Heavenly Blade.
With Great Worms, I would have needed to leap and strike from above.
—Clang!
But the sensation at my fingertips felt different from usual. Even with the Heavenly Blade’s physical enhancement, I couldn’t cut deeply.
Layering mana onto my weapon—that’s what I do to sever the mana fields that awakened beings possess.
It grew sharper, but not sharp enough to cleave through everything like a sword would.
The Earth Dragon’s scales were simply too hard—even shallow cuts left my wrist aching.
Dragon Knight Choi Chul-gi faced the same problem. His spear couldn’t pierce the massive Earth Dragon.
In fact, the recoil nearly threw him off Yong-yong’s back.
-Grrrraaaaahhh!
The creature that had smashed its head into the Subspace shrieked. It still couldn’t lift its head because of the Subspace’s effects.
As it sluggishly burrowed back into the earth, the others soon followed suit. The trembling ground resumed.
“Just a moment!”
An ordinary hunter team would have been utterly panicked in this situation. They wouldn’t know how to handle such a powerful monster they’d never encountered before.
Of course, the Dragon Guild was equally flustered. One wrong move and it could have been a catastrophe.
-Uuuung
But now that we’d caught our breath, I had the Subspace. The guild members nodded, already accustomed to it by now.
I quickly entered the Subspace. Since Chun-bae had identified the creature, I needed to gather information first.
‘How am I supposed to take this thing down?’
-You must target its gills.
‘Its gills?’
-Earth Dragons can breathe underground. The section between the head and body is relatively thin for that purpose.
Searching my memory, the creature’s form as I’d sensed it through spatial awareness did seem thin behind the face.
-Before it fires its breath, the gills open wide when it breathes. That’s when you must strike.
‘Understood.’
In that case, Choi Chul-gi shouldn’t have much trouble attacking either. He hadn’t landed a solid hit before, but the gills should be vulnerable.
I was dumbfounded.
‘But this is way too intense. Is this really the right difficulty level?’
-Affirmative. Even accounting for level restrictions, creatures like this shouldn’t appear in a Gate of this tier.
Earth Dragons weren’t well-known monsters on Earth. Whether they’d appeared somewhere before, I couldn’t say, but they definitely weren’t in anything I’d studied.
If I’d encountered one before attending the Guild Conference, I would have reported it.
‘So it only attacks by surfacing simultaneously and firing breath?’
-It appears so. From what I’ve observed, these are very old Earth Dragons. Their mobility will be significantly reduced.
‘The younger ones attack with their whole bodies?’
-Correct. The young ones are weapons unto themselves. Their scales are in a weakened state as well.
‘That’s weakened?’
-Earth Dragons aren’t called dragons for nothing. They’re inferior to Red Dragons, but they’re formidable monsters nonetheless.
Well, if they’re weakened, they’d appear in a 41-45 level Gate. I nodded in agreement.
Now I understood why the B-rank hunter team that entered two weeks ago was completely annihilated.
It had been a long time since the Dragon Guild faced such a brutal opponent inside a Gate.
Regardless, I now knew how to handle it.
‘I’ll use two Subspaces to stun two of them first, then deal with them one at a time.’
The situation hadn’t changed much from before. Though I’d never seen these creatures, I’d handled them remarkably well. That was the fruit of the guild’s training.
Before, I’d struck the scales without landing a solid hit. But now that I knew better, I could target the gills.
Uuuung-
As I emerged from the Subspace, the guild members’ eyes widened in welcome. Whenever Han Hye ventured into the Subspace and returned, a solution inevitably followed.
“Did you figure something out?”
“Yes!”
Han Hye broke into a grin.
“It’s almost identical. Let’s try again!”

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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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