Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 157

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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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157. Swordsmanship Gathering
[Restraint Bracelet (D-Rank)]
-A bracelet created for warriors who struggled with power control.
-When equipped, Strength and Agility are capped at 10.
The equipment Lee Hong-ju brought was four bracelets, and upon seeing them, we couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
After all, wasn’t this gathering meant to focus on swordsmanship development rather than raw Hunter strength?
“Wow, something like this exists?”
“This is perfect for us.”
“Chulbyeok uses these for training. As you can see, it’s equipment that equalizes the wearer’s stats uniformly.”
Lee Hong-ju spoke with a somewhat proud expression. For some reason, he reminded me of a quokka seeking praise, though that was probably just my imagination.
“It doesn’t affect Stamina or Mana, only Strength and Agility, but I thought it would be perfect for our gathering.”
In moments like these, offering praise felt good for me and beneficial for Lee Hong-ju who had brought the items.
“That’s impressive. How did you even think to bring something like this?”
Truth be told, I hadn’t even known such equipment existed. If I had, there would have been no need to struggle with power control.
I was genuinely grateful to Lee Hong-ju. Now I could train in swordsmanship far more efficiently.
“Of course, these can only be borrowed for one day during our swordsmanship gatherings. Everyone’s fine with that, right?”
“Of course. Thank you so much.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Chulbyeok truly is…!”
The others followed my lead in praising Lee Hong-ju, though not quite as enthusiastically as I had.
It seemed that Bong-seok and Dong-hyuk, whom Sang-yeop had brought, appeared to be introverted.
‘He did mention there would be a quiet person, but both of them are quiet?’
They had a slightly similar vibe to Lee Shin-hee—the type who observed first and spoke only when necessary rather than initiating conversation.
Lee Hong-ju, on the other hand, seemed rather cheerful.
In any case, thanks to the items Lee Hong-ju had brought, we no longer needed to worry about power control.
With that settled, we discussed the format for our swordsmanship gathering.
“How should we do this? Should we use only swordsmanship skills and exclude all other abilities, or should we include martial arts as well?”
“Does anyone have martial arts skills?”
“I do.”
Dong-hyuk, Lee Hong-ju, and I raised our hands.
This needed discussion because, while it was a swordsmanship gathering, Hunters with martial arts typically blend their swordsmanship and martial arts together. I did the same.
“Then let’s use them together. Those with martial arts usually incorporate them into their swordsmanship anyway.”
Sang-yeop’s suggestion was met with nods of agreement from everyone.
“Right. Suppressing martial arts that come out habitually would probably interfere with the sparring more.”
“If anyone really wants to spar with only swordsmanship, they can just say so and we’ll exclude martial arts, yes?”
“Agreed.”
True to those gathered for swordsmanship, our conversation was quick and concise. You could say we were well-coordinated.
With the format settled so smoothly, we moved straight into sparring.
“Since there are five of us, one person will sit out initially. I’ll rest first today. Please go ahead, everyone else.”
Sang-yeop spoke first.
While I had come up with the idea for this gathering, it seemed Sang-yeop had been the one to invite Bong-seok and Dong-hyuk.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Aside from Lee Hong-ju, I’ve sparred with everyone here quite a bit, so it’s fine.”
“Ah, I see.”
It appeared Sang-yeop had been sparring frequently with everyone except Lee Hong-ju, whom I had brought. I decided to accept his consideration graciously.
Wasn’t everyone gathered here because they wanted to cross blades with one another?
“Um, actually….”
That was when Lee Hong-ju raised his hand.
“Would it be alright if I sparred with Han Hye first?”
A flicker of disappointment crossed Bong-seok and Dong-hyuk’s faces in that instant. According to Sang-yeop, they had come here wanting to cross blades with me as well.
However, since they were introverted types and Lee Hong-ju had spoken first, they simply nodded in acceptance.
“Well, it makes sense. Since Lee Hong-ju brought the Constraint Bracelet, he should have the right to choose his opponent.”
Sang-yeop nodded, and his point was valid.
Someone who had brought such an important gift to a sword arts gathering certainly deserved the privilege of choosing their sparring partner.
“I’m fine with it.”
I too was quite eager to face an A-rank swordsman.
And so my match against Lee Hong-ju began, with Bong-seok and Dong-hyuk observing.
* * *
‘Sharp.’
Knight Lee Hong-ju had been the record holder for the Workshop Gate practical training before Han Hye.
A promising rare-class Knight.
Moreover, he had received an A-rank Swordsmanship skill upon awakening. To be honest, Lee Hong-ju never expected his record to be broken.
-Space Mage Han Hye breaks the Knight’s Workshop record!
The opponents were unawakened goblins.
In the Workshop practical training where most Level 1 Hunters gathered, Lee Hong-ju had been certain his record could never be surpassed.
Especially not by someone from a non-combat class.
Of course, he was aware that Han Hye had awakened inside the Gate and leveled up from conquest rewards.
‘Still, it wasn’t an easy feat.’
Han Hye’s class was Space Mage.
With no combat skills and only the ability to open Subspaces, breaking his record with A-rank Swordsmanship?
From the moment he heard that news, he knew something was different about her.
Of course, he hadn’t expected it to be this extreme. The current Han Hye didn’t seem like someone with exceptional potential—she seemed like an entirely different species altogether.
Hadn’t she even surpassed the record of Sword Master Liu Zhen, who possessed S-rank Swordsmanship despite being from a non-combat class?
Her growth rate was unbelievable. Moreover, she had defeated Liu Zhen, who possessed S-rank Swordsmanship, without even using her abilities.
‘She lives up to her reputation.’
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous. This was just a friendly sword arts exchange, but Han Hye was such a famous figure, wasn’t she?
Yet Han Hye proved to be even sharper than he had anticipated.
A clash between A-rank and B-rank Swordsmanship.
Since they were fighting with equalized stats, Lee Hong-ju had thought he might have the advantage.
‘I heard she has E-rank Swordsmanship and Body Technique….’
But I never expected we’d reach such an even match.
Lee Hong-ju’s swordsmanship was level 5—roughly equivalent to level 7 if we’re talking B-rank swordsmanship.
Even under such circumstances, Han Hye held her ground well, and her counterattacks were equally sharp.
She built her defense as the foundation, responding with the swift strikes of Crescent swordsmanship while weaving variations through martial arts.
‘This is something.’
Even Lee Hong-ju, who had honed A-rank swordsmanship for so long, felt a chill run down his spine.
Of course, Han Hye was also experiencing something new.
‘Similar to Liu Zhen’s swordsmanship, yet different.’
The rare jobs of Sword Master and Knight.
There was one similarity: a hexagonal swordsmanship with no weak points.
A hexagon typically means either all excellent or all mediocre. Either everything is outstanding, or nothing is.
In that regard, Liu Zhen’s and Lee Hong-ju’s swordsmanship clearly belonged to the former. It was obvious why they’d earned their high ranks.
‘If I had to compare the differences, Liu Zhen’s blade is unorthodox, while Lee Hong-ju’s is fundamentally sound.’
Lee Hong-ju’s swordsmanship had the feeling of staying precisely within the line, never exceeding it—whether attacking or defending.
Han Hye and Lee Hong-ju continued their sparring match.
“Hah.”
“Again, shall we?”
Sometimes Lee Hong-ju landed blows on Han Hye, and sometimes Han Hye landed blows on Lee Hong-ju.
An evenly matched contest.
With identical stats, the difference was all the more apparent. Of course, there was a gap in swordsmanship and experience.
Lee Hong-ju, who had lived as a Hunter for so long, was slightly more seasoned. Han Hye felt herself being pushed back a little.
However, Han Hye was rapidly absorbing everything.
‘Sang-yeop retreated in that situation, but I can handle it this way too?’
Han Hye had lacked experience until now. Facing a new opponent, new paths began to reveal themselves.
There were connections forming. Things I had only sensed through intuition before.
‘Liu Zhen slips past with a glancing dodge, while Lee Hong-ju deflects lightly with his blade.’
Since my swordsmanship against enemies remained the same, understanding that each opponent’s response differed was where the learning began.
For instance, new methods of countering Liu Zhen’s swordsmanship using Lee Hong-ju’s techniques were beginning to occur to me.
Though my swordsmanship level didn’t immediately rise and I gained no sudden enlightenment, I found it quite satisfying that these insights were accumulating.
With equal conditions, I could focus entirely on the duel of swordsmanship and martial arts, which was also gratifying.
* * *
‘Tch. This is humbling.’
It was purely a clash between the swordsmanship I had honed. I had deliberately adapted to my opponent’s style all this time, so I thought I would win, but…
There were moments when Lee Hong-ju got the better of me. I had thought it was possible, certainly.
But experiencing it firsthand was another matter entirely. When fighting an unknown opponent of similar skill, I realized I needed to be more cautious. That much became clear.
Why, there was the Apostle I met in Arachne’s Labyrinth and the Earth Dragon, weren’t there?
‘I defeated them through my abilities, but they would be troublesome opponents in a direct confrontation.’
After facing Lee Hong-ju without relying on stats, I came to understand that I could be in danger when encountering humanoid enemies.
The Restraint Bracelet was the key. Without it, even if I’d been struck, I would have thought I was just holding back too much.
I would have told myself I would have won in a real fight.
When I first awakened and began to grow, I told myself I wouldn’t become arrogant….
‘It seems that as quite some time passed, I came to think that way too.’
I had almost no rivals, and my growth had been far too smooth. It appeared that what everyone experiences eventually came to me as well.
The fortunate thing was that no problems arose inside the Gate.
The fact that I gained an opportunity to recenter myself from a completely unexpected place was quite satisfying.
“Phew.”
The slight problem that emerged at the end of the lengthy sparring session was that since this was the sword arts gathering’s first time, everyone had pushed the matches far too intensely.
By the time Sang-yeop, who was supposed to wait for his turn initially, came up, everyone was exhausted.
“I can rest and recover, but….”
“I haven’t sparred with Han Hye yet. I need to refine myself further.”
Sang-yeop politely declined.
Hadn’t Sang-yeop and I become too familiar with each other, which is why we created this gathering in the first place?
“There will be another opportunity next time. I’m already grateful that a gathering like this exists.”
“Then since you rested today, next time you can do two matches.”
“What? Just now I thought I’d die if I did two matches.”
Sang-yeop shook his head with a laugh. Everyone else was indeed exhausted.
“And just watching has been quite helpful. While experiencing another person’s swordplay is good, I also discover responses I hadn’t considered when observing.”
“I see.”
That was something I felt while sparring. Just as Sang-yeop said, it seemed possible to gain something just from watching without directly participating.
“So what I’m suggesting is that instead of running matches simultaneously, it would be better to do them one at a time.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Everyone agreed. Running two simultaneously did feel scattered. Since this was our first gathering, some trial and error was inevitable.
We were just looking for better methods. Everyone had pushed themselves hard in sparring and exhausted themselves in a short time anyway.
“Then, befitting a proper sword arts gathering, let’s call it a day here.”
“Should we do an after-party? A celebration dinner, so to speak?”
Lee Hong-ju asked while gauging the mood, but no one answered. Sang-yeop broke the brief silence.
“Does anyone enjoy drinking?”
Only Lee Hong-ju raised his hand. I used to enjoy it in the past, but I don’t drink much these days.
The two people Sang-yeop brought along seemed introverted, so they didn’t look particularly eager either.
“Ah, just to clarify—I’m not an especially heavy drinker. It’s just that opportunities to drink like this don’t come around often.”
Lee Hong-ju, looking embarrassed, scratched his cheek while watching my reaction.
“I understand. For someone at your level, drinking isn’t really a priority.”
Ordinary Hunters might be different, but top-tier Hunters tend to be quite strict about body management.
Of course, it’s not that we don’t drink at all. I drink too when something good happens. It’s just that I don’t drink regularly.
“I’m entering a Gate in two days.”
“We’re also entering a Gate right after the sword arts gathering.”
“Right. Everyone cleared their schedules.”
That was something I felt grateful for. My schedule had been pushed back considerably due to the United States’ cooperation request and the trial Gate, but everyone adjusted to accommodate me.
At the mention of entering a Gate, Lee Hong-ju immediately nodded.
“Then there’s no helping it.”
Still, there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. They say the Sword Master enjoys meeting people, and it seems to be true.
Well, he’s the one who brought the Constraint Bracelet, so I should grant his wishes.
“Since we’ve only seen each other’s faces today, why don’t we all exchange sword techniques one by one in turn, and then have a celebratory gathering afterward?”
As I offered an alternative, Lee Hong-ju’s face brightened.
“That sounds wonderful! Since this is a sword technique gathering, let’s commemorate it by exchanging swords with everyone. We’ll do it then!”
.
.
.
[Karako Village Defense Battle]
And two days after the sword technique gathering.
We entered the Village defense battle.

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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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