Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 141

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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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141. Emergency Hunter Cooperation Request
As I made my way to the Hunter Association with my guild members, curiosity gnawed at me about what could have prompted this sudden summons.
At first, I’d assumed it concerned the gold coins I’d entrusted to them—perhaps something had gone wrong during distribution, or they’d been stolen.
But if that were the case, there would have been no need to call all the guild members. It was a matter that concerned only me.
I’d checked the news while we traveled, but there was no report of an uncontrolled Gate or any incident breaking out.
‘A hunter cooperation request?’
When I encountered Seo-ung at the Hunter Association, my suspicion was confirmed.
A large screen was displayed inside the conference room.
“An emergency hunter cooperation request has come in from the United States.”
“Emergency? Hasn’t the Gate Break been scheduled for later?”
“No. It’s not that. It’s because of a chain-type Gate.”
Chain-type Gate. My eyes narrowed instinctively.
It was the type of Gate I’d seen listed as a special characteristic regarding new Gate variations at this Guild Conference.
“But why us? Doesn’t the United States have capable hunters? If this just happened, there should be plenty of time….”
It was natural to have doubts. The United States was also a hunter superpower. So why us specifically?
Seo-ung nodded and continued speaking, but what came next was quite shocking.
“The Liberty Knights’ Team 3, the top guild in the United States, failed to subjugate it.”
Liberty Knights.
The guild that Han Chul belonged to with the US Advance Team. It was composed of three teams in total.
Team 1 was around level 60, Team 2 around level 50, and Team 3 in the early 40s.
“Hmm.”
Because of this, Han Chul let out a slightly uncomfortable groan. Still, it had been his former guild.
Even if it was Team 3, there would be people he knew.
“The problem is, some members of Team 3 have been captured as prisoners inside the Gate. There are other personnel as well.”
Prisoners?
Failure inside a Gate usually results in death. It’s difficult for monsters to take humans as prisoners.
“Could it be a narrative-type Gate?”
“It’s similar. Initially, Iron Hawk Guild’s Team 2 failed to subjugate it, and Liberty Knights’ Team 3 took over from them.”
Iron Hawk was also a guild ranked in the top five in the United States. That’s probably why Liberty Knights’ Team 3 went in.
“And when Liberty Knights’ Team 3 failed to subjugate it, three out of five members used an escape item….”
“They saw other hunters?”
“Correct. According to their testimony, hunters who had entered previously were being held captive.”
The two members who couldn’t use the escape item were probably also being held prisoner inside the Gate.
I understood why they’d requested our cooperation.
“Since the United States has no hunters in the 41-45 level range superior to Liberty Knights’ Team 3, they urgently requested our cooperation.”
“So, we need to subjugate the Gate and rescue seven hunters being held hostage, correct?”
“Correct.”
Seo-ung pointed to the screen in front of us. The display changed immediately, as if prepared in advance.
“The United States has transmitted all the information they’ve obtained. It’s not much, but I’ll explain it to you now.”
The first thing that came to mind was information about the Gate.
[Blade of Night]
-Level Restriction: 41~45
-Party Size Limit: 5 members
-Eliminate the notorious Blade of Night mercenary band.
The Gate’s mission itself was straightforward. I could even understand why they’d been taken captive.
“So they were captured by that mercenary band.”
“Yes. However, the enemies aren’t human.”
“Then…?”
“Dark Elves.”
* * *
Dark Elves.
It wasn’t a name I was hearing for the first time.
In narrative-type Gates, not only humans but various other races like dwarves and elves appear.
Among them, Dark Elves were particularly rare. As far as I knew, they hadn’t appeared more than a handful of times.
“If we compare them to Hunters, they’re a race specialized in the rogue archetype. They excel at concealment, infiltration, and assassination.”
I was beginning to understand why some members of Liberty Knights Team 3 hadn’t been able to use their escape Secretaries.
“They must have been ambushed.”
“Yes. Even though the team had a rogue, they said it was difficult to detect the ambush. Moreover, it seemed as though they were waiting—they’d already set traps.”
“Is that because it’s a chain-type Gate?”
“I can’t say for certain, but that appears to be the case. After the first subjugation failed, they would have been on high alert.”
Dark Elves, then…
Since I’d never faced them directly, I couldn’t gauge their strength. However, I had little concern about ambushes.
My spatial awareness, which allowed me to perceive a 40-meter radius centered on myself, was nearly immune to such tactics.
“According to the report, before the rogue from Team 3 used their escape Secretary, they discovered captured Hunters during their escape. During the assault, they heard that the mercenaries were enslaving them.”
Do mercenary bands deal in slaves? Well, I did recall hearing that old mercenary bands were similar to bandit gangs.
“Based on the report, judging from the condition of the captured Hunters, it doesn’t seem like much time has passed since the subjugation failed.”
A chain-type Gate. Since it had only recently appeared, there was a point in Seo-ung’s briefing that gave me pause.
I immediately asked Chun-bae.
‘How does time flow work with each entry into a chain-type Gate?’
-When an Awakened dies or is captured and deemed unable to continue combat, the Gate opens again. However, the passage of time between entries varies.
‘Varies?’
-Time could be frozen in that state, or anywhere from tens of minutes to several hours, days, or even months could have passed.
‘So we won’t know until we go in.’
At least based on the earlier witness accounts, it didn’t seem like months had passed.
But the fact that they’d prepared in advance suggested some time differential had occurred.
“From what’s been confirmed, there are approximately 20 Dark Elves, though it’s not certain. There could be more or fewer.”
“What about their combat strength?”
“They said it would be manageable if it weren’t a nighttime ambush, but there’s no way to verify if that’s genuine or just pride talking.”
Hmm. They don’t seem to be on the level of an Earth Dragon… But there was no need to dwell on this. I had Chun-bae, after all.
‘What do you think?’
—In the night forest, they’d be quite troublesome opponents, but with Han Hye’s spatial awareness, they shouldn’t pose a major problem.
‘Understood.’
During our brief conversation, Seo-ung pulled up two faces on the screen.
“From Liberty Knights Team 3—an A-Rank Healer and a Mage who failed to use their escape Secretary.”
“So only the rear guard was captured?”
“Yes. It was an ambush, so there was no way to respond. The US has designated these two as priority extraction targets among the seven.”
A cold reality. It would be nice to save everyone, but if circumstances didn’t allow it… we’d have no choice but to prioritize the more exceptional hunters.
It was unfortunate, but truthfully, these people were lucky. Most Gate failures meant death.
“That’s all the information.”
I’d heard enough details. Now came the time for decision.
“It doesn’t seem like it’ll be too difficult…”
As Chun-bae said, with my spatial awareness, a Dark Elf’s night ambush wouldn’t pose a significant problem.
I could detect them first and strike preemptively.
Moreover, with Han Chul present, my concerns about the rear guard’s safety had diminished somewhat.
“What’s the compensation?”
“For Gate subjugation: 100 billion. For extraction, priority targets are 20 billion per person, the rest 10 billion each. If we subjugate the Gate and extract everyone, they’ll pay 200 billion total.”
Seven prisoners in total. If we save them all, that’s 190 billion, so the extra 10 billion is treated as a bonus?
With this kind of arrangement, taxes were excluded from the stated amount, so there was no need to overthink it.
“Not bad. Is it because it’s the US?”
Considering the value of those hunters held captive, it was certainly short, but this was quite decent compensation.
Normally, hunter cooperation requests between allied nations don’t involve large sums.
Any nation can request hunter cooperation. Isn’t the US a hunter superpower too? We also make cooperation requests sometimes.
In these situations, it’s more like mutual aid between nations.
“Personally, I wanted to negotiate for items for Hunter Han Hye, but that proved difficult.”
Well, the US is probably a place overflowing with money rather than items.
I suspected Seo-ung had negotiated to raise this amount.
* * *
‘Not bad at all.’
To be honest, setting aside safety concerns, most foreign hunter cooperation requests were worth accepting.
They offered greater profit compared to domestic cooperation requests.
As we could see from our own situation, domestic hunter cooperation ended with things like item rights or guild priority.
That’s why each nation rarely makes foreign cooperation requests unless absolutely necessary.
“What does everyone think? I see no issue with it. Since the international auction is being held in the US anyway, we could subjugate it and leave immediately, couldn’t we? The money we receive goes to guild funds, which we can use for the auction.”
I should consult with the guild members, but personally, I wanted to accept. There was nothing to lose, but several advantages.
First, I could gain experience with a reasonably difficult Gate while earning substantial funds.
Moreover, it was an opportunity to rescue quite powerful hunters. Wasn’t the US planning to go anyway because of the international auction?
The guild members nodded in agreement.
“I’m in favor too.”
“Good. Let’s earn money and use it for the auction.”
“If the guild master approves, I’m fine with it.”
Everyone agreed, and that was the moment the trip to the United States was decided.
“Then I’ll contact them right away.”
After the discussion ended with an evening departure confirmed, Seo-ung called me aside.
“About the gold coins and jewels you entrusted to me last time. I should be able to process them as quickly as possible and receive approximately 250 billion won after deducting the commission.”
“What? That much?”
I couldn’t hide my astonishment at what followed.
“The gold coins inside were quite diverse. Coins from different worlds, various kingdoms… and there were many jewels that don’t exist on Earth as well. I’m not sure what to call them.”
I hadn’t taken that much, yet the amount I was receiving was substantial. It far exceeded my imagination.
When I signed the Hunter contract, I thought I’d received an incalculable sum of money…
‘250 billion? This doesn’t make sense. How much would I get if I sold everything?’
Now, simply extracting items from the Subspace had already surpassed that amount.
“Didn’t you say it would be around 200 billion originally?”
“While searching for buyers, we made contact with someone from Saudi Arabia. They apparently love collecting, and they said they’d purchase everything at once.”
Ah, Saudi Arabia.
Just hearing the name made that amount seem reasonable. It was more than the expected price despite the quick processing.
‘Wait. How much can I spend right now?’
The 50 billion I received from Saudi Arabia last time, plus 250 billion, and if I receive 200 billion from the US cooperation request…
That meant I could spend 500 billion at this auction.
It was a surreal number. Just a year ago, before I awakened, my bank account had never accumulated more than 10 million won.
On the other hand, my anticipation was immense.
‘I should be able to buy most of what comes up at the auction?’
S-Rank items might be purchased for even more by places like Saudi Arabia or the United States…
But if decent items appeared, I might be able to acquire them.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
That’s when Chun-bae spoke up.
-I’m looking forward to it as well.
‘Suddenly?’
-It could be helpful for Han Hye as well.
‘Huh?’
As I tilted my head in confusion, Chun-bae continued.
-Didn’t I mention that the same Gates open even in different worlds?
‘You don’t mean…?’
-The same applies to items. Especially with high-grade items, I have a better understanding due to their rarity.
My mouth fell open without thinking. At international auctions, only the item’s name and rank are announced.
While some basic descriptions are provided, the detailed specifications cannot be known in advance.
‘So I can pick the real gems?’
The international auction suddenly seemed more appealing than the immediate Gate cooperation request.
And on top of that, the Korean Hunter Association’s treasure vault as well.

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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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