Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 178

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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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178. Long Wei (4)
“Hey, hey! Don’t die on me!”
I hastily extinguished the inferno. I couldn’t simply kill this creature without interrogation or verification.
While summary execution was protocol, wasn’t this a situation where Übermenschen had fled from China and infiltrated Korea?
Whether this creature would speak the truth remained uncertain, but I needed to extract information. Min-seok’s safety hung in the balance.
Seo-ung’s silence over the radio suggested Min-seok’s situation was secure, but…
One could never be too careful. Perhaps this creature had been plotting to harm Min-seok, and we’d simply ambushed them first.
I’d extinguished the inferno in haste, yet the problem remained.
“Ugh…”
The flames that consumed even mana had ravaged this creature thoroughly. Its hair was completely burned away, and its skin was already in a mangled state.
Moreover, I possessed no means to heal such injuries.
Whoosh—
First, I retrieved a recovery potion. Unlike in games, wounds wouldn’t instantly close and bodies wouldn’t regenerate upon consumption or application, but… it was the best I could manage.
I poured it generously across its entire body and forced some into its moaning mouth.
Then I sent the inferno soaring skyward. The Dawn Light Guild Members pursuing my trail would see it and know my location.
Less than a minute later, the Dawn Light Guild Members arrived, their breathing ragged from their hurried ascent.
“…?”
They all stared at me with expressions of shock.
“What? You’ve already captured it?”
“Wasn’t that a request for reinforcements?”
Clearly, they hadn’t expected me to apprehend this creature alone. The battle had been remarkably brief as well.
“Not to diminish Han Hye’s abilities, but this wasn’t supposed to be an opponent she could defeat so easily…”
That was a fair assessment. By my estimation, this creature possessed strength comparable to the vanguard unit.
Had it not charged headlong into my inferno of its own volition, I wouldn’t have brought it down so swiftly.
“Wow, what is this?”
“The condition is… terrible.”
As they approached and caught sight of Long Wei, they gasped in horror. The state was indeed gruesome. But there was no time for shock.
“Healing! We need healing, now!”
The Dawn Light Guild’s healer, breathing far more heavily than the others, nodded and extended her hands.
Watching light shimmer across Long Wei’s body, I exhaled in relief. We hadn’t been too late.
.
.
.
Long Wei, whose body had been half-melted by the inferno, remained unconscious despite the efforts of the Dawn Light Guild’s healer.
After securing the creature with proper restraints, two of the Dawn Light Guild’s vanguard dragged the body down the mountain.
“Huh? Why… why is this creature in such a state? Did you burn them to death?”
Seo-ung couldn’t hide his bewilderment upon seeing Long Wei, whom I’d brought in.
Of course, he wasn’t literally asking if I’d killed them.
“Ugh… uhhh…”
They say humans experience the greatest agony when burned by fire. I wasn’t certain of the exact details, but it was undoubtedly among the worst.
Long Wei, who had lost consciousness, continued to groan.
I’d asked if he’d been burned to death because his condition was incredibly severe.
It was cruel and grotesque—difficult to describe in detail—but when a human body was engulfed in flames that even consumed mana, what could one expect?
“Ah, no. He dove into the fire of his own volition…”
I stated the facts, but Seo-ung merely tilted his head. Fair enough. It would be hard to understand immediately.
As I pondered how to explain, Tae-sung spoke up.
“We couldn’t sense him, so Han Hye subdued him alone. This happened in the process.”
“Han Hye did it alone?”
“Yes. It was quite impressive.”
Seo-ung looked at me in surprise. Even knowing my abilities, his reaction revealed that Long Wei was no ordinary opponent.
I hadn’t expected to capture him so easily either.
“To be honest, he essentially destroyed himself…”
Conflagration’s weakness was its enormous mana consumption and the relatively slow speed of its flames.
That’s why I typically fought by coating my blade with Conflagration.
But if the opponent willingly threw himself into it, the situation changed entirely. Once Conflagration’s flames seized something, they never let go.
“In any case, there’s been no trouble outside. He doesn’t appear to have been bait.”
“Right. If he were bait, they would have known we were coming. Even as an enemy, his skill is too valuable to waste as bait.”
Tae-sung’s assessment was accurate. The fact that he’d only noticed us belatedly confirmed he wasn’t bait.
“We’ll transport him to the Hunter Association for now. We need to interrogate him before we kill him, if it comes to that.”
As we moved, we examined the spoils. In truth, there was only one item worth mentioning.
All his clothing and equipment had been incinerated by Conflagration.
[Frost Awl of Eternal Night (Grade B)]
-A short sword crafted from rare metals found in polar regions, imbued with the chill of moonlight.
-Damaged by intense flames and partially melted, but its functions remain largely intact.
-Freezes the area struck by this blade for a brief duration.
-Agility +3, Mana +2
We managed to salvage only the short sword he’d been using, though even it hadn’t escaped Conflagration’s effects.
-This must have been a Grade A sword originally.
That was Chun-bae’s observation as he examined the blade. Based on its specifications alone, it seemed like Grade A.
The stat increases were impressive, and the freezing effect on attack was excellent.
‘What a shame.’
I meant it sincerely. The difference between Grade A and Grade B was enormous. But there was no helping it. I’d poured most of my mana into Conflagration to prevent him from escaping.
The flaming wings had likely enhanced Conflagration’s destructive power as well.
I’d hoped he’d simply give up when he saw the raging inferno, but instead he thrust his short sword forward and dove into the flames.
Damn fool. Why did you have to jump into the fire like that?
“This belongs to you, Han Hye.”
Since it was an achievement I’d accomplished entirely through my own strength, the Dawn Light Guild Members handed it over without objection.
For now, I stored it in the Subspace. I didn’t use short swords, but there might come a time when I’d need it.
‘I wonder if Min-seok could repair it?’
-I’m not entirely certain. Since it’s not shattered like the Heavenly Sword, if we had a Gate metal with high-grade cold attribute properties, it might be possible.
Still, there was no reason to despair just yet.
Through Min-seok, I could always remake this bastard into an A-rank dagger.
* * *
News of Long Wei’s arrest never reached the public. In fact, even the information that he was in Korea remained classified.
Announcing it first would only invite unnecessary trouble. As an executive-level threat, complications could easily arise.
During the transfer to the Hunter Association, the Saebyeokbit Guild’s healer continuously cast healing spells, yet Long Wei remained unconscious.
Though it seemed he regained consciousness occasionally. Not that such moments were doing him any favors.
“Gaaahhhhh!”
He would open his eyes briefly only to lose consciousness again from the overwhelming agony—a cycle that repeated endlessly.
Despite being thoroughly restrained, even if the bindings were removed, escape seemed impossible in his current state.
It took approximately five hours before Long Wei regained full consciousness.
Only after continuous healing spells and painkillers administered by the Hunter Association’s physician.
“….”
There was no concern about escape. Shin Chang and I were in the room with him.
Moreover, even with consciousness restored, his body was in no condition to move.
“Are you with us now?”
Tae-sung had volunteered to conduct the interrogation. I’d heard he had prior experience dealing with Übermenschen.
“…I want to die.”
Those were Long Wei’s first words upon regaining consciousness, staring down at his own body. Then he shot me a fierce glare.
“What the hell was that flame?”
There was no reason to answer, so I simply shrugged. Tae-sung picked up his sword with an expressionless face.
“If you want to die, I’ll oblige.”
“Kyaaahhh!”
It wasn’t a scream from an actual blade wound. It was Long Wei’s panicked shriek as he desperately tried to raise his hands against Tae-sung’s indifference.
With his body bound and despite the painkillers, any movement caused excruciating agony.
“Wait, wait.”
“Speak.”
“I want to live.”
I’d heard that Long Wei was remarkably taciturn and stoic during his undercover operations in China.
But his true self seemed to be rather foolish and frivolous.
‘Or perhaps the burning pain is so intense his mind has simply broken?’
It hardly mattered.
“Right. The wounds are severe, but you’ll recover completely. Your skin won’t return to normal, but living is better than dying.”
At Tae-sung’s words, Long Wei glared at me. He looked incredulous.
“You’re the one who jumped into the fire.”
“….”
“If I hadn’t extinguished it, you’d have been dead long ago. You understand that, right?”
“….”
Faced with my undeniable facts, he rolled his eyes. Tae-sung tapped the floor with his sword.
“If you want to live, you understand what that means, yes?”
“I have important information.”
“Whether it’s important or not, I’ll have to hear it first.”
“That’s difficult for me.”
“It’s difficult for us too.”
“…You’ll regret it if you don’t listen.”
Was he really an executive of Übermenschen?
Despite the circumstances, Long Wei continued the conversation with a remarkably composed expression. Should I call it confidence?
“Isn’t this more honest than saying you’ll spare me, listening to the information, and then just killing me anyway?”
“What are you talking about? If you want to share information, you need to treat my wounds and release me first. We can talk after that.”
Tae-sung let out a hollow laugh at the absurd proposition.
“Did this bastard lose his mind living in extraterritorial zones? No, he was in China too. Do you really think that makes sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Because things don’t work that way, as you should know.”
Shin Chang, who had been listening to the conversation, hummed and nodded. His expression didn’t seem particularly pleased.
He tapped the ground once with the spear he was holding.
Though he said nothing, that uncomfortable aura made it clear to everyone what he meant: ‘Should we just kill him?’
“Should we just kill him?”
Tae-sung asked. Shin Chang regarded Long Wei with an indifferent gaze.
“…It’s probably all lies anyway.”
“That’s likely.”
It was spoken with a heavy finality. Given his experience, he seemed unmoved by this man’s claims.
I felt differently. When I heard about the information, my curiosity was piqued a bit more.
There was the matter of Min-seok, certainly, but this was also my first encounter with such a situation. It wasn’t an unfounded concern. The biggest problem with this man was that he belonged to Übermenschen.
I couldn’t determine whether the information they provided was true or false, and the likelihood of it being false was high.
‘There are plenty of such cases.’
Ever since Übermenschen became notorious, attempts to extract information using captured prisoners were inevitable.
But most of it was false information. Either they lied themselves, or they possessed entirely incorrect information.
It felt like Übermenschen’s upper echelon didn’t provide proper information. To prepare for such situations, their operations sometimes had different objectives.
Of course, Long Wei was an executive-level member, but….
‘He might even be trying to provoke internal discord.’
In a situation where death was inevitable anyway, they might stir up trouble to sow discord.
For instance, spreading false information claiming that famous guilds were their allies.
“It’s not a lie.”
Faced with the reaction of Shin Chang, who was essentially the most senior here, Long Wei opened his mouth with a noticeably more urgent expression. The composure from before was gone.
This was another advantage of Shin Chang’s character. He was known for being taciturn and disliking troublesome matters.
This man must feel like he had fire at his feet. More so than when actual fire fell on his body.
In truth, it seemed unlikely that a criminal organization would possess such tremendous loyalty.
‘That’s probably why even Übermenschen’s upper ranks don’t share proper information.’
Shin Chang nodded slightly. It was a gesture meaning ‘go on.’
“It’s information about those in Korea who have allied with Übermenschen.”
He continued speaking with an urgent expression, but the response was lukewarm.
Most Übermenschen spoke as if they were providing such clearly enticing information.
“Hmm.”
I knew it was likely a lie, but there was something about it that made me want to hear it anyway.
Perhaps I would have dismissed it if I were alone, but Tae-sung and Shin Chang were here with me.
“Nothing has changed. I’ll listen and judge for myself.”
“….”
“We don’t exactly have time to spare either. In fact, we could simply kill you without consequence.”
Long Wei fell silent for a moment, though he appeared to be genuinely contemplating something.
We waited with patience, and after a brief pause, Long Wei finally spoke.
“Can you provide witness protection?”
“After you speak.”
“The information is that valuable.”
“I can’t make promises before hearing it.”
Long Wei’s demeanor seemed to shift, though it was entirely possible he was acting.
Long Wei fell silent once more. After approximately three minutes, he opened his mouth heavily.
“Daeup.”
“Daeup?”
At the unexpected name that emerged, Tae-sung, Shin Chang, and I couldn’t help but be startled.

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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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