Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 194
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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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194. Previous-Previous Master?
As if paper were burning away, a spark caught on the worn flame talisman. As the old talisman burned to ash, a new one revealed itself in its place.
The flame talisman had originally been in quite a deteriorated state. The word “worn” was even part of its name, and it bore the marks of time and handling.
But now the talisman no longer looked worn. The traces of grime and age had vanished, and its appearance seemed pristine.
Curious about the changes, I examined the flame talisman immediately.
[Flame Talisman (C-Rank)]
-A worn talisman once used by a renowned monk who followed the god of flames.
-Through high-purity flame circulation, it has regained some of its original power. The efficiency of flame-related skills increases slightly.
-If you possess flame-related abilities, you can store a portion of them in the talisman for later use.
There were three changes. The word “worn” had disappeared from the name “Worn Flame Talisman,” and its rank had risen to C-Rank.
And there was even an explanation that it had regained some of its original power, increasing the efficiency of flame-related skills slightly.
“Not bad.”
I tested Blaze immediately. I could see the efficiency had improved, if only marginally. It wasn’t anything dramatic.
Probably because it was still C-Rank. Still, there was a difference.
I had not only the flame talisman but also the fluttering flames, so I had two items that boosted flame-related efficiency.
Combined, they gave me roughly a 20% improvement in mana efficiency, one could say.
-The advantage of the flame talisman isn’t simply the increase in mana efficiency when using flame skills.
But after hearing Chun-bae’s explanation, it was far more than just decent.
-The talisman’s greatest advantage is that it can store an enormous amount of flame within it.
“Right, the person who used it before blocked a massive Gate with this, didn’t they?”
-Affirmative. The flames burning inside the talisman were so intense that I couldn’t even begin to estimate its interior. Now that it’s regained some of its true form, the capacity has likely increased further.
Indeed, when I poured Blaze into the flame talisman, it seemed like the interior wasn’t completely filled as it had been before.
The flame reservoir inside had already expanded considerably, one might say.
If I continued the cycle of storing and consuming with the improved flame skill efficiency, it seemed the talisman would gradually restore itself to its true form.
Now that I thought about it, both the Subspace and the talisman felt similar—things for storing something. A curious coincidence.
“What happened?”
Since this occurred during training with the guild members, they all showed interest.
“Well, Blaze itself seems to have about 20% better efficiency? And if it grows further, it should increase even more.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You said you used that to catch the Witch?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, you’re already at the vanguard level, so how much stronger are you going to get?”
The guild members knew the situation, but they seemed genuinely shocked by this development. Even knowing I was strong, they hadn’t expected me to be this strong.
After all, I had defeated the vanguard’s upper-tier frontline and a mage in a surprise attack.
Moreover, hadn’t the battle with Veronica been captured on broadcast cameras?
Accordingly, much praise followed.
[Space Mage, the Nightmare of Mages?]
[Not merely strong. The Space Mage’s psychological warfare against the Witch.]
There was also talk from the previous Gate where we cleared the Magic Tower, and it was an article that came out after actually facing Veronica.
My Subspace was famous for physical immunity, but it could also block magic.
Moreover, the fact that I had used my head while inducing carelessness against Veronica was also highly praised.
After all, he’d displayed signs of exhaustion against an opponent deemed stronger than himself while executing psychological warfare.
“I was already receiving support from the Guild Master, and it seems I’ll be getting even more going forward.”
It was Han Chul speaking. He offered habitual modesty, but it fell on deaf ears.
“Support? We’re all in this together.”
“I’ll work harder so it doesn’t become support.”
“Me too!”
“Me as well….”
“Let’s go train.”
When Min-jae agreed, Lee Shin-hee and the uncle Chul-gi even stopped resting and rose from their seats.
Though that wasn’t my intention, it seemed I’d added a bit more fuel to our guild’s training fervor.
‘Well, good is good.’
* * *
I received numerous messages after the Jo Ji-hyuk incident. Both Saebyeokbit, whom we’d captured together, and Iron Wall Guild reached out.
-We never imagined they’d attempt terrorism against us. Thank you so much.
Of course, I received Iron Wall Guild’s gratitude through Lee Hong-ju, with whom I had connections.
I would’ve felt the same way in their position.
The Übermenschen had been plotting terrorism against me and our guild, so if Shin Chang had stopped them, I couldn’t possibly be more grateful.
[Give a thumbs up if you’re grateful to the Space Mage]
-I’m so relieved to see Daeup’s tyranny finally exposed. They caused us so much damage
lol recommend
The atmosphere on Hunter Net was quite positive. Truth be told, I’d held back from speaking out of concern for the future, but Daeup’s tyranny had been severe.
Though they were already on the way down, the revelations on Hunter Net ensured Daeup’s complete exposure.
[Daeup, Gate Extortion?]
-Through Association Staff, contacting guilds that applied for Gates….
Even knowing Daeup’s notorious reputation existed in the shadows, the exposed crimes exceeded imagination.
They’d built connections with Association Staff to secretly obtain non-public information.
If there was a Gate they wanted to enter, they’d subtly contact the guild and apply pressure.
Even major guilds, especially those in the top five, had sufficient priority, yet they’d engaged in such conduct.
‘These bastards are insane. How much greed do they have?’
This was a separate issue from Jo Ji-hyuk’s connection with the Übermenschen, so public outcry was fierce.
Their image was already in the gutter, and now all their past misdeeds were being exposed.
-Wow, these bastards were trash even without Jo Ji-hyuk
-How was this not revealed until now?
-They’re the 3rd-ranked guild and connected to politics, so they can’t be touched.
If I expose it, I could end up being reported missing, so what do I do lol. Hunters will probably face unfair treatment too.
Now that I think about it, when I first awakened, I’d never given out my contact information, yet Daeup had reached out to me.
Wasn’t that situation similar to this?
In any case, as these facts came to light, Korean Hunter Association staff were suffering as well.
[Association Staff who received bribes from Daeup….]
[Association President Kang Seok-du Apologizes on Bended Knee]
The current Association President knelt and offered a sincere apology, expressing his remorse. The public reaction wasn’t negative.
Rather than evading responsibility by blaming the Daeup Guild, he apologized immediately and resolved the situation.
[Association President Kang Seok-du has faced consistent pressure from Daeup and political circles.]
Moreover, as the connection between Daeup and political power became public, sympathy for Kang Seok-du grew.
Jo Ji-hyuk had been quite meticulous—he’d apparently documented everything he demanded and what he gave in return. On top of that, there was the current Association President issue.
-What crime did Kang Seok-du commit?
-lol for real, all that stuff about Iron Wall and Dawn Light being treated well was just Daeup’s PR
-If you dig deeper, there’s no special treatment at all lmaooo
-No wonder Daeup is 3rd but always gets similar amounts
-Why not just make Kang Seok-du the next Association President? Honestly, he seems to have suffered nothing but stress from Daeup this term
-Han Hye supported Kang Seok-du too. We need to listen to her. What if she goes abroad for the next contract?
In any case, the situation was unfolding exactly as I wanted. Daeup was collapsing, and the current Association President seemed likely to keep his position.
I’d gained a lot from dealing with Jo Ji-hyuk and Veronica. This situation was one example, and the growth of the Flame Talisman was another.
Moreover, I could obtain items that Daeup owned, and Gates would be released as well.
However, acquiring the items would take some time, they said.
‘The guild had loaned some items to hunters.’
The dissolution of Daeup Guild was inevitable. There would be interviews and investigations with the guild’s hunters, and we had to collect all those items.
We also had to recover items hidden in the Guild House and various branches. Creating an inventory would require time.
On the other hand, receiving the Gate list came faster.
While we couldn’t do anything about Gates already entered, the list of Gates not yet entered was compiled quickly.
“The list arrived.”
The public announcement of Gates that Daeup Guild was planning to enter would be tomorrow, but we received it a day early.
We just had to choose one from this list. But that wasn’t the end—we could also participate in tomorrow’s public announcement.
In other words, we could claim two Gates from Daeup.
We examined the list the Hunter Association had provided with eager anticipation.
* * *
“Wow, Daeup really is different.”
“Even after dropping to 5th place as a penalty, they maintained almost 3rd place status through the end of the year.”
After reviewing the list, we couldn’t help but be amazed. It wasn’t for nothing that Daeup had been a 3rd-tier guild.
“There are four Ruins Gates alone. These are rare drops, and you’re saying they had these left over from last year?”
“Right. Even with the penalty dropping them to 5th, they must have had priority rights granted before that.”
As a major guild, they’d used many of the priority rights they’d received. Not just Ruins Gates, but quite a few decent Gates were visible.
Given this situation, our choice was clear.
“We should probably go for a Ruins Gate, right?”
I reviewed the list with Chun-bae, but nothing particularly stood out to him.
“Right. Chun-bae doesn’t recognize any of them either.”
“Then there’s only one option.”
Mister looked at the list with slight disappointment. There was only one Ruins Gate at our level.
“Come on, finding one at our level is already fortunate. If it wasn’t in our level range, we’d have had to pick something else or wait a bit longer.”
The remaining two Ruins Gates were in the 30s level range, which we couldn’t enter, and one was 55-60 level.
Even if I applied, it would take some time to level up to match them. I was grateful just to have a 46–50 level Ruins Gate available.
“That’s right. It’s good that we can enter the Ruins.”
Han Chul nodded in agreement with my words.
“Then should we apply for a 51-level Gate tomorrow?”
“That seems better. We might gain 2 levels in the Ruins Gate, and if one isn’t enough, we can always go somewhere else.”
Everyone nodded at Lee Shin-hee’s words. There was no need to choose two Gates at our current level bracket.
Since all the Gates that Daeup had secured in advance were decent, we could move on to the next level bracket.
“I’ll relay this to Saebyeokbit. You all decide which Gate to enter tomorrow.”
“Saebyeokbit will choose a Ruins Gate too, right?”
“Yes. They’ll enter a 55–60 level Ruins Gate. It doesn’t really matter, but I should let them know.”
Saebyeokbit had given us priority in Gate selection and in the subsequent choice of items owned by Daeup.
I’d dealt with the Witch and Jo Ji-hyuk, and I’d also prevented the terrorism that would have befallen Saebyeokbit.
In truth, item selection was what really mattered. Gate selection didn’t overlap much since the level brackets were different.
That said, the Gate consideration wasn’t entirely meaningless.
Saebyeokbit believed Team B was currently around 55–56 levels. With a 1–2 level difference, it was an awkward bracket to enter a Gate.
Since we were planning to choose our second Gate as a 51–55 level Gate, there could be overlap.
-It’s a 46–50 Ruins Gate, right? We’ll go to a 56–60 Ruins Gate. What will you do tomorrow?
“Ah, I’m still thinking about that. I think we’ll go with 51–55.”
-Don’t worry about us. We’re the ones who benefited from this.
“Thank you.”
That was when I sensed someone approaching the conference room door through my spatial awareness. But there was no reason for anyone to come?
Knock, knock. The person who opened the door was a Guild staff member.
“The Hunter Association said there’s a missing entry in the Daeup Guild Gate list.”
“Missing?”
“It was a staff mistake, and they kept apologizing so much that it’s a bit awkward….”
The staff member spoke with an uncomfortable expression. In truth, something like this was quite serious.
If it had been discovered after tomorrow, it could have been inconvenient for us or Saebyeokbit, who had been granted priority allocation.
“These things happen. The Association has been so busy lately.”
However, I could understand well enough. Many Association staff members had been laid off due to the Daeup Guild incident.
Additional staff who had engaged in backroom dealings with other Guilds had been caught as well.
In that situation, the remaining Association staff were working overtime every day to handle the Daeup situation.
People make mistakes under such circumstances. I was just grateful they’d informed us before it was too late.
“Well, there aren’t that many Gates in our level bracket.”
There were eight Gates on the missing list, but only about two were in our level bracket. And even those weren’t Ruins Gates.
I was about to choose which one to apply for tomorrow.
-Han Hye.
Chun-bae spoke up.
‘Why? Do you know of a Gate?’
-Yes. We might be able to meet the Previous-Previous Princess.
Huh? The Previous-Previous Princess?
What do you mean by that?
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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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