Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 197

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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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197. Dark Ruins (3)
‘If we remove that color, won’t it reveal its true name? Could it be a Hidden piece?’
The possibility of a Hidden piece seemed quite strong. Or rather, though it felt odd to say it with such certainty, I was about 90% sure.
Among ourselves, the Guild members called me the ‘Hidden specialist.’
As a Hidden specialist, the moment I saw that slate painted jet black, my instincts flared to life.
Of course, nothing is absolute, so I couldn’t claim 100% certainty, but I felt an intense conviction that something lay hidden there.
“Oh, it really does seem that way, doesn’t it?”
When I mentioned it to the Guild members, Min-jae immediately nodded and showed interest.
“Right? I thought something was off the moment I saw that black coating too.”
“It seems you’re starting to develop an eye for it as well, Mister.”
Mister seemed to have guessed as much from the way he spoke, so I thought that made sense—but Min-jae immediately tilted his head in confusion.
“Hyung. You didn’t just think that because you heard what I said, did you?”
“You brat. I’m telling you, the moment I saw it, I knew something was there.”
“So did I.”
“Me too.”
When Lee Shin-hee and Han Chul both said they felt the same way Mister did, Min-jae scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.
“…Could it be that only I didn’t notice?”
“Seems like it.”
Min-jae looked genuinely shocked. He must have thought I was just joking around.
Mister spoke with a self-satisfied expression.
“Min-jae, you brat. Focus more when you enter a Gate.”
“Sigh. You’re right. I need to work harder. Even Hyung found it.”
“Even Hyung? I’ve always had a sharp eye.”
“Huh? That’s a bit of a stretch.”
As Han Chul and Lee Shin-hee watched the exchange between Mister and Min-jae, they laughed.
“Anyway, I’m not the only Hidden specialist anymore. Everyone’s eyes have sharpened.”
Han Chul had been active in the United States for a long time, so that made sense, but the insight of our Guild members was remarkable.
“It’s probably because you’ve experienced more than other Hunters, right? You start noticing things.”
“Right. Honestly, whenever I see even the slightest oddity, I suspect it first and investigate.”
Those were the words of Mister, Han Chul, and Lee Shin-hee respectively. So they suspect first whenever they see something unusual.
“If Shin-hee suspects everything before investigating, isn’t that more like an obsession with Hidden pieces?”
“Huh? An obsession with Hidden pieces?”
Lee Shin-hee looked slightly flustered at my words. Usually, the brunt of jokes landed on Mister or Min-jae.
Lee Shin-hee and Han Chul occupied more of an observant position, so to speak.
“You said you suspect first and investigate.”
“Ah, well, that’s not quite….”
Perhaps because she had no defenses against such remarks, she took my words seriously, so I quickly shook my head.
“I was joking. Actually, I do the same thing. It’s just nice when you stumble upon one.”
“Ah….”
Just as the joke was winding down, I noticed Min-jae looking at Lee Shin-hee with a gleam in his eyes.
I suspected that with such a playful nature, he would probably start cracking jokes at Lee Shin-hee’s expense using this incident as an excuse.
‘Well, it’s better than just playing with Mister all the time.’
He pranked me often enough, but never Han Chul or Lee Shin-hee. That restraint might actually be why we weren’t growing as close as we could.
People tend to become closer when they joke around with each other.
“Should we go inside first?”
“What about that stone tablet?”
“If the name returns once we erase the stone tablet’s blackness, we can do it after we enter and come back out.”
The moment the hidden passage opens, something could change. Perhaps we might lose the rewards we were originally meant to obtain.
After all, even in games with high degrees of freedom, quests can fail to grant rewards if the order gets tangled up, right?
“True. We can go in, take a look around, and come back out.”
“Let’s go.”
We walked toward the building. With each step, a rustling sound echoed beneath our feet.
It was difficult to maintain balance, especially since the ground was entirely made of bones. Every footfall felt like slipping and sinking.
Because of this, the guild members’ expressions weren’t particularly pleasant. It seemed the slightly eerie feeling made it worse.
I understood. We were treading on ground made of bones, and the surroundings were saturated with demonic energy—even I felt a chill run down my spine.
“At least the stairs are made of stone.”
“Thank goodness. If we fell during a fight and dove onto the bones….”
It was while discussing such grim possibilities that we climbed the stairs.
—Crack!
Suddenly, something shattered from above. Perhaps because I’d been concentrating on the surrounding atmosphere, I was startled reflexively.
The guild members reacted the same way.
“Geez, you scared us. Where did that sound come from?”
No answer was necessary.
“Huh?”
The stone statue standing in front of the stone building was crumbling. Or rather, it wasn’t crumbling—it was shedding.
The stones covering its exterior were peeling away with crackling sounds, like a shell.
And inside was a demon similar to the ones we’d seen before. It was about two meters tall, like a statue.
The problem was that it was larger and more muscular than the ones we’d encountered earlier. Its crimson eyes turned toward us.
* * *
The massive demon, over two meters tall, didn’t attack immediately. Instead, it observed us with those crimson eyes for a moment.
It felt more like reconnaissance than hostility. I observed the demon in turn.
‘If we defeat that thing, we’d get a premium-grade demon stone, wouldn’t we?’
‘Right? I thought the same thing.’
It was a silent conversation that passed between Mister and me when our eyes met. I felt as though we’d already secured one priority entry pass to the Gate.
Of course, since we didn’t know when it might attack, I kept my guard up.
“You are….”
And finally, the massive demon opened its mouth.
“Who are you? It is surprising enough that humans have come here, but surely the Creshan Grand Duke did not send you….”
The demon seemed to grow increasingly angry as it spoke.
“How dare you trespass upon your lord’s sleeping chamber without permission.”
I habitually started to answer “Digging through the Ruins?” but held myself back. It was because this creature had called the Unnamed Demon its master.
Saying “Well, things just happened to turn out this way…” didn’t seem right for the current situation either.
“Or not?”
Maybe it would be better to just fight and obtain one special-grade demon stone?
My only concern was the possibility that this creature might also be connected to the hidden dungeon.
“Hmm…”
I deliberated seriously for a moment.
A special-grade demon stone meant priority entry to the Gate. Priority entry versus a hidden dungeon in the Demon Realm… The latter seemed far more valuable.
“I came here thinking we might be able to restore the Unnamed Demon’s name.”
“Ha!”
The demon let out a scoff.
“Restore its name? You humans who don’t even seem to know who your master is?”
His voice was quite angry, but his eyes grew even sharper. Those crimson eyes looked ready to devour us.
“That is only possible with the Grand Duke’s permission.”
“Well. You won’t know until you try, will you? Why are you even here?”
“…I am here by the Creshan Grand Duke’s command to guard my master’s Sleeping Chamber.”
However, I could see his anger scatter somewhat at my question. There was an awkward, shameful look about him.
“You obey the orders of the one who imprisoned your master in this place?”
“How dare you humans make such judgments!”
He suddenly flared up in anger. I understood the situation well enough. The Unnamed Demon’s retainers had attacked us after all.
He probably found it difficult to refuse those orders either.
“So, are you planning to obstruct us from restoring the Unnamed Demon’s name?”
“I cannot permit it. It is not the Grand Duke’s command.”
Well, at this point something became certain. Whether I fought this creature or not wouldn’t have much bearing on the hidden dungeon.
From the start, this creature was guarding this place under orders from the Creshan Grand Duke or whoever. It was the same as the demons we’d encountered earlier.
“But why can you even talk? The ones we passed just rushed at us without a word.”
There was one question that remained.
“Is it because you’re stronger? Because you’ve been recognized, like the Unnamed Demon is here?”
“…”
The large demon said nothing. He’d been struck where it hurt, and he seemed ashamed that I was voicing this situation.
I could see the guild members shifting slightly in the back. They’d all heard the conversation and made their judgment.
Just as I’d thought—combat with this creature was inevitable. So they were preparing to fight at any moment.
However, there was still one thing I was contemplating rather than fighting immediately.
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a Ruins.”
The Unnamed Demon’s Sleeping Chamber. Just as the demon before my eyes had turned to stone, the Unnamed Demon was probably in a long slumber.
And when we first entered this place, that strange voice had said this:
-One without permission has set foot in the Sleeping Chamber, and the entombed demons shall awaken from their long sleep and rise.
The “entombed demons” rising meant it wasn’t the Unnamed Demon itself that would awaken—it meant its retainers.
In other words, if we hadn’t found the hidden dungeon, this demon before us would have felt like the final boss of this Gate.
Of course, even now this creature would stand in our way. It was following the Grand Duke’s orders, the one who imprisoned its master.
I had one question on my mind.
‘What if I returned the Unnamed Demon’s name before fighting it?’
If that happened, how would the situation unfold?
When I looked at the pitch-black darkness covering the stone slab and decided to erase it, the first thing that came to mind was Blazing Inferno.
That darkness left by the demon wouldn’t be the kind of substance that cleaned away easily.
But Blazing Inferno burned even mana itself. I thought it would be sufficient to incinerate it.
‘Well, let’s try burning it first. Once the Unnamed Demon wakes up, we’ll figure out what comes next.’
If this was indeed a hidden scenario as I suspected, I could go along with the flow, and if not, I could fight this creature and search the interior afterward.
With my decision made, I gazed at the stone slab and activated Blazing Inferno.
* * *
-Whoooosh!
Flames erupted across the stone slab stained with darkness. The response was immediate.
“You bastard!”
The red-eyed demon charged at me, so I raised my hand toward the Guild members who were about to counterattack.
“Wait! Hold on! Fall back!”
This massive demon wielded a spear as enormous as its own frame. I deflected the spear that came thrusting at me in an instant with Essirel.
I didn’t counterattack. My goal was to observe the current situation.
-Whoosh!
As flames continued to burn across the stone slab, the wild-eyed demon charged at me again.
I deflected the demon’s spear while keeping my focus on the slab. Things were unfolding as I’d anticipated.
Blazing Inferno was burning away the darkness that had stained the stone slab. It wasn’t instantaneous like burning cotton, but I could feel the darkness steadily disappearing.
One minute. That’s how long it took for the charging demon to sense something amiss.
“Huh?”
It looked at the slab with a stupid expression. Yet it didn’t stop charging.
“…Burn it faster!”
Was this thing trying to attack me or cheer me on?
While its words encouraged me, the way it kept thrusting its spear suggested it was bound to carry out the Grand Duke’s orders.
But it didn’t take much longer.
-Whoosh!
Blazing Inferno had nearly consumed all the darkness.
-Grrrk! Boom!
At that moment, a heavy sound echoed from inside the stone structure. It was like the lid of a thick stone coffin being opened and falling to the floor.
I looked at where the Blazing Inferno had vanished. Though I’d never seen these characters before, I could read them with my universal translation skill.
[Nereion]
Then a deep, solemn voice resonated from inside the coffin.
“Diluvian, cease.”
At those words, the massive demon’s movements stopped.
“My lord….”
The demon spoke in a voice thick with emotion, then immediately dropped to one knee toward the stone structure.
Thud, thud—. Elegant footsteps echoed from within the building.
“Yes. I have awakened.”
A demon then walked out from the building. It wore elegant medieval aristocratic clothing, and I found it fascinating how the fabric seemed to flow like water.
“So it was you who restored my name…”
The demon, unmistakably noble in bearing, gazed down at us. I exchanged glances with the Guild members behind me and broke into a grin.
In any case, the hidden dungeon entry had been a success. We’d even saved his subordinates, so he’d be far more favorable toward us. I sensed no hostility whatsoever.
‘I wonder what happens now.’
The Gate’s contents would definitely change. I could think of roughly two possibilities.
Either he’d ask me to take revenge on Creshan Grand Duke, or he’d offer a reward befitting my gratitude for restoring his name.
Either way, it was something to celebrate. I’d uncovered a hidden dungeon in the Demon Realm’s Ruins. I’d earned the favor of a noble who’d been eyeing the Grand Duke’s seat.
It didn’t matter which it was—what mattered was anticipating what I might receive.
‘Come on, speak. What are you giving me?’
I smiled at the demon Nereion.

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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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